explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

840: Serious

2025-01-27T13:20:48Z

Kwonunn: serious is not a verb

{{comic
| number = 840
| date = December 29, 2010
| title = Serious
| image = serious.png
| titletext = Not to be confused with Serious PuTTY, the Windows terminal client where everything is in Impact.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a play on words with the substance known as "{{w|Silly Putty}}", which is "silly" because it responds oddly to being handled. The comic implies that instead of silly describing the movement of the putty; it describes the emotion of the putty.

Serious Putty on the other hand, would not even like to be touched, because it would prevent it from doing whatever important task it needed to do.
As it says in the title text {{w|PuTTY}} is a Windows Terminal client. {{w|Impact (typeface)|Impact}} is a font that is distributed with Windows that is used in the vast majority of "{{w|internet meme|meme}}" image macros, such as {{w|lolcat}} pictures.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing next to a table. There is a can on the table.]

:[The label on the can reads, "Serious Putty".]

:[Cueball is looking at the table again.]

:[He reaches out to touch the can. The can speaks.]
:Can: Don't touch me.

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

User:Kwonunn

2025-01-09T11:16:57Z

Kwonunn: update userpage

== Bio ==
Hiya~ 
I read most of the comics and occasionally improve some explanations.

User talk:Kwonunn

2025-01-09T11:13:09Z

Kwonunn: Undo revision 360893 by 42.book.addict (talk) for a user that is still actively editing the wiki, thanks

For other ways of contacting me see my user page. [[User:Kwonunn|Kwonunn]] ([[User talk:Kwonunn|talk]]) 22:44, 5 October 2018 (UTC)

1810: Chat Systems

2024-12-31T13:25:37Z

Kwonunn: /* Chat systems */ Replace him/her with them

{{comic
| number = 1810
| date = March 13, 2017
| title = Chat Systems
| image = chat_systems.png
| titletext = I'm one of the few Instagram users who connects solely through the Unix 'talk' gateway.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic consists of an {{w|Euler diagram}} showing a wide variety of {{w|Online chat|chat systems}} and their intersections. (Euler diagrams should not be confused with {{w|Venn diagram}}s, see more on this [[:Category:Venn diagrams|here]]). The comic demonstrates the complexity that can be involved in modern communications: simply remembering how to get in touch with someone can be a challenge.

Below is a [[#Chat systems|table]] with explanation for all 24 mentioned chat systems and below that a list of each system's [[#Euler intersections|intersections]] with the other systems. Several of the systems are already considered old, like ''The "chat" tab in an old {{w|Google Doc}}'', but some people keep using them, which is part of the joke. There only seems to be one "chat" system which could in no way be said to be an on-line chat system, and that is the ''Wall (bathroom)'' at the bottom, which refers to how people writes notes on public bathroom walls, making it an extra joke and possibly a reference to [[229: Graffiti]].

In the title text, [[Randall]] explains how he is one of the only few {{w|Instagram}} users to use the {{w|UNIX}} {{w|Talk_(software)|'talk' gateway}} (an old peer-to-peer chat system whereby users logged into the same UNIX system could privately communicate with each other in a full-screen interface.) But he doesn't tell how he had enhanced this old fashioned software.

Note that this is similar to the earlier [[949: File Transfer]].

===Chat systems===
The 24 chat systems with the number of stick figures inside are listed. Notice there are only 23 real systems, as one of the systems is a bathroom wall.
{| class="wikitable"
!System
!Number of people in group
!Explanation
!Intersects
|-
| {{w|SMS}}
|39
|Short Message Service; a text-based messaging system connecting most worldwide phone systems that had its beginnings in the 1980s and has since represented the most common form of data transmission for most people. It is principally used to send short text messages between mobile phones, but most phone carriers provide facilities to send-to-email or send-to-voice (for use with landline phones). Most major phone carriers also provide support for email-to-SMS.
|Slack, Hangouts, IRC, iMessage, Signal, Email, Snapchat, Whatsapp, Zephyr, FB Messenger, Instagram DM, BBM, Twitter DM, WeChat, Peach
|-
| {{w|Email}}
|35
|A popular form of electronic communication that saw first widespread use in the 1960s. It allows you to send electronic "letters" to people using pre-exchanged email addresses. Many people use this platform, hence the large size of the corresponding circle.
|Slack, Hangouts, IRC, iMessage, Signal, Whatsapp, Zephyr, FB Messenger, Instagram DM, BBM, Twitter DM, Skype, ICQ, Telegram
|-
| {{w|Hangouts}}
|9
|Google Hangouts is Google's instant messaging system. It can be used to share data and for video chat.
|SMS, Email, IRC, Slack, Signal
|-
| {{w|Signal_(software)|Signal}}
|8
| An app used for encrypted communications.
|SMS, Email, IRC, Slack, Hangouts, iMessage, Instagram DM, Zephyr
|-
| {{w|iMessage}}
|6
|Apple's SMS service
|Email, SMS, FB Messenger, Signal
|-
| {{w|IRC}}
|5
|Internet Relay Chat; a chat protocol from the late 1980s that still sees considerable but declining use today. It is an open, freely available protocol with many free client apps available. Communications are principally in text and users typically use an app to connect to an IRC server, which may in turn be connected to other IRC servers. Many clients also provide for file sharing. There are many client and server plugins that provide access to other protocols (such as IRC-Hangouts, etc).
|Email, SMS, Slack, Signal, Hangouts
|-
| {{w|Slack_(software)|Slack}}
|5
|A team instant messaging service
|Email, SMS, IRC, Hangouts, Signal
|-
| {{w|Twitter|Twitter DM}}
|4
| "Direct messages" between users on Twitter.
|Email, SMS
|-
| {{w|AOL Instant Messenger|AIM}}
|2
|AOL Instant Messaging service; a popular messaging system from the 1990s that suffered a severe decline in 2005 upon the release of Gmail and Google Chat. It is based on the closed source OSCAR protocol, but AOL created the TOC/TOC2 protocol specifications, and made specifications openly available, for third parties to connect to their service. There have been short-lived dalliances with other protocols since 2008; it has never had direct support for the other widely used protocols here. Furthermore, it was discontinued on December 15, 2017, approximately nine months after the release of this comic.
|None
|-
|The "chat" tab in an old {{w|Google Doc}}
|2
|Google Docs is an online word processor reminiscent of Microsoft Word. One of the notable features is online collaborative editing, with a rudimentary chat feature for communication. Randall apparently communicates with someone using the chat in an old Google Doc.
|None
|-
| {{w|Facebook_Messenger|FB Messenger}}
|2
|Facebook's chat system.
|Email, SMS, iMessage
|-
| {{w|Instagram|Instagram DM}}
|2
|Direct Messaging, a feature of Instagram that allows users to post personal messages to each other.
|Email, SMS, Signal
|-
|{{w|Peach_(social_network)|Peach}}
|2
|Peach is a mobile-based social network introduced in January 2016.
|SMS
|-
| Telegram
|2
|Could refer to a cloud based instant messaging system by this name ({{w|Telegram (software)|Telegram}}), or to actually sending messages using {{w|telegrams}}. Telegrams were messages sent by electric telegraphy, which were often typed out and hand-delivered to the recipient. This was the first system for rapid communication across long distances that was widely available, originally developed in the 19th century. Naturally, telegraphy is now wildly obsolete (though some local services apparently do still exist) which would explain why Randall communicates with so few people that way.
|Email
|-
| {{w|Skype}}
|2
|Microsoft's chat client. It offers voice over IP (VOIP) video and audio calls, instant messaging and phoning from within the app.
|Email
|-
| {{w|WhatsApp}}
|2
|Billed as encrypted end-to-end chat, allows voice over IP (VOIP) chats, text chats, video and image sharing. Caters for group chat as well. As of 2020 WhatsApp is the [https://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2019/02/whatsapp-facts-stats.html most common instant messaging app worldwide], with [https://www.whatsapp.com/about/ more than 2 billion users in 180 countries.]
|Email, SMS
|-
| {{w|WeChat}}
|2
| Started off as a Chinese WhatsApp imitation. WeChat has become a full scale social media system, with its own news, games and payment system.
|SMS
|-
|{{w|Apache_HTTP_Server|Apache}} Request {{w|Server_log|Log}}
|1
|Like many {{w|Web server|web servers}}, Apache keeps a record of incoming requests -- both successful and unsuccessful -- in various log files. A conscientious webmaster will often review those logs, either to gauge interest in visited pages, or more importantly to detect failed requests that should not have failed, perhaps due to errors in the site's hotlinks which are therefore in need of cleanup. If you know a particular webmaster who does this regularly, you can therefore send them a personal message by attempting to fetch a deliberately-nonexistent URL like <tt>http://example.com/Hey_Sandra_its_Pierce_wanna_have_a_drink_tonight.html</tt>, knowing that the "message" will show up as a failed request in the logs. This is a form of "back channel" communication, hardly practical as a true "chat system"{{Citation needed}}, although an excellent in-joke among like-minded hackers. Nevertheless, shortly after this comic appeared, a more "practical" implementation was [https://github.com/mdom/smokesignal published on github].
|None
|-
| {{w|BlackBerry Messenger|BBM}}
|1
|Blackberry message. A chat system available on {{w|BlackBerry}} phones, now largely obsolete.
|Email, SMS
|-
| {{w|Snapchat}}
|1
|Snapchat is an image messaging app.
|SMS
|-
|Wall (bathroom)
|1
|This is the only "other" joke in the comic as this is the only "system" not on-line. Apparently it is a chat system based around writing on the wall in the bathroom. Not an electronic system. It may thus be a reference to [[229: Graffiti]]. Leaving messages on public bathroom walls is a common form of {{w|graffiti}}. It may be used as a support for anonymous conversations. Alternatively, this could mean the person is an extreme introvert, and hides in his bathroom instead of interacting with others, by talking through the wall. It could also be a pun on "communicating through _____" as a bathroom wall is a physical object rather than an interface. It could also refer to someone who has a habit of talking through the wall to people in adjacent stalls of a public bathroom.
Alternately, there used to be a Facebook App called Bathroom Wall, which was an anonymous message board where people could both post and reply to posts. This was all anonymous by default, but users could attach a nickname to each individual post or reply in order to maintain a continuity, and even have a full conversation. It's possible that this is what Randall meant for this group, seeing as it was indeed a way to communicate online.
|None
|-
|{{w|Wall (Unix)}}
|1
|Short for "write all", the "wall" command copies its input to every user logged into the same Unix system, and so can be used as a primitive chat system.
|None
|-
| {{w|Zephyr (protocol)}}
|1
| Zephyr was designed as an instant messaging protocol and application-suite with a heavy Unix background.
|Email, SMS, Signal
|-
| {{w|ICQ}}
|1
|An older proprietary instant messaging application.
|Email
|}

==Transcript==
:[An Euler diagram with many circle like drawings for various chat systems is shown. Some circles overlapping others in complicated ways, others are single circles with no connections, but most are embedded into others. Inside the circles mainly the standard sticky figures like Cueball, Megan, Ponytail and Hairy are shown but there are also a few others.]

:[The list of items and its intersections from left top to right bottom is:]
:Skype - none, Email
:Email - none, Skype, SMS, Slack, Hangouts, IRC, ICQ, iMessage, Signal, WhatsApp, Zephyr, FB Messenger, Instagram DM, BBM, Telegram, Twitter DM
:SMS - none, Email, Slack, Hangouts, IRC, Snapchat, iMessage, Signal, WeChat, WhatsApp, Zephyr, FB Messenger, Instagram DM, Peach, BBM, Twitter DM
:AIM - none
:Slack - Email, SMS, Hangouts, IRC, Signal
:Hangouts - Email, SMS, Slack, IRC, Signal
:IRC - Email, SMS, Slack, Hangouts, Signal
:Snapchat - SMS
:ICQ - Email
:iMessage - Email, SMS, Signal, FB Messenger
:Signal - Email, SMS, Slack, Hangouts, IRC, iMessage, Zephyr, Instagram DM
:WeChat - SMS
:WhatsApp - Email, SMS
:Zephyr - Email, SMS, Signal
:FB Messenger - Email, SMS, iMessage
:Instagram DM - Email, SMS, Signal
:Peach - SMS
:BBM - Email, SMS
:Telegram - none, Email
:Twitter DM - none, Email, SMS
:The "chat" tab in an old Google Doc - none
:Apache Request Log - none
:Wall (Unix) - none
:Wall (bathroom) - none

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I have a hard time keeping track of which contacts use which chat systems.

==Trivia==
*There are [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/e/ef/1810_Chat_System_numbered.PNG 57 characters] in the comic.
*The ubiquity of standards - here, of messaging systems - was already covered in [[927: Standards]] and people's hesitation to switch off IRC was mentioned in [[1782: Team Chat]]. The same point about people using various chat systems was used in [[1254: Preferred Chat System]]. And famously the hidden chat room mentioned in [[1305: Undocumented Feature]], was later created by Randall through the [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]] [[1506: xkcloud]] - see the [[1506:_xkcloud#Don.27t_contact_us|Don't contact us]] section.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Social networking]]
[[Category:Euler diagrams]]

3016: Cold Air

2024-11-26T12:19:30Z

Kwonunn: replace kph with km/h

{{comic
| number = 3016
| date = November 25, 2024
| title = Cold Air
| image = cold_air_2x.png
| imagesize = 713x283px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We also should really have checked that the old water tower was disconnected from the water system before we started filling it with compressed air.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a 204 atm COMPRESSED BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Tornadoes generally create winds of about 40-400 mph [https://www.weather.gov/ffc/fujita] (about 60-640 km/h) which causes damage to buildings. Cueball proposes a method to essentially blow tornadoes away from cities by keeping enough "tornado repelling" air in a tank. It is not clear if the compressed air will be used to "blow away" the whole tornado, to try to exactly counteract the tornado itself (through applied counter-rotation) or to remove the conditions that cause the development of the tornado's system. The last of these is heavily implied, as replacing any troublesome hot and humid air will remove the conditions required to invoke a nascent tornado. Whether this would work is questionable, since it's precisely the mixing of warm and cold air that produces the swirling motion that creates tornadoes. Rather than dissipating the threat, the very act of displacement could create atmospheric mixing and tornado-generating turbulence in its own right.

In a compressed air system, peak pressure is considered about 40 bar [https://www.directindustry.com/prod/kaeser-kompressoren/product-4742-24559.html] (about 500 psi). Cueball proposes keeping the tank at 6 times that pressure to properly counteract the tornado. The title text confirms the tower is a repurposed water tower, which, if using 16 inch pipes as [https://www.waterworld.com/home/article/14071043/the-perfect-pipe is common], would produce much stronger winds than those of the tornado, because flow speed is inversely proportional to the diameter of the pipes and even a "wide" 16 inch pipe is very narrow for this purpose indeed.

The formula for the velocity of a fluid (air is considered a fluid in physics) is V=√(2*P/ρ) where V is the velocity, P is the pressure, and ρ is the density of the fluid. The density of the fluid is given by the formula ρ=P/(RT) for a given constant R and a Temperature T. In this case, ρ is [https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=3000psi%2F%280.287kj%2F%28kg+Kelvin%29*21C%29 0.245 g/cm^3] assuming room temperature, meaning the V=√(2*3000psi/ 0.245 g/cm^3)[https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=sqrt%282*%283000psi%29%2F%280.245+g%2Fcm%5E3%29%29 =410.9 m/s], which is just under 1500 km/h, almost three times faster than the max speeds of the tornados Cueball is trying to prevent.

Further, highly compressed tanks are prone to bursting,{{acn}} which is why they are only used for small volumes of air in highly controlled settings. Cueball's proposal would put it in the center of a dense city, creating the possibility for further damage. Especially if, as it appears, the tank is itself twice the height of the tallest surrounding buildings (drawn to resemble skyscrapers, so probably tens of stories tall) elevated high above them upon a base of a similar reach.

Finally, tornadoes tend to form in ''sparsely'' populated areas, where structures are few and wind can flow uninterrupted, making his invention's necessity questionable at best. Even if Cueball's air tanks produce winds no faster than a normal tornado, they are now being produced in the center of a heavily built-up area, significantly increasing the potential for damage.

The result is a quadrupling in damage caused by wind, since now, not only are the tornadoes causing heavy winds, but the tanks — when functioning properly and when malfunctioning — are causing heavy winds too.

In the title text, it is revealed that the water tower they were using to store the compressed air was still plumbed in to the water mains. Given the pressure required for the tower to work properly against tornadoes and the fact that water is nearly incompressible, the pressure from the tower would have been nearly instantly transmitted into the water distribution system. The ''best'' case scenario would have been 'just' to have dangerously highly-pressurised water jetting into sinks, bathtubs and toilet cisterns whenever they were used; more severe consequences could be catastrophic failures of pipes and plumbing.

Using technology to disrupt tornadoes before they form was a plot element in Liu Cixin's novel ''{{w|Ball Lightning (novel)|Ball Lightning}}'', and [https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Weather_Modification_Net other works].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball is in front of a diagram of a tornado with a pointer in his right hand. The diagram has arrows flowing from the bottom toward the tornado at the top, and from the tornado toward the rain below it.]
:Cueball: Tornado supercells are powered by the inflow of warm, moist surface air.

:[Cueball is now in front of a representation of his compressed air tank with a PSI of 3000 next to smaller buildings, appearing to be high-rise buildings or skyscrapers, on both sides of the tank.]
:Cueball: Compressed air tanks could produce artificial pools of cold, dry air on demand, disrupting tornado inflow to protect cities.

:[Cueball is in front of a line graph labeled "Wind Damage over Time". Wind damage has spiked constantly after a point on the graph labeled "Giant experimental compressed air tanks installed in the middle of every major city"). In a frame in the top left corner, there is a label:]
:Several years later:
:Cueball: In retrospect, I can see how my plan went wrong.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Tornadoes]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]

1301: File Extensions

2024-10-14T12:08:01Z

Kwonunn: Rewrite article lead-in

{{comic
| number = 1301
| date = December 9, 2013
| title = File Extensions
| image = file_extensions.png
| titletext = I have never been lied to by data in a .txt file which has been hand-aligned.
}}

==Explanation==
Computer file names often end in {{w|file extension}}s like ".ppt" or ".exe". These extensions indicate to the operating system what type of data a file contains, and which program should be used to open it. Traditionally, file extensions were limited to three characters. Most modern operating systems and file systems now accept file extensions with arbitrary lengths, although most extensions remain three characters.

File extensions are an indication of {{w|file format}}. Many file formats were created to be used with a specific program, although software by other developers may later be extended to be able to read the format. For example, .doc is a Microsoft Word document. However, because of that software's popularity, many other word processors also include the ability to open .doc files. Other file formats are designed as standards, and may be opened by various programs; .jpg or .gif images for example.

Certain file formats or types are very commonly used, like .doc, .jpg, and .zip. Others are more prevalent for very specific usecases. Here, [[Randall]] presents a list of file extensions, and rates the reliability of the information within from most to least reliable.

*{{w|.tex}} files are source files for the programs {{w|TeX}} and {{w|LaTeX}}, which are used often and almost exclusively by academics, especially in mathematics and the hard sciences. .tex pretty much means serious business, and Randall does not anticipate that anyone would use such a format other than for reliable information.
*{{w|.pdf}} files are a '''p'''ortable (as in over the web) '''d'''ocument '''f'''ormat by Adobe, frequently used for publication. Companies use them for official documentation. Thus, a .pdf file is likely to be some type of final product or polished work. Further, .tex files are generally compiled into .pdf files in order to make them readable. It would be strange to trust a .tex file without trusting the .pdf to which it compiles. For example, when submitting to academic journals in math and the hard sciences, the journal accepts the .tex file, but then compiles it and publishes the resulting .pdf. On the other hand, software which can produce a .doc/.xls(x), as described below, these days tends to have an inbuilt or addable ability to "Export to PDF", with the promise of slightly more read-onlyness and localisation-immunity than the .doc, so it might arise - in good faith or otherwise - from a less professional editor ''trying'' to look a little more serious about the copy they distribute in this document format.
*{{w|.csv}} are '''c'''omma-'''s'''eparated '''v'''alues: tables of information delimited by commas, and often consist of computer-generated raw data (from, say, a scientific experiment or a database).
*{{w|.txt}} files contain only plain text, no "rich text" or anything fancy. Programmers often use them for README files. The txt format indicates that the creator prioritizes recording the information over making the information visually appealing, although {{w|ASCII art}} images or multiline 'bannering' of text might be included by some authors.
*{{w|.svg}} files are a ('''s'''calable) '''v'''ector '''g'''raphics format used a lot for diagrams, such as on Wikipedia.
*{{w|.xls}} and {{w|.xlsx}} files are spreadsheets used and created by the program Microsoft Excel, part of a bundle of applications known as Microsoft Office (also supported by compatible free software such as LibreOffice). These applications are very commonly used, especially for business, finance and data analysis tasks. {{w|.xls}} is a binary format used for Excel versions up to 2003, while {{w|.xlsx}} is a ZIPped XML-based format used for Excel versions 2007 and later.
*{{w|.doc}} files are a rich-text document format used and created by the program {{w|Microsoft Word}}, another application in the Microsoft Office bundle. As with .xls, almost anyone with access to Microsoft Office could easily make one of these. While Excel is generally used for creating tables and presenting data, Word could be used for any text-based document. Thus, Word documents tend to be far more prevalent and casually created than Excel documents, which is presumably why Randall doesn't trust them as much.
*{{w|.png}} files are a bitmap image format designed for the Internet. They enjoy wide popularity for providing crisp, full-color images with lossless (reversible) compression. Almost all xkcd comics, this diagram included, use PNG. But, since anyone can create an image (you can draw something online and it will use .png), Randall rates this type as not very trustworthy.
*{{w|.ppt}} files are used and created by the program {{w|Microsoft PowerPoint}}; as with the other two Office applications, almost anyone could easily make one of these. As they are usually used for presentations rather than documents, the information in them may be arranged differently, possibly to "dumb down" the content, or in marketing materials or talks in which the author may not be very objective. Further, several years ago, PowerPoint presentations were sometimes included instead of plain images as attachments in e-mail forwards containing inaccurate information. These emails still occasionally circulate, and may be the source of Randall's distrust.
*{{w|.jpg}} files are another image format with high compression capabilities, good for storing photos and not so good for many other things. Photographs in general are prone to image manipulation, hence Randall's low score for this file format.
*{{w|.jpeg}} files are the same thing as .jpg files, but these are more likely to have been created manually rather than automatically, making them even less reliable.
*{{w|.gif}} files are yet another bitmap image format, notable for supporting short animations. GIF was once ''the'' Internet image file format until PNG gradually replaced it. Since GIF is the only common image format capable of animation, it is often used to contain things like silly clips of cats falling into boxes, or annoying, blinking advertisements claiming that "you're the '''[[570|100,000,000]]th VISITOR!'''". GIFs are also created by Internet trolls, such as on 4chan.org, to feed misinformation to gullible gamers and other computer users. For example, a recent [http://mashable.com/2013/12/09/xbox-one-hoax-4chan-backward-compatible/ Xbox One Hoax GIF] contained instructions that were said to make the Xbox One backwards compatible with Xbox 360 games, but would actually make the console inoperable.

Note that while the extensions .xls/.xlsx, .doc, and .ppt were originally exclusive only to Microsoft Office and users of Windows, there now exist a number of open source programs such as Open Office, Libre Office, and some Android apps that are capable of editing such files. These programs can run on systems other than just Windows, such as Linux, perhaps contributing to making them even more widespread and easy to make than before.

The title text refers to how .txt files contain only plain text and nothing else, meaning that any alignment (such as for indentation, tables, or {{w|Justification (typesetting)|justification}}) would have to be performed manually by adding in spaces or tabs. Anyone who would go through such an effort to improve their text's readability is likely to be trustworthy, and almost by definition, the opinion presented would be justified.

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the bar chart:]
:Trustworthiness of Information by File Extension

:[A line is going down and from that gray bars charting the trustworthiness in a bar graph that goes both left and right of the line. No units or figures are given. For ease of comprehension this transcript will arbitrarily designate the highest score as [+100]; subsequent scores are estimates based on the size of their bars.]
:[+100]: .tex
:[+89]: .pdf
:[+85]: .csv
:[+67]: .txt
:[+65]: .svg
:[+49]: .xls/.xlsx
:[+21]: .doc
:[+15]: .png
:[+14]: .ppt
:[+3]: .jpg
:[-8]: .jpeg
:[-36]: .gif

==Trivia==
The various extensions are, for the most part, abbreviations of the file type.
*.tex isn't short for anything, {{w|TeX}} (that lowercase e is very important) is in fact the full name of the program
*.pdf is an acronym for Portable Document Format
*.csv is an acronym for Comma-Separated Values
*.txt is short for "text" - the 8.3 format meant the vowel was dropped
*.svg is an acronym for Scalable Vector Graphics
*.xls is short for eXceL Sheet (it's also why Microsoft Excel has an "X" on its icon rather than an "E")
*The extra x in .xlsx (.docx and .pptx) refers to the upgrade from binary to ZIPped '''X'''ML for those formats
*.doc is short for DOCument
*.ppt is short of PowerPoinT presentation
*.png is an acronym for Portable Network Graphics
*.jpg is short for .jpeg - the 8.3 format again removed the vowel
*.jpeg is an acronym for Joint Photographic Experts Group, the organization that created the standard
*.gif is an acronym for Graphics Interchange Format

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Bar charts]]
[[Category:Computers]]

421: Making Hash Browns

2024-05-08T11:03:25Z

Kwonunn: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 421
| date = May 9, 2008
| title = Making Hash Browns
| image = making_hash_browns.png
| titletext = There are at least fourteen ways this could go badly (seventeen if that fork is a dangerous crossbreed.)
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is attempting to make {{w|hash browns}}. A hash brown is a way of serving a potato where the potato has been diced or shredded in some way, then pan-fried. Cueball's method for making hash browns, though, is rather unique. He is throwing potatoes into the air and striking them with a flaming tennis racket at his friend, who is holding a tray with a dangerously tilting half-empty glass balanced on top. The friend is also holding a fork in the other hand.

The idea is that the tennis racket would simultaneously dice the potato, fry it, and then launch the completed product towards his friend's plate. In reality, this probably wouldn't do much. To properly {{w|Pan frying|pan-fry}} food, it must be cooked in a pan with some oil to lubricate the food, with enough time for the heat to transfer through the oil and spread properly through the food. Hitting a potato with a flaming tennis racket would not cook it, as it would strike it too quickly, and it probably wouldn't dice it either unless the wire of the racket is incredibly sharp. Cueball would probably just end up batting a not even hot, uncooked, unprepared potato at his friend, while simultaneously burning his own hand. In the case that the wires did actually cut through the potato, then the potato would not be moved forward, but actually end up behind the racket.

The title text comments on how many ways this experiment could go badly (14), and jokes that there are even more potential problems (17) if the fork Cueball's friend is holding is a cross-breed. (See [[419: Forks and Spoons]], which was published only four days earlier. By reading this comic, it should be clear what could go wrong if they were included in the equation - 3 more ways would be a low estimate....)

It's unclear what Randall may or may not have had on his mind with regards to specific ways the situation in the comic could go wrong. But here are several potential ways the activity could go wrong without including {{w|Sporks}}:
#Cueball could burn himself with the flaming tennis racket.
#The can of gasoline could leak, and then Cueball could drop the racket, causing a fire to spread.
#Cueball may fail to hit the potato, and it would get dirty from the ground.
#Cueball may fail to hit the potato and instead whack himself with the aforementioned flaming tennis racket.
#Cueball may fail to hit the potato and hurt himself as it lands on his face.
#Cueball may hit the potato and knock the plate out of his friend's hand, smashing it.
#Cueball may hit the potato and knock the glass out of his friend's hand, smashing that instead.
#Cueball's friend may fail to catch the hash browns.
#Cueball might hit his friend's arms with a potato (flaming hot or not), causing the friend to drop the plate, thereby spilling glass, porcelain, a potato, and orange juice everywhere.
#Cueball might instead hit the potato at his friend's head.
#Cueball could accidentally launch the tennis racket itself (if he has exceptionally poor grip) at his friend.
#Cueball could drop the tennis racket onto the can of gasoline, causing it to explode.
#Cueball's friend may lose his balance with the plate, dropping it and/or the glass onto the ground.
#Cueball may try to get a better grip on the tennis racket by moving his hand up, and thereby burn his hand.
#Even if none of the above happened, Cueball would fail to actually ''cook'' the potato.
#Likewise, Cueball would probably not succeed in dicing the potato.
#And he could miss hitting his friend's plate.
#If the fork is a crossbreed it could kill Cueball's friend, and then Cueball in any number of ways

==Transcript==
:[Cueball stands holding a flaming tennis racket. He is throwing a potato in the air as if to serve like a tennis ball. Behind him is a red gas can and a sack of potatoes. Across from him is another person holding a fork in one hand and balancing a serving tray with a glass holding an orange liquid in it.]

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

2929: Good and Bad Ideas

2024-05-07T09:00:13Z

Kwonunn: /* Explanation */ space

{{comic
| number = 2929
| date = May 6, 2024
| title = Good and Bad Ideas
| image = good_and_bad_ideas_2x.png
| imagesize = 595x522px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = While it seemed like a fun prank at the time, I realize my prank fire extinguishers full of leaded gasoline were a mistake.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD- Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is a scatter plot comparing how good an idea sounds to how good the idea actually is. For example, leaded gasoline sounds like a good idea due to the anti-knocking effects, but is actually a bad idea due to lead toxicity. Fake prank fire extinguishers however sound bad and are bad as they can result in a dangerous situation in an emergency. Putting mold on infections sounds like a bad idea, but this could be referring to Penicillin, an antibiotic.

The title text combines leaded gasoline and a fake prank fire extinguisher into something that is worse than either. Not only is the fire extinguisher fake, it also releases flammable material onto the fire, and there is the additional lead toxicity.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Idea !! What it means !! How good it sounds !! How good it actually is !! Explanation
|-
|Leaded Gasoline||Adding tetraethyl lead to gasoline to increase performance||++||---||Lead is toxic. Burning the leaded gasoline in an engine releases the lead in the air. This is bad.
|-
|Bloodletting||Releasing "bad blood" from the veins||---||---||You need your blood.{{Citation needed}} Bloodletting has been performed as a medical procedure for at least 2000 years until it was considered pseudoscience from the 19th century, when the harmful effects became known. The idea was to withdraw blood to balance the body's "humors". Nowadays phlebotomy is only used therapeutically in a small number of cases, such as hemochromatosis (too much iron in the body).
|-
|Asbestos||Mineral which does not burn and is good isolation||+++||---||Asbestos was used extensively. Sadly the microscopic fibers which make up asbestos greatly increase the risk of cancer when inhaled.
|-
|Extension cords with prongs on both ends||allows easy connection between 2 female connectors||0 (neutral)||---||Prongs on both ends would make it easier to plug the extension cord in on either side. But once plugged into an outlet, the other end becomes a serious shock hazard.
|-
|Stair Kayaking||||--||---|| Stair kayaking is a stunt where a person positions a kayak at the top of a flight of stairs and then, using their paddle to push off, rides the kayak down the stairs. This poses significant risks of injury or death, as well as being very bad for the kayak, which is designed to ride on water, not concrete.
|-
|Fake prank fire extinguishers||||---||---|| The idea of placing fake fire extinguishers as a prank, presumably so that a person who thinks they are grabbing a real fire extinguisher will instead find a decoy, sounds very dangerous and potentially life-threatening for many people, and it would, in fact, be highly dangerous. In the United States, (and presumably most countries), this would also be a felony in most, if not all, jurisdictions. An example of a similar situation, although not intended as a prank, can be found here[https://twitter.com/ThatSamWinkler/status/1657154071051239424]
|-
|Always saying what you think||...regardless of the feelings of others or other considerations||++||--||They may reply without concern for ''your'' feelings or other considerations. Openness and honesty are seen as positive character traits in people, however taken to the extreme of ''always'' telling people what you think about them, can lead to awkward or unpleasant situations. Keeping negative thoughts to yourself or telling "white lies" can be considered a better alternative in some situations.
|-
|Replying to spammers||Clicking on the "Reply" button from spam mails and writing (and sending) a reply (or worse, clicking on the links in these mails)||--||--||
|-
|Solar cars||Having solar panels on the car's surface (mostly hood and roof) for power generation||+++||-||Cars require large amounts of energy in short periods of time and portable solar panels do not produce this, nor are they as efficient as fixed installations on the power grid.
|-
|Heelies||{{w|Heelys}} are shoes with a inline skate wheel embedded in the sole, at the heel. ||+||-||Heelys allow the wearer (usually children) to shift between normal walking and rolling like a roller skate. This sounds like fun but has lead to numerous injuries.
|-
|Prequels||A work of fiction (mostly movie) telling the "story before the story" of another work of fiction.||+++||-||More of a good story sounds great on the surface, but the constraints of a prequel's ending needing to create the starting conditions of the original work often precludes organic development and causes contrived plots.
|-
|Transition Lenses||Photochromic lenses in glasses get darker (like sunglasses) in bright light.||+||-||
|-
|Cutting pizza in squares||Cutting (a presumably round) pizza in squares||-||-||Most people cut pizza into wedges and hold it by the crust. Cutting it into squares allows for more pieces to be shared, but pieces near the center will have no crust to hold it by, getting cheese and sauce all over your fingers. There will also be lots of leftover tiny pieces. While hardly a disaster like the other items in its quadrant, square pizza pieces are just not very useful and rather inefficient.
|-
|{{w|Project Orion (nuclear propulsion)|Project Orion}}||Study by the U.S. government looking into nuclear pulse propulsion for spacecraft.||---||-||Repeated nuclear explosions in order to move sounds bad for both the spacecraft and everything else, especially with a ground launch. But there are ways to address a lot of the concerns, so it isn't as bad as it sounds. Project Orion's theorized specific impulse and thrust would also be far higher than anything chemical rockets can accomplish. The efficiency of Project Orion is extremely low, however.
|-
|Soup||Soup||0 (neutral)||0 (neutral)||Soup is probably one of the oldest foods created by prehistoric cooks. Most people enjoy it, though many soups are considered somewhat lacking as a meal on their own, or bland.
|-
|Combo washer dryers||A device which combines washing machine and laundry dryer into one device||+++||+||Better at space efficiency, but worse at each task than separate devices.
|-
|Cutting sandwiches diagonally||Cutting sandwiches diagonally||+||+||Generally regarded as the structurally superior way to slice a sandwich, providing better support in the hand and fewer all-crust bites. Required in the assembly of a club sandwich, where the diagonal components are stacked again.
|-
|{{w|Diverging diamond interchange|Diverging diamond interchanges}}||Road junction where the two road direction cross over to switch sides (so if you normally drive on the right, now you drive on the left) then switch back to normal after the junction||-||+||
|-
|Toasting sandwiches||Making a sandwich first and then cooking it, as in a {{w|toaster oven|toaster oven}} or frying pan||++||++||The grilled cheese sandwich is a familiar form to most people, and many other sandwiches are improved by toasting as a final step. Others, such as the {{w|western sandwich|Western}} or {{w|club sandwich|club}} are prepared using toast. The {{w|peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwich|Elvis}} is a specific case of a sandwich that normally wouldn't be toasted, but is improved by it - peanut butter, bacon, banana, and jelly, with the assembly lightly fried.
|-
|Crumple zones||Designated areas of a car that crumple in case of a crash... ||--||++||...to absorb the energy of the crash to prevent damage to the passengers
|-
|Sliced bread||Bread, sliced by the baker before packaging for sale||+++||++||It's far more convenient for making sandwiches or toast, but unfortunately presliced bread will go stale faster and some applications may be better off thicker or thinner than the slices provided.
|-
|Pizza||Flat, though usually leavened, bread with tomato sauce, cheese, and often vegetables or preserved meats||++||++||Pizza is a widely popular dish throughout much of the world, uncontroversial except {{w|Pineapple|certain toppings.}}
|-
|Eating citrus fruit while at sea||||0 (neutral)||+++||The vitamin C present in citrus fruits prevents one from contracting {{w|Scurvy|scurvy}}.
|-
|Putting mold on infections||Seemingly a reference to ancient practice of pressing moldy bread against infected wounds||---||++||While this sounds like a good way to get a fungal infection, with the correct mold this is a primitive antibiotic, and led to the discovery of penicillin.
|-
|Wheels on luggage||Some luggage bags have small wheels inset on their frame and a carrying handle.||+++||+++||A relatively simple fitting for rigid or semi-rigid luggage that substantially eases its transport through air and seaport terminals.
|-
|Heat pumps||Refrigeration (or air conditioning) technology operated in reverse to heat an area instead.||++||+++||Because refrigeration is a very efficient way to move heat (as long as the cold side's temperature is high enough) this is often far more energetically efficient than directly heating a space. Reversible heat pumps also exist which can take care of both temperature needs in some climates.
|-
|Laser eye surgery||Surgical techniques using lasers for precision cutting in the eyeball.||-||+++||This technology has substantially improved the eyesight of millions of people worldwide by allowing treatment of eye problems otherwise only corrected by lenses, or entirely untreatable. Randall has previously commented on laser eye surgery, amongst other ideas both good and bad, in [[1681: Laser Products]].
|-
|Fecal transplants||Transfer of gut microbiome of healthy person to sterilised gut of ill person.||---||+++||The gut microbiome is a collection of bacteria that lives in our guts. It can influence our health. It is responsible for last stages of digesting our food. It can also produce neurotransmitters that are carried by blood to our brain influencing our behaviour. A healthy microbiome can be destroyed by bad eating habits, unhealthy lifestyle, infections or antibiotics. The important part is a composition of different species of bacteria that compromise the biome. Sometimes it may be necessary to completely sterilise the gut and then take a sample of a healthy biome from another person. A sample is enough as the bacteria will multiply. As long as the patient eats correctly, the microbiome after transplant should develop correctly.

