explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3083: Jupiter Core

2025-05-19T22:33:20Z

Equites:

NOOO RANDALL USED ‘DATA’ AS SINGULAR NOOOO I HOPE HE FIXES IT. [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 15:17, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
:Used with an information science perspective as it is here, it is usually used as a singular (https://www.thesaurus.com/e/grammar/data-is-or-data-are/). At least, that's what I found while clicking around with one of my computer mouses :P [[User:SammyChips|SammyChips]] ([[User talk:SammyChips|talk]]) 15:39, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
:: From your source: "In academic and scientific writing, the word data is almost always treated as a plural word, as in ''The data collected by the research team suggest that the water supply has been contaminated''." [[Special:Contributions/172.71.144.179|172.71.144.179]] 18:49, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
::: Umm... Isn't that that statement contradictory? If it was being treated as a plural, wouldn't that say, "The data ... ''have'' been contaminated"? [[User:SammyChips|SammyChips]] ([[User talk:SammyChips|talk]]) 14:23, 2 May 2025 (UTC)
:::: Never mind. Bad parsing on my part... [[User:SammyChips|SammyChips]] ([[User talk:SammyChips|talk]]) 14:30, 2 May 2025 (UTC)
::::((Had written the following. See you've already recanted, making me edit-conflict. But for the sake of anyone else that's got it wrong and needs a nudge back the right way.)) That IP's quote ''was'' subtle, but what you have to look at was "The data(pl.) ... suggest...", rather than "The data(sing.) ... suggest''s''...", for grammatical agreement.
::::The "... [has/have] been contaminated" is a separate element that relates to "the water supply ..." (only "have" if it had been "water suppl''ies''").
::::I think you were reading it as "the data {having been} contaminated", which is not an unlikely connection to have made, but not what this quote says. Not the most straightforward exemplar to use, though. I spotted the potential confusion when I first saw it, nearly added a note to try to forestall any such, but left it to fate instead. ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.176|141.101.98.176]] 14:40, 2 May 2025 (UTC)

:English is not Latin. Latin words work differently in English than they do in Latin. In English, "data" is a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_noun mass noun] (a.k.a., an uncountable noun). For almost as long as the English language has existed, folks have been trying to "correct" people into using Latin rules of grammar, but that's not correct and never has been. [[User:Equites|Equites]] ([[User talk:Equites|talk]]) 16:43, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
::Exactly. English doesn't say noun adjective either only a few things continued that aspect of Romance grammar i.e. fee simple and surgeon general (I'm surprised it's alloidial title not title alloidial!) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.195.74|172.71.195.74]] 20:20, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
::If "data" aren't countable, then they probably aren't data... ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.205.20|172.68.205.20]] 00:35, 1 May 2025 (UTC)
: ‘Data’ is not a mass noun. The singular of ‘data’ is ‘datum’. People treat it as a mass noun when it is not. Also, it directly comes from Latin, and is a Latin word, and should be treated as one. Same reason why the plural of octopus is octopi. [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 07:02, 2 May 2025 (UTC)
::I suspect you're trolling, but if so you got me. Octopus is from Greek, not Latin. English has stolen and mangled words from many languages. "Data" is just one you happen to be familiar with. Your familiarity doesn't mean the usage should differ. [[User:DaBunny42|DaBunny42]] ([[User talk:DaBunny42|talk]]) 09:07, 2 May 2025 (UTC)
:::Also, it's "octopodes". ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.179|172.69.195.179]] 09:47, 2 May 2025 (UTC)
::::It's 'octopussies'.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.139|172.70.160.139]] 14:33, 2 May 2025 (UTC)
:::::If there’s two it’s a hexadecapus, three is a tetricosapus, etc. The number of heads is irrelevant.
:::I looked it up, and it turns out we are both right… octopus is a latin word which was derived from the Greek. It was the only example I could think of from the top of my head. However, ‘data’ should be plural the same way flagella is plural of flagellum [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 15:58, 3 May 2025 (UTC)
::Incorrect. Data certainly is a mass noun, because people use it that way more commonly than not. The singular is "a piece of data", in the same way that the singular of "paper" is not "papyrus". It came from that, but it is not that. Normal English-speaking people do not say "datum". You were close to understanding when you said "people treat it as..." The way that people actually speak is what language actually is. [[User:Equites|Equites]] ([[User talk:Equites|talk]]) 22:33, 19 May 2025 (UTC)
Can someone fix the formatting for the table, it’s annoying on mobile and shrinks the page because its 1 row [[User:Commercialegg|Commercialegg]] ([[User talk:Commercialegg|talk]]) 15:35, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
: Nevermind, it wasn’t loading properly [[User:Commercialegg|Commercialegg]] ([[User talk:Commercialegg|talk]]) 15:37, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
: Sorry, that was on me. Just figuring out how to use tables. [[User:BobcatInABox|BobcatInABox]] ([[User talk:BobcatInABox|talk]]) 17:07, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

I think it contains nougat. Perhaps with further study of Jupiter, humanity will finally be able to learn what, exactly, nougat is. [[User:Equites|Equites]] ([[User talk:Equites|talk]]) 16:35, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jupiter_diagram.svg This image] has always given me the impression it's actually a delicious frozen cake. [[User:Zmatt|Zmatt]] ([[User talk:Zmatt|talk]]) 18:08, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
:Nonsense - it's obviously a toy/choking hazard.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.89|141.101.99.89]] 08:21, 1 May 2025 (UTC)

Two things:

1: It looks like Jupiter is made of avocado flesh in the avocado pit image.

