explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2: Petit Trees (sketch)

2024-02-22T04:37:46Z

Icandostuff: /* Explanation */ Some are on the surface, such as in the 5th chapter

<noinclude>:''"2", this comic's number, redirects here. For the comic named "2", see [[2614: 2]].''</noinclude>
{{comic
| number = 2
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = Petit Trees (sketch)
| before = <big><big>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927001941/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=40#:~:text=8%3A36%20pm-,Le%20Petit,-Another%20fairly%20old Original title]: '''Le Petit'''</big></big>
| image = tree_cropped_(1).jpg
| titletext = "Petit" being a reference to Le Petit Prince, which I only thought about halfway through the sketch [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927001941/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=40#:~:text=8%3A36%20pm-,Le%20Petit,-Another%20fairly%20old Original caption]: Another fairly old drawing that I scanned.
}}

==Explanation==
This was the fourth comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]]. The previous one was [[3: Island (sketch)]], and the next one was [[1: Barrel - Part 1]]. It was among the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|first thirteen comics]] posted to LiveJournal within 12 minutes on September 30, 2005, on the first day of the xkcd LiveJournal account.

This comic does not present a particular point, it's just a picture drawn by [[Randall Munroe|Randall]]. ''{{w|The Little Prince}}'' (in French ''Le Petit Prince'') is a novella written by {{w|Antoine de Saint-Exupéry}} in 1943, about the titular Little Prince, who lives on an asteroid and visits other inhabited asteroids and eventually the Earth. The book is filled with drawings of the asteroid, the prince, and the travels they make. It is noted how, on occasion, {{w|Adansonia|baobab trees}} can begin to grow on these asteroids, and should they not be immediately uprooted, the growth of their roots would tear the asteroid apart. ''The Little Prince'' would later be referenced in the ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'' article ''{{what if|26|Leap Seconds}}'', in [[618: Asteroid]], and in [[1350: Lorenz]] at [https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/VgSdMz8OAHQ8w5Ee432f5Q.png the end] of the space trip branch.

==Transcript==
:[Two trees are growing on opposite sides of a very small world. Their roots cover most of the planet's surface.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Posted on LiveJournal| 04]]
[[Category:First day on LiveJournal| 04]]
[[Category:First day on xkcd.com]]
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
[[Category:Sketches]]

2897: Light Leap Years

2024-02-22T04:35:31Z

Icandostuff: Disambiguated?

{{comic
| number = 2897
| date = February 21, 2024
| title = Light Leap Years
| image = light_leap_years_2x.png
| imagesize = 288x389px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = When Pope Gregory XIII briefly shortened the light-year in 1582, it led to navigational chaos and the loss of several Papal starships.
}}

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

A {{w|light year}} is a unit of distance, commonly used in astronomy, equal to the distance light travels in a vacuum in one year; the year used is the {{w|Julian year (astronomy)|Julian year}}, or 365.25 days. The joke of this strip is based on the fact that "one year" isn't a precise unit of measurement: there have been different definitions, evolving over time, of what constitutes a year. The {{w|Gregorian calendar}} (the one most commonly used in modern times) includes a system of {{w|leap year}}s in which an additional day is added every fourth year (with some exceptions) to make up for incompatibilities between day and year cycles. This temporarily changes the length of a year from 365 to 366 days, which could be taken to change the length of a light year, because as mentioned above, it is based on the distance light travels in a vacuum in a year.. In this comic, [[Randall]] assumes that a light year is based on the length of the ''current'' year, which means that during leap years, it's based on 366 days, and during non-leap years, 365 days. That means that at the start and end of leap years, databases with astronomical distances have to be adjusted.

2024 is a leap year in the Gregorian calendar, and leap day (February 29) was just over one week away when this comic was released. The comic portrays [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]] updating astronomical distances in some sort of database, noting how long and unpleasant the process is; the caption reveals that the reason is that leap years "make light-years 0.27% longer" (366/365 = 1.0027397...). This makes the distance to Alpha Centauri "0.27% shorter".

