explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1547: Solar System Questions

2015-07-07T15:13:23Z

Squirreltape:

I wonder if "What's the deal with Miranda?" is talking about one of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_(moon) Uranus's satellites] or if it's a Firefly/Serenity reference? [[User:Keavon|Keavon]] ([[User talk:Keavon|talk]]) 15:31, 6 July 2015 (UTC)
* That was my reaction too. Randall is (as he should be) slightly obsessed with Firefly. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 19:12, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Many of the entries can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unsolved_problems_in_physics [[User:Cschwenz|Cschwenz]] ([[User talk:Cschwenz|talk]]) 16:16, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

The title text is a reference to the Futurama episode "Butterjunk effect" http://theinfosphere.org/The_Butterjunk_Effect. {{unsigned ip|188.114.98.29}}

What's Titan like? Refernece to Gattaca (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZa83dTf4JA)? [[User:Nk22|The Twenty-second. The Not So Only. The Nathan/Nk22]] ([[User talk:Nk22|talk]]) 16:23, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

I wonder if Randal is using us as unpaid researchers to answer his questions for him?[[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.89|173.245.48.89]] 16:53, 6 July 2015 (UTC)
* Crowd-sourcing space probes? I certainly hope so!! [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 19:12, 6 July 2015 (UTC)
** I was also thinking that, or at least he might have been thinking, "This oughtta keep those silly people on the ExplainXKCD wiki busy!". ;) [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 20:42, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Timing is good as it has recently been shown that red organics (Tholins) are produced by the particular UV wavelength called 'Lyman-Alpha' which is almost as bright on Pluto's night-side due to starshine as it is from the Sun during its daytime... the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt may be the original Red-light District. Go New Horizons! [[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 15:13, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

Ice Spikes could be a reference to the Ice Spikes biome in Minecraft: http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Ice_Plains_Spikes.png [[User:Daedalus|Daedalus]] ([[User talk:Daedalus|talk]]) 10:12, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1441: Turnabout

2014-11-03T12:33:55Z

Squirreltape:

In the few seconds the photons take to get to the moon and back, the earth has moved enough on its axis that the reflected beam from a perfect retroreflector is not gonna hit the protagonist.

The retroreflectors for the Apollo missions were deliberately spoiled so they return six slightly offset beams, angled such that photons from one of them will go back near enough to the source.

Oh, and of course there's also the whole r^4 thing too. {{unsigned ip|‎108.162.250.208}}
:Citation needed. And did you mean the inverse square law? [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.195|103.22.201.195]] 07:37, 31 October 2014 (UTC)
:Since you acknowledge that the reflectors for the Apollo missions were constructed to take this into consideration and the photons will return near enough to the source, the cartoon is still valid. Now, whether the photons would retain sufficient energy upon their return to cause harm when they did not have enough power to destroy the reflector in the first place is a subject for another discussion .[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.94|108.162.216.94]] 07:49, 31 October 2014 (UTC)
::The photons will retain the same power (more or less...), but there will be less ''of'' them. The laser (e.g. the one from the Apache Point observatory) spreads out on its way to the Moon (perfect collumation into a millimetre-wide laser beam is neither practical nor desirable, given the need to 'flood' the vicinity of the reflector in leiu of impossible accuracy, including to account for asymmetric atmospheric distortion on the beam and its return) so that only a small proportion of the beam hits a reflector unit (one of the largest being 0.6m²) and the returning beam (for reasons already mentioned) is again much wider than the collecting telescope (3.5m diameter, possibly). There's usually no more than a dozen photons (per each short pulse of the laser) that actually make the return trip to be detected, and often it's well down into single-figures, requiring many such pulses to gather enough photons to make a statistically significant analysis.
::All this, of course, does render even more ridiculous the concept of manually firing even a ''combat''-strength laser beam across the necessary void and back again to such a precise hit (and, BTW, the What-If someone was mentioning is http://what-if.xkcd.com/13/ and shows a possibly less-tightly-collumated-than-Apache-Point laser having a diameter of almost half that of the Moon itself). But what the hey? ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.112|141.101.99.112]] 10:04, 31 October 2014 (UTC)

Superimposing the 3rd and 5th panels over each another shows the beam does not come back exactly to its source
http://xbehome.com/uploads/retroreflector.png [[User:Defaultdotxbe|Defaultdotxbe]] ([[User talk:Defaultdotxbe|talk]]) 08:09, 31 October 2014 (UTC)

Can anyone comment on how likely/unlikely it would be to accidently hit a retroreflector on the moon? The moon takes up only a very small proportion of the sky (when visible at all of course), and so the likelyhood of that wild shot even hitting the moon at all has to be pretty low. (I'm sure there was a What-If on this...) --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 09:22, 31 October 2014 (UTC)

:: Randall covered lasers hitting the moon in [https://what-if.xkcd.com/13/ what-if 13] --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 09:45, 31 October 2014 (UTC)

What is a 'reflective' palindromic number like mentioned in an (early?) version of this explanation:
:Citation: "It is worth noting that the number of this comic is 1441: a 'reflective' palindromic number."
All I could find about reflective ~palindromes was that you should be able to mirror the number/word and still get the same. But you cannot mirror 4 into 4. So in that way it cannot be reflective... (1 maybe if the font is the correct one, else only 8 and 0 in numbers and some letters like A and X).
Of course it is a palindrome as it would read 1 4 4 1, also in reverse. But reflective - not so much?
If it is not reflective, then it has no relevance in the explain as it was this reflection that had a reference to the story... [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:49, 31 October 2014 (UTC)
What

