explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3250: Flag Design

2026-05-26T23:53:21Z

Magtei: Overall impression of flag, alternative interpretation of tear-off strips on inner flag

{{comic
| number = 3250
| date = May 25, 2026
| title = Flag Design
| image = flag_design_2x.png
| imagesize = 678x428px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Every place has a local cryptid; more places need a local Pictish Beast, a creature in historical art that's drawn so weirdly that no one can tell what animal it's supposed to be.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a recursive flag. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic is a parody of normal flag designs, but with comically exaggerated features to the point of ridicule. For example, animals are commonly used on flags, and stars are also occasionally on flags. However normal flags don't feature smaller versions of themselves as part of the design, are mostly flat rectancles, and lack interactive elements like buttons.{{Citation needed}} It is designed similarly to the [[xkcd Phone]] series, with a number of improbable, labeled features making the flag resemble a combination of a graphic arts doodle, financial instrument, paper flyer, and webpage. The caption of "I think our flag design committee really knocked it out of the park" references the common problem of {{w|design by committee}}, where a design made without a unifying vision, but rather many compromises between competing visions, results in overcomplexity, banality and internal contradictions, all of which are present on this flag.

The title text references the animal on the flag, with [[Randall]] expressing his opinion that more places should use hard-to-distinguish cryptids like on the flag. A {{w|cryptid}} is an animal, such as the {{w|Loch Ness Monster}}, whose existence is disputed or unproven by science. The title text may refer to the fact that many places in the world have a local cryptid, and also to creatures like the Egyptian god {{w|Set (deity)|Set}} for which the original animal isn't 100% known.

Various daft and improbable flags have also been the subject of [[1815: Flag]] and [[2528: Flag Map Sabotage]].

=== Flag features ===

{| class="wikitable"
|+ From the top, going clockwise
|-
! Feature !! Description !! What this has to do with flags
|-
| A rough drawing of an unusual, and possible chimeric, creature in grey. || In the title text, [[Randall]] relates it to the {{w|Pictish Beast}}, an animal that appears frequently in the {{w|early medieval}} culture of the {{w|Picts}} of Scotland, and about which there has been much debate about what animal it is meant to represent. Randall has flipped this around, taking an animal whose identity is disputed and incorporating it into a cultural artefact in an attempt to get assistance with identifying it.
Another possible candidate for the creature is the {{w|Questing Beast}}, which has some versions of its legendary description that could relate to the drawn form of the flag's representation.
| Several flags, and even more so many coats of arms, have animals on them, often one native to, or heraldically representative of, the polity the flag belongs to. Some are quite abstract, making it difficult for the uninformed to identify the original animal (though not so much so as in this flag).{{Citation needed}}
|-
| National flag || Incorporating a flag into another flag is not uncommon, such as with the {{w|Union Jack#Use in other flags|Union Jack}} found in the flags of many current and former British colonies and territories, or with national flags being included in naval ensigns, but a flag that includes a smaller version of itself as a detail is a novelty. Typically, such inclusions are to indicate a link to the entity whose flag is included, but in this case it would be self-referential and meaningless. This could also cause an issue by leading to a {{w|Droste effect|recursive loop}} of nested flags, but thankfully this feature is omitted in the smaller, included flag.|| Several flags, in particular in some variants, show a relevant coat of arms on the flag, while other flags are very similar to the corresponding coat of arms. The flag-on-the-flag concept is a nonsensical extension of the combination of both concepts.
|-
| Island (not a specific island, just a tribute to islands in general) || A map showing an island and two small islets. || Elements on flags often have hidden meanings that aren't obvious at first glance, such as a hidden map of the country on it. This is an example of an element with a near-complete lack of meaning whatsoever: an outline of an island that doesn't refer to a specific island. It is also one of the many random and strange tributes on this flag.
|-
| Tap here to pay taxes || This is the icon often used on payment cards to indicate the availability of contactless payment. Besides the inherent ridiculousness of adding such a feature to a flag, flags are generally flown very high so that they can easily be seen, making RFID-activated features, which typically require relatively close proximity, difficult to use.{{cn}} || This may be riffing on the {{w|flag of South Korea}}, which includes four trigrams which could (if you squint) be considered to look somewhat like this logo.
|-
| Tribute to topology || {{w|Topology}} is the study of the underlying geometric form of things. Most flags have a very simple topology, being a single sheet of material. This side of this flag appears to have been separated and twisted by one half-turn to turn the flag into a {{w|Möbius strip}}. This would be difficult to do in real life without disconnecting and gluing, sewing or otherwise affixing parts of the flag together. || A few flags are known among {{w|vexillologists}} for having {{w|List of flags with reverses that differ from the obverse|different front and back sides}}. Talking about the “front and back sides” of a Möbius strip flag is conceptually difficult. Also many flags include notable {{w|topography|topo''graphic''}} features, such as mountains, rivers, etc., and Randall may have deliberately confused the two terms.
|-
| GDPR consent || Text about your personal information, with buttons to choose what you wish to do. GDPR refers to the European Union's {{w|General Data Protection Regulation}}, a law about privacy of personal information that seems mostly to result in a complicated (and iffy) methods of disabling unwanted data-gathering if you do not just 'accept everything'. It implies the flag somehow collects data about people who view (or touch) it. This may be related to the "Tap here to pay taxes" feature. Of note is the "customize" option, implying that the flag can somehow present a range of data processing options for the 'user' to select from. The technology or design features it uses to do this are unknown. Alternatively, this flag could be designed to be embedded as a webpage online, where this and the "Tap here to pay taxes" features would make some sense, and the version on the physical flag could be purely cosmetic. Note that the "Customize" button appears to be disabled, as if you couldn't do anything but "Accept" the default choice (or ignore the option, which might produce the same effect) even if it is an actual interactive feature. || The possibility that merely looking at a flag would commit you to some sharing of excessive personal data is a troublesome concept (even more so than with web-pages, where it is already a known but seemingly inevitable issue). The apparent provision of the ability to customize this would ''seem'' to be better than given no option, but it may well be impossible or impractical to do so.
Raw text is also rare [https://www.countryflags.com/tags/text/ but not unknown] in national flags, and in those cases is still intended to represent the respective nation's identity and not serve as a typically non-flaglike function, like this element or the Citizenship one.
|-
| Interested in citizenship? Take one! || This is a rather unorthodox method of gaining new citizens, which mimics a form of advertising that typically provides contact details on each strip and allows people to take them away and contact the advertiser at their own convenience with an expression of interest. This has the same accessibility problems as the previous two interactive features, in that it would be difficult to reach the strips to tear them off when the flag is flown high. Additionally flags are generally designed to be hard to tear. The design of the flag within the flag implies that the strips that have been torn off are part of the flag design rather than due to use - probably using another common advertising method, to make it look like a product is popular to encourage people to 'follow the others'. Alternatively, the central flag may automatically update to reflect the removed strips, using the same unknown fabric-screen technology as the GDPR interface. || There are some flags (such as the {{w|flag of the Republic of Venice|that of the Republic of Venice}}) which have a fringed design similar to this. However, none have pull-off strips!{{Citation needed}}
|-
| Rounded corners || Rounded corners are a way to display {{w|graphical widget}}s in computer interfaces for purely aesthetic reasons (as progressively happened to the [https://cdn.geekzone.co.nz/images/blog/startevolution.JPG Start Button] from Windows XP onwards). It isn't unlikely that this flag-feature is being used to parody the trend of making virtual objects (often inherently rectangular) look more like smooth-edged physical objects.
|| Unusual, but nothing particularly out of the ordinary, as some flags do have {{w|List of non-rectangular flags|unorthodox shapes}}. Could be a reference to how many everyday objects have rounded corners to reduce risk of injury or make them more pleasant to use, although this is a moot point with flags since they are generally constructed using cloth that are based upon perpendicular warp and weft and are edge cut (then edge-seamed) in line with the respective thread-directions. Molded, cast or otherwise machined physical objects with rounded corners may be more durable, as stresses no longer concentrate at sharp corners, nor are those corners the natural first points of any impact, although whether this logic applies to a flag highly depends upon whether the halyard is attached to the flag via a heading or by sewn-in grommets, which is usually accounted for by further stitching used at and around the hoist-side's attachment points.
|-
| EURion anti-counterfeit mark || The "{{w|EURion constellation}}" is a pattern of symbols used as an anti-counterfeiting measure often incorporated in design of a number of secure documents, such as banknotes, checks, and ownership title certificates. Flags are not secure documents and therefore do not require anti-counterfeiting measures. || The purpose of flags is to be seen, and it is usually desirable for them to be easy to replicate - quite unlike this flag! Artistically enough, the anti-counterfeit marks enhance it's difficulty to be copied.
|-
| Jaunty angle || Implies that the flag is NOT being viewed at an angle, but rather that the flag is, in fact, a slanted parallelogram in shape (or would be if not for the rounded corners, moebius band feature and removed strips). This could have some unintended consequences when flown on a pole although, as a flag is rarely seen perfectly straight (under the varying effects of wind and/or gravity, when raised on a flagpole), this might not be particularly noticable. || A few flags are known among vexillologists for having a non-rectangular shape. Most of them are square, though {{w|Flag of Nepal|Nepal's}} is a notable exception. A slightly off-rectangular flag makes things awkward for people drawing or otherwise trying to represent it, without having any particular meaning beyond its 'jauntiness'.
|-
| Tan and white stars on a beige field || Deliberate obfuscation through bad color contrast. It also uses very dull colors, which would be hard to distinguish from far off, defying the point of a flag as an easy-to-recognize symbol of something. This may be a deliberate attempt to avoid offending anyone by inadvertently including colors that have some political or otherwise contested connotation. || Most flags have bold, contrasting colors for easy visibility and replicability. In traditional heraldic use, there were two categories of “{{w|Tincture_(heraldry)|tinctures}}”, namely “metals” yellow/gold and white/silver and “colors” red, blue, green and black, and metal-metal or color-color contrasts were to be avoided.
|-
| CIE 1931 chromaticity diagram, to ensure flag color fidelity || A {{w|CIE 1931 color space}} diagram defines the relationship between the visible light spectrum and human color vision. This is probably included as a reference to help address color issues arising from reproducing the flag in a given medium. However, given the flag is tan, white, beige and grey, it's unclear how much of a difference this could possibly make.

It may also be referencing the {{w|rainbow flag}} or its many variants known as {{w|pride flag}}s. The original concept was to convey diversity by featuring many stripes of different colors, the most common variant having six of them. On the other hand, it can be criticized as suggesting there are only six options. It sparked creation of many multi-colored pride flags to more thoroughly convey diversity. Including every possible visible color takes this concept to the extreme.
|| Gradients are rare on flags, as they are difficult to replicate, and most flags have only a few colors (though less so now that printing is common), and often are not considered to look good on flags, especially when flying rather than represented digitally.

Even more so, many flags were traditionally described verbally and only acquired exact legal or conventional decisions on the exact colours used for print and screen display in the last 30 years and would not need to ensure colour fidelity.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[A flag with many things on it.]
:[From left to right, top to bottom, in order labels:]
:[Label:]CIE 1931 Chromaticity Diagram, to ensure flag color fidelity. [Icon]
:
:[Label:] We can't agree what animal this is, so we put it on our flag to spark national debate. [Icon:] A stylised and basically-drawn outline of a quarupedal creature of some sort; appearing to have a reptilian-like head, a possible hairy back, a tail that that may be feathered and its four otherwise featureless 'legs' being akin to a plesiosaur's flippers.
:
:[Label:] National Flag. [Icon:] A miniature version of the flag, however it is missing a miniature version of itself.
:
:[Label:] Island (not a specific island, just a tribute to islands in general) [Icon:] A nondescript island shaped blob.
:
:[Label:] Tap here to pay taxes. [Icon:] 4 sequential curves, a shape commonly used on NFC scanners to read a credit or debit card to encat payment.
:
:[Label:] Tan and white stars on beige field. [Icon:] 32 stars in a rectangle surrounding all the previously mentioned icons, save for the tax payment NFC scanner.
:
:[Label:] Jaunty angle. [Icon] Instead of a icon on the flag, the label notes the fact that the flags left edge is not at a 90 degree angle with the top and bottom edges.
:
:[Label:] Tribute to topology [Icon:] Instead of a icon on the flag, the label notes the fact that the right edge of the flag is separated from the rest of the flag in the middle and twisted one half turn to make the flag into a Möbius strip.
:
:[Label:] Eurion Anti-counterfeit mark. [Icon:] A set of EURion dots, in the shape of the constellation Orion, commonly used on currency to prevent the use of printers to copy and mass produce counterfeit money.
:
:[Label:] Rounded corners. [Icon:] Instead of a icon on the flag, the label notes the fact that the flags corners are rounded.
:
:[Label:] Interested in citizenship? Take one! [Icon:] Instead of a icon on the flag, the label notes the fact that one who wishes to sign up for citizenship of this fictional nation, can tear off a strip and contact the person on it, referencing posters one can find around a residential areas in a similar format.
:
:[Label:] GDPR consent [Icon:] A menu saying "you have a choice in how we manage your data" with hypothetically intractable buttons saying "ACCEPT" and "CUSTOMIZE" reminiscent of similar menus that appear when you visit a website for the first time, or after you clear your cache.
:
:[Caption below flag:]
:I think our flag design committee really knocked it out of the park

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Graphic designers]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

3236: Border Message

2026-04-24T07:24:40Z

Magtei: Mentions how complex boundaries can arise from piecemeal land annexation

{{comic
| number = 3236
| date = April 22, 2026
| title = Border Message
| image = border_message_2x.png
| imagesize = 736x316px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Thanks to differences in logging regulations, the messages actually turned out to be visible from the air.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a bored legislator. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

Many US states, counties, and smaller local administrative regions have long, straight borders. Regions whose borders evolved over time often reflect natural geographic features (such as bodies of water or mountain ranges), customary (pre-survey) tradition, or piecemeal growth (a city annexing selected nearby areas based on landowner requests or economic factors). Straight lines tend to be the result of a survey or administrative process that is more concerned with defining a boundary than optimizing for local conditions. However, this may be boring for legislators or surveyors who have the power to set the boundary. In this comic, the legislators in charge of the boundary between two geographic areas ("Southlake" to the southwest and "East Valley" to the northeast) livened up the process by arranging for the boundary to spell out a message when viewed on a map. It's unknown what kind of local areas (municipal regions, counties, etc.) are involved here. The boundary definition includes multiple discontinuities — such as the bottoms of the W and other letters with gaps at the bottom, the interior of the "O"s and other letters with "holes", the apostrophe, and so on — that are {{w|Enclave and exclave|either exclaves}} (probably of the northern territory, that are surrounded by the southern one, in most cases) or (unlabeled) {{w|Enclave and exclave#True_enclaves|enclaved territories}} in their own right that are associated with no other disconnected area (possibly regarded as ''{{w|terra nullius}}''). This would be very inconvenient for both tourists and locals, since they would have to constantly consult the map if they want to know whether they are in East Valley or Southlake. This would mean that, artistically (or [[2008|ironically]]) enough, the message with a nice positive saying would almost certainly annoy people, defeating the purpose.

The title text implies that the area around the border is forested. Due to the different logging regulations in the two areas, the densities or types of trees on each side of the border are so different that one can see the border, and hence the messages, when looking down on the land. What logging would happen in the 'no man's land' between the letters is unclear (possibly none?), but evidently is sufficiently different to make these visible.

This comic may have been inspired by {{w|gerrymandering}}: defining voting districts to favor a particular group. This often results in districts with very unusual shapes. The comic was published on the day after Virginia voters passed {{w|2026 Virginia redistricting amendment|a referendum approving redistricting}} that favored the Democratic Party. See also the {{w|Belgium-Netherlands border}} and the Google Maps outlines of many western land divisions, which can both be chaotic in places. This comic also happens to have been published on {{w|Earth Day}}.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[A section of a map showing the border between two geographic areas, East Valley and Southlake (marked on the map). The border is shown as a dotted line, and it spells out a message, followed by a small diagonal part:]
:WE HOPE YOU'RE ENJOYING THIS MAP

:[Caption below comic:]
:When local legislators get bored

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Maps]]

3233: Make It Myself

2026-04-15T22:38:17Z

Magtei: Note about how a competing product could drive down the price

{{comic
| number = 3233
| date = April 15, 2026
| title = Make It Myself
| image = make_it_myself_2x.png
| imagesize = 284x438px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's not as big a loss as it looks, because now I have have leftover supplies, which will help me talk myself into doing this all over again with a new project!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created BY A BOT MADE WITH 20 MINUTES OF CODING, 30 MINUTES OF TROUBLESHOOTING, ANOTHER HOUR OF CODING, AND A SUBSCRIPTION TO CURSOR. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
There are many people who complain about rising prices with the recent trend of high inflation rates. People sometimes claim that they could make something themselves, thinking it will be quick and easy. Instead, Cueball reflects real life by listing the actual effort he would expend on such a project. In total, Cueball spends $60 creating his replacement, and then ends up just buying the one in the store because his {{w|do it yourself|do-it-yourself}} replacement breaks sooner then the engineered product. This means that Cueball actually lost $60 on this venture, as well as at least a few hours and several trips to the store.

The title text has Cueball compensating for his losses by deluding himself into believing that the leftover supplies will help him with a future project. This could be the case depending on the supplies. When deciding whether to do work personally versus paying for a product or service, a common dilemma is that the DIY approach requires specialized tools and/or buying a larger amount of material than one will need. There may not be a future personal project requiring a specialized drill bit or 46 leftover screws, in which case the leftovers will gather dust until they are thrown out or sold off at a steep discount. If Cueball was determined enough to put the leftovers to use, he might offer to create improved versions of his solution for other people, gradually amortizing the up-front costs and ultimately creating a competing product years later. Barring major cost-saving innovations, that new product might end up costing a similar amount to the original. If the original's price was inflated, the two products might drive down each other's prices through competition.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
Cueball and White Hat stand together looking at two boxes on the right side of the frame. Cueball is holding his arms out toward the boxes.
Cueball: They want $80 for this? I could make one myself for $10 in parts, an hour of work, a trip to the hardware store, another $30 in parts, another few hours of work, two more trips to the store for $20 more in parts, another hour to redo the first hour of work because I messed up, and $80 to buy this when the one I made breaks.
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category: Comics featuring White Hat]]

3233: Make It Myself

2026-04-15T22:35:40Z

Magtei: Discussion of "new project" and amortization of supply costs

{{comic
| number = 3233
| date = April 15, 2026
| title = Make It Myself
| image = make_it_myself_2x.png
| imagesize = 284x438px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's not as big a loss as it looks, because now I have have leftover supplies, which will help me talk myself into doing this all over again with a new project!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created BY A BOT MADE WITH 20 MINUTES OF CODING, 30 MINUTES OF TROUBLESHOOTING, ANOTHER HOUR OF CODING, AND A SUBSCRIPTION TO CURSOR. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
There are many people who complain about rising prices with the recent trend of high inflation rates. People sometimes claim that they could make something themselves, thinking it will be quick and easy. Instead, Cueball reflects real life by listing the actual effort he would expend on such a project. In total, Cueball spends $60 creating his replacement, and then ends up just buying the one in the store because his {{w|do it yourself|do-it-yourself}} replacement breaks sooner then the engineered product. This means that Cueball actually lost $60 on this venture, as well as at least a few hours and several trips to the store.

The title text has Cueball compensating for his losses by deluding himself into believing that the leftover supplies will help him with a future project. This could be the case depending on the supplies. When deciding whether to do work personally versus paying for a product or service, a common dilemma is that the DIY approach requires specialized tools and/or buying a larger amount of material than one will need. There may not be a future personal project requiring a specialized drill bit or 46 leftover screws, in which case the leftovers will gather dust until they are thrown out or sold off at a steep discount. If Cueball was determined enough to put the leftovers to use, he might offer to create improved versions of his solution for other people, gradually amortizing the up-front costs and ultimately creating a competing product years later. Barring major cost-saving innovations, that new product might end up costing a similar amount.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
Cueball and White Hat stand together looking at two boxes on the right side of the frame. Cueball is holding his arms out toward the boxes.
Cueball: They want $80 for this? I could make one myself for $10 in parts, an hour of work, a trip to the hardware store, another $30 in parts, another few hours of work, two more trips to the store for $20 more in parts, another hour to redo the first hour of work because I messed up, and $80 to buy this when the one I made breaks.
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category: Comics featuring White Hat]]

3221: Landscape Features

2026-03-18T20:57:47Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ Megafloods and plains/farming

{{comic
| number = 3221
| date = March 18, 2026
| title = Landscape Features
| image = landscape_features_2x.png
| imagesize = 537x454px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 'Well, there's speculation that it's due to a mantle hotspot.' --a geologist who's trying to cover up the fact that they didn't hear your question
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic is a map of the United States, explaining some of the most significant geologic/human activity in each region. It claims that, in each area, there is one major mechanism (plate tectonics, erosion, volcanism, etc.) which is responsible for the majority of interesting formations and features.

