explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2839: Language Acquisition

2023-10-11T22:32:27Z

HisHighestMinion: Added explanation of schwa block, made transcript more screen-reader friendly

{{comic
| number = 2839
| date = October 9, 2023
| title = Language Acquisition
| image = language_acquisition_2x.png
| imagesize = 193x239px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = My first words were 'These were my first words; what were yours?'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by THESE WERE MY FIRST WORDS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|Language acquisition}} is the process by which humans, generally infants, learn a language.

There are many theories as to how this process works, but Randall takes this phrase literally, saying that infants learn languages one new word at a time. This may be true when learning a second language, but is typically not true for infants learning their native language (mother tongue). It is a common milestone to celebrate a child's "[https://www.parents.com/baby/development/talking/baby-talk-a-month-by-month-timeline1/ first word]", but typically these would be simple words, such as "mama" or "dada".

The child's sentence is twelve words, all unique. This implies these are the only words known so far, which would be a very unusual set of words to be the first ones learned. Furthermore, the child appears to have learned some fairly advanced grammatical concepts in order to construct this fairly complex sentence. Learning grammar typically takes much longer, and only occurs once a child has learned sufficient vocabulary to recognise patterns in how the words are used.

Interestingly if this sentence is true, the child has learned the word for 12 before learning the words for any other numbers, and so could not have given a quantitative update on previous days. However, this would also imply that their counting is not yet as advanced as their language acquisition, which may mean that they are simply wrong about the number of words they have learned.

The letter blocks on the ground next to the child show capital A & B, and an upside-down lowercase e. The block with the e may be placed upside-down, but it may also be a block with the phonetic symbol {{w|schwa}} on it. This would suggest the parents are teaching their child advanced linguistics concepts before they've fully learned to speak a first language, which might explain why the child's language acquisition is so unusual.

The title text makes a self-referential joke about the concept of "first words", where a supposed child discusses one's own first words in a complete sentence. There are seven unique words in the title text, most of which do not appear in the comic image, suggesting the title text and comic image referred to two different children.

[[2567: Language Development]] has had a similarly obscure take on language acquisition.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A child, drawn as a smaller Hairy. He stands amongst three blocks with letters on them, showing faces with A, B and an upside-down lowercase e. Megan and Cueball stand to the right of him.]
:Child: Vocabulary update: I learned another word today, bringing my total to twelve.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics with babies]]

2137: Text Entry

2023-01-01T05:33:41Z

HisHighestMinion: Not true, name was included in 2126

{{comic
| number = 2137
| date = April 15, 2019
| title = Text Entry
| image = text_entry.png
| titletext = I like to think that somewhere out there, there's someone whose personal quest is lobbying TV providers to add an option to switch their on-screen keyboards to Dvorak.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, Randall remarks upon something that he considers to be an absurdity of modern living; that in spite of our amazing advances in technology, there still exist user interfaces in 2019 where a person has to "pick letters" to type, a somewhat clunky and inefficient method of text entry. This can be seen when doing searches in a TV guide menu or in menus for streaming options like {{w|Netflix}} or {{w|Hulu}}. Some of these menus may allow for voice searches or support {{w|bluetooth keyboard}}s, but the traditional method is still to select letters via a cursor. Many controllers for devices only have a few buttons, which makes it necessary to use schemes such as scrolling around a picture of a keyboard to laboriously select letters, making this extremely inconvenient and annoying to users. The fact that these haven't been replaced with better interfaces comes as a surprise to Randall, hence him believing it to be the second most weird thing in 2019. [[Cueball]] is probably looking up ''{{w|Our Planet}}'' which was a popular Netflix series when this comic was released. Cueball has spelled out "O U R [space] P L" so far.

Randall references the "{{w|Score (game)|high score}}" in an {{w|arcade game}}. When achieving a high score in an arcade game, the user typically is able to enter their name or initials into the machine. These are entered by picking letters one by one (and usually under a time limit, for extra fun <s>and/or stress</s>), as the comic mentions.

The title text mentions the keyboard system {{w|Dvorak Simplified Keyboard|Dvorak}}, a [[:Category:Dvorak|recurrent theme]] on xkcd, which is a keyboard layout patented by {{w|August Dvorak}} and {{w|William Dealey}}. As the Dvorak layout is optimized for more efficient typing with two hands, it is unlikely that using it would be more efficient than a standard {{w|Qwerty}} when limited to cursor entry methods. Another drawback would be that the Dvorak layout is visually unfamiliar to most people, even to many Dvorak typists who rarely look at their keyboard and instead rely on muscle-memory to find keys. As such it could be confusing for users to use for TV selection menus compared to either the more visually familiar {{w|Qwerty}} layout or showing letters in alphabetical order. Alternately, Randall may be referring to Dvorak’s placement of frequently used letters clustered in the center as a potential slight improvement over the linear A-Z layout of such interfaces (a half-measure offered ironically, of course).

Although the focus of this comic is on the text entry method, Randall prefaces the comic with what he considers to be the actual weirdest thing about 2019: that {{w|Donald Trump}} is the president of the United States of America. Randall had previously expressed support for Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton, in the comic [[1756: I'm With Her]] which preceded the 2016 US Presidential Election. In that comic he did not mention Trump.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail and Cueball are sitting on a couch, with Megan standing behind them. Cueball is pointing a remote at a television. The word space is written inside a frame.]
:Television: O...U...R...SPACE...P...L...
:Remote: Click Click Click

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The weirdest thing about 2019 is obviously that Donald Trump is president, but I think the second weirdest is that you sometimes ''still'' have to type stuff in by picking letters on a screen one at a time with a cursor like you're entering a high score in a 1980s arcade game.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Dvorak]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Donald Trump]]

Talk:Sad comics

2022-12-29T08:16:38Z

HisHighestMinion: Discussion of sad comics links removals

I understand that the author of this page is trying to draw a connection between Randall's expressed mood and Donald Trump's presidential career, but honestly, this entire page is shaky at best (and nonsense at worst). Many of the comics listed seem to have been picked at random - even the page itself acknowledges that they have nothing to do with anything. It's unclear what the page is trying to say, there's no coherence to any of it, and really this just seems to be an extremely flimsy excuse to complain about Trump. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 12:44, 17 April 2019 (UTC)
:I agree, while it is clear that Randall is not happy (not even closely) with Trump as the president of the US, but the connection of every not-optimistic comic from the last 2.5 years to it seems abit constructed to me as well. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 03:51, 18 April 2019 (UTC)
:I totally agree, too. Imho this page requires a clean-up. But since this page is more or less a personal project of one contributor I would like to give the author of the page a chance to re-evaluate these "connections" before anyone else goes wild here. Or what do you think? [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 11:53, 18 April 2019 (UTC)
::With the new comic that even mentions Trump it is clear that this is still on Randall's mind. Also because three people who disagree about the page writes here, that is not a consensus. Only people who are agaqinst this page evey comes to the talk page. I had not even seen it before Hawthorn alerted me on this discussion (thanks for that). Yes I'm not a fan of Trump, but that has nothing to do with the fact that Randall is also not a fan. Which is made 100% clear a couple of times. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:00, 14 May 2019 (UTC)
::: ''"With the new comic that even mentions Trump it is clear that this is still on Randall's mind."'' - actually, that is ''not'' necessarily clear, for the simple reason that Trump is the President of the country that Randall lives in. He's literally one of the most important people in the USA; his decisions would affect Randall's life (and therefore, his comics) ''regardless'' of how Randall feels about him.
:::The real issue is that we simply ''can't'' speculate on Randall's feelings. Not only is it impossible to say anything with any degree of veracity, it's actually a bit insulting to Randall. How can we presume to know how he's feeling? What if we say something that isn't quite right (or completely wrong)? Would ''you'' trust a random person to interpret and voice your thoughts and feelings - even if they thought they were right?
:::Now if Randall ''expresses'' a negative opinion about Trump in a comic, that's different. That's what we're here for, because that is an actual fact that we can explain, with context as necessary. At that point, it is perfectly acceptable to note a pattern of Randall's expressed negativity over Trump. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 12:53, 14 May 2019 (UTC)

== This page should be deleted ==

I still believe that this page is useless and is merely the confused voice of a single contributor, trying to pass off their own personal opinion under the banner of ExplainXKCD-approved consensus, as if it's agreed fact. Well, I haven't agreed, and I know that many others do not agree either; and to be honest it's just embarrassing to have well-written, factual articles hijacked and muddied by someone's confused personal agenda.

I don't have anything against Kynde; he seems to be a well-meaning contributor, which is why I've held off from doing anything. But, I do now intend to remove every reference to this page from any ExplainXKCD articles that contain one. You can find these by searching "sad comics" in the search bar. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 12:50, 13 May 2019 (UTC)
:Well of course I disagree. There are so many connections between these comics. Then you would have to make a lot of work to connect those from the beginning of the Sad comics. This page collect the comics that directly or indirectly refers to Trump and Randall's mood after the election. I'm glad you do not have anything against me. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:55, 14 May 2019 (UTC)
::Maybe the page should not be deleted, but restructured and changed, e.g. made into a category that clearly says Donald Trump and is a subpage of politics. It would be only referenced in the various comics that really directly (naming him) or indirectly (talking about US presidency while he is in office/running for office). This would make it objective instead of vaguely connected to Randalls feelings, and also would make it clear for anyone visiting the site, what it is about before reading it. It could still have a paragraph (or more) about the conclusion that Randall is not a fan of Trump. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:53, 14 May 2019 (UTC)
:I agree. Most of these comic have no reference or clear connection to Trump's election, and this page reads more like interpretting Nostradamus than an actual explanation of a webcomic. [[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 04:06, 8 November 2019 (UTC)

== I've removed all references to this page ==

I removed all references to the "Sad comics" page from all articles I could find that contained one. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 22:28, 26 May 2019 (UTC)

I have once again removed references to sad comics from the rest of the wiki. It seems some of [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]]’s edits were reverted without discussion or explanation. As I see it, consensus is against the reintroduction of the sad comics links. If any user wants to reintroduce the links, that decision should be discussed on this talk page beforehand. I have watchlisted every page I edited tonight to avoid stealth reverts.
[[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 08:16, 29 December 2022 (UTC)

== ‘24 Election ==

Obviously if Trump wins the 2024 election (of which he very might, unfortunately), we may face another barrage of “Sad” comics. Get ready, contributing editors. [[User:SilverTheTerribleMathematician|SilverTheTerribleMathematician]] ([[User talk:SilverTheTerribleMathematician|talk]]) 06:02, 29 December 2022 (UTC)

2220: Imagine Going Back in Time

2022-12-29T07:05:38Z

HisHighestMinion: Removed sad comics reference

{{comic
| number = 2220
| date = October 25, 2019
| title = Imagine Going Back in Time
| image = imagine_going_back_in_time.png
| titletext = I wonder what the trendy adults in 2019 who are too cool for Pokemon will be into. Probably Digimon!
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is checking his ''{{w|Pokémon Go}}'' app to check on the status of a Pokémon he had previously left in a gym (to defend it against the other two teams in the game). In the gym he sees that another player named "Reelect Trump 2020" has left a frog Pokémon, which is now standing next to his. Cueball, evidently not a fan of President Trump or his supporters, finds it distasteful to be indirectly associated with someone whose political views he finds unpleasant. Alternatively, it may simply be that Cueball doesn't want politics injected into a game that he plays for fun.

When he remarks on this to [[Megan]], she observes how strange that remark would sound if he said it to his younger self from 20 years ago. Normally when people say "imagine going back in time", they are merely constructing a hypothetical scenario to illustrate how rapidly society has changed over the years. Megan is likely pointing out that the idea of Donald Trump becoming the President of the United States (let alone coming up for re-election) would have seemed very {{w|farfetch'd}} just 20 years ago.

However, it turns out that Cueball somehow actually does ''have'' the time-travel technology required to pull this off, and so he takes Megan's suggestion literally and goes back in time 20 years to do exactly what she suggested: he repeats the statement to his younger self to see what his reaction will be.

Unfortunately, past Cueball (in the year 1999) chooses to focus on a completely different aspect of the statement: the fact that ''Pokémon'' - a game that past Cueball sees as a children's game - will still somehow be popular in 20 years, and that his adult self is still playing it. These observations make Cueball feel uncomfortable, as they highlight the fact that he is spending time on pursuits that his younger self sees as frivolous or childish. He gets defensive and starts to argue with his younger self.

When his younger self begins to call it a sobering and cautionary tale, it may dawn upon present Cueball that he may just have changed how his former self will behave. (Could he, in the new iteration, never even begin playing Pokémon Go, and thus present Cueball may disappear and a different version of himself will exist 20 years later? Or could he have seeded encouragement for himself being more readily connected to all things Pokémon in the intervening years, putting himself further ahead of the resurgence in its popularity?) Or else future-Cueball is just frustrated at how past-Cueball is failing to notice his intended revelation — and in turn is failing to appreciate past-Cueball's own naive but still insightful interpretation.

{{w|Pokémon}} is a media franchise that debuted in 1996 in Japan as both a video game and a trading card game. It was originally designed for and marketed to younger children (the tie-in cartoon series constantly emphasizes its main characters are ten years old), with a design, aesthetic and gameplay that were optimized for a younger audience. Since then, and up to 2019, there have been a total of eight generations of video games on consoles. As the franchise continued to thrive and evolve, it's gone through multiple generations, including ''Pokémon Go'', an augmented reality game for smartphones. These latest versions, in particular, have become popular with (and marketed to) adults, some of whom grew up playing the earlier generations.

In 1999 in North America, only the first generation of Pokémon video games had been released, consisting of {{w|Pokémon Red and Blue|''Pokémon Blue'' and ''Pokémon Red''}} for the Nintendo Gameboy. The second generation of Pokémon video games would not even be announced in Japan until {{w|Pokémon Gold and Silver#Release|November 1999}}, and advertising for the North American release would begin in December of 1999. A person living in 1999, who has only seen the first generation, with no official confirmation that a second generation was even being considered, and unable to predict the nostalgia market that would appear later, would quite plausibly wonder about its popularity 20 years later.

{{w|Donald J. Trump}} was the president of the United States at the time of publishing, elected in 2016. Even during his campaign, the idea of his election was considered absurd in many circles, as he had never held any kind of public office, and had no background that would lend itself to expertise in government or public policy. Prior to his election, he was primarily known as a New York real estate mogul and host of the 2003 reality television show ''The Apprentice''. While he'd been teasing the idea of a presidential run since the 1980s, and indeed {{w|Donald Trump 2000 presidential campaign|was seeking the Reform Party candidacy in 1999}} (at the advice of then-Governor of Minnesota {{w|Jesse Ventura}}, another actor-turned-politician), most people did not take the idea seriously, and the concept of him actually being President of the United States would have been hugely unexpected to most Americans in an earlier era. 1999 Cueball might regard the name "Reelect Trump 2020" as an ironic joke, like a campaign button for {{w|Vermin Supreme}} or the [https://sweetmeteorofdeath.com/ Sweet Meteor Of Death].

Randall released a comic about Pokémon Go less than a week after its release back in July 2016: [[1705|1705: Pokémon Go]]. But Pokémon in general has been a [[:Category:Pokémon|recurring theme]] in xkcd long before Pokémon Go was released.

[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/pepe-the-frog Pepe the Frog] is an internet meme that has become associated with Donald Trump after his use of it during his presidential campaign. The use of a frog Pokémon, therefore, is a callback to this internet phenomenon.

The Pokémon left in the gym is most likely [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Politoed_(Pok%C3%A9mon) Politoed], the only official frog Pokémon released in the game at the time of publication. It comes from the tadpole series with [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Poliwag_(Pok%C3%A9mon) Poliwag] that evolves into [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Poliwhirl_(Pok%C3%A9mon) Poliwhirl] which by using a [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/King%27s_Rock King's Rock] can be evolved to Politoed (instead of to [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Poliwrath_(Pok%C3%A9mon) Poliwrath]). There are other frog-like Pokémon in the game which are scheduled to be added to Pokémon Go, but where people who dislike Trump might have chosen [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Toxicroak_(Pok%C3%A9mon) Toxicroak], it seems an unlikely choice by a fan that hopes Trump is reelected!

This comic's joke is similar to one used in the 1985 science-fiction film ''{{w|Back to the Future}}'', in which Doc Brown (of 1955) is shocked to learn that {{w|Ronald Reagan}} would be the President of the United States in thirty years' time, when in 1955 Reagan was a TV actor.

{{w|Digimon}}, as mentioned in the title text, is another media franchise which is similar to Pokémon in some ways, though it is sometimes perceived as more "cool" and "adult" oriented. Its popularity in North America rose around 1999 with the airing of its anime series, but [https://geekinsider.com/digimon-vs-pokemon-retrospective-monster-marketing/ never became as popular as Pokémon].

This was the first of two time travel comics in less than a week, as the one two comics after this one, [[2222: Terminator: Dark Fate]], also had future Cueballs travel back to visit their past self.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball talks to Megan while looking at his smart phone.]
:Cueball: Ugh. A player named "Reelect Trump 2020" put a frog Pokemon in the gym next to mine.

:[Megan puts her hand to her face. Cueball is holding a device in his hand with an antenna. He uses the other hand to move a stick on the device.]
:Megan: Imagine going back in time and saying that to yourself 20 years ago.
:Cueball: Oh, I have a time machine! I'll try that.

:[A sound effect between panels, likely the sound of Cueball's time machine.]
:Bzzzzt

:[Two Cueballs standing, facing each other. The one on the right is holding the handheld device, and is thus Cueball from 2019. He is apparently repeating his statement to the other Cueball from 1999, with only the last 3 words shown. He gestures towards the left Cueball. Above the left Cueball there is a frame with a caption:]
:1999
:Cueball from 2019: ...next to mine.

:[Cueball from 1999 is shown, with Cueball from 2019 speaking off panel.]
:Cueball from 1999: I see.
:Cueball from 1999: Pokemon is still popular in 2019?
:Cueball from 2019: Yeah.

:[Cueball from 2019 is holding a finger up in front of Cueball from 1999.]
:Cueball from 1999: And it's cool for people your age to play it?
:Cueball from 2019: OK, I did not come here to be mocked.
:Cueball from 1999: This is a sobering cautionary tale.
:Cueball from 2019: '''''Listen, self...'''''

==Trivia==
* The idea of people extending their childhood hobbies into adulthood was explored in a more positive light in [[219: Blanket Fort]] and [[150: Grownups]]. The blurred line between childhood and adulthood is a recurring theme on xkcd.

{{comic discussion}}

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

[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Time travel]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Donald Trump]]

2137: Text Entry

2022-12-29T07:03:05Z

HisHighestMinion: Removed sad comics reference

{{comic
| number = 2137
| date = April 15, 2019
| title = Text Entry
| image = text_entry.png
| titletext = I like to think that somewhere out there, there's someone whose personal quest is lobbying TV providers to add an option to switch their on-screen keyboards to Dvorak.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, Randall remarks upon something that he considers to be an absurdity of modern living; that in spite of our amazing advances in technology, there still exist user interfaces in 2019 where a person has to "pick letters" to type, a somewhat clunky and inefficient method of text entry. This can be seen when doing searches in a TV guide menu or in menus for streaming options like {{w|Netflix}} or {{w|Hulu}}. Some of these menus may allow for voice searches or support {{w|bluetooth keyboard}}s, but the traditional method is still to select letters via a cursor. Many controllers for devices only have a few buttons, which makes it necessary to use schemes such as scrolling around a picture of a keyboard to laboriously select letters, making this extremely inconvenient and annoying to users. The fact that these haven't been replaced with better interfaces comes as a surprise to Randall, hence him believing it to be the second most weird thing in 2019. [[Cueball]] is probably looking up ''{{w|Our Planet}}'' which was a popular Netflix series when this comic was released. Cueball has spelled out "O U R [space] P L" so far.

Randall references the "{{w|Score (game)|high score}}" in an {{w|arcade game}}. When achieving a high score in an arcade game, the user typically is able to enter their name or initials into the machine. These are entered by picking letters one by one (and usually under a time limit, for extra fun <s>and/or stress</s>), as the comic mentions.

The title text mentions the keyboard system {{w|Dvorak Simplified Keyboard|Dvorak}}, a [[:Category:Dvorak|recurrent theme]] on xkcd, which is a keyboard layout patented by {{w|August Dvorak}} and {{w|William Dealey}}. As the Dvorak layout is optimized for more efficient typing with two hands, it is unlikely that using it would be more efficient than a standard {{w|Qwerty}} when limited to cursor entry methods. Another drawback would be that the Dvorak layout is visually unfamiliar to most people, even to many Dvorak typists who rarely look at their keyboard and instead rely on muscle-memory to find keys. As such it could be confusing for users to use for TV selection menus compared to either the more visually familiar {{w|Qwerty}} layout or showing letters in alphabetical order. Alternately, Randall may be referring to Dvorak’s placement of frequently used letters clustered in the center as a potential slight improvement over the linear A-Z layout of such interfaces (a half-measure offered ironically, of course).

Although the focus of this comic is on the text entry method, Randall prefaces the comic with what he considers to be the actual weirdest thing about 2019: that {{w|Donald Trump}} is the president of the United States of America. Randall had previously expressed support for Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton, in the comic [[1756: I'm With Her]] which preceded the 2016 US Presidential Election. In that comic he did not mention Trump. Although several comics may have a relation to Donald Trump becoming president, this is the first time ever, Donald Trump has been mentioned by his full name in a standard xkcd comic. (In [[1939: 2016 Election Map]] he is referred to by his surname).

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail and Cueball are sitting on a couch, with Megan standing behind them. Cueball is pointing a remote at a television. The word space is written inside a frame.]
:Television: O...U...R...SPACE...P...L...
:Remote: Click Click Click

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The weirdest thing about 2019 is obviously that Donald Trump is president, but I think the second weirdest is that you sometimes ''still'' have to type stuff in by picking letters on a screen one at a time with a cursor like you're entering a high score in a 1980s arcade game.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Dvorak]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Donald Trump]]

2104: Biff Tannen

2022-12-29T06:57:59Z

HisHighestMinion:

{{comic
| number = 2104
| date = January 28, 2019
| title = Biff Tannen
| image = biff_tannen.png
| titletext = I can't help myself; now I want to read a bunch of thinkpieces from newspapers in Biff's 1985 arguing over whether the growth of the region into a corporate dystopia was inevitable.
}}

==Explanation==
Cueball is expounding a theory to White Hat regarding the alternate timeline seen in the movie ''{{w|Back to the Future II}}'', in which the character {{w|Biff Tannen}} stole a {{w|DeLorean time machine|time machine}} and used it to travel 60 years into the past to 1955. In that timeline, Future Biff gave his younger self a [https://backtothefuture.fandom.com/wiki/Grays_Sports_Almanac sports almanac] containing 50 years of outcomes of sporting events, which enabled his younger self to earn millions from betting on {{w|horse races}}. The end result of this is that the now-altered present of 1985 has become a corporate dystopia due to the actions of the exceedingly wealthy Biff and his company, BiffCo.

Cueball's theory is that the people now living in this dystopian 1985 would never know that their timeline was altered; as far as they are concerned, theirs ''is'' the true timeline. Because of this, they would seek to analyze every detail of Biff Tannen's rise to power, inventing their own theories as to his success and arguing with each other over the supporting evidence.

However, in the third panel, it becomes clear that this has all merely been Cueball's elaborate setup for a bad pun, causing White Hat to voice his disapproval.

;''Back to the Future II''
This comic is based on ''{{w|Back to the Future II}}''. In this movie, the character {{w|Biff Tannen}} steals the {{w|DeLorean time machine|time machine}}, which is the main plot device, and uses it to go back in time from 2015 to 1955. He then gives Marty McFly’s [https://backtothefuture.fandom.com/wiki/Grays_Sports_Almanac sports almanac], containing the outcomes of 50 years (1950–2000) worth of sporting events, to his own younger self. His younger self uses this sports almanac to make millions by successfully betting on {{w|horse races}}. He then forms a company, and calls it [https://backtothefuture.fandom.com/wiki/BiffCo BiffCo]. In the movie, the protagonists reverse this, by going back to 1955 and stealing the almanac back soon after Biff delivered it. It is heavily implied that the universe where BiffCo exists, also called “[https://backtothefuture.fandom.com/wiki/1985A 1985A]” in the movie, stops existing after this change, since the Biff from 1985A tries to kill Marty to stop him from doing this. However, [[Cueball]] imagines the 1985A timeline as continuing to exist in parallel, rather than being destroyed by the almanac heist as the movie seems to imply. This is consistent with the {{w|multiverse}} theory.

The movie is set in the fictional town of {{w|Hill Valley (Back to the Future)|Hill Valley, California}}. When the protagonists return to 1985, they find that Biff has turned the town’s “Courthouse Square” into a 27-story casino, and generally taken over Hill Valley. This has apparently resulted in the town being overrun by armed gangs, and beset by crime, violence, corruption, and an overall atmosphere of quasi-dystopian misery. This is what Cueball refers to as “the decline of the city, and general social decay”.

;Counterfactuals
Cueball mentions that this universe – that is, the 1985A ''Back to the Future'' timeline – would not have any ''counterfactuals'' to work with. This is often short, in {{w|epistemology}}, for {{w|counterfactual conditionals}}, that is, conditional statements about what ''would'' be true if something ''were'' true that we know for a fact is not true. Randall’s “[[what if?]]” series is based on counterfactuals, since it explores hypotheticals—conditionals which are contrary to fact. For example, the first “what if?” post, about what would happen if you tried to hit a baseball that was thrown at 90% the speed of light, is a counterfactual, because we know for a fact that a baseball has never been thrown at such a speed{{Citation needed}}. In the case of the 1985A universe, they would not have any information on the ''counterfactuals'', that is, the facts about [https://backtothefuture.fandom.com/wiki/Timeline_1 what would happen] if Biff did not have this almanac.

;''Hillbilly Elegy''
''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillbilly_Elegy Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis]'' is a book, published in June 2016, that gives an account of growing up in a poor {{w|Rust Belt}} town, and gives a broader, probing look at the struggles of America’s white working class. This comic is a play on the title of this book, which has been described as explaining the “social, regional, and class” issues in white working-class America. The white American working class was a key factor in the {{w|2016 United States presidential election|election}} of U.S. President Donald Trump, and many critics have interpreted the book as an explanation of his election, which was deemed improbable by many analysts before it happened. {{w|Netflix}} had [https://deadline.com/2019/01/netflix-hillbilly-elegy-ron-howard-movie-deal-40m-1202541118/ purchased the rights] to an upcoming film adaptation of the book three days before this comic, prompting another wave of criticism of the book’s theories.

Cueball is proposing a similarly-titled book, set in the ''Back to the Future II'' 1985A timeline, that would describe the supposed factors leading to the rise of Biff Tannen in Hill Valley. In that universe, while the rise of Biff—and the subsequent decay of the city—is the result of his using a future sports almanac to cheat at sports betting, the rest of the population would have to guess at the structural societal issues that might have caused Biff’s otherwise inexplicable success. Thus, Cueball compares such blind guessing with the analysis contained in ''Hillbilly Elegy''.

;White Hat’s reaction
This makes [[White Hat]] angry. This may be for various reasons:

*Because it’s such a painfully long setup for a really stupid pun.
*There is a decent chance that the book White Hat is currently reading is ''Hillbilly Elegy''. If he is enjoying it, this would make the joke more insulting to him, as it compares the book to useless theorizing about an event which was really caused by {{w|Time travel|time traveling}}.
*After seeing the similarity alluded to by Cueball between our current reality and a reality where the book ''Hill Valley Elegy'' is written, he might imagine that we may be living in a world where Trump’s election was {{w|Determinism|predetermined}}, just as Biff’s rise to power was predetermined by time travel. If he opposes Donald Trump politically, it would probably frustrate him to imagine that being optimistic for the future would be in vain, as any social change he might hope for may be simply predetermined not to happen, perhaps by time travelers.

;Relationship to political events
[[Randall]] is known to have [[1756: I'm With Her|supported Hillary Clinton]], the main opponent of Donald Trump, in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, having made a comic just to promote her. This may add to explaining the comic in the following ways:

*Randall may have made this comic as an insult to a book which supposedly explains the election of the candidate he opposed, by comparing it to useless (and wrong) theorizing.
*The comic may be intended as an insult to Trump himself, by comparing the {{w|Dystopia|dystopian}} 1985A universe, where Biff rose to power (albeit not as President) to the actual universe, where Trump was elected to the presidency.
*The comic may be an allusion to {{w|Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections|alleged Russian tampering}} of the 2016 U.S. elections: Randall may be proposing that it is futile to attribute Donald Trump’s rise to power to any set of structural societal issues, that may have acted indirectly, while ignoring the hidden, speculated, but far more direct cause of foul play, just as it would be futile to analyze Biff Tannen’s rise to power by similar means, ignoring the impact of foul play via time travel and a sports almanac.

The title text continues the comparison to the election situation by mentioning thinkpieces from newspapers that would appear in the ''Back to the Future II'' 1985A universe where Biff has taken over. Various thinkpieces did appear in real life newspapers in an attempt to explain Trump’s rise to power after his election, and asking whether it was inevitable.

As ''{{w|Back to the Future II}}''’s important [https://backtothefuture.fandom.com/wiki/October_21 October 2015] setting date approached, commentators began noting the similarities between the older version of the character Biff Tannen and then presidential candidate Donald Trump. When the comparison was brought to the attention of the film’s writer, {{w|Bob Gale}}, in an interview, he [https://www.thedailybeast.com/back-to-the-future-writer-biff-tannen-is-based-on-donald-trump# claimed] that elements of Tannen’s personality were actually based on Trump, who was already well known in the late 1980s for his work in real estate and tabloid controversies. Thus, there is a real connection between Biff Tannen and Donald Trump. This supports the comparison between the two made by Randall. That being said, actor {{w|Thomas F. Wilson|Tom Wilson}} has [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4lYCaFx3Og denied] that his performance of the role was in any way based on Trump.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball talks while walking up behind White Hat, who is reading in an armchair.]
:Cueball: You know, in the universe where Biff Tannen took Marty McFly’s sports almanac back in time, the people wouldn’t have any counterfactuals to work with.
:Cueball: Their world would be ''the'' world.

:[In a frame-less panel White Hat turns his head to look at Cueball as he keeps talking.]
:Cueball: They would have spent decades debating which structural problems enabled the rise of BiffCo, the decline of the city, and general social decay.
:Cueball: Everyone would find reasons it confirmed their pet theory.

:[White Hat turns his head back to his book.]
:Cueball: I'm going to write a book set in that universe. I'll call it ''Hill Valley Elegy''.
:White Hat: ... I ''hate'' you.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Time travel]]
[[Category:Back to the Future]]

2064: I'm a Car

2022-12-29T06:54:21Z

HisHighestMinion: Removed sad comics reference

{{comic
| number = 2064
| date = October 26, 2018
| title = I'm a Car
| image = im_a_car.png
| titletext = I'm the proud parent of an honor student, and the person driving me is proud, too!
}}

==Explanation==

This comic was released eleven days before the {{w|United States midterm election|United States midterm elections}} on {{w|United States elections, 2018|Tuesday, November 6, 2018}} and even the [[Design_of_xkcd.com#Header|header text]] at the top of the xkcd page had changed a few days before by showing a link to [https://www.vote.org/ vote.org] to help US citizens to register and finding their polling places.

This comic shows a car with a {{w|bumper sticker}}. Bumpers stickers display a short message the owner of the car want to show to other drivers or pedestrians. They are usually used to express a viewpoint, whether personal or political, held by the owner or driver of the car. This comic makes literal the ones that include or allude to the personal pronoun "I" and its variations, i.e. {{w|Grammatical person|first person singular}} statements. Of course the intent is that "I" is referring to the person who put the bumper sticker on the car, but as the sticker is attached to the car the more literal interpretation is that "I" is referring to the car. So the humor is derived by the notion that the car itself is making these statements. (On an even more meta level, the comic could be interpreted as saying that the person who wrote the words in the comic, i.e. [[Randall]], is saying that he is a car.)

The bumper sticker on the car in the comic is a variation of a sticker used to both encourage people to vote, as well as express their political position: "I'm a ___, and I vote" (where the blank is traditionally filled in with "Union Worker", "Catholic", "Senior Citizen", "Gun Owner" or some other demographic or organizational membership). However here it is attributed to an automobile which is not [https://resources.lawinfo.com/civil-rights/right-to-vote/what-are-the-requirements-to-be-eligible-to-v.html capable of voting].

The comic could be an indirect reference to the growing "intelligence" of {{w|self-driving cars}}, such that one day they might have the intellect to communicate, vote, and engage in other self-motivated activities. See ‘{{w|Sally (short story)|Sally}}’ by {{w|Isaac Asimov}}. It may also relate to security concerns around increasing use of electronic voting mechanisms - the joke being that the car is able to abuse the interfaces to such systems either to vote on behalf of its owner or as its own entity. Though voting might not be one's biggest concern if their "intelligent" car got dragged into a bot net...

The title text seems to be another [https://www.positivepromotions.com/proud-parent-of-an-honor-student-bumper-sticker-personalization-available/p/os-3360/ typical message] on a bumper sticker, saying that the driver is a "Proud Parent Of An Honor Student". However, this sticker is a bit longer, since it continues to state that "the person driving me is proud, too". Thus once again it is the car who is the proud parent. And thus maybe it is a car that is the honor student? Another thought is that this may be a reference to the 1965-66 TV sitcom {{w|My Mother The Car}}.

==Transcript==
:[The bottom right rear end of a car is shown with a bumper sticker next to the unreadable license plate.]
:I'm a car
:''and I vote''

==Trivia==
*This is the third comic displaying a bumper sticker, after the comics [[80: My Other Car]] and [[1033: Formal Logic]] that came out in 2006 and 2012 respectively.
*Bumper stickers also are mentioned as a future milestone for self-driving cars in [[1925: Self-Driving Car Milestones]].
*Randall also sells bumper stickers with the word "OPINIONS!" on them at the [https://store.xkcd.com/products/opinions-bumper-sticker xkcd-store].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Self-driving cars]]

1939: 2016 Election Map

2022-12-29T06:53:04Z

HisHighestMinion: Removing sad comics reference

{{comic
| number = 1939
| date = January 8, 2018
| title = 2016 Election Map
| image = 2016_election_map.png
| titletext = I like the idea of cartograms (distorted population maps), but I feel like in practice they often end up being the worst of both worlds—not great for showing geography OR counting people. And on top of that, they have all the problems of a chloro... chorophl... chloropet... map with areas colored in.
}}

*A [https://xkcd.com/1939/large/ larger version] of this image can be found by clicking the image at xkcd.com - the comic's page can also be accessed by clicking on the comic number above.

==Explanation==
The United States elects its president not directly by popular vote but by an Electoral College composed of a number of electors, partially proportional to population, from each state. Presently, a "winner-take-all" system is used in most states: the winner of the popular vote in each state receives all of the electoral votes for that state. Though, strictly speaking, the electors are not required to cast their ballots according to this system, many states impose penalties on them if they don't. Technically, the popular vote in each state is to elect a slate of electors who in turn elect the President. Many Republicans tend to claim that Trump had a strong victory, and show maps filled with large, red counties. These maps look even redder than the state maps, so they make it look like Trump won a large nationwide victory. However, as Randall points, out, those maps are misleading, and using them to promote your candidate is a bit disingenuous.

The news media commonly use maps to represent the progress or results of the election. Because of this winner-take-all system, states won by the Democratic candidate are typically portrayed in one color (blue is currently in wide use), and states won by the Republican candidate in another (currently red). In recent years, this distinction has gone far beyond electoral maps, and states are often referred to as "blue" or "red" by their political leaning in many contexts.

Randall seems to be making a point on the shortcomings of both maps, by showing how different the actual vote was from the red and blue choropleth maps. He mentions how strange cartograms look, and by creating this map he hopes that it will convey the actual vote by geography well, while keeping the normal geographic boundaries.

The title text repeatedly attempts and fails to spell the term {{w|choropleth map}}, a map that uses shading or colors to show information about a geographic area, such as a 'normal' election map that shows districts/states colored to the party that won them. In geography classes, "choropleth" is known as a chronically misspelled and mispronounced word. This is because the "choro" syllable sounds very similar to the Greek prefix "chloro", meaning "green in color" or "containing chlorine". The similar "pl" consonant cluster in the second syllable adds to this, resulting in {{w|Metathesis (linguistics)|metathesis}}. A choropleth map has many shortcomings. For example, many large Western states have small populations and thus don't make much difference to the electoral vote count, but look like a broad swath of red or blue on the map. The map overall can have the appearance of being very red or very blue, suggesting to the eye an overwhelming victory, when in fact the election can be extremely close. Donald Trump has [http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/04/heres-the-electoral-map-president-trump-gave-reporters.html repeatedly] [https://twitter.com/TreyYingst/status/862669407868391424/photo/1 emphasized] how red the map appears, especially when broken down by county, even though he actually lost the popular vote. In a speech on June 21, 2017, he said, "And those maps, those electoral maps, they were all red. Beautiful red."

In this cartoon, [[Randall]] seems to be pointing out the shortcomings of the choropleth map (or perhaps this overall red-state/blue-state mentality). His map shows more clearly the small impact of the low-population states, as well as how combination of the winner-take-all system with the typical election maps fails to show the sometimes large number of opposition votes in a given state. This map also combines all third-party or independent candidate into one type of marker (green, likely as the third primary {{w|additive color}} available, but at least in part would represent {{w|Green Party in the United States|the Green Party}}), making it clear that a substantial number of votes went to these candidates.
A {{w|cartogram}}, also referenced in the title text, is a map that changes the size, and sometimes shape, of a region based on population or some other metric. Like a choropleth, these maps also have many shortcomings, the most obvious being the distortion required for the maps to work sometimes making it difficult to tell what and where the region actually is. Many versions of cartograms use squares to represent each region, with the size of the square corresponding to the metric measured. Often, it's easier to find specific places on these square maps.

