explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Syndication

2020-05-28T21:18:39Z

Pinguin8218:

{{comic
| date = April 1, 2007
| title = Syndication
| image = syndication.jpg
| ldomain = imgs
| lappend = comics/xkcd_ufs.jpg
| titletext = Complaints should be directed to the xkcd writing staff.
| before = Now that xkcd is carried by United Features Syndicate, there are going to be a few changes to the comic. Obviously, with the rights signed over, it will no longer be published under Creative Commons, and all previous strips will be retroactively un-CC'd and relicensed under UFS terms. All online content will be protected via proprietary DRM. I also recieved a letter outlining topics and content that would be off-limits in the new xkcd. Prohibited content includes:

- Cultural references that would be lost on the average newspaper reader

- Mathematics above the high-school level

- Obscure scientific subjects

- Overt sexual material

- Objectionable words such as fuck, shit, cunt, ass, tits, cock, scrotum, bitch, Belgium, pussy, or twat

- Same-sex relationships

- Star Wars

- Star Trek (Original Series and Enterprise)

- The home phone numbers of White House employees

- Bacon-based currencies

- Erotic use of flywheels

- Exposés regarding other United Features syndicated characters

- Exposés regarding the personal lives of United Features Syndicate executives, specifically including CEO Kenneth Lowe

- Teledildonics

- Portrayals of Johnny Cash as an Amway distributor

- Any story that ends with "and that's how my penis got the nickname 'grappling hook'."

- Computer-computer cybersex

- Swordfights between white people

- Bitch & Animal

- Sexualization of Mt. Rushmore

- Staplers as mélée weapons

- Road trip buddy comedies starring Tank Girl and William Howard Taft

- Eric S. Raymond performing in Cirque du Soleil

- Hats with buckles

- Licking of nipples atop a moving train

The internet is the past. Newspapers are the future! See you in the funny papers.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EROTIC FLYWHEEL. Needs a list explaining all the changes required. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is a non-numbered [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]], and is the first April fools' joke performed on xkcd. This comic is formatted similarly to other posts such as [[Blue Eyes]]. The post describes xkcd becoming syndicated into a newspaper, changing from a webcomic. Newspapers are notorious for censorship of content, and [[Randall]] describes all the changes that would be required of the comic, the humor coming from their progressive absurdity.

Randall then offers a "free preview" of the new syndicated version of XKCD. This is a parody of newspaper comics such as ''Garfield'', which tend to use relatively weak jokes in order to appeal to a broad audience. Notably:
*The joke being told, "Why did the computer cross the road?", is based on one of the most well-known jokes in existence. Those who know the joke have probably heard variations of it dozens of times, and will not find another one to be very humorous.
*The punchline of the "joke" is that computers are complicated. This relates to the general cultural stereotype (in the US) that [[1050: Forgot Algebra|math is hard]], and by extension anything related to math is hard.
*The punchline is followed by an extensive editor's note explaining the meaning of the acronym "{{w|LOL}}." Although that acronym could be considered the most niche terminology in the comic, it is still one of the most well-known texting abbreviations.
*Furthermore, the editor's note clarifies that LOL is meant to be an indicator to the audience that they should find something funny. The fact that humor has to be pointed out to the comic reader shows just how weak it is.
*The layout of the comic is a clear reference to ''Garfield'', including the usage of three identically sized panels (in the same aspect ratio as ''Garfield''), the use of borders around the outer panels but not the one in the middle, the fact that the characters [https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1987/11/11 don't change poses] between panels, and the floor taking up about 15% of the bottom of each panel. See [https://d1ejxu6vysztl5.cloudfront.net/comics/garfield/2020/2020-04-30.gif here] for an example.
In addition, the strip image is noticeably grainy, as if it were a photograph of a newspaper.

===List of Changes supposedly imposed on Randall===

; Cultural References that would be lost on the average newspaper reader
:xkcd is known for its niche cultural references, one of the main reasons this wiki exists.
; Mathematics above the high-school level
:Another trademark of xkcd is its use of mathematics for humor. More complex mathematics tends to lend itself less well to comedy.
; Obscure scientific subjects
:Again, this is a common feature of xkcd comics, which turns off many would-be readers for its exclusivity, making xkcd difficult to syndicate.
; Overt sexual material
:xkcd's abstract art style means that it can get away with sexual content without seeming profane, and takes advantage of this often.
; Objectionable words such as {{w|fuck}}, {{w|shit}}, {{w|cunt}}, {{w|ass}}, {{w|tits}}, {{w|cock}}, {{w|scrotum}}, {{w|bitch}}, {{w|Belgium}}, {{w|pussy}}, or {{w|twat}}
:Newspaper comics tend to have very "clean" humor, which xkcd's usual writing style is ill suited for. Belgium is the rudest word in the universe according to {{w|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}.
; {{w|Same Sex relationships}}
:Newspapers are more often read by older people, so same-sex relationships are often absent to avoid conservative backlash.
; {{w|Star Wars}}
:Star Wars, a common reference in xkcd, is an intellectual property that would need to be licensed, at great expense to United.
; {{w|Star Trek}} (Original and Enterprise)
:Similar case to Star Wars. It is curious that the original series and Enterprise are referenced specifically, and not any of the intervening series (i.e. ''The Next Generation'', ''Deep Space 9'', ''Voyager'')
; The home phone numbers of {{w|White House}} employees
:At this point, the list items begin to become more absurd, tipping more credulous readers off to the joke.
; {{w|Bacon}} Based Currencies
: {{w|Bacon}} was a significant meme around this time, especially on Reddit, where XKCD comics were very popular.
; Erotic use of {{w|Flywheels}}
:While it is hard to see how one could use Flywheels erotically, {{w|Rule 34 (Internet meme)|there have been attempts}}.
; Exposés regarding other United Features syndicated characters
:Here Randall seems to imply that certain (fictional) comic strip characters are involved in scandals, of which he knows the details.
; Exposés regarding the personal lives of {{w|United Features Syndicate}} executives, specifically including CEO {{w|Kenneth Lowe}}
:overly specific stipulations like this one often suggest scandals or wrongdoing of the named parties.
; {{w|Teledildonics}}
:A form of technology used to have sex remotely, obviously unsuitable for the funnies.
; Portrayals of {{w|Johnny Cash}} as an {{w|Amway}} distributor
:Amway is a {{w|Multi-level marketing}} company; a link to Johnny Cash is not apparent.
; Any story that ends with "and that's how my penis got the nickname 'grappling hook'.
: As comics are expected to be family friendly, anything involving rope-driven genitalia grappling devices would likely be unwelcome.
; Computer-computer {{w|Cybersex}}
:Two chatbots cybering with one another is a plausibly real thing, and an easy target for xkcd.
; {{w|Swordfights}} between white people
:Possibly a reference to the cliché that white people can't dance.
; {{w|Bitch & Animal}}
:A "queercore" gay punk band, never mentioned elsewhere in xkcd.
; {{w|Sexualization}} of {{w|Mount Rushmore}}
:Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into Mount Rushmore features the 60-foot (18 m) heads of Presidents George Washington (1732–1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), and Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), as for the sexualization of the mountain, See ''Erotic use of Flywheels.''
; Staplers as {{w|Melee weapon|mélée weapons}}
:By folding a stapler open and compressing its upper half, a stapler can be used as a very ineffective{{Citation needed}} imitation of a hand gun. Hand guns are ranged weapons, and therefore not mélée weapons.
; Road trip buddy comedies starring {{w|Tank Girl}} and {{w|William Howard Taft}}
: This is simply a bit of surrealism on Randall's part; Tank Girl (the subject of a comic book and 80s cult sci-fi movie) and William Howard Taft (the president that everyone knows as "The one that was so fat he got stuck in the tub) would have very little reason to go on a road trip together.
; {{w|Eric S. Raymond}} performing in {{w|Cirque du Soleil}}
: More surrealism. Eric S. Raymond (more commonly known by his login name esr) is a controversial figure in the tech scene; he's most well known for maintaining (poorly, in some people's opinion) the legendary Jargon File, and for writing The Cathedral and the Bazaar, which some consider one of the seminal manifestos of the modern Open Source/Free Software movement. He would have very little time or energy to spend performing French-Canadian contortion-based performance art.
; Hats with buckles
:
; Licking of nipples atop a moving train
:

==Transcript==
:[A Cueball and his Cueball-like friend are standing in some sort of grassy area.]
:Cueball: Why did the computer cross the road?
:Friend: I don't know.

:[Same scene, but Cueball and his friend are moved to the right.]
:Cueball: I don't know either! Computers are so complicated!
:Friend: LOL!