:I agree, the number is a palindrome, but not a reflective palindrome. I'm not quite decided on whether the fact it is a palindrome holds any relevance, or is simply a coincidence. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 11:10, 31 October 2014 (UTC)

I've removed a sentence about "continuity problems" and why the beam does not go right through the opponent (or hit the original shooter). No laser tag set that I know of is powerful enough to go right through someone, I imagine that would be regarded as a slight health & safety issue. You could argue that panel 1 shows the beam going through someone, but I think that is in fact behind him. As far as him being knocked over, I would guess that is to emphasise his being hit, rather than physically knocked over. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 13:35, 31 October 2014 (UTC)
:IMO, it's not laser-tag at all, but a full-strength offensive laser-blast (of at least 'stun' level). The first 'through the body' shot is actually a miss 'in depth' (rarely for XKCD comics without other explicit perspective cues to the image, like this one, it's in the <TwilightZoneMusic+Reverb>Third! Dimension!</TwilightZoneMusic+Reverb>...), neither harming nor impeded by the attacker. The rebounded shot at the end appears to have at least caused the same attacker to lose grip of his gun, if not caused physical damage to his back. (Although I suppose he could be wearing a "shocker" or vibrating-on-hit style of laser-tag kit, or is reacting to the sound-effect arising from the unexpected "hit detection".) No doubt a combat-level laser would be dialled up to damage your target without ''necessarily'' burning straight through.
:Also (regarding another comment), while I imagine it'd be useful to wear armour designed to be reflective (or even retroreflective!) all over, it would probably be impractical, whereas the lunar retroreflector array being used might possibly itself withstand the beam for at least long enough to get a decent amount of bounce-back. Anyhow, with such Improbable Aiming Skills, I suspect at least latent and subconcious Force abilities were in play, which can handwave all such niggling problems. Right guys? (And also opens the doorway for this being a universe with full-on Stormtrooper Armour... you know, the kind that's Reactive Armour, but assembled the wrong way round so it ends up hurting you more than if you were wearing no more than woven and leather fabrics...) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.112|141.101.99.112]] 14:24, 31 October 2014 (UTC)

As the earth is turning, the reflected beam would hit different spot. In that 2.5 secs it would take the beam to travel back to the earth, earth would have turned 1.160km at the equator. So even if the beam would stay collimated the beam would miss coming back. {{unsigned ip|173.245.51.196}}

Clearly black-hat stole an apollo reteoreflector and mounted it nearby. Panel 4 just happened really really fast [[Special:Contributions/108.162.217.137|108.162.217.137]] 18:28, 2 November 2014 (UTC)

Why does the fourth paragraph mention signaling the reflector? You don't have to tell a mirror that there's a laser incoming. He's just claiming to have intentionally aimed at a reflector when it looked like he missed his shot. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.68|173.245.52.68]] 22:05, 2 November 2014 (UTC)

Yeah, I don't know why the second half of the fourth paragraph is there either as it seems irrelevent to the comic or the retroreflectors. [[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 12:33, 3 November 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1417: Seven

2014-09-10T16:55:34Z

Squirreltape:

Guacamole = 7-layer dip ingredient
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.81|108.162.215.81]] 05:08, 5 September 2014 (UTC)Anonymous XKCD reader

Seventh Seal more likely to be a reference to Book of Revelation (I think he's brought it up before?) or the film? [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.96|199.27.133.96]] 05:17, 5 September 2014 (UTC)

Arctic Ocean is one of the modern Seven "Seas" of the world.
Green is the 4th color of seven in the Arthur Hamilton song "I Can Sing a Rainbow". {{unsigned ip|108.162.249.212}}

I guess the title text is a play on the fact that the dwarves in the new {{w|Snow White (2001 film)}} are called Monday, Tuesday, ... That is the connection between Snow White dwarves and days of the week. The filmmakers decided to intermix sets of seven in the first place. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.90|108.162.254.90]] 06:27, 5 September 2014 (UTC)

There could be a pattern with order.

*Sneezy: 1st dwarf of the seven dwarves in Snow White.
*Phylum: 2nd rank in the Seven Taxonomic Ranks
*Europe: 3rd continent of the world
*Sloth: 4th sin of the Seven Deadly Sin
*Guacamole: 5th Layer in a 7 Layer Bean Dip
*Data Link: 6th Layer in the OSI Model
*Collosus of Rhodes: 7th Wonder of the Ancient World

*Monday: 1st Day of the Week (American).
*Arctic: 2nd ocean in the modern Seven "Seas" of the world.
*Wellesley: 3rd college of the Seven Sister colleges
*Green: 4th color in the Arthur Hamilton song "I Can Sing a Rainbow".
*Electra: 5th sister of the Pleiades, the Seven Sisters.
*Synergize: 6th Habit in the Stephen R. Covey self-help book "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People".
*Seventh Seal: 7th Seal of the Seven Seals in the Book of Revelations

{{unsigned ip|108.162.249.212}}

:The list on the page needs to be fixed to show Europe third. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.213|141.101.99.213]] 11:15, 5 September 2014 (UTC)

The Pleiades is Randall's favorite asterism. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.161|108.162.237.161]] 08:40, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
:It says so [http://xkcd.com/about/ here]. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.161|108.162.237.161]] 20:16, 6 September 2014 (UTC)