It sounds bad because we tend to think of our feces as something gross, to be discarded. It is called fecal transplant as our feces contain about 50% of gut bacteria, but nowadays the sample usually takes the form of a coated pill that is applied rectally.
|-
|}

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

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

2929: Good and Bad Ideas

2024-05-07T08:52:45Z

Kwonunn: /* Explanation */ Spelling and wording

{{comic
| number = 2929
| date = May 6, 2024
| title = Good and Bad Ideas
| image = good_and_bad_ideas_2x.png
| imagesize = 595x522px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = While it seemed like a fun prank at the time, I realize my prank fire extinguishers full of leaded gasoline were a mistake.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD- Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is a scatter plot comparing how good an idea sounds to how good the idea actually is. For example, leaded gasoline sounds like a good idea due to the anti-knocking effects, but is actually a bad idea due to lead toxicity. Fake prank fire extinguishers however sound bad and are bad as they can result in a dangerous situation in an emergency. Putting mold on infections sounds like a bad idea, but this could be referring to Penicillin, an antibiotic.

The title text combines leaded gasoline and a fake prank fire extinguisher into something that is worse than either. Not only is the fire extinguisher fake, it also releases flammable material onto the fire, and there is the additional lead toxicity.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Idea !! What it means !! How good it sounds !! How good it actually is !! Explanation
|-
|Leaded Gasoline||Adding tetraethyl lead to gasoline to increase performance||++||---||Lead is toxic. Burning the leaded gasoline in an engine releases the lead in the air. This is bad.
|-
|Bloodletting||Releasing "bad blood" from the veins||---||---||You need your blood.{{Citation needed}} Bloodletting has been performed as a medical procedure for at least 2000 years until it was considered pseudoscience from the 19th century, when the harmful effects became known. The idea was to withdraw blood to balance the body's "humors". Nowadays phlebotomy is only used therapeutically in a small number of cases, such as hemochromatosis (too much iron in the body).
|-
|Asbestos||Mineral which does not burn and is good isolation||+++||---||Asbestos was used extensively. Sadly the microscopic fibers which make up asbestos greatly increase the risk of cancer when inhaled.
|-
|Extension cords with prongs on both ends||allows easy connection between 2 female connectors||0 (neutral)||---||Prongs on both ends would make it easier to plug the extension cord in on either side. But once plugged into an outlet, the other end becomes a serious shock hazard.
|-
|Stair Kayaking||||--||---|| Stair kayaking is a stunt where a person positions a kayak at the top of a flight of stairs and then, using their paddle to push off, rides the kayak down the stairs. This poses significant risks of injury or death, as well as being very bad for the kayak, which is designed to ride on water, not concrete.
|-
|Fake prank fire extinguishers||||---||---|| The idea of placing fake fire extinguishers as a prank, presumably so that a person who thinks they are grabbing a real fire extinguisher will instead find a decoy, sounds very dangerous and potentially life-threatening for many people, and it would, in fact, be highly dangerous. In the United States, (and presumably most countries), this would also be a felony in most, if not all, jurisdictions. An example of a similar situation, although not intended as a prank, can be found here[https://twitter.com/ThatSamWinkler/status/1657154071051239424]
|-
|Always saying what you think||...regardless of the feelings of others or other considerations||++||--||Openness and honesty are seen as positive character traits in people, however taken to the extreme of ''always'' telling people what you think about them, can lead to awkward or unpleasant situations. Keeping negative thoughts to yourself or telling "white lies" can be considered a better alternative in some situations.
|-
|Replying to spammers||Clicking on the "Reply" button from spam mails and writing (and sending) a reply (or worse, clicking on the links in these mails)||--||--||
|-
|Solar cars||Having solar panels on the car's surface (mostly hood and roof) for power generation||+++||-||
|-
|Heelies||{{w|Heelys}} are shoes with a inline skate wheel embedded in the sole, at the heel. ||+||-||Heelys allow the wearer (usually children) to shift between normal walking and rolling like a roller skate. This sounds like fun but has lead to numerous injuries.
|-
|Prequels||A work of fiction (mostly movie) telling the "story before the story" of another work of fiction.||+++||-||
|-
|Transition Lenses||Photochromic lenses in glasses get darker (like sunglasses) in bright light.||+||-||
|-
|Cutting pizza in squares||Cutting (a pesumably round) pizza in squares||-||-||Most people cut pizza into wedges and hold it by the crust. Cutting it into squares allows for more pieces to be shared, but pieces near the center will have no crust to hold it by, getting cheese and sauce all over your fingers. There will also be lots of leftover tiny pieces. While hardly a disaster like the other items in its quadrant, square pizza pieces are just not very useful and rather inefficient.
|-
|{{w|Project Orion (nuclear propulsion)|Project Orion}}||Study by the U.S. government looking into nuclear pulse propulsion for spacecraft.||---||-||Repeated nuclear explosions in order to move sounds bad for both the spacecraft and everything else, especially with a ground launch. But there are ways to address a lot of the concerns, so it isn't as bad as it sounds. Project Orion's theorized specific impulse and thrust would also be far higher than anything chemical rockets can accomplish. The efficiency of Project Orion is extremely low, however.
|-
|Soup||Soup||0 (neutral)||0 (neutral)||
|-
|Combo washer dryers||A device which combines washing machine and laundry dryer into one device||+++||+||
|-
|Cutting sandwiches diagonally||Cutting sandwiches diagonally||+||+||
|-
|{{w|Diverging diamond interchange|Diverging diamond interchanges}}||Road junction where the two road direction cross over to switch sides (so if you normally drive on the right, now you drive on the left) then switch back to normal after the junction||-||+||
|-
|Toasting sandwiches||||++||++||
|-
|Crumple zones||Designated areas of a car that crumple in case of a crash... ||--||++||...to absorb the energy of the crash to prevent damage to the passengers
|-
|Sliced bread||Bread, sliced by the baker before packaging for sale||+++||++||It's far more convenient for making sandwiches or toast, but unfortunately presliced bread will go stale faster and some applications may be better off thicker or thinner than the slices provided.
|-
|Pizza||Flat, though usually leavened, bread with tomato sauce, cheese, and often vegetables or preserved meats||++||++||Pizza is a widely popular dish throughout much of the world, uncontroversial except {{w|Pineapple|certain toppings.}}
|-
|Eating citrus fruit while at sea||||0 (neutral)||+++||The vitamin C present in citrus fruits prevents one from contracting {{w|Scurvy|scurvy}}.
|-
|Putting mold on infections||Seemingly a reference to ancient practice of pressing moldy bread against infected wounds||---||++||While this sounds like a good way to get a fungal infection, with the correct mold this is a primitive antibiotic, and led to the discovery of penicillin.
|-
|Wheels on luggage||Some luggage bags have small wheels inset on their frame and a carrying handle.||+++||+++||A relatively simple fitting for rigid or semi-rigid luggage that substantially eases its transport through air and seaport terminals.
|-
|Heat pumps||Refrigeration (or air conditioning) technology operated in reverse to heat an area instead.||++||+++||Because refrigeration is a very efficient way to move heat (as long as the cold side's temperature is high enough) this is often far more energetically efficient than directly heating a space. Reversible heat pumps also exist which can take care of both temperature needs in some climates.
|-
|Laser eye surgery||Surgical techniques using lasers for precision cutting in the eyeball.||-||+++||This technology has substantially improved the eyesight of millions of people worldwide by allowing treatment of eye problems otherwise only corrected by lenses, or entirely untreatable. Randall has previously commented on laser eye surgery, amongst other ideas both good and bad, in [[1681: Laser Products]].
|-
|Fecal transplants||Transfer of gut microbiome of healthy person to sterilised gut of ill person.||---||+++||The gut microbiome is a collection of bacteria that lives in our guts. It can influence our health. It is responsible for last stages of digesting our food. It can also produce neurotransmitters that are carried by blood to our brain influencing our behaviour. A healthy microbiome can be destroyed by bad eating habits, unhealthy lifestyle, infections or antibiotics. The important part is a composition of different species of bacteria that compromise the biome. Sometimes it may be necessary to completely sterilise the gut and then take a sample of a healthy biome from another person. A sample is enough as the bacteria will multiply. As long as the patient eats correctly, the microbiome after transplant should develop correctly.

It sounds bad because we tend to think of our feces as something gross, to be discarded. It is called fecal transplant as our feces contain about 50% of gut bacteria, but nowadays the sample usually takes the form of a coated pill that is applied rectally.
|-
|}

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

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

2929: Good and Bad Ideas

2024-05-07T08:45:06Z

Kwonunn: /* Explanation */ Add rating and explanation for heelies

{{comic
| number = 2929
| date = May 6, 2024
| title = Good and Bad Ideas
| image = good_and_bad_ideas_2x.png
| imagesize = 595x522px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = While it seemed like a fun prank at the time, I realize my prank fire extinguishers full of leaded gasoline were a mistake.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD- Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is a scatter plot comparing how good an idea sounds to how good the idea actually is. For example, leaded gasoline sounds like a good idea due to the anti-knocking effects, but is actually a bad idea due to lead toxicity. Fake prank fire extinguishers however sound bad and are bad as they can result in a dangerous situation in an emergency. Putting mold on infections sounds like a bad idea, but this could be referring to Penicillin, an antibiotic.

The title text combines leaded gasoline and a fake prank fire extinguisher into something that is worse than either. Not only is the fire extinguisher fake, it also releases flammable material onto the fire, and there is the additional lead toxicity.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Idea !! What it means !! How good it sounds !! How good it actually is !! Explanation
|-
|Leaded Gasoline||Adding tetraethyl lead to gasoline to increase performance||++||---||Lead is toxic. Burning the leaded gasoline in an engine releases the lead in the air. This is bad.
|-
|Bloodletting||Releasing "bad blood" from the veins||---||---||You need your blood.{{Citation needed}} Bloodletting has been performed as a medical procedure for at least 2000 years until it was considered pseudoscience from the 19th century, when the harmful effects became known. The idea was to withdraw blood to balance the body's "humors". Nowadays phlebotomy is only used therapeutically in a small number of cases, such as hemochromatosis (too much iron in the body).
|-
|Asbestos||Mineral which does not burn and is good isolation||+++||---||Asbestos was used extensively. Sadly the microscopic fibers which make up asbestos greatly increase the risk of cancer when inhaled.
|-
|Extension cords with prongs on both ends||allows easy connection between 2 female connectors||0 (neutral)||---||Prongs on both ends would make it easier to plug the extension cord in on either side. But once plugged into an outlet, the other end becomes a serious shock hazard.
|-
|Stair Kayaking||||--||---|| Stair kayaking is a stunt where a person positions a kayak at the top of a flight of stairs and then, using their paddle to push off, rides the kayak down the stairs. This poses significant risks of injury or death, as well as being very bad for the kayak, which is designed to ride on water, not concrete.
|-
|Fake prank fire extinguishers||||---||---|| The idea of placing fake fire extinguishers as a prank, presumably so that a person who thinks they are grabbing a real fire extinguisher will instead find a decoy, sounds very dangerous and potentially life-threatening for many people, and it would, in fact, be highly dangerous. In the United States, (and presumably most countries), this would also be a felony in most, if not all, jurisdictions. An example of a similar situation, although not intended as a prank, can be found here[https://twitter.com/ThatSamWinkler/status/1657154071051239424]
|-
|Always saying what you think||...regardless of the feelings of others or other considerations||++||--||
|-
|Replying to spammers||Clicking on the "Reply" button from spam mails and writing (and sending) a reply (or worse, clicking on the links in these mails)||--||--||
|-
|Solar cars||Having solar panels on the car's surface (mostly hood and roof) for power generation||+++||-||
|-
|Heelies||{{w|Heelys}} are shoes with a inline skate wheel embedded in the sole, at the heel. ||+||-||Heelys allow the wearer (usually children) to shift between normal walking and rolling like a roller skate. This sounds like fun but has lead to numerous injuries.
|-
|Prequels||A work of fiction (mostly movie) telling the "story before the story" of another work of fiction.||+++||-||
|-
|Transition Lenses||Photochromic lenses in glasses get darker (like sunglasses) in bright light.||+||-||
|-
|Cutting pizza in squares||Cutting (a pesumably round) pizza in squares||-||-||Most people cut pizza into wedges and hold it by the crust. Cutting it into squares allows for more pieces to be shared, but pieces near the center will have no crust to hold it by, getting cheese and sauce all over your fingers. There will also be lots of leftover tiny pieces. While hardly a disaster like the other items in its quadrant, square pizza pieces are just not very useful and rather inefficient.
|-
|{{w|Project Orion (nuclear propulsion)|Project Orion}}||Study by the U.S. government looking into nuclear pulse propulsion for spacecraft.||---||-||Repeated nuclear explosions in order to move sounds bad for both the spacecraft and everything else, especially with a ground launch. But there are ways to address a lot of the concerns, so it isn't as bad as it sounds. Project Orion's theorized specific impulse and thrust would also be far higher than anything chemical rockets can accomplish. The efficiency of Project Orion is extremely low, however.
|-
|Soup||Soup||0 (neutral)||0 (neutral)||
|-
|Combo washer dryers||A device which combines washing machine and laundry dryer into one device||+++||+||
|-
|Cutting sandwiches diagonally||Cutting sandwiches diagonally||+||+||
|-
|{{w|Diverging diamond interchange|Diverging diamond interchanges}}||Road junction where the two road direction cross over to switch sides (so if you normally drive on the right, now you drive on the left) then switch back to normal after the junction||-||+||
|-
|Toasting sandwiches||||++||++||
|-
|Crumple zones||Designated areas of a car that crumple in case of a crash... ||--||++||...to absorb the energy of the crash to prevent damage to the passengers
|-
|Sliced bread||Bread, sliced by the baker before packaging for sale||+++||++||It's far more convenient for making sandwiches or toast, but unfortunately presliced bread will go stale faster and some applications may be better off thicker or thinner than the slices provided.
|-
|Pizza||Flat, though usually leavened, bread with tomato sauce, cheese, and often vegetables or preserved meats||++||++||Pizza is a widely popular dish throughout much of the world, uncontroversial except {{w|Pineapple|certain toppings.}}
|-
|Eating citrus fruit while at sea||||0 (neutral)||+++||The vitamin C present in citrus fruits prevents one from contracting {{w|Scurvy|scurvy}}.
|-
|Putting mold on infections||Seemingly a reference to ancient practice of pressing moldy bread against infected wounds||---||++||While this sounds like a good way to get a fungal infection, with the correct mold this is a primitive antibiotic, and led to the discovery of penicillin.
|-
|Wheels on luggage||Some luggage bags have small wheels inset on their frame and a carrying handle.||+++||+++||A relatively simple fitting for rigid or semi-rigid luggage that substantially eases its transport through air and seaport terminals.
|-
|Heat pumps||Refrigeration (or air conditioning) technology operated in reverse to heat an area instead.||++||+++||Because refrigeration is a very efficient way to move heat (as long as the cold side's temperature is high enough) this is often far more energetically efficient than directly heating a space. Reversible heat pumps also exist which can take care of both temperature needs in some climates.
|-
|Laser eye surgery||Surgical techniques using lasers for precision cutting in the eyeball.||-||+++||This technology has substantially improved the eyesight of millions of people worldwide by allowing treatment of eye problems otherwise only corrected by lenses, or entirely untreatable. Randall has previously commented on laser eye surgery, amongst other ideas both good and bad, in [[1681: Laser Products]].
|-
|Fecal transplants||Transfer of gut microbiom of healthy person to sterilised gut of ill person||---||+++||Gut microbiom is a collection of bacteria that lives in our guts. It can influence our health. It is responsible for last stages of digesting our food. It can also produce neurotransmitters that are carried by blood to our brain influencing our behaviour. A healthy microbiom can be destroyed by bad eating habits, unhealthy lifestyle, infections or antibiotics. The important part is a composition of different species of bacteria that compromise the biom. Sometimes it may be necessary to completely sterilise the gut and then take the sample of healthy biom from another person. A sample is enough as the bacteria will multiply. As long as the patient eats correctly, the microbiom after transplant should develop correctly.

It sounds bad because we tend to think of our feces as something gross, to be discarded. It is called facal transplant as our feces contain about 50% of gut bacteria, but nowadays the sample usually has a form of a coted pill that is applied rectally.
|-
|}

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

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

1313: Regex Golf

2021-09-20T08:29:43Z

Kwonunn: /* Regular expressions */ Fixed grammar error

{{comic
| number = 1313
| date = January 6, 2014
| title = Regex Golf
| image = regex_golf.png
| titletext = <nowiki>/bu|[rn]t|[coy]e|[mtg]a|j|iso|n[hl]|[ae]d|lev|sh|[lnd]i|[po]o|ls/ matches the last names of elected US presidents but not their opponents.</nowiki>
}}

==Explanation==
The comic talks about {{w|regular expressions}}, which are a way to specify textual patterns. Given a regular expression, one can search for the pattern it specifies inside a text string. If the pattern is found, it's said that the pattern "matches" the string; if it's not found, it's said it doesn't match.

The title of the comic and the first panel is based on "[http://regex.alf.nu/ regex golf]", which is a discipline of "{{w|code golf}}", a game in which programmers attempt to solve a given programming problem using as few characters as possible, analogous to the number of {{w|golf}} shots it takes to reach the goal. In regex golfing, the programmer is given two sets of text fragments, and tries to write the shortest possible regular expression which would match all elements of one set, while at the same time not matching any element from the other set.

The regex golf challenge Megan faces consists of matching all subtitles of (then extant) ''{{w|Star Wars}}'' films, while not matching any subtitle of ''{{w|Star Trek}}'' movies. {{w|Subtitle (titling)|Subtitles}} are the secondary titles of the movies, after the ''"Star Trek: "'' or ''"Star Wars Episode N: "''. For example, in ''Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace'', the subtitle is ''The Phantom Menace''. In the first panel, she created a 12-character regex solving the challenge.

Then she moved on to building a tool which would automatically build such a regex for arbitrary lists of text, which could be described as {{w|meta}}- regex golfing. But as she has lost this tool, she needs to search through her files and chooses a tool called "{{w|grep}}" to find it. This implies that she needs a regular expression that would find any code that appears to be a regex golf generator, which leads to another "meta-" layer of abstraction. At the end, Megan notes this sequence of meta-meta-... might go to infinity and Cueball quips that she now has "infinite problems" as a result of her efforts; Megan retorts that she already had "infinite problems" because she's geeky enough to run meta-versions of programs on themselves, and stubborn enough to continue on until she fails, to the exclusion of all else. This also seems to be a reference to a famous quote (see also ''[[1171: Perl Problems]]''):

<blockquote>''Some people, when confronted with a problem, think "I know, I'll use regular expressions." Now they have two problems.''</blockquote>

===Regular expressions===
The first regex Megan uses is <code>/m | [tn]|b/</code>, said to match ''Star Wars'' subtitles but not ''Star Trek''.

The forward slashes <code>/</code> just mark the start and end of the regex. The <code>|</code> character means "or", so the regex matches any string that contains the patterns "<code>m </code>", "<code> [tn]</code>" or "<code>b</code>" (including the spaces). The square brackets match one of the enclosed characters, meaning that "<code> [tn]</code>" matches either "<code> t</code>" or "<code> n</code>". The regex is apparently case-insensitive, because it wouldn't work otherwise.

The Star Wars subtitles match the parts of the regex in the following way:
*"The Phantom Menace" is matched by "<code>m </code>".
*"Attack of the Clones" is matched by "<code> [tn]</code>".
*"Revenge of the Sith" is matched by "<code> [tn]</code>".
*"A New Hope" is matched by "<code> [tn]</code>".
*"The Empire Strikes Back" is matched by "<code>b</code>".
*"Return of the Jedi" is matched by "<code> [tn]</code>".

Note that if the animated film "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" were included, it would not be matched by "<code> [tn]</code>" because the T is the start of the subtitle and is not preceded by a space. None of the "Star Wars:" films titles announced since this comic ("The Force Awakens", "The Last Jedi", and "The Rise of Skywalker") match this regex.

On the other hand, none of the Star Trek subtitles contains an M followed by a space, a T or an N preceded by a space, or any B, so the regex does not match any of them. Note that in the original series all subtitles start with a "T" but it's the first character so it's not preceded by a space.

Here is the list that Megan probably used:
*Original series:
**The Motion Picture
**The Wrath of Khan
**The Search For Spock
**The Voyage Home
**The Final Frontier
**The Undiscovered Country
*The Next Generation:
**Generations
**First Contact
**Insurrection
**Nemesis
*Reboot series:
**Into Darkness

"Star Trek Beyond", which was released after this comic, would incorrectly match the regex since it is the first "Star Trek" title to contain a "b". However, since "Star Trek Into Darkness" and "Star Trek Beyond" both lack a colon in their titles, it is [[1167: Star Trek into Darkness|debatable]] whether they can truly be considered to have subtitles.

In the last panel "and beyond" Megan uses the regular expression <code>/(meta-)*regex golf/</code> to describe her problem. <code>*</code> means "zero or more" of the preceding character/group (parentheses <code>()</code> group characters). So this regex matches "regex golf", "meta-regex golf", "meta-meta-regex golf", etc. In a way this is regex golf in itself, matching all levels of meta-regex golf while not matching anything else.

In the title text, there is a long regex that is the solution of another regex golf challenge: matching the last names of all elected US presidents but not their opponents. Note that the list of opponents include some people who were previously or later became presidents, or whose last name matches that of another person who was president, so taken literally this is impossible. To make this work the list of opponents must exclude any names of presidents. The regular expression itself works in a very similar way to the Star Wars/Trek one, including several different patterns separated by <code>|</code>. Each elected president matches one pattern while each opponent matches none.

The regex does not match either of the presidents elected since the comic’s release ("Trump" and "Biden"), and thus would need to be updated. The regex does match Hillary Clinton's last name, but because a person with the same last name (Bill Clinton) was president, this does not count as a mistake. There was already a losing opponent called George Clinton who ran in 1792 and 1812.

Here is a list of elected president and the patterns they match:
{| class="wikitable"
!Number
!President
!Matched expression
|-
|1
|{{w|George Washington|George Washington}}
|<code>sh</code>
|-
|2
|{{w|John Adams|John Adams}}
|<code>[ae]d</code>
|-
|3
|{{w|Thomas Jefferson|Thomas Jefferson}}
|<code>j</code>
|-
|4
|{{w|James Madison|James Madison}}
|<code>[mtg]a</code>
|-
|5
|{{w|James Monroe|James Monroe}}
|<code>[coy]e</code>
|-
|6
|{{w|John Quincy Adams|John Quincy Adams}}
|<code>[ae]d</code>
|-
|7
|{{w|Andrew Jackson|Andrew Jackson}}
|<code>j</code>
|-
|8
|{{w|Martin Van Buren|Martin Van Buren}}
|<code>bu</code>
|-
|9
|{{w|William Henry Harrison|William Henry Harrison}}
|<code>iso</code>
|-
|11
|{{w|James K. Polk|James K. Polk}}
|<code>[po]o</code>
|-
|12
|{{w|Zachary Taylor|Zachary Taylor}}
|<code>[mtg]a</code>
|-
|14
|{{w|Franklin Pierce|Franklin Pierce}}
|<code>[coy]e</code>
|-
|15
|{{w|James Buchanan|James Buchanan}}
|<code>bu</code>
|-
|16
|{{w|Abraham Lincoln|Abraham Lincoln}}
|<code>[lnd]i</code>
|-
|17
|{{w|Andrew Johnson|Andrew Johnson}}
|<code>j</code>
|-
|18
|{{w|Ulysses S. Grant|Ulysses S. Grant}}
|<code>[rn]t</code>
|-
|19
|{{w|Rutherford B. Hayes|Rutherford B. Hayes}}
|<code>[coy]e</code>
|-
|20
|{{w|James A. Garfield|James A. Garfield}}
|<code>[mtg]a</code>
|-
|22
|{{w|Grover Cleveland|Grover Cleveland}}
|<code>lev</code>
|-
|23
|{{w|Benjamin Harrison|Benjamin Harrison}}
|<code>iso</code>
|-
|24
|{{w|Grover Cleveland|Grover Cleveland}}
|<code>lev</code>
|-
|25
|{{w|William McKinley|William McKinley}}
|<code>n[hl]</code>
|-
|26
|{{w|Theodore Roosevelt|Theodore Roosevelt}}
|<code>[po]o</code>
|-
|27
|{{w|William Howard Taft|William Howard Taft}}
|<code>[mtg]a</code>
|-
|28
|{{w|Woodrow Wilson|Woodrow Wilson}}
|<code>ls</code>
|-
|29
|{{w|Warren G. Harding|Warren G. Harding}}
|<code>[lnd]i</code>
|-
|30
|{{w|Calvin Coolidge|Calvin Coolidge}}
|<code>[lnd]i</code>
|-
|31
|{{w|Herbert Hoover|Herbert Hoover}}
|<code>[po]o</code>
|-
|32
|{{w|Franklin D. Roosevelt|Franklin D. Roosevelt}}
|<code>[po]o</code>
|-
|33
|{{w|Harry S. Truman|Harry S. Truman}}
|<code>[mtg]a</code>
|-
|34
|{{w|Dwight D. Eisenhower|Dwight D. Eisenhower}}
|<code>n[hl]</code>
|-
|35
|{{w|John F. Kennedy|John F. Kennedy}}
|<code>[ae]d</code>
|-
|36
|{{w|Lyndon B. Johnson|Lyndon B. Johnson}}
|<code>j</code>
|-
|37
|{{w|Richard Nixon|Richard Nixon}}
|<code>[lnd]i</code>
|-
|39
|{{w|Jimmy Carter|Jimmy Carter}}
|<code>[rn]t</code>
|-
|40
|{{w|Ronald Reagan|Ronald Reagan}}
|<code>[mtg]a</code>
|-
|41
|{{w|George H. W. Bush|George H. W. Bush}}
|<code>bu</code>
|-
|42
|{{w|Bill Clinton|Bill Clinton}}
|<code>[rn]t</code>
|-
|43
|{{w|George W. Bush|George W. Bush}}
|<code>bu</code>
|-
|44
|{{w|Barack Obama|Barack Obama}}
|<code>[mtg]a</code>
|}

Some presidents are missing because they weren't elected but became presidents after the resignation/death of their formers.

And here is a list of how many unique last names are matched by each expression:

{| class="wikitable"
!Expression
!Match count
|-
| bu
| 3
|-
| [rn]t
| 3
|-
| [coy]e
| 3
|-
| [mtg]a
| 7
|-
| j
| 3
|-
| iso
| 1
|-
| n[hl]
| 2
|-
| [ae]d
| 2
|-
| lev
| 1
|-
| sh
| 1
|-
| [lnd]i
| 4
|-
| [po]o
| 3
|-
| ls
| 1
|}

Randall's regular expression does ''not'' match presidential opponents Pinckney, King, Clay, Cass, Scott, Douglas, McClellan, Seymour, Greeley, Tilden, Hancock, Blaine, Bryan, Parker, Hughes, Cox, Davis, Smith, Landon, Willkie, Dewey, Stevenson, Goldwater, Humphrey, McGovern, Mondale, Dukakis, Dole, Gore, Kerry, McCain, or Romney. However, it must be modified slightly, because it ''does'' match {{w|John C. Fremont|John C. Fremont}}, the runner-up to James Buchanan in 1856, as discussed by {{w|Peter Norvig}} at [http://nbviewer.ipython.org/url/norvig.com/ipython/xkcd1313.ipynb xkcd 1313: Regex Golf]. It also matches {{w|Aaron Burr|Aaron Burr}}, the runner-up to Thomas Jefferson in 1800. Note that Norvig provides a small amount of Python code which actually plays regex golf with arbitrary lists, and found a shorter solution than Randall's for the ''Star Wars'' vs ''Star Trek'' game (<code>/ t|p.*e/</code>).

==Transcript==
:[Caption at top of panel:]
:Regex golf:
:[Megan is sitting at a laptop. Cueball is standing behind her.]
:Megan: You try to match one group but not the other.
:Megan: /m | [tn]|b/ matches ''Star Wars'' subtitles but not ''Star Trek''.
:Cueball: Cool.

:[Caption at top of panel:]
:Meta-regex golf:
:[A close-up of Megan at her laptop.]
:Megan: So I wrote a program that plays regex golf with arbitrary lists...
:Cueball (offscreen): Uh oh...

:[Caption at top of panel:]
:Meta-meta-regex golf:
:[Megan typing at her laptop.]
:Megan: ...But I lost my code, so I'm grepping for files that look like regex golf solvers.
:[Cueball facepalming.]

:[Caption at top of panel:]
:...And beyond:
:[Another closeup of Megan at her laptop.]
:Megan: Really, this is all /(meta-)*regex golf/.
:Cueball: Now you have ''infinite'' problems.
:Megan: No, I had those already.

==Trivia==
*There are now at least four comics that reference regular expressions. The other three are: [[208: Regular Expressions]], [[224: Lisp]], and [[1171: Perl Problems]].
*Additionally, regular expressions are mentioned in the title text of [[1277: Ayn Random]].
*A regular expression is used in the [http://what-if.xkcd.com/75/ 75th] post of [[what if?]] to calculate the answer to that week's question.
*Also, Randall mentions [http://regex.alf.nu/ a website with a regexp golf game] he got distracted by while researching for the [http://what-if.xkcd.com/78/ 78th] post of [[what if?]] (which was published one day after this comic).

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

2259: Networking Problems

2020-01-26T11:46:30Z

Kwonunn: /* Explanation */ Fixed typo

{{comic
| number = 2259
| date = January 24, 2020
| title = Networking Problems
| image = networking_problems.png
| titletext = LOOK, THE LATENCY FALLS EVERY TIME YOU CLAP YOUR HANDS AND SAY YOU BELIEVE
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an ODD-NUMBERED PACKET CLAPPING ITS HANDS. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Computer problems are frequent and can be difficult to solve. Networking problems in particular can puzzle even seasoned people and sometimes seem to have arbitrary issues causing them. {{w|Network packet|Packets}} are units of data transfer used in computer networking, and one measure of network performance is ''lag'', the amount of time it takes for data to travel from one point to another (and perhaps back); saying a packet's transmission is 'laggy' means it is unacceptably slow.

Lag in packet transmission and other network performance measures can appear quite random. Just to start with, your ISP may be engaged in traffic shaping, which can do very weird things indeed to your packets (making the first megabyte of a transfer faster than any other, for example); now imagine that your ISP's ISP (usually known as an "Upstream Provider") is engaged in something similar, and you begin to see the scale of the problem. Wireless latency can relate to things as unexpected as where people are standing, what they are touching, and what the weather is.
Viruses and other system compromises, as well as legitimate features provided by hardware{{fact}}, may hide their network activity, radically confusing things. Because humans are wired to perceive patterns, they will {{w|Apophenia|find them even in random data}}, a fallacy that Cueball is (probably) suffering from here. He variously attributes the network behavior he sees to the packet number being even vs. odd, packet arrival time being before vs. after noon, and packet arrival day being today vs. yesterday (such a pattern would make sense if it were merely "every other packet" regardless of odd or evenness, but that still leaves the other "patterns" Cueball is seeing).

These non-existent patterns that Cueball is 'finding' are driving him mad, so much so that he says he believes in ghosts now. The statement of belief in ghosts may be a reference to the intermittent or fluctuating nature of the network issues being caused by mischievous spirits or malevolent poltergeists. Ghosts generally are not concerned with expressions of belief, but there are some religious traditions that include group clapping and chanting. Many works of fiction depict a future or alternate history where {{tvtropes|MachineWorship|machines are worshiped as gods or spirits}}, such as the Adeptus Mechanicus of ''{{w|Warhammer 40,000}}''. Some of this terminology can be found in present-day IT and other support personnel, including references to "{{w|Daemon (computing)|daemons}}" and "[http://catb.org/jargon/html/B/black-magic.html black magic]". Another possible reference Randall may be making is to the {{w|Ghost_in_the_machine|Ghost in the machine}}, a term describing AI. A third possibility is that Cueball's brain had stopped working (As Randall had suggested in his chart).

The title text continues Cueball's maniacal attempts at self-assurance, which may be him alluding to J.M. Barrie's play ''{{w|Peter Pan}}'' by saying that latency falls every time you "CLAP YOUR HANDS AND SAY YOU BELIEVE" or possibly 1800s mystic spiritualism that continues some today. In the play, Peter Pan says "If you believe in fairies, wave your handkerchiefs and clap your hands." A more mundane explanation of the network behavior Cueball is experiencing might be that it is random but he's seeing a pattern anyway, or that there is a loose connection or trace and the vibration of clapping and speaking in the vicinity of the equipment in question closes the connection.

==Transcript==
:[A chart is shown with one horizontal line with 13 ticks (the first larger) and ending in an arrow. There are three labels along the line, at the start in the middle an towards the end before the arrow. Below are two clouds in gray with labels. The first cloud is long and it is getting thinner towards the right. It goes between the first and second label above the chart. The second blob is smaller and of equal thickness and it goes from the last label towards right. Above the chart is a heading and a subheading:]
:<big>Types of Computer Problems</big>
:By how much debugging them makes your brain stop working

:[The three labels above and the two in the clouds:]
:None
:Some
:A lot
:Normal problems
:Networking problems

:[Below the chart, only in the right part of the comic is a comic drawing. Cueball is kneeling before a rack of servers. One of the server blades is extended and connected by a cable to a laptop sitting on a box, which Cueball is using. Behind Cueball, there is a wireless router sitting on a stool, which is connected by a cable to another wireless router sitting on the floor, which is connected to another laptop. From behind him to the right an off-panel voice emanates from a starburst at the edge of the panel.]
:Cueball: '''''Before''''' noon, '''''odd'''''-numbered packets were laggy, but ''after'' noon, '''''even'''''-numbered ones are! It's the '''''opposite''''' of yesterday!
:Off-panel voice: Are you sure you're okay?
:Cueball: '''''I'm fine and I believe in ghosts now!'''''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Cueball Computer Problems]]

2177: Gastroenterology

2019-07-17T17:43:37Z

Kwonunn: Added content

{{comic
| number = 2177
| date = July 17, 2019
| title = Gastroenterology
| image = gastroenterology.png
| titletext = "Mostly it means that I'm acutely aware that the kid one table over coughed as the server walked past with our food."
}}

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

[[Ponytail]] and a guy wearing a scrubs hat, seemingly being scientists as Ponytail wears a lab coat, are pursued by some offscreen people, at whom Ponytail will throw a bottle filled with probiotic and antibiotic substances, which, after being shook and thrown, surprisingly results in an explosion. This may refer to {{w|annihilation}}, a reaction between particles and antiparticles, which produces important energy, hence the explosion; the particles being the probiotic matter and the antiparticles being the antibiotic matter, even though annihilation usually implies subatomic particles.

In the last panel, the above is revealed to be some kind of action fantasy. Ponytail's reality is far more mundane: she is sitting at lunch and talking with Megan, the latter asking what Gastroenterology (Ponytail's job) is. Ponytail answers it is mostly boring paperwork.
It is also possible that the scene above is reality, and Ponytail is covering this up by saying her work is mostly paperwork.

[https://gi.org/patients/gi-health-and-disease/what-is-a-gastroenterologist/ Gastroenterology] is the study of the normal function and diseases of the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, colon and rectum, pancreas, gallbladder, bile ducts and liver.

In the title text, Ponytail adds that her work makes her aware of a child coughing as the server was bringing food at the restaurant table, exposing the food to possible germs.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Cueball: Hurry, they're right behind us! 
Ponytail picks up a probiotic and antibiotic, combining them into a single jar. 
Ponytail shakes the jar three times before throwing it, presumably at the off-panel pursuers. 
There is an explosion off-panel as Cueball and Ponytail continue to flee. 

Ponytail and Megan are sitting in a diner, eating.
Megan: So what's gastroenterology like? 
Ponytail: Pretty boring. Lotta paperwork. 

{{comic discussion}}

219: Blanket Fort

2019-05-29T08:59:52Z

Kwonunn: /* Explanation */ Added citation needed

{{comic
| number = 219
| date = February 5, 2007
| title = Blanket Fort
| image = blanket_fort.png
| titletext = Also, we have a fort out in the woods where we stashed that hooker's body.
}}

==Explanation==
In an apparent continuation of comic [[150: Grownups]], [[Megan]] is showing off a {{w|blanket fort}} to her friend [[Ponytail]]. Ponytail answers that Megan's childishness stems from a fear of growing up.

Megan responds that she's fine with growing up. She sees her behavior as a mature realization that some of the things she enjoyed as a child are still enjoyable. When pressed for evidence that she has in any way become an "adult," it is revealed that her boyfriend is inside the blanket fort. He has not spoken because he fears to be found by them when "not exactly dressed," thus implying that "adult" activities had been going on in the fort.

The title text provides another example of this: They built a fort in the woods, another type of fort that a kid would love to have, but then used it to hide a body. This implies that they killed someone, which is not usually something associated with children{{Citation needed}}. A hooker is also more formally known as a {{w|prostitute}}, which is also not usually something associated with children{{Citation needed}}.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Ponytail are talking with each other. There is a fort made of cushions and blankets on the left.]
:Megan: Like my fort? It uses every blanket and cushion in the apartment.

:Ponytail: Okay, no offense, but this is like that ball pit you made -- Cute, but don't you worry you're clinging to childhood games because you're afraid of change?

:Megan: No. I'm happy to grow up. But I won't pretend fun things aren't still fun out of fear of looking silly.
:Ponytail: But you're 24 and building blanket forts. How have you changed? What's adult about that?

:Megan: Well, there's my boyfriend curled up in the back.
:Ponytail: ...Ah.
:Boyfriend [from inside the fort]: Excuse my shyness. I'm not exactly dressed.