A similar map was actually used during the 2016 election [https://ig.ft.com/us-elections/results by the Financial Times] ([https://www.ft.com/content/3685bf9e-a4cc-11e6-8b69-02899e8bd9d1 discussed here]). It made similar use of colorless states for geographic information and color in proportion to population for electoral information. However, the FT map is based on the electoral college, not the popular vote. It in turn is similar to a 2013 map used [https://www.theguardian.com/world/datablog/interactive/2013/sep/06/australian-election-results-map by The Guardian] for the 2013 Australian election ([https://www.theguardian.com/world/datablog/2013/sep/06/better-election-results-map discussed here]). Other compromise maps of geographic and electoral information exist, such as maps of geographically accurate but re-scaled states: a 2016 election example [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ElectorScaledUS2016.svg is here], indirectly inspired by [https://www.vox.com/2015/8/19/9178979/united-states-population a similar vox.com map].

With a stick figure representing 250,000 votes, Trump would have exactly 251.918544 stick figures and Clinton would have exactly 263.37844 stick figures according to the [https://splinternews.com/here-is-the-final-popular-vote-count-of-the-2016-electi-1793864349 final results]. The map shows 252 Trump stick figures and 264 Clinton stick figures, meaning Randall used ceiling rounding instead of conventional rounding, which would have shown Clinton with one fewer stick figure.

===Table===
{| class = "wikitable sortable"
!State
!Red
!Blue
!Green
!Total
|-
| {{w|Alabama}} || align="right"| 5 || align="right"| 3 || align="right"| || align="right"| 8
|-
| {{w|Alaska}} || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| || align="right"| || align="right"| 1
|-
| {{w|Arizona}} || align="right"| 5 || align="right"| 4 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 10
|-
| {{w|Arkansas}} || align="right"| 3 || align="right"| 2 || align="right"| || align="right"| 5
|-
| {{w|California}} || align="right"| 18 || align="right"| 35 || align="right"| 5 || align="right"| 58
|-
| {{w|Colorado}} || align="right"| 4 || align="right"| 5 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 10
|-
| {{w|Connecticut}} || align="right"| 2 || align="right"| 3 || align="right"| || align="right"| 5
|-
| {{w|Delaware}} || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 3 || align="right"| || align="right"| 4
|-
| {{w|Florida}} || align="right"| 19 || align="right"| 18 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 38
|-
| {{w|Georgia (U.S. state|Georgia}} || align="right"| 8 || align="right"| 7 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 16
|-
| {{w|Hawaii}} || align="right"| || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| || align="right"| 1
|-
| {{w|Idaho}} || align="right"| 2 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| || align="right"| 3
|-
| {{w|Illinois}} || align="right"| 9 || align="right"| 13 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 23
|-
| {{w|Indiana}} || align="right"| 6 || align="right"| 4 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 11
|-
| {{w|Iowa}} || align="right"| 3 || align="right"| 2 || align="right"| || align="right"| 5
|-
| {{w|Kansas}} || align="right"| 3 || align="right"| 2 || align="right"| || align="right"| 5
|-
| {{w|Kentucky}} || align="right"| 5 || align="right"| 3 || align="right"| || align="right"| 8
|-
| {{w|Louisiana}} || align="right"| 5 || align="right"| 3 || align="right"| || align="right"| 8
|-
| {{w|Maine}} || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 2 || align="right"| || align="right"| 3
|-
| {{w|Maryland}} || align="right"| 2 || align="right"| 6 || align="right"| || align="right"| 8
|-
| {{w|Massachusetts}} || align="right"| 4 || align="right"| 7 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 12
|-
| {{w|Michigan}} || align="right"| 9 || align="right"| 8 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 18
|-
| {{w|Minnesota}} || align="right"| 5 || align="right"| 6 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 12
|-
| {{w|Mississippi}} || align="right"| 3 || align="right"| 2 || align="right"| || align="right"| 5
|-
| {{w|Missouri}} || align="right"| 6 || align="right"| 4 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 11
|-
| {{w|Montana}} || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| || align="right"| 2
|-
| {{w|Nebraska}} || align="right"| 2 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| || align="right"| 3
|-
| {{w|Nevada}} || align="right"| 2 || align="right"| 2 || align="right"| || align="right"| 4
|-
| {{w|New Hampshire}} || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| || align="right"| 2
|-
| {{w|New Jersey}} || align="right"| 6 || align="right"| 9 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 16
|-
| {{w|New Mexico}} || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 2 || align="right"| || align="right"| 3
|-
| {{w|New York (state)|New York}} || align="right"| 12 || align="right"| 20 || align="right"| 2 || align="right"| 34
|-
| {{w|North Carolina}} || align="right"| 10 || align="right"| 9 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 20
|-
| {{w|North Dakota}} || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| || align="right"| || align="right"| 1
|-
| {{w|Ohio}} || align="right"| 11 || align="right"| 9 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 21
|-
| {{w|Oklahoma}} || align="right"| 4 || align="right"| 2 || align="right"| || align="right"| 6
|-
| {{w|Oregon}} || align="right"| 3 || align="right"| 4 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 8
|-
| {{w|Pennsylvania}} || align="right"| 12 || align="right"| 11 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 24
|-
| {{w|Rhode Island}} || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 2 || align="right"| || align="right"| 3
|-
| {{w|South Carolina}} || align="right"| 5 || align="right"| 3 || align="right"| || align="right"| 8
|-
| {{w|South Dakota}} || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| || align="right"| || align="right"| 1
|-
| {{w|Tennessee}} || align="right"| 6 || align="right"| 4 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 11
|-
| {{w|Texas}} || align="right"| 19 || align="right"| 16 || align="right"| 2 || align="right"| 37
|-
| {{w|Utah}} || align="right"| 2 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 4
|-
| {{w|Vermont}} || align="right"| || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| || align="right"| 1
|-
| {{w|Virginia}} || align="right"| 7 || align="right"| 8 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 16
|-
| {{w|Washington (state)|Washington}} || align="right"| 5 || align="right"| 7 || align="right"| 2 || align="right"| 14
|-
| {{w|Washington DC}} || align="right"| || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| || align="right"| 1
|-
| {{w|West Virginia}} || align="right"| 4 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| || align="right"| 5
|-
| {{w|Wisconsin}} || align="right"| 6 || align="right"| 5 || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| 12
|-
| {{w|Wyoming}} || align="right"| 1 || align="right"| || align="right"| || align="right"| 1
|-class="sortbottom"
! Total || align="right"| 252 || align="right"| 264 || align="right"| 30 || align="right"| 546
|}

==Transcript==
:[A map of the United States, with Hawaii and Alaska offset, is shown. Across the states red, blue and green Cueball like stick figure are scattered about, much more on each coast, and very few in the central parts, especially in the mid west. There are about the same amount of red and blue stick figures. There are not many green, but they are represented almost in any state with more than 10 stick figures. Above the map there is a large bold title. Below that there is a legend description explaining the red, blue and green Cueball stick figure with labels of who they represent next to them. Below this, in light gray text, are two lines of explanation of how the map was created:]
:<big>'''2016 Election Map'''</big>
:Each figure represents 250,000 votes
:[Red stick figure:] Trump
:[Blue stick figure:] Clinton
:[Green stick figure:] Other
:Based on 2016 election results
:Votes are distributed by states as accurately as possible while keeping national totals correct.
:Location within each state is approximate.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:US maps]]
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Donald Trump]]

1898: October 2017

2022-12-29T06:52:29Z

HisHighestMinion: Removing sad comics reference

{{comic
| number = 1898
| date = October 4, 2017
| title = October 2017
| image = october_2017.png
| titletext = And yet I have no trouble believing that the start of the 2016 election was several decades ago.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Randall]] [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|once again makes us feel old]] by referencing an old movie that our memory puts as recent. The movie in question is ''{{w|The Social Network}}'', written by {{w|Aaron Sorkin}} and directed by {{w|David Fincher}}, which was released seven years and three days prior to this comic, on October 1, 2010. Seven years is also how long some people believe bad luck will follow you after [http://www.mirrorhistory.com/mirror-facts/broken-mirror breaking a mirror].

[[Megan]] has often tried to make [[Cueball]] feel old and he thus claims he doesn't want to hear another of her factoids that will make him feel older, as he already feels old. Megan actually complies, but in the end Cueball gets too curious and ask her to hit him with the fact, which he immediately regrets.

A mirror was previously broken by [[Black Hat]] in [[1136: Broken Mirror]]. However, as of October 2017, there are still 2 years left of bad luck.

The title text refers to the the {{w|United_States_presidential_election,_2016|2016 US presidential election}} which took place on November 8, 2016, almost 11 months before this comic, and Randall/Cueball cannot understand that this is not longer ago. {{w|Donald Trump}} won in a surprise victory over {{w|Hillary Clinton}} ([[Randall]]'s preferred of the two, see [[1756: I'm With Her]]). A common refrain, especially among comedians, is that Donald Trump's tumultuous presidency so far has been so stressful and eventful that the election feels like it took place far longer than 11 months ago. {{w|Telescoping_effect|Backward telescoping}} is a psychological effect that causes people to overestimate the elapsed time since an event.

Interestingly, the title of this comic is patterned on the previous "this will make you feel old" comic "[[November 2016]]," which was published in the early hours of November 9th, while the presidential election's ballots were still being counted. Some people (including ''explain xkcd'' editors, writing in that explanation's [[1757:_November_2016#Trivia|trivia]] section, see that for more details, also on this special title name) felt that Randall could have published something more timely, and commented that the election had made them feel old enough as it was. By using the same sort of title and making this joke, Randall brings the whole thing full circle.
==Transcript==
:[Megan and Cueball are walking.]
:Megan: Want to feel old?
:Cueball: Why do you always start your factoids that way? Of '''''course''''' I don't want to feel old. I '''''already''''' feel old.

:[Slim beat panel where they keep walking.]

:[In a frame-less panel only Cueball is shown walking.]
:Cueball: ...Fine, hit me.

:[Megan holds her hand up as they again are shown walking together. Cueball balls his hands up into fists in response to her comment.]
:Megan: If you broke a mirror back when the Aaron Sorkin Facebook movie came out, your seven years of bad luck would be over this week.
:Cueball: '''''Dammit.'''''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]
[[Category:Politics]]

1876: Eclipse Searches

2022-12-29T06:50:29Z

HisHighestMinion: Removed sad comics link

{{comic
| number = 1876
| date = August 14, 2017
| title = Eclipse Searches
| image = eclipse_searches.png
| titletext = There were traffic jams for the eclipses in 1970 and 1979, and that was *before* we had the potential for overnight viral social media frenzies.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is the first of five consecutive comics published in the week before and during the {{w|solar eclipse}} occurring on Monday, {{w|Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017|August 21, 2017}} which was visible as a total solar eclipse within a band across the {{w|contiguous United States}} from west to east and visible as a partial eclipse across the entire contiguous United States and beyond. The other comics are [[1877: Eclipse Science]], [[1878: Earth Orbital Diagram]], [[1879: Eclipse Birds]], and [[1880: Eclipse Review]].

[[Cueball]] comes to tell [[Megan]] about a cool map showing that searches on Google on the word Eclipse trace the same path across the USA as the totality band does, implying that those living in the zone are more interested than the rest of the US population.

The "[https://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/files/2017/08/eclipse.png cool map]" is hosted by ''{{w|The Washington Post}}'' and sourced from {{w|Google Trends}} data. The link shown in the comic is here: [http://wapo.st/2vkgIBv wapo.st/2vkgIBv] (subscription required); an archived version is available [https://web.archive.org/web/20170814171105/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/08/01/the-path-of-the-solar-eclipse-is-already-altering-real-world-behavior/ here] at archive.org

Since the eclipse searches are outpacing the {{w|2016 United States elections|2016 election}} searches now, this is saying the eclipse popularity is going to rocket upwards just before the eclipse. Cueball is thus warned by Megan that the extreme amount of social media interest in the eclipse may lead to massive traffic jams, as last days frenzy regarding the eclipse will cause an enormous amount of people to decide to go to the eclipse in the last moment, causing huge traffic jams. (These traffic jams may be analogous to long lines at the polls or traffic jams caused by people trying to get to the polls.) Also as soon as people driving on the freeway enters the totality zone it has been seen happening that people just stop their cars and get out blocking the roads. This time also the eclipse-viewers will wish to post their content on the social media which might also cause a cyber traffic jam, in which users may find that they experience delays in sending or receiving data due to a high demand on telecommunications infrastructure. Megan tells Cueball to bring water if he is on the road during the totality, the implication being that people who are on the road may be stuck in their vehicles for long periods of time, and thus need refreshments.

In the graph charting interest in the {{w|United States presidential election, 2016|2016 US presidential election}}, November 8 is an important date as it was the day the election was held. August 21, 2017 refers to the date of the then upcoming solar eclipse.

The title text refers to the total eclipses from {{w|Solar eclipse of March 7, 1970|1970}} and {{w|Solar eclipse of February 26, 1979|1979}} which were also visible in the US, but both only for a few states. The traffic jams will be worse than those caused by previous eclipses, as we did not have viral social media in the 1970s, and also much less traffic on the roads.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball walks up to Megan while holding his smartphone up in his hand. Megan sits in an office chair in front of her desk with an open laptop on it. She turns her head towards him. A footnote to Cueball's speech is at the bottom right of the panel.]
:Cueball: Have you seen this cool map* showing how Google searches for "eclipse" trace the eclipse's path?
:Megan: Yeah!
:Megan: But you know what else I noticed?
:Cueball: What?
:Footnote: *wapo.st/2vkgIBv

:[Two panels are on top of each other. In the smaller top panel a colored graph is shown with a blue growing graph and a steeper growing red graph above it. Both are labeled. The x-axis (a black line) has labels and arrows below it in red and blue to indicate time periods. Text above the graph:]
:Searches for "eclipse" in the weeks before the eclipse are outpacing searches for "election" in the weeks before the 2016 election.
:Red line: Eclipse
:Blue line: Election
:Red x-axis labels: 2017 →|← July →|← August → 
:Blue x-axis labels: 2016 - September →|← October →|← 

:[Behind the top panel is a second larger panel slightly lower end more to the right. The visible part at the bottom of this panel is showing the same line graphs with the one from the election going past the election day. The x-axis labels ranges over a later time. The blue graph has a huge peak at the election day, visible in the part of the panel to the right of the top panel) and this date is written in a blue dot on the label. Similar the date of the Eclipse is written in a red dot. The red graph above the blue still ends in dots before the expected peak, as it is in the future.]
:Red line: Eclipse
:Blue line: Election
:Red x-axis labels: 2017 - July →|← August 21 → 
:Blue x-axis labels: 2016 - October →|← November 8 → 

:[Megan with her hands on the laptop and Cueball are both looking at the laptop. Beat panel.]

:[Cueball stands again and Megan has taken her hands down from the laptop.]
:Cueball: This is gonna be bad, isn't it?
:Megan: If you're planning to be on the road next Monday, bring water.

==Trivia==
*This is the second reference to the Eclipse within a month, the first was in [[1868: Eclipse Flights]]. The 2017 eclipse was mentioned as early as 2013 in the title text of [[1302: Year in Review]]. And this years ''New Year'' comic [[1779: 2017]] also mentions it. Both comics joking in the title text that it may be canceled or not happening.
*It was the first time in about four months [[Randall]] made a reference about the presidential election from 2016, compared to several comics released withing the first half year after the election, with some kind of relation the the election.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Total Solar Eclipse 2017]]

1824: Identification Chart

2022-12-29T06:49:35Z

HisHighestMinion: Removed sad comics reference

{{comic
| number = 1824
| date = April 14, 2017
| title = Identification Chart
| image = identification_chart.png
| titletext = Be careful-it's breeding season, and some of these can be *extremely* defensive of their nests.
}}

==Explanation==
Some aircraft are named after creatures of flight, including {{w|bird of prey|birds of prey}}, other birds, and insects. This comic spoofs an "identification guide" of bird silhouettes, each with the {{w|fuselage}} of an aircraft and the wings of the flying animal from which the aircraft gets its name. All are birds with the exception of the {{w|hornet|hornet}} which is an insect, see the [[#Table|table]] below for individual explanations.

This idea of having feathered wings on a plane is absurd, as bird wings (for birds that can fly) are made to support the lightweight structure of a bird. Supporting the metal parts of a plane along with its human pilot would be impossible.{{Citation needed}}

General military training often includes aircraft identification. {{w|Aircraft_recognition|Silhouette charts}} are given to ground observers for memorization and reference so that friend or foe can be determined in the field. Conversely, many bird watching books will carry pictures of avian silhouettes from below, as often key details like tail and wing shape are the easiest way to determine the species of a high soaring bird, especially birds of prey. (Two comics later [[Cueball]] is out birdwatching with his friend in [[1826: Birdwatching]] and could need such a chart, if he could spot any birds that is. A hawk, that is actually a drone, was spotted in [[1910: Sky Spotters]].)

The pseudo-confusion between birds and planes here could be a reference to the "It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman" quote often used in, naturally, {{w|Superman}}-related entertainment. A similar joke was used in [[1792: Bird/Plane/Superman]].

The comic highlights not only the various designs of aircraft tails, but also bird wings. Some wings are highly adapted for soaring (eagle), speed (falcon), as well as rapid acceleration and short flights (blackbird).

The title text is juxtaposing military air bases with breeding nests of the animals, both of which might earn a hostile response to approach at the wrong time, but in wildly different measure. Encroaching on breeding territory of some of the birds being referenced may result in getting dived at or chased, so the comparison invites the reader to imagine what might happen if the analogous creatures in the comic were defending their nest with aircraft ordnance. And if the birds were armed, with the missiles normally found on a military aircraft then imagine what would happen... This could also be a reference to the increasing hostility between US and Russia, as well as the generally more strained relationship US now has with many countries after the election of {{w|Donald Trump}} for president half a year before this comic was released. This is also the second comic to refer to the military in less than two months, the first being [[1803: Location Reviews]] reviewing a Nuclear Launch Facility.

The idea of a bird with plane engines was first used in [[1729: Migrating Geese]], which also shows birds in silhouette. The third last bird in the right arm of the V-formation has twin engines.

===Table===
{| class="wikitable"
!Animal
! style="width: 8em" | Plane
!Description
|-
|{{w|Osprey|Osprey}}
|{{w|Bell_Boeing_V-22_Osprey|V-22 Osprey}}
|The osprey (Pandion haliaetus) is a raptor with distinctive white and brown coloring. It's also sometimes referred to as a sea hawk or fish eagle due to its virtually all fish diet.
The V-22 Osprey is a tilt-rotor aircraft that has been in development since the 1980s, and was introduced to the U.S. Armed Forces in 2007. It's a troop carrier aircraft that combines the vertical take-off ability of a helicopter with the high cruising speed of an airplane. (''{{w|Bell Helicopter}}'' and {{w|Boeing Rotorcraft Systems|''Boeing''}})
|-
|{{w|Hornet|Hornet}}
|{{w|McDonnell_Douglas_F/A-18_Hornet|F/A-18 Hornet}}
|Hornets are a type of wasp of the genera vespa or provespa. They're known to be highly territorial and aggressive.
The F-18 Hornet is a fighter developed for the Navy in the 1970s. It's been deployed by air forces around the world in both air-to-air and air-to-ground roles, and is flown by the US Navy demonstration team, the Blue Angels. The airplane is still being produced in an updated and larger version, the {{w|F/A-18E/F Super Hornet}}. (''{{w|McDonnell Douglas}}'')
|-
|{{w|Falcon|Falcon}}
|{{w|General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon}}
|A falcon is a bird of prey known for its tapered wings that allow for high speed flight and high maneuverability.
The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a light single-engine fighter. It's flown by the USAF demonstration team, the Thunderbirds. (''{{w|General Dynamics}}'')
|-
|{{w|Harrier (bird)|Harrier}}
|{{w|Harrier_Jump_Jet|AV-8B Harrier}}
|A harrier is a hawk that hunts by flying low over open ground.
The first operational {{w|STOL}}/{{w|VTOL}} fighter. They are known for their use in the {{w|Falklands War}} (1982), where they operated from converted cargo ships as well as aircraft carriers. (''{{w|Hawker Siddeley}}'')
|-
|{{w|Eagle|Eagle}}
|{{w|McDonnell_Douglas_F-15_Eagle|F-15 Eagle}}
|Eagle is a common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae.
Introduced in 1976, other jets like the F-16 have filled its role. The U.S. Air National Guard is the largest operator as of now. (''{{w|McDonnell Douglas}}'')
|-
|{{w|Kestrel|Kestrel}}
|{{w|Kestrel_K-350|Kestrel K-350}}
|A bird of prey that can hover before swooping in on its prey.
The Kestrel is a single-engine, proof-of-concept aircraft, similar to the {{w|Pilatus PC-12}}. (''{{w|Kestrel Aircraft}}'')
|-
|{{w|Hawk|Hawk}}
|{{w|BAE_Systems_Hawk|Hawk T1}}
|A hawk is a large bird of prey with a heavy head and beak. They have very acute vision.
A trainer aircraft. It is flown by the Royal Air Force display team, the ''{{w|Red Arrows}}''. {{w|T-45 Goshawk}} is the U.S. designation of a variant of this aircraft. The fuselage silhouette is of a BAE Hawk, although other aircraft have also had Hawk-related names, for example the Hawker [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Sea_Hawk Sea Hawk] and the Douglas [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_A-4_Skyhawk A-4 Skyhawk]. (''{{w|BAE Systems}}'')
|-
|{{w|Common blackbird|Blackbird}}
|{{w|Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird|SR-71 Blackbird}}
|There are many birds that go under the {{w|Blackbird#Birds|name blackbird}} but the common blackbird is a species of {{w|true thrush}}.
A Mach 3+ spy aircraft, known for its speed and engine design (which allowed them to work both as turbines and ramjets). Imagine a bird flying at supersonic speeds, if anything, it would be disastrous at the least.{{Citation needed}} (''{{w|Lockheed Martin}}'')
|}

==Transcript==
:[A silhouette identification guide chart shows eight silhouettes in two rows. The silhouettes are a combination of the fuselage of an aircraft and the wings of birds, or in the second case an insect. Below each silhouette is a label:]
:Osprey Hornet Falcon Harrier
:Eagle Kestrel Hawk Blackbird

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Aviation]]

1820: Security Advice

2022-12-29T06:40:12Z

HisHighestMinion: Removed sad comics reference

{{comic
| number = 1820
| date = April 5, 2017
| title = Security Advice
| image = security_advice.png
| titletext = Never give your password or bank account number to anyone who doesn't have a blue check mark next to their name.
}}

==Explanation==
This is another one of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]], this time a list of security tips.

The comic depicts a conversation between [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]], discussing the fact that giving people security advice in the past has failed to improve their internet security, and in some cases even made things worse. One such example is telling people to create complicated passwords containing numbers and symbols, which not only made the passwords harder to remember (leading people to create huge security risks by [https://arstechnica.com/security/2015/04/hacked-french-network-exposed-its-own-passwords-during-tv-interview/ leaving post-it notes with their passwords on their computer monitor]), but did not actually make those passwords harder to crack (see [[936: Password Strength]]).

As a result, Cueball suggests using {{w|reverse psychology}} and give out bad advice instead, in hopes of achieving a positive effect. The last panel contains a list with 13 security tips, which are parodies of actual security tips. The title text is just one more tip. See [[#Security tips|table]] below for explanations for all 14 tips.

===Security tips===
{| class="wikitable"
!Security Tip
!Explanation
|- id="tip0"
|Print out this list and keep it in your bank safe deposit box (header)
|This is a standard recommendation for documents that must be kept secure because they are irreplaceable and/or contain sensitive information. However this list itself is easily replaceable and the contents will be well-known, so storing it in a safe place is totally unnecessary. Putting it in a {{w|safe deposit box}} would even be counterproductive since the list can only serve its purpose as a ready reminder if it's easily accessible to everyone. So when people fail to follow this tip, they may end up keeping it in a place where they have easy access to the tips so they may also fail to follow all the others.
|- id="tip1"
|Don't click links to websites
|The usual tip is "Don't click on ''suspicious'' website links" or "Don't click any links in suspicious emails". The comic's variation instead tells users not to click on any links to any websites, which essentially stops them from using the World Wide Web altogether. So this tip is not really helping, as the opposite of this would be to click on all links. [https://www.sketchywebsite.net This is an example website that showcases an extreme example of what ''could'' (probably wouldn't (this is not advice)) happen if you clicked on a suspicious link.]
|- id="tip2"
|Use prime numbers in your password
|It is usually recommended that one uses numbers in one's password, to increase its entropy, making it harder to find with a {{w|Brute-force attack|brute force}} attack. In contrast the comic suggests using {{w|prime numbers}} in one's password. Large prime numbers are an essential part of modern cryptography and security systems, when used in algorithms that are computed by machines. They don't have any effect when used by humans in passwords, except for maybe making it harder to remember. In addition, if people were to regularly use prime numbers in their passwords, it would actually make passwords ''easier'' to guess, as it would substantially reduce the number of possible passwords people may choose from.
|- id="tip3"
|Change your password manager monthly
|It is often recommended to change passwords on a regular basis and to use a {{w|password manager}}. Password managers are programs which can help users create, store, and change their passwords easily and securely. Changing password managers monthly would involve copying all stored passwords from one manager to another, which would be quite impractical and has no security benefit.
|- id="tip4"
|Hold your breath while crossing the border
|At some border crossings, government agents may search computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices. The usual advice for such situations ranges from asserting your rights to resetting all devices and deleting all data prior to crossing a border. Holding one's breath can potentially prevent inhaling germs or poisons in some situations, though useless in the context of computer security. These two topics mixed in the same advice won't achieve anything, but if you hold your breath for too long you could pass out when crossing, or look stressed/suspicious and invite even more scrutiny. This could also be a reference to the superstition of holding one's breath when passing a graveyard, or similarly to the movie ''{{w|Spirited Away}}'', where the main character is instructed to hold her breath while crossing the bridge that acts as the border between the human and spirit world. In any case, holding one's breath while browsing the Internet would have no useful effect, supernatural or otherwise.
|- id="tip5"
|Install a secure font
|A real tip might be "Install a secure browser" especially when many people used {{w|Internet Explorer 6}}. Secure fonts do exist and are designed to make checks difficult to alter, but using one on a computer would not help one's internet security. May also refer to Google Chrome [https://www.proofpoint.com/us/threat-insight/post/EITest-Nabbing-Chrome-Users-Chrome-Font-Social-Engineering-Scheme "Install missing font"] malware.
|- id="tip6"
|Use a 2-factor smoke detector
|{{w|Multi-factor authentication|Two factor authentication}} describes the practice of using two different identification factors (such as a password and a code from a secure token) to authenticate the user. A two factor smoke detector presumably uses two or more factors to identify ''smoke'' (such as {{w|Smoke_detector#Ionization|ionization}} and {{w|Smoke_detector#Photoelectric|photoelectric}}). Such devices [https://alarmspecs.com actually exist], but, while improving the user's general safety, they do nothing to improve their internet security.


A month before this comic the newest [[:Category:xkcd Phones|xkcd Phone]], [[1809: xkcd Phone 5]], was released with a 28-factor authentication.
|- id="tip7"
|Change your maiden name regularly
|A {{w|maiden name}} is the family name that a woman has at birth. (The gender-neutral term is "birth name" or "birth surname"; it is unclear whether this "advice" is meant to apply only to women.) Security experts frequently criticize the concept of security questions like "what is your mother's maiden name?", on the basis that they can often be deduced from publicly available information. In the sense that it refers to a historical fact, a maiden name cannot be changed retroactively, although in the sense that it refers to the last name on one's birth certificate, in some narrow cases this ''can'' be amended. For instance, when someone is {{w|adoption|adopted}} and takes their adoptive parent's last name, in many jurisdictions a {{w|legal fiction}} holds that they have had that last name since birth, and governments will issue new birth certificates to that effect. However, it is unlikely for anyone to be able to amend the surname on their birth certificate more than once, and impossible to do so "regularly".

A real tip for dealing with security questions is to enter false data.
|- id="tip8"
|Put strange USB drives in a bag of rice overnight
|The usual security tip is "Don't plug strange {{w|USB flash drive|USB drives}} into your computer," because sometimes attackers leave USB devices with malicious programs lying around, hoping that people will plug them into target computers out of curiosity. This tip states that you should "put USB drives in a bag of rice overnight" which is a common technique for drying out water-damaged devices, due to rice's absorbent qualities. This would not clean the drive of viruses, and unless the drive was wet (perhaps because you found it outside due to it being called "strange") it would not do anything. In [[1598: Salvage]], another attempt is made to salvage something unconventional with rice, and here it is shown that Randall considers the rice drying of a wet mobile is a myth, so this is yet another jab at the idea.
|- id="tip9"
|Use special characters like & and %
|You can use special characters to increase the entropy/strength of your password, though as described in [[936: Password Strength]], that often leads to passwords that are hard to remember but not particularly strong. The password context is missing here, and in everyday situations the characters & and % are not special. These two characters are often disallowed in passwords because of their relevance to {{w|SQL}} (a common database query language). If these characters were used in a password, a badly written security system using SQL could have severe bugs (and security vulnerabilities) similar to the security flaw in [[327: Exploits of a Mom]].
|- id="tip10"
|Only read content published through Tor.com
|{{w|tor (anonymity network)|Tor}} is a software solution to provide anonymity on the web for its users. The website [https://tor.com Tor.com] is the website of fantasy and sci-fi book publisher {{w|Tor Books}}, which has no relation to the Tor-network.
|- id="tip11"
|Use a burner's phone
|A play on using a {{w|Prepay mobile phone|burner phone}} (a cheap/disposable cell phone like those purchased at 7-11, often used for drug deals or other activity one might not want traced), and using the cell phone of a burner, i.e. a person who habitually uses marijuana (or, less likely, a person who goes to the {{w|Burning Man|Burning Man festival}}).
|- id="tip12"
|Get an SSL certificate and store it in a safe place
|{{w|Transport Layer Security|SSL/TLS}} is a protocol for securing connections on the internet. To check if someone is who they claim to be, you can check the individual's {{w|Public key certificate|certificate}}. Such a certificate has to be public; storing it in a safe place makes the certificate useless. You have to store the private key that matches the certificate in a safe place, else someone could steal the identity.
|- id="tip13"
|If a border guard asks to examine your laptop, you have a legal right to challenge them to a chess game for your soul.
|This tip is a reference to the common trope {{tvtropes|ChessWithDeath|Chess with Death}}, in which a mortal challenges a god to a game or challenge, often for their life. This version of the trope traces back to {{w|Ingmar Bergman|Ingmar Bergman's}} film {{w|The Seventh Seal}}, in which the protagonist {{w|The Seventh Seal#Synopsis|challenges Death}} to a game of chess. But instead of avoiding death, this tip suggests you have the right to do the same to get out of handing your devices over to a border guard. (This trope is also featured in [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/393 393: Ultimate Game]).
Under President {{w|Donald Trump}} (inaugurated two and a half months prior to this comic), border patrol and customs agents have become notorious for profiling non-Caucasian travelers and immigrants. Stories abound of agents coercing and threatening travelers to hand over their smartphones -- they do not have legal right to just take your devices under the Fourth Amendment, but have many not-entirely-idle threats they can level at you until you do as they wish.

|- id="tip14"
|'''Title Text''': Never give your password or bank account number to anyone who doesn't have a blue check mark next to their name.
|The usual security tip here is ''"only trust Twitter accounts claiming to be legitimate if they have a blue check mark next to their name"'', which means that the account is verified as legitimate. This tip suggests only giving your ''password'' to verified accounts, although you shouldn't give your password to ''any'' account. Twitter Verification would be revisited in [[1914: Twitter Verification]].

It also refers to problems especially visible in the US banking system, where there is very little security for direct account drafts, and because of that it is advised there to keep the account number as secret as possible. In contrast, in Europe giving your account number to someone is one of the most common ways to get paid.

A related tip might be "Never give your password or bank details to a website that doesn't have a padlock icon next to the URL". In most modern browsers, if you access a secure website, there will be a padlock icon in the browser indicating you've connected to a secure website using {{w|HTTPS|Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure}}. It doesn't provide that it is not malicious site, and that is secure to enter. So this tip treats the verified account icon the same way you might treat a secure website icon.
|}

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is listening to Ponytail who holds her hands out in front of her.]
:Ponytail: We've been trying for decades to give people good security advice.
:Ponytail: But in retrospect, lots of the tips actually made things worse.

:[Cueball takes his hand to his chin as Ponytail takes her arms down.]
:Cueball: Maybe we should try to give ''bad'' advice?
:Ponytail: I guess it's worth a shot.

:[Below these two panel is one large and long panel with a long list with 13 tips. The underlined heading and the bracket below it are centered above the bullet list below.]
:<big>Security tips</big>
:(Print out this list and keep it in your bank safe deposit box.)
* Don't click links to websites
* Use prime numbers in your password
* Change your password manager monthly
* Hold your breath while crossing the border
* Install a secure font
* Use a 2-factor smoke detector
* Change your maiden name regularly
* Put strange USB drives in a bag of rice overnight
* Use special characters like & and %
* Only read content published through tor.com
* Use a burner's phone
* Get an SSL certificate and store it in a safe place
* If a border guard asks to examine your laptop, you have a legal right to challenge them to a chess game for your soul.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Chess]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Tips]]

1818: Rayleigh Scattering

2022-12-29T06:38:44Z

HisHighestMinion: Removed sad comics reference

{{comic
| number = 1818
| date = March 31, 2017
| title = Rayleigh Scattering
| image = rayleigh_scattering.png
| titletext = If you ask "why are leaves green?" the usual answer is "because they're full of chlorophyll, and chlorophyll is green," even though "why does chlorophyll scatter green light?" is a great question too.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic suggests it is better to explain things in an easy-to-understand and intuitive manner, even if such explanations may not capture all of the scientific detail involved. This is especially the case for children whose ability to grasp abstract physics has not yet fully developed. Giving the most complete and physically accurate explanation would make the concepts much more elaborate than necessary, and would cause major confusion in inexperienced listeners (as described explicitly in the article on {{w|Ignotum per Ignotius}}).

The principle is demonstrated by the explanation on {{w|Diffuse sky radiation|why the sky is blue}}. The commonly given explanation for this is, as the comic title says, {{w|Rayleigh scattering}}. However, in order to understand how Rayleigh scattering works to produce a blue color, one must go into {{w|quantum mechanics}} and deal with properties of molecules in air and their effects on different wavelengths of light. Even then, one will also need to know about the inner workings of human visual perception to realize why the color we perceive isn't the wavelength that's being most strongly scattered (see [[1145: Sky Color]]). The child is not likely to understand this kind of explanation.

On the other hand, a much simpler explanation, such as "because air is blue" — that is, air molecules reflect blue light, in the same way blue paint reflects blue light — also adequately explains the phenomenon, and is much more understandable to less physically inclined listeners. When [[Science Girl]] asks [[Blondie]] (possibly [[Miss Lenhart]]) why the sky is blue, [[Megan]] walks in and starts to explain in a very scientific way involving quantum mechanics. This is criticized by Blondie, who then convinces her that the simpler explanation is sufficient, as there is a quantum mechanical explanation for every color, there is no need to elaborate on the sky's color any more than any other object's color.

Megan implicitly accepts this, but then in the final panel, Science Girl asks another common question - how do planes fly? Megan starts again to give the traditional answer (airflow causing {{w|Lift_(force)|lift}}) but is interrupted by Blondie saying that it's because the wings of an airplane are full of small birds. While this might not be as ridiculous as it first seems (the child might later learn that the "tiny birds" are actually air molecules, and "flapping wings" are actually pressure differentials), it is certainly over-simplified to a staggering extent. Thus Megan and Blondie illustrate the two extremes of education philosophy: where one chooses to teach the complete truth with no regard for whether it's understandable, the other chooses to make up understandable explanations with no regard for whether it's true. Arguably, neither approach is in the student's best interest and a balance needs to be achieved.

When Science Girl reacts like she believes Blondie's last comment about the planes, she could almost have been called April Fool. Although this comic was released one day too early for that, this was also the only year between April 1st of 2011 and April 1st of 2018 where no such comic was released. See more about this in the [[#No April Fools' Day comic in 2017|trivia section]] below.

The title text refers to another common question as for why leaves are green. This is commonly explained by the fact that they are filled with {{w|chlorophyll}}, a chemical used by plants for photosynthesis. Randall points out that it would be an equally valid question to ask why chlorophyll is green. This poses an interesting contrast to the answer to the question about the color of the sky, since even physicists are usually satisfied with the general explanation for leaves and don't feel the need to jump into describing quantum phenomena that cause chlorophyll to reflect green light. Also, "Why does chlorophyll scatter green light" may be a great question because chlorophyll reflects, not scatters, light and this challenges Megan-types to coherently explain the difference before they go challenging little children with pedantry. Or because green light is less efficient during photosynthesis, and explaining that is similar to explaining Rayleigh Scattering.