:Editor's note: "LOL" is an online acronym for "laughing out loud." It alerts you to something funny, so keep an eye out!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:April fools' comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics_with_color]]
[[Category:Extra_comics]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]

Syndication

2020-05-28T21:17:27Z

Pinguin8218:

{{comic
| date = April 1, 2007
| title = Syndication
| image = syndication.jpg
| ldomain = imgs
| lappend = comics/xkcd_ufs.jpg
| titletext = Complaints should be directed to the xkcd writing staff.
| before = Now that xkcd is carried by United Features Syndicate, there are going to be a few changes to the comic. Obviously, with the rights signed over, it will no longer be published under Creative Commons, and all previous strips will be retroactively un-CC'd and relicensed under UFS terms. All online content will be protected via proprietary DRM. I also recieved a letter outlining topics and content that would be off-limits in the new xkcd. Prohibited content includes:

- Cultural references that would be lost on the average newspaper reader

- Mathematics above the high-school level

- Obscure scientific subjects

- Overt sexual material

- Objectionable words such as fuck, shit, cunt, ass, tits, cock, scrotum, bitch, Belgium, pussy, or twat

- Same-sex relationships

- Star Wars

- Star Trek (Original Series and Enterprise)

- The home phone numbers of White House employees

- Bacon-based currencies

- Erotic use of flywheels

- Exposés regarding other United Features syndicated characters

- Exposés regarding the personal lives of United Features Syndicate executives, specifically including CEO Kenneth Lowe

- Teledildonics

- Portrayals of Johnny Cash as an Amway distributor

- Any story that ends with "and that's how my penis got the nickname 'grappling hook'."

- Computer-computer cybersex

- Swordfights between white people

- Bitch & Animal

- Sexualization of Mt. Rushmore

- Staplers as mélée weapons

- Road trip buddy comedies starring Tank Girl and William Howard Taft

- Eric S. Raymond performing in Cirque du Soleil

- Hats with buckles

- Licking of nipples atop a moving train

The internet is the past. Newspapers are the future! See you in the funny papers.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EROTIC FLYWHEEL. Needs a list explaining all the changes required. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is a non-numbered [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]], and is the first April fools' joke performed on xkcd. This comic is formatted similarly to other posts such as [[Blue Eyes]]. The post describes xkcd becoming syndicated into a newspaper, changing from a webcomic. Newspapers are notorious for censorship of content, and [[Randall]] describes all the changes that would be required of the comic, the humor coming from their progressive absurdity.

Randall then offers a "free preview" of the new syndicated version of XKCD. This is a parody of newspaper comics such as ''Garfield'', which tend to use relatively weak jokes in order to appeal to a broad audience. Notably:
*The joke being told, "Why did the computer cross the road?", is based on one of the most well-known jokes in existence. Those who know the joke have probably heard variations of it dozens of times, and will not find another one to be very humorous.
*The punchline of the "joke" is that computers are complicated. This relates to the general cultural stereotype (in the US) that [[1050: Forgot Algebra|math is hard]], and by extension anything related to math is hard.
*The punchline is followed by an extensive editor's note explaining the meaning of the acronym "{{w|LOL}}." Although that acronym could be considered the most niche terminology in the comic, it is still one of the most well-known texting abbreviations.
*Furthermore, the editor's note clarifies that LOL is meant to be an indicator to the audience that they should find something funny. The fact that humor has to be pointed out to the comic reader shows just how weak it is.
*The layout of the comic is a clear reference to ''Garfield'', including the usage of three identically sized panels (in the same aspect ratio as ''Garfield''), the use of borders around the outer panels but not the one in the middle, the fact that the characters [https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1987/11/11 don't change poses] between panels, and the floor taking up about 15% of the bottom of each panel. See [https://d1ejxu6vysztl5.cloudfront.net/comics/garfield/2020/2020-04-30.gif here] for an example.
In addition, the strip image is noticeably grainy, as if it were a photograph of a newspaper.

===List of Changes supposedly imposed on Randall===

; Cultural References that would be lost on the average newspaper reader
:xkcd is known for its niche cultural references, one of the main reasons this wiki exists.
; Mathematics above the high-school level
:Another trademark of xkcd is its use of mathematics for humor. More complex mathematics tends to lend itself less well to comedy.
; Obscure scientific subjects
:Again, this is a common feature of xkcd comics, which turns off many would-be readers for its exclusivity, making xkcd difficult to syndicate.
; Overt sexual material
:xkcd's abstract art style means that it can get away with sexual content without seeming profane, and takes advantage of this often.
; Objectionable words such as {{w|fuck}}, {{w|shit}}, {{w|cunt}}, {{w|ass}}, {{w|tits}}, {{w|cock}}, {{w|scrotum}}, {{w|bitch}}, {{w|Belgium}}, {{w|pussy}}, or {{w|twat}}
:Newspaper comics tend to have very "clean" humor, which xkcd's usual writing style is ill suited for. Belgium is the rudest word in the universe according to {{w|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}.
; {{w|Same Sex relationships}}
:Newspapers are more often read by older people, so same-sex relationships are often absent to avoid conservative backlash.
; {{w|Star Wars}}
:Star Wars, a common reference in xkcd, is an intellectual property that would need to be licensed, at great expense to United.
; {{w|Star Trek}} (Original and Enterprise)
:Similar case to Star Wars. It is curious that the original series and Enterprise are referenced specifically, and not any of the intervening series (i.e. ''The Next Generation'', ''Deep Space 9'', ''Voyager'')
; The home phone numbers of {{w|White House}} employees
:At this point, the list items begin to become more absurd, tipping more credulous readers off to the joke.
; {{w|Bacon}} Based Currencies
: {{w|Bacon}} was a significant meme around this time, especially on Reddit, where XKCD comics were very popular.
; Erotic use of {{w|Flywheels}}
:While it is hard to see how one could use Flywheels erotically, {{w|Rule 34 (Internet meme)|there have been attempts}}.
; Exposés regarding other United Features syndicated characters
:Here Randall seems to imply that certain (fictional) comic strip characters are involved in scandals, of which he knows the details.
; Exposés regarding the personal lives of {{w|United Features Syndicate}} executives, specifically including CEO {{w|Kenneth Lowe}}
:overly specific stipulations like this one often suggest scandals or wrongdoing of the named parties.
; {{w|Teledildonics}}
:A form of technology used to have sex remotely, obviously unsuitable for the funnies.
; Portrayals of {{w|Johnny Cash}} as an {{w|Amway}} distributor
:Amway is a {{w|Multi-level marketing}} company; a link to Johnny Cash is not apparent.
; Any story that ends with "and that's how my penis got the nickname 'grappling hook'.
: As comics are expected to be family friendly, anything involving rope-driven genitalia grappling devices would likely be unwelcome.
; Computer-computer {{w|Cybersex}}
:Two chatbots cybering with one another is a plausibly real thing, and an easy target for xkcd.
; {{w|Swordfights}} between white people
:Possibly a reference to the cliché that white people can't dance.
; {{w|Bitch & Animal}}
:A "queercore" gay punk band, never mentioned elsewhere in xkcd.
; {{w|Sexualization}} of {{w|Mount Rushmore}}
:Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into Mount Rushmore features the 60-foot (18 m) heads of Presidents George Washington (1732–1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), and Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), as for the sexualization of the mountain, See ''Erotic use of Flywheels.''
; Staplers as {{w|Melee weapon|mélée weapons}}
:By folding a stapler open and compressing its upper half, a stapler can be used as a very ineffective{{Citation needed}} imitation of a hand gun. Hand guns are ranged weapons, and therefore not mélée weapons.
; Road trip buddy comedies starring {{w|Tank Girl}} and {{w|William Howard Taft}}
: This is simply a bit of surrealism on Randall's part; Tank Girl (the subject of a comic book and 80s cult sci-fi movie) and William Howard Taft (the president that everyone knows as "The one that was so fat he got stuck in the tub) would have very little reason to go on a road trip together.
; {{w|Eric S. Raymond}} performing in {{w|Cirque du Soleil}}
: More surrealism. Eric S. Raymond (more commonly known by his login name esr) is a controversial figure in the tech scene; he's most well known for maintaining (poorly, in some people's opinion) the legendary Jargon File, and for writing The Cathedral and the Bazaar, which some consider one of the seminal manifestos of the modern Open Source/Free Software movement. He would have very little time or energy to spend performing French-Canadian contortion-based performance art.
; Hats with buckles
:
; Licking of nipples atop a moving train
:

==Transcript==
:[A Cueball and his Cueball-like friend are standing in some sort of grassy area.]
:Cueball: Why did the computer cross the road?
:Friend: I don't know.

:[Same scene, but cueball and his friend are moved to the right.]
:Cueball: I don't know either! Computers are so complicated!
:Friend: LOL!

:Editor's note: "LOL" is an online acronym for "laughing out loud." It alerts you to something funny, so keep an eye out!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:April fools' comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics_with_color]]
[[Category:Extra_comics]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]

1928: Seven Years

2020-05-28T18:58:40Z

Pinguin8218:

{{comic
| number = 1928
| date = December 13, 2017
| title = Seven Years
| image = seven_years.png
| titletext = [hair in face] "SEVVVENNN YEEEARRRSSS"
}}

==Explanation==

[[Randall]]'s then girlfriend, now wife, was diagnosed with cancer in late 2010, a matter he has discussed in the comic [[:Category:Cancer|multiple times before]]. Here, motivated by the seven-year period between the American solar eclipses of {{w|Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017|2017}} and {{w|Solar eclipse of April 8, 2024|2024}}, we see them reminiscing the seven years prior to the first eclipse, leaving an open question to what the next seven years will bring.

