explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:842: Mark

2013-08-27T02:25:17Z

JFreund:

The title "Mark" referring to both the mark on his arm, and the fact that he is a "mark" -- a victim of a prank or confidence scheme. [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 22:18, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

Hey, I'm part of this club too! Been burning down houses and killing people for years now. ~JFreund

Talk:847: Stingray Nebula

2013-08-27T01:12:42Z

JFreund: Created page with "I wish I may, I wish I might..oh darn, it's a satellite. Who knows where that's from?? :) ~JFreund"

I wish I may, I wish I might..oh darn, it's a satellite. Who knows where that's from?? :) ~JFreund

Talk:850: World According to Americans

2013-08-27T01:08:59Z

JFreund:

NB: Paupa (sic!) New Guinea
[[User:Leob|Leob]] ([[User talk:Leob|talk]]) 20:10, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

:You're right, there's a typo in the comic! Good catch ;) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:10, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

98% of American's would only be able to locate about 4 countries so this is way too generous ~JFreund

Talk:851: Na

2013-08-27T01:07:32Z

JFreund:

Randall actually explains at the top: "I can't ''believe'' I forgot Hey Jude.
I don't get do-overs, but I couldn't resist making [http://xkcd.com/851_make_it_better/ a fixed version]." [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 16:29, 6 April 2013 (UTC)
:The "make it better" portion of the URL of the revised comic is probably a reference to additional lyrics from Hey Jude. In light of the fact that that particular joke wouldn't have been available unless he had omitted it from the initial one, it's possible he 'forgot' Hey Jude on purpose.
:[[Special:Contributions/173.21.244.39|173.21.244.39]] 22:40, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
Doesn't Katamari Damacy have nine "na"s, not ten? This is the number I can hear in the song on youtube, and the number in his earlier comic Accident. Am I missing something? --[[Special:Contributions/152.78.168.175|152.78.168.175]] 13:22, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

Doesn't Batman have 16 na's? I'm pretty sure Im right about that ~JFreund

Talk:852: Local g

2013-08-27T00:59:37Z

JFreund:

What a coincidence that he just happened to piss off the one group of athletes that was capable of reaching and meting out retribution on him. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:12, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

This explanation is lacking. It does not talk about the joke itself. It is talking about the variation in gravity being significant in interpreting world records. [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 05:14, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
:Hi 184.66.160.91, don't criticise but help to explain. Nevertheless I will start to work on this right now.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:16, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
::Criticising is helping. [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 06:18, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Well,it doesn't just affect pole vaulters, it affect all sports, like running, less graity makes you run faster. Or maybe slower? ~Jfreund

Talk:853: Consecutive Vowels

2013-08-27T00:56:24Z

JFreund:

Present tense, or {{w|gerund}}? -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:52, 16 November 2012 (UTC)

I always thought the voyeur reference was to the statistical voyeurism is http://xkcd.com/563/

I don't think '''y''' is a vowel in that word. [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 05:17, 8 July 2013 (UTC)

:Y is ''always'' a vowel.[[Special:Contributions/76.29.225.28|76.29.225.28]] 15:21, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
::No --[[User:JSekula71|JSekula71]] ([[User talk:JSekula71|talk]]) 05:33, 18 July 2013 (UTC)

Y has to be a vowel here or it's not funny ~JFreund

Talk:854: Learning to Cook

2013-08-27T00:54:43Z

JFreund:

It only looks like I got takeout at Pizza Hut. I made this pizza! Legit! I made the box too! '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:09, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

The current explanation is "a person who cannot cook and can't quite find the time to learn", but I interpreted this as someone who thinks they want to cook more, but ends up buying pre-made food often enough to cause the ingredients to go bad. Such as buying a loaf of bread, deli meat and toppings, making a sandwich (or sudoing someone else), but then eating at restaurants until discovering the bread has gone bad... I may be biased, though, since this is what usually happens to me. [[User:Tryc|Tryc]] ([[User talk:Tryc|talk]]) 17:49, 22 July 2013 (UTC)

I did this same thing. I bought pots and pans and everything I could use. Tried making noodles and cheese and it did NOT work! ~JFreund

Talk:857: Archimedes

2013-08-27T00:52:43Z

JFreund:

What's Cueball trying to lift here that he needs a massive lever and fulcrum? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:05, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

I think Cueball is just trying to gain ''leverage''. -Justin- [[Special:Contributions/131.111.141.12|131.111.141.12]] 20:39, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

