explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1926: Bad Code

2017-12-11T20:45:30Z

Kshksh: CQ comment

Is it just me or is the fact that this page was created by a bad coder slightly funny? [[User:Halo422|Halo422]] ([[User talk:Halo422|talk]]) 16:56, 8 December 2017 (UTC)
:Sometimes on this wiki we change the created by text to something relevant to the comic Halo. [[User:DPS2004|DPS2004]] ([[User talk:DPS2004|talk]]) 16:58, 8 December 2017 (UTC)
:Slightly, yes. :oP[[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.16|141.101.76.16]] 14:13, 11 December 2017 (UTC)

"MAY be the same Cueball and Ponytail as the Code Quality series"???!?! As far as I'm concerned, this is the latest entry in the Code Quality series! Oh, and my interpretation of her "Wait, crap." was her saying she realized he's actually done that before, thrown hammers at that wall. I feel like the giving-him-bad-ideas explanation makes more sense, though. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 17:56, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

:I don't see this that way. Cueball from Code Quality series was a beginner, self-taught coder. This one seems much more mature with programming skills.[[User:Kshksh|kshksh]] ([[User talk:Kshksh|talk]]) 20:45, 11 December 2017 (UTC)

:: That happens sometimes. I.e. people get better over time. But in this case I'd agree with Ponytail that Cueball is not showing "programming skills and is not showing maturity.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.40|108.162.216.40]] 20:35, 11 December 2017 (UTC)

:::I know that people get better over time, but I'm picking more on indirect clues here. Cueball comments that "it's nothing wierd ''THIS TIME''", which means he's written many wierd projects. This means that he likes programming, and possibly have written some non-wierd projects. He also says "nothing depends on it", which means that he has written something that ''could'' depend on it. And while we have no direct indication of how much time passed in between comics, all of the Code Quality seems to happen in one sitting, while this is obviousely different situation.[[User:Kshksh|kshksh]] ([[User talk:Kshksh|talk]]) 20:45, 11 December 2017 (UTC)

The hammer-throwing may also be a call-back to xkcd 905, "Homeownership", where Cueball accidentally destroys his home by getting carried away drilling holes in the walls?

Wait, so nobody thinks calling it "Bad Code" instead of the prior "Code Quality" is a veiled reference to Mr Robot? Randall clearly watches the show; I thought he was referring to the show's repeated assertion that careless people are like bad code, their actions dangerously in need of revision. IE that some people have a knack for really messing stuff up which reaches far beyond the minimal effort they put into choosing their actions.

I'm almost certain that "parsing html" is a reference to this: https://stackoverflow.com/a/1732454
[[User:Waterlubber|Waterlubber]] ([[User talk:Waterlubber|talk]]) 20:16, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

Isn't it ponytail who tries to destroy the wall, since by Cueball's logic it doesn't matter if she does it?

Without the title text, I'd believe the wall is actually (already) bearing some kind of dependency into Cueball's spreadsheet, hence the reaction from Ponytail. Rather than giving him ideas to destroy it. It still makes sense because he's the kind of person to do messy things like that. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.46|162.158.92.46]] 00:29, 10 December 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1926: Bad Code

2017-12-08T23:20:59Z

Kshksh: CQ comment

1926: Bad Code

2017-12-08T23:19:03Z

Kshksh: /* Explanation */ Load-bearing wall

{{comic
| number = 1926
| date = December 8, 2017
| title = Bad Code
| image = bad_code.png
| titletext = "Oh my God, why did you scotch-tape a bunch of hammers together?" "It's ok! Nothing depends on this wall being destroyed efficiently."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a bad coder, very incomplete, added (possibly excessive) explanation for load-bearing wall. Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Ponytail]] has caught [[Cueball]] in the act of writing some messy code - code in the form of a spreadsheet formula, which in turn produces another program in a language called {{w|Haskell (programming language)|Haskell}}.
It is explained that ''this'' code will in turn interpret ''more'' source code, specifically markup in {{w|HTML}}.
After Cueball excuses his bad code by stating that "nothing depends on this" (meaning that no other projects rely on this code being good to operate properly), Ponytail uses the analogy of breaking a non-load-bearing wall to ridicule Cueball's excuse.

A load-bearing wall is the wall that supports main structure of the building. Damaging it may cause serious issues. Typically, not all walls in the building are load-bearing. Those can be destroyed fairly safely, because "a building doesn't depend on it". However, they're there for a reason. This means that a non-noad-bearing wall, as well as non-essential code, don't HAVE to be destroyed (or badly written) just because they can.

Immediately after, Ponytail appears to have realized that she's only ''inspired'' Cueball to go ahead and break the wall, instead of swaying him away from writing bad code. This suggest it may be the same Cueball in [[905: Homeownership]]

This is most likely a continuation of the [[:Category:Code Quality|Code Quality]] series, but it differs slightly. For one thing, all of the previous strips were name "Code Quality <number>", with the exception of the first, which was just named "Code Quality". Also note that, unlike the previous Code Quality strips, Ponytail does not start using similes like "This is like being in a house built by a child using nothing but a hatchet and a picture of a house". It's also the longest explanation of Cueball's code by Cueball himself.

The title text suggests that Cueball's approach to breaking the wall, scotch-taping a bunch of hammers together, is as good as his code. And his excuse is similar.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is at his desk in a swivel chair, using his computer. Ponytail walks towards him.]
:Ponytail: That's the ugliest mess of code I've ever seen! What on earth are you working on?

:[Cueball swivels his chair to face Ponytail in a frameless panel.]
:Cueball: It's nothing weird this time, I swear.
:Cueball: It just looks bad because it's a spreadsheet formula.

:[Cueball is facing his computer again.]
:Cueball: ...which assembles a Haskell function.
:Ponytail: Uhhh.
:Cueball: ...for parsing HTML.
:Ponytail: ...oh my God.

:[Ponytail is pointing away from the scene.]
:Cueball: It's ok! Nothing depends on this.
:Ponytail: That wall isn't load-bearing. Does that mean we can just throw hammers at it?
:Cueball: ...I mean...
:Ponytail: Wait. Crap.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Computers]]

1908: Credit Card Rewards

2017-10-27T16:27:45Z

Kshksh: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1908
| date = October 27, 2017
| title = Credit Card Rewards
| image = credit_card_rewards.png
| titletext = I should make a list of all the things I could be trying to optimize, prioritized by ... well, I guess there are a few different variables I could use. I'll create a spreadsheet ...
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|VERY basic explanation.}}

Cueball is trying to choose the optimal credit card program (the one that will result in biggest savings with the expenses he has). He realises that he has to substract the cost of him spending time on optimizing, so he wants to optimise the time needed to do the optimising. But in order to to that effecientely, he first has to optimise the time spent on optimising the time...

Hairy notices hidden assumption that Cueball will spent his time on something more productive than this, e.g. that his time has value. Cueball response is that he can "fail to optimise so many other things"... This means that Cueball is aware of the big flaw in his reasoning.

The title text futrher expands the idea. Cueball wants to present a list of things to optimise to Hairy. However, he still needs to optimise the priorities of that list, before optimising the list itself.

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

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1880: Eclipse Review

2017-08-24T08:25:14Z

Kshksh:

The air temperature drop is greater during a total eclipse than during a partial eclipse, while the other two don't affect the air temperature at all. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.97|162.158.154.97]] 10:31, 23 August 2017 (UTC)

A booklet I got on the eclipse said this: "If natural wonders were on a scale of 1 to 10, a partial solar eclipse might be a '''7''', but a total solar eclipse would be a '''1,000,000!!!'''" They were right. I was there. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 10:50, 23 August 2017 (UTC)
:Yeah... That's quite a lot :) http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=((1000000!)!)! (There should be 1 more "1" in the link, but it didn't catch it)[[User:Kshksh|kshksh]] ([[User talk:Kshksh|talk]]) 08:23, 24 August 2017 (UTC)

This is fun. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.160|162.158.134.160]] 11:17, 23 August 2017 (UTC)

Is it worth having an "2017 Total Eclipse" tag for the 5 comics? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.227|108.162.212.227]] 11:30, 23 August 2017 (UTC)
:Yes. Be sure it includes the other comics that mentioned the eclipse, like [[1868: Eclipse Flights]]. [[User:Dretler|Dretler]] ([[User talk:Dretler|talk]]) 12:37, 23 August 2017 (UTC)
::And it should also be "2017 Total [[Solar]] Eclipse". {{unsigned|Dretler}}
:::Here we go: [[:Category:Total Solar Eclipse 2017]]. Any comic missing? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:41, 23 August 2017 (UTC)
::::Should probably get rid of Main page, which just shows the most recent comic, and add [[1779: 2017]], which mentions it directly, and [[1302: Year in Review]], which mentions the eclipse in the title text. I think that's it. [[User:Dretler|Dretler]] ([[User talk:Dretler|talk]]) 01:11, 24 August 2017 (UTC)

Here's a Whatif topic: What if the earth's orbit around the sun and the moon's orbit around the earth were in the same plane so that a solar eclipse happened every month. How would that affect tides, global temperature, animal behavior, etc? Would the orbits be stable or would the gravitational tugs destabilize the orbits? [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 13:27, 23 August 2017 (UTC)
:Solar eclipse does not affect tides significantly more than the regular movement of the Moon and the Sun, those non-eclipse events where the Moon passes almost in front of the Sun actually make tides somewhat higher on that day, because forces sum up, but a fraction of angular degree misalignment which cases a "miss" does not make much difference for the tides. The effect of blocking the Sun's radiation during eclipse happens over a very small area and for a short time therefore it is too minuscule to affect temperature on Earth, normal Sun activity cycle creates a ''lot'' larger differences in the amount of energy reaching Earth. Animal behavior during eclipse might be a little different if it was a more frequent event, animals (including two-legged naked apes) would just get used to it. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.10|162.158.202.10]] 14:25, 23 August 2017 (UTC)

SO. TRUE. (I saw it in Salem) [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 13:54, 23 August 2017 (UTC)

;Personal impressions on the 2017 eclipse or before
Maybe we can share some personal impressions from this eclipse or similar events. I personally was in the totality zone of the {{w|Solar eclipse of August 11, 1999|1999 solar eclipse}} in Germany. Weather was bad, dark clouds obscured the sun, and I almost could see nothing of the Sun at all. I was so happy living in that zone and then this. That was really annoying. It got darker, but not that much as expected because of the scattered light from the damn clouds at the horizon. The nature went quiet and automatic lights switched on, but that was it. Nothing cool at all. A much better experience I had recently in {{w|Solar eclipse of March 20, 2015|2015}}, a total eclipse at the Faroe Islands but still 80% at my location. Most of the Sun was blocked, it was getting darker, nature became silent, the temperature decreased and me and all my colleagues were impressed. But of course that also wasn't that cool like a total eclipse can be. So, after a missed total eclipse at home I still have to travel to get the real cool experience.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:17, 23 August 2017 (UTC)

;saw Totality from nashville
No question there's a huge different betwen partial and total. Totality is awesome, I recommend anyone to chase one if you can. After the 2 minutes I wished I could rewind it. No video comes close to the IRL experience.