The title text plays off the fact that a large part of geology concerned with activity in the mantle, so explaining some geologic feature by saying "there's speculation that it's due to a mantle hotspot" does not give much information. Saying this would let a distracted geologist buy time while responding to a missed question. Many of Earth's seemingly out-of-place features (e.g., {{w|Hawaii hotspot}}, {{w|Iceland}}, the {{w|Snake River Plain}} in Idaho, etc.) form from such mantle hotspots. Thus, it's an easy go-to explanation for many of the geological features people are often most curious about.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Location
! Description
! Explanation
|-
| Adirondack Mountains
| ???
| The Adirondack Mountains are made of billion-year-old rock but were uplifted relatively recently, within the last 5–10 million years. They’re still rising today despite being far from any plate boundary, forming a dome with no clear tectonic cause, thus the "???" due to an ongoing mystery as to their formation.
|-
| Most of northern conterminous U.S.
| glaciers
| During the {{w|Last Glacial Period}}, this area was covered by {{w|Laurentide Ice Sheet|an ice sheet}} that left its marks on the landscape, in the form of {{w|moraines}}, {{w|eskers}}, {{w|glacial erratics}}, etc.
|-
| Appalachian Mountains
| continents colliding
|
|-
| Near Mississippi & Ohio Rivers
| rivers
|
|-
| Southeastern U.S.
| farming
|
|-
| Southern Florida
| ongoing disputes between limestone and water
|
|-
| Southern Missouri/Northern Arkansas
| geology
| {{w|Ozark Mountains}}
|-
| Central column of U.S.
| farming
| This area loosely corresponds to the Great Plains. The lack of other major events left the terrain relatively level, and areas were historically shaped by either herds of bison or indigenous agriculture, both limiting the growth of forests. "Farming" is likely a reference to the more recent mix of large-scale crop farming (especially staples like wheat and corn) and herding (bison replace by cattle).
|-
| Central Idaho/Yellowstone
| a supervolcano
| The {{w|Snake River Plain}} is an area of high-elevation flat plain in the otherwise contigious Rocky Mountains. It was formed by the movement of the contenential plate over the {{w|Yellowstone Hotspot}}.
|-
| Eastern Washington
| megafloods
| Most likely a reference to the {{w|Missoula floods}} and the {{w|Bonneville flood}}, a series of floods caused by glacial ice dam failures causing massive lakes to flood large regions of present-day eastern Washington. These floods actually continued all the way to the Pacific Ocean, altering ht shape of the {{w|Columbia River Gorge}} and flooding much of the {{w|Willamette River}} in western Oregon. The comic may have simplified these to avoid bisecting the adjacent zones along the coast.
|-
| West Coast
| a plate tectonic speedrun
| Most likely a reference to the significant tectonic activity on the western coast of the US, caused by the collisions of the {{w|Juan de Fuca plate}}, {{w|Pacific plate}}, and the {{w|North American plate}}.
|-
| Desert Southwest
| water and time
|
|-
| Northern Alaska
| geology
|
|-
| Aleutian Islands
| volcanoes
| The Aleutian Islands are a continuation of the Alaskan {{w|Aleutian Range}}, and form part of the {{w|Ring of Fire}}. Most of the islands in the chain bear signs of being formed by volcanos, and many volcanic cones still exist on the islands today.
|-
| Southeast Alaska
| glaciers
| This part of Alaska (including {{w|Glacier National Park (U.S.)|Glacier National Park}}) and western Canada has many glaciers that are still carving the landscape.
|-
| Hawaiian island chain
| volcanoes
| Hawaii, including the {{w|Northwest Hawaiian Islands}}, and seamounts northwest of it were formed by a tectonic plate moving over a hotspot, with volcanoes erupting and forming land as it went. The entire chain can be seen [https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0555574,-176.5939317,4904085m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDMxNS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D here].
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

3211: Amperage

2026-02-25T20:47:00Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ Expands safety details and focuses on outlet-to-appliance (internal wiring probably upgraded)

{{comic
| number = 3211
| date = February 23, 2026
| title = Amperage
| image = amperage_2x.png
| imagesize = 299x410px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Oh, and do you have any tips on how to vacuum up copper that's melted into your carpet?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a SMOKE ALARM POWERED BY A 1.2 MEGAWATT SIMILE. Don't remove this notice too soon please.}}
[[Cueball]] explains to [[Ponytail]] how he has modified some parts of his house's wiring to avoid having power to his appliances interrupted on account of overcurrent conditions from running too many appliances at once. In many places around the world, there is a main breaker limiting the maximum current available to each property, with common limits for single-unit residences being 60 A, 100 A or 200 A. Individual circuits will then have breakers limiting the maximum current, usually to something between 10 and 50 amperes (the higher end is reserved for major appliances like dryers, vehicle charging stations, or air conditioning systems). 15-20 A is a common breaker size for circuits powering regular outlets in the US, 32 A is common in the UK, while 10-16 A is standard in mainland Europe. However, Cueball has convinced his power company to supply up to 10,000 amps. This size of service is more often used by residential towers with hundreds of units or large business properties, and generally requires the building to run its own transformer to convert from medium voltage to low (one transformer would normally be shared by up to dozens of single-unit residences). This is prohibitively expensive and unnecessary for most individual homeowners.

The purpose this massive upgrade was to allow a similarly oversized electrical panel, with a 500-ampere circuit breaker for each wall socket. Multiple outlets in one room or several nearby rooms usually share a circuit, so this would have required running separate wires to each outlet, and this internal wiring would have had to be much thicker to carry such high currents without overheating and starting a fire (since the house is still standing, Cueball presumably found an electrician willing to do this). North American electrical codes require that the current over a long period be lower (such as 80% of the nominal rating), so 500-amp wires would allow a sustained load of 400 amps under the code.

Both numbers are absurdly high — far more than any consumer appliance could need. This also appears to be where Cueball abandoned the electrical code, as the special wiring has been connected to what appear to be standard 15- or 20-amp US outlets. Cueball admits that regular wires catch fire when used with these outlets, because even if the outlets are tough enough to carry hundreds of amps, regular consumer power cords are not. The title text shows that Cueball has actually tried out his new arrangement and it has melted the copper inside the power cords onto the carpet, and he is now looking for ways to clean it up.

Cueball's reasoning for this is equally absurd: he is frustrated by his {{w|circuit breaker}}s. Circuit breakers exist to prevent currents from exceeding a level that would damage the wires or equipment along the path. A tripped breaker is caused by either a short circuit (unlikely here since this could produce currents well over 500 amps) or by the user trying to draw too much power at once (such as by plugging in many large appliances in one room or even into one outlet using power stripes). A tripped circuit breaker caused by coincidental overloads can be reset easily, but constant overloads would require other solutions. Preventing a circuit breaker from tripping, such as by soldering wire into the {{w|fusebox}} in place of the fuses or installing breakers with limits higher than the physical rating of the wires, defeats this safety mechanism, making fires more likely. The usual safe approach to overload issues is to move some devices to different outlets that are on separate circuits. If needed, one can increase the number of circuits in the house, each with its own breaker (as Cureball has done), but it is still important to '''match the outlet types to the circuit capacities and follow manufacturer's instructions about equipment power limits'''. Cueball's expensive approach has kept the internal wiring safe while allowing dangerous habits beyond the outlets, such as using power strips to supply multiple large loads from one outlet.

Typical wires for outlets in the US are between 14 and 10 AWG, rated between 15 and 30 amps. In the UK, it would likely be a Twin Core and Earth 2.5 mm² cable rated for 32 A. By drawing anywhere near 500 amps, he will, as he has discovered, most likely melt the wires inside his appliances and start a fire, even if there is no fault. (Pure copper melts at 1085 °C (1984 °F), and the copper in electrical wiring is fairly pure, so Cueball has demonstrably produced temperatures in excess of that. Such temperatures are well above what's necessary to ignite {{w|Fahrenheit 451|common household items}}.) Rather than treat this as a sign that his plan was ill-conceived and simply put up with normal levels of power per outlet, though, Cueball is now trying to find more durable cords and wires that can handle the excessive load. If he upgrades all remaining power cords to sizes sufficient for the electricity that they carry, the system might become technically safe. However, electrical inspectors would still flag the mismatched outlets, and any modified power cords would likely fail various other safety standards enforced by governments or insurance companies.

The amount of electrical power you can use in your house depends on both the voltage and the maximum current you're allowed to draw. The latter is usually protected and limited by multiple breakers both in your home and at the local substation. For example, in the US, where the nominal voltage is 120 V, a 15 A breaker would get you a maximum of 1800 watts of power (current multiplied by the voltage). In countries where 230 V is more common, a similarly sized breaker would get you a maximum of around 3500 watts. If you decrease the voltage you can still get the same power by increasing the current drawn. For example, to get 3500 watts in the US on 120 V, you would need to draw around 30A - double the original amount. Higher currents induce higher voltage drops as a function of resistance in lines, which causes heat to generate as the square of current [V=IR; P=IV; therefore P=I×(IR)=I²R], meaning they would need a larger wire to reduce the resistance in the line and allow more surface for heat to dissipate in order to safely draw the power without them overheating and catching fire. Transmission lines solve the problem by transforming the power to a higher voltage (a 400 kV (400,000 volts) line transmitting a maximum of 10 amps can still theoretically give out 4 million watts of power without needing excessively thick cables). Conversely, decreasing the voltage means that you need more current drawn for the same amount of power (for example, to get 3500 watts from a 12 V car battery you need to draw almost 300 amperes, something that would need really thick wires not to overheat, though note that this is a reasonable current draw from a car battery). Assuming Cueball lives in the US with 120 V mains voltage, his 10,000 A will draw 1.2 megawatts of power, equivalent to the usage of a factory or other large facility.

The comic might be a reference to a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC7sNfNuTNU recent video posted by youtuber styropyro], who connects 400 car batteries and does various experiments, including [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYtCJYhCyzs popping a 6,000 amp fuse]. While the voltage on car batteries is only 12 V (or 24 V in some cases), they allow drawing very high amounts of current to provide enough power for the starter engine to turn. Drawing 500 amps and more for a short period of time is not uncommon. While these would only amount to around 6kW of power (12V * 500 A), the higher current requires the cabling to be thick enough to not overheat even in the short amount of time this draw is used (until the starter engine has turned on the main engine — on a modern car in warm weather this should be around a second at most). In the video, styropyro connects 400 of these into 80 parallel 65 V cells, reaching peak currents in excess of 160 kA. His setup requires very thick cables and large pieces of solid metal to handle the extremely high current.

==Transcript==

:[Cueball and Ponytail are standing near the corner of a room, with Type B outlets on either wall surrounding the corner at about knee height. Cueball has raised one hand slightly to gesture to one of the outlets.]
:Cueball: I got 10,000 amp service and put each outlet on its own 500 amp breaker, so I never have to worry about overloading a circuit again!
:Ponytail: Clever.
:Cueball: Oh, that reminds me- do you know where to buy cords that don't catch fire?
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Engineering]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

3210: Eliminating the Impossible

2026-02-21T03:51:34Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ More neutral tone on Cueball's position and the difficulty of correctly classifying all non-true possibilities as impossible

{{comic
| number = 3210
| date = February 20, 2026
| title = Eliminating the Impossible
| image = eliminating_the_impossible_2x.png
| imagesize = 675x349px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 'If you've eliminated a few possibilities and you can't think of any others, your weird theory is proven right' isn't quite as rhetorically compelling.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by the one thing that actually was in the car. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

The discussion in this comic plays upon the phrase originating from the fictional Sherlock Holmes (and therefore also his author, {{w|Arthur Conan-Doyle}}) that "[https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1196-when-you-have-eliminated-all-which-is-impossible-then-whatever When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth,]" which describes Holmes's {{w|abductive reasoning}} used to solve the crimes and mysteries set before him. The point of the original statement is that {{tvtropes|RealityIsUnrealistic|something being ''unlikely'' does not make it ''untrue''}}, and ignoring reality because it is "unlikely" is both absurd and counterproductive to the process of solving a problem.

[[White Hat]] is expounding this principle, to [[Cueball]], as a logical step for some undisclosed purpose. Cueball argues that human error - namely, making a mistake in the 'elimination' process - is also possible, and claims that the logic is faulty on this premise. When White Hat points out that the logic is a guideline for problem-solving, Cueball argues that the possibility of human error when operating on this logic makes the approach unsound. If there is one true version of events, then finding it by this process requires classifying all other possibilities as impossible. While that might be possible for a constrained problem like a detective story or multi-option question, many daily situations require eliminating vast numbers of possibilities while lacking sufficient information to be truly sure that the possibilities have been exhausted.

In the final panel, Cueball demonstrates a practical example of human error causing this issue. When a person is looking for their possessions, their first option is to search the house in which they presently are, while their second option is to search their mode of transportation (especially in the case of possessions that are regularly brought to and from other locations). White Hat agrees that he himself has been in the situation where he has searched the entire house, not found what he is looking for, assumes it is in the car, and then fails to locate it in the car as well. There are other possibilities, but the tendency to jump to conclusions (possibly by misuse of the quote) can lead to those being ignored. Additional possibilities:
* The house has not been fully searched, with the item left in some obscured corner, a clothing pocket that is in the laundry, or even a vent or pipe that one could not practically access.
* The car has not been fully searched, because the item slid between two seats or was deeper in a glove compartment than the searcher thought possible.
* It is common for people to fail to see a thing even though it is present, sometimes even clearly in view, because of momentary cognitive glitching, {{w|The Purloined Letter|poor assumptions}}, or more fundamental cognitive failures such as {{w|visual agnosia}}. Another Holmes quotation is relevant: "[https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/205730-you-see-but-you-do-not-observe You see, but you do not observe.]"
* The searcher forgets that they took the item to some other location, or wishfully ignores that possibility because it is far away and/or inconvenient to search.
* The searcher has never taken the item anywhere other than the house or car, but is unaware that someone or something else moved it.
* The item may have been destroyed or altered in a way that makes it unrecognizable when found.

The title text goes further in deconstructing how the quote might result in a logically incorrect {{w|argument from ignorance}}. Although, in fiction, there is a {{tvtropes|TheoryOfNarrativeCausality|Law of Narrative Causality}}, by which events are successfully resolved in the way that the plot requires them to be resolved, stating this approach as a logical rule would normally be {{tvtropes|LampshadeHanging|narratively unsatisfyingly}}.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[White Hat and Cueball are standing together and talking. White Hat has one hand slightly raised.]
:White Hat: As Sherlock Holmes said,
:White Hat: When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
:[Close-up of Cueball's head.]
:Cueball: What about the possibility that you forgot to eliminate a possibility?
:Cueball: Or that you eliminated one incorrectly?
:Cueball: Both of those remain, too.
:[Zoom back out to show both parties. Cueball is holding his arms out.]
:White Hat: You're being pedantic.
:White Hat: It's just a general rule for deduction.
:Cueball: But it's a ''bad rule.''
:[Cueball is now holding up one finger.]
:Cueball: How often have you thought, "I can't find this thing, and I've searched the whole house. The only place I haven't looked is the car, so it ''must'' be there."
:White Hat: ...And then it's never in the car.
:Cueball: ''It's never in the car!''

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Pedantic]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Logic]]
[[Category:Fiction]]

3199: Early Arthropods

2026-01-27T20:32:15Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ More on intentional evolution

{{comic
| number = 3199
| date = January 26, 2026
| title = Early Arthropods
| image = early_arthropods_2x.png
| imagesize = 553x469px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 'Ugh, I'm never going to be like spiders. My descendants will all just be normal arthropods who mind their own busines and don't do anything weird.' --The ancestor of a bunch of eusocial insects
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by an arthropod who will get 10 pointy things to zap a metal box and tell it stuff.. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic points out that something we generally take for granted — {{w|spider}}s spinning webs — can seem weird and disgusting when we consider the details of what it involves. Whereas the kind of adaptation referred to by the first {{w|arthropod}} (seen in {{w|isopoda|isopods}}) and by the second ({{w|scorpion}}s or {{w|crab}}s) may seem like obvious things for evolution to arrive at, it may be less clear how something would arrive at the outcome of web construction.

Note that evolution in real life does not work the way the comic implies, as creatures cannot choose a direction in which to evolve.{{citation needed}} An individual organism can choose to pursue certain activities, but these only affect its number of offspring. An intelligent species could accelerate this gradual process of natural selection through artificial selection that favored certain individuals, but this would still require many generations to make observable progress. While many species select for fitness during reproduction, this is normally for traits that are already present. Only humans are known to pursue major change, and mostly in other domesticated species.

[[:Category:Spiders|Spiders]] are a recurring theme on xkcd.

[[2314:_Carcinization|Crabs]] are a recurring theme in biology. (and conversations with [[2418:_Metacarcinization|Randall]])

The {{w|eusocial}} insects mentioned in the title text are another group of arthropods with high levels of social organisation. As such, they are notable for ''not'' "minding their own busines (sic)", as their ancestor arthropod apparently expects. Eusociality has evolved multiple times in the ''{{w|Hymenoptera}}'' alone, as well as in termites. There is no arthropod species that is the ancestor to all the eusocial arthropods and no others. While there are a number of species of {{w|social spider}}, there aren't any that meet the strict definition of eusociality. Eusocial insects have been known to do weird things, such as [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09425-w giving birth to a separate species].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[Wide panel with three small arthropods standing on the ocean floor. Two of the creatures are facing the leftmost one. Small bubbles and particles float around them.]
:Arthropod 1: Now that we're multicellular, what are your plans?
:Arthropod 1: I'm gonna evolve little legs and swim around with them!
:Arthropod 2: I'm gonna evolve sharp pincers and use them to crunch stuff!
:Arthropod 3: I'm gonna evolve glands to make string from my butt and use it to construct elaborate geometric nets hundreds of times my size to catch other animals.

:[Beat panel narrowed in on the arthropods.]

:[Same scene:]
:Arthropod 1: '''''Dude.'''''
:Arthropod 2: Can you '''''please''''' just be normal about this?
:Arthropod 3: '''''What??!'''''

== Trivia ==
"Business" is misspelled in the title text as "busines".

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Spiders]]
[[Category:Biology]]

3197: Cost Savings

2026-01-24T01:16:57Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3197
| date = January 21, 2026
| title = Cost Savings
| image = cost_savings_2x.png
| imagesize = 303x461px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Unfortunately, my scheme to trick NASA has now taken over a decade longer than planned and has run way over budget.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by an OVER-BUDGET ORBITER. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic depicts a ridiculous scheme, concocted by [[Cueball]], to dupe various representatives at NASA into doing a menial task for him; specifically, he wants them to build an ordinary shed in his yard. The National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) is not associated with {{w|Spruce Goose|hobbyist carpentry}} and certainly cannot be conventionally ordered to build a shed on a needy citizen's property.{{Citation needed}} Thus, Cueball tries to circumvent the expected barriers to this outcome by masking his true intentions with a long-winded cost-cutting presentation about a proposed satellite launch. Initially, it appears he is suggesting various ways to mitigate the cost/hassle of launching a satellite into orbit. This starts with a lower orbit, which requires less fuel to reach and can bring significant savings per the rocketry equation. Lower orbits can bring challenges due to satellite crowding and (in the extreme case) atmospheric drag.

Cueball soon suggests replacing the satellite with an "aerial platform" (most likely a plane that flies around with the equipment, but weather balloons, blimps, or even helicopters might count). While any atmospheric flight will require some recurring effort to steer and/or repeatedly launch the vehicle, this can indeed cost less than a space launch and communication infrastructure needed to manage a satellite. The tradeoff is that an aerial platform cannot stay up for years like a satellite and cannot see as much of the surface at a given time.

Cueball then suggest reducing the monitoring payload by moving some equipment to a ground location that receives data from the mobile equipment. Such a change might allow the platform to be a drone or balloon, either of which could go further with less weight. Cueball's last, unfinished sentence might be continued as "Additional savings could be achieved by reusing available property instead of buying land. In fact, I have identified a property with room for a structure which would not require any expense apart from construction." Depending on Cueball's level of focus on cost reduction, the end of this reasoning might even lead to "Ditch the satellite idea and just build a shed in my yard".

The title text expands on this theme by implying that Cueball has been attempting this scheme (which may have required extensive effort and connections needed to even be prepared to be seen by the NASA project team with the initial red-herring proposal) for long enough that it mirrors the setbacks a team would experience if they were actually intending to send a satellite into orbit. The {{w|Timeline of the James Webb Space Telescope|James Webb Telescope}} is one such mission which was very delayed, as already mentioned in prior comics, notably [[2014: JWST Delays]]. The mention of the project being "over budget" implies that NASA was interested enough to assign a budget, but has presumably been delayed by steps such as shed design, environmental review, contractor selection, construction costs, or team reallocation due to shifting priorities.

By taking "over a decade longer than planned", the actual time taken to (not yet) achieve his goal is far longer than it would normally be expected to take to just build a shed without NASA's complicity, excepting perhaps some particularly intransigent {{w|Zoning in the United States|zoning laws}}. The actual delay is unknown but must have been significant. Likewise, the personal costs incurred by Cueball (at a minimum, time and travel) have probably far exceeded what most sheds (and their construction) require, even if the end-goal is a 'free' shed, paid for entirely by NASA.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[Cueball is standing in front of a framed graph on a wall, pointing at it with a short stick. The graph is a bar graph with steadily decreasing bar heights. Hairy and Megan, seated, are looking on from behind a desk.]
:Cueball: By lowering the planned satellite orbit, we can reduce the size of the launch vehicle required.
:Cueball: We can reduce costs further by eliminating the satellite entirely in favor of an aerial platform.
:Cueball: Some equipment could be moved to a ground-based facility, reducing required aircraft time.
:Cueball: Additional savings could be...

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I'm trying to get NASA to build a shed in my backyard.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Space]]

3197: Cost Savings

2026-01-24T01:15:52Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ How each reduction could make sense and how construction could be delayed

{{comic
| number = 3197
| date = January 21, 2026
| title = Cost Savings
| image = cost_savings_2x.png
| imagesize = 303x461px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Unfortunately, my scheme to trick NASA has now taken over a decade longer than planned and has run way over budget.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by an OVER-BUDGET ORBITER. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic depicts a ridiculous scheme, concocted by [[Cueball]], to dupe various representatives at NASA into doing a menial task for him; specifically, he wants them to build an ordinary shed in his yard. The National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) is not associated with {{w|Spruce Goose|hobbyist carpentry}} and certainly cannot be conventionally ordered to build a shed on a needy citizen's property.{{Citation needed}} Thus, Cueball tries to circumvent the expected barriers to this outcome by masking his true intentions with a long-winded cost-cutting presentation about a proposed satellite launch. Initially, it appears he is suggesting various ways to mitigate the cost/hassle of launching a satellite into orbit. This starts with a lower orbit, which requires less fuel to reach and can bring significant savings per the rocketry equation. Lower orbits can bring challenges due to satellite crowding and (in the extreme case) atmospheric drag.

