explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2957: A Crossword Puzzle

2024-07-12T17:46:25Z

Usb-rave: added video games category

{{comic
| number = 2957
| date = July 10, 2024
| title = A Crossword Puzzle
| image = a_crossword_puzzle_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x937px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hint: If you ever encounter this puzzle in a crossword app, just [term for someone with a competitive and high-achieving personality].
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CROSSWORD MAKER FREE FALLING - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{notice|<big>'''SPOILER ALERT!'''</big> If you read on without trying to look at the crossword clues first, the joke is spoiled and your chance of finding out the joke yourself is gone instantly!|image=warning!!.png}}

This is a crossword puzzle. On a surface level, the answers seem extremely difficult, with questions covering a wide variety of trivia, linguistics, mathematics in various forms, alongside wordplay typical of crossword puzzles. But the joke is that every single letter of every single answer is "A".

The name of this comic, “A Crossword Puzzle”, is a double entendre; the “A” can be interpreted both as the indefinite article “a”, and as an identifier saying that this crossword puzzle is specifically an “A” puzzle, due to the answer being all “a”s.

The title text is a play on a "type A" personality. The term for someone with a competitive and high-achieving personality is "Type A". In the context of the title text, this answer is a hint that the entire puzzle can be completed in a crossword-solving app by typing the letter A repeatedly.

===Explanation of clues===
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|-
! Location !! Clue !! Explanation !! Squares
|-
| 1-Across || Famous Pvt. Wilhelm quote || Reference to the {{w|Wilhelm scream}}. || 10
|-
| 11-Across || {{w|IPv6}} address record || An IPv4 record is an "A" record; an IPv6 record is four times the length and is designated an "AAAA" record. || 4
|-
| 15-Across || “CIPHERTEXT” decrypted with Vigenère key “CIPHERTEXT” || A "{{w|Vigenère Cipher}}" translates the original text by the distance from A from the key, letter by letter. For instance, if the plaintext is "XK" and the key is "CD", the C shifts X 2 forward to become Z, and the D shifts K 3 forward to become N, yielding a ciphertext of "ZN". Since the ciphertext and the key are the same in this case, decryption just shifts all the letters back to A, akin to subtracting a number from itself and getting 0. || 10
|-
| 16-Across || 8mm diameter battery || An {{w|AAAA battery}} is a 1.5 V battery that measures 8.3 mm in diameter, 2.2 mm smaller than the more common AAA battery. || 4
|-
| 17-Across || “Warthog” attack aircraft || The {{w|A-10 Warthog}} is an attack aircraft. Here, A-10 has been turned into AAAAAAAAAA (ten As). || 10
|-
| 18-Across || '''E'''ve'''r'''y t'''h'''ir'''d''' le'''t'''te'''r''' in the word for “inability to visualize” || {{w|Aphantasia}} is the inability to experience mental images. Following the example of the pattern in the clue, taking the first letter and every third one after (rather than just every third letter) we determine that '''A'''ph'''a'''nt'''a'''si'''a''' gives us the word "aaaa". This clue is particularly mean because of how it instructs you to visualize the letters highlighted within the word in order to get the answer. || 4
|-
| 19-Across || An {{w|acrostic}} hidden on the first page of the dictionary || The first page of the dictionary (if you ignore the copyright page and the index) is the list of words starting with A. An acrostic of this page, taking the first letter of each line and arranging them in order, would just be a sequence of As. || 15
|-
| 21-Across || Default paper size in Europe || {{w|A4 paper}} (here written as AAAA) is the default size in Europe. At 210x297 mm, it is approximately 0.24″ narrower and 0.71″ longer than the 8.5″x11″ paper used in the United States, and due to having an aspect ratio of 1:sqrt(2), can be cut in half to create two half-sized sheets with exactly the same aspect ratio. || 4
|-
| 22-Across || First four unary strings || A unary number system represents numbers using just one symbol. For example, 7 in unary would be 1111111. The first four strings in unary, if you used A as the first (and only) symbol, would be A, AA, AAA, AAAA. || 10
|-
| 23-Across || Lysine codon || {{w|Lysine}} is an amino acid, with codons AAA and AAG. || 3
|-
| 24-Across || 40 CFR Part 63 subpart concerning asphalt pollution || [https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-40/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-63?toc=1 "40 CFR Part 63"] refers to federal air pollutant regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations. The subpart for "asphalt processing and asphalt roofing manufacturing" is AAAAAAA. || 7
|-
| 25-Across || Top bond credit rating || The highest {{w|credit rating}} for bonds is AAA. || 3
|-
| 26-Across || Audi coupe || First of three Audi references. {{w|List_of_Audi_vehicles|Audi's car models}} range from A1 (subcompact hatchback) to A8 (full-size luxury sedan); the A5, the one referenced here, is a compact executive {{w|coupe}}. || 5
|-
| 27-Across || A pair of small remote batteries, when inserted || Two {{w|AAA_battery|AAA}} batteries, which are often used to power remote controls for domestic devices. These have been combined to give AAAAAA — "Inserted" is often a cryptic hint that one word should surround another, although such a cryptic clue would normally also contain a more direct clue (albeit ambiguously) to the full answer. || 6
|-
| 29-Across || Unofficial Howard Dean slogan || A reference to Howard Dean, an American Democrat who ran for the party's nomination in 2004. He famously [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6i-gYRAwM0 yelled at a rally] in a way that was thought to be bizarre and which, it is thought, doomed his campaign. || 7
|-
| 32-Across || A 4.0 report card || A 4.0 GPA, at least {{w|Academic_grading_in_the_United_States|in the USA}}, is all As. This clue assumes seven classes. || 7
|-
| 33-Across || The “Harlem Globetrotters of baseball” (vowels only) || The {{w|Savannah Bananas}}, the vowels for whom are aaaaaa. || 6
|-
| 34-Across || 2018 Kiefer song || “[https://genius.com/Kiefer-aaaaa-lyrics AAAAA]”. || 5
|-
| 35-Across || Top Minor League tier || The top {{w|Minor League Baseball}} tier is AAA. || 3
|-
| 36-Across || Reply elicited by a dentist || Dentists ask patients to "say aaaaaaa", i.e., "open up". This could also be an expression of pain, particularly the only kind you can make with dental tools in your mouth. (As the band {{w|Autechre}} put it, [https://youtu.be/UppsLKz1iD4 "Now, I don't want you to panic... just lean back and relax."]) || 7
|-
| 38-Across || Anaa’s airport || {{w|Anaa}} is an atoll in the {{w|Tuamotu archipelago}} of {{w|French Polynesia}}. AAA is the {{w|IATA}} code for its airport. || 3
|-
| 41-Across || Macaulay Culkin’s review of aftershave || In the movie ''{{w|Home Alone}}'', Kevin (played by {{w|Macaulay Culkin}}) puts on his father's aftershave lotion. The six-year-old boy is not used to the lotion's antiseptic and screams as the stinging sensation kicks in. || 10
|-
| 43-Across || Marketing agency trade grp. || The {{w|American Association of Advertising Agencies}}, also called the 4As (here AAAA). An abbreviated word in a clue, here "grp.", is a common way to signal that the answer also should also be written as its abbreviation. || 4
|-
| 44-Across || Soaring climax of Linda Eder’s ''Man of La Mancha'' || Refers to [https://youtu.be/BWP7l0OTXJI?t=130 the 18-second-long wordless passage in Eder's opus], or possibly the final high note in the song “The Impossible Dream”. || 15
|-
| 46-Across || Military flight community org. || The {{w|Army Aviation Association of America}}, or AAAA. || 4
|-
| 47-Across || Iconic line from ''Tarzan'' || Tarzan has a famous {{w|Tarzan yell|war cry}} he shouts, usually when swinging from a vine. || 10
|-
| 48-Across || '''E'''v'''e'''r'''y''' o'''t'''h'''e'''r letter of Jimmy Wales’s birth state || The birth state of {{w|Jimmy Wales}}, the co-founder of Wikipedia, is Alabama. Taking every other letter of '''A'''l'''a'''b'''a'''m'''a''' gives "Aaaa". || 4
|-
| 49-Across || Warthog’s postscript after “They call me ''mister'' pig!” || Pumba in ''{{w|The Lion King}}'' yells "aaaaaaaaaa" while charging at the hyenas who insulted him. || 10
|-
| 50-Across || Message to Elsa in ''Frozen 2'' || The call which Elsa hears in ''{{w|Frozen 2}}'' is a sequence of four notes which resemble the requiem music {{w|Dies Irae#Music|Dies irae}}. The sequence is sung entirely with an open rounded vowel sound, or a soft "a" sound. || 4
|-
| 51-Across || Lola, when betting it all on Black 20 in ''Run Lola Run'' || In ''{{w|Run Lola Run}}'', Lola ({{w|Franka Potente}}) [https://youtu.be/OTSz1w-cuZM?si=2vc51WCWvn20Hjoo&t=116 screams loud enough to affect the outcome] of a roulette wheel where she has just bet all her money on Black 20. The scream could be transcribed as "AAAAAAAAAA" || 10
|-
| 1-Down || Game featuring “a reckless disregard for gravity” || ''{{w|AaAaAA!!! – A Reckless Disregard for Gravity}}'' - notably the title is commonly extended in promotional material beyond 6 As. || 6
|-
| 2-Down || 1010101010101010101010102→16 || 10101010 10101010 10101010 in binary is equivalent to "AAAAAA" in hexadecimal. || 6
|-
| 3-Down || Google phone released July ’22 || The {{w|Pixel 6a}} was released in July 22. Stylized in this puzzle as "AAAAAA" ('A'*6) || 6
|-
| 4-Down || It’s five times better than that ''other'' steak sauce || Five times better than {{w|A1 steak sauce}} would be A5, stylized in this puzzle as AAAAA. || 5
|-
| 5-Down || ToHex(43690) || The decimal number 43690 converted to hexadecimal is AAAA. || 4
|-
| 6-Down || Freddie Mercury lyric from ''Under Pressure'' || A drawn-out 'Aaaaahhhh' rising in pitch. || 15
|-
| 7-Down || Full-size Audi luxury sedan || Second of three Audi references. As mentioned previously, the A8 referenced here is their full-size luxury sedan. || 8
|-
| 8-Down || Fast path through a multiple choice marketing survey || The "fast path" is just to select the first option over and over again. Usually the options are labeled A, B, C, and D (or more) - choosing the first option for every question would be answering entirely with As. || 7
|-
| 9-Down || 12356631 in base 26 || Randall is expressing base 26 using the letters of the alphabet with 1=A, in which case 1235663110 = AAAAAA26. (It's unclear how one would express the digit 026 this way.) || 6
|-
| 10-Down || Viral Jimmy Barnes chorus || A reference to the music video for Kirin J Callinan's song “{{w|Big Enough}}”, which features rocker {{w|Jimmy Barnes}} in a cowboy hat screaming "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" while in the sky over mountain scenes. || 15
|-
| 11-Down || Ruby Rhod catchphrase || Ruby Rhod is a radio host in the film ''{{w|The Fifth Element}}''; he has a scene with a memorable scream. || 5
|-
| 12-Down || badbeef + 9efcebbb || In hexadecimal, badbeef and 9efcebbb add together to equal AAAAAAAA (195,935,983, 2,667,375,547, and 2,863,311,530 in decimal respectively). || 8
|-
| 13-Down || In Wet Leg’s ''Ur Mum'', what the singer has been practicing || In the song "{{w|Ur Mum}}" by {{w|Wet Leg}}, the bridge starts with "Okay, I've been practicing my longest and loudest scream", which is apparently eight As long. || 8
|-
| 14-Down || Refrain from Nora Reed bot || The "Endless Scream" bot on social media, made by Nora Reed, posts "AAAAAAAAAAA" (with or without an h) at varying lengths. || 8
|-
| 20-Down || Mario button presses to ascend Minas Tirith’s walls || In ''Mario'' games you typically use the A button to jump. In games where you don't press a button to move (e.g., games with a joystick), then the button presses required to ascend a vertical structure would probably all be A. This clue might have been inspired by the {{w|A-button challenge}} / [https://ukikipedia.net/wiki/A_Button_Challenge A Button Challenge], which tallies the number of A presses needed to beat ''Super Mario 64''. Additionally, {{w|Minas Tirith}} is a fictional city in ''{{w|Lord of the Rings}}'' with seven concentric rings, each with a wall around it and higher than the last ring. Presumably, it takes seven jumps to get to the highest area of the city, so the answer is "AAAAAAA". || 7
|-
| 24-Down || Vermont historic route north from Bennington || {{w|Vermont Route 7A}}, or AAAAAAA. || 7
|-
| 26-Down || High-budget video game || A high-budget video game is usually referred to as a Triple-A game, or AAA. || 3
|-
| 28-Down || Unorthodox Tic-tac-toe win || {{w|Tic-tac-toe}} is usually won by getting either three Xs or three Os in a row, making XXX and OOO normal Tic-tac-toe wins. One could achieve a win of AAA by making the unorthodox choice of playing with the letter A instead of X or O. Alternatively, Randall is envisaging the grid as defined by rows 1, 2, 3, and columns A, B, C, so an AAA win would be simply playing in the first column each time - a strategy which should be obvious and easy to stop, even for young children who have not yet worked out that ''any'' route to winning can be blocked. || 3
|-
| 29-Down || String whose SHA-256 hash ends “…689510285e212385” || <code>printf AAAAAAAA <nowiki>|</nowiki> sha256sum</code> outputs <code>c34ab6abb7b2bb595bc25c3b388c872fd1d575819a8f55cc689510285e212385</code>.
Note that this 'clue' would be normally be ''particularly'' difficult, in isolation, as the nature of a {{w|hash function}} means that it is possible for multiple inputs to produce a given output, and that finding any of these (and definitely identifying ''all'' of them, to ensure you have the correct original) would require a {{w|brute-force attack}}; i.e. a test of all possible initial states to discover which of them might be viable candidates. Even more problematic is that we are only given a partial hash string, meaning we are possibly talking of a multiple of full hashes, each of them with a possible multiplicity of original plaintexts behind them.
 The number of possible hashes in the clue is 1664/1616, i.e. 1648, or approximately 6x1054, although there really is no reason (aside from the fundamental impracticality) to try to solve this problem from each and every 'hash end'. Instead you would 'only' check every combination of 8 letters (presuming no digits, punctuation or whitespace would be inserted, that no “foreign”/accented characters are present and that uppercase is universally presumed, is 268; i.e. ~208 {{w|billion|short-scale billion}} possibilities) and discover which (one?) of these sufficiently matches the hash fragment given. Testing a hundred of these every second, it would take a little over 66 ''years'' to complete the task of checking every single possibility (rather than stopping at the first confirmed answer, which might well be the initial one in this particular case).
 In the context of a crossword such as this, however, you can significantly reduce this search by having established (or at least sufficiently narrowed down) the answers to the various across-clues which intersect with ever character of it (this form of crossword grid being of the {{w|Crossword#American-style crosswords|dense type}}, with no singly-clued spaces as with the more open lattice-types), reducing the necessary checks drastically. This could mean, having solved at least some of the perpendicular answers, that you have enough information to 'guess' at some likely answer, and then merely need to ''confirm'' that whatever guess(es) you make will resolve themselves into the clue-answer provided. (Much as you might with a more normally difficult clue, where you merely have to satisfy yourself that the surprise answer is at least justified as resulting from the original hint.)
| 8
|-
| 30-Down || Arnold’s remark to the Predator || A reference to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsFYPVxHKdc this scene] from ''{{w|Predator (film)|Predator}}''. || 8
|-
| 31-Down || The vowels in the fire salamander’s binomial name || The vowels in {{w|Salamandra salamandra}} are aaaaaaaa. || 8
|-
| 32-Down || Janet Leigh ''Psycho'' line || The iconic scene in ''{{w|Psycho (1960 film)|Psycho}}'' is the shower scene, in which {{w|Janet Leigh}} gives a long piercing scream as she is murdered. This can be written as 8 As if one wishes. || 8
|-
| 34-Down || Seven 440Hz pulses || A sound with a frequency of 440 Hz is a middle "A" note. Seven such pulses would be AAAAAAA. || 7
|-
| 37-Down || Audi luxury sports sedan || Third of three Audi references. The A6, the one referenced here, is their executive car. Actually, the A7, their executive liftback sedan, would fit the prompt of "luxury sports sedan" better, but 37-Down only has room for six As. || 6
|-
| 38-Down || A half-dozen eggs with reasonably firm yolks || Eggs can be [https://www.saudereggs.com/blog/egg-grading-system/ "graded on a variety of aspects"], with grades B, A, or AA. Eggs with a reasonably firm yolk are graded A, so having half a dozen of them gives you AAAAAA eggs. || 6
|-
| 39-Down || 2-2-2-2-2-2 on a multitap phone keypad || A "{{w|multi-tap|multitap keyboard}}" is a text entry system for mobile phones. Most numbers are associated with three letters, and tapping the same number multiple times in rapid succession selects the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd number. 2 is "A", 22 is "B", 222 is "C", 3 is "D", etc. 2-2-2-2-2-2 translates to "AAAAAA". || 6
|-
| 40-Down || .- .- .- .- .- .- || .- is {{w|Morse Code}} for A. It reads out as AAAAAA. || 6
|-
| 42-Down || Rating for China’s best tourist attractions || China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism provides ratings for many tourist attractions in China on a scale from A to AAAAA, with AAAAA being the best. Examples of well-known tourist attractions with the AAAAA rating include the {{w|Forbidden City}}, sections of the {{w|Great Wall of China}}, and the {{w|Terracotta Army}}. || 5
|-
| 43-Down || Standard drumstick size || 5A is a common, middle-range size for drumsticks (the sticks used to play drums, not the drumsticks that get eaten). Here, it's written as AAAAA. || 5
|-
| 45-Down || “The rain/in Spain/falls main-/ly on the plain” rhyme scheme || An AAAA {{w|rhyme scheme}} means each of the four lines ends with the same sound. || 4
|}