Talk:1880: Eclipse Review

2017-08-24T08:23:28Z

Kshksh:

The air temperature drop is greater during a total eclipse than during a partial eclipse, while the other two don't affect the air temperature at all. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.97|162.158.154.97]] 10:31, 23 August 2017 (UTC)

A booklet I got on the eclipse said this: "If natural wonders were on a scale of 1 to 10, a partial solar eclipse might be a '''7''', but a total solar eclipse would be a '''1,000,000!!!'''" They were right. I was there. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 10:50, 23 August 2017 (UTC)
:Yeah... That's quite a lot :) http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=((1000000!)!)! [[User:Kshksh|kshksh]] ([[User talk:Kshksh|talk]]) 08:23, 24 August 2017 (UTC)

This is fun. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.160|162.158.134.160]] 11:17, 23 August 2017 (UTC)

Is it worth having an "2017 Total Eclipse" tag for the 5 comics? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.227|108.162.212.227]] 11:30, 23 August 2017 (UTC)
:Yes. Be sure it includes the other comics that mentioned the eclipse, like [[1868: Eclipse Flights]]. [[User:Dretler|Dretler]] ([[User talk:Dretler|talk]]) 12:37, 23 August 2017 (UTC)
::And it should also be "2017 Total [[Solar]] Eclipse". {{unsigned|Dretler}}
:::Here we go: [[:Category:Total Solar Eclipse 2017]]. Any comic missing? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:41, 23 August 2017 (UTC)
::::Should probably get rid of Main page, which just shows the most recent comic, and add [[1779: 2017]], which mentions it directly, and [[1302: Year in Review]], which mentions the eclipse in the title text. I think that's it. [[User:Dretler|Dretler]] ([[User talk:Dretler|talk]]) 01:11, 24 August 2017 (UTC)

Here's a Whatif topic: What if the earth's orbit around the sun and the moon's orbit around the earth were in the same plane so that a solar eclipse happened every month. How would that affect tides, global temperature, animal behavior, etc? Would the orbits be stable or would the gravitational tugs destabilize the orbits? [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 13:27, 23 August 2017 (UTC)
:Solar eclipse does not affect tides significantly more than the regular movement of the Moon and the Sun, those non-eclipse events where the Moon passes almost in front of the Sun actually make tides somewhat higher on that day, because forces sum up, but a fraction of angular degree misalignment which cases a "miss" does not make much difference for the tides. The effect of blocking the Sun's radiation during eclipse happens over a very small area and for a short time therefore it is too minuscule to affect temperature on Earth, normal Sun activity cycle creates a ''lot'' larger differences in the amount of energy reaching Earth. Animal behavior during eclipse might be a little different if it was a more frequent event, animals (including two-legged naked apes) would just get used to it. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.10|162.158.202.10]] 14:25, 23 August 2017 (UTC)

SO. TRUE. (I saw it in Salem) [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 13:54, 23 August 2017 (UTC)

;Personal impressions on the 2017 eclipse or before
Maybe we can share some personal impressions from this eclipse or similar events. I personally was in the totality zone of the {{w|Solar eclipse of August 11, 1999|1999 solar eclipse}} in Germany. Weather was bad, dark clouds obscured the sun, and I almost could see nothing of the Sun at all. I was so happy living in that zone and then this. That was really annoying. It got darker, but not that much as expected because of the scattered light from the damn clouds at the horizon. The nature went quiet and automatic lights switched on, but that was it. Nothing cool at all. A much better experience I had recently in {{w|Solar eclipse of March 20, 2015|2015}}, a total eclipse at the Faroe Islands but still 80% at my location. Most of the Sun was blocked, it was getting darker, nature became silent, the temperature decreased and me and all my colleagues were impressed. But of course that also wasn't that cool like a total eclipse can be. So, after a missed total eclipse at home I still have to travel to get the real cool experience.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:17, 23 August 2017 (UTC)

;saw Totality from nashville
No question there's a huge different betwen partial and total. Totality is awesome, I recommend anyone to chase one if you can. After the 2 minutes I wished I could rewind it. No video comes close to the IRL experience.

Talk:1011: Baby Names

2017-08-15T17:23:40Z

Kshksh:

"Old lady" names like Edith or Margaret are also pretty awful for a girl. She's gonna have to live her early years with a name that makes her sound like she's 50. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:13, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
:There's a young Margaret in ''A Wrinkle in Time''. Also, I know a young woman named Margaret. However, I can hardly imagine a worse name than Bertha. [[User:Dfeuer|Dfeuer]] ([[User talk:Dfeuer|talk]]) 16:09, 2 February 2014 (UTC)

Remember that they are only "Old Lady" names because they were popular baby names 50 years ago! In 50 years time people will say don't name your child Hunter! That's a grandpa name! (Yes people actually call their sons that!) --[[User:LostFire|LostFire]] ([[User talk:LostFire|talk]]) 09:54, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
: I once met a man in his mid-50s named Austin. For half his life he got people commenting on how old-fashioned his name is, and for the other half he's gotten people saying when they saw his name on the list they were expecting a kid.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.70|173.245.52.70]] 01:39, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

I'm from Brazil and I find interesting that the concept of names that makes children feel much older exists in other languages. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.119|108.162.254.119]] 03:47, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

:It's common to pretty much all cultures, name fads come and go. In Brazil, for example, you don't see many girls named "Lourdes", or old men named "Felipe". --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.241|108.162.210.241]] 15:18, 2 February 2014 (UTC)

:Interestingly this problem seems (to me) to be relatively unexistant in Poland. This seems to be helped by our attitude to name variants (i.e. considering them same name in most cases). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.216|141.101.89.216]] 21:06, 31 March 2014 (UTC)

::What... I'm from Poland and I think this does exist in Poland Take Stefan, Kasimierz, Władysław etc. I even found this article: http://www.edziecko.pl/ciaza_i_porod/1,79473,18054856,Helena__Aniela__Kazimierz_i_Wladyslaw__stare_imiona.html

I suspect "friendly" is so it would play out in introductions as such: "Nice to meet you. I'm ''friendly''." --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.148|108.162.225.148]] 14:05, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

Still can't think of a name dumber than 'Renesmee'. 'North West' comes close. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.53|108.162.221.53]] 02:07, 29 March 2014 (UTC)

My friend married a man named "Durr." First child was named Kathy. I suggested Corianne for the second {{unsigned ip|173.245.63.146}}

I have a friend who was briefly called Parsley. When she was born, her Grandfather got the call instead of her Grandmother, and reported that her name as "Parsley". He then went straight back to sleep, leaving the Grandmother quite frustrated. After reading this comic, she felt sort of famous. {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.77}}

Talk:247: Factoring the Time

2017-08-09T11:32:14Z

Kshksh:

I used to find the prime factors of the remaining distance until the next turn. It starts off difficult (for me) at 99 miles, etc. When it gets down to 30 miles, it gets easier. Then, at 9.9 miles, I have a tenth the time to factor 99 again, and it gets easier as the numbers get smaller. This is actually a pretty good way to pass the time while driving. {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.202}}

Paying attention to your driving might be a benefit. To yourself and others. Just sayin'.[[User:Jakee308|Jakee308]] ([[User talk:Jakee308|talk]]) 20:00, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

I wonder how much time Randall spent trying to find a time that is not prime but the time + 1200 would be. {{unsigned|Flewk}}
:Took me about 5 minutes with a script after getting a list of primes from the internet: 1:19; 1:21; 2:09; 2:47; 2:53; 2:59; 3:23; 3:43; 4:07; 4:13; 4:27; 4:37; 5:33; 5:53; 5:59; 6:11; 6:23; 7:07; 7:13; 7:31; 7:49; 8:03; 8:17; 9:13; 9:31; 9:43; 10:03; 10:07; 10:37; 10:43; 11:11; 11:33; 11:39; 11:41; 11:47; 11:57 (also the technical cases of: 12:03; 12:05; 12:07; 12:11; 12:19; 12:41; 12:43; 12:47; 12:53) . --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.27|173.245.52.27]] 06:18, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

You know, in the state of Massachusetts, which is where Randall said he lives in the book ''What If?'', mile markers on the highway are placed every '''''0.2 miles''''', so he would get only twelve seconds per marker if he's trying to do each and every one (less if he's slightly speeding like everyone else does when there's no traffic). [[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.221|198.41.235.221]] 02:09, 22 February 2016 (UTC)

I added another explanation for the title text. It seems to me that factoring the (often same) mile marker numbers is a bit boring. [[User:Lanmi|Lanmi]] ([[User talk:Lanmi|talk]]) 11:55, 23 April 2016 (UTC) Lanmi

Why would factoring become secondary problem after switching to km?

1504: Opportunity

2017-08-02T08:30:07Z

Kshksh: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1504
| date = March 27, 2015
| title = Opportunity
| image = opportunity.png
| titletext = We all remember those famous first words spoken by an astronaut on the surface of Mars: "That's one small step fo- HOLY SHIT LOOK OUT IT'S GOT SOME KIND OF DRILL! Get back to the ... [unintelligible] ... [signal lost]"
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is talking about the robotic science platform {{w|Opportunity (rover)|''Opportunity''}}. On January 25, 2004, the Opportunity rover landed on the surface of {{w|Mars}} for the purpose of gathering data about the surface of Mars. Opportunity has proven remarkably robust, and the comic extrapolates the rover's resilience to absurdity for comedic effect. As of now (2017), the Opportunity rover {{w|Opportunity mission timeline|is still alive and moving}}.

The comic depicts the two scientists [[Ponytail]] and [[Hairbun]] at ground control being amazed at this fact already in 2010, and (maybe the same two) scientists continue to debate this in 2015 in the second panel.

They mention another Martian rover, {{w|Spirit (rover)|''Spirit''}} that was also sent to Mars on the same date as Opportunity. Unfortunately, it became stuck and a sand storm covered its solar panels. On March 22, 2010, it was thought that Spirit's batteries finally ran out, marking the end of its mission. This was covered in [[695: Spirit]], in which the Spirit rover is also portrayed with an anthropomorphic personality.

In 2023, Opportunity is still moving despite having supposedly no power source. It also became aggressive and deactivated the {{w|Mars 2020|rover sent in 2020}}. [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] can't explain how it moves, but investigating is now too dangerous. This evolution is similar to the stories of {{w|HAL 9000}} (from {{w|2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|''2001: A Space Odyssey''}}) and {{w|List of Star Trek characters (T–Z)#V'Ger|V'Ger}} (from ''{{w|Star Trek: The Motion Picture}}''), both of which became dangerous to human beings.

By 2450, humans have colonized and {{w|terraformed}} Mars. Maybe it is the 2023 Cueball and Megan's descendants that are looking out over their huge "kingdom" from the capital on Mars. However ''Opportunity'' is by now dominating half of the planet and will not allow humans to enter its dark reign.

