748: Worst-Case Scenario

2016-10-17T21:51:55Z

MonacleforSauron: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 748
| date = June 2, 2010
| title = Worst-Case Scenario
| image = worst_case_scenario.png
| titletext = To get serious analyses of hurricanes and oil slicks, see Jeff Masters' blog. To get serious discussions of worst-case scenario thinking, see Bruce Schneier's blog. To get enough Vitamin D, don't read any blogs and go outside instead.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a reference to the {{w|Deepwater Horizon}} oil spill that happened in the {{w|Gulf of Mexico}}. {{w|Top kill}} is a reference to a procedure used as a means of regaining control over an oil well that is experiencing an uncontrolled eruption of crude oil. {{w|Michael Bay}} is an American film director known for his over the top special effects and plots.

This comic is a commentary on the state of broadcast journalism and how they are always looking for speculation and voyeurism rather than facts. That they ask if Mr. Bay's proposed firestorm will have any effect on the then-upcoming congressional elections just serves to underline how little the journalists actually care about the damage that has actually been caused.

James Carville is a political commentator who was born and lives in Louisiana, and thus relates to media, politics, and Louisiana at once.

The title text has a reference to Jeff Masters, who is director of meteorology at Weather Underground and Bruce Schneier, who is a world-renowned security expert and has a [https://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/show.html/ blog] and several books. Vitamin D is a vitamin that the human body can synthesize with the aid of direct sunlight; the joke, "go outside", is Randall accusing us of all being shut-ins.

==Transcript==
:[Two reporters, Cueball and Ponytail, point microphones toward a scientist, Megan.]
:Ponytail: Dr. Scientist! The "Top Kill" has failed! What's the worse-case scenario for the gulf?
:Megan: The worst-case scenario is what's happening now.

:Ponytail, out of frame: Yes, but is there any way it could get worse?
:Megan: Sure, but there are real disasters happening now, and you're substituting speculation and voyeurism for the investigative journalism we—
:Ponytail: Screw this! Let's ask Michael Bay.

:[The reporters, now joined by a camerawoman, approach Michael Bay with their microphones.]
:Michael Bay: The worst case? A hurricane tracks into the gulf, whipping the surface of the spill into a frothy mix of oil and air.

:[An alligator-filled conflagration atop a massive ocean wave approaches land.]
:Michael Bay, narrating: As the storm surges through the bayous, sparking power lines ignite the fuel air mixture into a roiling, alligator-filled wall of flame.

:[A map of the gulf coast of Louisiana and southwest Mississippi is depicted with the current routes of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers highlighted. An arrow indicating a new primary flow of the Mississippi's waters into the Atchafalaya points toward southern Louisiana.]
:Michael Bay, narrating: Plowing northward, the fire hurricane destroys the Old River Control Structure in Concordia, rerouting the Mississippi westward and sweeping Morgan City and the heart of cajun country out to sea.

:Michael Bay: James Carville emerges from the conflagration riding a burning alligator...
:Ponytail, out of frame: Will this affect the midterm elections?
:Michael Bay: ''Massively''.

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

Talk:759: 3x9

2016-08-01T23:58:09Z

MonacleforSauron:

In the middle of a Physics I exam, I forgot one of the equations of motion. Using my basic working knowledge of Calculus and the relationship between acceleration, velocity, and position, I managed to derive an equation which I used to solve the problem. When I got my exam back, I was given only partial credit because I got the right answer using the wrong formula.[[User:Smperron|Smperron]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]])
: Ah, [insert your nation here]'s educational system at work. {{unsigned ip|ImVeryAngryItsNotButter}}
:: Or perhaps re-estimate the value of making the cubed root of 81 look like 27 when the marker knows it is really 4.32674871092 and a bit. [[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]])
:::Uh, no, xth root is written as superscript....? Or am I missing the joke. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.19|173.245.54.19]] 19:54, 31 October 2015 (UTC)

I had an old math teacher once who didn't spend too much effort in grading trickier problems, so I got away with something similar in deriving Lagrange's Trig Identity in a complex class. Maybe 8 steps from the LHS and 2 steps from the RHS were right, and the equals sign that joined them was a leap of faith. --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 01:55, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

This is particularly useful when Wolfram|Alpha tells you the answer, but you don't know how to get the answer, and you can't afford Pro. [[User:MonacleforSauron|MonacleforSauron]] ([[User talk:MonacleforSauron|talk]]) 23:58, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

Some browsers seem not to support formulas without add-ons etc. I added the formula also in simple characters. {{unsigned ip|162.158.91.219}}

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

748: Worst-Case Scenario

Talk:759: 3x9