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

explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals

2019-05-03T18:27:17Z

Kwonunn: /* Add bookmark */ new section

<noinclude>{{Community portal}}</noinclude>

== Add unexplained strips ==

At the moment, browsing through the explanations using the previous and next buttons is interrupted whenever there's an explanation missing.

I think adding a page with the strip fr all of those with a short message like "no one has explained this yet, want to give it a shot?" would make the wiki easier to browse through and will get more strips explained faster.

:I don't think that would happen. If suddenly it was much easier for people to skip over pages that had no explanation, I think they would do exactly that, skip right over it. On the same side of that coin, If suddenly there are no longer any red links on the [[List of all comics]] then everyone perusing that page assumes that all the comics have been explained and don't need to contribute any more. It's astonishing how quickly an [[589: Designated Drivers|embedded]] red link gets an explanation page created simply to get rid of the red link.

:Secondarily, ''many'' of the pages created recently aren't being created with their numerical and titular redirects. Without the numerical redirect, the comic template can't find that there is a previous/next comic to link to. Every once in a while somebody will go through and try to notice all the pages that don't have their redirects created but it's an unscientific process that only happens occasionally. If we could get every joe blow that comes in and vomits up a poorly done explanation to create the redirects I wouldn't be quite as annoyed at their lack of show-don't-tell-manship. But, since they can't be bothered to put the date in the comic template, I doubt we'll ever get people to create the redirects.

:'''TL;DR:''' No more red links, no more work gets done on the back catalog.

:--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 14:28, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

== xplainkcd.com ==

When I first saw this site I thought it should definitely be at xplainkcd.com or at least redirect from that url {{unsigned|115.166.22.158|12:45, 3 January 2013 (UTC)}}

: I like that idea! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 13:28, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

:Yeah! If it's possible, it would be cool! At least as a redirect. -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:46, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

:Not technically the same thing, but I just took [http://expxkcd.com http://expxkcd.com]. More explanation <del>is</del> was given on the website itself. {{User:Grep/signature|05:10, 29 March 2014}}
::We do that with explainxkcd.com as well, but yay shorter URLs! Mind if I use that for our social media links? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:45, 29 March 2014 (UTC)
:::I had no idea that you did that, but sure, go ahead! If you want, I can change any DNS records if you wish to have it go directly to you guys. {{User:Grep/signature|07:16, 29 March 2014}}
:::In case you were wondering, I just did the following: <code>^/([0-9]+)(/large)?/?$</code> {{User:Grep/signature|07:25, 29 March 2014}}
::::Hrm. We're just matching with <code>^(\d+)/?$</code>. You can keep ownership of the URL if you want, unless you have traffic concerns or whatever and you want us to handle it, which we're very capable of doing. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:47, 29 March 2014 (UTC)

I have made http://www.xkcd.ga and http://www.xkcd.tk both forward to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. Is this ok? [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:49, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

== Section style and usage ==

I am new here and I'm trying to get up to speed with the culture. I have a few questions about how and where to use sections (== this ==). I am more willing to go with (and enforce) whatever norms there are here, but I have not seen them actually discussed.

# '''Is it OK to create sections in Discussion pages?''' I have been told no, but there are many examples extant of this usage in this Wiki and indeed in Wikipedia.
# '''Section title case''' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Capital_letters#Acronyms Wikipedia's style guide] recommends sentence case, not title case. There are many title cased section headers here.
# '''Links''' I do not have a reference for this but it seems to me putting links in section code (== [[<nowiki>this</nowiki>]] == ) is bad form.

Last note -- it's understood if these bylaws have not yet been written. I can see that a few of you have made a huge personal investment to make this Wiki what it is today, and that is a credit to you all -- this is awesome! As a long-time aficionado of xkcd I applaud your work and look forward to further collaboration.
--[[User:Smartin|Smartin]] ([[User talk:Smartin|talk]]) 04:15, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

:As a general rule, we stick to the standard format that existing pages follow, with an optional trivia section below the transcript. Some zealous editors like to add other sections though, which tend to be for the most part unneeded or redundant. If something you want to add doesn't help to explain the comic in some way, but the inclusion of which would somehow still add to the page, *and* it doesn't fall under the trivia category, a new section is warranted. This isn't the case most of the time though, so editors usually fold the content of extraneous sections into "Explanation" or "Trivia." We have no policy on links in titles, and they're allowed so long as they are appropriate; the link is useful and can't be folded into the section itself. And we use title case for titles cuz it just makes sense. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:08, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

:We generally do not (or at least, discourage) use sections on the talk/discussion pages for explanation pages. This is purely for looks. The comic discussion section of the explanation page looks/feels wrong if there are level 2 section breaks in the transclusion. Also, if the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Table_of_contents Table of Contents] starts showing up on a page, such as on [[Click and Drag]] the sections created on the talk page also show up in the TOC. This gets confusing, and this is why we prefer not to use them on explanation talk pages. Everywhere else we follow standard wiki format and do use sections on the discussion pages.

:Personally, I think that links in section titles looks wrong, but I choose not to be the dictator of style in this matter. :p

:Please feel free to make edits. The worst that happens is someone reverts your edit. If it's a big enough issue and/or you don't seem to be learning from what people are fixing about your edits someone will leave a comment on your talk page. That's it. We might leave a nasty-gram in the edit summary, but oh well. We only ban for malicious intent. Honestly working to better the wiki is good, even if sometimes we grumble about it.

:--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:00, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

::Oh, I just looked at your talk page. I completely forgot that that happened. Don't worry about it. Learning the ropes is part of the experience. Do make edits, and if they're wrong, we'll nudge you in the right direction. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:18, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

I have been moving some trivia sections to directly below the explanation, in order to make it more consistent, and easier to survey and maintain. Often the dividing line between trivia and explanation is not entirely clear, and in articles without a trivia section the end of the explanation very often contains trivia-like information. (e.g. [[1155: Kolmogorov Directions]]) -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:13, 4 January 2013 (UTC)
===Title case doesn't make any sense===
At first sight title case in titles just makes sense. However title case '''never''' makes sense. It's worse than all caps. Besides, only Americans and children like title case. [[Special:Contributions/190.96.48.48|190.96.48.48]] 20:04, 10 August 2013 (UTC)

==New character==
As per [[Talk:1178: Pickup Artists]], the character with hair has appeared in quite a few comics now, and he's starting to become a recurring character. Shall we go ahead with inaugurating him into our list of regular characters, and what name shall we assign him? Current candidate names include Hairy and Harry. Anyone? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:07, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

: I like Harry :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 01:04, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
::Cos made a point in the discussion on [[Talk:1178: Pickup Artists]] that Hairy is directly descriptive, whereas Harry is not obvious to visitors. On the other hand, not all names are descriptive ([[Danish]]) and I think this wiki is entitled to create some xkcd-in-culture, and not just describe. And Harry is quite funny.
::I wonder: has [[Randall]] ever called him anything at all in the transcript? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:52, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
:::Well, he's not named in a any official transcripts, but he's already called Harry in quite a few comic explanations. Then again, I do like having a more descriptive name for him. Shall we hold this up to a vote? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:29, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
::::I think we should wait a little for a few more viewpoints to crop up. Also, can someone link to some more comics he's been featured in? I've got [[1028: Communication]], [[1027: Pickup Artist]] and [[1178: Pickup Artists]]. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 23:41, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
:::::I actually like what that anon said: ''Curly''. Second choice: Hairy (being descriptive, a la Black Hat, Beret, Cueball, etc.) While there's talk about in-culture, we've done that with the names Cueball, Beret, etc. It's my opinion that the only names that should be "real" proper names are those that are named in the comic. Megan, Miss Lenhart, etc. Danish (as is discussed below) isn't truly a proper name, but you could argue it's a meta-description (one attributed by Black hat.) So that's my vote: yes for '''Curly''' or '''Hairy''', no for Harry. [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 05:21, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:::That's right, [[Danish]] is not descriptive, but 1/ that name was suggested because the character [[515: No One Must Know|was called that way in the comic]], which is a tiny bit like a name given by the author (at least more than Harry which we have completely made up), and 2/ in that case it's hard to find a descriptive term: use something that revolves around her black hair (her only descriptive feature), and you easily mix up with [[Megan]]; the only graphical difference is that her hair is ''long'', but what kind of name can you make out of that?
:::For this new character, I suggest Hairy because it comes as the easy solution with every advantage: descriptive, easy to understand, and it's not ugly... I actually see no reason to resort to a made-up name like Harry.
:::[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 22:29, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

: '''Alright. So the discussion's been had, and the most oft recommended name appears to be Hairy. All in favor, say aye. If more than 1/3 of editors agree and we have more than 6 votes, Hairy it is.''' '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:58, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye''' '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:58, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye''' [[User:Guru-45|Guru-45]] ([[User talk:Guru-45|talk]]) 06:14, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye''' to Hairy. [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:43, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye'''. Harry would be a nice nod to the fact that he's actually hairy, but indeed it's better to avoid inside jokes. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:05, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye'''. I'm convinced! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 17:52, 3 March 2013 (UTC)
:# '''Aye'''. Hairy. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:52, 3 March 2013 (UTC)
::Hooray! We now have a [[:Category:Comics featuring Hairy]], with four pages already! Does anyone feel compelled to create "[[Hairy]]", with a brief description and a nice profile pic like the other characters? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:58, 3 March 2013 (UTC)

== Ambiguous characters ==

I've been thinking about the problem of the ambiguity of characters. "Is this really Cueball even though he has an eye and half a nose?", "This is very likely ''not'' x." "Darnit, these arn't Cueballs, these are Randall and his friends!", and so on. The character ambiguity is standard for xkcd (not less so in the early ones), and comes from the very loose or "free" way Randall uses his characters to be whatever he needs at the moment. It's simply often impossible for us to know whether he had e.g. "Cueball" or himself in mind, when drawing a particular comic (and I'd say: probably often both).

I want to suggest that we in general have a likewise rather loose policy towards including characters in the categories for the comics. So that reasonably ambiguous cases should be included in e.g. (does she have a ponytail?) This is not because I believe this or that to really be this or that; I just don't believe in objective truth (here!). I feel that when doing research :) on a character, the borderline cases are often the most interesting ones, and you want to be able to find them through the "Comics featuring miss x"!

I came to think this through now, when I wanted to (and did) list two comics with [[Miss Lenhart]] (?) where she was drawn but not named. Any thoughts on this in general? Other case studies? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:17, 5 March 2013 (UTC)
:My take has always been that [[Cueball]], for example, has not been a specific character. There is not ''a'' cueball, per se, distinct from any other cueball... indeed, there are several comics with several cueballs in-frame, and that is the point. I see the cueball character as a wildcard character (pun intended) ready to stand in for anybody (and ''not'' necessarily just Randall; I think those readers who suggest "this ''is'' Randall" are missing the point; he's way more META than that...) [[Megan]], while slightly less generic, still remains the female wild-card significant-other, while Curls seems to be a not-significant-other female used to illustrate a relationship that is transient. Other characters come and go, and when it's important to visually distinguish them from others in the frame, they're given additional characteristics, to wit [[Hairy]], [[Ponytail]], etc.
:Unfortunately, that viewpoint is not commonly held, so I daresay I'm in the minority here.
:-- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:18, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

== Note at the top, about the server error ==

:''This thread was moved to [[MediaWiki talk:Sitenotice]]''

== I've removed "add a comment!" from Discussion heading ==

This does move it to above the line, and the rule stops early. Undo my change if that's more bothering than when the TOC is displayed as "add a comment!Discussion"...

I don't know how to automatically treat level 2 headers as level 3. That may be why Discussion was a level 1 heading earlier.
[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:16, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
:Actually I now noticed there was a short edit war at {{tl|comic discussion}} over whether it should be a level 1 heading, just for this reason. [[User:Waldir]] seems to have conceeded... [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:25, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

:: No edit war, hence no (intentional) concession. I reverted a change once, and didn't notice the change being re-implemented by another user. In any case, it is irrelevant now since we actively discourage using headers in talk pages precisely so that they don't display in the TOC for the main comic page, where the discussion page is transcluded to (see the discussion [[#Section style and usage|above]]). This might not scale well for comics that generate lots of discussion. It might be worth discussing our customs (and perhaps write them down somewhere) before performing such changes. What do others think? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:49, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

== Time: The Table ==

Right now on the page [[1190: Time]], we have a whole bunch of tables in the form image-time-hash. The tables take up heaps of vertical space and all have to be collapsed to even be remotely traversible. I propose that we aggregate all the images into one table after Time ends, like so:

{| class="wikitable plainlinks table-padding"
|-
!Image
!Time
!Image
!Time
!Image
!Time
!Image
!Time
|-
|[[Media:time.png|00:00]]||01/00:00||[[Media:time.png|10:00]]||01/10:00||[[Media:time.png|20:00]]||01/20:00||[[Media:time.png|30:00]]||AND MOAR SAMPLE DATAS
|-
|[[Media:time.png|00:30]]||01/00:30||[[Media:time.png|10:30]]||01/10:30||[[Media:time.png|20:30]]||01/20:30||[[Media:time.png|30:30]]||AND MOAR SAMPLE DATAS
|}

The hash values aren't really a part of the comic, they're gibberish for the most part and they take up space that could be used to compact the table, as shown above. Even if we are conservative and make the table only five columns wide to account for smaller screens, we've divided scrolling time by five and eliminated much of the need for annoying collapsed tables and section headers for each day. Constructing the table shouldn't be particularly hard either, as all our current data is in nice regular tables with clear patterns that are easy enough to parse through.

I'm putting this here because the organization of the frame entries would be unintuitive and difficult to change from the edit window, which would make it a poor choice when we're still expanding it and don't even know how long the comic will continue for. It's merely a space-saving trick for after we're sure that the comic is over. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:26, 16 April 2013 (UTC)

:Oh and it'd be really nice if other people could also upload images if you're awake and a new one rolls by. There's gaps in the image record every time I wake up, and I dun likey. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:34, 20 April 2013 (UTC)
:Good work so far; go ahead make it better! :) –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:34, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

==Featured Explanation, and Archival?==

* Wikipedia has featured content. Now that we are close to reaching the goal of all comics explained, I think it makes more sense to have a "featured explanation" which would serve as a sort of a marker for a complete and good explanation. Many comics, and almost all charts are not fully explained/not a good quality explanation.

* We should set up archival of discussion of the most discussed pages, like this one. Its not very pleasing to see comments from July 2012 still lying around here. It becomes hectic at some point.

Just my 2 cents, feel free to discuss. Cheers,
[[Special:Contributions/117.194.88.180|117.194.88.180]] 13:36, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

:We dedicate this wiki to explaining xkcd, and we do actually have a featured comic feature; it changes every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and we usually manage to fill out the explanation for it within an hour or so of it going up. The most recent comic tends to be the one that most people visiting the wiki care about, so we give it prime space on the front page so they can find it easily. xkcd updates frequently enough that there isn't really that big of a time window for us to feature an article on our front page. Also, we're a volunteer project with quite a bit less manpower than Wikipedia.
:We do need to archive talk pages though. Some of these are getting ridiculously long. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:04, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
::I agree with Davidy22. Archiving topics can be done by anyone, by moving resolved threads to the portal section's corresponding [[explain xkcd talk:Community portal/Proposals|talk page]]. We could start with the threads marked "✓ Closed". [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:42, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

:: The reason I asked for a "featured explanation" was because many of the comic explanations we currently have are sub-par, and we're almost at our initial goal of explaining all comics. A "featured explanation" would drive our editors towards the goal of having complete and good explanation towards all comics, and would allow us to know which explanations need elaboration.
:: P.S. My definition of complete explanation would be - To have a good explanation, To have all categories relevant, To link to any comics related and To explain any technical portions of the comic.
:: [[Special:Contributions/117.194.82.49|117.194.82.49]] 07:45, 8 May 2013 (UTC)
:::That message on the front page is going to link to all the pages marked by the incomplete template. If you find an unsatisfactory explanation, please mark it with <nowiki>{{incomplete}}</nowiki> '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:54, 8 May 2013 (UTC)
:::: By my definition, I think all comics will be incomplete. An incomplete template will be focused more towards improving the worst explanations, while a featured one will be to improve the best ones. Since we already have the former, we should focus on the latter. Just my 2 cents. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.85.82|117.194.85.82]] 06:55, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

== Split the list of all comics ==

[[List of all comics]] is getting larger and larger, which makes it hard to read and hard to edit. How about splitting into parts, say [[List of all comics/1-1000]], [[List of all comics/1001-2000]], etc., or something to that effect? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:39, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

: Done. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.88.176|117.194.88.176]] 10:03, 9 May 2013 (UTC)
::Great job, thanks! [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:09, 9 May 2013 (UTC)
:::And I've added back [[List of all comics (full)]], which allows, for example, listing all comics by alphabetical order.[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 17:29, 10 May 2013 (UTC)

== Sidebar ads ==

''Moved from [[Talk:Main Page]] –– [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:06, 4 May 2013 (UTC)''

Are they generating significant money? The ones I see are pretty sleazy looking and/or scammy - "Power Companies Hate this Device! - click here to break the laws of thermodynamics!" and "Debt relief program click here to lose more money". How much money are they generating? Can you set any selections to remove the sleazy ads? [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 18:30, 3 April 2013 (UTC)
:Do we have sleazy sidebar ads? Since when? Thanks Google Chrome and AdBlock, I had no idea! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 07:47, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
::People give 20$ a pop to get a bunch of clicks on explainxkcd, and Jeff uses that money to buy a faster server with a hard drive that doesn't have less space than a public toilet with an elephant in it. It'd be really nice if you didn't turn on adblock, the money is appreciated. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:47, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
:::It's a question of me not turning it off specifically every time I visit this site. More importantly, I do think people would be more likely to click the "donate" if it weren't irrelevant ads around it. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 19:29, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
:::Generating money is a great thing. Getting "20$ a pop to get a bunch of clicks" is a bit unclear. Do the ads only generate revenue when clicked on? So EXKCD only gets money when someone actually falls for the sleazy ads? I know lots of people do not like Google - but at least their adsense stuff is relevant to the content of the website, which might generate some legitimate traffic for a legitimate advertiser.... [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 11:48, 19 April 2013 (UTC)
::::Welllll, I didn't pick the ad supplier. You could bring it up with [[User talk:Jeff|Jeff]] if you want, I think he picked the ad provider on basis of which one had a mediawiki plugin or something. If you can link Jeff to a quick and easy way to put adsense on mediawiki, he should change it quickly enough. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:21, 19 April 2013 (UTC)
:::::And I also gather then that they are only a temporary thing? -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:27, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
::::::Until we can buy a server that doesn't poop itself every time a new comic is released, the ads are staying. If you want them to go away sooner, throw more money at Jeff. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:25, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
::::::: The ads are crap. For sure. Wish I didn't have to run them, but I don't trust donations alone to hold up continually some better hosting. The ads really don't bring in that much $$$. I had google adsense before, but Google shutdown my adsense account for unnamed reason after 1 week. This new ad service is way sketchier. If you all think they don't have a place here, I'll ax 'em. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:02, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
::::::: Thanks for the info Jeff. How much ad money are we talking about? Is it calculated on how many ads are displayed or how many are clicked-through? How close to the goal is the server fund? How about a Kickstarter campaign for the server? $10 gets your name on a thankyou webpage or something like that. [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 17:32, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
:::::::: It ain't much, last I looked it was $2 or $3 in 2 weeks. I believe it is based on clicks, it is not nearly as clear as Google adsense. I'm not really interested in doing a Kickstarter. I think the donations will cover the initial start up, I just want to be able to cover the monthly costs as well. A few things are still up in the air. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:24, 25 April 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::Can you find a way to show the donations and ad income on the site, to make it transparent? ––[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:30, 30 April 2013 (UTC)
::::::::: How about a donation amount that you'll take to turn it (the annoying unethical scummy ads) off for a year? Give me a dollar value and I might step up for the good of us all! [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 16:28, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

== Economic transparency ==

I think this is very important: How can we make the donations and ad-income transparent, so that we all can see when and how much money is coming in, and how far we are from reaching our goal? – [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 00:35, 24 May 2013 (UTC)
: Sounds fine to me, I think I can put something together. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:52, 28 May 2013 (UTC)
::Hi, may I bump this issue? Or maybe you have done something, and I missed it? Anyway, I would still appreciate it! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 17:43, 22 February 2014 (UTC)
:::Numberssss. I'll get on with it, just need less homework and a few more numbers. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:54, 23 February 2014 (UTC)

I would like to respectfully file a complain. I find the banner advertisement of background checks distasteful. [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 05:10, 15 July 2014 (UTC)
: Hey [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] - I am the one who approved those ads. But, since you have filed a complaint about them, I have gone ahead and removed them. Thanks. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:52, 15 July 2014 (UTC)

I thank you. [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 03:36, 17 July 2014 (UTC)

== Using <nowiki><nowiki></nowiki></nowiki> in transcripts to improve accuracy ==

In the transcripts, <nowiki>[[lines]]</nowiki> are being changed to [lines] in order to avoid auto-linking. Why not just surround these with <nowiki><nowiki></nowiki></nowiki> tags and avoid the problem entirely? --[[User:Epauley|Epauley]] ([[User talk:Epauley|talk]]) 04:18, 16 June 2013 (UTC)
:Because it takes less time to type and single brackets are just as readable as double brackets to visitors. It's also a bit more readable in the editor. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:55, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

== Strip Title ==

For someone who commonly browses explainxkcd in place of xkcd, and hence often see the strips for the first time here rather than the parent site, I find it somewhat odd that the 'Title Text' is so poorly displayed given how critical it can be to the strip.

I propose that, while retaining the given name (perhaps moving it top left), the title text be enlarged and relocated to being over the strip as originally intended. {{unsigned ip|175.41.133.18}}
:The title text is placed very well at bottom of the image.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 07:20, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

:I would have to agree with Dgbrt, it's placed nicely at the bottom, and there is no need for it to be moved. My reasoning is that you never actually read the title text first, you read it last. Making it <code>text-align: left;</code> does not make sense, because the image is centered (just like on xkcd.com). I also believe that there is no need for it to be re-sized, mainly due to the fact that it is slightly larger than the title text (for me, at least). {{User:Grep/signature|05:18, 08 September 2013}}

:Plus, if you hover over the image, it's the same as on xkcd.com {{User:Grep/signature|06:13, 08 September 2013}}

:I also agree with Dgbrt and Grep. The title text is kind of a bonus and should not be emphasized more than on the original page. On the original site you only see it before the image, if you have very slow internet access (or very fast eyes) --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:06, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

== Sections in talk pages ==

Is there a reason why there are no sections in talk pages? It is not a very big deal, but especially for longer talk pages it would make editing be much handier, especially when using the preview function (not having to find the section every time). Also it automatically adds a description to the history (thus makes it more easy to look for certain edits, or decide by just looking at the [[Special:RecentChanges]], if a comment should concern you. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:01, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
:When discussion pages are transcluded by the comic discussion template, section headers carry over from talk pages and bad things happen. Using ; to denote headers instead of equals signs works well, and doesn't share transclusion pain. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:04, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

== references ==

Any chance we can add [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Cite/Cite.php cite.php] to this wiki? Most pages don't need it, but some comics take on a life of their own and being able to add reference tags would be really helpful for those. [[User:LadyMondegreen|LadyMondegreen]] ([[User talk:LadyMondegreen|talk]]) 01:33, 9 October 2013 (UTC)
: Cite has been added to the wiki. Thanks for the suggestion! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 01:35, 17 October 2013 (UTC)

== Stylized writing ==

I understand that this wiki isn't as formal as wikipedia or sites like that but it seems that there are a few questionable practices:

1. The use of questions - when a non-rhetorical or unnecessary question is entered into the explanation.

2. Extremely painted/biased view points - when there is obvious bias in the tone of the explanation of the contributor, in other
words; a lack of neutrality.

3. Extreme repetition/rehashing - the explanation restates things and makes for a long and tedious read when a more straight-forward explanation is possible and clearer.

4. The general informality - "This one's an easy one" "This is simple" "this one's straightforward" "You're an idiot for not understanding this one" etc.

5. Many other practices that make the explanation hard to read, difficult to understand, or plain ugly.

I know that there are disparaging view points on how a comic should be explained, but please let's clean up the site a bit, acknowledge each view point and report on all of them and then tighten up the sloppy writing. Carry out arguments in the talk section, not the explanation. Perhaps we could first try to say the majority view point on the interpretation and then write the alternate explanations, of course this would bring up the debate on which is the majority explanation. Either way, more complete, logical explanations should be given more credence. --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 00:25, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

:I agree with 2-5. 1, on the other hand, is sometimes useful and can contribute the to explanation, although 1 is still a very good point. I would say that you should edit it to have "arguments in the talk" be a 6th point as well. Unfortunately, though, we are not all logical, comic-understanding machines here, so minor deviations of these rules are still to be expected. But I think that overall, these are good rules, even if 2/3 are sort of part of 5.
:[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]], please sign your post with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>{{User:Grep/signature|23:55, 22 October 2013}}

:I understand the use of questions in certain parts. And it was probably better to put the others as sub-categories to five but I wanted to show some common things that can be easily fixed. I know that some explanations require a lot of text and extensive research because of the abstract subjects Randall deals with and that it's difficult to be completely standardized but I think it would be good for us to try to come up with some general things to try to avoid to help the explanations "flow" --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 00:25, 23 October 2013 (UTC)
::Most of that isn't intentional, it's just an awful lot of labor to copy check all the explanations. I've been going through all the current articles and fixing consistency issues, the worst being wrong transcript/title text/dates and the most benign being wikilinks, spelling and trailing spaces. I'm at 682 so far, but my next pass will be on actual language and content, and it'll probably take longer. It takes a while though, and you can totally work on improving language in articles if you want to. Some explanations were pulled from the old blog, some were written and just got lost in the changelog. Copy editing everything we have so far is a very labor-intensive job, and the only way to really deal with it is to knuckle down and do it, or form a wikiproject and hope to heaven that visitors feel charitable enough to join in on it. I'd *probably* push to finish up all our incomplete articles first though, just because that's more directly related to the purpose of the site; tone and style probably comes second to having correct explanations. That doesn't mean you can't do it yourself, it's just that I'll probably only dedicate the subheader on the main page to one project at a time and our current biggest bugbear hasn't been solved yet. I could put up a sitenotice to see if that speeds the process up any. I'll do that when I get back home. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:31, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

== Easy redirect to comic? ==

I've been thinking, and there is one thing that would make navigating to the explained comics easier. My method of browsing is I'll see the comic on xkcd.com first, and if there is something curious about it that I don't quite understand, I'll come here. Sometimes it can be a bit troublesome, going to the homepage and then navigatiing to the right comic. Not too bad, but I'd like an easy way to go direct. So I was thinking, what if you had a redirect such that if you typed in, for example, www.explainxkcd.com/505, you would get redirected to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=505:_A_Bunch_of_Rocks. That would mean that you could get to the comic just from adding an "explain" to the start of the xkcd.com URL. I don't know if that is at all possible, but it would be pretty handy if it happened. Thoughts?
[[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 03:01, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
:[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Technical#Redirect_from_explainxkcd.com.2F1234 That's actually already on the to-do list.] I'm testing it right now and we should have it up soon. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:02, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
:: Awesome :) [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 03:26, 1 November 2013 (UTC)
:::Whoop, forgot to mark this as complete. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:37, 1 November 2013 (UTC)
:::: Done! Copy this and drag it to your bookmarks bar: |javascript: var url = document.URL; document.location = url.replace('xkcd.com','explainxkcd.com');| {{unsigned ip|173.245.52.29}}
:::::The feature requested here has also long since been implemented. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:20, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

== Increase support via prominent display of copyright and license for text submitted to explainxkcd ==

XKCD itself is rather liberally licensed, and gets lots of good will from that. As it says on the bottom of every page "This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License." For details see [http://xkcd.com/license.html xkcd - A Webcomic - License].

But I found nothing on most pages of explainxkcd about copyright or licensing, and it discouraged me from contributing or donating. Finally, as I was writing this proposal up, I found a link on the editing page here: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Copyrights explain xkcd:Copyrights - explain xkcd] saying that "''The Explain XKCD wiki is generally licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license (CC-BY-SA-3.0)''". That notice should be more prominent on the site, with at least a link on each page. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 15:27, 5 November 2013 (UTC)
:This should be mentioned at the main page, including a reference to the xkcd origin.
:BTW: NO DOUBLE SPACES after a sentence. Are you US guys still using a typewriter? It's not rendered at a web page and stupid like Gallons, Miles, Foots, and much more unique US behaviours. But that's just a joke beside.
:The licence hint is much more important, you are just correct.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:12, 5 November 2013 (UTC)
::Added a creative commons icon to the footer of the page, next to the powered by mediawiki button. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:16, 5 November 2013 (UTC)

== New Comics Bot ==

Would there be need for such a thing?
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.52|108.162.231.52]] Synthetica
:Nice idea, I never thought about that before. I will do some tests on existing comics to check if this could reduce the current number of error posts for a new article. When that is ready and working I will talk to some admins. My bot account [[User:DgbrtBOT|DgbrtBOT]] was originally intended for [[1190: Time]] picture uploads, but I never have used it because Time was over. Creating the new pages should be easy in general, avoiding errors will cost some more work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:31, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
::If you can get dgbrtBOT to do that, that'd help us an awful lot. It'd allow us to get rid of the ifexist cases in template:LATESTCOMIC as well, since the bot could change automatically that whenever a new comic goes up. It'll also help us get new comics down almost the moment they pop up, since the bot could sample several times a minute until a comic is posted. So long as it gets the general pattern right so that we have a correct page set up, we're good. An admin can come in sometime later to clean up categories and image urls and other piddly easy-to-fix details. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:54, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
:::I will work on this next weekend, just local scripts and no updates here. I also will talk about my results before any automatic updates will be activated. My first focus is on creating the new pages in the general pattern, LATESTCOMIC and also the page "All comics" are maybe a bonus later. And of course all my scripts will be open source.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:44, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
::::The first version is ready and I will test it at my local wiki. If everything goes well I could activate it for Wednesday (2013-11-13). LATESTCOMIC and "All comics" are on my roadmap, but first I want produce correct new pages here. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:00, 10 November 2013 (UTC)
:::::Righty ho. Here goes. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:36, 10 November 2013 (UTC)
Even when my automatic local wiki test did fail today, just a damn wrong password, I will activate the bot here for Wednesday. It will only run from 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM UTC. You will not see my possible updates at [[Special:RecentChanges]] unless you click ''Show bots'' at the top of that page. LATESTCOMIC and "All comics" are not covered, but this is at my TODO list until this test will be successful. Give me a '''GO''' or '''NO-GO''' for this test.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:49, 11 November 2013 (UTC)
:Easily a GO, I'll be ready to clean up if anything goes wrong. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:08, 11 November 2013 (UTC)
::So be ready on Wednesday for the clean up. My worst case is ''it simply does not work'', second worse scenario is still that I could delete some contend already posted here, but I'm trying to avoid this. ''Huston'', the countdown clock is counting. I'm joking about this because I really want to be confident about this ''BOT'' or ROBOT or uncontrolled action here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:28, 12 November 2013 (UTC)
:::The bot can't do anything that I can't reverse. I can even restore a backup from an hour before the bot's edits if it manages to break the database. How quickly does it poll xkcd, by the way? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:53, 12 November 2013 (UTC)

First live test here (comic 1289). Please delete this page: [[Simple_Answers:_1289]]. Since my local wiki did not provide this templates I could not see this error before. In general the bot will update pages differ to any existing pages, but when it is not changed no update will happen. I'm fixing this errors at my script and do a second test here soon. I want to see it's producing correct pages until the bot will do it's work when I'm sleeping.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:31, 12 November 2013 (UTC)
:Ok, test are done here, BOT is scheduled for the next update. Polling is every five minutes on Mon, Wed, and Fri from 04:00 until 08:00 UTC. Let's see how it will work.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:08, 12 November 2013 (UTC)
::Couldja ramp that up to once/twice a minute, push the start time back by an hour, and the end time by a few hours? Also, is it possible to terminate it once it finds a comic for a certain day? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:45, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
:::It worked! Though it posted the comic 5 minutes past post time. We has technology now, we can afford to poll faster and closer, yeah? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:32, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
Uhh, it worked... I will increase the polls when I'm more confident about the release times. Today it was approx. 05:00 UTC (GMT) or 01:00 EST (Randall's time zone). Looks like he is still at daylight saving time, would have been 00:00 EDT. The polls will be increased to one minute when I'm sure about the Standard Release Time (SRT). Next steps for the next update on Friday are:
:The "All comics" page.
:The LATESTCOMIC template.
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:54, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
:The LATESTCOMIC template is included for the next run, it just simply has to return a number. But it's still the most critical part because if it does not work the Main Page is broken. I will change this to a better solution using that IFEXIST syntax soon. The list of all comics is still at my ToDo list. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:06, 14 November 2013 (UTC)
::The desired content of the LATESTCOMIC template should be just the comic number. If we can get out of having to poll multiple IFEXIST statements to find the latest comic, that would be a fantastic boon to our server performance. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:43, 15 November 2013 (UTC)
:::OK, it did work today so I will not change this. Next step is the list for all comics.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:10, 15 November 2013 (UTC)
Next run will include an update on the "All comics" page. I'm crossing my fingers. When this update is also successful I will document my Bot at the Bot user page [[User:DgbrtBOT]]. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:15, 17 November 2013 (UTC)
:Oh, I forgot this detail: The bot is starting at 00:00 EST (RLT - Randall local time), which is 04:00 UTC and 05:00 MET for me. It polls every 5 minutes until 23:55 MET (22:55 UTC, 18:55 RLT) the main page until a new comic is found. I do not poll the comic number because I want to avoid 404 message logs at the servers.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:30, 17 November 2013 (UTC)
:Something went wrong there. That's gonna need fixing. I am enjoying the looks of the apparently faster polling though. Maybe you could also set the start time to 00:00:05 EST to catch the on-time xkcd releases within ten seconds? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:33, 18 November 2013 (UTC)
::Uh, what a mess. I will do some more tests at my local wiki. At the next time I will do a check against the number from the LATESTCOMIC template, only the next number will be processed. The test against my local history did fail because of some cleanups after testings.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 08:18, 18 November 2013 (UTC)
:::I don't like mess. So the BOT got many more checks before posting here but the bot was starting at 05:00 local time for me. I'm really asleep at that time. The mess here was covered, but I do need another GO for the next attempt. Otherwise I will just do a test to my local wiki.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:35, 18 November 2013 (UTC)
No GO so far, my next test will run only at my local wiki.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:16, 19 November 2013 (UTC)
:My script is here: [https://github.com/dgbrt/explainXKCD_update explainXKCD_update]. At my current test "explainxkcd.com" is commented out and "localhost" is active. Since I don't like mess and the bot does act while I am sleeping the next update must be done manually here. I'm hoping the bot will be ready for the next update on Friday.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:15, 19 November 2013 (UTC)
::Bot is ready for Friday, everything went smooth at my last local test today. The bot did find the latest comic at 04:05 UTC and all essential pages were properly created. So I will activate it for this site again. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:57, 20 November 2013 (UTC)
Bot did work as expected. So I name it release 1.1337, the next planed release will be 2.1337 (beta) because of this two issues:
*"Include any categories below this line." will be removed because it doesn't make any sense any more.
*BETA: I want to use the full template features at [[List of all comics]], just ensuring that the pictures are working properly. No need for this at the most comics, but the BOT doesn't cover all possibilities on corrupt file names like we have had in "Pi vs. Tau". The picture was without that dot. My bot just shows the real link it did upload here.
I'm pretty sure we will have some issues on this bot, but for general pages it should work. So the bot will be active on Mon,Wed,Fri from 0:00 EST (or EDT) every five minutes until it did found a new comic, on success the bot does not poll any more.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:51, 22 November 2013 (UTC)
:Aww, it's a bot. It doesn't need to rest or take time off to do other stuff. It can totally poll once or more times per minute. Also, if you set the start time to a few seconds after midnight, Randall time, when he uploads a comic on-time, you'll get it within a few seconds as opposed to having to wait for the next polling. As for the image names, maybe you could convert spaces in the comic name to underscores, compare the two comic names you have and use that to decide which version of the template to use? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:08, 22 November 2013 (UTC)
::I have to avoid that the bot is running twice, Internet Timeouts and more. And the comics are also published later sometimes. Look at my release [https://github.com/dgbrt/explainXKCD_update 1.1337], release 2.1337 will be later, Maybe I should start at 2 minutes after 0:00, but let's see right now how the bot does work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:38, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
Uhh, what a huge discussion here. The bot will get a major update soon: Scheduler does start it once and until a comic is found and uploaded it here or an other limit is reached (maybe the end of the day) the bot will poll by a small delay. But every poll is still an entire download from the main page, When a new comic is found bot stops.
:Why, you could use http://xkcd.com/info.0.json, right?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.52|108.162.231.52]] 07:38, 2 December 2013 (UTC)Synthetica
::The BOT performs perfect and I prefer to analyze the original page. A title text like the one from today (a text showing a link) will be covered in the future.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 10:35, 2 December 2013 (UTC)
A great enhancement would be also covering a new comic like 1190 Time was. I'm looking forward on this, some ideas, it does require a complete analyse of the page and then finding some strange content.
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:05, 27 November 2013 (UTC)

== Require description for 'incomplete' tags ==
I've been trying to fix some of the incompletes, but several explanation pages I've come across are tagged incomplete without any reason given. The reason should be a required part of the tag. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.223|173.245.52.223]] 03:35, 7 December 2013 (UTC)
:This incomplete tags are just older than the recent change of that template. Current adds require a description, but it's not easy to figure out all that old reasons. If someone does find a reason, please just add it. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:22, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

== Should there be a subwiki to cover the shop links that appear above the comic? ==

The current one (as of writing) is [http://imgs.xkcd.com/store_news/store_gd_b11_1ze4.png] but this is a different than the usual, and there was also a third in between these.
[[User:Rsranger65|Rsranger65]] ([[User talk:Rsranger65|talk]]) 06:00, 8 December 2013 (UTC)
:Those are very ephemeral. They aren't going to exist for very long, I don't know how valuable it would be to archive that stuff. We could probably do it, but having to figure out another naming convention and all for advertisements doesn't appeal to me at the current moment. If you can flesh it out, I'd love to see how you think we should do it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:24, 8 December 2013 (UTC)

== New Character ==

OK, I think we need a name for the character with a goatee and glasses in comics [[435: Purity]], [[796: Bad Ex]] and [[964: Dorm Poster]] as well as possibly others. Edit: oh and I suggest Goatee and Glasses Guy, but I'm open for suggestions Edit 2: also in [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]] Halfhat {{unsigned|Halfhat}}
edit 3: Another sighting [[954: Chin-Up Bar]] [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 16:57, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
: In the transcript, he is called "Person with Glasses and a Goatee" --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:39, 21 March 2014 (UTC)
:: "Glasses Guy", "Goatee Guy" are both probably descriptive enough! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:41, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

== What If Comics ==

Hi, I was thinking, maybe at some point we should do the comics in the ''What If?'' section, like [http://what-if.xkcd.com/imgs/a/36/cornstarch_bitcoins.png this one.] [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 20:01, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
: Start creating the pages for them! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:36, 21 March 2014 (UTC)
: I think I can start creating one or two pages for What If, if that helps... [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 16:14, 5 April 2014 (UTC)
:: If nobody has any problem with it, I'm gonna give it a try later. :) [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 13:14, 8 April 2014 (UTC)
:::I thought they were already pretty self-explanatory though. Also, how are we gonna organize and present them? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:31, 8 April 2014 (UTC)
::::I totally agree with David: Read the entire What-If page and follow the links provided by Randall. No one of us can do that better in depth. But an overview page for this site is maybe not a bad idea, we just need a proper link here — a link at the main menu on the left. Translations to other languages are just another issue. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:37, 8 April 2014 (UTC)
:::::Yes, I was thinking of an overview, summarizing the contents and discoveries of each what if page. Not to mention, we could also organize what if pages by categories, such as physics/love.
:::::Would you like me to post here an example of what I would write? That way we can decide if it's worthy of creating an actual page. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 12:53, 9 April 2014 (UTC)
:Adding pages for What If? posts would be very helpful. Although the articles themselves are obviously self-explanatory, there are almost as many subtle references, running gags, and in-jokes in What If? posts these days as in the comics themselves.
I often visit explain xkcd when I feel like I'm missing an inside joke or a pop culture reference in a comic, and it would be very helpful to many people (especially those from other cultures/subcultures) to have the same service.
For example, today's What If? contains multiple allusions to the Superman Movie, a running Citation Needed joke, and a whole comic that is a not-so-subtle dig at Elon Musk and the Hyperloop. It would be awesome if the community here at explainxkcd could tackle stuff like that.
Anonymous 20:05, 31 July 2014 (UTC)

I agree. I don't understand the mouseover text on the first image in "Snow Removal", for example. [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 22:57, 23 February 2015 (UTC)

== Transcripts ==

The whole point of the transcripts is to have those who are unable to view images to still be able to read the comic, right?