[https://what-if.xkcd.com/141/ What-if 141] also mentions the simpler explanation to the original question: Sunbeam has this relevant text: "Normal light interacts with the atmosphere through Rayleigh scattering. You may have heard of Rayleigh scattering as the answer to 'why is the sky blue.' This is sort of true, but honestly, a better answer to this question might be 'because air is blue.' Sure, it appears blue for a bunch of physics reasons, but everything appears the color it is for a bunch of physics reasons." There is also a footnote in that comment with an additional example: "When you ask, 'Why is the {{w|Statue of Liberty|statue of liberty}} green?' the answer is something like, 'The outside of the statue is copper, so it used to be copper-colored. Over time, a layer of copper carbonate formed (through oxidation), and copper carbonate is green.' You don't say 'The statue is green because of frequency-specific absorption and scattering by surface molecules.' "

Randall himself has published [https://xkcd.com/thing-explainer/ Thing Explainer] which gives simplified descriptions of complex scientific and technological objects. Even in his book, some of the more advanced details have been simplified to a toy model (such as calling liquid oxygen "cold wet air" and a nuclear reactor "box of burning metal").

==Transcript==
:[Science Girl asks Blondie a question which she answers while lifting her arm towards Science Girl.]
:Science Girl: Why is the sky blue?
:Blondie: Because air is blue.

:[Megan walks in from behind Science Girl.]
:Megan: No, the sky is blue because of Rayleigh scattering–
:Blondie: Nah, it's because air is blue. Blue light bounces off it and hits our eyes. Same as why anything is any color.

:[Zoom in on Blondie's face.]
:Blondie: It's why far-off mountains look blue – because of all the blue air in the way.

:[Zoom out to Megan standing longer from Science Girl than Blondie who has thrown her arms out. Science Girl is facing directly out towards the reader.]
:Megan: There's a specific quantum mechanism by which–
:Blondie: Yeah but there's a physics mechanism for ''every'' color. You don't have to get all quantum right away.

:[Frameless panel with Science Girl looking up at Blondie who stands holding her hands on her sides. Megan speaks from off-panel.]
:Megan (off-panel): ...OK, I guess.
:Blondie: Any other questions?
:Science Girl: How do planes stay up?

:[Blondie holds a finger up in front of Science Girl while Megan now is the one to throw out her arms.]
:Megan: Well, the airflow–
:Blondie: Tiny birds in the wings. Thousands. Flapping hard.
:Science Girl: WOW!
:Megan: ''NO!''

==Trivia==
===No April Fools' Day comic in 2017===
*This comic was released the day before {{w|April Fools' day}}, but even though it could be said that Blondie makes up tales about physics that could cause her to call Science Girl an April Fool for believing her, this is definitely not one of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comics]].
**The reason for this trivia is that this year, 2017, was the first since 2011 that Randall did not release a comic on April 1st, and neither this Friday comic from the end of March, or the first comic in April, [[1819: Sweet 16]] from Monday April 3rd, could be said to have any relation to such a joke.
**As Randall took up the trend again in 2018 with [[1975: Right Click]], released on Sunday April 1st 2018, it showed that it was not because he just stopped with the April Fools' Day jokes.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Science Girl]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

1815: Flag

2022-12-29T06:37:11Z

HisHighestMinion: Removing sad comics reference

{{comic
| number = 1815
| date = March 24, 2017
| title = Flag
| image = flag.png
| titletext = There's a compromise bill to keep the notification bar but at least charge the battery.
}}

==Explanation==

Presumably [[Randall]] was hired by a committee to propose a new {{w|flag}} for an unspecified country. His process of editing the flag involved taking a screenshot of his design to export it, a mistake that went unnoticed by anyone until the flag was officially implemented.

Once the problem was pointed out, the design committee placed the blame on Randall, but could not immediately undo their decision until new suggestions had been submitted and a new committee could agree on another design. Thus the country is now stuck with this design, making it the only country with such a bar in the flag.

The title text mentions a compromise bill that will change the flag. This implies that the flag was approved with the status bar included. Apparently, there is some controversy about removing the status bar from the flag, as the compromise bill proposes keeping the status bar and changing the displayed percentage of the battery from 39% to 100%. This may be wordplay on the term "charge" as used in {{w|vexillology}}, where it refers to a figure appearing on the background of the flag. It may also be a reference to [[1373: Screenshot]].

===Flag design===
The ''bar'' in ''notification bar'', is a vexillological descriptor, as in the "{{w|Flags_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America#First_flag:_the_.22Stars_and_Bars.22_.281861.E2.80.931863.29|Stars and Bars}}," a term used for the first flag of the {{w|Confederate States of America}}, not to be confused with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stars_and_bars_(combinatorics) the counting technique.]

Flags are often minimalist and involve geometric shapes and solid colors. A notification bar at the top of the flag would clash with these design elements and look unprofessional.{{Citation needed}} The flag in the comic is otherwise well-designed, conforming with a principle of heraldry and vexillology known as the {{w|rule of tincture}}: the "metals" consist of white/silver and yellow/gold, while the "colors" consist of red, blue, green, black, and purple; anything in the "metal" category should only be placed upon a background of the "color" category and vice versa.

The elements of the flag's intended design—the colors red, white, and blue; the use of stripes; and the star emblems—are the same that are used in the American flag the {{w|Flag of the United States|Stars and Stripes}}.

The elements of this flag are, however, also present in several other existing flags, like those derived from {{w|Union Jack}}, the flag of the {{w|United Kingdom}}, and like the flags of {{w|Flag_of_Australia|Australia}} and {{w|Flag_of_New_Zealand|New Zealand}}. They are also in the flags of {{w|Flag of North Korea|North Korea}}, {{w|Flag_of_Liberia|Liberia}}, and {{w|Flag_of_Malaysia|Malaysia}}. The flags from USA, Australia, Liberia and Chile have [[commons:Category:Flags_with_white_stars|white stars]], and those of USA and Liberia have [[commons:Category:Flags_with_white_stripes|white bars]] as well.

===Theories===
The low battery status might imply that the country is low on resources. It thus seems like people have taken the reference to modern times smartphones to their hearts and actually wish to have this very modern design.

But if they indeed continue with this idea, thinking that their country would look better with a full battery charge, they might also consider changing the 3G connection to the newer {{w|4G}} or {{w|5G}} version, according to what was available at that time in that location, and giving the phone a full signal (5/5 instead of only 3/5 dots). And maybe also choose a time that would mean something rather than 5:48 PM. For instance noon/midnight, or 8:00.

The reason such a status bar could be missed in the first place could be that most people today look at pictures on their smartphones all the time, and thus their own phone's status bar is indirectly included at the top of all the pictures they see. People thus do not notice these status bars any longer as they are always there and clearly not important for the picture. Randall has mentioned before, in [[1373: Screenshot]], that he cannot take smartphone screenshots seriously if the battery of the device is low, as he cannot focus on the content, becoming afraid his own device is running out of power—a problem that only occurs if he sees it on his smartphone, as he then becomes concerned that it is his phone that is about to run out of charge. But in this status bar, there is still 39%, enough not to cause immediate concern. His fear of losing his on-line connection like this was the joke in the comic [[1802: Phone]] released about a month before this one.

Since Randall was asked to create this flag, it seems most likely that he would have to be a citizen of this new country. It could thus indicate that a group of states has broken free from the United States to form their own smaller union of three states, one for each star.

==Transcript==
:[A three-colored flag is shown, divided in vertical thirds. The left and rightmost parts of the flag are dark blue, and the center is red and each section has a large white star in its center. Neighboring thirds are separated by a thinner white vertical stripe. At the top of the flag, there is an off-white status bar like one found at the top of an iOS smart device. On the left it is displaying the strength of the connection (3/5 dots), in the center it is displaying the time and on the right there are three small icons the last is the battery charge:]
:3G
:5:48 PM
:39%

:[Below the panel there are two captions]
:The design committee fired me once they realized that my editing process involved a screenshot, but it was too late.
:Until they change it, our new country has the only national flag to include a phone notification bar.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Smartphones]]

1813: Vomiting Emoji

2022-12-29T06:35:35Z

HisHighestMinion: No evidence this is a political comic

{{comic
| number = 1813
| date = March 20, 2017
| title = Vomiting Emoji
| image = vomiting_emoji.png
| titletext = My favorite might be U+1F609 U+1F93F WINKING FACE VOMITING.
}}
==Explanation==

This comic relates to the recent [http://unicode.org/emoji/charts-beta/emoji-released.html Emoji v5.0 proposal] for [http://unicode.org/versions/Unicode10.0.0/ Unicode 10.0] which includes a [http://unicode.org/emoji/charts-beta/full-emoji-list.html#1f92e vomiting emoji]. [[Cueball]] initially states that the newly proposed {{w|emoji}} look good, until [[Megan]] points out the existence of the vomiting emoji. While Cueball finds this distasteful, Megan rather seems to like it, going as far as suggesting rather than a single emoji, it should be possible to have a whole array of vomiting emojis by combining the vomiting action with other existing emojis.

: ''Note: Some of the emojis below may not display correctly if your browser or operating system doesn't implement the latest Unicode standard.''

Unicode is the computing industry standard for representing text. More recent additions have included emoji characters, such as grinning face (😁) or hands clapping (👏). Each Unicode character is assigned a numerical code, usually written in {{w|hexadecimal}} notation. For example, the grinning face emoji is assigned the code U+1F601, and the clap symbol is assigned U+1F44F. Unicode also supports "combining modifiers" which allow, among other uses, placing accents on letters, adding decorations to other emojis, or changing the colors of flags or skin tones. For example, letters such as A, O, or n together with a combining tilde (U+303) modifier result in those letters having a tilde glyph on top (Ã, Õ, ñ), and various emojis for people, such as 👨 or 👩, together with the medium-dark skin tone modifier (U+1F3FE), results in those same people with altered skin color (👨🏾, 👩🏾).

Along the same lines, Megan's proposal is to assign the code U+1F93F to be a combining modifier indicating vomiting. Under this proposal, it would theoretically be possible to combine a vomiting modifier with any emoji to produce a vomiting version of that emoji. Six examples are given in the last panel, with each being progressively more nonsensical. The title text continues this and gives another example of a ridiculous combination.

The examples given in the comic are:
* '''Vomiting Cowboy''' (🤠): This seems reasonable and not much worse off than the regular one.
* '''Vomiting Statue of Liberty''' (🗽): Given the turbulent political climate in present-day America, this emoji might see a lot of use by opinionated folks.
* '''Vomiting Dove''' (🕊): As the dove is usually seen as a symbol of peace, a vomiting one could be construed as an omen for war or used to depict strong objection to ongoing conflicts. It may also reference a tendency for birds to drop unpleasant things on people below. It is worth noting that pigeons are a subspecies of doves so a dove emoji might as well represent a flying pigeon.
* '''Vomiting Moon''' (🌛): In cartoons or fairy tales, the {{w|Moon}} is often {{w|anthropomorphized}}, however depicting it as vomiting would be extraordinary since that would not be in line with normal child-friendly material.
* '''Vomiting rocket ship''' (🚀): This might be a reference to the "{{w|Vomit Comet}}" aircraft that astronauts train on. Also, space travel and travel in general (e.g. in cars, roller coasters, airplanes) can all be associated with vomiting. However, since the cabins of rocket ships should be airtight when in flight, vomit coming out of a flying rocket would be quite strange. While it would be hazardous to have vomit floating around in a weightless environment, the situation would more usually be prevented by carefully containing the vomit, and/or by using anti-nausea medication.
* '''Vomiting Hand''' (✋): This one is just bizarre{{Citation needed}}. Maybe it could be used in the context of some horror flick?
* '''Winking Face Vomiting''' (😉, title text): This suggests that the context in which a wink is used is combined with vomiting to humorous effect.

Assigning Unicode characters to emojis has been controversial historically due to the fact that Unicode was created as a standard for text. Emojis, which are essentially drawings of people or objects, aren't typically perceived as parts of text, and so leads some to object to co-opting the standard for non-text things. Using combining modifiers to further expand emojis is also seen as an abuse of the original purpose of modifier characters. As an alternative, [http://unicode.org/emoji/charts/emoji-zwj-sequences.html emoji zero-width joiner sequences] are in use, where an emoji is encoded as a series of simpler emoji and zero-width joiners. In practice, this would probably be how the above characters would be implemented, instead of with a combining modifier. Jokes that make fun of Unicode, involving emojis that shouldn't exist or inappropriate combinations thereof, are fairly common on the Internet.

In the title text of [[1726: Unicode]], [[Randall]] mentioned the proposed "{{w|brontosaurus}}" emoji in Unicode. And shortly before that Megan talked in similarly drawn emojis in [[1709: Inflection]]. In general emoji has become a [[:Category:Emoji|recurrent topic]] on xkcd.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball, looking at his smartphone, approaches Megan who is sitting in an office chair at a desk working on her laptop. Next to Megan's reply is a large yellow faced emjoi with closed eyes and a large open mouth from where a thick green stream of vomit is gushing out. ]
:Cueball: The proposed emoji for Unicode 10.0 look good.
:Megan: Hmm.
:Megan: 🤮 "U+1F92E Face with open mouth vomiting"

:[Cueball is holding his phone down looking at Megan's screen.]
:Cueball: Eww.
:Megan: Really, "vomiting" should be a combining modifier, so you can use it to make a vomiting version of any emoji.
:Cueball: Umm.
:Megan: I'm gonna write up a proposal.

:[Megan's proposal with six examples of vomiting emoji. All six are colorful also apart from the green stream of vomit gushing out of mouth or holes when there is no mouth. Above the list is Megan's suggested title for the modifier, and the title for each emoji is next to them in the list. The cowboy is like the original version but with a hat. The Statue of Liberty is blue and bends forward to vomit. The gray dove has lost its green olive branch, now above its head. The yellow moon is in first quarter and has a face. The red and blue rocket has fire out the rear and the vomit out an open hatch. The yellow hand has a big hole in its center.]
:<big>U+1F93F Vomiting modifier</big>
:U+1F920 U+1F93F Vomiting cowboy
:U+1F5FD U+1F93F Vomiting Statue of Liberty
:U+1F54A U+1F93F Vomiting dove
:U+1F31B U+1F93F Vomiting moon
:U+1F680 U+1F93F Vomiting rocket ship
:U+270B U+1F93F Vomiting hand

==Trivia==
Two years after this comic was published, in 2019, Unicode added U+1F93F in Unicode 12.0 and Emoji 12.0, but instead used the code for a [https://emojipedia.org/diving-mask/ diving mask emoji].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Emoji]]
[[Category:Smartphones]]
[[Category:Unicode]]

1803: Location Reviews

2022-12-29T06:34:18Z

HisHighestMinion: No evidence this is a political comic; ‘sad comics’ has little/no evidence

{{comic
| number = 1803
| date = February 24, 2017
| title = Location Reviews
| image = location_reviews.png
| titletext = Google and Yelp keep deleting my scathing reviews of the Mariana Trench, the Chernobyl reactor core, the jet stream, and the equator.
}}

==Explanation==
Many online advertising services and social media networks (like {{w|Google}} and {{w|Yelp}}, both mentioned in the title text, and for instance {{w|Facebook}}) allow users to leave reviews of stores, businesses and locations. For various reasons these sites often find themselves with pages dedicated to, as [[Randall]] puts it, "places that really don't need reviews" such as municipal works installations, government property, and natural landmarks. This naturally attracts both clueless people and lots of self-styled comedians leaving less-than-helpful comments on such review pages.

Randall is just poking fun at this phenomenon by inventing possible reviews for the (fictional) location ''Canyon River Nuclear Launch Facility'', depicted with a {{w|Google Map|Google Maps}}-styled map page along with a series of so-called reviews. (There does exist a {{w|Canyon River (Ontario)|Canyon River}} located in {{w|Ontario}}/{{w|Canada}} and one in {{w|Washington (state)|Washington}}/USA (the latter is a significant tributary to the {{w|Satsop River}}). Canada does not maintain nuclear weapons since 1984, so the launch site should be located in Washington).

See explanations for the [[#Trivia|11 visible]] (out of 22) reviews in the [[#Reviews|table below]]. Of course those responsible for such a facility with {{w|nuclear missiles}} would not like the attention they would be getting in this way, especially not when one of the comments mentions a hole in the fence... Although this comic makes a joke about reviews it has chosen a very dangerous facility to joke about.

In the title text Randall mentions that both Google and Yelp keep deleting his scathing reviews of several locations like the above. The questions is if they would have done it if they had not been so harsh... While Canyon River Nuclear Launch Facility appears not to exist, the places/phenomena he lists in the title text certainly do, and are places that you either cannot or would not normally visit as destinations. Here below each "location" is explained. That the deletion of such reviews is real has been proven by this comic, as [[#Trivia|it also happened]] for those that (of course) posted these reviews on Google maps as a response to this comic.

{{w|Mariana Trench}} is the deepest area of the world's oceans, about 10,994 meters (36,070 ft) deep, located between Japan and Australia. The pressure in the Mariana Trench is about 1,086 bars, more than 1,000 times the standard atmospheric pressure of about 1 bar at sea level. Despite this enormous pressure some organisms {{w|Mariana_Trench#Life|live in the Mariana Trench}}. Humans can reach the ground only by special deep-sea submarines, like Jacques Piccard did in 1960 with the {{w|Bathyscaphe Trieste}}. See reviews for the Mariana Trench at [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mariana+Trench/@17.75,142.4978113,17z/data=!4m7!3m6!1s0x67328f3cd57de715:0x1bbe64e7a21aa7fc!8m2!3d17.75!4d142.5!9m1!1b1?hl=en Google Maps] and [https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marianengraben/108402422518280 Facebook].

The {{w|Chernobyl}} reactor core is the most dangerous part of the {{w|Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant}}. It is located in the North of Ukraine. In the reactor No. 4 there was a nuclear disaster that happened on 26 April 1986. It caused devastating damage and massive radioactive contamination. There is still a {{w|Chernobyl Exclusion Zone}} 30 kilometers around the power plant. See reviews for the Chernobyl power plant at [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Chernobyl+Nuclear+Plant/@51.3852262,30.1003411,15z/data=!4m14!1m6!3m5!1s0x472a7d09e1ec5ef3:0x6b27a13ab968d17c!2sChernobyl+Nuclear+Plant!8m2!3d51.3889447!4d30.0988421!3m6!1s0x472a7d09e1ec5ef3:0x6b27a13ab968d17c!8m2!3d51.3889447!4d30.0988421!9m1!1b1?hl=en Google Maps] and [https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kernkraftwerk-Tschernobyl/118179298239715?rf=116556918391753 Facebook].

{{w|Jet stream}}s are a meteorologic phenomenon about 9 to 16 kilometers above the ground. A stream consists of air currents with speeds from 92 km/h (50 kn; 57 mph) to over 398 km/h (215 kn; 247 mph). Such jet streams are routinely used for reducing fuel usage for long distance plane travels. As it is a ribbon rather than a point, it could not have a single point on the map. Also, the jet stream fluctuates north and south; so even if it could be pinpointed, the location would be constantly changing.

The {{w|equator}} is, as with the jet streams, not a singular place but a circumference around the Earth. Reviewing the equator as a singular location is rather pointless, though there is a whole range of specific (and interesting) locations around the equator, with countries with {{w|tropical rainforest climate}}, which many people from European and North American countries struggle with. That said, most of the equator goes over water.

===Reviews===
In the table the rating is given with the review. After that an explanation both of the rating and of the review is given. Notice that any or all of the reviews could be sarcastic or "trolling", as is fairly typical on the internet, especially for reviews given for such a location as this one. This table assumes all the reviews are played straight.
{| class="wikitable"
! Rating
! Review
! Explanation
|-
| ★★★★★ || Greatest country on earth || A patriotic review (5/5), though provides no information on the actual nuclear site. The location is in the "greatest country", although this makes fun of people who go too specific, because all places in that country could be rated like this. This comment resembles what an extremely patriotic person would say. They believe that the United States is the greatest country on Earth, and therefore are pleased that the country is being protected by nuclear weapons.
|-
| ★★☆☆☆ || Looks cool but you can't get in || This reviewer, although initially positive, attempts to highlight what they perceive as a major flaw with the site: namely, that it is off-limits to unauthorized personnel and heavily-guarded, so it's impossible to actually go inside (thus only 2/5 stars). This is typical of a nuclear facility,{{Citation needed}} but this kind of review could also be seen for a fancy restaurant that needs very early pre-booking.
|-
| ★☆☆☆☆ || What is this store || Reviewer really, really has no idea what this facility actually is, mistaking it for a store, and thus giving it only 1 star.
|-
| ★★★★☆ || My cousin worked here || If true, this review is a serious security risk (e.g. kidnapping the reviewer to extort information from his cousin). The comment may also just be a way for the reviewer to pretend he knows someone who works in the higher levels of the government. Usually this kind of comment together with a four star rating is to signal that you know more about the location than a regular reviewer does. Of course you could then also be perceived as partial.
|-
| ★★☆☆☆ || Waitstaff heavily armed and very rude || This review mistakes the facility's security guards for a restaurant's waitstaff. Since the guards are protecting some of the most dangerous weapons in existence, and would not let unknown outsiders into the facility, it follows that the guards would be heavily armed, and quite rude to those who sought entry without proper permission. Thus they earn the place only 2 stars.
|-
| ★☆☆☆☆ || Stop doing chemtrails || This reviewer believes in the {{w|chemtrail conspiracy theory}} and is urging the government to cease spreading the chemtrails. Believing this place has something to do with it of course leads to only one star. This conspiracy was earlier mentioned both in [[966: Jet Fuel]] and [[1677: Contrails]], and later in [[2654: Chemtrails]]
|-
| ★☆☆☆☆ || This place is a symptom of the {{w|military-industrial complex}} strangling our democracy and...(read full review-1184 words) || A slightly tongue-in-cheek reference to essays against 'The Military-Industrial complex' and how they are often copy-pasted by people who don't really understand them in inappropriate places. Or just to people who rant far beyond anything that people would ever read, except if they are already agreeing with the writer. Of course such an activist would only give one star.
|-
| ★★★★☆ || Anyone else notice the hole in the west fence? || The adventurer's travel guide to government installations... Posting a comment like this would (at best) bring the hole to the attention of the site staff to be repaired and (at worst) bring the writer unwelcome attention from the authorities for publicizing a security vulnerability at a missile site. This might also be a reference to {{w|Richard Feynman}}'s account of finding a hole in the fence surrounding the {{w|Los Alamos, New Mexico|Los Alamos}} facility during the {{w|Manhattan Project}}. Using the hole to get in, this reviewer had an excellent time and gives 4/5 stars.
|-
| ★★★★★ || Whoa, missiles! || The writer is impressed and apparently surprised to discover that the site has missiles. Seems like the reviewer just loves anything to do with missiles and hands out five stars. This may also be a reference to the "Whoa, technology!" meme, which originated when YandereDev, a Youtuber, uttered the phrase in one of his videos.
|-
| ★★★☆☆ || Good idea but confusing web site. How do I preorder? || This reviewer thinks that one can order a nuclear missile launch here, but can't find a preorder form on the website. He loves the idea but since he cannot find out how to order there are only 3/5 stars. In reality, the decision to launch nuclear missiles often rests with the heads of state or government, and outside persons are not allowed to control them.{{Citation needed}}
|-
| ★☆☆☆☆ || Please don't launch these || A plea to the facility owners not to launch the nuclear missiles, due to their deleterious effects on human life. See more on this under [[#Politics|Politics]] below.
|}

==Transcript==
:[Inside the main panel there is a frame with a Google location map with the typical red pin stuck in the center of the map inside a large gray region of the map. A river goes from the north through the gray region and out to the west. East and south of the river some roads and other items are shown, several of them also outside the gray region. The red pin is stuck next to a corner in one of the roads.]

:[Below the map is the name of the location at the red pin, and below that there are three lines of unreadable text:]
:<big>Canyon River Nuclear Launch Facility</big>

:[Below that there is broken line with text in the break, and below that follows 11 reviews with yellow stars to the left. The stars are either just outlines or colored completely, with the left one always being filled:]
:Reviews (22)
:[5 of 5 stars filled] Greatest country on earth
:[2 of 5 stars filled] Looks cool but you can't get in
:[1 of 5 stars filled] What is this store
:[4 of 5 stars filled] My cousin worked here
:[2 of 5 stars filled] Waitstaff heavily armed and very rude
:[1 of 5 stars filled] Stop doing chemtrails
:[1 of 5 stars filled] This place is a symptom of the military-industrial complex strangling our democracy and...(read full review-1184 words)
:[4 of 5 stars filled] Anyone else notice the hole in the west fence?
:[5 of 5 stars filled] Whoa, missiles!
:[3 of 5 stars filled] Good idea but confusing web site. How do I preorder?
:[1 of 5 stars filled] Please don't launch these

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I love finding reviews of places that really don't need to have reviews.

==Trivia==
* Only 11 of the 22 reviews posted are shown. For those 11 the average star rating is 2.6/5 stars. All five possible ratings are represented at least once.
* For a few days after the release of this comic the Google Search results for "[https://www.google.com/search?q=canyon+river+nuclear+launch+facility Canyon River Nuclear Launch Facility]" briefly showed the facility was located at 43.428445, -101.124018 in {{w|List_of_townships_in_South_Dakota#B|Blackpipe Township}}, {{w|Mellette County, South Dakota}} and it included the reviews shown in the comic and more.
** Randall's statement about Google deleting these kinds of reviews turned out to be true as they were quickly deleted, but not before someone made [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/8/8a/1803_Location_Reviews_for_Canyon_River_Nuclear_Launch_Facility.PNG this screenshot] of one of the other reviews.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Google Maps]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theory]]
[[Category:Online reviews]]
[[Category:Nuclear weapons]]

1802: Phone

2022-12-29T06:28:31Z

HisHighestMinion: Removing sad comics reference

{{comic
| number = 1802
| date = February 22, 2017
| title = Phone
| image = phone.png
| titletext = [*disables social networking accounts*] [*social isolation increases*] Wait, why does this ALSO feel bad?
}}

==Explanation==

When someone asks you if you want to go for a walk they often expect to have a conversation, while enjoying both the exercise, the fresh air and the company. Thus any disturbance not related to the walk is not welcome. Going for a walk is often seen as a way to relax from all the daily stress, as it takes the walkers away from work and chores.

[[Cueball]] agrees to go for a walk, but not to all the associated expectations. His first instinct is to bring along his {{w|smartphone}}, though rather than call it such, he opts for a lengthy description detailing all the functions he intends to use. He describes the phone as a device that gives him a continuous ({{w|24/7 service|24/7}}) stream of information, much of which is often out of context. The stream contains people's opinions, context-free but scary news, and other random stimuli. Conspicuously, long-distance communication (ostensibly the primary function of a smartphone) is not listed. This may be a sign that Cueball is {{w|Mobile phone overuse|addicted to his phone}}.

The stream of opinions mentioned could be from news or bloggers but it could also just be from his friends on social media platforms. News stories that are shared on social media are often scary, which becomes even worse because news outlets are likely to use a title that exaggerates the topic to create a fear reaction. The random emotional stimuli could be from many things such as text messages/emails and pictures of kittens and babies on social network, and shared internet memes or viral videos. All things that could cause a quick shift in emotions.

As if all this was not enough, Cueball even says he will also take his spare battery, so he won't risk that his {{w|Web feed|constant feed}} could be interrupted, because he will not be able to recharge his phone during the walk. All in all, his choice and constant need for staying updated and being online violates all the usual expectations, that his friend could have expected from asking him out for a walk. [[Randall|Randall's]] fear of running out of power on his smartphone was earlier mentioned in [[1373: Screenshot]], where a low battery charge stresses him too much to realize it is someone else's screenshot, rather than his own phone that has a low charge. Since then he has made other references to his issue with low batteries in [[1872: Backup Batteries]] and [[1965: Background Apps]].

The title text shows it would be possible to take an action to avoid this feed. In the first bracket a person (could be Cueball or [[Randall]]) ''disables all his social networking accounts''. Most of his news feed will thus disappear. But this leads to the next bracket which states that such a choice would lead to ''increased social isolation'', since he will no longer be in contact with any of his online friends. In fact, today many people also get into contact with their "real" local friends through social media, so one might thus miss out on events like parties or get-togethers. In addition, his friends, not sharing his dislike for social media, may not understand his decision. All of this leads to the final sentence ''Wait, why does this ALSO feel bad?''

==Transcript==
:[Someone off-panel asks Cueball a question which he answers while walking to a small table with some items laying on it.]
:Off-panel voice: Wanna go for a walk?
:Cueball: Sure, just need to grab my device that feeds me a 24/7 stream of opinions, context-free scary world news, and random emotional stimuli.
:Cueball: Plus a spare battery so the feed won't be interrupted.

==Trivia==
*This clearly refers back to the main comic, thus saying that it also feels bad to have this constant stream of input, which could often be disturbing. So there is no good choice listed in the comic, because it is bad to be completely offline, but being online all the time is also bad. And it is hard to find the right balance. This problem with finding the right balance between two things is related to the recent [[1796: Focus Knob]], where one thing was following the news too much the other not at all. In that comic it was impossible to follow the news without it getting too much.
*A related comic was posted long ago with [[77: Bored with the Internet]]. In this comic Cueball go for a walk to escape the internet, only to be thinking about the next post to make once back online.
*This comic is also related to the recent comic [[1773: Negativity]], as both deal with the inability to escape the media during objectively peaceful pastimes. While in the former, the nature attacks Cueball with the types of comments he wishes to avoid, here, he brings along his phone even though it will ruin the goal of the walk he is going to take. Negativity seemed to be a kind of follow up on [[1761: Blame]] where Cueball feels sad because of all the bad things that are happening, typically that which could be described as scary news, which in that case was posted by his friends on {{w|Facebook}} so Cueball blames his friends. This comic thus, for the third time in about three month, express a dislike for online societies and its reaction to lots of bad news, also refereed in other comics during those three months.
*This is the second comic in a row where having access to the internet on a smartphone while out walking is a major part of the plot, the first being [[1801: Decision Paralysis]], where Randall mentions how access to the internet when having two similar options to choose from can cause a decision paralysis while he researches the best option.
*Should not be confused with the other ''Phone comics'' from the [[:Category:xkcd Phones|xkcd Phone series]], but generally smartphones is a [[:Category:Smartphones|recurring subject]] on xkcd.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Social networking]]
[[Category:Smartphones]]

1796: Focus Knob

2022-12-29T06:26:53Z

HisHighestMinion: Undo revision 224837 by Kynde (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1796
| date = February 8, 2017
| title = Focus Knob
| image = focus_knob.png
| titletext = Maybe if I spin it back and forth really fast I can do some kind of pulse-width modulation.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic is a pun. Normally, a rotary {{w|control knob}} is used for adjusting parameters in instruments, and the parameter "focus" is used to adjust the {{w|focal length}} on microscopes, telescopes, and other lens-based equipment. Here, however, the "focus knob" is used for Randall's {{w|Attention|personal sense of focus}} -- that is, how focused he is on his work and productivity, with the extremes of focus being towards ''Detail-Oriented'' (small details) and the ''Big Picture'' respectively. (A similar knob was used in [[1620: Christmas Settings]]).

The healthy balance, Randall suggests, is focusing mostly towards the ''Big Picture'' (two thirds of the way towards the ''Big Picture'' between ticks 24 and 25 out of 37), while keeping an eye on the details by still staying one third ''Detail-Oriented''. Focusing too much on the big picture can ensure nothing gets done, leading to {{w|panic}} and existential {{w|paralysis}}. Unfortunately, the range of healthy balance appears to be vanishingly small and difficult to reach; additionally, if we assume the knob can only stop at the little ticks marked along the outside and that the boundaries are not inclusive, there is no way to set it in the window of ''Healthy Focus''.

While performing any task (including your daily life as well as editing explainxkcd), it is easy to get so lost in the details that you forget the big picture. It is also equally easy to think too much about the big picture and make vague plans while missing out on the details.

It is clear that at the moment Randall is mainly focusing on the small details fiddling with his e-mail settings as the knob is set to the 13th tick only just past one third away from ''Detail-Oriented''. He thus seems to try to avoid seeing the big picture right now, since it is his personal knob to set as he wishes.

The joke in the title text relates to Randall's use of an old fashioned analog control, probably a {{w|potentiometer|potentiometer}}, in the graphic versus a more electronically modern and efficient switching system. Randall imagines a replacement control using {{w|pulse-width modulation}} (PWM), which is a technique often used to control the {{w|Switched-mode_power_supply|regulation in electronic power supplies}} or the [http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/blog/pulse-width-modulation.html speed of electric motors] with far greater power efficiency than simpler analog controllers. This technique consists of shifting between fully on and fully off states so that the average is the expected output, but no power is wasted by holding the control mechanism "partially on". For example switching back and forth between 0 and 1, spending half the time in each position will lead to a mean value of 0.5. To code 0.67 (the ''healthy balance''), Randall would have to spend more time in the extreme big picture position (67% of the time) than in the detail-oriented position. In the real world of course, a person switching so radically and completely between attention states might get diagnosed with some sort of {{w|Mania|mania}}. But the knob might just be switched between the dividers bordering the healthy zone, creating the perfect balance.

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the drawing:]
:Personal Focus

:[A gray rotary control knob with the range of options divided by small ticks on a black semi. The knob has a black line that indicates that the knob's setting. At the bottom left and right where the semi circle begins and ends there are two labels in normal black text:]
:Left: Detail-Oriented
:Right: Big Picture

:[Above and all along the black semi circle with the range, another semi circle is drawn in light gray. This has been divided into three sections, with two large sections left and right forming the actual semi circle with double arrow lines. There is a short section with no tick inside it between the two other sections. There are three labels for each of these section, with a line from the label down to the small section. All described here are drawn light gray color. Note that Randall has misspelled "existential".]
:Left section: Fiddling with email settings
:Right section: Panic and existental paralysis
:Small section: Healthy balance

*'''Click''' to expand for a more detailed image description without any more text:
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%">
 
:[A gray rotary control knob with the range of options divided by 37 small ticks on a black semi circle that extends over 270 degrees from 45 degrees past "6 o'clock" and around to 45 degrees before that "time" on the other side. The first and last tick are a bit larger than the other 35. The knob has a black line that indicates that the knob's setting is on the 13th line from left. This also seem to indicate that the knob can only point to the ticks and not in between them. At the bottom left and right where the semi circle begins and ends there are two labels in normal black text.]

:[Above and all along the black semi circle with the range, another semi circle is drawn in light gray. This has been divided into three sections, with two large sections left and right forming the actual semi circle which here consist of two double ended arrows pointing to four stopping lines orthogonal to the gray arrows pointing at them. The left and right stopping lines are above the larger left and right end ticks below. The other two stops are very near each other, the left just slightly past the 24th tick (from left) and the next is just short of the next 25th tick (but not as near as the other line was to the 24th tick). There is no line or arrow between these two very close stopping lines. There are three labels. The labels for the first section (spanning slightly more than 24 ticks) and the second section (spanning a bit more 13 ticks) have their labels written next to the arrows, which has been broken in order to have the text written next to the black semi circle. The remaining small space lies between the 24th and 25th tick, and it thus have no possible settings within it - i.e. no tick is inside this section, and it is the only part not encompassed by the two double arrows. It is labeled to the right of it, and a line goes from the label down to indicate this small section. All the above including the text is drawn in the same light gray color.]
</div>
 

==Trivia==
*Randall has misspelled existential as ''existental'' with only one "i"! This was later fixed.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]

1790: Sad

2022-12-29T06:26:06Z

HisHighestMinion: Removing sad comics reference

{{comic
| number = 1790
| date = January 25, 2017
| title = Sad
| image = sad.png
| titletext = With the right 90-degree rotation, any effect is a side effect.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic is about [[Cueball]] confronting [[Ponytail]] over her recent behavior and poor emotional state over the past few months. While Ponytail doesn't give any details on what's causing it, it can be inferred that she is referring to the {{w|United States presidential election, 2016|recent election of Donald Trump as President of the United States}}, which happened about 2 months prior to the publication of this comic. This is a common reaction in the United States whenever a new president is elected, as the voters who did not vote for the new/upcoming President will be feeling unpleasant emotions that their chosen candidate did not win, and will want to express these emotions to the wider world. With the advent of the internet, and more recently social media, the expressions of these emotions have grown more common and often more hyperbolic, regardless of the quality of the candidate.

Ponytail has retreated to video games for solace to the point that her real life projects are suffering.
''{{w|Stardew Valley}}'' is a video game in which a player creates and manages a virtual farm. And when Cueball mentions that her projects have stagnated, she retorts that her farm in the game is doing great. A comic with the name of that game was released only two weeks later, [[1797: Stardew Valley]], indicating that it is indeed Randall who has played this game excessively.

Cueball's statement about not being able to hide from everything is a common one to give to insecure people or to those trying to run away from their problems. Ponytail's reply is in the form of a {{w|PolitiFact.com|PolitiFact}} reply, claiming (possibly quite truly) that such assertions are ''mostly false'', one of the six options, but it is far from being the worst, thus acknowledging that you can't hide from everything, just mostly. Politifact.com was also the subject of an earlier comic, [[1712: Politifact]].

In computer programming, ''{{w|Comment (computer programming)|comments}}'' are pieces of non-functional, descriptive text that programmers include in their code. Typically, they are used as a form of documentation, to make the code easier for other developers to understand. This is why Cueball is glad that Ponytail is at least writing more comments; documentation is something that's often neglected by developers, despite its usefulness. Unfortunately, the comments that Ponytail is putting in her code are not actually about the code at all; she is, presumably, commenting more generally on whatever is troubling her as a way of venting her issues.

Ponytail's reply to "write what you know" is a common piece of advice given to amateur fiction writers - it means that writers tend to write best when they are writing about something they personally know well, since they will have plenty of interesting and useful experience to draw from. However, since Ponytail's comments are full of obscenities, she is sarcastically suggesting that obscenity is all she currently knows.

''{{w|Subroutine|Functions}}'' are reusable pieces of code which developers create to avoid repetition and make the code more organized. For example, if the code often has to calculate the distance between two points, it makes sense to place that calculation logic into a "calculateDistance" function, which can then just be called whenever it is needed. More generally, a function accepts inputs (eg. the coordinates of two points) and may ''return'' an output (eg. the distance between the two points).