2: If jupiter were a giant avocado with the same mass, it would represent 95 quadrillion years' worth of global avocado production.
--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]][[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']][[DSBContribs |'''''My life choices''''']] 19:37, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
:Sounds like a solution to the quacamole crisis since Trump's tariffs on Mexico. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 17:14, 1 May 2025 (UTC)
:There's probably some pun to be made about a mole of guacamole, but you would actually need several thousand moles of avocados to equal the mass of jupiter. {{unsigned|Dextrous Fred|01:45, 2 May 2025}}

Also, the baby Jupiter raises questions about it's sexuality. Also who the father is. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]][[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']][[DSBContribs |'''''My life choices''''']] 19:37, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

: Jupiter's parents are Saturn and Opis. Seems as if Saturn is a single parent since Opis is nowhere to be found in the solar system. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.109.86|172.69.109.86]] 21:51, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

:: It looks to me like Velikovsky confused Aphrodite with Athena. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.150.94|172.69.150.94]] 17:58, 1 May 2025 (UTC)

In an Arthur C. Clarke novel, I think ''2010: Odyssey Two'', it was postulated that the core of Jupiter is diamond. I have since seen articles from others with a similar theory. It is apparently plausible, given the extreme pressures and presence of carbon. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 13:40, 1 May 2025 (UTC)

Who else didn't know the movies and thought 2010: Odyssey Two was a comic (probably just me) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.166.89|172.71.166.89]] 15:19, 1 May 2025 (UTC)
: Ignore the movies. They butchered the stories. Read the novels. And after 2010, there is ''2061: Odyssey Three'' and ''3001: The Final Odyssey''. They get a bit weird, but great stories. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 13:09, 2 May 2025 (UTC)

What's up with the description "Hard ball from avocado" rather than "Avocado pit"? The only results from a Google search for "Hard ball from avocado" reference this XKCD, so it doesn't seem to be some commonly-used term for an avocado pit that I'd never heard. Did Randall just have a brain fart and forget the word "pit"? Seems unlikely. If not, if there some hidden meaning to "Hard ball from avocado"? [[User:SethML|SethML]] ([[User talk:SethML|talk]]) 15:51, 1 May 2025 (UTC)
:Presumably it's because the joke rests on the fact that it's roughly spherical, so makes a decent analogy with a planetary core (and if you cut in to the avocado in the right way you could make it look sort of like one of those cutaway planetary layer diagrams). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.14|172.70.162.14]] 15:59, 1 May 2025 (UTC)
: Gemini [https://g.co/gemini/share/3341d4e56595 seems to have] a better understanding of humor than I do: "The phrase highlights the mundane, everyday nature of an avocado pit and the unsophisticated way it's described ("hard ball"), making its inclusion as a "leading theory" for the core of a gas giant planet ridiculous and therefore funny. It's unexpected and breaks the pattern of the more scientific-sounding labels, contributing to the overall แหย่ (yae - playful teasing) tone of the strip." [[User:SethML|SethML]] ([[User talk:SethML|talk]]) 15:55, 1 May 2025 (UTC)
:: Hmm - well it's very good at sounding confident, but I think here it's confidently wrong. There's nothing particularly 'scientific-sounding' about "Valuable treasure" and "Emergency backup Earth", for example. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.107|172.71.26.107]] 15:08, 2 May 2025 (UTC)

Apparently, if Jupiter really were an avocado it would be about 1/4 less dense. Weirdly, googling the two gave me avocado density in kg/m^3, and Jupiter density in g/cm^3... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.13|172.70.162.13]] 16:06, 1 May 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3083: Jupiter Core

2025-04-30T16:43:05Z

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Talk:3083: Jupiter Core

2025-04-30T16:35:13Z

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Talk:3038: Uncanceled Units

2025-01-15T17:14:05Z

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DUDE I'M STILL IN SCHOOL RN, WHAT?
(also, the joke is that energy is power*time, so kWh is kJ/s... in an hour [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 13:27, 15 January 2025 (UTC)

I guess not every comic can be a winner. Talking about an appliance using a certain amount of kWH per day is clear and normal. Power gets billed by the kWh, not the Joule. While technically not wrong, wanting "cancel" a sub-part of the commonly-used energy unit kWh and leaving it in deliberately-obscured units most people are less familiar with is the sort of insanity I'd more expect from White Hat than Cueball. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.35.171|172.70.35.171]] 13:39, 15 January 2025 (UTC)
:Maybe that is a meta-joke? To frame kWh/day as something crazy by giving that line to whitehat --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 13:52, 15 January 2025 (UTC)
:There's a difference between instantaneous power draw, and the total "volume"(/area, really) of power over time. Though a fridge is "always on", it is still only irregularly at full-draw. But, to the power company (or to the gas company, who will generally give a kWh measure of 'energy taken from the network'), they don't (generally) care whether you used twice as many kW over half the time or half as many over twice the time, within any given total billing period, even if it affects what you think. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.46|172.70.163.46]] 14:39, 15 January 2025 (UTC)
::Using joule as if it was an everyday unit of energy would be weird but I don't agree that watt is crazy. It's a normal unit of energy consumption that does mean something to people, e.g. 1000W microwave, 100W (incandescent) light bulb. Don't get me wrong kWh/day is also useful to translate it to your energy bill, but I do feel slightly uncomfortable every time I see that time divided by time :-) [[User:Mtcv|Mtcv]] ([[User talk:Mtcv|talk]]) 14:40, 15 January 2025 (UTC)

This is especially funny with US units. My car needs about 5l/100km, or 0.05mm². Now I am wondering how many ft^(-2) my car does... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 13:49, 15 January 2025 (UTC)

fridge [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.147|172.70.126.147]] 14:22, 15 January 2025 (UTC)