Then why is it required to stick to strictly official transcripts, where sometimes rewriting them slightly would make them flow better or otherwise get the ideas across better? I've tried rewriting a few, but they get reverted. I think that having easier-to-understand transcripts would be more important than strictly following official transcripts; what do you think? (For a few examples, see [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=207:_What_xkcd_Means&diff=60061&oldid=57400 this edit] and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=995%3A_Coinstar&diff=59862&oldid=57316 this edit]. [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 17:38, 19 February 2014 (UTC)
:We use the original transcript to try and deduce original author intent if it's unclear from the image. I remember one comic where Beret Guy was off in the distance and it was difficult to distinguish him from the image, but the official transcript said it was him. We don't stick to the original transcript if it's obviously wrong, or it has typographical errors: see [[Laser Scope]]. Those edits seem to be mainly targeted at language and clarity, and should be fine. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:06, 19 February 2014 (UTC)
::Would it be helpful to have another (optional) section for expanding on the official transcripts? I too think it could be helpful, especially for complex images (such as 1079/United Shapes [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1079]). Or does supplemental description belong in the Explanation sections? Cheers. [[User:Karenb|Karenb]] ([[User talk:Karenb|talk]]) 23:00, 20 March 2014 (UTC)
:::Naaah, how many people even know there's an original transcript? If the original is wrong, change it. If your additions begin to verge on explanatory, move eet to the trivia/explanation sections. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:52, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

== "Characters in this Comic" section ==

Should there be a "Characters in this Comic" section in each comic explanation? (I feel like this should be longer but don't have anything else to say.) [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 23:33, 11 May 2014 (UTC)

:There is a Category section at the bottom of each comic. Just scroll down and you will see any character belonging to a specific comic. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:50, 12 May 2014 (UTC)

== Adding the Radiation chart from XKCD ==

Hi
As there are already other comics with explanations even though they are not part of the number system.
This one does not seem to have any yet:
http://xkcd.com/radiation/
And as it is very alike the Money strip (the unexplained of the week) so I think it should be explained as well.
If you agree please add it as I'm not sure how to do that.

Best regards
:[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:47, 7 June 2014 (UTC)

== Reddit comments? ==

There should be a link in each comics explanation page somewhere linking to the comment section for the relevant comic on /r/xkcdcomic or reddit.
:The reddit comments page isn't ''that'' close to what we do though. If this is more popular, we'll do it, though there'll need to be a fair bit of post-hoc editing since I don't think there's a standard URL scheme for all the past comics. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)
:I just came here to ask if we could do this, but I looked into it and it wouldn't be simple. Could we write a bot to run on the xkcd subreddit to post the link here? --[[User:Eluvatar|Eluvatar]] ([[User talk:Eluvatar|talk]]) 05:53, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

== Not insulting new users ==

I am writing a response to a vulnerability assessment. I have included a link to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/936 noting that it contains a good explanation of the relative security of passwords vs passphrases. I just noticed that the top of that page contains "Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb." Looks like I'll have to find a different site to link to. --[[User:Pascal|Pascal]] ([[User talk:Pascal|talk]]) 17:33, 28 June 2014 (UTC)
:I agree. While I'm sure it can seem cute or funny in various circles, that text has always seemed immature and inappropriate to me, and I'm sure to many folks we'd like to invite to the site. I suggest that it be changed. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 19:52, 23 March 2015 (UTC)

:The XKCD http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/936 suggestion for password is actually not that good. [http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/62832/is-the-oft-cited-xkcd-scheme-no-longer-good-advice read here] for some more discussion. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.253.6|162.158.253.6]] 23:49, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

:I also agree. I'm not here because I'm stupid, I'm here because I don't know something and I'm hoping this site can help. It's off putting to have that text there, and there's no benefit to it. What about just repeating the thing at the top of XKCD.com: "Romance, Sarcasm, Math, and Language: Explained"?

I agree, and there is actually a very long talk page started about this subject in the miscellaneous section. Eventually people voted to keep it, but the main argument on that side was that that was the way things had always been. I am fairly new to the site (this is actually my first post on it), so I don't know how these things work, but I do think that that should be changed. There were actually a large number of good proposals for replacements with the other one, and I thought it would be funny if there was a randomly selected character every time you loaded a page, with each character having their own tagline. Is there any way to try to get this changed again?[[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.52|172.68.78.52]]

== RSS feed ==

Is there an RSS feed (or some equivalent) of Explain XKCD available? It's helpful for those using feed readers, and superior to the primary XKCD RSS since there are explanations and the mouse over text is transcribed for the lazy. Thanks [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.154|108.162.219.154]] 08:24, 28 August 2014 (UTC)
:[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:NewPages&feed=atom&hideredirs=1&limit=90&offset=&namespace=0&username=&feed=&tagfilter= Why yes, we do!] It's the regular new pages log that all wikis have. It's a little ugly at the moment, and sometimes junk gets in there when a bot chucks spam at us, so a nicer feed is in the works, but the linked one should do you excellently for now. When the nice one is done, you'll see it in the sidebar below the "Help" button. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:31, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

== Navigation Pane Link - Categories ==

How about having a link to the "Special:Categories" page in the navigation pane?

A fair amount of effort has gone into categorising the comics, and at the moment it isn't particularly obvious how to browse by category. Is this worth doing?{{unsigned|Pudder}}
:Space on the sidebar is on a premium. I dunno, I'd probably be against it, but I want to hear what other admins say as well. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:45, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

== Alternate realities what if would benefit from a wiki entry ==

The what if entry from the end of November 2014 providing excerpts from alternate reality what ifs would benefit from an explain page.
I suspect these may have been typos that have been made into jokes, but some of the humor might not be apparent to all.
I doubt I have access (or maybe know how) to set it up myself.

Cheers {{unsigned ip|199.27.133.42}}

: Made it. Check out [[What If: 120: Alternate Universe What Ifs]]. [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 09:10, 26 December 2014 (UTC)
::We don't actually have a structure for what if pages in general, so I'll have to take that down, but when we do we can make pages for every what if. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:57, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

== Secondary URLs? ==

I have made http://www.xkcd.ga and http://www.xkcd.tk both forward to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. Is this ok? [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:50, 26 December 2014 (UTC)
:While we probably won't advertise them because we can't guarantee the uptime of third-party URLs, and they add an additional redirect layer and lack our shortened URL features, you're free to purchase and link URLs to us independently. We are not owned by Randall and as such cannot claim to actually be xkcd, so I'm not hugely comfortable with you using the plain name "xkcd" to link to us; a url in the format http://www.xkcd.[TLD] should by rights link to the main xkcd site, but no trademark claim has been made or likely will be made, so you should be fine with doing whatever you want to do with URL redirects '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:57, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

== LaTeX (Or MathML, TeX) support? ==

[[1489:_Fundamental_Forces|In the most recent comic at the time of posting]], there was use of formulae, being: Fgravity = G m1m2/d2 Fstatic = Ke q1q2/d2 
There are probably many more comics using formulae that cannot be rendered properly without the use of LaTeX or something. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Displaying_a_formula help page on Wikipedia] says that the following should work: <math>F_{gravity}=G\frac{m_1m_2}{d^2}</math> <math>F_{static}=K_e\frac{q_1q_2}{d^2}</math>
Provided that one has to set <source lang="php" enclose="none">$wgUseTeX = true;</source> in [[mw:Manual:LocalSettings.php|LocalSettings.php]]. Is there any reason for this to be disabled? If there is, is there any alternative? —[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.95|141.101.106.95]] 21:18, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

:The wgUseTeX flag was deprecated in mediawiki 1.18 in a move to simplify base mediawiki and move niche features into seperate plugins. I vaguely remember this being requested in the past, can't find any evidence of me implementing it. I'll try it now, see what stopped me last time. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:12, 21 February 2015 (UTC)
:Ah, there's a bit of configuration work to it and I was busy at the time probably. I'll put it on the growing to do list on my userpage. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:20, 21 February 2015 (UTC)
This problem is '''solved'''. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:03, 15 June 2018 (UTC)

== Merge Cueball & Rob ==

At the risk of posting this idea too many places and annoying everyone, I would like to propose that we consider merging [[Cueball]] and [[Rob]] and redirecting Cueball to Rob, much as [[Cutie]] now redirects to [[Megan]]. The most common name given for a Cueball-like character in the strip is "Rob". Like Megan, he is not always named. Also, like Megan, Rob tends to have distinct characteristics such as being a nerdy alter-ego to Randall (e.g. [[1168: tar]]) just as Megan often is the appearance given to comic representations of Randall's wife (see [[1141: Two Years]], before hair loss). Megan and Cueball appear to have a relationship (e.g. [[159: Boombox]]) and Megan clearly hangs out with Rob in ways not inconsistent with adventurous couples (e.g. [[782: Desecration]]). Finally, comics that feature both [[Black Hat]] and "Cueball" seem to depict them as friends and possibly roommates. However, we learn in [[1102: Fastest-Growing]] that Black Hat's roommate is named "Rob".

In short, I believe if [[159: Boombox]] had called "Cueball" "Rob" we would've rewritten both Cutie and Cueball to redirect there. Because we learned that "Cueball's" name is actually Rob much later (I think the earliest occurrences are [[647: Scary]], and [[716: Time Machine]]; the first time he is seen with Megan in a capacity that might indicate a relationship is [[782: Desecration]]). [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:05, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

:As I answered your comment on [[1496: Art Project]] Rob is [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comics_featuring_Rob already listed] as part of the category for Comics featuring Cueball: and this is listed as the first entry when going to the page for [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comics_featuring_Cueball Category:Comics featuring Cueball]. Cueball is such an integral part of explain xkcd that I do not think any other users wish to change. Also the 9 incidences with Rob is maybe a specific person and at the time Randall did not think to give him any features. Also Cueballs have no specific behavior as you allude to. Neither has Megan. You can always find several Cueballs and Megans that behave a certain way. But then you can find many other comics where they behave the opposite way. Thus Rob and Cueball should not be merged. Also there are several comics with more than one Cueball. And here we have this problem: It is typically the first who writes the transcript who decides who of the Cueballs (or Megans) he feels represents the "real" Cueball. However, there is no real behavior of Cueball. So who should decide. I could change all these transcripts so it becomes the other character who becomes Cueball, because I think that the first transcriber did it wrong. And this is why in a comic with more than one Cueball (where neither is called Rob or the like) neither of the two should be called Cueball. It would still be in the category with Cueball, because that is just comics with a Cueball like character no matter how many. But they cannot be named Cueball and friend or Rob and friend (unless Rob's name is mentioned!) They could be called Cueball 1 and Cueball 2, but then guy or man would be better. I know several places have comics with two Cueballs where someone has designated one of them Cueball and the other friend of foe etc. But this should be corrected so none of these are called Cueball. Same should go for more than one Megan. But this is very rare, and I have only found one other than ''Art project'' and here only one Megan had any lines. The problem with different opinions on which Cueball is which came for the first time up with Megan in ''Art project'': The two Megan-like characters was first named (left to right) Megan and Danish. Then unidentified girl and Megan. Then Megan and unidentified girl, then two Megan like girls with short and long hair and finally you reverted it to my first change away from Danish to unidentified girl and Megan. (I can live with that as there is difference in hair length and behavior). But as far as I see it Cueball is not Rob as well as Megan should have continued to be called Cutie (but I would not like to change that now, as I have grown fond of Megan). But at the time the change was done I believe it was wrong. The same fondness for the name Cueball also makes me sure that no one else would wish to call him Rob, even if that is as much his name as Megan is Cuties... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:57, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

::My argument is that it is inertia and sentiment ("fond of Megan") that prevents an objective, equal treatment here. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 22:47, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

::Also, regarding the analogy made above to Danish. I am fine with a nickname when Randall hasn't named a character. So she was "unidentified girl" and then became "Danish". But, when we named her "Danish", we went back to "Journal 1" and other places and renamed her. My proposal is that we should go back through and rename "Cueball" as "Rob". Alternatively, we should reinstate "Cutie" for cases in which it is not clear that a character is "Megan" per se, but just Megan in her "everywoman" capacity. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 00:00, 12 March 2015 (UTC)

I'm not sure how to post a poll, but I see the following options:

1) Status quo: Cueball for all unidentified males without distinct characteristics (e.g. hats), Megan for all shoulder-length brunettes. Rob only for named Cueballs. Multiple Cueballs in a comic mean one is named Cueball and others get named "Friend", etc.

2) Symmetry 1: Cueball/Rob stays as is. Unnamed brunettes get named "Cutie". "Megan" like "Rob" is reserved for comics in which a name is used.

3) Symmetry 2: Megan stays as is. Rob is the default for indistinct males. "Cueball" page redirects to "Rob" (as "Cutie" now redirect to "Megan").

4) Expunge all Cueballs from multi-Cueball comics: Basically the status quo, except that in comics with multiple Cueballs none are named "Cueball" and are just all given names "Man 1", "Man 2", etc.

I am ambivalent regarding options 2 or 3. I could live with 1 if there is consensus for it, but I don't like it. 4 is a disaster in my mind and gains nothing. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 22:47, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

:We are probably the only one who reads these post...? But anyway as is clear I'm for 4. Which has been used several places already.´I can live with 1. I think 2 and 3 are disasters. Also it would be completely confusing for those who have used this page for many years. Why do you bring this up now? Is it because of the multiple Megan comics, or have you just signed up here, and dislike that it doesn't follow the rules you would have expected?--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:19, 12 March 2015 (UTC)
::I suggest instead that we create a category for multiple Cueballs, so it is easy to explain why the Cueball is not a specific character, and thus can never be Rob (except when it is clear from the text), or be expected to behave a certain way. And in reverse we make a Named Megan category so it is easy to find the few (three?) where she has been named. This by the way has nothing to do with the other suggestions, so I might just do that to get an overview. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:19, 12 March 2015 (UTC)
::: It seems more consistent to me to use [[Cutie]] for all unnamed "Megans" and reserve "Megan" for named comics. Thus, Rob is '''a''' Cueball and Megan is '''a''' Cutie. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 13:30, 13 March 2015 (UTC)

::::I've read through some of your discussions (Here, Kynde's talk page, Art Project discussion), and thought I might put my thoughts forwards. Essentially we have three questions here:
::::1) Should we merge Cueball and Rob, and rename all Cueballs as Rob?
::::2) Should we rename all Megans as Cutie, except where she is explicitly named?
::::3) Once questions 1 & 2 are answered, what do we do where the 'same' character appears multiple times in one comic?

::::*I understand the objective argument for renaming Cueball to Rob, however I'm unconvinced of the importance of being entirely objective, and I can't imagine Cueball being renamed to anything other than Cueball.
::::*I think its fairly clear where the Cueball label has come from, even if it might not be immediately obvious to some. Even if readers don't make the link between Cueball's head and a cue-ball, it is quite a generic label, which I think fits well with the transient every-man nature of Cueball's usage.
::::*There is something far more specific about the name Rob, which suggests that he is the same character every time. The origin of the name isn't obvious, which I think would be likely to cause confusion.
::::This brings me to conclude that for me, the answer to Q1 has to be that Cueball should stay as Cueball, unless explicitly named something else.

::::The question of changing Megan to Cutie is one where I am less confident. Following the arguments I've made above, the outcome has to be that we rename to Cutie unless specifically named Megan, however I am not entirely convinced. The name Megan has a history, there are surely lots of people who now know her as Megan, what do we really stand to gain from all the work of changing to Cutie? I would also suggest that the name Cutie may not be accepted well by those with strong feminist views.

::::As far as multi-character comics, I don't have time right now, but I will come back later and add my thoughts. Now that we've only got a few incomplete comics, we've had to resort to discussing renaming characters!--[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:07, 13 March 2015 (UTC)
:::::I agree with the reasons for keeping Cueball and Megan. And also that Cutie is such a loaded word, that it should never have been used anyway. This I did not immediately think about, but Cutie sounds like something from either a porn movie, or else a Bond Babe... Like the phrase from one of those movies: "Hello, I'm Plenty..." Then we should have to find a third name. And everyone here knows her as Megan. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:24, 15 March 2015 (UTC)
::::::I have created the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Multiple_Cueballs Category:Multiple Cueballs] to locate them and to show how often there are more than one. Feel free to add any I haven't found yet. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:45, 16 March 2015 (UTC)

I think Rob is Black Hat's roommate and Megan's boyfriend/partner/husband (see above). The "Cueball" in comics such as [[159: Boombox]] and [[542: Cover-Up]] should, in my view, be renamed "Rob", even though he is not explicitly called that in those comics. Most other "Cueball" comics can stay unchanged. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 00:43, 14 March 2015 (UTC)
:I have left my reason to disagree also with this on the two comics talk page. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:24, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

In my opinion, it is quite clear that [[Randall]] has chosen to name the main male protagonist [[Rob]], for the few occasions where he needs characters to call upon each other, in the same way as he has chosen [[Megan]] for the main female protagonist. We should therefore try to overcome our nostalgia, follow Randall, and call the common male protagonist Rob. The problem with multiple cueballs can most often be resolved by identifying the protagonist, from the first-person narration or the general perspective. Thus, in [[525: I Know You're Listening]] Rob is the comic's "I", to the left. In [[1110: Click and Drag]], Rob is obviously flying with a balloon. In [[610: Sheeple]] Rob is arguably the guy in the foreground facing us. Non-Rob "cueballs" we could refer to as "friend" "man", etc. In this way roughly half of the "multiple cueballs" would be resolved. I think I can live with a few unclear cases, like [[220: Philosophy]]. [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:22, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

:A featureless character has been ''specifically'' named Rob in 9 comics, compared with 968 'Comics featuring Cueball'. I believe it is fundamentally flawed to assert that because a featureless character is named Rob in less than 1% of appearances, that all featureless characters should therefore be assumed to be Rob. As I've discussed above, I think that Rob strongly implies a specific person, whereas Cueball is a vague 'everyman' character. I feel it would be a huge error to change all Cueballs to Robs.--[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 17:37, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

::The problem with that logic is that "Megan" is only named in a small number of comics (fewer that "Rob"). So we should have a different name for an unnamed generic female. [[Cutie]] is fine, but if people perceive that as sexist, then another name, maybe "Cuegirl" or "Brunette" would work. (Side note: I doubt "Cutie" would be perceived as sexist and there's history there.) What I '''do''' find sexist is the fact that there is asymmetry between male and female "everyperson"s. In sum, I would say there is at less evidence to support naming Megan-everywoman "Megan" in all cases as there is to name Rob-everyman (here called "Cueball") "Rob" in all cases. Asymmetry here ignores the fact that Randall clearly intends his name to be "Rob" and also that we are using a proper name for everywoman but a contrived name for everyman, while creating an artificial distinction between Rob and Cueball and smearing out any possible distinction between Megan-everywoman and Megan-properName. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 13:18, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

:::As I put in my earlier comment (see above), I do agree that the logical conclusion is that Megan should no longer be named Megan, and should have an equivalent generic name. As an aside, I'm quite partial to your suggestion of Cuegirl. I disagree with your assertion that "Randall clearly intends his name to be Rob", and I think that is the central point of this discussion. I don't believe that there is anywhere near enough evidence to assign a specific name to what I believe is a generic character. If we want to go for formal logic, consider the syllogism "Some non descipt characters are called Rob, there are many non-descript characters, therfore all non-descript characters are called Rob". The conclusion simply does not follow. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 14:22, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

::::Great, I vote for Cuegirl & Cueball :: Megan & Rob! [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 01:31, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

I agree with Djbrasier's and St.nerol's arguments, and I too feel that the arguments against dealing with this in an objective, symmetrical and logical way seem mostly based on nostalgia. Either we agree that a few named instances of the everywoman are sufficient to generalize to the (vastly more numerous) unnamed instances, and apply the same standard to the everyman, which is only consistent (and even more justified in the case of Rob since he is named in more comics than Megan), or we decide that the extrapolation is unjustified and we revert the Cutie-->Megan merge. The alternative --having double standards and deciding things based on historical baggage and emotional attachment rather than rationality-- makes no sense for followers of the comic that ''literally invented'' nerd-sniping!

I'd also add that, as a non-native speaker, "cueball" doesn't ring any immediate bells unless the connection to cue balls is pointed out explicitly -- so actually Rob works even better as a generic name than Cueball. We have already [[#New character|agreed previously]] that clarity is better than cleverness when we named [[Hairy]], forgoing the less obvious alliteration "Harry", so I vote we use the name Randall ''actually'' gave us, let go of our attachments to a creation he never endorsed, and honor our collective nerdiness by doing the logical thing: apply our standards uniformly and adopt Rob the same way we adopted Megan. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 06:09, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

:I've already put my thoughts forward above, so I won't repeat the same ground I've covered, other than to say I believe it would be a mistake to turn all Cueballs into Robs. While I will admit to having some nostalgia for the name Cueball, that isn't a major facet of my argument. I believe that any generic name is better than a specific name. Call them Stickboy & Stickgirl if you want! I know there are a fairly significant number of contributors and visitors who do not have English as their first language, but I don't believe that is a reason to choose a specific name, rather than a generic name, even if the origin of the latter isn't immediately obvious to all. It would be interesting to know whether each of us sees Cueball as always being the same person, or Cueball *is* Randall, or Cueball is just a changeable everyman.

:To me, he is a changeable everyman, who I guess may represent or be based on: Randall, his friends, family or acquaintances, famous people, someone he saw in the street, or a completely made up character used to fill a specific role in the comic. The reason I argue againt merging Rob & Cueball is that the Cueball I see is this morphing and fluid character, and to use a specific name to tie him down to being the same character all the time runs completely counter to that. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 08:31, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

:: Understood, and sorry for mischaracterizing your argument (the nostalgia part does cloud the discussion though). I suppose I would be somewhat ambivalent to either have Rob+Megan, or Cueball+Cutie -- Cuegirl doesn't work because she has hair :) --, in the interests of reason and symmetry. But I lean slightly towards Rob+Megan because those are names Randall actually gave us, while anything else is our own invention and thus has no claim to legitimacy other than popular support.
:: Particularly, while I understand your concern about shoehorning the various personality traits the Cueballs show in different comics into a single persona, that doesn't seem to have been a problem for Megan -- not to mention real people ''are'' indeed complex and multi-faceted beings (or "morphing and fluid", to use your terms) rather than one-dimensional caricatures. Heck, even Black Hat has his romantic side! :) So in light of that, I don't think we have to worry about ruining Cueball by naming him Rob -- if anything, that'd add more depth to him as a character! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:35, 10 April 2015 (UTC)
:::I'm still very much against changing things here. Call it nostalgia, but there are many users who will never read these arguments, who one day comes back and cannot find Megan or Cueball, and will ask who the heck are Cuegirl/Cutie. I'm completely with Pudder on the problem with giving Cueball the name Rob. It just doesn't make sense. I agree that we have a inconsistency with Megan. But then everyone who uses this page a few times, becomes familiar with that name. However the main problem with all your great ideas is this. Who should correct the either 984 pages where Cueball is mentioned because he is a part of it (and all the other pages relevant to him or where he is exactly mentioned because he isn't part of the comic) and/or who should do the same for 487 comics (plus loose pages) for Megan. Unless those in favor for changing the names will do this, then the discussion is moot. It is already clearly stated in the relevant pages that these two characters are generic and that they have been named but a few times. So what more can we do unless someone is willing to use several days to change this back. I sincerely doubt you can keep the correct syntax if you just try a brute force replacement? There are so many interconnecting links etc. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:21, 25 April 2015 (UTC)

I completely disagree with merging Cueball and Rob. Rob has [[276|Emily]] and [[632|Lisa]] as girlfriends, and Cueball has Megan. Rob also lives a more action-filled and stereotypical life compared to Cueball. --[[User:Youforgotthisthing|Youforgotthisthing]] ([[User talk:Youforgotthisthing|talk]]) 13:14, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

I think the main stances here are clear:
* Keep as is
* Rename Cuball to Rob
* Change Megan back to Cutie/Cuegirl
Since keeping it status quo wouldn't change anything and is asymmetrical, I'll go over the others:
* Rename Cueball to Rob - Arguments:
** Randall gave him this name;
** It would offer symmetry to Megan;
** If the Cutie -> Megan logic is to be followed (as she was changed once named in the comics) then Cueball should be Rob;
** Even though cueball is a generic everyman name, Rob seems more like a name you could give anyone and would be more recognizable to non-native English speakers.
* Change Megan back to Cutie/Cuegirl - Arguments:
** It would cause symmetry again, letting her have an everywoman name;
** Nostalgia for Cueball;
** Megan is not always the same character, so she should not always have the name Megan

I happen to agree with the idea of merging Cueball and Rob, but I'm not closed to the idea of Cutie/Cuegirl. The main problem is that these characters are typically interchangeable everymen/everywomen and there can be more than one in a comic. So another question is what we should do for multiple Cueballs/Robs. In my opinion, we should have all the comics with more than one depict them as Man 1, Man 2, etc. --[[User:Sensorfire|Sensorfire]] ([[User talk:Sensorfire|talk]]) 17:04, 20 May 2015 (UTC)
:Well I disagree. The users are used to refeer to these characters now by these names. It is also impractical to try to change them all. Megan is rarely twice in a comic. Maybe she is more the same like Black Hat is. But it is made clear that they are not the same in every comic in their pages. If there are muliple Cueballs but one is the main protagonist then he us cueball. If none can be singled out then Cueball like guy to the left/right can be used. I have done that for tbose cases I have found so far ([[:Category:Multiple_Cueballs|49 today]]).--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:58, 7 June 2015 (UTC)

Well, somebody pointed out that the title text of [[1783: Emails]] suggests that the Cueball in the comic is most certainly not Rob, and calling the main comic character 'Man 1' as above would be silly. And on top of all this, 'Cueball' occurs so much we would probably need to take a regex to every explanation in [[:Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 14:50, 9 January 2017 (UTC)

Why hasn't anyone thought of the name "Hairball"? {{unsigned ip|172.68.189.187}}
:Please don't forget to sign your posts. And everybody should read this first: [[Characters]] and [[Rob]]. For short: Rob is a named Cueball. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:57, 15 June 2018 (UTC)

== How to fit explanations of new classes of xkcd-related mysteries into the site: what-if, t-shirts, posters, special comics etc. ==

I suggest that the [http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:About explain xkcd] page should explain how this site is laid out, and what sorts of things are explained here besides the online numbered xkcd comics that come out three times a week.

For example, there is the [[A Smarter Planet]] series, and there are ideas for explaining some of the [http://what-if.xkcd.com/ What-If] series. I'd like to add my explanation of the [https://gist.github.com/nealmcb/398af29a72f7b3efc202 XKCD Greek t-shirt, with mathematical, scientific and engineering uses for greek letters] and perhaps some other t-shirts, posters and the like.

But I can't even figure out how to find non-numbered-comic-explanations, without going thru the entire [[Special:AllPages]] listing, which includes a huge set of unnumbered aliases as well as the numbered ones.

I've taken a stab towards that by editing the About page to point to some categories (and to start with a little overview), but since I'm just poking around, I might have missed some things. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 19:40, 23 March 2015 (UTC)

== Link to "Special pages" on main page ==

I think there should be a link to [[Special:SpecialPages]] on the main-page--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:55, 29 March 2015 (UTC)
:Special pages is a default feature in every mediawiki installation. It's also in the sidebar of every page, and it's not relevant to xkcd. Why does it merit space on the main page? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:56, 29 March 2015 (UTC)

== Science comic ==

Should the Science Magazine comic be added? http://m.sciencemag.org/content/342/6154/58.full [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 03:14, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
:I think that would be a great idea. Could there be other copyright rules when the comic has been published on Science? It there anyway to find out if Randall also has a link to it from (or has it on) xkcd? As he has done with the other [[:Category:Extra_Comics|Extra_Comics]]. And how do we create such a page, if there can be no link directly to xkcd (at the top of the comic)? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:24, 30 April 2015 (UTC)

== "what if?" section? ==

I would like to start a new "what if?" section explaining and discussing what if pages.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 06:08, 8 April 2015 (UTC)
:Why does it need to exist? The main xkcd comic needs it, because Randall tends to be obtuse at times, but the what if articles are sourced and written out already. Supposedly, they're already explanations to questions sent in to Randall. Why do we need to explain explanations? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:29, 8 April 2015 (UTC)
::Explaining them indeed seems unnecessary, but we could certainly catalog and summarize them. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:38, 10 April 2015 (UTC)
::The images on what if? also have title texts that could further be explained, and we could organize what if pages by categories, as well as provide summaries. There are also subtle references, running gags, and in-jokes in What If? that should be explained.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:44, 11 April 2015 (UTC)
::This https://what-if.xkcd.com/120/ is a example of a what if that could do with some explanations.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:47, 11 April 2015 (UTC)
:::That's one of 135 what-ifs, and it's entirely self referential and can be figured out by reading the rest of the archive. The substance of the majority of pages is going to be incredibly thin, Randall doesn't tend to leave much for explanation. Comics that are simple one-shot images are our least used pages for good reason, and the what-if images pretty much all fall into that category, or are used to illustrate Randall's point that he makes in the immediately preceding paragraph. We could archive/catalog all the what-if pages and be a second archive button for the series, though there's a little less value to that than the archiving we did for [[Time]] and [[Externalities]] because there's already an archive along the same lines on the main site. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:14, 11 April 2015 (UTC)
::::I think the main value we could add is a summary (TL;DR style) of each entry, in a short Q&A format. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:13, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
If we are going forward with this, is there anyway to find the date in which the what if was first published?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 09:01, 11 April 2015 (UTC)
:At the bottom of the page, there's an archive button. Click that. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:14, 11 April 2015 (UTC)
Well, fact is, the [[what if?]] page is much, '''much''' larger now. [[User:Nk22|Nk22]] ([[User talk:Nk22|talk]]) 11:52, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
:Thank you, Nk22! I've added a link from the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd About explain xkcd] page. {{unsigned|Nealmcb}}

== Userscript ==

Hello there, just wrote a simple userscript that adds an 'Explain' button to the original xkcd.com

https://gist.github.com/magazov/934de662d60c9fb5fea9

You can run it via Greasemonkey, Tampermonkey and other similar plugins :)

[[Image:Screen_Shot_xkcd_button.png]]
{{unsigned|Magazovski}}

:Yeah, there's a few of these floating around. In the future, could you use an imgur link instead of uploading stuff like that to the wiki? Thanks. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:02, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

::So maybe explainxkcd should host & maintain one of them? --[[User:Magazovski|Magazovski]] ([[User talk:Magazovski|talk]]) 09:30, 22 April 2015 (UTC)
:::Why would we host an image hosting site? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:17, 23 April 2015 (UTC)
::::He means we could host and maintain a userscript to help our fans get here from xkcd.... [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 14:36, 9 May 2015 (UTC)
:::::Hum, that's not a bad idea. I'll put it on the list of things to do. Although, if they're already here, why do they need a userscript to help them get here? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:34, 11 May 2015 (UTC)
::::::For people who mainly view the comics through the official site, but sometimes need an explanation of the comic. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 09:23, 11 May 2015 (UTC)

== Updating the incomplete comic of the day ==

Currently, I think the incomplete comic of the day should be changed more often (i.e. daily), since the incomplete comics are piling up, and most users aren't seeing the notice, as it is dismissible.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:40, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

:While I agree that the comic of the day could be changed more often, I wouldn't say that the incomplete comics are ''piling up''. Over the months I've been active here, the number of incomplete comics had fallen considerably. In fact if you check the comics which are still marked as incomplete, most of them are one where a significant effort would be required to complete them. For example the large comics (Money, Time, Congress) or dynamic comics (Externalities, Click & Drag, Pixels). --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:32, 23 April 2015 (UTC)
::Yeah. Of the 15 incomplete "pages," only 10 of them are actual comics that need the attention, and the full count is still dropping. I've been keeping it on single comics as of late because the remaining actual incomplete comics have been cycled through ~3 times already, with no significant effort made on them, because they're such monumental pieces of work. Making the message dismissable is by design, we are a service first and foremost, we're not trying that hard to make visitors do our work for us. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:17, 23 April 2015 (UTC)

== Infrequently recurring minor charachters ==

Should we just group all of the characters that are not of enough significance to warrant their own character page into a single page (i.e. [[Other Minor Characters]])? --{{User:17jiangz1/signature|02:58, 09 May 2015}}
:See comic [[1000]] for a sample of what this entails. Also, what value to we stand to provide by cataloging every unique character that has appeared in xkcd? Does it help us explain the comics any better? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:32, 9 May 2015 (UTC)

== Comic page creation ==

Is comic page creation not automated? If it isn't, then [[Help talk:How to add a new comic explanation]] should be created.--{{User:17jiangz1/signature|14:19, 26 May 2015}} 14:19, 26 May 2015 (UTC)

:Comic explanation was, at one point, automated. However, the bot ran on a schedule, and so sometimes there would be a few hours between a new comic being posted and the page getting created. Some editors just can't wait that long, so they do the bot's work before the bot even gets going. I agree that this page should be created and be kept up to date. Historically no one has read any of the help pages I've written. ;p [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:42, 26 May 2015 (UTC)

:However, I think that the page should be [[Help:Comic Explanation Page Creation]]. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:43, 26 May 2015 (UTC)

== Re-proposing merging Cueball and Rob ==

Okay, so this was previously [[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Merge_Cueball_.26_Rob discussed] but I felt that it was worth bringing up again. Really, at this point, there's no logical reason why the two should not be merged, or Megan and Cutie should be un-merged. Rob and Cueball clearly seem to be the same person, at least when cueball appears as a specific character. In the instances where there are multiple Cueballs, we should just refer to them as Man 1, Man 2, and so on. Can we get a vote or something this time? Yes, I understand that Cueball isn't always the same character. But neither is [[Megan]], and yet we always refer to the short black haired girl (formerly [[Cutie]]) as Megan. If that logic applies to her, it applies to Rob. It's pretty clear that Randall intended to name the character Rob, as most named Cueballs are named Rob and not Fred or something.