It sure is nice seeing the explanation getting more refined and complete every time I visit... [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.168|103.22.201.168]] 10:37, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
::There is not pattern like the one mentioned above. The first dwarf in Disney is always the leader Doc! even alphabetically. There is no reason to put Europe third, Arctic 2nd, Electra 5th or the Colossus 7th. Data Link is the 2nd although you usually put them in reverse making it the 6th (and in America first day is Sunday!). This I have corrected and made a table more for the Title text [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:35, 8 September 2014 (UTC)
:::Doc may be the leader, and (hierarchically) first of the seven, but in my experience it's Doc who is often the forgotten one (unless remembered ''specifically'' for being forgotten) when someone is challenged to name the seven dwarves... E.g. "Happy, Sleepy, Dopey, Sneezy, Grumpy... erm... Bashful... oh... don't tell me..." (Bashful being the one those who specifically remember Doc tend to forget, unless they've got over this alternative memetic stumbling block.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.233|141.101.98.233]] 23:58, 8 September 2014 (UTC)

I've always been told there are only six continents. North America and South America are one continent. The seventh continent sometimes refers to this gigantic area filled with plastic rubbish in the Pacific Ocean. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.143|108.162.229.143]] 11:47, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
: See here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uBcq1x7P34 But no one talks about the Great Pacific garbage patch as a continent. 7 continents is the most common model, with some (mainly Latin Americans) considering the Americas a single continent. Some others consider Eurasia a single continent (personally that's what I prefer, it makes the most sense). --[[User:Zagorath|Zagorath]] ([[User talk:Zagorath|talk]]) 12:12, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
: I've only ever heard folks say there are seven continents. By strict definition of the word, North and South America do form a single continent (at least did prior to the Panama Canal cutting them apart) the vast majority of people see then as two separate continents. Dividing the Eurasian landmass in two, however, that one never made much sense. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.117|199.27.128.117]] 16:53, 5 September 2014 (UTC)

: I think the garbage patch confusion stems from the mislabeled picture of a bunch of floating garbage. In fact it's very spread out and in no way possible to confuse with a landmass. See [http://io9.com/5911969/lies-youve-been-told-about-the-pacific-garbage-patch http://io9.com/5911969/lies-youve-been-told-about-the-pacific-garbage-patch] --[[User:JSekula71|JSekula71]] ([[User talk:JSekula71|talk]]) 08:46, 6 September 2014 (UTC)

Guacamole may also be a reference to a famous joke which made the rounds about 15 years ago, where somebody had compared the 7 layers of the OSI network model to Taco Bell's 7-layer burrito. Guacamole was the 5th layer, which lends credence to this idea. It's still available on the WayBack Machine: http://web.archive.org/web/19990826193318/http://www.europa.com/~dogman/osi/ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.151|108.162.219.151]] 11:59, 5 September 2014 (UTC)

I suspect Electra is from the list of extant complete plays of Sophocles: Ajax, Antigone, The Women of Trachis, Oedipus the King, Electra, Philoctetes and Oedipus at Colonus. [[User:Besimmons|Besimmons]] ([[User talk:Besimmons|talk]]) 13:42, 5 September 2014 (UTC)

I find it interesting that although Randall is American he lists Monday as the first day of the week. That's where it's positioned in most cultures outside the USA, but Americans normally consider Sunday to be the first day. --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 13:51, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
: I can't speak for anyone outside the US, but as someone who has spent 99.9% of my life within US borders (few weeks in Canada, if you think that should essentially count...), I only acknowledge that the first day listed on any monthly calendar I see around here is most often Sunday. If you were to ask me what the first day of the week is, I would very quickly and easily say "Monday". That is what I'm teaching my 4- and 2-year olds... There are a few reasons I would give to explain that other than "I think of it as the first day of the week". It's the first work day of the "work week", and since life is for most people centered around one form of work or another, that gives the "work week" high importance. By extension, Sunday is the last day in the "weekend". By Judeo-Christian beliefs, God rested on the "seventh" Day - most Christians believe that to be Sunday; others (I believe mostly Jewish) believe it to be Saturday - I think, though that even those who consider Saturday to be a holy day, if you were to ask them in casual conversation what the first day of the week is (I may be wrong, but), I think they would say "Monday"... (?) Any other "Americans" or "Non-Americans" (I'd ask for you to clearly identify with one or the other) want to weight in on this? - [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 15:51, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
::I wouldn't make any guesses about what "most Christians" believe, but scholars clearly agree that Saturday (beginning sundown on Friday evening) is the seventh day, and Sunday is the first day (the "Lord's Day"). The reason for the shift isn't so clear, but they generally agree with the Jews about the numbering of the days, and even that the boundary between days happens at sunset: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbath_in_Christianity [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.11|108.162.241.11]] 14:39, 9 September 2014 (UTC)
::I can't really comment on anything talked about by Brettpeirce, but I can say a few words about the "first day of the week" problem as seen by a computer programmer. It causes huge problems when your program displays a calendar because you have to take into account that Americans want it one way and most other people want it a different way. And supposedly simple things like scheduling an appointment "first work day next week" has a completely different result if it is done on a Sunday in the USA or on a Sunday in Europe. And then there's the problem of week numbers (used a lot in Europe but not so much in the USA). Week numbers depend on which week is designated as the first week of the year, which in most countries is defined as the first week with at least 4 days in the year. Now if January 3rd is Sunday, then in the USA it is the start of week 1, while in Europe it is the last day of the last week of the previous year (week 52 or 53). It's enough to drive you to drink (which is OK on Sunday some places but not others). --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 20:36, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
:::Oh, and then there are the incompatibilities in programming languages. American-developed computer languages like C and Basic and C++ and C# number the week days 0 - 6 meaning Sunday - Saturday. Meanwhile Java numbers week days 1 - 7 meaning Sunday - Saturday, except that the newest version, Java 8, has improved date/time facilities, and if you use them then week days are numbered 1 - 7 meaning Monday - Sunday. --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 20:52, 5 September 2014 (UTC)