The late [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_J._C._MacKay Sir David MacKay] wrote an excellent book, [http://www.withouthotair.com/ Sustainable Energy – without the hot air] (which is available free online).
On [http://www.withouthotair.com/c2/page_24.shtml this page] he talks about the units he uses in the book: kWh for energy ("one unit") and kWh/day for power - becuase it's simple for lay-people to understand - how many units does this appliance use per day.
It's a good book if any of you are interested in sustainable energy (although it was written in 2008, so some bits might be out of date by now) {{unsigned ip|172.70.85.33|14:33, 15 January 2025}}

If anyone's curious, I found an online gallons per square foot calculator: https://www.omnicalculator.com/construction/gallons-per-square-foot [[Special:Contributions/172.71.223.6|172.71.223.6]] 15:54, 15 January 2025 (UTC)

The answer to Cueball's question is likely NO in the US and YES in the UK, due not just to gallon size but also fridge size (a model like that is a particularly large fridge, when I bought one 10 years ago going for the smallest available I had to modify my cabinet above the fridge as there wasn't one less than 6'8"- the fridge hole was 6' previous).[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 16:02, 15 January 2025 (UTC)

I disagree with this comic, and I think the final paragraph in the explanation about Hubble's constant best explains why. [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] [[User talk:Beanie|talk]] 15:57, 15 January 2025 (UTC)

Technically, kWh should be written as kW⋅h or kW h, because it literally means "kilowatts multiplied by one hour", not "kilowatts per hour" as many people assume. However, almost nobody writes it correctly. (kW/h is sometimes also seen, but egregiously incorrect.) Also, particularly now that electric vehicles are becoming more popular, people often get confused between kW and kW h. The car can charge at a peak or average rate expressed in kW, but energy billed by a charging service provider is expressed in kWh. People frequently either add or remove the "h" incorrectly because they don't understand the difference. In some places like India, a kilowatt-hour is simply referred to as a "unit" to avoid confusion. In my opinion, it was an enormous mistake to use kWh when we could be using mJ instead, which I think is probably something close to the point Randall may have been trying to make. Anyway, I wasn't sure if there was a place for any of this random trivia in the article itself, but feel free to use it. [[User:Equites|Equites]] ([[User talk:Equites|talk]]) 17:11, 15 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3038: Uncanceled Units

2025-01-15T17:11:47Z

Equites:

DUDE I'M STILL IN SCHOOL RN, WHAT?
(also, the joke is that energy is power*time, so kWh is kJ/s... in an hour [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 13:27, 15 January 2025 (UTC)

I guess not every comic can be a winner. Talking about an appliance using a certain amount of kWH per day is clear and normal. Power gets billed by the kWh, not the Joule. While technically not wrong, wanting "cancel" a sub-part of the commonly-used energy unit kWh and leaving it in deliberately-obscured units most people are less familiar with is the sort of insanity I'd more expect from White Hat than Cueball. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.35.171|172.70.35.171]] 13:39, 15 January 2025 (UTC)
:Maybe that is a meta-joke? To frame kWh/day as something crazy by giving that line to whitehat --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 13:52, 15 January 2025 (UTC)
:There's a difference between instantaneous power draw, and the total "volume"(/area, really) of power over time. Though a fridge is "always on", it is still only irregularly at full-draw. But, to the power company (or to the gas company, who will generally give a kWh measure of 'energy taken from the network'), they don't (generally) care whether you used twice as many kW over half the time or half as many over twice the time, within any given total billing period, even if it affects what you think. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.46|172.70.163.46]] 14:39, 15 January 2025 (UTC)
::Using joule as if it was an everyday unit of energy would be weird but I don't agree that watt is crazy. It's a normal unit of energy consumption that does mean something to people, e.g. 1000W microwave, 100W (incandescent) light bulb. Don't get me wrong kWh/day is also useful to translate it to your energy bill, but I do feel slightly uncomfortable every time I see that time divided by time :-) [[User:Mtcv|Mtcv]] ([[User talk:Mtcv|talk]]) 14:40, 15 January 2025 (UTC)

This is especially funny with US units. My car needs about 5l/100km, or 0.05mm². Now I am wondering how many ft^(-2) my car does... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 13:49, 15 January 2025 (UTC)

fridge [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.147|172.70.126.147]] 14:22, 15 January 2025 (UTC)

The late [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_J._C._MacKay Sir David MacKay] wrote an excellent book, [http://www.withouthotair.com/ Sustainable Energy – without the hot air] (which is available free online).
On [http://www.withouthotair.com/c2/page_24.shtml this page] he talks about the units he uses in the book: kWh for energy ("one unit") and kWh/day for power - becuase it's simple for lay-people to understand - how many units does this appliance use per day.
It's a good book if any of you are interested in sustainable energy (although it was written in 2008, so some bits might be out of date by now) {{unsigned ip|172.70.85.33|14:33, 15 January 2025}}

If anyone's curious, I found an online gallons per square foot calculator: https://www.omnicalculator.com/construction/gallons-per-square-foot [[Special:Contributions/172.71.223.6|172.71.223.6]] 15:54, 15 January 2025 (UTC)

The answer to Cueball's question is likely NO in the US and YES in the UK, due not just to gallon size but also fridge size (a model like that is a particularly large fridge, when I bought one 10 years ago going for the smallest available I had to modify my cabinet above the fridge as there wasn't one less than 6'8"- the fridge hole was 6' previous).[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 16:02, 15 January 2025 (UTC)

I disagree with this comic, and I think the final paragraph in the explanation about Hubble's constant best explains why. [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] [[User talk:Beanie|talk]] 15:57, 15 January 2025 (UTC)

