explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1840: Genetic Testing Results

2017-05-22T14:06:04Z

Meow56: Basic explanation

{{comic
| number = 1840
| date = May 22, 2017
| title = Genetic Testing Results
| image = genetic_testing_results.png
| titletext = That's very exciting! The bad news is that it's a risk factor for a lot of things.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Some paragraphs are missing so that it becomes as long as the other explanations.}}
Ponytail continues Cueball's medical checkup with a genetic test.

Genetic tests show people what diseases they're at risk for. In this case, the genetic results are extremely obvious: His genes are part of a long line of genes stretching back to the first organism on Earth.

This comic is similar to the previous one, as in both comics a doctor tells a patient something that is true for all living human beings, which is humorous. In fact, the drawing is extremely similar to Panel 1 of the previous comic.

The title text says that this is a risk factor because every living human being is susceptible to various risks.

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

{{comic discussion}}

1837: Rental Car

2017-05-15T12:54:08Z

Meow56: incredibly, not "in credibly"

{{comic
| number = 1837
| date = May 15, 2017
| title = Rental Car
| image = rental_car.png
| titletext = Technically, both cars are haunted, but the murder ghosts can't stand listening to the broken GPS for more than a few minutes.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Work in progress}}

In this comic the couple [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] want to rent a car. The [[:Category:Multiple Cueballs|Cueball-like guy]] from the {{w|car rental}} agency tells them they only have two vehicles available:
* One car that puts its occupants into mortal danger, so much so that it is called ''The Murder Car''. The danger, however, is abstract - it is [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/haunted haunted] by a {{w|ghost}}, and actual death befalls only "maybe one in six". (That is the equivalent of a round of {{w|Russian Roulette}}).
* The other car, a regular {{w|Sedan (automobile)|Sedan}}, has a defective {{w|GPS}} that incessantly gives instructions to go specifically to {{w|Seattle}}, regardless of the driver's intention to go there. And it cannot be turned off.

Megan believes she can ignore this and accepts the least lethal car. The comic suggests that driving with a GPS that tries to guide you to a different destination than that which you wish to visit - so it is always recalculating and asking you to do U-turns - is incredibly annoying. So annoying that given the choice between the persistent low-level annoyance of the GPS on one hand, and the ("low") probability of being murdered on the other, most people will choose the latter option. After all, they might survive murderous ghosts but they feel they will not survive long having to listen to the broken GPS.

According to the title text, the murderous ghosts haunt both cars, but as soon as the car starts driving and the GPS begins to drone on, even the ghost cannot stand listening to the broken GPS and returns to ''The Murder Car''.

Apart from the joke about GPS, there is also a joke on the horrible cars one might get at a car rental service...

==Transcript==
:[A Cueball-like guy standing behind a desk looking at a computer screen services Megan and Cueball on the other side of the desk.]
:Guy: We have two rental cars left.
:Guy: One is the murder car. But don't let the name scare you!
:Guy: It's definitely haunted. But most drivers don't get murdered.
:Guy: Maybe one in six.

:[The guy lifts his hand and looks at Megan and Cueball.]
:Guy: The other is a regular Sedan.
:Guy: But is has a GPS that's stuck trying to navigate to Seattle.
:Megan: ...I can ignore it, right? That's fine.

:[In a frame-less panel Megan and Cueball drives in the Sedan.]
:GPS: Turn left
:GPS: Recalculating
:GPS: Make a U-Turn
:GPS: Recalculating
:GPS: Turn right
:GPS: Make a U-Turn
:GPS: Recalculating

:[Megan and Cueball walks back into the the guy behind his desk. Megan holds out the car keys in one hand.]
:Guy: Back already?
:Megan: We'll take the murder car.
:Guy: Popular Choice.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]

1837: Rental Car

2017-05-15T12:26:30Z

Meow56: car, not cat

{{comic
| number = 1837
| date = May 15, 2017
| title = Rental Car
| image = rental_car.png
| titletext = Technically, both cars are haunted, but the murder ghosts can't stand listening to the broken GPS for more than a few minutes.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Work in progress}}

In this comic the couple [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] wants to rent a car. The [[:Category:Multiple Cueballs|Cueball-like guy]] from the {{w|car rental}} agency tells them they only have two vehicles available:
* One car that puts its occupants into mortal danger, so much that it is called ''The Murder Car''. The danger, however, is abstract - it is [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/haunted haunted] by a {{w|ghost}}, and actual death befalls only "maybe one in six". (That is like taking one go at {{w|Russian Roulette}}, not something you should ever try at home or anywhere else!).
* The other car, a regular {{w|Sedan (automobile)|Sedan}}, has a defective {{w|GPS}} that incessantly gives instructions to go specifically to {{w|Seattle}}, in spite that the driver would usually not want to go there. And it cannot be turned off!