==Transcript==
:[A square 15x15 crossword puzzle is shown. Only 21 of the 225 squares are black. The black squares are in a pattern that are 180 degree rotationally symmetrical. Three black squares down from the 11th column and similarly three black squares up from the 5th column. Three black squares out from the right in row 7 and then two more black squares diagonally up from the end. Similarly three black squares out from the left in row 9 with two more black squares diagonally down from the end. A single black square is three above the first black square on the diagonal going down to the right and similarly there is a black square three under the first of the diagonal squares going down to the left. (Row 6 column 12 and Row 10 column 4). Finally there are three black squares on a diagonal crossing over the central point by going up from the left through the central point (Row 8 column 8). There are numbers at the top of every column (except the one that is a black square) and similarly at the left edge of all rows (except the one that is a black square). There are also numbers at the bottom of every black segment (except the one that reaches the bottom) and all rows after black segments except the one that reaches the right edge. In total all numbers from 1 to 51 are written. They are written in reading order from 1 to 51.]
:1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51

:[Below the square there are two columns of clues for each number that belongs to across (rows) and to the right there is one column of clues for each number that belongs to down (columns). Both segments have an underlined and bold title above the clues. ]
:<big>'''Across'''</big>
:1. Famous Pvt. Wilhelm quote
:11. IPv6 address record
:15. "CIPHERTEXT" decrypted with Vigenère key "CIPHERTEXT"
:16. 8mm diameter battery
:17. "Warthog" attack aircraft
:18. '''E'''ve'''r'''y t'''h'''ir'''d''' le'''t'''te'''r''' in the word for "inability to visualize"
:19. An acrostic hidden on the first page of the dictionary
:21. Default paper size in Europe
:22. First four unary strings
:23. Lysine codon
:24. 40 CFR Part 63 subpart concerning asphalt pollution
:25. Top bond credit rating
:26. Audi coupe
:27. A pair of small remote batteries, when inserted
:29. Unofficial Howard Dean slogan
:32. A 4.0 report card
:33. The "Harlem Globetrotters of baseball" (vowels only)
:34. 2018 Kiefer song
:35. Top Minor League tier
:36. Reply elicited by a dentist
:38. ANAA's airport
:41. Macaulay Culkin's review of aftershave
:43. Marketing agency trade grp.
:44. Soaring climax of Linda Eder's ''Man of La Mancha''
:46. Military flight community org.
:47. Iconic line from ''Tarzan''
:48. '''E''''''v''''''e''''''r''''''y'''''' o''''''t''''''h''''''e''''''r''' letter of Jimmy Wales's birth state
:49. Warthog's postscript after "They call me ''mister'' pig!"
:50. Message to Elsa in ''Frozen 2''
:51. Lola, when betting it all on Black 20 in ''Run Lola Run''

:<big>'''Down'''</big>
:1. Game featuring "a reckless disregard for gravity"
:2. 1010101010101010101010102→16
:3. Google phone released July '22
:4. It's five times better than that ''other'' steak sauce
:5. ToHex(43690)
:6. Freddie Mercury lyric from ''Under Pressure''
:7. Full-size Audi luxury sedan
:8. Fast path through a multiple choice marketing survey
:9. 12356631 in base 26
:10. Viral Jimmy Barnes chorus
:11. Ruby Rhod catchphrase
:12. badbeef + 9efcebbb
:13. In Wet Leg's ''Ur Mum'', what the singer has been practicing
:14. Refrain from Nora Reed bot
:20. Mario button presses to ascend Minas Tirith's walls
:24. Vermont historic route north from Bennington
:26. High-budget video game
:28. Unorthodox Tic-Tac-Toe win
:29. String whose SHA-256 hash ends "...689510285e212385"
:30. Arnold's remark to the Predator
:31. The vowels in the fire salamander's binomial name
:32. Janet Leigh ''Psycho'' line
:34. Seven 440Hz pulses
:37. Audi luxury sports sedan
:38. A half-dozen eggs with reasonably firm yolks
:39. 2-2-2-2-2-2 on a multitap phone keypad
:40. .- .- .- .- .- .-
:42. Rating for China's best tourist attractions
:43. Standard drumstick size
:45. "The rain/in Spain/falls main-/ly on the plain" rhyme scheme