This comic is a continuation of [[1141: Two Years]], which is shown as the first eight panels, slightly grayed out.

It was released as a response to another cancer diagnosis, this is explained in the [[Design_of_xkcd.com#Header_text|Header text]], which, for [[Design of xkcd.com#Unique header text|this comic only]], has replaced the standard ''xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.'' The header for this comic, with the active link included, is:
Becky Beaton, sister of fellow cartoonist Kate Beaton, has also been diagnosed with cancer. You can support her treatment [https://www.youcaring.com/beckybeaton-1008390 here].
{{w|Kate Beaton}} is the creator of the web comic [http://www.harkavagrant.com/ Hark! A Vagrant]. Although this comic is not one on Randall's list of [[Design_of_xkcd.com#Comics_I_enjoy|Comics I enjoy]], he is clearly much influenced by another cancer diagnosis among someone in his own creative field.

[[Image:seven years key.png|right]]

Explanations of the individual panels:

*Panels 1–8: See [[1141: Two Years]], where there are also three more panels, not included here, with the punch line for that comic.
*Panel 9: Randall (drawn as [[Cueball]]) and Randall's wife (with her hair noticeably longer than it was at the end of [[1141: Two Years]], so she looks like [[Megan]]), are walking through a forest with very tall trees (maybe {{w|Sequoiadendron giganteum|giant redwood}}). The perspective is from a distant vantage point, and themes of extreme longevity are mixed with new growth: The old trees are so tall they grow out of the frame, yet saplings are clearly growing as well. Importantly, they are literally "not out of the woods yet," the very question that was posed to them at the start of [[931: Lanes]].
*Panel 10: Randall's wife is sitting down, not in the forest anymore. She is concerned because she has pain in her toe and worries that this is an early sign of her cancer spreading again. Randall points out the simpler explanation- that she stubbed her toe the previous day, and the pain is likely a result of that. This panel shows the paranoia that comes from cancer remission, as earlier explained in [[931: Lanes]].
*Panel 11: Randall and his wife are going spelunking (aka {{w|caving}}). Their guide, [[Hairy]], is gesturing deeper into the cave while Randall and his wife are climbing down. It is the first of three frames that contrast darkness and light, and two frames center on exploring a dark underworld.
*Panel 12: Randall's wife stands on a rock above an alligator in a swamp, photographing the alligator. Randall, on a balcony behind safety railings, observes that medical predictions about the odds of someone surviving cancer generally assume that the cancer patient doesn't risk something ''else'' killing them first. In this case her extreme hobbies (not related to [[:Category:My Hobby|Randall's hobbies]]).
*Panel 13: Randall's wife sits on an examination bed, listening to a doctor [[Ponytail]] holding a clipboard. The doctor talks about an issue which is "probably nothing" but ''might'' be the cancer -- again showing the paranoia that comes with cancer. Ponytail tells her not to worry about until they have the result of a full scan she will order for her. This could be a full body {{w|Positron emission tomography|PET scan}} to ensure there are no active {{w|lymph node|lymph nodes}}. If there are this could be caused be {{w|metastasis}} of the cancer to the {{w|lymphatic system}}, which would often be impossible to cure. In the first comic we see that it is very difficult to wait for the reply of such a scan.
*Panel 14: Randall and his wife stand above a deep pond full of fish and other objects. Randall's wife is piloting a wired underwater camera with lights. Randall shared pictures of his [https://blog.xkcd.com/2010/11/05/submarines/ underwater ROV] before. If this panel can be taken as following directly after the previous, it could be concluded that after some years they have learned to go do something fun rather than sit and worry for a result that they cannot change and do not know when will arrive. That would be a positive take on the sequence. They are shown both literally and figuratively searching -- as in the cave -- in the dark unknown. In the same way the doctor in the previous frame was exploring his wife's body, searching for hard to find things at depth.
*Panel 15: Randall and his wife are standing next to each other. Randall's wife has shoulder-length hair covering most of her face, and observes that, despite the chemotherapy robbing her of most of her hair six years ago, it is now growing enough to obscure her face. "The little girl from ''The Ring''" refers to {{w|Sadako Yamamura}}, the antagonist of the {{w|Ring (novel series)|''Ring'' series}} by {{w|Koji Suzuki}}, and popularized in a {{w|The Ring (2002 film)|2002 movie}}. See the title text,
*Panel 16: A line of six people, Ponytail between two other [[:Category:Multiple Cueballs|Cueball-like]] characters as well as Randall and his wife, with [[Megan]] to the right, stand and watch the corona of the Sun during the totality of the {{w|Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017|total solar eclipse of 2017}}. This has already been mentioned in [[:Category:Total Solar Eclipse 2017|several comics]] earlier in 2017, where this {{w|solar eclipse}} passed over the entire continental USA. Thematically, all three dark frames (cave, pond, and eclipse) are without speech. In this dark frame, exploration is replaced with awe, and when light comes in the next frame, speech returns and, in the light of day, determination to move forward.
*Panel 17: The sky has been brightened, and the eclipse is over. As the eclipse is cool to see in person (as Randall made clear in [[1880: Eclipse Review]]), the onlookers are left with little more than exclamations of amazement, one of which comes from Randall's wife, which 7 years ago had not expected, or even thought that she would be here to watch it (or a bit earlier, had doubted that she would be!)
*Panel 18: Randall and his wife are walking together and holding hands. When his wife inquires about the next total eclipse, Randall replies that the next one is in seven years (2024), and asks whether they should go to see it.
*Panel 19: Still walking, Randall and his wife think together about a timeline. Seven years have passed since 2010, represented with a solid line from the past to 2017; seven years in the future will be 2024, represented with a dotted line into the future and surrounded by three question marks. This is reflective of Panel 6, where "next year" is not guaranteed to be a thing.
*Panel 20: The pair keeps walking, with his wife optimistically agreeing to this stating that she will do her best to accomplish this, and Randall states that they have a date! (His way of claiming her to still be there in seven years!) His affirmation of something so simple as a "date" highlights the contrast to the natural awe of an eclipse or the staggering diagnosis of cancer, and it simultaneously elevates the event to a much higher accomplishment.

The title text is a continuation to panel 15 concerning the horror movie ''The Ring''. Specifically, watching the videotape in ''The Ring'' is supposed to kill a person in seven days, but the title text instead says "seven years".

With all these thoughts in mind, there is no wonder that he wishes to participate in helping a colleague's cancer-stricken sister with the [[Design of xkcd.com#Unique header text|unique header text]] above this comic, as mentioned above.

==Transcript==

:[The first eight panels, used earlier in the comic 1141: Two Years, are faded out.]

:[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit on a bed, Randall's fiancée is talking on the phone. The person she is talking to, a doctor holding a clipboard, is shown inset.]
:Randall's fiancée: Oh god.

:[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit together while Randall's fiancée, now bald, is receiving chemotherapy. They are both on their laptops.]
:IV pump: ... Beeep ... Beeep ... Beeep ...

:[Randall and Randall's fiancée (who is wearing a knit cap) are paddling a kayak against a scenic mountain backdrop.]

:[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit at a table, staring at a cell phone. There is a clock on the wall. Her head is stubbly.]
:Randall's fiancée: How long can it take to read a scan!?

:[Randall and Randall's fiancée are back at the hospital again, Randall's fiancée receiving chemo. They are playing Scrabble.]
:Randall: "Zarg" isn't a word.
:Randall's fiancée: But ''caaaancer.''
:Randall: ...Ok, fine.

:[Randall and Randall's fiancée (wearing a knit cap) are listening to a Cueball-like friend. A large thought bubble is above their heads and it obscures the friends talk. The text below, split in three is the only part there can be no doubt about:]
:Friend: So next year you should come visit us up in the mounta
::a
::and
:Randall and Randall's fiancée (thinking): '''"Next year"'''

:[Randall and Randall's fiancée are getting married, with a heart above their heads. Randall's wife's hair is growing back.]

:[Randall and Randall's wife (wearing a knit cap) stand on a beach, watching a whale jump out of water. This is the last gray panel, with an additional label in normal black color.]
:''Fwoosh''
:Label: Two years

:[Randall and Randall's wife (with her hair noticably longer) are walking through a forest.]

:[Randall's wife is sitting down, not in the forest anymore.]
:Randall's wife: My toe hurts and I found a report of a case in which toe pain was an early sign of cancer spreading.
:Randall: Wait—didn’t you stub your toe yesterday?
:Randall's wife: Yes, but what if this is unrelated?

:[Randall and his wife are going spelunking. The guide is gesturing deeper into the cave while Randall and his wife are climbing down.]

:[Randall's wife stands on a rock above an alligator in a swamp, photographing the alligator. Randall is on a balcony behind safety railings.]
:Randall: When they estimated your survival odds, I think they made some optimistic assumptions about your hobbies.

:[Randall's wife sits on an examination bed, listening to a doctor holding a clipboard.]
:Doctor: This is probably nothing.
:Doctor: But given your history, we should do a full scan.
:Doctor: We'll call with the results in a few days. Try not to worry about it until then!

:[Randall and his wife stand above a deep pond full of fish and other objects. Randall's wife is piloting a wired underwater camera with lights.]