Cueball soon suggests replacing the satellite with an "aerial platform" (most likely a plane that flies around with the equipment, but weather balloons, blimps, or even helicopters might count). While any atmospheric flight will require some recurring effort to steer and/or repeatedly launch the vehicle, this can indeed cost less than a space launch and communication infrastructure needed to manage a satellite. The tradeoff is that an aerial platform cannot stay up for years like a satellite and cannot see as much of the surface at a given time.

Cueball then suggest reducing the monitoring payload by moving the equipment to a ground location. Such a change might allow the platform to be a drone or balloon, either of which could go further with less weight. Cueball's last, unfinished sentence might be continued as "Additional savings could be achieved by reusing available property instead of buying land. In fact, I have identified a property with room for a structure which would not require any expense apart from construction." Depending on Cueball's level of focus on cost reduction, the end of this reasoning might even lead to "Ditch the satellite idea and just build a shed in my yard".

The title text expands on this theme by implying that Cueball has been attempting this scheme (which may have required extensive effort and connections needed to even be prepared to be seen by the NASA project team with the initial red-herring proposal) for long enough that it mirrors the setbacks a team would experience if they were actually intending to send a satellite into orbit. The {{w|Timeline of the James Webb Space Telescope|James Webb Telescope}} is one such mission which was very delayed, as already mentioned in prior comics, notably [[2014: JWST Delays]]. The mention of the project being "over budget" implies that NASA was interested enough to assign a budget, but has presumably been delayed by steps such as shed design, environmental review, contractor selection, construction costs, or team reallocation due to shifting priorities.

By taking "over a decade longer than planned", the actual time taken to (not yet) achieve his goal is far longer than it would normally be expected to take to just build a shed without NASA's complicity, excepting perhaps some particularly intransigent {{w|Zoning in the United States|zoning laws}}. The actual delay is unknown but must have been significant. Likewise, the personal costs incurred by Cueball (at a minimum, time and travel) have probably far exceeded what most sheds (and their construction) require, even if the end-goal is a 'free' shed, paid for entirely by NASA.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[Cueball is standing in front of a framed graph on a wall, pointing at it with a short stick. The graph is a bar graph with steadily decreasing bar heights. Hairy and Megan, seated, are looking on from behind a desk.]
:Cueball: By lowering the planned satellite orbit, we can reduce the size of the launch vehicle required.
:Cueball: We can reduce costs further by eliminating the satellite entirely in favor of an aerial platform.
:Cueball: Some equipment could be moved to a ground-based facility, reducing required aircraft time.
:Cueball: Additional savings could be...

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I'm trying to get NASA to build a shed in my backyard.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Space]]

3195: International Station

2026-01-17T04:26:23Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ Extend description

{{comic
| number = 3195
| date = January 16, 2026
| title = International Station
| image = international_station_2x.png
| imagesize = 265x250px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Welcome to the International Space Station Exclamation Point!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a BOT APOSTROPHE S SPACE TRANSLATION SPACE ERROR PERIOD. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This joke makes fun of the parity between 'space', as in the invisible character between words, and 'space', as in the void between astronomical bodies. In this case, it is said that the word 'space' was never meant to be part of the name of the name, but was included as a word due to a transcription error.

The presumption is therefore that someone thought it necessary to say the name as "International (space) Station," perhaps to quash any misconception that the intended name might be "InternationalStation" (however capitalised). Someone else would have written this down as International Space Station, with the accidental name being accepted due to resulting name being acceptably apt or inconvenient to change.

The title text furthers the joke by transcribing the exclamation mark at the end of the phrase, similar to [[3143: Question Mark]]. There were also multiple examples of strings, with punctuation (literal and otherwise) and spelling easy to misconvey in [[1963: Namespace Land Rush]], though none of them used either spaces or "space"s. The full name of "International Space Station Exclamation Point" may also sound like it refers to a location in the International Space Station by the name of "Exclamation Point".

The ISS made the news on 15 January 2026, the day prior to the release of this comic, due to the {{w|List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_the_International_Space_Station#2026|unprecedented evacuation of its crew to Earth for medical reasons}}.

In a similar vein, when customers order signboards, they sometime come with unintended quotation marks. The customer writes the signage text with quotation marks, with the expectation that the signmaker would ignore them.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[Ponytail is talking to Cueball. They seem to be floating in space, surrounded by a wrench, a book, two sheets of paper and some debris.]
:Ponytail: You know, NASA and Roscosmos actually originally named it the '''''International Station''''', but a translation issue led someone to accidentally transcribe the formatting.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Language]]

3195: International Station

2026-01-17T04:18:42Z

Magtei: Undo vandalism by 2401:4900:1CB9:7EEC:C596:20DB:3652:4451 (talk)

{{comic
| number = 3195
| date = January 16, 2026
| title = International Station
| image = international_station_2x.png
| imagesize = 265x250px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Welcome to the International Space Station Exclamation Point!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a BOT APOSTROPHE S SPACE TRANSLATION SPACE ERROR PERIOD. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This joke makes fun of the parity between 'space', as in the invisible character between words, and 'space', as in the void between astronomical bodies. In this case, it is said that the word 'space' was never meant to be there at all, but it was included as a word due to a formatting error.

The presumption is therefore that it was thought necessary to squash any misconception that the compound word "InternationalStation" (however capitalised) was the intended name, but that it led to a different error; albeit one that ended up acceptibly apt, or at least left unresolved.

The title text furthers the joke by transcribing the exclamation mark at the end of the phrase, similar to [[3143: Question Mark]]. There were also multiple examples of strings, with punctuation (literal and otherwise) and spelling easy to misconvey in [[1963: Namespace Land Rush]], though none of them used either spaces or "space"s. The full name of "International Space Station Exclamation Point" may also sound like it refers to a location in the International Space Station by the name of "Exclamation Point".

The ISS made the news on 15 January 2026, the day prior to the release of this comic, due to the {{w|List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_the_International_Space_Station#2026|unprecedented evacuation of its crew to Earth for medical reasons}}.

In a similar vein, when customers order signboards, they sometime come with unintended quotation marks. The customer writes the signage text with quotation marks, with the expectation that the signmaker would ignore them.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[Ponytail is talking to Cueball. They seem to be floating in space, surrounded by a wrench, a book, two sheets of paper and some debris.]
:Ponytail: You know, NASA and Roscosmos actually originally named it the '''''International Station''''', but a translation issue led someone to accidentally transcribe the formatting.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Language]]

3193: Sailing Rigs

2026-01-13T08:11:10Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ List format, schooner description

{{comic
| number = 3193
| date = January 12, 2026
| title = Sailing Rigs
| image = sailing_rigs_2x.png
| imagesize = 508x822px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I wanted to make the world's fastest yawl, so I made the aft sail bigger, but apparently that means it's not a yawl anymore! It's a real ketch-22.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by the birds flying in my kite. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic shows the side profiles of a variety of different sailing boat/ship rigs, not all of which are real. The first six which are listed are real, as well as the tenth, but none of the others are. A {{w|Flettner rotor}} (shown in the tenth one) is a cylinder with disc end plates which is spun along its long axis, generating force at a right angle to the direction of the wind.

*Lateen: a single triangular sail.
*Bermuda rigged sloop: a front and rear triangular sail share a mast.
*Ketch: two triangular sails as above, with an additional triangular sail on a second rear mast.
*Gaff rigged sloop: front triangular sail shares mast with rear quadrilateral sail.
*Yawl: two triangular sails share front mast and a much smaller aft mast holds a small aft.
*Schooner: two triangular front sails share foreward mast with quadrilateral center sail. An aft mast supports a quadrilateral aft sail.
*Ketch-rigged gaff: The first fictional rig. Resembles a gaff, with the aft sail reduced and two triangular sails mounted above. The resulting shape resembles a vertical ketch.
*Kloop-rigged sketch: A mixture of the names of ketch and sloop, poking fun at the unfamiliar names of some rigs.
*Bunkbed rig: A gaff-rigged sloop is mounted on top of a second hull.
*Flettner rig: A single rectangular sail.
*Oops, all spinnakers: three masts each with a sail only attached to the top.
*Keel rig: three sales in a ketch arrangement, but mounted to the keel, which would typically put the **sails underwater**.
*Kite rig: all sails are replaced by two groups of kites, each tied to the mast with an independent line.
*Longsail rig: bermuda rigged sloop with the aft sail extending ~5 times as far back, well beyond the end of the hull.
*Deckhand obliterator: all sails replaced by an anchor that swings around the mast on a chain, similar to tetherball. Any deckhands (crew) on the deck could be knocked off or fatally hurt if the anchor passes through their space.
*Offset rig: gaff rigged sloop sails are mounted on a mast that is offset (forward) from the hull via an underwater extension of the keel.
*Mastless rig: a single sail is attached where the mast would normally be mounted, flapping around freely. This provides much less propulsion or steering.
*Unclassifiable chaos rig: includes elements of the schooner, yawl, lateen, and possibly others.

The title text is a pun on a {{w|Catch-22 (logic)|Catch-22}}, a no-win situation in which the thing needed to succeed would cause it not to succeed or not to be necessary. For instance, "the only way to qualify for a loan is to prove to the bank that you do not need a loan." Per the main panel, a ketch is similar to a yawl but has a larger aft sail, so increasing the aft sail of a yawl effectively turns the yawl into a ketch.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[The comic contains views from the side of boats, each with a different sailing rig. All boats are oriented to the left of the comic.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Puns]]
[[Category:Sailboats]]

3193: Sailing Rigs

2026-01-13T08:08:00Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ First list

{{comic
| number = 3193
| date = January 12, 2026
| title = Sailing Rigs
| image = sailing_rigs_2x.png
| imagesize = 508x822px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I wanted to make the world's fastest yawl, so I made the aft sail bigger, but apparently that means it's not a yawl anymore! It's a real ketch-22.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by the birds flying in my kite. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic shows the side profiles of a variety of different sailing boat/ship rigs, not all of which are real. The first six which are listed are real, as well as the tenth, but none of the others are. A {{w|Flettner rotor}} (shown in the tenth one) is a cylinder with disc end plates which is spun along its long axis, generating force at a right angle to the direction of the wind.

-Lateen: a single triangular sail.
-Bermuda rigged sloop: a front and rear triangular sail share a mast.
-Ketch: two triangular sails as above, with an additional triangular sail on a second rear mast.
-Gaff rigged sloop: front triangular sail shares mast with rear quadrilateral sail.
-Yawl: two triangular sails share front mast and a much smaller aft mast holds a small aft.
-Schooner:
-Ketch-rigged gaff: The first fictional rig. Resembles a gaff, with the aft sail reduced and two triangular sails mounted above. The resulting shape resembles a vertical ketch.
-Kloop-rigged sketch: A mixture of the names of ketch and sloop, poking fun at the unfamiliar names of some rigs.
-Bunkbed rig: A gaff-rigged sloop is mounted on top of a second hull.
-Flettner rig: A single rectangular sail.
-Oops, all spinnakers: three masts each with a sail only attached to the top.
-Keel rig: three sales in a ketch arrangement, but mounted to the keel, which would typically put the **sails underwater**.
-Kite rig: all sails are replaced by two groups of kites, each tied to the mast with an independent line.
-Longsail rig: bermuda rigged sloop with the aft sail extending ~5 times as far back, well beyond the end of the hull.
-Deckhand obliterator: all sails replaced by an anchor that swings around the mast on a chain, similar to tetherball. Any deckhands (crew) on the deck could be knocked off or fatally hurt if the anchor passes through their space.
-Offset rig: gaff rigged sloop sails are mounted on a mast that is offset (forward) from the hull via an underwater extension of the keel.
-Mastless rig: a single sail is attached where the mast would normally be mounted, flapping around freely. This provides much less propulsion or steering.
-Unclassifiable chaos rig: includes elements of the schooner, yawl, lateen, and possibly others.

The title text is a pun on a {{w|Catch-22 (logic)|Catch-22}}, a no-win situation in which the thing needed to succeed would cause it not to succeed or not to be necessary. For instance, "the only way to qualify for a loan is to prove to the bank that you do not need a loan." Per the main panel, a ketch is similar to a yawl but has a larger aft sail, so increasing the aft sail of a yawl effectively turns the yawl into a ketch.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[The comic contains views from the side of boats, each with a different sailing rig. All boats are oriented to the left of the comic.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Puns]]
[[Category:Sailboats]]

3180: Apples

2025-12-13T00:10:19Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3180
| date = December 12, 2025
| title = Apples
| image = apples_2x.png
| imagesize = 263x364px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The experimental math department's budget is under scrutiny for how much they've been spending on trains leaving Chicago at 9:00pm traveling at 45 mph.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created BY 7+5=13 APPLES. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

In the comic, a group of three "experimental mathematicians" has experimentally confirmed the answer to a math story problem that might normally appear in elementary school: "If Cueball has seven apples and Hairbun has five, how many apples are there?" Cueball counts the two groups of apples and states that the total is twelve. Blondie agrees that this is noteworthy.

Most people with a basic level of math would represent this as 7+5=12 and be confident of the answer without needing to count groups of physical objects. However, the title text states that there is an entire experimental math department dedicated to testing out common story problems in the real world, as if there was some doubt that the theories were sound.

Many branches of science have a known division between the empirical approach (gathering direct evidence or practically demonstrating that something works) and the theoretical (developing abstract models that fit the available information without fully testing them). High-quality experiments tend to be difficult and expensive, so rigorous testing is normally reserved for problems that someone considers sufficiently important or interesting. Math often deals with numbers and situations that cannot be reliably reproduced. The department's focus on confirming what most people already know may face difficulties when applying for grant funding.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

3180: Apples

2025-12-13T00:09:53Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3180
| date = December 12, 2025
| title = Apples
| image = apples_2x.png
| imagesize = 263x364px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The experimental math department's budget is under scrutiny for how much they've been spending on trains leaving Chicago at 9:00pm traveling at 45 mph.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created BY 7+5=13 APPLES. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

In the comic, a group of three "experimental mathematicians" has experimentally determined a math story problem that might normally appear in elementary school: "If Cueball has seven apples and Hairbun has five, how many apples are there?" Cueball counts the two groups of apples and states that the total is twelve. Blondie agrees that this is noteworthy.

Most people with a basic level of math would represent this as 7+5=12 and be confident of the answer without needing to count groups of physical objects. However, the title text states that there is an entire experimental math department dedicated to testing out common story problems in the real world, as if there was some doubt that the theories were sound.

Many branches of science have a known division between the empirical approach (gathering direct evidence or practically demonstrating that something works) and the theoretical (developing abstract models that fit the available information without fully testing them). High-quality experiments tend to be difficult and expensive, so rigorous testing is normally reserved for problems that someone considers sufficiently important or interesting. Math often deals with numbers and situations that cannot be reliably reproduced. The department's focus on confirming what most people already know may face difficulties when applying for grant funding.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

3177: Chessboard Alignment

2025-12-06T04:53:02Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ Cross-space implications

{{comic
| number = 3177
| date = December 5, 2025
| title = Chessboard Alignment
| image = chessboard_alignment_2x.png
| imagesize = 397x289px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Luckily, the range is limited by the fact that the square boundary lines follow great circles.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created BY AN ALIGNED BISHOP. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
The comic shows an overhead view of three chess boards side by side, with two players facing each other across most of the boards. Yellow squares (used to show the available or actual movement of a given piece) have been marked leading from the starting position of the middle board's right bishop (F1) to the upper-right. The path continues beyond the edge of the middle board, across four columns of empty space or unseen table, and ends in the top left corner (A8) of the right board. The right board has only one rook (black rectangle) while the other two boards each have two, so it is implied that the bishop has captured the rook. The text below jokingly claims that if you align chess boards exactly, pieces can cross the boundary like this. This is not legal in normal chess {{citation needed}}, but fits into Randall's long history of comics about unusual chess rules or boards.
The title text refers to the fact that chess boards are normally placed approximately level (parallel to the surface of the Earth). A perfect line of chessboards placed end to end on the surface of an Earth-sized sphere (or on perfectly placed tables on that sphere) would form a "great circle" - the longest possible path around that sphere. While nearby boards would appear to be in the same plane, the curvature of the earth would cause more distant boards to be in planes so different that the squares would be more than a micrometer off from the ideal straight lines leading off the board. It is thus implied that each infinite-range piece's valid path is a straight line of virtual squares that eventually leads into space. Otherwise, the alleged rule would allow chess moves between boards that were kilometers (or even whole countries) apart in any vertical line. If following the great circle along the ground was considered a straight line, then it would also be possible for each side's rooks and queen to capture their counterparts in the other color's back row, just by moving backwards around the planet. This does not rule out motion to another board on another celestial body or spaceship, though delivery of a chess piece across this distance would be impractical. This is thus the second comic in a week about [[3174:_Bridge_Clearance|distances extending past typical boundaries]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

It doesn't happen often because it requires micrometer precision, but if two chess boards are '''''perfectly''''' aligned, it's actually legal to move pieces between them.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

3177: Chessboard Alignment

2025-12-06T04:46:25Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ Great circles of chess boards

{{comic
| number = 3177
| date = December 5, 2025
| title = Chessboard Alignment
| image = chessboard_alignment_2x.png
| imagesize = 397x289px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Luckily, the range is limited by the fact that the square boundary lines follow great circles.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created BY AN ALIGNED BISHOP. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
The comic shows an overhead view of three chess boards side by side, with two players facing each other across most of the boards. Yellow squares (used to show the available or actual movement of a given piece) have been marked leading from the starting position of the middle board's right bishop (F1) to the upper-right. The path continues beyond the edge of the middle board, across four columns of empty space or unseen table, and ends in the top left corner (A8) of the right board. The right board has only one rook (black rectangle) while the other two boards each have two, so it is implied that the bishop has captured the rook. The text below jokingly claims that if you align chess boards exactly, pieces can cross the boundary like this. This is not legal in normal chess {{citation needed}}, but fits into Randall's long history of comics about unusual chess rules or boards.
The title text refers to the fact that chess boards are normally placed approximately level (parallel to the surface of the Earth). A perfect line of chessboards placed end to end on the surface of an Earth-sized sphere (or on perfectly placed tables on that sphere) would form a "great circle" - the longest possible path around that sphere. While nearby boards would appear to be in the same plane, the curvature of the earth would cause more distant boards to be in planes so different that the squares would be more than a micrometer off from the ideal straight lines leading off the board. Otherwise, the alleged rule would allow chess moves between boards that were kilometers (or even whole countries) apart in any vertical line. If following the great circle along the ground was considered a straight line, then it would also be possible for each side's rooks and queen to capture their counterparts in the other color's back row, just by moving backwards around the planet.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

It doesn't happen often because it requires micrometer precision, but if two chess boards are '''''perfectly''''' aligned, it's actually legal to move pieces between them.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

3177: Chessboard Alignment

2025-12-06T04:25:09Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ Summary of bishop path

3174: Bridge Clearance

2025-11-29T18:47:16Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ Implied sacrificial bar on the second sign

{{comic
| number = 3174
| date = November 28, 2025
| title = Bridge Clearance
| image = bridge_clearance_2x.png
| imagesize = 450x233px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = A lot of the highway department's budget goes to adjusting the sign whenever the moon passes directly overhead.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created BY A BRIDGE WITH NO CLEARANCE. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
Roads passing under bridges (or other overhead structures) often have signs indicating the "clearance" or lowest height of the bridge above the road, primarily to indicate to drivers of taller vehicles the potential hazard of driving underneath. Warnings usually start with signs advising which routes to avoid starting down, so that tall vehicles can find a safe alternate path without having to reverse and obstruct traffic. There may be {{w|Bridge strike#Passive devices|physical warning systems}}, immediately before the actual restrictive feature, to alert inattentive drivers and prevent far more troublesome damage/blockages at the pinch-point itself. In this comic, there is a bridge with one of these signs, preceded by a 'sacrificial' bar, indicating a clearance of 10 feet and 6 inches (3.20 m), well under the height (14 feet, 4.3 m) below which, in the USA, warning signage is typically required.

On a turn-off, leading away to the right to meet the higher-level route that passes over the current one, there's a different sign which says "no bridge", allowing the relevant vehicles to turn off and meet the higher-grade route (potentially to cross straight over it and rejoin the original carriageway via the counterpart on-ramp on the other side of the bridge). It does this while indicating a clearance of (more than) 46 billion light years. This sign indicates a (default) clearance on this stretch of highway that is based upon the approximate radius of the observable universe. This is because there is no bridge or any known obstruction lower than this particularly generous 'limit'. The vertical post for this sign is shown continuing far above the upper edge of the sign and past the upper edge of the panel, implying that the sign has been equipped with a similar sacrificial bar at a ridiculous height above the ground. The tallest human structure at the time of publication is only 2,722 feet (829.8 m), and even far shorter vertical poles require special reinforcement to remain stable.

The title text references the fact that, periodically, the Moon passes over the road (or, from a different point of view, the road passes under the Moon). This implies that the road lies between {{w|Orbit of the Moon#Inclination|latitudes approximately 28.5 degrees N and S}}. The Moon passes over any given longitude almost daily ({{w|Sidereal time|roughly every 24 hours}} but shifted by the Moon's own {{w|Lunar month#Sidereal month|slower motion}}). Whenever this all lines up, the theoretical clearance reduces to the distance between Earth and the Moon (around 225-250 thousand miles), and any vehicle would now need to be shorter than this ''still'' very generous limit, in order to not crash into the Moon.

Due to the transient nature of this situation, it costs a lot of money to adjust the sign on the right before and after this 'danger period'. While the sign might be digital, the implied overhead bar would need to move a huge distance (or the pole must move out of the way while extending a lower bar). And this system apparently doesn't consider that other astronomical bodies, much farther out than the Moon, would frequently (if momentarily) be directly over any particular section of road, not to mention a large number of artificial satellites that will be passing over at relatively far lower altitudes.

There is also a problem of many countries having {{w|Height restriction laws}}. For example FAA restricts a structure height to merely 2000 ft (610 m) so, regardless of clearance or any airplanes present above, you won't normally be allowed to have something that high above the ground (at the point just before it becomes considered a vehicle) higher than that anywhere on US territory.