==Trivia==
*This comic got a [[Header_text#A_Crossword_Puzzle|comic-specific header text]] after the first day it was up.
**This was because one of the comics Randall lists as one of those he enjoys, [https://www.buttersafe.com/ Buttersafe], had already posted a similar comic back in 2011: [https://www.buttersafe.com/2011/02/17/crosswords/ Crosswords].
**Randall had forgotten this, but now pays tribute to this, stating that he must have been accidentally inspired by that comic.
*[[User:Elfakyn|Elfakyn]] posted a link to a picture of the solved crossword puzzle in the [[Talk:2957:_A_Crossword_Puzzle#Solved_puzzle_picture|comments]] and allowed it to be included here:
[[File:2957_A-Crossword_Puzzle-Solved.png|500px|center]]
*All the black squares are in a symmetrical pattern, which is generally the case for crossword puzzles in the US and UK. See description of the pattern in the [[#Transcript|transcript]].
*Crosswords have been mentioned previously in [[2896: Crossword Constructors]].
*Out of 60 clues in the puzzle, 10 are references to screaming or yelling, making the puzzle approximately 17% screams.
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Video games]]

2957: A Crossword Puzzle

2024-07-12T17:39:03Z

Usb-rave: typography copyedits

2957: A Crossword Puzzle

2024-07-12T17:31:30Z

Usb-rave:

{{comic
| number = 2957
| date = July 10, 2024
| title = A Crossword Puzzle
| image = a_crossword_puzzle_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x937px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hint: If you ever encounter this puzzle in a crossword app, just [term for someone with a competitive and high-achieving personality].
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CROSSWORD MAKER FREE FALLING - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{notice|<big>'''SPOILER ALERT!'''</big> If you read on without trying to look at the crossword clues first, the joke is spoiled and your chance of finding out the joke yourself is gone instantly!|image=warning!!.png}}

This is a crossword puzzle. On a surface level, the answers seem extremely difficult, with questions covering a wide variety of trivia, linguistics, mathematics in various forms, alongside wordplay typical of crossword puzzles. But the joke is that every single letter of every single answer is "A".

The name of this comic, “A Crossword Puzzle”, is a double entendre; the “A” can be interpreted both as the indefinite article “a”, and as an identifier saying that this crossword puzzle is specifically an “A” puzzle, due to the answer being all “a”s.

The title text is a play on a "type A" personality. The term for someone with a competitive and high-achieving personality is "Type A". In the context of the title text, this answer is a hint that the entire puzzle can be completed in a crossword-solving app by typing the letter A repeatedly.

===Explanation of clues===
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|-
! Location !! Clue !! Explanation !! Squares
|-
| 1-Across || Famous Pvt. Wilhelm quote || Reference to the {{w|Wilhelm scream}}. || 10
|-
| 11-Across || {{w|IPv6}} address record || An IPv4 record is an "A" record; an IPv6 record is four times the length and is designated an "AAAA" record. || 4
|-
| 15-Across || “CIPHERTEXT” decrypted with Vigenère key “CIPHERTEXT” || A "{{w|Vigenère Cipher}}" translates the original text by the distance from A from the key, letter by letter. For instance, if the plaintext is "XK" and the key is "CD", the C shifts X 2 forward to become Z, and the D shifts K 3 forward to become N, yielding a ciphertext of "ZN". Since the ciphertext and the key are the same in this case, decryption just shifts all the letters back to A, akin to subtracting a number from itself and getting 0. || 10
|-
| 16-Across || 8mm diameter battery || An {{w|AAAA battery}} is a 1.5 V battery that measures 8.3 mm in diameter, 2.2 mm smaller than the more common AAA battery. || 4
|-
| 17-Across || “Warthog” attack aircraft || The {{w|A-10 Warthog}} is an attack aircraft. Here, A-10 has been turned into AAAAAAAAAA (ten As). || 10
|-
| 18-Across || '''E'''ve'''r'''y t'''h'''ir'''d''' le'''t'''te'''r''' in the word for “inability to visualize” || {{w|Aphantasia}} is the inability to experience mental images. Following the example of the pattern in the clue, taking the first letter and every third one after (rather than just every third letter) we determine that '''A'''ph'''a'''nt'''a'''si'''a''' gives us the word "aaaa". This clue is particularly mean because of how it instructs you to visualize the letters highlighted within the word in order to get the answer. || 4
|-
| 19-Across || An {{w|acrostic}} hidden on the first page of the dictionary || The first page of the dictionary (if you ignore the copyright page and the index) is the list of words starting with A. An acrostic of this page, taking the first letter of each line and arranging them in order, would just be a sequence of As. || 15
|-
| 21-Across || Default paper size in Europe || {{w|A4 paper}} (here written as AAAA) is the default size in Europe. At 210x297 mm, it is approximately 0.24" narrower and 0.71" longer than the 8.5"x11" paper used in the United States, and due to having an aspect ratio of 1:sqrt(2), can be cut in half to create two half-sized sheets with exactly the same aspect ratio. || 4
|-
| 22-Across || First four unary strings || A unary number system represents numbers using just one symbol. For example, 7 in unary would be 1111111. The first four strings in unary, if you used A as the first (and only) symbol, would be A, AA, AAA, AAAA. || 10
|-
| 23-Across || Lysine codon || {{w|Lysine}} is an amino acid, with codons AAA and AAG. || 3
|-
| 24-Across || 40 CFR Part 63 subpart concerning asphalt pollution || [https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-40/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-63?toc=1 "40 CFR Part 63"] refers to federal air pollutant regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations. The subpart for "asphalt processing and asphalt roofing manufacturing" is AAAAAAA. || 7
|-
| 25-Across || Top bond credit rating || The highest {{w|credit rating}} for bonds is AAA. || 3
|-
| 26-Across || Audi coupe || First of three Audi references. {{w|List_of_Audi_vehicles|Audi's car models}} range from A1 (subcompact hatchback) to A8 (full-size luxury sedan); the A5, the one referenced here, is a compact executive {{w|coupe}}. || 5
|-
| 27-Across || A pair of small remote batteries, when inserted || Two {{w|AAA_battery|AAA}} batteries, which are often used to power remote controls for domestic devices. These have been combined to give AAAAAA — "Inserted" is often a cryptic hint that one word should surround another, although such a cryptic clue would normally also contain a more direct clue (albeit ambiguously) to the full answer. || 6
|-
| 29-Across || Unofficial Howard Dean slogan || A reference to Howard Dean, an American Democrat who ran for the party's nomination in 2004. He famously [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6i-gYRAwM0 yelled at a rally] in a way that was thought to be bizarre and which, it is thought, doomed his campaign. || 7
|-
| 32-Across || A 4.0 report card || A 4.0 GPA, at least {{w|Academic_grading_in_the_United_States|in the USA}}, is all As. This clue assumes seven classes. || 7
|-
| 33-Across || The “Harlem Globetrotters of baseball” (vowels only) || The {{w|Savannah Bananas}}, the vowels for whom are aaaaaa. || 6
|-
| 34-Across || 2018 Kiefer song || [https://genius.com/Kiefer-aaaaa-lyrics AAAAA]. || 5
|-
| 35-Across || Top Minor League tier || The top {{w|Minor League Baseball}} tier is AAA. || 3
|-
| 36-Across || Reply elicited by a dentist || Dentists ask patients to "say aaaaaaa", i.e., "open up". This could also be an expression of pain, particularly the only kind you can make with dental tools in your mouth. (As the band {{w|Autechre}} put it, [https://youtu.be/UppsLKz1iD4 "Now, I don't want you to panic... just lean back and relax."]) || 7
|-
| 38-Across || Anaa’s airport || {{w|Anaa}} is an atoll in the {{w|Tuamotu archipelago}} of {{w|French Polynesia}}. AAA is the {{w|IATA}} code for its airport. || 3
|-
| 41-Across || Macaulay Culkin’s review of aftershave || In the movie {{w|Home Alone}}, Kevin (played by {{w|Macaulay Culkin}}) puts on his father's aftershave lotion. The six-year-old boy is not used to the lotion's antiseptic and screams as the stinging sensation kicks in. || 10
|-
| 43-Across || Marketing agency trade grp. || The {{w|American Association of Advertising Agencies}}, also called the 4As (here AAAA). || 4
|-
| 44-Across || Soaring climax of Linda Eder’s ''Man of La Mancha'' || Refers to [https://youtu.be/BWP7l0OTXJI?t=130 the 18-second-long wordless passage in Eder's opus], or possibly the final high note in the song The Impossible Dream. || 15
|-
| 46-Across || Military flight community org. || The {{w|Army Aviation Association of America}}, or AAAA. || 4
|-
| 47-Across || Iconic line from ''Tarzan'' || Tarzan has a famous {{w|Tarzan yell|war cry}} he shouts, usually when swinging from a vine. || 10
|-
| 48-Across || '''E'''v'''e'''r'''y''' o'''t'''h'''e'''r letter of Jimmy Wales’s birth state || The birth state of {{w|Jimmy Wales}}, the co-founder of Wikipedia, is Alabama. Taking every other letter of '''A'''l'''a'''b'''a'''m'''a''' gives "Aaaa". || 4
|-
| 49-Across || Warthog’s postscript after “They call me ''mister'' pig!” || Pumba in {{w|The Lion King}} yells "aaaaaaaaaa" while charging at the hyenas who insulted him. || 10
|-
| 50-Across || Message to Elsa in ''Frozen 2'' || The call which Elsa hears in {{w|Frozen 2}} is a sequence of four notes which resemble the requiem music {{w|Dies Irae#Music|Dies irae}}. The sequence is sung entirely with an open rounded vowel sound, or a soft "a" sound. || 4
|-
| 51-Across || Lola, when betting it all on Black 20 in ''Run Lola Run'' || In ''{{w|Run Lola Run}}'', Lola ({{w|Franka Potente}}) [https://youtu.be/OTSz1w-cuZM?si=2vc51WCWvn20Hjoo&t=116 screams loud enough to affect the outcome] of a roulette wheel where she has just bet all her money on Black 20. The scream could be transcribed as "AAAAAAAAAA" || 10
|-
| 1-Down || Game featuring “a reckless disregard for gravity” || {{w|AaAaAA!!! – A Reckless Disregard for Gravity}} - notably the title is commonly extended in promotional material beyond 6 As. || 6
|-
| 2-Down || 1010101010101010101010102→16 || 10101010 10101010 10101010 in binary is equivalent to "AAAAAA" in hexadecimal. || 6
|-
| 3-Down || Google phone released July ’22 || The {{w|Pixel 6a}} was released in July 22. Stylized in this puzzle as "AAAAAA" ('A'*6) || 6
|-
| 4-Down || It’s five times better than that ''other'' steak sauce || Five times better than {{w|A1 steak sauce}} would be A5, stylized in this puzzle as AAAAA. || 5
|-
| 5-Down || ToHex(43690) || The decimal number 43690 converted to hexadecimal is AAAA. || 4
|-
| 6-Down || Freddie Mercury lyric from ''Under Pressure'' || A drawn-out 'Aaaaahhhh' rising in pitch. || 15
|-
| 7-Down || Full-size Audi luxury sedan || Second of three Audi references. As mentioned previously, the A8 referenced here is their full-size luxury sedan. || 8
|-
| 8-Down || Fast path through a multiple choice marketing survey || The "fast path" is just to select the first option over and over again. Usually the options are labeled A, B, C, and D (or more) - choosing the first option for every question would be answering entirely with As. || 7
|-
| 9-Down || 12356631 in base 26 || Randall is expressing base 26 using the letters of the alphabet with 1=A, in which case 1235663110 = AAAAAA26. (It's unclear how one would express the digit 026 this way.) || 6
|-
| 10-Down || Viral Jimmy Barnes chorus || A reference to the music video for Kirin J Callinan's song '{{w|Big Enough}}', which features rocker {{w|Jimmy Barnes}} in a cowboy hat screaming "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" while in the sky over mountain scenes. || 15
|-
| 11-Down || Ruby Rhod catchphrase || Ruby Rhod is a radio host in the film '{{w|The Fifth Element}}'; he has a scene with a memorable scream. || 5
|-
| 12-Down || badbeef + 9efcebbb || In hexadecimal, badbeef and 9efcebbb add together to equal AAAAAAAA (195,935,983, 2,667,375,547, and 2,863,311,530 in decimal respectively). || 8
|-
| 13-Down || In Wet Leg’s ''Ur Mum'', what the singer has been practicing || In the song "{{w|Ur Mum}}" by {{w|Wet Leg}}, the bridge starts with "Okay, I've been practicing my longest and loudest scream", which is apparently eight As long. || 8
|-
| 14-Down || Refrain from Nora Reed bot || The "Endless Scream" bot on social media, made by Nora Reed, posts "AAAAAAAAAAA" (with or without an h) at varying lengths. || 8
|-
| 20-Down || Mario button presses to ascend Minas Tirith’s walls || In Mario games you typically use the A button to jump. In games where you don't press a button to move (e.g., games with a joystick), then the button presses required to ascend a vertical structure would probably all be A. This clue might have been inspired by the {{w|A-button challenge}} / [https://ukikipedia.net/wiki/A_Button_Challenge A Button Challenge], which tallies the number of A presses needed to beat ''Super Mario 64''. Additionally, {{w|Minas Tirith}} is a fictional city in {{w|Lord of the Rings}} with seven concentric rings, each with a wall around it and higher than the last ring. Presumably, it takes seven jumps to get to the highest area of the city, so the answer is "AAAAAAA". || 7
|-
| 24-Down || Vermont historic route north from Bennington || {{w|Vermont Route 7A}}, or AAAAAAA. || 7
|-
| 26-Down || High-budget video game || A high-budget video game is usually referred to as a Triple-A game, or AAA. || 3
|-
| 28-Down || Unorthodox Tic-tac-toe win || {{w|Tic-tac-toe}} is usually won by getting either three Xs or three Os in a row, making XXX and OOO normal Tic-tac-toe wins. One could achieve a win of AAA by making the unorthodox choice of playing with the letter A instead of X or O. Alternatively, Randall is envisaging the grid as defined by rows 1, 2, 3, and columns A, B, C, so an AAA win would be simply playing in the first column each time - a strategy which should be obvious and easy to stop, even for young children who have not yet worked out that ''any'' route to winning can be blocked. || 3
|-
| 29-Down || String whose SHA-256 hash ends “…689510285e212385” || <code>printf AAAAAAAA <nowiki>|</nowiki> sha256sum</code> outputs <code>c34ab6abb7b2bb595bc25c3b388c872fd1d575819a8f55cc689510285e212385</code>.
Note that this 'clue' would be normally be ''particularly'' difficult, in isolation, as the nature of a {{w|hash function}} means that it is possible for multiple inputs to produce a given output, and that finding any of these (and definitely identifying ''all'' of them, to ensure you have the correct original) would require a {{w|brute-force attack}}; i.e. a test of all possible initial states to discover which of them might be viable candidates. Even more problematic is that we are only given a partial hash string, meaning we are possibly talking of a multiple of full hashes, each of them with a possible multiplicity of original plaintexts behind them.
 The number of possible hashes in the clue is 1664/1616, i.e. 1648, or approximately 6x1054, although there really is no reason (aside from the fundamental impracticality) to try to solve this problem from each and every 'hash end'. Instead you would 'only' check every combination of 8 letters (presuming no digits, punctuation or whitespace would be inserted, that no 'foreign'/accented characters are present and that uppercase is universally presumed, is 268; i.e. ~208 {{w|billion|short-scale billion}} possibilities) and discover which (one?) of these sufficiently matches the hash fragment given. Testing a hundred of these every second, it would take a little over 66 ''years'' to complete the task of checking every single possibility (rather than stopping at the first confirmed answer, which might well be the initial one in this particular case).
 In the context of a crossword such as this, however, you can significantly reduce this search by having established (or at least sufficiently narrowed down) the answers to the various across-clues which intersect with ever character of it (this form of crossword grid being of the {{w|Crossword#American-style crosswords|dense type}}, with no singly-clued spaces as with the more open lattice-types), reducing the necessary checks drastically. This could mean, having solved at least some of the perpendicular answers, that you have enough information to 'guess' at some likely answer, and then merely need to ''confirm'' that whatever guess(es) you make will resolve themselves into the clue-answer provided. (Much as you might with a more normally difficult clue, where you merely have to satisfy yourself that the surprise answer is at least justified as resulting from the original hint.)
| 8
|-
| 30-Down || Arnold’s remark to the Predator || A reference to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsFYPVxHKdc this scene] from '{{w|Predator (film)|Predator}}'. || 8
|-
| 31-Down || The vowels in the fire salamander’s binomial name || The vowels in {{w|Salamandra salamandra}} are aaaaaaaa. || 8
|-
| 32-Down || Janet Leigh ''Psycho'' line || The iconic scene in ''{{w|Psycho (1960 film)|Psycho}}'' is the shower scene, in which {{w|Janet Leigh}} gives a long piercing scream as she is murdered. This can be written as 8 As if one wishes. || 8
|-
| 34-Down || Seven 440Hz pulses || A sound with a frequency of 440 Hz is a middle "A" note. Seven such pulses would be AAAAAAA. || 7
|-
| 37-Down || Audi luxury sports sedan || Third of three Audi references. The A6, the one referenced here, is their executive car. Actually, the A7, their executive liftback sedan, would fit the prompt of "luxury sports sedan" better, but 37-Down only has room for six As. || 6
|-
| 38-Down || A half-dozen eggs with reasonably firm yolks || Eggs can be [https://www.saudereggs.com/blog/egg-grading-system/ "graded on a variety of aspects"], with grades B, A, or AA. Eggs with a reasonably firm yolk are graded A, so having half a dozen of them gives you AAAAAA eggs. || 6
|-
| 39-Down || 2-2-2-2-2-2 on a multitap phone keypad || A "{{w|multi-tap|multitap keyboard}}" is a text entry system for mobile phones. Most numbers are associated with three letters, and tapping the same number multiple times in rapid succession selects the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd number. 2 is "A", 22 is "B", 222 is "C", 3 is "D", etc. 2-2-2-2-2-2 translates to "AAAAAA". || 6
|-
| 40-Down || .- .- .- .- .- .- || .- is {{w|Morse Code}} for A. It reads out as AAAAAA. || 6
|-
| 42-Down || Rating for China’s best tourist attractions || China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism provides ratings for many tourist attractions in China on a scale from A to AAAAA, with AAAAA being the best. Examples of well-known tourist attractions with the AAAAA rating include the {{w|Forbidden City}}, sections of the {{w|Great Wall of China}}, and the {{w|Terracotta Army}}. || 5
|-
| 43-Down || Standard drumstick size || 5A is a common, middle-range size for drumsticks (the sticks used to play drums, not the drumsticks that get eaten). Here, it's written as AAAAA. || 5
|-
| 45-Down || “The rain/in Spain/falls main-/ly on the plain” rhyme scheme || An AAAA {{w|rhyme scheme}} means each of the four lines ends with the same sound. || 4
|}