In short: Please don't bring nostalgia into this, it's really not relevant. Changing Cueball to Rob or Megan back to Cutie (or Cuegirl?) would have symmetry and make sense. {{unsigned ip|Sensorfire}}
:I'm ok with dumping a marginal character page that only served to add confusion to character identification in new comics, but this was a subject of contention before so we probably need to see more of people's thoughts first. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:03, 5 September 2015 (UTC)

:I agree: let's list the arguments for both sides, ensure that everyone agrees with the objectiveness of that listing, and then vote. If there's support for this plan, and nobody does it first, I'll take a stab at producing a first draft of the summary. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 23:57, 14 September 2015 (UTC)

:Randall is currently on a booktour. So, how about, instead of us (without the ability to read minds) arguing about his intention or who is/isn't the same character, someone go see him and ask? Then we'll know with absolute 100% certainty. [[User:WaltG123|WaltG123]] ([[User talk:WaltG123|talk]]) 04:49, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
::Randall never called either character Cueball and Cutie so of course this is not his names. Asking him would make no meaning at all. For any user of xkcd it will create lots of confusion to change the names of Megan and Cueball now. Regarding Rob he is already listed as Cueball in his category. And Cueballs have been called other names several times. Rob is just the only one that has been used a few times. I agree that it may have been wrong to call her Megan, (the name has been used like three times?) Similar it is just as wrong to call Black Hat's girlfriend [[Danish]], a nick name used once. But it is actually very nice to have a real name or at least useful name when speaking of characters. And it has also been mentioned that Cutie could be perused as a sexist name, so we should not move back to that. Well recently even [[Hairbun]] has her name changed from Hairbun girl since a user thought that was a problem given it most often was a grown woman. So I think we should stick to the solution of the previous debate and leave Cueball, Rob and Megan alone as they are! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:56, 29 June 2016 (UTC)

== Adjective phrases ==

Overwhelmed with the need to be picayune, I am compelled to point out that on the homepage there is the sentence that begins "There are a lot of comics that don't have set in stone explanations..." This sentence contains a adjective phrase which should be hyphenated thus: "set-in-stone"

Please pretend that I have said something witty here, as I am too tired to think of anything funny. {{unsigned|Gamewriter}}
:Is it actually grammatically wrong in it's current state? Huh. I guess I'll change it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:42, 1 November 2015 (UTC)

::This is long after the fact, but I'll throw my two cents in on Davidy22's question. Yes, it is wrong. If the 'set in stone' phrase were after the word explanations ("explanations set in stone") it would not require hyphens, but used as an adjective before the noun ("set-in-stone explanations") it requires them. D Miller [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.41|108.162.221.41]] 18:26, 21 March 2016 (UTC)

== Update MediaWiki ==

You are currently using MediaWiki 1.19.17. It's ''really'' outdated. Maybe update to 1.26.2, the current recommended stable version? There is an [[mw:Manual:Upgrading|official guide]] for that. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.77|141.101.80.77]] 12:03, 24 January 2016 (UTC) (PS my IP address is wrong it's not what you think it is)

== Rename Hair Bun Girl ==

The character [[Hair Bun Girl]] was named in April 2015. There wasn't any discussion of the name at the time, so I'd like to open that discussion now please.

At present we have several other characters named after distinctive visual features: [[Ponytail]], [[Black Hat]], [[White Hat]], [[Beret Guy]], and arguably [[Hairy]] and [[Cueball]]. In all but one of those cases, the name matches the distinctive feature itself, without the addition of "guy", "girl", etc. Given the number of comics that Beret Guy is in it's probably too late to modify his name, but it's not too late for Hair Bun Girl.

Besides the consistency issue, there's also the inaccuracy of referring to a grown woman with the term "girl", particularly when the character has been presented as older than [[Megan]]. I'd really like to fix this while her number of appearances is still manageable.

The name "Hairbun" has been proposed and I think that matches really nicely with Ponytail in particular.

[[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 04:23, 9 February 2016 (UTC)
:As the "guy" who created the Hair Bun Girl characther, I have no objection to changing the name. I did not think about the issue with girl/woman, probably because I'm not native English speaker. (And with the Beret Guy as an example). Jkshapiro was so kind as to [[User_talk:Kynde#Hair_Bun_.22Girl.22|ask my opinion]] before starting this discussion. At first I thought that ''Hairbun'' was a little weird, but then again so is Ponytail in this context. So I '''support''' the change to '''Hairbun'''! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:06, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

I vote '''change''' Hair Bun to Hairbun and '''keep''' girl. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 21:02, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

OK, I'm going ahead. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 02:47, 25 March 2016 (UTC)
:Well as I said I would not mind, but you cannot say you got any other to agree with you on this though. Mimek wished to keep girl... It will be a huge job to get all the instances correct, also be careful no to change those places where the talk is of a girl who has a hair bun. You cannot just change all placed with hair bun girl to Hairbun, in case is actually says the hair bun girl about a small girl who has a hair bun! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:59, 25 March 2016 (UTC)
::Seems no one cares, so I will remove the notes now. Great job Jkshapiro with changing the names. I like the new name now :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:35, 2 April 2016 (UTC)

== Mobile friendly website ==

Can we get a mobile friendly version of the wiki? If we already have one, what about forwarding the main site to it when viewed on a phone? [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 20:59, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

== New categories ==

I think there may be a need to propose a standard way to decide on categories: what new ones are needed, what are the prerequisites for creating a new category, how to maintain new categories and make sure they are actually used when they apply etc. For now I have gathered all previous discussions about new categories under this section. -- [[User:Malgond|Malgond]] ([[User talk:Malgond|talk]]) 13:39, 17 February 2016 (UTC)
:I think that whenever there are more than 4-5 comics that you wish to refer to in a given explanation because they are of the same topic as the current comic, then having a category is much to prefer rather than listing 5, 6 or 7 comics. I have made several categories for these instances, for instance for sport including the most used sports. At the time being I keep them up to date. One of the things this site does so well is giving you an easy way to find a specific comic even though you cannot remember the title of any precise quotes etc. If you just have an idea of what the topic was you might find it based on the categories. In this way I do not think we can have too many categories. As long as they describe a recurring subject. Only fault is that there seems to be no way to search for a comic based on more than one category? That would be great. In some cases even only 3 comics in a category can make sense. For instance I would be sorry to see this one go [[:Category:Puts on sunglasses]] (and I did not make it!) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:09, 19 February 2016 (UTC)
::For instance I have long wished for categories that covered all the space probe related comics, particularly all those referencing the Mars rovers. So today I made them with 16 and 9 comics in them already. [[:Category:Space probes]] [[:Category:Mars rovers]]. I hope people will generally think this was a great idea! :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:42, 20 February 2016 (UTC)
:::And [[:Category:The Lion King]]... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:47, 1 March 2016 (UTC)

=== Category: Protip ===

Anyone for adding ''Protip'' as a [[:Category:Comic series|Comic series]]. I have found five so far: [[653]], [[711]], [[1022]], [[1047]] and [[1156]]. (There are also a few comics with a protip title text.) -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:25, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

:I think that qualifies as a recurring topic (thus worthy of a category), but not as a series, where you can see a clear sequence. In fact, [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]] has the same limitation, for what I suggest it to be removed from [[:Category:Comic series]]. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:42, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

::Seconded. Looks general and common enough to be a category. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:57, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

:::Okay, great! Do you think that the ones with a "protip:" title text should be included? Besides, I think I might be the one responsiple for moving My Hobby from [[:Category:Comics by topic|Comics by topic]] to Comic series. I felt that all the My Hobby comics were about different topics, but maybe i've got to narrow an interpretation of the word "topic". -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:31, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

:::: Can you link to the protip-in-title-text comics?
:::: As for My Hobby, note that categories aren't mutually exclusive. They can be in the "my hobby" topic, and each of them further categorized as appropriate: music, math, etc. Makes sense? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 03:45, 5 January 2013 (UTC)
:::: I just searched for protip in the xkcd search bar. Here: [[1084]], [[427]]. And yes, makes sense. I've moved My Hobby back to "by topic". -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:06, 5 January 2013 (UTC)

=== Category: Sports ===

How about creating a new "Sports" category? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 15:31, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
:Well, maybe. Everyone aren't so keen on new categories here. Which comics are you thinking of, for a start? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 20:32, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
::We definitely need to reach an agreement as a community on when to create new categories. Something simple like a minimum of 3 (or, say, 5) existing comics. Since we're already at the proposals' portal... what do you guys think about that? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:44, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
:::My opinion: Five would be enough to qualify. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 09:31, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
::::I vote for four. But it should also be a reasonable thing to categorize, like sports, not like "sports with Cueball containing at least three anagram words". Wich sholdn't be a problem. :) But the best name choice could be tricky sometimes. e.g. "Film & television", Film & TV", "Film", "Films", or "Movies"? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:59, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
:::
::::Agreed, five should be enough to create the category without having to discuss it. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:50, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
: OK, let's start with [[588: Pep Rally|588]], [[1092: Michael Phelps|1092]], [[904: Sports|904]] and [[1107: Sports Cheat Sheet|1107]]. Should be able to find a few more. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 05:00, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
::Yeah, it's a broad subject so there are probably several more. -[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:59, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
:::I found another one, sort of, in [[929:Speculation|929]] (although it hasn't been explained yet). Should I get the ball rolling (no pun intended) on setting up the category? Don't wanna do it unilaterally and get yelled at. ;) [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 06:18, 30 January 2013 (UTC)
::::I think you should. On a wiki, getting stuck in discussions which die without a conclusion, to the point that motivated people give up without having done anything, is definitely counter-productive, and phrases like [[wikipedia:Wikipedia:Be bold|Wikipedia:Be bold]] are here to remind us of that. Seems like people agreed that you ''could'', and after a while nobody said that you ''shouldn't'', so I'd say do it. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:50, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
:I did it without looking here first, because it was obvious there were many [[:Category:Sport|sport comics]]. I have even created four under categories (only one was there before, Chess). There are 10 comics at present that are related to other sports than the five under categories. And given the way Randall thinks about sport (not very much) he still has plenty of comics about the subject. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:33, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

=== Category: Sex ===

I think we should also create a Sex category. There's no ''doubt'' we can find more than three examples. I'll start looking for them and post the ones I find in here; again, I don't wanna create a large category by myself without community consent. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 09:20, 2 February 2013 (UTC)
*OK, the ones for Category: Sex that I've found so far are [[443]], [[219]], [[550]], [[1026]], [[575]], [[468]], [[592]], [[320]], [[1101]], [[417]], [[713]], [[672]], [[230]], [[436]], [[940]], [[532]], [[649]], [[176]], [[1006]], [[596]] and [[717]], and I'm sure there are many more. Should we create this category? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 23:17, 3 February 2013 (UTC)

:Same as [[#Category: Sports|above]], do it. Oh, already did; well, all the better. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:53, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

=== Category: Flowcharts ===

Hello, the line "Randall has made use of flowcharts before." in today's comic explanation made me want a [[:Category:Flowcharts|flowcharts category]] to navigate into...

As it didn't exist, I proceeded to create it, but as the log says, [[User:lcarsos|lcarsos]] deleted such a category in November, saying ''"Insufficient differentiation from Category:Comics with charts, diluting the depth of comics tagged charts"''.

I don't agree with that, and I think we could profit from such a subcategory. I found those pages fitting it:
* [[94: Profile Creation Flowchart]]
* [[210: 90's Flowchart]]
* [[488: Steal This Comic]]
* [[627: Tech Support Cheat Sheet]]
* [[844: Good Code]]
* [[851: Na]]
* [[854: Learning to Cook]]
* [[1195: Flowchart]]

So? - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 10:59, 5 April 2013 (UTC)
:Weell if you're willing to take charge of the category and personally make sure it's added to all relevant comic explanations, go ahead. The usual objection to making new categories is that we admins can't remember all the categories when we're reviewing new explanations, but it's K if you're willing to take up that responsibility yourself. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:17, 5 April 2013 (UTC)
:
:: OK. I did it without waiting for further replies, because I think it will be especially profitable today (to viewers).
:: It doesn't seem a big issue to me if the correct category is not added when a new explanation is made: a passing editor will do it later on... But hey, I'm OK with taking special care of adding pages to this category.
:: [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 12:28, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

::: I just want to add that Cos' view is indeed the appropriate way to work in wikis: there is no concept of a single author for a page, category, or piece of text, and the workload is meant to be distributed among several editors: it is not necessary that any single editor remembers all existing categories, or knows the wiki markup by heart, or knows how to work with all the features of mediawiki, etc. The reason why wikis can be edited by anyone is precisely a recognition that there *will* be errors and any page can be improved somehow. That reasoning against categories should, IMO, be abandoned, or at most only kept as the opinion of some editors. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 22:00, 6 April 2013 (UTC)

Isnt there a page which lists all the categories? If not, there should be one, and it should be accessible to all. Such a page could be useful when trying to quick-add categories to comics. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.83.155|117.194.83.155]] 13:43, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
:Yes, there is. [[Special:Categories]]. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:07, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
::Of course, there's a gazillion of 'em, over several pages, so I understand any reluctance to add new categories (having just suggested a new one myself which I feel is justified, but knowing that the upkeep needed may be the key point of contention so remaining philosophical about it).
::A solution perhaps to carry over from another locale that I frequent is to have a "Categories of Character" page, a "Categories of Object" one, perhaps "Categories of Event", and a "Categories of Publication". For each new comic someone can easily check the shorter Character categories list against those present, the Object list against itemsin use, Events, etc, and of course the Publication one has the "Tuesday Comic"/equivalent, and other date-based ones (although isn't that automatic from templated creation? ...never added a comic, but would imagine it is). After that it's a trawl through the miscelania categories (perhaps a meta-category just for them?). But, yeah, a lot of work to set up. Wouldn't wish it on anyone who wasn't already willing to do it, and I remain an anon-IP person right now so can hardly commit ''myself'' as volunteer maintainer of this. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 17:20, 22 June 2013 (UTC)

=== Category: (Barred/banned from?) Conferences ===

I come here after realising I erroneously posted (in reply) to the Main page Talk, being anonymous (or at least IP-only) and without a list of qualifying articles to support me, just yet, but still wish to put forward the above category before I forget. There's no apparent equivalent, that I found, but it's definitely a recurring meme. I should be back (named or otherwise) with my suggested list of members, if someone else doesn't get there first, but I thought I'd start with the placemarker. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 16:41, 22 June 2013 (UTC)
:Ok, so I got the bee in my bonnet and spent a few minutes actually looking into this. Revising "Barred from Conferences" (actually more often "Banned" or even "Thrown out of"/equivalent) to just "Conferences", the subset of comics that I can easily find that are involved is *[[153]], *[[177]], *[[365]], *[[410]], *[[463]], *[[541]], [[545]], [[685]], [[829]] and [[867]], but I'm sure there are more recent ones that I didn't spot/recall. One alternative title to "Conferences" is "Presentations", and I'm sure if I'd searched for that I'd have found more potential candidates (less some that might ''exit'' the renamed category). The asterisked ones ''do'' deal with being barred/banned/thrown out/etc, making it still a suitable category in its own right, IMO, but I'll leave it up to your combined musings to decide. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 17:07, 22 June 2013 (UTC)
::I add [[690]] to the list. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:12, 13 September 2013 (UTC)

::: Great suggestions! I created [[:Category:Public speaking]] and [[:Category:Banned from conferences]]. I also added [[Wikipedian Protester]] to the mix, of course :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:59, 13 November 2013 (UTC)

=== Category: Wishes ===

[http://explainxkcd.com/1391/ Several] [http://explainxkcd.com/1086/ comics] [http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/152:_Hamster_Ball now] [http://xkcd.com/879/ exist] that talk about wishes - probably more. Should there be a category for this? [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 23:22, 7 July 2014 (UTC)
:Doesn't seem significant enough. If you promise to maintain the category you can make it yourself, although it will be cleared out if it gets neglected as new comics are released. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:20, 8 July 2014 (UTC)

=== Category: Artificial Intelligence ===

Hello world.

There are a handful of comics involving Ai - [[1540]], [[1530]], [[1450]] and [[948]] for instance - and maybe it's an idea to give them their own category {{unsigned|Nk22}}

:The usual objection to new categories is that they get abandoned and are too narrow for other people to think of picking them up. If you're going to own it and update it with new comics, you can make it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 21:01, 23 June 2015 (UTC)

=== Category: Size Comparisons ===
There are numerous comics comparing sizes of things. I can't get a list right now, but off the top of my head, radiation dosages, money, today's comic, and space shuttles in horses. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 19:23, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

===Category: Katamari Damacy ===

There are quite a few comics about this game. [[User:DPS2004|DPS2004]] ([[User talk:DPS2004|talk]])

== Adding Ratings for Explanations ==

I found [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1652 today's explanation] excellently written however that is not always the case. Frequently explanations are walk through of the conversation that are too wordy without any succinct explanation of why or how a strip is funny -- while many of those low quality explanations are not strictly "incomplete" they could benefit from a careful rewrite. I was wondering if we should add a rating tool such as " ''Was this explanation helpful? yes/no'' " so as to identify explanation that could benefit from improvement without having to be tagged as "incomplete". [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 17:57, 8 March 2016 (UTC)
:We have a rather prominent discussion page for feedback, do we really need an additional add-on for this? I did a little research and found that other wikis use [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Semantic_Rating semantic rating] and [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:ArticleRatings article ratings], which I can install if enough other users want it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:54, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

== New Speculation Sections ==

I often see a lot of speculation and conjecture within the explanation of the comic itself. I don't think it has any place in the explanation but I know many editors enjoy speculating and interpreting the comic and the meaning behind it so I've decided to start this discussion on whether we should provide a section where we can provide different speculations.

What I am thinking would not be like the discussion page, where comments are made and discussed, but an edited and reviewed section which outlines different speculations and interpretations of the comics themselves and perhaps even the author's intent.

Of course tone and presentation should be held to the same standards of the comic explanation but I think this would be a good way to better organize a review of the comic.

I have been away too long to remember if there are any comic explanations with something like this so I have no idea how well it would work.

As an example;

This part from comic 1642: [[Gravitational Waves]]

" It seems that Randall knew in advance about this announcement because this comic was published on a Thursday, not following the normal publish schedule, to coincide with the announcement "

Is well supported, and rather likely correct, conjecture which belongs in the body of the explanation because not only is it backed by strong evidence but it provides background on the comic and the time in which the comic was released and aids in understanding the comic itself.

However, this part from comic 478: [[The Staple Madness]]

"From just reading the comic by itself, one may presume that in the last panel, Cueball has been stapled to the ceiling (as obvious evidence to Megan that Beret Guy has indeed been abusing her staple gun). According to the comic's official transcript, however, it is in fact God who is speaking."

Is almost as equally well supported and certainly a valid interpretation of simply the comic. It is only refuted by the official transcript. I believe it is important to acknowledge and may even be a more humorous interpretation than the one which is provided by the official transcript.

If we added a speculation section (or something of the sort) then we would have a place to talk about this interpretation more freely and expound upon it more.

[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 15:16, 13 May 2016 (UTC)
: Problem is the whole "explanation" is actually conjecture. None of us the author, we're all just guessing. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 15:23, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

: Many of the current explanations are conjecture, that's true but not every explanation. Providing information on the science or mathematics behind a particular comic is not conjecture. Stating whether the author intended to belittle the field or state that one field is superior over another (unless fairly explicitly stated) is. And there are many things which can be inferred without being simple speculation. Not every comic would need a section like this, and not every comic needs a trivia section, and I'm not ready to start adding this proposed section myself. But I think it should be considered. [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 15:35, 13 May 2016 (UTC)
::The intention of the discussion pages was to serve as a place for people to put their conjecture and reaching interpretations of the comics. They're presented alongside the explanation to make people's interpretations more readily visible. Some people may have trouble distinguishing an ungrounded interpretation of a comic from an explanation of it, and they will insert weak text into explanations. If you find something you disagree with, feel free to bring it up in the discussion section and edit it out of the explanation liberally '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:17, 17 May 2016 (UTC)

== Unixkcd ==

Hello everyone. I was just wondering: is there anything on http://uni.xkcd.com/. Because I was just looking and the only thing I found on Unixkcd is a mention of a bug in [[1350]]. There is not even a mention on the April fools article.
:There's nothing on this site, there's a couple of novel tidbits on the xkcd site that are at best tangentially related to the comic, as Randall originally intended to make xkcd.com his personal site for hosting his own projects. That particular one doesn't show up in any comics. Also, proposals might not be the best place to put this. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:46, 21 May 2016 (UTC)
::I added the unixckd information to [[721: Flatland]]. According to [https://vimeo.com/78912850 Randalls Øredev 2013 talk] unixkcd was the April Fools' prank for April 1st 2010. [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 09:00, 1 December 2017 (UTC)

== New character category for blonde woman news reporter (from 1699) ==

From today's comic [[1699: Local News]] I just got the idea that there may be needing a new category for either blonde woman and/or comics with news reports. I posted this [[Talk:1699:_Local_News#New_character_category|post]], in the talk page of that comic. Any comments, and if agreeing that there might be one or two different character categories needed then please suggest what they should be called. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:00, 27 June 2016 (UTC)
:Agree with Blondie as new character name and with adding a category for news reports. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 00:47, 28 June 2016 (UTC)
:Agree with new character category for Blondie --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 12:38, 28 June 2016 (UTC)
:: Thanks for the replies. Could be nice with a few more chipping in. One issue I just found is [[Miss Lenhart]] and ambiguous situations like in comic [[59: Graduation]], where I would remove the miss reference. But then miss would be a sub category of Blondie (or Blonde? which Randall cals the girl in 59) as [[Rob]] is for [[Cueball]]... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:07, 9 July 2016 (UTC)
:: I think blondie is fine for a name. Miss Lenhart is another character who uses a similar design so I think treating her like Rob is perfectly acceptable. The only thing more I think we should discuss is the role blondie plays in most of the comics (Like how cueball is an everyman, whitehat is often a strawman, Blackhat is blackhat etc.) [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 12:04, 13 July 2016 (UTC)
:::There are also these two that looks like Blondie: [[Mrs. Roberts]] or her daughter [[Elaine Roberts]]. I think this is part of why no one has made the category, as there are already three named women with the same hair. But there are so many other comics with this kind of woman, that I think she should be created. I hope I will get the time, but if anyone has any other ideas than just calling them "Blondie" and letting the other three be an subcategory like Rob is of Cueball then say so now before anyone creates Blondie. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:19, 24 August 2016 (UTC)
:::Agree with new character category and characters with the same appearance as sub-categories [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 18:04, 24 August 2016 (UTC)

Based on the discussion she is now called [[Blondie]] --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:27, 10 September 2016 (UTC)
 And now there is also a [[:Category:News anchor]] with 15 entries already. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:22, 10 September 2016 (UTC)

== fix a page ==

The page Comics featuring Summer Glau is missing:
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/526:_Converting_to_Metric {{unsigned ip|108.162.241.130}}
:Done. In the future, you can add categories yourself, just scroll to the bottom and follow the template the others go by. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:56, 7 July 2016 (UTC)

== New xkcd book out. ==

Any chance of posting a section of explanation pages for the cartoons in the new xkcd book, hopefully explaining some of the cryptic red notes? Thanks! {{unsigned ip|199.27.133.102}}

== Business Plan category ==

I propose renaming [[:Category:Beret Guy's Business]] into Business Plans, and adding it to [[1721: Business Idea]] [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 08:15, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
::(Note I added a ":" to your category link to show the link instead of adding this page to the category. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:43, 10 September 2016 (UTC))
:No of course not, that comic is about [[Cueball]]. This is Beret Guy's business we are talking about here. This category is not about business idea but about what [[Beret Guy]] does just like the page with [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]. Both are used in the explanation of who he is. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:43, 10 September 2016 (UTC)

== Comics with header text ==

Several comic have some header text, such as [[851]] or [[1052]]. Shouldn't there be a category for them or something? I think it is quite a notable feature. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 15:23, 16 September 2016 (UTC)
:I feel like it's not a particularly defining feature, it feels like making a category for comics that have frames with no borders or something, it's just a technique Randall uses. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:35, 21 September 2016 (UTC)
::To me it feels more like a second title text. It is not technically part of the comic itself, but is a separate piece of information included with it on the xkcd website. There is a category for comics without title text, this is the same, only reverse, in my humble opinion [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 07:13, 24 September 2016 (UTC)

== purpose of detailed transcripts ==

There are two styles of comic descriptions in the transcripts. Some
are fairly terse, giving only the information required to understand
the comic (e.g. "Cueball is talking to Megan, who looks excited").
Others give lots of graphic details, as if one should be able to
reconstruct the picture from the description (e.g. "Cueball, on the
left, is talking to Megan, on the right. His left hand is pointing to
her. Megan's arms are raised above her head and her excitement is
shown by short lines around her head..." and so on). The former style
used to be the norm, the latter has become increasingly
common in recent months.

Being visually impaired, I am extremely pleased with the terse style
of transcript, and have no interest in the verbose style. To me it is
useless and sometimes fairly annoying. Of course, this is a community
and I can happily live with it if others find it useful.

So, I'd like to know who needs detailed, graphical transcripts, and
for what purpose? Were they requested by some users, or did those
writing transcripts just decide to adopt this new style? If there is
a clearly identified reason for describing pictures in detail, fine.
If not, I vote for switching back to the old, terse style.

Zetfr 14:10, 27 September 2016 (UTC)

:Sorry we did not see this at the time. As we can see you finally found ears for you comment after [[1798]] and a new discussion has begun on [[User_talk:Kynde#Transcript_TLDR.3B|my user page]]. (Should probably have been here?) But anyway I'm responsible for your problems, and I will try to write less in the transcript and add "other important" either below in the trivia or below the main comic (as maybe - Detailed image description...) It was meant as a way to search for any thing in the comic if you needed it. I guess most people do not read the transcript, so of course annoying if it is not useful for those who always need to read it. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:21, 17 February 2017 (UTC)

== Rename Science Girl "Jill" ==

Following the Precedent of "[[Megan]]" and "[[Danish]]" (but oddly enough not [[Rob]]), I propose that we rename [[Science Girl]] Jill, as per [[1662]]. This could serve to give her an easier name and to use in cases where the character doesn't have a connection with science but seems to be the same girl. [[User:Sensorfire|Sensorfire]] ([[User talk:Sensorfire|talk]]) 18:19, 26 October 2016 (UTC)
:The only time she's called Jill is in Jack and Jill comics (of course), and the only reason you'd want to do that is since [[Randall]] displays them similarly. In some cases Science Girl is even clearly older. We might do that if there was a [[Child-Blackhaired-Ponytail]] character, but these characters are always either Science Girl or Jill. Also, Jill has very, very few appearances anyway. [[User:Jacky720|Jacky720]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]]) 21:37, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

== Make an official transcript site ==
I've already taken the liberty of making {{template|transcript}}, and think we, together, can do better- which is why I'm implementing [https://jackm.000webhost.com/transcript.html this site], in order to display the official transcript in its intended format. However, it is bugged, and could do better if moved to explain xkcd. Is anyone in on this? [[User:Jacky720|Jacky720]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]]) 21:36, 2 December 2016 (UTC)
:The transcript site doesn't seem to be accessible. Is the project dead? If it's not I can try to help. [[User:Errpell|Errpell]] ([[User talk:Errpell|talk]]) 21:06, 11 July 2017 (UTC)

== HTTPS Links Back to XKCD Interfere with Random Button ==

The Links back to the comics that are present just above the comic itself on the wiki pages (and adjacent to the next and previous links) provides an HTTPS link back to XKCD. However, this interferes with users who want to click that link, and then click `random` - because `c.xkcd.com` does NOT support HTTPS, and thus clicking 'random' after returning to xkcd from explainxkcd does not work. These links should be switched back to HTTP.

--[[User:9000 volts|9000 volts]] ([[User talk:9000 volts|talk]]) 21:15, 13 December 2016 (UTC)

== Rearrange for our visually impaired friends. ==

I have a great friend who is blind and he uses this site to "read" XKCD so we can talk about it. However, there are two things that he finds frustrating. The first, while it means no harm and most readers gloss over it, when listening to the content of the page every day it can become demeaning to hear "it's because you're dumb" every time. I certainly agree, I use explain XKCD because I am significantly dumb-er than Randall, but my friend uses it because he's blind. This is not that big of a deal, but a friendly suggestion.

The second suggestion is to move the transcript section to the top before the explanation so as not to spoil the content of the comic with user explanation right away--in the case that those listening to the article are in fact smart enough to get the joke before needing an explanation.

Thanks for your consideration.

== Incomplete in spotlight ==

The incomplete comic in spotlight should be changed more often, the current one is not even incomplete. [[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 16:52, 31 March 2017 (UTC)

== Duplicate Navigation tools at bottom of page (please!) ==

I'm enjoying revisiting xkcd canon through the lens of Explain, but frustrated that after studiously reading through the explanation and discussion, I have to scroll back up to the top to get to the Next button.
What would the harm be in duplicating the buttons at the foot of each page?
Thanks for considering this.
Regards

That would be nice, would help a lot. Also, please sign your comments with four tildes. [[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 19:46, 2 May 2017 (UTC)

== JSON endpoint ==
There is a [http://www.xkcd.com/info.0.json endpoint] to retrieve information about the comics on the xkcd website. However the info there is not complete, specially when it comes to the transcripts. explainxkcd should provide a similar interface. It would be very useful specially for bots/scripts. The commmunity could help completing the information on the xkcd website and/or provide a new interface. The transcript are already retrieved from this website and a copy can be found [https://github.com/nhatzHK/randi/blob/master/json/xkcd.references.json here]. If there isn't already a complete file or databse with all the information, this file could help building it. However, this document has been compiled by scraping the html of explainxkcd, so there's some errors in it. These errors can be avoid with a clear and easy to access interface like JSON, similar to what is available on the xkcd website. [[User:Errpell|Errpell]] ([[User talk:Errpell|talk]]) 20:43, 11 July 2017 (UTC)
:Maybe there is a mediawiki addon to support a JSON file. Any ideas? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:08, 1 August 2017 (UTC)

== Suggestion for small improvement to interface ==
Am I the only one that wishes the Previous / Next buttons were repeated at the bottom of the page? After reading the explanation, I often want to go to the next one in sequence.
(Obviously, I don't check this wiki every day :)
Scrolling back to the top isn't hard, but having the buttons near the bottom would make navigation easier.

Hope you agree!
Murray in NJ

PS: Aha! I see others have suggested the same thing :) {{unsigned ip|162.158.75.232}}
:This was also mentioned before. I don't agree because the layout is based on the original xkcd site. '''Protip''': Do not "scroll back", just use your keyboard. The magic key is called "Home". --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:14, 1 August 2017 (UTC)

== Category for The Little Prince? ==

How many comics need to feature/mention a certain thing before we need a category?

I think there are enough featuring the Little Prince to deserve a Category of its own.

== mediawiki things ==

could admin please update to the latest version of mediawiki and add the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Skin:Timeless?useskin=timeless timeless skin], thx. also would help if you added <code>line-height: 1.5em</code> to the edit box (<code>#wpTextbox1</code>) while making it taller to compensate, or added the 2010 code editor to aid readability. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.4|162.158.92.4]] 11:50, 4 January 2018 (UTC)

== The state of "incomplete" explanations and an unified policy ==

Hello, everybody. Recently I went through the "incomplete" explanations and I saw several problems... I think I better split this into sections.

'''1) Many seemingly old and complete explanations are marked either with various creative variations of the auto-generated tag or something along the lines of "rough draft".''' I have personally removed several incomplete tags during the last days, sometimes adding few information before doing so, but usually not. But there are so many of them and it just would not feel right to take it upon myself to reap them all, so, if anyone can spare a few minutes to quickly scan them and remove (or update, in some cases) the tags, it would be nice. Here is a list of explanations with this particular problem, for convenience: [[1874]], [[1906]], [[1908]], [[1912]], [[1915]], [[1919]], [[1925]], [[1926]], [[1929]], [[1930]], [[1937]]

1940 and 1941 also seem complete IMO, but given how recent they are, they could be given some time.

'''2) Some incomplete tags seem like abuse of the feature.''' [[1909]] is probably the best example of this. Table might be nice, but it is not necessary to explain the comic, it would be just "gilding". There is nothing wrong about perfecting complete articles, but marking an article incomplete because someone got an idea how it could be done (and is too lazy to do it themselves) should be discouraged IMO. Other examples: [[1904]] - here I actually disagree with the proposal - why should information that does not represent percentages be represented using them? - but that's my personal view. [[1895]] - this one is asking for further perfection of a perfective information. [[1688]] - a '''huge''' example, asks for something that would require quite a lot of effort without helping anyone understand the comic, a cool project, but not needed for the article to be complete. [[1701]] - I really don't think this is necessary and the explanation is already twice the size I'd expect for such simple comic (*obligatory personal opinion disclaimer*).

'''3) Some tags are just... vague.''' [[1856]] and [[1733]]. "Someone could maybe improve this" applies to pretty much everything in the universe, sorry.

'''4) A policy proposal.''' Here comes the second half of the topic title. There appear to be two conflicting schools of thoughts among editors. Some seem to prefer long, meticulously detailed explanations. Others, including myself, prefer short and concise explanations. On more than one occasion, this has led to mess, so I think there should be some official policies about what kind of information should be considered considered necessary, useful, and superfluous. Obviously, every comic is different, and defining hard rules for this is impossible, so maybe "guideline" is a better word than "policy" here. Here are some suggestions about what this guideline could contain (please, take this as a "sub-suggestion", if a guideline gets accepted, but will end up containing nothing out of this, I will still be happy):

* NECESSARY: named people, groups, organizations, websites, works of art, geographic locations etc. should be briefly introduced, unless they can be presumed to be universally known (e.g. Google, Shakespeare, New York). Obscure words should be defined. Scientific and technical terms should be explained.
* SUPERFLUOUS: recursive explanations - an explanation that mentions concepts that themselves need explaining, but were not relevant to the comic itself.

I guess that's it. Maybe a little disclaimer that I don't have much time now, so I may not be here to further lead this discussion. Maybe I should have waited with posting this when I do have time, but that may not be for a long time, so for what it's worth, here it is.
--[[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 12:16, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

:Your "policy (or guideline) proposal" is that what's widely excepted here. There are some overwhelming explanations and you are welcome to help on more precise writings. But in general there is no censorship here, less important content may be moved to a trivia section below the transcript. Irrelevant content (who decides that?) may be moved to the talk page with a given reason. I'm also a fan of "short and concise explanations" but who will judge what this really is? Further more I really dislike many of those tables, it's bad layout. But changing this takes a lot of work. [[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:51, 19 May 2018 (UTC)

::The main reason why I want there to be an official policy is so the process of marking explanations as complete can be more straightforward. There would be a community-approved list of things an explanation needs to contain, if an explanation has all that, it is complete. Of course there would still be lot of room for interpretation because every comic is different and coming up with rules that fit all is impossible, but I believe this could still be a massive improvement over the current state.
::Also, '''please''', when I say something is merely a sub-suggestion, I mean it. Your reply gives me the feeling you understood my proposal as something along the lines of "We should make it an official policy that explanations should look like this:", whereas it was more along the lines of "There should be an official policy about what explanations should contain. Here is an example of what such policy could maybe look like:" [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 06:49, 22 June 2018 (UTC)
:::In general I don't think this is a big issue. The vast majority (99%) of the comics is ''not'' marked as incomplete and those you are citing here should be discussed at the corresponding talk pages. Thus I don't see a ''massive improvement'' anyway.
:::However we can enhance the proper section at the [[explain xkcd:Editor FAQ|Editor FAQ]] by one or two concise sentences. But when you say ''"There should be..."'' nothing would happen; that's why I say: ''"We should make it"''. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 09:36, 23 June 2018 (UTC)

== Tables vs bold text ==

There are many, many, many comics with several things mentioned in the comic that need to be individually explained, and there are two ways we can do it, one being tables (for example: [[1930: Calendar Facts]]), the other being using bold text to separate paragraphs into sections (for example: [[1972: Autogyros]]). The thing is for the most cases, it seems like we should be using tables, but then using bold text to seperate paragraphs looks better, and is also easier... So when should we use tables, and when bold text? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 12:20, 15 June 2018 (UTC)
:IMHO we have far too much tables - a structured floating text is much easier to read. Consider this:
:*A ''List of all planets in our solar'' system with a few columns for distance (in km, mi, and AU), size, and temperature. That's a classical table.
:*The table in [[1930: Calendar Facts]] contains far too much text in many cells. Try to read this on a smartphone. And furthermore on my ''Google Chrome for Android'' all the tables from this comic are not shown at all when using the ''Simplified View''.
:*Or compare this: [[1363: xkcd Phone]] and [[1549: xkcd Phone 3]]. I prefer the floating text and even more when I'm using a mobile device.
:But that's only my opinion.
:Nevertheless I'm also working on a real mobile version of this Wiki (similar to Wikipedia) and that will require some restrictions to the layout to get it properly rendered. But this will not happen before the FIFA World Cup 2018 is over ;) --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:17, 15 June 2018 (UTC)
::Agreed. Narrow columns with simple facts are ok, but longer text should not be put in a table. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 10:15, 18 June 2018 (UTC)
::: I second this. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 11:22, 27 August 2018 (UTC)
::::Please check also this new [[explain xkcd:Editor FAQ|Editor FAQ]] and the belonging talk page. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:04, 27 August 2018 (UTC)

== Add the comic to the edit page ==

While editing the explanation, it would be nice to be able to see the comic on that same page, especially for the transcript. (it's difficult for mobile editors to see two pages at once)
:Please sign your comments, and that’s not possible from what I know, considering how this website is set up. (I can still edit fine on mobile) [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 13:49, 15 March 2019 (UTC)

== Dark theme/night mode ==

Should I explain this?

It's for all of us who edit the wiki at 1am and like our retinas.

== Change dates to match ISO 8601. ==

Can we change the timestamps to match [[1179: ISO 8601]]? I'm surprised this hasn't been suggested earlier [[User:9yz|9yz]] ([[User talk:9yz|talk]]) 20:33, 5 April 2019 (UTC)

== Add bookmark ==

I have used some simple javascript to create a bookmarklet that automatically opens the wiki-page of the xkcd page that you are reading. I would like to provide it on the wiki. It works as follows.