:[Randall and his wife are standing next to each other. Randall's wife has shoulder-length hair covering most of her face.]
:Randall's wife: Hard to believe—six years ago, I was bald. But today, after a long struggle, I finally look like the little girl from ''The Ring''.
:Randall: That's, uhh... good?
:Randall's wife: ''Hissssss''

:[A line of six people, including Randall and his wife, stand and watch the solar eclipse.]

:[The sky has been brightened.]
:Ponytail: ''Wow.''
:Randall's wife: Yeah.

:[Randall and his wife are walking together and holding hands.]
:Randall's wife: That was incredible.
:Randall's wife: When's the next one?
:Randall: In seven years.
:Randall: Wanna go see it?

:[Still walking, Randall and his wife think together about a timeline. Seven years have passed since 2010, represented with a solid line from the past to 2017; seven years in the future will be 2024, represented with a dotted line into the future and surrounded by three question marks.]

:[The pair keeps walking.]
:Randall's wife: Yeah.
:Randall's wife: I'll do my best.
:Randall: It's a date!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Cancer]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Total Solar Eclipse 2017]]

2312: mbmbam

2020-05-28T18:46:55Z

Pinguin8218:

{{comic
| number = 2312
| date = May 27, 2020
| title = mbmbam
| image = mbmbam.png
| titletext = Hello and welcome to Millibar Millibarn Attometer, an advice show for the Planck era.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by 10^-47 BROTHERS. Missing calculation details for third panel. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In part, this comic is an homage to the referenced podcast, ''{{w|My Brother, My Brother, and Me}}'', which often features rapid garden-path conversations and puns and double entendres that are at once groan-worthy and delightfully witty. "MBMBAM" is an acryonym of "'''M'''y '''B'''rother, '''M'''y '''B'''rother, '''A'''nd '''M'''e".

The millibar is a metric unit of pressure (force per unit area), equal to a thousandth of a {{w|Bar (unit)|bar}}, or 100 {{w|Pascal_(unit)|Pa}}. It is slightly less than one-thousandth of sea-level atmospheric pressure on Earth.

The millibarn is a metric unit of area, equal to a thousandth of a {{w|Barn (unit)|barn}} (a humorously-named unit approximately equal to the cross-sectional area of a uranium nucleus), or 10^-31 m^2. Both units would theoretically have the symbol '''mb'''. Hence '''mbmb''' (the pressure unit multiplied by the area unit) would be a unit of force. This can be seen by applying dimensional analysis; pressure x area = (force/area) x area = force. Nobody in the comic strip discusses the magnitude of this force, but it would be 100 Pa x 10^-31 m^2 = 10^-29 newtons, or about the weight of an electron under Earth's gravity.

'''am''' would be the symbol of an {{w|Atto-|atto}}meter, or 10^-18 meters. Multiply that to create the unit '''mbmbam''', which would be a unit of energy. Specifically, it would be a unit of work: the energy expended to move an object. More dimensional analysis: force x distance = (work/distance) x distance = work. The actual value of 1 mbmbam is correctly calculated in the comic: 100 Pa x 10^-31 m^2 x 10^-18 m = 10^-47 joules. White Hat dubs this unit "one podcast".

The final panel is an extended series of puns: 'rise' referring to physically moving upward as well as biologically growing (expanding and becoming lighter and softer) as yeasts do; 'foam' referring to both {{w|quantum foam}} (the fluctuation of spacetime on very small scales due to quantum mechanics) as well as the foam generated by yeast fermenting; 'unleavened dimensions' punning on the eleven dimensions of spacetime in {{w|string theory}} (actually, ten—{{w|M theory}} says eleven), while continuing to play on the theme of yeast--in this case, the universe is presumably flat because some of its dimensions lack the Planck yeast that would make them rise.

The example used in the comic of lifting a yeast cell 1 Planck length is one of many possible examples of 1 mbmbam of work. (The {{w|Planck length}}, approximately 1.6×10^−35 m, is how far light travels in one unit of {{w|Planck time}}.) Another interpretation of 1 mbmbam would be the work necessary to pull two socially distancing (6 ft) COVID-19 {{w|Virus|virions}} apart by the thickness of a single strand of hair against the gravity they exert on each other.

The Planck Era (or {{w|Planck_units#Cosmology|Planck Epoch}}) referenced in the title text is the unimaginably short period covering the first 10^-43 s after the Big Bang, when energies were so high that the four fundamental forces were combined into one and ordinary subatomic particles didn't yet exist. It is unlikely there were advice shows during this era{{Citation needed}}, so this would likely be a modern nostalgia show for physicists. The title text is also a play on My Brother, My Brother and Me's tagline: ''An advice show for the modern era.''

==Transcript==

[Cueball, Megan, and White Hat are standing next to each other, talking. Megan has her hands raised to the side, in a shrugging gesture.]
:Megan: Odd how in physics "'''mb'''" is both millibars (pressure) and millibar'''n'''s (area).
:Megan: '''mbmb''' could mean millibar-millibarn, which is a unit of force, strangely.
:White Hat: Units are weird.

[Same scene - Megan is now checking her phone. White Hat is raising his right index finger.]
:Cueball: So what's '''mbmbam''', the My-Brother-My-Brother-And Me unit?
:Megan: Millibar-milliibarn-attometer, I guess? That'd be a unit of energy. 10-47 Joules.
:White Hat: "One podcast"

[Same scene in a frameless panel. Megan holds her phone to her side. White Hat has his arms raised to the side, excited.]
:Cueball: 10-47 sounds small.
:Megan: Yeah, it's roughly the energy you'd need to lift one yeast cell by one Planck length in Earth's gravity.
:White Hat: Planck yeast!

[Same scene in a regular panel. Megan has put away her phone, and has her right index finger raised. White Hat has his hands balled into fists, frustrated.]
:Cueball: Doesn't Planck yeast rise on its own?
:Megan: Yeah, that's what makes quantum foam. But data suggests our universe is flat.
:Megan: String theory says it's because spacetime has unleavened dimensions.
:White Hat: ''...I hate you.''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category: Comics featuring White Hat]]

2312: mbmbam

2020-05-28T16:55:00Z

Pinguin8218:

{{comic
| number = 2312
| date = May 27, 2020
| title = mbmbam
| image = mbmbam.png
| titletext = Hello and welcome to Millibar Millibarn Attometer, an advice show for the Planck era.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by 10^-47 BROTHERS. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In part, this comic is an homage to the referenced podcast, ''{{w|My Brother, My Brother, and Me}}'', which often features rapid garden-path conversations and puns and double entendres that are at once groan-worthy and delightfully witty. "MBMBAM" is an acryonym of "'''M'''y '''B'''rother, '''M'''y '''B'''rother, '''A'''nd '''M'''e".

The millibar is a metric unit of pressure (force per unit area), equal to a thousandth of a {{w|Bar (unit)|bar}}, or 100 {{w|Pascal_(unit)|Pa}}. It is slightly less than one-thousandth of sea-level atmospheric pressure on Earth.

The millibarn is a metric unit of area, equal to a thousandth of a {{w|Barn (unit)|barn}} (a humorously-named unit approximately equal to the cross-sectional area of a uranium nucleus), or 10^-31 m^2. Both units would theoretically have the symbol '''mb''' (though '''mbar''' for the pressure unit is more common). Hence '''mbmb''' (the pressure unit multiplied by the area unit) would be a unit of force. This can be seen by applying dimensional analysis; pressure x area = (force/area) x area = force. Nobody in the comic strip discusses the magnitude of this force, but it would be 100 Pa x 10^-31 m^2 = 10^-29 newtons, or about the weight of an electron under Earth's gravity.

'''am''' would be the symbol of an {{w|Atto-|atto}}meter, or 10^-18 meters. Multiply that to create the unit '''mbmbam''', which would be a unit of energy. Specifically, it would be a unit of work: the energy expended to move an object. More dimensional analysis: force x distance = (work/distance) x distance = work. The actual value of 1 mbmbam is correctly calculated in the comic: 100 Pa x 10^-31 m^2 x 10^-18 m = 10^-47 joules. White Hat dubs this unit "one podcast".

The final panel is an extended series of puns: 'rise' referring to physically moving upward as well as biologically growing (expanding and becoming lighter and softer) as yeasts do; 'foam' referring to both {{w|quantum foam}} (the fluctuation of spacetime on very small scales due to quantum mechanics) as well as the foam generated by yeast fermenting; 'unleavened dimensions' punning on the eleven dimensions of spacetime in {{w|string theory}} (actually, ten—{{w|M theory}} says eleven), while continuing to play on the theme of yeast--in this case, the universe is presumably flat because some of its dimensions lack the Planck yeast that would make them rise.

The example used in the comic of lifting a yeast cell 1 Planck length is one of many possible examples of 1 mbmbam of work. (The {{w|Planck length}}, approximately 1.6×10^−35 m, is how far light travels in one unit of {{w|Planck time}}.) Another interpretation of 1 mbmbam would be the work necessary to pull two socially distancing (6 ft) COVID-19 {{w|Virus|virions}} apart by the thickness of a single strand of hair against the gravity they exert on each other.