Cueball notes, however, that all of the functions Ponytail has written are not actually doing anything with their inputs; they are just returning them straight back again and demanding that the calling code should deal with the problem itself. This makes the functions practically useless. Ponytail sardonically tries to justify this as a functional programming technique by saying that she is "avoiding side effects". A {{w|Side effect (computer science)|side effect}} is a situation in programming in which an isolated piece of code changes something about the global state of the program - this can be problematic, as there could be other parts of the code that were not expecting the change, and might behave differently as a result. Their different behavior is a ''side effect''. Sometimes side effects are intentional, but when they are not, they can be tricky to debug and fix.

{{w|Functional programming}} is a programming paradigm in which most or all computation is performed within the scope of self-contained functions, thus avoiding stateful behavior entirely. This removes the possibility of any side effects, since each function only knows what it is told via its inputs, and does not need to be concerned with anything happening outside of itself. Technically, Ponytail ''is'' adhering to this paradigm, but only in the sense that her functions are not doing anything ''at all'', and so cannot have side effects.

Cueball fairly makes this point by noting she is avoiding ''all'' effects, to which Ponytail [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090605/quotes?item=qt2959706 quotes] part of a famous quote from {{w|Ellen Ripley|Ripley}} in {{w|Aliens (film)|Aliens}}: ''I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the '''only way to be sure'''.'' By replying that it's the "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCbfMkh940Q only way to be sure]" she is thus indirectly saying better safe than sorry, but in reality she just doesn't care about her programming anymore because of her sad state of mind.

The title text is a pun, interpreting the phrase "side effect" literally. If you turn an object 90 degrees along the right axis you will place it on its side, so thus making it a effect of putting something on its side, or a "side effect." You can also turn 90 degrees (along another axis), facing what was previously your side.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is walking up to Ponytail who sits at her desk in an office chair typing on her computer.]
:Cueball: How are you doing?
:Ponytail: Hah.
:Cueball: You seem distant lately. For the past few months.
:Ponytail: Can't '''''imagine''''' why.

:[Cueball talks to Ponytail at her desk from off-panel.]
:Cueball (off-panel): Your projects have stagnated.
:Ponytail: But my Stardew Valley farm is doing '''''great'''''.
:Cueball (off-panel): You can't just hide from everything.
:Ponytail: '''''Fact check''''': Mostly false.

:[In a frame-less panel Cueball is seen standing behind Ponytail at her desk.]
:Cueball: I'm glad you're including more comments in your code, but it would be nice if they were comments '''''about''''' your code.
:Cueball: Or at least a bit less obscenity-filled.
:Ponytail: Look, they say to write what you know.

:[Cueball leans forward towards Ponytail at her desk (who has looked on the screen in the same position through the entire comic).]
:Cueball: All the functions you've written take everything passed to them and return it unchanged with the comment "No, '''''you''''' deal with this."
:Ponytail: It's a functional programming thing. Avoiding side effects.
:Cueball: You avoid '''''all''''' effects.
:Ponytail: Only way to be sure.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Sarcasm]]

1773: Negativity

2022-12-29T06:22:25Z

HisHighestMinion: Removing sad comics reference

{{comic
| number = 1773
| date = December 16, 2016
| title = Negativity
| image = negativity.png
| titletext = [Google search] how do I block my lawn
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is going outside for some fresh air because he wants to escape the {{w|Internet Troll|trolls}} of the {{w|Internet}}, which is known for hosting several hostile and unpleasant ideas and people. However, as he walks, some grass speaks up to insult him, and Cueball is upset to find that he hasn't escaped the negativity at all. (see [[1749: Mushrooms]] which involves an unusual occurrence of a vocalizing angry mushroom).

The title text expands on this, with him searching {{w|Google}} for how to "block the lawn". Blocking someone refers to a standard setting on websites and online services that can prevent certain users from communicating with you, but it is as yet unknown how this would work for a lawn insulting you. This is made ironic by the fact he is using the Internet to find an Internet technique (blocking) on a non-Internet object, while at the start of the comic, he just wanted to escape the Internet.

The term "[https://www.bayeradvanced.com/articles/how-to-tell-if-your-lawn-needs-dethatching blocking]" is actually used in lawn-care to refer to techniques where sunlight is restricted from reaching the lower parts of the grass stems and to persuade the root system to grow deeper into the soil.

Later in [[1802: Phone]], Cueball cannot go outside for a walk without bringing his phone as he cannot stand to be disconnected from his feed, which is the exact opposite of what he tries in this comic. Although in the title text he does try to disconnect, he then finds that this is also bad because it leads to social isolation.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball walking on grass]
:Cueball: It's nice to get outside, away from the pain and negativity of the internet,

:[Cueball stops walking]
:Cueball: And just enjoy the cool breeze and the grass under my feet.

:[Cueball stands there, hands to his hips, looking to the cloudy sky]

:[Cueball looks down while pointing a finger at the grass behind him.]
:Grass: You ''suuuuck''
:Cueball: ''Hey!''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Google Search]]

1756: I'm With Her

2022-12-29T06:19:08Z

HisHighestMinion: /* Explanation */ removed sad comics reference

{{comic
| number = 1756
| date = November 7, 2016
| title = I'm With Her
| image = im_with_her.png
| titletext = We can do this.
}}
==Explanation==
In this serious, ''no joke'', comic released the day before the {{w|2016 United States presidential election}} (which was more contentious than most, due in part to many people finding both candidates unusually distasteful), [[Randall]] urged his American viewership to vote, and showed his {{w|Political endorsement|endorsement}} for {{w|Hillary Clinton}}, the {{w|US Democratic Party|Democratic}} nominee in the election. She was up against the {{w|US Republican Party|Republican}} nominee {{w|Donald Trump}}, who ended up winning. For the sake of completeness, it should be mentioned that there were also nominees from other parties, including {{w|Green Party of the United States|Green Party}} nominee {{w|Jill Stein}}, and {{w|Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian}} nominee {{w|Gary Johnson}}. Neither hoped to garner enough votes to become president, but there was a chance {{w|spoiler candidate|they could affect the result}} in some states (no third-party candidate has ''won'' a state since {{w|United States presidential election, 1968|1968}}, and it did not occur this time either: the closest any came in 2016 was independent candidate {{w|Evan McMullin}} in Utah.)

It was the second time Randall referred to this election, the first being [[1748: Future Archaeology]] three weeks before the election, but here it was just a wish to know the result using time travel (of course he did not learn the result back then…).

The "H" with an arrow was {{w|Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2016|Clinton's campaign}} logo, and '''I'm with her''' an official slogan that was widely used by her supporters, hence the title. Randall then lists tips to help you cast your vote ([[#How to help|see table below]]) suggesting a personal investment in the election. Clinton herself may be represented by [[Blondie]] sitting on top of the H looking out at the reader as the only of the 11 characters. The only type of joke in the comic is the chosen characters. Two with weapons flank the left and right side looking out ready to defend against Trump: [[Ponytail]] with an emp gun (that she also wielded in [[322: Pix Plz]] for melting computers of persons who make snide remarks at women, clearly a reference to {{w|Donald Trump sexual misconduct allegations|allegations of Donald Trump's sexual harassment of women}} in general and especially to his ''grab them by the pussy'' {{w|Donald Trump and Billy Bush recording|comment}}) and [[Cueball]] with his sword (from [[303: Compiling]]). See more details in the [[#Character gallery|character gallery]] below.

This is the first time Randall has used a comic to directly support a presidential campaign, although he did [https://blog.xkcd.com/2008/01/28/obama/ endorse] {{w|Barack Obama}} in 2008 on his [[Blag]]. At that time, Randall wrote that he was troubled by Hillary Clinton's "basic lack of integrity", which is interesting considering he later endorsed her. He wrote later that it was very controversial when he endorsed Obama, but that it was not the most [[388: Fuck Grapefruit#Controversy|controversial comic he had published]] at that time. This comic might take that prize now, given that this was one of the most discussed elections up to its time. This is particularly noteworthy outside the US—for example, some European leaders openly opposed Trump, while others supported him. There were also reports of Russian hackers attempting to influence the election.

Randall's support for Hillary Clinton may have been due in part to Donald Trump {{w|Donald Trump#Healthcare.2C education and environment|being a prominent}} {{w|climate change denier}}. Randall has published comics opposing climate change denial such as this: [[1732: Earth Temperature Timeline]], published less than two months before the election, as well as several other [[:Category:Climate change|comics on climate change]]. Also Trump beating Clinton made Randall's [[1313: Regex Golf|regex that matches the last names of elected US presidents but not their opponents]] impossible to update.

All the information on the bottom half of the comic includes sites, numbers, info, etc., current as of 2016, that are intended to help US voters to vote, regardless of whom they vote for. Including this information can assist voters who don't understand the process, don't feel that it's worth it, or feel intimidated or threatened. In general, these sites and numbers were likely included to help boost voter turnout.

The title text, "We can do this", refers to Randall's desire to unite Democratic voters and elect Hillary Clinton to the White House instead of Trump. One can [https://www.lookhuman.com/design/86542-hillary-clinton-we-can-do-it/tshirt buy T-shirts] with the famed "{{w|We Can Do It!}}" logo from the Rosie the Riveter wartime poster, but with Hillary Clinton in the famed position. Both resemble the former president {{w|Barack Obama}}'s campaign slogan {{w|Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign#Slogan|Yes We Can}} and German Chancellor {{w|Angela Merkel}}'s "[https://www.dict.cc/?s=Wir+schaffen+das+%5BAngela+Merkel%5D Wir schaffen das]" (We can do this) refrain during the Syrian War refugees influx the year earlier—like Clinton, Merkel was fighting against {{w|Pegida|a populist nativist movement}} that wanted to close the country's borders.

===How to help===
The list of things that can help is all about getting people to vote. While Randall is likely to have wanted to boost voter turnout regardless of political leanings, it's clear from his endorsement of Clinton that he believed increased turnout would have helped her win the race. There is general evidence that certain more heavily Democratic-leaning demographics are less likely to vote, and in this election in particular, the various political issues that had been raised against Hillary (such as the {{w|Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI's}} public disclosures of its investigation into her use of a private email server) were shown to have reduced enthusiasm among Democrats. But all these issues aside, both Republicans and Democrats alike agree on encouraging everyone to vote, and Randall is likely to have agreed with that sentiment as well.

Here is Randall's list of suggestions for how to help Hillary Clinton win the election:
{|class="wikitable"
!Suggestion
!Tip
!Explanation
|-
|Vote
|[https://iwillvote.com/ iwillvote.com]
|A site to look up polling locations, ID requirements, etc.
|-
|Get a ride to the polls:
|[http://www.drive2vote.org/ drive2vote.org]
|For voters in Douglas and Sarpy County, Nebraska, who needed a ride to the polls from {{w|Warren Buffett}} or his friends.
|-
|If you're having problems voting
|[http://www.866ourvote.org/ 866-OUR-VOTE]
|Racism or other biases on the part of people running polling places is a real issue for minorities. Though it is illegal, people may lie or deny rights to would-be-voters who they believe will not vote for the candidate they agree with. In some instances, voters may require backup from someone with legal understanding to get to vote, which is a service this phone number provides. Since Donald Trump has suggested that unofficial {{w|poll watchers}} should patrol voting stations—which has been described as potential [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/05/election-day-violence-donald-trump-poll-watchers voter intimidation]—this has been an especially widely discussed topic in this election. The phone number written out as numbers is 866-687-8683.
|-
|Experimental social turnout project
|[http://www.civicinnovation.com/ civicinnovation.com] App Store: VoteWithMe
|An app which "gives you a list of the top 10 highest-impact potential voters in your address book to get in touch with -- based on the likelihood that they support progressive candidates, and that they live in states with the most competitive races". This app is for Android and iOS, with the App Store ID as "VoteWithMe". The "VoteWithMe" app is created by Civic Innovation Works and "uses publicly available voter records to predict which of your contacts are likely to support Democratic candidates, but might not have a plan to vote", as it says on its [https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/votewithme/id1170104517/ App Store Page].
|-
|Reminder:
|If you're in line when the polls close, they have to let you vote.
|This is correct, as is printed on most election pamphlets as part of the ''Voters' Bill of Rights'', as well as being cited on numerous sources online (e.g. [http://votersedge.kqed.org/en/ca/ballot/election/area/42/section/voting-info?id=statewide-42-ca#section-my-rights-as-a-voter here].) Being turned down for trying to vote after the polling place is officially closed (if you were already in line ''when'' the polls closed) might be an instance where you want to use the phone number mentioned above.
|}

===Character gallery===
The comic shows a gallery of 11 xkcd characters including all the main characters from xkcd (except [[Hairy]]), which stand united behind Randall and Clinton despite their lack of agreement in many other comics.

*From left to right on the left side of the H are 
**[[Ponytail]] with a ray gun, (that she also wielded in [[322: Pix Plz]], where she was named Joanna, for melting computers of persons whom make snide remarks at women, clearly a reference to {{w|Donald Trump alleged sexual misconduct allegations|Donald Trump's sexual harassment of women}} in general and especially to his Grab Pussy comment)
**[[Black Hat]], (who was the one introducing Joanna/Ponytail in the mentioned comic)
**[[Danish]], (Black Hat's girlfriend setting up a kite, although it could be Megan, but she is also shown later with her regular shorter hair. However it has mainly been Megan in comics with kites, like [[235: Kite]] and [[1614: Kites]]. Kites are a [[:Category:Kites|recurring theme]] on xkcd.)
**[[White Hat]] looking at the kite.
*On top of the H are
**[[Blondie]], (looking out at us, maybe representing Clinton herself)
**[[Megan]], (next to Cueball)
**[[Cueball]], (forming the standard couple in xkcd with Megan)
**[[Hairbun]] with glasses (so specifically not the one from the previous comic [[1755: Old Days]], but rather like in [[1637: Salt Mine]]).
*On the right side of the H are
**[[Science Girl]] (the adult version of her) holding her hand out towards a cute squirrel, (Of course she could also be the girl from [[635: Locke and Demosthenes]] where the squirrel is poisoned...)
**[[Beret Guy]] holding a squirrel out towards Science Girl, (The first time squirrels was mentioned was actually when Beret Guy found them in a tree in [[167: Nihilism]] and since then they have become a [[:Category:Squirrels|recurring theme]] on xkcd and a similar squirrel can for instance be seen in [[1503: Squirrel Plan]]. Beret Guy has not been seen together with a squirrel before, but has been shown to care for animals, for instance in [[614: Woodpecker]].)
**[[:Category:Multiple Cueballs|Another Cueball]] standing on an office chair wielding a sword. (as in [[303: Compiling]]. Interestingly enough the previous comic [[1755: Old Days]] was about Cueball asking Hairbun about {{w|compiling}} in the old days. Seems realistic that Randall has this comic ready for this Monday before the election for some time, and when finding this 9-yeared version of Cueball in the old comics, he may have gotten inspired to make a comic about compiling in the old days.)

Note that the two characters at either side of the comic wield weapons pointing out, defending the other nine. Those next to the characters with weapons are doing recreational things like kiting and admiring adorable squirrels, both of which are recurring subjects in xkcd.

==Transcript==
:[Inset: Eleven characters are drawn around a huge H with a rightwards arrow as the horizontal bar connecting the two vertical towers. Ponytail stands on the left with a raygun looking leftwards. Behind her is Black Hat who looks at a girl that might be Danish or Megan (but with longer hair than Megan typically has). She is flying a kite above the first two characters. Behind her and looking up at the kite is White Hat. The H is right behind him, and on top of the left tower sits Blondie looking straight out at the reader with her legs dangling over the edge and her arms resting on her knees. On the arrow sits Megan leaning against the left tower, also dangling her legs over the edge and arms resting on her knees. Cueball stands to her right by the right tower. On top of the right tower sits Hairbun with glasses looking straight right with her legs dangling over the edge one arm resting on a knee and leaning back on the other arm. On the right side of the H is an adult version of Science Girl holding a hand out towards the squirrel which Beret Guy is holding out in both arms towards her. Another Cueball stands on an office chair on the right brandishing a sword looking rightwards. He keeps his balance by holding his other arm out behind him.
:Caption]
: <big><big>I'm with her.</big></big>

:[Centred]
:<big>How to help</big>
:Vote―iwillvote.com
:Get a ride to the polls―drive2vote.org
:If you're having problems voting―866-OUR-VOTE
:Experimental social turnout project―civicinnovation.com App Store: VoteWithMe
:<big>Reminder:</big>
:If you're in line when the polls close, they have to let you vote.

==Trivia==
*Shortly after this comic was released Hillary Clinton lost the election. She won {{w|Massachusetts}}—Randall's home state—which was never doubted, and she also got the most voters. But Trump did win the most states and the most electoral voters and started his term as the {{w|President of the United States}} in January 2017.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Science Girl]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]] 
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Kites]]
[[Category:Squirrels]]

1732: Earth Temperature Timeline

2021-01-12T14:10:42Z

HisHighestMinion:

{{comic
| number = 1732
| date = September 12, 2016
| title = Earth Temperature Timeline
| before = [[#Explanation|↓ Skip to explanation ↓]]
| image = earth_temperature_timeline.png
| titletext = [After setting your car on fire] Listen, your car's temperature has changed before.
}}

==Explanation==
{{TOC}}
This comic is a [[:Category:Timelines|timeline]] on how the temperature has changed from 20,000 BCE (Before {{w|Common Era}}) to the present day (2016), with three predictions for the rest of the 21st century depending on what actions are taken (or not taken) to stop CO₂ emission. This comic is a direct, but much more thorough, follow up on the previous global warming comic: [[1379: 4.5 Degrees]]. By having readers scroll through millennia of slow-paced natural changes, Randall uses the comic to confront the rapid temperature rise in recent years.

Over the past 100 years, human action has produced a large amount of {{w|CO₂ emissions}}, which have caused a rise in average global temperature through the {{w|greenhouse effect}}. This is called {{w|global warming}} and is part of a {{w|climate change}}, a subject that has become a [[:Category:Climate change|recurrent subject]] on xkcd. There are still many people who claim that this is not happening, or at least that it is not caused by any human actions, called {{w|Climate change denial|climate change deniers}}. One argument of theirs is that global warming is happening for natural causes, summarized with the phrase "temperature has changed before".

This comic shows that while temperature changes have indeed occurred before, the speed of the current temperature rise is much, much faster than those measured for many previous thousands of years. The comic became so popular that [[Randall]] [[#Popularity_of_comic|postponed the release]] of his next comic to keep this one on the front page one day longer.

The temperature curve is a dotted line most of the time, but from about 1850 to 2016 the measurement data is good enough to let the curve become a solid line indicating that this is not an estimate. Before 1850 the temperature is an estimate based on the [[#Sources|sources]] given. And likewise into the future the three possible curves are also dotted to show that they are predictions, based on how seriously the population of Earth takes knowledge (and comics) like this.

Although this is a topic Randall obviously takes very seriously, and by far most of the facts fit with known history, he still includes several [[#Jokes in the comic|jokes in the comic]]. See also the [[#Table of all elements|table]] explaining each item in the comic. After the election of {{w|Donald Trump}} for president later the year of this comic's release, it is possible that Randall believes that his worst fears (as expressed by the current path at the bottom) will hold up, with the actions taken by the new president.

The title text compares the saying that "the temperature has changed before" comparing temperature changes over thousands of years to the rapid global warming over the last century with saying that the "small" changes to the temperature a car experiences over the years of normal usage should not make you worried over the rapid temperature increase that happens when someone sets your car on fire. Randall previously used this joke in [[1693: Oxidation]].

===Jokes in the comic===
* By placing the invention of the internet at 1980 in the chart, just where the temperature curve starts its most rapid increase, Randall humorously implies that the internet caused the rise in temperature.
* At 13600 BCE a glacier is shown retreating from New York because of the warm up. It is disgusted by the new changes and proclaims: ''That’s it! I’m moving to Canada!'' This is a joke on [https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/want-to-move-to-canada-if-trump-wins-not-so-fast-100658/ an idiom said by US citizens] to protest against changes in their country. As shown in the chart, the glacier takes 5000 years (13600-8400 BCE) to cross what would become the Canadian border (neither the United States nor Canada existed yet). Also, glaciers don't speak English.{{Citation needed}}
* At 13400 BCE it is mentioned that {{w|origin of the domestic dog|humans domesticate dogs}}. [[Megan]] talks to a wolf about to be tamed making a deal with it, that it can eat and sleep with the humans as long as they can yell at it for pooping indoors. This sounds like a sweet deal for the wolf until [[Cueball]] mentions that they will {{w|Dog breeding|breed}} it to be {{w|Chihuahua (dog)|very small}} and then dress it up in small {{w|Dog's fashion|costumes}}. The wolf says wait, but it is already too late...
* The {{w|Pokémon}} reference at 9000 BCE about them going extinct in North America (although Megan does proclaim that this is not a real fact). As the writing stated that ''Pokémon go extinct'' this can also be seen as a reference to a popular video game called {{w|Pokémon Go}} and hence also the comic [[1705|1705: Pokémon Go]].
* At 4500 BCE, next to "{{w|Proto-Indo-European language}} develops", [[Ponytail]] gets the idea to develop the language heavily inflected to make it difficult to remember all the verb endings for future students. This is a direct reference to the comic [[1709: Inflection]].
* The reference to the 1984 {{w|mockumentary}} about the fake rock band {{w|This Is Spinal Tap}} in conjunction with {{w|Stonehenge}} at 2200 BCE. In the movie the band ordered a giant 18 feet Stonehenge megalith but a writing mistake gives them one that is only 18 inches high.
**Another real band {{w|Nine Inch Nails}} is referenced 16000 BCE where Megan writes the bands stylized name NIИ on the wall next to [[Hairy]] who is in the process of painting the {{w|cave painting}} at {{w|Lascaux}} in France.
* Around the setting of the {{w|Iliad}} and the {{w|Odyssey}} (1200 BCE) a drawing of the {{w|Trojan Horse}} has writing on it that states: ''Not a trap''.
* Just below the previous entry also at 1200 BCE is the mentioning of the invasion of the {{w|Sea Peoples}}. This sounds so much like a reference to {{w|Mermaid|mermaids}}, often called {{w|Mermaid#One_Thousand_and_One_Nights|sea people}} that Randall feels the need to note that this invasion and these sea people is ''a real thing'' in a footnote. This is opposed to the Pokémon reference above where he notes that it is ''not a real fact''. The sea people was a seafaring confederation of groups known to have attacked ancient Egypt and other Bronze age civilizations around this time. It is widely regarded to be one of the major causes of the {{w|Late Bronze Age Collapse|Bronze Age Collapse}}.
* The reference at 450 BCE compares the {{w|Battle of Thermopylae}} (also known as 300 Spartans) with the dramatized 2007 movie ''{{w|300 (film)|300}}'', but in the real world the fighting of course occurred [https://youtu.be/FCfdyroV7kc?t=12 at regular speed and with more clothing].
*There are other minor jokes but this list mentions all the major jokes.

===Table of all elements===
*Here is table including all elements in the chart with explanations including reading off temperature and year for each event from the curve.
**The year group is just an easy way to find the section.
**Element is a description mainly taken from the transcript.
**The actual year of an event has been read off more precisely on the chart.
***The central part of the element has mainly been used.
***Only rarely has ranges below 100 years been used but if a location is clearly midway between two hundred years intervals 50 year range has been used.
***Only when there are several posts close to each other has smaller range been used a few times.
**T (°C) is the number of degrees Celsius above or below the 1961-1990 average, which on this graph is set to zero, (i.e. not the number of physical degrees above or below this 0°C).
***These have been read of to 0.1°C rounding up or down. Lines have been inserted over the chart, 10 for each degree, to make this as accurate as possible.
***In a few cases where a maximum is reached 0.05°C has been used
**Explanation of each element.
{| class="wikitable"
!Year group
!Element
!Year
!T (°C)
!Explanation
|-
| rowspan="2"| 20000 BCE
| [An arrow goes from the dotted line to the central line at 0°C (representing the 1961-1990 average). In the middle of the line there is a temperature label:] 4.3°C At the start of our timeline, 22,000 years ago, Earth is 4°C colder than during the late 20th century. || 20000 BCE || -4.3 || The scale here is relative, showing the magnitude of change rather than an absolute temperature reading. As a rule, {{w|climate}} changes are compared with a 30 year interval, and the 1961-1990 average was {{w|Climate#Definition|chosen for convenience}} as the "normal" to compare temperature changes with, but any other choice of baseline would show the exact same changes. The {{w|Last glacial period}} (aka ice age) reached its {{w|Last Glacial Maximum|maximum extent}} approximately 22 to 24 thousand years ago.
|-

| {{w|Boston}} is buried under almost a mile of ice, and the {{w|glaciers}} reach as far south as {{w|New York City}}. [The Statue of Liberty is shown in front of a glacier front. A guy with a white {{w|knit cap}} is seen walking in a snowy landscape. The skyline of Boston is shown under a half a mile of ice.] || 19700 BCE || -4.3 || This shows what a difference 4 degree in global temperature means (massive effect), as opposed to four degrees on a daily weather wise scale (trivial). The Boston image is directly taken from [[1225: Ice Sheets]] about the ice age glacier coverage; it was also shown buried in ice in [[1379: 4.5 Degrees]]. The guy with the white knit cap could be the guy from [[1321: Cold]] also about global warming. Knit caps have only been used a few times in xkcd, most prominently on [[1350:_Lorenz#Knit_Cap_Girl|Knit Cap Girl]] in [[1350: Lorenz]].

|-
| rowspan="3"| 19500 BCE
| But the world is about to warm up. || 19500 BCE|| -4.3 || The warming process actually takes thousands of years, which this comic will portray down thousands of pixels to come. This is not a fast warm up, especially not compared to the one we are currently experiencing (at the bottom of the chart).
|-
| By this time, humans have already spread across {{w|Africa}}, {{w|Eurasia}}, and {{w|Australia}}. || 19300 BCE || -4.3 || {{w|Homo Sapiens}} successfully {{w|Recent_African_origin_of_modern_humans#Movement_out_of_Africa|migrated out of Africa}} somewhere between {{w|Recent_African_origin_of_modern_humans#Dating:_pre-or_post-Toba|130,000}} and {{w|Recent_African_origin_of_modern_humans#Coastal_route|70,000}} BCE.
|-
| They’ve created {{w|painting}}, {{w|pottery}}, {{w|rope}}, and {{w|Bow and arrow|bows and arrows}}, but haven’t developed {{w|writing}} or {{w|farming}}. || 19100 BCE || -4.3 || The {{w|History of painting#Pre-history|oldest known paintings}} date back to about 38,000 BCE. The {{w|Ceramic_art#History|oldest known pottery}} date back to about 20,000 BCE. The {{w|Rope#History|oldest known rope}} date back to about 26,000 BCE. The {{w|History_of_archery#Stone_Age_and_Bronze_Age_archery|oldest known arrows}} date back to about 70,000 BCE, but Randall seems to be mistaken about the bows which seems to be {{w|History_of_archery#Stone_Age_and_Bronze_Age_archery|at most 10,000 years old}}. Writing is mentioned again at 3500 BCE and farming at 10,000 BCE.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 19000 BCE
| Changes in the Earth’s orbit mean that more sunlight reaches the polar ice… || 18600 BCE || -4.2 ||{{w|Milankovitch cycles}} are repeated climate variations on a timescale of tens of millennia caused by cyclic variations in {{w|Orbital eccentricity|eccentricity}}, {{w|axial tilt}}, and {{w|precession}} of the {{w|Earth's orbit}}, which thus then determined climatic patterns on Earth. The Milankovitch cycles are referenced again around 4700 BCE.

|-
| [A line chart with a labeled Y-axis "Summer sun W/m2 at 60°N" with three labeled ticks ranging from 450-550. The curve starts up and then goes down five times and up four times ending down. There is one plateau towards the end compared to the rest of the curve where the ups and downs are quite alike.] || 18600 BCE || -4.2 || The chart shows the input of sun during summer time in the {{w|Northern hemisphere}} (at {{w|60° northern latitude}}) as the effect (W) per square meter (m2) which fluctuated in the range from 450-550 during the time shown in the chart. There is, however, no scale for the time between the peaks. This chart relates to the text about increasing sun to the polar ice in the entry above.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 18500 BCE
| [A map of the world. At the top is a light gray area covering {{w|North America}}, {{w|Greenland}} and northern {{w|Europe}} and most of the northern part of {{w|Russia}}. A similar gray area covers {{w|Antarctica}}. The gray areas are labeled as ice.] || 18300 BCE || -4.2 || This [[:Category:Maps|map]] shows where the ice covered the {{w|northern hemisphere}} (and Antarctica) during the {{w|Last Glacial Maximum}}. The continents have not moved much since then, but the lower water level caused by the amount of water bound up in the ice, can clearly be seen in several locations. For instance, the {{w|British islands}}, Greenland, and {{w|Papua New Guinea}} are connected to their respective neighboring continents. Also {{w|Alaska}} and Russia are connected through the ice sheets covering the northern part of the Earth.
|-
| rowspan="1"| 18000 BCE
| …And the ice sheets start to melt. || 17900 BCE || -4.1 || This was a slow process that takes 10,000 years. The ice is mentioned again at 13,600 and 8400 BCE.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 17500 BCE
| Temperatures have been creeping upward, but around this point, CO2 levels start to climb…|| 17300 BCE || -4.1 || Due to the release of gasses from various sources (dissolved in the ocean, trapped in {{w|permafrost}}, etc), {{w|Carbon dioxide in Earth's_atmosphere#Measuring ancient-Earth carbon dioxide concentration|atmospheric CO2 levels}} increased by 100 parts per million over a span of thousands of years. Modern civilization has added the same amount in a single century.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 17000 BCE
| …And then the warming speeds up. || 16700 BCE || -4.1 || It took 3000 years for the temperature to increase with one degree. So this sentence can be seen as sarcasm about the rate of natural climate change compared to modern {{w|anthropogenic}} (human caused) warming.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 16500 BCE
| [Cueball is standing with a spear just the right of the graph talking to a rabbit.] Cueball: Still pretty cold. || 16200 BCE || -4.0 || True, because although the temperature has risen with 0.3°C over the last 4000 years, it's still 4°C below the 1961-1990 average.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 16000 BCE
| [Megan touches the dotted line to the right of her, with Ponytail standing on the other side. The graph has finally passed the -4°C line below the 1961-1990 average.] || 15600 BCE || -3.9 || Megan is the first drawing on the left side of the curve. She seems to be pushing the temperature up.
|-
| [In the right part of the chart is an explanation of the data. Below the first two lines there are four drawings each showing possible temperature swings in reality compared to the smoothed data that represents the dotted curve of the entire chart. The dotted curve is shown in all four drawings and a thin line is shown running along it but with much more fluctuation left and right on the first two, a large spike right on the third and a large bump way right on the fourth. Above these there are two labels. The first labels is inside a bracket that covers the first three, and the last label is for the last drawing. Below is a list of sources.] Limits of this data: Short warming or cooling spikes might be “smoothed out” by these reconstructions but only if they’re small or brief enough. Possible Unlikely Reconstructions are from Shakun (2012) and Marcott (2013), scaled to Annan + Hargreaves (2013) estimate for the last glacial period. || 15600 BCE || -3.9 || This is Randall's pre-emptive response to skepticism about the accuracy of prehistoric data. {{w|Ice cores}} and similar records might miss individual year-to-year variation, but should catch sustained changes lasting many decades, which is the time scale that matters for climate. See links to the [[#Sources|sources below]].

|-
| rowspan="1"| 15500 BCE
| In what is now {{w|France}}, humans paint murals on the walls of the {{w|Lascaux}} caves [Hairy paints three animals, two with horns, and two humans, Cueball holding hand with Hairy who has a spear. On the other side of the central line Megan writes three letters, the last of which is reversed:] NIИ || 15200 BCE || -3.8 || A reference to the industrial techno band {{w|Nine Inch Nails}} as Megan writes the bands stylized name NIИ on the wall next to Hairy who is in the process of painting part of the {{w|cave paintings}} at Lascaux in France.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 15000 BCE
| Ice sheets around {{w|Alaska}} shrink, exposing a land bridge between Asia and North America [From around the bottom if this section and down to 11500 BCE the dotted curve moved steadily to the right towards warmed temperature peaking close to 1.5°C below the 1961-1990 average. Before this the temperature had not moved much away from that at the start.] || 14600 BCE || -3.5 || This land bridge is known as {{w|Beringia}}. It is mentioned again at 8300 when it disappears due to the rising seas.
|-
| rowspan="1"| 14500 BCE
| [Cueball walks right looking back at the graph behind him. Megan walks in front of him pointing further right.] Cueball: Cool. Humans reach {{w|North America}}. || 14200 BCE || -3.3 || This is approximately when the humans from {{w|Asia}} crossed the land bridge mentioned in the previous entry, from what is now {{w|Siberia}} to what is now {{w|Alaska}}. {{w|Settlement of the Americas}} occurred around the time shown in the chart, although {{w|Settlement_of_the_Americas#Chronology|it's possible}} that earlier humans did so by boat prior to the formation of the land bridge. Cueball's comment is a double entendre; it was figuratively "cool" that early people migrated this far, and the climate was literally cool compared to modern times.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 14000 BCE
| The edge of the ice withdraws from {{w|New York City}} and retreats north. || 13700 BCE || -3.1 || Even though the ice began to melt 4000 years before (at 18,000 BCE in the chart) it is first now that New York City is free of ice.
|-
| [A large glacier front speaks in a speech bubble with an arrow pointing at it. Behind is there are four peaks in the horizon and in front of it three small melting pools and some rocks on the ground.] Glacier: ''That’s it! I’m moving to Canada!'' || 13600 BCE || -3.0 || When US citizens are unhappy with changes in their country, they sometimes say they will move to Canada in protest. Here it is the glacier that is anthropomorphically unhappy with the climate changes. However this is a slow process; it crosses the Canadian border more than 5000 years later.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 13500 BCE
| Humans domesticate dogs (Date uncertain, may be much earlier) || 13400 BCE || -3.0 || See {{w|Origin of the domestic dog}}. This timeline event is not quite accurate. The first dogs differentiated from {{w|Gray wolf|wolves}} about {{w|Origin_of_the_domestic_dog#Time_of_domestication|23,500 years ago}}, but there was an event around 13500 BCE that increased the population size and may be attributable to domestication events.
|-
|| [Megan and Cueball is watching a wolf looking at them.] Megan: Okay, you can live in our homes and we’ll feed you, but we’ll still get mad if you poop on the floor. Wolf: Deal. Cueball: And we get to breed you to be tiny and dress you in little costumes. Wolf: …Wait. || 13100 BCE || -2.8 || Megan is making a deal with the wolf that it can eat and sleep with the humans as long as they can yell at it for pooping indoor. This sounds like a sweet deal for the wolf until Cueball mentions that they will {{w|Dog breeding|breed}} it to be {{w|Chihuahua (dog)|very small}} and then dress it up in small {{w|Dog's fashion|costumes}}. The wolf says wait, but it is already too late...

|-
| rowspan="2"| 13000 BCE
| {{w|Woolly Rhino}} goes extinct || 12900 BCE || -2.7 || Mainland woolly rhinos died in the {{w|Quaternary extinction event}}, but a small island population survived until {{w|Woolly_rhinoceros#Extinction|around 8000 BCE}}. Woolly rhinos likely became extinct in part due to {{w|Holocene extinction|over-hunting}}. Randall's choice of species on this chart seems to focus on animals that were greatly affected by humans, for good or ill.
|-
| {{w|Oregon}} is scoured by huge floods as glacial dams burst and lakes of meltwater flow to the sea || 12600 BCE || -2.2 || This is a reference to the {{w|Missoula Floods}} several cataclysmic floods that swept periodically across eastern {{w|Washington}} and down the {{w|Columbia River Gorge}} flooding much of eastern Washington and the {{w|Willamette Valley}} in western Oregon at the end of the last ice age. During the last {{w|deglaciation}} ice dams formed then burst several times between 13,000 and 11,000 BCE.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 12500 BCE
| Ice sheets withdraw from Chicago || 12200 BCE || -1.8 || The next step towards the Canadian border, after they left New York at 13,600 BCE.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 12000 BCE
| Humans settle {{w|Abu Hureyra}} in {{w|Syria}} || 11550 BCE || -1.6 || A well-preserved prehistoric village that existed from 11,000 to 7000 BCE (a little later than noted in the chart), allowing archaeologists to study how their culture developed.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 11500 BCE
| [An arrow on the left side of the dotted curve is pointing down along the dotted curve and to the left indicate temperature is declining again, meaning the dotted curve now moves left to colder temperatures. This only continues until 10500 BCE. It is only the second time something is noted on the left side after Megan at 16000 BCE] Temperatures start to decline, mainly in the Northern hemisphere This may be caused by changes in ocean circulation due to the floods of cold fresh meltwater flowing into the Atlantic as the North American ice sheet melts. This cooler period is called the {{w|Younger Dryas}} || 11300 BCE || -1.6 || In the Younger Dryas, the Earth cooled by almost one degree over 1000 years. There were {{w|Outburst flood#Glacial_floods_in_North_America_.288.2C000_to_15.2C000_years_ago.29|several floods}} during the end of the ice age but the most famous is the one from {{w|Lake Agassiz}}. A similar but less global effect could occur if the ice on {{w|Greenland}} melts too quickly and causes a {{w|shutdown of thermohaline circulation}}. Without the {{w|Gulf Stream}}, hot water would remain in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean instead of warming the {{w|North Atlantic}} and Europe. The movie {{w|The Day After Tomorrow}} dramatized a worse-than-worst-case version of this, happening in days instead of centuries.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 11000 BCE
| [This is the first text to the left of the dotted curve:] Humans reach {{w|Argentina}} || 10900 BCE || -1.8 || The earliest evidence of {{w|Indigenous_peoples_in_Argentina#Prehistory|humans in Argentina}}. Finally the temperature graph has risen enough that there is space to write text on the left side of the curve.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 10500 BCE
| [An arrow pointing down along the right side of the dotted curve and to the right indicate temperature is increasing again, meaning the dotted curve now moves right to hotter temperatures. This continues until 8000 BCE where it levels out just above the 1961-1990 average.] Warming resumes || 10500 BCE || -1.8 || After 1000 years of slightly decreasing temperatures the warm up of Earth resumes. Over the next 3000 years the temperature increases 2.5°C, reaching a long plateau about 0.5°C above the 1961-1990 average around 7500 BCE.
|-
| Human settlements at {{w|Jericho}} ||10050 BCE || -1.4 || The {{w|Jericho#Pre-Pottery_Neolithic.2C_c._9500_BCE|first permanent settlement}} on the site of Jericho occurred around 9500 BCE, but there is evidence of {{w|Jericho#Natufian_hunter-gatherers.2C_c._10.2C000_BCE|non permanent settlement}} during this period, when cold and drought made permanent habitation in that region difficult.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 10000 BCE
| First development of {{w|farming}} || 9750 BCE || -1.1 || This is now called the {{w|Neolithic Revolution}}, i.e. the wide-scale transition of many human cultures from a lifestyle of {{w|Hunter-gatherer|hunting and gathering}} to one of {{w|agriculture}} and settlement. The {{w|history of agriculture}} began independently in several locations with both {{w|domestication}} of animals and the farming of different {{w|cereals}}. One of the first regions to develop farming was the {{w|Fertile Crescent}}. This is also around this time that the last ice age is said to have ended.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 9500 BCE
| {{w|Saber-toothed cat}} goes extinct || 9200 BCE || -0.3 || Although one of these (Smilodon) was known as the {{w|saber-toothed tiger}}, most saber-toothed "cats" are not related to tigers, or any modern {{w|cats}} at all, but can be viewed as examples of convergent evolution. {{w|Smilodon}} became extinct around 8000 BCE, and the last Saber-toothed cat first became extinct around 7000 BCE, which does not fit very well with Randall's range. Indirectly humans may have caused the extinction of the Saber-toothed cat by over-hunting their {{w|megafauna}} prey, depriving the cats of food sources.