Technically, kWh should be written as kW⋅h or kW h, because it literally means "kilowatts multiplied by hours", not kilowatts divided by hours as many people assume. However, almost nobody writes it correctly. (kW/h is sometimes also seen, but egregiously incorrect.) Also, particularly now that electric vehicles are becoming more popular, people often get confused between kW and kW h. The car can charge at a peak or average rate expressed in kW, but energy billed by a charging service provider is expressed in kWh. People frequently either add or remove the "h" incorrectly because they don't understand the difference. In some places like India, a kilowatt-hour is simply referred to as a "unit" to avoid confusion. In my opinion, it was an enormous mistake to use kWh when we could be using mJ instead, which I think is probably something close to the point Randall may have been trying to make. Anyway, I wasn't sure if there was a place for any of this random trivia in the article itself, but feel free to use it. [[User:Equites|Equites]] ([[User talk:Equites|talk]]) 17:11, 15 January 2025 (UTC)

3038: Uncanceled Units

2025-01-15T17:03:16Z

Equites:

{{comic
| number = 3038
| date = January 15, 2025
| title = Uncanceled Units
| image = uncanceled_units_2x.png
| imagesize = 323x355px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Speed limit c arcminutes^2 per steradian
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by THE PLANCK CONSTANT, WHICH IS TECHNICALLY A FREQUENCY AND CAN THUS BE EXPRESSED IN HERTZ - Please continue to explain the joke and possible interpretations. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Another of [[Randall]]'s [[:Category:Pet Peeves|pet peeves]], this comic expresses disapproval of units that could be mathematically simplified.

[[White Hat]] is presenting a refrigerator to [[Cueball]], claiming it only uses 3 kWh per day. Kilowatt-hours is a commonly used unit of electrical energy in the United States, being the amount of energy consumed by one kilowatt of power usage for one hour. As the unit in which power rates are typically reported and bills calculated, it's the most useful piece of information to the average consumer. This measure, however, could be simplified, since a kilowatt is equivalent to a kilojoule per second. Rather than adding a second unit, energy could simply be reported in megajoules (1 kilowatt-hour is 3.6 megajoules, so the refrigerator uses 10.8 mJ per day).

Appliances, however, frequently report their typical power use in terms of kilowatt-hours per day (or per month or year). Once again, this is useful to consumers, because it makes it easier for them to understand how much money it will cost them to run. However, it's an inelegant way to use units, because it uses power, which is already a measure of energy per time, multiplies it by one time unit, and then divides it by another. This clunky method apparently chafe's at [[Randall]]'s mind, possibly due to his scientific background (which encourages simplifications of units). The "hour" and "day" terms, both being units of time, can simply cancel out by dividing the whole number by 24, meaning that the refrigerator averages 0.125 KW, or 125 watts, to run. It should be noted that this doesn't mean the refrigerator constantly draws this amount of power, since the compressor in the refrigerator only runs intermittently, but running it over the course of a day (with typical use) is expected to give that average power use.

Cueball (possibly representing Randall) sardonically wonders whether the refrigerator would fit in his kitchen, since the ceiling is only 50 gallons per square foot high. This is clearly an abnormal and unhelpful way of reporting height. This unit turns a normal measurement of height (feet and inches, in the US, meters and centimeters, most other places) into weird collection of uncancelled units. Gallons can be transformed to cubic feet (1 US gal ≈ 0.1337 ft3), which can be divided by the square feet, yielding a ceiling height of around 203.7 cm, or around 6 feet 8 inches. (Using imperial gallons [1 UK gal ≈ 0.1605 ft3], the height is approximately 244.7 cm, roughly 8 feet.) This is intended to lampoon the use of uncancelled units by showing how odd things become if they're generally used.

''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'': [https://what-if.xkcd.com/11/ Droppings] also covers strange instances of unit cancellation, including a measure of volume per distance converted to area; similar to Cueball's measure of volume per area representing a distance (the height of his ceiling).

A common source of unit drama occurs between lay people who are looking for every day practicality and science/engineering types who are inclined towards formalized mathematical operations. For example customary units which support even divisibility versus metric units which prioritize base 10 scales. In this case telling the average customer the energy use in joules per day or average consumption in watts would require them to perform more complicated conversions to get to the figure they actually care about, the actual cost per day. White Hat could just give this cost figure directly, but does not know what every customer pays for electricity (an explicit yearly cost estimate would be included on the government required energy efficiency label).

In the title text, a speed limit is given as c arcminutes2 per steradian, where c is presumably the speed of light in vacuum, 2.998×108 m/s (meters per second) or 186282 mi/s (miles per second). A steradian (sr) is the SI unit for solid angle, subtended by a section of a sphere, like a radian is a unit of angle subtended by a section of a circle. A square arcminute is also a unit of solid angle, equivalent to a section of a sphere of 1/60 of a degree by 1/60 of a degree. There are ((1/60)*(π/180))2 = 8.462×10-8 sr in a square arcminute. Then multiplying by c gives a speed of 56.75 mph (probably 55 mph, based upon the {{w|National Maximum Speed Law|'traditional' US speed limit}}, before rounding errors in the reverse direction), or 91.33 km/h, showing that you can combine an outrageously high speed with two unnecessary units that cancel each other to form a normal road speed.