==Transcript==
:[A square 15x15 crossword puzzle is shown. Only 21 of the 225 squares are black. The black squares are in a pattern that are 180 degree rotationally symmetrical. Three black squares down from the 11th column and similarly three black squares up from the 5th column. Three black squares out from the right in row 7 and then two more black squares diagonally up from the end. Similarly three black squares out from the left in row 9 with two more black squares diagonally down from the end. A single black square is three above the first black square on the diagonal going down to the right and similarly there is a black square three under the first of the diagonal squares going down to the left. (Row 6 column 12 and Row 10 column 4). Finally there are three black squares on a diagonal crossing over the central point by going up from the left through the central point (Row 8 column 8). There are numbers at the top of every column (except the one that is a black square) and similarly at the left edge of all rows (except the one that is a black square). There are also numbers at the bottom of every black segment (except the one that reaches the bottom) and all rows after black segments except the one that reaches the right edge. In total all numbers from 1 to 51 are written. They are written in reading order from 1 to 51.]
:1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51

:[Below the square there are two columns of clues for each number that belongs to across (rows) and to the right there is one column of clues for each number that belongs to down (columns). Both segments have an underlined and bold title above the clues. ]
:<big>'''Across'''</big>
:1. Famous Pvt. Wilhelm quote
:11. IPv6 address record
:15. "CIPHERTEXT" decrypted with Vigenère key "CIPHERTEXT"
:16. 8mm diameter battery
:17. "Warthog" attack aircraft
:18. '''E'''ve'''r'''y t'''h'''ir'''d''' le'''t'''te'''r''' in the word for "inability to visualize"
:19. An acrostic hidden on the first page of the dictionary
:21. Default paper size in Europe
:22. First four unary strings
:23. Lysine codon
:24. 40 CFR Part 63 subpart concerning asphalt pollution
:25. Top bond credit rating
:26. Audi coupe
:27. A pair of small remote batteries, when inserted
:29. Unofficial Howard Dean slogan
:32. A 4.0 report card
:33. The "Harlem Globetrotters of baseball" (vowels only)
:34. 2018 Kiefer song
:35. Top Minor League tier
:36. Reply elicited by a dentist
:38. ANAA's airport
:41. Macaulay Culkin's review of aftershave
:43. Marketing agency trade grp.
:44. Soaring climax of Linda Eder's ''Man of La Mancha''
:46. Military flight community org.
:47. Iconic line from ''Tarzan''
:48. '''E''''''v''''''e''''''r''''''y'''''' o''''''t''''''h''''''e''''''r''' letter of Jimmy Wales's birth state
:49. Warthog's postscript after "They call me ''mister'' pig!"
:50. Message to Elsa in ''Frozen 2''
:51. Lola, when betting it all on Black 20 in ''Run Lola Run''