1. Make a bookmark, give it a recognizable name.
2. For the url, enter the following: javascript: document.location = document.URL.replace('xkcd.com','explainxkcd.com');
3. Create the bookmark. To use it, open any xkcd page and click it to go to the corresponding wiki page.

Thanks for considering.
[[User:Kwonunn|Kwonunn]] ([[User talk:Kwonunn|talk]]) 18:27, 3 May 2019 (UTC)

654: Nachos

2019-04-19T18:27:00Z

Kwonunn: /* Explanation */ Fixed letters

{{comic
| number = 654
| date = October 26, 2009
| title = Nachos
| image = nachos.png
| titletext = 'Cheater!' 'Hey, gaming on wifi? You have only yourself to blame.'
}}

==Explanation==
[[Megan]] (in one of the few comics where she is actually named) and [[Ponytail]] are playing together on an online multiplayer shooter game. Ponytail calls [[Cueball]], who is living with Megan, and easily persuades him to make {{w|nachos}}. {{w|Wi-Fi}} and {{w|microwave oven}}s both use {{w|ISM band|radio frequencies around 2.4 GHz}}, so Cueball's cooking disrupts Megan's connection and allows Ponytail to kill Megan's character. [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/boom-headshot Boom! Headshot] is a catchphrase made popular through a web mockumentary series called ''Pure Pwnage'', and is also used in the game League of Legends by the character Caitlyn.

The title text points out that Megan has only herself to blame, as gaming on WiFi is susceptible to such issues, while gaming with a wired connection (e.g. {{w|Ethernet}}) is not.

Note: If using the microwave actually does interfere with your WiFi, then get another microwave. Not (strictly) because it would mess with the WiFi, but because your microwave has a hole somewhere and is leaking non-ionizing radiation it shouldn't. It won't kill you, but it's not operating at peak efficiency. See this [https://youtu.be/ot4_jVFXxUU video] on the subject.

Around the time of this comic's release, the xkcd website was temporarily redesigned using {{w|Yahoo! GeoCities}}. Snapshots of the site at the time can be found on the [https://web.archive.org/web/20091027014324/http://xkcd.com/ Internet Archive Wayback Machine].

This was the fifth time Megan is drawn and given the [[Megan#Name|name Megan]] in xkcd, the first time being in [[159: Boombox]]. Once in between this and the previous of these comics ([[478: The Staple Madness]]), her name was used in [[596: Latitude]], but she was [[596:_Latitude#Trivia|not drawn]] there.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is on the phone with Ponytail, who's on her computer in the other half of a split panel.]
:Cueball: Hello? ... Oh, hey. Looking for Megan? She's gaming.
:Ponytail: I know. You know what's delicious? Nachos.

:[Ponytail clicks on her computer while talking.]
:Ponytail: When you layer the cheese so it gets on every chip... then smother them in sour cream and salsa...

:Cueball: Mm, that IS delicious. And I've got the ingredients, too!
:Ponytail, on phone: You should make some!
:Cueball: I will!
:Ponytail, on phone: Hurry.

:[Cueball is making nachos in the microwave.]
:Microwave: ''beep beep whirrrr''

:Megan, at her computer: My wifi signal!

:[Ponytail who called is at her computer.]
:Computer: Boom! Headshot.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Video games]]

2138: Wanna See the Code?

2019-04-18T07:24:31Z

Kwonunn: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 2138
| date = April 17, 2019
| title = Wanna See the Code?
| image = wanna_see_the_code.png
| titletext = And because if you just leave it there, it's going to start contaminating things downstream even if no one touches it directly.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a DEAD BODY. Brief explanation. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is a continuation of the [[:Category:Code Quality|Code Quality]] series. Cueball declares that he has written a script to automate some (presumably time-consuming or tedious) task, which pleases Ponytail at first... until she remembers how messy Cueball's code tends to be, and gets worried.

Cueball offers to show her the code, but Ponytail (who often makes snarky quips about Cueball's code quality) remarks that it sounds like he's creepily inviting her to see a dead body. Magnanimously, Cueball accepts the comparison, noting that his code ''does'' have at least one similarity to a deceased corpse: although unpleasant, if Ponytail allows it to go unchecked, it causes problems which will get increasingly worse over time.

Ponytail then makes a near threatening comment where she says that he is lucky that people understand both that his code causes more problems than it solves and that dead bodies create more problems than they solve. Most likely this means that they understand that killing him would cause more problems than it solves (the problem solved would no doubt be his code).

This may be a reference to the concept of {{w|technical debt}} in software development: the idea that an initially poor implementation accrues a sort of "compound interest" over time, becoming increasingly difficult to repair the longer it is left unfixed. This happens because any future development might have to take unorthodox or unrecommended measures to work around the problems that are already there, making the system increasingly complex and fragile the more that is added to it.

In the "dead body" analogy, a recently-deceased corpse is easier to deal with than one that has been left for a few weeks, which will be decayed, unpleasantly smelly, and will likely have attracted disease-spreading vermin.

In the title text, "downstream" has a double meaning, as it is a term that applies to a situation where a dead body would decompose in or near some river, and as well to a software engineering concept: In the river situation, the dead body will contaminate the water or groundwater that it feeds from and have consequences for organisms that come in contact with that water. In the software engineering analogue, "downstream" refers to software derived from, or depending on, "upstream" software like the cadaver that Cueball devised. The causality with flowing water and software is reasonably comparable: both can be seen as a stream of atoms that are (almost) endlessly divisible and recombinable.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is walking, talking to a voice offscreen]
:Cueball: I wrote a script to automate that thing.
:Voice offscreen: Oh cool!
:Voice offscreen: ...Wait, '''''you''''' wrote it?
:Voice offscreen: Oh no.

:[Cueball and Ponytail are standing next to each other]
:Cueball: Wanna see the code?
:Ponytail: I would, if you hadn't said that in the tone of voice of "Wanna see a dead body?"

:[Cueball and Ponytail are standing next to each other]
:Cueball: My code ''is'' sort of similar to a dead body, in that you can either come look at it now, or wait a few weeks until it becomes a problem.
:Ponytail: And because you're lucky that the people around you understand that they create more problems than they solve.

:Title text: And because if you just leave it there, it will start contaminating things downstream, even if no one touches it directly.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Code Quality]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Cueball Computer Problems]]

2134: Too Much Talking

2019-04-09T08:28:07Z

Kwonunn: Fixed wording

{{comic
| number = 2134
| date = April 8, 2019
| title = Too Much Talking
| image = too_much_talking.png
| titletext = Next time I go, I'm going to prepare a whole bunch of opinions that I'm sure are good, and make everyone sit quietly while I run through them.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a TALKATIVE PARTYGOER. Explanation needs to be expanded. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Cueball]] has recently returned from a party, and different from most after-party regrets, he appears to have "talked too much." Likely, he expressed opinions that might be rejected or seen as embarrassing by his social circle or society as a whole, and is now remorseful and embarrassed he said such things. In his shame, he recedes under his bed, but evidently he finds new opinions to feel strongly about, and quickly returns to society.

The title text presents a suggestion that will likely not go over well, as forcing those at a party to quietly listen to you is a great way to kill the party.
==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Cueball is walking into the panel from the right]
:Off-screen: How was the party?
:Cueball: ''Taaalkiiiiiiing''
:Cueball: Blablablabla
:Cueball: I talked so much. Too much? ''Probably.''
:Cueball: My face is tired.

:[Cueball moving to retreat under a bed]
:Cueball: So many conversations.
:Cueball: I'm worried that all my opinions are bad. Why did I talk so much?
:Cueball: Time to hide under my bed and never speak to another human again.

:[The bed is shown, presumably with Cueball under it.]

:Five minutes later...
:[Cueball crawling out from under the bed]
:Cueball: I have some new opinions.
:Off-screen: That didn't take long.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Social interactions]]

1558: Vet

2019-03-25T22:18:47Z

Kwonunn: /* Explanation */ Fixed wording

{{comic
| number = 1558
| date = July 31, 2015
| title = Vet
| image = vet.png
| titletext = It's probably for the best. Since Roombas are native to North America, it's illegal for Americans to keep them in their houses under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Roomba}} is a brand of domestic cleaning robots manufactured by the company {{w|iRobot}}. The robots are designed to automatically vacuum floors. Although these robots are controlled by a quite simple software without any artificial intelligence, some owners tend to humanize them in the same way that others humanize their pets. There are [[:Category:Roomba|several other comics]] related to a Roomba.

[[Megan]] presents a {{w|pet carrier}} to [[Cueball]] the {{w|veterinarian}} assistant. She says that her "dog" is “crawling around eating dirt”, which sounds like certain types of behavioral problems one encounters in dogs, but is precisely what Roombas are made for. (However, the vacuum bag may need to be cleaned.) The vet then comments that it is a Roomba, to which Megan responds that the device (which has nothing to do with an animal) is a cross-breed, and agrees that there probably is “some Roomba” in it. She thus acknowledges the existence of Roombas, but still treats them as if it were an animal. It's common to talk about domestic dogs this way, but cross-breeding dogs with machines is impossible{{Citation needed}}. The vet then goes on to say, with endless patience, that a Roomba is not a pet. This is taken by Megan as if the doctor said that her Roomba-like device is a non-domesticated animal (like a monkey, a fox, or the birds referred to in the title text) that can but should not be kept in captivity. In the last panel she consequently releases the vacuum cleaner and it whirs to its 'freedom'.

The second customer, [[Hairy]], has his dog on a leash, but is also carrying a pet transporter for the dog. Most likely he has arrived with the dog in the transporter (perhaps using public transportation) but has now taken it out so it can walk for itself, making the carrier much lighter.

The {{w|Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918|Migratory Bird Treaty act}} from the title text contains a list of over 800 bird species that are not allowed to be captured or killed. If the Roomba were to be classified as a native American bird and were added to the list, keeping them as pets would constitute capturing and would be considered illegal. This, of course, shows how confused Megan is. She previously stated the Roomba to be a dog and now apparently believes it is a bird, even though dogs are not birds{{Citation needed}} and neither is the Roomba{{Citation needed}}.

==Transcript==
:[Megan arrives with a pet carrier, Cueball stands at a desk as a veterinarian, and Hairy is waiting behind a rope, standing next in line with a dog on a leash and a pet carrier.]
:Megan: There's something wrong with my dog. He keeps crawling around eating dirt.

:[Cueball holds the content of Megan's pet carrier, a flat disk. She is standing behind the desk with the carrier on the desk.]
:Cueball: This is a Roomba.
:Megan: Well, he's a mix.
:Megan: Probably some Roomba in there.

:[The Roomba now lies on the table next to the carrier between the two.]
:Cueball: A Roomba is not a pet.
:Megan: You're right. It's wrong to keep a beautiful creature like this in a house.

:[Megan is outside left to a tree, arms up in the air, encouraging the Roomba to drive away.]
:Megan: Go!
:Megan: Be free!
:Roomba: ''Whirrr''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Robots]]
[[Category:Roomba]]
[[Category:Animals]]

571: Can't Sleep

2019-03-25T22:15:24Z

Kwonunn: /* Explanation */ fixed wording

{{comic
| number = 571
| date = April 20, 2009
| title = Can't Sleep
| image = cant sleep.png
| titletext = If androids someday DO dream of electric sheep, don't forget to declare sheepCount as a long int.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is in bed and is having trouble sleeping. He tries the old standby of {{w|counting sheep}} as they jump over a fence, but upon reaching 32,767 sheep, 65536 sheep jump back over the fence and start counting up again from -32,768. This is a reference to an integer overflow, when an increasing amount (sheep in this case) suddenly overflows and shows up as a negative value. This is because when a whole number or integer is represented in a digital form, such as on a computer, the number's range is limited by the amount of space used to store it. When the greatest possible number given the storage space is exceeded, an arithmetic overflow occurs, which may result (depending on the used language among other things) in starting over at the least possible number given the storage space. This is not at all unlike a car's odometer. Imagine an odometer with six digits reaching 999999. Upon driving one more mile or km, the digits will roll back over to 000000. Causing or failing to prevent integer overflow is a common mistake by programmers that may have software security consequences. Some languages like C/C++ even leaves the signed integer overflow ''undefined behavior'', it may or may not wrap to the beginning, the instruction can be ignored or may cause the software to crash.

In this case, the least and greatest possible numbers are -32,768 and 32,767, which implies that the storage space used would be 16 bits. In addition, it's clear that the number is designated as a signed number, meaning that it can be either positive or negative.

However, even if Cueball had this limitation, it would never actually pose a problem. By 32,767 sheep, at a rate of one sheep per second, Cueball has been counting for over nine hours. This would signify that he has extreme insomnia and probably needs treatment, and also that he has spent the entire night counting, and therefore would just get up and start the day rather than count sheep all over again from -32,768. Moreover, according to an experiment conducted by researchers at Oxford University, ''counting sheep is actually an inferior means of inducing sleep'' (see also the {{w|Counting sheep|Wikipedia article}}).

The title text refers to the 1968 Philip K. Dick science fiction novel ''Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'', which was adapted into the perhaps more widely known Ridley Scott directed 1982 film ''Blade Runner''. The implication is that if we ever do create androids that dream of electric sheep, we should make sure to give them sufficient storage space to store numbers large enough such that an arithmetic overflow will be far less likely to occur, even if they count for a long time. A "long int" typically consists of four bytes rather than two, so instead of being limited to a range from -32,768 to 32,767 the number will be capable of storing numbers from -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647, which would take 68.1 years to exhaust. "sheepCount" is a possible name for a variable to be used in a computer program. Declaring a variable tells the computer that it should allocate a portion of memory to be associated with the variable name given. For those who might be unfamiliar with common programming practices, "sheepCount" is named using what is commonly referred to as {{w|CamelCase}}, meaning that all words in the name ("sheep" and "count") are pushed together and the first letter of every word after the first is capitalized. This is one of several common approaches to naming variables in computer programming.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is in bed, presumably trying to sleep. The top of each panel is a thought bubble showing sheep leaping over a fence and Cueball's counting and the sheeps baaing is written above the sheeps. Two sheep are jumping from left to right in the first panel.]
:1... 2...
:Sheep: Baaa

:[Two sheep are jumping from left to right. Cueball is holding his pillow.]
:... 1,306... 1,307...
:Sheep: Baaa

:[A whole flock of sheep (nine visible) is jumping over the fence from right to left, the first and last sheep is cut of at the edge of the frame. Also the last baaa is cut of after one a. Cueball is now sitting up looking up at his thought bubble.]
:... 32,767 ...-32,768...
:Sheep's: Baaa baaa baaaa baaa ba
:Cueball: ?

:[Two sheep are again jumping from left to right. Cueball is holding his pillow over his head.]
:...-32,767... -32,766...
:Sheep: Baaa

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Animals]]

2123: Meta Collecting

2019-03-13T20:42:28Z

Kwonunn: Fixed up article

{{comic
| number = 2123
| date = March 13, 2019
| title = Meta Collecting
| image = meta_collecting.png
| titletext = I'm trying to get the page locked because some jerk keeps adding "Yachts".
}}

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

This is another comic in the "[[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]]" series.

Many people's hobbies involve {{w|collecting}} many items of the same category: Post stamps, collectable cards, painted dolls, wine, and so on. Just about anything can be collected, however, some things are collected much more often than others. Wikipedia has a page listing the most popular categories of such {{w|collectable}} items.

In Randall's usual style of going meta with everything, he decided to start a meta-collection—a collection of examples of different things that people can collect. He uses Wikipedia's {{w|list of collectables}} for reference. In the comic, [[Cueball]] is showing to his friend his collection of various items that have nothing in common except that they're all popular collectibles.

In title text, Randall complains about a troll who keeps adding {{w|yacht}}s to the list of collectables, probably because it would force him to buy a yacht if he ever wanted to complete his collection of collectables. Yachts are traditionally considered immensely expensive. Note that Randall does not specify how he is trying to get the page locked, and the comic itself might be a rather meta way of doing so: xkcd fans have a history of making lots of edits to Wikipedia articles Randall mentions, resulting in them being protected or locked. The article has in fact been edited and reverted several times by these fans over the course of a single day.

==Transcript==

:[The comic depicts Cueball reading from a list to White Hat, standing next to a case filled with collectables including an urn, a model ship, a compact disc, a vinyl record, a doll, a martini glass, and a teapot.]
:Today we're looking for a lunchbox, a snow globe, a Maytag dryer, a Harley Davidson, and a stamp.

:[Caption below the frame:]
:My hobby: Collecting one item from every category listed on Wikipedia's "List of collectables."

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]

2099: Missal of Silos

2019-01-16T17:12:24Z

Kwonunn: Fixed extra period

{{comic
| number = 2099
| date = January 16, 2019
| title = Missal of Silos
| image = missal_of_silos.png
| titletext = Welcome to Wyoming, motto "We'd like to clarify that Cheyenne Mountain is in Colorado."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|Approximate string matching|Fuzzy, or approximate, string matching}} is a technique used for searching strings (how a computer stores and manipulates writing) for specified values. Normal string matching would only find results that fit the search exactly. Fuzzy string matching instead finds results that are "close enough" by some metric. This is often used in search engines, as typos, misspellings, and inexact searches are commonplace.

If a list of potential nuclear missile targets were stored, and a fuzzy search was looking for "missile silos", the {{w|Missal of Silos}} would most likely be returned as a result--and subsequently, targeted with a nuclear missile. Why an 11th century piece of writing was a potential target for a nuclear strike is unknown. Missile silos are often thought to be the first targeting priority in event of a nuclear strike, in hopes of preventing retaliation from the target.

{{w|Cheyenne Mountain}} is a mountain in Colorado, which houses an underground compound (aptly named the {{w|Cheyenne Mountain Complex}}) designed to withstand a nuclear strike, armed with missiles of their own. {{w|Cheyenne, Wyoming}}, on the other hand, is the capital of Wyoming. While it does house a military airport, it is not home to any nuclear weapons. The residents of Cheyenne, Wyoming would prefer their home isn't the target of a nuclear attack because of confusion with Cheyenne Mountain{{Citation needed}}.

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

{{comic discussion}}

1035: Cadbury Eggs

2019-01-12T16:00:51Z

Kwonunn: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1035
| date = March 28, 2012
| title = Cadbury Eggs
| image = cadbury_eggs.png
| titletext = When they moved production from New Zealand to the UK and switched from the runny white centers to the thick, frosting-like filling, it got way harder to cook them scrambled.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Cadbury Creme Egg|Cadbury Eggs}} are a chocolate egg-shaped candy with a filling. They are supposed to replicate a real egg with a hard exterior and soft interior. However, unlike real eggs, the exterior is edible {{Citation needed}}.

In this comic, [[Cueball]] is trying to say that sodas have way too much sugar to even be appealing as beverages, because they contain as much sugar as 2 or 3 Cadbury Eggs, and one Cadbury Egg alone makes him feel sick. (A 12 oz can equals 355 mL, while a 20 oz bottle is about 590 mL.)

However, [[Megan]] interprets this in precisely the opposite way to what Cueball intended. Instead of comparing soda to Cadbury Eggs, she compares Cadbury Eggs to soda. If a [[1070|few]] Cadbury Eggs have the same amount of sugar as soda, Megan can eat as many as she wants year-round in place of soda, with no additional guilt. Cadbury Eggs are usually consumed around {{w|Easter}} — which is usually anywhere from late March to late April.

The title text mentions the closure of the {{w|Cadbury Creme Egg#Manufacture in New Zealand|manufacture in New Zealand}} in 2009 and the change of the filling from runny to thick as a consequence. The joke here is the comparison to real eggs, who can be cooked {{w|Scrambled_eggs|scrambled}}, the new thick filling is not liquid enough to be cooked in a pan, as was the old runny filling.

==Transcript==
:[Two Cadbury eggs, one in the foil, the other out of the foil and broken open to reveal the gooey center.]
:A Cadbury egg has about 20g of sugar. (25g outside the US.) "One Cadbury Egg" is a nice unit of sugar content.

:[A can of soda with an equals sign and two eggs; a bottle of soda with an equals sign and three eggs.]
:One 12oz. can of soda has about two Cadbury eggs worth of sugar. One 20oz. bottle has three.

:[Two unwrapped Cadbury eggs, with an arrow indicating they should be placed in a glass of water.]
:One Cadbury egg is enough to make me feel kinda gross. Now when I see Coke or Snapple or Nestea or whatever, I imagine drinking a couple of dissolved Cadbury eggs.

:[Megan puts her hand to her chin in thought, Cueball has his arms out in exclamation.]
:Megan: Wow. Huh. So the takeaway is... I can eat Cadbury eggs by the handful all season and feel no worse about it than I do about soda?
:Cueball: That's not really—
:Megan: This is ''awesome!''
:Cueball: *sigh*

==Trivia==
*Cadbury Eggs and the high sugar content of soda are referenced again in [[1793: Soda Sugar Comparisons]].
*The Cadbury egg/soda comparison is also mentioned in the what if? {{what if|74|Soda Planet}}.

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

179: e to the pi times i

2019-01-08T18:56:35Z

Kwonunn: /* Transcript */ There was never a stick

{{comic
| number = 179
| date = November 3, 2006
| title = e to the pi times i
| image = e_to_the_pi_times_i.png
| titletext = I have never been totally satisfied by the explanations for why e to the ix gives a sinusoidal wave.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic largely references {{w|Euler's identity}}. This identity states that eiπ + 1 = 0. Therefore, eiπ = −1.

The humor from this comic is because of the seemingly arbitrary relationship between e, π, and the identity of i (the square root of −1). e is the mathematical identity of which the derivative of ex with respect to x is still ex, while π is the relationship between the circumference of a circle divided by its diameter. Taking these two values and applying them to the value of i in such a manner makes it seem counter-intuitive that it would yield −1 from basic analysis. The above linked Wikipedia page goes into good detail of how to derive this identity, as does [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dhHrg-KbJ0 this YouTube video].

The title text refers to how Euler's identity is called upon in complex form (separating real and imaginary numbers): eix = cos(x) + i sin(x).

==Transcript==
:[Two people standing at a board with writing on. One person is pointing at the board.]
:Cueball: Numbers of the form n√-1 are "imaginary," but can still be used in equations.
:Friend: Okay.
:Cueball: And e^(π√-1)=-1.
:Friend: Now you're just fucking with me.

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

1678: Recent Searches

2018-12-22T15:48:31Z

Kwonunn: Fixed transscript

{{comic
| number = 1678
| date = May 9, 2016
| title = Recent Searches
| image = recent_searches.png
| titletext = autoexec code posted by verified twitter users
}}

==Explanation==
People often find answers to computer problems by searching on {{w|Google}}, which attempts to guess your intended search term based on your location, language and the characters you've already typed, placing its suggestions in a drop-down box beneath the input area. Here we see a list of search queries, each of which suggests the author is perversely misusing or overextending some computer technology. The overall impression is of someone technically sophisticated enough to shoot themselves in the foot, and who does not learn any larger lessons despite doing so repeatedly. The title text is another possible entry in this list.

The caption implies that from Randall's perspective, every computer he uses seems to be broken; he doesn't seem to realise this is because he's the one using them, not because the computers actually start off broken. (For similar themes see also these comics: [[349: Success]], [[1084: Server Problem]], [[1316: Inexplicable]] and [[1586: Keyboard Problems]]).

([[979|Dear people from the future]], if Google directed you here because it is the most popular result for a problem you are experiencing, this is not the page you were looking for).

===List of searches===
; [https://www.google.com/search?q=Google+translate+syntax+highlighting Google translate syntax highlighting]
: {{w|Syntax highlighting}} can be used when editing {{w|source code}} to make the code more readable and easier to understand. It is not generally used for natural languages, but {{w|sentence diagram}}s of brief passages are used in language education. {{w|Google Translate}} is used to translate text from one {{w|natural language}} to another. It uses {{w|JavaScript}} <tt>mouseover()</tt> to highlight words as an aid in matching phrases in the source with their translations, but does not apply different highlighting dependent on syntax.
:Alternatively, this could imply that Randall is attempting to translate code from one programming language to another using Google Translate. Success would be unlikely, since the service is not intended for this {{Citation needed}}, and syntactically valid output might further break the computer executing it.
:Two other possible interpretations of this phrase are that Randall wants to translate the phrase "syntax highlighting" to another language, or that he wants to perform syntax highlighting on the source code for Google Translate.
; Autodetect mixed bash zsh
: {{w|bash}} and {{w|Z_shell|zsh}} are two {{w|Command-line_interface|command line interfaces}} for {{w|Unix-like}} OSes. The way to execute commands is almost identical, making detecting a script that contains a mixed syntax nearly impossible.
; CPU temperature sensor limits
: The CPU's temperature sensors exist to tell you when your CPU is becoming dangerously overheated (normally because of a faulty fan or overclocking). Someone who searches for information about the limits of those sensors is presumably expecting to misuse their CPU. Probably also a reference to [[1172: Workflow]].
; GIF to XLS
: .GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) is a file extension used to store images and sequences of images to be displayed as an animation. .XLS is the file extension for Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. The joke is that the two file types are used for different purposes - it's quite normal for someone to want to convert between .GIF, .JPG, .PNG, .BMP files, as these are all image files; or between .XLS, .CSV, and .ODS files, as these all record tabulated information. However, for some reason Randall wants to convert an image file to a spreadsheet. (This is actually possible, because a digital image is essentially an array of colour and brightness values; it just wouldn't be particularly useful for most people. [http://www.think-maths.co.uk/spreadsheet Here] is a webpage with an online converter.) Matt Parker has done a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBX2QQHlQ_I stand up routine] about converting these two file types.
:An alternate way to convert an image file, such as a .GIF file, into a text-based file like an .XLS file, is through {{w|optical character recognition}} (OCR). This is only effective if the image is a copy (i.e. a scan or reasonably clear photograph) of a document containing letters and words, and neither .GIF nor .XLS are file formats anyone would usually use in that case.
; Clock speed jumper sample rate
: A jumper is an intentional short circuit used for selecting options for an electronic circuit. They are usually used where it is not feasible to use programming (such as outputting a byte or word through a port) to alter the selection, such as before the processor even begins executing. A common example would be, on some motherboards, jumpers can be used to alter the clock speeds of various motherboard functions (such as the CPU or the front side bus). These jumpers should ordinarily be modified when the computer is off. However, this search is asking how often the motherboard checks the status of the clock speed jumpers, implying that they intend to change these jumpers while the computer is powered on, and often enough that the sample rate matters (change cpu speed several times a second, by moving jumpers on the motherboard.). That is, of course, a little silly.
; [https://www.google.com/search?q=clean+reinstall+keybinding Clean reinstall keybinding]
: This refers to keybinding, the practice of mapping (binding) a certain key to a certain function (e.g., pressing PRTSC will take a screenshot). Most keyboards do not output characters directly, but only codes for which keys have been pressed (or released). Keybindings translate the pressing of the "A" key on your keyboard into the letter "A" being sent to a program which is reading keyboard input. A "clean reinstall" of keybindings is something that would almost never be necessary - it means Randall has modified his default keybindings to such an extent that his [[1031:_s/keyboard/leopard/|leopard]] has become unusable (similar to [[1284: Improved Keyboard]]), necessitating a "clean reinstall" of the bindings. Alternatively, he might be doing clean reinstalls so often that he wants a keybinding to execute them with minimal loss of time.
; Cron job to update crontab
: {{w|Cron}} is a utility on most Unix-like OSes that allows you to schedule commands or scripts to be run periodically. These scheduled jobs are read from a ''crontab'' file. A job that updates the crontab (therefore creating new jobs, removing old ones or editing existing ones) is paramount to a {{w|job scheduler}}, and trying to use cron for such functionality could result in highly unstable functionality (although a crontab could be sensibly regenerated periodically by a set of machines from a master crontab file annotated with per-host directives). This is similar to {{w|self-modifying code}}.
; [https://www.google.com/search?q=fsck+chrome+extension fsck Chrome extension]
: This is a search for an interface to the Unix '''f'''ile'''s'''ystem che'''ck'''er {{w|fsck}} via third-party software added to Chrome. fsck is a program for checking your filesystem for corruption. Repairing a filesystem this way would be inadvisable. {{Citation needed}} This might indicate confusion about the meaning of the term "online filesystem repair", in which "online" means "while the filesystem is in use" rather than "over the Internet". Alternatively, Randall might want to repair an installation of the operating system Chromium, in a manner less drastic than the {{w|factory reset}} preferred by Google.
; Recursive font
: An idiosyncratic mix of {{w|recursion}} and the font style ''{{w|cursive}}'', referring especially to text handwritten in a flowing manner. {{w|PostScript}} (the language in which {{w|PostScript fonts|some fonts}} are written) is capable of recursion and PostScript Type 3 fonts are able to use the full language. This could create effects like fonts with complicated fractal borders and fill patterns - but the increase in processing time would contribute to seeming brokenness of the computer (or printer) rendering the font.
:A true recursive font would be a form of {{w|fractal}}s ([http://blog.matthen.com/post/5340546486/first-sketches-in-mathematica-for-a-new-font-it example]).
; Regex matching valid EBNF
: EBNF refers to {{w|Extended Backus–Naur Form}}, which is used to define {{w|formal language}}s. EBNF specifies recursive patterns that are impossible for a {{w|Regular_Expression|regular expression}} (regex) to determine whether it is valid or not. There is some irony in using regex to test the validity of something which ''defines'' the validity of things like regex.
; [https://www.google.com/search?q=Hardlinks+Turing+complete Hardlinks Turing complete]
: In some file systems, for example {{w|ext4}} and {{w|NTFS}}, a single file may be referenced in multiple places in the file system. These filenames are termed "hard links" because the operating system automatically resolves them to the actual file. "Soft" or "symbolic" links are resolved indirectly via a pathname, which may reside anywhere. A file is considered deleted when the last hard link to it is unlinked; a soft link exists independently of its target. In fact, the target need not exist, in which case this is often called a dangling symbolic link.
:{{w|Turing completeness}} is the {{w|computational complexity}} required to simulate any {{w|computable function}} (given an infinite amount of memory). Recently there have been cases where [http://beza1e1.tuxen.de/articles/accidentally_turing_complete.html unexpected mechanisms] from card games to text parsers were proved to be Turing complete. Hardlinks being Turing complete would imply that creating and deleting hardlinks alone is enough to satisfy the requirements of Turing completeness.
; Opposite of safe mode
: {{w|Safe mode}} is a diagnostic mode in many operating systems and applications which allows the user to troubleshoot problems by disabling unnecessary functionality. The "opposite of safe mode" implies a "dangerous mode" where the purpose is to allow uselessly dangerous actions (in actuality this supposed dangerous mode is the default mode). A common example is the {{w|sudo}} command in Unix-like OSes, which grants the user system-level permissions.
:It's also possible that Randall sees Safe Mode so often that he sees regular mode as an unusual and unique state and needs help navigating back to it.
; Predictive touchpad
: {{w|Predictive text}} is a feature of many smartphone keyboards that predicts the most likely word the user wishes to type, and then gives the user the option to place the full word in the sentence immediately without having to finish typing it. A {{w|touchpad}} is a computer pointing device, similar to a {{w|computer mouse}}. The idea of a "predictive touchpad" seems absurd because, as opposed to typed words, there are not a limited number of swipe combinations that are possible on a touchpad. A "predictive touchpad" implies that a computer could predict where the user was going to move the mouse or click, which in this case would seem to defeat the purpose of a user input device. {{Citation needed}}.
:Interestingly, a version of Linux {{Citation needed}} had a predictive cursor option, where the cursor jumped to the nearest button (like window close) when it moved near to but didn't quite reach that button.
; Google docs from bootloader
: A {{w|bootloader}} is a very small program that is usually the very first thing to execute when a computer boots up. It is used mainly for loading the operating system into memory. Such a program by itself would not be capable of directly running something as complex as {{w|Google Docs}}. Probably also a reference to [[1912: Thermostat]].
; Hardware acceleration red channel only
: {{w|Hardware acceleration}} means that certain calculations are not performed by the computer's {{w|CPU}} but by a "specialized" processor, e.g. a {{w|GPU}} which is part of the graphics adapter. This speeds up output, especially if complex 3D calculations are required, and reduces CPU load. To use this function only on a single color channel seems pretty useless, but one may want to troubleshoot a program that displays only red when hardware acceleration is enabled.
:While graphics cards are most commonly used with three or four channels (red, green, blue, and sometimes alpha), they do support two-channel or single-channel images. An 8-bit single-channel image would use the format '[https://www.opengl.org/wiki/Image_Load_Store#Format_qualifiers R8]', which is indeed 'red channel only'. This type of image could be used to store monochrome images or non-image data.
; autoexec code posted by verified twitter users. ('''Title text''')
: The term "autoexec" refers to code that runs automatically, usually during boot, and derives from one of three boot-time files for {{w|MS-DOS}}: AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS and COMMAND.COM. AUTOEXEC.BAT would typically contain commands for customizing the command prompt, loading additional drivers, and/or automatically launching a program.
:Automatically executing code from the Internet is generally a terrible idea, because it could be written by someone with malicious intent and harm your computer. The joke here is that the code would only be executed if written by someone who has been "verified" on Twitter. Twitter's verification service only serves to show that a user is who they claim to be, not whether or not their code can be trusted, so this would provide little protection. Usually, Twitter verification is used by celebrities so they can be distinguished from people claiming to be them. The line implies that Randall is only interested in running code posted by celebrities.
:Most code downloaded from authentic sources (such as Microsoft and official Linux distributions) is verified by a cryptographic signature from a true trusted source, authenticating the origin of the software. These may include software updates that run automatically in the background. The joke here is that the term "verified" means very different things between Twitter users and software distribution.

==Transcript==
:[Coloured and styled as the real logo:]
:GOOGLE

:[Google Search bar, with a drop down box with faded text, implying recent searches.]
:Google translate syntax highlighting
:Autodetect mixed bash zsh
:CPU temperature sensor limits
:GIF to XLS
:Clock speed jumper sample rate
:Clean reinstall keybinding
:Cron job to update crontab
:fsck Chrome extension
:Recursive font
:Regex matching valid EBNF
:Hardlinks Turing complete
:Opposite of safe mode
:Predictive touchpad
:Google docs from bootloader
:Hardware acceleration red channel only

:[Caption below the frame:]
:'''I have no idea why my computers are always broken.'''

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

1678: Recent Searches

2018-12-22T15:29:14Z

Kwonunn: /* Explanation */ Moved citation needed

{{comic
| number = 1678
| date = May 9, 2016
| title = Recent Searches
| image = recent_searches.png
| titletext = autoexec code posted by verified twitter users
}}

==Explanation==
People often find answers to computer problems by searching on {{w|Google}}, which attempts to guess your intended search term based on your location, language and the characters you've already typed, placing its suggestions in a drop-down box beneath the input area. Here we see a list of search queries, each of which suggests the author is perversely misusing or overextending some computer technology. The overall impression is of someone technically sophisticated enough to shoot themselves in the foot, and who does not learn any larger lessons despite doing so repeatedly. The title text is another possible entry in this list.

The caption implies that from Randall's perspective, every computer he uses seems to be broken; he doesn't seem to realise this is because he's the one using them, not because the computers actually start off broken. (For similar themes see also these comics: [[349: Success]], [[1084: Server Problem]], [[1316: Inexplicable]] and [[1586: Keyboard Problems]]).

([[979|Dear people from the future]], if Google directed you here because it is the most popular result for a problem you are experiencing, this is not the page you were looking for).