The Planck Era (or {{w|Planck_units#Cosmology|Planck Epoch}}) referenced in the title text is the unimaginably short period covering the first 10^-43 s after the Big Bang, when energies were so high that the four fundamental forces were combined into one and ordinary subatomic particles didn't yet exist. It is unlikely there were advice shows during this era {{Citation needed}}, so this would likely be a modern nostalgia show for physicists. The title text is also a play on My Brother, My Brother and Me's tagline: ''An advice show for the modern era.''

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

:[Cueball, Megan, and White Hat are standing next to each other, talking. Megan has her hands raised to the side, in a shrugging gesture.]
:Megan: Odd how in physics "'''mb'''" is both millibars (pressure) and millibar'''n'''s (area).
:Megan: '''mbmb''' could mean millibar-millibarn, which is a unit of force, strangely.
:White Hat: Units are weird.

:[Same scene - Megan is now checking her phone. White Hat is raising his right index finger.]
:Cueball: So what's '''mbmbam''', the My-Brother-My-Brother-And-Me unit?
:Megan: Millibar-millibarn-attometer, I guess? That'd be a unit of energy. 10-47 Joules.
:White Hat: "One podcast"

:[Same scene in a frameless panel. Megan holds her phone to her side. White Hat has his arms raised to the side, excited.]
:Cueball: 10-47 sounds small.
:Megan: Yeah, it's roughly the energy you'd need to lift one yeast cell by one Planck length in Earth's gravity.
:White Hat: Planck yeast!

:[Same scene in a regular panel. Megan has put away her phone, and has her right index finger raised. White Hat has his hands balled into fists, frustrated.]
:Cueball: Doesn't Planck yeast rise on its own?
:Megan: Yeah, that's what makes quantum foam. But data suggests our universe is flat.
:Megan: String theory says it's because spacetime has unleavened dimensions.
:White Hat: ''...I hate you.''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category: Comics featuring White Hat]]

1079: United Shapes

2020-05-27T17:59:53Z

Pinguin8218:

{{comic
| number = 1079
| date = July 9, 2012
| title = United Shapes
| image = united_shapes.png
| imagesize = 800px
| titletext = That eggplant is in something of a flaccid state.
}}
The large version is here: [http://xkcd.com/1079/large/ http://xkcd.com/1079/large/]
==Explanation==
In this comic, each state of the United States of America has been filled-in with an object of similar shape. Due to the size range of the states, some states are too small to clearly make-out in the normal size image. Click [http://xkcd.com/1079/large/ here] to see the large version, which makes every state perfectly clear. Several years later Randall made a new map of the US mainland [[1653: United States Map]], where he shuffled the positions of the states but filled out the outline. Also in this map Michigan has been split into two separate parts. (Here it is the mitten and the eagle).

Very few, if any, of the shapes used are stereotypes of the state; they are merely objects that look like the state. Some of the objects are those which the states are widely known to resemble. For example, Michigan is represented by a mitten and an Eagle, and a pot with handle takes the place of Oklahoma (with the panhandle region of the state filled with a literal handle). Others, however, are more creative. Few would have likely pictured Texas as a dog or Alaska as a bear with a jet pack and laser gun. There are several incredibly simple objects filling some states. Kentucky is filled by a cloud, which conceivably could have been used for any state, and Wyoming, one of the nearly rectangular states, is simply an envelope. There are three pairs of states that are related. Georgia and Missouri each contain an image of the other, drawing attention to their similar shapes, North and South Dakota are the top and bottom halves of an amp, and Alabama and Mississippi are {{w|moai}} facing in opposite directions.

Colorado contains what looks like a Wikipedia article. A close-up of the fake article is provided [http://xkcd.com/1079/colorado/]. The following references are made in the Colorado article:

*The pronunciation is not that for Colorado, but for {{w|Eyjafjallajökull}}, a volcano in Iceland that erupted in April 2010.
*The way it has a demilitarized zone towards Wyoming resembles {{W|North Korea}} and {{W|South Korea}}.
*Eleven dimensions refers to {{w|string theory}}.
*A {{w|wormhole}} is a theoretical relative of the {{w|black hole}}. This is a reference to the television series {{w|Stargate SG-1}} where a device capable of creating wormholes is located in the {{w|Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker}} in Colorado.
*A {{w|Horcrux}} is a type of magical object in the world of {{W|Harry Potter}}, which prevents the creator of it from dying.
*The radiation zones around Longmont are caused by {{w|Radioactive contamination from the Rocky Flats Plant|radioactive contamination from the Rocky Flats Plant}}.
*The fake motto ''Si parare possis, vivere septem'' can be roughly translated as "With preparation, survival is possible for over a week."

New Mexico according to Randall's transcript is "A liquid container labeled for something of unusual and silly danger". The labeling is upside down and it refers to the nuclear testing facility White Sands Missile Range located in New Mexico for the nuclear bomb.
:This end up
:Property of White Sands Missile Range
:??? [Followed by a {{w|NFPA 704}} Diamond with all divisions at severe risk, and a radiation symbol in the special notice division]
:Contains White Sand
:FLAMMABLE
:Warning:
:This product contains chemicals known
:only to the state of Nevada.
:Contents under pressure from parents
:If swallowed, induce labor
:56 fluid ounces
:and 14 other ounces

The title text makes fun of Florida which is sometimes called "The penis of America". Obviously, this penis is somewhat flaccid (not erect). The use of the word "state" is a pun, as it means some particular condition (flaccid state) as well as a political entity (The State of Florida).

