explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2823: Fossil

2023-09-03T22:07:10Z

Punchcard: Adding link to pic of trilobite to Talk

Boop! [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 07:53, 2 September 2023 (UTC)

Came here to find out what in the heck ‘boop’ has to do with anything, learned absolutely nothing (autospell changed it to “book” so I’m not alone). [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.76|172.71.154.76]] 08:17, 2 September 2023 (UTC)
:There's a link there now (not sure when anyone added it, might have been after your query) which satisfies me somewhat. Seems to be a playful tagging/"you're it!" sort of thing, though, like "punch buggy <yellow/etc>", it's not something I really knew of though probably appears to be in Randall's childhood/whatever cultural background and that's good enough for me. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.152|172.69.79.152]] 09:53, 2 September 2023 (UTC)
::I agree that "boop" needs an extra explanation for non native speakers of English. The link is useful (thanks to whoever added it) but the Wiktionary definition alone is too terse to get the pun.--[[User:Pere prlpz|Pere prlpz]] ([[User talk:Pere prlpz|talk]]) 11:54, 2 September 2023 (UTC)
:I added the wikitionary link and I was not entirely happy with it, but it's a starting point. Please do improve it. To me, "boop" is a friendly pat on the nose that one might do to, especially, a dog's nose; see https://www.hillspet.com/dog-care/play-exercise/do-dogs-like-dog-boops?. Definitely more affectionate and less aggressive than the "punch buggy" action (which can get out of hand), or even tagging. I was surprised that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boop did not have a mention of this, not even on the talk page; yeah, it's not the most encyclopedic of topics, but discussing social behaviors is beyond the bounds of wiktionary, and Urban Dictionary isn't a great place to cite to (even if it were helpful). [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 12:26, 2 September 2023 (UTC)
::To the non-native English speakers, it's basically just playfully, gently touching a dog or other animal/pet on the nose while saying "Boop". Like "I got your nose." Not really petting/stroking; just a form of play or affection. I'm not surprised there isn't a lot documented on this as it's not really a "thing". Kind of like Randall's use of pew pew pew noises while pretending to fire a ray gun. You understand what he's doing and may have done it yourself, but it's not the kind of thing you expect to find on Wikipedia. :) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.254.125|172.71.254.125]] 15:40, 2 September 2023 (UTC) Pat

The furries gonna have a field day with this one :] [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.178|172.71.154.178]] 22:07, 2 September 2023 (UTC)

I was actually curios as whether any eye had ever seen a 400 million old fossil. Had to look it up to see when the first eyes evolved. But seems it was around [https://www.scienceworld.ca/stories/eyes-how/ 550 million years ago], so some eyes may have seen the animal that turned in to the fossil Cueball now sees. ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:47, 3 September 2023 (UTC)

I thought that the rock with the trilobite looks like a remote control button that makes a "beep" or "boop" when you push it. Or alternatively an infant's toy that has a button that makes a sound like a clown's nose. So Cueball is pressing the trilobite and vocalizing the "boop" sound that would be expected from these objects. Although "booping" a child's nose is a thing ... although it seems very rude ... I did not associate the fossil rock with the trilobite with noses, but I did associate it with remote control devices that have a flat pad with a button (or many buttons) on it. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 13:26, 3 September 2023 (UTC)

Here is an example picture of a trilobite which has two large eyes and a centre area which might be booped. The fossil is 3D meaning it is not flat.
[[File:trilobite.jpg]]
In contrast a fossil fish will often be flat, almost 2D, and show only one eye. Many people in North America do not like to see the head of a fish and so the head of a fossil fish can also seem odd.
[[User:Punchcard|Punchcard]] ([[User talk:Punchcard|talk]]) 22:07, 3 September 2023 (UTC)

2793: Garden Path Sentence

2023-06-24T14:37:32Z

Punchcard: The headline is all caps. "BIRD" could be an avian but could also be a person with a name of "Bird" ex "Larry Bird" the basketball player.

{{comic
| number = 2793
| date = June 23, 2023
| title = Garden Path Sentence
| image = garden_path_sentence.png
| imagesize = 273x273px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Arboretum Owner Denied Standing in Garden Path Suit on Grounds Grounds Appealing Appealing
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a bot then modified by new editors. Please add information here regarding what remains to be done for the article. After sufficient extended time, the tag may be removed if all material is included.}}

A {{w|garden-path sentence}} is one in which the first or most obvious attempt at parsing the beginning of a sentence leads to the wrong meaning, causing confusion when the sentence is completed. A classic example of a garden path sentence is "The old man the boat.", leading to an initial incorrect parsing of "the old man" as a noun phrase, and therefore no verb before the noun "the boat". The actual way to parse this sentence is to treat "the old" as a noun and "man" as a verb, meaning "take one's place at" or "to work at, run, or operate" , so the sentence means "The old people are operating the boat."

Possible grammatically correct interpretations of the sentences in this comic are:

There was a court case regarding green walkways. The case was resolved with a sentence relating to an olive garden path. That sentence was vacated (cancelled) by a judge. That judge was flying an airplane. The airplane struck multiple birds. The plane overturned, but righted (turned right-side-up) and landed safely.

After (bird strikes)1, (judge)2, (who ordered)3 (olive garden-path sentence)4 in (case of green walkways)5 (vacated)3, (overturned but rights and lands safely.)2

# "[[wikipedia:bird strike|bird strike]]s": Airplane colliding with birds in flight
# "judge ... overturned but rights and lands safely": The judge (and presumably the plane they were in) flipped over but was able to get right-side up again and land safely
# "who [[wikipedia:Court order|ordered]] ... [[:wikipedia:Vacated judgment|vacated]]": Identifies the judge as one who issued a ruling cancelling an earlier ruling.
# "Olive Garden path [[wikipedia:Sentence (law)|sentence]]": The thing that was cancelled was a punishment related to either
## Paths at the restaurant [[wikipedia:Olive Garden|Olive Garden]],
## A path in a garden of olive trees, or
## An olive-colored path in a garden
# "[[wikipedia:Legal case|case]] of [[wikipedia:Green|green]] walkways": The punishment was in a court case about green-colored walkways (likely the same paths listed above, which may have been meant to be an olive shade of green)

Another way to break it down is, "After [the] bird strikes, [the] judge... [is] overturned, but [she] rights and lands safely." And she was "[the] judge who ordered [that the] olive garden-path sentence" (the legal sentence concerning an olive-colored path) "in" (what is known as) "[the] Case of [the] Green Walkways [be] vacated."

This comic also pokes fun at newspaper headlines, which typically have minimal punctuation or articles and use only capital letters, leading to such ambiguities.

For another valid parsing of the sentence, here are some explanatory notes that aid in understanding:
* A criminal court case occurred involving green-colored walkways.
* The sentence handed down in the case involved a specific walkway (a garden path) and a specific shade of green (olive).
* A certain judge had ordered that the sentence be vacated (a legal term meaning undone or expunged).
* That judge was recently piloting a plane which, due to being struck by birds, overturned.
* The judge righted the plane (turned it right-side-up) and landed safely.

A mostly similar, but slightly more comical interpretation (though less likely for a newspaper headline) can be:
After (a) bird strikes, (the) judge ... (as above) (is) overturned, but rights and lands safely. In this case, the judge is standing, a bird strikes her and she is overturned, but she manages to right herself and land safely on the ground (not banging her head, for instance).

Certain combinations of words in the sentence are particularly easy to parse incorrectly. For example:
* "bird" the headline is in all caps so this could be an avian but could also mean a person with the name of Bird such as Larry Bird the basketball player.
* "bird strikes judge" can be interpreted to mean that a bird deliberately hit the judge with an appendage or weapon. If bird is a person the phrase might mean a labour dispute in which Bird is withdrawing services
* "Olive Garden" is the name of a restaurant chain, and "ordered Olive Garden" could mean "placed an order for food from Olive Garden"
* "Garden path sentence" is a type of (written language) sentence
* "in case of" can mean "in the event of" (e.g. "in case of emergency, break glass")
* "vacated" and "overturned" can both mean "undone" in a legal context, and "rights" can refer to legal or constitutional rights

The title text is also an example of a garden path sentence. The meaning is probably the following: Arboretum owner, [who was] denied [legal] standing in [the] garden-path [law]suit on grounds (the reason) [that the garden] grounds [are] appealing, [is] appealing [the ruling]

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:[Newspaper, with a picture of a plane next a judge, and a picture of a map with the path of an airplane, with the following headline]
:After bird strikes judge who ordered olive garden path sentence in case of green walkways vacated overturned but rights and lands safely

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Aviation]]
[[Category:Animals]]

Talk:2598: Graphic Designers

2022-03-26T12:54:28Z

Punchcard: My dentist has this problem.

I think a better analogy would be with garlic. The threshold barrier is a magical force that blocks them, while vampires just find garlic really off-putting. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 04:12, 26 March 2022 (UTC)

Anyone think we should add the hex color codes of all the walls to the explanation? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 04:23, 26 March 2022 (UTC)
:I suspect Randall didn't ACTUALLY use different colours in this comic. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:42, 26 March 2022 (UTC)
::I've just gone over the comic with a colour picker... I have bad and/or good news: You are incorrect. [[User:Tantusar|Tantusar]] ([[User talk:Tantusar|talk]]) 04:52, 26 March 2022 (UTC)

Hey! As of tonight I'm caught up on XKCD for the first time in 2 years! I read them at the bar, at karaoke, and my last time out before staying in for the pandemic was mid-March 2020. I needed to share. :) First comic reading it ON the release day in that long. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:42, 26 March 2022 (UTC)

Hey, Randall! You made the floor FFFFFF, but that isn't a shade of off-white. It's just white. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 09:12, 26 March 2022 (UTC)
:Who paints the floor, anyway? Varnish, maybe, in a suitably wooden-floored residential situation, but not paint. But I'd say it's (however, whether carpet or laminate or whatever) that is the white from which all the other whites are suitably 'off-'...
:(Also, the 'innocuous things that repel' vibe reminds me of the end-game for the vampire family in {{w|Carpe Jugulum}}, after being inadvertently highly trained to appreciate religious symbology.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.147|172.70.162.147]] 09:28, 26 March 2022 (UTC)

My dentist will not allow off-white colours in the front room of his house because the colour is too much like work related thoughts. He has told his wife that she can choose any colour style as long as it does not include off-white. (My hobby is to ask people how their job changes aspects of their non-job life.) [[User:Punchcard|Punchcard]] ([[User talk:Punchcard|talk]]) 12:54, 26 March 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2566: Decorative Constants

2022-01-11T15:35:20Z

Punchcard: /* Count down clock */

I don't have any idea what to put in the actual description, but whoever does should probably note that r(in) - r(out) equals zero, not one. And multiplying by a constant 0 absolutely changes the value! [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 21:59, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
: rout and rin are different values. The subscripts represent different instances of the same variable at different point. In the same way, you might calculate something happening over a time interval tend - tstart . [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.77|172.69.71.77]] 23:02, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
::Yes for sure they are two different values. On the other hand if μ is not 1 then the it is not just decorative! D on the other hand is just a proportionality constant, which may have a value other than 1. I have tried to put something in the explanation here. Quite a bit. Do not really now anything about Drag, so just took it from the wiki page. Also I hope someone can explain the formula in the image, as I'm sure it is just something about the flow, that would relate it to a drag equation. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 23:41, 10 January 2022 (UTC)

Note that the title text is pretty much word-for-word a repeat from Randall's book *How To*. In Chapter 11: *How to Play Football*, he misuses the drag equation, and mentions this fact in more depth, in a footnote. Bit of trivia! --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.79|162.158.134.79]] 23:13, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
:Nice, I will have to check up on that. Thanks. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 23:41, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
:Can confirm this, the book mentions that the "traditional tribute to Euler and Bernoulli" comes from Frank White's ''Fluid Mechanics'' textbook. [[User:Clam|Clam]] ([[User talk:Clam|talk]]) 01:08, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
:: There it is, page 266 in the 1986 2nd edition: "They both have a factor ½ as a traditional tribute to Bernoulli and Euler, and both are based on the projected area..." https://books.google.com/books?id=wGweAQAAIAAJ&q=traditional -- [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.5|172.70.162.5]] 02:13, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
:::Great thanks have included both references in the explanation. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:32, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
:Wait, wouldn't the values be twice as big (rather than half as big) if you left off the 1/2? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.154|141.101.69.154]] 12:43, 11 January 2022 (UTC)

Of course, the c^2 im e=mc^2 is just as decorative, when using natural units where c=1.... [[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.171|172.68.50.171]] 00:29, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
: And the resulting equation is then just e=m - or m=e which is beautiful and profound. "Mass is Energy". Without the complications, you stop thinking of it as a PROCESS for converting one into the other and get the more profound point that Mass and Energy are the exact same thing. [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 03:33, 11 January 2022 (UTC)

==Count down clock==
;Keep discussion of comic above this, and further discussion of countdown here below!!!
Any idea what's going on with the clock that's counting downwards in the banner? Currently counting down from 20 days 16 hours? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.95|172.70.214.95]] 22:08, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
:(Simultaneous edit) What is the days-hours-minutes in the box above the comic referring to? The image itself is dated yesterday, as you can see by saving it. Worst-case-scenario, is this a countdown to the end of XKCD? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.223|108.162.245.223]] 22:11, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
:: It's going to hit zero at around midnight on Jan 31st 2022 CST? [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 22:16, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
:::'''Posted [[Talk:2565:_Latency#Countdown|this]] on the previous comics discussion. But lets take it here where there will be more traffic:''' --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:44, 10 January 2022 (UTC) -- Copy paste from previous comics discussion:
::::Damn you beat me to it ;-). But I have made a [[2565:_Latency#Trivia|Trivia]] here on this comics page and links to more detail on the [[xkcd Header text]] page. I believe you are a day of, but someone will likely correct me if I'm wrong. As I can see it will be January 31st, 9:59 in Randall's home town Boston.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:06, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
:::::But damned if I can wait. Sure millions will watch the page when it goes to zero! At least it is no April 1st. :-D --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:10, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
::::Yeah - you're right - I messed up. So as I type this, it's Jan 10th 2022 at 4pm - 1600 hrs Mountain time - which is 1800 hours EST. At this moment, the countdown reads 20d 16h 0m - so Jan 30th + (18+16) hours = which is Jan 30th + 34 hours - which is Jan 31st + 10am in Boston (EST). [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 23:05, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
:::::Hey great, can see they agree in the link to reddit below. So happy I got it right both in UTC and Boston. It will be 15:59 here in DK. Not 16:00. ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 23:44, 10 January 2022 (UTC)

Counting down to Backwards Day? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.88|162.158.91.88]] 23:28, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
:There's a reddit thread discussing it: https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/s0oynl/xkcd_countdown_timer_20d_21h_49m_remaining_until/ I think the most likely guess is that Randall has a new book coming out. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 23:40, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
::Would still seem strange if it came out that day with only promotion before being a count down. But then again, he will have the xkcd communities boiling if he gives no other hint. So every one will see if he promotes a book. Also as they wrote at the time I looked at reddit I do not think it is the end of xkcd, or Webb related. Although Webb was the first I thought about. But I mean even if it came to L2 at that day, it is not going to any specific point but just in orbit. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 23:47, 10 January 2022 (UTC)

::The date fits the idea of it being Backwards Day (https://nationaldaycalendar.com/backward-day-january-31) but what about the choice of time? [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 03:38, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
:::Backwards day... Never head of it until now. Is it big in the US. I mean when looking after dates so obscure they are not mentioned on wikipedia then there are probably lots of things happening on that day? But maybe it is a think in the US? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:48, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
:::: I haven't heard of it until now either, so it is probably one of the bajillions of holidays no one actually cares about, and is unrelated to the countdown. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.163|108.162.221.163]] 13:22, 11 January 2022 (UTC)Bumpf

Someone has noticed the image is changing with pixels added at the bottom left corner and is keeping track of it here: https://munvoseli.github.io/xkcd-countdown/ [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.107|198.41.238.107]] 05:49, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
:Looks like an image is "moving" into the frame because at the moment you can see some white pixel in the lower left, i.e. the black part might end up as a line as part of some comic. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.8|162.158.89.8]] 08:31, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
::Thanks used that to pinpoint the start of the countdown. Have added this info to the header text page, and the original trivia. Also just added a line of trivia to this explanation with the link. This was when this comic came out most people noticed the count down. But it did came out while [[Latency]] was up. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:43, 11 January 2022 (UTC)

The header changes page says that it's forcing "Friday" to move down to the next line. Not for me. Did he fix it, or is it browser-specific? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:58, 11 January 2022 (UTC)

This is much more likely a count down related to the James Webb Space Telescope. At approximately the day the count down indicates the telescope will be orbiting the L2 gravitational spot.Perhaps most of the mirrors will be approximate place to allow for months of fine tuning. An example of a slightly similar idea is https://www.space.com/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-next-steps
[[User:Punchcard|Punchcard]] ([[User talk:Punchcard|talk]]) 15:35, 11 January 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2417: 1/1,000th Scale World

2021-01-28T15:18:53Z

Punchcard: Upper left corner of the comic there is a girl with a Mickey Mouse and perhaps cornrows hairstyle. Is she black?

Just for reference: the maths to scale down the Niagara Falls flow an convert from cubic feet to cubic centimeters:
<pre>
> 1e5*(.3048)^3*1000^2/(1e3)^3
[1] 2.831685
> 1e5*(.3048)^3*1000^2/(1e3)^3/2
[1] 1.415842
</pre>
American editors may want to adapt the formulas to add the numbers in cubic inches.--[[User:Pere prlpz|Pere prlpz]] ([[User talk:Pere prlpz|talk]]) 18:29, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

do we have a category for these small scale world comics if not we might want to discuss that. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.246|162.158.75.246]] 18:51, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Based on the original Star Trek canon, I believe it more than reasonable to say that all of the Enterprises would be able to operate at least partially submerged, but I would be very worried about a scale aircraft carrier breaking in two if lifted. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.115|162.158.62.115]] 20:56, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Tensile/shear strength works on cross-section, so would be proportional to the square of the scale, not the cube. A scaled-down Golden Gate Bridge would only support a millionth of the full load, not a billionth, so the proportional load is only 0.3 of a person. (And it basically wouldn't have to support itself, which, as it turns out, takes care of most of the remaining part.) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.183.117|162.158.183.117]] 22:07, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Neutrino Detector/Observatory seem to be 2 different things? one under an icesheet, one in tunnels? Some light should be shed on what they are, where they are, wether the ice sheet is to scale, etc. Also why the implication of the neutrino detector being functional ("The fact that people are not supposed to create false positives implies that the neutrino detector is functional.") - also: The no hot stuff on the ice could be just about not melting the ice and therefore destroying the model, instead of messing with the detectors... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:25, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

Only particles that travel faster than the speed of light (in ice) will emmit Cherenkov light, so the part about the "hot objects" is incorrect. What is shown here is the IceCube observatory, whose main detector part are the "strings" with "DOMs" buried deep down in the ice (between about 1500m and 2500m below the surface) --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.213|141.101.69.213]] 08:45, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

I find that the zeppelin part doesn't make much sense (in the comic, not the explanation) as modern zeppelins are filled with helium rather than hydrogen... even "classic" zeppelins were filled with helium if available. The resaon for the Hindenburg not being filled with helium but hydrogen was a ban on helium exports by the US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ_129_Hindenburg#Use_of_hydrogen_instead_of_helium [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 09:04, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

Would have been interesting if he had put a shipwreck on the ocean floor next to Cueball with the warning/reminder, "Do not try to raise the Titanic." [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 09:46, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

In the upper left corner of the comic there is a girl with a "Mickey Mouse" and perhaps cornrows hairstyle. Is she black? Does Randal have other black characters in any of the comics?
[[User:Punchcard|Punchcard]] ([[User talk:Punchcard|talk]])
== Order of comics ==

I wonder why he posted this one after the 1/10,000 and 1/100,000 comics instead of publishing them in order. My thought is maybe he worked on them simultaneously but this one wasn't ready, or maybe he made this one because he felt the response to the previous two was positive. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.11|172.69.68.11]] 23:50, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

== Small planes ==

I was fascinated by the east/west layers shown under "Watch for small planes". I assume this is in reference to actual US FAA and/or global practices? And of course the next question that occurs to me is what about planes flying due north or due south? Can anyone fill in some notes on this? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.18|108.162.245.18]] 01:12, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

:Global. Well, not entirely universal, but common for lot of countries. See {{w|Flight level#Semicircular/hemispheric_rule|Semicircular Flight Level rule}}. Apparently, New Zealand, Italy and Portugal prefer to divide by North/South but most countries use West/East. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 01:34, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

:Any aircraft with a heading from 0° to 179° is considered to be flying "east", and one with a heading anywhere from 180° to 359° is considered to be flying west. (Headings get rounded to nearest degree, so nobody flies at 359.5°.) Traffic headed east flies at odd flight levels (31,000 ft, 33,000 ft, etc.) while traffic heading west flies at even flight levels (30,000 ft, 32,000 ft, etc.) -- [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.132|172.68.174.132]] 03:38, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

2262: Parker Solar Probe

2020-01-31T21:33:37Z

Punchcard: Added sentence and citation from NASA announcement about Jan 29, 2020 distance to sun's surface.

{{comic
| number = 2262
| date = January 31, 2020
| title = Parker Solar Probe
| image = parker_solar_probe.png
| titletext = It will get within 9 or 10 Sun-diameters of the "bottom" (the Sun's surface) which seems pretty far when you put it that way, but from up here on Earth it's practically all the way down.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a FRIED ROBOTIC SOLAR PROBE. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This is an informative comic meant to represent the relative distances of astronomical objects relative to the {{w|Parker Solar Probe}}. It also shows where the probe will be in 2025 if its mission continues going according to plan.

The Parker Solar Probe is a robotic spacecraft launched by NASA in 2018 with the mission of repeatedly probing and making observations of the outer corona of the Sun. It travels in an elongated orbit that passes close to the Sun and sometimes passes near Venus, arranged such that Venus nudges the orbit slightly in each pass to bring the probe's perihelion (the lower end of its orbit) closer and closer to the Sun. By the end of the probe's planned lifetime in 2025, it will pass within 4.3 million miles (6.9 million km), or about 5 solar diameters, of the Sun's surface, at a speed of 430,000 mph (690,000 km/h). Two days before this comic was published {{w|Parker_Solar_Probe#Timeline|the probe again passed through perihelion}}, establishing new records for closeness to the Sun and speed.

{{w|Helios (spacecraft)|Helios 2}} was a solar probe launched in the 1976 that formerly held the records for closest man-made object to the Sun and fastest man-made object. Both records were surpassed in 2018 by the Parker probe.

[[File:Animation of Parker Solar Probe trajectory.gif|thumb|right|Animation of Parker Solar Probe's trajectory from August 7, 2018 to August 29, 2025 {{Color|magenta|Parker Solar Probe}} • {{Color|RoyalBlue|Earth}} • {{Color|Cyan|Venus}} • {{Color|Lime|Mercury}} • {{Color|#dbd81d|Sun}}]]

Cueball and Megan are standing on Earth. The way this diagram is drawn, they look like they could fall off Earth toward the Sun -- hence the comment "Careful!" -- though the joke is that in real life they would fall toward the center of the Earth, not toward the Sun.

The title text says the probe will get within 9 or 10 Sun-diameters of the Sun's surface. This is a bit of a mistake: it will actually get {{w|Parker Solar Probe|within that many Sun-''radii''}} -- only 4½ or 5 Sun-diameters. NASA says "he spacecraft traveled 11.6 million miles from the Sun’s surface" on Jan 29, 2020. citation: https://blogs.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe/2020/01/29/parker-solar-probe-completes-fourth-closest-approach-breaks-new-speed-and-distance-records/

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[A tall, narrow box with Earth at the top, a slice of the Sun at the bottom, and planets and other spacecraft in between.]

Caption above: Looking down toward the Sun and the Parker Solar Probe (distances are to scale, sizes are ''not'' to scale)

Earth, with Cueball and Megan standing "on top" [with their feet lower on the page, toward the Sun]

:Cueball: ''Careful!''

Venus

Mercury

Helios 2
(1976)

Parker Solar Probe
(today)

Parker Solar Probe
(2025)

Sun (not to scale)

{{comic discussion}}

2261: Worst Thing That Could Happen

2020-01-30T16:34:25Z

Punchcard:

{{comic
| number = 2261
| date = January 29, 2020
| title = Worst Thing That Could Happen
| image = worst_thing_that_could_happen.png
| titletext = Before I install any patch, I always open the patch notes and Ctrl-F for 'supervolcano', 'seagull', and 'garbage disposal', just to be safe.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by A SLOW NUCLEAR WAR WAGED BY SEAGULLS WITH HANDGUNS. Should discuss said worst things. More on title text. Is he wishing for or wishing to avoid these things. It is a company going to upgrade a lot of computers or s it just Ponytail with her private laptop and friends? Windows 7 has reached end of life this month and support has ceased as of mid January 2020. Link to related comics could be included. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Ponytail]] and company are considering upgrading (some part or program of) their computers. As part of the decision-making process, Ponytail asks her colleagues "what's the worst that could happen?" If their company relies on functionality offered by their current system that has been deprecated or modified in the updated version (such as in [[1172: Workflow]]), they may suffer downtime while they modify the rest of their workflow. Even if the upgraded system "should" continue to fit their needs, they may need to take some downtime to perform the update and deal with the risks of something going badly along the way.

Unfortunately, Ponytail's colleagues answer with their ideas for the worst things that could happen ''ever'', not "...as a result of the upgrade", as Ponytail meant (shown by her facepalming in the last panel). See a [[#List of worst thing|list with explanation]] below

Alternatively, she could be facepalming at the fact that the worst thing which could happen, according to her team, is that they are put on a ridiculous game show in which, if they answer a question incorrectly, they are chucked in garbage disposal. This may be bad, but it is nowhere near as bad as a supervolcano or nuclear war. However, Cueball has shown anxiety and difficulties in social situations, such as the less-than-helpful advice in "[[1917: How to Make Friends]]", so he may consider that his odds are worse on the game show than in nuclear war (and likewise Harry and Megan).

The title text talks about searching for a few of the things listed here below, but one of them is 'garbage disposal', which could be confused with garbage collection (a programming term). "Ctrl-F" is a common keyboard short cut for "find text string" in many programs. It is not the short cut in the stereotyped programmer edit program Vim and Emacs. Since Randal is just reading but not changing the patch notes a program such as Microsoft Word might have been used.

===List of worst thing===
*The list of "worst things that could happen" discussed by the team are:

{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"
|'''Thing''' || '''Notes'''
|-
|{{w|Supervolcano}} || A supervolcano is a volcano which would (or does) eject over 1,000 cubic kilometers of material when it erupts. The United States in particular is home to a supervolcano in {{w|Yellowstone National Park}}. If it erupted, the results would be catastrophic to the entire world, possibly triggering a volcanic winter, massive crop die-offs (and subsequent cascading extinctions up the food chain), and the destruction of human civilization.
|-
|{{w|Robot uprising}} || An artificial intelligence overthrows humanity and takes over the world. Harry is probably concerned with a violent uprising in which the robots are determined to exterminate humanity, as in e.g. the {{w|Terminator (franchise)|''Terminator''}} films, rather than [[1450: AI-Box Experiment|an AI who just wants to stay in a box]]. Randall has written about robot uprisings (both violent and humorous) in [[:Category:Artificial Intelligence|several comic strips]]. If Ponytail's company is involved in artificial intelligence, a robot uprising could be a plausible worst-case scenario from a botched upgrade.
|-
|Everyone falls down a {{w|well}} at once || ''{{w|Lassie}}'' was a series of books, films, and television shows about Lassie, a heroic Rough Collie dog who either rescues people from dangerous situations or at least goes to find other humans and lead them to the victim. The archetypal rescue in popular culture is that {{tvtropes|TimmyInAWell|little Timmy, her owner, falls down a well}} (although this never happened in any episode -- it was her first owner, Jeff Miller, who needed rescuing from the well, while Timmy got into pretty much any ''other'' kind of trouble imaginable). There have also been several well publicized incidents of real people falling down wells (individual people falling down individual wells), such as [https://www.biography.com/personality/baby-jessica Baby Jessica] and [https://www.michigan.gov/egle/0,9429,7-135-3313_3675_3689-7996--,00.html this list]. If ''everyone'' fell down a well at once, there would be nobody for Lassie to summon to get them out, which would be a pretty bad thing. It's unclear how this upgrade could cause this outcome, unless it somehow interfered with GPS and led everyone to the coordinates of one or more wells? However, installation of new software can lead you far away from your computer as shown back in [[349: Success]].
|-
|Instead of hitting the tallest thing around, lightning starts hitting the nicest || {{w|Lightning}} generally strikes the tallest object under a thunderstorm; {{w|lightning rods}} are built to take advantage of this effect to protect nearby important objects from the lightning. If lightning started hitting the ''nicest'' thing around, then it would presumably prefer to strike whatever it was that the lightning rods are meant to protect (nice buildings, nice people, [https://history.nasa.gov/SP-350/ch-7-3.html nice rockets]). If the computer that's being upgraded is connected to the [[1620: Christmas Settings|Universe Control Panel]], this change could be a plausible negative consequence of the update.
|-
|{{w|Seagulls}} all get {{w|handguns}} || Guns in the hands of humans account for the majority of homicides and suicides in the USA. Letting handguns be wielded by Seagulls, which lack the impulse control and cognitive thinking required to make the ownership of a handgun somewhat safe, is asking for trouble. Seagulls are not particularly known for their intelligence or self control. In popular beaches, seagulls are known to aggressively harass humans for their food; if they wielded handguns, a great deal of violence would ensue. If not due to intentional use (i.e. if the Seagulls were capable of learning that use of a handgun would get them food or something else they might like), accidental use could account for much mayhem and death.
|-
|A really '''slow''' nuclear war || No {{w|nuclear war}} involving two sides launching nuclear weapons at each other has ever been fought{{Citation needed}}, but experts generally agree that an all-out nuclear war between superpowers would end very quickly and very badly for all parties involved. A "slow" nuclear war might play out as a series of tit-for-tat individual launches rather than an apocalyptic exchange, but the destruction of cities and release of fallout would be the same. Perhaps the anticipation of when exactly it's "your turn" to be a target would make the slow war a worse experience.

Much of the computer networking technology used today has its roots in research into hardening nuclear command and control systems against an incoming first strike, and many works of fiction have depicted nuclear war (or the risk of nuclear war) resulting from computer and software errors in systems that are supposed to "upgrade" the decision-making process, such as ''{{w|WarGames}}''. If Ponytail's company is involved in the defense industry, a nuclear war could be a plausible worst-case scenario from a botched upgrade.
|-
|We have to go on a game show where they show you photos of people you've met once and ask you their names, and if you get one wrong a trapdoor opens and you fall into a garbage disposal || Many popular game shows feature contests where contestants who fail are subjected to pain and/or humiliation, such as the ''{{w|Ninja Warrior}}'' franchise. However, if contestants were dropped into an under-sink {{w|garbage disposal unit}}, they would be at risk of suffering losses of limbs and even death, which would be a form of liability that no game show would wish to encounter. Perhaps the "garbage disposal" on the show is more like that presented in ''Star Wars'', where the contestant has a chance to escape.
|}

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail is standing in front of a desk with a computer. One of her hands is on the keyboard. Behind her, Cueball, Harry, and Megan are looking at the computer screen.]
:Ponytail: We should upgrade. What's the worst that could happen?
:Cueball: Supervolcano.
:Harry: Robot uprising.
:Megan: Everyone falls down a well at once.

:[Zoom in on Cueball, Harry, and Megan. Cueball has turned toward the other two.]
:Cueball: Instead of hitting the tallest thing around, lightning starts hitting the nicest.
:Megan: Seagulls all get handguns.
:Harry: A really '''''slow''''' nuclear war.

:[Large panel with the original setting. Ponytail has turned towards the other three but is now facepalming, as Cueball gesturing with his hands at chest-height are still looking at the other two facing him.]
:Cueball: We all have to go on a game show where they show you photos of people you've met once and ask you their names, and if you get one wrong a trapdoor opens and you fall into a garbage disposal.
:Harry: '''Ooh,''' that's a good one.
:Megan: Yeah, let's put off the upgrade.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Volcanoes]]
[[Category:Robots]]
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]
[[Category:Weather]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Nuclear weapons]]

Talk:2150: XKeyboarCD

2019-05-15T22:32:13Z

Punchcard:

Since this is xkcd, can someone check whether this 15 puzzle is solvable? I seem to recall that 1/2 of possible permutations fail. And this is the sort of Easter egg we have come to expect from our lord and master Randall [[User:Cyclic3|Cyclic3]] ([[User talk:Cyclic3|talk]]) 13:51, 15 May 2019 (UTC)
:Unfortunately, it’s unsolvable.
:If the 15-puzzle is laid out ''like a numpad'' with 1 in the bottom left and the hole in the top right it ''is'' solvable. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.49|162.158.154.49]] 14:23, 15 May 2019 (UTC)
::Really? I got it on my fifteen puzzle.
:It's also possible to do if you just put the blank in the upper left corner, so _123,4567,etc. Source: I just Googled and downloaded a solver with a very annoying input method (Why can't I just type the numbers?) [[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 21:06, 15 May 2019 (UTC)

"Key travel" is the vertical distance a key moves when you press it. "Unlimited key travel" would make it very hard for it to register that a key has been pressed.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.40|172.69.62.40]] 14:03, 15 May 2019 (UTC)
:Perhaps the XKCD Company has partnered with ExampleName.Website.

I don't get the title. Is "XLeoparCD" some kind of typing pun I'm missing? [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 14:05, 15 May 2019 (UTC)
:You probably have the Substitutions filter on your computer and forgot about it. (I do too, it's great.) It's XKeyboarCD, and the capital letters spell XKCD (for if that wasn't obvious). [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.77|172.68.132.77]] 14:10, 15 May 2019 (UTC)

What are the supposedly 5 most useful emoji? I recognize the laughing/crying one on position two and an Octopus on position three. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.231|162.158.93.231]] 14:35, 15 May 2019 (UTC)
: I think it's 'racehorse' & 'beer'. [[User:nachuo|nachuo]] ([[User talk:nachuo|talk]]) 14:44, 15 May 2019 (UTC)
: The last one is 'aerial tramway'

A friend of mine loves Rubik's Cubes, so I immediately went looking for a Rubik's Cube shaped keyboard... Instead I found Rubik's Cubes with keys glued to them, but they aren't functional. Anyone know of a cube-shaped keyboard? A 3x3 is enough for letters, numbers, & most common punctuation; a 4x4 could include most important keys found on a regular QWERTY keyboard. Surely this is already a thing? I was ready to say "Shut up and take my money!"
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 15:20, 15 May 2019 (UTC)
: The closest thing I can find is the Twiddler or the DecaTxt. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.59.120|172.68.59.120]] 16:24, 15 May 2019 (UTC)

: The directional arrow key would be the existing production Lenovo's red Track Point button. [https://support.lenovo.com/ca/en/solutions/ht000611] So this is close to a "real" button.
Confirmed that the numeric pad cannot be put into numerical order without removing keys and placing them in another order.
There are 28 keys on the top row which usually is the function key row. Also the Ergonomic keyboard would cause serious physical and mental pain to everyone.
[[User:Punchcard|Punchcard]] ([[User talk:Punchcard|talk]]) 22:32, 15 May 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2068: Election Night

2018-11-06T15:20:49Z

Punchcard:

This is an early example of using red and blue to denote candidates and parties. Here, McKinley (R) gets blue and Bryan (D) red; it wasn't standardized on blue for Democrats and red for Republicans until after the 2000 election. NBC News having used red/R and blue/D that year, Tom Brokaw was the first to speak extensively of "red states" and "blue states" elevating that to political meme status and leading to standardization. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.166|162.158.78.166]] 14:36, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

:I was just going to mention the hat :) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.191|108.162.246.191]] 14:57, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

I distinctly remember the reporting during the 1980 election (Reagan vs. Carter) that the TV news used blue for Republicans and red for Democrats. I don't know why they later switched, but I have always assumed that Democrats got offended by the use of red (the color of the USSR's flag and many other communist organizations) for their party. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 15:19, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

:Beyond having one party being red and the other blue, there was no consistent color-coding scheme for the two major parties either from election to election or between news agencies prior to 2000. Both parties still officially list red, white, and blue as their colors. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.149|162.158.79.149]] 15:24, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

::There's a long history about red and blue states, all of which comes directly from the media reporting the different parties. It's interesting to note that in Europe, the liberal parties are red and the conservative parties are blue (opposite of the US), and the fact that red is the color of the USSR has nothing to do with the Democrats "not wanting to be red," they didn't choose the colors. [[User:Zachweix|Zachweix]] ([[User talk:Zachweix|talk]]) 16:51, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
::: Actually liberal parties tend to be in the yellow/orange part of the spectrum (see LibDems in the UK or FDP in Germany), red is for parties with more (historical) socialist leanings (Labour, SDP). [[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.4|188.114.102.4]] 19:25, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
:: European politics, unlike US politics, is multidimensional. [[User:Erkinalp|Erkinalp]] ([[User talk:Erkinalp|talk]]) 16:59, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

:: IIRC, blue was used for incumbents on some stations, red for challengers, and in 2000, blue stuck as the color of the democratic party, {{unsigned ip|162.158.79.107}}

:::It seems to have been chosen pretty much arbitrarily. As much as I follow politics, I never heard of any clear association where the Democrats were blue and Republicans red -- ''or vice versa'' -- until after election night in 2000. Before then, there was no well-known standard as to which party would get which color on a map. The standard colors we have now only stuck based on the coverage from election night (and afterward) in 2000. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.150.46|172.68.150.46]] 17:26, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

God I feel awful for the Civil war vets with PTSD who decided to reside in Chicago. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.11|172.69.33.11]] 17:05, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

What is the 'Needle' referring to? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.142.4|162.158.142.4]] 17:46, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
: The Traumatic Needle can be found here... https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/11/the-new-york-times-election-needle-is-back-with-a-few-new-safety-features {{unsigned ip|162.158.106.126}}

I was reading this, expecting the last page (or the title text) to have someone commenting that lecturing to modern people about how things were in the past is a pretty trivial or bizarre waste of something as momentous as time travel; and top hat guy to reply that he didn't come to bring them a message, he's just avoiding the fireworks because he's fed up of the modern election-night media circus. -- [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 17:50, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

Does anyone have a source for the 1896 reporting via fireworks referred to here? I've done a few Google searches, but so far haven't found anything. Historic issues of the Chicago Tribune is behind a paywall, so I can't go look there directly. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 18:40, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
: I assume Randall made this up? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.171|173.245.48.171]] 18:49, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
::Telling from [https://img.newspapers.com/img/thumbnail/349884040/250/150/5939_4729_418_251/0/yes/5893_4842_511_25.jpg this snippet], it seems legit. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.172|172.68.50.172]] 18:54, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
::: It is legit, scroll through the first result here:[https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/search/#lnd=1&query=blue+to+indicate+McKinley%27s+election&ymd=1896-11-01]. (Update: I have no idea how to format this properly, somebody that knows how please fix this and feel free to remove this message) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.149|162.158.79.149]] 21:56, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
::::I fixed your problem, just start your comment at the beginning of a line. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:31, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
::::Thanks for the link. Unfortunately, it is blocked by the Tribune's paywall. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 22:36, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
:::::Here's the transcription of that article (I have access through my ancestry account): "Election Bulletins BY BOMBS. | TUESDAY NIGHT THE TRIBUNE will send up from the roof of the GREAT NORTHERN HOTEL hourly, shells containing blue and red stars - exactly on the hour - at 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 p.m. 12 midnight, 1 and 2 a. m. Wednesday morning, unless election is decided earlier, in which case twelve bombs will be sent up in rapid succession. Blue to indicate McKinley's election. Red to indicate Bryan's election. SIX BOMBS EVERY HOUR. The first bomb sent up, if blue, indicates the returns in COOK COUNTY at that hour are favorable to McKinley; if red, favorable to Bryan. After sixty seconds two bombs will be sent up in rapid succession, and will indicate, if blue, that returns from ILLINOIS favor McKinley; if red, Bryan. After sixty more seconds more three [sic] bombs will be sent up in rapid succession, and if blue will indicate that at that hour returns from the entire country favor McKinley; if red, Bryan. Each bomb bursts high in the air, scattering a shower of stars."--[[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.6|172.68.65.6]] 14:05, 6 November 2018 (UTC)
::::Is the hovertext quote legit, too? –[[User:P1h3r1e3d13|P1h3r1e3d13]] ([[User talk:P1h3r1e3d13|talk]]) 23:15, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

There needs to be a reference to "Dewey Defeats Truman" in the explanation. When Megan says they will get the election results the next day this would not have been the correct reults. The Chicago Daily Tribune published a newspaper with the headline "Dewey Defeats Truman" but the newspaper article was wrong. Because of publishing deadlines they published what they thought was correct but more results came in later and Truman won. With the internet and 24 hour news stations this problem does not exist. Also perhaps there could be a reference to Florida's "hanging chad" which caused caused the election results to be decided in the coarts and not overnight. [[User:Punchcard|Punchcard]] ([[User talk:Punchcard|talk]]) 15:20, 6 November 2018 (UTC)

'''Papal conclave'''

No one else sees parallels to the {{w|Papal conclave#Smoke colors|smoke colors}} after a papal conclave? It's white and black there, but the principle is the same (no telecommunication, ...) --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:15, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

Is the needle a relative of the good old swingometer. The BBc's favoured method of showing predicted General Election results based on polling and a uniform swing. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.39.41|162.158.39.41]] 00:06, 6 November 2018 (UTC)
: As depicted by [https://youtu.be/dVI5ZOT5QEM Monty Python]? [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 13:42, 6 November 2018 (UTC)

Talk:2068: Election Night

2018-11-06T15:18:47Z

Punchcard: Waiting overnight does not always get correct results (Dewey Defeats Truman; hanging chad)

This is an early example of using red and blue to denote candidates and parties. Here, McKinley (R) gets blue and Bryan (D) red; it wasn't standardized on blue for Democrats and red for Republicans until after the 2000 election. NBC News having used red/R and blue/D that year, Tom Brokaw was the first to speak extensively of "red states" and "blue states" elevating that to political meme status and leading to standardization. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.166|162.158.78.166]] 14:36, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