===List of searches===
; [https://www.google.com/search?q=Google+translate+syntax+highlighting Google translate syntax highlighting]
: {{w|Syntax highlighting}} can be used when editing {{w|source code}} to make the code more readable and easier to understand. It is not generally used for natural languages, but {{w|sentence diagram}}s of brief passages are used in language education. {{w|Google Translate}} is used to translate text from one {{w|natural language}} to another. It uses {{w|JavaScript}} <tt>mouseover()</tt> to highlight words as an aid in matching phrases in the source with their translations, but does not apply different highlighting dependent on syntax.
:Alternatively, this could imply that Randall is attempting to translate code from one programming language to another using Google Translate. Success would be unlikely, since the service is not intended for this {{Citation needed}}, and syntactically valid output might further break the computer executing it.
:Two other possible interpretations of this phrase are that Randall wants to translate the phrase "syntax highlighting" to another language, or that he wants to perform syntax highlighting on the source code for Google Translate.
; Autodetect mixed bash zsh
: {{w|bash}} and {{w|Z_shell|zsh}} are two {{w|Command-line_interface|command line interfaces}} for {{w|Unix-like}} OSes. The way to execute commands is almost identical, making detecting a script that contains a mixed syntax nearly impossible.
; CPU temperature sensor limits
: The CPU's temperature sensors exist to tell you when your CPU is becoming dangerously overheated (normally because of a faulty fan or overclocking). Someone who searches for information about the limits of those sensors is presumably expecting to misuse their CPU. Probably also a reference to [[1172: Workflow]].
; GIF to XLS
: .GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) is a file extension used to store images and sequences of images to be displayed as an animation. .XLS is the file extension for Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. The joke is that the two file types are used for different purposes - it's quite normal for someone to want to convert between .GIF, .JPG, .PNG, .BMP files, as these are all image files; or between .XLS, .CSV, and .ODS files, as these all record tabulated information. However, for some reason Randall wants to convert an image file to a spreadsheet. (This is actually possible, because a digital image is essentially an array of colour and brightness values; it just wouldn't be particularly useful for most people. [http://www.think-maths.co.uk/spreadsheet Here] is a webpage with an online converter.) Matt Parker has done a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBX2QQHlQ_I stand up routine] about converting these two file types.
:An alternate way to convert an image file, such as a .GIF file, into a text-based file like an .XLS file, is through {{w|optical character recognition}} (OCR). This is only effective if the image is a copy (i.e. a scan or reasonably clear photograph) of a document containing letters and words, and neither .GIF nor .XLS are file formats anyone would usually use in that case.
; Clock speed jumper sample rate
: A jumper is an intentional short circuit used for selecting options for an electronic circuit. They are usually used where it is not feasible to use programming (such as outputting a byte or word through a port) to alter the selection, such as before the processor even begins executing. A common example would be, on some motherboards, jumpers can be used to alter the clock speeds of various motherboard functions (such as the CPU or the front side bus). These jumpers should ordinarily be modified when the computer is off. However, this search is asking how often the motherboard checks the status of the clock speed jumpers, implying that they intend to change these jumpers while the computer is powered on, and often enough that the sample rate matters (change cpu speed several times a second, by moving jumpers on the motherboard.). That is, of course, a little silly.
; [https://www.google.com/search?q=clean+reinstall+keybinding Clean reinstall keybinding]
: This refers to keybinding, the practice of mapping (binding) a certain key to a certain function (e.g., pressing PRTSC will take a screenshot). Most keyboards do not output characters directly, but only codes for which keys have been pressed (or released). Keybindings translate the pressing of the "A" key on your keyboard into the letter "A" being sent to a program which is reading keyboard input. A "clean reinstall" of keybindings is something that would almost never be necessary - it means Randall has modified his default keybindings to such an extent that his [[1031:_s/keyboard/leopard/|leopard]] has become unusable (similar to [[1284: Improved Keyboard]]), necessitating a "clean reinstall" of the bindings. Alternatively, he might be doing clean reinstalls so often that he wants a keybinding to execute them with minimal loss of time.
; Cron job to update crontab
: {{w|Cron}} is a utility on most Unix-like OSes that allows you to schedule commands or scripts to be run periodically. These scheduled jobs are read from a ''crontab'' file. A job that updates the crontab (therefore creating new jobs, removing old ones or editing existing ones) is paramount to a {{w|job scheduler}}, and trying to use cron for such functionality could result in highly unstable functionality (although a crontab could be sensibly regenerated periodically by a set of machines from a master crontab file annotated with per-host directives). This is similar to {{w|self-modifying code}}.
; [https://www.google.com/search?q=fsck+chrome+extension fsck Chrome extension]
: This is a search for an interface to the Unix '''f'''ile'''s'''ystem che'''ck'''er {{w|fsck}} via third-party software added to Chrome. fsck is a program for checking your filesystem for corruption. Repairing a filesystem this way would be inadvisable. {{Citation needed}} This might indicate confusion about the meaning of the term "online filesystem repair", in which "online" means "while the filesystem is in use" rather than "over the Internet". Alternatively, Randall might want to repair an installation of the operating system Chromium, in a manner less drastic than the {{w|factory reset}} preferred by Google.
; Recursive font
: An idiosyncratic mix of {{w|recursion}} and the font style ''{{w|cursive}}'', referring especially to text handwritten in a flowing manner. {{w|PostScript}} (the language in which {{w|PostScript fonts|some fonts}} are written) is capable of recursion and PostScript Type 3 fonts are able to use the full language. This could create effects like fonts with complicated fractal borders and fill patterns - but the increase in processing time would contribute to seeming brokenness of the computer (or printer) rendering the font.
:A true recursive font would be a form of {{w|fractal}}s ([http://blog.matthen.com/post/5340546486/first-sketches-in-mathematica-for-a-new-font-it example]).
; Regex matching valid EBNF
: EBNF refers to {{w|Extended Backus–Naur Form}}, which is used to define {{w|formal language}}s. EBNF specifies recursive patterns that are impossible for a {{w|Regular_Expression|regular expression}} (regex) to determine whether it is valid or not. There is some irony in using regex to test the validity of something which ''defines'' the validity of things like regex.
; [https://www.google.com/search?q=Hardlinks+Turing+complete Hardlinks Turing complete]
: In some file systems, for example {{w|ext4}} and {{w|NTFS}}, a single file may be referenced in multiple places in the file system. These filenames are termed "hard links" because the operating system automatically resolves them to the actual file. "Soft" or "symbolic" links are resolved indirectly via a pathname, which may reside anywhere. A file is considered deleted when the last hard link to it is unlinked; a soft link exists independently of its target. In fact, the target need not exist, in which case this is often called a dangling symbolic link.
:{{w|Turing completeness}} is the {{w|computational complexity}} required to simulate any {{w|computable function}} (given an infinite amount of memory). Recently there have been cases where [http://beza1e1.tuxen.de/articles/accidentally_turing_complete.html unexpected mechanisms] from card games to text parsers were proved to be Turing complete. Hardlinks being Turing complete would imply that creating and deleting hardlinks alone is enough to satisfy the requirements of Turing completeness.
; Opposite of safe mode
: {{w|Safe mode}} is a diagnostic mode in many operating systems and applications which allows the user to troubleshoot problems by disabling unnecessary functionality. The "opposite of safe mode" implies a "dangerous mode" where the purpose is to allow uselessly dangerous actions (in actuality this supposed dangerous mode is the default mode). A common example is the {{w|sudo}} command in Unix-like OSes, which grants the user system-level permissions.
:It's also possible that Randall sees Safe Mode so often that he sees regular mode as an unusual and unique state and needs help navigating back to it.
; Predictive touchpad
: {{w|Predictive text}} is a feature of many smartphone keyboards that predicts the most likely word the user wishes to type, and then gives the user the option to place the full word in the sentence immediately without having to finish typing it. A {{w|touchpad}} is a computer pointing device, similar to a {{w|computer mouse}}. The idea of a "predictive touchpad" seems absurd because, as opposed to typed words, there are not a limited number of swipe combinations that are possible on a touchpad. A "predictive touchpad" implies that a computer could predict where the user was going to move the mouse or click, which in this case would seem to defeat the purpose of a user input device. {{Citation needed}}.
:Interestingly, a version of Linux {{Citation needed}} had a predictive cursor option, where the cursor jumped to the nearest button (like window close) when it moved near to but didn't quite reach that button.
; Google docs from bootloader
: A {{w|bootloader}} is a very small program that is usually the very first thing to execute when a computer boots up. It is used mainly for loading the operating system into memory. Such a program by itself would not be capable of directly running something as complex as {{w|Google Docs}}. Probably also a reference to [[1912: Thermostat]].
; Hardware acceleration red channel only
: {{w|Hardware acceleration}} means that certain calculations are not performed by the computer's {{w|CPU}} but by a "specialized" processor, e.g. a {{w|GPU}} which is part of the graphics adapter. This speeds up output, especially if complex 3D calculations are required, and reduces CPU load. To use this function only on a single color channel seems pretty useless, but one may want to troubleshoot a program that displays only red when hardware acceleration is enabled.
:While graphics cards are most commonly used with three or four channels (red, green, blue, and sometimes alpha), they do support two-channel or single-channel images. An 8-bit single-channel image would use the format '[https://www.opengl.org/wiki/Image_Load_Store#Format_qualifiers R8]', which is indeed 'red channel only'. This type of image could be used to store monochrome images or non-image data.
; autoexec code posted by verified twitter users. ('''Title text''')
: The term "autoexec" refers to code that runs automatically, usually during boot, and derives from one of three boot-time files for {{w|MS-DOS}}: AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS and COMMAND.COM. AUTOEXEC.BAT would typically contain commands for customizing the command prompt, loading additional drivers, and/or automatically launching a program.
:Automatically executing code from the Internet is generally a terrible idea, because it could be written by someone with malicious intent and harm your computer. The joke here is that the code would only be executed if written by someone who has been "verified" on Twitter. Twitter's verification service only serves to show that a user is who they claim to be, not whether or not their code can be trusted, so this would provide little protection. Usually, Twitter verification is used by celebrities so they can be distinguished from people claiming to be them. The line implies that Randall is only interested in running code posted by celebrities.
:Most code downloaded from authentic sources (such as Microsoft and official Linux distributions) is verified by a cryptographic signature from a true trusted source, authenticating the origin of the software. These may include software updates that run automatically in the background. The joke here is that the term "verified" means very different things between Twitter users and software distribution.

==Transcript==
:[Coloured and styled as the real logo:]
:<big>Google</big>

:[Google Search bar, with a drop down box with faded text, implying recent searches.]
:Google translate syntax highlighting
:Autodetect mixed bash zsh
:CPU temperature sensor limits
:GIF to XLS
:Clock speed jumper sample rate
:Clean reinstall keybinding
:Cron job to update crontab
:fsck Chrome extension
:Recursive font
:Regex matching valid EBNF
:Hardlinks Turing complete
:Opposite of safe mode
:Predictive touchpad
:Google docs from bootloader
:Hardware acceleration red channel only

:[Caption below the frame:]
:'''I have no idea why my computers are always broken.'''

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

934: Mac/PC

2018-12-18T13:54:00Z

Kwonunn: /* Transcript */ Fixed name

{{comic
| number = 934
| date = August 5, 2011
| title = Mac/PC
| image = mac_pc.png
| titletext = It's fun to watch browsers fumblingly recapitulate the history of window management. Someday we'll have xmonad as a Firefox extension.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a parody of the "{{w|Get a Mac}}" (also known as "I'm a Mac" or "Mac vs. PC") ad campaign for the {{w|Mac}} brand of computers. The ads personified the Mac and their competitors, the PC. The ads poked fun at the PC's terrible function while paying attention to the Mac's unique features. Each ad started with the duo introducing themselves as "I'm a Mac..." "...and I'm a PC."

The comic, however, presents the differences between them as no longer of much importance, since most everything nowadays is done through browsers due to the proliferation of cloud computing. In essence, using the same browser to visit the same website among different operating systems would give you an experience that is very much the same. Additionally, there is some self-referential humor here; both the Mac and PC are simple stick figures due to xkcd's style. Therefore, they are literally identical as far as appearance goes. The apotheosis of computing via a browser is probably the {{w|Chromebook}}, a range of laptops whose operating system is based upon the browser {{w|Google Chrome}}, and which first became commercially available a few weeks before this comic appeared.

The title text refers to {{w|window management}}, which is software that controls windows on computers, and is in many ways similar to the more recent development of {{w|tab (GUI)|tabbed}} browsers. {{w|xmonad}} is one such program, and [[Randall]] says that eventually it will be an extension usable with the browser {{w|Firefox}}. What makes it somewhat unusual (and thus worth mentioning) is that it is a {{w|Tiling window manager|tiling window manager}}, meaning it automatically arranges and resizes newly opened program windows to fit a grid. This is especially useful on large screens.

==Transcript==
:[Two Cueballs stand facing out of the screen.]
:Mac: I'm a Mac
:PC: And I'm a PC.
:Mac & PC, together: And since you do everything through a browser now, we're pretty indistinguishable.

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

2086: History Department

2018-12-17T20:26:28Z

Kwonunn: /* Explanation */ Added explanation

{{comic
| number = 2086
| date = December 17, 2018
| title = History Department
| image = history_department.png
| titletext = When we take into account the recent discovery of previously-unstudied history in the 1750s, this year may have been an outright loss.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HISTORIAN. There appears to be no explanation. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this comic Ponytail is a representative of the the history department, which might be a department of a university or other organisation. She presents the year report of 2018. In this, she explains, the department has fully analized over four months of history. In the meantime, due to the passage of time, another year of history has been added to their workload. This presents a cycle in which the department would only be able to keep up if they would analyze more than or exactly one year of history.

The title text further expands this problem by indicating the discovery of a new era of history this year would have added far more undiscovered history than it removed.

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

[Ponytail at podium]

Ponytail: 2018 was a productive year for the history department - we were able to fully analyze over four months of history.

Ponytail: Unfortunately, over that same period, an entire year of new history was produced.

Ponytail: I'm afraid we're falling behind.

[Presentation behind listing dates studied: November 1833, April 19-22 1979, May 21-25 585 BCE, June-August 1848, and May 16 2001]

{{comic discussion}}

734: Outbreak

2018-12-14T17:23:42Z

Kwonunn: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 734
| date = April 30, 2010
| title = Outbreak
| image = outbreak.png
| titletext = Let's get dinner after we promptly destroy all the X-7 we've manufactured.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Index case|Patient Zero}} is the usual terminology for the first patient tested or infected with an {{w|outbreak}}-style infection, (in the comic's case, a zombie outbreak,) like in the movie {{w|Outbreak (film)|Outbreak}}, which is not the main inspiration for this comic, except maybe the title.

This comic, however, serves to make fun of the stereotypical {{w|List of zombie films|zombie movie}} in which an unlikely series of events, coupled with extreme oversight on part of the staff, leave an opening for an outbreak to begin. Often, the infected find themselves lacking any restraint or containment, and freely move about in search of humans to infect.

In the comic Ryan (drawn as [[Cueball]]) tells Laura (drawn as [[Megan]]) that the patient has been exposed to ''toxin X-7''. The patient (a {{w|zombie}} version of a Cueball-like guy) can be seen through a window inside a laboratory, with Ryan trying to block the door. The patient has turned into a ''bloodthirsty monster'' that in true zombie-style calls out for brains, while walking with both arms stretched out and bits of him falling off, three typical cliches for zombie movies.

Laura then asks if the zombie has been kept in {{w|Isolation (health care)|isolation}}, a standard medical procedure that prevents the patient from coming into contact with anyone or anything not specifically approved, and thus prevents the spread of the disease. Her question serves to point out the drastic difference in real-life procedure and zombie movies.

When told that so far the zombie has been isolated her next action is to run to her car to obtain the weapon she has there to destroy the zombie, again showing contrast against the often irrational and illogical actions of medical staff in movies, whose behaviors usually lead to their deaths and to the spread of the disease, which causes the real outbreak. Because one person (or a few people) dying from a disease is not called an outbreak.

When Laura returns she kills patient zero, before he infects any other, thus the outbreak ends in panel three five minutes after it started in panel one.

The comic ends with a little "mock the audience" joke as romantic comedies stereo-typically have a very different audience from zombie horror movies. The two characters had never been introduced before, their names are first given in the last panel. Having such an intense and life-threatening experience often causes people to fall in love. But for a zombie/disaster movie this is supposed to happen just before the end titles, so you have all the fun first, and can go home on the happy ending. Since the "fun" part only lasted for five minutes the rest of the movie will now describe Ryan and Laura's romantic relationship after this comic.

As a result, the director(s) of this movie are deliberately showing the wrong kind of film to the audience attracted by the title or teaser. This would be disastrous for a movie in real life given that audiences do not take kindly to such antics and are likely to pour hate about it online, dissuading others from going, and alienating both those audiences who enjoy romantic comedies and those who enjoy zombie films, leaving just a niche occupied by the people who enjoy both.

The title-text is included as another example of the logical real-life actions versus the illogical movie ones, as any dangerous substance in a real lab would be disposed of, preventing further harm. In zombie movies, another major trope is the medical staff thinking that they are safe after they eliminate the first zombie, only to find the remaining chemicals have been used to make more. But before Ryan and Laura have had dinner, they promptly go back and destroys both the X-7 toxin and the last hope of the zombie fans seeing the movie of any further action...

Zombies are a [[:Category:Zombies|recurring theme]] in xkcd. Though zombies are often depicted as being raised from the death they are as mentioned often created (in films) through disease or toxins as is the case here. Apart from the three typical features of zombies mentioned, the zombie in this comic is also called zombie in the [http://xkcd.com/734/info.0.json official transcript] on xkcd.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan, stand outside a door into a laboratory (as it says on the door). Cueball is leaning back against the door. A Cueball-like zombie which is clearly falling apart, walking with it's hands stretched out in front of it is visible through a window into the laboratory. At the top of the panel there is a frame around a yellow area with narration, which goes over the top of this panels frame.]
:Narrator: The outbreak started with Patient Zero...
:Cueball: He was exposed to toxin X-7— now he's a bloodthirsty monster!
:Megan: Has he been in isolation?
:Zombie: Braaains!
:Door: LAB

:[Cueball turns towards the door pushing on it partly blocking the doors label. A noise indicates the zombie banging on the door from inside. Megan runs right her head and hand already partly outside the frame.]
:Cueball: Yes, but I can't hold this door for long!
:Megan: Hang on, I've got a gun in my truck.
:Zombie hitting door: ''Wham''
:Door: LA

:[In this frame-less panel Cueball opens the door, leaning back with a hand in front of his face, as Megan shoots with her shotgun through the open door at the zombie inside.]
:Shotgun: <big>''Blam''</big>
:Door: LAB

:[Cueball and Megan , now revealed to be called Ryan and Laura, stand together away from the laboratory door. Megan still holds shotgun down. At the top and bottom of the panel there is two more frames around a yellow areas with narration, which goes over the top and bottom of this panels frame.]
:Narrator: And ended with Patient Zero five minutes later.
:Ryan: So, I never got your name. I'm Ryan.
:Laura: Laura.
:Narrator: The remaining 90 minutes of the movie will be a romantic comedy.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Zombies]]
[[Category:Fiction]]

2083: Laptop Issues

2018-12-11T16:14:07Z

Kwonunn:

{{comic
| number = 2083
| date = December 10, 2018
| title = Laptop Issues
| image = laptop_issues.png
| titletext = Hang on, we got a call from the feds. They say we can do whatever with him, but the EPA doesn't want that laptop in the ocean. They're sending a team.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Explanations could be improved. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Cueball]] goes to tech support with his laptop. [[Hairy]] and [[Ponytail]] are waiting behind the counter; one has dealt with [[:Category:Cueball Computer Problems|Cueball's bizarre tech issues]] before, and warns the other. Sure enough, Cueball sets the computer down and offers a detailed list of the arcane problems his computer is giving him.

; ''My laptop's battery won't hold a charge.''
: A common problem; as batteries are frequently charged and recharged, their capacity for storing charge deteriorates. However...

; ''Tried [replacing the battery]. Now the new ones won't either.''
: ...the problem persisting despite the battery's replacement fails to make any significant sense. It may be a problem with his laptop's charging port, but his comment that the "new ones" now fail to hold a charge seems to imply it is persisting despite the replacement batteries being used elsewhere after attempting to use them for his laptop and failing... Many modern batteries have firmware built in now that reports their charge level. It is possible that his laptop is installing a faulty firmware to any batteries that get connected.

; ''Also, random files get corrupted on the first of every month.''
: Some devices may be scheduled to do a "disk cleanup" on the first of every month. Somehow, this task is corrupting files that should be kept.

; ''Factory reset didn't help.''
: A factory reset of a device deletes all files, undoes all customizations, and generally puts the system back to square one. Under normal circumstances, this is an effective last-resort measure for dealing with glitches, viruses, and malware, so the fact that it doesn't offer any help suggests that the device's factory settings were already corrupt when they were first made.

; ''When it's plugged in, I get static shocks from my plumbing.''
: Static charge from a portable device while it's charging is common. Static charge on other items in the building is not. However, plumbing systems on older houses were often used to provide a ground instead of using grounding rods, which are now the accepted norm. This could imply that for Cueball's house is old, and for some reason his laptop is pumping a large amount of charge directly to ground.

; ''And it reboots if someone uses an ARC welder nearby''
: The high power draw of an ARC welder will occasionally cause less devoted power supplies to flicker. Coupled with the bad battery that can not keep the computer running when the power dips, this is causing his laptop to reboot. This could also be just because the ARC welder is causing a large amount of electromagnetic interference.

; ''Transitions® lenses go dark when exposed to the screen''
: Transition lenses in prescription glasses darken when exposed directly to UV rays; this is to avoid the wearer any hassle of needing prescription sunglasses. This seems to indicate that the screen of Cueball's laptop is emitting UV radiation.

; ''and when I open too many tabs, it fogs any nearby photographic film.''
: The screen would have to be emitting X-rays that can pass through the film's container and expose the film.

The sheer incongruity of everything Cueball has reported, in combination with past issues, leads Hairy to report that his manager has authorized Cueball and his laptop be thrown into the ocean. Cueball accepts this without objection. This is a reference to [[1912:_Thermostat|1912: Thermostat]], where Cueball has an issue with their thermostat, and the Tech support employee asks them if they have tried walking into the sea. It seems this suggestion has evolved into forcefully throwing him into the sea, for lack of a better idea. It could also be that this is a reference back to the first of Cueball's many [[:Category:Cueball Computer Problems|computer problems]] which began with [[349: Success]] where he ended up in the ocean.

The title text contains mention of the {{w|Environmental Protection Agency}}, (EPA) a part of the United States government responsible for preventing pollution. In real life, most of a laptop computer's components are considered toxic waste, and the EPA, as part of their mission, would not want it dumped in the ocean. More to the point, it's implied that whatever Cueball did to it renders it far more dangerous than an ordinary laptop, and the EPA ''really'' doesn't want his cursed possessions in the ocean; thus they are sending a {{w|Dangerous goods | hazmat}} team to collect the laptop and safely dispose of it.

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

:[Cueball is walking past a sign reading "Tech Support," with a right-pointing arrow and carrying a laptop.]
:Off panel voice #1: ''Oh no.''
:Off panel voice #2: ''What?''
:Off panel voice #1: ''This guy. He has the worst tech problems.''

:[Cueball at tech support desk with an open laptop facing Hairy and Ponytail.]
:Cueball: My laptop's battery won't hold a charge.
:Hairy: We can replace it.
:Cueball: Tried that. Now the new ones won't either.

:[Close-up of Cueball]
:Cueball: Also, random files get corrupted on the first day of every month. Factory reset didn't help.
:Off panel voice #2: ''You weren't kidding.''

:[Close-up of Cueball]
:Cueball: When it's plugged in, I get static shocks from my plumbing.
:Off panel voice: What the...
:Cueball: And it reboots if someone uses an arc welder nearby.

:[Same tableau as second panel except that the laptop is slightly open now.]
:Cueball: Transitions® lenses go dark when exposed to the screen, and when I open too many tabs, it fogs nearby photographic film.
:Hairy: We don't usually do this, but I've gotten permission from my manager to have you and the laptop hurled into the ocean.
:Cueball: That's probably for the best.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Cueball Computer Problems]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

2083: Laptop Issues

2018-12-11T16:09:43Z

Kwonunn: Fixed titles (removed tag)

{{comic
| number = 2083
| date = December 10, 2018
| title = Laptop Issues
| image = laptop_issues.png
| titletext = Hang on, we got a call from the feds. They say we can do whatever with him, but the EPA doesn't want that laptop in the ocean. They're sending a team.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Explanations could be improved. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Cueball]] goes to tech support with his laptop. [[Hairy]] and [[Ponytail]] are waiting behind the counter; one has dealt with [[:Category:Cueball Computer Problems|Cueball's bizarre tech issues]] before, and warns the other. Sure enough, Cueball sets the computer down and offers a detailed list of the arcane problems his computer is giving him.

; ''My laptop's battery won't hold a charge.''
: A common problem; as batteries are frequently charged and recharged, their capacity for storing charge deteriorates. However...

; ''Tried [replacing the battery]. Now the new ones won't either.''
: ...the problem persisting despite the battery's replacement fails to make any significant sense. It may be a problem with his laptop's charging port, but his comment that the "new ones" now fail to hold a charge seems to imply it is persisting despite the replacement batteries being used elsewhere after attempting to use them for his laptop and failing... Many modern batteries have firmware built in now that reports their charge level. It is possible that his laptop is installing a faulty firmware to any batteries that get connected.

; ''Also, random files get corrupted on the first of every month.''
: Some devices may be scheduled to do a "disk cleanup" on the first of every month. Somehow, this task is corrupting files that should be kept.

; ''Factory reset didn't help.''
: A factory reset of a device deletes all files, undoes all customizations, and generally puts the system back to square one. Under normal circumstances, this is an effective last-resort measure for dealing with glitches, viruses, and malware, so the fact that it doesn't offer any help suggests that the device's factory settings were already corrupt when they were first made.

; ''When it's plugged in, I get static shocks from my plumbing.''
: Static charge from a portable device while it's charging is common. Static charge on other items in the building is not. However, plumbing systems on older houses were often used to provide a ground instead of using grounding rods, which are now the accepted norm. This could imply that for Cueball's house is old, and for some reason his laptop is pumping a large amount of charge directly to ground.

; ''And it reboots if someone uses an ARC welder nearby''
: The high power draw of an ARC welder will occasionally cause less devoted power supplies to flicker. Coupled with the bad battery that can not keep the computer running when the power dips, this is causing his laptop to reboot. This could also be just because the ARC welder is causing a large amount of electromagnetic interference.

; ''Transitions® lenses go dark when exposed to the screen''
: Transition lenses in prescription glasses darken when exposed directly to UV rays; this is to avoid the wearer any hassle of needing prescription sunglasses. This seems to indicate that the screen of Cueball's laptop is emitting UV radiation.

; ''and when I open too many tabs, it fogs any nearby photographic film.''
: The screen would have to be emitting X-rays that can pass through the film's container and expose the film.

The sheer incongruity of everything Cueball has reported, in combination with past issues, leads Hairy to report that his manager has authorized Cueball and his laptop be thrown into the ocean so that their plague upon the earth may no longer spread. Cueball, having surrendered to his inability to use technology, accepts this without objection. This is a reference to [[1912:_Thermostat|1912: Thermostat]], where Cueball has an issue with their thermostat, and the Tech support employee asks them if they have tried walking into the sea. It seems this suggestion has evolved into forcefully throwing him into the sea, for lack of a better idea. Maybe this is a reference back to the first of Cueball's many [[:Category:Cueball Computer Problems|computer problems]] which began with [[349: Success]] where he ended up in the ocean.

The title text contains mention of the {{w|Environmental Protection Agency}}, (EPA) a part of the United States government responsible for preventing pollution. In real life, most of a laptop computer's components are considered toxic waste, and the EPA, as part of their mission, would not want it dumped in the ocean. More to the point, it's implied that whatever Cueball did to it renders it far more dangerous than an ordinary laptop, and the EPA ''really'' doesn't want his cursed possessions in the ocean; thus they are sending a [https://bit.ly/1OYyJZ6 hazmat] team to collect the laptop and safely dispose of it.

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

:[Cueball is walking past a sign reading "Tech Support," with a right-pointing arrow and carrying a laptop.]
:Off panel voice #1: ''Oh no.''
:Off panel voice #2: ''What?''
:Off panel voice #1: ''This guy. He has the worst tech problems.''

:[Cueball at tech support desk with an open laptop facing Hairy and Ponytail.]
:Cueball: My laptop's battery won't hold a charge.
:Hairy: We can replace it.
:Cueball: Tried that. Now the new ones won't either.

:[Close-up of Cueball]
:Cueball: Also, random files get corrupted on the first day of every month. Factory reset didn't help.
:Off panel voice #2: ''You weren't kidding.''

:[Close-up of Cueball]
:Cueball: When it's plugged in, I get static shocks from my plumbing.
:Off panel voice: What the...
:Cueball: And it reboots if someone uses an arc welder nearby.

:[Same tableau as second panel except that the laptop is slightly open now.]
:Cueball: Transitions® lenses go dark when exposed to the screen, and when I open too many tabs, it fogs nearby photographic film.
:Hairy: We don't usually do this, but I've gotten permission from my manager to have you and the laptop hurled into the ocean.
:Cueball: That's probably for the best.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Cueball Computer Problems]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

2083: Laptop Issues

2018-12-11T16:06:36Z

Kwonunn: Fixed informal language

{{comic
| number = 2083
| date = December 10, 2018
| title = Laptop Issues
| image = laptop_issues.png
| titletext = Hang on, we got a call from the feds. They say we can do whatever with him, but the EPA doesn't want that laptop in the ocean. They're sending a team.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Explanations and titles thereof could be improved. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Cueball]] goes to tech support with his laptop. [[Hairy]] and [[Ponytail]] are waiting behind the counter; one has dealt with [[:Category:Cueball Computer Problems|Cueball's bizarre tech issues]] before, and warns the other. Sure enough, Cueball sets the computer down and offers a detailed list of the arcane problems his computer is giving him.

; ''My laptop's battery won't hold a charge.''
: A common problem; as batteries are frequently charged and recharged, their capacity for storing charge deteriorates. However...

; ''Tried [replacing the battery]. Now the new ones won't either.''
: ...the problem persisting despite the battery's replacement fails to make any significant sense. It may be a problem with his laptop's charging port, but his comment that the "new ones" now fail to hold a charge seems to imply it is persisting despite the replacement batteries being used elsewhere after attempting to use them for his laptop and failing... Many modern batteries have firmware built in now that reports their charge level. It is possible that his laptop is installing a faulty firmware to any batteries that get connected.

; ''Also, random files get corrupted on the first of every month.''
: Some devices may be scheduled to do a "disk cleanup" on the first of every month. Somehow, this task is corrupting files that should be kept.

; ''Factory reset didn't help either.''
: A factory reset of a device deletes all files, undoes all customizations, and generally puts the system back to square one. Under normal circumstances, this is an effective last-resort measure for dealing with glitches, viruses, and malware, so the fact that it doesn't offer any help suggests that the device's factory settings were already corrupt when they were first made.

; ''When it's plugged in, I get static from my plumbing.''
: Static charge from a portable device while it's charging is common. Static charge on other items in the building is not. However, plumbing systems on older houses were often used to provide a ground instead of using grounding rods, which are now the accepted norm. This could imply that for Cueball's house is old, and for some reason his laptop is pumping a large amount of charge directly to ground.

; ''And it reboots if someone uses an ARC welder nearby''
: The high power draw of an ARC welder will occasionally cause less devoted power supplies to flicker. Coupled with the bad battery that can not keep the computer running when the power dips, this is causing his laptop to reboot. This could also be just because the ARC welder is causing a large amount of electromagnetic interference.

; ''Transition® lenses go dark when exposed to the screen''
: Transition lenses in prescription glasses darken when exposed directly to UV rays; this is to avoid the wearer any hassle of needing prescription sunglasses. This seems to indicate that the screen of Cueball's laptop is emitting UV radiation.

; ''and when I open too many tabs, it fogs any nearby photographic film.''
: The screen would have to be emitting X-rays that can pass through the film's container and expose the film.

The sheer incongruity of everything Cueball has reported, in combination with past issues, leads Hairy to report that his manager has authorized Cueball and his laptop be thrown into the ocean so that their plague upon the earth may no longer spread. Cueball, having surrendered to his inability to use technology, accepts this without objection. This is a reference to [[1912:_Thermostat|1912: Thermostat]], where Cueball has an issue with their thermostat, and the Tech support employee asks them if they have tried walking into the sea. It seems this suggestion has evolved into forcefully throwing him into the sea, for lack of a better idea. Maybe this is a reference back to the first of Cueball's many [[:Category:Cueball Computer Problems|computer problems]] which began with [[349: Success]] where he ended up in the ocean.

The title text contains mention of the {{w|Environmental Protection Agency}}, (EPA) a part of the United States government responsible for preventing pollution. In real life, most of a laptop computer's components are considered toxic waste, and the EPA, as part of their mission, would not want it dumped in the ocean. More to the point, it's implied that whatever Cueball did to it renders it far more dangerous than an ordinary laptop, and the EPA ''really'' doesn't want his cursed possessions in the ocean; thus they are sending a [https://bit.ly/1OYyJZ6 hazmat] team to collect the laptop and safely dispose of it.

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

:[Cueball is walking past a sign reading "Tech Support," with a right-pointing arrow and carrying a laptop.]
:Off panel voice #1: ''Oh no.''
:Off panel voice #2: ''What?''
:Off panel voice #1: ''This guy. He has the worst tech problems.''

:[Cueball at tech support desk with an open laptop facing Hairy and Ponytail.]
:Cueball: My laptop's battery won't hold a charge.
:Hairy: We can replace it.
:Cueball: Tried that. Now the new ones won't either.

:[Close-up of Cueball]
:Cueball: Also, random files get corrupted on the first day of every month. Factory reset didn't help.
:Off panel voice #2: ''You weren't kidding.''

:[Close-up of Cueball]
:Cueball: When it's plugged in, I get static shocks from my plumbing.
:Off panel voice: What the...
:Cueball: And it reboots if someone uses an arc welder nearby.

:[Same tableau as second panel except that the laptop is slightly open now.]
:Cueball: Transitions® lenses go dark when exposed to the screen, and when I open too many tabs, it fogs nearby photographic film.
:Hairy: We don't usually do this, but I've gotten permission from my manager to have you and the laptop hurled into the ocean.
:Cueball: That's probably for the best.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Cueball Computer Problems]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

2083: Laptop Issues

2018-12-11T15:57:24Z

Kwonunn: Fixed inconsistency

{{comic
| number = 2083
| date = December 10, 2018
| title = Laptop Issues
| image = laptop_issues.png
| titletext = Hang on, we got a call from the feds. They say we can do whatever with him, but the EPA doesn't want that laptop in the ocean. They're sending a team.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Explanations and titles thereof could be improved. Factory reset not mentioned. Table was removed by a new user. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Cueball]] goes to tech support with his laptop. [[Hairy]] and [[Ponytail]] are waiting behind the counter; one has dealt with [[:Category:Cueball Computer Problems|Cueball's bizarre tech issues]] before, and warns the other. Sure enough, Cueball sets the computer down and offers a detailed list of the arcane problems his computer is giving him.

; ''My laptop's battery won't hold a charge.''
: A common problem; as batteries are frequently charged and recharged, their capacity for storing charge deteriorates. However...

; ''Tried [replacing the battery]. Now the new ones won't either.''
: ...the problem persisting despite the battery's replacement fails to make any significant sense. It may be a problem with his laptop's charging port, but his comment that the "new ones" now fail to hold a charge seems to imply it is persisting despite the replacement batteries being used elsewhere after attempting to use them for his laptop and failing... Many modern batteries have firmware built in now that reports their charge level. It is possible that his laptop is installing a faulty firmware to any batteries that get connected.

; ''Also, random files get corrupted on the first of every month. Factory reset didn't help either.''
: Some devices may be scheduled to do a "disk cleanup" on the first of every month. Somehow, this task is corrupting files that should be kept.

; ''When it's plugged in, I get static from my plumbing.''
: Static charge from a portable device while it's charging is common. Static charge from ''elsewhere in the building'' while the portable device is charging... not so much. However, plumbing systems on older houses were often used to provide a ground instead of using grounding rods, which are now the accepted norm. This could imply that for Cueball's house is old, and for some reason his laptop is pumping a large amount of charge directly to ground.

; ''And it reboots if someone uses an ARC welder nearby''
: The high power draw of an ARC welder will occasionally cause less devoted power supplies to flicker. Coupled with the bad battery that can not keep the computer running when the power dips, this is causing his laptop to reboot. This could also be just because the ARC welder is causing a large amount of electromagnetic interference.

; ''Transition® lenses go dark when exposed to the screen''
: Transition lenses in prescription glasses darken when exposed directly to UV rays; this is to avoid the wearer any hassle of needing prescription sunglasses. This seems to indicate that the screen of Cueball's laptop is emitting UV radiation.

; ''and when I open too many tabs, it fogs any nearby photographic film.''
: The screen would have to be emitting X-rays that can pass through the film's container and expose the film.

The sheer incongruity of everything Cueball has reported, in combination with past issues, leads Hairy to report that his manager has authorized Cueball and his laptop be thrown into the ocean so that their plague upon the earth may no longer spread. Cueball, having surrendered to his inability to use technology, accepts this without objection. This is a reference to [[1912:_Thermostat|1912: Thermostat]], where Cueball has an issue with their thermostat, and the Tech support employee asks them if they have tried walking into the sea. It seems this suggestion has evolved into forcefully throwing him into the sea, for lack of a better idea. Maybe this is a reference back to the first of Cueball's many [[:Category:Cueball Computer Problems|computer problems]] which began with [[349: Success]] where he ended up in the ocean.

The title text contains mention of the {{w|Environmental Protection Agency}}, (EPA) a part of the United States government responsible for preventing pollution. In real life, most of a laptop computer's components are considered toxic waste, and the EPA, as part of their mission, would not want it dumped in the ocean. More to the point, it's implied that whatever Cueball did to it renders it far more dangerous than an ordinary laptop, and the EPA ''really'' doesn't want his cursed possessions in the ocean; thus they are sending a [https://bit.ly/1OYyJZ6 hazmat] team to collect the laptop and safely dispose of it.

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

:[Cueball is walking past a sign reading "Tech Support," with a right-pointing arrow and carrying a laptop.]
:Off panel voice #1: ''Oh no.''
:Off panel voice #2: ''What?''
:Off panel voice #1: ''This guy. He has the worst tech problems.''

:[Cueball at tech support desk with an open laptop facing Hairy and Ponytail.]
:Cueball: My laptop's battery won't hold a charge.
:Hairy: We can replace it.
:Cueball: Tried that. Now the new ones won't either.

:[Close-up of Cueball]
:Cueball: Also, random files get corrupted on the first day of every month. Factory reset didn't help.
:Off panel voice #2: ''You weren't kidding.''

:[Close-up of Cueball]
:Cueball: When it's plugged in, I get static shocks from my plumbing.
:Off panel voice: What the...
:Cueball: And it reboots if someone uses an arc welder nearby.

:[Same tableau as second panel except that the laptop is slightly open now.]
:Cueball: Transitions® lenses go dark when exposed to the screen, and when I open too many tabs, it fogs nearby photographic film.
:Hairy: We don't usually do this, but I've gotten permission from my manager to have you and the laptop hurled into the ocean.
:Cueball: That's probably for the best.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Cueball Computer Problems]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

473: Still Raw

2018-11-05T21:51:36Z

Kwonunn:

{{comic
| number = 473
| date = September 8, 2008
| title = Still Raw
| image = still raw.png
| titletext = We actually divorced once over the airplane/treadmill argument. (Preemptive response to the inevitable threads arguing about it: you're all wrong on the internet.)
}}

==Explanation==
This comic shows [[Cueball]] and his significant other undergoing a domestic dispute. The debate is heated, enough to tear apart a romantic relationship, and although the end result is Cueball being thrown out of his other's house he resolves that he will stand by his point of view no matter what.