I find instead interesting that he makes no mention of the seven notes, while mentioning other sets less ubiquitous --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.163|108.162.229.163]] 14:13, 5 September 2014 (UTC)

OMFG, the second picture of a dwarf in the list is Dopey, why the hell did somebody say it's Fievel!? http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=seven+dwarfs+dopey&qpvt=Seven+Dwarves+Dopey&FORM=IGRE
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.40|108.162.216.40]] 19:44, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
:The Dwarfs here are drawn somewhat off-model, with bigger noses than in Disney artwork. Perhaps someone is confusing the second figure's nose, which is drawn much larger than Dopey's, with Fievel's other ear. It's similar to the [http://www.funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/1543622/Gardevoir/ Gardevoir nose illusion]. --[[User:Tepples|Tepples]] ([[User talk:Tepples|talk]]) 20:16, 5 September 2014 (UTC)
::To be fair, the dwarves are more on-model than the people. -[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.186|173.245.56.186]] 03:09, 6 September 2014 (UTC)

Arctic is the second ocean alphabetically. Someone should change the list to reflect that, I think. [[User:Zweisteine|Zweisteine]] ([[User talk:Zweisteine|talk]]) 19:53, 5 September 2014 (UTC)

Re the "trivia" note suggesting Arctic is a deliberate mistake for Antartica in the list of continents: Even if I thought Randall might be including deliberate mistakes, it is unlikely he'd use the continents as a list in the title. He already used them in the main comic, and he didn't repeat any other sevens. [[User:MGK|MGK]] ([[User talk:MGK|talk]]) 14:12, 6 September 2014 (UTC)

Did anyone else come here because the one thing they didn't get was guacamole? And now feel like, "duhhh?" [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.199|108.162.212.199]] 16:36, 6 September 2014 (UTC)

So how many continents are there really https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uBcq1x7P34 [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 23:54, 6 September 2014 (UTC)

The stated order of 7-layer dip in the table is all wrong. Cheese goes on top, then sour cream, and the rest doesn't matter. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.183|199.27.128.183]] 03:50, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1405: Meteor

2014-08-13T15:49:19Z

Squirreltape:

If meteors fall, then what is a meteoric rise? [[User:Rfvtg|Rfvtg]] ([[User talk:Rfvtg|talk]]) 04:54, 8 August 2014 (UTC)
:Fast. [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.120|103.22.201.120]] 08:12, 8 August 2014 (UTC)
:: See [[1115]] for explanation [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 11:19, 8 August 2014 (UTC)

The legend of this comic might refer to pedology, the study of soil. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.87|173.245.53.87]] 06:56, 8 August 2014 (UTC)

But the sky is blue. It is a desaturated blue with a center wavelength of 474 to 476 nm. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffuse_sky_radiation The statement that the sky is "anything but blue" is wrong.[[User:ExternalMonolog|ExternalMonolog]] ([[User talk:ExternalMonolog|talk]]) 08:34, 8 August 2014 (UTC)ExternalMonolog

does anyone else find the capitalization variation of LAVA vs lava funny? In all seriousness that would make them two different programming variables... However it is hard to notice and isn't clear on what the difference in meaning should be. This is one of the reason for using Object mObject instead of Object object in java.
[[User:Mr.Smiley|Mr.Smiley]] ([[User talk:Mr.Smiley|talk]]) 10:28, 8 August 2014 (UTC)
:I think it might just be for emphasis. The pedantic Cueball is becoming exasperated with the person who's getting it 'wrong'. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.205|173.245.54.205]] 11:30, 8 August 2014 (UTC)
And to everybody who is't a pedantic nerd, it's a rock.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 13:37, 8 August 2014 (UTC)

Is my transcription incomplete? I feel like it is because I published it really early and I have not done many transcriptions here. [[User:InAndOutLand|InAndOutLand]] ([[User talk:InAndOutLand|talk]]) 15:02, 8 August 2014 (UTC)

;JOKE:What has more nutritional value, a small rock in space or a small rock falling from space onto the Earth?

:A small rock falling from space onto the Earth because it is a little meatier(meteor) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.220|108.162.246.220]] 06:24, 9 August 2014 (UTC)

A {{w|meteor}} (follow the link!) ''is not'' an intermediate stage in the lifespan of a chunk of rock between a meteoroid and a meteorite; it is the streak of light ''produced'' by a meteoroid during its descent through the atmosphere. It spoils the joke if we're not pedantic about the pedantry! —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 08:35, 9 August 2014 (UTC)

Nice. A lot of meteorites on the earths surface today come from broken apart, differentiated asteroidal parent bodies so they ''were'' magma once. The rocky planets have grown through accretion of meteorites so all of the earths magma used to be elsewhere in the solarsystem at the very start. Plus, with temps so high under the crust, anything found down there would be molten and dissolved in the magma anyway and called such. Mark.[[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 15:49, 13 August 2014 (UTC)

Talk:13: Canyon

2014-03-03T23:32:26Z

Squirreltape:

