explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1665: City Talk Pages

2016-06-06T19:27:16Z

Jarcand: Fixed HTML markup to be valid

{{comic
| number = 1665
| date = April 8, 2016
| title = City Talk Pages
| image = city talk pages.png
| titletext = "I don't think the Lakeshore Air Crash Museum really belongs under 'Tourist Attractions.' It's not a museum--it's just an area near the Lake Festival Laser Show where a lot of planes have crashed.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic makes fun of Wikipedia talk pages. On Wikipedia, every article has a place to discuss the content of the page, called a "{{w|Help:Using talk pages|talk page}}". In this case, the comic talks about the talk page of an article about a city. While some of the topics are quite normal for such a page (e.g. the quality of the images) others are not (e.g. too many murders and mine disasters in the city). The topics discussed suggest that the city has many problems and is a bad place to live in or visit.

The topics show a common problem at Wikipedia's talk pages: People often use them as a place to talk about the ''subject'' of the article, but it is for talking about the ''article'' itself. Someone at the top of the talk page is suggesting a better name for the city.

The article repeatedly refers to "the murders", suggesting that the city might be well-known for them. It seems that the editors cannot agree on how notable "the murders" are. "Not that notable" refers to Wikipedia's general criteria for including information in articles. Material which is not noteworthy should be removed; however, different editors often disagree about what is notable, resulting in conflicting edits as text is inserted and then removed (an "edit war"). Someone replies that "all cities have murders". While true, many cities in low-crime countries would not have a series of them so well-known that when someone talks about "the murders" any reader could be expected to know what they are talking about, making this sound like an attempt to make the city sound nicer than it is. "I think the murderer is reverting my edits" suggests the murders are being committed by ''one person'' who is influencing how they are shown on WIkipedia - perhaps trying to prevent Wikipedia from publishing evidence of them or possibly publicise them by adding ''more'' information about them. This raises the possibility that the discussion of the murder visible in the infobox picture may have been ''initiated by the murderer''.

The {{w|WP:Infobox|infobox}} is a short fact sheet that many articles in the (English) Wikipedia have; it generally includes an image illustrating the subject of the article. The question of which picture is best for the infobox (because this image is so prominent) can cause edit wars. It emerges that the photograph of the city has a murder in it. Instead of forwarding the picture to law enforcement, someone uses the image editing software Photoshop to erase the murder so the picture will be less objectionable. It appears that murders are so common in the city that any random photograph of the city has a chance of showing a murder, to the point where a second photo proposed as a replacement for the infobox picture is found to show ''another'' murder.

{{w|Voltaire}} was a French Enlightenment writer. As a prominent and very opinionated intellectual, [https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Voltaire#Misattributed he gets a lot of quotes falsely attributed to him]; most famously, he did not actually say "I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" (that was {{w|Evelyn Beatrice Hall}}).

It seems that the people who are editing the article are getting desperate to find a non-bleak picture of the city. When a non-bleak picture is added, it turns out to be from the 2016 Disney film {{w|Zootopia}}. The fictional city which is the setting and title of the film has a distinctive [http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/disney/images/4/43/Zootopia_City_Full.jpg look] which is far from bleak, but is not a picture of the city. (Zootopia is called Zootropolis in many European countries for trademark reasons.)

The city apparently is a mining city and there have been some mining disasters. An editor is complaining that this section is too long, but another editor points out that this is because there have been so many mining disasters that a large section is needed to cover the topic.

{{w|1982 Secession}} refers to Key West, Florida seceding from the United States in 1982 to form the {{w|Conch Republic}}.

A known problem on Wikipedia is "coatracking", where people use articles to promote topics that are not strictly the subject of the article (perhaps by writing far more about them than is necessary, when they could just be mentioned in passing). Here, it emerges that the article on a city expresses a dubious opinion on condom use. This is against several Wikipedia policies: it would be irrelevant to the article and sounds like an editor's attempt to publicise their views.

{{w|Andrew Lloyd Webber}} is an English composer famous for writing ''The {{w|Phantom Of The Opera}}''. Webber is also known for writing the music for ''{{w|Starlight Express}}'', a rock opera about anthropomorphized trains, which is probably another factor in the train station joke. Meanwhile, {{w|Frank Lloyd Wright}}, who shares his middle name and last initial, was an American architect, who designed more than 1,000 structures. As it turns out it was the composer who was responsible for the train station, and as a result the station roof has collapsed.

In the comic ''Webber'' is spelled ''Weber''. This could be a mistake by [[Randall]], (but then it is likely to be corrected later...) More likely Randall did this for the sake of realism as this is what can be expected by people writing in a talk page on Wikipedia, where errors are not necessarily corrected as they would be in the main article.

It is complained that the article is promoting the "Lake Festival Laser Show" too much. In the alt text, it emerges that the laser show is so impressive that it has caused a number of aeroplanes to crash. This probably refers to the fact that laser pointers should not be aimed at aircrafts, as they can be distracting to the pilots. The article has been promoting this area of crashed planes as the "Lakeshore Air Crash Museum", despite it not having any educational purpose.

==Examples==
*{{w|Talk:Key West, Florida#What's with the Chicken photo}} questions the relevance of free range chickens.
*{{w|Talk:Rio de Janeiro#Oh, there's no crime in Rio?}} suggests crime incidence in Rio has been suppressed to promote tourism.
*{{w|Talk:Kirkcaldy}} discusses naming.
*{{w|Talk:Isfahan}} has many naming proposals.
*{{w|Talk:Chattanooga, Tennessee}} has disputes over crime and notability of residents.
*{{w|Talk:Muara Bungo}} indicates someone ''repeatedly'' tried to delete the second-largest city in Jambi, Sumatra.
*{{w|Talk:Arvada, Colorado}} held a heated argument considerably longer than the article, concerning the existence of a scandal in the police department. A year later, one editor deemed the issue unimportant and removed it entirely.
*{{w|Talk:Sutton-in-Ashfield}} discusses the cultural significance of town landmarks.
*{{w|Talk:Abergele}} has residents arguing over who should be included.
*{{w|Talk:Tucson, Arizona}}:
** ''I heard you can get Chicago-style deep dish pizza even in Tucson! Is this true? If so, it probably should be added to the article.''
** ''Um...I heard this place is kinda dangerous.''
** ''Shouldn't the headline-indicated shooting be included?''
** ''Why are there three photos showing snow in the vicinity of Tucson? I know snow is an event for us, but I think other Wikipedians know what it looks like.''

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the panel: ]
:I love reading the Wikipedia talk pages for articles on individual cites

:[A list of contents for a Wikipedia talk page regarding an article about a city. Except for the header and the square brackets, which are written in black text, the rest is in a blue font.]
:::Contents [Hide]

<div style="color:blue;">
:1 Origin of city's name?
::1.1 Idea for a better name
::1.2 Not how Wikipedia works
:2 Too much promotion of the lake festival
:3 Should we mention the murders?
::3.1 Not that notable
::3.2 All cites have murders
:4 Quote verification: Even if Voltaire did visit (unlikely), why would he get so angry about our restaurants?
:5 Discuss: New picture
::5.1 Current one looks awfully bleak
::5.2 Gray sky
::5.3 What about this
::5.4 Also bleak
::5.5 Maybe this place just looks that way
::5.6 Found a better picture, more colorful
::5.7 That's a shot from Disney's ''Zootopia''
:6 "Mining disasters" section too long
::6.1 Not really Wikipedia's fault
::6.2 Why is this town so bad at mining?
:7 Infobox picture: I just realized you can see a murder happening in the background
::7.1 This city is terrible
::7.2 Photoshopped out murder
::7.3 Can someone just take a better picture
::7.4 Okay, uploaded a new picture
::7.5 Wait, never mind, I just noticed there's a murder in this one, too
:8 1982 secession still in effect?
:9 I think the murderer is reverting my edits
:10 Why does this article take '''''any''''' position on correct condom use, let alone such a weird and ambiguous one?
:11 Train station "Designed by Andrew Lloyd Weber"?
::11.1 They probably mean Frank Lloyd Wright
::11.2 I thought so too, but it's apparently not a mistake
::11.3 Didn't know he did architecture
::11.4 Roof collapse
</div>

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

1685: Patch

2016-05-25T15:06:43Z

Jarcand: Fixed HTML markup to be valid

{{comic
| number = 1685
| date = May 25, 2016
| title = Patch
| image = patch.png
| titletext = My optimizer uses content-aware inpainting to fill in all the wasted whitespace in the code, repeating the process until it compiles.
}}

==Explanation==

{{w|Adobe Photoshop}} is a commonly used software for image manipulation. One of its features is "content-aware inpainting", which allows the user to delete parts of the image and seamlessly replace the deleted sections with "patches" of texture from other parts of the image.

The {{w|GNU}} {{w|Patch (Unix)|patch}} is a software program that replaces only parts of the code with an updated version, without requiring the user to download the entire source code. Here, it appears the author was told to "patch" the code, but used Photoshop to do this instead of GNU patch, with devastating results. Although the title text suggest that if you did this enough times the code would eventually compile, this would never happen. In fact, Photoshop could only edit an image of the text and not the text itself.

The code appears to be written in {{w|Python_(programming_language)|Python}}, a programming language often referred to in xkcd. A few of the function names that can be recognized are "isPrime" and "quicksort", both elementary programming algorithms.