==Chart==
{|class=wikitable
!State!!Contained Picture!!Comments
|-
|Alabama ||A moai head facing east.||{{w|Moai}} are Easter Island stone statues
|-
|Alaska ||A bear with a jet pack and a ray gun.||The ray gun and {{w|jet pack}} are fixtures of science fiction during the Cold War era, and the Russian Bear is an often-used personification of the country Russia in political cartoonage; the "teddy bear" image may be related to Alaska's former Russian heritage. The USA acquired Alaska from Russia in the Alaska Purchase of 1867 and it became a state in 1959, during the Cold War. The Cold War often featured worries of a potential Russian invasion of Alaska due to their geographical proximity across the Bering Sea and Bering Strait, which persisted through the 1980s; Alaska was the location of a large number of interceptor missiles as part of Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars Defense Initiative" intended to shoot down missiles that might be launched from the USSR. The ray gun is pointed across the Bering Strait at Russia, consistent with Alaska's often being described as the "first line of defense" against Russian aggression. The teddy bear is similar in appearance to {{w|Winnie the Pooh}}.||
|-
|Arizona ||A refrigerated shelf containing milk, bread, and pastries.||
|-
|Arkansas ||A measuring cup.||
|-
|California ||A vacuum.||An old-fashioned upright vacuum cleaner (lying down to the right), green with a yellow bag.
|-
|Colorado ||The Wikipedia article on Colorado.||A fake Wikipedia article on Colorado. Below the text as seen in the provided close up:
:[web address:]
::en.wikipedia.org/wiki/colorado
:[Headers]
::Wikipedia
::Article Talk
::Colorado
:[Main article {note that Randall forgot the closing parentheses ')' after the pronunciation}]
::Colorado (Pronounced [ˈeːijaˌfjatlaˌjœːkʏtl̥] is a US State encompassing portions of the Rocky
::Mountains and the Great Plains. The region has been inhabited since at least 11,000 BCE, and
::some archaeological evidence suggest the state – with roughly its current borders – has literally
::always existed. Colorado is separated from Wyoming by a 28-mile demilitarized zone, and
::has at times exercised substantial regional
::power via the installation of puppet governments
::in neighboring states
::Geographically, Colorado is eleven-dimensional,
::though seven of those dimensions are tightly
::compacted and difficult to detect in most areas
::of the state. Colorado is home to the nation's
::oldest continually-operated wormhole and two
::of President Lincoln's horcruxes.
::The wildlife in Colorado is commonly characterized
::as "erratic", particularly in the radiation zones
::around Longmont. The State's timber wolf
::population is largely bipedal; the Park Service
::has expressed "concern" at their attempts to enroll in
:[Fact box with correct (though black instead of blue) State flag and emblem and fake motto:]
::State of Colorado
::Motto:
::"Si parare possis, vivere septem."
::(With preparation, survival is
::possible for over a week.)
|-
|Connecticut ||A train conductor's hat.||
|-
|Delaware ||A meerkat.||
|-
|Florida ||An eggplant.||The title text mentions the eggplant being in a flaccid state, which might be a reference to the sexual use of the eggplant emoji.
|-
|Georgia ||Missouri.||The outline of the state of Missouri, with the {{w|Gateway Arch}} in St. Louis.
|-
|Hawaii ||The island of Hawaii is a snowball. The smaller islands are small bits of snow.||
|-
|Idaho ||A garden gnome, sitting down.||
|-
|Illinois ||A gangster with a guitar case, upside down.||
|-
|Indiana ||The brush of a paintbrush.||
|-
|Iowa ||A tomato, lettuce, cold cut and cheese sandwich.||
|-
|Kansas ||A {{w|spinet}} piano.||
|-
|Kentucky ||A cloud.||
|-
|Louisiana ||A boot with some gum stuck to the bottom of it.||
|-
|Maine ||A Vulcan salute.||Maine's camp sunshine has had Star Trek related events in the past, including the opportunity to appear in a film.
|-
|Maryland ||A wolf howling to the moon, upside down.||
|-
|Massachusetts ||An elephant, being ridden by a man, carrying tea.||Might be a reference to the Boston Tea Party, which occurred in Massachusetts, and the Republican political party. The man seems to be wearing a tricorn hat.
|-
|Michigan ||A mitten for the lower portion, an eagle for the {{w|Upper Peninsula of Michigan}}.||
|-
|Minnesota ||$160 in $20 USD bills, tied together.||
|-
|Mississippi ||A moai head facing west.||
|-
|Missouri ||Georgia.||The outline of the state of Georgia, with a pair of {{w|Georgia Peach|Georgia peaches}}.
|-
|Montana ||One half of a muffin, sideways.||
|-
|Nebraska ||A blue VW type 2 with mattresses sticking out the back.||
|-
|Nevada ||A clothes iron.||
|-
|New Hampshire ||A tall brick factory building.|| Could be in reference to the many brick mill buildings in Manchester, one of the larger cities in the state.
|-
|New Jersey ||A bent-over old person. He is carrying a cane.||
|-
|New Mexico ||A liquid container labeled for something of unusual and silly danger.||A yellow liquid container with upside-down labeling.
::This end up!!
::Property of White Sands Missile Range
::Contains White Sand
:[Written inside a hazardous-materials diamond with the ? very large, and the three '4' in the three top part of a diamond shape divided in four these three sections being blue, red, yellow. The lower part has a radioactive sign on the same grey background as the large rectangle.]
::??? 4 4 4
::Flammable
::Warning
::This product contains chemicals known
::Only to the State of Nevada.
::Contents under pressure from parents
::If swallowed, induce labor
::56 fluid ounces
::and 14 other ounces
|-
|New York ||A hybrid transmission with standard manual-style gears and a torque converter sliced in half.||
|-
|North Carolina ||A bouquet of flowers. They appear similar to {{w|Galium Palustre|marsh bedstraws}}.||
|-
|North Dakota ||A 4x12 guitar cab.||
|-
|Ohio ||Underwear (Briefs).||Possibly a reference to ''{{w|Captain Underpants}}'', which takes place in Ohio.||
|-
|Oklahoma ||A covered pot, dripping with boil-over.||Western Oklahoma is often called "{{w|Oklahoma Panhandle|the panhandle}}"; sure enough, this is where the boiling pot's handle fits.||
|-
|Oregon ||A locomotive.||
|-
|Pennsylvania ||A very thick book with a bookmark.||
|-
|Rhode Island ||The bow half of a boat's hull.||
|-
|South Carolina ||A slice of pizza.||
|-
|South Dakota ||The bottom half of an amp.||
|-
|Tennessee ||A number of children's books, placed in a slightly askew pile.|| Possibly a reference to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. The books are {{w|Where's Waldo?}}, {{w|The Wreck of the Zephyr}}, {{w|The Way Things Work}}, Free Fall, {{w|Paddle-to-the-Sea}}, What It Feels Like to Be a Building, and {{w|The Crab with the Golden Claws}}.
|-
|Texas ||A dog sitting in a bowl.||
|-
|Utah ||An oven.||
|-
|Vermont ||A microscope, upside down.||
|-
|Virginia ||A {{w|stegosaurus}}.||
|-
|Washington ||A whale.|| The Puget Sound is well known for whale watching
|-
|Washington DC ||A star.||On most maps, capitals are shown as stars. Washington DC is the capital of the United States.
|-
|West Virginia ||A {{w|frog}}.||
|-
|Wisconsin ||A skull.||
|-
|Wyoming ||An envelope.||The back side of a white envelope, sealed with red wax, with a black heart next to a signature (lower left corner).
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|tables are not welcome here}}
:The '''United Shapes'''
:A map of things states are shaped like
:[Each state has some item wedged to stay inside its borders]

{| class=wikitable
! State
! Official Transcript
! Text
|-
|WA
|whale
|
|-
|MT
|half muffin
|
|-
|ND and SD
|top and bottom halves of an amp
|
|-
|MN
|$160 in $20 USD bills|
|
|-
|WI
|skull|
|
|-
|MI
|mitten for the lower portion, eagle for the {{w|Upper Peninsula of Michigan}}
|
|-
|NY
|hybrid transmission with standard manual-style gears and a torque converter sliced in half
|
|-
|VT
|microscope, upside down
|
|-
|NH
|tall brick factory building
|
|-
|ME
|Vulcan salute
|
|-
|MA
|elephant, being ridden by a man, carrying tea
|
|-
|CT
|train conductor's hat
|
|-
|RI
|bow half of a boat's hull
|
|-
|OR
|locomotive
|
|-
|ID
|garden gnome, sitting down
|
|-
|WY
|envelope.
|The envelope is marked with a signature, possibly Randall's
|-
|NE
|blue VW type 2 with mattresses sticking out the back
|
|-
|IA
|tomato, lettuce, cold cut and cheese sandwich
|
|-
|IL
|gangster with a guitar case, upside down
|
|-
|IN
|brush of a paintbrush
|
|-
|OH
|underwear (Briefs)
|
|-
|PA
|very thick book with a bookmark
|
|-
|NJ
|bent-over old person
|
|-
|NV
|clothes iron
|
|-
|UT
|oven
|
|-
|CO
|Wikipedia article on Colorado
|See Link Above
|-
|KS
|stand-up piano
|
|-
|MO
|Georgia
|Georgia
|-
|KY
|cloud
|
|-
|WV
|{{w|frog}}
|
|-
|VA
|{{w|stegosaurus}}
|
|-
|DC
|star.
|
|-
|MD
|wolf howling to the moon, upside down
|
|-
|DE
|meerkat
|
|-
|CA
|vacuum cleaner
|
|-
|AZ
|refrigerated shelf containing milk, bread, and pastries
|
|-
|NM
|liquid container with warning label
|This end up!!
Property of White Sands Missile Range

Contains White Sand

???

FLAMMABLE

Warning: This product contains chemicals known Only to the state of Nevada.

Contents under pressure from parents.

If swallowed, induce labor.

56 Fluid Ounces and 14 other ounces.
|-
|OK
|covered pot, dripping with boil-over
|
|-
|AR
|measuring cup
|
|-
|TN
|children's books, placed in a slightly askew pile
|Handford / WHERE'S WALDO / or wally

The Wreck of the Zephyr / Chris Van Allsburg

The Way Things Work / DAVID MACAULRY

Weisner / FREE FALL

PADDLE-TO-THE-SEA / HCH(?)

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE A BUILDING / Wilson

TINTIN / The Crab with the Golden Claws / Hergé
|-
|NC
|flower bouquet
|
|-
|AK
|teddy bear with a jet pack and a ray gun
|
|-
|HI
|snowball
|
|-
|TX
|dog sitting in a bowl
|
|-
|LA
|boot with some gum stuck to the bottom
|
|-
|MS
|moai head facing west
|
|-
|AL
|moai head facing east
|
|-
|GA
|Missouri.
|Missouri
|-
|SC
|pizza slice
|
|-
|FL
|eggplant
|
|}

==Trivia==
*A print version of this comic is available in the [https://store.xkcd.com/products/united-shapes-poster xkcd store].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Dogs]]
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Star Trek]]
[[Category:Harry Potter]] 
[[Category:Volcanoes]] 
[[Category:Comics with xkcd store products]]

1079: United Shapes

2020-05-27T17:59:15Z

Pinguin8218:

{{comic
| number = 1079
| date = July 9, 2012
| title = United Shapes
| image = united_shapes.png
| imagesize = 800px
| titletext = That eggplant is in something of a flaccid state.
}}
The large version is here: [http://xkcd.com/1079/large/ http://xkcd.com/1079/large/]
==Explanation==
In this comic, each state of the United States of America has been filled-in with an object of similar shape. Due to the size range of the states, some states are too small to clearly make-out in the normal size image. Click [http://xkcd.com/1079/large/ here] to see the large version, which makes every state perfectly clear. Several years later Randall made a new map of the US mainland [[1653: United States Map]], where he shuffled the positions of the states but filled out the outline. Also in this map Michigan has been split into two separate parts. (Here it is the mitten and the eagle).

Very few, if any, of the shapes used are stereotypes of the state; they are merely objects that look like the state. Some of the objects are those which the states are widely known to resemble. For example, Michigan is represented by a mitten and an Eagle, and a pot with handle takes the place of Oklahoma (with the panhandle region of the state filled with a literal handle). Others, however, are more creative. Few would have likely pictured Texas as a dog or Alaska as a bear with a jet pack and laser gun. There are several incredibly simple objects filling some states. Kentucky is filled by a cloud, which conceivably could have been used for any state, and Wyoming, one of the nearly rectangular states, is simply an envelope. There are three pairs of states that are related. Georgia and Missouri each contain an image of the other, drawing attention to their similar shapes, North and South Dakota are the top and bottom halves of an amp, and Alabama and Mississippi are {{w|moai}} facing in opposite directions.