Standardized systems of measurement naturally don't change continually. As the comic points out, the difficulty in having to regularly update every reference to these units would be enormous and pointless. In real life, a light year is defined by the {{w|Julian year (astronomy)|Julian year}}, defined as 365.25 days, with each day being 86,400 SI seconds in length. This results in a light year which is standardized at 9,460,730,472,580.8 km, no matter how long the calendar year may be.

The title text jokes that {{w|Pope Gregory XIII}}, the originator of the Gregorian calendar, "briefly shortened the light-year in 1582." In reality he shortened the year, as he decided to advance the Julian calendar by 10 days to make up for excess past leap days. This change led to "navigational chaos and the loss of several Papal starships". This is of course ludicrous since there were no starships in the 16th century, there's never been a "Papal starship",{{Citation Needed}} and the light-year wasn't developed as a unit of measurement until 1838. Indeed, it wasn't known that the speed of light is finite until {{w|Rømer's determination of the speed of light}} in 1676. The joke is that the evolving and somewhat loose and changing definitions of early calendars had significant impacts on the units of measurement we still use today. Such changes were of only minor significance at the time, but as technology has advanced and become increasingly reliant on precise and consistent measurements, such changes could be disastrous.

The values given for Proxima Centauri's distance from the Sun, 4.2377 light-years during leap years and 4.2493 light-years otherwise, are consistent with a distance of 4.2464 light-years as described by the {{w|International Astronomical Union}}, which is only minutely different from 4.2465 light-years, the value given by {{w|Gaia catalogues|Gaia Data Release 3}} in 2020. This error happens to be consistent with Randall potentially wrongly assuming that the light-year is defined using the Gregorian year (365.2425 days) rather than the Julian year (365.25 days). Though tiny on an interstellar scale, the difference between 4.2377 and 4.2493 light-years, 0.0116 light years, equals 109.7 billion km (68.2 billion miles), about 730 times the average distance between the Earth and the sun (150 million km or 93 million miles) and about 24.5 times the average distance between Neptune and the sun (4.47 billion km, 2.80 billion miles).

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

:[Cueball is sitting at his laptop and leaning to the back of his office chair, while having his other hand on the laptop. He is looking at Ponytail standing behind him. The text from the laptop screen is shown above it, indicated with a zigzag line.]
:Cueball: It took until February, but I finally got all the distances updated!
:Ponytail: I really wish we didn't have to do this.
:[Laptop screen:]
:Proxima Centauri
:Distance: [in red, crossed out] <s>4.2493 ly</s>
:[in green] 4.2377 ly

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Astronomers hate leap years because they make light-years 0.27% longer.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Time]]
[[Category:Calendar]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

903: Extended Mind

2024-01-29T06:24:34Z

Icandostuff: /* Explanation */ Munroe isn't infallable

{{comic
| number = 903
| date = May 25, 2011
| title = Extended Mind
| image = extended mind.png
| titletext = Wikipedia trivia: if you take any article, click on the first link in the article text not in parentheses or italics, and then repeat, you will eventually end up at "Philosophy".
}}

==Explanation==
This comic refers to the fact that the narrator has become so dependent on Wikipedia as a source of information that although it gives him the great advantage that he appears learned on any topic with a remarkable degree of specificity, the downside is that whenever Wikipedia goes offline, the limitations of his actual knowledge are revealed. Note: if he had downloaded Wikipedia using a tool like [https://kiwix.org/ Kiwix], he could have appeared smarter even when Wikipedia was down.

The title, {{w|Extended_mind_thesis|"Extended Mind"}}, refers to a theory proposed by philosophers Andy Clark and David Chalmers, which postulates that the mind not only includes what can be found in the skull, but also incorporates external things, like Wikipedia. Others have connected this sort of thing to the innate biological intelligence, or knowledge, but still consider it a different phenomenon under a label such as "{{w|Extelligence|''ex''telligence}}".

The title text refers to an observed phenomenon that many of Wikipedia's page links eventually lead to the {{w|Philosophy}} page, though he incorrectly states that this happens on all articles. This may be due to the fact that the first few links in any article tend to reference more general or abstract ideas, which eventually gravitate towards philosophy. This is only true for around 95% of Wikipedia pages: the rest end up in infinite loops, missing pages, or pages without links.