:<big>'''Down'''</big>
:1. Game featuring "a reckless disregard for gravity"
:2. 1010101010101010101010102→16
:3. Google phone released July '22
:4. It's five times better than that ''other'' steak sauce
:5. ToHex(43690)
:6. Freddie Mercury lyric from ''Under Pressure''
:7. Full-size Audi luxury sedan
:8. Fast path through a multiple choice marketing survey
:9. 12356631 in base 26
:10. Viral Jimmy Barnes chorus
:11. Ruby Rhod catchphrase
:12. badbeef + 9efcebbb
:13. In Wet Leg's ''Ur Mum'', what the singer has been practicing
:14. Refrain from Nora Reed bot
:20. Mario button presses to ascend Minas Tirith's walls
:24. Vermont historic route north from Bennington
:26. High-budget video game
:28. Unorthodox Tic-Tac-Toe win
:29. String whose SHA-256 hash ends "...689510285e212385"
:30. Arnold's remark to the Predator
:31. The vowels in the fire salamander's binomial name
:32. Janet Leigh ''Psycho'' line
:34. Seven 440Hz pulses
:37. Audi luxury sports sedan
:38. A half-dozen eggs with reasonably firm yolks
:39. 2-2-2-2-2-2 on a multitap phone keypad
:40. .- .- .- .- .- .-
:42. Rating for China's best tourist attractions
:43. Standard drumstick size
:45. "The rain/in Spain/falls main-/ly on the plain" rhyme scheme

==Trivia==
*This comic got a [[Header_text#A_Crossword_Puzzle|comic-specific header text]] after the first day it was up.
**This was because one of the comics Randall lists as one of those he enjoys, [https://www.buttersafe.com/ Buttersafe], had already posted a similar comic back in 2011: [https://www.buttersafe.com/2011/02/17/crosswords/ Crosswords].
**Randall had forgotten this, but now pays tribute to this, stating that he must have been accidentally inspired by that comic.
*[[User:Elfakyn|Elfakyn]] posted a link to a picture of the solved crossword puzzle in the [[Talk:2957:_A_Crossword_Puzzle#Solved_puzzle_picture|comments]] and allowed it to be included here:
[[File:2957_A-Crossword_Puzzle-Solved.png|500px|center]]
*All the black squares are in a symmetrical pattern, which is generally the case for crossword puzzles in the US and UK. See description of the pattern in the [[#Transcript|transcript]].
*Crosswords have been mentioned previously in [[2896: Crossword Constructors]].
*Out of 60 clues in the puzzle, 10 are references to screaming or yelling, making the puzzle approximately 17% screams.
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Language]]

2957: A Crossword Puzzle

2024-07-12T15:00:58Z

Usb-rave: /* Trivia */ added item

{{comic
| number = 2957
| date = July 10, 2024
| title = A Crossword Puzzle
| image = a_crossword_puzzle_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x937px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hint: If you ever encounter this puzzle in a crossword app, just [term for someone with a competitive and high-achieving personality].
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CROSSWORD MAKER FREE FALLING - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{notice|<big>'''SPOILER ALERT!'''</big> If you read on without trying to look at the crossword clues first, the joke is spoiled and your chance of finding out the joke yourself is gone instantly!|image=warning!!.png}}

This is a crossword puzzle. On a surface level, the answers seem extremely difficult, with questions covering a wide variety of trivia, linguistics, mathematics in various forms, alongside wordplay typical of crossword puzzles. But the joke is that every single letter of every single answer is "A".

The name of this comic, “A Crossword Puzzle”, is a double entendre; the “A” can be interpreted both as the indefinite article “a”, and as an identifier saying that this crossword puzzle is specifically an “A” puzzle, due to the answer being all “a”s.

The title text is a play on a "type A" personality. The term for someone with a competitive and high-achieving personality is "Type A". In the context of the title text, this answer is a hint that the entire puzzle can be completed in a crossword-solving app by typing the letter A repeatedly.