Of course, all such versions of these 'no bridge' signs ignore the fact that vehicles cannot actually be physically large enough that such extreme clearances would be something necessary to anticipate. The problems with a vehicle (or a sign) tall enough to approach the Moon would be ''much'' worse than for an Earth-based "{{w|space elevator}}", which would be far shorter.

Low bridge heights, such as the 10 feet 6 inches (3.2 m) cited in the comic, are present on highways constructed before the US Interstate Highway system established 14 feet (4.3 m), later 16 feet (4.9 m), as the standard minimum clearance in the late 1950s. These are most common in urban areas in the northeastern portion of the USA. Examples include Memorial (1897) and Storrow (1951) Drives in the Boston MA metropolitan area, where Randall lives, and the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut (late 1930s). The minimum bridge clearance on the Merritt Parkway, when constructed, was 11 feet (3.4 m); these bridges remain, and clearances have tended to decline over time. Clearances as low as 9 feet (2.7 m) are on Memorial Drive. Further examples of low clearances may be found with bridges built in the 19th and early 20th centuries, such as covered bridges over streams and railway bridges over secondary roads.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[There is a road heading into the distance under a bridge, with an off-ramp/sliproad that veers off to the right. There are signs on the shoulders/verges/berms of both routes.]

:[Left/forward-leading sign, on a pole leading up to support a pre-bridge 'hazard bar'. Both the edging of the sign and the overhead bar have diagonal warning stripes. The wording wraps across several lines, the initial line being underscored by a horizontal rule.]
:Bridge
:Clearance
:10 ft 6 in

:[Right-forking sign, on a pole that is seen going upwards off-frame, the sign having a similar style of edging and wording.]
:No Bridge
:Clearance
:46 Billion+
:Light-years
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

3167: Car Size

2025-11-13T03:21:51Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ Golf carts

{{comic
| number = 3167
| date = November 12, 2025
| title = Car Size
| image = car_size_2x.png
| imagesize = 348x754px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 'They really shouldn't let those small cars drive in traffic. I worry I'm going to kill someone if I hit one! They should have to drive on the sidewalk, safely out of the way.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created BY A CAR WITH AN ICBM. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic demonstrates one reason why vehicles have gotten progressively larger and more powerful, due to a type of {{w|arms race}} between drivers. When vehicles of different sizes share the road, passengers in the smaller ones will usually be more at risk in collisions due to the larger amount of force exerted. They have less momentum, and the body construction material generally provides less protection. So, for safety reasons, people have incentive to buy larger cars. This, according to the comic causes a cycle of increasingly larger cars, although this is absurd due to the cost and speed of giant cars.

In the "Soon" panel, Randall has extrapolated this to adding spiked armor and weaponry to large cars, and other drivers will need to do the same to compete on the road. This scenario is reminiscent of the vehicles from the {{w|Mad Max}} franchise. This would almost certainly never happen in real life,{{cn}} as there would be no reason at all to introduce weaponry to cars in the first place. ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nJtXiK7bPk/ unless you're driving a Renault Twingo]). Rather it is meant to make the reader realize that buying larger vehicles purely for the perceived safety is a never-ending vicious cycle.

The title text views this from the opposite perspective. The owner of a large car is worried that they'll kill people in small cars, so they shouldn't drive on the road at all. This may result in the opposite process in the comic, where small cars become forced to be smaller and more specialized to drive on sidewalks...until they just become bicycles again. Of course, the suggestion that small cars should drive on sidewalks is even worse than being on the road, as it would put many pedestrians in danger; this is already a legitimate complaint regarding the riding of cycles on footways, where this is not supposed to be done (and even where it is), due to thoughtless behaviour of some bike riders.

Driving the smallest cars in pedestrian spaces is obviously absurd, but follows the prior trend of separating bikes from car traffic for cyclists' safety and often having them share pedestrian spaces due to practical constraints like cost. In the car-centric view, it is not worth creating separate infrastructure for bicycles and similar small vehicles, so the title text's extension of the trend is to classify small cars as bike-like vehicles, even though this endangers both smaller vehicles and pedestrians. Biking on sidewalks is illegal in some jurisdictions, with a greater number banning small powered vehicles like e-bikes. Where either kind of bike is allowed, laws generally require that the rider take precautions like riding at reasonable speeds when near pedestrians, alerting pedestrians when passing, and yielding to pedestrians when needed. Small, low-speed carts do routinely share some larger pedestrian spaces, such as golf courses and large airports, but even these would have trouble safely passing on regular sidewalks.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[The comic is made up of four panels, each featuring Cueball talking to Megan or vice versa, both of them surrounded by progressively larger vehicles.]
:[Panel one is labeled "100 years ago." Cueball and Megan are standing with a bicycle to the left of them and an old-fashioned car to their right.]
:Cueball: It's too dangerous riding a bike with these cars around. I should get a car, too.

:[Panel two is labeled "50 years ago." Cueball and Megan are standing between a small hatchback (right) and a slightly larger sedan (left).]
:Megan: Small cars are less safe in collisions with larger vehicles, so I should get a bigger one.

:[Panel three is labeled "Today." Cueball and Megan are standing between a large SUV (left) and an even larger SUV (right).]
:Cueball: Everyone has huge SUVs now. If I don't get the biggest one, I'm putting my family at risk.

:[Panel four is labeled "Soon." Cueball and Megan are standing to the left of a massive SUV with metal plates bolted to its side, spiked panels attached to the front and back, and two giant spiked clubs hanging from a rotor on top of the car. Another massive spiked club is visible coming from the left of the panel, presumably attached to a similar car. Megan has both arms on her side.]
:Megan: If I don't install more whirling spike clubs, I'll be destroyed by all the other drivers who...

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

3167: Car Size

2025-11-13T03:01:12Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ Bikes on sidewalks - neutrality

{{comic
| number = 3167
| date = November 12, 2025
| title = Car Size
| image = car_size_2x.png
| imagesize = 348x754px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 'They really shouldn't let those small cars drive in traffic. I worry I'm going to kill someone if I hit one! They should have to drive on the sidewalk, safely out of the way.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created BY A CAR WITH AN ICBM. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic demonstrates one reason why vehicles have gotten progressively larger and more powerful, due to a type of {{w|arms race}} between drivers. When vehicles of different sizes share the road, passengers in the smaller ones will usually be more at risk in collisions due to the larger amount of force exerted. They have less momentum, and the body construction material generally provides less protection. So, for safety reasons, people have incentive to buy larger cars. This, according to the comic causes a cycle of increasingly larger cars, although this is absurd due to the cost and speed of giant cars.

In the "Soon" panel, Randall has extrapolated this to adding spiked armor and weaponry to large cars, and other drivers will need to do the same to compete on the road. This scenario is reminiscent of the vehicles from the {{w|Mad Max}} franchise. This would almost certainly never happen in real life,{{cn}} as there would be no reason at all to introduce weaponry to cars in the first place. ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nJtXiK7bPk/ unless you're driving a Renault Twingo]). Rather it is meant to make the reader realize that buying larger vehicles purely for the perceived safety is a never-ending vicious cycle.

The title text views this from the opposite perspective. The owner of a large car is worried that they'll kill people in small cars, so they shouldn't drive on the road at all. This may result in the opposite process in the comic, where small cars become forced to be smaller and more specialized to drive on sidewalks...until they just become bicycles again. Of course, the suggestion that small cars should drive on sidewalks is even worse than being on the road, as it would put many pedestrians in danger; this is already a legitimate complaint regarding the riding of cycles on footways, where this is not supposed to be done (and even where it is), due to thoughtless behaviour of some bike riders.

Driving the smallest cars in pedestrian spaces is obviously absurd, but follows the prior trend of separating bikes from car traffic for cyclists' safety and often having them share pedestrian spaces due to practical constraints like cost. In the car-centric view, it is not worth creating separate infrastructure for bicycles and similar small vehicles, so the title test's extension of the trend is to classify small cars as bike-like vehicles, even though this endangers both smaller vehicles and pedestrians. Biking on sidewalks is illegal in some jurisdictions, with a greater number banning small powered vehicles like e-bikes.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[The comic is made up of four panels, each featuring Cueball talking to Megan or vice versa, both of them surrounded by progressively larger vehicles.]
:[Panel one is labeled "100 years ago." Cueball and Megan are standing with a bicycle to the left of them and an old-fashioned car to their right.]
:Cueball: It's too dangerous riding a bike with these cars around. I should get a car, too.

:[Panel two is labeled "50 years ago." Cueball and Megan are standing between a small hatchback (right) and a slightly larger sedan (left).]
:Megan: Small cars are less safe in collisions with larger vehicles, so I should get a bigger one.

:[Panel three is labeled "Today." Cueball and Megan are standing between a large SUV (left) and an even larger SUV (right).]
:Cueball: Everyone has huge SUVs now. If I don't get the biggest one, I'm putting my family at risk.

:[Panel four is labeled "Soon." Cueball and Megan are standing to the left of a massive SUV with metal plates bolted to its side, spiked panels attached to the front and back, and two giant spiked clubs hanging from a rotor on top of the car. Another massive spiked club is visible coming from the left of the panel, presumably attached to a similar car. Megan has both arms on her side.]
:Megan: If I don't install more whirling spike clubs, I'll be destroyed by all the other drivers who...

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

3160: Document Forgery

2025-10-27T21:42:47Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ Initial summary

{{comic
| number = 3160
| date = October 27, 2025
| title = Document Forgery
| image = document_forgery_2x.png
| imagesize = 345x323px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It comes with a certificate of authenticity, which comes with a certificate of authenticity, which comes with a...
}}

==Explanation==

{{incomplete|This page was created recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

The comic shows a diploma for a doctorate from the non-existent "East State University", with the unusual program of "Document Forgery". The document is itself a forgery, and the legally questionable program name would lead most readers to look more closely at the rest of the document. The text below implies that if the document is realistic enough that no one uncovers these inconsistencies when posted in an office, then the person posting the document deserves the non-existent degree.

Many awards and educational programs are represented by a physical certificate presented to the person being recognized for the accomplishment. The creation of a such a document is normally much easier than the underlying accomplishment, so some people wanting the prestige without the effort and cost will forge a document. Fake university diplomas are sometimes used as a marketing tactic for individuals seeking jobs or customers - these are normally realistic to pass scrutiny and are considered fraud. Obviously and in some cases absurdly unrealistic diplomas are used for entertainment, and may be considered unregulated free speech.

The title text highlights the unreliability of certificates of authenticity. A product or document may come with an accompanying certificate that states that the product/document is "authentic". Since a certificate can also be forged, another certificate can attest to the authenticity of the first, and so on, because no number of pieces of paper will make the original claim true. Many important and legally binding documents lack any certificate of authenticity, but instead have something much harder to gain: the backing of a recognized and independent witness or organization that can confirm the truth when the paper is in doubt.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

3154: Physics Insight

2025-10-13T20:50:46Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ Fix formatting

{{comic
| number = 3154
| date = October 13, 2025
| title = Physics Insight
| image = physics_insight_2x.png
| imagesize = 302x351px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = When Galileo dropped two weights from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, they put him in the history books. But when I do it, I get 'detained by security' for 'injuring several tourists.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a BOT WHO DROPPED OUT OF COLLEGE. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[[Cueball]] complains that the same proposal related to the physics concept of spacetime is treated very differently when made by him compared to when made by Albert Einstein, a famous physicist. [[White Hat]] agrees, using the standard shorthand for this sort of inconsistency: "double standard" (two different standards of expectations or treatment, used each applied to a different person or group). The joke is that there are good reasons for the difference in experiences:

*Cueball's idea is not impressive to others because they already knew about it due to the work Einstein and the wider science community of the time.
*Even if two people discover something with the same level of insight and effort, society accords far more prestige to the first acknowledged discoverer, for solving a problem or revealing new possibilities. Early discoverers or prior contributors may be overlooked in unfair ways, and may have ground to complain about a double standard. Since Cueball is saying this at a time when the finding has already become part of an undergraduate curriculum, this does not apply to him.
*Once an idea has been popularized, it becomes easier to accidentally rediscover. Cueball might have never been taught about Einstein's finding directly, but is clearly familiar with scientist's reputation and has probably heard popular physics concepts that derive from it. Rediscovering a model for associating time and space is easier for someone raised with the concept of spacetime.
*The concept may have been taught to Cueball, who might have forgotten or not paid attention, and then later found the "discovery" much easier thanks to subconscious memories.
*Cueball might even have consciously learned the concept from others, but believes that the accordance of "genius" status to Einstein came from Einstein's merely describing the concept, as opposed to being a recognition of the long work of developing the concept independently.

The comic might be making fun of people whom Randall views as having similar misconceptions.

The title text continues the joke, but with Galileo instead of Einstein and him even being detained because he hit someone, in Galileo's time however, this would probably not been an issue as there were fewer people and the authorities were less worried about that than they are now {{Citation Needed}}.

Cueball's idea is not impressive because he is just restating and redoing what has already been done.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[Cueball is talking to White Hat, arms outstretched.]
:Cueball: Sure, when '''''Einstein''''' suggests using the Lorentz transform to explain the connection between velocity and time, people call him a genius.
:Cueball: But when '''''I''''' suggest it, it's "basic physics" and "undergraduate stuff."
:White Hat: Such a double standard!

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]

3154: Physics Insight

2025-10-13T20:49:58Z

Magtei: Reasons for difference in response

{{comic
| number = 3154
| date = October 13, 2025
| title = Physics Insight
| image = physics_insight_2x.png
| imagesize = 302x351px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = When Galileo dropped two weights from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, they put him in the history books. But when I do it, I get 'detained by security' for 'injuring several tourists.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a BOT WHO DROPPED OUT OF COLLEGE. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[[Cueball]] complains that the same proposal related to the physics concept of spacetime is treated very differently when made by him compared to when made by Albert Einstein, a famous physicist. [[White Hat]] agrees, using the standard shorthand for this sort of inconsistency: "double standard" (two different standards of expectations or treatment, used each applied to a different person or group). The joke is that there are good reasons for the difference in experiences:
-Cueball's idea is not impressive to others because they already knew about it due to the work Einstein and the wider science community of the time.
-Even if two people discover something with the same level of insight and effort, society accords far more prestige to the first acknowledged discoverer, for solving a problem or revealing new possibilities. Early discoverers or prior contributors may be overlooked in unfair ways, and may have ground to complain about a double standard. Since Cueball is saying this at a time when the finding has already become part of an undergraduate curriculum, this does not apply to him.
-Once an idea has been popularized, it becomes easier to accidentally rediscover. Cueball might have never been taught about Einstein's finding directly, but is clearly familiar with scientist's reputation and has probably heard popular physics concepts that derive from it. Rediscovering a model for associating time and space is easier for someone raised with the concept of spacetime.
-The concept may have been taught to Cueball, who might have forgotten or not paid attention, and then later found the "discovery" much easier thanks to subconscious memories.
-Cueball might even have consciously learned the concept from others, but believes that the accordance of "genius" status to Einstein came from Einstein's merely describing the concept, as opposed to being a recognition of the long work of developing the concept independently.

The comic might be making fun of people whom Randall views as having similar misconceptions.

The title text continues the joke, but with Galileo instead of Einstein and him even being detained because he hit someone, in Galileo's time however, this would probably not been an issue as there were fewer people and the authorities were less worried about that than they are now {{Citation Needed}}.

Cueball's idea is not impressive because he is just restating and redoing what has already been done.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[Cueball is talking to White Hat, arms outstretched.]
:Cueball: Sure, when '''''Einstein''''' suggests using the Lorentz transform to explain the connection between velocity and time, people call him a genius.
:Cueball: But when '''''I''''' suggest it, it's "basic physics" and "undergraduate stuff."
:White Hat: Such a double standard!

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]

3151: Window Screen

2025-10-07T05:32:46Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ Speculation on shape of window

{{comic
| number = 3151
| date = October 6, 2025
| title = Window Screen
| image = window_screen_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x299px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine or Home Improvement or DIY
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by Alfred Nobel's screen saver. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
Cueball believes he should receive a Nobel Prize for creating a custom screen for a window.

A window screen is most often used to block insects, other small animals, and debris from passing through an open window, while allowing air and light. One can also make a mesh that attaches to the outside of the glass to display an outward-facing image or limit incoming light. Most windows are flat and rectangular, and pre-made meshes for these can be measured and cut with basic tools. Some windows have complex shapes. As discussed, it is very difficult to design a screen that neatly matches a complex glass surface.

An oblique angle is any angle that is not a multiple of 90 degrees (not a right or straight angle). While right angles allow for intuitive mapping of sides to an X-Y coordinate plane, acute or obtuse angles indicate that at least one side will have endpoints that differ in both coordinates. This requires extra calculations.

Curved edges require extra care to measure and cut. Circular or semicircular windows follow a constant curve that can be traced with limited effort, but the window in the comic is irregular.

"Noncoplanarity" means that not all elements of a system can be represented on the same plane. It is implied that the window is not flat, suggesting that the glass is curved. The shape in the comic could possibly occur if the room featured in the first and third panels was at least partly conical, with the window narrowing to match the wall sloping inward to a central point above (this would also fit the earlier mention of multiple curved edges). The glass could also be shaped into an outward bubble. Either way, the mesh must be carefully shaped.

Perfectly fitting a custom screen to such a window may be a significant technical accomplishment that the builder may wish to share with acquaintances. However, it is generally not considered near the level of one of the world's most prestigious awards, which often recognize years of effort, rather than something that Cueball did between the "this weekend" and the present (at most one week).

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[The text for the first panel appears above the panel itself.]
:This weekend,
:I had to make an oversized screen for a porch window.
:[Cueball is looking out through a window with a straight bottom, slanting sides and a curved upper edge.]

:[In each of the remaining panels, the text appears within the panel but above the illustration.]
:It involved countless tiny problems, each somehow way harder than it should be.
:Oblique angles. Curved edges. Noncoplanarity.
:[Cueball is shown pondering various problems involving geometry and angles.]

:... I solved them all.
:I measured precisely. I did trigonometry. I made custom parts.
:And it fit '''''perfectly.'''''
:No gaps, no ripples.
:[Cueball with slightly more hair, looking at the window covered by a bordered mesh.]

:I know that your foundation normally limits its purview to physics, medicine, peace, chemistry and literature.
:However, if you review the attached photo showing how well the screen fits into the...
:[Cueball is revealed to be sitting at a computer, typing a message.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

3151: Window Screen

2025-10-07T04:10:14Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ Oblique angles and noncoplanarity

{{comic
| number = 3151
| date = October 6, 2025
| title = Window Screen
| image = window_screen_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x299px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine or Home Improvement or DIY
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by Alfred Nobel's screen saver. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
Cueball believes he should receive a Nobel Prize for creating a custom screen for a window.

A window screen is most often used to block insects, other small animals, and debris from passing through an open window, while allowing air and light. One can also make a mesh that attaches to the outside of the glass to display an outward-facing image or limit incoming light. Most windows are flat and rectangular, and pre-made meshes for these can be measured and cut with basic tools. Some windows have complex shapes. As discussed, it is very difficult to design a screen that neatly matches a complex glass surface.

An oblique angle is any angle that is not a multiple of 90 degrees (not a right or straight angle). While right angles allow for intuitive mapping of sides to an X-Y coordinate plane, acute or obtuse angles indicate that at least one side will have endpoints that differ in both coordinates. This requires extra calculations.

Curved edges require extra care to measure and cut. Circular or semicircular windows follow a constant curve that can be traced with limited effort, but the window in the comic is irregular.

"Noncoplanarity" means that not all elements of a system can be represented on the same plane. It is implied that the window is not flat, and that this requires the mesh to be shaped.

Perfectly fitting a custom screen to a window can be a significant technical accomplishment that the builder may wish to share with acquaintances. However, it is generally not considered near the level of one of the world's most prestigious awards, which often recognize years of effort, rather than something that Cueball did between the last weekend and the present (up to one week).

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[The text for the first panel appears above the panel itself.]
:This weekend,
:I had to make an oversized screen for a porch window.
:[Cueball is looking out through a window with a straight bottom, slanting sides and a curved upper edge.]

:[In each of the remaining panels, the text appears within the panel but above the illustration.]
:It involved countless tiny problems, each somehow way harder than it should be.
:Oblique angles. Curved edges. Noncoplanarity.
:[Cueball is shown pondering various problems involving geometry and angles.]

:... I solved them all.
:I measured precisely. I did trigonometry. I made custom parts.
:And it fit '''''perfectly.'''''
:No gaps, no ripples.
:[Cueball with slightly more hair, looking at the window covered by a bordered mesh.]

:I know that your foundation normally limits its purview to physics, medicine, peace, chemistry and literature.
:However, if you review the attached photo showing how well the screen fits into the...
:[Cueball is revealed to be sitting at a computer, typing a message.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

3151: Window Screen

2025-10-07T04:01:11Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ Expanded

{{comic
| number = 3151
| date = October 6, 2025
| title = Window Screen
| image = window_screen_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x299px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine or Home Improvement or DIY
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by Alfred Nobel's screen saver. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
Cueball believes he should receive a Nobel Prize for creating a custom screen for a window.

A window screen is most often used to block insects, other small animals, and debris from passing through an open window, while allowing air and light. One can also make a mesh that attaches to the outside of the glass to display an outward-facing image or limit incoming light. Most windows are flat and rectangular, and pre-made meshes for these can be measured and cut with basic tools. Some windows have complex shapes. As discussed, it is very difficult to design a screen that neatly matches a complex glass surface.

Curved edges require extra care to measure and cut. Circular or semicircular windows follow a constant curve that can be traced with limited effort, but the window in the comic is irregular.

Perfectly fitting a custom screen to a window can be a significant technical accomplishment that the builder may wish to share with acquaintances. However, it is generally not considered near the level of one of the world's most prestigious awards, which often recognize years of effort, rather than something that Cueball did between the last weekend and the present (up to one week).