It is worth noting that although some of these examples are ridiculous, uncancelled units can be helpful to better understand the concept, the {{w|Hubble's law|Hubble Parameter}} can be expressed as 2.17132212×10-18 hertz, 67 km/s/Mpc is directly related to how it is measured and gives a better understanding of what it means. Another example would be fuel efficiency in cars, as mi/gal and km/l technically simplify to area, but by expressing it in volume and distance it allows easy estimations of range and travel cost, while mm2 or in2 would require significant unit conversions.{{cn}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[White Hat and Cueball are standing to either side of a refrigerator. The fridge has two top compartments and one bottom compartment. The top left compartment has a tall handle on its right, the top right compartment has a tall handle on its left, and the bottom compartment has a long handle on its top. The top left compartment has a paper attached to it with unreadable text, possibly an advertisement.]
:White Hat: This fridge uses only 3 kWh per day!
:Cueball: But will it fit in my kitchen? The ceiling there is only 50 gallons per square foot.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Pet peeve: Uncanceled units

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Pet Peeves]]

2808: Daytime Firefly

2023-07-28T23:13:42Z

Equites: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2808
| date = July 28, 2023
| title = Daytime Firefly
| image = daytime_firefly_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Mr. Jones, watch out for Ms. Lenhart! She's from genus Photuris!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a LIGHTNING BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

2719: Hydrogen Isotopes

2023-01-03T02:39:16Z

Equites:

{{comic
| number = 2719
| date = January 2, 2023
| title = Hydrogen Isotopes
| image = hydrogen_isotopes_2x.png
| imagesize = 442x250px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Oops, All Neutrons is also known as Neutral Quadrium, Nydnonen, and Goth Tritium.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BREAK ROOM DE BROGLIE MICROWAVE USER. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{W|Hydrogen}} is the simplest of the chemical atoms, usually consisting of a single electron orbiting a single proton. This comic imagines other humorous fictional forms of hydrogen.

'''Hydrogen'''
This is the most common isotope of hydrogen, with one proton and one electron, shown with the electron "orbiting" the proton.

'''Deuterium'''
This is the second most common isotope of hydrogen, with one electron, and both a neutron and proton in it's nucleus. About five hundredths of the hydrogen in water on Earth is deuterium.

'''Tritium'''
This is the third most common isotope of hydrogen, with one electron, and a nucleus of one proton and two neutrons, for an atomic mass of three {{w|Dalton}}s.. It is radioactive with a half-life of about twelve years. It is quite rare.

'''Ium'''
This is not an actual isotope of hydrogen (as are the rest of them, excluding maximum strength hydrogen), and is one imagined by Randall. It consists of one electron orbiting around nothing. The name likely relates to the fact that the past two isotopes consist of a suffix and "ium". Thus, hydrogen with only and electron in it would be called ium.

'''Wheelium'''
This isotope consists of a proton, electron, and neutron orbiting around nothing. It is likely called wheelium as it is shaped similarly to a wheel. There is a vaguely similar elemant called {{w|Positronium}}, where an electron and Positron orbit each other with nothing in the middle.

'''Instant Hydrogen (ready in 15 minutes)'''
This isotope consists of a single neutron. The title likely refers to how neutrons will on average take fifteen minutes to decay into a proton, an electron, and a neutrino, which would then form a hydrogen atom.

'''Hydrogen (Maximum Strength)'''
This isotope consists of a proton, an electron, and at least 13 neutrons. This isotope would decay quite quickly. The title likely refers to the fact that it is filled with neutrons, and is thus "Maximum Strength".

'''Oops, all neutrons'''
This isotope consists of four neutrons, with one orbiting around a group of three. It is likely to be a joke about an error, where, the creator (of these atoms) made an atom entirely out of neutrons. The name is likely a reference to an American breakfast cereal called [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cap%27n_Crunch#Variations Oops! All Berries].

{{notice2|The Mountain View, California Public Library is hosting an online chat with [[Randall Munroe]] Tuesday, January 31 at 11am Pacific. [https://libraryc.org/mountainviewlibrary/22032 Register here to send your question(s) to the moderators.]|image=Crystal Project Agt announcements.png}} 

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}
[[Cagegory:Chemistry]]

Talk:2700: Account Problems

2022-11-19T05:57:41Z

Equites:

What was going on with this page? [[User:Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)|Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)]] ([[User talk:Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)|talk]]) 00:58, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

:Vandalism. I mentioned it on the [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Admin requests|Admin requests]] page. It's getting reverted back to normal pretty quickly when it happens, but it will probably keep happening until an admin bans the person doing it, or the person doing it gets bored and stops on their own. [[User:Equites|Equites]] ([[User talk:Equites|talk]]) 01:05, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

are two nazis actually in an edit war or is it just one person astroturfing --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.100|162.158.63.100]] 01:18, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

I'm trying to combat it, but I'll only be able to keep this up for around another 20 minutes or so. [[User:InfoManiac|InfoManiac]] ([[User talk:InfoManiac|talk]]) 01:21, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

:Is TheusafBot ofline or something? Generally it handles this sort of stuff pretty well--[[User:Mapron01|Mapron01]] ([[User talk:Mapron01|talk]]) 01:44, 19 November 2022 (UTC)
::Theusafaggotry couldn't code a bot properly if his life depended on it. -- [[User:172.71.150.169|172.71.150.169]] ([[User talk:172.71.150.169|talk]]) ''(please sign your comments with <nowiki>~~</nowiki>~~)''
:::Man, what a pathetic life you must have, that you need to call peopl faggot online and troll to get a shred of attention and entretainment --[[User:Mapron01|Mapron01]] ([[User talk:Mapron01|talk]]) 02:05, 19 November 2022 (UTC)
::::The fact you even think anyone would actually be insulted to be called that makes it even sadder. --[[User:Mapron01|Mapron01]] ([[User talk:Mapron01|talk]]) 02:17, 19 November 2022 (UTC)
:::::The fact you're replying to yourself calling somebody a troll to say calling people names is sad is possibly the saddest thing in this discussion. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.142.176|172.71.142.176]] 04:33, 19 November 2022 (UTC)
::I'm pretty sure he is. [[User:Starstar|Starstar]] ([[User talk:Starstar|talk]]) 02:23, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