More info on this bizarre characteristic of the encyclopedia can be found {{w|Wikipedia:Getting to Philosophy|on their page about it}} or on [http://matpalm.com/blog/2011/08/13/wikipedia-philosophy/ this blog].

==Transcript==
:[An IM window is open over a Chrome window with tabs for Spark Plug, Feeler Gauge, and Wikipedia.]
:Message with Mike1979
:Mike1979: I replaced my spark plugs and now my car is running weird.
:Me: The spark gap might be off.
:Me: You can check with a feeler gauge.
:Mike1979: What should the gap be?
:Me: Usually between 0.035" and 0.070".
:Me: But it depends on the engine.

:[An IM window is open over a Chrome window with a single Wikipedia tab, marked ERROR. The page says: "Wikipedia has a problem. Try waiting a few minutes and reloading (can't contact the database server: unknown error (10.0.0.242))]
:Message with Mike1979
:Mike1979: I replaced my spark plugs and now my car is running weird.
:Me: What is a spark plug??
:Me: Help
:Me: What is a car??

:When Wikipedia has a server outage, my apparent IQ drops by 30 points.

==Trivia==
*The error code shown in the right panel (10.0.0.242) caused a [https://lists.archive.carbon60.com/wiki/wikitech/236027 bit of a discussion] from the wiki techs. Randall replied with:
::Randall: "I drew it based on an older error message where the IP was 10.0.0.243. I changed it to 242 (a) because I try not to get too specific with those things, and didn't want people poking the actual machine at .243 (if it was still there) - I actually considered putting .276 and seeing how many people noticed, but figured they'd just think I made a dumb mistake. and (b) as part of this ancient inside joke involving the number 242 ..."

*For a few weeks after this comic came out, following the links as explained in the title text would actually lead only to the Science page, due to someone/someones altering the links. The alterations could have been coincidental, good-faith edits, but were much more likely to be vandalism to break this trick. The edits were eventually reverted, and, as of July 2016, all first links lead to the ocean. Er, Philosophy. At least, when they're not stuck in endless loops.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]

71: In the Trees

2024-01-29T06:18:46Z

Icandostuff: /* Explanation */ Furthered Explination

{{comic
| number = 71
| date = March 3, 2006
| title = In the Trees
| image = in_the_trees.jpg
| titletext = It was tricky.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic focuses on dark humor. In the first panel, the viewer is led to believe that it is a comic lamenting on the loss of love, as it states, "We made it so far together, but then I lost you in the trees." However, when we read the second panel ("Finally"), it becomes clear that the joke is that the loss of this "love" is what he had been hoping for all along. The supposed pain that came from such losing a long relationship came not from lamenting the loss of something he put so much effort into, but instead into the fact that it took so long to get there. The title text just furthers this idea.

The expression could at first be interpreted as metaphorical, but from the later panels and the background, it may be a literal loss in a forest.

There is a similar twist in comics [[334: Wasteland]] and [[1042: Never]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing in a forest.]
:Cueball: We made it so far together but then I lost you in the trees.

:[A closer view of Cueball.]
:Cueball: Finally.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

51: Malaria

2024-01-29T05:51:56Z

Icandostuff: /* Transcript */ Not capitalized in the comic

{{comic
| number = 51
| date = January 18, 2006 
| title = Malaria
| before = <big><big>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529063441/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/#:~:text=1%3A43%20am-,Malaria,-Current%20Mood%3A LiveJournal title]: '''Malaria'''</big></big>
| image = malaria.jpg
| titletext = The malaria party was David's idea. [https://web.archive.org/web/20060529063441/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/#:~:text=1%3A43%20am-,Malaria,-Current%20Mood%3A LiveJournal caption]: '''Current Mood:''' ''Credit to David for this one''
}}

==Explanation==
This was the forty-nineth comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]]. The previous one was [[54: Science]], and the next one was [[52: Secret Worlds]]. It was among the [[:Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd.com|last eleven comics]] posted both on LiveJournal and on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] after the new site was launched. This comic wasn't published on the same day across both sites, but most of them shared the same posting day. It was released on LiveJournal on January 21, 2006, three days after originally being posted on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com]. See the [[#Trivia|triva section]] below.