The title text also explains that patch used the content-aware inpainting to fill in all the wasted whitespace in the code. In Python, whitespaces are used as a part of programming syntax (for example, new line of code are used instead of semicolon (;), and indents are used instead of curly brackets.

The original code was likely as follows:

:import re
:def isPrime(n):
:::if n<1:
:::::return False
:::for i in range(2, int(n**0.5)+1):
:::::if n%i==0:
:::::::return False
:::return True
:def isPrimeRegex(n):
:::if re.match(r'^1?$|^(.1+?)\1+$', '1'*n):
:::::return False
:::return True
:def quicksort(a):
:::if len(a) < 2:
:::::return a
:::pivot=a[0]
:::l=[i for i ln a if i<pivot]
:::r=[i for i ln a if i>pivot]
:::mid=[pivot]*(len(a)-(len(l)+len(r)))
:::return quicksort(l)+mid+quicksort(r)

==Transcript==
:[The panel displays part of a code, in four different colors (red, light blue, green and purple) as well as normal black text, which due to image editing is difficult to read. The first and last line are partly obscured by the frame of the panel. Here below is an attempt to transcribe the code, using the sign "¤" for anything not easily transcribed. Feel free to add other signs instead of these that looks more like the one in the image (and also improve the attempted transcription if possible).]
:impo¤l me
:dooPisPS¤me(n):
:::r(¤n<n,1:
:::::retern F(ise
:::for i irararre(2, nint *n**n+5)+5):
:::::if n i==0
:::::::ret¤¤nrselsel:
:::re¤ irn True
:defesisPrimcieg ¤x(cx
:::if ge¤inatcx(r'^(1?| ?.1+?)\+)$'*n )1'*n):
:::::rerjrn Fa( e
:::LetylnrTrl
:dql qlsorsorn(a :
:::if ¤n(a < 2:
:::::eteturn a
:::pi= =r fa[0]
:::l=pi=for j ln a i< i<pi<(t]()
:::r=[l=for f in a) r i>viviv](vo)
:::mid=[pi[*t]*(l*t,(a)-(lenpienlen(c)))
:::r¤lrurrriklcksckt(l) + r ¤ ¤quickrort(r)

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Protip: If you don't have access to the GNU ''patch'' tool, you can use the Photoshop one.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Protip]]
[[Category:Programming]]

1685: Patch

2016-05-25T15:06:21Z

Jarcand: Fixed HTML markup to be valid

{{comic
| number = 1685
| date = May 25, 2016
| title = Patch
| image = patch.png
| titletext = My optimizer uses content-aware inpainting to fill in all the wasted whitespace in the code, repeating the process until it compiles.
}}

==Explanation==

{{w|Adobe Photoshop}} is a commonly used software for image manipulation. One of its features is "content-aware inpainting", which allows the user to delete parts of the image and seamlessly replace the deleted sections with "patches" of texture from other parts of the image.

The {{w|GNU}} {{w|Patch (Unix)|patch}} is a software program that replaces only parts of the code with an updated version, without requiring the user to download the entire source code. Here, it appears the author was told to "patch" the code, but used Photoshop to do this instead of GNU patch, with devastating results. Although the title text suggest that if you did this enough times the code would eventually compile, this would never happen. In fact, Photoshop could only edit an image of the text and not the text itself.

The code appears to be written in {{w|Python_(programming_language)|Python}}, a programming language often referred to in xkcd. A few of the function names that can be recognized are "isPrime" and "quicksort", both elementary programming algorithms.

The title text also explains that patch used the content-aware inpainting to fill in all the wasted whitespace in the code. In Python, whitespaces are used as a part of programming syntax (for example, new line of code are used instead of semicolon (;), and indents are used instead of curly brackets.

The original code was likely as follows:

:import re
:def isPrime(n):
:::if n<1:
:::::return False
:::for i in range(2, int(n**0.5)+1):
:::::if n%i==0:
:::::::return False
:::return True
:def isPrimeRegex(n):
:::if re.match(r'^1?$|^(.1+?)\1+$', '1'*n):
:::::return False
:::return True
:def quicksort(a):
:::if len(a) < 2:
:::::return a
:::pivot=a[0]
:::l=[i for i ln a if i<pivot]
:::r=[i for i ln a if i>pivot]
:::mid=[pivot]*(len(a)-(len(l)+len(r)))
:::return quicksort(l)+mid+quicksort(r)

==Transcript==
:[The panel displays part of a code, in four different colors (red, light blue, green and purple) as well as normal black text, which due to image editing is difficult to read. The first and last line are partly obscured by the frame of the panel. Here below is an attempt to transcribe the code, using the sign "¤" for anything not easily transcribed. Feel free to add other signs instead of these that looks more like the one in the image (and also improve the attempted transcription if possible).]
:impo¤l me
:dooPisPS¤me(n):
:::r(¤n<n,1:
:::::retern F(ise
:::for i irararre(2, nint *n**n+5)+5):
:::::if n i==0
:::::::ret¤¤nrselsel:
:::re¤ irn True
:defesisPrimcieg ¤x(cx
:::if ge¤inatcx(r'^(1?| ?.1+?)\+)$'*n )1'*n):
:::::rerjrn Fa( e
:::LetylnrTrl
:dql qlsorsorn(a :
:::if ¤n(a < 2:
:::::eteturn a
:::pi= =r fa[0]
:::l=pi=for j ln a i< i<pi<(t]()
:::r=[l=for f in a) r i>viviv](vo)
:::mid=[pi[*t]*(l*t,(a)-(lenpienlen(c)))
:::r¤lrurrriklcksckt(l) + r ¤ ¤quickrort(r)

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Protip: If you don't have access to the GNU ''patch'' tool, you can use the Photoshop one.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Protip]]
[[Category:Programming]]

1685: Patch

2016-05-25T15:04:01Z

Jarcand: Fixed HTML markup to be valid

{{comic
| number = 1685
| date = May 25, 2016
| title = Patch
| image = patch.png
| titletext = My optimizer uses content-aware inpainting to fill in all the wasted whitespace in the code, repeating the process until it compiles.
}}

==Explanation==

{{w|Adobe Photoshop}} is a commonly used software for image manipulation. One of its features is "content-aware inpainting", which allows the user to delete parts of the image and seamlessly replace the deleted sections with "patches" of texture from other parts of the image.

The {{w|GNU}} {{w|Patch (Unix)|patch}} is a software program that replaces only parts of the code with an updated version, without requiring the user to download the entire source code. Here, it appears the author was told to "patch" the code, but used Photoshop to do this instead of GNU patch, with devastating results. Although the title text suggest that if you did this enough times the code would eventually compile, this would never happen. In fact, Photoshop could only edit an image of the text and not the text itself.

The code appears to be written in {{w|Python_(programming_language)|Python}}, a programming language often referred to in xkcd. A few of the function names that can be recognized are "isPrime" and "quicksort", both elementary programming algorithms.

The title text also explains that patch used the content-aware inpainting to fill in all the wasted whitespace in the code. In Python, whitespaces are used as a part of programming syntax (for example, new line of code are used instead of semicolon (;), and indents are used instead of curly brackets.

The original code was likely as follows:

:import re
:def isPrime(n):
:::if n<1:
:::::return False
:::for i in range(2, int(n**0.5)+1):
:::::if n%i==0:
:::::::return False
:::return True
:def isPrimeRegex(n):
:::if re.match(r'^1?$|^(.1+?)\1+$', '1'*n):
:::::return False
:::return True
:def quicksort(a):
:::if len(a) < 2:
:::::return a
:::pivot=a[0]
:::l=[i for i ln a if i<pivot]
:::r=[i for i ln a if i>pivot]
:::mid=[pivot]*(len(a)-(len(l)+len(r)))
:::return quicksort(l)+mid+quicksort(r)

==Transcript==
:[The panel displays part of a code, in four different colors (red, light blue, green and purple) as well as normal black text, which due to image editing is difficult to read. The first and last line are partly obscured by the frame of the panel. Here below is an attempt to transcribe the code, using the sign "¤" for anything not easily transcribed. Feel free to add other signs instead of these that looks more like the one in the image (and also improve the attempted transcription if possible).]
:impo¤l me
:dooPisPS¤me(n):
:::r(¤n<n,1:
:::::retern F(ise
:::for i irararre(2, nint *n**n+5)+5):
:::::if n i==0
:::::::ret¤¤nrselsel:
:::re¤ irn True
:defesisPrimcieg ¤x(cx
:::if ge¤inatcx(r'^(1?| ?.1+?)\+)$'*n )1'*n):
:::::rerjrn Fa( e
:::LetylnrTrl
:dql qlsorsorn(a :
:::if ¤n(a < 2:
:::::eteturn a
:::pi= =r fa[0]
:::l=pi=for j ln a i< i<pi<(t]()
:::r=[l=for f in a) r i>viviv](vo)
:::mid=[pi[*t]*(l*t,(a)-(lenpienlen(c)))
:::r¤lrurrriklcksckt(l) + r ¤ ¤quickrort(r)

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Protip: If you don't have access to the GNU ''patch'' tool, you can use the Photoshop one.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Protip]]
[[Category:Programming]]

1685: Patch

2016-05-25T14:49:32Z

Jarcand: Fixed HTML markup to be valid

{{comic
| number = 1685
| date = May 25, 2016
| title = Patch
| image = patch.png
| titletext = My optimizer uses content-aware inpainting to fill in all the wasted whitespace in the code, repeating the process until it compiles.
}}

==Explanation==

{{w|Adobe Photoshop}} is a commonly used software for image manipulation. One of its features is "content-aware inpainting", which allows the user to delete parts of the image and seamlessly replace the deleted sections with "patches" of texture from other parts of the image.