This reminds me of the time I used a character in my password that was the "stty kill" character for one workstation's default console terminal settings. I normally logged in via ssh, and occasionally logged in via xdm, but the time I tried logging in via the console, it really didn't like what was left of my password. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.180|162.158.62.180]] 01:25, 19 November 2022 (UTC)
:Ah, the good old days when ordinary printing characters were used for erase and kill. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 01:43, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

Vandals are just looking for a fun time, generally. Solution: make it not a fun time for them. Revert their edits dryly, patiently, with no particular comment or anything. Eventually they will get bored and find something else to do. Or, perhaps they'll sit there vandalizing while we revert them, we dozens against probably just one vandal. But if you make your irritation clear, that's "fun" to them, and they'll keep at it with renewed vigour. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.239|108.162.216.239]] 01:37, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

I accidentally used a backspace character in a username one time. It caused all sorts of problems with my account.

Also, I've never found the whole "The trolls will leave you alone if you don't move." thing to be effective. But I've never found anything else to be effective at universally adjusting behavior either.
-Master Areth

I wrote most of the current page after the first paragraph. It's a fairly sloppy first draft that could probably use some editing. Anyone who can should feel free to clean it up. Especially since the page is now protected (I'm not complaining; it was necessary) and so I can't edit it any more. [[User:Equites|Equites]] ([[User talk:Equites|talk]]) 05:57, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2700: Account Problems

2022-11-19T01:05:49Z

Equites:

2700: Account Problems

2022-11-19T00:54:22Z

Equites:

{{comic
| number = 2700
| date = November 18, 2022
| title = Account Problems
| image = account_problems_2x.png
| imagesize = 538x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = My password is just every Unicode codepoint concatenated into a single UTF-8 string.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a }}
[[Cueball]] walks toward [[Ponytail]] carrying his laptop. Ponytail is sitting at her desk, and turns to face him. Having attempted to fix Cueball's computer problems before, she replies with dread. Cueball promises that, "It's a normal problem this time.", and Ponytail reluctantly agrees to look at it. Cueball then reveals that he has included a {{w|Null-terminated_string|null string terminator character}} in one of his passwords, probably for a website. Ponytail responds in disbelief, and Cueball defends his actions by saying that the website told him to use special characters.

In computers, every "character" is a sequence of bytes. Every byte is a sequence of eight bits. A bit is always either a zero (0) or a one (1).

Every character is a sequence of bytes, but not every sequence of bytes is a valid character. For example, a JPEG image is also a sequence of bytes (much longer than a character). An MP3 audio file is also a sequence of bytes.

A null string terminator is a type of characters called a control character. Unlike characters which are letters of the alphabet or numbers, control characters are not intended to be displayed on the screen, and are not intended to be typed on a keyboard; rather, they are used for internal purposes in the computer program. It is thus strange and hard to understand how Cueball was able to successfully insert such a character in his password, since there is no sequence of keys he could type that would result in a null terminator.

Null terminators are used in older, C-based languages to mark where a string ends. Every programming language has variables{{citation needed}}, which are used to store data. In C, a primitive variable can store a small amount of data, such as an integer or boolean (true or false) value. Strings (which are a sequence of characters) often need to store much larger amounts of data; too much to fit in the memory space which is available for a primitive. To solve this, C uses a system called "pointers", in which the variable is an integer which refers to a memory location. When the string needs to be read or written, C looks up the memory location, and interprets the data as a series of characters. One problem is, because a string can be any length (big or small), C needs to know where to stop reading from memory. The null terminator is C's solution to this. When C encounters the null terminator, it knows it has reached the end of the string and stops reading. Therefore, it is important that the null terminator is not a normal character that can be typed on a keyboard.

This has implications for security. If users are able to add or remove null terminators at will, then they can exploit C's string reading mechanisms in order to read data in a way not intended by the software programmers. If a malicious user is successful in doing this, they may be able to intentionally cause security problems on the computer, such as infecting it with malware.

Based on Ponytail's reaction, this is not the first time Cueball has come to her with strange problems. Based on Cueball's reaction, it does not look like he was purposely trying to exploit a security vulnerability, but instead ended up in this situation through some mysterious, unexplained happenstance.

Cueball notes that his password contains a "special character", which is a typical requirement imposed on users. However, in most contexts, "special character" means an ordinary printable character, other than letters or numbers, that can be typed on a normal keyboard and seen on the screen. Cueball's use of "special" is technically true, as null terminals do have a specialized purpose; but his word usage is not in keeping with the way that phrase is normally understood.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Cueball walks up to Ponytail.]
:Cueball: Can you help me with my account?
:Ponytail: Oh no.
:Cueball: No no, I promise it's a normal problem this time.
:Ponytail: Okay. Fine. What is it?
:Cueball: I included a null string terminator as part of my password, and now I can't-
:Ponytail: How?!
:Cueball: They said to use special characters!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Cueball Computer Problems]]

2700: Account Problems

2022-11-19T00:51:50Z

Equites:

{{comic
| number = 2700
| date = November 18, 2022
| title = Account Problems
| image = account_problems_2x.png
| imagesize = 538x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = My password is just every Unicode codepoint concatenated into a single UTF-8 string.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a }}
[[Cueball]] walks toward [[Ponytail]] carrying his laptop. Ponytail is sitting at her desk, and turns to face him. Having attempted to fix Cueball's computer problems before, she replies with dread. Cueball promises that, "It's a normal problem this time.", and Ponytail reluctantly agrees to look at it. Cueball then reveals that he has included a {{w|Null-terminated_string|null string terminator character}} in one of his passwords, probably for a website. Ponytail responds in disbelief, and Cueball defends his actions by saying that the website told him to use special characters.