"Everything the light touches" is a reference to a line by {{w|List of The Lion King characters#Mufasa|Mufasa}} in ''{{w|The Lion King}}''. Mufasa's son {{w|List of The Lion King characters#Simba|Simba}} then asks "What about that shadowy place?" and Mufasa tells him "That is beyond our borders. You must never go there". This was used again in [[1608: Hoverboard]], where [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/a/a0/1608_0986x1076y_Our_kingdom_from_a_cliff.png Cueball tells the same line] to Ponytail in the left part of the world. In [http://what-if.xkcd.com/48 what-if xkcd], concerning the end of the sun shining on the British Empire, Cueball tells a child that everything the light touches is their kingdom, except for France, (which is covered in shadows,) to which Cueball replies, "That's France. We'll get it one of these days."

The title text forecasts the first words of the first astronauts on the surface of Mars. At first, the astronaut copies the first words of {{w|Neil Armstrong}} on the Moon ("That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind") but it is interrupted by the ''Opportunity'' rover. Opportunity has a drill to collect Martian rock samples, but here it is heavily suggested that the drill is being used as a weapon against the astronaut.

==Transcript==
:[The year (or year and first sentence) for each panel is written in a small frame at the top of each panel. It breaks the top frame of the panels.]

:[Ponytail is sitting at a computer, facing left. Hairbun stands behind her.]
:2010:
:Ponytail: After six years, ''Spirit'' is down, but ''Opportunity'' is still going strong.
:Hairbun: Tough little rover!

:[Opportunity traveling on Mars. Text is written in frames with zigzag lines]
:2015:
:Off-screen: Eleven years, wow.
:Off-screen 2: Wasn't the original mission 90 days?
:Off-screen: This is starting to get weird.

:[Cueball and Megan sitting at a computer, facing right.]
:2023:
:Cueball: The battery is totally disconnected. How can it still be moving??
:Megan: Given what it did to the Mars 2020 rover, we may never know.

:[Two Martian inhabitants looking like Cueball and Megan stands on a cliff edge pointing towards a dark, mountainous region. Behind them are a tower and a hover car]
:2450, terraformed Mars, Martian imperial capital:
:Martian Cueball: Everything the light touches is our kingdom.
:Martian Megan: What's that dark area?
:Martian Cueball: That is ''Opportunity's'' half of the planet. We must never go there.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Mars rovers]]
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]
[[Category:The Lion King]]

1504: Opportunity

2017-08-02T08:28:29Z

Kshksh: /* Explanation */ actualization

{{comic
| number = 1504
| date = March 27, 2015
| title = Opportunity
| image = opportunity.png
| titletext = We all remember those famous first words spoken by an astronaut on the surface of Mars: "That's one small step fo- HOLY SHIT LOOK OUT IT'S GOT SOME KIND OF DRILL! Get back to the ... [unintelligible] ... [signal lost]"
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is talking about the robotic science platform {{w|Opportunity (rover)|''Opportunity''}}. On January 25, 2004, the Opportunity rover landed on the surface of {{w|Mars}} for the purpose of gathering data about the surface of Mars. Opportunity has proven remarkably robust, and the comic extrapolates the rover's resilience to absurdity for comedic effect. As of now (2017), the Opportunity rover {{w|Opportunity mission timeline|is still alive and moving}}.

The comic depicts the two scientists [[Ponytail]] and [[Hairbun]] at ground control being amazed at this fact already in 2010, and (maybe the same two) scientists continue to debate this at present day in the second panel.

They mention another Martian rover, {{w|Spirit (rover)|''Spirit''}} that was also sent to Mars on the same date as Opportunity. Unfortunately, it became stuck and a sand storm covered its solar panels. On March 22, 2010, it was thought that Spirit's batteries finally ran out, marking the end of its mission. This was covered in [[695: Spirit]], in which the Spirit rover is also portrayed with an anthropomorphic personality.

In 2023, Opportunity is still moving despite having supposedly no power source. It also became aggressive and deactivated the {{w|Mars 2020|rover sent in 2020}}. [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] can't explain how it moves, but investigating is now too dangerous. This evolution is similar to the stories of {{w|HAL 9000}} (from {{w|2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|''2001: A Space Odyssey''}}) and {{w|List of Star Trek characters (T–Z)#V'Ger|V'Ger}} (from ''{{w|Star Trek: The Motion Picture}}''), both of which became dangerous to human beings.

By 2450, humans have colonized and {{w|terraformed}} Mars. Maybe it is the 2023 Cueball and Megan's descendants that are looking out over their huge "kingdom" from the capital on Mars. However ''Opportunity'' is by now dominating half of the planet and will not allow humans to enter its dark reign.

"Everything the light touches" is a reference to a line by {{w|List of The Lion King characters#Mufasa|Mufasa}} in ''{{w|The Lion King}}''. Mufasa's son {{w|List of The Lion King characters#Simba|Simba}} then asks "What about that shadowy place?" and Mufasa tells him "That is beyond our borders. You must never go there". This was used again in [[1608: Hoverboard]], where [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/a/a0/1608_0986x1076y_Our_kingdom_from_a_cliff.png Cueball tells the same line] to Ponytail in the left part of the world. In [http://what-if.xkcd.com/48 what-if xkcd], concerning the end of the sun shining on the British Empire, Cueball tells a child that everything the light touches is their kingdom, except for France, (which is covered in shadows,) to which Cueball replies, "That's France. We'll get it one of these days."

The title text forecasts the first words of the first astronauts on the surface of Mars. At first, the astronaut copies the first words of {{w|Neil Armstrong}} on the Moon ("That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind") but it is interrupted by the ''Opportunity'' rover. Opportunity has a drill to collect Martian rock samples, but here it is heavily suggested that the drill is being used as a weapon against the astronaut.

==Transcript==
:[The year (or year and first sentence) for each panel is written in a small frame at the top of each panel. It breaks the top frame of the panels.]

:[Ponytail is sitting at a computer, facing left. Hairbun stands behind her.]
:2010:
:Ponytail: After six years, ''Spirit'' is down, but ''Opportunity'' is still going strong.
:Hairbun: Tough little rover!

:[Opportunity traveling on Mars. Text is written in frames with zigzag lines]
:2015:
:Off-screen: Eleven years, wow.
:Off-screen 2: Wasn't the original mission 90 days?
:Off-screen: This is starting to get weird.

:[Cueball and Megan sitting at a computer, facing right.]
:2023:
:Cueball: The battery is totally disconnected. How can it still be moving??
:Megan: Given what it did to the Mars 2020 rover, we may never know.

:[Two Martian inhabitants looking like Cueball and Megan stands on a cliff edge pointing towards a dark, mountainous region. Behind them are a tower and a hover car]
:2450, terraformed Mars, Martian imperial capital:
:Martian Cueball: Everything the light touches is our kingdom.
:Martian Megan: What's that dark area?
:Martian Cueball: That is ''Opportunity's'' half of the planet. We must never go there.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Mars rovers]]
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]
[[Category:The Lion King]]

Talk:1863: Screenshots

2017-07-15T13:13:18Z

Kshksh: ACNR

Is "Embarrassing Background tabs" a dig at [http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/media/newsweek-reporter-posts-photo-showing-porn-tab-in-his-browser/news-story/6a9d3cedebbd73e83e169c535da908ac Kurt Eichenwald]? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.70|162.158.134.70]] 14:00, 14 July 2017 (UTC)
:Him or just about anyone who has porn on background tabs. It's a regular occurrence these days. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 14:31, 14 July 2017 (UTC)
:: Well sure, but he's probably the most triumphant example in recent media memory [[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.70|162.158.134.70]] 14:56, 14 July 2017 (UTC)
:[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4603986/Lawmaker-porn-sites-web-tabs-I-not-pervert.html Ramon Perez] was the first one to come to mind for me. He's a US Congressman who recently passed out a handout to the US House of Representatives Finance Committee with screen shots that included a 'MILF' tab and several 'Teen' porn tabs. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.250|162.158.75.250]] 16:23, 14 July 2017 (UTC)

::Does someone has uncensored image of that? BTW we should add censorship on list of things which can degrade digital data. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:35, 15 July 2017 (UTC)

::I went looking to see if I could find a copy of the screenshot, wondering if he was actually looking at porn. (Seems to me, "MILF" and "Teen" are more likely to be at the start of the page title on a popunder ad than they are on an actual site, and someone who's actually watching porn is unlikely to have many tabs of such diverse content open. So maybe he was really looking at warez/movies/dating sites and didn't notice the popunders). The only one I could find was the copy of the story on Men's Health magazine; which has a screenshot of a guy tweeting a screenshot of Perez's apology tweet, which included a screenshot of the original screenshot. -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.76|141.101.98.76]] 08:50, 15 July 2017 (UTC)

Do you think it's coincidental that the comic numbers for this one (1863) and for the thematic predecessor (1683) are anagrams?
:Yes, I think it's accidental. Randall doesn't reference comic numbers too often, and if he does, it's something more obvious. Here it looks like it's some numerology connection, created by searching enough patterns. [[User:Kshksh|kshksh]] ([[User talk:Kshksh|talk]]) 13:13, 15 July 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1046: Skynet

2017-07-12T19:44:19Z

Kshksh:

Shortly followed by the hippy-skynet apocalypse, in which all the world's systems fail simultaneously as skynet attempts to bring us all closer to nature. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:28, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

All I see is the Skynet and Freelancer A.I. getting really meta and asking why are there here. [[User:Toad573|Ribbit it's Toad!]] ([[User talk:Toad573|talk]]) 16:15, 19 September 2014 (UTC)

Self-awareness being the effect of drug usage? What? I've never heard of it, and also, I never took drugs and yet I do think about such stuff sometimes. [[User:Kshksh|kshksh]] ([[User talk:Kshksh|talk]]) 19:44, 12 July 2017 (UTC)

1473: Location Sharing

2017-07-08T23:25:12Z

Kshksh: /* Explanation */ Generalization

{{comic
| number = 1473
| date = January 14, 2015
| title = Location Sharing
| image = location_sharing.png
| titletext = Our phones must have great angular momentum sensors because the compasses really suck.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Megan]] is visiting a website on her mobile phone. After loading it, the website {{w|Location-based service|asks for her location}}. The choice between allowing or denying a website or app access to certain information is common among smartphones. The term "location sharing" specifically refers to when a smartphone user shares their location with such an entity. An example is a weather app which would need your location in order to automatically find the correct forecast.

Megan is then asked her {{w|momentum}}, which she denies. The joke is based on the Heisenberg {{w|uncertainty principle}}, which, in quantum mechanics, states that some pairs of values cannot be known precisely and simultaneously. The most famous examples of such values, especially in jokes, are location and momentum.

The ramifications of the uncertainty principle being violated in this context are unknown, but the comic might be alluding to security problems that appear if an untrusted application is given access to momentum data generated by the gyroscope. Access to gyroscope data can be used for reading passwords entered into the on-screen keyboard or even guessing keyboard strokes on a keyboard lying on the same table as the phone.

It could also be an attempt to get [[Megan]] to unwillingly reveal her weight (mass to be more exact), as the mass can be inferred by dividing the momentum by velocity (the velocity in turn can be obtained by observing the change of the location over time). In order to be feasible, the location must be polled at least twice, as at least two location points are necessary to compute the velocity. It is a stereotype in many Western cultures that women tend to keep their weight secret. The stereotype implies that women tend to obsess about controlling (and not revealing) their weight in order to conform to societal and sexual pressure.