The {{w|GNU}} {{w|Patch (Unix)|patch}} is a software program that replaces only parts of the code with an updated version, without requiring the user to download the entire source code. Here, it appears the author was told to "patch" the code, but used Photoshop to do this instead of GNU patch, with devastating results. Although the title text suggest that if you did this enough times the code would eventually compile, this would never happen. In fact, Photoshop could only edit an image of the text and not the text itself.

The code appears to be written in {{w|Python_(programming_language)|Python}}, a programming language often referred to in xkcd. A few of the function names that can be recognized are "isPrime" and "quicksort", both elementary programming algorithms.

The title text also explains that patch used the content-aware inpainting to fill in all the wasted whitespace in the code. In Python, whitespaces are used as a part of programming syntax (for example, new line of code are used instead of semicolon (;), and indents are used instead of curly brackets.

The original code was likely as follows:

:import re
:def isPrime(n):
:::if n<1:
:::::return False
:::for i in range(2, int(n**0.5)+1):
:::::if n%i==0:
:::::::return False
:::return True
:def isPrimeRegex(n):
:::if re.match(r'^1?$|^(.1+?)\1+$', '1'*n):
:::::return False
:::return True
:def quicksort(a):
:::if len(a) < 2:
:::::return a
:::pivot=a[0]
:::l=[i for i ln a if i<pivot]
:::r=[i for i ln a if i>pivot]
:::mid=[pivot]*(len(a)-(len(l)+len(r)))
:::return quicksort(l)+mid+quicksort(r)

==Transcript==
:[The panel displays part of a code, in four different colors (red, light blue, green and purple) as well as normal black text, which due to image editing is difficult to read. The first and last line are partly obscured by the frame of the panel. Here below is an attempt to transcribe the code, using the sign "¤" for anything not easily transcribed. Feel free to add other signs instead of these that looks more like the one in the image (and also improve the attempted transcription if possible).]
:impo¤l me
:dooPisPS¤me(n):
:::r(¤n<n,1:
:::::retern F(ise
:::for i irararre(2, nint *n**n+5)+5):
:::::if n i==0
:::::::ret¤¤nrselsel:
:::re¤ irn True
:defesisPrimcieg ¤x(cx
:::if ge¤inatcx(r'^(1?| ?.1+?)\+)$'*n )1'*n):
:::::rerjrn Fa( e
:::LetylnrTrl
:dql qlsorsorn(a :
:::if ¤n(a < 2:
:::::eteturn a
:::pi= =r fa[0]
:::l=pi=for j ln a i< i<pi<(t]()
:::r=[l=for f in a) r i>viviv](vo)
:::mid=[pi[*t]*(l*t,(a)-(lenpienlen(c)))
:::r¤lrurrriklcksckt(l) + r ¤ ¤quickrort(r)

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Protip: If you don't have access to the GNU ''patch'' tool, you can use the Photoshop one.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Protip]]
[[Category:Programming]]

1650: Baby

2016-03-02T11:33:37Z

Jarcand: Plural

{{comic
| number = 1650
| date = March 2, 2016
| title = Baby
| image = baby.png
| titletext = Does it get taller first and then widen, or does it reach full width before getting taller, or alternate, or what?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing in front of a family consisting a Cueball-like guy holding a newborn baby, with spiky hair, in a blanket and Megan. Cueball is thinking lots of thoughts about what to say to the couple upon seeing their baby for the first time. There is thus a huge thinking bobble in the top of the panel above the characters. Everything in this bubble has been crossed out like taking a pencil and drawing lines on top of the text, but it can still be read. After using all this time thinking, Cueball finally decides what to say, only to immediately regret this as can be seen in a small thought bubble below his spoken line, which is between the huge and the small bubble.]
:Cueball (thoughts that are crossed out): 
::Wow, it's getting so big! Unlike most babies, which stay the same size forever.
::Hi! I'm talking to a baby!
::What brand is it?
::Wow, definitely much smaller than a regular person!
::You sure did make that.
::★★★★☆ great baby.
::It doesn't really look like you since you're not a baby.
::So do they learn words one at a time alphabetically or can you pick the order or what?
::I hope it does a good job.
:Cueball: Wow, that's a really cool baby!
:Cueball (thinking): Dammit.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I can never figure out what to say about babies.

{{comic discussion}}

1168: tar

2016-02-24T01:03:34Z

Jarcand: Fixed HTML markup to be valid

{{comic
| number = 1168
| date = February 1, 2013
| title = tar
| image = tar.png
| titletext = I don't know what's worse--the fact that after 15 years of using tar I still can't keep the flags straight, or that after 15 years of technological advancement I'm still mucking with tar flags that were 15 years old when I started.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Tar (computing)|tar}} ("tape archive") is a {{w|Unix|Unix}} application that creates (and extracts) archives in the ".tar" format. It is typically used through the text-based terminal, using cryptic single-letter arguments such as "<code>tar -cvf archive.tar *</code>". The comic alludes to the fact that despite years of use of the command, it's still hard to remember the arguments without searching for them, such as with Google.

The title text points out that while much of computing changes very quickly, the tar program, which is very old (originating ca. 1975), is still around and heavily used. And yet, [[Randall]] complains he still cannot type out a line of tar command with correct flags without having to look the flags up.

The joke here is that a "tar" command with perfect syntax on the first try without outside help is such a daunting task that even [[Rob]] can't overcome it with [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/assuredness assuredness], and apologizes for not being able to prevent their imminent death.

The fact that [[Megan]] and [[White Hat]] assume that Rob can disarm the {{w|nuclear bomb}} because he uses Unix can be referring to an over-generalization fallacy that a partaker in a practice is an expert of a practice. Not all people who use Unix necessarily know how to use tar commands. Then again, since he's the only person nearby who knows ''any'' Unix and thus their only hope, their fallacy is pretty justified.

There is probably also a pun on "{{w|tarbomb}}," a poorly created tar archive that, when extracted, dumps a load of files into the current directory that the user has to clean up. And although the bomb looks more like {{w|Fat Man}}, the type of bomb that was used over {{w|Nagasaki}}, at least size wise, it may also be a pun on the name of the largest ever {{w|hydrogen bomb}} which was called the {{w|Tsar Bomba}}.

Alternative explanation: Tar is a very common command that Unix users will come across regularly, much like Windows users will come across .zip files. Depending on the flavor of Unix, the order of the flags, or the lack or inclusion of a '-' could render the command incorrect. Most true Unixes (AIX, HPUX, Solaris) not using the GNU utilities would give an error on the above tar example. For such a simple command, it is one that most people need to look up references to use.

In [[208: Regular Expressions]] [[Cueball]] saves the day by knowing {{w|regular expression}}s, although in the title text it is alluded to how easy these may also miss a character.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and White Hat stand next to a nuclear bomb. The bomb has a hatch open on top, and a small blinking screen. The two people are shouting off-screen.]
:Megan: Rob! You use Unix!
:White Hat: Come quick!

:[Megan, White Hat, and Rob look at the screen on the bomb. Rob peers closely. The screen is on the bomb, but is shown at the top of the panel in black with white letters, except "tar" and the last underscore which is in gray and "ten" which is black but written in a white box. The text reads:]
:{| class="wikitable"
|style="background-color:black;"|To disarm the bomb, simply enter a valid tar command on your first try. No Googling. You have <code>ten</code> seconds ~# _
|}
:[They continue to peer. (Beat panel).]

:[Same position but White Hat becomes impatient.]
:White Hat: ...Rob?
:Rob: I'm so sorry.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Rob]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Programming]]

1205: Is It Worth the Time?

2016-02-24T00:31:49Z

Jarcand: Fixed HTML markup to be valid

{{comic
| number = 1205
| date = April 29, 2013
| title = Is It Worth the Time?
| image = is it worth the time.png
| titletext = Don't forget the time you spend finding the chart to look up what you save. And the time spent reading this reminder about the time spent. And the time trying to figure out if either of those actually make sense. Remember, every second counts toward your life total, including these right now.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic is a straightforward chart showing the amount of work (time) one can dedicate to making a task more efficient, in order not to spend more time optimizing the task than the total time saved. This may illustrate the fact that computer scientists often try to optimize tasks they are likely to perform again in the future - a common goal in their work - even though the work needed for that optimization can itself prove much longer than the time saved when doing the task again; this was previously referenced in [[974: The General Problem]].

E.g. if you do some task every week once, and you are able to save 1 minute of time by doing some preparatory work (e.g. build or buy a tool), you can spend 4 hours doing this preparatory work, and you will, across five-years time, come even. Any less time spent doing the preparatory work, and you will profit from it.