===Explanation of clues===
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|-
! Location !! Clue !! Explanation !! Squares
|-
| 1-Across || Famous Pvt. Wilhelm quote || Reference to the {{w|Wilhelm scream}}. || 10
|-
| 11-Across || {{w|IPv6}} address record || An IPv4 record is an "A" record; an IPv6 record is four times the length and is designated an "AAAA" record. || 4
|-
| 15-Across || “CIPHERTEXT” decrypted with Vigenère key “CIPHERTEXT” || A "{{w|Vigenère Cipher}}" translates the original text by the distance from A from the key, letter by letter. For instance, if the plaintext is "XK" and the key is "CD", the C shifts X 2 forward to become Z, and the D shifts K 3 forward to become N, yielding a ciphertext of "ZN". Since the ciphertext and the key are the same in this case, decryption just shifts all the letters back to A, akin to subtracting a number from itself and getting 0. || 10
|-
| 16-Across || 8mm diameter battery || An {{w|AAAA battery}} is a 1.5 V battery that measures 8.3 mm in diameter, 2.2 mm smaller than the more common AAA battery. || 4
|-
| 17-Across || “Warthog” attack aircraft || The {{w|A-10 Warthog}} is an attack aircraft. Here, A-10 has been turned into AAAAAAAAAA (ten As). || 10
|-
| 18-Across || '''E'''ve'''r'''y t'''h'''ir'''d''' le'''t'''te'''r''' in the word for “inability to visualize” || {{w|Aphantasia}} is the inability to experience mental images. Following the example of the pattern in the clue, taking the first letter and every third one after (rather than just every third letter) we determine that '''A'''ph'''a'''nt'''a'''si'''a''' gives us the word "aaaa". This clue is particularly mean because of how it instructs you to visualize the letters highlighted within the word in order to get the answer. || 4
|-
| 19-Across || An {{w|acrostic}} hidden on the first page of the dictionary || The first page of the dictionary (if you ignore the copyright page and the index) is the list of words starting with A. An acrostic of this page, taking the first letter of each line and arranging them in order, would just be a sequence of As. || 10
|-
| 21-Across || Default paper size in Europe || {{w|A4 paper}} (here written as AAAA) is the default size in Europe. At 210x297 mm, it is approximately 0.24" narrower and 0.71" longer than the 8.5"x11" paper used in the United States, and due to having an aspect ratio of 1:sqrt(2), can be cut in half to create two half-sized sheets with exactly the same aspect ratio. || 4
|-
| 22-Across || First four unary strings || A unary number system represents numbers using just one symbol. For example, 7 in unary would be 1111111. The first four strings in unary, if you used A as the first (and only) symbol, would be A, AA, AAA, AAAA. || 10
|-
| 23-Across || Lysine codon || {{w|Lysine}} is an amino acid, with codons AAA and AAG. || 3
|-
| 24-Across || 40 CFR Part 63 subpart concerning asphalt pollution || [https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-40/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-63?toc=1 "40 CFR Part 63"] refers to federal air pollutant regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations. The subpart for "asphalt processing and asphalt roofing manufacturing" is AAAAAAA. || 7
|-
| 25-Across || Top bond credit rating || The highest {{w|credit rating}} for bonds is AAA. || 3
|-
| 26-Across || Audi coupe || First of three Audi references. {{w|List_of_Audi_vehicles|Audi's car models}} range from A1 (subcompact hatchback) to A8 (full-size luxury sedan); the A5, the one referenced here, is a compact executive {{w|coupe}}. || 5
|-
| 27-Across || A pair of small remote batteries, when inserted || Two {{w|AAA_battery|AAA}} batteries, which are often used to power remote controls for domestic devices. These have been combined to give AAAAAA — "Inserted" is often a cryptic hint that one word should surround another, although such a cryptic clue would normally also contain a more direct clue (albeit ambiguously) to the full answer. || 6
|-
| 29-Across || Unofficial Howard Dean slogan || A reference to Howard Dean, an American Democrat who ran for the party's nomination in 2004. He famously [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6i-gYRAwM0 yelled at a rally] in a way that was thought to be bizarre and which, it is thought, doomed his campaign. || 7
|-
| 32-Across || A 4.0 report card || A 4.0 GPA, at least {{w|Academic_grading_in_the_United_States|in the USA}}, is all As. This clue assumes seven classes. || 7
|-
| 33-Across || The “Harlem Globetrotters of baseball” (vowels only) || The {{w|Savannah Bananas}}, the vowels for whom are aaaaaa. || 6
|-
| 34-Across || 2018 Kiefer song || [https://genius.com/Kiefer-aaaaa-lyrics AAAAA]. || 5
|-
| 35-Across || Top Minor League tier || The top {{w|Minor League Baseball}} tier is AAA. || 3
|-
| 36-Across || Reply elicited by a dentist || Dentists ask patients to "say aaaaaaa", i.e., "open up". This could also be an expression of pain, particularly the only kind you can make with dental tools in your mouth. (As the band {{w|Autechre}} put it, [https://youtu.be/UppsLKz1iD4 "Now, I don't want you to panic... just lean back and relax."]) || 7
|-
| 38-Across || Anaa’s airport || {{w|Anaa}} is an atoll in the {{w|Tuamotu archipelago}} of {{w|French Polynesia}}. AAA is the {{w|IATA}} code for its airport. || 3
|-
| 41-Across || Macaulay Culkin’s review of aftershave || In the movie {{w|Home Alone}}, Kevin (played by {{w|Macaulay Culkin}}) puts on his father's aftershave lotion. The six-year-old boy is not used to the lotion's antiseptic and screams as the stinging sensation kicks in. || 10
|-
| 43-Across || Marketing agency trade grp. || The {{w|American Association of Advertising Agencies}}, also called the 4As (here AAAA). || 4
|-
| 44-Across || Soaring climax of Linda Eder’s ''Man of La Mancha'' || Refers to [https://youtu.be/BWP7l0OTXJI?t=130 the 18-second-long wordless passage in Eder's opus], or possibly the final high note in the song The Impossible Dream. || 10
|-
| 46-Across || Military flight community org. || The {{w|Army Aviation Association of America}}, or AAAA. || 4
|-
| 47-Across || Iconic line from ''Tarzan'' || Tarzan has a famous {{w|Tarzan yell|war cry}} he shouts, usually when swinging from a vine. || 10
|-
| 48-Across || '''E'''v'''e'''r'''y''' o'''t'''h'''e'''r letter of Jimmy Wales’s birth state || The birth state of {{w|Jimmy Wales}}, the co-founder of Wikipedia, is Alabama. Taking every other letter of '''A'''l'''a'''b'''a'''m'''a''' gives "Aaaa". || 4
|-
| 49-Across || Warthog’s postscript after “They call me ''mister'' pig!” || Pumba in {{w|The Lion King}} yells "aaaaaaaaaa" while charging at the hyenas who insulted him. || 10
|-
| 50-Across || Message to Elsa in ''Frozen 2'' || The call which Elsa hears in {{w|Frozen 2}} is a sequence of four notes which resemble the requiem music {{w|Dies Irae#Music|Dies irae}}. The sequence is sung entirely with an open rounded vowel sound, or a soft "a" sound. || 4
|-
| 51-Across || Lola, when betting it all on Black 20 in ''Run Lola Run'' || In ''{{w|Run Lola Run}}'', Lola ({{w|Franka Potente}}) [https://youtu.be/OTSz1w-cuZM?si=2vc51WCWvn20Hjoo&t=116 screams loud enough to affect the outcome] of a roulette wheel where she has just bet all her money on Black 20. The scream could be transcribed as "AAAAAAAAAAA" || 10
|-
| 1-Down || Game featuring “a reckless disregard for gravity” || {{w|AaAaAA!!! – A Reckless Disregard for Gravity}} - notably the title is commonly extended in promotional material beyond 6 As. || 6
|-
| 2-Down || 1010101010101010101010102→16 || 10101010 10101010 10101010 in binary is equivalent to "AAAAAA" in hexadecimal. || 6
|-
| 3-Down || Google phone released July ’22 || The {{w|Pixel 6a}} was released in July 22. Stylized in this puzzle as "AAAAAA" ('A'*6) || 6
|-
| 4-Down || It’s five times better than that ''other'' steak sauce || Five times better than {{w|A1 steak sauce}} would be A5, stylized in this puzzle as AAAAA. || 5
|-
| 5-Down || ToHex(43690) || The decimal number 43690 converted to hexadecimal is AAAA. || 4
|-
| 6-Down || Freddie Mercury lyric from ''Under Pressure'' || A drawn-out 'Aaaaahhhh' rising in pitch. || 15
|-
| 7-Down || Full-size Audi luxury sedan || Second of three Audi references. As mentioned previously, the A8 referenced here is their full-size luxury sedan. || 8
|-
| 8-Down || Fast path through a multiple choice marketing survey || The "fast path" is just to select the first option over and over again. Usually the options are labeled A, B, C, and D (or more) - choosing the first option for every question would be answering entirely with As. || 7
|-
| 9-Down || 12356631 in base 26 || Randall is expressing base 26 using the letters of the alphabet with 1=A, in which case 1235663110 = AAAAAA26. (It's unclear how one would express the digit 026 this way.) || 6
|-
| 10-Down || Viral Jimmy Barnes chorus || A reference to the music video for Kirin J Callinan's song '{{w|Big Enough}}', which features rocker {{w|Jimmy Barnes}} in a cowboy hat screaming "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" while in the sky over mountain scenes. || 15
|-
| 11-Down || Ruby Rhod catchphrase || Ruby Rhod is a radio host in the film '{{w|The Fifth Element}}'; he has a scene with a memorable scream. || 5
|-
| 12-Down || badbeef + 9efcebbb || In hexadecimal, badbeef and 9efcebbb add together to equal AAAAAAAA (195,935,983, 2,667,375,547, and 2,863,311,530 in decimal respectively). || 8
|-
| 13-Down || In Wet Leg’s ''Ur Mum'', what the singer has been practicing || In the song "{{w|Ur Mum}}" by {{w|Wet Leg}}, the bridge starts with "Okay, I've been practicing my longest and loudest scream", which is apparently eight As long. || 8
|-
| 14-Down || Refrain from Nora Reed bot || The "Endless Scream" bot on social media, made by Nora Reed, posts "AAAAAAAAAAA" (with or without an h) at varying lengths. || 8
|-
| 20-Down || Mario button presses to ascend Minas Tirith’s walls || In Mario games you typically use the A button to jump. In games where you don't press a button to move (e.g., games with a joystick), then the button presses required to ascend a vertical structure would probably all be A. This clue might have been inspired by the {{w|A-button challenge}} / [https://ukikipedia.net/wiki/A_Button_Challenge A Button Challenge], which tallies the number of A presses needed to beat ''Super Mario 64''. Additionally, {{w|Minas Tirith}} is a fictional city in {{w|Lord of the Rings}} with seven concentric rings, each with a wall around it and higher than the last ring. Presumably, it takes seven jumps to get to the highest area of the city, so the answer is "AAAAAAA". || 7
|-
| 24-Down || Vermont historic route north from Bennington || {{w|Vermont Route 7A}}, or AAAAAAA. || 7
|-
| 26-Down || High-budget video game || A high-budget video game is usually referred to as a Triple-A game, or AAA. || 3
|-
| 28-Down || Unorthodox Tic-tac-toe win || {{w|Tic-tac-toe}} is usually won by getting either three Xs or three Os in a row, making XXX and OOO normal Tic-tac-toe wins. One could achieve a win of AAA by making the unorthodox choice of playing with the letter A instead of X or O. Alternatively, Randall is envisaging the grid as defined by rows 1, 2, 3, and columns A, B, C, so an AAA win would be simply playing in the first column each time - a strategy which should be obvious and easy to stop, even for young children who have not yet worked out that ''any'' route to winning can be blocked. || 3
|-
| 29-Down || String whose SHA-256 hash ends “…689510285e212385” || <code>printf AAAAAAAA <nowiki>|</nowiki> sha256sum</code> outputs <code>c34ab6abb7b2bb595bc25c3b388c872fd1d575819a8f55cc689510285e212385</code>.
Note that this 'clue' would be normally be ''particularly'' difficult, in isolation, as the nature of a {{w|hash function}} means that it is possible for multiple inputs to produce a given output, and that finding any of these (and definitely identifying ''all'' of them, to ensure you have the correct original) would require a {{w|brute-force attack}}; i.e. a test of all possible initial states to discover which of them might be viable candidates. Even more problematic is that we are only given a partial hash string, meaning we are possibly talking of a multiple of full hashes, each of them with a possible multiplicity of original plaintexts behind them.
 The number of possible hashes in the clue is 1664/1616, i.e. 1648, or approximately 6x1054, although there really is no reason (aside from the fundamental impracticality) to try to solve this problem from each and every 'hash end'. Instead you would 'only' check every combination of 8 letters (presuming no digits, punctuation or whitespace would be inserted, that no 'foreign'/accented characters are present and that uppercase is universally presumed, is 268; i.e. ~208 {{w|billion|short-scale billion}} possibilities) and discover which (one?) of these sufficiently matches the hash fragment given. Testing a hundred of these every second, it would take a little over 66 ''years'' to complete the task of checking every single possibility (rather than stopping at the first confirmed answer, which might well be the initial one in this particular case).
 In the context of a crossword such as this, however, you can significantly reduce this search by having established (or at least sufficiently narrowed down) the answers to the various across-clues which intersect with ever character of it (this form of crossword grid being of the {{w|Crossword#American-style crosswords|dense type}}, with no singly-clued spaces as with the more open lattice-types), reducing the necessary checks drastically. This could mean, having solved at least some of the perpendicular answers, that you have enough information to 'guess' at some likely answer, and then merely need to ''confirm'' that whatever guess(es) you make will resolve themselves into the clue-answer provided. (Much as you might with a more normally difficult clue, where you merely have to satisfy yourself that the surprise answer is at least justified as resulting from the original hint.)
| 8
|-
| 30-Down || Arnold’s remark to the Predator || A reference to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsFYPVxHKdc this scene] from '{{w|Predator (film)|Predator}}'. || 8
|-
| 31-Down || The vowels in the fire salamander’s binomial name || The vowels in {{w|Salamandra salamandra}} are aaaaaaaa. || 8
|-
| 32-Down || Janet Leigh ''Psycho'' line || The iconic scene in ''{{w|Psycho (1960 film)|Psycho}}'' is the shower scene, in which {{w|Janet Leigh}} gives a long piercing scream as she is murdered. This can be written as 8 As if one wishes. || 8
|-
| 34-Down || Seven 440Hz pulses || A sound with a frequency of 440 Hz is a middle "A" note. Seven such pulses would be AAAAAAA. || 7
|-
| 37-Down || Audi luxury sports sedan || Third of three Audi references. The A6, the one referenced here, is their executive car. Actually, the A7, their executive liftback sedan, would fit the prompt of "luxury sports sedan" better, but 37-Down only has room for six As. || 6
|-
| 38-Down || A half-dozen eggs with reasonably firm yolks || Eggs can be [https://www.saudereggs.com/blog/egg-grading-system/ "graded on a variety of aspects"], with grades B, A, or AA. Eggs with a reasonably firm yolk are graded A, so having half a dozen of them gives you AAAAAA eggs. || 6
|-
| 39-Down || 2-2-2-2-2-2 on a multitap phone keypad || A "{{w|multi-tap|multitap keyboard}}" is a text entry system for mobile phones. Most numbers are associated with three letters, and tapping the same number multiple times in rapid succession selects the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd number. 2 is "A", 22 is "B", 222 is "C", 3 is "D", etc. 2-2-2-2-2-2 translates to "AAAAAA". || 6
|-
| 40-Down || .- .- .- .- .- .- || .- is {{w|Morse Code}} for A. It reads out as AAAAAA. || 6
|-
| 42-Down || Rating for China’s best tourist attractions || China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism provides ratings for many tourist attractions in China on a scale from A to AAAAA, with AAAAA being the best. Examples of well-known tourist attractions with the AAAAA rating include the {{w|Forbidden City}}, sections of the {{w|Great Wall of China}}, and the {{w|Terracotta Army}}. || 5
|-
| 43-Down || Standard drumstick size || 5A is a common, middle-range size for drumsticks (the sticks used to play drums, not the drumsticks that get eaten). Here, it's written as AAAAA. || 5
|-
| 45-Down || “The rain/in Spain/falls main-/ly on the plain” rhyme scheme || An AAAA {{w|rhyme scheme}} means each of the four lines ends with the same sound. || 4
|}

==Transcript==
:[A square 15x15 crossword puzzle is shown. Only 21 of the 225 squares are black. The black squares are in a pattern that are 180 degree rotationally symmetrical. Three black squares down from the 11th column and similarly three black squares up from the 5th column. Three black squares out from the right in row 7 and then two more black squares diagonally up from the end. Similarly three black squares out from the left in row 9 with two more black squares diagonally down from the end. A single black square is three above the first black square on the diagonal going down to the right and similarly there is a black square three under the first of the diagonal squares going down to the left. (Row 6 column 12 and Row 10 column 4). Finally there are three black squares on a diagonal crossing over the central point by going up from the left through the central point (Row 8 column 8). There are numbers at the top of every column (except the one that is a black square) and similarly at the left edge of all rows (except the one that is a black square). There are also numbers at the bottom of every black segment (except the one that reaches the bottom) and all rows after black segments except the one that reaches the right edge. In total all numbers from 1 to 51 is written. They are written in reading order from 1 to 51.]
:1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51