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[The text for the first panel appears above the panel itself.]
:This weekend,
:I had to make an oversized screen for a porch window.
:[Cueball is looking out through a window with a straight bottom, slanting sides and a curved upper edge.]

:[In each of the remaining panels, the text appears within the panel but above the illustration.]
:It involved countless tiny problems, each somehow way harder than it should be.
:Oblique angles. Curved edges. Noncoplanarity.
:[Cueball is shown pondering various problems involving geometry and angles.]

:... I solved them all.
:I measured precisely. I did trigonometry. I made custom parts.
:And it fit '''''perfectly.'''''
:No gaps, no ripples.
:[Cueball with slightly more hair, looking at the window covered by a bordered mesh.]

:I know that your foundation normally limits its purview to physics, medicine, peace, chemistry and literature.
:However, if you review the attached photo showing how well the screen fits into the...
:[Cueball is revealed to be sitting at a computer, typing a message.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

3151: Window Screen

2025-10-07T03:50:48Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */

3151: Window Screen

2025-10-07T03:37:37Z

Magtei: /* Transcript */ Restore descriptions

3151: Window Screen

2025-10-07T03:36:15Z

Magtei: Fix: move transcript up

3151: Window Screen

2025-10-07T03:33:26Z

Magtei: /* Transcript */ Initial text and rough descriptions

Talk:3124: Grounded

2025-08-10T08:06:09Z

Magtei: Response on feasibility section

I don't get the joke at all {{unsigned ip|2601:646:9d00:4bb8:39c8:4f9d:f1c0:978f|20:49, 4 August 2025 (UTC)}}
:The idea is to simply drive the plane on the ground to the destination. {{unsigned ip|129.2.89.185|21:02, 4 August 2025 (UTC)}}
::Ok, should we mention this is because they mention the taxing speed {{unsigned ip|2601:646:9d00:4bb8:39c8:4f9d:f1c0:978f|21:11, 4 August 2025 (UTC)}}
:::Taxiing speed, not taxing speed. The pilots are not mulling how quickly they can file their 1040s. [[Special:Contributions/136.226.19.75|136.226.19.75]] 21:23, 4 August 2025 (UTC)

Even if a plane could taxi at around 60 MPH (car highway speed), 2 hours is only 120 miles. Not many flights on commercial jets are so short. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:37, 4 August 2025 (UTC)
:You are presuming they will stay on the ground. Once clear of storms, they could (theoretically, if not legally) take off and land at the original desired airport. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 23:55, 7 August 2025 (UTC)

I would hope that Randall was aware of John Finnemore's radio sitcom "Cabin Pressure", as a very compatible sense of intelligent humour (with the 'u', 'cos British!). Though maybe not ('cos British radio, might be too fringe a taste), and so the fact that one of the episodes has a somewhat similar plotpoint to it (not saying which, and how, as anyone who'd like to start listening might just appreciate not knowing "this is the one where..." before it happens) probably isn't worth fully analysing (with an 's', 'cos British! :p ) in the explanation. But just mentioning it here, in passing, given that it reminds me of it.
 ...also, as well as bridge heights, I hope they have a good idea about carriageway widths, for the undercarriage, and road furniture (like lampposts/roadsigns, and telegraph/powerline poles) ''plus'' structures (buildings, and bridge-spans, and even groundworks like cuttings through an overlying grade) , for the wings. Though maybe a flight(/taxi) between two places in a relatively undeveloped landscape, having just wide surfaced roads and nothing more immediately prominent than relatively sliceable giant saguaro cactii. Which I can imagine (for the sake of the joke) in the US, but would probably rule out absolutely every possible road route here in the Uk, for any aircraft bigger than a microlight. (Or an autogyro, with the rotors tied front/back, or doing a Mad Max 2 because of prior damage, but that was also in feature-sparse desert...) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.251|82.132.244.251]] 22:22, 4 August 2025 (UTC)
:: I'm pretty sure the episode of Cabin Pressure involved taxing an aircraft down a desert road in the Sahara, so very few obstructions to worry about. Definitely very few, if any, roads it would work in the UK. [[Special:Contributions/2A01:4B00:BB19:1900:5850:2A83:2F71:20F0|2A01:4B00:BB19:1900:5850:2A83:2F71:20F0]] 09:09, 7 August 2025 (UTC)
:::That was two separate things. The circumspect non-spoilery reference to the comedy, then looking at more realism-based situation. (I'd be more worried about wheels dropping off the edge of the road surface, into the sand, anyway. But G-ERTI is a 16-seat "Lockheed McDonnell 312", so may not have a particularly wide airframe and thus undercarriage wheelbase.) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.198|82.132.244.198]] 05:22, 8 August 2025 (UTC)

American Airlines is already making their flights from Chicago O'Hare and Philadelphia do this! On busses. Yes, busses at the airport boarding gates. They're calling it American [https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/experience/landline.jsp Landline]. [[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 22:48, 4 August 2025 (UTC)
:KLM does this as well, with [https://www.klm.nl/information/ticket-services/air-rail trains] between Brussels (ZYR) and Antwerp (ZYR) and Schiphol Airport (AMS). However, it is a "normal" Eurostar (formerly Thalys) train journey on your flight ticket: you check in your luggage between the train and flight and you're mixed with "normal" train passengers. Annoyingly, you can not count this trip towards your Eurostar miles. There used to be a train service from Brussels Central to Zaventem Airport where you checked in at Brussels Central. [[User:IIVQ|IIVQ]] ([[User talk:IIVQ|talk]]) 07:24, 5 August 2025 (UTC)
:: Antwerp is ZWE 😉 --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 09:33, 5 August 2025 (UTC)

I'm reminded of Douglas Adams's comments on the l2th radio episode of HHGttG, about how delays in getting a flight off the ground (for reasons that were almost entirely pointless) made it slower than making the trip by train would have been, in addition to the plane travel being less comfortable and less convenient. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 23:01, 4 August 2025 (UTC)
: All the more telling, seeing as the Late Great Douglas Adams later died of complications caused by deep vein thrombosis after a flight. [[Special:Contributions/124.150.67.115|124.150.67.115]] 22:45, 5 August 2025 (UTC)

Continuing on the ground is occasionally done when a flight is diverted to somewhere reasonably close (a few 100km). Of course, they don't take the plane, they get some buses or hand out some train tickets. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 09:33, 5 August 2025 (UTC)

Massachusetts RMV frowns at the idea of allowing anything bigger than a roller skate on Memorial Drive or Storrow Drive. Stuck trucks at the nine-foot zero inches MIT bridge (oops, HARVARD Bridge) are a regular feature of Boston driving. Airplane wouldn't fit through the Boston motorway tunnels, either. Randall will have to use alternate transport. Perhaps the airplane would fit inside a Tardis? [[Special:Contributions/174.130.100.64|174.130.100.64]] 12:30, 5 August 2025 (UTC)
:Huh? This seems…not even wrong? The Mass RMV doesn't have jurisdiction over Memorial Drive or Storrow Drive. Both are DCR roadway, not MassDOT/MassHighway, but even if they were normal state or local roads, the Mass RMV wouldn't have authority? And it's…not even right?…because bicycles are not prohibited from Memorial Drive, although many people think it's pretty inadvisible (probably worse on Storrow, though). Maybe I'm misunderstanding, though, since obviously cars are bigger than rollerskates. So perhaps the intention was to comment on trucks and planes being disallowed. Still, there are Massachusetts airports that are not near these two DCR roadways that seem a much better fit for the desired transit. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 15:07, 6 August 2025 (UTC)

Is this still an incomplete summary {{unsigned|Mathmaster|23:37, 5 August 2025 (UTC)}}
:Is this an incomplete answer? [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 15:56, 6 August 2025 (UTC)

I find the idea that this is Logan Airport a little presumptuous. Surely there are some airports in the Midwest where you could, theoretically, taxi from one to the other without encountering any major obstacles? --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 07:33, 6 August 2025 (UTC)

:Having lived there, i can pretty confidently say that any airport in Nebraska can be taxied to any other. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]][[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']][[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 19:24, 7 August 2025 (UTC)

The whole bullet list under "motives and feasibility" seems very out of place, and the sentence preceding it is completely vacuous. I mean, "a number of factors contribute to the dilemma"? Which dilemma? There's no dilemma here, only a joke. And what dilemma does ''not'' have more than one contributing factor? This communicates nothing and just takes up space. The items in the bullet list itself just seem off topic; a comparison between on-plane and off-plane ground transport does not belong in a section titled "motives and feasibility". That belongs in a table, with rows for every aspect impacted by each choice and columns for every mode of transport. [[Special:Contributions/2A02:A466:A997:0:74BA:2E0:D85C:CED1|2A02:A466:A997:0:74BA:2E0:D85C:CED1]] 17:36, 6 August 2025 (UTC)
:Oh great... our first AI-generated explainxkcd. You knew it had to happen. [[User:Gbisaga|Gbisaga]] ([[User talk:Gbisaga|talk]]) 19:01, 7 August 2025 (UTC)
::Anonymous 2A02, the dilemma was whether to switch to regular ground travel or make a bizarre long-distance taxi. You are welcome to refine it further - I only had a short time to make up for the prior lack of curiosity about "why would anyone do this?" and "could it work?". Gbisaga, you insult my entirely manual effort, coincidentally close to the [[3126|latest issue]]. --[[User:Magtei|Magtei]] ([[User talk:Magtei|talk]]) 08:06, 10 August 2025 (UTC)

3124: Grounded

2025-08-05T02:48:36Z

Magtei: /* Motives and feasibility */ Getting in and out of airports

{{comic
| number = 3124
| date = August 4, 2025
| title = Grounded
| image = grounded_2x.png
| imagesize = 294x335px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We should have you at the gate in just under two hours--two and a half if we get pulled over.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by a COP ASKING IF THE PILOT KNOWS WHY THEY WERE PULLED OVER. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic depicts a plane that has been delayed due to unfavorable weather. The pilot and first officer have considered simply driving the plane to the destination instead of waiting for favorable weather to fly, noting that they have considered their maximum taxiing speed and bridge clearance heights. Driving a plane on the public highway is illegal in the state of Massachusetts, where Randall Munroe lives, as vehicles driven in Massachusetts [http://www.mass.gov/register-and-title-your-vehicle must be registered with the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles], while civil aircraft in the United States are typically solely registered [http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/aircraft_certification/aircraft_registry by the Federal Aviation Administration]. Additionally, driving a plane in this matter would be impractical due to the excessive width and height (and maybe length) of the vehicle and the {{w|Jet blast|backwash from the engines}}. Also, jetliners taxi at only 25-35 mph — far slower than a car or bus — and rolling at nearer to {{w|Rotation (aeronautics)|rotation}} speed for prolonged periods would be mechanically problematic, especially on non-straight roads. However, delays in air travel are known for creating desperate situations, discussed in the next section, which could lead the pilot to decide that this approach is worthwhile.

The title text further extends the joke, saying that driving will probably get them pulled over by police and further extend the drive time. However, the drive would probably be extended by more than 30 minutes, and the plane would most likely be stopped, resulting in the drive/flight being curtailed.

===Motives and feasibility===

A number of factors contribute to the dilemma and increase the switching cost of using traditional ground transportation:

* If the plane continues to wait, it may need to do so for several hours.
* Allowing passengers to leave a sealed plane is typically a long process and may (depending on the situation and airport) involve the cancellation of the flight (which airlines are financially incentivized to avoid) or the plane losing its place in the increasingly long line of flights waiting to depart.
* Passengers often have checked luggage that takes a long time to unload and delivery to unload from the plane and delivered (a notoriously slow process).
* When a full flight's worth of passengers suddenly need ground transportation to the same place, there is sometimes not enough ground transportation readily available to transport them and their luggage.
* Passengers arriving at another airport via ground transportation and wishing to board a connecting flight would need to pass through security checkpoints and hand over their luggage again, further delaying the process.

The plane appears to have 14 passenger windows on one side, a moderate number associated with a narrow-body / single-aisle aircraft (likely with 4 seats per row - up to 56 passengers and around 4 crew). A plane of this size is more likely to fit on a wide road or under any overpass built for large trucks, compared to a large airliner with possibly hundreds of passengers. Smaller planes are also more commonly used for local flights with fewer passengers. It is possible that the destination is only 70 miles away by road (likely a nearby city of at least moderate size or else the plane would be smaller). Roads around airports are often crowded, but the poor weather may have reduced traffic to and from the airport, or the pilots may be counting on smaller vehicles staying out of their way. If the public roads are viable and local law enforcement does not interfere (or allows the plane to proceed due to jurisdictional confusion), then the largest practical obstacles may be exiting the first airport and entering the second. Large airports restrict access to the tarmac, and since the pilots intend to respect air traffic control's decision to prohibit flight, they would either need several people on the ground to open major gates, or would need to ram at least one sufficiently week gate or fence at each end.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[A plane is at an airport gate, connected to the jet bridge. There are other ground vehicles nearby and another gate with a jet bridge extending from it.]
:Voice from the plane: This is your captain speaking. As you've probably noticed, we're still grounded due to weather
:Voice from the plane: But the first officer and I have been looking at bridge clearance maps and our top taxiing speed, And we have an idea.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Aviation]]

3124: Grounded

2025-08-05T02:32:29Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ Technical considerations

{{comic
| number = 3124
| date = August 4, 2025
| title = Grounded
| image = grounded_2x.png
| imagesize = 294x335px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We should have you at the gate in just under two hours--two and a half if we get pulled over.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by a COP ASKING IF THE PILOT KNOWS WHY THEY WERE PULLED OVER. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic depicts a plane that has been delayed due to unfavorable weather. The pilot and first officer have considered simply driving the plane to the destination instead of waiting for favorable weather to fly, noting that they have considered their maximum taxiing speed and bridge clearance heights. Driving a plane on the public highway is illegal in the state of Massachusetts, where Randall Munroe lives, as vehicles driven in Massachusetts [http://www.mass.gov/register-and-title-your-vehicle must be registered with the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles], while civil aircraft in the United States are typically solely registered [http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/aircraft_certification/aircraft_registry by the Federal Aviation Administration]. Additionally, driving a plane in this matter would be impractical due to the excessive width and height (and maybe length) of the vehicle and the {{w|Jet blast|backwash from the engines}}. Also, jetliners taxi at only 25-35 mph — far slower than a car or bus — and rolling at nearer to {{w|Rotation (aeronautics)|rotation}} speed for prolonged periods would be mechanically problematic, especially on non-straight roads. However, delays in air travel are known for creating desperate situations, discussed in the next section, which could lead the pilot to decide that this approach is worthwhile.

The title text further extends the joke, saying that driving will probably get them pulled over by police and further extend the drive time. However, the drive would probably be extended by more than 30 minutes, and the plane would most likely be stopped, resulting in the drive/flight being curtailed.

===Motives and feasibility===

A number of factors contribute to the dilemma and increase the switching cost of using traditional ground transportation:

- If the plane continues to wait, it may need to do so for several hours.
- Allowing passengers to leave a sealed plane is typically a long process and may (depending on the situation and airport) involve the cancellation of the flight (which airlines are financially incentivized to avoid) or the plane losing its place in the increasingly long line of flights waiting to depart.
- Passengers often have checked luggage that takes a long time to unload and delivery to unload from the plane and delivered (a notoriously slow process).
- When a full flight's worth of passengers suddenly need ground transportation to the same place, there is sometimes not enough ground transportation readily available to transport them and their luggage.
- Passengers arriving at another airport via ground transportation and wishing to board a connecting flight would need to pass through security checkpoints and hand over their luggage again, further delaying the process.

The plane appears to have 14 passenger windows on one side, a moderate number associated with a narrow-body / single-aisle aircraft (likely with 4 seats per row - up to 56 passengers and around 4 crew). A plane of this size is more likely to fit on a wide road or under any overpass built for large trucks, compared to a large airliner with possibly hundreds of passengers. Smaller planes are also more commonly used for local flights with fewer passengers. It is possible that the destination is only 70 miles away (likely a nearby city of at least moderate size).

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[A plane is at an airport gate, connected to the jet bridge. There are other ground vehicles nearby and another gate with a jet bridge extending from it.]
:Voice from the plane: This is your captain speaking. As you've probably noticed, we're still grounded due to weather
:Voice from the plane: But the first officer and I have been looking at bridge clearance maps and our top taxiing speed, And we have an idea.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Aviation]]

3074: Push Notifications

2025-04-10T06:34:20Z

Magtei: Details on streak and server/client error

{{comic
| number = 3074
| date = April 9, 2025
| title = Push Notifications
| image = push_notifications_2x.png
| imagesize = 277x347px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = NOTIFICATION: Now dismissing a head of the Notification Hydra… NOTIFICATION: Success! You have dismissed a head of the Notification Hydra!
}}
* To experience the interactivity, visit the [https://xkcd.com/3074/ original comic].

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a comment - did you know it's free to host a discussion on Wikipedia talk pages?- Please write a better overall explanation and explain other functions of the comic. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This interactive comic is the 15th [[:Category:April fools' comics|April Fools' Day]] comic released by Randall, just over a week late. It uses {{w|push notifications}} to change the comic image over time and make other statements. A table of notifications can be seen at [[3074: Push Notifications/Table of Notifications]].

After viewing the comic for the first time, there is a sequence of notifications rendered over the comic itself. After clicking through these, you are provided with two buttons: one labeled "Emergency Stop" which will halt all notifications, and one labeled "Silence notifications at a cost" which will silence notifications at the cost of notifying two random people.

If you press silence notifications too much the laptop blows up.

Notification types include:
* One asking you to select a word, with further notifications to be sent whenever someone chooses the same word as you.
* A few starter notifications about this comic, the successful sending of a notification of this comic, and the lack of another comic.
* An announcement that an old comic was posted, specifying a comic and its publication date.
* A "streak" notification counting the number of times you've clicked it. The message changes every 10 clicks, and after 50 clicks there is an offer to make future clicks count twice, making this a simple version of {{w|Cookie Clicker}}. There are occasionally notifications encouraging you to keep clicking and "extend your streak," tempting you with "a free click to keep you going". After 400 clicks it will reset your clicks back to zero but makes all future clicks count four times. There will be new messages up to a total of at least 1000 clicks.
** Early notifications encourage further clicking.
** Approaching a hundred, the messages grow more concerned and later start warning that the server will crash or has crashed.
** Above 750: "Are you just doing this to annoy me?"
** 1000-2000: "Are you just doing this to annoy you?"
** Above 2000: "I guess it worked"
* A "have you seen my cat?" notification which spawns 7 clickable cats all over the comic (nonrandomly), including one on the edge of the Emergency Stop button.
* Cat fact notifications that appear when a cat is clicked, in reference to [https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/241/756/e6e.png this exchange].
* Various "erroneous errors" with a warning triangle, some with just flavor text, some corresponding to changes in the comic image.
** A "gravity malfunction" indicating a change to the floating image.
** An "Error 40¾" HTTP malfunction (with {{w|Zalgo text}} on the error code) indicating a change to the tentacle image.
** "I forgot whether I'm the server or the client."
** An error for not enough errors.
** An error for too many errors.
** A Kernel Panic indicating the Kernel can't remember what number comes after 38
** A notification claiming that your computer ballast needs emptying, along with the computer room being flooded
** "Your computer has encountered an error" indicating a change to the fire image.
* "Zoom notifications" including numeric coordinates, sometimes prefixed with "oh look!"
* "Constant reminders" stating what some constant will be "at the tone". (This is in reference to time-of-day phone services, largely obsolete since the popularization of the internet, which you could call to hear the exact time at a given tone.) There are also joke constants such as "your favorite number will be equal to 14," and some definitions are tautological or not related to the actual value of the constant. Constants include
** The silver ratio (1 + the square root of 2)
** The golden ratio (half of 1 + the square root of 5)
** Pi (the ratio between a circle's circumference and radius, and half of Tau)
** Zero (a real number)
** Your favorite number (14)
** The luminosity of the sun (L☉)
* A notification that offers to provide weather alerts for your location, which leads into a series of notifications asking whether you live in a named city.
* A reminder that the Earth spins at 1 rpd (rotation per day).
* A statement near an hour or half-hour time that the current time is five-o-clock somewhere.
* An invitation to subscribe to the "What if?" YouTube channel
* A notification with the heading "System Log" that reads (INFO): A user has paused notifications
* A reminder to comment and subscribe, leading to the Wikipedia page {{w|Talk:Mathematics}}, {{w|Talk:Romance}}, {{w|Talk:Language}}, or (presumably) {{w|Talk:Sarcasm}}, as these are the stated topics [[xkcd]] is about. Or {{w|Talk:Boneless}}, {{w|Talk:Sitting}}, {{w|Category talk:Unix text editors}}, or {{w|Talk:Drafting linen}}.
* A "{{w|Carriage return|Carriage Return}} Line Feed", referencing the Windows standard of storing line returns as a carriage return character followed by a line feed (newline) character. However, the xkcd Carriage Return Line Feed is instead a news feed concerning the next stop on a supposed "Carriage Return Line" of a train system.

The title text references the {{w|Lernaean Hydra}}, a multi-headed serpent-like monster from Greek mythology. In many stories, such as {{w|Labours_of_Hercules#Second:_Lernaean_Hydra|the second labour of Hercules}}, when one of its heads was cut off, two heads would grow in its place, resulting in more heads than before. Something similar has happened in the title text itself: there was a notification that was requested to be dismissed, and it created two more notifications notifying the user of the status of the dismissal.

The subdirectory where the images and scripts for this comic are stored is titled 'marconi,' which is likely a reference to the Italian engineer and inventor of the same name, {{w|Guglielmo Marconi}}, who is credited with inventing the radio, and did much work in the field of early communication systems.

Clicking the "Emergency Stop" button allows you to either restart the full game or to subscribe just to notifications for new comics.