In computers, every "character" is a sequence of bytes. Every byte is a sequence of eight bits. A bit is always either a zero (0) or a one (1).

Every character is a sequence of bytes, but not every sequence of bytes is a valid character. For example, a JPEG image is also a sequence of bytes (much longer than a character). An MP3 audio file is also a sequence of bytes.

A null string terminator is a type of characters called a control character. Unlike characters which are letters of the alphabet or numbers, control characters are not intended to be displayed on the screen, and are not intended to be typed on a keyboard; rather, they are used for internal purposes in the computer program. It is thus strange and hard to understand how Cueball was able to successfully insert such a character in his password, since there is no sequence of keys he could type that would result in a null terminator.

Null terminators are used in older, C-based languages to mark where a string ends. Every programming language has variables[citation needed], which are used to store data. In C, a primitive variable can store a small amount of data, such as an integer or boolean (true or false) value. Strings (which are a sequence of characters) often need to store much larger amounts of data; too much to fit in the memory space which is available for a primitive. To solve this, C uses a system called "pointers", in which the variable is an integer which refers to a memory location. When the string needs to be read or written, C looks up the memory location, and interprets the data as a series of characters. One problem is, because a string can be any length (big or small), C needs to know where to stop reading from memory. The null terminator is C's solution to this. When C encounters the null terminator, it knows it has reached the end of the string and stops reading. Therefore, it is important that the null terminator is not a normal character that can be typed on a keyboard.

This has implications for security. If users are able to add or remove null terminators at will, then they can exploit C's string reading mechanisms in order to read data in a way not intended by the software programmers. If a malicious user is successful in doing this, they may be able to intentionally cause security problems on the computer, such as infecting it with malware.

Based on Ponytail's reaction, this is not the first time Cueball has come to her with strange problems. Based on Cueball's reaction, it does not look like he was purposely trying to exploit a security vulnerability, but instead ended up in this situation through some mysterious, unexplained happenstance.

Cueball notes that his password contains a "special character", which is a typical requirement imposed on users. However, in most contexts, "special character" means an ordinary printable character, other than letters or numbers, that can be typed on a normal keyboard and seen on the screen. Cueball's use of "special" is technically true, as null terminals do have a specialized purpose; but his word usage is not in keeping with the way that phrase is normally understood.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Cueball walks up to Ponytail.]
:Cueball: Can you help me with my account?
:Ponytail: Oh no.
:Cueball: No no, I promise it's a normal problem this time.
:Ponytail: Okay. Fine. What is it?
:Cueball: I included a null string terminator as part of my password, and now I can't-
:Ponytail: How?!
:Cueball: They said to use special characters!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Cueball Computer Problems]]

2700: Account Problems

2022-11-19T00:47:01Z

Equites:

{{comic
| number = 2700
| date = November 18, 2022
| title = Account Problems
| image = account_problems_2x.png
| imagesize = 538x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = My password is just every Unicode codepoint concatenated into a single UTF-8 string.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a }}
[[Cueball]] walks toward [[Ponytail]] carrying his laptop. Ponytail is sitting at her desk, and turns to face him. Having attempted to fix Cueball's computer problems before, she replies with dread. Cueball promises that, "It's a normal problem this time.", and Ponytail reluctantly agrees to look at it. Cueball then reveals that he has included a {{w|Null-terminated_string|null string terminator character}} in one of his passwords, probably for a website. Ponytail responds in disbelief, and Cueball defends his actions by saying that the website told him to use special characters.

In computers, every "character" is a sequence of bytes. Every byte is a sequence of eight bits. A bit is always either a zero (0) or a one (1).

Every character is a sequence of bytes, but not every sequence of bytes is a valid character. For example, a JPEG image is also a sequence of bytes (much longer than a character). An MP3 audio file is also a sequence of bytes.

A null string terminator is a type of characters called a control character. Unlike characters which are letters of the alphabet or numbers, control characters are not intended to be displayed on the screen, and are not intended to be typed on a keyboard; rather, they are used for internal purposes in the computer program. It is thus strange and hard to understand how Cueball was able to successfully insert such a character in his password, since there is no sequence of keys he could type that would result in a null terminator.

Null terminators are used in older, C-based languages to mark where a string ends. Every programming language has variables[citation needed], which are used to store data. In C, a primitive variable can store a small amount of data, such as an integer or boolean (true or false) value. Strings (which are a sequence of characters) often need to store much larger amounts of data; too much to fit in the memory space which is available for a primitive. To solve this, C uses a system called "pointers", in which the variable is an integer which refers to a memory location. When the string needs to be read or written, C looks up the memory location, and interprets the data as a series of characters. One problem is, because a string can be any length (big or small), C needs to know where to stop reading from memory. The null terminator is C's solution to this. When C encounters the null terminator, it knows it has reached the end of the string and stops reading. Therefore, it is important that the null terminator is not a normal character that can be typed on a keyboard.

This has implications for security. If users are able to add or remove null terminators at will, then they can exploit C's string reading mechanisms in order to read data in a way not intended by the software programmers. If a malicious user is successful in doing this, they may be able to intentionally cause security problems on the computer, such as infecting it with malware.