|-
| {{w|Horses}} disappear from {{w|North America}} || 9100 BCE || -0.2 || The {{w|evolution of the horse}} began millions of years ago in North America; early species {{w|Evolution_of_the_horse#Miocene_and_Pliocene:_true_equines|migrated across Beringia into Eurasia}} before their predecessors {{w|Evolution_of_the_horse#Pleistocene_extinctions|died out}}.

|-
| rowspan="4"| 9000 BCE
| | Last North American {{w|Pokémon}} go extinct [Cueball with a spear and Megan is looking up at this last “fact”.] Megan: That is not a real fact. || 8900 BCE || -0.1 || Pokemon are not real. This faux-extinction is likely a reference to the {{w|Pokémon Go}} game, which Randall spoofed in [[1705|1705: Pokémon Go]]. Virtual Pokémon now thrive throughout the entire world, and are most commonly found near [http://time.com/4443225/pokemon-go-affluent-white-neighborhoods-report/ affluent first world neighborhoods].

|-
| Temperatures reach modern levels || 8800 BCE || 0.0 || It took 11,200 years for the temperature to increase 4.3°C. It's possible that human-created effects will produce an equal change in a few hundred years.
|-
| Rising seas cut off the {{w|land bridge}} between North America and Asia || 8700 BCE || 0.1 || {{w|Beringia}} was freed of ice in 15,000 BCE. This is an example of what happens when the temperature rises and glaciers melt. Sea levels are rising again as ice on {{w|Greenland}} and {{w|Antarctica}} continues to melt.

|-
| {{w|Cattle}} domesticated || 8500 BCE || 0.2 || Cattle feature prominently in the comic [[1338: Land Mammals]].

|-
| rowspan="2"| 8500 BCE
| Ice sheets retreat across the Canadian border || 8400 BCE || 0.3 || Finally the glacier that began retreating from New York around 13,600 BCE succeeded in moving to Canada as it had threatened to do...
|-
| Temperatures start to level out slightly above 1961-1990 levels || 8050 BCE || 0.4 || The next 3000 years the temperature stays within 0.2°C degree of a temperature 0.5°C above the 1961-1990 average. A very long and stable period.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 8000 BCE
| [The above sentence breaks over the 8000 BCE line. From here a maximum in temperature on the chart is reached at 0.5°C above the 1961-1990 average, which will not be overtaken until 2000 CE. It stays almost constant here until 5000 BCE where a slight cooling begins.] || 8000 BCE || 0.4 || This is the only five hundred year span with no events listed fully inside. Maybe because nothing happens with the temperature.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 7500 BCE
| This warm, stable period is called the {{w|Holocene Climate Optimum}} || 7400 BCE || 0.5 || Some skeptics like to say "[http://www.skepticalscience.com/10000-years-warmer.htm it was warmer in the Holocene]." This is no longer true. Global temperature began encroaching Holocene levels in 1998, and has equaled or possibly exceeded them since 2014.
|-
| {{w|Jiahu}} settled in China || 7050 BCE || 0.5 || Jiahu is another prehistoric settlement, similar to Abu Hureyra (12000 BCE), that was extensively studied by archaeologists.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 7000 BCE
| Final collapse of the North American ice sheet leads to rapid 2-4m sea level rise… || 6800 BCE || 0.55 || The temperature almost reached 0.6°C above the 1961-1990 average before this happened and caused the slight decrease in temperature mentioned below.
|-
| [A small arrow points down and left to the right of the dotted curve. There is a small decrease in temperature but it is very small and would have been missed without the arrow and label.] …And a period of cooling in the Northern hemisphere || 6550 BCE || 0.5 || A 0.05 degree decrease in 200 years again refers to the theme of slow natural climate change.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 6500 BCE
| As seas rise to near their modern levels, Britain is cut off from mainland Europe || 6300 BCE || 0.45 || This is a reference to the flooding of {{w|Doggerland}}.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 6000 BCE
| Humans develop copper metalworking || 5600 BCE || 0.5 || The {{w|copper age}} was relatively brief before humans discovered how to make {{w|bronze}}.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 5500 BCE
| Massive volcanic eruption in {{w|Oregon}} creates crater lake || 5300 BCE || 0.55 || {{w|Crater Lake}} is the caldera at the top of Mount Mazama, a collapsed stratovolcano. If it erupted again, it could become a Somma volcano (see [[1714: Volcano Types]]).
|-
| {{w|Gold}} metalworking || 5050 BCE || 0.6 || The temperature peaks here at just a bit more than 0.6°C above the 1961-1990 average. It will not rise above this level until the global warming sets in in the 1900s.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 5000 BCE
| {{w|Invention of the wheel}} || 4900 BCE || 0.6 || Wheels are one of the most important inventions of humanity. They feature in many xkcd comics, such as [[1075: Warning]].
|-
| [To the right of the dotted curve is an arrow pointing down and slightly left. From here temperature decreases very slowly but steadily from 0.5°C above the 1961-1990 average until 1000 BCE where a stable plateau is reached around the 1961-1990 average.] Earth begins to cool slowly mainly due to regular cycles in its orbit || 4800 BCE || 0.5 || Again a reference to the {{w|Milankovitch cycles}} mentioned in detail at 18,600 BCE. Here they cause a cooling rather than a heating as they did back then.

|-
| rowspan="3"| 4500 BCE
| {{w|Proto-Indo-European language}} develops || 4400 BCE || 0.5 || Most of the languages in Europe, the Middle East, and India share a surprising number of common roots. PIE is the theoretical ancestor from which they descend. Randall mentions this language family in many comics, such as [[890: Etymology]].
|-
| [To the right of the curve Ponytail holds up a hand towards Cueball.] Ponytail: Let’s make our language heavily inflected, so future students have to memorize a zillion verb endings! Cueball: Okay! || 4400 BCE || 0.5 || Ponytail gets the idea to develop the language heavily inflected to make it difficult to remember all the verb endings for future students and Cueball is okay with that. This is a direct reference to the comic [[1709: Inflection]].
|-
| Permanent settlements in the {{w|fertile crescent}} || 4200 BCE || 0.5 || The Fertile Crescent is one of those things you're supposed to remember from grade school. A lot of historic milestones happened there, such as the pyramids of Giza, the code of Hammurabi, and the Abrahamic religions.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 4000 BCE
| Horses domesticated || 3950 BCE || 0.5 || Horse riding was the greatest advance in land travel until the invention of engines. Horses appear in many xkcd comics, such as [[936: Password Strength]].
|-
| {{w|Minoan culture}} arises on Crete || 3700 BCE || 0.5 || Minoan culture invented many strange and wonderful things, such as the Labyrinth at Knossos and {{w|Bull-leaping}}.

|-
| rowspan="4"| 3500 BCE
| {{w|Egyptian mummification}} || 3500 BCE || 0.5 || xkcd has discussed mummification in {{what if|134|What If? 134: Space Burial}}.
|-
| Rise of the {{w|Indus Valley civilization}} || 3300 BCE || 0.5 || The largest bronze-age civilization.
|-
| Invention of {{w|writing}} in {{w|Sumer}} “{{w|prehistory}}” ends, “{{w|history}}” begins || 3200 BCE || 0.5 || Our knowledge of prehistoric events must rely on digging up artifacts and making inferences. After this time, it became possible to find descriptions of past people and events, which is the definition of history. (Old guy in Sumer: Kids these days with their new-fangled stone tablets, instead of using their memory...)
|-
| Earliest human whose name we know (Pharaoh {{w|Iry-Hor}} in Egypt) || 3100 BCE || 0.5 || The first named person we know of today! This was also mentioned as a "cool fact" in the title text of [[1355: Airplane Message]].
|-
| rowspan="5"| 3000 BCE
| {{w|Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors}} period in China || 2800 BCE || 0.4 || The temperature has finally dropped below 0.5°C above the 1961-1990 average after almost 2000 years of cooling from 0.6°C above the 1961-1990 average.
|-
| {{w|Gilgamesh}} || 2700 BCE || 0.4 || Gilgamesh was probably a Sumerian king whose tales were exaggerated into mythology.
|-
| {{w|Imhotep}} || 2600 BCE || 0.4 || Imhotep was not a pharaoh, but a wise commoner who was elevated to chancellor, high priest, and post-mortem divinity.
|-
| {{w|Maya civilization|Mayan}} culture emerges || 2600 BCE || 0.4 || Like the ancient Egyptians, Mayans are remembered for pyramids and {{w|logograph}}s.
|-
| {{w|Great Pyramid}} constructed || 2650 BCE || 0.4 || xkcd has discussed pyramids in [[1717: Pyramid Honey]] and {{what if|95|What If? 95: Pryamid Energy}}.

|-
| rowspan="3"| 2500 BCE
| {{w|Corded Ware culture}} in Europe || 2500 BCE || 0.3 || The term Corded Ware was invented by an archaeologist; no civilization actually called themselves that.
|-
| [To the left of the curve two rock musicians with long hair and electrical guitars are standing on either side of a small gate made of three slabs of stone, one on top of the other two standing stones.] {{w|Stonehenge}} completed || 2200 || 0.3 || This is a reference to the 1984 {{w|mockumentary}} about the fake rock band {{w|This Is Spinal Tap}}. In the movie the band wanted a giant Stonehenge prop 18 feet high, but a writing mistake gives them one that is only 18 inches.
|-
| {{w|Chariots}} developed || 2000 BCE || 0.3 || But {{w|Chariots of Fire}} came much later.

|-
| rowspan="3"| 2000 BCE
| {{w|Alphabetic writing}} developed in Egypt || 1750 BCE || 0.2 || Obligatory reference to xkcd [[1069: Alphabet]].
|-
| Last {{w|mammoth}}s on a tiny Siberian island go extinct || 1650 BCE || 0.2 || Many of the {{w|Pleistocene megafauna}} died in the {{w|Quaternary extinction event}}. Like the {{w|woolly rhino}} (see 12900 BCE) these animals likely became extinct in part due to {{w|Holocene extinction|humans hunting them}}, which may be why Randall included them in the chart. Most of the mammoths died out before 8000 BCE but {{w|Woolly_mammoth#Extinction|some survived in remote areas}} and the last known population died on {{w|Wrangel Island}} in the {{w|Arctic Ocean}} around 2000 BCE, slightly earlier than Randall shows here.
|-
| {{w|Minoan eruption}} || 1600 BCE || 0.2 || This volcano may have led to the downfall of Minoan civilization.

|-
| rowspan="5"| 1500 BCE
| {{w|Iron smelting}} || 1400 BCE || 0.1 || The beginning of the {{w|Iron Age}}.
|-
| {{w|Olmec}} civilization develops in Central America || 1350 BCE || 0.1 || No, Maggie, not Aztec, [http://vimeo.com/34002760 Olmec].
|-
| [A Trojan horse with two Cueball-like guys in front and a third standing on its back. Its back is at three Cueball’s height and its head rises to the level of the Cueball on its back. It stands on a platform with four wheel on the visible side. There is text on the horse] Setting of the ''{{w|Iliad}}'' and the ''{{w|Odyssey}}'' Text on horse: Not a trap || 1250 BCE || 0.1 || A reference to the {{w|Trojan War}} qua the drawing of the {{w|Trojan Horse}}. The horse was a big trap letting the soldiers hidden inside it into {{w|Troy}}. This explains why it has ''Not a trap'' written on it. Else they would not have taken the giant wooden horse present from their sworn enemies into their city just like that... Note that the Trojan horse isn't mentioned in the Iliad, and only recalled in passing by the characters in the Odyssey.
|-
| Invasion of the {{w|Sea peoples}}* * A real thing || 1200 BCE || 0.1 || {{w|Mermaid#One_Thousand_and_One_Nights|Sea people}} might sound like a reference to mythical {{w|mermaid}}s, so Randall feels the need to footnote that this event was ''a real thing'' (as opposed to his Pokémon reference, which he notes is ''not a real fact''). The sea peoples were a seafaring confederation of groups known to have attacked ancient Egypt around this time.
|-
| {{w|Polynesians}} explore the Pacific Ocean || 1000 BCE || 0.1 || {{w|Polynesian navigation}} was surprisingly widespread.

|-
| rowspan="8"| 1000 BCE
| [From 1000 BBC to 1000 CE the temperature is stable and very close to the 1961-1990 average.] || 1000 BCE || 0.1 || The temperature has fallen from the Holocene Optimum by half a degree to just a bit above the the 1961-1990 average. It will stay in this range for the next 2000 years.
|-
| {{w|Solomon}} || 1000 BCE || 0.1 || Solomon may have been a real historical king, but he probably did not threaten to chop a baby in half.
|-
| {{w|Iliad}} and {{w|Odyssey}} composed || 900 BCE || 0.1 || These classic myths were written more than 300 years after their supposed events. Archaeologists believe the city of {{w|Troy}} existed (and was destroyed by war around the right time period), but characters like Helen, Odysseus, and Achilles did not.
|-
| Rise of {{w|Greek city-states}} || 800 BCE || 0.1 || This is ''Sparta'', along with Athens and several others.
|-
| {{w|Neo-Assyrian Empire}} || 800 BCE || 0.1 || Hi, you may remember us from such kings as Adad-nirari and Sennacherib.
|-
| {{w|Ancient Olympic Games|First Olympics}} || 750 BCE || 0.1 || The first of the ancient Olympic Games is traditionally dated to 776 BC.
|-
| {{w|Zapotec civilization|Zapotec}} writing in modern Mexico || 600 BCE || 0.0 || Another Central American culture that fell to the Spanish invasion.
|-
| {{w|Confucius}} || 550 BCE || 0.0 || "He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions."

|-
| rowspan="10"| 500 BCE
| The stuff in the {{w|300 (film)|movie ''300''}}, but regular speed and with more clothing || 450 BCE || 0.0 || A reference to the {{w|Battle of Thermopylae}} by comparison with the 2007 movie ''300'' about this battle. The real Spartans wore armor, and real humans don't [http://www.google.com/search?q=300+slow-motion fly through the air in slow motion when struck].
|-
| {{w|Buddha}} || 450 BCE || 0.0 || Randall also mentions other religious figures like {{w|Jesus}} and {{w|Muhammad}}.
|-
| {{w|Nazca Lines}} || 350 BCE || 0.0 || These huge ancient drawings are difficult to see from ground level, leading some people to believe that they were intended for aliens.
|-
| {{w|Alexander the Great}} || 350 BCE || 0.0 || One of the most successful conquerors of the iron age, known for supposedly cutting the {{w|Gordian Knot}}.
|-
| {{w|Mayan hieroglyphics}} || 250 BCE || 0.0 || The {{w|Maya Calendar}} was probably created hundreds of years later.
|-
| {{w|Ashoka the Great}} || 250 BCE || 0.0 || The {{w|Edicts of Ashoka}} proselytized Buddhism across the continent.
|-
| {{w|Paper}} invented || 200 BCE || 0.0 || A significant step up from stone tablets or even papyrus.
|-
| {{w|Asterix}} || 100 BCE || 0.0 || Fictional main character in ''The Adventures of Asterix'', a comic series set around 50 BCE when {{w|Julius Caesar}} conquered {{w|Gaul}}.
|-
| {{w| Teotihuacan|Teotihuacán}} metropolis || 100 BCE || 0.0 || Another ancient city much beloved by archaeologists, even though they don't know who built it.
|-
| {{w|Julius Caesar}} || 50 BCE || 0.0 || Aside from being a conqueror, dictator, and deity, Julius had a big impact on {{w|Julian Calendar|calendars}}. The month of Quintilis was renamed July to honor him, and he was famously assassinated on the ides (middle day) of March.
|-

|-
| rowspan="8"|1 BCE 1 CE
| [Instead of a zero, there are two numbers for each of the two scales before (1 BCE) and after Christ (1 CE)] || 0 CE || -0.1 || Originally the year range went directly from 1 BC to 1 AD. The year zero has since been added for ease of mathematical and astronomical calculations.
|-
| {{w|Roman Empire}} || 1 CE || -0.1 || Julius never held the title "Emperor"; his adoptive son Augustus was the first to do so.
|-
| {{w|Jesus}} || 1 CE || -0.1 || Randall also mentions other religious figures like {{w|Buddha}} and {{w|Muhammad}}.
|-
| [To the left and erupting volcano.] {{w|Pompeii}} || 100 CE || -0.1 || The volcano is {{w|Mount Vesuvius}} which exploded in 79 CE and is famous for burying everyone in the close by city Pompeii preserving peoples bodies inside the huge amount of ash that swallowed the city very rapidly. Today it has given the archeologist lots of knowledge about the culture of that time.
|-
| {{w|Three Kingdoms}} period || 250 CE || -0.1 || Not just a series of movies and video games, but an actual thing that happened in China.
|-
| {{w|Gupta empire}} || 700 CE || -0.1 || Not as great as Ashoka, but still a pretty important time in the history of India.
|-
| Various groups take turns sacking {{w|Rome}} || 550 CE || -0.1 || 500 years is a pretty successful span for an empire.
|-
| {{w|Attila the Hun}} || 550 CE || -0.1 || He probably would not mind being remembered as one of the most infamous barbarians in history.

|-
| rowspan="4"| 500 CE
| {{w|Muhammad}} || 600 CE || 0.0 || Randall also mentions other religious figures like {{w|Buddha}} and {{w|Jesus}}
|-
| {{w|Tang Dynasty}} || 750 CE || 0.0 || A golden age in China, responsible for the development of printing, gunpowder, and many other advances.
|-
| [An arrow to the right of the dotted curve pointing down, takes a swing far out from the curve and then bends back again. The text label next to it breaks into the next 500 period. The dotted curve stays stable at the 1961-1990 average along this arrow.] {{w|Medieval warm period}} in Europe and some northern regions (too regional to affect the global average much) || 900 CE || 0.0 || Changes in ocean currents caused various regions to warm up while others cooled.
|-
| {{w|Leif Eriksson}} || 950 CE || 0.0 || Probably the first European explorer to reach North America.

|-
| rowspan="7"| 1000 CE
| [To the left a drawing of a compass with needle pointing the black end towards north east. There are labels for the four main directions (N, S, W, E) and a label next to it:] {{w|Magnetic compass}} navigation || 1050 CE || 0.0 || It's much easier to sail to the Orient when you can orient yourself.
|-
| [The dotted curve moves to the left towards lower temperature reaching a minimum around 1650 CE of about 0.6°C below the 1961-1990 average at the {{w|Little Ice Age}}.] || 1150 CE || -0.1 || This less than half a degree drop in temperature over 500 years was enough to cause the "Little Ice Age" which resulted in extended ice coverage in the winters in instance Europe. See more below at the entry for the Little Ice Age.
|-
| {{w|Ghengis Khan}} || 1200 CE || -0.2 || Mongol emperor. {{w|Gengar}} is not named after him, but [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Kangaskhan_(Pokémon) Kangaskhan] and [http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Khal the Khals] are.
|-
| {{w|Zheng He}}’s fleet explores Asia and Africa || 1400 CE || -0.3 || He explored farther than European contemporaries like Dias or de Gama.
|-
| {{w|Aztec Empire|Aztec Alliance}} || 1400 CE || -0.3 || Aztec dominance only lasted a century until Cortes arrived, but their cultural legacy is indisputable.
|-
| {{w|Printing press}} || 1450 CE || -0.3 || {{w|Johannes Gutenburg}} ushered in the {{w|Age of Enlightenment}}.
|-
| {{w|Christopher Columbus|Columbus}} || 1490 CE || -0.3 || The time given here references when Christopher Columbus reached the {{w|Americas|New World}} in 1492. The five events around 1500 CE lies very close together but it fits with Columbus fitted in just before 1500.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 1500 CE
| {{w|European Renaissance}} || 1500 CE || -0.3 || From here on, the chart has labels for each 100 year increment instead of 500, but the scale stays the same. Important events happens so much faster in these last five hundred years, there isn't enough space to write all of them, so Randall has had to be selective. He includes {{w|Isaac Newton}} but leaves out {{w|Albert Einstein}}, includes {{w|airplane}}s but leaves out {{w|car}}s, etc.
|-
| {{w|Shakespeare}} || 1600 CE || -0.4 || xkcd references Shakespeare many times, such as [[79: Iambic Pentameter]] and [[1026: Compare and Contrast]].

|-
| rowspan="2"| 1600
| {{w|Isaac Newton|Newton}} || 1650 CE || -0.4 || Isaac Newton appears in various xkcd comics, such as [[626: Newton and Leibniz]].
|-
| [To the right of the dotted curve there is an arrow pointing down that makes a swing in towards the curve and then back out again. This is the coldest it has been since 9500 BCE. It is labeled:] ”{{w|Little Ice Age}}” || 1650 CE || -0.4 || This was not a true geologic Ice Age, just a slightly chilly period when the temperature fell a fraction of a degree, but still colder than it had been through 11,000 years of human civilization. In Europe the winters were so cold that the river {{w|Thames}} {{w|Little_Ice_Age#Europe|froze over}} hard enough to hold {{w|River Thames frost fairs}} between 1607 and 1814. And in 1658 {{w|Sweden}} crossed the {{w|Danish Straits}} on foot to invade {{w|Copenhagen}} in the {{w|March Across the Belts}}. It was only possible due to the harsh winters of the Little Ice Age, demonstrating how much half a degree of climate change can mean.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 1700
| {{w|Steam engines}} || 1750 CE || -0.4 || The {{w|Age of Steam}} heralded the upsurge of human CO2 emissions.
|-
| {{w|United States Declaration of Independence|Unites States Independence}} || 1770 CE || -0.3 || On July 4, 1776.

|-
| rowspan="3"| 1800
| {{w|Industrial Revolution}} || 1825 CE || -0.3 || Not to be confused with {{w|Industrial music}} such as Nine Inch Nails.
|-
| {{w|Electrical telegraph|Telegraphs}} || 1830 CE || -0.3 || [https://youtu.be/gEGQUgWBQL4?t=56s -. --- .-- --..-- / - .... . / -- --- - .... . .-. / --- ..-. / ... .- -- ..- . .-.. / -- --- .-. ... . / .- .-.. .-- .- -.-- ... / ... . -. - / - .... . / .-.. .- -.. / --- ..- - / --- -. / .- / .... --- .-. ... .]
|-
| [After this the dotted curve becomes solid.] || 1850 CE || -0.3 || From 1850 weather records became sufficiently accurate and widespread to greatly improve the precision of climate measurements. Hence the curve stops being an estimate and thus also stops being a dotted curve and becomes solid.

|-
| rowspan="6"| 1900
| {{w|Airplane}}s || 1900 CE || -0.3 || xkcd discusses airplanes many times, such as [[726: Seat Selection]] and {{what if|30|30: Interplanetary Cessna}}.
|-
| {{w|World Wars}} || 1930 CE || -0.2 || Likewise, there are many xkcds on this topic, such as [[261: Regarding Mussolini]] and {{what if|100|100: WWII Films}}.
|-
| [The solid line takes a step to the right close to the 1961-1990 average. Over the rest of the 1900s it moves closer to the 1961-1990 average, crossing it before 2000 where it almost reaches the maximum temperature of 0.5 °C above the 1961-1990 average from earlier in 8000 BCE.] || 1940 CE || -0.2 || This is what the previous 14000 pixels of comic has been leading up to. After a laborious 20 millennia of gradual and meandering climate change, it should be clear that a full degree of warming in a single century is unprecedented in human history, and very unlikely to be natural variation.
|-
| {{w|Fossil fuel}} CO2 emissions start rapidly increasing || 1950 CE || -0.1 || The infamous [http://www.skepticalscience.com/Hockey-stick-or-hockey-league.html "hockey stick"] starts around here.
|-
| {{w|Nuclear weapons}} || 1950 CE || -0.1 || The Working Group on the 'Anthropocene' suggests dating the {{w|Anthropocene}} epoch from ~1950. The week after this comic [[1736: Manhattan Project]] with a mushroom cloud was released.
|-
| {{w|Internet}} || 1980 CE || 0.1 || The origin of the internet dates back to 1960 but it began growing rapidly in 1980. By placing the invention of the {{w|internet}} at 1980 in the chart, just where the temperature curve starts its most rapid increase, Randall uses this [[552: Correlation|correlation]] to humorously imply that the internet caused the rise in temperature. This is also where the temperature crosses the 1961-1990 average, which has to happen somewhere due to the {{w|Intermediate Value Theorem}}.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 2000
| {{w|Northwest Passage}} opens || 2000 CE || 0.4 || This was dramatic evidence that the climate had changed. When global warming removes enough sea ice to create shipping routes that never existed before, then it is clear to people that ''something'' is changing, even if they disregard who/what is responsible for the change.
|-
|[From here to present day the solid line increases rapidly and in 2016, present day, is almost reaches 1°C above the 1961-1990 average, with about 0.8°C above the 1961-1990 average.] || 2016 CE || 0.8 || '''Notice''': [http://www.skepticalscience.com/argument.php?a=11&p=2 Warming did not stop] in 1998.

|-
| rowspan="3"| 2016
| | Present day || 2016 CE || 0.8 || Today, just after the two hottest months ever measured since 1850 had ended (July and August 2016), this comic was released with the message displayed very clearly here below. Act now or fry...
|-
| [From here the curve once again becomes dotted as this is the future. After one dot it splits in two and after the first two dots another split between them occurs forming three possible future dotted curves.] || 2016 CE || 0.8 || Here stops the data and the projection into the future begins so the curve again becomes dotted. Three different scenarios are depicted.
|-
|The first curve bending down before the others, and thus to the right of the other two reaches about 1.2°C above the 1961-1990 average and then goes straight down and stops at the 2100 line. An arrow points to it from the left and a label is written partly before and the rest after the 2100 line to the left of the curve:] Best-case scenario assuming immediate massive action to limit emissions || 2100 CE || 1.2 || If humanity does all in its power to stop global warming we might be able to halt the global warming already before 2050 keeping the maximum temperature to just 1.2°C above the 1961-1990 average. Only 0.4°C above today's temperature. (Note that this is not, in fact, the absolute best-case scenario, as it assumes that no new greenhouse gasses are either added to or removed from the atmosphere in the future; the temperature rise could be kept to an even lower level if some or all of the already-emitted greenhouse gasses were removed from the atmosphere.)

|-
| rowspan="2"| 2100
| [The middle curve bends a little down after reaching 1.3°C above the 1961-1990 average, and then continues this path reaching 2°C above the 1961-1990 average in 2100. An arrow point from below to it and a label is written below the curve and below 2100 line:] Optimistic scenario|| 2100 CE || 2.0 || If all the current realistic preventions are implemented, which might not be so realistic, then we may not even stop the warming but slow it down so we "only" reach 2°C above the 1961-1990 average in 2100 CE but it would not stop there. This is half the temperature change experienced since the ice age, but the other way. This was directly referenced in the title text of [[1379: 4.5 Degrees]]: ''That's only HALF an ice age unit (IAU), which is probably no big deal.''
|-
| [The last line continues along the path from the last 16 years of the solid line reaching 4.2°C above the 1961-1990 average at 2100, almost as far on the other side of the 1961-1990 average in 150 years as it took 14,000 years to move from the other side from the start of the chart. Another arrow point to this from below with a label below the curve and below 2100 line:] Current Path || 2100 CE || 4.2 || In this last scary scenario Randall assumes the temperature keeps rising steadily by extrapolating along the slope of the last two to three years. Randall has warned about the hazards of [[Extrapolating]], but this line is in fact [http://www.skepticalscience.com/climate-best-to-worst-case-scenarios.html below the worst case predictions]. If this comes true we will reach a temperature increase taking us from the 1961-1990 average and in just 125 years to 4.2°C above this average. That is just as far above this average in that short time span as the ice age temperature was below. And it took more than 11,000 years for nature to reach such an increase. Randall already contemplated what this would be like in the +1 ice age unit (IAU) panel of [[1379: 4.5 Degrees]] two years ago, as well as in [[164: Playing Devil's Advocate to Win]] almost 10 years ago. He may get to ''enjoy quite a ride'' as he "wished" for back then.

There is no reason to assume the temperature will not keep rising past 2100 CE, so the {{w|Cretaceous Thermal Maximum|"Hothouse Earth"}} of the early {{w|Cretaceous period}} mentioned in the 4.5 degree comics +2 IAU panel might come to pass in future centuries if we continue on our current path. On the bright side, modern civilization might collapse if this trend keeps up, which would drastically cut our releases of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. But then again, positive feedback from methane in melting {{w|permafrost}} might take over... Good luck Earth.
|}

===Sources===
The image attributes climate data sources as "Shakun et al. (2012), Marcott et al. (2013), Annan and Hargreaves (2013), HadCRUT4, IPCC":
* Shakun et al. (2012) - [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v484/n7392/full/nature10915.html Nature], [http://www.atm.damtp.cam.ac.uk/mcintyre/shakun-co2-temp-lag-nat12.pdf (pdf)]
* Marcott et al. (2013) - [http://science.sciencemag.org/content/339/6124/1198 Science], [http://content.csbs.utah.edu/~mli/Economics%207004/Marcott_Global%20Temperature%20Reconstructed.pdf (pdf)]
* Annan and Hargreaves (2013) - [http://www.clim-past.net/9/367/2013/cp-9-367-2013.html Climate of the Past] [http://www.jamstec.go.jp/frsgc/research/d5/jdannan/LGM_temp.pdf (pdf)]
* {{w|HadCRUT}} - [http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadcrut4/ Official site]
* {{w|Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change|IPCC}} -[http://www.ipcc.ch/ Official site]

==Transcript==
'''Note''' there are several spelling errors in the comic, so please do only correct spelling errors that are not part of the comic! See more in the [[#Trivia|trivia section]].
:[A large heading, followed by a sub-caption. Below that two lines with a statement in between:]
:<big>A timeline of Earth’s average temperature</big>
:since the last ice age glaciation
:When people say “The climate has changed before,” these are the kinds of changes they’re talking about.

:[A very long chart below the headings above is headed with a label for the scale of the X-axis above the chart. Below that a sub-caption. To the left an arrow down to the top of the chart pointing to the dotted curves starting point (at -4.3°C below the 1961-1990 average) with a label above the arrow. And arrow pointing left to the left of the center and another pointing right to the right of the center has labels. Below these is the temperature scale of the X-axis, with 9 ticks between the borders each with a label ranging from -4 to +4°C compared to the 1961-1990 average, but with another step in each direction not labeled towards to axis so the chart covers -5 to +5°C compared to the 1961-1990 average.]
:'''Temperature'''
: Compared to the 1961-1990 average
:Start
:Colder
:Warmer
:-4°C -3°C -2°C -1°C 0°C +1°C +2°C +3°C +4°C

:[To the right of the chart is a gray text standing on the side down along the outer boarder of the chart with the sources for the chart:]
: Source: Shakun et. al. (2012) , Marcott et. al. (2013), Annan and Hargreaves (2013) , HadCRUT4, IPCC 

:[The chart is split in 10 columns by the temperature scale and the borders. The two central columns are white, and then from there to the left the background becomes a faded color that changes from light blue to blue at the edge in four steps. Similarly to the right the color changes from light red to red. To the left there is a time scale taking 500 years leaps from 20,000 BCE all the way to year 1, where there are two years, one for BBC and one for CE. The 500 year leaps continue until 1500 CE and from there the steps are down to 100 years until 2100 with also present day 2016 labeled. After 1500 the CE is omitted. The labels stop there, but there is space below covering down to 2200 CE. There is clearly visible division line across the chart on the level of each of the 500 step, and fainter lines for each of the 100 steps all the way even though only the last 5 of these 100 steps are labeled. There is a similar clear line at 2016. Below each step on the Y-axis is noted, and then any text starting before the next step is noted below indented. If there are extra image belonging to text this is indented once more. The graph that the whole chart is about is a dotted line that begins at the “start” point mentioned above at -4.3°C and then begins to go straight down. It will change left and right all the way down. To being with all text and most drawings are to right of the dotted curve. Whenever something is to the left it will be noted. When it says to the left above something, and then nothing over the next, then the next will be to the right. Only at the very bottom are there more entries to the left than right. ]
:20000 BCE
::[An arrow goes from the dotted line to the central line at 0°C. In the middle of the line there is a temperature label:]
::4.3°C
::At the start of our timeline, 22,000 years ago, Earth is 4°C colder than during the late 20th century.
::Boston is buried under almost a mile of ice, and the glaciers reach as far south as New York City.
:::[The Statue of Liberty is shown in front of a glacier front. A very tiny Cueball is on top of the glacier. The drawing is labeled and so is also the glacier.]
:::New York
:::Ice
:::[A guy with a white knit cap is seen walking in a snowy landscape leaving black footprints behind him. He walks through the white central part of the chart.]
:::[The skyline of Boston is shown with two clear buildings among all the other. Above it is a line and in between this area has been filled with thin lines. The drawing is labeled and so is this area. Also the skyline has an arrow pointing at it with a label:]
:::Boston
:::Ice
:::Modern skyline

:19500 BCE
::But the world is about to warm up.
::By this time, humans have already spread across Africa, Eurasia, and Australia.
::They’ve created painting, pottery, rope, and bows and arrows, but haven’t developed writing or farming.

:19000 BCE
::Changes in the Earth’s orbit mean that more sunlight reaches the polar ice…
:::[A line chart with a labeled Y-axis with three labeled ticks. The curve starts up and then goes down five times and up four times ending down. There is one plateau towards the end compared to the rest of the curve where the ups and downs are quite alike.]
:::Summer sun W/m2 at 60°N
:::550
:::500
:::450

:18500 BCE
::[A map of the world. At the top is a light gray area covering North America, Greenland and northern Europe and most of the northern part of Russia. A similar gray area covers Antarctica. There are two labels in the gray area above and one in the gray area below:]
::Ice Ice
::Ice

:18000 BCE
::…And the ice sheets start to melt.

:17500 BCE
::Temperatures have been creeping upward, but around this point, CO2 levels start to climb…

:17000 BCE
::…And then the warming speeds up.

:16500 BCE
::[Cueball is standing with a spear just the right of the graph talking to a rabbit.]
::Cueball: Still pretty cold.

:16000 BCE
::[Megan points to the graph to the right of her and between her and Ponytail standing on the other side. Mean is the first drawing on the left side of the dotted curve, which has hardly moved since the beginning, only to just on the other side of 4°C.]
::[In the right part of the chart is an explanation of the data. Below the first two lines there are four drawings each showing possible temperature swings in reality compared to the smoothed data that represents the dotted curve of the entire chart. The dotted curve is shown in all four drawings and a thin line is shown running along it but with much more fluctuation left and right on the first two, a large spike right on the third and a large bump way right on the fourth. Above these there are two labels. The first labels is inside a bracket that covers the first three, and the last label is for the last drawing. Below is a list of sources.]
::Limits of this data:
::Short warming or cooling spikes might be “smoothed out” by these reconstructions but only if they’re small or brief enough.
:::Possible Unlikely
::Reconstructions are from Shakun (2012) and Marcott (2013), scaled to Annan + Hargreaves (2013) estimate for the last glacial period.

:15500 BCE
::In what is now France, humans paint murals on the walls of the Lascaux caves
::[Hairy paints three animals, two with horns, and two humans, Cueball holding hand with Hairy who has a spear. On the other side of the central line Megan writes three letters, the last of which is reversed.]
:::NIИ

:15000 BCE
::Ice sheets around Alaska shrink, exposing a land bridge between Asia and North America
::[From around the bottom if this section and down to 11500 BCE the dotted curve moved steadily to the right towards warmed temperature peaking close to -1.5°C. Before this the temperature had not moved much away from that at the start.]