Lined paper, why was this comic drawn on lined paper? Blegh. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:09, 8 January 2013 (UTC)
:Most early xkcd comics were literally scans of doodles that Randall drew in his (presumably) graph paper notebook while bored in class(?). [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 21:25, 18 January 2014 (UTC)

An often used phrase is "The future is now", in reference to futuristic gadgets etc that one can see in todays world... what more furistic is an alien-planet vista with two humans in it?[[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 23:32, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

Talk:82: Frame

2014-03-03T18:52:46Z

Squirreltape:

Might be far-fetched, but this one reminded me of meiosis [http://www.vib.be/VIBMediaLibrary/Science%20and%20Technologies/Cells/meiose-cell-division500px.jpg]. - [[User:XHalt|XHalt]] ([[User talk:XHalt|talk]]) 08:59, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:It's more the opposite.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:35, 3 July 2013 (UTC)

It reminds me of smoking DMT.

This reminds me of the "Cube" movie series. [[Special:Contributions/208.124.118.63|208.124.118.63]] 21:31, 7 October 2013 (UTC)BK

Or Hellraiser (cue the Cenobites)[[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 18:52, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

Talk:88: Escher Bracelet

2014-03-03T18:43:51Z

Squirreltape:

Search the Internet for WWFSMD. [[User:Xhfz|Xhfz]] ([[User talk:Xhfz|talk]]) 22:12, 22 October 2013 (UTC)

Something you might like to try with two paper Mobius strips (apologies if you already know these)...take the first one you made and with scissors make a hole in the middle of the strip and cut all the way around making sure to stay along the middle until you get back to the start... see what you ended up with? It gets better... take the second strip you made and repeat the cutting but this time make sure you cut along the strip 1/3rd of the way from the edge (youll need to go around twice before you get back to the starting puncture hole)... how cool is that![[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 18:43, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

Talk:170: Turn Back

2014-03-01T21:00:13Z

Squirreltape: Created page with "I'm hoping that the little "x" denotes where Spaceman Spiff left his cloaked spacecraft~~~~"

I'm hoping that the little "x" denotes where Spaceman Spiff left his cloaked spacecraft[[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 21:00, 1 March 2014 (UTC)

Talk:224: Lisp

2014-02-25T20:18:41Z

Squirreltape:

I reckon I disagree with this:
<blockquote>
In the comic, Cueball marvels at the fundamental and complete nature of the language of creation that he sees in his dream, the ultimate low level language, before being told by God that the universe was mostly built using a high level programming language, perl.
</blockquote>

But, despite it's age, Lisp is also a high-level language and lispers probably spend more of their time dealing with higher-level abstractions than perlists.

What's causing the narrator's marvel in the comic is that Lisp has a very elegant (almost non-existent) syntax and the language has a very close relationship with the underlying syntactical structure of the program, and that thinking about it does tend to give suitably-minded hackers feelings of awe and reverence, once they grok it. Even Larry Wall, the creator of Perl, will readily concede that Lisp is beautiful.

Perl, on the other hand, has masses of totally unrelated syntactical bits and pieces drawn from almost everywhere (basic syntax from C, a bunch of environment variables from shell or awk, an inline documentation format, inline regular expressions, formats borrowed from Fortran, bolted-on pseudo-OO from god-knows-where, you name it), so the language, is huge, messy, non-orthogonal, and ugly - but it does have the advantage that if you need a small job done, you can usually get it done in perl rather fast, at the cost, perhaps, of maintainability for long-term or large projects.

So the narrator dreams that the entire universe was created using the cleanest, most elegant and beautiful computer language so far discovered, one which allows the user to create software in terms of high-level abstractions if he or she chooses to; but in reality, God tells him it was a quick-dirty hack-job done in the dirtiest, ugliest - but effective nonetheless - language around. {{unsigned|‎86.165.192.2}}

:I think that A) you've missed the point of that statement, and B) If you believe the explanation to be inaccurate or incomplete you are fully encouraged to edit it. Also, Perl is not the dirtiest, ugliest language around. There are innumerable contenders, but I'd say {{w|Brainfuck}} is definitely in the running, and I personally would say that Java is in there too. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 05:03, 26 January 2013 (UTC)

::Perl isn't a bad language. The regular expressions that it offers are fantastic, and it's at least ''consistent''. Java's a slow messy and vulnerability-ridden language, but I'd have to go with PHP for the most awful, broken and incomplete piece of crap you could possibly use. Literally has no redeeming features outside of momentum and inexplicably widespread support. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:44, 26 January 2013 (UTC)

:::I never said Perl was bad. I need to teach myself Perl. and that Regular Expressions as we know them today came from Perl, is evidence enough that Perl is a wonderful language. And, I'll agree with you that PHP is an ugly, ugly, disgusting piece of trash. As someone who's had to do OO-PHP, just don't, run far away. I did. I ran to Ruby on Rails, and my life, as a web developer, has been heavenly. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:03, 26 January 2013 (UTC)

Lisp, the "ultimate low level language"? Ok, whoever wrote that really does not know what he/she is talknig about.

One of the most valuable characteristics of Lisp is the fact that is can be used in functional paradigm. Perl can also be used that way, but is considered a more hackish language and not as elegant as Lisp.
Perl language can solve problems with different methods, and the phrase "ostensibly, yes. Honestly, we hacked most of it together with perl" means that the universe was created with perl, but trying to use Lisp way of programing (probably functional paradigm), instead of actually doing it on Lisp (probably for speed)

Oh, in case is not clear to somebody, Lisp is a HIGH LEVEL LANGUAGE.