The calculation on which the chart is based, for this example:
:5 years / 1 week = 260 occurrences of the task
:260 occurrences × 1 saved minute = 260 saved minutes = 4.3 hours

Therefore, 1 minute saved every week would, across five years, save over 4 hours of your time.

Or, in algebraic form:
:Total time shaved off across 5 years = 5 × "How often you do the task every year" × "How much time you shave off"

The grayed out areas represent times which are either impossible to save, or where, if you could save this much (say 6 hours on one day), it would almost be worth it no matter how long it takes. For instance it is impossible to shave 1 hour off a task if you perform it more than 24 times a day – the total time shaved off per day would amount to more than one day, and thus you could not have performed the task this many times in a day to begin with. On the other hand, 6 hours shaved off for one day is not impossible, but the net benefit would be so great, that it would very quickly earn it self in again almost no matter how long it takes. If the assumption is that a work day is 8 hours, then even if it took 2 years to do the improvement, you would already have earned it in after less than five years in total - both with the 2 years to make it and the time it takes to save 2 years (2.67 years in this case for at total of 4.67 years).

The comic assumes that equal amounts of time have equal value, which is not necessarily true. For an extreme example, consider programming a telephone with speed dials to be used when there is a fire or to call an ambulance or the police. This may take longer than the time saved when the call is placed, but it is worthwhile spend a large amount of free time to save any time during an emergency.

Of course, all these conclusions presume you are the only one that benefits. If the savings can be easily adapted by others - for example, computer code for a program that automates a task for hundreds of people - then the amount of time that can be spent increases. Indeed, in some cases, when optimizing for others, spending far more time than they save can be worth it, if the people you're working for are paying you for the product and the time savings keep them happy and likely to keep paying you. And if what you're optimizing is a business process that's unlikely to go out of date with your employer's current tools ''or'' its current products, then you may have more than 5 years to amortize the improvement.

The title text points out the time you spend studying this comic detracts from your overall efficiency, and concludes that maximizing efficiency would require optimal use of every second and finishes of very philosophically by pointing out that every second you use counts towards your life total - also those you spend editing a wiki about a web comic...

The comic derives humor from the absurd conclusions of hyper-efficiency, which have been examined in [http://what-if.xkcd.com/22/ ''What if?'' - Cost of Pennies], and also in [[951: Working]] which is devoted to insufficient economy, where the money saved is compared to the time wasted while looking for a bargain. In [[1319: Automation]] Randall investigates how bad it really goes when you decide to automate a program to save you time... See also the [[:Category:Time management|Time management category]].

==Transcript==
:[Above the frame is written the following text:]
:How long can you work on making a routine task more
:efficient before you're spending more time than you save?
:::::(across five years)

:[The table in the comic is not exactly as given here below. The text in the top two rows are written above the real table. The top line is written on the center part of a square bracket encompassing the horizontal time scale in the second row. Similarly the text in the first to columns to the left are not part of the real table. The first column to the left is also written on a square bracket encompassing the vertical time scale.]
:[The number ''1'' in ''1 day'' or any ''n'' in ''n days'' are drawn in what looks like a sheet from a tear-off calendar. When it is a number of weeks, seven small squares, representing a week, is drawn above the text. For minutes and seconds these words are written below the number.]
:[The empty fields in the calendar are shaded dark gray]

:{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
! colspan="6" | How often you do the task
|-
! 50/day !! 5/day !! Daily !! Weekly !! Monthly !! Yearly
|-
!rowspan="9" style="width:50px;" | How much time you shave off
! 1 second
| 1 day || 2 hours || 30 minutes || 4 minutes || 1 minute || 5 seconds
|-
! 5 seconds
| 5 days || 12 hours || 2 hours || 21 minutes || 5 minutes || 25 seconds
|-
! 30 seconds
| 4 weeks || 3 days || 12 hours || 2 hours || 30 minutes || 2 minutes
|-
! 1 minute
| 8 weeks || 6 days || 1 day || 4 hours || 1 hour || 5 minutes
|-
! 5 minutes
| 9 months || 4 week || 6 days || 21 hours || 5 hour || 25 minutes
|-
! 30 minutes
| || 6 months || 5 weeks || 5 days || 1 day || 2 hours
|-
! 1 hour
| || 10 months || 2 months || 10 days || 2 days || 5 hours
|-
! 6 hours
| || || || 2 months || 2 weeks || 1 day
|-
! 1 day
| || || || || 8 weeks || 5 days
|}

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Time management]]

1338: Land Mammals

2016-02-24T00:16:25Z

Jarcand: Fixed HTML markup to be valid

{{comic
| number = 1338
| date = March 5, 2014
| title = Land Mammals
| image = land_mammals.png
| titletext = Bacteria still outweigh us thousands to one--and that's not even counting the several pounds of them in your body.
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|Still need more guesses for the [[#Unlabeled Animals|Unlabeled Animals table]]}}
This comic shows the total weight of {{w|Human|mankind}} and all other land {{w|mammals}}. Only a few centuries ago, {{w|humans}}, their {{w|pets}} and {{w|livestock}} came to make up a great proportion of the earth's land mammal {{w|biomass}}. Note that only land-dwelling mammals are taken into account, so for instance {{w|whales}} and {{w|sea cows}} will not be included. (Whether this only covers animals that cannot live on land or any {{w|marine mammals}} like for stance {{w|Pinniped|seals}} and {{w|walrus}}, is not clear).

The design of the blocks loosely resembles a {{w|Cell (biology)|cell}}. This could be a reference to how these animals support humans, analogous to a cell supporting a central nucleus. If so, it seems that all the animals in this diagram, {{w|wild animals|wild}} or {{w|Domestication|domestic}}, in some way support human activity.

The title text states that {{w|bacteria}} outweigh us thousands to one, without counting the several pounds of {{w|Human microbiota|bacteria in our body}} that are considered part of our own weight (like {{w|Gut flora}}). The aforementioned cell could also be a bacterium, making it a possible reference to the title text, since 1256 blocks have been used to sketch the "cell", and bacteria outweigh us by about this factor.

This comic may be a [[Nerd Sniping|nerd snipe]] from [[Randall]], challenging his readers to figure out the missing parts.

Randall also discusses animal biomass in [http://whatif.xkcd.com/123/ Fairy Demographics] in which he compares the biomass of "fairies" to humans, horses, and humpback whales.

===Weight===
According to the diagram, there are 358 million tons of humans, 864 million tons of pets and livestock, of which 520 million tons comes from {{w|cattle}}, and 34 million tons of wild animals; for a total of 1.256 billion tons.
The number of blocks represents the weight of the group in millions of tons = billions of kg. Note that some entries have the same number of blocks, and thus have the same rank.

====Humans====
Cattle, in aggregate, are much heavier than the human population. Humans outweigh both {{w|sheep}} and {{w|Domestic pig|pigs}} put together. This may be a surprise for people in the countries that produce the majority of meat from such animals, because here these animals outweigh the population. But there are many parts of the world where especially pigs are not eaten, and it is not every where that sheep is in great demand. And especially in the some of the most populations dense regions in the {{w|Third World}} meat is not something you can afford to eat on a regular basis.

====Our pets and livestock====
There are 13 distinct blocks of pets and live stock; only the top 5 are labeled - in order of weight they are: Cattle, Sheep, Pigs, {{w|Goats}} and {{w|Horses}}. Cattle, in aggregate, are much heavier than the human population, which has been inserted in the table for comparison:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: auto; text-align: center; font-size: 95%; table-layout: fixed; line-height:1.25"
|-
! Total Rank
! Weight  (Millions of tons)
! Name
|-
| {{sort|00001|1}}
| {{sort|00520|520}}
| Cattle
|-
| {{sort|00001|2}}
| {{sort|00358|358}}
| (Humans)
|-
| {{sort|00003|3}}
| {{sort|00135|135}}
| Sheep
|-
| {{sort|00004|4}}
| {{sort|00090|90}}
| Pigs
|-
| {{sort|00005|5}}
| {{sort|00039|39}}
| Goats
|-
| {{sort|00006|6}}
| {{sort|00029|29}}
| Horses
|-
| {{sort|00007|7}}
| {{sort|00013|13}}
| Unlabeled
|-
| {{sort|00009|9}}
| {{sort|00008|8}}
| Unlabeled
|-
| {{sort|00010|10}}
| {{sort|00007|7}}
| Unlabeled
|-
| {{sort|00010|10}}
| {{sort|00007|7}}
| Unlabeled
|-
| {{sort|00013|13}}
| {{sort|00006|6}}
| Unlabeled
|-
| {{sort|00014|14}}
| {{sort|00005|5}}
| Unlabeled
|-
| {{sort|00017|17}}
| {{sort|00003|3}}
| Unlabeled
|-
| {{sort|00019|19}}
| {{sort|00002|2}}
| Unlabeled
|-
|}