{|class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+ {{nowrap|Table of comic images}}
! Image !! description
|-
| [[File:3074_normal.png|100px]] ||Cueball sitting at his desk, with his laptop.
|-
| || Cueball sitting at his desk, with a very large laptop.
|-
| || Cueball sitting at his desk, with a small potted plant.
|-
| || Cueball sitting at his desk, with a squirrel in the pot.
|-
| || Cueball sitting at his desk, with a much larger plant that has clearly outgrown the pot, at least vertically.
|-
| || Two images with the larger plant that also have cats in the leaves.
|-
| || Cueball sitting at his desk, with a cat in the foreground near the point of view.
|-
| || Cueball sitting at his desk, his chair replaced with a large cat.
|-
| [[File:3074_computer_fire.png|100px]] || Cueball sitting farther back from his desk, with the laptop on the desk on fire.
|-
| || Cueball, the desk, and the laptop floating in the air.
|-
| || Cueball sitting at his desk, shielding his face with his arm from a tentacle coming out of the laptop screen.
|-
| || Cueball spinning in his chair.
|-
| || Cueball sitting on the desk, facing the laptop on the chair.
|-
| || The desk vacant with "Game Over" displayed if you use the emergency stop.
|-
| || Cueball sitting on the desk, with a sword leaning against the desk.
|-
| || Cueball and Ponytail swordfighting while the computer has an hourglass icon, referencing [[303: Compiling]].
|-
| || The room flooded 2/3 of the way up the desk. Cueball is still sitting with his laptop.
|-
| || The same flooding, with a miniature sailboat behind Cueball.
|-
| || The same flooding, with a cat face behind Cueball.
|-
| || The same flooding, with a shark fin on the far side of the desk, facing toward Cueball.
|-
| || Cueball kneeling on the chair, which is raised up higher than the desk, and leaning over to use the laptop
|-
| || Cueball sitting at the desk, which has been extended behind his laptop like a long meeting table.
|-
| || No Cueball, only the chair, desk, and laptop.
|-
| || Cueball using the laptop on his lap, with no desk.
|-
| || Cueball with a squirrel on his head.
|-
| || A squirrel sitting at the desk, seemingly using the laptop.
|-
| || Cueball standing on top of the laptop keyboard.
|-
| || Cueball sitting at the desk, wearing a wizard hat.
|-
| || Cueball sitting on the floor behind the desk.
|-
| [[File:3074_cat.png|100px]] || The cat that appears after returning to the comic window after leaving it idle for long period of time. It has a unique title text of ":3".
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball sits at a desk in an office chair. He is typing on a computer.]
:[Gray message boxes with a small circled “x” at the top right corner are shown:]
:Happy April 1st (observed)!
:To celebrate, we were excited to introduce a new xkcd.com feature: push notifications for new comics!
:Unfortunately, this feature has gone horribly wrong.
:Until further notice, we are asking people ''NOT'' to sign up for new comic notifications.
:Frankly, we recommend not even clicking on any notifications to learn more.
:''Click this notification to learn more!'' (a circled arrow is shown)

:“Push notifications for new comics” sounds like a simple feature, right?
:There’s a nice API for browser notifications. xkcd updates three times a week.
:So you just send a notification for each update, right?
:That’s what we thought, too.
:''Click to continue!'' (a circled arrow is shown)

:[To the side of the comic frame is a big, horizontal hexagonal stop sign]
:Sign: Emergency STOP
:Below the sign: ''Halt ALL notifications and forget everything''
:The good news is that we did build a button to stop xkcd new comic notifications.
:You can press this button at any time and the system will stop sending you notifications.
:The nightmare will be over and the server will forget you ever existed.
:This part definitely works.
:''The rest of the system does NOT work.'' (a circled arrow is shown)

:We’re sorry.
:We don’t know how things went so wrong.
:The system is sending more than three notifications a week. A LOT more.
:We cannot recommend signing up for xkcd new comic notifications at this time.
:''Click here to ignore the warnings.'' (a circled arrow is shown)

:No, really.
:Our notification system may send a large number of very real system notifications.
:These may flood your browser, displace other notifications, and cause problems.
:<big>⚠️DO NOT ENABLE XKCD NEW COMIC NOTIFICATIONS⚠️</big>
:''Yeah, I get it, but I definitely want to enable xkcd new comic notifications.'' (a circled arrow is shown)

:Are you sure?
:''Yes!'' (a circled arrow is shown)
:Absolutely sure?
:''YES!!'' (a circled arrow is shown)
:To enable push notifications on mobile you need to add xkcd.com to your home screen.

:''Click here to subscribe to xkcd notifications''

:[Initial static image shows Cueball sat on an office chair at a desk using a laptop computer. A notification 'window' is speech-bubbled above the computer]
:[Grey notification box, header:] April 1st (Observed)
:[Notification box, further text:] Open xkcd.com to view.

:[When viewed live, various xkcd-style popover notifications appear, each can be dismissed or (usually the last on every page) invited to press an 'onwards'-style button.]

:[First page of messages]
:Happy April 1st! To celebrate, we were excited to introduce a new xkcd.com feature: Push Notifications for new comics!
:Unfortunately, this feature has gone horribly wrong.
:Until further notice, we are asking people NOT to sign up for new comic notifications.
:Frankly, we recommend not even clicking on any notifications to learn more.
:[Notification with 'onwards button':] ''Click on this notification to learn more''

:[Upon choosing to continue, further messages appear, replacing any prior ones left open]
:"Push Notifications for new comics" sounds like a simple feature, right?
:There's a nice API for browser notifications, xkcd updates three times a week.
:So you just send a notification for each upafte, right?
:That's what we thought, too.
:[Notification with 'onwards button':] ''Click on this notification to continue''

:[Next set of popover messages]
:The good news is that we did build a button to STOP xkcd new comic notifications.
:You can press this button at any time and the system will stop sending you notifications.
:The nightmare will be over and the server will forget you ever existed.
:This part definitely works.
:[Notification with 'onwards':] ''The rest of the system does not work.''
:[To the right of the comic frame, a red, octagonal button has white text upon it:]Emergency Stop
:[Below the button is red text:] Halt all notifications and forget everything

:[Next set of popovers, "stop" button remains permanently so long as you continue]
:We're sorry.
:We didn't know how things went so wrong.
:The system is sending more than three notifications at this time.
:['Onwards' notification:] ''Click here to ignore the warnings''

:[Next set.]
:No, really.
:Our notification system may send a large amount of very real system notifications.
:These may flood your browser, displace other notifications, and cause problems.
:[Text bookended by warning triangles:] Do not enable xkcd new comic notifications
:['Onwards':] Yeah, I get it, but I definitely want to enable xkcd new comic notifications

:[Just two popovers, initially]
:Are you sure?
:['Onwards':] Yes
:[On clicking onwards, two more appear below]
:Absolutely sure?
:['Onwards':] Yes!!
:[On clicking, a further popover]
:[Red-tinted 'onwards'-style popover with warnings:] Click here to subscribe to xkcd notifications.

:[...something appeared then dissappeared...]
:[Genuine(?) browser dialogue activated:] xkcd.com wants to send you notifications. Block / Allow

:[If allowed, one more popover in the original style]
:Success!!
:[Below the Emergency Stop button, an oval gray button appears labeled in white:] Silence notifications at a cost
:[Below that, in grey text:]Temporarily pause your notifications at the cost of notifying two random people.

:[Further changes include the contents of the pane, whether Cueball is sat at the laptop, whether the laptop is larger, or a pot-plant, whether there are cats in the frame, outside the frame, sat on the Stop buttons, whether Cueball is sat on a large cat instead of an office chair...]
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Interactive comics]]
[[Category:April fools' comics]]

3032: Skew-T Log-P

2025-01-02T17:56:35Z

Magtei: /* Table with terms */ Meteogenesis, "seems bad"

{{comic
| number = 3032
| date = January 1, 2025
| title = Skew-T Log-P
| image = skew_t_log_p_2x.png
| imagesize = 569x626px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The most important quantity for meteorologists is of course the product of latent pressure and temperostrophic enthalpy, though 'how nice the weather is' is a close second.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT CLEANING UP AFTER DAVE - This needs an explanation. Table not filled out. Also the title text was not mentioned at all. I added a very simple start to this, but nothing about what the product actually means, please expand... Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A {{w|skew-T log-P diagram}} (the name comes from the temperature (T) lines being skewed at a 45-degree angle, and the pressure (P) lines being logarithmic in scale) are mostly used to plot {{w|atmospheric sounding}}s, which are usually made by sending a weather balloon up into the air.

Because the diagrams have a lot of lines on them (isobars, isotherms, adiabats, and mixing ratios, and that's before plotting the actual measurements of temperature and dewpoint temperature), they can be hard to understand if you haven't learned how to. The comic pretends to offer an explanation of how to interpret one such diagram (which may appear to have measurements from two separate weather balloons, one with two solid black lines for its measurements and the other with two dashed black lines, whereas the two lines and various styles of line generally mean different measurements from the same balloon-track or other means of obtaining atmospheric readings), but most of the explanations are blatantly incorrect or humorous in nature. See details in the [[#Table with terms|table]] below.

In the title text it is stated that "The most important quantity for meteorologists is of course the product of latent pressure and temperostrophic enthalpy, though 'how nice the weather is' is a close second". So it jokes by comparing a complicated produkt with a simple sentence about how nice the weather is.

[[File:Annotated_Skew_T_diagram.png|thumb|An actual Skew-T Log-P diagram, with several real annotations.]]The true design of a Skew-T Log-P diagram is intended to best represent the nature of the weather in any given column of atmosphere. The pressure (vertical axis, with pressure being closely but not directly inversely synonymous to altitude) is shown as a logarithmic scale (i.e. Log-P) due to the more practical separation of values. Plotting pressure proportionately (which must also be from top to bottom, to match its general relationship with altitude) would space features out in ways that would be hard to use and interpret, whereas the logarithmic scale is far more pragmatic. The temperature scale is deliberately tilted, rather than orthagonal, which (together with the logarithmic nature of the inverted pressure scale) allows the typical way that temperatures fall with altitude(≈as pressure falls) to trend roughly vertically, give or take the notable changes that are key to understanding the forecast. Other measurement lines, differently skewed and often also curving across the temperature/pressure skewed-log 'grid', represent various other idealistic relationships (where both T and P vary, keeping another measure constant) that are useful references to meteorologists.

Upon this style of graph are plotted the ''actual'' measurements obtained by (e.g.) releasing a weather balloon. As well as the variation of actual temperatures and pressures, other retrieved data is plotted, such the {{w|dew point}}. The dew point is a function of how the humidity of the air interacts with any given temperature and pressure to produce condensation. By observing how the actual measurements and dew point line converge and cross, the development and nature of clouds can be tracked and pinned to specific cloud layers. Further details may also be included, such as wind-direction and wind-speed indications (often to the side of the plot) to give a visual cue about possible {{w|wind shear}} and/or to suggest which direction of adjacent weather-station readings may hold clues as to what changes may later blow in above the current site.

==Table with terms==
{| class="wikitable" | style="background:#E6C3C3;"
!Item in comic
!Correct?
!Explanation
|-
| Pressure latitude || ||
|-
| Enthalpic pressure || ||
|-
| Entropic density || ||
|-
| Latent heat of cooling || ||
|-
| Isobars || Yes || Lines denoting equal ("{{wiktionary|iso-}}") air pressure ("{{wiktionary|bar-|-bar}}"), probably most often recognised as the indicators of how ground-level pressures change (or not) across the horizontal area depicted on a weather ''map''. Tightly packed isobars would indicate stronger winds, which (away from the tropics) would generally be either clockwise or anti-clockwise around the centre of the dominant isobar feature, depending upon whether that's a high pressure or a low pressure and (away from the tropics) which hemisphere.
In this type of chart, which depicts data obtained from above a single point, it has the same meaning but is instead a pre-existing reference line across which the actual data is plotted, and does not itself indicate the nature of any wind.
|-
| Omnitrophic wind || ||
|-
| Isomers || No || Different forms of molecules with the same formula, with the atoms or functional groups arranged differently. An example would be propanol, which has three. One of the most common isomers of propanol has its OH functional group in the middle, so is called isopropyl alcohol or isopropanol.
However, these are actually iso'''therm''' lines, representing equal temperature.
|-
| These lines are slightly different because Dave messed them up || No || Indicating isotherms (or, according to the comic, "isomers"), the suggestion is that slightly wrong lines were drawn by Dave and had to be corrected.
The real reason for the not quite identical lines is that the measured temperature at a given pressure can be converted to or from the ''potential'' temperature that the same air would have if at a standard pressure (holding the same amount of heat energy). For practical reasons, both for composing and interpreting the eventual plot, each of the slightly differently skewed isotherms are given, usually in clearly differentiable styles of line.
|-
| Line of constant thermodynamics || ||
|-
| Uncomfortably moist adiabat || Wrongly placed, unusually qualified|| This labels a segment of isotherm, which is the exact 'opposite' of an idiabat.
An adiabat is a line along which temperature can change for a given mass, without changing the amount of energy. This is primarily made possible by changing the density (by a change in pressure) of the gas. There are typically two types of adiabat, marked for reference on the plot, "dry adiabat" (curves across the isotherms perpendicularly, to create a largely square but slightly curved grid with them), and "moist/saturated adiabat" (the latter's heat-maintaining profile is influenced greatly by the humidity content, and produces graphing lines vastly different from the equivalent "dry" versions). Randall has declared this (erroneous) type of adiabat to be "uncomfortably" moist, so presumably not totally saturated but also not subjectively 'pleasant'.
|-
| Oops, the balloon flew through a ghost || ||
|-
| No birds up here :( || Yes* || This point is near the top of the diagram, with an air pressure of about 110 millibar (about 15 kilometers above sea level). This is well above the highest flight height of any known bird species. However, this information is irrelevant to the purpose of a skew-T log-P diagram.
|-
| Track of rising weather balloon || ||
|-
| Track of popped balloon falling back down || ||
|-
| Meteogenesis || No || The chart shows the path of two weather balloons crossing and labels the space between them with a new word. The root "meteo" means something high up (in this case, balloons) and "genesis" is creation. The implications is that a new balloon was created, though no third flight path is shown so it presumably did not fly separately or was not tracked.
|-
| Seems bad || || The path of the balloon loops around several times, which would indicate very chaotic conditions at that point.
|-
| Dew point || Wrongly represented. || The temperature at which water condenses out of the air, and therefore dew starts to form, given the level of water vapor in the air.
It is shown here as an ''actual'' singular point, when it should be a line (typically the leftmost solid plotted line) representive of which temperature 'dew' should form at any given pressure.
|-
| Humidor || No || In reality, is a {{w|Humidor|container}} that is used maintain a more controllable humidity within which to store smoking products.
In the graph, points at the line that is probably representing the dew point, which is represents the nature of the ''actual'' humidity encountered.
|-
| Heavyside layer || No || Probably a misspelling of "Heaviside," the surname of the co-discoverer of what we now call the E region of the ionosphere. Co-discovered by Arthur E. Kennelly and Oliver Heaviside.
In this diagram it is apparently labeling a heavily marked isotherm, or line of constant temperature. Most likely it indicates the 0°C line, this being importantly indicative of the freezing point of water.
|-
| These lines are tilted because the wind is blowing them || No || The wind is not actually a derivable featured of this diagram, which does not have data of either direction or strength of air movement.
These lines are actually dry adiabats (see above), possibly two sets due to a similar renormalised interpretation, as with the isotherms, at a given reference pressure.
|-
| Don't stand here or you might get hit by a balloon || ||
|}

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

:How to interpret a skew-T log-P diagram
:[The comic shows a skew-T log-P diagram. On it are various labels, including isobars, comments, and other interpretations of the diagram.]
:[Left to the diagram is an upwards-pointing arrow with the label "Pressure Latitude". Right to the diagram is a downwards-pointing arrow with the label "Entropic Density". Below the diagram is a right-pointing arrow with the label "Enthalpic Pressure".]
:[The remaining various labels are inside the diagram.]

==Trivia==
*Even though this comic was released on New Year's Day 2025, it was not a [[:Category:New Year|New Year comic]].
**Only second time this has happened since New Year comics became a regular thing from 2011.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Weather]]

3014: Arizona Chess

2024-11-20T20:08:39Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ Update note on chess clocks and local boundaries becoming zone boundaries

{{comic
| number = 3014
| date = November 20, 2024
| title = Arizona Chess
| image = arizona_chess_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x315px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Sometimes, you have to sacrifice pieces to gain the advantage. Sometimes, to advance ... you have to fall back.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a DAYLIGHT SLAYING BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[White Hat]] and [[Cueball]] are playing a timed game of tournament-style chess. White Hat has the advantage, because he has one more pawn than Cueball and has more time on the {{w|chess clock}}.

However, Cueball has an unexpected advantage. The building is sited across the border of Arizona with another state, with White Hat on the Arizona side, and the game is being played at a very particular time of year. As Arizona doesn't observe {{w|daylight saving time}} (DST), unlike neighboring US states, only one clock gains an hour. White Hat's time remains normal, but Cueball's time "falls back" one hour, as his departure from daylight saving time occurs. Due to the way the timer clock apparently calibrates its display (perhaps in part based upon something like the self-adjusting [https://en.cppreference.com/w/c/chrono/localtime localtime()] function), Cueball is suddenly given more time in the game. White Hat, whose clock is governed by a different locale, protests as this is not typically how these clocks should function.

The title text is a pun on "falling back" strategically from an attack and the term "fall back" in the mnemonic used to remember which way the clock changes when we go in and out of DST: "spring forward, fall back" (we advance the clock forward when entering DST in the spring, and move it backward when leaving it in the fall or autumn).

A handful of buildings even extend across international boundaries (these are known as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_house line houses]) and many more cross state or local boundaries in the US (a city, county or tribe may sometimes decide to use a different time zone than the rest of the state, so any of these can become a zone boundary, whether or not international databases reflect it). While it is possible to arrange a table across a timezone boundary, a bigger challenge is to arrange the chess clock. Most do not account for timezones at all and are at most about 12 inches across, not far above the positioning error in GPS. Cueball would have needed to find a clock that was capable of tracking time zones separately for each of the two internal clocks and either had an excellent GPS receiver for each side (capable of detecting a several-inch difference in position as corresponding to another zone) or a way to manually enter two different zones, while also having the time-tracking oversight described above. The game could be played in the future where standard chess clocks are different. Ongoing state-level efforts to end time changes could also increase the number of places where this situation could happen.

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

:[White Hat and Cueball are sitting across from each other playing chess. The time, shown above them in white on a black screen, reads 6:35 for White Hat, and 0:28 for Cueball.]
:White Hat: It’s late, I’m up a pawn, and you’re out of time. It’s over.
:Cueball: Ah, you’re forgetting something.

:[Cueball gestures with one hand above the chessboard. His time now reads 0:19.]
:Cueball: Did you know this building straddles the Arizona border?
:Cueball: It actually runs right through the table. You're on the Arizona side.

:[Cueball raises his hand further to gesture at his time. It beeps and is now blank and white.]
:Cueball: This tournament started Saturday, November 2nd. Now it's almost 2AM on the 3rd.
:Cueball: And there's something you should know about Arizona.
:Chess clock: BEEP

:[White Hat raises his head slightly to look at the timer. Cueball's time now reads 60:07. Cueball lowers his hand to make a move.]
:White Hat: '''''What?!''''' No! That's not how... '''''No!!'''''
:Cueball: Looks like it's daylight '''''slaying''''' time.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Chess]]
[[Category:Daylight saving time]]

3014: Arizona Chess

2024-11-20T20:00:37Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ Add note about crossing and detecting zone boundaries and

{{comic
| number = 3014
| date = November 20, 2024
| title = Arizona Chess
| image = arizona_chess_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x315px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Sometimes, you have to sacrifice pieces to gain the advantage. Sometimes, to advance ... you have to fall back.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a DAYLIGHT SLAYING BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[White Hat]] and [[Cueball]] are playing a timed game of tournament-style chess. White Hat has the advantage, because he has one more pawn than Cueball and has more time on the {{w|chess clock}}.

However, Cueball has an unexpected advantage. The building is sited across the border of Arizona with another state, with White Hat on the Arizona side, and the game is being played at a very particular time of year. As Arizona doesn't observe {{w|daylight saving time}} (DST), unlike neighboring US states, only one clock gains an hour. White Hat's time remains normal, but Cueball's time "falls back" one hour, as his departure from daylight saving time occurs. Due to the way the timer clock apparently calibrates its display (perhaps in part based upon something like the self-adjusting [https://en.cppreference.com/w/c/chrono/localtime localtime()] function), Cueball is suddenly given more time in the game. White Hat, whose clock is governed by a different locale, protests as this is not typically how these clocks should function.

The title text is a pun on "falling back" strategically from an attack and the term "fall back" in the mnemonic used to remember which way the clock changes when we go in and out of DST: "spring forward, fall back" (we advance the clock forward when entering DST in the spring, and move it backward when leaving it in the fall or autumn).

A handful of buildings even extend across international boundaries (these are known as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_house line houses] and many more cross state, county or city boundaries in the US. While it is possible to arrange a table across a timezone boundary, a bigger challenge is to arrange the chess clock, which is only a few inches across. Cueball would have needed to find one that was capable of tracking time zones separately for each of the two internal clocks and either had an excellent GPS receiver for each side (capable of detecting a several-inch difference in position as corresponding to another zone) or a way to manually enter two different zones, while also having the time-tracking oversight described above. Most chess clocks on the market have only two buttons with no awareness of time zones, but the game could be played in the far future. Ongoing state-level efforts to end time changes could also increase the number of places where this situation could happen.

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

:[White Hat and Cueball are sitting across from each other playing chess. The time, shown above them in white on a black screen, reads 6:35 for White Hat, and 0:28 for Cueball.]
:White Hat: It’s late, I’m up a pawn, and you’re out of time. It’s over.
:Cueball: Ah, you’re forgetting something.

:[Cueball gestures with one hand above the chessboard. His time now reads 0:19.]
:Cueball: Did you know this building straddles the Arizona border?
:Cueball: It actually runs right through the table. You're on the Arizona side.