This comic humorously considers {{w|pox parties}} as a means of preventing malaria. During these "parties", adults gather their children to deliberately expose them to a communicable disease in order to promote {{w|Immunity (medical)|immunity}}. These parties are based on the fact humans can develop an {{w|adaptive immune response}} after being infected by a communicable disease by producing {{w|antibodies}} that will recognize future infections of the pathogen. For some illnesses, such as {{w|chickenpox}}, this response is particularly effective in reducing the seriousness of future infections in individuals with healthy immune systems. Furthermore, some illnesses, including chickenpox, are also thought to be less severe when the initial infection occurs in childhood, rather than adulthood. So, even though vaccinations remain a safer and more effective means of preventing severe disease, pox-parties may be held under the assumption that children will benefit from contracting an illness (and developing antibodies against it) while they are still young and the disease will be, in theory, less severe. Moreover, because transmission is planned/expected (at least for the 'guests'), those concerned may ''feel'' that they are more prepared to watch for and deal with the illness than if infection had occured during some unpredictable future occasion.

However, there are major differences between {{w|Poxviridae|poxes}} and {{w|Malaria|malaria}} that make the idea of a malaria party especially absurd:

# Unlike poxes, exposure to malaria does not necessarily reduce the risk or severity future infections. In fact, prior infections can actually increase the likelihood of getting malaria in the future. While poxes are caused by {{w|virus|viruses}}, malaria is caused by {{w|protists}} (a type of microorganism) of the ''{{w|Plasmodium}}'' genus. Malarial infection begins in humans when an infected mosquito bites them and introduces ''Plasmodium'' into the person's circulatory system via their saliva. At this point, ''Plasmodium'' will travel to the human's liver where they can mature and reproduce. After which, the pathogens typically return to the blood stream, where they can be picked up by a new mosquito vector. However, ''Plasmodium'' can also establish a dormant form in the liver, allowing malaria to reactivate years after symptoms have resolved and the blood infection has been cleared. Thus, having a malaria party would not be a useful exercise, as attending such a party would only increase the likelihood that an individual would suffer significant illness later on.
# As mentioned above, malaria is a {{w|mosquito-borne disease}}. Unlike poxes, which can be transmitted between people directly, ''Plasmodium'' are transmitted indirectly through a mosquito vector. While mosquitos do not suffer malarial disease themselves, they can become infected by ''Plasmodium'' when they drink the blood of a human with an active infection. Over the course of a week, the ''Plasmodium'' will then travel from mid-gut of the mosquito to the salivary glands, where it can be introduced to a new human host when the mosquito takes another blood meal. Since it takes approximately seven days for a mosquito to become infectious, the malaria party would have to go on for at least a week to facilitate the transmission of malaria between party-goers. Furthermore, the party-goers would theoretically have to sit around in a room full of mosquitos to accomplish their goal, which also does not sound like 'very much fun.' It is possible that this is what is being represented by the black dots on the ground, which could be interpreted as confetti or the dead bodies of swatted mosquitos. Furthermore, the balloon may be pictured on the ground to indicate that enough time has passed for the helium in the balloon to be exchanged with normal air through diffusion (however, it is likely that, in reality, the balloon would be fully deflated if the party lasted for a full week).

Therefore, the humor of this comic comes from the fact that the party-goers did not anticipate that their plan would be an uncomfortable and ineffective means of transmitting malaria between them, let alone preventing it, under-scoring the absurdity of such a party.

The title text blames [[David]] for the idea, while the original caption just seems to give him credit. He also mentioned David in [[42: Geico]] and [[100: Family Circus]].

===Vaccination===
At the end of the 1990s, a study reported what would turn out to be made-up health threats from MMR-{{rw|vaccines}}, which created an {{w|MMR vaccine controversy}} and lower vaccination rates, even after they were exposed as false. This made {{w|pox parties}} more popular as the "natural alternative." However, even usually-"harmless" diseases like {{w|measles}} can (rarely) have complications and side-effects, up to and including death, which are by far more common and/or more severe than the actual health risks involved in vaccination. In the past 20 years, 2 Americans died from measles, both people with compromised immune systems. Also none, or late immunization, may create an immunization gap through which nearly extinct diseases can reenter a population (see e.g. {{w|Epidemiology of measles}}). If this gap can be closed (or made small enough), it is possible to make a disease extinct. This was actually successfully done with {{w|smallpox}}, and is now attempted with the {{w|poliovirus}} (Causing {{w|poliomyelitis}}, also known as infantile paralysis).