====Wild Animals====
There are 8 distinct blocks of wild animal ({{w|elephants}} and 7 others). The elephant is the only type of wild animal to be singled out in the comic. This may possibly be due to elephants being the largest land mammal. And yes, the world's heaviest land animal only takes up one square. Also interesting is that the largest group of wild animals only comes in on a tied 8 place in the ranking (which is shared between the two tables).
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: auto; text-align: center; font-size: 95%; table-layout: fixed; line-height:1.25"
|-
! Rank
! Weight  (Millions of tons)
! Name
|-
| {{sort|00008|8}}
| {{sort|00010|10}}
| Unlabeled
|-
| {{sort|00010|10}}
| {{sort|00007|7}}
| Unlabeled
|-
| {{sort|00014|14}}
| {{sort|00005|5}}
| Unlabeled
|-
| {{sort|00016|16}}
| {{sort|00004|4}}
| Unlabeled
|-
| {{sort|00017|17}}
| {{sort|00003|3}}
| Unlabeled
|-
| {{sort|00019|19}}
| {{sort|00002|2}}
| Unlabeled
|-
| {{sort|00019|19}}
| {{sort|00002|2}}
| Unlabeled
|-
| {{sort|00022|22}}
| {{sort|00001|1}}
| Elephants
|-
|}

====References====
The comic references the book [http://vaclavsmil.com/the-earths-biosphere-evolution-dynamics-and-change/ The Earth's Biosphere: Evolution, Dynamics, and Change] by {{W|Vaclav Smil}} as the source for most of the data. A few other sources have also been used, but were not referenced.
On page 186 of Smil's book, there is a bar chart with the following values:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: auto; text-align: center; font-size: 95%; table-layout: fixed; line-height:1.25"
|-
! (Millions of tons)
! Name
|-
| {{sort|00008|0.8}}
| Elephants
|-
| {{sort|00400|40}}
| Horses
|-
| {{sort|01000|100}}
| Pigs
|-
| {{sort|04500|450}}
| Cattle
|-
| {{sort|02800|280}}
| People
|-
| {{sort|00800|80}}
| Whales
|-
| {{sort|00300|30}}
| all wild {{w|vertebrates}}
|-
| {{sort|06500|650}}
| all domesticated vertebrates
|-
|}
Note that all labelled non-human animals are in this table. It seems that this table was the source of most of the data in the comic. Only land dwelling mammals are taken into account. Whales, wild vertebrates, and domesticated vertebrates are not included in the comic.

====Unlabeled Animals====
These are guesses about the identity of the unlabeled animals
{| class="wikitable" style="width: auto; text-align: center; font-size: 95%; table-layout: fixed; line-height:1.25"
|-
! Rank
! Comic weight (Millions of tons)
! Type
! Guess
! Actual Population (Millions)
! Average Weight (kg)
! Total weight (Millions of kg)
! Explanation
|-
| rowspan="1" |7
| rowspan="1" |13
| rowspan="1" |Pets/Livestock
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |8
| rowspan="1" |10
| rowspan="1" |Wild animals
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |9
| rowspan="1" |8
| rowspan="1" |Pets/Livestock
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |10
| rowspan="2" |7
| rowspan="2" |Pets/Livestock
| {{w|Camel}}
| 17
| 412
| 7004
| Wikipedia lists the number of camels as 17 million. An average weight, based on Wikipedia's numbers for male and female, is about 500 kg. So, including the non-adult camels, an average around 400 kg seems to be a realistic estimate.
|-
|  
|
|
|
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |10
| rowspan="1" |7
| rowspan="1" |Pets/Livestock
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |10
| rowspan="1" |7
| rowspan="1" |Wild animals
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |13
| rowspan="2" |6
| rowspan="2" |Pets/Livestock
| {{w|Dogs}}
| 400
| 15
| 6000
|According to Wikipedia, there are 400 million dogs worldwide. If the average weight is 15 kg, there would be 6 blocks.
|-
|  
|
|
|
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |14
| rowspan="2" |5
| rowspan="2" |Pets/Livestock
| {{w|Donkeys}}
| 41
| 122
| 5002
| There are roughly 41 million {{w|Donkey#Present status|donkeys on Earth}}, with an average weight of about 125 kg.
|-
|  
|
|
|
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |14
| rowspan="1" |5
| rowspan="1" |Wild animals
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |16
| rowspan="1" |4
| rowspan="1" |Wild animals
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |17
| rowspan="1" |3
| rowspan="1" |Pets/Livestock
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |17
| rowspan="1" |3
| rowspan="1" |Wild animals
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |19
| rowspan="2" |2
| rowspan="2" |Pets/Livestock
| {{w|Cats}}
| 500
| 4
| 2000
| There are 500 million domestic cats worldwide. The average weight of an adult cats is 4.5 kg. Factoring in the lighter weight of immature cats, 4 kg as an average for all cats, (adult and immature) is within the range of possibility. (According to [[526: Converting to Metric]] cats do weigh 4 kg, only with caption do they reach 4.1 kg).
|-
|  
|
|
|
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |19
| rowspan="1" |2
| rowspan="1" |Wild animals
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |19
| rowspan="2" |2
| rowspan="2" |Wild animals
| {{W|Rat#Species and description|Rat}}
| 4000
| 0.5
| 2000
|The {{W|World Health Organization}} estimates 4 billion rats{{Citation needed}} worldwide. The average weight of an adult rat is under 500 g.
|-
|  
|
|
|
|
|-
|}

==Transcript==
:[Caption at the top of this chart:]
:<big>'''Earth's <big><big>land mammals</big></big> by weight'''</big>

:[Below the caption is a light gray block with a label (in light gray as well) to indicating the value of each block:]
:= 1,000,000 tons

:[Below this there is a row with three blocks each in a different color, dark and light gray and green, each block is labeled to the right:]
:'''Humans'''
:'''Our pets and livestock'''
:'''Wild animals'''

:[The rest of the comic consist of a chart with different groups made up of these individually and differently colored blocks, each grouping representing the weight of a different mammals, except the center part, the only one with dark gray block, which represent humans. The largest group to the left is the only one larger than the humans group in the center. There are 22 groups in total, 1 human group with 358 dark gray block, 13 groups of light gray with a total of 864 blocks and 8 green groups with a total of 34 blocks for a total of 256 blocks. Both the light gray and the green groups are spread out on all sides of the human center group. Only difference is that all the green are on the very outside, whereas some of the smaller light gray groups are close to the core, far from the outside. The five largest groups of light gray blocks are labeled, as well as the smallest group consisting only of a single green block. All the labels has a line pointing to the relevant group and all of them are on the outside of the entire block. Going clockwise from the top left the labels are:]
:<big>Cattle</big>
:<big>Pigs</big>
:<big>Goats</big>
:<big>Sheep</big>
:<big>Horses</big>
:<big>Elephants</big>

:[At the bottom right of the comic is the following gray text with a reference:]
:Data from Vaclav Smil's ''The Earth's Biosphere: Evolution, Dynamics, and Change'', plus a few other sources.

{{comic discussion}}

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

1619: Watson Medical Algorithm

2016-02-24T00:10:23Z

Jarcand: Fixed HTML markup to be valid

{{comic
| number = 1619
| date = December 21, 2015
| title = Watson Medical Algorithm
| image = watson_medical_algorithm.png
| titletext = Due to a minor glitch, 'discharge patient' does not cause the algorithm to exit, but instead leads back to 'hunt down and capture patient'.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|More wiki links for the different procedures in the table. Also more on why the procedures makes no sense, even though they may be relevant in a different context. As it is now the table almost always makes it sound like the procedure could make sense., when it could not in said context.}}

IBM's {{w|Watson (computer)|Watson}} is a natural language system designed to answer questions posed by humans. Recently, {{w|IBM}} has extended Watson to act as a {{w|clinical decision support system}}, using image analytics to aid {{w|physicians}} in medical decision making.

In this comic, [[Randall]] uses a {{w|flowchart}} (as he [[:Category:Flowcharts|often does]]) to represent a guide to the algorithm used by Watson, including bizarre techniques including surgical alteration of a patient to match a height and weight chart or squeezing the patient to make sure fluids come out of them. Like [[416: Zealous Autoconfig]], this comic pokes fun at a rigid, poorly-designed setup that ends up potentially doing more harm than good. The computer's behavior in this comic can be compared to the health-care robot named Baymax in the movie {{w|Big Hero 6 (film)|Big Hero 6}}.

Modern {{w|medicine}} involves both standard processes and clinical judgment based around years of advanced training. An algorithm like this would have to be incredibly complicated in order to simulate the clinical judgment of a good doctor. Below is a [[#Explaination of steps|detailed description of each step]], but here is a list of some of the more strange steps:
*The algorithm depicted treats a patient as more of a machine or mechanical system than a living being, especially through decisions such as:
**Injecting oxygen into patients with low {{w|Oxygen saturation (medicine)|oxygen saturation}}, rather than treating the root cause.
**Removing and inspecting a skeleton, then diagnosing the patient's condition with a bone count. This is likely a reference to [http://buttersafe.com/2015/10/15/a-serious-case-of-spookiness/ A Serious Case Of Spookiness] from the [http://buttersafe.com/ Buttersafe] web-comic, a comic Randall links to from below the comics on {{xkcd}}.
**{{w|Dissecting}} a doctor "for parts" after consulting him or her for advice.
**Removing extra limbs from a patient if the count is 100 or more (This might be a reference to different number systems used in computers, as 100 is read in binary as four.)
**Determining whether the "build environment" of the patient is sane. This is most probably a reference to the {{w|configure script}} used in the {{w|GNU_build_system|GNU build system}}, which emits "checking whether build environment is sane" as one of its status messages.
**Rinsing the whole patient with a {{w|Saline (medicine)|saline solution}}.
**Removing organs from a patient regardless of response to an {{w|organ donation}} request.
*Other decisions appear to be entirely unrelated to the conditions upon which they are predicated:
**If the patient doesn't rate their {{w|Pain scale|pain on a scale}} from 0-10, {{w|Genome project|sequence their genome}}, apply a {{w|tourniquet}}, and perform an {{w|autopsy}}
**If the patient's phone's battery is low, {{w|Defibrillation|defibrillate}} until the battery is charged, sync photos, then administer general anesthesia
**If the patient is successfully comforted after an oxygen injection, check their medical history and apply {{w|Skin grafting|skin grafts}}
**If green fluid is released from the patient, begin to {{w|Cauterization|cauterize}}
**If the patient has less than 100 limbs, check their {{w|Vitamin D}} level

Although there are two options where the patient is {{w|Inpatient_care#Planning_for_patient_discharge|discharged}} the patient should be very lucky to make it there alive.