On the other hand, it could just be a joke about the fact that Heisenberg's uncertainty principle is typically observed only at sub-atomic scales, and not at macroscopic scales (it is possible to measure both the position and momentum of a large object). By saying "Nice try", it's clear that [[Megan]] knows about the principle, but funny that she would think it applies to herself at macroscopic scale.

The title text refers to the inclusion of {{w|gyroscope}}s in modern cell phones that measure angular momentum, mostly to detect when the phone is tilted, but also used in a few mobile games. Randall suggests the poor accuracy of the compasses in mobile phones (measuring the angular position) is due to the gyroscopes being too good. If both the gyroscope and the compasses were completely accurate to a subatomic scale, it would violate the uncertainty principle. Modern phones also include varied technologies (such as GPS) to pinpoint the user's location, with varying degrees of accuracy.

The uncertainty principle has previously been referenced in [[824: Guest Week: Bill Amend (FoxTrot)]]. It has also been discussed in relation to the two comics [[1404: Quantum Vacuum Virtual Plasma]] and [[1416: Pixels]].

==Transcript==
:[Megan is holding her phone. Above her is the text she can see on the screen:]
:This website wants to know your location.
:[Two buttons are below this text. The first is white with a black frame and black text. The second (the chosen button) also has a black frame, but inside the frame is a black rectangle with white text. Around the chosen button are small lines indication rays.]
:Deny
:'''Allow'''

:[Megan is holding her phone.]

:[Megan is holding her phone. Above her is again the text she can see on the screen.]
:This website wants to know your momentum.
:[Two buttons are below this text. The first (the chosen button) has a black frame, but inside the frame is a black rectangle with white text. The second is white with a black frame and black text. Around the chosen button are small lines indication rays.]
:'''Deny'''
:Allow

:Megan: Nice try.

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

1779: 2017

2017-07-07T19:57:52Z

Kshksh: /* Explanation */ Trupdate

{{comic
| number = 1779
| date = December 30, 2016
| title = 2017
| image = 2017.png
| titletext = Things are looking good for the eclipse--Nate Silver says Earth will almost definitely still have a moon in August.
}}

==Explanation==
In this [[:Category:New Year|New Year comic]], [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] share some of their (or [[Randall|Randall's]]) thoughts about the ending 2016 and the new year 2017 (hence the title). 2016 was a year which many people eagerly awaited the end of because of its increased turmoil (terrorist attacks, controversial political events in numerous countries including the election of {{w|Donald Trump}} for president in the United States and Britain voting for {{w|Brexit}}) as well as the deaths of an unusually large number of well-known and beloved celebrities (several of these died in the first few days after Christmas).

Instead of simply condemning 2016 as a terrible year and expecting 2017 to be significantly better, Megan observes that much of what made 2016 bad is the effect that it will have upon future years rather than the actual events themselves (for instance, a divisive {{w|United States presidential election, 2016|U.S. presidential election}} has caused significant controversy in 2016, but President Donald Trump actually took office and began to affect the world as President in 2017). Megan specifically states that ''2016 was bad was because of the things it sent us into 2017 without.'' As it is known that Randall is a {{w|Hillary Clinton}} supporter (as shown in the [[1756: I'm With Her]] comic), an additional reading of that line could be that we are headed into 2017 "without" a Hillary Clinton presidency. It can also refer to the many {{w|2016#Deaths|dead celebrities}} passing in 2016, (at least three famous musicians/actors so recent that they died after Christmas Eve), as we would be without all of them in 2017.

Cueball claims that they should still have hope for the future, but Megan states that people had claimed that many of the bad things that did happen in 2016, could not happen (for instance Trump and Brexit). And as these things did happen, she foresees even worse events occurring in 2017, that we did not even think would be possible.

However, Randall also offers a glimpse of hope in the last few panels when Cueball observes that, just as all of the bad things in 2016 were unexpected, good things in 2017 that are unexpected could also happen, which should make us less sure what good may come of 2017. As such, he argues that we should hold on to our hope even though things seem difficult right now.

As the conversation unfolds, Megan and Cueball encounter an uprooted tree and cross it like a balance beam. This is a visual metaphor; the dead tree represents the end of the old year, while the crossing represents the transition into the new year. This is similar to the magical toboggan from {{w|Calvin and Hobbes}} that serves as a metaphor for their conversations, mentioned in [[529: Sledding Discussion]] and [[409: Electric Skateboard (Double Comic)]].

In the last panel Cueball mentioned that 2017 will also have a cool {{w|solar eclipse|eclipse}}, going through the central parts of North America. This may also serve as a reminder that the Earth continues to spin on despite all of the human turmoil going on on its surface. This is literally true, as the eclipse Randall is excited about is caused by the orbits of three celestial bodies lining up just right (the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon).

Cueball then also notes that 2017 is a {{w|prime number}} and states that prime-numbered years (prime years) have always been good to him. He thus illustrates the positive attitude that people can choose to take in order to see all that which is good and to spread a little bit more cheerfulness, and Megan is ready to take this positive view, although she may not totally buy in to it. This could also be a pun referencing the saying "being in his prime years".

If Cueball represents Randall (born 1984) he has lived through the following prime years: 1987, 1993, 1997, 1999, 2003 and 2011. If they have all been good years for Cueball it seems unlikely that he represents Randall, since Randall's wife was diagnosed with cancer in June 2011. Of course they were also married that year, but it would not seem likely that he would consider it a good year. First during the just ending year 2016 could she have been declared free of cancer, as it takes a five year follow up after end of treatment before the disease is declared defeated. Of course, we do not know how old Cueball really is, how much thought he/Randall actually put into his seemingly off-the-cuff remark, or whether those years were actually good for Cueball. But Randall does like math and would likely always know when a year is a prime number.

The title text is a reference to {{w|Nate Silver}} who is well-known (in the United States) as an election polling analyst on {{w|FiveThirtyEight}}. His model allowed for a higher chance that Donald Trump would win the presidency compared to other similar models — though the fact that he still favored a Clinton win may be contributing to getting humor from the idea that he may be "wrong" again, and the Moon could possibly vanish in 2017, making the year definitely worse than 2016. (Earth and Moon are so close in the space order of things, that any event affecting Moon orbit seriously will almost certainly end our civilization too.) This is accentuated by the qualifier "almost definitely", which is of humorously low confidence for presenting a fact as certain as the Moon not somehow disappearing within the next year.

In the background of the first few panels of this comic, we see a fallen down tree, but a sapling growing in it's place. This may be a subtle message by Randall that there is still hope, and that things will be alright in the end.

Randall previously mentioned his excitement for the {{w|Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017|2017 eclipse}} exactly three years earlier in [[1302: Year in Review]], where Megan complains about not having seen an aurora during 2013, and she really hopes they don't cancel the 2017 eclipse. So this comic is the second time Randall has expressed concern that he will miss the eclipse.

There have been three previous New Year's comics with only the year used as the title: [[998: 2012]] in 2012, [[1311: 2014]] in 2014 and [[1624: 2016]] in 2016. This is the first odd-numbered years (and thus of course the first prime year) using only the new year as the title.

It is also the first New Year comic (in general) that has such a depressive mood. This thus follows the trend of [[1756:_I'm_With_Her#Sad_comics|several sad comics]] that all seemed related to the election of Donal Trump.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan walking outdoors]
:Cueball: Can't wait for this stupid year to be over.

:[The two approach a fallen tree]
:Megan: I can. This year made the future scarier. So much of why 2016 was bad was because of the things it sent us into 2017 without.

:[Megan has hopped up onto the tree trunk and begins to walk along it]
:Cueball: You gotta have hope, though.
:Megan: You say that, but you also said all this awful stuff couldn't happen, and it did. You're as clueless as the rest of us.

:[Cueball also walks along the tree trunk as Megan stops and turns to look at him]
:Cueball: Well, if we're wrong about which bad things can happen, it's got to make us at least a ''little'' less sure about which good things can't.

:[Closeup of Megan hopping down from the tree]
:Megan: I guess.

:[A distant shot of Megan and Cueball walking along again]
:Cueball: Plus, 2017 has a cool eclipse in it.
:Megan: Ooh, yeah!
:Cueball: And it's prime. Prime years have always been good for me.
:Megan: Sure, I'll take it.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:New Year]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Nate Silver]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|2017]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Math]]

1860: Communicating

2017-07-07T19:44:38Z

Kshksh: /* Explanation */ Playing with word meanings

{{comic
| number = 1860
| date = July 7, 2017
| title = Communicating
| image = communicating.png
| titletext = You're saying that the responsibility for avoiding miscommunication lies entirely with the listener, not the speaker, which explains why you haven't been able to convince anyone to help you down from that wall.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Need my "Alice" quotes checked. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

''There's glory for you.''

In Lewis Carroll's "{{w|Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There}}", {{w|Alice_(Alice's_Adventures_in_Wonderland)|Alice}} meets {{w|Humpty Dumpty}} (the egg-shaped character from the children's verse). Humpty Dumpty is a Looking Glass creature, and the Looking Glass creatures all feature some form of inversion. For Humpty Dumpty the inversion is in meanings. He berates Alice for having a name that doesn't mean anything (contrasted with his name which means his shape).

But Humpty declares to Alice "There's glory for you". Alice doesn't understand what Humpty means by "glory". And Humpty explains that he can make words mean whatever he chooses to mean. By "glory" he meant "a nice knockdown argument"

In the comic Humpty is explaining to "Alice" (portrayed by [[Science Girl]]) that he can choose meanings for his words. "Alice" wonders what meaning should be given to that utterance, and decides it means "Please take all my belongings". Humpty realizes he has been caught in a trap, but now Alice is choosing meanings, and even his protests are taken to mean "take my car too".

While it seems that Alice choses this specific meanings of words to educate Humpty Dumpty about the mistake in his way of thinking, she could as well inform him about planned stealth with random, meaningless words or not at all. After all, she got "permission". Also, even though Humpty Dumpty decides about the meanings of words by himself, he "accidently" choses the normal meanings of all Alice words, because otherwise he wouldn't be informed about the planned stealth and wouldn't be able to react to this with "What!? No!".

Humpty Dumpty is known from the nursery rhyme or riddle:

:''Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall,

:''Humpy Dumpty had a great fall.

:''All the King's horses and all the King's men,

:''Couldn't put Humpty together again.''

Carroll's Humpty Dumpty is a parody of people who use technical language without defining their terms, and expect others to understand. The title text continues this. By Humpty insisting that he is not responsible for others understanding him he is unable to get help getting down from the wall, which will lead to his inevitable demise. This two-sided nature of communication is also shown in the title text of [[1028: Communication]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Egg-shaped character Humpty Dumpty, drawn with an angry face, is sitting on a brick wall and facing Alice.]
:Humpty Dumpty: When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean. Neither more nor less.
:Alice: I wonder what all those words you just said meant. Maybe you're telling me I can have all your stuff!
:Humpty Dumpty: What!? No!
:Alice: Your car, too? Gosh, thanks!