Colorado contains what looks like a Wikipedia article. A close-up of the fake article is provided [http://xkcd.com/1079/colorado/]. The following references are made in the Colorado article:

*The pronunciation is not that for Colorado, but for {{w|Eyjafjallajökull}}, a volcano in Iceland that erupted in April 2010.
*The way it has a demilitarized zone towards Wyoming resembles {{W|North Korea}} and {{W|South Korea}}.
*Eleven dimensions refers to {{w|string theory}}.
*A {{w|wormhole}} is a theoretical relative of the {{w|black hole}}. This is a reference to the television series {{w|Stargate SG-1}} where a device capable of creating wormholes is located in the {{w|Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker}} in Colorado.
*A {{w|Horcrux}} is a type of magical object in the world of {{W|Harry Potter}}, which prevents the creator of it from dying.
*The radiation zones around Longmont are caused by {{w|Radioactive contamination from the Rocky Flats Plant|radioactive contamination from the Rocky Flats Plant}}.
*The fake motto ''Si parare possis, vivere septem'' can be roughly translated as "With preparation, survival is possible for over a week."

New Mexico according to Randall's transcript is "A liquid container labeled for something of unusual and silly danger". The labeling is upside down and it refers to the nuclear testing facility White Sands Missile Range located in New Mexico for the nuclear bomb.
:This end up
:Property of White Sands Missile Range
:??? [Followed by a {{w|NFPA 704}} Diamond with all divisions at severe risk, and a radiation symbol in the special notice division]
:Contains White Sand
:FLAMMABLE
:Warning:
:This product contains chemicals known
:only to the state of Nevada.
:Contents under pressure from parents
:If swallowed, induce labor
:56 fluid ounces
:and 14 other ounces

The title text makes fun of Florida which is sometimes called "The penis of America". Obviously, this penis is somewhat flaccid (not erect). The use of the word "state" is a pun, as it means some particular condition (flaccid state) as well as a political entity (The State of Florida).

==Chart==
{|class=wikitable
!State!!Contained Picture!!Comments
|-
|Alabama ||A moai head facing east.||{{w|Moai}} are Easter Island stone statues
|-
|Alaska ||A bear with a jet pack and a ray gun||The ray gun and {{w|jet pack}} are fixtures of science fiction during the Cold War era, and the Russian Bear is an often-used personification of the country Russia in political cartoonage; the "teddy bear" image may be related to Alaska's former Russian heritage. The USA acquired Alaska from Russia in the Alaska Purchase of 1867 and it became a state in 1959, during the Cold War. The Cold War often featured worries of a potential Russian invasion of Alaska due to their geographical proximity across the Bering Sea and Bering Strait, which persisted through the 1980s; Alaska was the location of a large number of interceptor missiles as part of Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars Defense Initiative" intended to shoot down missiles that might be launched from the USSR. The ray gun is pointed across the Bering Strait at Russia, consistent with Alaska's often being described as the "first line of defense" against Russian aggression. The teddy bear is similar in appearance to {{w|Winnie the Pooh}}.||
|-
|Arizona ||A refrigerated shelf containing milk, bread, and pastries.||
|-
|Arkansas ||A measuring cup.||
|-
|California ||A vacuum.||An old-fashioned upright vacuum cleaner (lying down to the right), green with a yellow bag.
|-
|Colorado ||The Wikipedia article on Colorado.||A fake Wikipedia article on Colorado. Below the text as seen in the provided close up:
:[web address:]
::en.wikipedia.org/wiki/colorado
:[Headers]
::Wikipedia
::Article Talk
::Colorado
:[Main article {note that Randall forgot the closing parentheses ')' after the pronunciation}]
::Colorado (Pronounced [ˈeːijaˌfjatlaˌjœːkʏtl̥] is a US State encompassing portions of the Rocky
::Mountains and the Great Plains. The region has been inhabited since at least 11,000 BCE, and
::some archaeological evidence suggest the state – with roughly its current borders – has literally
::always existed. Colorado is separated from Wyoming by a 28-mile demilitarized zone, and
::has at times exercised substantial regional
::power via the installation of puppet governments
::in neighboring states
::Geographically, Colorado is eleven-dimensional,
::though seven of those dimensions are tightly
::compacted and difficult to detect in most areas
::of the state. Colorado is home to the nation's
::oldest continually-operated wormhole and two
::of President Lincoln's horcruxes.
::The wildlife in Colorado is commonly characterized
::as "erratic", particularly in the radiation zones
::around Longmont. The State's timber wolf
::population is largely bipedal; the Park Service
::has expressed "concern" at their attempts to enroll in
:[Fact box with correct (though black instead of blue) State flag and emblem and fake motto:]
::State of Colorado
::Motto:
::"Si parare possis, vivere septem."
::(With preparation, survival is
::possible for over a week.)
|-
|Connecticut ||A train conductor's hat.||
|-
|Delaware ||A meerkat.||
|-
|Florida ||An eggplant.||The title text mentions the eggplant being in a flaccid state, which might be a reference to the sexual use of the eggplant emoji.
|-
|Georgia ||Missouri.||The outline of the state of Missouri, with the {{w|Gateway Arch}} in St. Louis.
|-
|Hawaii ||The island of Hawaii is a snowball. The smaller islands are small bits of snow.||
|-
|Idaho ||A garden gnome, sitting down.||
|-
|Illinois ||A gangster with a guitar case, upside down.||
|-
|Indiana ||The brush of a paintbrush.||
|-
|Iowa ||A tomato, lettuce, cold cut and cheese sandwich.||
|-
|Kansas ||A {{w|spinet}} piano.||
|-
|Kentucky ||A cloud.||
|-
|Louisiana ||A boot with some gum stuck to the bottom of it.||
|-
|Maine ||A Vulcan salute.||Maine's camp sunshine has had Star Trek related events in the past, including the opportunity to appear in a film.
|-
|Maryland ||A wolf howling to the moon, upside down.||
|-
|Massachusetts ||An elephant, being ridden by a man, carrying tea.||Might be a reference to the Boston Tea Party, which occurred in Massachusetts, and the Republican political party. The man seems to be wearing a tricorn hat.
|-
|Michigan ||A mitten for the lower portion, an eagle for the {{w|Upper Peninsula of Michigan}}.||
|-
|Minnesota ||$160 in $20 USD bills, tied together.||
|-
|Mississippi ||A moai head facing west.||
|-
|Missouri ||Georgia.||The outline of the state of Georgia, with a pair of {{w|Georgia Peach|Georgia peaches}}.
|-
|Montana ||One half of a muffin, sideways.||
|-
|Nebraska ||A blue VW type 2 with mattresses sticking out the back.||
|-
|Nevada ||A clothes iron.||
|-
|New Hampshire ||A tall brick factory building.|| Could be in reference to the many brick mill buildings in Manchester, one of the larger cities in the state.
|-
|New Jersey ||A bent-over old person. He is carrying a cane.||
|-
|New Mexico ||A liquid container labeled for something of unusual and silly danger.||A yellow liquid container with upside-down labeling.
::This end up!!
::Property of White Sands Missile Range
::Contains White Sand
:[Written inside a hazardous-materials diamond with the ? very large, and the three '4' in the three top part of a diamond shape divided in four these three sections being blue, red, yellow. The lower part has a radioactive sign on the same grey background as the large rectangle.]
::??? 4 4 4
::Flammable
::Warning
::This product contains chemicals known
::Only to the State of Nevada.
::Contents under pressure from parents
::If swallowed, induce labor
::56 fluid ounces
::and 14 other ounces
|-
|New York ||A hybrid transmission with standard manual-style gears and a torque converter sliced in half.||
|-
|North Carolina ||A bouquet of flowers. They appear similar to {{w|Galium Palustre|marsh bedstraws}}.||
|-
|North Dakota ||A 4x12 guitar cab.||
|-
|Ohio ||Underwear (Briefs).||Possibly a reference to ''{{w|Captain Underpants}}'', which takes place in Ohio.||
|-
|Oklahoma ||A covered pot, dripping with boil-over.||Western Oklahoma is often called "{{w|Oklahoma Panhandle|the panhandle}}"; sure enough, this is where the boiling pot's handle fits.||
|-
|Oregon ||A locomotive.||
|-
|Pennsylvania ||A very thick book with a bookmark.||
|-
|Rhode Island ||The bow half of a boat's hull.||
|-
|South Carolina ||A slice of pizza.||
|-
|South Dakota ||The bottom half of an amp.||
|-
|Tennessee ||A number of children's books, placed in a slightly askew pile.|| Possibly a reference to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. The books are {{w|Where's Waldo?}}, {{w|The Wreck of the Zephyr}}, {{w|The Way Things Work}}, Free Fall, {{w|Paddle-to-the-Sea}}, What It Feels Like to Be a Building, and {{w|The Crab with the Golden Claws}}.
|-
|Texas ||A dog sitting in a bowl.||
|-
|Utah ||An oven.||
|-
|Vermont ||A microscope, upside down.||
|-
|Virginia ||A {{w|stegosaurus}}.||
|-
|Washington ||A whale.|| The Puget Sound is well known for whale watching
|-
|Washington DC ||A star.||On most maps, capitals are shown as stars. Washington DC is the capital of the United States.
|-
|West Virginia ||A {{w|frog}}.||
|-
|Wisconsin ||A skull.||
|-
|Wyoming ||An envelope.||The back side of a white envelope, sealed with red wax, with a black heart next to a signature (lower left corner).
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|tables are not welcome here}}
:The '''United Shapes'''
:A map of things states are shaped like
:[Each state has some item wedged to stay inside its borders]