Based on Ponytail's reaction, this is not the first time Cueball has come to her with strange problems. Based on Cueball's reaction, it does not look like he was purposely trying to exploit a security vulnerability, but instead ended up in this situation through some mysterious, unexplained happenstance.

Cueball notes that his password contains a "special character", which is a typical requirement imposed on users. However, in most contexts, "special character" means an ordinary printable character that can be typed on a normal keyboard and seen on the screen. Cueball's use of "special" is technically true, as null terminals do have a specialized purpose; but his word usage is not in keeping with the way that phrase is normally understood.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Cueball walks up to Ponytail.]
:Cueball: Can you help me with my account?
:Ponytail: Oh no.
:Cueball: No no, I promise it's a normal problem this time.
:Ponytail: Okay. Fine. What is it?
:Cueball: I included a null string terminator as part of my password, and now I can't-
:Ponytail: How?!
:Cueball: They said to use special characters!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Cueball Computer Problems]]

2699: Feature Comparison

2022-11-19T00:29:47Z

Equites: rv vandalism - Undo revision 299090 by 108.162.246.115 (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2699
| date = November 16, 2022
| title = Feature Comparison
| image = feature_comparison_v2.png
| imagesize =
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Below the Web, and the Dark Web, a shadowy parallel world of Cybiko users trade messages on the Translucent Neon Plastic Web.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a MULTIHOMED MESH NODE. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic compares different remote communication services, including the relatively well-known {{w|Twitter}}, {{w|Discord}}, {{w|Mastodon (software)|Mastodon}}, {{w|Facebook}} (FB), {{w|Slack (software)|Slack}}, {{w|Signal (software)|Signal}}, {{w|Internet Relay Chat}} (IRC), {{w|Tumblr}}, {{w|Reddit}}, and {{w|SMS}} mobile telephone text messages. It also includes the less well-known {{w|Cybiko}}® wireless handheld computer for teens. For each of these, it purports to indicate which of various features they support. The comic illustrates how feature comparison charts/infographics can be abused by sellers who are trying to make their products look better than they really are, compared to their main competitors. The comic was likely inspired by the recent news coverage of Twitter's purchase by {{w|Elon Musk}}, and the subsequent mass firings and resignation of its staff, causing many users to start looking for alternatives.

The Cybiko was a handheld computer designed for teens and released in 2000, which featured its own two-way radio text messaging capabilities along with built-in games and a music player. Additional information about it is available at [http://cultureandcommunication.org/deadmedia/index.php/Cybiko the Dead Media Archive], as the device has not been manufactured since 2003. The chart implies that the Cybiko has an advantage over all of the other listed communication services, as it is capable of all eight of the table's listed features - {{w|Private message|direct messaging}}, {{w|group chat}}s, {{w|file transfer}}, built-in {{w|video game|games}}, instances of the software run by individual users instead of the corporation producing it, lack of a {{w|Server (computing)|central server}} requirement, {{w|mesh networking}}, and wireless message delivery without an active internet connection - with none of the others being close.

The comic, purposefully, does not mention the downsides of the Cybiko, that being purchasing and finding friends who own one can be its own challenge, as it was discontinued nearly 20 years ago. Additionally, the comparison can be considered apples to oranges, since Cybiko is a ''device'' rather than a ''service''; a fairer comparison would be to a modern {{w|smartphone}}, which can provide most of these features via multiple apps, including ones written especially for such rival services. Even ignoring the above, some of the Cybiko's "advantages" come with their own drawbacks: while not requiring a central server nor the Internet, for example, is touted as a plus, the Cybiko instead relies on having other devices in proximity to relay messages, meaning unless the person you are sending to is nearby it will not function, which is not an issue of any of the other options. "Mesh networking" is simply a consequence of the design, and is thus akin to advertising say, that a car makes ''vroom'' noises.

This comic contains several errors. Mastodon doesn't require a central server, or support file transfer. Discord does not provide for user-run instances itself, only user-moderated and administrated instances. (There are two third party Discord server implementations, but it is unclear whether those could be counted as run by users.) Slack does not provide for user-run instances itself. Reddit does not provide for user-run instances at all, only user moderation and administration. IRC does require at least one central server,[https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1459.html] and relegates file transfer support to the domain of client extensions. Signal is heavily used in user-run instances via a diverse ecosystem of code forks; many of these don't require a central server, a couple use mesh networking. Reddit occasionally does have built-in games. Finally, Tumblr and SMS both have a form of group chats. An earlier version of the comic suggesting that Mastodon has no user-run instances was corrected by [[Randall]] shortly after publication of the original.

The title text refers to the translucent plastic covers that were popular in the late 90's and early 00's.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[A table with checkmarks to indicate which features various messaging services have. Each column is labeled with a service name and its logo beneath, except that for the last column, the device's longer name is written higher than all the other services' names, with an arrow pointing to a drawing of the device below it.]

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! Twitter
! Discord
! Mastodon
! FB
! Slack
! Signal
! IRC
! Tumblr
! Reddit
! SMS
! Cybiko® wireless handheld computer for teens (2000)
|-
! Direct messages
| ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓
|-
! Group chats
| ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || || ✓ || || ✓
|-
! File transfer
| || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || || ✓ || || ✓
|-
! Built-in games
| || ✓ || || ✓ || || || || || || || ✓
|-
! User-run instances
| || ✓ || ✓ || || ✓ || || ✓ || || ✓ || || ✓
|-
! Doesn't require central server
| || || || || || || ✓ || || || || ✓
|-
! Mesh networking
| || || || || || || || || || || ✓
|-
! Wireless message delivery works without internet
| || || || || || || || || || ✓ || ✓
|-
|}

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Social networking]]