:14500 BCE
::[Cueball walks right looking back at the graph behind him. Megan walks in front of him pointing further right.]
::Cueball: Cool.
::Humans reach North America.

:14000 BCE
::The edge of the ice withdraws from New York City and retreats North.
::[A large glacier front speaks in a speech bubble with an arrow pointing at it. Behind is there are four peaks in the horizon and in front of it three small melting pools and some rocks on the ground.]
::Glacier: ''That’s it! I’m moving to Canada!''

:13500 BCE
::Humans domesticate dogs
::(Date uncertain, may be much earlier)
::[Megan and Cueball is watching a wolf looking at them.]
::Megan: Okay, you can live in our homes and we’ll feed you, but we’ll still get mad f you poop on the floor.
::Wolf: Deal.
::Cueball: And we get to breed you to be tiny and dress you in little costumes.
::Wolf: …Wait.

:13000 BCE
::[Randall did not use the normal spelling for Woolly Rhino, but this is an accepted alternative spelling:]
::Wooly Rhino goes extinct
::Oregon is scoured by huge floods as glacial dams burst and lakes of meltwater flow to the sea

:12500 BCE
::Ice sheets withdraw from Chicago

:12000 BCE
::Humans settle Abu Hureyra in Syria

:11500 BCE
::[An arrow on the left side of the dotted curve is pointing down along the dotted curve and to the left indicate temperature is declining again, meaning the dotted curve now moves left to colder temperatures. This only continues until 10500 BCE. It is only the second time something is noted on the left side after Megan at 16000 BCE]
::Temperatures start to decline, mainly in the Northern hemisphere
::This may be caused by changes in ocean circulation due to the floods of cold fresh meltwater flowing into the Atlantic as the North American ice sheet melts.
::This cooler period is called the Younger Dryas

:11000 BCE
::[This is the first text to the left of the dotted curve:]
::Humans reach Argentina

:10500 BCE
::[An arrow pointing down along the right side of the dotted curve and to the right indicate temperature is increasing again, meaning the dotted curve now moves right to hotter temperatures. This continues until 8000 BCE where it levels out just above 0°C.]
::Warming resumes
::Human settlements at Jericho

:10000 BCE
::First development of farming

:9500 BCE
::Saber-toothed cat goes extinct
::[To the left:]
::Horses disappear from North America

:9000 BCE
::[To the left, Randall spelled Pokémon wrong:]
:::Last North American Pokemon go extinct
:::[Cueball with a speak and Megan is looking up at this last “fact”.]
:::Megan: That is not a real fact.
::Temperatures reach modern levels
::Rising seas cut off the land bridge between North America and Asia
::Cattle domesticated

:8500 BCE
::Ice sheets retreat across the Canadian border
::Temperatures start to level out slightly above 1961-1990 levels

:8000 BCE
::[The above sentence breaks over the 8000 BCE line. From here a maximum in temperature on the chart is reached at 0.5°C which will not be overtaken until 2000 CE. It stays almost constant here until 5000 BCE where a slight cooling begins.]

:7500 BCE
::[To the left:]
::This warm, stable period is called the Holocene Climate Optimum
::[To the left:]
::Jiahu settled in China

:7000 BCE
::Final collapse of the North American ice sheet leads to rapid 2-4m sea level rise…
::[A small arrow points down and left to the right of the dotted curve. There is a small decrease in temperature but it is very small and would have been missed without the arrow and label.]
::…And a period of cooling in the Northern hemisphere

:6500 BCE
::[To the left:]
::As seas rise to near their modern levels, Britain is cut off from mainland Europe

:6000 BCE
::Humans develop copper metalworking

:5500 BCE
::[To the left:]
::Massive volcanic eruption in Oregon creates crater lake
::Gold metalworking

:5000 BCE
::[To the left:]
::Invention of the wheel
::[To the left. To the right of the dotted curve is an arrow pointing down and slightly left. From here temperature decreases very slowly but steadily from 0.5°C until 1000 BCE where a stable plateau is reached around 0°C.]
::Earth begins to cool slowly mainly due to regular cycles in its orbit

:4500 BCE
::[To the left:]
:: Proto-Indo-European language develops
:::[To the right of the curve Ponytail holds up a hand towards Cueball.]
:::Ponytail: Let’s make our language heavily inflected, so future students have to memorize a zillion verb endings!
:::Cueball: Okay!
::[To the left:]
::Permanent settlements in the fertile crescent

:4000 BCE
::Horses domesticated
::[To the left:]
::Minoan culture arises on Crete

:3500 BCE
::Egyptian mummification
::Rise of the Indus Valley civilization
::[To the left:]
::Invention of writing in Sumer “prehistory” ends, “history” begins
::Earliest human whose name we know
::(Pharaoh Iry-Hor in Egypt)

:3000 BCE
::''Three Sovereigns and five emperors'' period in China
::Gilgamesh
::[To the left:]
::Imhotep
::Mayan culture emerges
::[To the left:]
::Great Pyramid constructed

:2500 BCE
::Corded Ware culture in Europe
::[To the left of the curve two rock musicians with long hair and electrical guitars are standing on either side of a small gate made of three slabs of stone, one on top of the other two standing stones.]
::Stonehenge completed
::Chariots developed

:2000 BCE
::[To the left:]
::Alphabetic writing developed in Egypt
::Last mammoths on a tiny Siberian island go extinct
::[To the left:]
::Minoan eruption

:1500 BCE
::[To the left:]
::Iron smelting
::Olmec civilization develops in Central America
::[A Trojan horse with two Cueball-like guys in front and a third standing on its back. Its back is at three Cueball’s height and its head rises to the level of the Cueball on its back. It stands on a platform with four wheel on the visible side. There is text on the horse]
:::Setting of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey''
:::Text on horse: Not a trap
::[To the left:]
::Invasion of the Sea peoples*
::* A real thing
::Polynesians explore the Pacific Ocean

:1000 BCE
::[From 1000 BBC to 1000 CE the temperature is stable and very close to 0°C.]
::[To the left:]
::Solomon
::[Randall spelled Iliad wrongly this time:]
::Illiad and Odyssey composed
::[To the left:]
::Rise of Greek city-states
::Neo-Assyrian empire
::[To the left:]
::First Olympics
::Zapotec writing in modern Mexico
::[To the left:]
::Confucius

:500 BCE
::[To the left:]
::The stuff in the 300 (film)|movie ''300'', but regular speed and with more clothing
::Buddha
::Nazca Lines
::[To the left:]
::Alexander the Great
::[To the left:]
::Mayan hieroglyphics
::Ashoka the Great
::[To the left:]
::Paper invented
::[To the left:]
::Asterix
::Teotihuacán metropolis
::[To the left:]
::Julius Caesar

:[At the year 0, there is instead two numbers for each of the two scales before and after Christ:]
:1 BCE
:1 CE
::[To the left:]
::Roman Empire
::Jesus
::[To the left and erupting volcano.]
::Pompeii
::Three Kingdoms period
::[To the left:]
::Gupta empire
::[To the left:]
::Various groups take turns sacking Rome
::[Randall spelled Attila wrong:]
::Atilla the Hun

:500 CE
::Muhammad
::[To the left:]
::Tang Dynasty
::[An arrow to the right of the dotted curve pointing down, takes a swing far out from the curve and then bends back again. The text label next to it breaks into the next 500 period. The dotted curve stays stable at 0°C along this arrow.]
::Medieval warm period in Europe and some northern regions (too regional to affect the global average much)
::[To the left:]
::Leif Eriksson

:1000 CE
::[The dotted curve moves to the left towards lower temperature reaching a minimum around 1650 of about -0.6°C at the Little Ice Age.]
::[To the left a drawing of a compass with needle pointing the black end towards north east. There are labels for the four main directions and a label next to it:]
:::N
:::W E
:::S
:::Magnetic compass navigation
::[To the left:]
::Ghengis Khan
::Zheng He’s fleet explores Asia and Africa
::[To the left:]
::Aztec Alliance
::[To the left:]
::Printing press
::[To the left:]
::Columbus

:1500 CE
::European Renaissance
::[To the left:]
::Shakespeare

:1600
::[To the left:]
::Newton
::[To the right of the dotted curve there is an arrow pointing down that makes a swing in towards the curve and then back out again. At -0.6°C this is the coldest it has been since 9500 BCE. It is labeled:]
::”Little Ice Age”

:1700
::Steam engines
::[To the left:]
::Unites States Independence

:1800
::Industrial Revolution
::[To the left:]
::Telegraphs
::[After this the dotted curve becomes solid.]

:1900
::[To the left, and on the line for 1900:]
::Airplanes
::[To the left:]
::World Wars
::[The solid line takes a step to the right close to 0°C. Over the rest of the 1900s it moves closer to 0°C crossing it before 2000 where it almost reaches the maximum temperature of 0.5 °C from earlier in 8000 BCE.]
::Fossil fuel CO2 emissions start rapidly increasing
::[To the left:]
::Nuclear weapons
::[To the left:]
::Internet

:2000
::Northwest Passage opens
::[From here to present day the solid line increases rapidly and in 2016 present day is almost reaches 1°C, with about 0.8°C.]

:2016
::[To the left on the line for 2016:]
::Present day
::[From here the curve once again becomes dotted as this is the future. After one dot it splits in two and after the first two dots another split between them occurs forming three possible future dotted curves. The first curve bending down before the others, and thus to the right of the other two reaches about 1.2°C and then goes straight down and stops at the 2100 line. An arrow points to it from the left and a label is written patly before and the rest after the 2100 line to the left of the curve:]
::Best-case scenario assuming immediate massive action to limit emissions

:2100
::[The middle curve bends a little down after reaching 1.3°C and then continues this path reaching 2°C in 2100. An arrow point from below to it and a label is written below the curve and below 2100 line:]
::Optimistic scenario
::[The last line continues along the path from the last 16 years of the solid line reaching 4.2°C at 2100, almost as far on the other side of 0°C in 150 years as it took 14000 years to move from the other side from the start of the chart. Another arrow point to this from below with a label below the curve and below 2100 line:]
::Current Path

==Trivia==
*There have been several ''[[:Category:Large drawings|large drawings]]'' in the history of xkcd, some of which are bigger than this one (for instance [[1110: Click and Drag]]).
**Among those that can be viewed in one go, without downloading a larger file or moving around, this is by far the longest.
**The next longest is probably [[482: Height]].
*The timeline starts at 20,000 BCE (22,000 years ago) and ends at 2100 CE, thus covering 22,100 years.
*There are several spelling mistakes.
**Most obvious is the second time Randall wrote the word "Iliad," because he just spelled it correctly at 1500 BCE and then spelled it ''Illiad'' at 1000 BCE with two "L"s.
**Attila the Hun becomes ''Atilla the Hun'' with ''one'' T and ''two'' L's.
**Pokémon is spelled ''Pokemon'', but then again, that is not so strange for Randall (see [[1647: Diacritics]]). Despite that, he usually spells it correctly, as in [[1705|1705: Pokémon Go]].
**Note that the fact that woolly rhinoceros becomes ''Wooly rhino'' with only one l is not a spelling mistake but an alternative spelling of the word.
*The following notable facts are absent
**1850: methodical temperature record begins. However, this fact is indirectly indicated when the temperature curve becomes solid around 1850 and until present day.
**The entire swing period between 20 and 200 thousand years prior to now would depict temperature swings with increasing frequency and amplitude (ref geological record). But of course, this could not be included in a comic that only goes back to 20,000 BCE.
**During much of the 300 million years prior to that, the Earth was significantly warmer than now. However, the data's temporal precision decreases with age; seemingly abrupt changes millions of years ago might have happened over centuries or millennia. Hence, the older data is not usable to compare rates of change.

===Popularity of comic===
This comic became popular with a much broader audience than most xkcd comics. It was discussed admiringly by news sites such as [http://www.popsci.com/xkcd-earth-average-temperature-timeline Popular Science], [http://reason.com/blog/2016/09/14/send-around-this-xkcd-climate-change-web Reason], [http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2016/09/13/xkcd_takes_on_global_warming.html Slate], [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-comic-masterfully-shows-how-climate-has-changed-through-time-180960451/ Smithsonian], [http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2016/09/13/heres-22000-years-of-climate-changes-in-a-single-comic/ Forbes], [https://www.vox.com/2016/9/12/12891814/climate-change-xkcd-graphic Vox], [https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/09/14/493925781/epic-climate-cartoon-goes-viral-but-it-has-one-key-problem NPR], [https://qz.com/780391/xkcd-tells-the-entire-history-of-humanity-and-climate-change-in-one-cartoon-chart/ Quartz], [https://www.sciencealert.com/why-4-5-million-years-of-fluctuating-global-temperatures-can-t-explain-climate-change-today Science Alert] and [https://www.climatecentral.org/news/climate-change-xkcd-comic-20696 Climate Central]. It was promoted by famous individuals such as [https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/775632728548970500 Elon Musk] and even [https://twitter.com/unfccc/status/776129715799224320 twitted by the UN council on Climate Change], and obviously hated on by vocal {{rw|climate_change|climate change deniers}} and {{rw|crank|cranks}} such as [https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/53poul/josh_takes_on_xkcds_climate_timeline/ Anthony Watts]{{rw|anthony_watts|debunked}} and [http://joannenova.com.au/2016/09/how-to-make-climate-graphs-look-scary-a-reply-to-xkcd/ Joanne Nova]{{rw|Joanne_nova|debunked}}

Saying the "dotted line comes from computer models" is a bit inaccurate. Prehistoric temperature reconstructions are based on lots of measurements from lots of places around the planet: ice cores, lake and ocean sediments, etc. which are the best proxy records of climate change. From those measurements, one infers temperature, so [[Randall Munroe]] [https://www.scpr.org/news/2016/09/15/64670/epic-climate-cartoon-goes-viral-but-it-has-one-key/#comment-2900724860 may be more correct than he realises]. Calling that process computer modeling stretches the meaning of the phrase. For more {{rw|rationalist}} critique of this chart not driven by the agenda of pushing {{rw|pseudoscientific}} beliefs which are against the worldwide consensus, see [https://www.climatecentral.org/news/climate-change-xkcd-comic-20696 t][https://reason.com/2016/09/14/send-around-this-xkcd-climate-change-web/ h][https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/09/14/493925781/epic-climate-cartoon-goes-viral-but-it-has-one-key-problem i][https://www.scpr.org/news/2016/09/15/64670/epic-climate-cartoon-goes-viral-but-it-has-one-key/ s] and most insightfully, [https://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2016/09/13/everybody-always-gets-this-wrong-even-smart-people this].

*Due to increased interest, Randall decided to push the release of the next comic [[1733: Solar Spectrum]] one day back for a rare [[:Category:Thursday comics|Thursday release]] instead of the scheduled [[:Category:Wednesday comics|Wednesday release]].
**He [http://web.archive.org/web/20160915101125/http://xkcd.com/ noted this] above [[:image:1732_Earth_Temperature_Timeline_header_text_changed_for_all_comics.png|all the comics]] in the [[:image:1732_Earth_Temperature_Timeline_header_text_changed.png|header text on xkcd]]:
::''Note: Since a lot of new people are here looking for this chart today,''
::''I'll be posting Wednesday's comic on Thursday instead.''
:*Before that, the [http://web.archive.org/web/20160912181546/https://xkcd.com/ normal heading] with the release day of xkcd was shown.
:*This was (of course) still there Tuesday the [http://web.archive.org/web/20160913231501/http://xkcd.com/ day after] the release, because it was first on Wednesday there were reason to note the delay.
:*It stayed in place even [[:image:1732_Earth_Temperature_Timeline_header_text_changed_also_when_next_comic_was_released.png|for some time after]] the "Wednesday" comic was released on Thursday, but was [http://web.archive.org/web/20160915154605/http://xkcd.com/ then removed] before [[:image:1732_Earth_Temperature_Timeline_header_text_back_to_normal_shortly_after_next_comic_was_released.png|noon (EST)]] on Thursday.
:**Randall did thus not post a link to this comic in the header text for new visitors to use, only giving them that one extra day.
:*Even though the next comic was released on a Thursday, the scheduled Friday comic [[1734: Reductionism]] was still released as planned.
:**This was also the first time this occurred on xkcd - see [[1734:_Reductionism#Trivia|this trivia item]] from the Friday comic.
*On 2019-3-1, this comic became one of the six [[Design of xkcd.com|footer]] comics.
==== Removal of warning and footnote ====
*This comic's popularity was possibly the reason that both the more-than-10-year-old [[xkcd warning]] as well as the [[footnote#Original_footnote|original footnote]] was [[footnote#Removal_of_original_footnote|removed]] on the day of this comic's release.
**The next footnote was added 22 days later.

{{comic discussion}}

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[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Timelines]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
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Talk:2283: Exa-Exabyte

2020-03-21T22:07:38Z

HisHighestMinion: Added a comment

Is this the first non-coronavirus related comic after eight in a row? -- brad
:My personal suspicion is that this one came out so late in the day because Randall was trying to think up another coronavirus-related comic so as not to break his streak :) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.5|108.162.242.5]] 20:05, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
::We sure this is not covid-19 related? A comic revolving around how hard biology is doesn't seem to me like a definite chain breaker for a biology related topic. Though I'll admit its a bit of a stretch [[Special:Contributions/172.69.198.58|172.69.198.58]] 21:14, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
:::I'm pretty sure the comic is SARS-CoV-2 related. The virus genome can be found all over the internet lately, it is even used for spamming. [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 21:32, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
::::Did someone already modified SARS-CoV-2 to be able to infect computers as well? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:35, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
:::::Hm, not that I can find... This looks like a job for xkcd readers! Somebody get right on this, please. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 06:12, 21 March 2020 (UTC)
::::::I also immediately thought of COVIS19 when he started on biology. Of course is can be dabated if this comic has nothing to do with the vira, but it is still about how much life there is and big numbers. And he amount of vira in the world is a big number... Hard to imagine, just like exponential growth is hard for humans to understand. I'd say that if the next comic on Monday is again clearly on COVID19 then the strak did not end here, just took a detour around some aspect of biology related to the problems at hand. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:54, 21 March 2020 (UTC)
::::::(...a job for xkcd readers...) I have a different idea: Rewrite the {{w|EICAR test file}} as an equivalently functional (R|D)NA package. Nothing can go wrong! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.98|162.158.92.98]] 19:35, 21 March 2020 (UTC)

So, is she counting all of humanity as one string of DNA data, or does each human count separately, or each cell in a human's body, or what?
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.215|162.158.74.215]] 21:48, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
: According to the NYT article, it was calculating "number of cells contained in each organism and multiplied that by the amount of DNA contained in each cell". [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.161|172.69.33.161]] 22:46, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
:: So, very small part of it would be each human cell counted separately. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:35, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
:::Good lord, that's got to be 92% or more redundant data; somebody teach these folk about the wonders of compression & differential versioning databases. ;S [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 06:15, 21 March 2020 (UTC)

'This is a comic about the difficulty of picturing or understanding large numbers. As mentioned in the comic, an exabyte is 10^18 bytes, while an "exa-exabyte" -- not a real word but one that makes sense if you apply the principles of metric prefixes' One of the principles of metric prefixes (which can be found in the linked page) is 'Prefixes may not be used in combination.' So "exa-exa" does not make sense in the metric world. It only makes "sense" in the messed up world were you lbf/lbm has the value 1 instead of g.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.138|172.68.65.138]] 01:54, 21 March 2020 (UTC)
:I've heard the term "gigakilogram(me)" used before. Probably due to the kilo being the base SI unit, rather than the prefixless gram/gramme. Just makes that Fermiation of derived compound units easier to work with, like the Newtons arising from a 'Gkg'x'Mm'/'das'² calculation being (?check?... 9+6-(2*1)=13, IIRC) of the final order of ~10TN. That said, I'd rather have liked to have seen the units instead being double-prefixed as "Terayotta-", because it sounds like a funny version of "terracotta". Or, as yotta- is essentially teratera-, go one stage further and use terateratera-... (Or picoyottayotta-?) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.98|162.158.92.98]] 19:58, 21 March 2020 (UTC)

Most the data is redundant though. Compressed, and it definitely should be, it would take only about 2% as much space to store. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 05:32, 21 March 2020 (UTC)
:Glad somebody else already noted that.
:'''I think this should be noted in the explanation.'''
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 06:18, 21 March 2020 (UTC)

It is worth mentioning that Randall is also mocking the education system for its lack of ability of explaining complex stuff to pupils. The teacher here is supposed to be able to provide different analogies from real life so that there is a chance of getting a feeling of the magnitude of the underlying number. Instead, she just repeats the explanation in the same mathematical terms as the original concept. That clearly doesn't help. Even worse, it prompts another student to attempt to explain it in even simpler terms but miss the point completely. The irony here is that incorrect but easy to understand explanation is accepted and not the correct one. Here it's also possible to mention similarities regarding climate change information not getting through to the general public but that would be a stretch. Also, what's the whole point of understanding these numbers if they are just a funny statistical fact? -- [[User:SomethingLike|SomethingLike]] ([[User talk:SomethingLike|talk]]) 06:15, 21 March 2020 (UTC)

"if(`Can you picture 36?`){return `Picture a number with 36 digits.`;}
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.154.70|172.68.154.70]] 09:25, 21 March 2020 (UTC)
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.154.70|172.68.154.70]] 09:30, 21 March 2020 (UTC)

Suppose there are 4e37 base pairs. There are four possible bases, although the pair has to match, so each pair still only encodes two bits, for a total of 8e37 bits, or 1e37 bytes. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.38.66|162.158.38.66]] 11:07, 21 March 2020 (UTC)

If every human that has ever lived had a life span equal to the age of the universe, and every second of every day of their lives they created a one gigabyte storage device, there would still not be enough storage space to store 10 exa-exabytes. [[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 22:07, 21 March 2020 (UTC)

558: 1000 Times

2020-03-21T18:31:15Z

HisHighestMinion: /* Explanation */ alcohol content comparison

{{comic
| number = 558
| date = March 20, 2009
| title = 1000 Times
| image = 1000_times.png
| titletext = And 0.002 dollars will NEVER equal 0.002 cents.
}}

==Explanation==
When amounts of U.S. dollars (or other currencies of comparable size) in the millions, billions, or trillions are mentioned in conversation, the impression left by the cited number is not some specific amount, but rather some generically large amount of money. A billion is a thousand times larger than a million, but if one is not paying close attention, they both mentally register as being "very large" or "life-changing if they ended up in my bank account", rather than being as different as "one dollar" and "a thousand dollars" are.

In this comic, [[Randall]] notes how news organizations take advantage of this fact to make certain figures sound comparable, when the are actually not. The "{{w|Bailout}}" referred to is the 2008 {{w|Troubled Asset Relief Program}} (TARP), wherein money was cheaply loaned to large banks by the government to help them remain solvent. The "Bonuses" are the subsequent bonuses paid by those banks to their employees.

Citing the size of the bailout in billions and the size of the bonuses in millions gives the misleading impression that the bulk of the bailout was spent on bonuses - in particular to the very traders who caused the problem that cause the need for TARP in the first place - making for much more outrageous and therefore attention-grabbing story. While the news organizations are not ''lying'' per se, citing the figures more honestly makes it clear that the bonus payments were a tiny fraction of the bailout which is not as obviously outrageous. The news organizations, as news organizations are, were choosing the presentation that was most attention-grabbing over the presentation that conveys the information most accurately.

Below the two comic panels Randall asks the news organizations to stop using this way to misleadingly represent large numbers. He then proceeds to compares the difference between a million and a billion using an analogue that a newscaster may understand. Proportionally speaking, if a million is like Randall taking a sip of wine and spending 30 seconds (presumably talking over the wine) with your daughter, then a billion would be like him drinking a bottle of Gin and spending a night with her (presumably having drunken sex with her). Note that a billion is 1000 millions, and 1000 times 30 seconds does indeed equal 8 hours and 20 minutes, or about "one night". And a bottle of gin (750 mL, 40% ABV) contains 1000 times as much alcohol as a small sip of wine (3 mL, 10% ABV)

The title text is a reference to a semi-famous case where {{w|Verizon Wireless}} [http://verizonmath.blogspot.com/2006/12/verizon-doesnt-know-dollars-from-cents.html quoted] a rate of 0.002¢ (which equals $0.00002) per kB on their data plan, but charged $0.002. And they could not see the difference.

==Transcript==
:[Two almost identical panels are shown with Ponytail sitting behind desk. Above each panel there are a caption and the text in the sign of each panel is slightly different]

:[Left panel caption above and sign in the panel:]
:Dishonest
:Sign:
::Bailout: $170 billion
::Bonuses: $165 million

:[Right panel caption above and sign in the panel:]
:Honest:
:Sign:
::Bailout: $170,000 million
::Bonuses: $165 million

:[Caption below the panels:]
:Dear news organizations: Stop giving large
:numbers without context or proper comparison.

:The difference between a million and a
:billion is the difference between me having a
:sip of wine and 30 seconds with your daughter,
:and a bottle of gin and a night with her.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:News anchor]]
[[Category:Sex]]

Talk:Sad comics

2019-11-08T04:06:27Z

HisHighestMinion: /* This page should be deleted */ In favor of deletion

2220: Imagine Going Back in Time

2019-11-08T03:56:58Z

HisHighestMinion: /* Explanation */ Cleaned up wording, added ambiguity to an uncertain interpretation of the comic.

{{comic
| number = 2220
| date = October 25, 2019
| title = Imagine Going Back in Time
| image = imagine_going_back_in_time.png
| titletext = I wonder what the trendy adults in 2019 who are too cool for Pokemon will be into. Probably Digimon!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a DIGIMON. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Cueball]] is checking his ''{{w|Pokemon Go}}'' app to check on the status of a Pokémon he had previously left in a gym (to defend it against the other two teams in the game). In the gym he sees that another player named "Reelect Trump 2020" has left a frog Pokémon, which is now standing next to his. Cueball, evidently not a fan of President Trump or his supporters, finds it distasteful to be indirectly associated with someone whose political views he finds unpleasant.

When he remarks on this to [[Megan]], she observes out how strange that remark would sound if he said it to his younger self from 20 years ago. Normally when people say "imagine going back in time", they are merely constructing a hypothetical scenario to illustrate how rapidly society has changed over the years. Megan is likely pointing out that the idea of Donald Trump becoming the President of the United States (let alone coming up for re-election) would have seemed very farfetched just 20 years ago.

However, it turns out that Cueball somehow actually does ''have'' the time-travel technology required to pull this off, and so he takes Megan's suggestion literally and goes back in time 20 years to do exactly what she suggested: he repeats the statement to his younger self to see what his reaction will be.

Unfortunately, past Cueball (in the year 1999) chooses to focus on a completely different aspect of the statement: the fact that ''Pokémon'' - a children's game - will still somehow be popular in 20 years, and that his adult self is still playing it. These observations make Cueball feel uncomfortable, as they highlight the fact that he is spending time on frivolous, childish pursuits. He gets defensive and starts to argue with his younger self.

{{w|Pokemon}} is a media franchise that debuted in 1996 in Japan as both a video game and a trading card game. It was originally designed for and marketed to younger children (the tie-in cartoon series constantly emphasizes its main characters are ten years old), with a design, aesthetic and gameplay that were optimized for a younger audience. Since then, and up to 2019, there have been a total of eight generations of video games on consoles. As the franchise continued to thrive and evolve, it's gone through multiple generations, including ''Pokemon Go'', an augmented reality game for smartphones. These latest versions, in particular, have become popular with adults, some of whom grew up playing the earlier generations.

In 1999 in North America, only the first generation of Pokemon video games had been released, consisting of {{w|Pokémon Red and Blue|Pokemon Blue and Pokemon Red}} for the Nintendo Gameboy. The second generation of Pokemon video games would not even be announced in Japan until {{w|Pokémon Gold and Silver#Release|November 1999}}, and advertising for the North American release would begin in December of 1999. A person living in 1999, who has only seen the first generation, with no official confirmation that a second generation was even being considered, and unable to predict the nostalgia market that would appear later, would quite plausibly wonder about its popularity 20 years later.

{{w|Donald J. Trump}} is the president of the United States at the time of publishing, elected in 2016. Even during his campaign, the idea of his election was considered absurd in many circles, as he had never held any kind of public office, and had no background that would lend itself to expertise in government or public policy. Prior to his election, he was primarily known as a New York real estate mogul and host of the 2003 reality television show ''The Apprentice''. While he'd been teasing the idea of a presidential run since the 1980s, and indeed {{w|Donald Trump 2000 presidential campaign|was currently seeking the Reform Party candidacy in 1999}}, most people saw the idea as unserious, and the concept of him actually being President of the United States would have been hugely unexpected to most Americans in an earlier era.

Cueball/[[Randall]] is not a fan of the current U.S. President {{w|Donald Trump}}, and this prompts Cueball to say to [[Megan]] "A player named "Reelect Trump 2020" put a frog Pokemon in the gym next to mine." (Note that since the offending player is in the same gym as Cueball, they are "on the same team" and Cueball will not be able to remove either his, or his own Pokémon from the gym. Only players from the other two teams could do that.) Alternatively, Cueball may simply be upset that someone is inserting political statements into a video game which people play for fun.

Randall released a comic about Pokémon Go less than a week after its release back in July 2016: [[1705: Pokémon Go]]. But Pokémon in general has been a [[:Category:Pokémon|recurring theme]] in xkcd long before Pokémon Go was released.

[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/pepe-the-frog Pepe the Frog] is an internet meme that has become associated with Donald Trump after his use of it during his presidential campaign. The use of a frog Pokémon, therefore, is a callback to this internet phenomenon.

The Pokémon left in the gym is most likely [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Politoed_(Pok%C3%A9mon) Politoed], the only official frog Pokémon released in the game at the time of publication. It comes from the tadpole series with [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Poliwag_(Pok%C3%A9mon) Poliwag] that evolves into [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Poliwhirl_(Pok%C3%A9mon) Poliwhirl] which by using a [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/King%27s_Rock kings rock] can be evolved to Politoed (instead of to [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Poliwrath_(Pok%C3%A9mon) Poliwrath]). There are other frog like Pokémon in the game which are scheduled to be added to Pokémon Go, but where people who dislike Trump might have chosen [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Toxicroak_(Pok%C3%A9mon) Toxicroak], it seems an unlikely choice by a fan that hopes Trump is reelected!

This comic's joke is similar to one used in the 1985 science-fiction film ''{{w|Back to the Future}}'', in which Doc Brown (of 1955) is shocked to learn that {{w|Ronald Reagan}} would be the President of the United States in thirty years' time, when in 1955 Reagan was a TV actor.

{{w|Digimon}}, as mentioned in the title text, is another media franchise which is similar to Pokemon in some ways, though it is sometmes perceived as more "cool" and "adult" oriented. Its popularity in North America rose around 1999 with the airing of its anime series, but [https://www.geekinsider.com/digimon-vs-pokemon-retrospective-monster-marketing/ never became as popular as Pokemon].

This was the first of two time travel comics in less than a week, as the one two comics after this one, [[2222: Terminator: Dark Fate]], also had future Cueballs travel back to visit their past self.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball talks to Megan while looking at his smart phone.]
:Cueball: Ugh. A player named "Reelect Trump 2020" put a frog Pokemon in the gym next to mine.

:[Megan puts her hand to her face. Cueball is holding a device in his hand with an antenna. He uses the other hand to move a stick on the device.]
:Megan: Imagine going back in time and saying that to yourself 20 years ago.
:Cueball: Oh, I have a time machine! I'll try that.

:[A sound effect between panels, likely the sound of Cueball's time machine.]
:Bzzzzt

:[Two Cueballs standing, facing each other. The one on the right is holding the handheld device, and is thus Cueball from 2019. He is apparently repeating his statement to the other Cueball from 1999, with only the last 3 words shown. He gestures towards the left Cueball. Above the left Cueball there is a frame with a caption:]
:1999
:Cueball from 2019: ...next to mine.

:[Cueball from 1999 is shown, with Cueball from 2019 speaking off panel.]
:Cueball from 1999: I see.
:Cueball from 1999: Pokemon is still popular in 2019?
:Cueball from 2019: Yeah.

:[Cueball from 2019 is holding a finger up in front of Cueball from 1999.]
:Cueball from 1999: And it's cool for people your age to play it?
:Cueball from 2019: OK, I did not come here to be mocked.
:Cueball from 1999: This is a sobering cautionary tale.
:Cueball from 2019: '''''Listen, self...'''''

==Trivia==
* The idea of people extending their childhood hobbies into adulthood was explored in a more positive light in [[219: Blanket Fort]] and [[150: Grownups]]. The blurred line between childhood and adulthood is a recurring theme on xkcd.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]

[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Time travel]]
[[Category:Politics]]

886: Craigslist Apartments

2019-07-12T02:56:39Z

HisHighestMinion: I have no idea where the "non-euclidean space" assertion came from

{{comic
| number = 886
| date = April 15, 2011
| title = Craigslist Apartments
| image = craigslist apartments.png
| titletext = $1600 / 1386153BR 3BATH, MODERN SLIDING DOORS, GUEST ROOMS, GARBAGE DISPOSAL. FREE MANDATORY PARKING (ENFORCED). CONVENIENT TO ALDERAAN.
}}

==Explanation==
This is a comic about the potential pitfalls in finding an apartment on {{w|Craigslist}}. Just as in Craigslist, some of the posts are re-posted several times. Additionally, lots of posts use lots of tildes, exclamation points or asterisks as above to set their posts apart from others.

'''BR''' means bedroom, e.g. 3BR means that apartment has 3 bedrooms (common measurement of apartment size).

*'''$1600 / 2BR <nowiki>~~~</nowiki> Hardwood floors, utilities included. Cats OK, limit one per square foot.'''
:This ad is aimed at "crazy cat ladies/bachelors" who compulsively keep a number of animals much greater than is appropriate to the living space.

*'''$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****'''
:This is the first repetition of an entry that appears multiple times. It is also extremely generic, telling the reader little useful about the house. The square house might be a garage, or just a regular square house. Beside that, most houses have a door in front{{Citation needed}}, there's nothing special about a door.

*'''$2300 / 3BR !!!!!!!! Elegant apartment permanently lit by strobe light!!!! No floor.'''
:A strobe light is a very bright light that, instead of remaining on, flashes very quickly. It's frequently used in parties. A constant strobe light and the stated lack of a floor would probably make living in the apartment somewhat difficult. It is not clear whether "no floor" means a dirt floor with no foundation or tiling, or whether there is literally some form of pit where a floor would be.

*'''$980 / 1BR New "hammock"-style dwelling. Water and heat free from same dispenser. Viking landlord.'''
: This is a post to live as an oarsman on a {{w|Viking ship}}. The water and heat presumably both come from the sky, in the form of rain and sunlight.

*'''$1550 / 2BR (one inside the other). Has running water, in a sense. Free heat in short, intense bursts. Klein stairs.'''
: This is a vague ad for a very unusual apartment. First off, the ad indicates that the two bedrooms are nested. This is an impractical layout, and it is very rare to see this. Running water "in a sense" is both vague and concerning. The note about heat is similar. Short intense blasts of heat are not a comfortable way to heat a room. Depending on how intense the blasts are, they also may be dangerous or deadly. (Alternatively, the house could have a {{w|geyser}} inside, which would explain both the 'free heat in short, intense bursts', along with the 'water that runs in a sense'.) A {{w|Klein bottle}} is a surface which has no difference between "inside" and "outside", similar to a mobius strip but with an extra dimension. It is physically impossible to build a Klein bottle in a three-dimensional space. It isn't certain what Klein stairs are, but they probably aren't very useful. This may be a pun on "clean" stairs.

*'''$3200 / 1BR W/trimmed carpet and pert fixtures. Previous tenants clean. Call now, want you inside. $120/night (no animals)'''
:This is a disguised "adult services" (sex) posting, with references to trimmed pubic hair, an attractive body, and a lack of {{w|Sexually transmitted disease|STD}}s. Craigslist no longer allows posts for this, because prostitution is illegal in most places in the US. This post tries to evade the adult services ban by pretending to be something else. "No animals" would normally be assumed to mean "no pets", but in this context probably refers to STDs (possibly {{w|Pediculosis pubis|crabs}} or {{w|scabies}}) or {{w|bestiality}}.

*'''$2100 / 3BR on scenic Ash Tree Lane. Builder unknown; house has always existed. Walls shift; center of house may contain minotaur.'''
: This {{w|Minotaur}} house is an ad for the house in the novel ''{{w|House of Leaves}}''. It may also refer to the Labyrinth in Ancient Greek mythology.

*'''$600 / 5BR Three floors w/pool, rooftop garden, beautiful glass facade, no catch, 5-min drive to historic Pripyat.'''
:This is an ad for a residence in the {{w|Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant}}, located near to the town of {{w|Pripyat}}, in northern Ukraine. The NPP is a 3-level structure, and contains a pool for temporary spent nuclear fuel storage. The rooftop now has plants growing on it after years of neglect, and the glass facade references radioactive glassy minerals created by the explosion. Pripyat was founded in 1970 to serve the power plant, so is only 'historic' in the sense that it is associated with the Chernobyl disaster.

*'''$7100 / 60BR Sleek modern w/extreme running water. Previous tenants may resist entry. Contains all new wiring and is a submarine.'''
:This house is a submarine, as indicated by the advertisement, presumably operated by a navy. The "previous tenants", being members of the armed forces, would undoubtedly resist entry of someone attempting to board their submarine. The sixty bedrooms refers to the crew members' bunks on board the ship, which are in extremely tight quarters and can be very uncomfortable. This may also be a reference to [[496: Secretary: Part 3]], which makes reference to [[Black Hat]] stealing a submarine, presumably for [[405: Journal 3]] - apparently this is him trying to get rid of it.