{| class=wikitable
! State
! Official Transcript
! Text
|-
|WA
|whale
|
|-
|MT
|half muffin
|
|-
|ND and SD
|top and bottom halves of an amp
|
|-
|MN
|$160 in $20 USD bills|
|
|-
|WI
|skull|
|
|-
|MI
|mitten for the lower portion, eagle for the {{w|Upper Peninsula of Michigan}}
|
|-
|NY
|hybrid transmission with standard manual-style gears and a torque converter sliced in half
|
|-
|VT
|microscope, upside down
|
|-
|NH
|tall brick factory building
|
|-
|ME
|Vulcan salute
|
|-
|MA
|elephant, being ridden by a man, carrying tea
|
|-
|CT
|train conductor's hat
|
|-
|RI
|bow half of a boat's hull
|
|-
|OR
|locomotive
|
|-
|ID
|garden gnome, sitting down
|
|-
|WY
|envelope.
|The envelope is marked with a signature, possibly Randall's
|-
|NE
|blue VW type 2 with mattresses sticking out the back
|
|-
|IA
|tomato, lettuce, cold cut and cheese sandwich
|
|-
|IL
|gangster with a guitar case, upside down
|
|-
|IN
|brush of a paintbrush
|
|-
|OH
|underwear (Briefs)
|
|-
|PA
|very thick book with a bookmark
|
|-
|NJ
|bent-over old person
|
|-
|NV
|clothes iron
|
|-
|UT
|oven
|
|-
|CO
|Wikipedia article on Colorado
|See Link Above
|-
|KS
|stand-up piano
|
|-
|MO
|Georgia
|Georgia
|-
|KY
|cloud
|
|-
|WV
|{{w|frog}}
|
|-
|VA
|{{w|stegosaurus}}
|
|-
|DC
|star.
|
|-
|MD
|wolf howling to the moon, upside down
|
|-
|DE
|meerkat
|
|-
|CA
|vacuum cleaner
|
|-
|AZ
|refrigerated shelf containing milk, bread, and pastries
|
|-
|NM
|liquid container with warning label
|This end up!!
Property of White Sands Missile Range

Contains White Sand

???

FLAMMABLE

Warning: This product contains chemicals known Only to the state of Nevada.

Contents under pressure from parents.

If swallowed, induce labor.

56 Fluid Ounces and 14 other ounces.
|-
|OK
|covered pot, dripping with boil-over
|
|-
|AR
|measuring cup
|
|-
|TN
|children's books, placed in a slightly askew pile
|Handford / WHERE'S WALDO / or wally

The Wreck of the Zephyr / Chris Van Allsburg

The Way Things Work / DAVID MACAULRY

Weisner / FREE FALL

PADDLE-TO-THE-SEA / HCH(?)

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE A BUILDING / Wilson

TINTIN / The Crab with the Golden Claws / Hergé
|-
|NC
|flower bouquet
|
|-
|AK
|teddy bear with a jet pack and a ray gun
|
|-
|HI
|snowball
|
|-
|TX
|dog sitting in a bowl
|
|-
|LA
|boot with some gum stuck to the bottom
|
|-
|MS
|moai head facing west
|
|-
|AL
|moai head facing east
|
|-
|GA
|Missouri.
|Missouri
|-
|SC
|pizza slice
|
|-
|FL
|eggplant
|
|}

==Trivia==
*A print version of this comic is available in the [https://store.xkcd.com/products/united-shapes-poster xkcd store].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Dogs]]
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Star Trek]]
[[Category:Harry Potter]] 
[[Category:Volcanoes]] 
[[Category:Comics with xkcd store products]]

2311: Confidence Interval

2020-05-26T17:22:17Z

Pinguin8218:

{{comic
| number = 2311
| date = May 25, 2020
| title = Confidence Interval
| image = confidence_interval.png
| titletext = The worst part is that's the millisigma interval.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a TERRIBLE MODEL. Link to relevant statistical terms missing. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Graphs of continuous functions' predicted values often show confidence intervals, a region (either shaded or marked with dotted lines, the latter used here) that indicates the margin of error for the prediction at any point. The joke in this comic is that the estimate has so much uncertainty that the confidence interval extends off the top and bottom of the chart, which in a real report would usually prevent it from being printed and require a re-scaled chart to show it.

Statistical error and uncertainty is typically measured by {{w|standard deviation}}, which is written in formulas with the Greek letter {{w|sigma}}, and is also frequently referred by the word "sigma" (e.g. "{{w|Six Sigma}}", a method of process improvement). Most phenomena will tend to follow a {{w|normal distribution}}, such that 68 percent of members of the population will fall within one sigma (plus or minus) of the mean value, 95 percent within two sigma, and 99.7 percent within three sigma. Any of these intervals may be usefully reported as the confidence interval, so long as it's made clear to the reader, but two- or three-sigma are sufficient for most applications. However, this graph shows data of such poor quality (or such poorly-chosen ''y''-axis bounds) that even the "millisigma" confidence interval (+/- 1/1000th of a sigma, or 0.08% of the population -- not often used in science, but occasionally found in e.g. [https://researchservices.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/flexAnalysis%20User%20Manual.pdf molecular analysis tools]) does not fit on the graph. Variations in the curve that are small compared to the error bar typically can't be distinguished from errors. Therefore, the shape of the curve - and the entire graph in this example - is meaningless.

The graph is suggestive of the old joke about the hunting statisticians -- one shoots high, one shoots low, and the third jumps up and shouts, "We got it!"

==Transcript==
:[A graph is shown in the middle of the panel. There is a square frame around it. The graph has two unlabeled axes with ticks along both axes. The axes end in arrows. A solid line graph is shown. It begins around the middle of the Y axis, goes up and flattens twice before falling down towards the right. Far above and just below the frame around the graph are two gray dotted lines. They do not follow the same path as the solid line inside the frame, but do follow the same general trend. Below the graph, but inside the frame, is a caption:]
:Fig. 2: Predicted Curve

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Science tip: If your model is bad enough, the confidence intervals will fall outside the printable area.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Tips]]
[[Category:Statistics]]

2311: Confidence Interval

2020-05-26T17:18:31Z

Pinguin8218:

{{comic
| number = 2311
| date = May 25, 2020
| title = Confidence Interval
| image = confidence_interval.png
| titletext = The worst part is that's the millisigma interval.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a TERRIBLE MODEL. Link to relevant statistical terms missing. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Graphs of continuous functions' predicted values often show confidence intervals, a region (either shaded or marked with dotted lines, the latter used here) that indicates the margin of error for the prediction at any point. The joke in this comic is that the estimate has so much uncertainty that the confidence interval extends off the top and bottom of the chart, which in a real report would usually prevent it from being printed and require a re-scaled chart to show it.

Statistical error and uncertainty is typically measured by {{w|standard deviation}}, which is written in formulas with the Greek letter {{w|sigma}}, and is also frequently referred by the word "sigma" (e.g. "{{w|Six Sigma}}", a method of process improvement). Most phenomena will tend to follow a {{w|normal distribution}}, such that 68 percent of members of the population will fall within one sigma (plus or minus) of the mean value, 95 percent within two sigma, and 99.7 percent within three sigma. Any of these intervals may be usefully reported as the confidence interval, so long as it's made clear to the reader, but two- or three-sigma are sufficient for most applications. However, this graph shows data of such poor quality (or such poorly-chosen ''y''-axis bounds) that even the "millisigma" confidence interval (+/- 1/1000th of a sigma, or 0.08% of the population -- not often used in science, but occasionally found in e.g. [https://researchservices.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/flexAnalysis%20User%20Manual.pdf molecular analysis tools]) does not fit on the graph. Variations in the curve that are small compared to the error bar typically can't be distinguished from errors. Therefore, the shape of the curve - and the entire graph in this example - is meaningless.

The graph is suggestive of the old joke about the hunting statisticians -- one shoots high, one shoots low, and the third jumps up and shouts, "We got it!"

==Transcript==
:[A graph is shown in the middle of the panel. There is a square frame around it. The graph has two unlabeled axes with ticks along both axes. The axes end in arrows. A solid line graph is shown. It begins around the middle of the Y axis, goes up and flattens twice before falling down towards the right. Far above and just below the frame around the graph are two curved gray dotted lines. They do not follow the same path as the solid line inside the frame, but do follow the same general trend. Below the graph, but inside the frame, is a caption:]
:Fig. 2: Predicted Curve

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Science tip: If your model is bad enough, the confidence intervals will fall outside the printable area.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Tips]]
[[Category:Statistics]]