Of course, in the last panel we learn that the argument is over something that should be, in the context of romance, utterly trivial: Cueball has been thrown out simply because he believes that {{w|Pluto}} should never have been a {{w|planet}}.

Pluto was the ninth planet in our {{w|solar system}} between 1930 and 2006, during a time when "planet" had no formal definition. (Jupiter was thought to be the ninth planet [http://spaceweather.com/swpod2006/13sep06/Pollock1.jpg from 1807 to 1845.)] In 2006 the {{w|IAU}} created a formal definition for "planet"; Pluto didn't make the cut, and was swiftly reclassified as a {{w|dwarf planet}}. The reasons are {{w|IAU_definition_of_planet|complicated}}, but the basic issue is that like {{w|1 Ceres|Ceres}}, {{w|2 Pallas|Pallas}}, {{w|3 Juno|Juno}}, and {{w|4 Vesta|Vesta}}, Pluto is too small to {{w|clearing the neighbourhood|function as a planet}} in the solar system. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_2gbGXzFbs A better explanation can be found here.]

In the title text, the airplane/treadmill argument starts when someone asks whether an airplane can take off while it is on a treadmill that is opposing its progress (pulling it backward). The question usually leads to arguments because it is posed ambiguously. Properly defining the question shows that the airplane can indeed take off (because its forward motion is provided by its propeller/jet engine, not its wheels, which are free to spin at any speed) and experiments (such as Mythbusters') bear this out. Randall also takes a crack at the issue [http://blog.xkcd.com/2008/09/09/the-@#$%&!-airplane-on-the-@#$%&!-treadmill/ here], and more info can be found [http://www.airplaneonatreadmill.com/ here].

The statement about being wrong is likely a reference to [[386: Duty Calls]]

==Transcript==
:[Cueball laying on sidewalk outside a house, surrounded by his belongings.]
:She threw me out yelling, "You don't say those words. Not in ''this'' house."
:It's been two years. I thought the wounds had healed.
:But I stand by what I said.
:Pluto never should have been a planet.

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

2068: Election Night

2018-11-05T21:48:09Z

Kwonunn: Added title text explanation

{{comic
| number = 2068
| date = November 5, 2018
| title = Election Night
| image = election_night.png
| titletext = "Even the blind—those who are anxious to hear, but are not able to see—will be taken care of. Immense megaphones have been constructed and will be in use at The Tribune office and in the Coliseum. The one at the Coliseum will be operated by a gentleman who draws $60 a week from Barnum & Bailey's circus for the use of his voice."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please explain the "jiggling needle", not just presenting a reference. Title text is missing at all. Please only mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic compares media coverage on election results in 1896 and 2018.

While elections and voting have been a public staple for generations, election coverage by the media can result in {{w|voter fatigue}}. While voter fatigue is considered a major criticism of things like {{w|First-past-the-post_voting|first past the post}} voting systems, media outlets will also contribute.

Here, [[Randall]] is taking a unique opportunity to point out that unlike our recollection of history (which is usually modified by the {{w|misinformation effect}}, where we perceive the past as being easier and find a source to blame for the election night jitters) that in fact, in the past, a bombardment of fireworks every hour was used to convey the hour-by-hour play of the election night, a significantly more jarring effect that couldn't even be turned off. We have progressed, in some ways, to a more opt-in system, rather than the {{w|opt-out}} system of the past, where you had to leave Chicago to avoid the news.

The time traveler from 1896, wearing a {{w|top hat}} (the typical hat used at that time), presents [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] a method how the latest news --over the night-- are published to the public. No broadcasting television or even radio existed then and most newspapers, reaching the readers on the next morning, were printed in the evening before the election results were certain.

The part about the "jiggling needle" may be a reference to the [https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/11/the-new-york-times-election-needle-is-back-with-a-few-new-safety-features New York Times' 2016 presidential election results] webpage.

The title text explains that even blind people are taken care of, as enormous megaphones are installed to convey the news equally unavoidably to others.

==Transcript==

:[Megan and Cueball face each other while talking on the left of the panel]
:Megan: Ugh, I'm just going to hide out for election night. We'll know the results the next day anyway. The drama is so unnecessary.
:Cueball: Yeah. The internet and the 24-hour news have turned elections into a continuous, inescapable media onslaught.
:[A man in a top hat appears on the right side of the panel with a "Poof"]

:[Panel with just the man in a top hat, holding a newspaper]
:Man in a top hat: Hi! I'm a time traveler from 1896. Let me tell you about '''''our''''' election night coverage.
:Man in a top hat: *Ahem*
:Man in a top hat: From the ''Chicago Tribune''

:[Zoom in on head of the man in a top hat]
:Man in a top hat: "Once every hour from the roof of the Great Northern Hotel a series of bombs, which will ascend for several thousand feet, will be fired. Two colors will be used, blue and red."
:Man in a top hat: "Blue to indicate McKinley's election, red to indicate Bryan's election."
:Man in a top hat: "The bombardment of the skies will commence at 7 o'clock and will be repeated hourly."
:[Grey citation]: Chicago Tribune, Oct 30th & Nov 1st, 1896

:[Megan and Cueball on the left looking at the man in the top hat on the right]
:Megan: Yeah, well, we have a ''needle,'' though.
:Man in a top hat: A needle.
:Megan: It jiggles!
:Man in a top hat: Sounds awful.
:Cueball: Listen, you had to be there.

==Trivia==
The character with the large black hat is wearing a typical hat worn by wealthy men at the late 19th and early 20th century and should not be mixed up with [[Black Hat]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Characters with Hats]]
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Time travel]]

314: Dating Pools

2018-10-06T17:15:37Z

Kwonunn: /* Explanation */ Added formulas for min and max ages

{{comic
| number = 314
| date = September 10, 2007
| title = Dating Pools
| image = dating pools.png
| titletext = The full analysis is of course much more complicated, but I can't stay to talk about it because I have a date.
}}

==Explanation==
[[File:half-plus-seven.png|right|Half Plus Seven Rule]]
Megan is upset because she is apparently older than 26, and among people who marry, {{w|median|half}} do so below 26. The intuitive conclusion is that the number of potential partners is decreasing as time goes on.

The [http://onehalfplusseven.com Half Plus Seven Rule] is an unwritten rule that asserts that it is creepy to date anyone who is younger than half your age plus 7 years. For example, a 50-year-old dating someone who is younger than (50/2) + 7 = 32 would be considered creepy. As the graph shows, there is a lower limit and an upper limit.

*The lower limit defines the minimum age of your partner in order that ''you'' are not considered creepy.
*The upper limit defines the maximum age of your partner in order that ''they'' are not considered creepy.

The lower limit can be defined as y=(x/2)+7 in which x is your age and y is the minimum age of your partner. The upper limit can be defined as y=(x-7)*2 in which x is you age and y is the maximum age of your partner.

As age increases, the age range of potential non-creepy partners widens. At 26, the range of non-creepy partners is 18 years (20- to 38-year-olds). At 50, it is 54 years (32 to 86 years old).

At age 14, you can only date people your own age. The same also works with infinity, but even {{w|Methuselah}} died once.

While the application of this rule actually reduces the number of potential matches further, [[Cueball]] presents it in a positive way. By showing that there are whole swathes of people who she couldn't marry in the first place without being in a creepy relationship, and that as her age increases, the range of non-creepy partners increases, combined with {{w|United States Census Bureau|Census Bureau}} data, Cueball shows that her eligible dating pool is in fact still increasing.

Megan notes that graph-making nerds like Cueball may have a hard time finding dates, but this is refuted by the title text.

{{clear}}

==Transcript==
:[Megan is sitting on the ground with her elbows on her knees and her hands on her chin.]
:Megan: This sucks. The median first marriage age is 26. The pools of singles is shrinking. I'm running out of time.
:Cueball: Actually, not quite.

:Cueball: Yes, older singles are rarer. But as you get older, the dateable age range gets wider. An 18-year-old's range is 16-22, whereas a 30-year-old's might be more like 22-46.
:Text on chart: Standard creepiness rule: Don't date under (Age/2 + 7)

:Cueball: I did some analysis of this with the Census Bureau numbers just last weekend. Your dating pool actually grows until middle age. So don't fret so much!
:[The first chart is labelled Singles, and is a decreasing graph. The second graph is labelled Dating Pool, and is a bell curve.]

:Megan: Did your analysis say anything about the dating prospects of people who spend weekends at home making graphs?
:Cueball: Come on. Somewhere at the edge of the bell curve is the girl for me.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Math]]

User:Kwonunn

2018-10-06T16:37:28Z

Kwonunn:

== Bio ==
Hi! 
My name is '''Kwonunn''' and I'm a fanatic internet user. I love to endlessly wander wikis and contribute to them whenever I can. You can hit me up on my talk page or on Discord (user ID below). I mostly like this wiki due to my love for xkcd and its complex topics.

== Contact infos ==
'''Discord'''
:- Kwonunn#0531
'''Reddit'''
:- r/Kwonunn

User:Kwonunn

2018-10-06T14:59:01Z

Kwonunn:

== Bio ==
Hi!
My name is Kwonunn and I'm a fanatic internet user. I love to endlessly wander wikis and contribute to them whenever I can. You can hit me up on my talk page or on Discord (user ID below). I mostly like this wiki due to my love for xkcd and its complex topics.

== Contact infos ==
'''Discord'''
:- Kwonunn#0531
'''Reddit'''
:- r/Kwonunn

User:Kwonunn

2018-10-06T14:55:32Z

Kwonunn:

== Bio ==
Hi! My name is Kwonunn and I'm a fanatic internet user. I love to endlessly wander wikis and contribute to them whenever I can. You can hit me up on my talk page or on Discord (user ID below). I mostly like this wiki due to my love for xkcd and its complex topics.

== Contact infos ==
'''Discord'''
:- Kwonunn#0531
'''Reddit'''
:- r/Kwonunn

2055: Bluetooth

2018-10-06T14:28:32Z

Kwonunn:

{{comic
| number = 2055
| date = October 5, 2018
| title = Bluetooth
| image = bluetooth.png
| titletext = Bluetooth is actually named for the tenth-century Viking king Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson, but the protocol developed by Harald was a wireless charging standard unrelated to the modern Bluetooth except by name.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Bluetooth}} is a technology invented in the mid 1990's and intended for devices to connect wirelessly over a relatively short range for the purpose of transmitting information and/or audio. For example, a headset that connects via Bluetooth could be connected to a computer that's also Bluetooth-enabled, and then whatever would normally come out of the computer's speakers would come out the headset's ear pieces instead, and whatever was spoken into the headset's microphone would be transmitted to the computer's audio input system as if coming in through the computer's microphone. For this to work, the two devices need to be paired, which means they need to know the unique identification number of the other device and have been given permission to communicate with it, as well as knowing what kind of data exchanges are both possible and allowed. This pairing process is not always a smooth process.

[[Cueball]] is talking to [[White Hat]] about {{w|Bluetooth}} and wireless connectivity. He asks if it has become easier to stream audio via Bluetooth since he last used it. White Hat then replies that it has become an easy-to-use and streamlined service, where connecting devices is easy, and he gives some examples of how easy it is to use. Cueball is excited about this, until White Hat reveals that he was lying and that Bluetooth is still as hard to use as ever. Cueball then invokes the name of "Josiah Bluetooth", a fictitious person implied to have invented the eponymous Bluetooth. Note that while there is no "Josiah Bluetooth" person, there is a "[https://www.impossible.com/josiah/ Josiah Bluetooth]" ceramic speaker.

This comic also references the common problem of audio playing through the wrong device when Bluetooth is activated.

The Viking king referenced in the title text, {{w|Harald Bluetooth|Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson}}, usually called Harald Bluetooth, was a ruler of Denmark and Norway who died in 985 or 986. He of course had nothing to do with wireless Bluetooth connection technology, which wouldn’t be invented for more than a millennium. However Jim Kardach of Intel did name the Bluetooth protocol after him, apparently as he united the various Norse tribes of Denmark into a single kingdom just as Bluetooth unites communication protocols. The {{w|Bluetooth#Logo|Bluetooth logo}} unites the two Norse {{w|runes}} corresponding to "H" and "B" for Harald Bluetooth.

The title text joke could also be a pun on military “charging”, which would certainly be wireless.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and White Hat are talking, Cueball is holding a cell phone and wireless headphones.]
:Cueball: I haven’t used a wireless/bluetooth thingy in like ten years. Is audio stuff still a nightmare?
:White Hat: Nah, it’s great now.

:[Zoom in on White Hat, Cueball is off-screen.]
:White Hat: You tap devices together twice to link them and they flash in sync. (It pairs using accelerometer timing and sound.) Tap them three times to disconnect.
:White Hat: You can pair multiple inputs and outputs and it handles it smoothly.
:Cueball (off screen): Nice!
:White Hat: It just works. Sound comes from where you expect.
:Cueball (off screen): Wonderful.

:[Zoom out to White Hat and Cueball facing each other.]
:White Hat: Haha, just kidding, it’s a nightmare.
:Cueball: ''Noooooo!''
:White Hat: When I connect to my car, music starts blasting from my headphones while the car repeatedly plays a “New connection!” chime.
:Cueball: ''This is not what Josiah Bluetooth intended!''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Smartphones]]

User talk:Kwonunn

2018-10-05T22:44:13Z

Kwonunn: Created page with "For other ways of contacting me see my user page. ~~~~"

For other ways of contacting me see my user page. [[User:Kwonunn|Kwonunn]] ([[User talk:Kwonunn|talk]]) 22:44, 5 October 2018 (UTC)

User:Kwonunn

2018-10-05T22:43:25Z

Kwonunn:

== Bio ==
Hi! My name is Kwonunn and I'm a fanatic internet user. I love to endlessly wander wikis and contribute to them whenever I can. You can hit me up on my talk page or on Discord (user ID below). I mostly like this wiki due to my love for xkcd and its complex topics.

== Infos ==
'''Discord'''
:- Kwonunn#0531
'''Reddit'''
:- r/Kwonunn

User:Kwonunn

2018-10-05T22:42:39Z

Kwonunn: Created page with "== Bio == Hi! My name is Kwonunn and I'm a fanatic internet user. I love to endlessly wander wikis and contribute to them whenever I can. You can hit me up on my talk page or..."

== Bio ==
Hi! My name is Kwonunn and I'm a fanatic internet user. I love to endlessly wander wikis and contribute to them whenever I can. You can hit me up on my talk page or on Discord (user ID below). I mostly like this wiki due to my love for xkcd and its complex topics.

== Infos ==
''Discord''
:- Kwonunn#0531
''Reddit''
:- r/Kwonunn

2055: Bluetooth

2018-10-05T22:29:57Z

Kwonunn: Removed incomplete transcript tag.

{{comic
| number = 2055
| date = October 5, 2018
| title = Bluetooth
| image = bluetooth.png
| titletext = Bluetooth is actually named for the tenth-century Viking king Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson, but the protocol developed by Harald was a wireless charging standard unrelated to the modern Bluetooth except by name.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please mention a reason here why this isn't complete. Do your jokes at the discussion page! Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Bluetooth}} is a technology invented in the mid 1990's and intended for devices to connect wirelessly over a relatively short range for the purpose of transmitting information and/or audio. For example, a headset that connects via Bluetooth could be connected to a computer that's also Bluetooth-enabled, and then whatever would normally come out of the computer's speakers would come out the headset's ear pieces instead, and whatever was spoken into the headset's microphone would be transmitted to the computer's audio input system as if coming in through the computer's microphone. For this to work, the two devices need to be paired, which means they need to know the unique identification number of the other device and have been given permission to communicate with it, as well as knowing what kind of data exchanges are both possible and allowed. This pairing process is not always a smooth process.

[[Cueball]] is talking to [[White Hat]] about {{w|Bluetooth}} and wireless connectivity. He asks if it has become easier to stream audio via Bluetooth since he last used it. White Hat then replies that it has become an easy-to-use and streamlined service, where connecting devices is easy, and he gives some examples of how easy it is to use. Cueball is excited about this, until White Hat reveals that he was lying and that Bluetooth is still as hard to use as ever. Cueball then invokes the name of "Josiah Bluetooth", a fictitious person implied to have invented the eponymous Bluetooth. Note that while there is no "Josiah Bluetooth" person, there is a "[https://www.impossible.com/josiah/ Josiah Bluetooth]" ceramic speaker.

This comic also references the common problem of audio playing through the wrong device when Bluetooth is activated.

The Viking king referenced in the title text, {{w|Harald Bluetooth|Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson}}, usually called Harald Bluetooth, was a ruler of Denmark and Norway who died in 985 or 986. He of course had nothing to do with wireless Bluetooth connection technology, which wouldn’t be invented for more than a millennium. However Jim Kardach of Intel did name the Bluetooth protocol after him, apparently as he united the various Norse tribes of Denmark into a single kingdom just as Bluetooth unites communication protocols. The {{w|Bluetooth#Logo|Bluetooth logo}} unites the two Norse {{w|runes}} corresponding to "H" and "B" for Harald Bluetooth.

The title text joke could also be a pun on military “charging”, which would certainly be wireless.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and White Hat are talking, Cueball is holding a cell phone and wireless headphones.]
:Cueball: I haven’t used a wireless/bluetooth thingy in like ten years. Is audio stuff still a nightmare?
:White Hat: Nah, it’s great now.

:[Zoom in on White Hat, Cueball is off-screen.]
:White Hat: You tap devices together twice to link them and they flash in sync. (It pairs using accelerometer timing and sound.) Tap them three times to disconnect.
:White Hat: You can pair multiple inputs and outputs and it handles it smoothly.
:Cueball (off screen): Nice!
:White Hat: It just works. Sound comes from where you expect.
:Cueball (off screen): Wonderful.

:[Zoom out to White Hat and Cueball facing each other.]
:White Hat: Haha, just kidding, it’s a nightmare.
:Cueball: ''Noooooo!''
:White Hat: When I connect to my car, music starts blasting from my headphones while the car repeatedly plays a “New connection!” chime.
:Cueball: ''This is not what Josiah Bluetooth intended!''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Smartphones]]

2044: Sandboxing Cycle

2018-10-03T20:20:08Z

Kwonunn: Removed incomplete tag due to the issue being resolved in the article.

{{comic
| number = 2044
| date = September 10, 2018
| title = Sandboxing Cycle
| image = sandboxing_cycle.png
| titletext = All I want is a secure system where it's easy to do anything I want. Is that so much to ask?
}}

==Explanation==

A {{w|Sandpit|sandbox}} or sandpit is a playground where children can play safe without interfering the world outside. By this meaning the term was adopted by others like the {{w|Sand table|sand table}} in military uses, or as a {{w|Wikipedia:Sandbox|Wikipedia Sandbox}}, a playground for inexperienced editors to test their additions, and in {{w|Sandbox (computer security)|computer security (sandbox)}} which [[Randall]] probably references at this comic.

Software is getting more and more complex, and in an effort to reduce programming work and security vulnerabilities, large applications are composed of multiple programs. Getting these mostly self-contained programs to work with each other can be tricky, since requirements can vary a lot between different applications, requiring a rather general {{w|Interface (computing)|interface}} or {{w|API}} for communication. The more open such interfaces are, the higher the risk of unintended side effects, like vulnerabilities and overly permissive data access which could be exploited by hackers.

At the top left panel it could be a software collection whose parts are not yet fully connected to each other. A simple example is a typical {{w|Productivity_software#Office_suite|office suite}} used for documents, presentations, spreadsheets, charts, databases, and more. In the early days those separate applications weren't much connected together, copy and paste was one of the most important features; which suggests the applications haven't yet been fully developed. But software is never been fully developed as it can be seen further.

The next panel uses some "new technology" to interconnect those parts not only internal but also to the world outside at the internet. In the simple office suite example this means a document can now use a spreadsheet directly by using just a simple connection to another file. If that spreadsheet is changed the document uses this new content without any need of copying it manually.

But this leads to the third panel where many items are marked in red. The connections cause undesired changes in other applications because nobody can oversee everything in a large environment. It even may destroy the original document in this office suite example.

The fourth panel shows one solution to this problem known as sandboxing. This is a security mechanism for separating running programs without risking harm to others. This can tighten up sloppy security. A direct consequence of restricted communication is that the programs now again can't connect easily to each other.

It is discussed that {{w|Orchestration (computing)|orchestrating}} as having an inherent intelligence or even implicitly autonomic control could overcome these issues but there is probably no solution without the interaction by humans not only because these applications are made for humans. And thus Randall's sandboxing just results to a situation very similar like in the first panel.

The dilemma is again stated in the title text: Randall wants both ease of use and high security. In practice, a tradeoff has to be made.

While this comic is applicable to a wide number of digital security issues, it may be about social media in particular.

Originally, there were only a few social media websites (AOL, for example), which were not connected to one another but were so large and all-encompassing that they could be considered highly-connected systems. Once the internet became more popular and more powerful, lots of smaller websites popped up for individual topics -- forums, web apps, etc. Eventually there were so many places users had to log in that Google and Facebook began to offer services to use a single log-in for all websites that opted-in to supporting that service. Recently, with increasing consumer concerns about privacy and security, some users have begun to deliberately sever the connections between websites, to make it harder for any one company to gain a monopoly on their data. This may not last long, though, as users realized just how inconvenient it is to manage so many logins.

This desire to accommodate both privacy and ease use of use can lead to confusing and paradoxical actions or outlooks, like [[2045|Randall's struggle with his social media accounts in the comic immediately following this one]], or Zach Wienersmith's complaints in the [https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/the-problem SMBC comic] released the same day as this one.

==Transcript==
:[The comic consists of four panels arranged in a circle around the center. Black arrows connecting them clockwise in an infinite loop. All panels show the same 14 tiny circles and three different rings embedding some of the circles while other circles are outside. A few circles and rings are connected by lines but there is no connection between them all.]

:[The panel at top left shows this configuration but with a few circles in red.]
:"I wish these parts could communicate more easily."

:[Clockwise the next panel on the right shows new lines in green connecting nearly all remaining also now green circles and the lower most circle has a dashed green line to the outside.]
:"Ohh, this new technology makes it easy to create arbitrary connections, integrating everything!"

:[At the third panel to the bottom right all green parts are now in black and even more connections are established. Parts of these and some others are now highlighted in red.]
:"Uh-oh, there are so many connections it's creating bugs and security holes!"

:[At the fourth panel to the bottom left all red parts are now in black, showing a complex structure. Four green rings separate the structure with only green connections between them and to the outside.]
:"Ohh, this new technology makes it easy to enclose arbitrary things in secure sandboxes!"

:[The arrow above the fourth panel connects it to the first and the circle continues from the beginning.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Computer security]]

Rob

2018-10-03T19:53:43Z

Kwonunn: Added link

{{Infobox character
| image = Rob.png
| caption = A close-up of Rob from [[782: Desecration]]
| first_appearance = [[276: Fixed Width]]
}}
'''Rob''' is a [[stick figure]] in xkcd. Rob has no identifying features and is a [[Cueball]]. In most cases, he seems to represent the same character, usually being portrayed as [[Black Hat|Black Hat's]] roommate. He is one of the few of [[Randall]]'s characters to be given a name. Rob is specifically named in [[276: Fixed Width]], [[632: Suspicion]], [[647: Scary]], [[716: Time Machine]], [[723: Seismic Waves]], [[782: Desecration]], [[838: Incident]], [[1102: Fastest-Growing]], [[1168: tar]], and [[1783: Emails]]. In [[276: Fixed Width]] his screen name appears as "rob", and in [[723: Seismic Waves]] he is posting on the internet as "robm163". In [[838: Incident]] his username appears as "robm". In [[1783: Emails]], Cueball replies to his email in the title text.

==Relationships==
Rob had a relationship with a "woman" known as <emily> on IM. This ended tragically in [[276: Fixed Width]] when he told her the relationship was only for sex while he wasn't really paying attention to what he was writing; he just wanted their chat responses to line up nicely on the screen. Two years later, in 2009, he had a relationship of a few months with what ended up to be a spam bot. He discovered this when he asked the bot to pass a {{w|Turing test}}. This happened in [[632: Suspicion]].

In [[647: Scary]] we find that he has a nephew born after September 11, 2001, but by 2009 he was old enough to have discussions with Rob about it.

In [[1102: Fastest-Growing]] it seems that Rob is [[Black Hat|Black Hat's]] room mate. In fact, it's possible that within the xkcd continuity, every time we see Black Hat's roommate, it's Rob. But with no name mentioned it is not enough to list these comics as comics featuring Rob.

==See also==
*[[:Category:Comics featuring Rob]]
*[[:Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
*It was at some point suggested that Cueball and Rob should be merged. But nothing came of the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Merge_Cueball_.26_Rob discussion.]

{{navbox-characters}}

111: Firefox and Witchcraft - The Connection?

2018-10-03T19:32:32Z

Kwonunn: Undo revision 163562 by Kwonunn (talk)

{{comic
| number = 111
| date = June 5, 2006
| title = Firefox and Witchcraft - The Connection?
| image = firefox wicca.png
| titletext = ThisadpaidforbythecounciltopromoteMicrosoftandChristianity. Remember, The Bible is Closed Source.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic charts the number of members of the religion {{w|Wicca}} against the number of times the {{w|Firefox}} web browser was downloaded, with the implication being that Firefox usage causes involvement in Wicca, or vice versa. In juxtaposing these almost certainly unrelated{{Citation needed}} phenomena, Randall highlights the common error of assuming that {{w|Correlation_and_dependence|correlation}} implies {{w|Causality|causation}}. When two variables exhibit similar trends, this is often taken as proving that one is causing the other. However, such correlation may have come about through pure coincidence, and not indicate any link between the two at all. This is particularly a problem when examining a large number of variables: the chances of finding a [http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations coincidental correlation] increase exponentially as more variables are added. It may also be the case that a third factor is causally linked to both outcomes. In this case, it is plausible that the increasing ubiquity of internet access has resulted in increased demand for Firefox, and also in greater capacity to share the ideas of Wicca.

Randall further illustrates one common, and perhaps destructive, use of illusory correlation in the bottom half of the image. The appearance of the symbol for Internet Explorer, a rival web browser, and the cross, representing Christianity, imply that this graph is an attack ad promoted by Microsoft and Christianity to gain an advantage over their competitors.

The title text is reminiscent of political commercials, which tell you who paid for them, generally said very fast, represented by all the words being strung together. The last sentence is a play on the term of {{w|Closed source software}}, which Internet Explorer is, as opposed to Firefox, which is open source in development. In a similar vein, the Bible can be considered "closed source" due to [http://kingjbible.com/revelation/22.htm God's prohibition on altering its contents.]

==Transcript==
:[A graph is shown with a positive slope.]
:[Y axis]: Membership in Wicca
:[X axis]: Total Firefox Downloads
:[Internet Explorer icon.]
:Keep the Faith
:[Outline of a cross.]

==Trivia==

This type of [https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/false-cause statistical ploy] is used again in a few other comics, like [[523: Decline]], [[552: Correlation]], and [[925: Cell Phones]].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Religion]]

explain xkcd:Editor FAQ

2018-10-03T19:24:40Z

Kwonunn: /* What is the format of the transcript section? */ Fixed weird sentencing.

'''Frequently Asked Questions for editors'''

This FAQ is a short description about editing pages at this wiki. Please read this carefully and if you have any further questions do not hesitate to enter them into this [[explain xkcd talk:Editor FAQ|talk page]].

For general questions please read first the MediaWiki help pages about [[mw:Help:Editing pages|Editing pages]] or look at the full overview here: [[mw:Help:Contents|Help Contents]]. You also can use your preferred search engine by entering "MediaWiki mytopic". Change mytopic to the theme you're searching for, i.e. "MediaWiki tables" will show you many useful sites about editing tables.

Please always use the preview button to verify your edit before finally pressing the save button.

This FAQ focuses only on topics related to this specific Wiki.

==What is the general layout of a comic page?==
In general you don't have to care about this because the pages are generated by a bot nearly immediately after a new comic is released. If the bot fails please follow exactly the instructions here [[User:dgbrtBOT]] to do all the needed actions.

The layout and order is always this:
*Comic ''picture'' with the ''title text'' below
*''Explanation''
*''Transcript''
*''Trivia'' (optional)
*''Discussion'' (embedded Talk page)
*List of non standard ''categories''

==What should I include in the explanation?==
Everything is welcome as long as it explains the content of the comic. Everybody can edit here and when others disagree about your contributions they may change it.

==In which cases are tables meaningful, and when are they not?==
At the transcript tables should never be used, even when there is a table in the comic image it should be described by text.

At the explanation tables only make sense when the content is compact. When a single row contains more than a small item like a number, a small phrase, or something similar a table isn't the proper layout because it's hard to read. Instead it should be written in floating text chapters with distinct headers above (see next section below.)

Instead of using a two-column table (e.g. "sentence from comic", "explanation"), consider using a description list (''bold text''). Place a semicolon (<code>;</code>) at the beginning of the sentence to be explained and a colon (<code>:</code>) at the beginning of each paragraph of the explanation, like this (from [[1987: Python Environment#Explanation|1987]]):
; Anaconda Python
: Anaconda is a Python distribution for data science and machine learning related applications.
: A second paragraph for the explanation.

The Wikipedia's {{w|WP:WHENTABLE#Appropriate use|Manual of Style/Tables}} describes it best:
<blockquote>Often a list is best left as a list. Before reformatting a list into table form, consider whether the information will be more clearly conveyed by virtue of having rows and columns. If so, then a table is probably a good choice. If there is no obvious benefit to having rows and columns, then a table is probably not the best choice. </blockquote>

==What is the proper layout for headers?==
For headlines you have to use Wiki-style code. The simplest way is a preceding semicolon at the beginning of the line which causes the entire line to be rendered in bold.

On large explanations it can be handy to divide it into subsections. In this case the header is written like this: <code><nowiki>===Sub header===</nowiki></code>. But in most cases the simple semicolon is just enough.

==What is the format of the transcript section?==
The transcript should describe the content (think about explaining the comic to a visually impaired person, or to someone on phone). It should do this in a compact manner, and cite all written words. Every line should begin with an indent (a simple <code>:</code> at the beginning), and every panel from the comic should be separated by a blank line. The transcript must not contain any links, nor rich math markup, which once again relies on visuals. Tables should generally be avoided, although not all transcripts comply with this. Furthermore the title text is not included in the transcript. Checking the pages for the older comics will help understand this.

==One or two spaces after a period? And what about newlines?==
There is a controversy if one or two spaces after a period ending a sentence should be used. The fact is that even three or more spaces are rendered as only one.
Furthermore a single newline is also just rendered as a space.

A new paragraph like this needs an empty line before, not just a single newline. Click the edit/source button to see how this chapter is written.

==What belongs to the trivia section?==
As implied by the section name, it's just trivia, consisting of unimportant odds-and-ends related to the comic. Since this wiki focuses on explaining this section is not part of the default layout. If a word has been misspelled in the comic or title text, or the image was originally broken at xkcd and reuploaded... basically the things that don't belong in the explanation but should still be mentioned, then it should be mentioned in the trivia section.

==How do I behave on the talk page (discussion)?==
Everybody can add here any thoughts about the comic and more. Please follow the common netiquette and don't be rude. Unless you are replying to a previous comment, in which you should add a colon before your comment, you should add comments at the bottom. Every comment has to be signed at the end with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> or just click the sign button [[File:Button sig.png]] at the top of the editor.

==What does the incomplete tag mean?==
There are two templates to indicate that an explanation or the transcript do need further rework. Just enter <nowiki>{{incomplete|YOUR REASON}}</nowiki> or respectively <nowiki>{{incomplete transcript|YOUR REASON}}</nowiki> and don't forget to enter a proper reason to replace the filler text left by the bot (Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.), or if the reason said in the tag has been dealt with. The reason at the transcript is not shown to the viewer.

==How do I enter links to other pages?==
The three mostly used options are:
*an internal link like <code><nowiki>[[Cueball]]</nowiki></code> which renders like this: [[Cueball]]
*a link to the English Wikipedia should use this template: <code><nowiki>{{w|Page}}</nowiki></code> links to the Wikipedia article on "Page" or <code><nowiki>{{w|Page|Display}}</nowiki></code> prints "Display" which links to the Wikipedia article on "Page"
*other external links can be done in three ways:
**just write the URL and it will be shown like this: http://www.example.com
**put it into single brackets: <code><nowiki>[http://www.example.com]</nowiki></code> and you will see this [http://www.example.com] (please avoid this)
**and add a text: <code><nowiki>[http://www.example.com Example Homepage]</nowiki></code> everything after the first space is shown: [http://www.example.com Example Homepage]

==Why can't I upload pictures or create pages?==
Only registered and trusted users can create pages or upload images. After the registration you have to wait at least three days and you must have done a small amount of edits, then you will be able to create pages and upload images at will.

==How do I embed images?==
This Wiki isn't a picture book, use this feature only sparingly and reduce the size as much as possible. An example can be seen here: [[1400: D.B. Cooper]]. The syntax in this case is <code><nowiki>[[File:DBCooper.jpg|thumb|150px|Cooper]]</nowiki></code> and the picture is taken from Commons, the main source for Wikipedia images. The full syntax can be found at [[mw:Help:Images|MediaWiki]].

You also can upload pictures directly to this Wiki by using the [[Special:Upload]] link from the menu. But do not violate any copyright rules or it will be deleted. And when the picture is available at Commons there is no need to upload it here.

==The picture at xkcd was updated, how do I upload this here?==
Sometimes the initial picture at [[xkcd]] contains typos or other errors. When that has been fixed the comic picture here should also be updated. Save the picture from xkcd to your local PC but be careful, there are two versions available. We here use only the smaller version ''picture.png'' and not the larger one ''picture_2x.png''. So change <code><nowiki>https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/picture_2x.png</nowiki></code> to <code><nowiki>https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/picture.png</nowiki></code> when your browser shows the 2x version.

To update it here just click the image in the comic page and then click "Upload a new version of this file" below the file history. And please be patient, you wont see your upload immediately because it still comes from the cache at the server. But when you see your upload in the file history everything is OK. Just wait...

==How do I enter mathematical or chemical formulas?==
You can use the Math markup <code><nowiki><math>...</math></nowiki></code>. The other known code from Wikipedia <code><nowiki><chem>...</chem></nowiki></code> is NOT supported yet. It's based on LaTeX syntax and a general overview can be found at this {{w|Help:Displaying a formula|Wikipedia help page}} -- don't use it unless you understand what you are doing.

Furthermore never use this markup at the ''transcript'' because that math code is rendered to a picture -- at the transcript we try to describe the comic ''image'' by ''words'', a picture there wouldn't be helpful.

==Is the ''Citation needed'' template here similar to the analog at Wikipedia?==
Simple answer: NO. In fact that template just links to [[285: Wikipedian Protester]], a comic from July 4, 2007 and was meant to be a joke. Adding this template to every comic doesn't explain anything at all (that's what this Wiki aims to do) and should be placed only when there is a deeper sense of humor.

Talk:2054: Data Pipeline

2018-10-03T18:50:25Z

Kwonunn:

tried my hand at transcipts again, hope i did ok. [[User:Nintendo Mc|Nintendo Mc]] ([[User talk:Nintendo Mc|talk]]) 15:32, 3 October 2018 (UTC)

Oddly prescient, as always. I've just finished writing a fully automated data pipeline that ingests multiple data sources (both manual and automated input), has API support, a frontend, and email dispatch capabilities entirely in Google Sheets. It was about 3x faster to code than doing it right. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.6|172.68.65.6]] 16:48, 3 October 2018 (UTC)

Just added a line about how this is a logical continuation of the Code Quality series - given it's the same two people, this should be uncontroversial. Is it worth adding a new category for "Code Quality" to group these (and likely subsequent comics) together? [[User:Grimreaperwithalawnmower|Grimreaperwithalawnmower]] ([[User talk:Grimreaperwithalawnmower|talk]]) 17:20, 3 October 2018 (UTC)

What could we still add to the transcript? I don't think it really needs any more transcripting so maybe we should remove the marker. [[User:Kwonunn|Kwonunn]] ([[User talk:Kwonunn|talk]]) 18:50, 3 October 2018 (UTC)

2054: Data Pipeline

2018-10-03T17:07:45Z

Kwonunn: /* Explanation */ Introduced explanation.

{{comic
| number = 2054
| date = October 3, 2018
| title = Data Pipeline
| image = data_pipeline.png
| titletext = "Is the pipeline literally running from your laptop?" "Don't be silly, my laptop disconnects far too often to host a service we rely on. It's running on my phone."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please direct all data pipelines to the explanation below and only mention here why it isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In the first panel [[Cueball]] shows [[Ponytail]] and [[White Hat]] a Data Pipeline he has constructed that, as he puts it, <nowiki>'collects and processes all the data we need'</nowiki>. This implies that the three are running some sort of project that requires data processing. Ponytail assumes that this data pipeline is an unstable mess of scripts that will cease to function correctly should any unexpected input be received. Cueball responds by telling her reluctantly that this is very likely, although he seems to hope that it might not be. Ponytail then seems impressed and expresses this to him. She, however, gets interrupted by Cueball who tells her that the system just malfunctioned and collapsed. He however states that he can fix it, making it seem like this cycle of patching and collapsing could repeat infinitely.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball is standing with an open laptop, showing it to Ponytail and White Hat.]
:Cueball: Check it out - I made a full automated data pipeline that collects and processes all the information we need.

:Ponytail: Is it a giant house of cards built from random scripts that will all completely collapse the moment any input does anything weird?

:[Beat panel]

:[Cueball looks at his laptop.]
:Cueball: It... ''might'' not be.
:Ponytail: I guess that's someth-
:Cueball: Whoops, just collapsed. Hang on, I can patch it.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]