Java and php would have to compete for the title of the "the dirtiest, ugliest - but effective nonetheless - language around"
[[Special:Contributions/189.135.124.172|189.135.124.172]] 18:32, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

Ok, somewhat a Perl-head here, but not going to add to the arguments about that. Instead: I think "My God, it's full of stars!" is ''not'' a quote from 2001 (where I'm fairly sure there's no broadcast dialoguge at all after Hal is silenced), but from the sequal, 2010, in the part where they 'review' the final recordings of the 2001 mission. But I really need someone who has these two films at hand to check before amending the explanation.

(Oh, go on then. Can I nominate Ada as the most godawful 'proper' language? Not as awkward as COBOL can be (for a proper programmer who doesn't need the "Business Orientated" tendencies), but has just the right (or wrong) mix of strictness to get my back up even while maintaining a pretence of being readable. Mind you, it's 20 years since I've used it, so memories about it may be distorted or outdated.) [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 21:50, 21 June 2013 (UTC)

Java is much more elegant and far less hacky than C++, and it's much faster than some people like to admit. It amazes me how many people complain about how "slow" it is, but have nothing but praise for languages like Python. Of course, C++ is much easier to optimize where time is critical. </minirant> [[Special:Contributions/72.9.93.56|72.9.93.56]] 13:59, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

There is a direct reference to the "Lisp epiphany" that many non-LISP programmers are said to experience upon realizing how heavily influenced LISP was by mathematical logic. This is explained far better in a later explanation. It could be brought in here. --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 03:37, 24 August 2013 (UTC)

I don't know whether it's important or not, but the line "My God, it's full of stars!" is the title of a chapter in The Little Schemer, which is considered (IMO) a classic CompSci book. If Randall has, by chance, read the book he may have also pulled the inspiration from there as well as 2001. I don't know whetiher this warrents a trivia block or not. [[Special:Contributions/67.176.146.186|67.176.146.186]] 06:34, 27 October 2013 (UTC)

:the quote comes from the book, not the movie. {{unsigned ip|173.245.53.129}}

Lisp is the best language, unfortunately it's not that widely used.

Lisp is a high and low level language.

The worst programming language ever has to be Kodu game lab. Or possibly Malbodge. {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.244}}

Perl is the language designed for the convenience of use. It mimics the natural language in the sense that it has great many slightly different features but each feature makes the most sense for its intended use and allows to write the easily understandable programs. An example of opposite is Pascal, which is a tiny language (i.e. "elegant" in the terms of its creator) but you can't do may things with it at all, and for what you can do, you have to turn yourself inside out. Lisp started in 1950s kind of like Pascal but then collected great many different features over time, each one to fix some of its inborn limitations. You still have to turn yourself inside out when you write in Lisp but nowadays there are great many ways to do so. If you wonder, Pascal had been extended as well, and Delphi is an example of an overgrown Pascal. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.5|108.162.246.5]] 21:56, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

About the 2001 quote... I have the October 1968 Arrow paperback edition (09 001530 4) by A.C.Clarke and on page 221 Dave Bowman remarks "The thing's hollow - it goes on for ever - and - oh my God - it's full of stars!". So yes, in the movie this line was never used but in Clarke's novelization of his and Kubrick's screenplay it's there. Fast forward to 1984 with the release of 2010 and the filmmakers decided to put this soundbite in the intro to good effect. So yes it was never in the 2001 movie and was in the 2010 movie but as aforementioned, it was in the 2001 book. [[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 20:18, 25 February 2014 (UTC)

Talk:217: e to the pi Minus pi

2014-02-25T19:35:34Z

Squirreltape:

Asserting that the programmers' algorithms truncated to three decimal digits is an unsupported and unnecessary extrapolation. Most floating-point implementations use binary, not decimal, and 19.999099979 ''looks'' very much like a rounding error in binary floating-point that has accumulated over several operations. [[User:Daddy|Daddy]] ([[User talk:Daddy|talk]]) 12:39, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
:Fixed. [[User:Xhfz|Xhfz]] ([[User talk:Xhfz|talk]]) 22:57, 16 August 2013 (UTC)

The third bullet-point above needs changing... (9^2+(19^2/22))=97.4090909091 which is close to pi to the fourth power, so it should be (as noted in the text) (9^2+(19^2/22))^1/4 [[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 19:27, 25 February 2014 (UTC)

Talk:217: e to the pi Minus pi

2014-02-25T19:27:02Z

Squirreltape:

Asserting that the programmers' algorithms truncated to three decimal digits is an unsupported and unnecessary extrapolation. Most floating-point implementations use binary, not decimal, and 19.999099979 ''looks'' very much like a rounding error in binary floating-point that has accumulated over several operations. [[User:Daddy|Daddy]] ([[User talk:Daddy|talk]]) 12:39, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
:Fixed. [[User:Xhfz|Xhfz]] ([[User talk:Xhfz|talk]]) 22:57, 16 August 2013 (UTC)

(9^2+(19^2/22))=97.4090909091 which is close to pi to the fourth power, so it should be (as noted in the text) (9^2+(19^2/22))^1/4[[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 19:27, 25 February 2014 (UTC)

Talk:254: Comic Fragment

2014-02-24T19:15:24Z

Squirreltape:

Who is Janeane Garofalo? {{unsigned|‎130.194.73.251}}
:A New York comedian. I've wikilinked her name. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 18:19, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