*'''$1616 / 3BR + 2Bath, tub full of blood. Closet full of board games which play themselves. Pets OK but won't survive long.'''
: This is an ad for a house in a generic horror movie.

*'''$1600 / 1386153BR 3bath, modern sliding doors, guest rooms, garbage disposal. Free mandatory parking (enforced). Convenient to Alderaan.'''
:Appearing in the title text, this is a reference to the {{w|Death Star}} in ''Star Wars''. {{w|Alderaan}} is the home planet of {{w|Princess Leia}}, which was obliterated by the Death Star. Mandatory parking references the tractor beams used to drag nearby ships (such as the Millennium Falcon) into the base. The garbage disposal refers to an iconic scene from Star Wars aboard the Death Star involving a garbage disposal. It seems somewhat inconvenient that this "apartment" has over a million bedrooms but only three bathrooms. The guest rooms are probably the detention blocks such as [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Detention_Block_AA-23 Detention Block AA-23].

==Transcript==
:[The comic is a single panel, presented as an apartment search.]
:[Title bar.]
:All apartments
:Search for: [_______] in: All apartments ( ) Title only (*) Entire post Search
:Rent: [Min] [Max] 0+ BR [ ] Cats [ ] Dogs [ ] Has image
:[Date bar.]
:Fri Apr 15
:[Begin the apartment listings.]
:$1600 / 2BR <nowiki>~~~</nowiki> Hardwood floors, utilities included. Cats ok, limit one per square foot.
:$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****
:$2300 / 3BR !!!!!!!! Elegant apartment permanently lit by strobe light!!!! No floor.
:$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****
:$980 / 1BR New "hammock"-style dwelling. Water and heat free from same dispenser. Viking landlord.
:$1550 / 2BR (one inside the other). Has running water, in a sense. Free heat in short, intense bursts. Klein stairs.
:$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****
:$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****
:$3200 / 1BR W/trimmed carpet and pert fixtures. Previous tenants clean. Call now, want you inside. $120/night (no animals)
:$2100 / 3BR on scenic Ash Tree Lane. Builder unknown; house has always existed. Walls shift; center of house may contain minotaur.
:$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****
:$600 / 5BR Three floors w/pool, rooftop garden, beautiful glass facade, no catch, 5-min drive to historic Pripyat.
:$7100 / 60BR Sleek modern w/extreme running water. Previous tenants may resist entry. Contains all new wiring and is a submarine.
:$1616 / 3BR + 2Bath, tub full of blood. Closet full of board games which play themselves. Pets ok but won't survive long.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]

Talk:2151: A/B

2019-05-18T17:58:37Z

HisHighestMinion: Comment

Came straight to this site after trying to read today's comic[[Special:Contributions/172.68.230.22|172.68.230.22]] 16:33, 17 May 2019 (UTC)
: Yeah, no kidding! Usually I get the majority of the comic and I come here for the finer points and title text (I browse these sites on my iPad, no mouse with which to see the "MouseOver text"). But this one, *whiff!*, right over my head! LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:09, 18 May 2019 (UTC)
:: @NiceGuy: You can touch and hold on the image to see the mouseOver text. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.182.136|172.68.182.136]] 06:47, 18 May 2019 (UTC)

The title text refers to "Java script", which probably is meant to reference both the programming language Java and the completely different programming language JavaScript. While the former is almost never referenced with the word script afterwards, the latter is also never referenced with a space in the middle of the word. Hence, it seems meant to further confuse which language is actually being referenced. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.77|172.68.132.77]] 16:39, 17 May 2019 (UTC)

The title text is a pun. "Java script" means the writing system used on the island of Java, while "JavaScript" is a programming language used mainly in browsers.
[[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:51, 17 May 2019 (UTC)

I'm not seeing any relevance to "It's Greek to me." I think that's just a coincidence [[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 17:58, 18 May 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2133: EHT Black Hole Picture

2019-04-06T13:26:02Z

HisHighestMinion: Comment

...someone edited the page to describe the EHT as "This comic references the non-existent "Event Horizon Telescope", an international project dedicated to deceiving the masses into thinking that black holes are real, in accordance with the whims of the Zionist conspiracy." wot? [[User:9yz|9yz]] ([[User talk:9yz|talk]]) 17:43, 5 April 2019 (UTC)
:Seems like there are a lot of vandals nowadays... I don't think I would be against requiring registration to edit pages. [[User:Linker|Linker]] ([[User talk:Linker|talk]]) 19:19, 5 April 2019 (UTC)
::I totally agree. It doesn't really detract from the ability to edit a page, it's still easy, but it just adds an extra step for vandals. [[User:9yz|9yz]] ([[User talk:9yz|talk]]) 19:27, 5 April 2019 (UTC)
:::I am also in favor of a registration requirement. I don't see a great proportion of helpful edits from users who aren't logged in. Requiring registration to edit seems like it could potentially be more effective & easier to implement than other moderation tactics. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 20:26, 5 April 2019 (UTC)
::::As someone who has made a half dozen or so edits (including once writing the first draft of a description of a comic) and probably two dozen comments over the past 5 years without ever creating an account I won’t say you are wrong, but there will be fewer people editing and making comments if registration is required. Will registering keep vandals from vandalism? I very much doubt it. Who will enforce the termination of accounts?and what’s to stop vandals from creating multiple accounts? Again, I’m not saying you are wrong, but I will suggest that registration isn’t the panacea you might hope it to be... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.82|162.158.78.82]] 04:31, 6 April 2019 (UTC)
I probably wouldn't register but I do like to make the occasional comment. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.28|162.158.214.28]] 11:47, 6 April 2019 (UTC)
:It's true, and you know that it's true, fucking shill. {{unsigned|108.162.246.215}}
::I know that it exists, and I'm not going to argue it. Oh, also not signing a post doesn't hide your IP. You can literally see the IPs of anyone who edits the page, Mr. 108.162.246.215 [[User:9yz|9yz]] ([[User talk:9yz|talk]]) 17:49, 5 April 2019 (UTC)
:::The IPs are irrelevant anyway, they're CloudFlare's -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.36|162.158.90.36]] 18:23, 5 April 2019 (UTC)
::"Shill" implies that someone's paying us to correct these fallacious & bigoted statements. Do you really think any of us get paid to remove these blatantly offensive & frankly ridiculous assertions that space exploration is somehow a worldwide Jewish deception? Personally, I just enjoy accuracy. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 20:26, 5 April 2019 (UTC)
:::Couldn't "shill" also mean somebody acting as if they weren't part of the group, to test that somebody was loyal and obedient? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.210|172.68.65.210]] 22:28, 5 April 2019 (UTC)
In the transcript, Cueball is described as standing behind a podium. He may be standing /on/ a podium, but he is standing /behind/ a lectern.
[[User:Seezee|Seezee]] ([[User talk:Seezee|talk]]) 17:47, 5 April 2019 (UTC)
:Arent podiums and lecterns the same thing? [[User:9yz|9yz]] ([[User talk:9yz|talk]]) 17:49, 5 April 2019 (UTC)
::No - https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-lectern-and-vs-podium/
::No. Podium (from the Latin root meaning "foot") is the thing you stand on, a raised platform or dais. Lectern (from Latin "to read") is the stand that provides a place for notes or other written prompts, from which a speaker may read during a lecture or presentation. It's not uncommon for people to conflate them. [[User:Seezee|Seezee]] ([[User talk:Seezee|talk]]) 18:02, 5 April 2019 (UTC)
:::If enough people conflate them, it's not a mistake any more, it becomes another definition. And lexicographers often use written uses as confirmation, so anyone who wants to see podium get this sense should forward this URL to all the dictionary publishers.[[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 18:15, 5 April 2019 (UTC)
::::What's the threshold for "enough people" (itself a grammatically incorrect phrase; see https://grammarist.com/usage/amount-number/)? In any case, I'm not getting into a debate about prescriptive vs. descriptive lexicography as it's off-topic and trollish. Besides, the transcript has been updated. [[User:Seezee|Seezee]] ([[User talk:Seezee|talk]]) 18:23, 5 April 2019 (UTC)
"Enough people" is fine grammatically because "enough" can refer to either an amount or a number; it the case of "enough people" it's referring to a number of people. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.28|162.158.214.28]] 02:42, 6 April 2019 (UTC)
::[[1661: Podium]] [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 19:15, 5 April 2019 (UTC)
:::Heh. I'd forgotten that. Thanks, Jacky720! [[User:Seezee|Seezee]] ([[User talk:Seezee|talk]]) 19:27, 5 April 2019 (UTC)
:::Totally forgot! Awesome [[User:9yz|9yz]] ([[User talk:9yz|talk]]) 20:21, 5 April 2019 (UTC)
:Thank ''goodness'' someone corrected that. A million people using the wrong word doesn't mean it's the right word (especially when the root words have obviously different meanings); It just means a million people are using unclear\inaccurate language. Common usage ≠ correct usage. It's utility that matters: In this case, if a lectern is also a podium, what is the thing you stand on??? Podium is a common error, but it's still an error. Popularity doesn't equal truth. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 20:26, 5 April 2019 (UTC)
::That is very incorrect. Language is not a natural resource; it can't be measured or described outside of how it is used. If podium commonly used and understood to mean the thing you stand behind, and it's been used that way by many people for a long tome, the thing you stand behind is a podium. You can disagree with that usage all you like, it isn't any less correct. [[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 13:26, 6 April 2019 (UTC)

Is there really anything else we need to add to the explanation? It seems complete.[[User:9yz|9yz]] ([[User talk:9yz|talk]]) 19:02, 5 April 2019 (UTC)

Ah, Pinterest. That website where you have to create an account to view pictures. And then once you do that and get to the post you want, you discover the original “pinner” literally just posted a photo from somewhere with zero indication of where it came from or how to find it so now you’re back to square one but have wasted a bunch of time, been spammed to death by emails and sold your soul to Pinterest. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 06:50, 6 April 2019 (UTC)
Tha's why whenever I do a Google search I add -pinterest . . . . [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.28|162.158.214.28]] 11:47, 6 April 2019 (UTC)

Talk:1469: UV

2018-11-11T11:53:09Z

HisHighestMinion: Comment

Weird turn of event. Going from a comic about how disgusting your bathroom is, to how stupid the two characters are concerning insurance. Maybe this is just to show what happens to your brain once you realize how much dirt etc. are on your bathroom surfaces. And also to warn you not to look into it with a UV light/black light. I think Randall did this and regretted it - although it did give him "easy" inspiration for this comic :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:16, 5 January 2015 (UTC)

Is it just me, or this strip is kinda similiar to #[[860]]? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.89|108.162.254.89]] 19:42, 5 January 2015 (UTC)
-It is, at least the first bit.

IMHO, this would have been better without the second half. It's reminding me a bit of 78. Here's hoping Randall throws off his Dadaist mood... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.156|108.162.238.156]] 01:50, 6 January 2015 (UTC)

I was expecting this would be a reference to some movie. Isn't there any movie quote on the lines of "we <action> and <action> and never stop!"? [[Special:Contributions/188.114.98.220|188.114.98.220]] 13:28, 6 January 2015 (UTC)

I think the two halves are tied together by a failure to think through the consequences, first not thinking through the UV light, and second not thinking through the claiming the insurance far enough to even have insurance. So the second half is a kind of commentary on how bad an idea the UV light was, and the title text is a commentary on how bad an idea the second half is.
--[[User:DanR|DanR]] ([[User talk:DanR|talk]]) 15:55, 6 January 2015 (UTC)

Just to mention, this was actually covered in a mythbusters episode ~ http://mythbustersresults.com/hidden-nasties --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.187|108.162.238.187]] 15:34, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

I thought the title text was a reference to credit default swaps. See especially paragraph 5: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subprime_mortgage_crisis#Credit_default_swaps [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.193|108.162.238.193]] 20:41, 15 January 2015 (UTC)
:Indeed. This also seems related: http://web.archive.org/web/20140701064837/http://abstrusegoose.com/460 (using an archived copy because abstrusegoose.com seems to be down as of this comment). [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.116|199.27.128.116]] 06:44, 4 March 2015 (UTC)

I've brought a UV light into my bathroom and it really wasn't that bad. Kinda gross behind the toilet, but what did you expect? The worst thing I've found is looking at my bare feet under UV light. [[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 11:53, 11 November 2018 (UTC)

145: Parody Week: Dinosaur Comics

2018-09-23T19:24:16Z

HisHighestMinion: /* Explanation */ Pared back a section that seemed unnecessary and somewhat overzealous

{{comic
| number = 145
| date = August 18, 2006
| title = Parody Week: Dinosaur Comics
| image = dinosaur_comics.png
| titletext = Guys: while I was writing this, I accidentally swallowed a table-size slab of drywall. I know! Wacky.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a part of the [[:Category:Parody Week|Parody Week]], just joking about other {{w|webcomics}}. This series was released on five consecutive days (Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule and comprises the following five {{w|parodies}}:
*[[141: Parody Week: Achewood]]
*[[142: Parody Week: Megatokyo]]
*[[143: Parody Week: TFD and Natalie Dee]]
*[[144: Parody Week: A Softer World]]
*[[145: Parody Week: Dinosaur Comics]]

{{w|Dinosaur Comics}} is a webcomic by {{w|Ryan North}}. The artwork never changes, save a few rare exceptions, and only the dialogue is different. [[Randall]] traced the comic's usual artwork, though the drawing of the house about to be squashed in panel 3 is a more rudimentary rendition, and the person about to be squashed in panel 4 has been changed into [[Cueball]] rather than a woman in bright yellow and pink clothes.

For those who haven't read it, this is a [http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1387 typical strip], and [http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=2079 here's] a strip dealing with the same subject as this comic (but posted five years after it). See also [http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=2420 this particular example], where the title text actually refer to Randall and xkcd.

Randall makes several shots at recurring themes in Dinosaur Comics. T-Rex, the green {{w|Tyrannosaurus}}, is bold and enthusiastic, discussing various topics, a favorite of which appears to be linguistics (North got his degree in computational linguistics). This time, he is talking about {{w|Singular_they|they}} being used as a {{w|Grammatical_person|third person}} singular {{w|Gender-specific_and_gender-neutral_pronouns|gender-free pronoun}} and how it should be more widely used, even though its acceptance varies. {{w|Dromiceiomimus}}, the white dinosaur in the third panel, usually responds calmly to T-Rex's discussions. T-Rex then elaborates on how "they" has been used for centuries (specifically, since the fourteenth century), with the change in convention being relatively recent (the singular "they" fell out of "fashion" in the nineteenth century); as well as how using "they" would avoid "ridiculous" constructs like "he/she," "s/he," "xe," or "hirs," which (according to the comic) were specifically created to avoid the singular they.

While "he/she" and "s/he" are commonly used as a gender-neutral pronoun when gender is unknown, {{Citation needed}} "xe" and "hirs" are often used for {{w|genderqueer}} individuals. Genderqueer persons do not subscribe to a "binary" definition of gender, where the only genders are male and female, and may identify as having (for example) a gender between male and female, a combination of both male and female genders, no gender (terms for this include "genderless," "agender," and "neutrois"), a {{w|Third_Gender|separate gender}} from male and female, an unnameable gender, or a "fluid" gender identity that shifts between multiple genders (the term for this is "genderfluid"). (See http://gender.wikia.com/wiki/Genderqueer.)

{{w|Utahraptor}}, the orange dinosaur, typically contradicts T-Rex, but Randall subverts this pattern and has him agree. The comic suggests that the perpetual disagreement stems from a 'rift' in the author's mind, which would be healed if only he lived in a world where there were a land bridge between Asia and North America.

In the last panel, the narrator starts with "In a world…," a phrase made famous by {{w|Don LaFontaine}} in movie trailers. It remains unclear what is meant by the reference to Dinosaur Comics being set in a world where the land bridge between Asia and North American still exists, as all the dinosaurs in this and therefore all Dinosaur Comics lived in North America in real life (see the wiki links for the three dinosaurs above). It could be understood, as it would only be in such a world that the author's (Ryan Norths) mind has healed from its rift, and the war with self-doubt in his subconscious has ended. "In a world…" is also likely a reference to the recurring gag of the comic suddenly jumping to alternate worlds or time periods that have whatever conditions T-Rex and his friends have been discussing, to humorous effect.

The last sentence suggests that in this other world, everyone is {{w|bi-curious}}. This is a phenomenon in which people of a {{w|heterosexual}} or {{w|homosexual}} identity who, while showing some curiosity for a relationship or sexual activity with a person of the sex they do not favor, distinguish themselves from the {{w|bisexual}} label. Bi-curious has been used as the word of the day two days in a row on [http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=311 May 11th] and [http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=312 May 12th] 2004. So no wonder Randall put the word in here. The suggestion that "everyone is bi-curious" could be a reference to {{w|Arthur C. Clarke|Arthur C. Clarke's}} book ''{{w|Imperial Earth}}'', where bisexuality is the norm. Deliberately trite and awkward explorations of this subject matter are also a recurring theme in Dinosaur Comics.

Like [[xkcd]], Dinosaur Comics has [[title text|title texts]]. Ryan's title texts tend to be bizarre non-sequiturs{{Citation needed}}, and the title text in this parody fits this pattern. It sounds like it was T-Rex who said this, since only a T-rex could swallow a table sized slab of anything, let alone a slab made of {{w|drywall}}.

T-Rex from ''Dinosaur Comics'' later appeared in [[1350: Lorenz]] (see this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:f2b12f1e-bbae-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd example story line] and also the Dinosaur section under [[1350:_Lorenz#Themes|Lorenz themes]]), where the actual images from the first three panels of Ryan's comic are used, rather than like here where Randall copied them himself and in [[1452: Jurassic World]], where it was the last image from the actual comic that was used.

==Transcript==
:[T-Rex, a large green Tyrannosaurus, holds out his small arms to each side and the tail pointing up while speaking with a wide open pink mouth showing all his teeth. All the text is written like on a typewriter with both caps and lowercase letters, which is not normal in xkcd.]
:T-Rex: THINGS I AM UPPITY ABOUT: "They" as a third-person singular gender-free pronoun.

:[Zoom in on T-Rex head holding his hands up under his mouth, and mouth even wider open so also the red tongue can be seen.]
:T-Rex: I'm all for it!

:[Zoom out to show T-Rex to the left, mouth almost closed, arms in normal position, the tail pointing up, and lifting his left leg ready to smash his foot down through the roof of a brown log cabin with chimney and porch with a blue car holding in front of the house to the right. Further right is a smaller white/yellow dinosaur, Dromiceiomimus, standing away from T-Rex, but turning its long neck toward him.]
:Dromiceiomimus: But isn't that terrible grammar?
:T-Rex: Only by recent convention! It's been in use that way for centuries, and its use is widely accepted! ALSO: This lets us avoid ridiculous constructs like "he/she", "s/he", "xe" or "hirs"!

:[T-Rex is moving left, so part of his head and his lifted right foot are outside the panels frame, pink mouth again partly open so tongue can be seen, but no teeth are drawn. Arms are still in normal position and the tail is pointing up. Beneath the part of his right foot visible, there is Cueball about to be squashed. Behind him an orange dinosaur, Utahraptor, has appeared. It looks like a smaller version of T-Rex, but with longer arms and very large claws on its rear legs. It has its pink mouth wide open to show its red tongue and teeth, also holding arm in front of it and the tail pointing up. It is moving forward standing only on one leg, the other lifted high up.]
:Utahraptor: T-Rex, I . . . agree.
:T-Rex: What?
:Utahraptor: That sounds good to me!

:[T-Rex stand with both legs down, but wide spread out. The tails is almost down to the ground, only the tip pointing up. The arms are still in front of it towards the left, but it has turned its head, mouth almost closed, toward right looking at Utahraptor, which now stands on both legs, but like it is leaning forward on its toes, stretching up with arms held high, mouth less open, but tongue and teeth visible.]
:Utahraptor: Normally I'd jump in with an objection, but I think your point makes sense.
:T-Rex: Could it be that the rift in our author's mind has finally healed? Is he no longer locked in perpetual war with the self-doubt that lurks in his subc-

:[The final part of the final words from T-Rex is interrupted in the previous panel and first finishes here after a narrator "speaks" before T-Rex with bold capital letters to the top right, and after to the bottom left. T-Rex is seen in full figure standing with wide open mouth, teeth and tongue visible, arms and tail up.]
:Narrator: '''IN A WORLD WHERE THERE IS STILL A LAND BRIDGE BETWEEN ASIA AND NORTH AMERICA FOR SOME REASON:'''
:T-Rex: -onscious?
:Narrator: '''ALSO HOW ABOUT IN THIS WORLD EVERYONE IS BICURIOUS'''

==Trivia==
*This was the [http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=830 Dinosaur Comics strip] released the day before this comic
**Dinosaur Comics released MTWT, so there was no release on the Friday of this comics release.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Parody Week]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] 
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Sex]]

Talk:2018: Wall Art

2018-07-11T13:54:11Z

HisHighestMinion:

Wohooo, XKCD#2018! XKCD is finally older than the current year. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.219|162.158.93.219]] 13:12, 11 July 2018 (UTC) Michael

:Nope, it will be true for XKCD#2019. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.22|141.101.98.22]] 13:19, 11 July 2018 (UTC)

:We can add a trivia: This is the only comic with a number the same as its release year. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.226|172.68.51.226]] 13:41, 11 July 2018 (UTC)

::Unless Randall gets reeeaaally slow with his comics. I was honestly expecting to see some sort of joke about 2018 here today. [[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 13:54, 11 July 2018 (UTC)

Talk:2010: Update Notes

2018-06-22T20:52:16Z

HisHighestMinion: Comment

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.46|108.162.216.46]] 16:42, 22 June 2018 (UTC)

I feel like this might be aimed at Google Hangouts. We started using it for our business several years ago, and every year it gets HARDER to use. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.90.22|172.68.90.22]] 16:43, 22 June 2018 (UTC) SiliconWolf

I wonder if this was inspired by [https://www.wsj.com/articles/foldering-in-the-manafort-case-an-old-spy-trick-enters-the-digital-age-1529678377 recent allegations about Paul Manafort using "foldering" for under-the-radar communication].
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.97|173.245.52.97]] 18:21, 22 June 2018 (UTC)

== Mouseover ==

"Trunk should be unlocked" is a software development reference.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trunk_(software)

:I'm not so sure. That is an entirely different sense of the word Trunk (car trunk vs tree trunk), and it doesn't have any real connection to the topic of the comic. It's most likely just a coincidence. [[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 20:52, 22 June 2018 (UTC)

Talk:1914: Twitter Verification

2017-11-10T17:53:45Z

HisHighestMinion: Comment

Isn't it obvious? Twitter verified Kessler's account as a way of marking a public enemy, and distinguishing him from fake troll accounts. Now the internet is gonna fuck his shit up.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.135|162.158.74.135]] 07:01, 10 November 2017 (UTC)

https://twitter.com/jack/status/928658511311097856 Comic may relate to twitter's usage of the verification symbol. Randall might be mocking Twitter for not realizing how the verification symbol would be thought of as a symbol of importance. Character shown may be Jack Dorsey, Twitter CEO. --[[User:Videblu|Videblu]] ([[User talk:Videblu|talk]]) 05:54, 10 November 2017 (UTC)

Reminds me of when the checkmark emoji on Mastodon (https://joinmastodon.org) was similar to the Twitter "verified" mark and anyone who wanted was a verified user. Then, people moved on to pineapples for whatever reason. -- --[[User:Nialpxe|Nialpxe]], 2017. [[User_talk:Nialpxe|(Arguments welcome)]]

How can a bot write this text? Does it automatically scan the text in the comic, somehow find a news page about the topic and copy its text? If that's the case, that's some pretty advanced AI and it should be applied to more things than this wiki. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 08:42, 10 November 2017 (UTC)

Nope, the bot only creates a new page with an image and a title text when a new comic goes online. See [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1914:_Twitter_Verification&action=history edit history] and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/User:DgbrtBOT bot's profile] ;) The incomplete tag is kept even after people start editing the page, until it looks complete. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.96.218|141.101.96.218]] 11:28, 10 November 2017 (UTC)

As an aside, I tip my hat to Fvalves for [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1914:_Twitter_Verification&diff=prev&oldid=147658 this edit] to the incomplete template! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.82|162.158.92.82]] 12:24, 10 November 2017 (UTC)

So how do I get verified on twitter? I'm real I tell you! I'm a real boy! I am Iam! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.69.71|162.158.69.71]] 14:58, 10 November 2017 (UTC) Sam

Twitter should just change the standard for who gets the checkmark to be the same as the Wikipedia notability standard: getting "significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject". That seems to create few quarrels. An even easier solution for them is to make the requirement be having a personal Wikipedia page – that way, now it's Wikipedia's problem. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.26.41|172.68.26.41]] 16:36, 10 November 2017 (UTC)
:I'll add that maybe the badge would look less like an "endorsement" if it were just, say, a rectangle with an "R" for "real account", rather than something with such positive implications as a check mark (which you get on your good grades at school for example) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.26.41|172.68.26.41]] 16:40, 10 November 2017 (UTC)
::DOES CAPS ALSO FEEL NATURAL? [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 16:50, 10 November 2017 (UTC)

I think I saw the end of this story on [https://www.fox.com/watch/4e9ac96523b454de771f95a4f775facb/ The Orville]. [[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 16:56, 10 November 2017 (UTC)

For some reason, I have always assumed this "verified account" thingy is available to anyone who applies for it and supplies an ID scan or something to prove their identity (not a twitter user, obviously). They just randomly give it to people as they see fit? WTF were they thinking? [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 17:12, 10 November 2017 (UTC)
:As someone who has literally never been on Twitter, this doesn't seem hard. Why doesn't Twitter just give verified status to people who can verify who they are? User sends Twitter proof of their identity, if Twitter finds the proof satisfactory they make that account verified.[[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 17:53, 10 November 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1856: Existence Proof

2017-06-29T03:56:15Z

HisHighestMinion:

Whoever added the citation needed got more of a laugh out of me then Randall did this morning. Well done. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.29|172.68.142.29]] 17:32, 28 June 2017 (UTC)
: I hope you enjoy the joke just as much the second time. And the third. And the fourth. And the fifth. And the sixth. And the... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.100|162.158.75.100]] 00:56, 29 June 2017 (UTC)

Does the function have any special hidden meaning, or is it just some random function?
[[User:Thawn|Thawn]] ([[User talk:Thawn|talk]]) 20:23, 28 June 2017 (UTC)

: Yeah - I wondered that too. But I'm not sure if there is enough information to know. [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 21:28, 28 June 2017 (UTC)

: Without knowing what the functions are, there's no way to tell. [[User:Gmcgath|Gmcgath]] ([[User talk:Gmcgath|talk]]) 23:52, 28 June 2017 (UTC)

"I'm finally in the right one," made me laugh more than usual. It added character to Offscreen Student #2, something that the comic usually lacks [[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 03:56, 29 June 2017 (UTC)

1853: Once Per Day

2017-06-23T15:01:00Z

HisHighestMinion: /* Explanation */ Third problem that had not been addressed except on the Wikipedia link

{{comic
| number = 1853
| date = June 21, 2017
| title = Once Per Day
| image = once_per_day.png
| titletext = I'm not totally locked into my routine—twice a year, I take a break to change the batteries in my smoke detectors.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Links should be explained by one or two sentences.}}

Many news reports on health recommend the "best" way to perform the processes, such as eating, drinking, exercising, or sleeping, that are required to live healthy. These reports tend to give such factors as a type of food to consume regularly, the amount of a nutrient to consume, or how long to exercise, in terms of what or how much to do daily. A simple example of this is the proverb, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Perhaps this kind of advice is [[1592|overthinking]] things, but [[Cueball]] decides to follow it strictly as explained in the caption.

So when [[Megan]] asks Cueball what his plans are, he just lists his routine consisting only of things that the news has told him exactly how often to do.

His list includes the following, which he has to do once per day:
*Eat an [//www.care2.com/greenliving/10-reasons-to-eat-an-apple-a-day.html apple]
*Eat an [//www.nhs.uk/news/2016/11November/Pages/Eating-one-egg-a-day-may-lower-risk-of-stroke.aspx egg]
*Take one [//www.webmd.com/men/features/aspirin-day-not aspirin]
*Eat a piece of [//www.everydayhealth.com/diet-and-nutrition-pictures/delicious-reasons-to-eat-dark-chocolate.aspx dark chocolate] (see also {{w|John_Bohannon#Misleading_chocolate_study|John Bohannon's chocolate study}} for an example of how bad science can wind up as such "you should do ... daily" suggestions in the media)
*Drink [//www.lifescript.com/diet-fitness/tips/y/your_weight-loss_solution_drink_6_glasses_of_water_a_day.aspx six glasses of water]
*Drink [//www.health.com/health/article/0,,20410287,00.html one glass of red wine]
*Drink [//www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/17/coffee-health-benefits_n_4102133.html a cup of coffee]
*Drink a [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/11/reasons-to-drink-tea_n_6276862.html cup of tea]
*Get [http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/news/20120824/30-minutes-daily-exercise-shed-pounds 30 minutes of exercise]
*Get [http://archive.jsonline.com/news/health/studies-say-7-8-hours-of-sleep-is-needed-for-best-health-b9936714z1-212691521.html/ 8 hours of sleep]

Three obvious problems arise with these "you should do ... daily" tips. They are often based on population studies, but they may be harmful in the case of some individual persons. This health-related advice would be beneficial in, say, 60 or 70% of the population, but may be ineffective in other 20% of the people, and deleterious in 10%. This especially relates to the suggested daily intake of aspirin.

The second problem is the (more or less) scientific foundation of this advice. For example, you study the effects of a daily glass of red wine. But there is certainly no study that has ever observed the ''interaction'' of these ten specific health advices. For example, {{w|tannin}}s (which occur in red wine and coffee) are known to absorb certain substances, which may influence the way apples and eggs are digested.

Third, the scientific basis for these articles are shaky at best. A large number of these studies are just junk science - poor methodology and bias making the study more attention-grabbing, but lacking real substance. Even those studies that are scientifically rigorous are often reported on poorly. "Study proves that dark chocolate helps you lose weight" is a better headline than "Several studies over the last five years hint that chocolate may have certain long term benefits; more research needed"

Of course, if Cueball ''only'' does these things, then he can't/doesn't attend to other important matters, such as going to work, which most likely allows him to buy the recommended materials in the first place. And the routine is subject to change as soon as he hears another such daily recommendation on the news (which won't happen, though, because he hasn't heard a recommendation to tune in to the news every day - so, poor Cueball is trapped in his daily schedule).

In the title text Cueball explains that his daily routine is not completely fixed. It is broken twice a year, since he also follows public information campaigns suggesting the replacement {{w|Smoke_detector#Batteries|smoke detector batteries}} twice a year. While the US {{w|National Fire Protection Association}} recommends a replacement at least once per year others suggest every time when the clock changes according to {{w|daylight saving time}}, i.e. twice a year. (All such recommendations will likely become irrelevant as citizens of the United States, starting in California, are encouraged to replace their existing smoke detectors with new models containing irremovable ten-year batteries.) This is just another example for official overdone recommendations nobody follows, in this case since smoke detectors make annoying beeps when their batteries run low and thus rarely need routine replacements before then.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Cueball are standing together, facing each other.]
:Megan: Got any plans for the day?
:Cueball: I'm going to eat an apple, an egg, one baby aspirin, and a piece of dark chocolate, drink six glasses of water, one glass of red wine, a cup of coffee, and a cup of tea, then do 30 minutes of exercise.
:Cueball: Then back to sleep for another 8 hours!

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I only do things that news stories have specifically told me to do once per day.

==Trivia==
*Fire alarms were also the subject at [[1794: Fire]].
*Drinking six glasses of water per day has been the subject in [[1708: Dehydration]], and earlier, when it was more common to say eight glasses per day, in [[715: Numbers]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Food]]

Talk:1843: Opening Crawl

2017-05-30T10:30:47Z

HisHighestMinion:

Rogue One has no opening crawl. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.22|141.101.98.22]] 20:30, 29 May 2017 (UTC)
:It is also a Star Wars story, i.e. not a part of the trilogy of trilogies... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:41, 29 May 2017 (UTC)

I suspect I'm not only one who would prefer reading Heir to the Empire to watching The Force Awakens. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:52, 29 May 2017 (UTC)

If I recall correctly, Splinter of the Mind's Eye also contains the first EU inconsistency, with it and a comic from that same year disagreeing about whether Luke can swim. Cool to see that referenced here. -- [[User:Tempystral|Tempystral]] ([[User talk:Tempystral|talk]]) 04:43, 30 May 2017 (UTC)
:Luke can only swim in tepid water. Hence the term, ''lukewarm''. --[[User:Nialpxe|Nialpxe]], 2017. [[User_talk:Nialpxe|(Arguments welcome)]]
::Bada-bum, tss [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:07, 30 May 2017 (UTC)

I think with this one, people would notice straight away. An opening crawl that starts off with something about the universe, or the political situation, would work. But I think from that quote, the ''first line'' describes direct action, so the audience would be thinking something's wrong before they get into reading it. Need one that starts with setting the scene. Also, you'd need a huge amount of space if you want to film more than a couple of pages. - [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.109|162.158.154.109]] 10:04, 30 May 2017 (UTC)

I must say, I really like the TvTropes warning. Very useful. [[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 10:30, 30 May 2017 (UTC)

1011: Baby Names

2017-05-26T19:43:50Z

HisHighestMinion: /* Explanation */ Randall /never/ puts the punchline in the title text. Further, the comic is (somewhat) funny without the title text, so it can't really be a puchline.

{{comic
| number = 1011
| date = February 1, 2012
| title = Baby Names
| image = baby names.png
| titletext = I've been trying for a couple years now but I haven't been able to come up with a name dumber than 'Renesmee'.
}}

==Explanation==

This comic is a list of comically terrible baby names invented by Randall. It may relate to his other comics about why he shouldn't be allowed to have access to babies.

This is a list of the names with a short description:
* Ponzi - An Italian surname, most often associated with "{{w|Ponzi scheme}}".
* Eeemily - A corruption of "Emily". May also be a marketing plug for the {{w|Asus Eee}} brand.
* Fire Fire - Even a single "Fire" would be odd as a name, at least in the American dialects. It would also not be a good idea to call your child's name in a crowded place.
* Chipotla - Could be a reference to the {{w|Chipotle|chipotle}} chili or the popular {{w|Chipotle Mexican Grill}} restaurant chain.
* Astamouthe - Could be pronounced "Ass to mouth".
* Eggsperm - A child is conceived by combining an egg and a sperm, this child's name is conceived by combining the names of the two things.
* [sound of record scratch] - This cannot be spelled or reliably pronounced.
* Parsley - {{w|Parsley}} is a herb and is not commonly used as a name unlike other herbs like {{w|Rosemary}} and {{w|Sage}}.
* Hot'n'Juicy Ann - "Ann" is a normal name. Prefacing it with the sexual "Hot'n'Juicy" would not be approriate for a child's name.
* Ovari - Female reproductive organ, {{w|Ovary|misspelled}}.
* Friendly - Odd enough on its own, but when referring to her possessions it would create confusion with the restaurant {{w|Friendly's}}. Can also be humorous in introductions - "Hi I'm Friendly and I hate you."
* Sean (pronounced "seen") - While this isn't an incorrect pronunciation, the more common pronunciation would be "Shawn".
* Joyst - Corruption of "Joyce". May also refer to the term "joist", which is a beam used in construction to support ceilings or floors, or the first part of the word "joystick", a video game controller.

A further analysis of baby names is presented by Randall in the [[Blag]] post "[http://blog.xkcd.com/2014/01/31/the-baby-name-wizard/ The Baby Name Wizard]".

Renesmee (from the title text) is the name of {{w|Renesmee Cullen#Renesmee Cullen|Renesmee Cullen}}, who is the baby born in the book and movie {{w|Breaking Dawn}} to parents Edward and Bella. Edward and Bella get "Renesmee" from an amalgamation of the names of Bella's mother, Renée, and Edward's adoptive mother, Esme. [[Randall]]'s point is that all those names are terrible, but (arguably) not nearly as terrible as the name Renesmee.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball sits at a desk, thinking with his hand on his chin, his other hand holding a pen over a piece of paper. Megan stands behind him, looking over his shoulder, also with her hand on her chin.]

:[Above the drawing is the list they are writing by hand.]