{{comic discussion}}

1461: Payloads

2017-07-06T15:49:25Z

Kshksh: /* Tables */ Update

{{comic
| number = 1461
| date = December 17, 2014
| title = Payloads
| image = payloads.png
| titletext = With a space elevator, a backyard full of solar panels could launch about 500 horses per year, and a large power plant could launch 10 horses per minute.
}}

A larger version of the image can be found [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/payloads_large.png here].

==Explanation==
This comic is an infographic representing the launch mass of various spacecraft and artificial satellites, and the {{w|Low Earth orbit|low Earth orbit}} payload capacity of various space launch vehicles. Rather than using standard units of mass such as kilograms or pounds, Randall has assigned values based on the mass of a horse. Based on cross checking researched masses and payloads with the number of horses depicted, it appears that one horse unit is defined as 450 kg (with an average of 432.82 kg), or perhaps 1000 lb. In cases where the mass is less than one horse, an alternative measure of dogs has been used, where one dog appears to be roughly 40 kg (with an average of 48.05 kg, or perhaps 100 lb.). In the case of {{w|Vanguard 1}}, even a dog is too large a measure, so instead the unit squirrel is used to represent its 1.47 kg (3.5 lb.?) mass.

The overall comic may be an allusion to {{w|horsepower}}, a similar-sounding but completely different concept. Horsepower is a measurement of {{w|power (physics)|power}} ({{w|work (physics)|work}} per unit time). Another commonly referenced unit for power is the {{w|watt}}. 1 horsepower is meant to be approximately the amount of power a horse can deliver. In contrast, Randall uses the horse to measure {{w|mass}} (of particular spacecraft, and of the maximum payload launch vehicles can carry).

The top pane of the comic (black background) shows the mass of various spacecraft, while the bottom (white background) shows the payload capacity (to low Earth orbit) of launch vehicles. Along the bottom of the image is a timeline, relating to the launch date of the entries.

There are also several joke insertions:
*T-Rex - A dinosaur, but fairly unlikely to be found orbiting Earth.
*Pegasus - An actual {{w|Pegasus (rocket)|launch vehicle}}, but also the name of a {{w|Pegasus|mythical flying stallion}}. The payload is given as "one Pegasus", which comes out to be slightly less than "one horse".
*Atlas-Centaur - Again, an actual {{w|Atlas-Centaur|launch vehicle}}, but also a reference to the half-human half-horse creatures of Greek mythology. The payload is given in "centaurs", which come out to be slightly more than "horses".
*1981 {{w|Oldsmobile}} - Not a launch vehicle, but in fact a car. The payload is given as 4 horses, which may relate to the carrying capacity (by weight) of the Oldsmobile, not the ability of an Oldsmobile to launch that payload into low Earth orbit. While there are no known examples of an Oldsmobile reaching low Earth orbit, {{w|The Blues Brothers (film)|The Blues Brothers}} movie shows an Oldsmobile performing a very, very long flight, and this might be the reason why Randall chose this specific car.

The Pegasus, 1981 Oldsmobile, and Stratolaunch spacecraft are depicted horizontally, because these vehicles launch from a horizontal starting position and use forward momentum to facilitate their launch.

An unlabelled launch vehicle is shown below the H-IIA near 2002. From the payload and date it is believed to represent the {{w|Delta IV#Delta IV Medium|Delta IV M}}. Whether its lack of labelling is intended or a mistake is unknown.

The title text refers to a favourite subject of Randall's - The {{w|space elevator}}. A space elevator is a (currently theoretical) mechanism for travelling into space, consisting of a very long (>35,000 km) cable and counterweight connected to the Earth at the equator. The cable rotates at the same rate as the earth, and thus appears stationary when viewed from earth. It is then possible to climb the cable into space, and even use it as a slingshot to launch vehicles.

In the title text, the amount of power required to lift a horse into space has been investigated, with the launch capacity of a backyard solar array and large power station compared. The orbit to launch horses is not precised, though; from the space elevator, the only circular orbit easily achievable is geostationary orbit, and getting into Low Earth Orbit is only slightly easier than without the elevator. Assuming the lowest stable orbit (that is, above the atmosphere), required power output of the solar array is about 315-350 kW and the power station at 3.3-3.7 GW.

===Tables===
The tables below contain data relating to each entry on the comic image.

*Name - Should be as shown in the comic
*Launch date - Date of first flight
*Mass/payload (horses) - Value as given in comic
*Mass/payload (kg) - Independently researched value

Where the researched launch date or mass/payload don't seem to match the comic, they should be identified with ?

{|
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
|
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!colspan="4"|Spacecraft mass
|-
!Spacecraft
!Launch date ''{{w|ISO 8601}}''
!Mass (horses)
!Mass (kg)
|-
|{{w|Sputnik 1|Sputnik}}[http://www.astronautix.com/craft/sputnik1.htm]
|1957-10-04
|2 Dogs
|83.6
|-
|{{w|Vanguard 1}}[http://www.astronautix.com/craft/vanuard1.htm]
|1958-03-17
|Squirrel
|1.47
|-
|{{w|Pioneer 5}}[http://www.astronautix.com/craft/pioneer5.htm]
|1960-03-11
|Large Dog
|43
|-
|{{w|Venera 1}}[http://www.astronautix.com/craft/venra1va.htm]
|1961-02-12
|1
|643.5
|-
|{{w|Mariner 2}}[http://www.astronautix.com/craft/marner12.htm]
|1962-08-27
|3 Dogs
|202.8
|-
|{{w|Apollo Command/Service Module|Apollo}}[http://www.astronautix.com/craft/apolocsm.htm]
|1964-05-28
|67
|30,329
|-
|{{w|Venera 7}}[http://www.astronautix.com/craft/ven3vv70.htm]
|1970-08-17
|3
|1,180
|-
|{{w|Pioneer 10}}[http://www.astronautix.com/craft/pior1011.htm]
|1972-03-03
|7 Dogs
|258.8
|-
|{{w|Skylab}}[http://www.astronautix.com/craft/skylab.htm]
|1973-05-14
|171
|77,088
|-
|{{w|Venera 9}}[http://www.astronautix.com/craft/venra4v1.htm]
|1975-06-08
|11
|4,936
|-
|{{w|Voyager 2}}[http://www.astronautix.com/craft/voyager.htm]
|1977-08-20
|2
|800
|-
|{{w|Space Shuttle|Shuttle (Total)}}[http://www.braeunig.us/space/specs/orbiter.htm]
|1981-04-12
|206
|104,328?
|-
|{{w|Space Shuttle|Shuttle (Payload)}}
|1981-04-12
|54
|24,400
|-
|{{w|Mir}}
|1986-02-20
|288
|129,700
|-
|T-Rex
|N/A
|15
|6,800
|-
|{{w|Hubble}}[http://www.astronautix.com/craft/hst.htm]
|1990-04-24
|25
|11,110
|-
|{{w|Compton Gamma Ray Observatory}}[http://www.astronautix.com/craft/gro.htm]
|1991-04-05
|38
|17,000
|-
|{{w|Corona (satellite)|Keyhole 3}}†
|1961
|40
|1150
|-
|{{w|International Space Station}}
|1998
|932
|450,000
|-
|{{w|Cassini-Huygens|Cassini}}
|1997-10-15
|11
|5,300
|-
|{{w|Huygens (spacecraft)|Huygens Lander}}
|1997-10-15
|1
|319
|-
|{{w|Rosetta (spacecraft)|Rosetta}}
|2004-03-02
|6
|2,900
|-
|{{w|Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity}}
|2003-07-07
|5 Dogs
|185
|-
|{{w|Dawn (spacecraft)|Dawn}}[http://www.astronautix.com/craft/dawn.htm]
|2007-09-27
|3
|1,240
|-
|{{w|TerreStar-1|Terrastar}}*
|2009-07-01
|15
|6,910
|-
|{{w|Dragon (spacecraft)|Dragon}}[http://www.astronautix.com/craft/dragon.htm]
|2010-06-04
|17
|8,000
|-
|{{w|Tiangong-1}}
|2011-09-29
|19
|8,506
|-
|{{w|Curiosity (rover)|Curiosity}}
|2011-11-26
|2
|900
|-
|{{w|KH-7 Gambit|Keyhole 7}}†
|1963-07-12
|40
|2000
|-
|{{w|Orion (spacecraft)|Orion (Capsule)}}
|2014-12-05
|20
|8,913
|-
|{{w|James Webb Space Telescope|James Webb Telescope}}
|2018-08 (Projected)
|14
|6,200
|-
|{{w|Orion (spacecraft)|Orion}}
|2014-12-05
|20
|8,913
|-
|{{w|Orion Service Module}}
|2017 (Projected)
|25
|12,000
|-
|{{w|Deep Space Habitat|Orion Deep Space Habitat}}
|2021 (Projected)
|65
|28,750 & 45,573
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>Terrastar is believed to be a misspelling of {{w|TerreStar-1|TerreStar}}, based on its mass and launch date.

<nowiki>†</nowiki>Keyhole 3 and 7 seem to be errors; Keyhole 3 satellites were launched between 1961 and 1962 and Keyhole 7 between 1963 and 1967. 
The dates and masses in the comic more closely correspond to the {{w|KH-11 Kennan|Keyhole 11}}.
|