I think it should also be noted that this may be a parody of the Lemony Snickett's Series of Unfortunate Events books, where each book ends with some 'discovered' documents/evidence from the 'author' Snickett regarding the next title in the series. [[Special:Contributions/75.101.102.252|75.101.102.252]] 06:04, 25 May 2013 (UTC)

I really wish this comic would be re-enacted... [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 06:45, 14 August 2013 (UTC)

Seems to me that making Richard Stallman very confused would be in keeping with the spirit of the comic. At least he didn't get a bobcat. {{unsigned ip|184.21.189.153}}
: Ha +1 [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]])

I wonder if the title should be read as 'fragMENT' as in 'to break up'... this is what Ms. Garofalo (herself a 'Comic') will soon be doing upon re-entry in such a scenario. [[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 19:15, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

Talk:375: Pod Bay Doors

2014-02-14T19:42:31Z

Squirreltape:

Made the "WHAT?" text italic, Because that's the way it is in the comic :3 [[Special:Contributions/121.54.48.38|121.54.48.38]] 01:34, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Fantastic cartoon featuring two of my favourite characters... and with both the pod and the Discovery's hull being spherical they could even stand-in for 'cores'... quite literally "in spaaaaaace".[[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 19:42, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

Talk:368: Bass

2014-02-14T14:41:35Z

Squirreltape:

Okay, I have to ask this, and this as good a place as any. Am I the only one who reads Black Hat (and Danish) with an affected English accent? Anonymous 21:04, 3 December 2013 (UTC) {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.91}}
:Talk to someone in Scotland, and then some Australian, South African and finally compare Texas with LA and NY, or the London suburbs. English is still not easy, especially for non native speakers. But Black Hat and Danish are quite sure talking at some American English slangs. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:25, 3 December 2013 (UTC)

Firstly, is this destructive resonance thing actually possible for car speakers? (note: don't worry, I'm not going to try this myself, just wondering)... secondly, I hadn't thought about accents before. I'm English but all the characters have my own internal voice... maybe I should put some effort in and give them all different accents (wouldn't know which accents but the aforementioned affected-english for Black Hat doesn't work in my head, as good as that suggestion was). [[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 14:38, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

Talk:368: Bass

2014-02-14T14:38:45Z

Squirreltape:

Okay, I have to ask this, and this as good a place as any. Am I the only one who reads Black Hat (and Danish) with an affected English accent? Anonymous 21:04, 3 December 2013 (UTC) {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.91}}
:Talk to someone in Scotland, and then some Australian, South African and finally compare Texas with LA and NY, or the London suburbs. English is still not easy, especially for non native speakers. But Black Hat and Danish are quite sure talking at some American English slangs. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:25, 3 December 2013 (UTC)

Firstly, is this destructive feedback thing actually possible? (note: don't worry, I'm not going to try this myself, just wondering)... secondly, I hadn't thought about accents before. I'm English but all the characters have my own internal voice... maybe I should put some effort in and give them all different accents (wouldn't know which accents but the aforementioned affected-english for Blackhat doesn't work in my head, as good as that suggestion was). [[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 14:38, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

Talk:387: Advanced Technology

2014-02-14T11:04:00Z

Squirreltape:

:"OOH! Von Neumann and Harvard machines! My favorite subject! How did you know?" - Lcarsos
:[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eymlZTeCGms/ ...because you just told me, moderator!]] [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 18:53, 12 December 2012 (UTC)

It seems to me that Cueball is examining Megan's abdomen (where her uterus, the "factory" itself, is contained), rather than her crotch as stated by the Explain XKCD description. It's not just the logic, but also the shape of Cueball's head (which may just be an artifact of the drawing process). Does anyone agree, or is it probably just me? [[User:JET73L|JET73L]] ([[User talk:JET73L|talk]]) 17:14, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

:It's there in the official transcript.[[Special:Contributions/117.194.199.173|117.194.199.173]] 15:08, 11 February 2013 (UTC)

:Still seems kind of, i don't know, incorrect. The crotch is the factory door, not the factory. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.58|108.162.219.58]] 18:18, 24 January 2014 (UTC)

Hmmm, self-replicating Von Neumann machines are more like parthenogenic aphids (asexual or "clones") rather than human sexual reproduction... Meg would not be able to copy herself. Apart from that, I like this cartoon as it does point out how fantastic reproduction really is. Oh, and Cueball 'should' be looking at her abdomen rather than her crotch methinks [[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 16:13, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

Talk:387: Advanced Technology

2014-02-13T16:13:18Z

Squirreltape:

:"OOH! Von Neumann and Harvard machines! My favorite subject! How did you know?" - Lcarsos
:[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eymlZTeCGms/ ...because you just told me, moderator!]] [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 18:53, 12 December 2012 (UTC)

It seems to me that Cueball is examining Megan's abdomen (where her uterus, the "factory" itself, is contained), rather than her crotch as stated by the Explain XKCD description. It's not just the logic, but also the shape of Cueball's head (which may just be an artifact of the drawing process). Does anyone agree, or is it probably just me? [[User:JET73L|JET73L]] ([[User talk:JET73L|talk]]) 17:14, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

:It's there in the official transcript.[[Special:Contributions/117.194.199.173|117.194.199.173]] 15:08, 11 February 2013 (UTC)

:Still seems kind of, i don't know, incorrect. The crotch is the factory door, not the factory. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.58|108.162.219.58]] 18:18, 24 January 2014 (UTC)