==Transcript==
:[Four Cueball-like children wearing party hats, a discarded balloon is lying to the right. There is text above:]
:we had a malaria party
:[And there is text below:]
:but it turned out not to be very much fun.

==Trivia==
For unknown reasons, on January 18, 2006, [[54: Science]] was posted on LiveJournal on the same day that this comic was released on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com]. Three days later, on January 21, 2006, this comic was posted on LiveJournal, thus forcing the next two comics ([[52: Secret Worlds]] and [[53: Hobby]]) to be released on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] two days before LiveJournal. Four days later, on January 25, 2006, [[54: Science]] was finally posted on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com], which fixed the date discrepancies and allowed the next comic, [[55: Useless]], to be published on the same day across both sites.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Posted on LiveJournal| 49]]
[[Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd.com]]
[[Category:Comics featuring David]]
[[Category:Characters with hats]]

48: Found

2024-01-29T05:47:02Z

Icandostuff: /* Explanation */ Re-wrote and added added info about previous comics.

{{comic
| number = 48
| date = January 12, 2006
| title = Found
| before = <big><big>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529063441/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/#:~:text=10%3A41%20am-,Drawing%3A%20Found,-I%27ll%20get%20back LiveJournal title]: '''Drawing: Found'''</big></big>
| image = found.jpg
| titletext = No more, no less [https://web.archive.org/web/20060529063441/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/#:~:text=10%3A41%20am-,Drawing%3A%20Found,-I%27ll%20get%20back LiveJournal caption]: I'll get back to science humor and awful puns soon, don't worry.
}}

==Explanation==
This was the forty-fifth comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]]. The previous one was [[47: Counter-Red Spiders]], and the next one was [[49: Want]]. It was among the [[:Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd.com|last eleven comics]] posted both on LiveJournal and on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] after the new site was launched. This comic was published on the same day across both sites, but not all of them shared the same posting day.

[[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] are standing together in the middle of a strangely expressionist landscape/environment. As indicated by the words in the comic, they have simply '''found''' each other, implying that there is no relationship between them other than running into each other.

As indicated in the title text, there is nothing else to say about how they met. In the original caption, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] reassures his audience that he hasn't stopped making nerdy comics and puns, because a few of the previous comics diverged from these topics. 47 covered [[Red Spiders]], and 46 covered relationships. The next comic, [[49: Want]], returned to xkcd humour.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are standing on a white hill (presumably snow) with a grey sky covered with thick streaks of white, and small pink dots. All letters are written in lower case.]
:we are just two people
:who found each other

==Trivia==
This was the first comic to be [[:Category:Thursday comics|released on a Thursday]] at 10:41 AM.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Posted on LiveJournal| 45]]
[[Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd.com]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

40: Light

2024-01-29T05:36:18Z

Icandostuff: /* Explanation */ Lighthouses were never mentioned

{{comic
| number = 40
| date = October 21, 2005
| title = Light
| before = <big><big>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529063505/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=20#:~:text=1%3A03%20pm-,Friday%27s%20Drawing,-(3%20Comments Original title]: '''Friday's Drawing'''</big></big>
| image = light.jpg
| titletext = Like a beacon
}}

==Explanation==
This was the twenty-second comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]]. The previous one was [[44: Love]], and the next one was [[22: Barrel - Part 3]].

Beacons, often in the form of lighthouses, were built on coasts to give ships a point of reference where land was, so that they could find where they were going, and to know where they should avoid during a storm. In the comic, [[Megan]] fills this role for [[Cueball]]: she is his beacon to know where he can be safe. This also has a romantic notion, as Megan is lighting up the world for Cueball to find her.