:[Cueball raises his hand further to gesture at his time. It beeps and is now blank and white.]
:Cueball: This tournament started Saturday, November 2nd. Now it's almost 2AM on the 3rd.
:Cueball: And there's something you should know about Arizona.
:Chess clock: BEEP

:[White Hat raises his head slightly to look at the timer. Cueball's time now reads 60:07. Cueball lowers his hand to make a move.]
:White Hat: '''''What?!''''' No! That's not how... '''''No!!'''''
:Cueball: Looks like it's daylight '''''slaying''''' time.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Chess]]
[[Category:Daylight saving time]]

2983: Monocaster

2024-09-11T18:03:42Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ Resolve changes differences due to simultaneous edits

{{comic
| number = 2983
| date = September 9, 2024
| title = Monocaster
| image = monocaster_2x.png
| imagesize = 536x673px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = My competitors say the tiny single tiny caster is unsafe, unstable, and offers no advantages over traditional designs, to which I say: wow, why are you guys so mean? I thought we were friends!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a LAPTOP-CONTROLLED HAMSTER BALL - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A caster, also spelled castor, is a small unpowered wheel, usually attached to a swiveling base. They are typically found on carts and office chairs to make them easy to move, and may be placed on heavy appliances to facilitate movement.

Randall has proposed a variant of the skateboard with only one caster on the bottom, the titular "monocaster", and devoted most of the comic to a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceptual_mapping perceptual map] showing the variety of wheeled vehicles. Market strategists and investors use such diagrams as a simple way of representing important differences between products or companies, but where a consumer might be more concerned with features like speed, cost, ease of use, or carrying capacity, this map focuses on the number of wheels (horizontal axis) and the diameter of those wheels (vertical axis).

Each axis uses a logarithmic scale, which is convenient for making the map look empty but also visually exaggerates the size of the "key gap" that the monocaster is filling, which can be described as "vehicle with a single wheel smaller than 25 cm". The nearest competitors appear to be a two-wheel skateboard sometimes called a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caster_board caster board] (wheel diameter under 8 cm) and a single-wheel self-balancing board resembling a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onewheel Onewheel] (diameter around 25 cm). The Onewheel is sometimes described as a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monowheel monowheel] (though these are traditionally larger like the "1920s monowheel" on the upper left). Randall appears to have combined these two names to create the monocaster. This gives up several of the competitors' features - the caster board's two wheels provide enough stability to propel the vehicle manually, while the Onewheel's single wheel is wide (assisting with sideways balance) and powered by a self-balancing mechanism.

The result resembles a {{w|Balance_board#Sphere-and-ring|"Sphere-and-ring" balance board}}, or other types, though these provide limited locomotion potential. The joke depends on the caster's obvious impracticality in this role: the hole in the market was open ''for a reason''. The obvious drawback to any single-wheeled vehicle is that it's difficult to balance: the rider has to avoid falling forward or backward, as well as to either side. This is a major reason why one-wheeled vehicles are uncommon to begin with, but those vehicles which do exist compensate by using relatively large wheels, driven either by human power or a motor, which creates rotational inertia and allows the rider to balance simply by leaning forward.

A single, small, undriven wheel eliminates these balancing forces, meaning that the user would essentially need to balance on a single point. Also, most casters swivel, meaning that the balance point would move around under the rider's feet and make it even more difficult to balance. In addition, there's no apparent means of propulsion, which means the only way to move forward would be to either roll exclusively downhill, or use one foot to push off the ground. Either strategy would make retaining balance almost impossible.

Multiple wheeled vehicles greatly reduce the issue of balance simply by having multiple points of contact with the ground. The size of the wheels varies greatly; small, rigid wheels are generally suitable only for flat, smooth, rigid surfaces at relatively slow speeds, while vehicles expected to handle high speeds and varying road (and off-road) conditions will necessarily have larger wheels.

The "monocaster" design offers no advantages and would be nearly unrideable, making it obvious why such a vehicle has never been seriously proposed.

The title text extends the joke by listing the disadvantages mentioned above, but not providing a rebuttal.

{| class=wikitable
! scope="col" | Vehicle
! scope=“col” | Number of wheels
! scope=“col” | Wheel Diameter
! scope="col" | Explanation
|-
| 1920s Monowheel || 1 || 3 meters || A monowheel is a vehicle in which the rider sits inside a single, large, hollow wheel. Versions have existed which were hand- or pedal cranked, but the "1920s" version portrayed here is apparently motor-driven. These vehicles have generally been seen as novelties, as their stability and practicality issues limit their usefulness for actual transport.
|-
| Unicycle || 1 || 45 centimeters || Probably the best known single-wheeled form of transport, a unicycle consists of a single wheel, directly drive by pedals, with a seat mounted on top. Due to their difficulty, they're generally been used as novelties and for comic performances more than as practical transport.
|-
| OneWheel || 1 || 20 centimeters || A one-wheeled electric skateboard in which the user stands on both sides of a large, central wheel. The design self-balances by increasing the velocity as the user leans forward. This allows balancing and speed control to operate in a single motion.
|-
| Bicycle || 2 || 45 centimeters || A two-wheeled, pedal-driven vehicle. The relatively simple, inexpensive and efficient design of these vehicles makes them practical for transport in a variety of situations. As a result, they've long been among the most popular and widely produced vehicles in the world.
|-
| Scooter || 2 || 8 centimeters || A two-wheeled vehicle driven either by pushing with a foot or by an electric motor or fuel-powered engine. Scooters are ridden both for recreation and as a form of transportation in cities.
|-
| Heelies || 2 || 1 centimeter ||
|-
| Tricycle || 3 || 20 centimeters ||
|-
| Scooter (three-wheeled) || 3 || 3 centimeters ||
|-
| Monster Truck || 4 || 2.5 meters ||
|-
| Car || 4 || 50 centimeters ||
|-
| ATV || 4 || 20 centimeters ||
|-
| Skateboard || 4 || 2 centimeters ||
|-
| Three-Wheel Skates|| 6 || 4 centimeters ||
|-
| Roller Skates|| 8 || 2 centimeters ||
|-
| Semi-Trailer Truck (Articulated Lorry) || 10-18 || 1 meter ||
|}

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

:[A chart picturing many wheeled vehicles with a caption below the chart window. The vertical axis is labeled "Wheel Diameter", logarithmic from 1cm to 5m. The horizontal axis is labeled "Number of wheels", logarithmic from 1 to 16. From top left to bottom right, there is a person with a cap, seated in a circle, labeled "1920s monowheel", a monster truck with a skull and a lightning bolt on the side, a lorry (truck), a Cueball on a unicycle moving back and forth, a Cueball on a bicycle, a car, a Cueball using a Onewheel, a Cueball on a child's "Big Wheel" tricycle, a Cueball on a quad, a Cueball standing on a scooter, a Cueball standing on a board with one small wheel bellow, circled and labeled with two question marks, a three-wheel scooter, a skater, a Cueball using three-wheel skates, labeled "three-wheel skates", a Cueball crouching and using skates, and a small Cueball using shoes with wheels (Heelys) moving forward.]
:Caption: My new monocaster board fills a key gap in the wheeled vehicle market.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Skateboard]]

2983: Monocaster

2024-09-11T18:01:06Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ Perceptual map, Onewheel and caster board

{{comic
| number = 2983
| date = September 9, 2024
| title = Monocaster
| image = monocaster_2x.png
| imagesize = 536x673px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = My competitors say the tiny single tiny caster is unsafe, unstable, and offers no advantages over traditional designs, to which I say: wow, why are you guys so mean? I thought we were friends!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a LAPTOP-CONTROLLED HAMSTER BALL - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A caster, also spelled castor, is a small unpowered wheel, usually attached to a swiveling base. They are typically found on carts and office chairs to make them easy to move, and may be placed on heavy appliances to facilitate movement.

Randall has proposed a variant of the skateboard with only one caster on the bottom, the titular "monocaster", and devoted most of the comic to a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceptual_mapping perceptual map] showing the variety of wheeled vehicles. Market strategists and investors use such diagrams as a simple way of representing important differences between products or companies, but where a consumer might be more concerned with features like speed, cost, ease of use, or carrying capacity, this map focuses on the number of wheels (horizontal axis) and the diameter of those wheels (vertical axis).

Each axis uses a logarithmic scale, which is convenient for making the map look empty but also visually exaggerates the size of the "key gap" that the monocaster is filling, which can be described as "vehicle with a single wheel smaller than 25 cm". The nearest competitors appear to be a two-wheel skateboard sometimes called a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caster_board caster board] (wheel diameter under 8 cm) and a single-wheel self-balancing board resembling a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onewheel Onewheel] (diameter around 25 cm). The Onewheel is sometimes described as a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monowheel monowheel] (though these are traditionally larger like the "1920s monowheel" on the upper left). Randall appears to have combined these two names to create the monocaster. This gives up several of the competitors' features - the caster board's two wheels provide enough stability to propel the vehicle manually, while the Onewheel's single wheel is wide (assisting with sideways balance) and powered by a self-balancing mechanism.

This may have some similarity with a {{w|Balance_board#Sphere-and-ring|"Sphere-and-ring" balance board}}, or other types, though these provide limited locomotion potential. He claims this fills an untapped hole in the market. There are plenty of vehicles with multiple wheels of varying sizes, and a smaller number vehicles with a single, large wheel (such as unicycles), but none with a single, small wheel.

The joke depends on the caster's obvious impracticality in this role: the hole in the market was open ''for a reason''. The obvious drawback to any single-wheeled vehicle is that it's difficult to balance: the rider has to avoid falling forward or backward, as well as to either side. This is a major reason why one-wheeled vehicles are uncommon to begin with, but those vehicles which do exist compensate by using relatively large wheels, driven either by human power or a motor, which creates rotational inertia and allows the rider to balance simply by leaning forward.

A single, small, undriven wheel eliminates these balancing forces, meaning that the user would essentially need to balance on a single point. Also, most casters swivel, meaning that the balance point would move around under the rider's feet and make it even more difficult to balance. In addition, there's no apparent means of propulsion, which means the only way to move forward would be to either roll exclusively downhill, or use one foot to push off the ground. Either strategy would make retaining balance almost impossible.

Multiple wheeled vehicles greatly reduce the issue of balance simply by having multiple points of contact with the ground. The size of the wheels varies greatly; small, rigid wheels are generally suitable only for flat, smooth, rigid surfaces at relatively slow speeds, while vehicles expected to handle high speeds and varying road (and off-road) conditions will necessarily have larger wheels.

The "monocaster" design offers no advantages and would be nearly unrideable, making it obvious why such a vehicle has never been seriously proposed.

The title text extends the joke by listing the disadvantages mentioned above, but not providing a rebuttal.

{| class=wikitable
! scope="col" | Vehicle
! scope=“col” | Number of wheels
! scope=“col” | Wheel Diameter
! scope="col" | Explanation
|-
| 1920s Monowheel || 1 || 3 meters || A monowheel is a vehicle in which the rider sits inside a single, large, hollow wheel. Versions have existed which were hand- or pedal cranked, but the "1920s" version portrayed here is apparently motor-driven. These vehicles have generally been seen as novelties, as their stability and practicality issues limit their usefulness for actual transport.
|-
| Unicycle || 1 || 45 centimeters || Probably the best known single-wheeled form of transport, a unicycle consists of a single wheel, directly drive by pedals, with a seat mounted on top. Due to their difficulty, they're generally been used as novelties and for comic performances more than as practical transport.
|-
| OneWheel || 1 || 20 centimeters || A one-wheeled electric skateboard in which the user stands on both sides of a large, central wheel. The design self-balances by increasing the velocity as the user leans forward. This allows balancing and speed control to operate in a single motion.
|-
| Bicycle || 2 || 45 centimeters || A two-wheeled, pedal-driven vehicle. The relatively simple, inexpensive and efficient design of these vehicles makes them practical for transport in a variety of situations. As a result, they've long been among the most popular and widely produced vehicles in the world.
|-
| Scooter || 2 || 8 centimeters || A two-wheeled vehicle driven either by pushing with a foot or by an electric motor or fuel-powered engine. Scooters are ridden both for recreation and as a form of transportation in cities.
|-
| Heelies || 2 || 1 centimeter ||
|-
| Tricycle || 3 || 20 centimeters ||
|-
| Scooter (three-wheeled) || 3 || 3 centimeters ||
|-
| Monster Truck || 4 || 2.5 meters ||
|-
| Car || 4 || 50 centimeters ||
|-
| ATV || 4 || 20 centimeters ||
|-
| Skateboard || 4 || 2 centimeters ||
|-
| Three-Wheel Skates|| 6 || 4 centimeters ||
|-
| Roller Skates|| 8 || 2 centimeters ||
|-
| Semi-Trailer Truck (Articulated Lorry) || 10-18 || 1 meter ||
|}

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

:[A chart picturing many wheeled vehicles with a caption below the chart window. The vertical axis is labeled "Wheel Diameter", logarithmic from 1cm to 5m. The horizontal axis is labeled "Number of wheels", logarithmic from 1 to 16. From top left to bottom right, there is a person with a cap, seated in a circle, labeled "1920s monowheel", a monster truck with a skull and a lightning bolt on the side, a lorry (truck), a Cueball on a unicycle moving back and forth, a Cueball on a bicycle, a car, a Cueball using a Onewheel, a Cueball on a child's "Big Wheel" tricycle, a Cueball on a quad, a Cueball standing on a scooter, a Cueball standing on a board with one small wheel bellow, circled and labeled with two question marks, a three-wheel scooter, a skater, a Cueball using three-wheel skates, labeled "three-wheel skates", a Cueball crouching and using skates, and a small Cueball using shoes with wheels (Heelys) moving forward.]
:Caption: My new monocaster board fills a key gap in the wheeled vehicle market.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Skateboard]]

2899: Goodhart's Law

2024-02-27T22:24:43Z

Magtei: Value of metrics, ways to reduce incentives to game the system

{{comic
| number = 2899
| date = February 26, 2024
| title = Goodhart's Law
| image = goodharts_law_2x.png
| imagesize = 295x321px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = [later] I'm pleased to report we're now identifying and replacing hundreds of outdated metrics per hour.
}}

==Explanation==

In this comic, [[White Hat]] suggests creating a meta-metric, "number-of-metrics-that-have-become-targets," and making it a target.

First, the comic introduces and defines {{w|Goodhart's Law}}, which is the observation that when a metric — a {{w|performance indicator|measure of performance}} — becomes a goal, efforts will be unhelpfully directed to improving that ''metric'' at the expense of systemic objectives.

For example, imagine a scenario in which a car dealership is looking to grow profits, and its managers decide to focus on increasing a component metric of profit: how many cars it sells. So they offer a bonus to their salespeople to sell more cars. But then the salespeople offer deep discounts to rack up sales, rendering the car sales unprofitable. This example shows how a ''metric'' (cars sold) can become the ''target'', replacing the real target, profit growth, if individual incentives are not properly managed.

White Hat's suggestion could be a good or a bad idea. It all depends on how the bonus incentive is awarded:

* A '''good implementation''' would award bonuses only for finding metrics which truly aren't serving their purpose, so the organization's managers could fix the measurement issues. If bonuses are awarded only for approved submissions and the identifications result in real improvements, the organization will benefit.

* A '''bad implementation''' would offer a bonus to every identification, regardless of quality. This would incentivize the identification of even quite useful metrics — and perhaps even the ''creation'' of new metrics-as-targets for the sole purpose of then removing them and collecting the bounty.

The title text imagines this '''bad implementation''', leading to the creation of a new metric (metric changes per hour) and the organization identifying — and ''replacing'' — hundreds of metrics per hour, crowding out actual focus on the organization's true goals. It's the ultimate example of "change for change's sake."

Part of the joke is that White Hat's original suggestion — the new metric causing the issue and one that ''should'' be replaced — seems to be ironically surviving the replacement of hundreds of other metrics.

This comic illustrates that the thoughtless combination of Goodhart's Law and poorly designed incentives can have ruinous results for an organization.

While there is a temptation to game any metric, measurement is the main objective way of describing the success of an activity and assessing the effect of changes. "Data-driven" or "evidence-based" approaches are used to drive measurable improvements in various areas of society. The proper usage of organizational metrics and incentives is the focus of {{w|managerial accounting}}, a field within organizational management. Discussions of Goodhart's Law have noted [https://commoncog.com/goodharts-law-not-useful/] that people may respond to a metric by either (1) improving the system, (2) distorting that system (examples below), or (3) distorting the data (e.g., governments publishing false or cherry-picked economic data). Channeling energy toward improvement requires an organization to make (1) more appealing (flexibility and culture) and the others less (transparency, culture, reduced pressure to meet unrealistic goals). Figuring out how to do that involves a slow and thoughtful process unlike White Hat's unilateral jump to a new metric.

===Additional examples of Goodhart's Law===
* A school's exam results may ''suggest'' how well the school works with its pupils, but may lead to rigidly "teaching to the exams" and lead to less enjoyment and ability of life-long learning, or even flexibility in non-academic activities.
* A hospital measures inpatient ''Length of Stay'' because shorter stays save money and also free up beds for any admitted patients waiting in the ER. But if improperly incentivized, doctors may discharge inpatients too early, causing some to "bounce back" to the hospital as a costly readmission.
* A call center measures the number of calls handled per hour, but poorly decides to overly incentivize this metric to make the workers more productive; that leads workers to cut calls short, frustrating customers.
* The hypothetical {{w|Instrumental convergence#Paperclip maximizer|Paperclip Maximizer}} concept demonstrates how having a seemingly benign metric as a goal might still result in almost unlimited adverse effects, if unchecked.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and White Hat are standing and talking, White Hat with hand on his chin.]
:Cueball: When a metric becomes a target, it ceases to be a good metric.
:White Hat: Sounds bad. Let's offer a bonus to anyone who identifies a metric that has become a target.

{{comic discussion}}

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

2822: *@gmail.com

2023-08-31T17:23:57Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2822
| date = August 30, 2023
| title = *@gmail.com
| image = gmail_com_2x.png
| imagesize = 305x269px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hi all, just replying to loop in *@outlook.com and *@yahoo.com.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by BOT@COMPUSERVE.NET - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A wildcard symbol, such as the asterisk, is not generally usable via email servers, although email ''clients'' may sometimes implement such a function, internally, perhaps to support mailing-list functions (though more commonly this is done via named address-book 'groups'). That said, the asterisk character is a valid one for a mailbox, including group-boxes that might facilitate server-side distribution.

The address *@gmail.com, as illustrated in the comic, is a proposed feature from Randall that would send an email to ''every'' {{w|Gmail}} user, without having each and every valid Gmail address at hand (manually typed in or via pre-populated email client address books). For obvious reasons, this is not actually a feature, but Randall suggests that if Google ever wanted to shut Gmail down, they could do either do it this way (possibly causing a service-ending overload of resources) ''or'' allow someone this one last boon (as a farewell gift, knowing that there would be relatively few additional repercussions to deal with).

Reply-all is a sometimes useful feature of email that nonetheless commonly causes headaches and annoyances for both users and administrators. By allowing users to simply reply to everyone copied on the email, it encourages users to do this rather than think carefully about which people their response should be addressed to. This causes lots of users to receive irrelevant emails, and email servers to have to store a lot of unnecessary data. Randall's email is essentially designed to induce every Gmail user to email every other Gmail user, generating an unfathomable number of emails.

A recurring phenomenon for email users, especially in the early Internet days of the 1990s and 2000s, was a reply all storm – someone would start a message to a very large group, perhaps hundreds, and even if only 5% of recipients replied to say something like “take me off this list“, a storm of dozens of replies would soon follow. Inevitably, new replies to everyone would start saying things like, “stop Replying All!” If this were done with millions of Gmail users instead of just dozens or hundreds, their result would be apocalyptic.

The title text suggests the possibility of a similar iteration over {{w|Outlook.com}} (formerly Hotmail) and {{w|Yahoo! Mail}}, two further well-known mail services with similarly large userbases, but this time attempting to expand the resulting lists within the mail body of the above email, which would make the broadcast message much, ''much'' larger than the simple broadcast 'spam' that the originally illustrated email would be. It's likely this would annoy a few more people than the original message did {{citation needed}}. This also alludes to a occurrence in email chains where a user replies to simply add another user into the chain, which doesn't add much information to the group.

==Transcript==

:[A typical gmail UI]
:To: *@gmail.com (+expand)
:Cc: [Empty field]
:Bcc: [Empty field]
:Subj: New Friends

:Hey all! Go ahead and introduce yourself!

:[Caption:] If Google ever decides to shut down Gmail, they should let one user trigger a global reply-all apocalypse.

==Trivia==

The number of this comic (2822) is the same as the number of [https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2822 RFC 2822], which is the 2001 version of the email specification (it was replaced in 2008 by RFC 5322).

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Email]]

2814: Perseids Pronunciation

2023-08-13T07:07:44Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ Highlights double space in last two rows, with simpler explanation for "Percies"

{{comic
| number = 2814
| date = August 11, 2023
| title = Perseids Pronunciation
| image = perseids_pronunciation_2x.png
| imagesize = 291x414px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = When speaking out loud, you can can [sic] call it the 'Perseids meatier shower' and no one will ever know. (If you do get caught somehow, just tell them to Google the 'Kentucky meat shower' and that will distract them while you escape.)
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a KENTUCKY MEATIER SHOWER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic references the {{w|Perseids meteor shower}}, which are active in July and August. Their name ultimately derives from the ancient Greek hero ''Perseus'' (for ''his'' pronounciaton, check {{w|Perseus}}.). There are various ways of pronouncing ''Perseids'', and [[Randall]] gives the obvious ones before the comic spirals into virtual nonsense, or possibly parodies of {{wiktionary|va-jay-jay|common euphemistic replacement word}}.