{| class="wikitable sortable"
!colspan="4"|Launch vehicle capacity
|-
!Spacecraft
!Launch date ''{{w|ISO 8601}}''
!Payload (horses)
!Payload (kg)
|-
|{{w|Sputnik (rocket)|Sputnik Launcher}}[http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/spuk71ps.htm]
|1957-10-04
|1
|500
|-
|{{w|Thor-Able|Thor}}
|1958-04-24
|3 Dogs
|120
|-
|{{w|Mercury-Atlas}}
|1960-07-29
|3
|1,360
|-
|{{w|Saturn I}}
|1961-10-27
|20
|9,070
|-
|{{w|Proton-K}}[http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/protonk.htm]
|1967-03-10?
|44
|19,760
|-
|{{w|Atlas-Centaur}}[http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/atlntaur.htm]
|1962-05-08
|8 Centaurs
|3,630
|-
|{{w|Titan IIIA}}
|1964-09-01
|7
|3,100
|-
|{{w|Saturn IB}}
|1966-02-26
|45
|21,000
|-
|{{w|Soyuz (rocket)|Soyuz}}
|1966-11-28
|14
|6,450
|-
|{{w|Saturn V}}
|1967-11-09
|262
|118,000
|-
|{{w|Black Arrow}}
|1969-06-27
|4 Dogs
|135
|-
|{{w|N1 (rocket)|N1}}
|1969-02-21
|211
|90,000?
|-
|{{w|Long March 1}}
|1969-11-16
|2
|300*
|-
|{{w|N-I (rocket)|N-I}}
|1975-09-09
|4
|1,200?
|-
|{{w|Delta 0100|Delta 0900}}
|1972-07-23
|3
|1,300
|-
|{{w|Ariane 1}}
|1979-12-24
|3
|1,400
|-
|{{w|Satellite Launch Vehicle|SLV}}
|1979-08-10
|1 Dog
|40
|-
|{{w|N-II (rocket)|N-II}}
|1981-02-11
|4
|2,000
|-
|{{w|Oldsmobile#1970s-1980s|1981 Oldsmobile}}
|1981
|4
|N/A (Model dependent)
|-
|{{w|ASLV}}
|1987-03-24
|4 Dogs
|150
|-
|{{w|Long March 4A}}
|1988-09-06
|9
|4,000
|-
|{{w|Ariane 4}}
|1988-06-15
|16
|5,000-7,600?
|-
|{{w|Shavit}}
|1988-09-19
|6 Dogs
|350-800?
|-
|{{w|Energia}}
|1987-05-15
|218
|100,000*
|-
|{{w|Pegasus (rocket)|Pegasus}}
|1990-04-05
|1 Pegasus
|443
|-
|{{w|Atlas I}}[http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/atlasi.htm]
|1990-07-25
|13
|3,630?
|-
|{{w|PSLV}}
|1993-09-20
|8
|3250
|-
|{{w|J-I}}[http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/j1.htm]
|1996-02-11
|2
|850
|-
|{{w|Long March 3B}}
|1996-02-14
|27
|12,000
|-
|{{w|H-IIA}}
|2001-08-29
|22
|10,000
|-
|(unlabelled) {{w|Delta IV#Delta IV Medium|Delta IV M}}?*
|2002-09-20
|21
|4200-6882
|-
|{{w|Delta IV Heavy|Delta IV-H}}[http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/delheavy.htm]
|2004-12-21
|64
|28,790
|-
|{{w|Falcon 1}}
|2006-03-24
|1
|670 (Proposed)
|-
|{{w|Ariane 5#Variants|Ariane 5ES}}[http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/arine5es.htm]
|2008-03-09
|47
|21,000
|-
|{{w|H-IIB}}
|2009-09-10
|37
|19,000?
|-
|{{w|Unha}}
|2009-04-05
|2 Dogs
|100[http://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/nwgs/Wright-Analysis-of-NK-launcher-3-18-09.pdf]
|-
|{{w|Atlas V|Atlas V 541}}
|2011-11-26
|38
|17,443[http://www.lockheedmartin.com/data/assets/ssc/cls/AVUG_Rev11_March2010.pdf]
|-
|{{w|Falcon 9}}
|2013-09-29
|29
|13,150
|-
|{{w|Antares (rocket)|Antares}}
|2013-04-21
|14
|6,120
|-
|{{w|Stratolaunch carrier aircraft|Stratolaunch}}
|2016 (Projected)
|14
|6,100
|-
|{{w|Falcon Heavy}}
|2017 (Projected)
|118
|53,000
|-
|{{w|Space Launch System|SLS Block 1}}
|2018-11 (Projected)
|156
|70,000[http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/664158main_sls_fs_master.pdf]
|-
|{{w|Space Launch System|SLS Block 1B}}
|2021 (Projected)
|217
|100,000?
|-
|{{w|Space Launch System|SLS Block 2}}
| 2030's (Projected)
|289
|130,000[http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/664158main_sls_fs_master.pdf]
|}

*The unlabelled launch vehicle is believed to be the Delta IV M, based on its payload and date.
|}

==Transcript==
:[This comic is a wide drawing, with a larger drawing that can be reached by clicking the small picture on xkcd. In the smaller picture shown on xkcd only the text that is not red can be read. The transcript below is thus for the large drawing. It is divided into three horizontal sections. The first section is black and shows spacecrafts, the second is white and shows launch vehicles, and the third is black again showing a timeline ranging from 1950 to the future. The vehicles are shown by the proper number of horses, and when that weight is less than one full horse also in the weight of other smaller animals.]

:[The black section:]
:<big><big>Spacecraft mass</big></big>
:<big>Measured in horses</big>

:Sputnik -- <1 horse (2 dogs )
:Vanguard 1 -- <1 horse (Squirrel )
:Pioneer 5 -- <1 horse (Large dog)
:Mariner 2 (United States) -- <1 horse (3 dogs )
:Venera 1 (USSR) -- 1 horse
:Apollo -- 67 horses
:Venera 7 -- 3 horses
:Pioneer 10 -- <1 horse (7 dogs)
:Skylab -- 171 horses
:Venera 9 -- 11 horses
:Voyager 2 -- 2 horses
:Shuttle (Total) -- 206 horses
:Shuttle Payload -- 54 horses
:Mir -- 288 horses
:T-Rex -- 15 horses
:Hubble -- 25 horses
:Compton Gamma Ray Observatory -- 38 horses
:Keyhole 3 -- Spy satellite
:International Space Station -- 932 horses
:Cassini -- 11 horses
:Huygens lander -- 1 horse
:Rosetta -- 6 horses
:Opportunity -- <1 horse (5 dogs)
:Dawn -- 3 horses
:Terrastar -- 15 horses
:Dragon -- 17 horses
:Tiangong-1 -- 19 horses
:Curiosity -- 2 horses
:Keyhole 7 -- 40 horses
:Orion (capsule) -- 20 horses
:James Webb Telescope -- 14 horses
:[20 horses:]
:Orion
:[25 horses:]
:Orion Service Module
:[65 horses:]
:Orion Deep-Space Habitat

:[The white section:]
:<big><big>Launch vehicle capacity</big></big>
:(Payloads to low earth orbit)
:<big>Measured in horses</big>

:Sputnik Launcher -- 1 horse
:Thor -- <1 horse (3 dogs)
:Mercury-Atlas -- 3 horses
:Saturn I -- 20 horses
:Proton-K -- 44 horses
:Atlas-Centaur -- 8 centaurs
:Titan IIIA -- 7 horses
:Saturn IB -- 45 horses
:Soyuz -- 14 horses
:Saturn V -- 262 horses
:Black Arrow -- <1 horse (4 dogs)
:N1 -- 211 horse -- Exploded on Launch pad
:Long March 1 -- 2 horses
:N-I (Japan) -- 4 horses
:Delta 0900 -- 3 horses
:Ariane 1 -- 3 horses
:SLV (India) -- <1 horse (1 dog)
:N-II -- 4 horses
:1981 Oldsmobile -- 4 horses
:ASLV -- <1 horse (4 dogs)
:Long March 4A -- 9 horses
:Ariane 4 -- 16 horses
:Shavit (Israel) -- <1 horse (6 dogs)
:Energia -- 218 horses
:Pegasus -- 1 Pegasus
:Atlas I -- 13 horses
:PSLV -- 8 horses
:J-I -- 2 horses
:Long March 3B -- 27 horses
:H-IIA -- 22 horses
:Delta IV-H -- 64 horses
:Falcon 1 -- 1 horse
:Ariane 5ES -- 47 horses
:H-IIB -- 37 horses
:Unha (North Korea) -- <1 horse (2 dogs)
:Atlas V 541 -- 38 horses
:Falcon 9 -- 29 horses
:Antares -- 14 horses
:Stratolaunch -- 14 horses
:Falcon Heavy -- 118 horses
:SLS Block 1 -- 156 horses
:SLS Block 1B -- 217 horses
:SLS Block 2 -- 289 horses

:[The timeline:]
:1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, Future

A larger transcript with image descriptions can be found here: [[1461: Payloads/Transcript|Full transcript]]

==Trivia==
*Later after the initial release of this comic Randall added a link to this page. It's viewable in the HTML-source or here: [https://xkcd.com/1461/info.0.json https://xkcd.com/1461/info.0.json]. The text is: ''"This comic is an infographic. A very good transcription is available in complete form here: http:\n\nwww.explainxkcd.com\nwiki\nindex.php\n1461"''. At the time this was added here was no written transcript but a complete explain section.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Timelines]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Squirrels]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Space probes]]
[[Category:Telescopes]]
[[Category:Mars rovers]]

Talk:1243: Snare

2017-07-06T14:45:07Z

Kshksh: Alien ISS

Any HUMAN-BUILD space station must be the ISS, but maybe Black Hat knows about some alien space station he wants to catch? [[User:Kshksh|kshksh]] ([[User talk:Kshksh|talk]]) 14:45, 6 July 2017 (UTC)

Incidentally, St. Louis is about 300 miles from Chicago, so the shaft would be 40 miles short.
:It depends on how large the giant ring is. 20 mile radius would put it adjacent. Also, "outside" Chicago is flexible.
:More importantly, [[Black Hat]] is such a jerk. He builds a freaking {{w|space elevator}} but only uses it for a particularly silly kind of evil. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 14:26, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

By the way, what is [[Black Hat]] sitting at? It looks like there is open laptop on desk, but he uses separate keyboard in a special shelf... --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 15:06, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
:It's entirely possible that he has exactly that. My mother uses an ergonomic keyboard instead of the crappy, built-in one on the laptop. Her desk has a keyboard shelf, so that's where the ergonomic one goes. [[Special:Contributions/68.231.138.149|68.231.138.149]] 18:05, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

:I don't believe in ergonomic keyboards, but look at what laptops have instead of keyboard. I'm usually using standard keyboard instead of built-in one and I don't believe I'm alone. Also note that as a hacker, [[Black Hat]] probably needs lots of special symbols, which may be missing or on nonstandard positions on laptop keyboard (he is hacker, isn't he?). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:51, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
::Regardless of whether or not you believe in them, ergonomic keyboards exist. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 14:43, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
:::Existence of keyboards which are CALLED ergonomic is fact. The bit I don't believe in is that they really are ergonomic, that is, significantly better to write on that standard keyboards. Which is subjective. On the other hand, I don't think that ANYONE would argue that the built-in laptop keyboards are better to write on that standard keyboards. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 13:02, 22 March 2014 (UTC)

;Real giant ring observed over Chicago today.

A smoke ring from an exploded transformer.
I honestly think this could have inspired the comic.
[http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/1j2idy/the_power_went_out_in_my_whole_neighborhood_and/ on reddit]
[http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/Power-Outage-in-College-Station--217039531.html on the news]
[[Special:Contributions/92.204.27.3|92.204.27.3]] 11:31, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

Funny, I immediately flashed on the world's largest electromagnet, delivered today to the Fermilab facility in Batavia IL, which is just outside Chicago: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/07/26/massive-electromagnet-completes-arduous-trip-to-fermilab/ [[User:Gardnertoo|Gardnertoo]] ([[User talk:Gardnertoo|talk]]) 20:15, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

If he would like to catch one of the other space stations he would probably not say he wants to catch an international station, because they are only national projects. {{unsigned ip|91.45.17.43}}
: I think that both "AN international space station" and "Not necessarily MY collection" is something he says to avoid blame. It is obvious that he's going to catch the ISS and put her in HIS collection, but he's not confessing to it. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 13:02, 22 March 2014 (UTC)

Am I the only one who finds the connection to the Gateway Arch Momument and Tevatron dubious? There is no explanation of the type of winch, and the ring is specifically 'lying in a field'. Maybe the could be included as possibilities, but to say that the structures are 'probably' the ones referred to is false in my opinion.--[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 12:15, 18 December 2014 (UTC)
: I precisely agree. I will make the change now. {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.20}}

I think it would be quite a daunting task to put a space station in a display case... [[User:625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8|625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8]] ([[User talk:625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8|talk]]) 21:03, 12 March 2017 (UTC)

315: Braille

2017-07-05T10:13:46Z

Kshksh: /* Explanation */ pun

{{comic
| number = 315
| date = September 12, 2007
| title = Braille
| image = braille.png
| titletext = The only big difference I've seen is in colors. Where the regular text reads 'press red button', the braille reads 'press two-inch button'.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Braille}} is a writing system for the blind and {{w|Visual impairment|visually impaired}} using bumps on a paper, slate, etc. However, since most sighted people have no need for braille and because braille messages may need to convey purely-visual information to blind people, the braille message may be adjusted from the original message. In this case, however, it acts as a jab toward people who are not blind, saying that "sighted people suck", which is obviously not something you would typically see (no pun intended) on informational signs.