:Cueball wants to move the earth with a lever. But how this should work in space? The hostage is the entire population of the earth. I will add an incomplete tag.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:34, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

::He is not saying he wants to move the Earth with a lever. He's either demanding the lever and a place to stand, threatening to kill hostages, or he's using a gun as a prop in a joke. Either way, the explanation is perfectly fine as it is, no "incomplete" needed. [[Special:Contributions/108.28.72.186|108.28.72.186]] 02:44, 4 August 2013 (UTC)
:::Hey, the title text was wrong, the Archimedes cite was wrong, it was just INCOMPLETE. I did not undo your edit but I did some enhancements, hoping this is more correct now.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:43, 4 August 2013 (UTC)

How do you know his hostages are the entire population of earth? ~JFreund

Talk:861: Wisdom Teeth

2013-08-27T00:45:48Z

JFreund:

Why should all three parts of the anesthetic have to wear off? It seems like Randall would probably not write "Everything ok" if he could feel the procedure. [[Special:Contributions/75.69.96.225|75.69.96.225]] 02:10, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

I Gotta get my wisdom teeth removed asap! ~~JFreund

Talk:863: Major in the Universe

2013-08-27T00:42:09Z

JFreund:

If all else fails, you could always become an artist. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 10:03, 9 March 2013 (UTC)

I thought if all else fails you become a teacher? ~JFreund

Talk:866: Compass and Straightedge

2013-08-27T00:37:52Z

JFreund:

No, the comic is funny because many geometrical theorems prove something along the lines of "With a compass and straightedge you cannot construct..." (e.g. a square and a circle with the same area) If you have knowledge of this type of proof, the humor is that you think he's about to talk about something that is impossible in geometry, but really he's talking about the inapplicability of geometry to real life. This is often a difficulty with nerds and brainy people, they try to apply their theoretical knowledge to human relationships and fail. [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 19:53, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
:And then there's the converse: people who are able to apply theoretical knowledge and succeed. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 04:33, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

The explanation mentions that there are "three such constructions", but doesn't go any further. What they are should at least be addressed (or linked to), even if we're not going to elaborate on the "why" of their impossibility. For the uninitiated, they are squaring the circle, trisecting any angle, and doubling the cube. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 04:33, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

If such constructions are "impossible with the use of modern algebraic techniques," then why don't we just use older algebraic techniques? ;){{unsigned ip|213.203.138.251}}
:Those "modern algebraic techniques" just did prove that you can't solve this constructions by using only "classical geometry".--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:14, 29 June 2013 (UTC)

I tried forming a club for compasses and straight edges but no one signed up :( ~JFreund

Talk:868: Nolan Chart

2013-08-27T00:32:19Z

JFreund: Created page with "I'm a Republican baseball fan, where does that put me? ~JFreund"

I'm a Republican baseball fan, where does that put me? ~JFreund

Talk:870: Advertising

2013-08-27T00:29:02Z

JFreund: Created page with "But the Geico commercial doesn't say up to, it says 15% or more... ~Jfreund"

But the Geico commercial doesn't say up to, it says 15% or more... ~Jfreund

Talk:913: Core

2013-08-25T21:45:41Z

JFreund:

And the crust is just thin enough that volcanoes and earthquakes are a thing. Safety! '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:30, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

Isn't the glancing down and saying "I study that" a reference to something more inappropriate? ~ JFreund

Talk:925: Cell Phones

2013-08-25T21:23:09Z

JFreund:

On first read I thought the joke is that the cell phone graph shape (somewhat) closely mimics the shape of the cancer graph, including the part where it begins to level off - implying that one linearly correlates with the other, with a 20 year delay (a typical time it takes for cancer to manifest, except in this case it's backwards). ultramage 14:17, 22 December 2012 (UTC)

That and the fact the graph is out by a scale factor of 1000 is always a fun way to screw over how the statistics look.{{unsigned ip|82.16.27.115}}

Nah b', it's 2000.{{unsigned ip|76.67.97.246}}

::The real problem with the graph is that it makes it look like cancer rates have increased from near-zero levels to way higher since 1970, until you actually read the Y axis and see that it's gone from about 400 (per 100,000) to about 475. This is an increase of only 18.75%, as opposed to the visual appearance of a 300% increase. Hats off to Black Hat!! [[Special:Contributions/108.28.72.186|108.28.72.186]] 01:18, 7 August 2013 (UTC)

I thought the laptop joke was that some people believe not to put it on your lap because it messes with your reproductive organs! ~JFreund

Talk:925: Cell Phones

2013-08-25T21:22:12Z

JFreund: