explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:Blue Eyes

2020-01-10T17:50:04Z

SilverMagpie:

Is it really incomplete on the grounds that Joel hasn't be identified? Explanations of comics 57-59 leave no more explanation of "Scott" than that he appears to be Randall's friend. The fact that we don't have a last name for him doesn't make either [[Scott]] or those comic explanations incomplete. Similarly, not have a full identifier for "Joel" in this one doesn't, in my opinion, warrant an incomplete tag. I'm removing the tag. If anyone object, revert it. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:22, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

The proof for this puzzle is incomplete, if not wrong. The theorem is too weak, it should be: "Theorem: N blue eyed people with Nth order knowledge of all N people being logicians, N people having blue eyes, and any blue eyed person will leave as soon as possible after deducing they have blue eyes, will be able to leave on the Nth day." This may seem pedantic, but it really gets to the heart of the problem, which is trying to illustrate the use of orders of knowledge. In the theorem as stated, just N blue eyed people will leave on the Nth day, the proof for the inductive steps does not hold. You need to further assume that the person is able to deduce the hypothesis (which should be proven). In other words, you say X-1 people would leave on the (X-1)th day by hypothesis, so the Xth person knows he can leave on the Xth day. But you did not prove that the Xth person can actually deduce this, namely that he has all the information necessary to do so. In the correctly stated hypothesis, you then need to show that N + 1 people with (N+1)th order knowledge of all those things can deduce that the N people would leave if it was just them, and further that N+1 people have (N+1)th order knowledge of all these things. This is very important, and holds true (Since N+1th order knowledge is equivalent to knowing the N people have the Nth order knowledge necessary to fulfill the hypothesis, and by symmetry if the N logicians can figure it out the (N+1)th can too. Also, they have (N+1)th order knowledge of people leaving as soon as they can and everyone being a logician since in the proper statement of the puzzle it should be noted this is common knowledge, and the guru makes the knowledge of someone having blue eyes common knowledge.). Then you have a full proof, since you have now included that they can actually deduce the inductive step. Again, this may seem pedantic, but is really necessary both to be correct and as it illustrates the key of the puzzle, namely the guru gives 100th order knowledge of someone having blue eyes (this is the main problem people have, realizing the concrete piece of information the guru gives). [[User:Jlangy|Jlangy]] ([[User talk:Jlangy|talk]]) 00:29, 9 July 2015

What I don't follow here is that there's no clarification that the Guru is talking about someone different each time. Just because she says "I see someone with blue eyes" N times doesn't mean that there are N people with blue eyes; she could be talking about the same person every time, or each of two people half the time, etc. Can anyone clarify this?
Thanks - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.47|108.162.218.47]] 13:20, 28 October 2015 (UTC)

(EDIT: Observe the process of comprehension in action...or don't? I've been thinking about my own brain, with itself, long enough for one day, I'm tired.)
So, maybe I am indeed just "dumb", as the wiki insists. Clearly, I do not have a perfect understanding of formal logic. But frankly, my read of this puzzle is that "formal logic" just enables you to jump to ridiculous conclusions.
Let's theorize a simpler version of this puzzle. There are now only two people besides the Guru on the island, both with blue eyes. We'll call them Bill and Ted (totally bogus, I know). No matter how logical Bill and Ted might be, when Bill hears the Guru say "I see a person with blue eyes" to himself and Ted, and Bill has seen Ted's blue eyes himself, why would Bill assume anything about his own eye color? It would seem to Bill that Guru was just talking about Ted's eyes, and Ted would believe the reverse. Even knowing* that Ted would leave that night if Ted deduced he had blue eyes too, I still don't see why Bill would jump to the conclusion that the Guru was talking about him - he remains in the dark, as does Ted, and neither of them can be any more certain of anything than they previously were. Adding 98 more blue-eyed people, let alone doubling the island's population with irrelevant brown-eyers, hardly reduces the confusion.
* This was the point at which I began to think I had understood it, but then I became unsure again. Like I said in the "edit", my brain is tired.
--So, that settles it, I do not understand how the puzzle can be true, and I'm not convinced that it actually is. Knowing Randall is, in general, smarter than me...I still do not have the ability to completely accept that he's always right, or that I'm always wrong to ignorantly question his rightness. I have long maintained that certain well-respected "systems of knowledge", of which formal logic is a textbook example, have been respected too well for too long for not-good-enough reasons. To me, they seem to be founded on an assumption which is itself founded on nothing. I'm not trying to insult Randall or anyone else, I'm just utterly failing to comprehend. I will appreciate if anyone else attempts to educate me on the subject, but I may prove an intractable student, since I am unable to extend much faith or trust (or even, on a day where my mood is worse than today, the moderate degree of politeness as I've already managed) to a teacher. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.52|173.245.54.52]] 19:18, 30 October 2015 (UTC)

In your simplified version of the puzzle, Bill sees Ted has blue eyes. 
Here's Bill reasoning: 
- Either my eyes are blue or not. 
- If my eyes are not blue, then Ted knows that his eyes are blue, because the Guru said at least one of us has blue eyes, and he'll leave the island tonight. 
- Let's wait. If Ted doesn't leave tonight, that means he doesn't know his eyes are blue, and therefore my hypothesis is false. 
When Bill sees Ted doesn't leave that night, he can deduce that he has blue eyes. 
Ted can do the same reasoning. 
After that first night, both will know they both have blue eyes. 
--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.228.5|108.162.228.5]] 14:09, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

;Superrationality

The solution relies on the fact that "at least 1 blue" is new information which triggers a cascade.

Wouldn't the entire population of the island be able to conclude that everyone else on the island knows there is at least 1 blue eyed individual already?

For example, every person on the island will see at least 99 blues and 99 browns. From this, they can assume that everyone else on the island can see at least 98 blues and 98 browns. Of course, the actual numbers will differ, but 98 is the lower limit for all perspectives.

A blue will see 99 blues and 100 browns, so he will assume that all other blues can see at least 98 and all browns can see at least 99 blues. Similar logic for a brown or any observer.

[[User:Flewk|Flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 09:26, 26 December 2015 (UTC)

The solution here is different to Randall's solution, and I think is actually incorrect for two reasons that add confusion and prevented me from understanding the solution until I'd thought about Randall's solution and realised these are actually different.
* It seems to falsely presume that the Guru is speaking to them each day, when this is explicitly not the case in the puzzle.
* I also believe it is incorrect to state that the brown-eyed people can be disregarded. The solution is actually dependent on a *combination* of hypothesis testing and on theory of mind; not just one or the other. It matters that everyone is also thinking about what the brown-eyed people around them must be thinking, otherwise you can't explain why mistakes will not happen with brown-eyed people getting on the ferry when they're not supposed to, and screwing up everybody else's logic.
- If you're on the island and you have blue eyes, there are two hypotheses: either there are 99 people with blue eyes or 100. If there are 99, then everyone one of those 99 people is thinking "either there are 98 people with blue eyes, or there are 99" (and therefore you do not have blue eyes). Blue-eyed people also know that if there are 99 of them, then the brown-eyed people are thinking, "Either there are 99 blue eyed people, or 100." If there are 100, then the brown eyed people are thinking, "Either there are 100, or 101". To summarise, blue eyed people are deciding between 99 or 100, and presuming that other blue eyed people are either suspecting there could be 98/99, or 99/100, while presuming that brown-eyed people are either suspecting there are 100/101, or 99/100.
- If there are 99, then blue-eyes are thinking 98/99, and brown-eyes are thinking 99/100. Blue eyes will plan to leave if the 98th day passes and nobody has left, brown-eyes will plan to leave if the 99th day passes and nobody has left.
- If there are 100, then blue-eyes are thinking 99/100, and brown-eyes are thinking 100/101. Blue eyes will plan to leave if the 99th day passes and nobody has left, brown-eyes will plan to leave if the 100th day passes and nobody has left.
- So you know that if you have brown eyes, you'll watch all the blue-eyes leave on the 99th day. And you know that if you have blue eyes, you'll watch all the brown-eyed people hold back in case their day is the 101st. If you're allowed to leave, there will be no situation where brown-eyed people mistakenly leave on the 100th day, thus confusing things. If you're not allowed to leave, there'll be no reason for you to mistakenly make an attempt to leave on the 99th day.
- Thinking about this fact - what the brown-eyed people are thinking - also reveals why the Guru's comment matters, and adds information, even though it should seem to most people as if no information is being added (because they can all already see that blue-eyed people exist). I think this is a key part of why the problem is so tricky. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.155|108.162.249.155]] 07:42, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

The new information the guru gives is nothing more than a common marker (the day of the announcement) to use as a starting point for counting days. Before the announcement, being unable to communicate with each other, they were unable to coordinate a means of figuring out their own eye color.
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.59.105|172.68.59.105]] 21:52, 22 September 2016 (UTC)

That's wrong. In that case the browned eyed people would do the same, but they can't.

What I'd like to know: If there were 100 blue-eyes, 200 brown-eyes, 300 grey-eyes and 400 red-eyes, and the Guru says "I don't see anyone with a unique eye color", would that permit everyone to leave (except the Guru herself) using the same logic? Meaning the blue-eyes leave again on day 100, the brown-eyes on 200, the grey-eyes on 300, and the red-eyes on 301.

I think it would actually be days 99, 199, 299, and 300, because the 'what if there were only two blue-eyes' case would be solved on day 1 - i.e. both would see only one blue-eye and deduce that they are also a blue-eye, and both would leave - so everything gets moved up by one day.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.16|141.101.76.16]] 13:52, 4 January 2018 (UTC)

This was bugging me today - specifically the guru doesn't seem to actually give any information, because with at least 3 blue-eyed people, everyone on the island knows that the guru sees people with blue eyes, and also everyone knows that everyone knows the guru sees people with blue eyes. So for a while I thought the brown-eyed people must have as much information as the blue-eyed people, and either they both could leave or neither could leave.

After a bunch of reading and testing possibilities I think I've actually figured it out now and why only blue-eyed people leave, but I haven't seen an actual good explanation for it yet, so here's my explanation: The information the guru gives is that, NO MATTER HOW MANY BLUE-EYED PEOPLE THERE ARE, they can figure out they have blue eyes. It is important that it is possible for blue-eyed people to be able to solve it for EVERY number, even if everyone knows there is more people than that number (basically because, everyone doesn't know that everyone knows there is more than that number and there's a gap in their logic without knowing that). If there is any number for which blue-eyed people cannot figure it out, then any solution (namely, what I thought before testing possibilities) would require that there is a number N of blue-eyed people that cannot leave, but a number N+1 of blue-eyed people that can leave. This is self-contradicting though. If N blue-eyed people can't figure it out, than N+1 people (regardless of eye color) can't get meaningful information from the action of those N blue-eyed people. And since they can't get meaningful information from N people's actions, N+1 people can't tell if there are N people and that individual is not blue eyed, or N+1 people and they are blue-eyed. It would be logically incorrect for them to assume an eye color at that point, which means they don't know if they can leave, and then N+2 people are similarly unable to get meaningful information from N+1 people's actions, and so on. Because a single blue-eyed person cannot figure it out, more blue-eyed people (regardless of number) cannot make any assumptions without additional information. Then the guru effectively states a single blue-eyed person could leave immediately (which means 2 could leave the next night confidently, and thus 3 the next, and so on in an UNBROKEN chain). Kejardon - [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.82|162.158.214.82]] 11:15, 9 January 2020 (UTC) (I doublechecked and edited/corrected my post kind of at the same time, so your reply doesn't make sense anymore, sorry Lupo. Feel free to delete these two sentences if you change/delete your reply)
:You bring up 2 points. First about the common marker. This is true, but it contains more information than "start counting from today," because every blueeyed person has 2 scenarios: With 99 blue eyed people and with 100. The numbers are not important, and it would also be needed with 1,2,3,etc. blue eyed people. The point about the brown eyed people: The brown eyed people have no way to conclude (remember, they are "perfect logicans" and their task is to figure out, not to make an estimated guess) that their own eyes are in fact brown, and not red, or green just like the Gurus. If the guru just said: "Start counting", then noone woul leave at any given night. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 11:05, 9 January 2020 (UTC)

I figured this out in less than a minute... there were so many warnings about the solution being convoluted that I thought I couldn't possibly have it right. It's not really that confusing and I've seen waaaaaaay harder logic problems.

This image is listed under "My Hobby" for some reason, despite not even being a comic, let alone a "My Hobby" comic. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.151|162.158.111.151]] 00:58, 9 September 2019 (UTC)How sign edit

== Unstated assumption (about motives) ==

While trying to solve this, I started questioning my assumptions about the motives of the islanders. It turns out my assumptions were correct, but I think they deserve to be explicitly stated:
# Everyone wants to leave the island ASAP.
# An islander only "figures out" their eye color through logical deduction (no guessing or playing the odds)
# The Guru's statement is meant to help others leave the island. (but as stated above, it may not be the optimal means of helping others leave -- "nobody has a unique eye color")
:Regarding the 1st point: Yes, that needs to be stated.--[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 11:37, 9 January 2020 (UTC)
:Regarding the 2nd point: It should be mentioned, but could be implied by the words "figure out" and by the fact that everyone is a "Perfect logican". --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 11:37, 9 January 2020 (UTC)
:Regarding the 3rd point: If it was not meant to help people leave, it would still do the same job. Also the statement from the Guru "nobody has a unique eye color" would be wrong and misleading! In that case everyone would wrongly assume: "I must have green eyes, as otherwise the Guru would have an unique eye color." - The alternative statement "I see noone with a unique eye color" would work. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 11:37, 9 January 2020 (UTC)

Storming lighteyes (not sorry) [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 17:50, 10 January 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2225: Voting Referendum

2019-11-08T20:16:42Z

SilverMagpie:

OK, I just created a massive edit conflict, I see. Will move my content into the appropriate parts of the template already in place. [[User:Silverpie|Silverpie]] ([[User talk:Silverpie|talk]]) 20:37, 6 November 2019 (UTC)

If there is disagreement about which edits are better, we should vote on it. Which system of voting would be best for that? [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 21:08, 6 November 2019 (UTC)

Someone (IP-User) just added the following:
Additionally, in election of multiple candidates across a country (or region etc.), first past the post does not lead to a distribution of elected representatives proportional to the total number of votes, only electing the lead candidate in each case. For example, imagine a country with 100 representatives to be elected, with each seat having the same distribution as described in the example above. Under first past the post, 100 representatives will be elected representing part A, and none for party B or C.
Unless there is some example where this is used (multiple seats given only to the winner of a first past the post) I'd vote for removing this statement. As I do not know all (or even many) democratic systems worldwide, I am not sure if it might be relevant somewhere. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 13:58, 7 November 2019 (UTC)
:That's how the US Electoral College works: in each state, all elector seats go to the party that obtained the majority of votes.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.234.94|162.158.234.94]] 14:53, 7 November 2019 (UTC)
::Really? I knew that the "electoral college" was fucked up, but I was not aware, that the US system is this bad... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 15:06, 7 November 2019 (UTC)
:::The US system is the most broken system in a democracy... See CGP Greys videos on [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7tWHJfhiyo first past the post] and general playlist of [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqs5ohhass_R1EPpAQ5GKnNvB_W0jOSDO Politics in America]. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:05, 7 November 2019 (UTC)

Problem of selecting the method of voting was already considered in Polish comedy [[wikipedia:The_Cruise_(1970_film)|The Cruise (Pol. Rejs)]]. "But what voting system can be used to select the method of voting?" [[User:Tkopec|Tkopec]] ([[User talk:Tkopec|talk]]) 09:34, 8 November 2019 (UTC)

;Louisiana Primary
I didn't know - WikiP: The so-called Louisiana primary is the common term for the Louisiana general election for local, state, and congressional offices.[1] On election day, all candidates for the same office appear together on the ballot, often including several candidates from each major party. The candidate who receives a simple majority is elected. If no candidate wins a simple majority in the first round, there is a runoff one month later between the top two candidates to determine the winner. This system is also used for United States Senate special elections in Mississippi and Texas, and all special elections for partisan offices in Georgia.[2][[User:Afbach|Afbach]] ([[User talk:Afbach|talk]])

This is also known as a "Jungle Primary" and is also done in Washington state and California. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.58|108.162.219.58]] 20:00, 6 November 2019 (UTC)


I had to resolve an editing conflict in the first paragraph with another editor, but please feel free to further resolve our differing edits. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 20:26, 6 November 2019 (UTC)

;Single Transferable Vote
The text says "100%/(k+1)". Surely this should be "100%/k + 1", or "100%/k, plus one person"? Say k is 4. The current text implies that only 20% is required, when it should be 25%, plus one person. [[User:John.Adriaan|John.Adriaan]] ([[User talk:John.Adriaan|talk]]) 01:55, 7 November 2019 (UTC)
:Setting a quota at 25% plus one person would only allow 3 people to be elected, as once that happens there would be less than 25% of the vote left to count which wouldn't be enough to elect anyone else. Setting the quota at 100%/(k+1) means that k people can be elected before the remaining vote isn't enough to elect anyone else (setting the quota at exactly 100%/k, by the way, has also been used and is known as the {{w|Hare quota}}). [[User:Arcorann|Arcorann]] ([[User talk:Arcorann|talk]]) 02:21, 7 November 2019 (UTC)
:Say k is 4. Then 100%/(4+1) = 20%. So, yes, it's possible that you could end up with 5 people all getting exactly 20%. But a perfect 5-way tie like that would be extremely unlikely. Other than that very improbable result, only 4 people could get elected, as is desired. Imagine, for example, one person gets ''juuust'' over 20% of the vote. Even just that little bit over means there's '''less than''' 80% of the vote left for the other four. Which means only 3 of the remaining 4 people could get over the 20% threshold.
::Of course the correct formula should be "100%/(k+1)+1". -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 04:23, 7 November 2019 (UTC)
:::Which could result in no-one being elected if, say, 5 candidates each get exactly 20% of the vote. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.127|162.158.158.127]] 22:17, 7 November 2019 (UTC)
:::: Which would be in some sense fair, as noone is more favourable to the voters than the other 4 candidates, while there is only 4 seats... So there needs to be a second referendum or some other measure for that case. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:59, 8 November 2019 (UTC)
:::: In that case the system would handle the situation the same way it handles ties when candidates have smaller numbers of votes (every system needs to handle ties somehow, after all). [[User:Arcorann|Arcorann]] ([[User talk:Arcorann|talk]]) 09:23, 8 November 2019 (UTC)

I just came here to see if there was a discussion on which system actually should be selected, according to the ballot displayed. I'm sadly disappointed that there isn't one, lol. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.219|172.69.68.219]] 17:25, 7 November 2019 (UTC) Sam
@Sam, just for you then: According to the ballot displayed, I, as the Commissioner of XKCD Voting Comic voting, and retired OTTer, hereby remind you that it isn't what people vote for but who counts the votes. I've counted, and the winning system is [redacted] [[User:Cellocgw|Cellocgw]] ([[User talk:Cellocgw|talk]]) 15:22, 8 November 2019 (UTC)

Can we hold an election for who gets to give me all their money, use the Borda count, and then not vote at all? So he'd pay me (if he's still alive of course). [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 20:16, 8 November 2019 (UTC)

{{Talk:2220: Imagine Going Back in Time/Ads}}

Talk:2047: Beverages

2019-07-08T21:47:16Z

SilverMagpie:

Randall Munroe needs to be less existential ... oh wait. {{unsigned ip|162.158.155.146|05:22, 17 September 2018‎ (UTC)}}
:Hey, it's not as crazy as SMBC tho ;) [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 21:47, 8 July 2019 (UTC)

Wouldn’t it warrant being freaked out *more* if it were shaped like lungs? Now that would freak me out.
(Choking on food is but one example that even nature can not get a dual function, single endpoint API perfectly right. Luckily nature was unaware of GraphQL - or we’d have one orifice, 1 endpoint for all bodily functions. {{unsigned ip|172.69.130.70|05:36, 17 September 2018‎ (UTC)}}

:(Responding to the above unsigned) Aren’t there some animals where that is the case? Jellyfish and starfish (I think) are the examples that comes to mind, but I’m sure there are others (especially among sea life). Also wow, humanity (at least the English speaking portion) really likes naming things that aren’t fish “fish” 😂 [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 07:19, 17 September 2018 (UTC)

: But there's 'No Such Thing as a Fish' :-) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Such_Thing_as_a_Fish --[[User:OliReading|OliReading]] ([[User talk:OliReading|talk]]) 12:31, 17 September 2018 (UTC)

: Well you can think yourself lucky that you are not designed like a flatworm which only has one opening to its digestive cavity... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.191|162.158.166.191]] 11:17, 17 September 2018 (UTC)

:Isn't that a cloaca?
:https://www.youtube.com/embed/_y4DbZivHCY
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 13:25, 17 September 2018 (UTC)

Isn't the stream of beverages interrupted in intervals by swallowing? Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.10|172.68.110.10]] 06:16, 17 September 2018 (UTC)
: The bulge in the middle of the vertical portion of the flow (oesophagus) is from the effects of peristalsis, which does not cut off the flow entirely in order to push stuff down, but leaves a little gap. That is part of the reason you can belch and barf. [[User:Nutster|Nutster]] ([[User talk:Nutster|talk]]) 12:37, 17 September 2018 (UTC)

I think what he means with "if I wait a while" the beverage at the end of digestion is then connected to the toilet, sewers and oceans... {{unsigned|Benjamin3005}}

'''Similar Imagery'''

:Radiotopia's recently released [https://www.everythingisalive.com/about "Everything is alive"] podcast's premiere episode, [https://www.everythingisalive.com/episodes/louis-can-of-cola Louis Can of Cola], is about this experience from the perspective of the beverage. The episode features a discussion of between the beverage and a the host who {spoiler alert} offers to drink it. The episode was featured by podcasting legend Roman Mars on his own Radiotopia show [https://99percentinvisible.org/ "99 Percent Invisible, podcast"] earlier this summer in July 2018. [[User:Iggynelix|Iggynelix]] ([[User talk:Iggynelix|talk]]) 12:24, 17 September 2018 (UTC)
::I've moved both to a trivia section. Doesn't explain anything. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:18, 17 September 2018 (UTC)
::Is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy acknowledged? Ford Prefect warns Arthur Dent that his first space trip by hyperspace transit will be unpleasantly like being drunk, and it is. rja.carnegie@excite.com [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.42|141.101.107.42]] 01:30, 18 September 2018 (UTC)

'''What are the two organs beneath the stomach?'''

Liver makes sense because they are involved in the digesting process; but kidneys are ruled out because they filter blood where the liquid hasn't arrived yet. Any ideas? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:31, 17 September 2018 (UTC)

Looks to me like that is the stomach. The "bulge" above looks like peristalsis. [[User:Baldrickk|Baldrickk]] ([[User talk:Baldrickk|talk]]) 13:44, 17 September 2018 (UTC)

"Further two small organs with no connection to the rest are also wetted." I'm pretty sure those, "...two small organs..." are actually part of the stomach from (possibly) a previous drink of the beverage.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.107|162.158.79.107]] 15:24, 17 September 2018 (UTC)

: I am thinking that is just the fluid splashing around inside the one stomach, as opposed to anything making it to other organs yet. While still drinking, the fluid will be collecting in the stomach as it prepares to hit the contents with enzymes and acid to break it down prior to going to the intestines, a process that can take over an hour, depending on how complex the contents are. [[User:Nutster|Nutster]] ([[User talk:Nutster|talk]]) 10:09, 18 September 2018 (UTC)

:: I agree. While being poured, the liquid isn't filling all available space within the container, it will mainly coat the bottom (i.e. of the stomach) due to gravity or sides (i.e. esophagus) due to adhesion, and there will be splashing as well. I think those two disconnected blobs of liquid are just splashes that have become disconnected from the rest of the flowing liquid. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 18:45, 18 September 2018 (UTC)
:::I've moved this matter from the transcript to the explanation. Thanks for your suggestions. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:51, 18 September 2018 (UTC)

Liver isn't directly involved in digestion, which means no food passes through it, although it does absorb nutrients and is involved in bile production, which is secreted by the gallbladder in response to fats. If I had to guess, it would probably be the duodenum (first part of the small intestine). [[User:Four|Four]] ([[User talk:Four|talk]]) 23:45, 17 September 2018 (UTC)
:You're right. See my comment above. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:51, 18 September 2018 (UTC)

'''Invisible Man'''

The picture looks like "The Invisible Man" drinking. (Actually "Keybounce", but login is neither working nor complaining for some reason.) --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.177|173.245.48.177]] 20:05, 17 September 2018 (UTC)

'''Optimism/Pessimism'''

Hmm... Thinking about it logically, the glass isn't half full. Considering it's being ''emptied'', it should be considered half empty. It's probably not an overly important distinction, but I'm pedantic, and I feel Randall would probably approve...[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.146|162.158.155.146]] 16:31, 19 September 2018 (UTC)

'''Trivia'''

[http://schlockmercenary.wikia.com/wiki/Schlock Sargent Schlock] ([https://www.schlockmercenary.com Schlock Mercenary webcomic]) is a fictional character who has only one orifice, "with which he eats, breathes, smells, excretes, and conceals weaponry" (Technically, he can smell with his entire body mass.) [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 22:26, 22 October 2018 (UTC)

Talk:499: Scantron

2019-05-23T16:16:04Z

SilverMagpie:

I used a 2B pencil for the SAT. Hope I didn't kill anyone. --[[User:Troy0|Troy0]] ([[User talk:Troy0|talk]]) 09:30, 25 September 2014 (UTC)
:I see your dilemma. The test starts and you only have a 2B pencil. Take the risk or fail the test? 2B or not 2B?--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.71|162.158.86.71]] 12:20, 6 October 2016 (UTC)
::2B. Glory to mankind. [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 16:16, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

It always bugged me how strictly my teachers would enforce this--[[User:Potato Gunman3|Potato Gunman3]] ([[User talk:Potato Gunman3|talk]]) 02:01, 1 May 2015 (UTC)

I find it weird that they point out how an imperfect mark will not register, but they warn against any stray marks or an incompletely erased bubble will. Which is it, one or the other? [[User:RedHatGuy68|RedHatGuy68]] ([[User talk:RedHatGuy68|talk]]) 01:48, 29 October 2015 (UTC)

I always thought it strange they always told you to use a #2 pencil even though anything but a #2 pencil is pretty rare for a student to even find.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.10|108.162.221.10]] 22:41, 2 March 2016 (UTC)

"that most modern students have heard" Not true. First of all, I've never even heard of this "Scantron" thing, and second of all, I've never had tests with only multiple choice things. In fact, multiple choice things are very rare, I think I could count all the times I've had a test involving them with only one hand. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.166|162.158.238.166]] 14:35, 21 February 2017 (UTC)

:Same here. Although I am in England: maybe this is an American thing (i.e. should be "most modern US students")? Particularly considering the use of #2 vs #3 (which I've never encountered) as opposed to HB vs H. -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.179|141.101.99.179]] 20:47, 30 March 2017 (UTC)

My country uses 2B pencils/mechanical pencils for shading, if we used a different shade, for example, 3B, the machine will not be able to detect the darker/lighter shade. Boeing-787lover 13:45, 22 November 2017 (UTC)

Ever since I saw kerning, I can’t help but notice the “me ss” is panel two.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.40|172.68.174.40]] 18:55, 16 February 2018 (UTC)

2086: History Department

2018-12-17T18:35:25Z

SilverMagpie:

{{comic
| number = 2086
| date = December 17, 2018
| title = History Department
| image = history_department.png
| titletext = When we take into account the recent discovery of previously-unstudied history in the 1750s, this year may have been an outright loss.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HISTORIAN. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

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

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:44: Love

2018-12-14T05:29:15Z

SilverMagpie: Created page with "This comic made me go ''OOF'' and wince. ~~~~"

This comic made me go ''OOF'' and wince. [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 05:29, 14 December 2018 (UTC)

Talk:1333: First Date

2018-11-26T01:33:09Z

SilverMagpie:

PRAISE THE HELIX, ahh TPP is just so fun to watch [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.20|141.101.99.20]] 21:02, 2 March 2014 (UTC)

HAIL HELIX {{unsigned ip|‎173.245.54.74}}

Should this be put into the Pokémon category? The comic has nothing to do with Pokémon itself, but the subject matter does. [[User:Blitzer|Blitzer]] ([[User talk:Blitzer|talk]]) 07:37, 21 February 2014 (UTC)

Kill me for being a stupid nerd, but when I first read the title "First Date" I thought it was going to be a strip about the Unix Epoch. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.201|173.245.53.201]] 10:30, 21 February 2014 (UTC)
::I think that was a very cool deducton, Monica. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.138|173.245.53.138]] 15:47, 21 February 2014 (UTC)
::Thats nothing. Ive actually nerd sniped myself with an xkcd comic before. thinking that the one about DNE referred to the concept of an undefined value (ie 1/0) [[User:BruceJohnJennerLawso|BruceJohnJennerLawso]] ([[User talk:BruceJohnJennerLawso|talk]]) 19:00, 22 February 2014 (UTC)

This is the first strip for a while that I had no idea what was going on. Thanks, explainxkcd! BTW I do think the Pokémon category is probably relevant enough. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:02, 21 February 2014 (UTC)
:Ah, ditto. Cheers for the explanation (not sure whether I'm happy or not that I'm so disassociated from apparently popular culture though). I actually thought "Twitch" was some sort of "random Twitter feed" thing, though, so (to some degree) I suppose I was also ''almost'' on the right track.  [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.145|141.101.99.145]] 17:31, 21 February 2014 (UTC)
::Hah, ditto. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.7|108.162.215.7]] 05:44, 2 June 2016 (UTC)
Anyone else notice that between panels 2 and 3, Cueball drinks most of his wine? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.145|141.101.99.145]] 17:51, 21 February 2014 (UTC)
:Yes, I was intrigued by that! At least, his glass gets emptier — it seems plausible that Megan might have drunk or spilled it too. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.23|108.162.218.23]] 18:48, 21 February 2014 (UTC)
::Seems like the amount of wine in his glass is constantly decreasing from panel 1-4. Also, the helix will guide us! [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.185|173.245.53.185]] 12:48, 22 February 2014 (UTC)
::Praise the Helix! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.106|108.162.254.106]] 16:21, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

I took my 4-year-old out to lunch at a restaurant last week. Randall, was that you, sitting at the next booth, taking notes? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.62|173.245.55.62]] 18:42, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

::[http://en.illogicopedia.org/wiki/User:XY007 This guy] says: It's been 1.5 and now this is an old dead meme. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.158|162.158.2.158]] 09:36, 5 October 2015 (UTC)

Should we add a table explaining each of the phrases that Megan speaks? [[User:625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8|625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8]] ([[User talk:625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8|talk]]) 01:24, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

'''SHAMELESS ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOWS'''
[https://www.twitchplaysnintendoswitch.com|TPNS] is a place where the dev hooked up a switch to a PC and now you can play using your keyboard or USB controller, and we have a TON of games. (Take this down if it breaks any rules please) [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 01:33, 26 November 2018 (UTC)

Talk:455: Hats

2018-11-22T01:41:04Z

SilverMagpie:

I have a dissenting opinion, I think it's an electrostatics joke, with black hat (who is negative), meets a person of the same charge and more mass, so he is repelled by an electromagnetic field (likes repel)
--[[Special:Contributions/198.228.200.168|198.228.200.168]] 15:57, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

:I am sure this is a mystic power pushing Black Hat back at the last frame. There must be a film or video game with a powerful man wearing two hats or something similar. I have no idea. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:40, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

::What, you mean like Team Fortress 2, and its infamous Gentle Manne of Leisure?{{unsigned ip|173.245.54.79}}

:I disagree with the above discussion: I believe the wavy lines shown in the final frame are simply to indicate that Black Hat is slowly backing away. If any mystical or eletrostatic s were involved, the long delay in the 3rd and 4th frames, during which Black Hat is sizing up Black Hat 2, would NOT be appropriate. --[[User:MisterSpike|MisterSpike]] ([[User talk:MisterSpike|talk]]) 18:25, 26 June 2013 (UTC)

I believe it is significant that the black hat has its own black hat. Nobody mentioned this. It's not merely that the gentleman is wearing two hats. This effectively squares the humor level.
--[[Special:Contributions/71.22.93.130|71.22.93.130 dobennett]] 23:37, 17 May 2013 (UTC)

I think the dual-BHG first had only one hat (I mean, why would you wear two hats?), but gained one from another BHG (ala Cube Zero and the watches), which is why DBHG is clearly a threat to BHGs.
--[[Special:Contributions/84.249.195.230|84.249.195.230]] 14:54, 3 July 2013 (UTC)

Is it at all possible that Black Hat believes that there is something wrong with a person who wears two black hats and that they should be avoided at all costs?
--{{unsigned ip|71.244.43.9|1:27, 3 january 2015 (UTC)}}
:Precisement. I was about to post a comment saying that my first interpretation was simply that the guy with two hats must be insane, or a fool, and that it was a "just back away slowly from the crazy guy" situation. —[[User:Kazvorpal|Kazvorpal]] ([[User talk:Kazvorpal|talk]]) 14:53, 4 August 2017 (UTC)

Could this have to do with the journal comics? I think it should be mentioned at least.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.148|162.158.75.148]] 01:50, 25 May 2017 (UTC)
:Not just possible, but likely! -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.162|108.162.250.162]] 07:07, 23 June 2015 (UTC)

Would it be possible that Two Black Hats in this page is the actual Black Hat intimidating someone who happened to wear a black hat on that day?
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.156|108.162.216.156]] 17:38, 3 September 2015 (UTC)

New [[1401: New|headcannon]]: The second hat is actually Black Hat from [[412: Startled]] [[User:SuperSupermario24|Just some random derp]] 22:09, 21 September 2015 (UTC)

Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds. Bow before me ye mortals, and weep. (Thanks to Oppenheimer for the start) [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 01:41, 22 November 2018 (UTC)

Talk:455: Hats

2018-11-22T01:40:04Z

SilverMagpie:

I have a dissenting opinion, I think it's an electrostatics joke, with black hat (who is negative), meets a person of the same charge and more mass, so he is repelled by an electromagnetic field (likes repel)
--[[Special:Contributions/198.228.200.168|198.228.200.168]] 15:57, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

:I am sure this is a mystic power pushing Black Hat back at the last frame. There must be a film or video game with a powerful man wearing two hats or something similar. I have no idea. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:40, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

::What, you mean like Team Fortress 2, and its infamous Gentle Manne of Leisure?{{unsigned ip|173.245.54.79}}

:I disagree with the above discussion: I believe the wavy lines shown in the final frame are simply to indicate that Black Hat is slowly backing away. If any mystical or eletrostatic s were involved, the long delay in the 3rd and 4th frames, during which Black Hat is sizing up Black Hat 2, would NOT be appropriate. --[[User:MisterSpike|MisterSpike]] ([[User talk:MisterSpike|talk]]) 18:25, 26 June 2013 (UTC)

I believe it is significant that the black hat has its own black hat. Nobody mentioned this. It's not merely that the gentleman is wearing two hats. This effectively squares the humor level.
--[[Special:Contributions/71.22.93.130|71.22.93.130 dobennett]] 23:37, 17 May 2013 (UTC)

I think the dual-BHG first had only one hat (I mean, why would you wear two hats?), but gained one from another BHG (ala Cube Zero and the watches), which is why DBHG is clearly a threat to BHGs.
--[[Special:Contributions/84.249.195.230|84.249.195.230]] 14:54, 3 July 2013 (UTC)

Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds. Bow before me ye mortals, and weep. (Thanks to Oppenheimer for the start) [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 01:40, 22 November 2018 (UTC)
Is it at all possible that Black Hat believes that there is something wrong with a person who wears two black hats and that they should be avoided at all costs?
--{{unsigned ip|71.244.43.9|1:27, 3 january 2015 (UTC)}}
:Precisement. I was about to post a comment saying that my first interpretation was simply that the guy with two hats must be insane, or a fool, and that it was a "just back away slowly from the crazy guy" situation. —[[User:Kazvorpal|Kazvorpal]] ([[User talk:Kazvorpal|talk]]) 14:53, 4 August 2017 (UTC)

Could this have to do with the journal comics? I think it should be mentioned at least.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.148|162.158.75.148]] 01:50, 25 May 2017 (UTC)
:Not just possible, but likely! -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.162|108.162.250.162]] 07:07, 23 June 2015 (UTC)

Would it be possible that Two Black Hats in this page is the actual Black Hat intimidating someone who happened to wear a black hat on that day?
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.156|108.162.216.156]] 17:38, 3 September 2015 (UTC)

New [[1401: New|headcannon]]: The second hat is actually Black Hat from [[412: Startled]] [[User:SuperSupermario24|Just some random derp]] 22:09, 21 September 2015 (UTC)

Talk:651: Bag Check

2018-11-20T05:29:58Z

SilverMagpie:

I am presuming beret guy has not been invented yet?

[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 05:08, 28 January 2015 (UTC)
:Beret first appeared in 167: Nihilism. This doesn't seem like his sort of thing anyway, since he could probably just drink out of the USB ports... -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.162|108.162.250.162]] 06:42, 22 June 2015 (UTC)

I wonder if Randall got arrested for posting this comic and why it's still up. It sort of contains a guide to build a bomb, doesn't it? {{unsigned ip|162.158.90.163}}
:Probably not. After all, just because people can easily learn how to pick a lock doesn't mean that people will go out and break into houses. [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 05:29, 20 November 2018 (UTC)

Talk:314: Dating Pools

2018-06-22T06:14:04Z

SilverMagpie:

The following text is exactly 160 characters long, which is the maximum length of an SMS:
:(2013-08-17)-(199X-XX-XX)=6XXX days
:(2013-08-17)-(199X-XX-XX)=5XXX days
:7 =2556.75 days
:6XXX/2+2557=5XXX
:Standard Creepiness Rule: Don't date under age/2+7
Don't ask me how I found it :P (some digits are replaced with X for privacy reasons) --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 10:08, 17 August 2013 (UTC)

Don't ask you how you found it? I'm a little concerned about that credo...[[Special:Contributions/121.222.232.156|121.222.232.156]] 06:18, 14 September 2013 (UTC)

By this standard, 14 is the minimum dating age. As a father, I approve [[User:Cflare|Cflare]] ([[User talk:Cflare|talk]]) 14:49, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

The chart appears to be using the following function for the maximum age: max_age_other <= (your_age - 7) * 2
The max age is determined by the oldest the other person can be before you are too young for them according to the age/2 + 7 rule.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.100|108.162.216.100]] 17:20, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

Am I the only one who thought of this? http://www.roundstable.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Screen-Shot-2013-11-19-at-8.32.48-AM-690x377.png
(as far as making charts on stuff like love and shtuff.{{unsigned ip|108.162.217.89}}

... And ''this'' is how he spends the pi comic. Oh well :/ [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 06:14, 22 June 2018 (UTC)

Talk:337: Post Office Showdown

2018-06-08T04:54:03Z

SilverMagpie:

One activity not, apparently, improved by "Ride of the Valkyries" is driving; supposedly, listening to it makes people more likely to crash. {{unsigned ip|‎108.162.221.64}}

I wonder if the post office setting is an allusion to the "going postal" expression?
(After some number of incidents in the 1980s and 90s, where employees started mass shootings at post offices, the expression 'going postal' entered American slang, meaning out of control anger, possibly violent, in a workplace environment.) [[User:Danshoham|Mountain Hikes]] ([[User talk:Danshoham|talk]]) 04:56, 7 October 2015 (UTC)

Good thing I have been taught the basics of sparring (IRL)! [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 04:54, 8 June 2018 (UTC)

Talk:2000: xkcd Phone 2000

2018-05-30T16:53:21Z

SilverMagpie:

Huh, it's not a milestone comic like 1000 was. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.191|172.68.58.191]] 16:16, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

:Yeah, I'm slightly disappointed honestly [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.46|172.68.54.46]] 16:22, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

:Gotta wait for an actual round number, like 0b100000000000 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.127|162.158.111.127]] 16:38, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

:Well it is the phone 2000 and he does mention in passing asking if 2000 is a good number to choose [[User:Zachweix|Zachweix]] ([[User talk:Zachweix|talk]]) 16:39, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

:What am I waiting for more: 2018 or 2048? [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 16:53, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

Talk:156: Commented

2018-05-24T04:10:29Z

SilverMagpie:

The issue date on this comic isn't filled. Can someone fix that by adding the correct issue date? [[User:Rikthoff|Rikthoff]] ([[User talk:Rikthoff|talk]]) 17:17, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

In the first two panels, it looks like he's flicking the guy off. It's not until the third panel that we actually see the subversion. I'm reasonably certain that this is intentional. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.117|108.162.238.117]] 02:34, 31 October 2013 (UTC)

In QtCreator, comments are dark blue. [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 08:32, 31 October 2013 (UTC)

I'm surprised that no-one has picked up on the fact that the text that is being commented out is multiple lines, but there is only one double slash, therefore only one of the lines can be commented out. For both to be commented, you'd need /* ... */ --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.218|141.101.99.218]] 09:03, 6 November 2013 (UTC)

The title text may also be a reference to the "Your milage may vary." commonly found in the fine print in commercials. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.19|108.162.216.19]] 22:28, 6 November 2013 (UTC)

I believe he's commenting out Cueball entirely, thus ignoring him and therefore any and all statements he may make. Notice in the last panel that it's not Cueball's question alone that is color-coded, but Cueball as well. {{unsigned ip|108.162.238.8}}

I also interpreted it as Black Hat explicitly painting his fingers green in order to utilize the comment power of the double slashes as opposed to them turning green due to the gesture.[[User:Flewk|Flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 10:52, 25 December 2015 (UTC)
:So how did he then paint Cueball green? I think it is how Black Hat sees Cueball, i.e. he doesn't. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:09, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Comments don't silence, they just switch the mode from 'interaction required' to metadata, which may even persist. Or...Black Hat may consider it a 'favor' to give Cueball's life color... [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]])

# I use python, so this is a comment. But, it's still possible to do with fingers! [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 04:10, 24 May 2018 (UTC)

Talk:1995: MC Hammer Age

2018-05-23T16:44:29Z

SilverMagpie:

;Comic names overlapping comic numbers
Beginning on Monday, 21. May 2018 we will have comic numbers which are the same as other comic names.
*That will be 1996, 1999, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2038. Not more right now.
Since xkcd uses only the number for navigation we have to adopt this or the navigation here will be broken.

In general we have three pages for a single comic. Here it is "1995: MC Hammer Age" AND two redirects "1995" as well as "MC Hammer Age". The redirect "1995" (the number) is used for navigation.

This means all those future comics and their named companions will have a disambiguation line on top AND the numbered page MUST redirect to the comic belonging to that number.

Do not hesitate to ask further questions, or just wait until the next comic is out. I don't expect that Randall will omit this number.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:02, 20 May 2018 (UTC)

;Navigation bar
Hitting next on this page brings you to comic #768 titled 1996. This comic is #1995. I thought that there was an extra comic today at first. [[User:MrNinja|MrNinja]] ([[User talk:MrNinja|talk]]) 14:58, 18 May 2018 (UTC)
:Yeah, I decided to let it stay there as it is but on Monday that redirect will AND must be overwritten in the meaning of a comic number. That will happen a few times more in the future. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:03, 18 May 2018 (UTC)
::It's either changed now or different on my iPad 1. For me it leads to a page with "1996" alone, like it's the comic number, but that's it. No name, no navigation buttons, nothing. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:16, 20 May 2018 (UTC)
:::Yes, it wasn't me but the page is now empty. See my further remarks above. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:02, 20 May 2018 (UTC)

I suspect we’ll start needing Wikipedia-style disambiguation pages soon, given comic numbers that overlap other comic’s names. [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 16:13, 18 May 2018 (UTC)
: As I recall, if you search a comic number or title, it lists matching comics. A lower number, like, say, to pick a random example, "199" would list comic #199 as well as comics #1990 to #1995 right now. I know the same goes for titles. I assume such disambiguation will lead to both comics being listed, and the user can click/tap the one they mean. Actually, checking now, actually running the search leads to a search results page which is essentially a disambiguation page (which is indeed listing the currently-blank 1996 page as well as the old comic named "1996"). [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:16, 20 May 2018 (UTC)

;Further discussions
"Hammer Age" > "hemorrhage", coincidence? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.16|141.101.88.16]] 15:19, 18 May 2018 (UTC)

I came here from xkcd to find out who in the world MC Hammer was. (I guess I'm too old to really care, but I was curious.) At least there was a wiki link, but the explanation here could say something. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.170|172.69.22.170]] 16:27, 18 May 2018 (UTC)
:Because MC Hammer was so well known, everybody old enough to have been around back then - and therefore old enough to Feel Old from this - knows who he is. :) The explanation talks about him now. He was a One Hit Wonder with his song "U Can't Touch This" (to the music of Superfreak), including an iconic shuffling dance he did in the video with iconic puffy pants. SORT OF a One Hit Wonder, as he had a couple of others back then (I recall 2 Legit 2 Quit, not sure if it was numbers in the title), but oldies stations and segments only really play U Can't Touch This these days. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:16, 20 May 2018 (UTC)

But MC Hammer is actually almost 60? He's 56. {{unsigned|Captaindomon}}
:r/whooosh [[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.94|162.158.202.94]] 21:22, 18 May 2018 (UTC)
::Guess Captaindomon didn't read the rest of the comic, LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:16, 20 May 2018 (UTC)

I wonder what comic 2000 will be. Maybe it will be like 1000?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.118|108.162.241.118]] 11:40, 19 May 2018 (UTC)
:My question is about 2018, which comes out in 2018! [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 16:44, 23 May 2018 (UTC)

Wow this works on my Kindle! Noy even fire to boot! Well done Jeff!
Check Please! [[User:StillNotOriginal|StillNotOriginal]] ([[User talk:StillNotOriginal|Talk to me!]]) 00:01, 20 May 2018 (UTC)

Talk:1996: Morning News

2018-05-21T22:11:47Z

SilverMagpie:

;Off topic
There is a new What-If available: {{what if|157|Earth-Moon Fire Pole}}. I'm sure you like this breaking news.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:51, 21 May 2018 (UTC)
:Like this news? I'm ''*ecstatic*''.
:This may explain why today's comic wasn't very funny (or even coherent): Randall put most of his effort into finishing another What-If. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 18:41, 21 May 2018 (UTC)
:SQUEEEEEEE!!!!! [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 22:11, 21 May 2018 (UTC)

;Further discussions
Error: Joke not found. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 16:35, 21 May 2018 (UTC)

1974: Conversational Dynamics

2018-05-09T18:17:54Z

SilverMagpie:

{{comic
| number = 1974
| date = March 30, 2018
| title = Conversational Dynamics
| image = conversational_dynamics.png
| titletext = "You should make it so people can search for and jump into hundreds of conversations at once if they want." "Ooh, good idea! I imagine only the most well-informed people with the most critical information to share will use that feature."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a conversationalist: Give examples of the feature mentioned in the title text of how it today is possible to break into hundreds of conversation at once. Link to the field of conversational dynamics needed}}
On the modern World Wide Web (usually coined as {{w|Web 2.0}}, in contrast to the {{w|Web_2.0#"Web_1.0"|original web}} envisioned and created by {{w|Tim Berners-Lee}}), particularly on {{w|Internet forum|internet forums}} (like the [http://forums.xkcd.com/ xkcd forums]), a pervasive issue is that forum users with strong opinions but little interest in fruitful discussion will often interject themselves into all conversations that are related to their area of interest; examples include [[:Category:Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theorists]], {{w|Political extremism|political extremists}}, and {{w|Internet troll|trolls}}. This counterproductive behavior is not feasible in real life, where conversations happen locally and synchronously and one must be physically present in order to participate. In this sense it is enabled by Internet forum technology. In forums that have search features, it is even easier for these problematic users to identify and target large numbers of threads rapidly. The field of conversational dynamics{{Citation needed}} studies the interpersonal processes underlying dialog between people, and this is an example of how changing the mode of communication can negatively impact productive '''conversational dynamics''', hence the title.

In this satirical comic, [[Randall]] imagines the inventor of the modern web, here depicted as [[Cueball]], correctly anticipating that anyone will be able to inject their opinion into any conversation. When he tells [[White Hat]] about it, White Hat's comment, either sarcastic or very naive, interprets this as a benefit as he is willing to bet that this will not lead to any ''unhealthy'' [conversational] ''dynamic''. In the best case, naive scenario, the web enables a broader participation by helpful users with relevant information, in the real world it rather turned out as a potential problem as described above with trolls and conspirators overtaking many online forums. '''Note''' that in contrast of what the comic depicts, there is no single person or group who created the foundation of the modern web, unlike the original web where there is an identifiable person.

In the title text White Hat suggest to Cueball to add a search features which will enable these "helpful" users to be even ''more'' helpful by enabling them to jump into not just one conversation at a time, but into hundred conversations simultaneously. This may be referring to free, anonymous chat sites like {{w|4Chan}} or possibly {{w|Discord_(software)|Discord}}. Wether White Hat is again sarcastic or just even more naive Cueball immediately jumps to the conclusion that this will be an even better idea than his own, and continues to envision a system where ''only the most well-informed people with the most critical information to share will use that feature''. This would really be a great system...

In reality, as any modern user of Internet forums would be aware, both{{Citation needed}} of these technologies are routinely abused by problematic users, and the characters are being too optimistic.

That we today need someone to fight ''Trolls'' was the subject of [[591: Troll Slayer]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer and pointing at the CRT monitor. White Hat is standing behind him.]
:Cueball: Check it out! My new system allows anyone on Earth to inject themselves into any conversation happening anywhere  at any time.
:White Hat: Cool! I bet this won't lead to any unhealthy dynamics!

:[Caption under the panel:]
:The creation of the modern web

{{comic discussion}}

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

1991: Research Areas by Size and Countedness

2018-05-09T18:08:20Z

SilverMagpie: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1991
| date = May 9, 2018
| title = Research Areas by Size and Countedness
| image = research_areas_by_size_and_countedness.png
| titletext = Mathematicians give a third answer on the vertical axis, "That question is poorly defined, but we have a sub-field devoted to every plausible version of it."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a VERY BIG AND NUMEROUS RESEARCH FIELD - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is a 2-dimensional chart that is about different research fields. The vertical axis is the accuracy of how many of the studied object there are, and the horizontal axis is how large the studied object is.

Entymology on the graph is possibly a reference to [[1012: Wrong Superhero]].

;Upper left quadrant (Small & count known)

{| class = "wikitable"
! Research field
! Explanation
|-
|{{w|Elementary particle physics}}
|
|-
|{{w|Dentistry}}
|
|-
|{{w|Shakespeare}} studies
|
|-
|{{w|Ornithology}}
|
|-
|{{w| literature}}
|
|}

;Lower left quadrant (Small & count unknown)

{| class = "wikitable"
! Research field
! Explanation
|-
|{{w|Mycology}}
|
|-
|Entymology
|It is unclear whether [[Randall]] means {{w|entomology}} or {{w|etymology}}.
|-
|{{w|Microbiology}}
|
|-
|{{w|Pharmacology}}
|
|}

;Upper right quadrant (Big & count known)

{| class = "wikitable"
! Research field
! Explanation
|-
|Marine Mammology
|
|-
|Presidential History
|
|-
|{{w|Railway}} Engineering
|
|-
|{{w|Geology}}
|
|-
|{{w|Cosmology}}
|Cosmology is the study of the universe. There is an asterisk with the note "Depends on who you ask", relating to the estimate of how many universes there are. While it might seem obvious that there is only one universe, some branches of physics believe that our universe is part of a {{w|multiverse}}, and this remains an open and contested subject in the field.
|
|}

;Upper right quadrant (Big & count unknown)

{| class = "wikitable"
! Research field
! Explanation
|-
|{{w|Botany}}
|
|-
|{{w|Paleontology}}
|
|-
|{{w|Black Hole}} Astronomy
|
|-
|{{w|Exobiology}}
|
|-
|{{w|Theology}}
|
|}

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

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1991: Research Areas by Size and Countedness

2018-05-09T18:06:10Z

SilverMagpie:

Spelling error? Etymology or Entomology? Randall wrote Entymology. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.17|141.101.104.17]] 15:37, 9 May 2018 (UTC)
:My translator at dict.leo.org asks: Did you mean entomology, enzymology, or etymology? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:20, 9 May 2018 (UTC)
:I mean, we know about how many words exist; I think he means Entomology. [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 18:06, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

Talk:706: Freedom

2018-05-09T00:27:57Z

SilverMagpie:

The last sentence "But you couldn't", is probably also a reference to the fact that even though we and other people have many possibilities, we never expect anyone to actually use them. {{unsigned ip|173.245.49.128}}

More like we didn't expect other people to utilize the possibilities that they did. Or Didn't. [[User:Jakee308|Jakee308]] ([[User talk:Jakee308|talk]]) 19:40, 8 June 2015 (UTC)

Sometimes I'm terrified to realize how many options I have [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.79|173.245.50.79]] 03:39, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

I think so much about this! Like, if I punched someone, what would society do? If I edited all of the comments above ''juuuuust'' a little, what would happen? If I... [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 00:27, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

Talk:377: Journal 2

2018-05-08T07:32:58Z

SilverMagpie:

I like how the explanation says that she is equal to, better than, or worse than Blackhat. Did we cover all of the bases? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.161|108.162.237.161]] 15:42, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

It would be nice if the plot of the Journal series was not spoiled! [[Special:Contributions/173.245.51.207|173.245.51.207]]

: Fixed. I hope. --[[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 07:11, 28 December 2015 (UTC)

Fixed up the explanation. First time, someone check before removing the incomplete tag.[[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 21:49, 2 March 2017 (UTC)

I removed "worse than" from the explanation, because I think it ruins the point of the sentence it was in. Change it back if I'm wrong.

But I like my hat! (I almost always wear this green beanie lol) [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 07:32, 8 May 2018 (UTC)

Talk:316: Loud Sex

2018-05-08T07:28:44Z

SilverMagpie: Sorry :p

It is still strange: On sexual comics we got many technical discussions and here (a sexual background is also given) we can imagine some "aberrant sexual behavior"? How that single neighbor girl should come to this? Or will that dish break and fall onto this two people in the bed on the left? I would just say this is only a technical comic, with some sidesteps. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:10, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

:Pardon? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]] 20:32, 23 December 2013 (UTC)
::Is sex more important than science? Maybe, but while everybody knows how to perform sex, they do not understand how to do this science.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:08, 24 December 2013 (UTC)

I had interpreted the "aberrant behavior" of the other mehtioned types of reflectors as referring to the way they would focus the sound- a parabolic dish would focus sound into a parallel beam, annoying the entire hallway (but not any one person as much- compare sunlight coming through a window to the same light, routed through a magnifying glass, where the glass is the ellipsoidal dish); while a spherical dish would focus the sound right back on Cueball himself.

Also, I dobut the threshold of pain could actually be reached here, since it would be hard for the intensity of the sound focused in the neighbor's room to exceed that of the sound in Cueball's own room- and I'd be surprised if Cueball's friend produced enough sound to make her own head hurt. My guess is that the neighbor had just been startled awake.

--[[User:Someone Else 37|Someone Else 37]] ([[User talk:Someone Else 37|talk]]) 22:16, 15 January 2014 (UTC)
:"Aberration" should be understood here as a sound equivalent of [[wikipedia:Optical aberration]]. An spheric or parabolloidal reflector wouldn't focus in one point sound from a point source. Of course, there is also a double meaning with aberrant sexual behavior.--[[User:Pere prlpz|Pere prlpz]] ([[User talk:Pere prlpz|talk]]) 12:49, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

1989: IMHO

2018-05-04T16:43:46Z

SilverMagpie:

{{comic
| number = 1989
| date = May 4, 2018
| title = IMHO
| image = imho.png
| titletext = "Ugh, TMI." "Yeah, that's some tantalizing meat info."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The conversation begins with a reference to the controversy between whether the H in IMHO (In my honest/humble opinion) stands for "honest" or "humble". Some older internet users, including Cueball, use it to mean "humble", which Cueball references as being the norm in the 1990s. However, many younger internet users, including, apparently, Ponytail, use it to mean "honest", which became the norm after another SMS abbreviation, TBH (To be honest) became popular c. 2011. However, the joke veers into absurdity with Ponytail sharing her unusual opinions on other internet controversies, including:

Believing the G in GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is silent, as opposed to the two main camps claiming it should be a hard or a soft G.

Believing a viral picture of a dress that appears black and blue to some people and white and gold to others is actually black and white.

Using tabs after periods, instead of the two main opposing camps of using either one or two s, referring to both the common programmingargument whether to indent with 4 s or a tab, and the 2 s or 1 after the period argument.

In the title text, another incorrect belief Ponytail has is believing TMI to be "Tantalizing Meat Info," as opposed to Too Much Information.

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

[Cueball, Megan, and Ponytail standing together]
:Cueball: I thought the "H" in "IMHO" was "Humble," but Buzzfeed ran a poll and "Honest" won.
:Megan: That can't be true. Their readers are messing with us.

[Cueball and Megan look towards Ponytail]
:Ponytail: Are you sure? I always used it to mean "Honest."
:Megan: ...What?

[Cueball looks at his phone]
:Cueball: It was definitely "Humble" in the 1990s. Maybe people who picked it up after the rise of "TBH" in 2011 interpreted it as "Honest" and used it that way.

{{comic discussion}}

1989: IMHO

2018-05-04T16:43:22Z

SilverMagpie: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1989
| date = May 4, 2018
| title = IMHO
| image = imho.png
| titletext = "Ugh, TMI." "Yeah, that's some tantalizing meat info."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The conversation begins with a reference to the controversy between whether the H in IMHO (In my honest/humble opinion) stands for "honest" or "humble". Some older internet users, including Cueball, use it to mean "humble", which Cueball references as being the norm in the 1990s. However, many younger internet users, including, apparently, Ponytail, use it to mean "honest", which became the norm after another SMS abbreviation, TBH (To be honest) became popular c. 2011. However, the joke veers into absurdity with Ponytail sharing her unusual opinions on other internet controversies, including:

Believing the G in GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is silent, as opposed to the two main camps claiming it should be a hard or a soft G.

Believing a viral picture of a dress that appears black and blue to some people and white and gold to others is actually black and white.

Using tabs after periods, instead of the two main opposing camps of using either one or two s, referring to both the common programmingargument whether to indent with 4 s or a tab, and the 2 s or 1 after the period argument.

In the title text, another incorrect belief Ponytail has is believing TMI to be "Tantalizing Meat Info," as opposed to Too Much Information

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

[Cueball, Megan, and Ponytail standing together]
:Cueball: I thought the "H" in "IMHO" was "Humble," but Buzzfeed ran a and "Honest" won.
:Megan: That can't be true. Their readers are messing with us.

[Cueball and Megan look towards Ponytail]
:Ponytail: Are you sure? I always used it to mean "Honest."
:Megan: ...What?

[Cueball looks at his phone]
:Cueball: It was definitely "Humble" in the 1990s. Maybe people who picked it up after the rise of "TBH" in 2011 interpreted it as "Honest" and used it that way.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1989: IMHO

2018-05-04T16:42:03Z

SilverMagpie:

I mean, the dress is b&w if you have one of the forms of colorblindness. Although, what colors ''is'' it? [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 16:33, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

Currently adding transcript. [[User:Chbs|Chbs]] ([[User talk:Chbs|talk]]) 16:38, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
:Did top row. Feel free to format it differently. [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 16:42, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

1989: IMHO

2018-05-04T16:41:34Z

SilverMagpie:

{{comic
| number = 1989
| date = May 4, 2018
| title = IMHO
| image = imho.png
| titletext = "Ugh, TMI." "Yeah, that's some tantalizing meat info."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The conversation begins with a reference to the controversy between whether the H in IMHO (In my honest/humble opinion) stands for "honest" or "humble". Some older internet users, including Cueball, use it to mean "humble", which Cueball references as being the norm in the 1990s. However, many younger internet users, including, apparently, Ponytail, use it to mean "honest", which became the norm after another SMS abbreviation, TBH (To be honest) became popular c. 2011. However, the joke veers into absurdity with Ponytail sharing her unusual opinions on other internet controversies, including:

Believing the G in GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is silent, as opposed to the two main camps claiming it should be a hard or a soft G.

Believing a viral picture of a dress that appears black and blue to some people and white and gold to others is actually black and white.

Using tabs after periods, instead of the two main opposing camps of using either one or two s, referring to both the common programmingargument whether to indent with 4 s or a tab, and the 2 s or 1 after the period argument.

Believing TMI to be "Tantalizing Meat Info" instead of Too Much Information

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

[Cueball, Megan, and Ponytail standing together]
:Cueball: I thought the "H" in "IMHO" was "Humble," but Buzzfeed ran a and "Honest" won.
:Megan: That can't be true. Their readers are messing with us.

[Cueball and Megan look towards Ponytail]
:Ponytail: Are you sure? I always used it to mean "Honest."
:Megan: ...What?

[Cueball looks at his phone]
:Cueball: It was definitely "Humble" in the 1990s. Maybe people who picked it up after the rise of "TBH" in 2011 interpreted it as "Honest" and used it that way.

{{comic discussion}}

1989: IMHO

2018-05-04T16:40:32Z

SilverMagpie:

{{comic
| number = 1989
| date = May 4, 2018
| title = IMHO
| image = imho.png
| titletext = "Ugh, TMI." "Yeah, that's some tantalizing meat info."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The conversation begins with a reference to the controversy between whether the H in IMHO (In my honest/humble opinion) stands for "honest" or "humble". Some older internet users, including Cueball, use it to mean "humble", which Cueball references as being the norm in the 1990s. However, many younger internet users, including, apparently, Ponytail, use it to mean "honest", which became the norm after another SMS abbreviation, TBH (To be honest) became popular c. 2011. However, the joke veers into absurdity with Ponytail sharing her unusual opinions on other internet controversies, including:

Believing the G in GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is silent, as opposed to the two main camps claiming it should be a hard or a soft G.

Believing a viral picture of a dress that appears black and blue to some people and white and gold to others is actually black and white.

Using tabs after periods, instead of the two main opposing camps of using either one or two s, referring to both the common programmingargument whether to indent with 4 s or a tab, and the 2 s or 1 after the period argument.

Believing TMI to be "Tantalizing Meat Info" instead of Too Much Information

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

[Cueball, Megan, and Ponytail standing together]
Cueball: I thought the "H" in "IMHO" was "Humble," but Buzzfeed ran a poll and "Honest" won.
Megan: That can't be true. Their readers are messing with us.

[Cueball and Megan look towards Ponytail]
Ponytail: Are you sure? I always used it to mean "Honest."
Megan: ...What?

[Cueball looks at his phone]
Cueball: It was definitely "Humble" in the 1990s. Maybe people who picked it up after the rise of "TBH" in 2011 interpreted it as "Honest" and used it that way.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1989: IMHO

2018-05-04T16:34:06Z

SilverMagpie:

Talk:1989: IMHO

2018-05-04T16:33:47Z

SilverMagpie:

I mean, the dress is b&w if you have one form of colorblindness. Although, what colors ''is'' it? [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 16:33, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

1647: Diacritics

2018-05-04T04:35:16Z

SilverMagpie: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1647
| date = February 24, 2016
| title = Diacritics
| image = diacritics.png
| titletext = Using diacritics correctly is not my forté.
}}

==Explanation==
A {{w|diacritic}} (or a diacritical mark) is a {{w|glyph}} added to a letter. The main use of diacritical marks in the {{w|latin script}} is to change the sound-values of the letters to which they are added, typically {{w|vowels}}.

[[Cueball]] is writing an e-mail (maybe for a job application) and notes in the mail that he attaches his {{w|résumé}}, or {{w|curriculum vitae}}. The word ''résumé'' uses two ''e''s with an {{w|acute accent}} so they look like this: é.

While diacritics can be common in several languages, English is an example of a language that rarely ever has any at all. This occurs to such an extent that words and expressions borrowed from other languages (such as "résumé" or "piñata") are frequently written in English with the diacritics omitted, as in "resume" or "pinata".

Randall may be poking fun at people who use Zalgo, a form of spam where people continuously spam diacritics in chat messages. For example:

T̯̙̻̼̠͕̙̬̬̜̼̊ͥͦͬͤ̇̎̆̌ͭ͢͠͡o̡̲̩̟̲̬̰̪̜̝͙̺̦̙͍̳ͬͯͯ͋͒̍ͨ̓̇́̚̚̕ ̸̢̬̘̦͕̯̱̜̲̼̤ͬͧͤͨǐ̷̷̯̼̝̹̫ͪ̀̋̿̄̓n̿͂ͩ͂ͮ̔̆͏͎͍͕̜͎̺̯͈̼̩̣̥̬͡͞ͅͅv̴̨̙̼̤̼͙͖̫̖̺̹̠̹̦́͌͑̓̆̂ͯ̑̈̏ͭo̢̫̲̙̺̬̤̲̳ͨ̐ͦ̽͛ͮ͛́͂ͣ͂ͮ͆͑̍̀ͯ̕͟k̵̨̫̙̤͙̹̫͚͈̪͇͓͈̫̬̥͕̱͎̜̉̔ͬͭͦ̓͐ͫ̋̋ͥ̋̀̕͟è̢̛͑͋͐̀̏ͣ̏ͬ̒̌͌́̚͘͝͏̟̞͇̘̤̼̮̤͍͚̫̤͚̰ ̶̧̮̗̣̫͇̦͎̮̤̗͙̗̳͎̺͆̉̈ͭ̽̈́̌̽ͥ̾͑̀̚̚͘͟ͅͅt̸͓͉̩́̓̓ͮ̇̈̆ͣ̀ͪͬ͑̅ͣ̍h̸̡̧ͧ͑̐̂ͥ̄̃̂̄́͋ͨ͑̓̆͋̚͏̸̟̣̤̺͔̘̞̦̖͖̣̺̱̜͔̗̫̰ͅȇ̡͇͎͎̩̮̟̖̖̤̦̜͍̱̇ͨ̃̈́̄̑ͦͭ̚͞ͅ ̛̼̤̟̩̦̻̤̙̥̬̠̩̙̙̱͚͕ͫ͐̏ͥ̄ͧͧͭ̔̆͐̋͘h̶̵̜̤͓̹̰ͣ̄͗́́i̝͕̘̗͉͚̰͓̮͕̣͒̂̒ͨ̽ͫ̎ͪͦ́̕͝ͅv̧̙̞̣̳͍̟̖͚̻̝͈ͧ͊ͫ͋ͩͫ̍͋̏̽ͤ̀͝͞ͅẻ̢͓̣̰͔̟͎̥̻̤̲̟̣̜̄̈́̌͛̌̄͢͞ͅ-̨̡͆̓̌̎̉̑҉͚̝̗m̨̛͎̬͉̯̽ͥͫ̇ͦ̒̿̎́͒́̚͡͠ỉ̧̡͖͙̙͕͔̲ͩ́ͣ͐ͧ͑̊̾̒͑̅͗̊́̎̚n̠̮̜̝̜̤̰̻̘͖̦͚̼ͫ̄͐͗ͣ́͢͜d̡̛̳͕̬̫̯̩͕̰̖̟̲͕͙ͭ̅̓ͥ͛ͨ͒ͯ͌̚ͅͅ ̟̜̳̫͕̺͎̺̲̗̋̐̀͛͑̅̅͛̾̈́̀̚͞͠r̸̯̥͚̟̰͉͎͓̖͉͂̎̅̐ͫͧ͛ͯ͜ë́̎͂̆ͥͩ͟͏̰̤̳͓̩͉̲̣̠͍͔̗̦̬̱̯p̽ͧ͒͗ͣ̿̆̄̑͏̘̜̥̠̜̥̘̲̮̹̤̪̦͕͇͓͞r̴͓̼̺̰̹͙͉̦͚̞̤͕̭̦̈́ͫ̔̂̓̆̒͗͛̿̑̉̿̓ͤ̏̇̀̚͘͘͢é̴̢̛̖̗̖̤ͧ̽͑ͨ̒̌̍ͭ̑̋̃̒ͫ̀͡ş̶͉͚̠̠͇͓̬̙͚̖̝͓͕̤̟́̂̏ͧͩ͌͑͐ͣ͌͌̄̾̿ȩ̢͈̗̝͍ͨ̒͗ͭ̔̈͆ͫ̔ͨ̈́́̊ͣ̃̎̀͝͝n̸̟͔̺̠̺̓̑̏͐ͩͬ̏̈́̌͒́̏ͥ̌̍͊ͧ̀̚͜͞͞tͮ̾͒̇̐ͩ͆̓ͣ҉̢̤͖̩͕̬̮͚͙̖͕̬̘̙͘͠ͅĩ̡̬̙̙̯̩͋̋̄n̡̡̊̐͌ͣ̍̒̽ͩͫ͌ͦ̚͝͏̳̻̞͓̗̹̪̜̘̰̠̟͈̮̲̳̜g̵̎̓́̃ͮ̍̏̈̄ͧ̈́̐̔̏ͤͭͨ҉̛̘̰̘̟̬̝̰̜̗̼ͅͅ ̸̦̞͓̟͉̫͔̦̰̝͈̩̳̞̼̮̩̬͕̿ͩ͗̂̌̐ͭ͟͞c̳̻͚̻̩̻͉̯̄̏͑̋͆̎͐ͬ͑͌́͢h̵͔͈͍͇̪̯͇̞͖͇̜͉̪̪̤̙ͧͣ̓̐̓ͤ͋͒ͥ͑̆͒̓͋̑́͞ǎ̡̮̤̤̬͚̝͙̞͎̇ͧ͆͊ͅo̴̲̺͓̖͖͉̜̟̗̮̳͉̻͉̫̯̫̍̋̿̒͌̃̂͊̏̈̏̿ͧ́ͬ̌ͥ̇̓̀͢͜s̵̵̘̹̜̝̘̺̙̻̠̱͚̤͓͚̠͙̝͕͆̿̽ͥ̃͠͡.̔̈́ͤͣͪ̅̎̄̽ͩͪ͛̓̂̂̑͒҉̤͍͔̲̣̜͕̺͕͇̖͓̺̦̺́̀͢

Which reads (without the diacritics) as 'To invoke the hive mind representing chaos.'

As Cueball/[[Randall]] is a native English-speaker, it is thus naturally that he often forgets (or just doesn't bother) to add these diacritics (hence the title of the comic).

When he occasionally remembers them, for instance when he types a word where he knows they should be included, like résumé, he then makes up for all those he must have forgotten since last time he thought of it, and thus adds a whole bunch at once. This reason is somewhat nonsensical.

The first diacritic he uses is the normal acute accent for the e to make it an é which does belong in ''résumé''. But the second diacritic he uses is an {{w|Umlaut (linguistics)|umlaut}} on the u making it into ü, which is not part of the word. (Although in French the ''u'' is pronounced like a {{w|Close front rounded vowel|[y]}}, which is also the sound of a German or Turkish ''ü'', and in German the word is spelt using this as ''Resümee'', but then the meaning is not the same but rather conclusions or abstracts).

Cueball then goes all in on the last e which, like the first e, is supposed to have an acute accent. This e has a {{w|cedilla}} (as in ȩ), a {{w|Ring (diacritic)|ring}} (as in e̊), three acute accents, and is topped off by a {{w|breve}} (as in ĕ). In total, six diacritics are used on this e alone.

Some languages—notably Vietnamese—{{w|Vietnamese alphabet|can use more than one diacritic per letter}}, but usually only two (for example, ṏ). Using them in this fashion makes little sense though it is reminiscent of (the aforementioned) [http://stackoverflow.com/q/6579844/256431 Zalgo text].

There are also three acute accents over the last period. This is not something that is ever used.

So for a word that is supposed to have two diacritics, Cueball uses eight, plus three for the period.

In the title text "not my forté" is supposed to mean that it is not one of Randall's strength or talent. However, to obtain this meaning {{Wiktionary|forte}} should not have an acute diacritic over the e, thus proving Randall's point that it is not his forte to use diacritics. This is a form of {{w|hyperforeignism}}, where people spell loan words or use pronunciations that they believe is more faithful to the language it comes from instead of the "English" one, even though the "English" one is actually more correct. Due to its similarity with other words from French such as café, some people believe that forte is also spelled with a diacritic on the ending E.

The title text may be a reference to the [[what if?]] released a week before this comic, {{what if|145|''Fire from moonlight''}}, in which note 9 reads "My résumé says étendue is my forté." (With the same error on "forte") It is possible that noticing his mistake was the inspiration for this comic. Also {{Wiktionary|étendue}} can be written without the accent as {{Wiktionary|etendue#English|etendue}} and the meaning is only written on this page in the Wiktionary. It means property of the light in an optical system which makes sense in the context of the note. However, it means something different in French where it either refers to size or range as a noun or as a verb is an alternative form of {{Wiktionary|étendre#French|étendre}} meaning stretch or spread. The most correct way of writing the sentence he tried to write would only have involved the accent on résumé: "My résumé says etendue is my forte." Thus again making it clear that Randall has it right when he writes: "Using diacritics correctly is not my forté."

If there actually has been someone who corrected Randall's mistake in the what if?, then there could be an extra pun hidden in the title. Those who criticized Randall's use of accents, would thus become dia''critics''!

Comic [[1209: Encoding]] also references an absurd use of diacritics, and later a possible movie called ''Combining Diacritical Marks'' was mentioned in [[1857: Emoji Movie]], a direct reference to this comic.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball sitting in front of his lap top typing. The text above him is the one he is typing. The last word résumé has too many diacritics. The u has an umlaut (as in ü) and the last é has no less than six diacritics; a cedilla below (as in ȩ), a ring above (as in e̊ ), then three acute accents above the ring (as in é), and finally they are topped off by a breve (as in ĕ). Also the last full stop has three accents "´" above it:]
 
:Cueball (typing): Attached please fīnd my résümȩ̊́́́̆.́́́

:I usually leave out diacritics when I type, so I make up for it by occasionally adding a whole bunch at once.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Language]]

Talk:659: Lego

2018-05-04T03:53:12Z

SilverMagpie:

This is one of my favorite xkcd strips, and one that I happily point to in any discussion involving organ donation. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 08:05, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

Hmmm... Where did the philote of the house go though? The pattern may be gone, but was the philote called back to outside?
Yes, I'm one of the seven fans of xenocide. 04:08, 21 November 2013 (UTC)
:+1 [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.61|173.245.50.61]] 21:22, 18 December 2015 (UTC)
:7+1/∞, thank you very much. [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 03:53, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

Anyone interested in the issues raised in this comic would do well to look up the problem of the Ship of Theseus.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.53|108.162.216.53]] 17:03, 29 November 2013 (UTC)

For me, once you accept the fact of evolution, and therefore that all life on earth emerged from a common ancestor, it is patently obvious that the relevance of religion to what happens to my "composition" (self) after death is ... zero. To wit: "If you want to know what happens when you die, go look at some dead stuff." [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]] 01:22, 7 January 2014 (UTC)

The point of this comic is excellent, but it is dampened for me by the fact that Lego doesn't sell general-purpose blocks any more, it's all precision kit crap. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 21:30, 23 January 2014 (UTC)
:[http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3498752&mr:keyword=&mr:trackingCode=A0545167-7315-E311-A497-90E2BA285E75&mr:match=&mr:adType=pla&mr:filter=56911854646&cagpspn=plat_5739898&mr:referralID=NA&mr:ad=35201231326&mr:device=c&camp=PLAPPC-_-PID5739898&KPID=5739898 Hi.] '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:38, 23 January 2014 (UTC)
::For the same price, you could equip yourself with the makings of a Meccano set. Something well out of the reach of most hobbyists way back when. Odd how the more we have the less we do with it.

[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 04:11, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

The first time I read this strip, I immediately thought back to one of my all-time favorite books. The basis of ''Unwind'' by Neal Shusterman is essentially the idea behind this strip, except from an opposite point of view. --[[User:Hammy2211|Hammy2211]] ([[User talk:Hammy2211|talk]]) 21:34, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

: The premise of ''Unwind'' is that the future American culture has decided to believe that if a person's tissues are all transported into new people, the donor is then still alive, and therefore it is ok to "unwind" unwanted teenagers, since they are still "alive," just in another state of life. Obviously, the teenagers chosen to be unwound aren't ok with this view. Dystopian novels are fun. This is one you won't forget quickly. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.135|108.162.245.135]] 19:51, 12 December 2015 (UTC)

I disagree with this interpretation of the comic. I think ponytail is marking the box with a combination between a checkmark and an X mark, which in a test (where I live at least) means 'partially correct'. It is usually drawn as a check mark with the LONGER arm being one of the two lines of the X, but here, the SHORTER arm and PART of the longer arm seem to form the top half of the X. This makes me not sure that this was the actual intention, but I still think it was.
Now, I think ponytail in part wants to help others with her parts just like the current explanation says, but I also think she's afraid of making herself disappear while doing so. If she isn't an organ donor, she will stay complete and will continue to exist, but if she is a donor, then the arrangement will be gone and SHE will be gone forever. --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 15:12, 14 July 2014 (UTC)

:I interpreted the unsual check mark as either a tick which had been turned to a cross, or a mix between a cross and tick. I also read the title text as a suspicious child questioning whether Grandpa has been taken apart or something similar. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 09:02, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

:I agree. It seems awfully strange that after being told that she's 'disappear' she'd go and disassemble herself... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.252|141.101.98.252]] 10:08, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

::Then again, organ donation only occurs after death (well, legally) so she's going to end up "disassembled" no matter what she picks there if she's dead (by decay or incineration or whatever). In fact, you could say that as soon as you die your body begins to disassemble. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.155|108.162.250.155]] 04:42, 11 February 2015 (UTC)

:::Technically your body is "disassembling" all the time. The molecules constantly move around, break apart, and do a bunch of other things... But I see your point. [[User:Random xkcd Fan|Random xkcd Fan]] ([[User talk:Random xkcd Fan|talk]]) 00:09, 1 January 2017 (UTC)

:I thought she was crossing out the box, indicating that she would like to exist for as long as possible, and would not like to her "organization" through organ donation. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.20|173.245.54.20]] 20:13, 7 November 2015 (UTC)

:It's a bureaucracy. If there's only one checkbox, you generally leave it empty if you don't want to do it, or fill it in (with a checkmark or an X) if you want to do it. If I saw a box like that with a checkmark in it, I would interpret it exactly the same as I would a box with an X in it. No-one at DEQ actually would expect people in general to be able to follow directions as complex as 'checkmark to say yes, X to say no.' Not only are there people who don't have very good English skills, there are a bunch of people who don't actually bother to read directions at all, so they are smart to keep it simple. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.135|108.162.245.135]] 19:42, 12 December 2015 (UTC)

France's opt-out system sounds a ''lot'' better than our opt-in. [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 03:53, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

Talk:910: Permanence

2018-02-16T05:10:49Z

SilverMagpie:

I would marry a girl called epidural. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:40, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

Server or not, I know myself the feeling of wanting a super-duper high-school-level name. At least I have a system of naming my computers, gaming devices, and (future?) servers.[[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 17:49, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

I usually use some kind of encoded date (related to when the computer was acquired or setup) in the name, probably prefixed by something signify the model or vendor of the computer. Permanency of relevance is guaranteed and it is easier than try to think what the name will means years from now. [[User:Arifsaha|Arifsaha]] ([[User talk:Arifsaha|talk]]) 20:13, 30 October 2014 (UTC)

This appears to be the Debian installer. It's also missing the "<Continue>" button.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.119|108.162.216.119]] 02:38, 1 March 2015 (UTC)

:I assume it only shows up once you have entered a valid hostname. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.22.71|162.158.22.71]] 01:36, 18 October 2016 (UTC)

Use a name that reminds you which computer it is. In a network this can be very important. It should be descriptive but not silly or generic. Trust me on this. [[User:Jakee308|Jakee308]] ([[User talk:Jakee308|talk]]) 03:21, 15 June 2015 (UTC)

I've still called my servers planet names. Even 'Pluto', my build server, works just fine without Pluto being a real planet. -[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.190|162.158.91.190]] 23:06, 23 October 2015 (UTC)

Epidural anesthetics don't make one feel or act "drugged" in the sense of stoned. They can cause hypotension (low blood pressure), which can cause lightheadedness, but that would rarely produce a similar effect to, say, marijuana or LSD. Other side effects can include nausea, backache, and headache (http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Epidural-anaesthesia/Pages/Sideeffects.aspx), none of which would make one want to name one's baby after their cause. {{unsigned|Npsych}}

No, it'll be in many memory files of people! [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 22:59, 29 November 2016 (UTC)

And ''this'' is why my D&D characters have no names 4 sessions in. [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 05:10, 16 February 2018 (UTC)

Talk:578: The Race: Part 2

2017-11-15T04:55:43Z

SilverMagpie:

A D&D item that my DM made: Golden MC Hammerpants. Once per day, you may challenge one person of your choice to a dance battle. You may chose the type of dance; with the skill used being reasonable and decided by the DM. The loser of the battle explodes. [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 04:55, 15 November 2017 (UTC)

Talk:939: Arrow

2017-09-28T17:24:29Z

SilverMagpie:

So there's a machine that dispenses boomerangs when you shoot it. Cool. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:08, 9 March 2013 (UTC)
:Don't you know not to link to TVTROPES??? I barely made it out alive! http://xkcd.com/609/[[Special:Contributions/108.101.176.132|108.101.176.132]] 19:18, 20 July 2013 (UTC)

Did that arrow ever re-appear in a comic?
I presume it will not fly back to Cueball (after all it's not a boomerang), but likely will have hit something... [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 20:45, 20 November 2013 (UTC)

:Or NOT! Before hitting something it will have to travel half the distance to it, and blablabla zeno's paradox.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.212|141.101.98.212]] 14:07, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

Obligatory warning! Never attempt to catch a boomerang! Boomerangs are thrown weapons, just because they are coming back towards the person who threw them doesn't make them any less weapons. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.162|108.162.250.162]] 00:56, 6 November 2015 (UTC)

Shortbow or longbow? [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 17:24, 28 September 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1880: Eclipse Review

2017-08-23T13:54:50Z

SilverMagpie:

The air temperature drop is greater during a total eclipse than during a partial eclipse, while the other two don't affect the air temperature at all. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.97|162.158.154.97]] 10:31, 23 August 2017 (UTC)

A booklet I got on the eclipse said this: "If natural wonders were on a scale of 1 to 10, a partial solar eclipse might be a '''7''', but a total solar eclipse would be a '''1,000,000!!!'''" They were right. I was there. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 10:50, 23 August 2017 (UTC)

This is fun. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.160|162.158.134.160]] 11:17, 23 August 2017 (UTC)

Is it worth having an "2017 Total Eclipse" tag for the 5 comics? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.227|108.162.212.227]] 11:30, 23 August 2017 (UTC)
:Yes. Be sure it includes the other comics that mentioned the eclipse, like [[1868: Eclipse Flights]]. [[User:Dretler|Dretler]] ([[User talk:Dretler|talk]]) 12:37, 23 August 2017 (UTC)
::And it should also be "2017 Total [[Solar]] Eclipse".

Here's a Whatif topic: What if the earth's orbit around the sun and the moon's orbit around the earth were in the same plane so that a solar eclipse happened every month. How would that affect tides, global temperature, animal behavior, etc? Would the orbits be stable or would the gravitational tugs destabilize the orbits? [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 13:27, 23 August 2017 (UTC)

SO. TRUE. (I saw it in Salem) [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 13:54, 23 August 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1874: Geologic Faults

2017-08-09T19:24:43Z

SilverMagpie:

Totally missed an opportunity for a Lego Fault.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.251|108.162.212.251]] 13:43, 9 August 2017 (UTC)
::Both LEGO and BRIO in the same comic would have been too many toys. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.196|162.158.134.196]] 14:38, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

The alt text reminds me of how Earthquakes are depicted in movies, where a massive rift opens up in the Earth. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.10|162.158.75.10]] 13:48, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

I was totally expecting the Amigara Fault in there [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.112|108.162.216.112]] 14:10, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

Probably only for Germans, but the comedian Otto Waalkes invented that soap bar long ago in the seventies: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKOcmLiujAI Keili]. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:01, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

No seg fault to the left or right of the image? Unfortunate. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.16|172.68.78.16]] 16:56, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

Your fault: 💔 [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 19:24, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

1610: Fire Ants

2017-08-09T00:33:59Z

SilverMagpie: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1610
| date = November 30, 2015
| title = Fire Ants
| image = fire_ants.png
| titletext = Here in the entomology department, we have a simple two-step formula for answering any question: (1) ants are cool, and (2) we forgot the question because we were thinking about ants.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]], a university student, is meeting with [[Hairbun]] asking her advice concerning his second thoughts about {{w|Graduate school|grad school}}. Her response begins with a popular reference [https://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/prov/6.6?lang=eng#p5 from the Bible] concerning {{w|ants}}; however, she specifically narrows in on the sub-family of {{w|fire ants}}.

The {{w|book of Proverbs}} is a [https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1611_Proverbs-Chapter-1/#3 self-proclaimed book] on receiving wisdom and instruction to be made wise. Thus, her response appears to begin as an instruction to him in response to his question. The proverb in particular she appears to begin quoting instructs the lazy person to "Go to the ant, thou sluggard! Consider her ways..." as she prepares for the desolation of winter by providing during the bounty of summer despite not having to be told so. The assumption by the reader would be that she is going to compare Cueball to a lazy person and instruct him to prepare for the later years (winter of life) by studying now while he is young (summer of life).

However, after the initial phrase she instead discusses a cool fact about '''fire ants'''. (Specifically the ability of fire ants to join together to form [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2ZysgGAABw floating rafts] in case of flooding). Continuing in the vein of the joke, that Hairbun was going to use a {{w|metaphor}} as part of her instruction, Cueball asks her what lesson he is supposed to take away from that fact. To which she replies with her fascination for ants (''Ants are so cool'' ). Correctly Cueball states that she is ''not big on metaphors'', as there was none hidden in her first statement. She continues to tell him what she is big on: '''Ants'''.

This last exchange may imply that the expected metaphor would have had as little effect on Cueball's choice to continue grad school as an excited rant about fire ants (since he was just waiting for a metaphor anyway). Or perhaps it expresses that Hairbun finds more instruction in the study of the natural world than in ancient writings. In either case, it is left unanswered as to whether her argument was enough to answer Cueball's dilemma.

Before reading the title text the reader may have assumed that Cueball went to meet with a University adviser. But the title text makes it clear that he was actually in the {{w|entomology}} department (making her an entomologist - i.e. someone who studies insects). It is reasonable to assume that his grad studies are thus in entomology and he is meeting a professor that might act as a career mentor. Thus, her discourse on fire ants may have been to persuade Cueball that his grad studies in entomology where well worth continuing because of the exciting nature of the field of study. This would be achieving the intent of the Proverb she appeared to quote (convincing Cueball to continue life preparations by finishing grad school) although she discarded its wording.

In almost an immediate and seemingly bizarre contradiction, she chalks up her strange rambling on fire ants as just a formula that all entomology personnel use when asked any question. They use a two-step formula to answer any questions. It won't help you much because all you will learn is that ants are cool and then they have forgotten anything else you asked them while they continued to think of ants. This would imply that the answer Cueball received had literally nothing to do with his question or situation he was in and any similarity to being a meaningful answer or even a proverb of instruction was purely coincidental and unintended.

An '''alternative explanation''' is that [[Randall]] has noticed that ''fire ants'' is an anagram of ''{{w|fine arts}}''. If you instead of ants put in art, and then put in an interesting fact about art, and finish with art is cool and I'm big on art, then he would not have been in the entomology department, but the department of art. Randall is known to make fun of people who take the arts too seriously. Just think about the description of his comic at the bottom of {{xkcd}}; the last part says: ''This comic occasionally contains ... advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors).'' The title text can likewise be changed so ant = art.

In a similar vein the title text could be referencing {{w|Etymology}} instead of entomology (the two words are close enough that they are listed as ''Not to be confused with'' at the top of each article). Etymology is the study of the history of words, and again you could exchange ants with words, that are so cool or state an interesting fact about words. Randall is '''''Big''' on [[:Category:Language|Language]].'' See also [[1010: Etymology-Man]].

Another popular example where the phrase ''consider the'' from the Bible has been spoofed can be found in {{w|Monty Python's Life of Brian}} ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9czBBKof7Yo Consider the lilies]'' sketch. However, this refers to a passage in [https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1611_Matthew-Chapter-6/#28 Matthew] instead of [https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1611_Proverbs-Chapter-6/#6 Proverbs].

It seems likely that [[Randall]] is fascinated by ants (he is fascinated by a lot of cool stuff…)
*In [[638: The Search]] the SETI project is re-imagined from the perspective of ants, who reach the same conclusion humans often do.
*According to footnote 2 of the [[what if?]] no. 73: [https://what-if.xkcd.com/73/ Lethal Neutrinos], there are enough ants on earth to fill more than 100 football stadiums to the brim.
*In his celebration game for his new book [[1608: Hoverboard]], there is a scene in the Star Destroyer were Cueball is talking to a giant ant queen:
::Cueball: What's up?
::Ant queen: The usual. Poopin' out ants.
::Cueball: Eww.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is talking to Hairbun, an advisor, who is sitting behind a desk.]
:Cueball: I'm having second thoughts about grad school and could use some advice.

:[Same setting as before. The animated advisor talks while gesticulating with her hands.]
:Advisor: Consider the fire ant.
:Advisor: When there's a flood, fire ants survive by joining together into giant floating rafts.

:[Cueball is just standing there in the next beat-panel.]

:[Back to the first setting but in a larger frame.]
:Cueball: Wait, what lesson am I supposed to take from that?
:Advisor: Ants are '''''so cool!'''''
:Cueball: ...You're not big on metaphors, are you.
:Advisor: I am big on ants.

==Trivia==
===Fascinating facts about ants===
*The queen can lay millions of eggs in a lifetime that may reach [http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/walker/ufbir/chapters/chapter_34.shtml 30 years].
*Ants mainly [http://antark.net/ant-life/ant-communication/pheromones/ communicate through pheromones] which function as chemical signals.
*The queen does not directly control the other ants in the colony. She receives chemical feedback from the workers who care for and feed her; this feedback causes her to adjust the type and quantity of eggs she produces.
*All worker ants are female.
*{{w|Weaver ants}} weave together the leaves that form their colony's nest using larvae silk.
*{{w|Leafcutter ants}} cut up leaves to bring home to feed a {{w|Fungus-growing ants|fungus}} that they in turn eat.
**Ancestors of the Leafcutters began cultivating a variety of fungal gardens around [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2291119/ 50 million years ago]. This may make them the first farmers on Earth, millions of years before humans even existed.
*{{w|Army ants}}, known and feared for their aggressive raids which may claim 100,000 insect prey, have no permanent nest. They form temporary bivouacs [http://www.amentsoc.org/publications/bug-club-magazine/articles/the-raiders-army-ants.html using the ants' bodies] as the structure.
*Army and Driver worker ants are blind. They navigate by following trails laid down by blind scouts.
*{{w|Honeypot ants}} select specialized workers, called repletes, as storage containers, engorging them with food until they swell to maximum size. The repletes share the food with the colony when other food is scarce.
*Although it takes a million ants to weigh a pound, scientists believe that as recently as the time of the American Revolution, the total weight of ants was greater than the total weight of humans on the earth.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Animals]]

Talk:545: Neutrality Schmeutrality

2017-08-02T04:02:21Z

SilverMagpie:

What if instead of word count, it was determined by letter count. so insert a word with multiple spellings like "colour/color" and people will repeatedly edit and re-edit the word over and over until the servers crashed ? --[[User:ParadoX|ParadoX]] ([[User talk:ParadoX|talk]]) 09:01, 26 June 2013 (UTC)ParadoX
::Yea, it doesn't matter either way; let the sheeple have fun herding cats while I camp in the banquet for the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auction_sniping last snipe].[[User:Pacerier|Pacerier]] ([[User talk:Pacerier|talk]]) 12:54, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

I think that the idea is that the edit and re-editing would overload the servers without it being a change to a single word. [[User:Theo|Theo]] ([[User talk:Theo|talk]]) 21:06, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

:If Wikipedia's aim is to take a neutral stance, and Wikipedia is being exploited to determine which of two opposing sides receives a donation, Wikipedia's correct action would be to prevent the article from being written, thus enforcing Wikipedia's stance on neutrality. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 20:17, 26 September 2013 (UTC)
::If there is no article, the word count is 0, which is an even number, so it goes to pro-choice activists. :) [[Special:Contributions/173.245.51.209|173.245.51.209]] 13:03, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
:::No: if there is no article, the word count is undefined. You cannot determine anything about something that doesn't exist. [[User:Rvighne|rvighne]] ([[User talk:Rvighne|talk]]) 04:50, 23 April 2014 (UTC)
:::: if the article existed, it would be deleted as not notable. [[User:Chess|Chess]] ([[User talk:Chess|talk]]) 00:42, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

Lock the article mid-edit leaving a single word unfinished. That becomes a fraction of a word which is neit- [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.217|173.245.55.217]] 16:02, 2 December 2013 (UTC)BK

What the hell is Schmeutrality? ''Schmeu...'' looks very German to me, but I still have no idea about its meaning on this portmanteau. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:39, 2 December 2013 (UTC)
:An old (read "pre-internet") meme, probably Yiddish, is to say a word, then replace the initial consonant cluster of the word with "schm" (read "shm") and say the altered word. This denotes an active apathy toward the subject, that is, the speaker is deliberately disregarding the authority (for that is usually what is "regarded") and doing their own thing, as Black Hat is doing here, disregarding the authority of Wikipedia's stance on neutrality. If you were skipping school, and wanted to justify, you would say "School, Schmool". If you were disobeying you're Aunt Josephine, you would justify, to a confidant, "Aunt Josephine, Schmaunt Josephine". Other examples include "God, Schmod", "Copyrights, Schmopyrights" and "Feds, Schmeds".
:While I was familiar with this before him, Lemony Snicket's third book of a Series of Unfortunate Events, ''The Wide Window'', explains it better than I do.
:Anonymous 04:56, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

Easily fixed. Lock the article just before the deadline, flip a coin in a meeting of lots of Wikipedians, broadcast live. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.228.47|108.162.228.47]] 14:36, 21 May 2014 (UTC)

Another idea. Include a fragment of a word at the end of the article and full-protect it indefinitley. [[User:Jake|Jake]] ([[User talk:Jake|talk]]) 13:46, 2 June 2014 (UTC)

Also, what about hyphenated compound words where it can be debated whether or not they're a single word? [[User:SuperSupermario24|Just some random derp]] 23:49, 23 June 2015 (UTC)

Maybe Black Hat is avoiding donating the money because he knows there will be a constant edit war. I am not quite sure enough to put it in the explanation. [[User:Jacky720|Jacky720]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]]) 10:39, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

What if another speaker at the event (or afterwards) were to donate $1,000,000 at the same time as Black Hat, but the other way round based on the word count? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.60|141.101.98.60]] 12:04, 8 October 2016 (UTC)

...and 0's an even number 😆[[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 04:02, 2 August 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1862: Particle Properties

2017-07-12T21:33:16Z

SilverMagpie:

oh dear, they copied the alt text wrong
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.108|173.245.50.108]] 14:58, 12 July 2017 (UTC)

More significantly, color charge is carried by gluons as well as quarks. [[User:Mjackson|Mjackson]] ([[User talk:Mjackson|talk]]) 15:19, 12 July 2017 (UTC)

As suggested by Zach Weinersmith ([https://twitter.com/zachweiner/status/885154434514395138 "For a joke: If you put pure alcohol under extreme pressure, could you claim to exceed 200 proof?"]), it's kind of confusing that the comic suggests alcohol proof can exceed 200 proof, and also that baseball batting averages can exceed 100%. Although on further review, they use the arrow-dot →∙ notation rather than the dot-arrow ∙→, so maybe it's not intended to indicate a lack of an upper bound. But then I'm not sure what it does indicate, esp. compared to the Electric Charge property. Continuous vs. discrete? It doesn't seem clear… [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 15:41, 12 July 2017 (UTC)

Proof is presumably US proof - UK usage based on gunpowder 175 degrees proof would be 100% alcohol

Batting average is presumably from baseball
Cricket batting averages are measured in runs per dismissal and are in theory unbounded. It is possible to have an infinite average for a season or series - though in terms of lifetime averages the best for players with more than ten matches is 99.96.
:If it is for baseball, it's labeled incorrectly. A perfect batting average is 1.000, not 100%. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batting_average Batting average] is actually a ratio - number of hits to number of at-bats - expressed as a decimal, not a percentage. For example, if a batter goes 3 for 5 in a game, his batting average would be .600, not 60%. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 16:25, 12 July 2017 (UTC)

We should probably arrange descriptions into a table.

How is it that there's no pain scale?

Actually, D&D calls you "dead" if you go to your NEGATIVE hit point maximum. Otherwise, you make a completely random (50%) death saving throw. After 3 cumulative fails, you die. After 3 cumulative successes, you are stable. More info can be found in the {{w|Player's Handbook}}. [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 21:33, 12 July 2017 (UTC)

User talk:SilverMagpie

2017-07-11T22:58:22Z

SilverMagpie:

MIT? Nice.. I'm trying to get into Westside Tech. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|'''JayRules''XKCD''' ]][[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|what's up?]] 14:31, 5 January 2017 (UTC)

I like D&D; does anyone think {{w|Roll20}} is good? I don't have enough players for a tabletop game. By the way, I like DM-ing, but being a PC is fun too. [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 22:58, 11 July 2017 (UTC)

User talk:SilverMagpie

2017-07-11T22:57:29Z

SilverMagpie:

MIT? Nice.. I'm trying to get into Westside Tech. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|'''JayRules''XKCD''' ]][[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|what's up?]] 14:31, 5 January 2017 (UTC)

I like D&D, does anyone think ROLL20 is good? I don't have enough players for a tabletop game. By the way, I like DM-ing, but being a PC is fun too.

User:SilverMagpie

2017-07-11T22:56:01Z

SilverMagpie:

Hi, I am a {{w|Mormon}} who likes xkcd a lot, and I enjoy FTC Robotics. When I get older, I want to go to MIT. Some other things I like are: coding (HTML/CSS or JAVAscript), the wondrous beauty of Dungeons & Dragons, reading fantasy and sci-fi, and Star Wars. Next up on my movie list is Doctor Who.

Talk:762: Analogies

2017-07-03T22:20:37Z

SilverMagpie:

Surprised he said synecdoche instead of metonymy, which to me seems slightly more appropriate. What a terrible mess such devices are. I'm content memorizing 114 chemical symbols and the names and capitals of 196 generally recognized sovereign nations, but not the ~200 items on this {{w|Figure_of_speech#Categories_of_figures_of_speech|list of tropes and schemes}}. --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 01:50, 20 August 2013 (UTC)
Unfortunately, nobody was any the wiser after hearing this.
The analogy from Einstein would have been well understood as cats whiskers were familiar radio sets in before valves became cheap enough for anyone to afford a modern radio. They were difficult to tune and quickly lost contact. It is a very good analogy.

[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 22:07, 26 January 2015 (UTC)

:It seems highly likely that the opening lines of whether sandwich was a metaphor had to do with threesomes - i.e. a "sandwich" of a woman between two men. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.67|108.162.216.67]] 07:57, 2 February 2014 (UTC)

Ahh, meta! [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 22:20, 3 July 2017 (UTC)

1852: Election Map

2017-06-19T15:09:13Z

SilverMagpie:

{{comic
| number = 1852
| date = June 19, 2017
| title = Map
| image = election_map.png
| titletext = Luckily for my interpretation, no precincts were won by the Green Party.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Lacks title text explanation.}}
A wave (also electromagnetic wave, like light) changes its frequency and wavelength when moving relative to the observer, due to the {{w|Doppler effect}}. In case of light, increased frequency - indicating movement towards the observer - is called {{w|blueshift}}, while reduced frequency - indicating movement away from the observer - is called {{w|redshift}}. These names apply even if the effect is outside of visible spectrum (e.g. infrared light that has reduced frequency is called redshifted, even though its frequency is further away from red color than normally). Red and blue colors are used accordingly to indicate the effect.

If one object (like the galaxy) is redshifted on one of the edges, and blueshifted on the other, it usually means that it's rotating (and the axis of rotation isn't completely parallel to the line of sight).

The map [[Cueball]] shows represents s results. Red regions mark where one of the parties won, while blue regions indicate some other party (the parties are probably {{w|Democratic party (United States)|Democratic}} and {{w|Republican party (United States)|Republican}}, although it's not explicitly stated in the comic). Cueball analyses the map as if it showed magnitude of Doppler effect by the light emitted by the region. This, however, is not what the viewers expect to hear during the night from analysis. That's why Cueball was fired from the job rather quickly, as the caption states.

Cueball was fired from the job a number of times before. Many are listed in [[1428: Move Fast and Break Things]].

The map appears to depict {{w|Georgia's 6th congressional district}}, which is set for a special on June 20, 2017, the day after the comic ran.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball is on live TV, pointing at a map colored according to results.]
:Cueball: These northern precincts appear red, which probably means they're moving away from us, whereas these bluer regions are approaching us. I believe the district may be rotating in .

:[Caption below:]
:My career as an analyst was short-lived.
{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1284: Improved Keyboard

2017-06-14T19:54:09Z

SilverMagpie:

Black hat has done something similar [[156|here]].[[User:Guru-45|Guru-45]] ([[User talk:Guru-45|talk]]) 13:17, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
: Nice find Guru. I've moved that into the explanation. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 13:23, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
Gosh, Black Hat did something useful and constructive. Hurrah! (I'm such a dinosaur, I read "installing a " as "plugging in a physical ". Have people got so short of time that even the word "app" gets dropped nowadays?)[[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.114|108.162.249.114]] 23:33, 31 October 2013 (UTC)

:I still remember that word being "application". Seems it was getting shorter and shorter and now it disappeared completely :-) -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:44, 1 November 2013 (UTC)
::Given that the person is talking about text messages (ostensibly from the phone he is holding), they probably just didn't need to add that it was an app since that would be self evident. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 04:17, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Reminds me of the invisible Fleksy .[[User:Deyesed|Deyesed]] ([[User talk:Deyesed|talk]]) 07:31, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

You know, can [[Cueball]] uninstall it if there's no keyboard? [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 19:54, 14 June 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1378: Turbine

2017-06-13T21:52:06Z

SilverMagpie:

Why is it "horrible, horrible"? Do you really, really not like it? It's not like it's a shaggy dog cartoon which you wasted several minutes on... Oh, wait... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.208.9|108.162.208.9]] 05:51, 6 June 2014 (UTC)

For me, it just sucks that Randall chose to end the week on a lame pun. On Mondays/Wednesdays, the "suckiness" of something like this would be offset by a good "what-if?" on Tuesday. [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.225|103.22.201.225]] 06:00, 6 June 2014 (UTC)
:From what I've seen, Friday comics tend to be more "wacky" than the rest. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.134|108.162.238.134]] 23:22, 6 June 2014 (UTC)

While I agree it isn't the best xkcd could be, let's try and keep these pages objective, and leave the opinions in the comments. [[User:Mrmakeit|Mrmakeit]] ([[User talk:Mrmakeit|talk]]) 06:22, 6 June 2014 (UTC)

"I'm not a huge fan" is a catchphrase of Elon Musk, his opinion on patents, which was in the news a couple of days ago. Lift-off alludes to Musk's SpaceX. Wind turbine alludes to Musk's renewable energy company Solarcity. [[User:Tww|Tww]] ([[User talk:Tww|talk]]) 07:36, 6 June 2014 (UTC)

What's funny to me is that a turbine really is a giant fan. You'd just have to pump a whole ton of power (at the right voltage and sync rate) into it and possibly give it a kickstart of some kind to get it to turn. You could say the same about pretty much anything that generates power from rotational motion; it's a generator, but in the opposite direction, it's also a motor. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.67|173.245.50.67]] 11:25, 6 June 2014 (UTC)

I laughed at this comic, I thought it was great. As for the explanation, though, should it really be marked "complete" already? It reads like a first draft to me, and the comic is about a wind ''turbine'', not a wind''mill''. I'm gonna go fix that now. [[User:Enchantedsleeper|Enchantedsleeper]] ([[User talk:Enchantedsleeper|talk]]) 11:28, 6 June 2014 (UTC)
:I also liked this one. Great pun. As Enchantedsleeper may have found out {{w|windmill}} is the old mills for grain. But in some languages a wind turbine is called the same as a windmill! [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:57, 6 June 2014 (UTC)

'apostrophe' is more of an oratorical device, for the benefit of an audience. In this case Megan is treating the turbine as if it were human - anthropomorphism - but this isn't really a central part of the comic, and doesn't need much explanation - [[User:Seanybabes|Seanybabes]] ([[User talk:Seanybabes|talk]]) 08:59, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

I ''just'' got the punchline today. My punnery organs evidently need a workout. --[[User:Okofish|Okofish]] ([[User talk:Okofish|talk]]) 22:01, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY????????????? [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 21:52, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1166: Argument

2017-05-22T16:53:39Z

SilverMagpie:

Anyone know if there really is a thread for this? I Googled the title as shown in quotes and it didn't give me any results. Without quotes gave me the xkcd forums as well as some Creationist stuff. [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 07:39, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

-- Haha! I did exactly the same, but in the hour and a half since you searched, some enterprising soul has created what appears to be a tribute thread at [http://freeenergyforum.com/discussion/187/your-all-crackpots-who-dont-understand-thermodynamics/]. [[User:PabloVergos|PabloVergos]] ([[User talk:PabloVergos|talk]]) 08:57, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

Also, 0.999... ≠ 1 and the government covered it up. [[Special:Contributions/108.233.253.211|108.233.253.211]] 00:35, 29 January 2013 (UTC)

The explanation for the third post should make note of the situation where you hang a flywheel (e.g. a bicycle wheel) by each end of its axis using cords, spin the wheel then cut one cord, and the bicycle wheel will keep spinning in the same position! There was a YouTube video for this, but I cannot find it, there must be more people who know what I'm talking about. It has something to do with centripetal (No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die). :) [[Special:Contributions/84.224.77.100|84.224.77.100]] 05:32, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
:I think it refers to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Perpetual_Motion_by_Norman_Rockwell.jpg this], not gyroscopes. [[User:Bugefun|Bugefun]] ([[User talk:Bugefun|talk]]) 06:27, 29 January 2013 (UTC)

I did some digging and found http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=29697&page=4
Not sure if it has any relation, but it's hard to believe its a coincidence that the thread is from 2004 and the final comment is '''"I think this thread has run its course, and I'm getting tired of deleting crackpot posts from it. Any objections? Good."''' [[User:Ornj|Ornj]] ([[User talk:Ornj|talk]]) 09:36, 29 January 2013 (UTC)

Can anyone identify the icons at the left of the three postings in the comic? The first looks to be a generic head, but the second is a device of some kind, with (perhaps) a push-button, and a wire leading from and connecting back to the device. The third might be a person standing next to a Tesla coil or Van de Graaff generator. [[User:Vere Nekoninda|Vere Nekoninda]] ([[User talk:Vere Nekoninda|talk]]) 14:42, 31 January 2013 (UTC)

The second device is a power strip plugged into itself. Free energy, after all.

This thread lives on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=287qd4uI7-E

Perpetual Motion Machines are not free energy. For that to happen, you need it to ''output'' more energy than it uses :( [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 16:53, 22 May 2017 (UTC)

'''Rational Wiki'''

Alright I have no problem with giving a link to rational wiki but can someone explain to me why we are redirecting people there when it has significantly less credible citations than wikipedia's pseudoscience page?--[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 20:29, 7 November 2013 (UTC)

What started with a single click on Wikipedia's "self-replicating machine" page has led to an ever-increasing number of tabs in my browser containing articles on self-replication. Please help. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.147|162.158.255.147]] 23:13, 16 July 2016 (UTC)

User talk:Jeff

2017-05-12T16:48:56Z

SilverMagpie: /* Crash */

{{notice|This is the talk page of Jeff, the creator of Explain XKCD. If you have a comment about the wiki, please use the [[Explain XKCD:Community portal]]. Use this page only for personal messages to Jeff, of for requests that require server access.}} 

== ParserFunctions ==

Hi Jeff,

Just thought I'd run this up the flagpole... any thought about installing the ParserFunctions extension? I think this site could benefit from a few templates that would aid in indexing/categorizing the entries as content is migrated, and ParserFunctions would make some really impressive things possible... but installing any extension or not would be up to you.

Also, do you have any feelings about us users creating templates in the Template namespace, which we could use to maintain the content? Just wanted to get your thumbs-up before/if I did something like that. Just want to play nice. Love the site, and the new wiki format.

- PT [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 03:05, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
:ParserFunctions are awesome, yup! --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 06:56, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
::{{done}} Yes to both. I have enabled ParserFunctions and Templates sound like a great idea. IronyChef, please send me an email at the address on the blog and I'll make you an admin if necessary to edit templates. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 08:03, 1 August 2012 (EDT)

== Extension:Variable ==
Just wondering what you thought about adding the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Variables Variables extension]. I'm toying with revising {{tl|LATESTCOMIC}} to not be so expensive (both in terms of template expansion, and ongoing maintenance.) I could do that now, but the wiki would have to re-expand and re-evaluate the same expression about six times, being slightly counter-productive. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:54, 25 August 2012 (UTC)
:: any thoughts ... up, down, sideways? Thanks! -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:34, 1 September 2012 (UTC)
::: I'm up for it... Let me get it installed on the wiki side when I get a chance. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 23:13, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

== Bugging you again.... ==

Could you take a look at [//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?limit=10000&tagfilter=&title=Special%3AContributions&contribs=user&target=Philosopher&namespace=8&year=&month=-1] and tell me if I'm thinking in about the same way as you are here? Also, I've brought up [[MediaWiki:Tagline]] and [[Explain XKCD:Community portal]], as it'd be cool to have a tagline. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 10:46, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
:With you 100% on the File Delete reasons. Thanks. I agree also about having a tagline. What do you think it should be? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 11:13, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
::Nothing's coming to mind right now. Perhaps someone else will think of something. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 17:54, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
Discussion continued at [[Explain XKCD:Community portal/Proposals#Tagline]].

== Automatic Import ==
Moved to [[Explain XKCD:Community portal/Proposals#Automatic Import]]. (Header left to avoid breaking links.) --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:30, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== Please watch [[Explain XKCD:Community portal/Administrators' noticeboard]] ==

I'd like to ask that the admins consider adding [[Explain XKCD:Community portal/Administrators' noticeboard]] to their [[wikipedia:Help:Watching pages|watchlists]]. On a similar note, I've just started a discussion there about spammers. -''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 02:02, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== Images from Wikimedia Commons and SVG ==
Please set <code>$wgUseInstantCommons = true;</code> in the wiki's LocalSettings.php, so we can use images from Wikimedia Commons without having to reupload them here.
Also, I'd be neat if you could [[mw:Manual:Image Administration#SVG|enable svg images]]. Thanks! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 04:20, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
: {{done}}, Instant Commons is on. Will need a little more work to get SVG images to work. What renderer to do you suggest I use? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:05, 6 August 2012 (UTC)
:: That'll depend on what you have available in your server. They say there that ImageMagick seems to be an acceptable choice, but rsvg seems to be the best one if the dependencies can be sorted out. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 13:20, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

== Search suggestions ==

Hi,

could you please set $wgEnableMWSuggest [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:$wgEnableMWSuggest] to true? This enables search suggestions for the search field, and often this helps you to skip the search results. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 09:10, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
:{{done}} OK, this is has been added to the LocalSettings. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:06, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

== Time zone ==

Please set the wiki to UTC (<tt>$wgLocaltimezone = "UTC";</tt> in LocalSettings.php), as it's the most neutral option for our international community. In any case, each user can choose their time zone in their preferences.
:{{done}} Ok, set. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:07, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

== Short urls, site logo, lowercase xkcd ==

Hi,
I'm not sure if you tried it but http://shorturls.redwerks.org is a great (and simple :D) tool to implement clean urls with mediawiki. That would make urls much nicer around here.

Also, if you could, please take a look at [[Explain XKCD:Community portal/Proposals#Naming conventions]], where your assistance is needed for some server changes. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 15:31, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

:Hi again :) just to remind you about the short urls thing. I think it would be great if we could have wiki links in the form "explainxkcd.com/wiki/link_title". It might be necessary to move the wiki into a different folder name than "wiki", but that's just a matter of renaming the folder and changing <code>$wgScriptPath</code> in LocalSettings.php accordingly. The link above makes things really straighforward, it should really only take you a few minutes to set everything up.
:Another cool thing that could be done is set up a server redirect so that links in the form of explainxkcd.com/number would point to the comics in the wiki instead of returning a 404 error (for instance, http://explainxkcd.com/123 would point to http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/123). That way, we could replicate xkcd's own url system for comics and people could simply type explainxkcd.com/123 and get the explanation for the corresponding comic. This redirect can probably be set up in the hosting company's web interface, but in case it can't, let me know if you need any help. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 22:03, 11 August 2012 (UTC)
::Hi Waldir - I'll work on the short URL thing. I want that to work for sure. With regards to the redirect, I have been working on it for a while and I have a few .htaccess files and etc that don't work. I'll be grateful for the help on it. Please send me an email if you know how to get it done. This would also allow anyone from xkcd.com/435 to just add explain and go to the comic explanation. Very helpful. Been working on it unsuccessfully for a while. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 01:41, 12 August 2012 (UTC)
:::Ugh, it must be my hosting because I did all of the shorturls correctly it just sent it to a 404 page for the site over and over again. The url seemed to be the right one, but didn't send it to the right location. It should NOT be this difficult. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 02:25, 12 August 2012 (UTC)

== wgCapitalLinks ==

Hi Jeff! When you have a few spare minutes, please add the following to LocalSettings.php:
$wgCapitalLinks = false;
This allows page titles not to be automatically capitalized by the software, which is important for filenames and for some comic titles such as [[s/keyboard/leopard/]]. Cheers, [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:34, 11 August 2012 (UTC)
:{{done}} --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 01:37, 12 August 2012 (UTC)
::...and this broke our templates (and maybe [[Special:RecentChanges]]?). See [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Admin requests]]. Can't we just style the page titles so they appear as though they aren't capitalized when they really are? (As done at [[wikipedia:Xkcd]], using the DISPLAYTITLE magic word (called through [[wikipedia:Template:DISPLAYTITLE]]).) --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 04:42, 12 August 2012 (UTC)
:::Looks like transition pains would be inevitable. I think everything is sorted out for now. See the Admin requests thread for details. As for using DISPLAYTITLE, I understand the rationale, but this is xkcd and attention to capitalization is necessary in several pages, and I believe we'd rather use a complete solution (so that pages actually have the correct title) rather than hacking what is shown to viewers. In any case, we shouldn't have many problems in the future because of this; People will only capitalize the first letter of a title when it's actually necessary; otherwise, lazyness/convenience makes us all use lowercase everywhere (besides, redirects can be used just in case, such as {{tl|yesno}} → {{tl|YesNo}}. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 09:06, 12 August 2012 (UTC)

== External Images ==

Has there actually been a decision on external images? Or is it just to be decided later?  [[User:Grep|grep]][[User_talk:Grep|talk]] 
: No decision yet. What do you think? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 21:16, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
::Well, the whitelisting seems an OK idea. This would help you save space on the servers that you are hosting on, so that's a plus. I say go for whitelisting.  [[User:Grep|grep]][[User_talk:Grep|talk]]  Mostly I am wondering because I created a PHP script that creates an image to display the results of a poll (like on the Moving the Wiki topic in Proposals). For my situation any method of something external being placed on this site will work.
::'''I just''' got an idea... what if there was a group of moderators that check external images and approve them. The more approvals a person gets, the more "reliable" they are considered to be... ?  [[User:Grep|grep]][[User_talk:Grep|talk]] 

== Short Link Problem Fix? ==

Is <code>mod_rewrite</code> installed and enabled? 
[https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Short_URL/Apache MW ShortURL] 
Are all of the config files (including the wiki one) set up?

 [[User:Grep|grep]][[User_talk:Grep|talk]] 

== New admin please? ==

This is a bit forthright of me, but nothing appears to be being done about it. Would you read this [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#Spampage Rampage]] and comment on it? Thanks, [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] and the community 17:47, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

== Small change ==

Hi Jeff! Long time no see. Look, could you add
:<code>$wgGroupPermissions['autoconfirmed']['autopatrol'] = true;</code>
to LocalSettings.php? That will allow edits by [[mw:auto-confirmed|auto-confirmed]] users not to be marked with a red exclamation mark in recent changes so we can more quickly spot edits that might need reviewing. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 02:16, 22 November 2012 (UTC)

:Btw while you're at it, please also add
::<code>$wgAllowUserJs = true;</code>
::<code>$wgAllowUserCss = true;</code>
:So users can make their own scripts and styles to enhance the wiki (I need that, for instance, to test stuff without affecting anyone else, before integrating them on site-wide javascript/css pages) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:52, 22 November 2012 (UTC)

{{done}} and {{done}} --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:55, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

:Thanks! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 19:57, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

:: Sorry, I forgot a small detail: it is necessary to set up the following so that "auto-confirmed" doesn't mean "any registered user":
:: <code>$wgAutoConfirmAge = 60*60*24*3 // accounts become auto-confirmed after 3 days</code>
:: <code>$wgAutoConfirmCount = 10 // ...and 10 edits</code>
:: Cheers, [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:32, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

::: {{done}} --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 21:49, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

:::: Thanks, again. Also, since the wiki didn't break, I take it that you noticed the missing semicolons which I stupidly forgot to include at the end of the lines, and added them. Sorry for the slip-up. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:31, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
::::: No worries, I know that much at least! :) --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:36, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

Did you by any chance write "auto patrol" instead of "autopatrol"? [[Special:ListGroupRights]] suggests so, and if that's the case, that explains why the changes don't seem to have had the effects I expected from them (edits by auto-patrolled users still marked with the red exclamation mark in Special:RecentChanges). Could you check that the line reads exactly <code>$wgGroupPermissions['autoconfirmed']['autopatrol'] = true;</code>? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:54, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
: That's what I thought I put even though autocorrect wanted to change it. Can't look now, will have a look when I get home. ---[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:55, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
:: Any news? No pressure, I'm just curious :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 15:34, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
::: Bah - I keep forgetting when I get home. I'll try to get it done this weekend. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:35, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
:::: Much delayed, but {{done}} --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 02:50, 4 December 2012 (UTC)
::::: Thanks, Jeff. I'll let you know if there's any further issues, but I believe everything should be working now. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 03:34, 4 December 2012 (UTC)

== Links to category pages ==

I couldn't help but notice the number of your edits to your page. You can link to category pages by putting a colon in front of "Category". <code><nowiki>[[:Category:Pages to delete]]</nowiki></code> produces [[:Category:Pages to delete]]. It also doesn't add the category to that page, it just links to it. Cheers, [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:30, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
: Oh geez. You saw that? That's a little embarrassing with not knowing what to do, I kept trying to figure out how to put the link there. Thanks for the help! I couldn't find that information anywhere. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:31, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

::When I had to learn about that trick the edits on that page looked fairly similar. I eventually found the right page [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links] (ctrl+f "category", it's buried) and managed it. I have the Recent Changes page set to auto-refresh every minute. I see a few things. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:43, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

== Your opinion? ==

Please comment [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Technical#We need more maintainers|here]]. Cheers, [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:21, 5 December 2012 (UTC)
:Update: we've been offered help by [[mediawiki:User:Dantman|an experienced MediaWiki developer]], I think we can finally solve the server-side issues now! Please take a look at the thread linked above. [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 20:07, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

== I am really dumb ==

and this morning, while creating a user name, I goofed it and wrote .mau, (with a trailing comma) instead of .mau. (with a trailing dot, which is my trademark). I know that a bureaucrat on MediaWiki can change a username which had few edits (my own edits are three including this one): could you do this, or at least delete this username so that I may recreate it without leaving a dead one? TIA, [[User:.mau,|.mau,]] ([[User talk:.mau,|talk]]) 15:09, 16 January 2013 (UTC)
:You can actually change your signature to .mau. if you want, to mask that for now. Just make a page called User:.mau,/sig and craft your signature to your liking, then go to my preferences at the top and set your sig to <nowiki>{{SUBST:User:.mau,/sig}}</nowiki>. If you want an example, [[User:Lcarsos/sig]] is a near-vanilla and quite clean example of a custom sig, while [[User:Omega/sig]] and my sig, [[User:Davidy22/sig]] are slightly more tricked-out options. Wikipedia's guidelines to signature crafting are {{w|Wikipedia:Signatures#Customizing_your_signature|here.}} '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:53, 16 January 2013 (UTC)
::ok, thanks! [[User:.mau,|.mau.]] ([[User talk:.mau,|talk]]) 09:55, 17 January 2013 (UTC)
:::Aw, that's it? No bling or anything? Meeehhh. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:16, 17 January 2013 (UTC)
:(to Jeff) I believe user renaming is not possible in vanilla mediawiki. An extension is required: [[mw:Extension:Renameuser]] --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 18:21, 17 January 2013 (UTC)
::I find a bit disturbing to have a "wrong" username, especially because I may not remember it somewhen (yes, the word does not exist, but I like its sound); but I don't need any flashy signature, so I just changed the traling comma to a dot. --[[User:.mau,|.mau.]] ([[User talk:.mau,|talk]]) 14:09, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

==/wiki/==
Now that the site apparently redirects to the wiki, could the entire wiki URL just be explainxkcd.com, without the trailing wiki? It's mostly for cleanliness, but also to throw off the spambots for a while. Those accursed spam happy bots. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:29, 4 February 2013 (UTC)
: Sounds good, I'm working on that part next. It is next on my "to-do" list complete some URL work like that. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:05, 4 February 2013 (UTC)
::''nag''. Also, the spam is becoming an issue. A pretty big issue. Time to switch captchas? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:04, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
::: OK - sounds good to me, any ones you recommend? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 13:33, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
:::: I don't remember which captcha the wiki uses, but I know securimage and recaptcha are two very competent options. Alternately, you could use [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:ConfirmEdit ConfirmEdit] to screen anon edits. Much of the spam seems to be automated, so questycaptcha should screen out most of the chaff. Just simple questions, like "What webcomic does this site explain" or "Who created XKCD" should be sufficient to screw up our current spammers. Also, rm /wiki/ plx. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:41, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
:::::Confirm edit is in and Recaptcha is out. Let's try that. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 14:11, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
::::::The questions appear to be case-sensitive. To avoid frustration, could you add a notice to every question saying that the answers have to be in all lower/upper case? I got "What's the name of this wiki" wrong a bunch of times, and I think it's due to capitalization. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:30, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
:::::::Ok - cool. I changed it to $wgSitename instead of just writing it out. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 14:32, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
::::::::If we get no spam tomorrow, I will hold a party in your talk page. Oh, and /wiki/. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:38, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::I'll just hijack this thread and ask: Isn't it time Davidy22 got admin tools? It's long overdue. And please promote Lcarsos‏‎ to bureaucrat, so he can make new admins if needed. And seconded: <code>/wiki/</code> ! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 02:39, 19 February 2013 (UTC)
::::::::::Could you also put confirmEdit in general page creation for anonymous users? There's still a couple of spam pages being made that don't actually advertise anything. There hasn't been an account creation in a long time, so I think we've killed off the spam accounts. The rate of spam has definitely dropped significantly ever since we switched to confirmEdit. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:42, 20 February 2013 (UTC)
::::::::::We've just had a surge of pure griefer spam. Anons who don't insert any links, they're just throwing spam at us out of malice. Could you make anonymous users have to pass through confrimEdit to create pages? Thanks. On a side note, what's the ratio in terms of file size between current explanation pages to logs and diffs? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:53, 22 February 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::::Wow those suck. Wiping out whole pages with anon edits. I can't change the settings from here, but I'll do it when I get home. Also, I'm not sure what you mean by filesize? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:51, 22 February 2013 (UTC)
::::::::::::Eh, how much space do explanations and images take up on your hard drive when compared to the space that log files and diffs take up? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:01, 22 February 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::::::Click a thing, check out the URL. I be posting this here instead of DMs because somthing like this has been requested for a pretty long time. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:55, 7 December 2013 (UTC)
::::::::::::: I'm confused. There's a lot going on in this thread. Want to break it out into its own header? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:48, 9 December 2013 (UTC)
::::::::::::::Mkay '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:47, 9 December 2013 (UTC)

== Promote Davidy22 ==

:''Breaking this discussion out from where it was, because it merits its own section. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]])''
I'll just hijack this thread and ask: Isn't it time Davidy22 got admin tools? It's long overdue. And please promote lcarsos‏‎ to bureaucrat, so he can make new admins if needed. And seconded: <code>/wiki/</code> ! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 02:39, 19 February 2013 (UTC)

:'''Heartily Agree''' on promoting Davidy22, he's almost always more on top of spam patrol than I am these days (burn-out for the lose). I'm not sure I can speak for my own promotion without sounding self-serving and power-hungry. However, in my few spare moments this semester I am looking closely at getting a bot up and running to automate the clean up of spam (mostly because manual spam patrol is the most soul-sucking and disheartening activity I've ever done), so it would be nice to be able to get a bot account promoted to bot status without misrepresenting it as my account. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:13, 19 February 2013 (UTC)
:: Davidy22 is up to admin (honestly, I thought he was already one, so no issue there on my end.) and lcarsos has been updated to bureaucrat because we should have more redundancy there. Also, create a bot account and let me know what it is and i'll give it bot rights. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:36, 19 February 2013 (UTC)
:: Or now, you can do it! :) --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:41, 19 February 2013 (UTC)
:::WOO, power! '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:42, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

== Small ConfirmEdit change ==

Can you change the line:
<pre>$wgCaptchaTriggers['create'] = false;</pre>
to true? I think this would solve most of our bot vandalism/griefing problems. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 21:19, 22 February 2013 (UTC)
:: {{done}} I changed 'edit' to true as well since we've seen a bunch when editing user's talk pages. We will see if I have to move that back to false. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:16, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

== DeleteOldRevisions ==

There's a script built into mediawiki called DeleteOldRevisions.php that seems to have deprecated the deletehistory plugin. A link to the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:DeleteOldRevisions.php manual page.] A hard drive upgrade would be apt for the future though. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:15, 20 March 2013 (UTC)
: I'm looking into it. I'm not sure how the wiki got back up and running without me running the update. I'll try the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:DeleteHistory] and see if that can help in the meantime. The expanded HD might be a no-go, but I'll see on that too. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 01:27, 20 March 2013 (UTC)

==Server Hardware==
The website is getting really slow and throwing internal errors all over the place, and it looks like both the main page and the page for the newest comic [[1190: Time]] are climbing rapidly in views. If one ambiguous comic is hitting us like a DDoS, we're going to get it in the shorts if Randall ever actually acknowledges our existence directly, or some other geeky media outlet posts a link to us. Is there a donate button anywhere? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:18, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: We certainly can get a Donate button. We may need to migrate the server to get it upgraded. This is one of those big days, I guess. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:39, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:: How about a Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:37, 26 March 2013 (UTC)
:::Kickstarter and Indiegogo are one-time things. No good for this. I recommend modifying the donate button so that there is a PayPal "Subscribe" button near it so people can also do small monthly subscriptions. I recommend a dropdown with $1, $2, $5, $10, $20 options.
:::Does 1&1 give you stats like how much bandwidth (or rather how much data) you are using. That could have an effect on where is best to get the new hosting; Rackspace Cloud, Linode, AWS, or even a real server with access to other network options like paying for actual Mbps bandwidth with unlimited data.
:::When you get a server I'd like to properly set it up with varnish, nginx, apc (or Zend_Optimizer+ considering it's going to be part of php 5.5), memcached, and perhaps php-fpm instead of mod_php. Varnish will allow anonymous pages to be cached hopefully reducing the load issues. And nginx should serve out static things better than Apache. [[User:Dantman|Dantman]] ([[User talk:Dantman|talk]]) 05:23, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
:::: Regarding the Paypal button, besides the subscribe option, I would recommend removing the credit card logos, as they make it too wide for the sidebar and not fit the design well. Besides, I personally think they give it kind of a corporate feel; instead, a simple "donate" button, while still recognizable as paypal's, feels simpler and more "personal", for lack of a better word.
:::: Also, I think you should place it above the AdSense block, since that makes it more visible, and prioritizes a form of supporting the site that people have direct, active control over, rather than the passive, choice-less (modulo AdBlock) AdSense.
:::: And also capitalize "donate" in the section title, to match the other titles ("Navigation", "Toolbox", etc.)
:::: Since we're at it: maybe more donation options would make sense: [//flattr.com Flattr], [//gittip.com Gittip], [//tiptheweb.org/ TipTheWeb], and possibly [//bitcoin.org/ Bitcoins].
:::: Finally, is it possible to make the AdSense background transparent, or at least the same as the site background of #F3F3F3? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 14:15, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
:::::Is it possible to add the ad and donate buttons without including a section title? Minimizing unused space is gooood. Also, I noticed that you installed the deletehistory plugin, but it's trying to use another version of PHP that's installed on the server. deleteoldrevisions.php in the maintenance folder oughta work fine, though it'd probably be apt to run it over the weekend when we're not expecting absurd floods of visitors like we are now. We may need it too, after we've filled up the hard drive again with archives of Time.'''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:39, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
:::::: Yes, it is possible for me to edit, I will have to go into the settings for each since I used extensions for them. I hate the credit card things too. Will take a look at all options tonight.
:::::: The Deletehistory plugin doesn't work, sadly because of the PHP version. Hopefully, when we migrate, it will be on a newer version and that will work. Hopefully, we will have more disk space too... --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]])
::::: Hey Jeff. Could you change the width of the paypal donate button so that it matches the google ads and the bitcoin donate button? Maybe using a custom button rather than the paypal-provided one?
::::: Also, any news regarding the possibility of changing the background of the google ads? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:21, 8 April 2013 (UTC)
:::::: It did not work out with Google ads for a reason they will not disclose to me, but I'll work on the buttons and the banner ad. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:11, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

== Everything's good ==

Except for the (currently) occasional server error, I have no problems.

I've turned on HotCat and Popups, imported wikEdDiff and my HideTopContribs, all of which make me fairly efficient at watching changes.

A minor request would be the Redirect toolbar button.

[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 17:13, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

:When you turn off enwiki's "Enable enhanced editing toolbar" all of the toolbar buttons explainxkcd has are in the same order (it skips Math) and the very next one is Redirect #R. It seems to be defined at http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MediaWiki:Common.js/edit.js&action=edit
:I've tried adding just Redirect #R myself [[User:Markhurd/common.js|here]], but something's going wrong. (And I should be sleeping!)
::Seeing as it is only one button I wanted, I simplified the code down to calling addButton directly and it is now working fine. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 13:07, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

:Re being an Admin: Yes, please, as long as you note this would be my first actual Admin bit. (I'm a Bureaucrat on another MW wiki so I could give myself Admin rights whenever I wanted.) [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 19:39, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

== Sidebar ads ==

Hi, we're having a discussion about the sidebar ads on [[Talk:Main Page#sidebar ads?]]. --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:42, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

== Economic transparency ==

Hi! I made a request on economic transparency on the proposals page. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:05, 27 May 2013 (UTC)

==Thumbnails are not working==
I'm relatively new here but I think each picture should get it's proper thumbnail when the original is to large to embed. Mediawiki is using some applications in the background maybe not available here. But there are some workarounds. And since "onlinehome.us" is well secured I still do even not know what OS is running in the background. But whatever the OS is, it should be solvable.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:13, 8 June 2013 (UTC)

== Last missing page ==

Hi, I'm hoping you don't mind about my adds to Natalie Dee. I was working on that at the same time.
BTW: Can I help you on that thumbnail issue? I really would be happy if it could fixed here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:42, 18 June 2013 (UTC)
:: No problem on the Natalee Dee comic, I was just working on it because it was the last one, edit away. What's the thumbnail issue? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 21:43, 18 June 2013 (UTC)
:::Thanks for your reply. I am still talking about this: [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Errors_and_symptoms#Image_Thumbnails_not_working_and.2For_appearing Image_Thumbnails_not_working]. I am sure there is a need to fix the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/LocalSettings.php LocalSettings.php]. Maybe some paths are wrong or it's just using wrong image tools. I can help on any OS except Apple computers.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:07, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

== Congratulations! ==

You just created the last unexplained comic of ''xkcd''! [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 23:38, 18 June 2013 (UTC)
: Thanks Greyson! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 03:04, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

==Math==
A lot of comics have formulae in them. Could you set $wgUseTeX = true in LocalSettings.php? That lets us use latex in pages. It'd be useful for comics like yesterday's. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:12, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
:Yeah, this would be nice. But you have to install an extension, LaTex must be available, then compile something, and at least adjusting the LocalSettings.php config file. We also sill do not have all image features here. But I can help, Windows or Linux.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:55, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
:: I'll look into it. Let me know if you find an extension that will do the trick. Send me some links to anything that would help and I can get them set up. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 14:44, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
:::Go here [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Math Extension:Math] and read the installation instructions first, it's not easy. For Fedora (Linux) there is a package called "mediawiki-math.x86_64" available. I will test this at my own computer.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:57, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
::::It's the hell, but I got a first crappy version at my local installation. I have had to install ''latex'' and ''ocaml'' packages and now its working, but it still renders many lines before the <nowiki><math></nowiki> tag, So it's still not usable for this site.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:35, 13 July 2013 (UTC)
===Seeing injected banner ads?===
I'm seeing banner ads (viewing on my iPad) that cover the actual banner of the site and never scroll out of view. It's as if they've been infected by a downstream server (ISP?). Anybody else? I'm in Wisconsin using TDS. Jeff M.
: That's terrible, I've got to fix that. bah. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:36, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
:: Is there a place I can email some screenshots? Jeff M.{{unsigned ip|69.130.242.120}}

== Full cache kills this page ==

Hi, it seems this page was not reachable for 15 hours again. The cache here has to be cleared sometimes, but since I can do it with my account I will create a script running once per day. 15 hours outage are bad, I try to avoid this in the future. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:50, 3 October 2013 (UTC)
:Which page was dead? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:11, 3 October 2013 (UTC)
::The entire site was dead. Look here: [[Special:RecentChanges|Special:RecentChanges]]. My last post was at 23:44 yesterday, no actions here after my reset at 14:54 today. The site was dead. I'm not a hacker, but I'm a programmer and I used this base of knowledge to fix this problem. If you do need more details, please send me an email. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:25, 3 October 2013 (UTC)
::: Agreed. Tried to visit yesterday PM, but a lot of pages were spilling guts: user pages, category pages, no comic explanations (as far as I could tell with my limited browsing.) A chron-job script to keep that at bay would be good medicine, assuming it didn't have other side effects. [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 03:19, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
I will set up a cron job running once per day. Maybe this entry at the config file [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:LocalSettings.php LocalSettings.php] would be the better solution:
$wgMainCacheType = CACHE_NONE;
I'm using the MidnightCommander (Linux) for editing this file.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:11, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
:::: Cache_None is already set in the LocalSettings. I believe this is usually a database error that we are getting. It usually resolves itself as I'm not able to resolve it myself. I believe that we are getting hit with a brute force attack at our database during those times because the database is totally unreachable. I'm working on moving to a new host where the database will be better protected. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:16, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::Cache_None or CACHE_NONE? This should be case sensitive. Nevertheless I did purge the cache and the site was instantly available again (after approx. 15 hours). Also Davidy22 explained that he did clear the cache to bring the site back. The error messages are misleading and not showing the real problem.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:43, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::: Yes, CACHE_NONE, sorry, I was typing fast. I've ran my clear cache script a few times when I've had that same problem and haven't seen results, so I'm glad we at least have something that's working. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:18, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::You are doing a great job, I feel I just have to say thanks! When the next outage does happen I will activate a small script, but for now I just try to avoid unnecessary traffic to this server.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:15, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::: Thanks Dgbrt! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:07, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

== New host ==

Great job, but please check this link: <code>/wiki/</code>. I can browse the entire folder and more. It seems that "htaccess" should be renamed to ".htaccess".--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 08:32, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
: Oh geez. That's bad. Thanks! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:02, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:: Should be good now. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:45, 30 October 2013 (UTC)

I found an other serious issue belonging to DNS entries:
Name: explainxkcd.com
Address: 108.162.198.131
Name: explainxkcd.com
Address: 108.162.199.131
This works fine because 108.162.'''198'''.131 is correct. But most DNS servers showing up with this result:
Name: explainxkcd.com
Address: 108.162.199.131
Name: explainxkcd.com
Address: 108.162.198.131
This just leads to the old server at 108.162.'''199'''.131. Check Google DNS server 8.8.8.8 with nslookup, the wrong IP is shown first.
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:34, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
: Weird... I'll research. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:35, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
::Yes, it's weird. After I discovered this I did enter an entry for this at my local "/etc/hosts" file. But it seems most people can not access the new site.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:20, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
::One more: The logo on the left top is broken. ''style="background-image: url(/wiki/skins/common/images/explainxkcd.png)'' does not exist.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
::: Yea, what happened to that logo... it was there this morning. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 20:56, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
::::Oh, after a computer crash I'm back. Right now even the editor is broken here. I don't know if I can send this message. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:22, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::Ok, it does work, but all images for short cuts on top of the editor are also broken now. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:26, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::: The editor works fine for me, I'll research the images. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 21:27, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::It seems all links like "/wiki/skins/common/images/button_bold.png" are gone. Additionally I'm getting an JavaScript error "TypeError: document.getElementById(...) is null". http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/skins/common/images/button_bold.png redirects me to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page. Maybe you still get some content, maybe cache, from 108.162.199.131? Or is the real site now on that IP? Remember, I have had to restart my computer; most of my cache is gone and I'm just seeing the real page.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:48, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::: I fixed the images. I did that stupidly through the htaccess page. I've got to figure a better solution for what I'm trying to do to solve another problem. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 21:58, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::Looks great right now. So that DNS glitch seems to be the most worse problem right now.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:08, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::: I think DNS is still propagating with the updates from yesterday. Not every one has the correct information yet... those two DNS IPs are the load balancers, I believe. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 22:09, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::::Strange "load balancers", but it's working now on both IPs. Many thanks again for your hard work, you must have invested many hours on this migration. Let's see tomorrow if other users will be able to find this site again.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:30, 30 October 2013 (UTC)

== Please remove subaddressing from my account email [[user:tbc]] ==

Hi Jeff,

I requested a password reset, but I forgot that my account still has an old email registered: timc+explainxkcd@divide.net. My ISP, pcisys.net née divide.net, disabled subaddressing during an email upgrade earlier this year. If you will update that email to remove the plus sign so my account email is timc@divide.net, I will be able to reset my password. I was logged in from my iPad to write on the [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Admin_requests#Please_remove_subaddressing_from_my_account_email_user:tbc|community portal]] page, but since I needed my password, which I have forgotten, to change it, I got stuck. – ''[[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 30 Oct 2013''
: You should be good to go now. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:07, 31 October 2013 (UTC)
:: I am. Thank you! – ''[[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 05:32, 8 November 2013 (UTC)''

== Forbidden ==

You don't have permission to access /wiki/ ([http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/ http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/]) on this server. I think a simple redirect would be a better solution.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:45, 4 November 2013 (UTC)
: Yup, that's on my list to work on. If you are knowledgable about htaccess files, feel free to send me an email. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 13:48, 5 November 2013 (UTC)
::The first great point is: The error doesn't show the server, version, etc... A hacker can't figure what exploits are available.
::At my local test installation (Apache, Linux) it's covered by the general server configuration. And each folder simply does contain a proper "index.php" file from mediawiki doing the correct redirects.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:19, 5 November 2013 (UTC)
::: Fixed. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:02, 21 November 2013 (UTC)
::::Great job, thanks.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:18, 21 November 2013 (UTC)

== Re: the latest puzzle ==

I don't know how to contribute in the discussion section on the page, so I'm throwing ideas at you.

Just quick thoughts.
I feel like Cpl klinger and the water type kingler is too solid a connection to ignore even though I can't really use it.
Kingler was owned in the series by Ash.
Ash is a three letter word and the last three letters of the phrase monstermash.
Monsterm=8 letters so the first block ash=3 letters in the second block.
Monsterm is about the monster.com thing, therefore purloined. It's a double reference, the .co has been purloined from the purloined website.
Then blastoise -3, or rather blastois3 - 3 (mocking the common password meme of replacing letters with numbers)
So the last password, which is super hard to guess and well chosen even with the clue is, blastoisash? It's a feasibly memorable password that would not be quickly forgotten by a pokemon fan while still being hard to guess.
Can you think of a way to check it? Maybe go into the old command line xkcd and try it as a password?