Megan believes she can ignore this and accepts the least lethal car. But the comic suggests that driving with a GPS on that tries to guide you towards a different destination that what you wish to do, so it is always recalculating and asking you to do U-turns is so annoying, that given the choice between the persistent low-level annoyance of the GPS on one hand, and the ("low") probability of being murdered on the other, most people will choose the latter option because, after all, they might survive murderous ghosts but they feel they will not survive long having to listen to the broken GPS.

According to the title text, the murderous ghosts haunts both cars, but as soon as the car starts driving and the GPS begins to drone on, then even the ghost cannot stand listening to the broken GPS for long, and returns to ''The Murder Car''.

Apart from the joke about GPS, there is also a joke on the horrible cars one might get at a car rental service...

==Transcript==
:[A Cueball-like guy standing behind a desk looking at a computer screen services Megan and Cueball on the other side of the desk.]
:Guy: We have two rental cars left.
:Guy: One is the murder car. But don't let the name scare you!
:Guy: It's definitely haunted. But most drivers don't get murdered.
:Guy: Maybe one in six.

:[The guy lifts his hand and looks at Megan and Cueball.]
:Guy: The other is a regular Sedan.
:Guy: But is has a GPS that's stuck trying to navigate to Seattle.
:Megan: ...I can ignore it, right? That's fine.

:[In a frame-less panel Megan and Cueball drives in the Sedan.]
:GPS: Turn left
:GPS: Recalculating
:GPS: Make a U-Turn
:GPS: Recalculating
:GPS: Turn right
:GPS: Make a U-Turn
:GPS: Recalculating

:[Megan and Cueball walks back into the the guy behind his desk. Megan holds out the car keys in one hand.]
:Guy: Back already?
:Megan: We'll take the murder car.
:Guy: Popular Choice.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]

1831: Here to Help

2017-05-02T00:31:09Z

Meow56: Edited explanation to follow the comic

{{comic
| number = 1831
| date = May 1, 2017
| title = Here to Help
| image = here_to_help.png
| titletext = "We TOLD you it was hard." "Yeah, but now that I'VE tried, we KNOW it's hard."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|No details are included. Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is a satire of computer programmers, who sometimes forget that not everything can be solved with an algorithm. In the first panel, [[Megan]] talks about how the field that she and [[Hairy]] works in has a difficult problem that many people have been working on. [[Cueball]], believing that algorithms can solve their problem, tries to help. In the next panel, Megan and Hairy silently watch Cueball working on the problem on his laptop. Finally, six months later, Cueball concedes, and an exasperated Megan retorts sarcastically, pointing out that she had explained its difficulty six months ago with the timeline.

The title text furthers Cueball's apparent arrogance by showing a dialogue. Megan or Hairy says, "We TOLD you it was hard," referring to the first panel, but Cueball, still confident in his own ability's superiority, says, "Yeah, but now that I'VE tried, we KNOW it's hard." The joke is that Cueball believes that, even though he has just failed, it was his attempt which proved the difficulty, and not Megan and Hairy's work for years.

The satire, however, applies far beyond computer programmers. It can be read as a political commentary. ("Who knew healthcare was hard.") It is what we'd all like to see when well-meaning advice givers provide the "simple" solution to all our problems, or management provides glib advice from ten thousand feet. It is a commentary on the universal tendency to see problems as simple because we don't know what makes them hard.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Is this complete?}}
'''Megan:''' (speaking to Hairy) Our field has been struggling with this problem for years.

'''Cueball:''' Struggle no more! I'm here to solve it with ''algorithms!''

''[beat panel]''

'''Caption:''' Six months later:<br/>
'''Cueball:''' Wow, this problem is really hard.<br/>
'''Megan:''' ''You don't say.''

{{comic discussion}}

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

1825: 7 Eleven

2017-04-17T14:16:20Z

Meow56: Changed Incomplete comment

{{comic
| number = 1825
| date = April 17, 2017
| title = 7 Eleven
| image = 7_eleven.png
| titletext = Really, the only honest 24-hour stores are the ones in places like Arizona and Hawaii, and many of them are still wrong in certain years.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Basic Explanation. Needs more. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Many stores advertise being open 24/7, which means that they're open all day, every day. The joke here is that a Mars day is 24 hours and 37 minutes, which leads to the 7-11 being closed for 37 minutes.

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

{{comic discussion}}

1825: 7 Eleven

2017-04-17T14:13:33Z

Meow56: Basic Explanation. Please add to it.

{{comic
| number = 1825
| date = April 17, 2017
| title = 7 Eleven
| image = 7_eleven.png
| titletext = Really, the only honest 24-hour stores are the ones in places like Arizona and Hawaii, and many of them are still wrong in certain years.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Many stores advertise being open 24/7, which means that they're open all day, every day. The joke here is that a Mars day is 24 hours and 37 minutes, which leads to the 7-11 being closed for 37 minutes.

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

{{comic discussion}}