The option at the bottom left is only reached after your skeleton is removed (and nothing is mentioned about putting it back, even if that would help).

The other discharge option is to the right, three boxes down, and can only be reached if you survive having an oxygen saturation of less than 50 % (less than 80-90 % can be a serious problem, see [[#Explaination of steps|table below]]), and a very dangerous oxygen injection. Then you have to have a skin graft and a good D vitamin level. It is also best that you have a fully charged phone else you will be subject to defibrillation (which may very likely kill you, if it will continue until your phone is charged to above "low" level - which is probably not even possible).

You can also reach this discharge option another way, but that would only be after your organs were removed... But if you get through this you could reach the discharged option alive. Sadly there is a little glitch mentioned in the title text:

The title text implies that, if the patient is so lucky to ever reach one of the two places with the option "discharge patient", a minor glitch will cause the program to go back to the ''hunt down and capture patient'' option which thus force the patient and the program to repeat the process again in an infinite cycle, that will only end once the patient give another rating than 0-10 of their pain level on the 0-10 scale. Then the program will start to sequence their genome then apply a tourniquet and finally perform an autopsy, on what will, in the end, for certain be a deceased patient; but maybe the patient was still alive when the autopsy began... This will finally cause the patient to leave the cycle as a corpse. If the patient dies before giving a different option, the machine could get stuck, as it will never receive any answer to the pain level question... It could also get stuck trying to charge the patients phone battery by defibrilation

This is the second comic in a row about health issues with the last comic being [[1618: Cold Medicine]].

===Explanation of steps===
{| class="wikitable"
| | Step
| | Medically valid?
| | Conditions and following step
|-
| |
Draw Blood
| |
Phlebotomy is a normal early step in the diagnostic process, but not as first and unconditional step
| |
Record patient’s name
|-
| |
Record patient’s name
| |
OK
| |
Measure Patient’s height and Weight
|-
| |
Measure Patient’s height and Weight
| |
OK
| |
Consult Standard height/weight chart
|-
| |
Consult Standard height/weight chart
| |
OK
| |
Surgically adjust patient to match
|-
| |
Surgically adjust patient to match
| |
May be considered ethically dubious unless there are [http://www.gosh.nhs.uk/medical-information/procedures-and-treatments/limb-length-difference-and-limb-lengthening sound medical reasons] for doing so. Could be an allusion to {{w|Procrustes}}.
| |
Is patient coughing up blood?
|-
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Is patient coughing up blood?
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
OK, coughing up blood is generally a sign that there is something wrong. Typical causes are respiratory tract infections (e.g. tuberculosis), lung trauma or pulmonary embolism.
| |
Yes: Gather blood and return it to body
|-
| |
No: Is patient still here?
|-
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Is patient still here?
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Not usually considered a step, but missing patients are a problem in some fields, psychiatry or intensive care for example.
| |
Yes: Record pulse rate
|-
| |
No: Hunt down and capture patient
|-
| |
Hunt down and capture patient
| |
Valid if patient should not have left the bed/unit, but the wording is possibly dubious.
| |
Is patient still here?
|-
| |
Gather blood and return it to body
| |
Dangerous idea in this case due to likelihood of contamination, although if safely done autotransfusion is an accepted medical technique to ensure a matching blood supply prior to a major operation, or to enhance stamina (blood doping)
| |
Record pulse rate
|-
| |
Record pulse rate
| |
OK, but maybe a little late.
| |
Is patient screaming?
|-
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Is patient screaming?
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Very important question, indicating patient is conscious, in pain, and aware pain is bad. First attenders can use it in classifying priorities (quiet patients may be more severely injured). Generally useful in assessing nerve damage, pain relief, etc.
| |
Yes: Ignore
|-
| |
No: Check blood O2 saturation
|-
| width="33%" rowspan=2 ` |
Check blood O2 saturation
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Only really indicated if the patient is in danger of hypoxia. Generally normal people should have a SpO2 of 98-100%, but in chronic lung disease this can fall as low to 80%, and in premature babies a SpO2 of 90% is usually targeted to avoid problems with retinopathy. If the SpO2 were to fall as low as 50%, the patient would definitely be dead or unconscious.
| |
>50%: Remove and inspect skeleton
|-
| |
<50%: Inject oxygen
|-
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Remove and inspect skeleton
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Fatal if patient is still alive when beginning. Also not a valid medical procedure in any way as it is impossible to remove most of the long bones of the body without destroying all surrounding tissue.
| |
Too many bones: Is fluid coming out of patient?
|-
| |
Too few bones: Request consult with human doctor
|-
| |
Request consult with human doctor
| |
Medically valid in the context of obtaining an opinion from a doctor in a different speciality who is better suited to treating the patient.
| |
Dissect doctor for parts
|-
| |
Dissect doctor for parts
| | This may be considered ethically dubious. Possible reference to the Doctor Who episode “{{w|The Girl in the Fireplace}}”
| |
Discharge patient (left)
|-
| |
Discharge patient (left)
| |
Acceptable, but patient would generally be dead by then.
| |
END STATE (before you read the title text)
|-
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Is fluid coming out of patient
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Unintended fluid release is always a problem. How significant a problem depends on where the fluid came from and if it is supposed to be coming from there. Red generally is due to blood, yellow is due to pus/tissue fluid/lymph and green signifies bacterial infection or bile salts (biliverdin). Could also relate to normal fluids being lost (e.g. urine, saliva, sweat)
| |
No: Squeeze patient
|-
| |
Yes: What color?
|-
| |
Squeeze patient
| |
Could be in the medical context is in providing external ventilation (see iron lung) or other means of removing fluid (e.g. squeezing pus from a boil).
| |
Is fluid coming out of patient
|-
| width="33%" rowspan=4 |
What color?
| width="33%" rowspan=4 |
Never underestimate the number of different types of fluid the body can produce.
| |
Yellow: Squeeze Patient
|-
| |
Black: Activate Sprinklers
|-
| |
Red: Ask patient to rate pain level
|-
| |
Green: Cauterize
|-
| |
Activate sprinklers
| |
Not medically valid. Presumably a reference to how much cleaning up will be required by this stage.
| |
Subdue patient
|-
| |
Subdue patient
| |
Potentially very important if patient is behaving dangerously to themselves and others around them (due to mental health issues e.g. psychosis or drugs) and/or is moving too much to be given treatment. This would be likely due to what happened earlier.
| |
Apply cream
|-
| |
Apply cream
| |
Medically valid as a form of barrier dressing to improve wound healing.
| |
Ask patient to rate pain level
|-
| width="33%" rowspan=4 |
Ask patient to rate pain level
| width="33%" rowspan=4 |
Useful in the sense that it provides the doctor with the means to ensure that the patient is receiving adequate analgesia during conditions of chronic and acute pain.
| |
0-8: Massage scalp
|-
| |
9: Admit for observation
|-
| |
10: Laser eye removal
|-
| |
Other response: Sequence genome
|-
| |
Massage scalp
| |
This would belong more to the domain of palliative care and reflexology rather than being an accepted medical treatment.
| |
Patient is healthy
|-
| |
Patient is healthy
| |
A subjective assessment of the health patient is often helpful in ruling out certain diagnoses. For example, one is less likely to suspect cancer in a fit, healthy 30 year old than a thin, lethargic 50 year old.
| |
Admit for observation
|-
| |
Admit for observation
| |
Useful in the context of 'watchful waiting', in which the doctor may be unsure if the patient actually has a condition that they suspect that the patient has. By keeping the patient on the ward for a few days, the clinician can monitor the progression of symptoms and rapidly initiate adequate treatment if medically warranted.
| |
Ask patient to rate pain level
|-
| |
Laser eye removal
| |
This is not a standard medical procedure, and not a good idea. This could be a pun on laser eye surgery where a laser is used to correct visual problems (e.g. short-sightedness), or laser hair and tattoo removal.
| |
Admit for observation
|-
| |
Sequence genome
| |
Useful in the association of extremely rare point mutations with an organic illness. See for instance the Genome 10K Project or the Cancer Genome Atlas. Or in diagnosing extremely rare mutations that are not picked up by most commercial DNA screening tests (e.g. kidney failure due to INF2 mutation).
| |
Apply tourniquet
|-
| |
Apply tourniquet
| |
Useful to stop acute bleeding from an injured extremity, but if it is drawn too tightly it can cause neuromuscular damage.
| |
Perform autopsy
|-
| |
Perform autopsy
| | The patient has died, and Watson is being ordered to determine the cause of death. Note that the only way to reach this state is from "apply tourniquet", implying the cause of death is strangulation via tourniquet.
| | END STATE (taking the title text into account, the only possible one)
|-
| |
Inject oxygen
| |
May be fatal as injecting gases directly to the blood vessels can cause a serious embolism if it blocks blood flow to the brain or coronary arteries. However, if the oxygen is injected slowly into the venous circulation, it may be survivable as the bubbles may simply collect in the lungs where the oxygen is then slowly reabsorbed into the blood.
| |
Comfort patient
|-
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Comfort patient
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Psychological support to the patient and relatives is often useful after breaking news of a poor prognosis. It may also be useful in subduing the agitated or psychotic patient.
| |
Comforting successful: Review medical history
|-
| |
Comforting unsuccessful: Subdue patient
|-
| |
Review medical history
| |
Important early step, rather too late and conditional.
| |
Skin grafts
|-
| |
Skin grafts
| |
Only indicated if massive areas of the skin are damaged (typically due to burns)
| |
Count number of limbs
|-
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Count number of limbs
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Not really relevant in medicine, but may be of use to know the reason behind any missing or extra limbs on seeing the patient though a through review of the medical history will render this point moot. Probably a little late to be noticing this now.
| |
Fewer than 100: Measure Vitamin D
|-
| |
100+: Remove extra limbs
|-
| |
Remove extra limbs
| |
Medically indicated in cases of polymelia either due to cosmetic purposes or because the extra limbs pose a direct threat to the health of the baby.
| |
Subdue patient
|-
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Measure vitamin D
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Valid in diagnosis of bone related issues, for example if multiple or comminuted fractures were being counted as additional limbs/bones.
| |
Good: Check whether build environment is sane
|-
| |
Bad: Blood loss?
|-
| |
Check whether build environment is sane
| |
Could be technical reference to the installation of the algorithm in the robot, or could relate to the sanity of:
*The robot doctor
*The patient undergoing this procedure (before or after reaching this part of the process)
*The person who programmed the robot to perform this flowchart
*The person who allowed this state of affairs to occur (I'm looking at you [[Black Hat]])