==URLs==
I made them marginally shorter. Can you spot the difference? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:47, 9 December 2013 (UTC)
: Uh, I can't. Does that make me a bad person? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 22:17, 9 December 2013 (UTC)
::If you go to any page, you should see that it says index.php/<page name> instead of index.php?title=<page name>. Small change, I'm trying to kill the index.php bit too, but I think I suck at regexes. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:31, 9 December 2013 (UTC)
::: Regexes are the WORST --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 22:45, 9 December 2013 (UTC)
::::Regexes are great, but they are hard to implement for a specific solution. But Goooogle helps. And a question to Davidy22: Why you do not present your enhancement here? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:10, 9 December 2013 (UTC)
:::::I set $wgUsePathInfo to true in mediawiki settings, and here's our lines for redirecting URLs in general:

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(\.png|\.jpg|\.gif)$ [NC]
# RewriteRule ^/wiki(/.*)$ %{DOCUMENT_ROOT}/wiki/index.php$1 [L]

:::::Followed and preceded by htaccess commands that do other things. The broken line is commented out because it doesn't work. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:32, 9 December 2013 (UTC)
::::::Uhh, it seems I still do not understand the secret. [http://www.xkcd.com/1301] to [http://www.explainxkcd.com/1301] works fine for me, but I do not understand that [NC] here so far:
:::::::RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(\.png|\.jpg|\.gif)$ [NC]
::::::maybe
:::::::RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(\.png|\.jpg|\.gif)$[NC]
::::::is better. But this means every request not matching those three image extensions would fit that rewrite rule. This is just haaardly regex. The second line is just a comment you probably did remove. I can't see the rewrite rule. And testing for a simple number x, xx, xyz, or xyzz would be better.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:23, 10 December 2013 (UTC)
::::::::That's an entirely different rewriterule that does actually work and was deployed long ago that I didn't print here. I'm talking about a general-purpose rewrite that redirects from explainxkcd.com/wiki/<page name>, which I attempted to create in the commented-out line. The image exclusion is to stop image display requests from also being redirected, and I don't think you quite get how rewrite rules work. Not *every* page is fitted to every rewrite rule; the first half of the rule describes the conditions in which the rule should be applied. And yeah, just plugging in page names works, but I kinda don't want to hard-code every possible page redirect into our htaccess file. That's what the regex is for. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:51, 10 December 2013 (UTC)

== /r/xkcd sitenotice ==

Could you please remove the sitenotice linking to and promoting /r/xkcd? [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] added it to the sitenotice and cross-posted to reddit. Unfortunately, h/r/xkcd sub is controlled by /u/soccer, who links to racist, xenophobic and misogynistic content regularly. [http://www.reddit.com/r/anonymous123421/comments/1w8aie/petition_to_reinstate_uwyboth_as_a_mod_of_rxkcd/cezp63m Randall has spoken in support] of a petition for /u/soccer to be removed as a mod. /r/xkcdcomic is a non-hateful alternative, one that Randall supports, and it has more users than /r/xkcd.

I did comment on Davidy22's talk page, but I thought I should drop you a line as well. Thanks, [[User:LadyMondegreen|LadyMondegreen]] ([[User talk:LadyMondegreen|talk]]) 13:55, 2 May 2014 (UTC)
: Hi LadyMondegreen did he change it already? I didn't touch it yet, but it shows /r/xkcdcomic for me. I agree with you completely and I'm sorry if we linked to the wrong subreddit, even momentarily. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 14:50, 2 May 2014 (UTC)
::It never linked to /r/xkcd. I think LadyMondegreen misread it or something. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:41, 3 May 2014 (UTC)
:::Yeah, that was my bad. Someone pointed it out to me on IRC and I guess I didn't look closely enough. Sorry about that. [[User:LadyMondegreen|LadyMondegreen]] ([[User talk:LadyMondegreen|talk]]) 19:36, 6 May 2014 (UTC)

== MediaWiki question ==

Out of curiosity, do you ever have a plan to add other skin options, like Monobook? [[User:Schiffy|Schiffy]] ([[User_talk:Schiffy|Speak to me]]|[[Special:Contributions/Schiffy|What I've done]]) 21:40, 31 July 2014 (UTC)
:A fair number of other skins were cut because they broke our sidebar, and others were cut cuz they were ugly and no one used them. If there's demand for them, they could be brought back though; you just want Monobook? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:06, 2 August 2014 (UTC)
::Mainly, yes. From a personal standpoint, I find Vector fairly ugly. CologneBlue and Modern aren't much better. Monobook is my preferred alternative. I can't speak for majority of users on explainxkcd, but I do know there are a number of people who prefer Monobook to other skins. [[User:Schiffy|Schiffy]] ([[User_talk:Schiffy|Speak to me]]|[[Special:Contributions/Schiffy|What I've done]]) 21:56, 3 August 2014 (UTC)
:::Fair enough. Monobook is back. Tell me if anything is wonky with our customisations, and I'll fix it.'''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:56, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

== IP Address glitch ==

There appears to be a problem with the way that this site fetches users IP addresses! My IP address, as confirmed by whatismyip.com and other wikis, is 24.15.68.186! However, this site believes it to be 108.162.237.130! When I look up the incorrect IP address, it appears to be registered to CloudFlare. Is there anything you can do to resolve the situation? I don't want to get confused with a spambot and accidentally blocked! Thank you! [[User:The Wikiator|The Wikiator]] ([[User talk:The Wikiator|talk]]) 00:26, 19 April 2016 (UTC)
:This is a [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Technical#Wrong IP address shown|known issue]]. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:06, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

== Crash ==

Cool, I was worried for a bit that Explain Xkcd was down. By the way, I found the URL for a [http://c.xkcd.com/random/comic random comic] and a [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Random random explained comic]. [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 16:48, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

User talk:Jeff

2017-05-12T16:48:42Z

SilverMagpie: /* Crash */ new section

{{notice|This is the talk page of Jeff, the creator of Explain XKCD. If you have a comment about the wiki, please use the [[Explain XKCD:Community portal]]. Use this page only for personal messages to Jeff, of for requests that require server access.}} 

== ParserFunctions ==

Hi Jeff,

Just thought I'd run this up the flagpole... any thought about installing the ParserFunctions extension? I think this site could benefit from a few templates that would aid in indexing/categorizing the entries as content is migrated, and ParserFunctions would make some really impressive things possible... but installing any extension or not would be up to you.

Also, do you have any feelings about us users creating templates in the Template namespace, which we could use to maintain the content? Just wanted to get your thumbs-up before/if I did something like that. Just want to play nice. Love the site, and the new wiki format.

- PT [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 03:05, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
:ParserFunctions are awesome, yup! --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 06:56, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
::{{done}} Yes to both. I have enabled ParserFunctions and Templates sound like a great idea. IronyChef, please send me an email at the address on the blog and I'll make you an admin if necessary to edit templates. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 08:03, 1 August 2012 (EDT)

== Extension:Variable ==
Just wondering what you thought about adding the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Variables Variables extension]. I'm toying with revising {{tl|LATESTCOMIC}} to not be so expensive (both in terms of template expansion, and ongoing maintenance.) I could do that now, but the wiki would have to re-expand and re-evaluate the same expression about six times, being slightly counter-productive. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:54, 25 August 2012 (UTC)
:: any thoughts ... up, down, sideways? Thanks! -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:34, 1 September 2012 (UTC)
::: I'm up for it... Let me get it installed on the wiki side when I get a chance. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 23:13, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

== Bugging you again.... ==

Could you take a look at [//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?limit=10000&tagfilter=&title=Special%3AContributions&contribs=user&target=Philosopher&namespace=8&year=&month=-1] and tell me if I'm thinking in about the same way as you are here? Also, I've brought up [[MediaWiki:Tagline]] and [[Explain XKCD:Community portal]], as it'd be cool to have a tagline. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 10:46, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
:With you 100% on the File Delete reasons. Thanks. I agree also about having a tagline. What do you think it should be? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 11:13, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
::Nothing's coming to mind right now. Perhaps someone else will think of something. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 17:54, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
Discussion continued at [[Explain XKCD:Community portal/Proposals#Tagline]].

== Automatic Import ==
Moved to [[Explain XKCD:Community portal/Proposals#Automatic Import]]. (Header left to avoid breaking links.) --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:30, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== Please watch [[Explain XKCD:Community portal/Administrators' noticeboard]] ==

I'd like to ask that the admins consider adding [[Explain XKCD:Community portal/Administrators' noticeboard]] to their [[wikipedia:Help:Watching pages|watchlists]]. On a similar note, I've just started a discussion there about spammers. -''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 02:02, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== Images from Wikimedia Commons and SVG ==
Please set <code>$wgUseInstantCommons = true;</code> in the wiki's LocalSettings.php, so we can use images from Wikimedia Commons without having to reupload them here.
Also, I'd be neat if you could [[mw:Manual:Image Administration#SVG|enable svg images]]. Thanks! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 04:20, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
: {{done}}, Instant Commons is on. Will need a little more work to get SVG images to work. What renderer to do you suggest I use? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:05, 6 August 2012 (UTC)
:: That'll depend on what you have available in your server. They say there that ImageMagick seems to be an acceptable choice, but rsvg seems to be the best one if the dependencies can be sorted out. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 13:20, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

== Search suggestions ==

Hi,

could you please set $wgEnableMWSuggest [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:$wgEnableMWSuggest] to true? This enables search suggestions for the search field, and often this helps you to skip the search results. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 09:10, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
:{{done}} OK, this is has been added to the LocalSettings. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:06, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

== Time zone ==

Please set the wiki to UTC (<tt>$wgLocaltimezone = "UTC";</tt> in LocalSettings.php), as it's the most neutral option for our international community. In any case, each user can choose their time zone in their preferences.
:{{done}} Ok, set. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:07, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

== Short urls, site logo, lowercase xkcd ==

Hi,
I'm not sure if you tried it but http://shorturls.redwerks.org is a great (and simple :D) tool to implement clean urls with mediawiki. That would make urls much nicer around here.

Also, if you could, please take a look at [[Explain XKCD:Community portal/Proposals#Naming conventions]], where your assistance is needed for some server changes. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 15:31, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

:Hi again :) just to remind you about the short urls thing. I think it would be great if we could have wiki links in the form "explainxkcd.com/wiki/link_title". It might be necessary to move the wiki into a different folder name than "wiki", but that's just a matter of renaming the folder and changing <code>$wgScriptPath</code> in LocalSettings.php accordingly. The link above makes things really straighforward, it should really only take you a few minutes to set everything up.
:Another cool thing that could be done is set up a server redirect so that links in the form of explainxkcd.com/number would point to the comics in the wiki instead of returning a 404 error (for instance, http://explainxkcd.com/123 would point to http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/123). That way, we could replicate xkcd's own url system for comics and people could simply type explainxkcd.com/123 and get the explanation for the corresponding comic. This redirect can probably be set up in the hosting company's web interface, but in case it can't, let me know if you need any help. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 22:03, 11 August 2012 (UTC)
::Hi Waldir - I'll work on the short URL thing. I want that to work for sure. With regards to the redirect, I have been working on it for a while and I have a few .htaccess files and etc that don't work. I'll be grateful for the help on it. Please send me an email if you know how to get it done. This would also allow anyone from xkcd.com/435 to just add explain and go to the comic explanation. Very helpful. Been working on it unsuccessfully for a while. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 01:41, 12 August 2012 (UTC)
:::Ugh, it must be my hosting because I did all of the shorturls correctly it just sent it to a 404 page for the site over and over again. The url seemed to be the right one, but didn't send it to the right location. It should NOT be this difficult. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 02:25, 12 August 2012 (UTC)

== wgCapitalLinks ==

Hi Jeff! When you have a few spare minutes, please add the following to LocalSettings.php:
$wgCapitalLinks = false;
This allows page titles not to be automatically capitalized by the software, which is important for filenames and for some comic titles such as [[s/keyboard/leopard/]]. Cheers, [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:34, 11 August 2012 (UTC)
:{{done}} --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 01:37, 12 August 2012 (UTC)
::...and this broke our templates (and maybe [[Special:RecentChanges]]?). See [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Admin requests]]. Can't we just style the page titles so they appear as though they aren't capitalized when they really are? (As done at [[wikipedia:Xkcd]], using the DISPLAYTITLE magic word (called through [[wikipedia:Template:DISPLAYTITLE]]).) --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 04:42, 12 August 2012 (UTC)
:::Looks like transition pains would be inevitable. I think everything is sorted out for now. See the Admin requests thread for details. As for using DISPLAYTITLE, I understand the rationale, but this is xkcd and attention to capitalization is necessary in several pages, and I believe we'd rather use a complete solution (so that pages actually have the correct title) rather than hacking what is shown to viewers. In any case, we shouldn't have many problems in the future because of this; People will only capitalize the first letter of a title when it's actually necessary; otherwise, lazyness/convenience makes us all use lowercase everywhere (besides, redirects can be used just in case, such as {{tl|yesno}} → {{tl|YesNo}}. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 09:06, 12 August 2012 (UTC)

== External Images ==

Has there actually been a decision on external images? Or is it just to be decided later?  [[User:Grep|grep]][[User_talk:Grep|talk]] 
: No decision yet. What do you think? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 21:16, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
::Well, the whitelisting seems an OK idea. This would help you save space on the servers that you are hosting on, so that's a plus. I say go for whitelisting.  [[User:Grep|grep]][[User_talk:Grep|talk]]  Mostly I am wondering because I created a PHP script that creates an image to display the results of a poll (like on the Moving the Wiki topic in Proposals). For my situation any method of something external being placed on this site will work.
::'''I just''' got an idea... what if there was a group of moderators that check external images and approve them. The more approvals a person gets, the more "reliable" they are considered to be... ?  [[User:Grep|grep]][[User_talk:Grep|talk]] 

== Short Link Problem Fix? ==

Is <code>mod_rewrite</code> installed and enabled? 
[https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Short_URL/Apache MW ShortURL] 
Are all of the config files (including the wiki one) set up?

 [[User:Grep|grep]][[User_talk:Grep|talk]] 

== New admin please? ==

This is a bit forthright of me, but nothing appears to be being done about it. Would you read this [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#Spampage Rampage]] and comment on it? Thanks, [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] and the community 17:47, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

== Small change ==

Hi Jeff! Long time no see. Look, could you add
:<code>$wgGroupPermissions['autoconfirmed']['autopatrol'] = true;</code>
to LocalSettings.php? That will allow edits by [[mw:auto-confirmed|auto-confirmed]] users not to be marked with a red exclamation mark in recent changes so we can more quickly spot edits that might need reviewing. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 02:16, 22 November 2012 (UTC)

:Btw while you're at it, please also add
::<code>$wgAllowUserJs = true;</code>
::<code>$wgAllowUserCss = true;</code>
:So users can make their own scripts and styles to enhance the wiki (I need that, for instance, to test stuff without affecting anyone else, before integrating them on site-wide javascript/css pages) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:52, 22 November 2012 (UTC)

{{done}} and {{done}} --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:55, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

:Thanks! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 19:57, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

:: Sorry, I forgot a small detail: it is necessary to set up the following so that "auto-confirmed" doesn't mean "any registered user":
:: <code>$wgAutoConfirmAge = 60*60*24*3 // accounts become auto-confirmed after 3 days</code>
:: <code>$wgAutoConfirmCount = 10 // ...and 10 edits</code>
:: Cheers, [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:32, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

::: {{done}} --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 21:49, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

:::: Thanks, again. Also, since the wiki didn't break, I take it that you noticed the missing semicolons which I stupidly forgot to include at the end of the lines, and added them. Sorry for the slip-up. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:31, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
::::: No worries, I know that much at least! :) --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:36, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

Did you by any chance write "auto patrol" instead of "autopatrol"? [[Special:ListGroupRights]] suggests so, and if that's the case, that explains why the changes don't seem to have had the effects I expected from them (edits by auto-patrolled users still marked with the red exclamation mark in Special:RecentChanges). Could you check that the line reads exactly <code>$wgGroupPermissions['autoconfirmed']['autopatrol'] = true;</code>? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:54, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
: That's what I thought I put even though autocorrect wanted to change it. Can't look now, will have a look when I get home. ---[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:55, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
:: Any news? No pressure, I'm just curious :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 15:34, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
::: Bah - I keep forgetting when I get home. I'll try to get it done this weekend. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:35, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
:::: Much delayed, but {{done}} --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 02:50, 4 December 2012 (UTC)
::::: Thanks, Jeff. I'll let you know if there's any further issues, but I believe everything should be working now. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 03:34, 4 December 2012 (UTC)

== Links to category pages ==

I couldn't help but notice the number of your edits to your page. You can link to category pages by putting a colon in front of "Category". <code><nowiki>[[:Category:Pages to delete]]</nowiki></code> produces [[:Category:Pages to delete]]. It also doesn't add the category to that page, it just links to it. Cheers, [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:30, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
: Oh geez. You saw that? That's a little embarrassing with not knowing what to do, I kept trying to figure out how to put the link there. Thanks for the help! I couldn't find that information anywhere. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:31, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

::When I had to learn about that trick the edits on that page looked fairly similar. I eventually found the right page [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links] (ctrl+f "category", it's buried) and managed it. I have the Recent Changes page set to auto-refresh every minute. I see a few things. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:43, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

== Your opinion? ==

Please comment [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Technical#We need more maintainers|here]]. Cheers, [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:21, 5 December 2012 (UTC)
:Update: we've been offered help by [[mediawiki:User:Dantman|an experienced MediaWiki developer]], I think we can finally solve the server-side issues now! Please take a look at the thread linked above. [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 20:07, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

== I am really dumb ==

and this morning, while creating a user name, I goofed it and wrote .mau, (with a trailing comma) instead of .mau. (with a trailing dot, which is my trademark). I know that a bureaucrat on MediaWiki can change a username which had few edits (my own edits are three including this one): could you do this, or at least delete this username so that I may recreate it without leaving a dead one? TIA, [[User:.mau,|.mau,]] ([[User talk:.mau,|talk]]) 15:09, 16 January 2013 (UTC)
:You can actually change your signature to .mau. if you want, to mask that for now. Just make a page called User:.mau,/sig and craft your signature to your liking, then go to my preferences at the top and set your sig to <nowiki>{{SUBST:User:.mau,/sig}}</nowiki>. If you want an example, [[User:Lcarsos/sig]] is a near-vanilla and quite clean example of a custom sig, while [[User:Omega/sig]] and my sig, [[User:Davidy22/sig]] are slightly more tricked-out options. Wikipedia's guidelines to signature crafting are {{w|Wikipedia:Signatures#Customizing_your_signature|here.}} '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:53, 16 January 2013 (UTC)
::ok, thanks! [[User:.mau,|.mau.]] ([[User talk:.mau,|talk]]) 09:55, 17 January 2013 (UTC)
:::Aw, that's it? No bling or anything? Meeehhh. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:16, 17 January 2013 (UTC)
:(to Jeff) I believe user renaming is not possible in vanilla mediawiki. An extension is required: [[mw:Extension:Renameuser]] --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 18:21, 17 January 2013 (UTC)
::I find a bit disturbing to have a "wrong" username, especially because I may not remember it somewhen (yes, the word does not exist, but I like its sound); but I don't need any flashy signature, so I just changed the traling comma to a dot. --[[User:.mau,|.mau.]] ([[User talk:.mau,|talk]]) 14:09, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

==/wiki/==
Now that the site apparently redirects to the wiki, could the entire wiki URL just be explainxkcd.com, without the trailing wiki? It's mostly for cleanliness, but also to throw off the spambots for a while. Those accursed spam happy bots. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:29, 4 February 2013 (UTC)
: Sounds good, I'm working on that part next. It is next on my "to-do" list complete some URL work like that. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:05, 4 February 2013 (UTC)
::''nag''. Also, the spam is becoming an issue. A pretty big issue. Time to switch captchas? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:04, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
::: OK - sounds good to me, any ones you recommend? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 13:33, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
:::: I don't remember which captcha the wiki uses, but I know securimage and recaptcha are two very competent options. Alternately, you could use [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:ConfirmEdit ConfirmEdit] to screen anon edits. Much of the spam seems to be automated, so questycaptcha should screen out most of the chaff. Just simple questions, like "What webcomic does this site explain" or "Who created XKCD" should be sufficient to screw up our current spammers. Also, rm /wiki/ plx. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:41, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
:::::Confirm edit is in and Recaptcha is out. Let's try that. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 14:11, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
::::::The questions appear to be case-sensitive. To avoid frustration, could you add a notice to every question saying that the answers have to be in all lower/upper case? I got "What's the name of this wiki" wrong a bunch of times, and I think it's due to capitalization. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:30, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
:::::::Ok - cool. I changed it to $wgSitename instead of just writing it out. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 14:32, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
::::::::If we get no spam tomorrow, I will hold a party in your talk page. Oh, and /wiki/. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:38, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::I'll just hijack this thread and ask: Isn't it time Davidy22 got admin tools? It's long overdue. And please promote Lcarsos‏‎ to bureaucrat, so he can make new admins if needed. And seconded: <code>/wiki/</code> ! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 02:39, 19 February 2013 (UTC)
::::::::::Could you also put confirmEdit in general page creation for anonymous users? There's still a couple of spam pages being made that don't actually advertise anything. There hasn't been an account creation in a long time, so I think we've killed off the spam accounts. The rate of spam has definitely dropped significantly ever since we switched to confirmEdit. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:42, 20 February 2013 (UTC)
::::::::::We've just had a surge of pure griefer spam. Anons who don't insert any links, they're just throwing spam at us out of malice. Could you make anonymous users have to pass through confrimEdit to create pages? Thanks. On a side note, what's the ratio in terms of file size between current explanation pages to logs and diffs? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:53, 22 February 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::::Wow those suck. Wiping out whole pages with anon edits. I can't change the settings from here, but I'll do it when I get home. Also, I'm not sure what you mean by filesize? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:51, 22 February 2013 (UTC)
::::::::::::Eh, how much space do explanations and images take up on your hard drive when compared to the space that log files and diffs take up? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:01, 22 February 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::::::Click a thing, check out the URL. I be posting this here instead of DMs because somthing like this has been requested for a pretty long time. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:55, 7 December 2013 (UTC)
::::::::::::: I'm confused. There's a lot going on in this thread. Want to break it out into its own header? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:48, 9 December 2013 (UTC)
::::::::::::::Mkay '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:47, 9 December 2013 (UTC)

== Promote Davidy22 ==

:''Breaking this discussion out from where it was, because it merits its own section. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]])''
I'll just hijack this thread and ask: Isn't it time Davidy22 got admin tools? It's long overdue. And please promote lcarsos‏‎ to bureaucrat, so he can make new admins if needed. And seconded: <code>/wiki/</code> ! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 02:39, 19 February 2013 (UTC)

:'''Heartily Agree''' on promoting Davidy22, he's almost always more on top of spam patrol than I am these days (burn-out for the lose). I'm not sure I can speak for my own promotion without sounding self-serving and power-hungry. However, in my few spare moments this semester I am looking closely at getting a bot up and running to automate the clean up of spam (mostly because manual spam patrol is the most soul-sucking and disheartening activity I've ever done), so it would be nice to be able to get a bot account promoted to bot status without misrepresenting it as my account. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:13, 19 February 2013 (UTC)
:: Davidy22 is up to admin (honestly, I thought he was already one, so no issue there on my end.) and lcarsos has been updated to bureaucrat because we should have more redundancy there. Also, create a bot account and let me know what it is and i'll give it bot rights. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:36, 19 February 2013 (UTC)
:: Or now, you can do it! :) --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:41, 19 February 2013 (UTC)
:::WOO, power! '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:42, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

== Small ConfirmEdit change ==

Can you change the line:
<pre>$wgCaptchaTriggers['create'] = false;</pre>
to true? I think this would solve most of our bot vandalism/griefing problems. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 21:19, 22 February 2013 (UTC)
:: {{done}} I changed 'edit' to true as well since we've seen a bunch when editing user's talk pages. We will see if I have to move that back to false. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:16, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

== DeleteOldRevisions ==

There's a script built into mediawiki called DeleteOldRevisions.php that seems to have deprecated the deletehistory plugin. A link to the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:DeleteOldRevisions.php manual page.] A hard drive upgrade would be apt for the future though. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:15, 20 March 2013 (UTC)
: I'm looking into it. I'm not sure how the wiki got back up and running without me running the update. I'll try the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:DeleteHistory] and see if that can help in the meantime. The expanded HD might be a no-go, but I'll see on that too. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 01:27, 20 March 2013 (UTC)