:[Below the square there are two columns of clues for each number that belongs to across (rows) and to the right there is one column of clues for each number that belongs to down (columns). Both segments have an underlined and bold title above the clues. ]
:<big>'''Across'''</big>
:1. Famous Pvt. Wilhelm quote
:11. IPv6 address record
:15. "CIPHERTEXT" decrypted with Vigenère key "CIPHERTEXT"
:16. 8mm diameter battery
:17. "Warthog" attack aircraft
:18. '''E'''ve'''r'''y t'''h'''ir'''d''' le'''t'''te'''r''' in the word for "inability to visualize"
:19. An acrostic hidden on the first page of the dictionary
:21. Default paper size in Europe
:22. First four unary strings
:23. Lysine codon
:24. 40 CFR Part 63 subpart concerning asphalt pollution
:25. Top bond credit rating
:26. Audi coupe
:27. A pair of small remote batteries, when inserted
:29. Unofficial Howard Dean slogan
:32. A 4.0 report card
:33. The "Harlem Globetrotters of baseball" (vowels only)
:34. 2018 Kiefer song
:35. Top Minor League tier
:36. Reply elicited by a dentist
:38. ANAA's airport
:41. Macaulay Culkin's review of aftershave
:43. Marketing agency trade grp.
:44. Soaring climax of Linda Eder's ''Man of La Mancha''
:46. Military flight community org.
:47. Iconic line from ''Tarzan''
:48. '''E''''''v''''''e''''''r''''''y'''''' o''''''t''''''h''''''e''''''r''' letter of Jimmy Wales's birth state
:49. Warthog's postscript after "They call me ''mister'' pig!"
:50. Message to Elsa in ''Frozen 2''
:51. Lola, when betting it all on Black 20 in ''Run Lola Run''

:<big>'''Down'''</big>
:1. Game featuring "a reckless disregard for gravity"
:2. 1010101010101010101010102→16
:3. Google phone released July '22
:4. It's five times better than that ''other'' steak sauce
:5. ToHex(43690)
:6. Freddie Mercury lyric from ''Under Pressure''
:7. Full-size Audi luxury sedan
:8. Fast path through a multiple choice marketing survey
:9. 12356631 in base 26
:10. Viral Jimmy Barnes chorus
:11. Ruby Rhod catchphrase
:12. badbeef + 9efcebbb
:13. In Wet Leg's ''Ur Mum'', what the singer has been practicing
:14. Refrain from Nora Reed bot
:20. Mario button presses to ascend Minas Tirith's walls
:24. Vermont historic route north from Bennington
:26. High-budget video game
:28. Unorthodox Tic-Tac-Toe win
:29. String whose SHA-256 hash ends "...689510285e212385"
:30. Arnold's remark to the Predator
:31. The vowels in the fire salamander's binomial name
:32. Janet Leigh ''Psycho'' line
:34. Seven 440Hz pulses
:37. Audi luxury sports sedan
:38. A half-dozen eggs with reasonably firm yolks
:39. 2-2-2-2-2-2 on a multitap phone keypad
:40. .- .- .- .- .- .-
:42. Rating for China's best tourist attractions
:43. Standard drumstick size
:45. "The rain/in Spain/falls main-/ly on the plain" rhyme scheme

==Trivia==
*This comic got a [[Header_text#A_Crossword_Puzzle|comic-specific header text]] after the first day it was up.
**This was because one of the comics Randall lists as one of those he enjoys, [https://www.buttersafe.com/ Buttersafe], had already posted a similar comic back in 2011: [https://www.buttersafe.com/2011/02/17/crosswords/ Crosswords].
**Randall had forgotten this, but now pays tribute to this, stating that he must have been accidentally inspired by that comic.
*[[User:Elfakyn|Elfakyn]] posted a link to a picture of the solved crossword puzzle in the [[Talk:2957:_A_Crossword_Puzzle#Solved_puzzle_picture|comments]] and allowed it to be included here:
[[File:2957_A-Crossword_Puzzle-Solved.png|500px|center]]
*All the black squares are in a symmetrical pattern, which is generally the case for crossword puzzles in the US and UK. See description of the pattern in the [[#Transcript|transcript]].
*Crosswords have been mentioned previously in [[2896: Crossword Constructors]].
*Out of 60 clues in the puzzle, 10 are references to screaming or yelling, making the puzzle approximately 17% screams.
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Language]]

Talk:2957: A Crossword Puzzle

2024-07-12T14:53:37Z

Usb-rave: added comment

compare https://www.buttersafe.com/2011/02/17/crosswords/ --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.236|162.158.158.236]] 20:50, 10 July 2024 (UTC)
:randall has now updated the header for this comic to "Today's comic accidentally inspired by this Buttersafe comic from 2011!" and i feel bad for having spotted the similarity and commented on it within 1 minute of this page's creation --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.248|162.158.62.248]] 03:48, 11 July 2024 (UTC) (same anon as above)
::I have made this [[2957:_A_Crossword_Puzzle#Trivia|trivia]] about it and updated the [[Header text]] with this comics new one. This will ave to be updated after Fridays comic comes out. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:06, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

it's *A* crossword puzzle for a reason ;) -- 21:05, 10 July 2024 (UTC)
:I suspect that that reason is that someone will inevitably compare the information content of solving this crossword puzzle to the information content of narrating 1190. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.35.21|172.70.35.21]] 01:25, 11 July 2024 (UTC) I didn't sign. Was that rude? I'm new here, is it ok if I just ask questions?

i’m trying to table-ify it but i keep getting edit conflicted. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.30.93|172.71.30.93]] 21:24, 10 July 2024 (UTC)

Surprised something like "Jagged and loose Hawaiian lava flow (2)" couldn't be fit in (unless I've missed it). Maybe because there were no two-letter answers at all, of course. (I think... Again, maybe I'm missing them.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.38|172.70.86.38]] 21:30, 10 July 2024 (UTC)
:In most standard American crossword puzzles, two-letter answers are not allowed; the minimum answer length is 3. However, judging from the quality of the fill in this grid, Randall might have considered an answer such as "Two jagged and loose Hawaiian lava flows next to each other (4)" for AAAA. --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.58.128|172.69.58.128]] 03:04, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

unfortunate that [https://tmbw.net/wiki/Aaa "antepenultimate track of They Might Be Giants' ''Glean''"] did not make it in --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.230.200|172.70.230.200]] 21:35, 10 July 2024 (UTC)
:And where is "Fonzie's catch-phrase"? Or does that end with a Y? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 23:02, 10 July 2024 (UTC)

Did I use the calculator wrong, or 12356631 in base 26 equals 111111, not AAAAAA? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.90.180|172.69.90.180]] 22:33, 10 July 2024 (UTC)
:anyone using base 26 is probably likely to be using all 26 letters, instead of ten numbers and sixteen letters. contextless, i would usually assume any base has standard decimal digits, but liberties have already been taken here so why not (please sign)
::I wasn’t sure enough to comment, but it looks like he miscalculated. 26^5 + 26^4 + 26^3 + 26^2 + 26^1 + 26^0 = 12355631 = 111111 in base 26. To be AAAAAA it would have to be 123556310. Of course, maybe he’s using A through Z instead of the expected 0 through 9 followed by letters A through P, the way hexadecimal is. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.52|172.70.210.52]] 23:16, 10 July 2024 (UTC)
:::If he’s using the letters A through Z as the ‘digits’ for base 26, then he’s still wrong, because A would be 0, Z would be 25 and 12355631 decimal would be BBBBBB in that base 26. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.235|172.70.210.235]] 00:54, 11 July 2024 (UTC)
:The "Qalculate" program has a number base setting called "Bijective base 26", which outputs the answer as "AAAAAAB26. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 01:23, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

I'm surprised he didn't make this interactive, so you could type into all the cells to fill out the crossword. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 23:02, 10 July 2024 (UTC)

I made and discarded various theories what the joke might be while I read through the questions, including all numbers, at least two possible solutions for the entire puzzle (I think that happened once in a newspaper), unknowable answers, … Only when I got to the "disregard for gravity" thing did I suspect the right answer and only because I once saw a meta gaming Stack exchange question about its tag. Otherwise it might have taken me until the Morse code question. This was really well hidden! [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 01:23, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

i dare not think about how long this took to make. [[user talk:lettherebedarklight|youtu.be/miLcaqq2Zpk]] 01:31, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

:In all honesty, this is probably easier to make than a regular crossword puzzle. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.3.146|172.69.3.146]] 05:48, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

https://crosshare.org/crosswords/2YcIAgtQCMBK6clsrNK4/mini-39-literally-screaming [[Special:Contributions/172.71.146.4|172.71.146.4]] 02:29, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

It's traditionally doctors that ask you to "say AAAAAAA" when they examine your throat. I'm pretty sure 36 across is supposed to be a joke about how dentists make smalltalk with their fingers in your mouth. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.10|172.70.126.10]] 04:24, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

I filled in the answers. Can someone add the solved image? I don't have file upload permissions. https://i.imgur.com/AlDIT1p.png --[[User:Elfakyn|Elfakyn]] ([[User talk:Elfakyn|talk]]) 06:47, 11 July 2024 (UTC)
:We need someone to make a picture where it has been solved... :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:15, 11 July 2024 (UTC)
::It seems useful (and funny) to supply the answer(s). Should we show the completed puzzle (which raises questions of font choice) or add a column to the table? My preference would be adding the column. -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 11:01, 11 July 2024 (UTC)
:::The two above comments was made after Elfakyn's post. I have moved them both here. And then I have downloaded the image and added it to the trivia segment of the explanation. Thanks Elfakyn. I will credit you, please change the credit if you wish to be credited otherwise or not at all. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:13, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

bro tried to nerd-snipe us 😭 [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.96|172.69.194.96]] 07:30, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

People without aphantasia can visualize words in front of them to solve puzzles like 18-across? That's quite impressive, I have to painstakingly count the letters in my head! [[User:Maplestrip|Maplestrip]] ([[User talk:Maplestrip|talk]]) 08:05, 11 July 2024 (UTC)
: ''Some'' people. It's not an all-or-nothing - you can have access to some sorts of visualisation but not others, and it may be clearer or vaguer from person to person.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.118|141.101.98.118]] 07:45, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

Every third letter in 'aphantasia' is 'hti'.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.18|172.70.162.18]] 08:17, 11 July 2024 (UTC)
:The clue is written like '''E'''ve'''R'''... to give that hint, that it starts on the first letter. Also if you need 4 letters startign on the first and ending on the last is the only way to get a 4 letter answer out of it. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 12:12, 11 July 2024 (UTC)
::What?[[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.230|172.69.195.230]] 15:02, 11 July 2024 (UTC)
::Oh - now I'm looking at the comic itself I see what you mean. I was just looking at the explanation before, which was lacking the emphasis - I've put it in now. Still a bit lame as a clue IMO though.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.120|172.70.163.120]] 15:08, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

The Ruby Rhod one is misleading; his ''actual'' catchphrase in the movie is "green", which fits perfectly in the given space. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 09:22, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

SHA256 can be cracked much faster than 100 tries/sec. See [https://john-users.openwall.narkive.com/d9vvJ59x/hashcat-cpu-vs-jtr this performance discussion] from 10 years ago, which found that a single thread could do 9068K hashes per second. Recalculating the time for [A-Z]{8}, we find that it would take around 6.4 hours to crack. Still a while, but a far cry from 66 years. Using any form of parallelism (GPU, multicore CPU) would reduce the time further. --[[Special:Contributions/199.111.224.109|199.111.224.109]] 16:37, 11 July 2024 (UTC)
:As nobody is doing it this, it's an entirely theoretical speed. And you can rather envisage something happening at a rate of "a hundred a second" for years better than "more than nine million a second" for hours, and thus what it would mean to do something at this rate for this long (or as long as necessary). Though, traditionally, it would perhaps be "one a second" for approximately 6,600 years, I think I rather like the '66 years' value, aesthetically, so one full test every hundredth of a second seems to be nicely demonstrative.
:And going, needlessly, through them at the rate which 'solves' the problem in 6.5 hours doesn't so much impress upon you the difficulty of the task as much as it does the speed one can attempt such a classicly time-consuming problem. Even if you then add the overhead needed to check/collate all the collisions you get along the way. Every time you hit a 'possible', you'd probably do at least a disk-IO to keep a record of it, as you couldn't be sure that you won't have untold number of right-looking but incorrect results and at some poine you probably need to sanity-check and rank what you have in order of most to least likely. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.122|172.70.90.122]] 17:34, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