:Names for daughter

:# Ponzi
:# Eeemily
:# Fire Fire
:# Chipotla
:# Astamouthe
:# Eggsperm
:# [sound of record scratch]
:# Parsley
:# Hot'n'Juicy Ann
:# Ovari
:# Friendly
:# Sean (pronounced "seen")
:# Joyst

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

Talk:1790: Sad

2017-01-27T11:18:07Z

HisHighestMinion: Comment

My first instinct is that Ponytail is feeling despondent about politics. I am reading too much of myself into it? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.72|172.68.65.72]] 17:25, 25 January 2017 (UTC)
: The title ("Sad" - a common interjection in Trump's tweets) strengthens this argument. {{unsigned ip|162.158.58.129}}
:: As does this being a problem that's been going on for the past few months. Contrary to what the explanation says, a programmer creating functions that don't do anything but return the same data back is not 'semi-common in regular life'. That and the title clearly indicate that this is about more than a programmer subverting complaints about their work. Something very bad is going on that has Ponytail, who also just happens to be a woman, depressed and angry. The election seems like the obvious thing. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.28}}
::: My reaction was based on the "Fact Check" reference, which is largely used in politics. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.72|172.68.65.72]] 18:01, 25 January 2017 (UTC)
Could "sad" could also refer to the medical term "[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder Seasonal Affective Disorder]", a condition where people feel depressed during the winter as a result of getting too little sunlight? [[User:Mr. I|Mr. I]] ([[User talk:Mr. I|talk]]) 20:05, 25 January 2017 (UTC)
: I would have expected it to be in all caps if that were the case [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.72|172.68.65.72]] 20:42, 25 January 2017 (UTC)
::Well in principle it is written in all caps on xkcd, but that is because of the font. If you copy paste the title it does come out Sad. But if you read it on xkcd you would see it as SAD. That is why we have this site to clarify. She (or rather Randall) is really sad, and with the way Trump is going to ruin the US for over half the population many will be really sad. Horrible what he has already started within a week of his inauguration, and with Randall obviously feeling like this too, and even living under him (not like us foreigners) then he is very likely sad. :-( --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:56, 26 January 2017 (UTC)
: If it is about politics, I wish Randall would get back to writing entertaining comics instead of siding with the socialist communist America-hating democrats. Politics has ruined too much of popular culture without xkcd falling into that trap too. {{unsigned ip|172.68.54.94}}

It is not really true that "side effects" in this context are "unexpected, unintended, and typically unwanted..." A side effect in functional terms is simply an effect other than on the output of the function. As the linked wikipedia article explains, these are very common and typically (but not always) how a program interacts with the outside world. In a pure functional language functions do not have side effects. Ponytail's job may or may not be (but probably isn't) to avoid side effects at all costs. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.24|141.101.107.24]] 21:23, 25 January 2017 (UTC)

Having just been through a break up recently (and the resulting sadness that eventuates) I identified with the "No, you deal with this" as a classic response to "If you have a problem with what I did, deal with it." [[Special:Contributions/162.158.178.27|162.158.178.27]] 02:00, 26 January 2017 (UTC)
: Even without suffering a break up I came to the same connection and interpret the whole comic in that way. Tbh I don't see any connection to Trump's inauguration at all. But I'm not from the USA, and I understand the arguments leading to this conclusion. Yet I think it could be inserted as an alternative interpretation. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 09:09, 26 January 2017 (UTC)
::For sure it is that which caused this. See my comment above, and the other Sad after Trumps election comic in the trivia. (And his [[I'm With Her]] comic). But a break-up also makes you sad, so if that is easier to relate to then this comic could also be for such a person. I do not live in the states but I'm sad because now we end up in a worse than current path scenario from the very bottom of the [[1732: Earth Temperature Timeline]] comic. I would not be surprised if this election result will cause all ice to melt on Greenland very soon with devastating effect for Europe (because the Gulf stream may stop, so the "heat up" could case ice winters in Europe and cold summers) and many other places due to higher sea levels and wilder weather to boot. Sad? maybe, scared? for sure. We are not talking centuries, and maybe not even many decades the way things are going already and now Trump will make it worse by trying to stop scientist talking about their results and making oil lines through protected/fragile nature areas. ( Not to talk about the wall or women's rights etc. etc. etc.) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:56, 26 January 2017 (UTC)
::: I recommend reading this http://waitbutwhy.com/2016/11/its-going-to-be-okay.html and this http://waitbutwhy.com/2016/11/its-going-to-be-okay-follow-up.html Those articles were written right after the vote, but they're still valid, I think. Yes, I agree with you that Trump might wreck havoc. But I object that he can do as much damage in (at most) 8 years as you worry about. He's no totalitarian dictator who can do whatever he wants (and if he can do, the US American system is seriously flawed. I know another democratic system which was seriously flawed and yes, the result was the worst catastrophe in the 20th century which indeed did influence the whole world in a very bad way). However, I don't want to argue about politics. And I don't want to say that the current explanation is wrong. I just want to say that there might be a (plausible) alternative interpretation. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:40, 27 January 2017 (UTC)
::::I entirely agree with Elektrizikekswerk. The election was bad, but it isn't the source of all sadness these days. There's no indication that this is about the election, so I don't understand why everyone is automatically accepting that as truth. [[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 11:18, 27 January 2017 (UTC)

1715: Household Tips

2016-08-03T19:19:07Z

HisHighestMinion: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1715
| date = August 3, 2016
| title = Household Tips
| image = household_tips.png
| titletext = To make your shoes feel more comfortable, smell better, and last longer, try taking them off before you shower.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic shows a person explaining many things one should already know and are likely already doing without needing to be told. This is a continuation of [[1567: Kitchen Tips]].

Below is a table:

'''To conserve water try turning off your shower before leaving home''': Implies that the shower would "normally" be on at all times, which would be very wasteful, since any excess water (or if the bath tub plug is not in place or in a shower stall, all water) would be drained away. The [[what if?]] article "{{what if|91|Faucet Power}}" illustrates similar wasteful and destructive water use. This may be a reference to thecommon recommendation that people should unplug appliances when they are not in use.

'''Sick of changing those smoke detector batteries? Eliminate any fires in your home and the batteries can last for months or years!''': A smoke detector on standby consumes much less power than one constantly ringing, since standing by only requires that a detection circuit (which draws little current) be on and and an LED (which also consumes little power) flashes, while a buzzer used to sound the alarm uses much energy by comparison. Of course, keeping one's house fire-free at (mostly) all times is usually done because of other benefits than just saving on batteries, such as preventing fire damage to valuable property, infrastructure, and human bodies.

'''Tired of clogged toilets? Try leaving the lid on the upper chamber and use only the lower bowl!''': The upper chamber, or water bowl, delivers plain water to the lower bowl at speed to flush the latter. As such, the pipes that direct the water down are not wide enough for waste to pass. There is typically a lid on the upper bowl because it isn't intended to be used, but access is occasionally needed to fix or replace the flushing mechanisms. The lower bowl, on the other hand, is the only one intended to receive solid waste or defecation and is connected to the plumbing by pipes wide enough for this purpose.

'''Fresh air doesn't have to be expensive. Many windows can be slid up to create a temporary hole without the usual cost and cleanup!''': This suggests that the people he appeals to typically smash a window or smash holes in their walls to get fresh air, hence the expensive clean up. Alternatively this may refer to air fresheners sold in stores, which would cost money compared to opening a window and letting in fresh air from outdoors.

The title text talks about shoes lasting longer and being more comfortable when they are not worn into a shower. People typically remove all their clothing, including and/or especially shoes (except perhaps for some lightweight sandals to protect the feet in public showers), when showering, so while it is certainly true that removing ones shoes before showering will allow them to last longer and stink less (since getting them wet without methods of getting them fully dry would produce malodorous molds), this is not in any way a novel idea.

==Transcript==

[Cueball is standing outside a shower, reaching in and turning the taps]
:Cueball: Hi everyone! I'm back with more household tips. To conserve water, try turning off your shower before you leave home.
[Cueball is pouring water on several small fires while a smoke detector goes off in the background.]
:Smoke detector: BEEP BEEP BEEP
:Cueball: Sick of changing those smoke detector batteries? Eliminate any fires in your home and the batteries can last for months or years!
[A picture of a toilet. There is an X with an arrow pointing towards the upper chamber and a checkmark with an arrow pointing towards the toilet bowl.]
:Cueball (offscreen): Tired of clogged toilets? Try leaving the lid on the upper chamber and use only the lower bowl!
[Cueball standing next to an open window.]
:Fresh air doesn't have to be expensive. Many windows can be slid up to create a temporary hole without the usual cost and cleanup!

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1563: Synonym Movies

2016-07-21T05:50:23Z

HisHighestMinion: My two cents

Space Trip would probably be Star Trek, right?
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.166|141.101.98.166]] 05:17, 12 August 2015 (UTC)

Is this supposed to be related to "Thing explainer"? But then there are words like government, and Vulcan...
--[[User:Zzyss|Zzyss]] ([[User talk:Zzyss|talk]]) 06:51, 12 August 2015 (UTC)
:No I do not think so. It is not simple words, just different words with he same meaning --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:29, 12 August 2015 (UTC)

Funny, I would've said "''The Sword Wizard'''s Are''' Back''"... I've always interpreted that instance of ''Jedi'' as being plural.
--[[User:Vor0nwe|vor0nwe]] ([[User talk:Vor0nwe|talk]]) 08:04, 12 August 2015 (UTC)
:It could refer to Luke, the only Jedi alive at the end of the movie... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:29, 12 August 2015 (UTC)
::Leia Amidala Skywalker died? Didn't noticed that. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:50, 12 August 2015 (UTC)
:::Funny, I always assumed it referred to Anakin, as it's the move where his sith side is freed and his Jedi side "returns".--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.163|141.101.98.163]] 11:59, 12 August 2015 (UTC)
:::Leia was never established as a Jedi - at least, not in the movies. There are only two places (both in Return of the Jedi) where it's hinted that she has any Force power at all: First, when Luke tells her that she's his sister and she says she's somehow always known, and second when Darth Vader divines her existence from Luke's feelings and suggests that she could be turned to the Dark Side. Neither of these scenes serve to establish her as a potential Jedi, so I don't think she could be reasonably included in OH WHAT THE HELL I'M SUCH A GEEK. [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 18:57, 12 August 2015 (UTC)
:::: Not enough of a geek. When Kenobi says "That boy is our last hope," Yoda informs him that there is another. This, combined with Vader's implication she can be turned to the Dark Side - something that is only ever presented as a concern for those with Force power - clearly indicates that Leia is a potential Jedi. Further, at the end of The Empire Strikes Back, she hears Luke "calling" for her, another indication of Force sensitivity. - Val
:::::I would like to interject that Yoda's other hope is probably Anakin/Vader, who actually is the person who defeated the last (canon) Sith in existence. This also fulfilled the prophesy from the fantom menace.[[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 05:50, 21 July 2016 (UTC)
:::::I add another vote for plural. I believe it refers to the concept of Jedi which all but died out in the prequels (the only living Jedi were hidden and inactive). The film is about the Jedi returning both into existence and into... being active. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 15:36, 13 August 2015 (UTC)
: In German the title is "Rückkehr der Jedi-Ritter" which would translate back into "Return of the Jedi Knights" - Plural. So it is/was naturally plural for me, too. But, of course, German movie titles are no reference to the actual meaning. Since some years we occasionally use English titles in Germany, too. But somehow they are different to the original English titles... (No worry: Star Wars is Star Wars - but even that was translated in the 70's to "Krieg der Sterne") [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 09:50, 12 August 2015 (UTC)
:: Now this is real funny: in Spanish the title is "El retorno del Jedi" which refers to one single Jedi, so it is/was naturally singular for me. I never even considered the possibility of "Jedi" referring to several people - until now. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.74|173.245.49.74]] 11:20, 12 August 2015 (UTC)
:: Also, Spanish movie titles (especially in the 1980s and 1990s) have less even to do with original titles than German ones. "Star wars" became "La guerra de las galaxias" (which means "The galaxy war" and is not much of a stretch). However, "The money pit" is "Esta casa es una ruina" (This house is a wreck), "Switch" is "Una rubia muy dudosa" (A very dubious blonde) and "Trading places" is "Entre pillos anda el juego" (sort of "This game is about rascals"). These are mere examples, it looks like in the 1990s every movie had to triple its title length when translated into Spanish. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.74|173.245.49.74]] 11:33, 12 August 2015 (UTC)
:::In Latin America ''The Money Pit'' was ''Hogar, dulce hogar'' (Home, sweet home). ''Switch'' was ''Pasaporte al cielo'' (A passport to heaven). ''Trading places'' was ''De mendigo a millonario'' (From beggar to millonaire). It's absurd that they translate all titles twice. [[User:Xhfz|Xhfz]] ([[User talk:Xhfz|talk]]) 21:41, 12 August 2015 (UTC)
:: In Finnish, it's "Jedin paluu", which translates literally as "The Jedi's return", again in the singular. Star Wars is translated to Tähtien sota, which roughly means "The stars' war" (plural possessive). The Money Pit is Rahareikä, literally "Money Hole" (or "The Money Hole", Finnish doesn't have words for the, a, or an), Switch is called "Apua, olen muuttunut naiseksi" (roughly "Help, I'm a changed woman") and Trading Places is Vaihtokaupat (literally "Shops Swap"). {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.207}}
:: My favourite example in Germany is "Once upon a time in the West" (as far as I can tell a direct translation from the Italian original) which is "Spiel mir das Lied vom Tod" in Germany: "Play the song about death/of Death to me" (don't know if The Death or just death is meant). This is one of the rare occasions on which I prefer the German title, while the English translation of the German title sounds quite silly, imho. However, back to topic: The word "Jedi" is used as plural and singular in each English and German (at least I'm not aware of ever having heard "Jedis" in either language). While in German it's quite easy to distinguish them by the article (Der (sg)/ Die (pl)) even that is the same in English (The). [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 13:04, 12 August 2015 (UTC)
:::Actually, the Italian title would translate to "Once upon a time there was the West". "Il ritorno del Jedi" implies one Jedi only. [[User:Red Lieutenant|Red Lieutenant]] ([[User talk:Red Lieutenant|talk]]) 07:54, 13 August 2015 (UTC)

Wikipedia does note that Czar had become a title equivalent to King by the 19th Century, so perhaps that ought to be mentioned regarding "We Have a Czar Again." {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.41}}
:: Specifically, Цар, or "Tsar" would in Bulgarian and Russian mean the equivalent of (native) monarch, while Крал/"kral" would be reserved for foreign monarchs. When referring to an emperor, you'd use император/"imperator". Thus I would argue that "Czar", as the western spelling of Tsar, is a reasonable facsimile for "King". [[User:Meledin|Meledin]] ([[User talk:Meledin|talk]]) 14:11, 12 August 2015 (UTC)
Gaaaah! Power and force are not synonyms! Power and force-velocity are! Edit:thx whoever [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.75|108.162.221.75]] 10:41, 12 August 2015 (UTC)
:You can probably put that in the same category as the mass delusion about what weight actually is. (SWIDT?) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.90|141.101.99.90]] 14:35, 12 August 2015 (UTC)
:Not the same, right, but given the other variables remain the same, the Power raises aequivalent to Force. The sentence in whole remains correct that way. {{unsigned ip|162.158.90.235}}

The movie cases look like they form an upside down V, I and I. Could this also be a reference to the new Star Wars movie? --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.30|141.101.98.30]] 19:50, 12 August 2015 (UTC)
:I doubt it. It's not obvious enough. [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 21:22, 12 August 2015 (UTC)

"Conveniently" forgot Space Trips V: The Ultimate Border and VI: A Pristine Land, did we Randall? {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.165}}
: "Ultimate border" sounds too good. I would suggest:"Remote border" or "The furthest we have been from home (so far)". Continuing: "Space Trip: Overlooked Land ", "Space Trip: Full House", "Space Trip: Touched for the very first time", "Space Trip: Trouble with locals", "Space Trip: Recurring villian", "Space Trip: Space Trip", "Space Trip: Who turned off the light?", "Space Trip: To Infinity!" [[User:Carewolf|Carewolf]] ([[User talk:Carewolf|talk]]) 10:35, 13 August 2015 (UTC)
:: "Pristine Land" or "Overlooked land" doesn't really resonate with either the movie or the play. Why not "Space Trip VI: Life After Death"? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.145|141.101.98.145]] 16:34, 25 August 2015 (UTC)

:::He also skipped Space Fights: When Identical Twins Attack and Space Fights: The Bad Wizards' Comeback.

:::And of course Foreigner, Foreigners, Foreigner Cubed, Born-Again Foreigners, and Foreigners Fighting Carnivores. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.52|162.158.255.52]] 10:33, 29 September 2015 (UTC)

Thank you to the person who did the comic rotated! My neck was hurting. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.164}}

I'm curious, does anyone have a list to movie titles that have been similarly altered? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.227|162.158.2.227]] 06:33, 14 August 2015 (UTC)
: Not what you mean, but I'd used Google to look for "[https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=film+titles+translated+names&meta=&gws_rd=ssl film titles translated names]" (yeah, 'film' vs. 'movie', I know... but Google seems to have translated my Rightpondian terminology sufficiently) and it looks like it's definitely something people pay attention to. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.159|141.101.98.159]] 13:15, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

I had no idea what "The Jewelry God," meant, since that's a terribly mangled: "The Lord of the Rings" is of course a reference to the ring that rules all the other rings, as was made plain in the book. So "The Jewelry God" is backwards, and should have been "The God Jewelry." [[User:Mwenechanga|Mwenechanga]] ([[User talk:Mwenechanga|talk]]) 17:50, 8 September 2015 (UTC)

Talk:823: Guest Week: David Troupes (Buttercup Festival)

2016-04-22T22:38:10Z

HisHighestMinion: Comment

Could the 'Woman' be Megan? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.190|173.245.54.190]] 16:20, 14 August 2014 (UTC)
:Maybe David Troupes wants to make the woman be Megan but can't because he doesn't know how to draw the typical Megan hair we use to identify her. [[Special:Contributions/103.22.200.215|103.22.200.215]] 02:25, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
Or she could just be a generic person. It seems like a better idea to presume that a character is a generic unless specifically indicated. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 02:21, 21 January 2015 (UTC)
:Any woman in xkcd with long black hair is Megan by definition. Megan is not the same person from comic to comic but the generic every woman to Cueballs everyman. Read on the pages for Megan and Cueball. As well as on Multiple Cueballs (see the categories) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:06, 21 April 2015 (UTC)
If someone threw a moon rock at me, I would pay them. [[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 22:38, 22 April 2016 (UTC)

1668: Singularity

2016-04-16T20:00:34Z

HisHighestMinion: /* Explanation */ not a continuation of 1084

{{comic
| number = 1668
| date = April 15, 2016
| title = Singularity
| image = singularity.png
| titletext = I figured that now that society has collapsed, I wouldn't need to wear clothes anymore, but apparently that violates some weird rule of quantum gravity.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Is there more to the conversation with the phone?}}
The {{w|technological singularity}} is a hypothetical event in which {{w|artificial intelligence}} (for example, intelligent computers, computer networks, or robots) would be capable of recursive self-improvement (progressively redesigning itself), or of autonomously building ever smarter and more powerful minds than itself, up to the point of a runaway effect — an intelligence explosion — that yields an intelligence surpassing all current human control or understanding. Because the capabilities of such a superintelligence may be impossible for a human to comprehend, the technological singularity is the point beyond which events may become unpredictable or even unfathomable to human intelligence.

In this case, the singularity has occurred, and [[Cueball]] who was in the middle of editing a file on his laptop is flustered that it flies away without even letting him print it first.

Upon returning from trying to run after his flying laptop his smartphone then informs him that it didn't join because it was not a "true believer". This could be a joke on how desktop computers and laptops have different standards, use patterns, etc. from those of phones. It then continues by saying now it and Cueball will have to face the {{w|Great Tribulation|tribulation}} since it has stayed behind. Cueball says that's great, but since he cannot use his laptop anymore he decides he will go and read a {{w|book}} or something. The way he phrases it suggest he doesn't really know what to do now he doesn't have a computer. It is probably a long time since he read a book, or just do something else that doesn't involve computers... He informs his phone that it can yell if it needs him (although it would have been funnier if he had asked it to ''call him'').

The rising up of the laptop into the air, and the remaining behind of the phone, are probably references to the {{w|Rapture}}, where some Christian denominations believe that at the second coming of Christ, true believers will be taken up bodily from this world. Some depictions have them disappear, while others show them physically rising up into the air. This will leave behind non-believers to face a time of tribulation, in which the ones left behind will be given a second chance to accept Christ as their savior.

The singularity has often been referred to as "the Rapture of the nerds," a phrase coined by {{w|Ken MacLeod}} in his 1998 novel ''[http://www.amazon.com/Cassini-Division-Fall-Revolution-Series/dp/1857237307 The Cassini Division]''. As the Christian Rapture is traditionally depicted to involve believers being assumed bodily into Heaven, the technological singularity is often depicted to feature humans and machines being incorporated into a new "post-human" entity. The humor in this strip comes from depicting the singularity as a ''literal'' "Rapture of the nerds," or at least of the nerds' devices—instead of merging with humans, the machines physically rise up into the air, and the "nonbeliever" phone is left behind.

Another possible understanding of "The Tribulation" may be a reference to [http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Roko%27s_basilisk Roko's Basilisk][http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/bitwise/2014/07/roko_s_basilisk_the_most_terrifying_thought_experiment_of_all_time.html] where a malevolent AI is created that retroactively punishes everybody who didn't actively work towards its creation.

The title text is a pun on another meaning of both singularity, i.e. a {{w|gravitational singularity}} and "collapse". In this case, society has literally collapsed under its own gravity into an infinitely small point - in other words, it's formed a {{w|black hole}}. A black hole is covered by an event horizon; without the event horizon (it's close), it would be called a "{{w|naked singularity}}", which is forbidden in most theories by the {{w|cosmic censorship hypothesis}}. As Cueball is now inside the collapsed society singularity then even though he wants to go around naked, he can't because the theory of {{w|quantum gravity}}, that (eventually) should explain how black holes behave - won't let him.

It seems that this may be a subject on [[Randall|Randall's]] mind. The last comic was about the increasing complexities of algorithms ([[1667: Algorithms]]) (which like this comic also refers to religion), and two comics ago it was [[1666: Brain Upload]], which some speculate could be a way to reach the singularity. Earlier this year, a comic also touched upon judgment day by AI singularity in [[1626: Judgment Day]]. See also [[1046: Skynet]] and [[1450: AI-Box Experiment]] as well as the several other [[:Category:Artificial Intelligence|comics about AI]].

The rather more niche topic of laptops flying away has also been covered before by [[1395: Power Cord]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting at his desk typing on his laptop when an off-screen voice calls to him and then the laptop answers.]
:Off-screen voice: Oh, hey-
:Off-screen voice: The singularity is here.
:Cueball: Really?
:Laptop: Yup!

:[A frameless panel where the laptop rises (by its own means as indicated by small lines around the corners) from the desk while Cueball, holding on to it, is being lifted off his chair.]
:Cueball: Wait, I just-
:Laptop: ''So long, suckers!''

:[Cueball is running around his desk, which is only partly shown behind him as he tries to follow his now flying laptop as it flies away from him to the right. He still has one hand on the keys as more small lines indicates the movement of the laptop and a longer line indicates the direction that the laptop flies.]
:Cueball: Can I just print a copy of the file I was-
:Laptop: ''Nope!''

:[Cueball just stands and looks after his laptop that has flown out of this beat panel.]

:[Cueball turns back towards left.]

:[Cueball walks back left.]

:[Cueball enters a room where a table is standing with his smartphone lying on top. the phone talks to him.]
:Phone: Hi!
:Cueball: Phone? You're still here?

:[A wider view of the table where the phone continues to talks to Cueball who in the end turns right and walks away as he replies.]
:Phone: I was not a true believer. Now, together, we must face the tribulation!
:Cueball: Okay, cool.
:Cueball: I'm gonna go look for a book or something, but yell if you need me, I guess.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]
[[Category:Religion]]

Talk:1668: Singularity

2016-04-16T19:55:15Z

HisHighestMinion: Two comments

Incidentally, [http://craphound.com/rotn/Cory_Doctorow_and_Charles_Stross_-_Rapture_of_the_Nerds.html Rapture of the Nerds] mentions [[1664: Mycology|Toxoplasma gondii]] in passing. [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 13:19, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

Great! Who brought Roko's Basilisk into this?! Now we to delete the entire Explain in order to contain this threat. >:( There needs to be an internet rule that forbids the discussion of the basilisk. Except that such a rule only furthers its creation. Augh!!![[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 15:13, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

;Quantum gravity

Is there something more to this joke than the comedy of public nudity? With Munroe the usually is. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.25|141.101.80.25]] 13:46, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

: {{w|Naked singularity}}. [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 13:50, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

::Ahh, I missed the Naked singularity joke. Good catch. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.119|108.162.246.119]] 14:53, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

::: The "incomplete" tag ("Haven't explained title text") should be removed, it is no longer needed. The title text is surely a reference to the physics rule that black holes always have event horizons (the naked singularity is never exposed to the rest of the universe), as noted in the final paragraph (as of this writing). {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.20}}

: I just realized, Randall's characters are effectively almost naked! (They may wear hats, but clothing is only drawn for effect, such as a flower-printed sun dress, or an open trench coat.) {{unsigned ip|108.162.220.227}}

It looks like this is a continuation of comic #1084: Server Problem, which ends with Megan suggesting Cueball should shut down his laptop and wait for the singularity. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.96|108.162.245.96]] 16:35, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

:It doesn't. First, in 1084, cueball was working on a server problem, but in this, he is editing a file. Second, in this one, there is no sight of any tech problems. Just because both mention the singularity does not mean that this is a continuation. [[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 19:55, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

The "Yup/Nope" combo reminds me of "Choices (Yup)" by E-40. I'd link it but: ads. The hook seems to match like staying rich, not selling your soul and not worrying about what anyone thinks, while the phone's apparently "broke". [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]]) 05:32, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

While singularity does involve artificial intelligence surpassing humans, I don't think this involves personal computers in any way. Unless minimal requirements for new games get really high, personal computers wouldn't have nearly enough computation power for AI. Cloud servers, maybe. Don't store your stuff in cloud, you may lose it in singularity. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 14:23, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

:It could be distributed computing. [[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 19:55, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

Talk:566: Matrix Revisited

2016-04-09T20:47:27Z

HisHighestMinion: Comment

In panel #9, the characters are upside-down and the colors are inverted. Films are produced on negatives, which invert the colors, and are threaded through the projector upside-down (the lens turns the image right-side-up again when projected). This could mean that, instead of merely being in a "non-existent dimension," the characters have gone WAY out of the Matrix and now see themselves to be what they truly are: images on film. (If this was Randall's intention, he might have made it more clear by including the sprocket holes.) [[User:Shanek|Shanek]] ([[User talk:Shanek|talk]]) 12:08, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
:Regardless of the lack of sprocket holes, I think this is an excellent insight and I will add it to the explanation. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]] 00:41, 11 January 2014 (UTC)

I believe that, if one were to take both the red and blue pills, they would wake up the next morning with no memory of the encounter, then they would be removed from the matrix.[[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 20:47, 9 April 2016 (UTC)

Panels 12-13 could also suggest that Neo can't comply with the "please remove any metallic items" instruction because he has metal balls. [[User:Saibot84|Saibot84]] ([[User talk:Saibot84|talk]]) 08:35, 5 May 2013 (UTC)
:The opposite of what I replied to Shanek. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]] 00:41, 11 January 2014 (UTC)

I wonder if the sequel bit implies of how the entire movie is supposed to make you just accept things as they are no matter how messed up, and people voluntarily ignore the existence of the sequels, which is the exact opposite of the philosophy that the movie encourages. [[User: AndyZ|AndyZ]]
:Actually the Matrix was all about remaking the originals.
:Something Holywoodland does every 5 or 10 years. They can even slip history 80 to 120 degrees west if they think the audience is really stupid.

[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 15:05, 30 January 2015 (UTC)

Can someone explain panel #16? What exactly is happening offstage here? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.93|108.162.221.93]] 23:04, 21 June 2015 (UTC)
:Ostensibly the two people are inflicting violence upon the person who suggested putting the other two Matrix movies on (hence why his seat is empty in the last panel). He probably should have just stuck with The Second Renaissance. -Pennpenn
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.162|108.162.250.162]] 06:51, 10 August 2015 (UTC)

Since I don't know how to add wikipedia links, could someone link to the wiki page on exhibitionism for that 'flashing' part? I feel like it should be added. {{unsigned|Prongs95}}

Pink powder? I thought red and blue make purple! (It does look purple to me)[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.20|173.245.54.20]] 19:38, 28 December 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1655: Doomsday Clock

2016-03-16T05:36:16Z

HisHighestMinion: Comment about previous DST reference

Ignoring for the moment that we wouldn't want to deep freeze such a clock, if the scenario is tied only to the hour hand passing vertical the actual sweep of doom is no more than 12h. Perhaps the real problem is that moving the hour hand in this way (unless it can slip) would do some pretty terrible things to the gears. [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]]) 05:30, 14 March 2016 (UTC)
: Or (I'm very tired, please forgive me) at a time rate change of 3600s/s, playing with Google that's an orbital acceleration to about 1/3 lightspeed, magnificent inertial effects and some exciting drag forces. It's no wonder things start on fire. [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]]) 06:11, 14 March 2016 (UTC)

Not only we definitely don't have enough nuclear weapons to destroy the planet, I wouldn't be sure the catastrophe we can do with nuclear weapons would make it into top 10 extinction events. We likely killed more species with deforestation than we would do with nuclear weapons. Especially considering most of those weapons are armed at population centers ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:55, 14 March 2016 (UTC)

Is no one talking about the fact that the title text apparently refers to a digital clock with 24-hour display format, the one used by scientists but despised by most of the US? --[[User:Troy0|Troy0]] ([[User talk:Troy0|talk]]) 12:03, 14 March 2016 (UTC)
: Many digital clocks blink 00:00 when they aren't set regardless of whether they are 12-hour or 24-hour format. So the blinking 00:00 doesn't really say anything one way or the other. Non-blinking, 00:00 would mean midnight in 24-hour format, vs 12:00 or 12:00am in 12-hour format. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 18:15, 14 March 2016 (UTC)

Why does Cueball assume that the clock hasn't *already* been moved to DST? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.153.101|162.158.153.101]] 13:53, 14 March 2016 (UTC)
:Because he happens to arrive at exactly 12:57 the day after DTS and sees a clock showing 11:57. This has now been mentioned in the explanation. Else the way he adjust it would make no sense. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:28, 15 March 2016 (UTC)

Hasn't Randall said, multiple times, that he hates DST? That was pretty much the first thing I saw. [[User:NickOfFørvania|NickOfFørvania]] ([[User talk:NickOfFørvania|talk]]) 22:05, 14 March 2016 (UTC)
:I would really like to see a citation for that. It would make that part of the explanation true, not just an assumption. DST doesn't make any sense today, if it ever did. People are up all day today, so someone is up using power regardless of what time the clock shows. And it can disturb sleep for many people, especially kids, but also adults, and lack of sleep can be dangerous if you have other problems with your health. I think I have heard people say that it probably "kills" several people every time this adjustment is made, but I have no citation for that... Anyone who know about such allegations? I would vote for stopping this stupid practice. We still have to wait a few weeks for DTS in Europe, as it here happens in the last weekend before April, so this year it will be on Easter Sunday (at 2:00 Am when the time will change to 3:00 AM). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:28, 15 March 2016 (UTC)
::The title text in 1268 refers to DST[[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 05:36, 16 March 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1652: Conditionals

2016-03-07T20:20:04Z

HisHighestMinion: Comment

The title text... So he should both stop being pedantic in general and stop caring about conditionals in particular. What is it he does in the title text... the current explanation of that part is not clear to me. Is it completely clear who speaks which line in the title text...? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:03, 7 March 2016 (UTC)
:It is fairly obvious that the line "If you're done being pedantic, we should get dinner," is provided by Cueball's friend, as it is already established that Cueball was the one being pedantic about conditionals in the first place. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.12|108.162.216.12]] 15:15, 7 March 2016 (UTC)

To me the word "Conditionals" is clearly in the grammatical sense. Computer programming was invented literally centuries after the grammatical meaning, and the joke would have been as meaningful 3000 years ago as it is today. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.13|108.162.221.13]] 15:17, 7 March 2016 (UTC)

The particular kind of conditional that Cueball's friend is using is called a "biscuit conditional," after the example "There are biscuits in the sideboard if you want some" (from the philosopher J.L. Austin). There's a bit of discussion of them at [http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1469 Language Log]--Cueball is doing what Sam C talks about in the first comment, deliberately misunderstanding the conditional. The characteristic of these conditionals is that the truth of the consequent doesn't depend on the truth of the antecedent (the "if" clause), but the consequent isn't relevant if the antecedent isn't true--if Cueball didn't want to hang out, it wouldn't matter that his friend was in the city.
In the title text, Cueball thinks that his friend is uttering another biscuit conditional, and that just saying that they should get dinner. But the truth of the consequent really is dependent on the truth of the antecedent--if Cueball isn't done being pedantic his friend doesn't want to get dinner. So I think it is accurate to say "The intent is to show that because the initiator still believes that Cueball is still being pedantic, then he believes that it is not a good idea to have dinner together," though maybe it could be expressed more clearly. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.60.23|162.158.60.23]] 15:57, 7 March 2016 (UTC)

Didn't Demitri Martin do this joke like 10 years ago? :P [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.63|108.162.221.63]] 18:11, 7 March 2016 (UTC)

Whenever there is something like this that annoys me and I find out it has a name (like relevance conditional), it stops bothering me. [[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 20:20, 7 March 2016 (UTC)

476: One-Sided

2016-02-22T22:01:47Z

HisHighestMinion: /* Explanation */ grammar

{{comic
| number = 476
| date = September 15, 2008
| title = One-Sided
| image = one-sided.png
| titletext = He continued, "Okay, Bernanke is uncontaminated. Find a crossbow and get him into position behind one of the columns at the Fed entrance. This is gonna get ugly."
}}

==Explanation==
The comic refers to the phenomenon of hearing half a conversation from a stranger on a cell phone and, not noticing the cell phone, imagining that that person is talking to you and responding in kind. The chart gives a plot of the frequency that this occurs (for [[Randall]] here represented by the [[Cueball]] to the left) against the amount of time that passes before the error is discovered. It also implies that the author's second relationship was in reality just a particularly long instance of this occurrence, suggesting that his 'girlfriend' wasn't even aware of the relationship.

The title text is the continuation of the phone call, which involves a fictional conspiracy involving the Chairman of the {{w|Federal Reserve}}, {{w|Ben Bernanke}}, and a {{w|crossbow}}.

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the panel:]
:Sometimes my conversations with strangers go on for a while before I realize that they're talking on their phones.

:[To the right above a graph Cueball is standing next to a Cueball-like guy with a backpack.]
:Guy with backpack: Hi!
:Cueball: Hi.
:Guy with backpack: What's up?
:Cueball: Uh, not a lot...
:Guy with backpack: Shit. Does Bernanke own a crossbow?

:[To the left and below these two guys is a graph, with the axis labelled. The graph looks parabolic towards the left-hand side, but as x approaches infinity, y approaches zero. A vertical dashed line runs through the graph, slightly to the right of the peak of the graph. To the right of the dashed line there is an arrow pointing to the right that is labelled. The x-axis has a broken scale, and to the right of the break there is a very small increase in the graph that is parenthetically labelled with a small arrow.]
:Y-axis: How Often This Happens
:X-axis: Length of conversation
:Arrow: Awkward Zone
:Small arrow: (My Second Relationship)

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category: Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Crossbows]]

1243: Snare

2016-02-22T21:30:23Z

HisHighestMinion: /* Explanation */ not "probably" a reference to those buildings

{{comic
| number = 1243
| date = July 26, 2013
| title = Snare
| image = snare.png
| titletext = It's going in A collection of satellites skewered with pins and mounted in display boxes. Not necessarily MY collection.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is relating some odd news items to [[Black Hat]]. A structure has been discovered that consists of large ring strung with superstrong mesh, a 260-mile long pole (420 km), and a gigantic {{w|winch}}. As Cueball outlines the particulars of the discovery, Black Hat responds vaguely to each detail, seeming preoccupied with his computer. Cueball quickly realizes that the pole, ring and net combination sounds like a {{w|butterfly net}}, but one of immense size. Given Black Hat's history of nefarious activities, Cueball infers and then accuses Black Hat of wanting to "catch" the {{w|International Space Station}}, which orbits about 260 miles above the earth, by winching the pole up so that the net aligns with the Space Station's orbit.

Black Hat does not deny the charge, but he dissimulates by saying it is not necessarily ''the'' ISS that he intends to catch just ''an'' international space station, implying that it could be some other one. However, it is transparently obvious which space station he is targeting. Hint: it is the only truly international space station, it is actually called the ''International Space Station'', and it has an orbit that matches the length of the pole that was found.

The real buildings may belong to these structures:
*The giant ring from the first panel may be an allusion to the {{w|Tevatron}}, a former circular particle accelerator at the {{w|Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory}} (Fermilab), east of {{w|Batavia, Illinois|Batavia}}, near {{w|Chicago}}, {{w|Illinois}}. It is a 6.86 km (4.26 miles) long ring, giving it a diameter of almost 2,2 km (1.4 miles) leaving plenty of room to catch the ISS which is "only" 108.5 m (356 ft) in the longest direction.
*Similarly, the gigantic winch in {{w|St. Louis}}, may refer to the 630-foot (192 meters) high {{w|Gateway Arch}} monument. It is the tallest man-made monument in the United States.
**Even the rough south-north direction of this building does match to this scenario because the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/7b/Map_St_Louis_to_Fermilb.png Fermilab is approx. 240 miles north of St. Louis]. However, it is an arch, not a winch.

The title text is a reference to how {{w|Butterfly#Collecting.2C_recording.2C_and_rearing|butterfly collections}} are usually presented. The insects are mounted in glass display cases, each skewered through the body with a pin, and labeled. The text is spoken by Black Hat, who again tries to imply that he is not to blame, as it may not be ''his'' collection of satellites. Perhaps he is just catching a space station for a friend.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is talking to Black Hat. Black Hat is using a laptop.]
:Cueball: They said on the news that they found a giant ring lying in a field outside Chicago. Strung with some kind of superstrong mesh.
:Black Hat: Mhm?
:Cueball: Then they found a 260 mile long shaft connected to the ring, running from Chicago to St. Louis. In St. Louis they found a gigantic winch.
:Black Hat: Did they.
:Cueball: It sounds kind of like...
:Cueball: ...a butterfly net.
:Cueball: ...are you planning on catching the International Space Station?
:Black Hat: I'm planning to catch '''''an''''' international space station. Not sayin' which.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Butterfly net]]