==Server Hardware==
The website is getting really slow and throwing internal errors all over the place, and it looks like both the main page and the page for the newest comic [[1190: Time]] are climbing rapidly in views. If one ambiguous comic is hitting us like a DDoS, we're going to get it in the shorts if Randall ever actually acknowledges our existence directly, or some other geeky media outlet posts a link to us. Is there a donate button anywhere? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:18, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: We certainly can get a Donate button. We may need to migrate the server to get it upgraded. This is one of those big days, I guess. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:39, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:: How about a Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:37, 26 March 2013 (UTC)
:::Kickstarter and Indiegogo are one-time things. No good for this. I recommend modifying the donate button so that there is a PayPal "Subscribe" button near it so people can also do small monthly subscriptions. I recommend a dropdown with $1, $2, $5, $10, $20 options.
:::Does 1&1 give you stats like how much bandwidth (or rather how much data) you are using. That could have an effect on where is best to get the new hosting; Rackspace Cloud, Linode, AWS, or even a real server with access to other network options like paying for actual Mbps bandwidth with unlimited data.
:::When you get a server I'd like to properly set it up with varnish, nginx, apc (or Zend_Optimizer+ considering it's going to be part of php 5.5), memcached, and perhaps php-fpm instead of mod_php. Varnish will allow anonymous pages to be cached hopefully reducing the load issues. And nginx should serve out static things better than Apache. [[User:Dantman|Dantman]] ([[User talk:Dantman|talk]]) 05:23, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
:::: Regarding the Paypal button, besides the subscribe option, I would recommend removing the credit card logos, as they make it too wide for the sidebar and not fit the design well. Besides, I personally think they give it kind of a corporate feel; instead, a simple "donate" button, while still recognizable as paypal's, feels simpler and more "personal", for lack of a better word.
:::: Also, I think you should place it above the AdSense block, since that makes it more visible, and prioritizes a form of supporting the site that people have direct, active control over, rather than the passive, choice-less (modulo AdBlock) AdSense.
:::: And also capitalize "donate" in the section title, to match the other titles ("Navigation", "Toolbox", etc.)
:::: Since we're at it: maybe more donation options would make sense: [//flattr.com Flattr], [//gittip.com Gittip], [//tiptheweb.org/ TipTheWeb], and possibly [//bitcoin.org/ Bitcoins].
:::: Finally, is it possible to make the AdSense background transparent, or at least the same as the site background of #F3F3F3? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 14:15, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
:::::Is it possible to add the ad and donate buttons without including a section title? Minimizing unused space is gooood. Also, I noticed that you installed the deletehistory plugin, but it's trying to use another version of PHP that's installed on the server. deleteoldrevisions.php in the maintenance folder oughta work fine, though it'd probably be apt to run it over the weekend when we're not expecting absurd floods of visitors like we are now. We may need it too, after we've filled up the hard drive again with archives of Time.'''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:39, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
:::::: Yes, it is possible for me to edit, I will have to go into the settings for each since I used extensions for them. I hate the credit card things too. Will take a look at all options tonight.
:::::: The Deletehistory plugin doesn't work, sadly because of the PHP version. Hopefully, when we migrate, it will be on a newer version and that will work. Hopefully, we will have more disk space too... --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]])
::::: Hey Jeff. Could you change the width of the paypal donate button so that it matches the google ads and the bitcoin donate button? Maybe using a custom button rather than the paypal-provided one?
::::: Also, any news regarding the possibility of changing the background of the google ads? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:21, 8 April 2013 (UTC)
:::::: It did not work out with Google ads for a reason they will not disclose to me, but I'll work on the buttons and the banner ad. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:11, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

== Everything's good ==

Except for the (currently) occasional server error, I have no problems.

I've turned on HotCat and Popups, imported wikEdDiff and my HideTopContribs, all of which make me fairly efficient at watching changes.

A minor request would be the Redirect toolbar button.

[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 17:13, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

:When you turn off enwiki's "Enable enhanced editing toolbar" all of the toolbar buttons explainxkcd has are in the same order (it skips Math) and the very next one is Redirect #R. It seems to be defined at http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MediaWiki:Common.js/edit.js&action=edit
:I've tried adding just Redirect #R myself [[User:Markhurd/common.js|here]], but something's going wrong. (And I should be sleeping!)
::Seeing as it is only one button I wanted, I simplified the code down to calling addButton directly and it is now working fine. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 13:07, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

:Re being an Admin: Yes, please, as long as you note this would be my first actual Admin bit. (I'm a Bureaucrat on another MW wiki so I could give myself Admin rights whenever I wanted.) [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 19:39, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

== Sidebar ads ==

Hi, we're having a discussion about the sidebar ads on [[Talk:Main Page#sidebar ads?]]. --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:42, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

== Economic transparency ==

Hi! I made a request on economic transparency on the proposals page. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:05, 27 May 2013 (UTC)

==Thumbnails are not working==
I'm relatively new here but I think each picture should get it's proper thumbnail when the original is to large to embed. Mediawiki is using some applications in the background maybe not available here. But there are some workarounds. And since "onlinehome.us" is well secured I still do even not know what OS is running in the background. But whatever the OS is, it should be solvable.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:13, 8 June 2013 (UTC)

== Last missing page ==

Hi, I'm hoping you don't mind about my adds to Natalie Dee. I was working on that at the same time.
BTW: Can I help you on that thumbnail issue? I really would be happy if it could fixed here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:42, 18 June 2013 (UTC)
:: No problem on the Natalee Dee comic, I was just working on it because it was the last one, edit away. What's the thumbnail issue? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 21:43, 18 June 2013 (UTC)
:::Thanks for your reply. I am still talking about this: [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Errors_and_symptoms#Image_Thumbnails_not_working_and.2For_appearing Image_Thumbnails_not_working]. I am sure there is a need to fix the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/LocalSettings.php LocalSettings.php]. Maybe some paths are wrong or it's just using wrong image tools. I can help on any OS except Apple computers.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:07, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

== Congratulations! ==

You just created the last unexplained comic of ''xkcd''! [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 23:38, 18 June 2013 (UTC)
: Thanks Greyson! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 03:04, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

==Math==
A lot of comics have formulae in them. Could you set $wgUseTeX = true in LocalSettings.php? That lets us use latex in pages. It'd be useful for comics like yesterday's. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:12, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
:Yeah, this would be nice. But you have to install an extension, LaTex must be available, then compile something, and at least adjusting the LocalSettings.php config file. We also sill do not have all image features here. But I can help, Windows or Linux.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:55, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
:: I'll look into it. Let me know if you find an extension that will do the trick. Send me some links to anything that would help and I can get them set up. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 14:44, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
:::Go here [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Math Extension:Math] and read the installation instructions first, it's not easy. For Fedora (Linux) there is a package called "mediawiki-math.x86_64" available. I will test this at my own computer.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:57, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
::::It's the hell, but I got a first crappy version at my local installation. I have had to install ''latex'' and ''ocaml'' packages and now its working, but it still renders many lines before the <nowiki><math></nowiki> tag, So it's still not usable for this site.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:35, 13 July 2013 (UTC)
===Seeing injected banner ads?===
I'm seeing banner ads (viewing on my iPad) that cover the actual banner of the site and never scroll out of view. It's as if they've been infected by a downstream server (ISP?). Anybody else? I'm in Wisconsin using TDS. Jeff M.
: That's terrible, I've got to fix that. bah. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:36, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
:: Is there a place I can email some screenshots? Jeff M.{{unsigned ip|69.130.242.120}}

== Full cache kills this page ==

Hi, it seems this page was not reachable for 15 hours again. The cache here has to be cleared sometimes, but since I can do it with my account I will create a script running once per day. 15 hours outage are bad, I try to avoid this in the future. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:50, 3 October 2013 (UTC)
:Which page was dead? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:11, 3 October 2013 (UTC)
::The entire site was dead. Look here: [[Special:RecentChanges|Special:RecentChanges]]. My last post was at 23:44 yesterday, no actions here after my reset at 14:54 today. The site was dead. I'm not a hacker, but I'm a programmer and I used this base of knowledge to fix this problem. If you do need more details, please send me an email. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:25, 3 October 2013 (UTC)
::: Agreed. Tried to visit yesterday PM, but a lot of pages were spilling guts: user pages, category pages, no comic explanations (as far as I could tell with my limited browsing.) A chron-job script to keep that at bay would be good medicine, assuming it didn't have other side effects. [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 03:19, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
I will set up a cron job running once per day. Maybe this entry at the config file [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:LocalSettings.php LocalSettings.php] would be the better solution:
$wgMainCacheType = CACHE_NONE;
I'm using the MidnightCommander (Linux) for editing this file.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:11, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
:::: Cache_None is already set in the LocalSettings. I believe this is usually a database error that we are getting. It usually resolves itself as I'm not able to resolve it myself. I believe that we are getting hit with a brute force attack at our database during those times because the database is totally unreachable. I'm working on moving to a new host where the database will be better protected. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:16, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::Cache_None or CACHE_NONE? This should be case sensitive. Nevertheless I did purge the cache and the site was instantly available again (after approx. 15 hours). Also Davidy22 explained that he did clear the cache to bring the site back. The error messages are misleading and not showing the real problem.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:43, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::: Yes, CACHE_NONE, sorry, I was typing fast. I've ran my clear cache script a few times when I've had that same problem and haven't seen results, so I'm glad we at least have something that's working. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:18, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::You are doing a great job, I feel I just have to say thanks! When the next outage does happen I will activate a small script, but for now I just try to avoid unnecessary traffic to this server.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:15, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::: Thanks Dgbrt! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:07, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

== New host ==

Great job, but please check this link: <code>/wiki/</code>. I can browse the entire folder and more. It seems that "htaccess" should be renamed to ".htaccess".--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 08:32, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
: Oh geez. That's bad. Thanks! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:02, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:: Should be good now. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:45, 30 October 2013 (UTC)

I found an other serious issue belonging to DNS entries:
Name: explainxkcd.com
Address: 108.162.198.131
Name: explainxkcd.com
Address: 108.162.199.131
This works fine because 108.162.'''198'''.131 is correct. But most DNS servers showing up with this result:
Name: explainxkcd.com
Address: 108.162.199.131
Name: explainxkcd.com
Address: 108.162.198.131
This just leads to the old server at 108.162.'''199'''.131. Check Google DNS server 8.8.8.8 with nslookup, the wrong IP is shown first.
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:34, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
: Weird... I'll research. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:35, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
::Yes, it's weird. After I discovered this I did enter an entry for this at my local "/etc/hosts" file. But it seems most people can not access the new site.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:20, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
::One more: The logo on the left top is broken. ''style="background-image: url(/wiki/skins/common/images/explainxkcd.png)'' does not exist.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
::: Yea, what happened to that logo... it was there this morning. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 20:56, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
::::Oh, after a computer crash I'm back. Right now even the editor is broken here. I don't know if I can send this message. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:22, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::Ok, it does work, but all images for short cuts on top of the editor are also broken now. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:26, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::: The editor works fine for me, I'll research the images. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 21:27, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::It seems all links like "/wiki/skins/common/images/button_bold.png" are gone. Additionally I'm getting an JavaScript error "TypeError: document.getElementById(...) is null". http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/skins/common/images/button_bold.png redirects me to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page. Maybe you still get some content, maybe cache, from 108.162.199.131? Or is the real site now on that IP? Remember, I have had to restart my computer; most of my cache is gone and I'm just seeing the real page.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:48, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::: I fixed the images. I did that stupidly through the htaccess page. I've got to figure a better solution for what I'm trying to do to solve another problem. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 21:58, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::Looks great right now. So that DNS glitch seems to be the most worse problem right now.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:08, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::: I think DNS is still propagating with the updates from yesterday. Not every one has the correct information yet... those two DNS IPs are the load balancers, I believe. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 22:09, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::::Strange "load balancers", but it's working now on both IPs. Many thanks again for your hard work, you must have invested many hours on this migration. Let's see tomorrow if other users will be able to find this site again.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:30, 30 October 2013 (UTC)

== Please remove subaddressing from my account email [[user:tbc]] ==

Hi Jeff,

I requested a password reset, but I forgot that my account still has an old email registered: timc+explainxkcd@divide.net. My ISP, pcisys.net née divide.net, disabled subaddressing during an email upgrade earlier this year. If you will update that email to remove the plus sign so my account email is timc@divide.net, I will be able to reset my password. I was logged in from my iPad to write on the [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Admin_requests#Please_remove_subaddressing_from_my_account_email_user:tbc|community portal]] page, but since I needed my password, which I have forgotten, to change it, I got stuck. – ''[[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 30 Oct 2013''
: You should be good to go now. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:07, 31 October 2013 (UTC)
:: I am. Thank you! – ''[[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 05:32, 8 November 2013 (UTC)''

== Forbidden ==

You don't have permission to access /wiki/ ([http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/ http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/]) on this server. I think a simple redirect would be a better solution.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:45, 4 November 2013 (UTC)
: Yup, that's on my list to work on. If you are knowledgable about htaccess files, feel free to send me an email. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 13:48, 5 November 2013 (UTC)
::The first great point is: The error doesn't show the server, version, etc... A hacker can't figure what exploits are available.
::At my local test installation (Apache, Linux) it's covered by the general server configuration. And each folder simply does contain a proper "index.php" file from mediawiki doing the correct redirects.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:19, 5 November 2013 (UTC)
::: Fixed. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:02, 21 November 2013 (UTC)
::::Great job, thanks.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:18, 21 November 2013 (UTC)

== Re: the latest puzzle ==

I don't know how to contribute in the discussion section on the page, so I'm throwing ideas at you.

Just quick thoughts.
I feel like Cpl klinger and the water type kingler is too solid a connection to ignore even though I can't really use it.
Kingler was owned in the series by Ash.
Ash is a three letter word and the last three letters of the phrase monstermash.
Monsterm=8 letters so the first block ash=3 letters in the second block.
Monsterm is about the monster.com thing, therefore purloined. It's a double reference, the .co has been purloined from the purloined website.
Then blastoise -3, or rather blastois3 - 3 (mocking the common password meme of replacing letters with numbers)
So the last password, which is super hard to guess and well chosen even with the clue is, blastoisash? It's a feasibly memorable password that would not be quickly forgotten by a pokemon fan while still being hard to guess.
Can you think of a way to check it? Maybe go into the old command line xkcd and try it as a password?

==URLs==
I made them marginally shorter. Can you spot the difference? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:47, 9 December 2013 (UTC)
: Uh, I can't. Does that make me a bad person? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 22:17, 9 December 2013 (UTC)
::If you go to any page, you should see that it says index.php/<page name> instead of index.php?title=<page name>. Small change, I'm trying to kill the index.php bit too, but I think I suck at regexes. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:31, 9 December 2013 (UTC)
::: Regexes are the WORST --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 22:45, 9 December 2013 (UTC)
::::Regexes are great, but they are hard to implement for a specific solution. But Goooogle helps. And a question to Davidy22: Why you do not present your enhancement here? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:10, 9 December 2013 (UTC)
:::::I set $wgUsePathInfo to true in mediawiki settings, and here's our lines for redirecting URLs in general:

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(\.png|\.jpg|\.gif)$ [NC]
# RewriteRule ^/wiki(/.*)$ %{DOCUMENT_ROOT}/wiki/index.php$1 [L]

:::::Followed and preceded by htaccess commands that do other things. The broken line is commented out because it doesn't work. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:32, 9 December 2013 (UTC)
::::::Uhh, it seems I still do not understand the secret. [http://www.xkcd.com/1301] to [http://www.explainxkcd.com/1301] works fine for me, but I do not understand that [NC] here so far:
:::::::RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(\.png|\.jpg|\.gif)$ [NC]
::::::maybe
:::::::RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(\.png|\.jpg|\.gif)$[NC]
::::::is better. But this means every request not matching those three image extensions would fit that rewrite rule. This is just haaardly regex. The second line is just a comment you probably did remove. I can't see the rewrite rule. And testing for a simple number x, xx, xyz, or xyzz would be better.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:23, 10 December 2013 (UTC)
::::::::That's an entirely different rewriterule that does actually work and was deployed long ago that I didn't print here. I'm talking about a general-purpose rewrite that redirects from explainxkcd.com/wiki/<page name>, which I attempted to create in the commented-out line. The image exclusion is to stop image display requests from also being redirected, and I don't think you quite get how rewrite rules work. Not *every* page is fitted to every rewrite rule; the first half of the rule describes the conditions in which the rule should be applied. And yeah, just plugging in page names works, but I kinda don't want to hard-code every possible page redirect into our htaccess file. That's what the regex is for. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:51, 10 December 2013 (UTC)

== /r/xkcd sitenotice ==

Could you please remove the sitenotice linking to and promoting /r/xkcd? [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] added it to the sitenotice and cross-posted to reddit. Unfortunately, h/r/xkcd sub is controlled by /u/soccer, who links to racist, xenophobic and misogynistic content regularly. [http://www.reddit.com/r/anonymous123421/comments/1w8aie/petition_to_reinstate_uwyboth_as_a_mod_of_rxkcd/cezp63m Randall has spoken in support] of a petition for /u/soccer to be removed as a mod. /r/xkcdcomic is a non-hateful alternative, one that Randall supports, and it has more users than /r/xkcd.

I did comment on Davidy22's talk page, but I thought I should drop you a line as well. Thanks, [[User:LadyMondegreen|LadyMondegreen]] ([[User talk:LadyMondegreen|talk]]) 13:55, 2 May 2014 (UTC)
: Hi LadyMondegreen did he change it already? I didn't touch it yet, but it shows /r/xkcdcomic for me. I agree with you completely and I'm sorry if we linked to the wrong subreddit, even momentarily. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 14:50, 2 May 2014 (UTC)
::It never linked to /r/xkcd. I think LadyMondegreen misread it or something. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:41, 3 May 2014 (UTC)
:::Yeah, that was my bad. Someone pointed it out to me on IRC and I guess I didn't look closely enough. Sorry about that. [[User:LadyMondegreen|LadyMondegreen]] ([[User talk:LadyMondegreen|talk]]) 19:36, 6 May 2014 (UTC)

== MediaWiki question ==

Out of curiosity, do you ever have a plan to add other skin options, like Monobook? [[User:Schiffy|Schiffy]] ([[User_talk:Schiffy|Speak to me]]|[[Special:Contributions/Schiffy|What I've done]]) 21:40, 31 July 2014 (UTC)
:A fair number of other skins were cut because they broke our sidebar, and others were cut cuz they were ugly and no one used them. If there's demand for them, they could be brought back though; you just want Monobook? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:06, 2 August 2014 (UTC)
::Mainly, yes. From a personal standpoint, I find Vector fairly ugly. CologneBlue and Modern aren't much better. Monobook is my preferred alternative. I can't speak for majority of users on explainxkcd, but I do know there are a number of people who prefer Monobook to other skins. [[User:Schiffy|Schiffy]] ([[User_talk:Schiffy|Speak to me]]|[[Special:Contributions/Schiffy|What I've done]]) 21:56, 3 August 2014 (UTC)
:::Fair enough. Monobook is back. Tell me if anything is wonky with our customisations, and I'll fix it.'''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:56, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

== IP Address glitch ==

There appears to be a problem with the way that this site fetches users IP addresses! My IP address, as confirmed by whatismyip.com and other wikis, is 24.15.68.186! However, this site believes it to be 108.162.237.130! When I look up the incorrect IP address, it appears to be registered to CloudFlare. Is there anything you can do to resolve the situation? I don't want to get confused with a spambot and accidentally blocked! Thank you! [[User:The Wikiator|The Wikiator]] ([[User talk:The Wikiator|talk]]) 00:26, 19 April 2016 (UTC)
:This is a [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Technical#Wrong IP address shown|known issue]]. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:06, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

== Crash ==

Cool, I was worried for a bit that Explain xkcd was down. By the way, I found the URL for a [http://c.xkcd.com/random/comic random comic] and a [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Random random explained comic]. [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 16:48, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1640: Super Bowl Context

2017-05-02T17:18:20Z

SilverMagpie:

Peyton Manning is a football player who is really good (the only NFL player been MVP five times). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peyton_Manning [[User:Aquaplanet|Aquaplanet]] ([[User talk:Aquaplanet|talk]]) 11:19, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Am I the only one who finds the last speech pattern weird? Saying "mammals like Payton" seems a little reminiscent of comics [[1541]] and [[1530]]... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.140|162.158.2.140]] 13:30, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
: Don't think so, there is no body snatching involved -- he is simply trying to connect whitehat's statement with some trivia; Mainnings is a human, humans are mammals, retirement is a recent human invention -- the statement is simply just hyper over loaded with irrelevant facts. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.109|162.158.255.109]] 15:12, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
:: Agree with that. Since we are all mamals and all mamals age, many of them via the same processes there is nothing wrong with the statment, only with the timing. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:04, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Ok, I'm just gonna come out and say it: Coldplay sucks. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.173|198.41.235.173]] 14:03, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
: Is this some pop culture reference I'm missing? (I didn't watch the Super Bowl, so perhaps it's a reference to that?) [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.246|199.27.130.246]] 19:03, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
:: Coldplay played in the Halftime show. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:04, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

The first paragraph at the moment is merely insulting nerds and not really explaining anything. (N.B.: would the "stereotypical Nerd" watch sports, at all?) --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.240|198.41.242.240]] 15:44, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
: I wrote it. I'm a nerd. It is more a self-reflection than an insult. I think it explains everything. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.109|162.158.255.109]] 16:12, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
:: I'm also a nerd, but the generalization given (in the present/former comic explanation) is not a high-fidelity description of me. However, since it's a humorous hyperbole, I'm letting it go with just a "citation needed" stamp. :-)
:: But, hyperbole or not, I did not feel like the rest of it was generally accurate. That is, not all nerds are (or act) the same. The description given seems to match Cueball's depiction in this comic, but does not match "nerds" generally. So I tried to soften it a little, while exercising restraint. (It's the sort of generalization that is funny when it's the joke, but does not seem as appropriate in an ''explanation'' of the joke.)
:: To answer the first point, though, it's hard to define what a "stereotypical nerd" is. If we choose it to be [[wikipedia:Sheldon_Cooper|Sheldon]] (of [[wikipedia:The_Big_Bang_Theory|TBBT]]), then you're right in assuming that a nerd would not be watching sports at all (and would need a reminder of [[1480|last year's Super Bowl comic]]). However, there are many types of nerds. If "nerd" means "someone with an extreme interest in a field" then "sports nerd" can be a synonym for what we called a "jock" back in school.
:: Also, for what it's worth, I work in the software industry, and an alarming (to me) number of engineers are quite interested in sports and sporting events. They might otherwise be called nerds. YMMV. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.246|199.27.130.246]] 19:03, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
:::I have changed this completely. He is not a nerd. He just cannot focus on a normal conversation. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:04, 8 February 2016 (UTC)
:::: You are a nerd. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.109|162.158.255.109]] 23:11, 8 February 2016 (UTC){{Citation needed}}
:::::Well thanks, that must be one of the biggest compliments you can get on explain xkcd ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:24, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

Does anyone else feel that the "maybe next year" line was intentional? Teams that don't win the Super Bowl (or at least their fans) will use the line when their hopes for a ring have been lost. This is particularly apparent in the case of Cleveland Browns fans, who sometimes use the line during pre-season games. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.47|108.162.218.47]] 18:18, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

I wonder if the comic is making fun of this website? The explanations are sometimes (usually) over the top. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.166|108.162.218.166]] 00:20, 3 March 2016 (UTC)

I think [[White Hat]] should be [[Black Hat]]. [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 17:18, 2 May 2017 (UTC)