==Transcript==
:[A crowd of figures stand around in the dark. A Megan is illuminated by a beam of light.]
:In a dark and confusing world,
:you burn brightly
:I never feel lost

==Trivia==
This used to be one of the [[Footer comics|footer comics]] featured in the bottom segment of [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Posted on LiveJournal| 22]]
[[Category:First day on xkcd.com]]
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Footer comics]] 
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

33: Self-reference

2024-01-29T04:10:36Z

Icandostuff: /* Explanation */ Felt like it fit

{{comic
| number = 33
| date = November 21, 2005
| title = Self-reference
| before = <big><big>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529063505/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=20#:~:text=Friday%27s%20Drawing%20%2D%20Self%2Dreference Original title]: '''Friday's Drawing - Self-reference'''</big></big>
| image = self-reference.jpg
| titletext = I think about self-reference a lot. Example: this comment.
}}

==Explanation==
This was the thirty-fifth comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]]. The previous one was [[32: Pillar]], and the next one was [[41: Old Drawing]].

{{w|Self-reference}} is a situation where something (a comic, a drawing, a musical work, a novel, a mathematical theorem) refers to itself in some manner. This can be a powerful technique in art, music, mathematics, and computer science (it is the basis of recursion). In this comic, [[Cueball]] promises not to use self-reference for humor, and then realizes after a beat panel that, since this comic is referring to the series of comics he is part of, he is using self-reference, thus breaking his promise. Without the last panel, this comic wouldn't be funny, and therefore wouldn't break the promise about using self-reference for humor. But with it, and his realization that he is breaking his promise, it does break that promise. Self-references have been used most famously later in [[688: Self-Description]], but was already used in [[6: Irony]] and also in [[:Category:Self-reference|other comics]]. The webcomic Comic JK made a [https://web.archive.org/web/20140323234759/http://comicjk.com/comic.php/44 spoof of this comic].

The title text is just another humorous{{Citation needed}} self-reference.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing alone.]
:Cueball: I promise to never again squeeze humor out of self-reference.

:[Beat panel.]

:[Cueball is standing alone.]
:Cueball: God dammit.

==Trivia==
The original title of the comic was wrong, as this comic was released on a Monday, not a Friday. The [[32: Pillar|previous comic]] was actually supposed to come out on a Friday, but [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] forgot to post it in time and released in on a Saturday. See more on [[32: Pillar#Explanation|that comic's explanation]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Posted on LiveJournal| 35]]
[[Category:First day on xkcd.com]]
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Self-reference]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

Talk:29: Hitler

2024-01-29T04:06:10Z

Icandostuff: /* Disambiguation */ new section

I was born in the sixties of the last century, just into a new Germany. I can joke about Hitler, but sentences should be correct. An awful history which still does happen nowadays.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:46, 23 June 2013 (UTC)

Black Hat doesn't know what he's talking about. Hitler is actually a good artist. --[[User:ITErsoy|ITErsoy]] ([[User talk:ITErsoy|talk]]) 01:31, 10 January 2014 (UTC)

His art had no soul. They were in essence, forgeries of art that hasn't been done. The painting looks fine, but there's no depth. Take it from me, I'm an art student. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.122|141.101.99.122]] 11:06, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

I feel uneasy with saying most of them were jews. Most of those killed where men, and more likely, german men. Hitler lead an aliance with Mussolini (Italy), the Croats (who massacred the serbs in methods that disgusted even the german concentration camp leaders) and others. I think you should make it clear it was *Naszi* Germany. I think you should link to the wikipedia page on the holocaust, Nazis, and Hitler, because the explanation made here can be taken as oversimplified/childish. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.122|141.101.99.122]] 11:06, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

-Way after the fact here, but the Holocaust had nothing to do with Mussolini or the Serbs. Neither did the US and UK have anything to do with Stalin's brutality of his people. The comic specifically stated the Holocaust, which was committed against more Jews than all other ethnic group combined. To say the Holocaust was mostly focused on the killing of Jews is quite accurate historically and in no way is it childish. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.130|173.245.56.130]] 00:03, 17 October 2015 (UTC)

I just googled Hiter's paintings and he was actually a very good artist! [[User:Keavon|Keavon]] ([[User talk:Keavon|talk]]) 00:13, 10 November 2014 (UTC)
:Yea, but did you know that Hitler wrote the 2 sequels to The Matrix? (though not the original, obviously.) Taking that into account, I think we'll agree that a capricious enough god could object violently to whatever nonsense was motivating his work 🤔 [ User:00N8 ]