{| class="wikitable"
! scope="col"| Section
! scope="col"| Term
! scope="col"| Explanation

|-
! scope="row"| Generally accepted
| PER-see-ids
PURSE-yids
| These are the most common pronunciations in English.
|-
! scope="row"| Also heard sometimes
| Per-SEE-ids
Per-SAY-ids
| These are also considered acceptable.
|-
! scope="row"| Generally frowned on
|Per-SIDES
Per-ZAY-uds
PER-suds
| These are not very correct, but better than below
|-
!scope="row"| Definitely wrong
| Perky-ids
| Calling them Perky seems likely to be an attempt to be dirty.
|-
!scope="row"| Definitely wrong
| Pewpewpews
| This is referential to lasers, which are known for their "pewpewpew" sounds. However, meteors are most definitely not lasers{{citation needed}}.
|-
!scope="row"| Definitely wrong
| Per-say-says
| This is a tradition of rhyming lazy/cute slang, like referring to the female reproductive part as {{wiktionary|va-jay-jay}}.
|-
!scope="row"| Definitely wrong
| Percies  Purps
| Spaced out to indicate that each word in the row is a separate entry. "Percies" seems to akin to nicknaming each meteor "Percy" and referring to all of them as a group. Purps is close to Perps, a short slang form of Perpetrator (generally the person responsible for a crime).
|-
!scope="row"| Definitely wrong
| Pepsids  Peeps
| Also spaced out. "Pepsids" seems to refer to Pepcid, an antacid, but misspelled to match the original word. It could also be referencing {{w|Pepsi}}. "Peeps" are shorebirds that are impossible to identify (for example, {{w|Least Sandpiper}}). See {{w|stints}}. But more likely either a reference to the Peep, a spongy candy which is shaped and decorated like baby chickens, or the slang for "people", particularly a group that the speaker identifies with, "my peeps". If the two names on this line were joined together, they could refer to a group of people in some way associated with antacids.
|}

The title text mentions how "meteor" sounds like "meatier," {{w|Homophone|although the meanings are completely different}}. It suggests telling people about the {{w|Kentucky meat shower}}, an anomalous weather event in 1876, as a distractor.

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

:How to pronounce the name of the Perseids meteor shower

:Generally accepted
::PER-see-ids
::PURSE-yids

:Also heard sometimes
::Per-SEE-ids
::Per-SAY-ids

:Generally frowned on
::Per-SIDES
::Per-ZAY-uds
::PER-suds

:''Definitely'' wrong
::Perky-ids
::Pewpewpews
::Per-say-says
::Percies Purps
::Pepsids Peeps

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

2810: How to Coil a Cable

2023-08-02T18:26:34Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2810
| date = August 2, 2023
| title = How to Coil a Cable
| image = how_to_coil_a_cable_2x.png
| imagesize = 366x713px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The ideal mix for maximum competitive cable-coiling energy is one A/V tech, one rock climber, one sailor, and one topologist.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CLIMBING MARINE A/V TOPOLOGIST - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Long cables left in a random pile develop knots and look messy, especially if there are several different cables. The causes of this are not well understood, but may relate to socks disappearing in the wash and to clothes ending up within duvet covers. Cables are often carefully coiled - arranged in a compact series of loops - to take up less space or avoid tangling with other cables, either for storage or when only part of a cable's length is needed to make a connection. Cables often remain curved or uneven after uncoiling. This comic humorously states that the best way to coil a cable is to proclaim that these deformations must be due to a flaw in the cable (step 1). Well-meaning people then descend upon the asker, eager to share their obscure knowledge of cable-coiling (a bit like in [[208: Regular Expressions]]). Long and confusing explanations ensue (step 3), and they eventually coil it themselves (step 4). The asker is unlikely to be able to reproduce this process themselves, and may still find deformations in the cable later; they will likely need to return to step 1 the next time they need the cable coiled.

This is reminiscent of {{w|Ward_Cunningham#Law|Cunningham's Law}}, which states that "the best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer".

The obvious way of coiling a cable - taking hold of the cable's trailing end as it leaves the hand, and bringing it back around into the hand in a circle, so it forms a simple helix - causes the cable to twist along its length in the same direction for each turn, and requires the person unravelling it to cope with the twisting.

The title text mentions several diverse specialties that have something to say about cables, lines, and/or knots.

The audio technician's way of coiling a cable involves alternating each obvious helix loop with a backhand loop where the loop spirals the same way as the other loops, but its trailing end ends up between the rest of the gathered cable and the most recent loop. This causes the twists and antitwists to cancel out, resulting in a cable that does not twist while coiled and uncoiled.

The rock climber’s way of preventing twists and tangles in a rope involves “Flaking” a rope - running it through your hands and piling it loosely - which is used when unwinding a coil in to a pile on the ground. This also affords the climber to quickly detect damage and kinks by feel. The reference to rock climbing is later mentioned in the title text when having a rock climber present is mentioned.

A figure-8 coil is used on some boats: the rope is held in one hand, and wound across the forearm to loop under the elbow, then back across the forearm and through the hand in the same direction each time. This also avoids twists.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:How to Coil a Cable Properly

:Step 1
:Cueball: I need to buy a different brand of cable! This one always twists into spirals and gets tangled.

:Step 2
:White Hat: No! That's because of how you're coiling it!

:Step 3
:Ponytail / White Hat / Hairy: ...over-under method... ...figure-8... ...quarter-turn... ...flaking...

:Step 4
:Neatly coiled!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]

2810: How to Coil a Cable

2023-08-02T18:25:12Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2810
| date = August 2, 2023
| title = How to Coil a Cable
| image = how_to_coil_a_cable_2x.png
| imagesize = 366x713px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The ideal mix for maximum competitive cable-coiling energy is one A/V tech, one rock climber, one sailor, and one topologist.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CLIMBING MARINE A/V TOPOLOGIST - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Cables are often coiled - arranged in a compact series of loops - to take up less space or avoid tangling with other cables, either for storage or when only part of a cable's length is needed to make a connection. Cables often remain curved or uneven after uncoiling. This comic humorously states that the best way to coil a cable is to proclaim that these deformations must be due to a flaw in the cable (step 1). Well-meaning people then descend upon the asker, eager to share their obscure knowledge of cable-coiling (a bit like in [[208: Regular Expressions]]). Long and confusing explanations ensue (step 3), and they eventually coil it themselves (step 4). The asker is unlikely to be able to reproduce this process themselves, and may still find deformations in the cable later; they will likely need to return to step 1 the next time they need the cable coiled.

This is reminiscent of {{w|Ward_Cunningham#Law|Cunningham's Law}}, which states that "the best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer".

Long cables left in a random pile develop knots and look messy, especially if there are several different cables. The causes of this are not well understood, but may relate to socks disappearing in the wash and to clothes ending up within duvet covers.

The obvious way of coiling a cable - taking hold of the cable's trailing end as it leaves the hand, and bringing it back around into the hand in a circle, so it forms a simple helix - causes the cable to twist along its length in the same direction for each turn, and requires the person unravelling it to cope with the twisting.

The title text mentions several diverse specialties that have something to say about cables, lines, and/or knots.

The audio technician's way of coiling a cable involves alternating each obvious helix loop with a backhand loop where the loop spirals the same way as the other loops, but its trailing end ends up between the rest of the gathered cable and the most recent loop. This causes the twists and antitwists to cancel out, resulting in a cable that does not twist while coiled and uncoiled.

The rock climber’s way of preventing twists and tangles in a rope involves “Flaking” a rope - running it through your hands and piling it loosely - which is used when unwinding a coil in to a pile on the ground. This also affords the climber to quickly detect damage and kinks by feel. The reference to rock climbing is later mentioned in the title text when having a rock climber present is mentioned.

A figure-8 coil is used on some boats: the rope is held in one hand, and wound across the forearm to loop under the elbow, then back across the forearm and through the hand in the same direction each time. This also avoids twists.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:How to Coil a Cable Properly

:Step 1
:Cueball: I need to buy a different brand of cable! This one always twists into spirals and gets tangled.

:Step 2
:White Hat: No! That's because of how you're coiling it!

:Step 3
:Ponytail / White Hat / Hairy: ...over-under method... ...figure-8... ...quarter-turn... ...flaking...

:Step 4
:Neatly coiled!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]

2796: Real Estate Analysis

2023-06-30T19:10:44Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2796
| date = June 30, 2023
| title = Real Estate Analysis
| image = real_estate_analysis_2x.png
| imagesize = 474x458px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Mars does get a good score on 'noise levels' and 'scenic views,' but the school district ranking isn't great; the only teacher--the Perseverance rover--is too busy with rock samples to teach more than the occasional weekend class.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EASILY IMPRESSED URBANIST - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic shows a chart ranking locations in our solar system (the eight current planets and Earth's moon) along two scales: their walkability and their proximity to shops. As this is a "real estate analysis", this comic mocks real life "real estate analyses" for people who are looking to buy a new home. Walkability measures the ease of walking as a form of transportation in an area (often related to how urban that area is), and is measured by metrics like the 100-point walk score, with higher numbers representing easier and safer walking. Proximity to commercial shops and eating establishments can likewise be a factor for potential buyers looking for a convenient living environment. While no units are provided, proximity can be defined as a number that increases with decreasing distance.

Earth is rated as more walkable than the other locations, probably because humans can walk on much of its surface without immediate & continuous existential need for environmental survival gear (so far). Earth also rates high on the "proximity to shops and restaurants" scale because its surface hosts all commercial establishments known to humans; most of businesses are within a few building stories of the surface, though some "shops" on airplanes are up to several kilometers above it. The next closest body, the Moon, is typically around 384,400 km away from Earth, about five orders of magnitude further from those businesses. Venus is 108 million km away while Uranus is 2.9 billion, so all these bodies' clustering near 0 on the proximity scale (where Earth has a 10) masks a large difference in accessibility. The cluster's walkability plotting also appears arbitrary, as the gas giant Jupiter is positioned higher than the solid Mercury (where temperatures are extreme, but do briefly pass through the range survivable for humans as the planet rotates).

Based on Earth's high score on both metrics, Randall makes the claim "I get why this place is so popular". Most humans would agree with Earth being preferable (no human is known to have permanently inhabited private real estate on any celestial body besides Earth), but would be more concerned with local differences in livability.

The alt text comments that Mars did score high on the 'noise levels' and 'scenic views' scores: Having a thinner atmosphere and having (close to) zero sources of manmade noise, Mars is certainly silent, a quality that is desirable when searching for a home as lower noise levels help maintain a calm and relaxed lifestyle, and its large, barren scenery has been abundantly documented by the several rovers sent to its surface, resulting in widespread fascination with its serene landscapes. However, it then states the 'school district' ranking (proximity to a good schooling system, which is also desirable, especially by families) is rather poor on account of there being only one available teacher - the rover ''Perseverance'' - and it being too busy with its rock samples. ''Perseverance'' is (at the time of this comic's publication) a still-active Mars rover whose main purpose is to examine minerals from Mars' surface and scan them for signs compatible with ancient life: while it could hypothetically serve as a teacher (using its memory banks as teaching material, for instance), doing so would greatly interfere with its main mission if done regularly.

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

:[A graph is shown. Both axes have a label with an arrow and 10 visible ticks.]
:Y-axis: Walkability score
:X-axis: Proximity to shops and restaurants
:[Labels of multiple dots at around (0,0), clockwise:]
:Mars, The Moon, Mercury, Venus, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter
:[Label of a dot at roughly (9.5,9.5):]
:Earth

:[Caption below the panel:]
:After doing a real estate analysis, I get why this place is so popular.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Mars rovers]]

2796: Real Estate Analysis

2023-06-30T18:47:54Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2796
| date = June 30, 2023
| title = Real Estate Analysis
| image = real_estate_analysis_2x.png
| imagesize = 474x458px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Mars does get a good score on 'noise levels' and 'scenic views,' but the school district ranking isn't great; the only teacher--the Perseverance rover--is too busy with rock samples to teach more than the occasional weekend class.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EASILY IMPRESSED URBANIST - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic shows a chart ranking locations in our solar system (the eight current planets and Earth's moon) along two scales: their walkability and their proximity to shops. As this is a "real estate analysis", this comic mocks real life "real estate analyses" for people who are looking to buy a new home. Walkability measures the ease of walking as a form of transportation in an area (often related to how urban that area is), and is measured by metrics like the 100-point walk score, with higher numbers representing easier and safer walking. Proximity to commercial shops and eating establishments can likewise be a feactor for potential buyers looking for a convenient living environment. While no units are provided, proximity can be defined as a number that increases with decreasing distance.

Earth is rated as more walkable than other locations within our solar system, probably because humans can walk on much of its surface without immediate & continuous existential need for environmental survival gear (so far). Earth also rates high on the "shops and restaurants" scale because its surface hosts all commercial establishments known to humans. Thus, Randall makes the claim "I get why this place is so popular".

The alt text comments that Mars did score high on the 'noise levels' and 'scenic views' scores: Having a thinner atmosphere and having (close to) zero sources of manmade noise, Mars is certainly silent, a quality that is desirable when searching for a home as lower noise levels help maintain a calm and relaxed lifestyle, and its large, barren scenery has been abundantly documented by the several rovers sent to its surface, resulting in widespread fascination with its serene landscapes. However, it then states the 'school district' ranking (proximity to a good schooling system, which is also desirable, especially by families) is rather poor on account of there being only one available teacher - the rover ''Perseverance'' - and it being too busy with its rock samples. ''Perseverance'' is (at the time of this comic's publication) a still-active Mars rover whose main purpose is to examine minerals from Mars' surface and scan them for signs compatible with ancient life: while it could hypothetically serve as a teacher (using its memory banks as teaching material, for instance), doing so would greatly interfere with its main mission if done regularly.

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

:[A graph is shown. Both axes have a label with an arrow and 10 visible ticks.]
:Y-axis: Walkability score
:X-axis: Proximity to shops and restaurants
:[Labels of multiple dots at around (0,0), clockwise:]
:Mars, The Moon, Mercury, Venus, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter
:[Label of a dot at roughly (9.5,9.5):]
:Earth

:[Caption below the panel:]
:After doing a real estate analysis, I get why this place is so popular.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Mars rovers]]

2719: Hydrogen Isotopes

2023-01-03T05:21:23Z

Magtei: /* Explanation */ Possible explanations for title text names.

{{comic
| number = 2719
| date = January 2, 2023
| title = Hydrogen Isotopes
| image = hydrogen_isotopes_2x.png
| imagesize = 442x250px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Oops, All Neutrons is also known as Neutral Quadrium, Nydnonen, and Goth Tritium.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BREAK ROOM DE BROGLIE MICROWAVE USER. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{W|Hydrogen}} is the simplest of the chemical atoms, usually consisting of an electron orbiting an proton. This comic imagines other humorous fictional forms of hydrogen as follows:

{| class="wikitable"
! "Isotope"
! Real?
! Description
|-
|Hydrogen
|Yes
|Hydrogen is the most common {{w|isotope}} of hydrogen, with one proton and one electron, shown with the electron orbiting the proton. It is also known as protium.
|-
|Deuterium
|Yes
|Deuterium is the second most common isotope of hydrogen, with one electron, and both a neutron and proton in its nucleus. About one of every 6,760 hydrogen atoms in seawater is deuterium.
|-
|Tritium
|Yes
|Tritium is the third most common isotope of hydrogen, with one electron, and a nucleus of one proton and two neutrons, for an atomic mass of three {{w|Dalton (unit)|daltons}}. It is radioactive with a half-life of about twelve years, and is very rare (but not as rare as unbound "instant hydrogen" neutrons.)
|-
|Ium
|No
|This imaginary isotope consists of one electron orbiting around nothing. The name relates to the fact that the two heavier isotopes are named from a prefix designating the number of {{w|nucleons}} followed by the suffix "-ium", which is sometimes used satirically, e.g., in "unobtainium."
|-o
|Wheelium
|No
|This fictional form consists of a proton, electron, and neutron orbiting around nothing, shaped similarly to a wheel.
|-
|Instant hydrogen (ready in 15 minutes)
|Yes, but rare
|This is just a single neutron. Unbound neutrons will take about fifteen minutes to decay into a proton, an electron, and a neutrino, which ''can'' then form into a hydrogen atom, [https://van.physics.illinois.edu/ask/listing/1207 but do only four times in a million.] The name is likely a reference to "instant" meals that require less preparation time than traditional varieties, e.g., instant noodles.
|-
|Hydrogen (maximum strength)
|No
|This fictional isotope consists of a proton, an electron, and what appear to be at least 14 neutrons. This isotope's proton would not be bound to all the neutrons. It would immediately {{w|Nuclear drip line|drip}} away most of them.
|-
|Oops, All Neutrons
|Maybe
|This fictional form consists of four neutrons, a {{w|tetraneutron}}, with one orbiting around a group of three. The name is likely a reference to an American breakfast cereal called {{w|Cap'n Crunch#Variations|Oops! All Berries}}. The title text states three other names of this form. 1. "Neutral Quadrium": quadrium could be a hydrogen-4 isotope with three neutrons, but in this case the positive proton and negative electron have been replaced with a neutron, making all particles in the isotope neutral. 2. "Nydnonen". 3. "Goth Tritium": all the particles in the diagram are completely back, resembling stereotypical goth fashion.
|}

{{notice2|The Mountain View, California Public Library is hosting an online chat with [[Randall Munroe]] Tuesday, January 31 at 11am Pacific. [https://libraryc.org/mountainviewlibrary/22032 Register here to send your question(s) to the moderators.]|image=Crystal Project Agt announcements.png}} 

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

There are 8 drawings of atoms, arranges 4 across and 2 down, in the Planetary model. Each has a label underneath. Here, they are listed left-to-right top-to-bottom.

1 electron, 1 proton: Hydrogen

1 electron, 1 proton, 1 neutron: Deuterium

1 electron, 1 proton, 1 neutron: Tritium

1 electron only: ium

1 electron, 1 proton, 1 neutron, all orbiting together around nothing: Wheelium

1 proton only: Instant Hydrogen (ready in 15 minutes)

1 proton, 1 electron, lots of neutrons: Hydrogen (Maximum Strength)

1 neutron orbiting 3 other neutrons: Oops, all neutrons
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Chemistry]]

Talk:2665: America Songs

2022-08-30T07:02:08Z

Magtei: Dipthong follow-up

Many of these rely on "ia"/"ie"/"io" serving as the 3rd and 4th syllables, so every song would be sung like "God Bless <s>Olimpiya</s> Algeriya". Virginia Beach appears to be the only one to escape this.--[[User:Magtei|Magtei]] ([[User talk:Magtei|talk]]) 19:39, 29 August 2022 (UTC)
:As a Washingtonian, I pronounce Olympia without the diphthong (so four syllables; the “a” being distinct). It’s probably a dialect thing, and some pronunciations are more common than others, but as long as one fairly-common pronunciation scans, I think it’s fine. [User:Szeth Pancakes|Szeth Pancakes] ([[User talk:Szeth Pancakes|talk]]) 03:37, 30 August 2022 (UTC)
::Alright, bad example. Skipping it is unheard of in areas further south. Do you (or a large part of the US) fully pronounce most dipthongs, [https://www.howmanysyllables.com/syllables/syria Syria with three syllables], etc.?--[[User:Magtei|Magtei]] ([[User talk:Magtei|talk]]) 07:02, 30 August 2022 (UTC)
:There are also some locations with three-syllable names, such as Detroit Lakes or Fergus Falls (both located northwest of St. Cloud, Minnesota) which, although not listed by Randall, will also work and not use the noted syllables. [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 02:35, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

This phrase, "scans to", has me confused. Can the explanation address what this is supposed to mean?
--anon 16:23, 29 August 2022
:You betcha [[User:Szeth Pancakes|Szeth Pancakes]] ([[User talk:Szeth Pancakes|talk]]) 20:38, 29 August 2022 (UTC)
::What does scanning mean in relation to sung verse? Just syllables and their stress pattern, or is their more? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.28|172.69.34.28]] 23:11, 29 August 2022 (UTC)
:::I'm not familiar with the term, but I assume it's related to scansion. If I'm right, it's probably just syllables and stress pattern. [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 06:52, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

Aussie here: we tend to say (and sing) "Australia" with three syllables. For example, see the [https://www.pmc.gov.au/resource-centre/government/australian-national-anthem-scores Australian national anthem]. Occasionally two syllables: Straya mate!! But saying it with four syllables is perhaps an American thing. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.207|162.158.2.207]] 21:19, 29 August 2022 (UTC)
:Interesting! It probably is a dialect thing. As an American, I've always pronounced it with four. [[User:Szeth Pancakes|Szeth Pancakes]] ([[User talk:Szeth Pancakes|talk]]) 21:23, 29 August 2022 (UTC)

In the comic, Saskatchewan is spelled as Sasketchewan. Might be fixed later?

Just putting this here: https://www.quora.com/A-lot-of-place-names-in-the-USA-have-four-syllables-Minnesota-Chattanooga-Albuquerque-Tallahassee-Talladega-Massachusetts-Massapequa-Mississippi-Cincinnati-Sacramento-Indiana-Alabama-Oklahoma-etc-Is-there-a (with the understanding that "scanning" doesn't necessarily mean only the number of syllables, e.g. Al-BUH-ker-key has the wrong stress pattern.)[[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.49|172.70.210.49]] 21:51, 29 August 2022 (UTC)
:Hot dog, jumping frog, Albuquerque! [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.211|172.69.79.211]] 22:03, 29 August 2022 (UTC)
::''AlBUquerque, AlBUquerque, God shed his grace on theee...!'' [[Special:Contributions/172.70.207.8|172.70.207.8]] 22:46, 29 August 2022 (UTC)

Does anyone know how to craft a Wikidata query for all the place names with four syllables following the .'.. stress pattern? We should probably say how many there are. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.183|172.70.214.183]] 23:15, 29 August 2022 (UTC)

Jurassic park, Jurassic park, how lovely are thy branches… [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 23:31, 29 August 2022 (UTC)

The pronunciation of Vidalia, Georgia, is "vi-DAIL-ya" -- three syllables, not four. It doesn't actually scan like "America". Seems like the comic is assuming the pronunciation is "vee-DAHL-ee-ah", which would scan.ing
:And the age old question of whether an optional schwa constitutes a syllable rears its head. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.161|172.69.134.161]] 05:14, 30 August 2022 (UTC)