This could also be a reference to the title text for [[371: Compiler Complaint]].

NB: Whether the build environment is sane is irrelevant to the flowchart.
| |
Rinse patient with saline solution
|-
| |
Rinse patient with saline solution
| |
Tepid sponging may be indicated if the patient has a high fever. Could also refer to internally rinsing patient with saline solution i.e. providing intravenous sodium chloride to boost circulating volume or to perform peritoneal dialysis.
| |
Is patient phone battery low?
|-
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Is patient phone battery low?
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Invalid in medical terminology, could be a technological metaphor for the patient's consciousness or stamina. "Your life-force is running out"
| |
Yes: Defibrillate
|-
| |
No: Sync photos from camera
|-
| |
Defibrillate
| |
Indicated in cases where there is ventricular fibrillation, and to a lesser extent in atrial fibrillation (chemical cardioversion with adenosine is usually preferred), but would not help with a phone.
| |
Is patient phone battery low?
|-
| |
Sync photos from camera
| |
Definitely invalid. Could refer to the robot attempting to backup photos from a camera before attempting to repair it/attempting to back-up patient's consciousness.
| |
Administer general anesthesia
|-
| |
Administer general anesthesia
| |
Valid, but not at this stage. Only used when the procedure will invoke unnecessary distress or pain to the patient if they were to be awake beforehand.
| |
Discharge patient (right)
|-
| |
Discharge patient (right)
| |
Acceptable if coming from above, but the option from below (see below) would mean that the patient would be dead by then.
| |
END STATE (before you read the title text)
|-
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Blood loss?
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Useful. Patient may die if this clinical sign is missed.
| |
Minor: Patient address changed?
|-
| |
Substantial: Apply cream
|-
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Patient address changed?
| width="33%" rowspan=2 |
Useful to ensure that the organisation has current contact details for the patient in the event that they may need to contact the patient (e.g. to arrange further appointments)
| |
Yes: Request organ donation
|-
| |
No: Patient is healthy
|-
| |
Request organ donation
| |
Generally done prior to registering an individual for a driving licence or to a medical practice, or to the relatives of the deceased if consent had not been acquired beforehand.
|Remove organs
|-
| |
Remove organs
| |
The only organs which can be safely removed from a living person without resulting in serious, chronic medical issues are the kidneys/lungs (only one can be removed), spleen, part of the liver (as long as one lobe is left it can regrow to its original size) and colon (usually consisting of the appendix only). With some serious lifestyle modifications, the pancreas, pituitary gland, frontal lobe of brain, half of the brain, adrenal glands, bladder and most of the gut can be removed. The heart can be removed from the body and replaced with an artificial pump for a few months at the most. However, such organ removals are only indicated if there is a genuine clinical need to do so due to the non-negligible risk of death associated with these operations.
| Discharge patient (right)
|-
| |
Title text
| |
The glitch in the algorithm causes it to continue in spite of having just discharged the patient
| Hunt down and capture patient.
|}

==Transcript==
:Heading: A guide to the medical diagnostic and treatment system used by IBM's '''Watson''' system
:[A flowchart with the following steps is shown, starting from "start":]
:{| class="wikitable"
| | Step
| | Following step
|-
| |
Start
| |
Draw Blood
|-
| |
Draw Blood
| |
Record patient’s name
|-
| |
Record patient’s name
| |
Measure Patient’s height and Weight
|-
| |
Measure Patient’s height and Weight
| |
Consult Standard height/weight chart
|-
| |
Consult Standard height/weight chart
| |
Surgically adjust patient to match
|-
| |
Surgically adjust patient to match
| |
Is patient coughing up blood?
|-
| rowspan=2 |
Is patient coughing up blood?
| |
Yes: Gather blood and return it to body
|-
| |
No: Is patient still here?
|-
| rowspan=2 |
Is patient still here?
| |
Yes: Record pulse rate
|-
| |
No: Hunt down and capture patient
|-
| |
Hunt down and capture patient
| |
Is patient still here?
|-
| |
Gather blood and return it to body
| |
Record pulse rate
|-
| |
Record pulse rate
| |
Is patient screaming?
|-
| rowspan=2 |
Is patient screaming?
| |
Yes: Ignore
|-
| |
No: Check blood O2 saturation
|-
| rowspan=2 ` |
Check blood O2 saturation
| |
>50%: Remove and inspect skeleton
|-
| |
<50%: Inject oxygen
|-
| rowspan=2 |
Remove and inspect skeleton
| |
Too many bones: Is fluid coming out of patient?
|-
| |
Too few bones: Request consult with human doctor
|-
| |
Request consult with human doctor
| |
Dissect doctor for parts
|-
| |
Dissect doctor for parts
| |
Discharge patient
|-
| |
Discharge patient
| |
END STATE (before you read the title text)
|-
| rowspan=2 |
Is fluid coming out of patient
| |
No: Squeeze patient
|-
| |
Yes: What color?
|-
| |
Squeeze patient
| |
Is fluid coming out of patient
|-
| rowspan=4 |
What color?
| |
Yellow: Squeeze Patient
|-
| |
Black: Activate Sprinklers
|-
| |
Red: Ask patient to rate pain level
|-
| |
Green: Cauterize
|-
| |
Activate sprinklers
| |
Subdue patient
|-
| |
Subdue patient
| |
Apply cream
|-
| |
Apply cream
| |
Ask patient to rate pain level
|-
| rowspan=4 |
Ask patient to rate pain level
| |
0-8: Massage scalp
|-
| |
9: Admit for observation
|-
| |
10: Laser eye removal
|-
| |
Other response: Sequence genome
|-
| |
Massage scalp
| |
Patient is healthy
|-
| |
Patient is healthy
| |
Admit for observation
|-
| |
Admit for observation
| |
Ask patient to rate pain level
|-
| |
Laser eye removal
| |
Admit for observation
|-
| |
Sequence genome
| |
Apply tourniquet
|-
| |
Apply tourniquet
| |
Perform autopsy
|-
| |
Perform autopsy
| | [End state, and if taking the title text into account, the only possible one]
|-
| |
Inject oxygen
| |
Comfort patient
|-
| rowspan=2 |
Comfort patient
| |
Comforting successful: Review medical history
|-
| |
Comforting unsuccessful: Subdue patient
|-
| |
Review medical history
| |
Skin grafts
|-
| |
Skin grafts
| |
Count number of limbs
|-
| rowspan=2 |
Count number of limbs
| |
Fewer than 100: Measure Vitamin D
|-
| |
100+: Remove extra limbs
|-
| |
Remove extra limbs
| |
Subdue patient
|-
| rowspan=2 |
Measure vitamin D
| |
Good: Check whether build environment is sane
|-
| |
Bad: Blood loss?
|-
| |
Check whether build environment is sane
| |
Rinse patient with saline solution
|-
| |
Rinse patient with saline solution
| |
Is patient phone battery low?
|-
| rowspan=2 |
Is patient phone battery low?
| |
Yes: Defibrillate
|-
| |
No: Sync photos from camera
|-
| |
Defibrillate
| |
Is patient phone battery low?
|-
| |
Sync photos from camera
| |
Administer general anesthesia
|-
| |
Administer general anesthesia
| |
Discharge patient
|-
| rowspan=2 |
Blood loss?
| |
Minor: Patient address changed?
|-
| |
Substantial: Apply cream
|-
| rowspan=2 |
Patient address changed?
| |
Yes: Request organ donation
|-
| |
No: Patient is healthy
|-
| |
Request organ donation
|Remove organs
|-
| |
Remove organs
| Discharge patient
|-
| |
Discharge patient
| |
[End State: See title text]
|}

==Trivia==
*The [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/1/15/20151222113107!watson_medical_algorithm.png original comic] was updated after it was first posted.
**The decisions for number of limbs were swapped so it made sense.
**In the corrected version it was only if you had more than 100 limbs that Watson would remove the extra limbs.
**Before it removed limbs if you had less than 100 (i.e. always, and now never.)
**This actually opened up (a slim) chance to survive to the right discharge patient box. Although it would not matter according to the title text...