Hmmm, self-replicating Von Neumann machines are more like parthenogenic aphids (asexual or "clones") rather than human sexual reproduction... Meg would not be able to copy herself. Apart from that, I like this cartoon as it does point out how fantastic reproduction really is. Oh, and Cueball is looking at her abdomen rather than her crotch methinks [[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 16:13, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

Talk:447: Too Old For This Shit

2014-01-30T16:45:53Z

Squirreltape:

For example {{w|Fields Medal}} is given to mathematicians '''not over 40 years of age''' --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 20:47, 27 June 2013 (UTC)

Yet Sir Andrew Wiles was 41 when he found the proof for Fermats Last Theorum... I'm glad he didn't give up at age 11. Personally I never stood a chance as I only got interested in maths after leaving school (and yes I do struggle even though I'm 42! and am envious of everyone who's good at it ;) ) [[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 16:45, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Talk:470: The End is Not for a While

2014-01-30T14:32:50Z

Squirreltape: Created page with "I love this one... it reminds me of the 'Father Ted' episode (Se01Ep03) with the polite protest signs reading "Careful Now" & "Down With This Sort Of Thing". I always try and ..."

I love this one... it reminds me of the 'Father Ted' episode (Se01Ep03) with the polite protest signs reading "Careful Now" & "Down With This Sort Of Thing". I always try and see what's written on the back of those "The End is Now" placards expecting "...For The Sale at Carpet-World" or somesuch; been disappointed on all but 2 occasions. [[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 14:32, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Talk:541: TED Talk

2014-01-21T18:53:14Z

Squirreltape:

It's not the first time Randall gets banned from conventions, see [[153: Cryptography]].
[[User:Xylon|Xylon]] ([[User talk:Xylon|talk]]) 13:10, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

: There are enough of these that it should probably be a category. (Anon) 12 August 2013 {{unsigned ip|24.142.134.100}}

How about "Linux(or BSD (: )"? Actually, that looks just as weird. Oh well. [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 05:10, 6 November 2013 (UTC)

What about "Linux (or BSD :D)"? That looks great! 05:54, 1 December 2013 (UTC) {{unsigned ip|199.27.128.120}}

Or "(Linux (or BSD ( :) )))"...nope! [[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 18:19, 21 January 2014 (UTC)

Talk:541: TED Talk

2014-01-21T18:19:53Z

Squirreltape:

It's not the first time Randall gets banned from conventions, see [[153: Cryptography]].
[[User:Xylon|Xylon]] ([[User talk:Xylon|talk]]) 13:10, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

: There are enough of these that it should probably be a category. (Anon) 12 August 2013 {{unsigned ip|24.142.134.100}}

How about "Linux(or BSD (: )"? Actually, that looks just as weird. Oh well. [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 05:10, 6 November 2013 (UTC)

What about "Linux (or BSD :D)"? That looks great! 05:54, 1 December 2013 (UTC) {{unsigned ip|199.27.128.120}}

Or "(Linux (or BSD ( :) ))"...nope! [[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 18:19, 21 January 2014 (UTC)

Talk:817: Mutual

2014-01-15T19:23:08Z

Squirreltape:

This is the comic strip that caused xkcdexplained.com to exclaim "fuck this I'm done" and discontinue updating the site. It's probably worth mentioning that: A) It's actually Megan and Cueball's thoughts that are thinking of each other; and B) Both of them are in positions that indicate loneliness or distress. Perhaps it is a commentary on the irony of mutually unrequited love. [[Special:Contributions/66.224.70.107|66.224.70.107]] 23:50, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

As an afterthought, if the universe needs to be observed in order to exist, who will observe it? Some super-universal entity?

: By your logic, yes. Unfortunately, your logic does not fully grasp the backend of quantum mechanics. No one's does. Feynman's didn't. Mine doesn't. And therefore, the measurement paradox (i.e. the philosophical interpretation of quantum mechanics) will remain up in the air until someone can frame it for our classically raised and trained minds. Or maybe they'll just go many-worlds on our asses? --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 02:39, 18 August 2013 (UTC)

Thanks Quicksilver for the reply... accurate and succint, bravo. Of course, they've gone many-worlds on our asses an infinite number of times already... [[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 19:21, 15 January 2014 (UTC)

Talk:817: Mutual

2014-01-15T19:21:09Z

Squirreltape:

This is the comic strip that caused xkcdexplained.com to exclaim "fuck this I'm done" and discontinue updating the site. It's probably worth mentioning that: A) It's actually Megan and Cueball's thoughts that are thinking of each other; and B) Both of them are in positions that indicate loneliness or distress. Perhaps it is a commentary on the irony of mutually unrequited love. [[Special:Contributions/66.224.70.107|66.224.70.107]] 23:50, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

As an afterthought, if the universe needs to be observed in order to exist, who will observe it? Some super-universal entity?

: By your logic, yes. Unfortunately, your logic does not fully grasp the backend of quantum mechanics. No one's does. Feynman's didn't. Mine doesn't. And therefore, the measurement paradox (i.e. the philosophical interpretation of quantum mechanics) will remain up in the air until someone can frame it for our classically raised and trained minds. Or maybe they'll just go many-worlds on our asses? --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 02:39, 18 August 2013 (UTC)

Thanks Quicksilver for the reply... accurate and succint, bravo. Of course, they've gone many-worlds "on our asses" an infinite number of times already... [[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 19:21, 15 January 2014 (UTC)