:I was just going to mention the hat :) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.191|108.162.246.191]] 14:57, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

I distinctly remember the reporting during the 1980 election (Reagan vs. Carter) that the TV news used blue for Republicans and red for Democrats. I don't know why they later switched, but I have always assumed that Democrats got offended by the use of red (the color of the USSR's flag and many other communist organizations) for their party. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 15:19, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

:Beyond having one party being red and the other blue, there was no consistent color-coding scheme for the two major parties either from election to election or between news agencies prior to 2000. Both parties still officially list red, white, and blue as their colors. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.149|162.158.79.149]] 15:24, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

::There's a long history about red and blue states, all of which comes directly from the media reporting the different parties. It's interesting to note that in Europe, the liberal parties are red and the conservative parties are blue (opposite of the US), and the fact that red is the color of the USSR has nothing to do with the Democrats "not wanting to be red," they didn't choose the colors. [[User:Zachweix|Zachweix]] ([[User talk:Zachweix|talk]]) 16:51, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
::: Actually liberal parties tend to be in the yellow/orange part of the spectrum (see LibDems in the UK or FDP in Germany), red is for parties with more (historical) socialist leanings (Labour, SDP). [[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.4|188.114.102.4]] 19:25, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
:: European politics, unlike US politics, is multidimensional. [[User:Erkinalp|Erkinalp]] ([[User talk:Erkinalp|talk]]) 16:59, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

:: IIRC, blue was used for incumbents on some stations, red for challengers, and in 2000, blue stuck as the color of the democratic party, {{unsigned ip|162.158.79.107}}

:::It seems to have been chosen pretty much arbitrarily. As much as I follow politics, I never heard of any clear association where the Democrats were blue and Republicans red -- ''or vice versa'' -- until after election night in 2000. Before then, there was no well-known standard as to which party would get which color on a map. The standard colors we have now only stuck based on the coverage from election night (and afterward) in 2000. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.150.46|172.68.150.46]] 17:26, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

God I feel awful for the Civil war vets with PTSD who decided to reside in Chicago. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.11|172.69.33.11]] 17:05, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

What is the 'Needle' referring to? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.142.4|162.158.142.4]] 17:46, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
: The Traumatic Needle can be found here... https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/11/the-new-york-times-election-needle-is-back-with-a-few-new-safety-features {{unsigned ip|162.158.106.126}}

I was reading this, expecting the last page (or the title text) to have someone commenting that lecturing to modern people about how things were in the past is a pretty trivial or bizarre waste of something as momentous as time travel; and top hat guy to reply that he didn't come to bring them a message, he's just avoiding the fireworks because he's fed up of the modern election-night media circus. -- [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 17:50, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

Does anyone have a source for the 1896 reporting via fireworks referred to here? I've done a few Google searches, but so far haven't found anything. Historic issues of the Chicago Tribune is behind a paywall, so I can't go look there directly. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 18:40, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
: I assume Randall made this up? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.171|173.245.48.171]] 18:49, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
::Telling from [https://img.newspapers.com/img/thumbnail/349884040/250/150/5939_4729_418_251/0/yes/5893_4842_511_25.jpg this snippet], it seems legit. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.172|172.68.50.172]] 18:54, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
::: It is legit, scroll through the first result here:[https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/search/#lnd=1&query=blue+to+indicate+McKinley%27s+election&ymd=1896-11-01]. (Update: I have no idea how to format this properly, somebody that knows how please fix this and feel free to remove this message) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.149|162.158.79.149]] 21:56, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
::::I fixed your problem, just start your comment at the beginning of a line. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:31, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
::::Thanks for the link. Unfortunately, it is blocked by the Tribune's paywall. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 22:36, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
:::::Here's the transcription of that article (I have access through my ancestry account): "Election Bulletins BY BOMBS. | TUESDAY NIGHT THE TRIBUNE will send up from the roof of the GREAT NORTHERN HOTEL hourly, shells containing blue and red stars - exactly on the hour - at 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 p.m. 12 midnight, 1 and 2 a. m. Wednesday morning, unless election is decided earlier, in which case twelve bombs will be sent up in rapid succession. Blue to indicate McKinley's election. Red to indicate Bryan's election. SIX BOMBS EVERY HOUR. The first bomb sent up, if blue, indicates the returns in COOK COUNTY at that hour are favorable to McKinley; if red, favorable to Bryan. After sixty seconds two bombs will be sent up in rapid succession, and will indicate, if blue, that returns from ILLINOIS favor McKinley; if red, Bryan. After sixty more seconds more three [sic] bombs will be sent up in rapid succession, and if blue will indicate that at that hour returns from the entire country favor McKinley; if red, Bryan. Each bomb bursts high in the air, scattering a shower of stars."--[[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.6|172.68.65.6]] 14:05, 6 November 2018 (UTC)
::::Is the hovertext quote legit, too? –[[User:P1h3r1e3d13|P1h3r1e3d13]] ([[User talk:P1h3r1e3d13|talk]]) 23:15, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

There needs to be a reference to "Dewey Defeats Truman" in the explanation. When Megan says they will get the election results the next day this would not have been the correct reults. The Chicago Daily Tribune published a newspaper with the headline "Dewey Defeats Truman" but the newspaper article was wrong. Because of publishing deadlines they published what they thought was correct but more results came in later and Truman won. With the internet and 24 hour news stations this problem does not exist. Also perhaps there could be a reference to Florida's "hanging chad" which caused caused the election results to be decided in the coarts and not overnight.

'''Papal conclave'''

No one else sees parallels to the {{w|Papal conclave#Smoke colors|smoke colors}} after a papal conclave? It's white and black there, but the principle is the same (no telecommunication, ...) --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:15, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

Is the needle a relative of the good old swingometer. The BBc's favoured method of showing predicted General Election results based on polling and a uniform swing. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.39.41|162.158.39.41]] 00:06, 6 November 2018 (UTC)
: As depicted by [https://youtu.be/dVI5ZOT5QEM Monty Python]? [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 13:42, 6 November 2018 (UTC)