The title text shows a practical example of where regular text and braille text may differ. As the visually impaired cannot see color, the label would need to identify some other defining feature of the button in question, such as the given measurement.

==Transcript==
:I learned to read braille a while back, and I've noticed that the messages on signs don't always match the regular text.
:[A sign reads "Third Floor Office" with braille print underneath. Cueball is reading the braille.]
:Cueball: s-i-g-h-t-e-d-p-e-o-p-l-e-s-u-c-k ... Hey!

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

Talk:1852: Election Map

2017-07-04T19:54:13Z

Kshksh: Comment edit

Is that Georgia's 6th district? [[User:Homusubi|Homusubi]] ([[User talk:Homusubi|talk]]) 12:41, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
*Yup. See map [https://decisiondeskhq.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/GA06_HOUSE16.png here]. It looks a little squished, but that's probably to create the angled effect of the screen. [[User:AxleHelios|AxleHelios]] ([[User talk:AxleHelios|talk]]) 13:23, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
:*It looks like it. That looks like the results from the recent (April) Special Election. There are one or two counties that aren't accurate (colored blue here that went red and vice versa), but I estimate a 99.9% chance that this is the 6th. [http://www.myajc.com/news/gen-politics/how-the-district-run-off-election-june-might-look/bHzbRfuZIWN8jOUTOSnQmM/ Here] are the election results. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 13:24, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
::It's also supposed to be live coverage, so it might vary from the final results (ie, some are just projections). They seem fairly close ones too... SS07A was 56/43, AP01C was 53/46; AP14 was 51/48; SS12, AP09a and Blackwell 01 was 50/49 (albeit Blackwell swung red and the others swung blue)... there are probably more places colored wrong, but I've made my point and I'm too lazy to continue looking. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.71|108.162.238.71]] 18:21, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
::(EDIT) Sorry, they were all red. And I think that includes ALL of the districts I mentioned Oh, and Sewell Mill 03 and JC08 also turned red. Perhaps the Democrats were a bit too optimistic when calling the projections? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.71|108.162.238.71]] 18:34, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
Is it worth a mention that Randall came out as a strong Democrat in the comics last October, and thus, there's a secondary hidden meaning that the red districts are moving "away" from Cueball? [[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 14:57, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
:That is probably just a coincidence.[[User:Mulan15262|Mulan15262]] ([[User talk:Mulan15262|talk]]) 15:09, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
:I had that thought also, that the red districts/states/whatevers are figuratively moving away from the Dem's desired look for the country and the blues are moving toward it. But more than likely it's just a coincidence between [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshift Red]/[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueshift Blue] Shifts and the colors associated with the political parties. The title text regarding the Green Party lends itself to the coincidence argument more than a pre-planned correlation. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 15:51, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
:In what way does endorsing one candidate over the other make him a "strong" Democrat? He could be a weak Democrat. Or anti-Republican. Or just anti-Trump. Or just pro-Hillary. You're drawing an interesting conclusion from just the October comic. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.59|108.162.212.59]] 08:34, 20 June 2017 (UTC)
:It's a coincidence, but it may well be a coincidence that Randall's intentionally playing on. (I suspect Randall's more anti-Trump than he is anti-Republican, and more anti-Republican than he is a "strong Democrat"; but that's neither here nor there.) [[User:Pelosujamo|Pelosujamo]] ([[User talk:Pelosujamo|talk]]) 12:14, 20 June 2017 (UTC)

It really seems more like the red is in the northwest and the blue is in the southeast. It's almost symmetric. In fact, if you tilt your head to the right, it almost looks like a blue flare dress with a blood splatter on the left side. ...Yeah, I suppose that was a bit morbid. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.71|108.162.238.71]] 18:34, 19 June 2017 (UTC)

While the pure physics explanation is good and probably right, given Randall's background, I'd point out that there's an alternate explanation: that's a Doppler weather RADAR storm-relative [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_radar#Velocity velocity] product, and the proximity of approaching and receding winds in certain patterns is an indicator of certain types of severe weather. Randall missed out on the opportunity to make a "political [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hook_echo hook echo]" joke. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.155|108.162.212.155]] 19:05, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
:Nope. First I thought also about a weather report. But it shows the color green! This doesn't fit to the title text.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:10, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
Which party is red and which is green? Sorry, I'm not from thé U.S. and don't know.
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.10|162.158.238.10]] 20:27, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
:D is blue and R is red. This should be mentioned at the explanation.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:48, 19 June 2017 (UTC)

; Greenshift

Dgbrt and I had a back and forth, where we started with the text, ''If the Green Party won, its regions would likely be colored green, which would not work for Cueball's Doppler effect analysis.''.
I noted "Greenshift doesn't implicitly break Dopper analysis, it just implies a great magnitude of shift. And a blueshift isn't necessarily a shift *TO* blue, merely TOWARDS blue (and Green)" and he replied "There is no greenshift in physics. It's either red (longer wavelength) or blue (shorter wavelength). This means when red appears as green it is blueshiftet." I don't quite see Dbrt's point with respect to the text, which now claims ''which would not fit to Cueball's Doppler effect analysis.''
Yes, we only talk about redshift and blueshift in physics, but those shifts don't give us a map with red and blue districts (or stars). They give us light that shifts slightly toward the red or slightly toward the blue (and toward the green). So it's not quite clear how to map red/blue districts to redshift/blueshift. But either way, green is not a problem -- it's not that it would "not work" or "not fit" as Dgbrt keeps editing the article to claim. It just would mean some districts were a lot more blue (or were green). Cueball could simply say "The green regions are approaching us REALLY FAST." Can someone justify Dgbrt's edits here? [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 19:29, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
:I am a physicist and in physics there is only redshift/blueshift used as a term for a shift to longer/shorter wavelengths. Most data is obtained beyond visible light and pictures are artificial enhanced. And the colors only represent the speed in respect to us. Red->away from us, white->no motion, and blue->object comes closer. All observations can be done without any color, only the spectral lines are analyzed. Red/blue just indicates the direction of the shift - forward/backward. No further directions are possible.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:48, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
::I study astronomy and I confirm that red always represents maximum redshift and blue maximum blueshift (by maximum I mean maximum seen in that pecific observation). However, green and yellow are sometimes used to represent no or little motion. So green could match Cueball explanation, but only if it was near the center. However, the term "greenshift" never appears.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.245|162.158.91.245]] 22:50, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
Yes, there is no such term as "greenshift" in physics. But in the xkcd comic universe where red and blue represent redshift and blueshift, we are faced with the possibility of green. This implies it would be "greenshift," despite the term not existing. But whether we call it greenshift or not, that's not really the point: my point, which Dgbrt seems to disagree with, is that presence of green (whether it is called "greenshift" or "stronger blueshift") is not an inherent problem to Cueball's Doppler analysis. Or if it is, please explain why that's so? [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 02:38, 20 June 2017 (UTC)
:In theory, you could color-code your map differenty, so that green would indicate stronger blueshift than blue, and it would be perfectly correct map if labelled. This map, however, is not labelled for Doppler shifts, so Cueball is interpreting it according to traditional meanings of colors. If he was to consider green as "stronger blueshift", why not consider it as "stronger redshift"? Or, for that matter, why not consider red "blueshift", and blue "redshift"? That would be coorect as well. But having no other clues, he uses traditional meanings of colors.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.245|162.158.91.245]] 12:16, 20 June 2017 (UTC)
:Notice the title-text. "Luckily for my interpretation" he says. This implies that he believes green would cause a problem with his interpretation, and thus would use a different interpretation in the presence of green. The possibility of greenshift simply doesn't exist here. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.59|108.162.212.59]] 17:44, 20 June 2017 (UTC)
::Yes, the joke is about red/blue-shift, nothing else. Scientific images are often much more colored, even maybe even only in green (from light to dark). But the image here is simple as it is. And consider that even the highest redshifted galaxies still appear in white to the human eye. We can not ''see'' that shift.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:09, 20 June 2017 (UTC)

; Off-topic

Is there any particular use of creating an account here? I can still make comments and edit explanations without one. What does an account actually mean? (Please delete if it's in wrong place) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.245|162.158.91.245]] 20:43, 20 June 2017 (UTC)
:Hi 162.158.91.245... is one reason to register. You just will have a name others can remember. And when your IP is dynamic even you will not recognize your former edits. Furthermore members have a talk page and when you have a new message you will be informed. For further discussions you should look here [[explain xkcd:Community portal]] or maybe at someones talk page. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:06, 21 June 2017 (UTC)
:You also won't have to [http://imgur.com/a/9NWUd keep solving the CAPTCHA every time you want to comment]. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.59|108.162.212.59]] 14:46, 21 June 2017 (UTC)
:I was an anonymous contributor for something like a year and a half, and only recently signed up (like, this is probably my 4th or 5th comment since), so I feel I am uniquely qualified to answer, since I could have asked the same question a few weeks ago. :) I used to manually sign my comments to keep a continuity, i.e. I'd end with " - NiceGuy1 [tildes]". I also kept a list of which comics I commented on so I could go back to check replies. I can confirm that the Captchas went away (at first when I started commenting anonymously they were simply "What comic is this site about", or "What's the name of this wiki". I miss those. Then it was simply numbers, now last I saw it's portions of street signs. This is both chronological and preference order for me, LOL!). I spent my first night going to all my comments and "claiming" them, LOL! I'm not sure if the Captchas went away after a certain number of these, or 24 hours after I signed up, but they went away quickly. And quietly, took me a few comments to notice the "missing" step. :) The thing is, I go to karaoke several times a week at different bars, where I catch up on XKCD on my iPad while waiting to sing, so I'd have a different IP address every time, at least one IP per bar. Plus one for my computer at home and I think another for my iPad at home. Now I'm all unified. And it keeps track of my edits/comments for me, so I don't have to keep track anymore to see if people responded. Plus now I have a checkbox available for "Watch this page". Haven't tried it yet so not sure what it does (well, what it does EXACTLY). I can also mark my contribution as "minor" (thus far I've been treating actual comments as "major" and spelling/wording corrections as "minor"). Basically I figured I was commenting often enough - I think I noticed I had commented on 6 or 7 comics in a row - that it made sense to formalize my membership in the community. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 03:54, 27 June 2017 (UTC)
::Thank you all for the answers! As you see, I did sign up an account, even though I had mostly constant IP. The username to remember convinced me :) One more nice thing about the account is internationalization - everything except actual content is customized to my language. None of you mentioned it, although I think I can guess the reason :) However, it's not complete - on the left, the "Main page" button is translated, but "latest comic" and some of the others aren't. It would be nice if it was completed. Also, are there plans to translate the explanations? I could help with translations (polish). EDIT I made an account over a week ago, ant that's my first comment, and CAPTCHA is still there. So, it's not time-based, rather comment-based. But one more thing about CAPTCHA - I normally use Firefox, and CAPTCHA works there, but it didn't show up when I signed up - I had to use another browser. [[User:Kshksh|kshksh]] ([[User talk:Kshksh|talk]]) 19:54, 4 July 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1852: Election Map