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Flowcharts]]
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Sarcasm]]

1612: Colds

2016-02-23T23:57:06Z

Jarcand: Fixed HTML markup to be valid

{{comic
| number = 1612
| date = December 4, 2015
| title = Colds
| image = colds.png
| titletext = The contagious period ends right around when you start to sound sick over the phone, which is probably evidence of cold viruses evolving to spread optimally in the workplace.
}}

==Explanation==
The typical symptoms of a {{w|Common cold|cold}} are a sore throat, blocked or runny nose, sneezing, and coughing. Slightly less common symptoms can include headache, aching muscles and an unpleasant sensation of temperature.

The earlier symptoms to occur following infection are generally the more unpleasant-feeling symptoms: headache, aching muscles, sneezing and feeling cold. However, these symptoms are also those which are least obvious to other people, and so elicit very little {{w|sympathy}}.

Within a few days, these symptoms start to subside, while a cough and runny nose start. These symptoms generally feel less unpleasant, but are much more noticeable to others, and so more sympathy may be given. The cough may lead to a hoarse voice, making the patient sound very ill; ironically, at this point, it may be easier for an employed person to phone in sick, but it is less desirable to stay off work.

But it is now when the patient sounds hoarse that others give the sympathy that was really needed when the patient was feeling awful during the first couple of days. And to [[Randall]] this is the worst about colds, that the patients first gets sympathy when it is no longer really needed.

The graph shows the above-mentioned facts as two curves, one that indicates how bad the sickness is, really bad on day 2, but much better already on day 3. And the other curve how bad the patient sounds due to the hoarseness and the coughing. And this curve first peaks around day 4-6 when the sympathy is no longer needed.

The symptoms of the two periods are listed below the curves indicating which periods are affected by them.

In the title text Randall muses about the fact that contagiousness ends around the time when hoarseness begins. This is the time when employers ask sick employees to stay at home in bed when they call in to the office, because they sound so hoarse. And also the time when coworkers will stay clear of those who do come in. But then it is too late, since everyone is probably already infected by then. Randall thus suggests that this is evidence that the cold virus has evolved to spread optimally in a work place. Since the cold virus is much older than offices this is unlikely. But it will always spread better in places where many people are close together; and since we are more inside in the winter, this is the main reason why it spreads more during cold periods. However, viruses do evolve very quickly so it may not be unlikely that some of them has already adapted to our present way of living.

Another thing that Randall doesn't like about cold is that no medicine works, and the one that relives you the most is hard to come by. This was the subject two weeks later in [[1618: Cold Medicine]], and this suggests that it is actually Randall himself who has a long lasting cold.

==Transcript==
:[A graph is shown with two curves. The Y-axis indicated how you feel, with three levels indicated with small ticks on the inside of the axis. These are labeled to the left of the Y–axis. The X-axis gives the time. The unit is given (days written in gray text) to the left and then the number of days are noted below the axis for each of the eight ticks on the inside of the axis. Both curves begin at the lowest level just off the Y-axis. One curve, indicating how bad you feel, rises rapidly, reaching its maximum in less than two days only to fall off almost as rapidly, ending up on an even lower level than it began with before day 5. The other curve, indicating how bad you sound, start out by staying constantly low, first rising on day 3, when the first curve are drooping down. They cross between day 3 and 4, and first then does the second curve rise, reaching its max around day 5, not as high a maximum as the first curve, but it stays up longer, falling only moderately off even after day 8, where it reaches the middle level on the Y-axis. Above the two curves are two line intervals that indicated when you need sympathy and when you get it. This text is written on the broken line. All this is in gray text. Below the X-axis are the symptoms listed for the different time period. These are written in white inside gray rectangles. The rectangles are a different length depending on how many days they last. And they are in two layers.]

:[Y-axis:]
:The worst
:Bad
:Fine

:[The X-axis, with the unit written in gray just below ''Fine'' from the Y-axis:]
:Days: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

:[Labels for curves:]
:How bad you feel
:How bad you sound

:[Gray text on the two gray lines above:]
:Need sympathy
:Get sympathy

:[Text in white on gray below, first the three to the left (one above two below), then the two to the right one above the other:]
:Skin crawling
:Sore throat
:Aching
:Cough
:Hoarseness

:The worst part about colds

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

1470: Kix

2016-02-23T23:55:24Z

Jarcand: Fixed HTML markup to be valid

{{comic
| number = 1470
| date = January 7, 2015
| title = Kix
| image = kix.png
| titletext = My parents sent me to several years of intensive Kix test prep.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic may be a commentary about the uselessness of brainstorming sessions or the bad ideas that come out of them, as they are often started with the phrase “there are no bad ideas”. As the brainstorming session continues the original meaning of the slogan is lost, much like a game of telephone, and the session becomes less productive.

The slogan for {{w|Kix (cereal)|Kix}}, "Kid tested, Mother approved," is meant to suggest that children generally enjoy the cereal and their mothers, who are naturally concerned about the health of their children, approve of its ingredients. However, in this brainstorming session, the word "Approved" has apparently not yet been considered. A number of possible words and phrases for the ending have been presented and {{w|Strikethrough|stricken out}}, indicating that they were rejected; each one causes the slogan to be subject to increasingly absurd and comedic interpretations:

#'''Selected''': This word may have been chosen as a {{w|slant rhyme}} of "Tested". This word shares a definition with "Approved", and states that mothers specifically choose this cereal over others. This phrase could also suggest that one mother ''herself'' had been chosen for some unstated purpose.
#'''Perfected''': It's likely that the previous word inspired someone in the brainstorming session to find a similarly positive word that rhymes with "Selected". It states that one or more mothers were directly involved in developing and refining the cereal's composition to a high degree. Much like with "Selected", this could also suggest that the mother was somehow improved to perfection during the test.
#'''Not Notified''': Relates to the world of experimental research and clinical trials. This phrase suggests that the children who tested the cereal did not obtain the required consent, which would generally involve notifying and getting permission from both parents.
#'''Watching Helplessly''': Again we can see that in a brainstorming session such the previous option may trigger this one as it is related to the dangers of testing. This phrase suggests that mothers were forced to watch their children test the cereal, and that the cereal or the test is unhealthy or dangerous.
#'''Infected''': This may be intended to show the group dynamic of the brainstorming session as it is inspired by option one and two, as infected rhymes with both selected and perfected, and by the third option as both relate to dangerous testing. This slogan states that an infectious agent was passed to the mother as a result of the test. This could also be interpreted as the mother having introduced the infectious agent into the cereal or testing environment.
# '''Consumed''': Continuing the trend of dark slogans this slogan says that the mothers were ''themselves'' consumed, perhaps by their children (by virtue of the mother being an ingredient in the cereal), the cereal itself, or something otherwise related to the test. Another possible interpretation is that the mother ate the cereal after the kid tested it, possibly because the kid did not enjoy the taste.
#'''Fucker''': This expletive is often paired with "Mother" to form the compound word "Motherfucker". In this case, the slogan changes to {{w|vocative case}}: "[This cereal has been] Kid Tested, Motherfucker!". This appears to be an "elephant" - a ponderous ending of a joke that contrasts sharply with the refined and mild humor of the previous options. The phrase itself basically only states that a child tested the cereal and implies that nothing else matters.

The title text conflates the phrase "Kid tested" with college entrance exams such as the {{w|Standardized Aptitude Test}} (SAT) or the {{w|ACT (test)|ACT}}. Instead of stating that a child tasted the cereal and gave his or her opinion on its quality, the cereal itself is an academic subject on which the child was tested. Randall, referring to how some parents enroll their children in special {{w|test prep|classes or schools}} to prepare them to score well in this type of test, states that his parents extensively prepared him for a college entrance exam about Kix cereal.

Cereal advertising has previously been referenced in [[38: Apple Jacks ]].

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail, Megan, and Cueball are standing around a whiteboard. The whiteboard on easel reads:]
:'''Kix'''
:Slogan ideas
:Kid Tested, Mother...

:<strike>Selected</strike>
:<strike>Perfected</strike>
:<strike>Not notified</strike>
:<strike>Watching helplessly</strike>
:<strike>Infected</strike>
:<strike>Consumed</strike>
:<strike>Fucker</strike>

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Food]]