== Disambiguation ==

The trivia section should be disambiguated, it implies either Black Hat or Hitler have been mentioned before, and that they just haven't been together before this comic.
[[User:Icandostuff|I can do stuff! ]] ([[User talk:Icandostuff|talk]]) 04:06, 29 January 2024 (UTC)

3: Island (sketch)

2024-01-29T02:16:40Z

Icandostuff: /* Transcript */ Explained the color in further detail

{{comic
| number = 3
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = Island (sketch)
| before = <big><big>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927001941/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=40#:~:text=8%3A35%20pm-,Island,-I%20draw%20these Original title]: '''Island'''</big></big>
| image = island_color.jpg
| titletext = Hello, island [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927001941/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=40#:~:text=8%3A35%20pm-,Island,-I%20draw%20these Original caption]: I draw these a lot.
}}

==Explanation==
This was the third comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]]. The previous one was [[4: Landscape (sketch)]], and the next one was [[2: Petit Trees (sketch)]]. It was among the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|first thirteen comics]] posted to LiveJournal within 12 minutes on September 30, 2005, on the first day of the xkcd LiveJournal account.

This comic does not present a particular point, it's just a picture drawn by [[Randall Munroe|Randall]]. The title text may be a reference to the classical {{w|"Hello, World!" program|"Hello, world!"}} program, traditionally the first program a developer runs when learning a new programming language.

==Transcript==
:[A green island surrounded by blue water]

==Trivia==
This is the only comic that has the same number both on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] and on LiveJournal.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Posted on LiveJournal| 03]]
[[Category:First day on LiveJournal| 03]]
[[Category:First day on xkcd.com]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
[[Category:Sketches]]

2: Petit Trees (sketch)

2024-01-29T02:15:16Z

Icandostuff: /* Explanation */ Furthering the point

<noinclude>:''"2", this comic's number, redirects here. For the comic named "2", see [[2614: 2]].''</noinclude>
{{comic
| number = 2
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = Petit Trees (sketch)
| before = <big><big>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927001941/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=40#:~:text=8%3A36%20pm-,Le%20Petit,-Another%20fairly%20old Original title]: '''Le Petit'''</big></big>
| image = tree_cropped_(1).jpg
| titletext = "Petit" being a reference to Le Petit Prince, which I only thought about halfway through the sketch [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927001941/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=40#:~:text=8%3A36%20pm-,Le%20Petit,-Another%20fairly%20old Original caption]: Another fairly old drawing that I scanned.
}}

==Explanation==
This was the fourth comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]]. The previous one was [[3: Island (sketch)]], and the next one was [[1: Barrel - Part 1]]. It was among the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|first thirteen comics]] posted to LiveJournal within 12 minutes on September 30, 2005, on the first day of the xkcd LiveJournal account.

This comic does not present a particular point, it's just a picture drawn by [[Randall Munroe|Randall]]. ''{{w|The Little Prince}}'' (in French ''Le Petit Prince'') is a novella written by {{w|Antoine de Saint-Exupéry}} in 1943, about the titular Little Prince, who lives on an asteroid and visits other inhabited asteroids and eventually the Earth. The book is filled with drawings of the asteroid, the prince, and the travels they make. It is noted how, on occasion, {{w|Adansonia|baobab trees}} can begin to grow on these asteroids, and should they not be immediately uprooted, the growth of their roots would tear the asteroid apart. In this drawing, the roots are encircling the sphere rather than piercing it, again showing it was not originally intended to represent The Little Prince. ''The Little Prince'' would later be referenced in the ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'' article ''{{what if|26|Leap Seconds}}'', in [[618: Asteroid]], and in [[1350: Lorenz]] at [https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/VgSdMz8OAHQ8w5Ee432f5Q.png the end] of the space trip branch.

==Transcript==
:[Two trees are growing on opposite sides of a very small world. Their roots cover most of the planet's surface.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Posted on LiveJournal| 04]]
[[Category:First day on LiveJournal| 04]]
[[Category:First day on xkcd.com]]
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
[[Category:Sketches]]