2017-07-04T19:50:37Z

Kshksh: Off-topic account comment

Is that Georgia's 6th district? [[User:Homusubi|Homusubi]] ([[User talk:Homusubi|talk]]) 12:41, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
*Yup. See map [https://decisiondeskhq.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/GA06_HOUSE16.png here]. It looks a little squished, but that's probably to create the angled effect of the screen. [[User:AxleHelios|AxleHelios]] ([[User talk:AxleHelios|talk]]) 13:23, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
:*It looks like it. That looks like the results from the recent (April) Special Election. There are one or two counties that aren't accurate (colored blue here that went red and vice versa), but I estimate a 99.9% chance that this is the 6th. [http://www.myajc.com/news/gen-politics/how-the-district-run-off-election-june-might-look/bHzbRfuZIWN8jOUTOSnQmM/ Here] are the election results. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 13:24, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
::It's also supposed to be live coverage, so it might vary from the final results (ie, some are just projections). They seem fairly close ones too... SS07A was 56/43, AP01C was 53/46; AP14 was 51/48; SS12, AP09a and Blackwell 01 was 50/49 (albeit Blackwell swung red and the others swung blue)... there are probably more places colored wrong, but I've made my point and I'm too lazy to continue looking. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.71|108.162.238.71]] 18:21, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
::(EDIT) Sorry, they were all red. And I think that includes ALL of the districts I mentioned Oh, and Sewell Mill 03 and JC08 also turned red. Perhaps the Democrats were a bit too optimistic when calling the projections? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.71|108.162.238.71]] 18:34, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
Is it worth a mention that Randall came out as a strong Democrat in the comics last October, and thus, there's a secondary hidden meaning that the red districts are moving "away" from Cueball? [[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 14:57, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
:That is probably just a coincidence.[[User:Mulan15262|Mulan15262]] ([[User talk:Mulan15262|talk]]) 15:09, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
:I had that thought also, that the red districts/states/whatevers are figuratively moving away from the Dem's desired look for the country and the blues are moving toward it. But more than likely it's just a coincidence between [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshift Red]/[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueshift Blue] Shifts and the colors associated with the political parties. The title text regarding the Green Party lends itself to the coincidence argument more than a pre-planned correlation. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 15:51, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
:In what way does endorsing one candidate over the other make him a "strong" Democrat? He could be a weak Democrat. Or anti-Republican. Or just anti-Trump. Or just pro-Hillary. You're drawing an interesting conclusion from just the October comic. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.59|108.162.212.59]] 08:34, 20 June 2017 (UTC)
:It's a coincidence, but it may well be a coincidence that Randall's intentionally playing on. (I suspect Randall's more anti-Trump than he is anti-Republican, and more anti-Republican than he is a "strong Democrat"; but that's neither here nor there.) [[User:Pelosujamo|Pelosujamo]] ([[User talk:Pelosujamo|talk]]) 12:14, 20 June 2017 (UTC)

It really seems more like the red is in the northwest and the blue is in the southeast. It's almost symmetric. In fact, if you tilt your head to the right, it almost looks like a blue flare dress with a blood splatter on the left side. ...Yeah, I suppose that was a bit morbid. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.71|108.162.238.71]] 18:34, 19 June 2017 (UTC)

While the pure physics explanation is good and probably right, given Randall's background, I'd point out that there's an alternate explanation: that's a Doppler weather RADAR storm-relative [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_radar#Velocity velocity] product, and the proximity of approaching and receding winds in certain patterns is an indicator of certain types of severe weather. Randall missed out on the opportunity to make a "political [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hook_echo hook echo]" joke. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.155|108.162.212.155]] 19:05, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
:Nope. First I thought also about a weather report. But it shows the color green! This doesn't fit to the title text.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:10, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
Which party is red and which is green? Sorry, I'm not from thé U.S. and don't know.
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.10|162.158.238.10]] 20:27, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
:D is blue and R is red. This should be mentioned at the explanation.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:48, 19 June 2017 (UTC)

; Greenshift

Dgbrt and I had a back and forth, where we started with the text, ''If the Green Party won, its regions would likely be colored green, which would not work for Cueball's Doppler effect analysis.''.
I noted "Greenshift doesn't implicitly break Dopper analysis, it just implies a great magnitude of shift. And a blueshift isn't necessarily a shift *TO* blue, merely TOWARDS blue (and Green)" and he replied "There is no greenshift in physics. It's either red (longer wavelength) or blue (shorter wavelength). This means when red appears as green it is blueshiftet." I don't quite see Dbrt's point with respect to the text, which now claims ''which would not fit to Cueball's Doppler effect analysis.''
Yes, we only talk about redshift and blueshift in physics, but those shifts don't give us a map with red and blue districts (or stars). They give us light that shifts slightly toward the red or slightly toward the blue (and toward the green). So it's not quite clear how to map red/blue districts to redshift/blueshift. But either way, green is not a problem -- it's not that it would "not work" or "not fit" as Dgbrt keeps editing the article to claim. It just would mean some districts were a lot more blue (or were green). Cueball could simply say "The green regions are approaching us REALLY FAST." Can someone justify Dgbrt's edits here? [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 19:29, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
:I am a physicist and in physics there is only redshift/blueshift used as a term for a shift to longer/shorter wavelengths. Most data is obtained beyond visible light and pictures are artificial enhanced. And the colors only represent the speed in respect to us. Red->away from us, white->no motion, and blue->object comes closer. All observations can be done without any color, only the spectral lines are analyzed. Red/blue just indicates the direction of the shift - forward/backward. No further directions are possible.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:48, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
::I study astronomy and I confirm that red always represents maximum redshift and blue maximum blueshift (by maximum I mean maximum seen in that pecific observation). However, green and yellow are sometimes used to represent no or little motion. So green could match Cueball explanation, but only if it was near the center. However, the term "greenshift" never appears.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.245|162.158.91.245]] 22:50, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
Yes, there is no such term as "greenshift" in physics. But in the xkcd comic universe where red and blue represent redshift and blueshift, we are faced with the possibility of green. This implies it would be "greenshift," despite the term not existing. But whether we call it greenshift or not, that's not really the point: my point, which Dgbrt seems to disagree with, is that presence of green (whether it is called "greenshift" or "stronger blueshift") is not an inherent problem to Cueball's Doppler analysis. Or if it is, please explain why that's so? [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 02:38, 20 June 2017 (UTC)
:In theory, you could color-code your map differenty, so that green would indicate stronger blueshift than blue, and it would be perfectly correct map if labelled. This map, however, is not labelled for Doppler shifts, so Cueball is interpreting it according to traditional meanings of colors. If he was to consider green as "stronger blueshift", why not consider it as "stronger redshift"? Or, for that matter, why not consider red "blueshift", and blue "redshift"? That would be coorect as well. But having no other clues, he uses traditional meanings of colors.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.245|162.158.91.245]] 12:16, 20 June 2017 (UTC)
:Notice the title-text. "Luckily for my interpretation" he says. This implies that he believes green would cause a problem with his interpretation, and thus would use a different interpretation in the presence of green. The possibility of greenshift simply doesn't exist here. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.59|108.162.212.59]] 17:44, 20 June 2017 (UTC)
::Yes, the joke is about red/blue-shift, nothing else. Scientific images are often much more colored, even maybe even only in green (from light to dark). But the image here is simple as it is. And consider that even the highest redshifted galaxies still appear in white to the human eye. We can not ''see'' that shift.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:09, 20 June 2017 (UTC)

; Off-topic

Is there any particular use of creating an account here? I can still make comments and edit explanations without one. What does an account actually mean? (Please delete if it's in wrong place) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.245|162.158.91.245]] 20:43, 20 June 2017 (UTC)
:Hi 162.158.91.245... is one reason to register. You just will have a name others can remember. And when your IP is dynamic even you will not recognize your former edits. Furthermore members have a talk page and when you have a new message you will be informed. For further discussions you should look here [[explain xkcd:Community portal]] or maybe at someones talk page. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:06, 21 June 2017 (UTC)
:You also won't have to [http://imgur.com/a/9NWUd keep solving the CAPTCHA every time you want to comment]. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.59|108.162.212.59]] 14:46, 21 June 2017 (UTC)
:I was an anonymous contributor for something like a year and a half, and only recently signed up (like, this is probably my 4th or 5th comment since), so I feel I am uniquely qualified to answer, since I could have asked the same question a few weeks ago. :) I used to manually sign my comments to keep a continuity, i.e. I'd end with " - NiceGuy1 [tildes]". I also kept a list of which comics I commented on so I could go back to check replies. I can confirm that the Captchas went away (at first when I started commenting anonymously they were simply "What comic is this site about", or "What's the name of this wiki". I miss those. Then it was simply numbers, now last I saw it's portions of street signs. This is both chronological and preference order for me, LOL!). I spent my first night going to all my comments and "claiming" them, LOL! I'm not sure if the Captchas went away after a certain number of these, or 24 hours after I signed up, but they went away quickly. And quietly, took me a few comments to notice the "missing" step. :) The thing is, I go to karaoke several times a week at different bars, where I catch up on XKCD on my iPad while waiting to sing, so I'd have a different IP address every time, at least one IP per bar. Plus one for my computer at home and I think another for my iPad at home. Now I'm all unified. And it keeps track of my edits/comments for me, so I don't have to keep track anymore to see if people responded. Plus now I have a checkbox available for "Watch this page". Haven't tried it yet so not sure what it does (well, what it does EXACTLY). I can also mark my contribution as "minor" (thus far I've been treating actual comments as "major" and spelling/wording corrections as "minor"). Basically I figured I was commenting often enough - I think I noticed I had commented on 6 or 7 comics in a row - that it made sense to formalize my membership in the community. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 03:54, 27 June 2017 (UTC)
::Thank you all for the answers! As you see, I did sign up an account, even though I had mostly constant IP. The username to remember convinced me :)
One more nice thing about the account is internationalization - everything except actual content is customized to my language. None of you mentioned it, although I think I can guess the reason :) However, it's not complete - on the left, the "Main page" button is translated, but "latest comic" and some of the others aren't. It would be nice if it was completed. Also, are there plans to translate the explanations? I could help with translations (polish). [[User:Kshksh|kshksh]] ([[User talk:Kshksh|talk]]) 19:50, 4 July 2017 (UTC)