I haven't thought about Dejobaan Games in a very, ''very'' long time. Such a shame Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby never finished, the whole "play rhythm games to your own music" niche never seemed to have gotten off the ground. Still, what a throwback. --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.57|172.69.22.57]] 19:32, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

Randall should know that a 1.5V storage device is a cell, not a battery. [[User:HughNo|HughNo]] ([[User talk:HughNo|talk]]) 19:46, 11 July 2024 (UTC)
:It's a battery consisting of a single cell.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.225|141.101.98.225]] 07:50, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

There are multiple opportunities for a rebus in here. Are we sure the answers are correct? I believe the first cell of 8D could be a rebus of great length...--[[Special:Contributions/172.70.100.92|172.70.100.92]] 21:35, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

I'm [[356|really tempted]] to write a program to find out if there's another answer to "string whose SHA-256 hash ends '…689510285e212385'". —megan [[user talk:megan|talk]]/[[special:contribs/megan|contribs]] 03:36, 12 July 2024 (UTC)
:For bonus nerd-points, also find out all the ''other'' alternate answers that slot across that different answer (and down over the alternate acrosses, and...). For all we know, the ''whole grid'' might have a valid entirely different solution, but we're feeling so smug for solving it all the 'wrong' way, diverted by fiendishly multivalent clues... ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.98|172.70.90.98]] 11:03, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

Eh? {{unsigned ip|172.70.90.129|07:37, 12 July 2024}}

I wonder if the black squares could be a pattern for Conway's Game of life... —Potiron[[user talk:Potiron|talk]] 08:58, 12 July 2024(UTC)

:[http://conwaylife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=3316&p=189641#p189641 It doesn't look interesting.] [http://catagolue.hatsya.com/object/xp140_gggw8w78gzy2248zy012sw2w111/ -] [[User:CipherGuide|CipherGuide]] ([[User talk:CipherGuide|talk]]) 12:38, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

There are exactly 60 clues, by the way, although I’m not sure where it would be useful to include that information. [[User:Usb-rave|Usb-rave]] ([[User talk:Usb-rave|talk]]) 14:53, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

UniXKCD

2024-07-04T17:09:14Z

Usb-rave: /* Undocumented commands */

{{TOC}}On April Fools' Day in 2010, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] altered [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] to mimic a {{w|Unix}} command line interface. This interface is still available on [https://uni.xkcd.com uni.xkcd.com] and the source code is [https://github.com/chromakode/xkcdfools available on GitHub]. The comic [[721: Flatland]], which was released on March 31, 2010, was still up on April 1st, 2010, but had in itself nothing to do with the Unix interface. This Unix interface is thus in itself not one of Randall's [[:Category: April fools' comics|April fools' comics]]. The terminal only lists a few available commands, but most commands are undocumented.

==Documented commands==
* <code>next</code> shows the next comic. It shows the error "Time travel mode not enabled" on the last comic (see <code>enable time travel</code>).
* <code>prev</code> shows the previous comic.
* <code>first</code> shows the first comic.
* <code>last</code> shows the last comic.
* <code>display [number]</code> shows the comic with the specified number. (Trying to display comic [[404: Not Found|404]] will result in an endless loading attempt.)
* <code>random</code> shows a random comic.
* <code>ls</code> shows the content of the current directory.
* <code>cat [filename]</code> shows the content of the file, or "You're a kitty!" if [filename] is left blank.
* <code>cd [directory]</code> changes to the specified directory.

==Undocumented commands==
* <code>:(){:|:&};:</code> This command, otherwise known as a [https://askubuntu.com/questions/159491/why-did-the-command-make-my-system-lag-so-badly-i-had-to-reboot shell fork bomb] will make the terminal display the <code>[. . .]</code> loading text indefinitely, as though it crashed.
* <code>a/s/l</code> [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=a%2Fs%2Fl A/S/L] is not a Unix command, but an acronym of Age/Sex/Location. The following replies are possible:
** "2/AMD64/Server Rack", answered as if the server replied.
** "328/M/Transylvania", answered by {{w|Dracula}}.
** "6/M/Battle School", answered by {{w|Ender Wiggin}} or another boy from battle school.
** "48/M/The White House", answered by {{w|Barack Obama}} or another male of the same age in the White House.
** "7/F/Rapture", answered by a {{w|Little_Sister_(BioShock)|Little Sister}} from {{w|BioShock}}.
** "Exactly your age/A gender you're attracted to/Far far away.", Requests for a/s/l are often not answered truthfully, but crafted to suit the one asking the question.
** "7,831/F/Lothlórien", answered by {{w|Galadriel}} or another elf.
** "42/M/FBI Field Office", answered by an FBI agent (referencing the old [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet trope] that all girls on the internet are FBI agents impersonating them).
* <code>apt-get</code> replies "This APT has Super Cow Powers.". The <code>apt-get</code> command is part of the Debian package manager {{w|Advanced_Packaging_Tool|APT}}. This reply is one of the built-in Easter eggs.
* <code>apt-get moo</code> replies "Have you mooed today" with an ASCII cow.
* <code>asl</code> same as <code>a/s/l</code>.
* <code>bash</code> replies "You bash your head against the wall. It's not very effective.". {{w|Bash}} is a shell for POSIX-based systems.
* <code>buy stuff</code> same as <code>cd store</code>.
* <code>cat [number]/alt.txt</code> displays the title text of the specified comic.
* <code>cat</code> (without a filename, or an invalid one) will show "You're a kitty!", possibly referencing [[231: Cat Proximity]].
* <code>cheat</code> promotes the [https://store.xkcd.com/ xkcd store].
* <code>clear</code> clears the screen.
* <code>curl</code> creates an iframe to the URL specified
* <code>date</code> replies "March 32nd" (instead of April 1st), which is not a real date.{{citation needed}}
* <code>dir</code> same as <code>ls</code>.
* <code>display title text</code> will print: display: unable to open image "title": No such file or directory. in red text.
* <code>echo</code> replies "Echo ... echo ... echo ...". The {{w|Echo_(command)|echo}} command is used to print text to the terminal.
* <code>ed</code> replies "You are not a diety ''[sic]''.". {{w|Ed_(text_editor)|ed}} is a very simple text editor. It is usually not considered very user-friendly (see also <code>vi</code> and <code>emacs</code>).
* <code>emacs</code> replies "You should use Vim.". References [[378: Real Programmers]].
* <code>enable time travel</code> replies "TARDIS error: Time Lord missing.". A {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. See also the <code>next</code> command.
* <code>exit</code> will end the terminal session.
* <code>find kitten</code> showed the {{w|robotfindskitten}} game (the link to the Flash version no longer works, but an HTML version is available [http://robotfindskitten.org/play/robotfindskitten/ here]).
* <code>find</code> replies "What do you want to find? Kitten would be nice.".
* <code>finger</code> replies "Mmmmmm...". <code>finger USER</code> is used on UNIX-like systems to get information about another USER (here, Randall is taking advantage of its suggestive name... pardon the pun).
* <code>fuck</code> replies "I have a headache.".
* <code>goto [any]</code> shows comic [[292: goto]] and asks if you meant <code>display</code> instead.
* <code>go back</code> replies "You cannot go back."
* <code>go down</code> replies "On our first date?"
* <code>halp</code> same as <code>help</code>.
* <code> Hello Joshua </code> replies "How about a nice game of Global Thermonuclear War?". A reference to the {{w|WarGames}} movie.
* <code>hello</code> replies "Hello.". A second reply "Why hello there!" is coded, but it is never used.
* <code>help</code> says "That would be cheating!".
* <code>hi</code> replies "Hi.".
* <code>hint</code> randomly replies "We offer some nice polos.", "This terminal will remain available at xkcd.com/unixkcd/", "Use the source, Luke!" or "There are cheat codes.".
* <code>i read the source code</code> replies "<3".
* <code>irc [nick]</code> starts an {{w|IRC}} session on the xkcd channel on irc.foonetic.net.
* <code>kill</code> replies "Terminator deployed to 1984.". A reference to the {{w|The_Terminator|Terminator}} movie. In Bash, <code>kill</code> is used to end a process.
* <code>latest</code> displays the latest comic.
* <code>locate [filename]</code> is normally used to locate a file in a directory. It will give humorous results when searching for <code>ninja</code>, <code>keys</code>, <code>joke</code>, <code>problem</code> and <code>raptor</code>.
* <code>logout</code> same as <code>exit</code>.
* <code>lpr</code> replies "PC LOAD LETTER". {{w|Line_Printer_Daemon_protocol|lpr}} is a command to print documents. {{w|PC_LOAD_LETTER}} is a printer error.
* <code>make love</code> replies "I put on my robe and wizard hat.". A reference to this [http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/bloodninja roleplay chat transscript] (NSFW), also mentioned in [[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]]. <code>make love</code> is a standard Unix joke, because the reply is "make: don't know how to make love.".
* <code>make me a sandwich</code> behaves like [[149: Sandwich]].
* <code>man [command]</code> show unhelpful information about the command (only <code>last</code>, <code>help</code>, <code>next</code>, <code>cat</code> or no command are supported).
* <code>moo</code> replies "moo".
* <code>more</code> replies "Oh, yes! More! More!". The {{w|More_(command)|more}} command is used to paginate output.
* <code>nano</code> replies "Seriously? Why don't you just use Notepad.exe? Or MS Paint?". {{w|GNU_nano|Nano}} is another text editor for Unix systems (see <code>vi</code> and <code>emacs</code>).
* <code>ping</code> replies "There is another submarine three miles ahead, bearing 225, forty fathoms down.". The {{w|Ping_(networking_utility)|ping}} command is used to measure round trip times to a destination. The name does indeed originate from {{w|sonar}} technology.
* <code>pwd</code> replies "You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike.". The {{w|pwd}} command prints the current working directory (see <code>look</code>). The output is a reference to {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}.
* <code>poweroff</code> same as <code>shutdown</code>.
* <code>quit</code> same as <code>exit</code>.
* <code> Reddit [number]</code> shows the [https://www.reddit.com/ Reddit] voting bar for the specified comic (or xkcd when no number is specified).
* <code>rm [filename]</code> will "remove" a file, while <code>rm -r</code> will remove a directory. (<code>sudo rm -rf /</code> will break all commands until the page is reloaded.)
* <code>serenity</code> replies "You can't take the sky from me.". This is a line from the Balad of Serenity from the {{w|Firefly_(TV_series)|Firefly}} TV series. Serenity is also the name of an Operating System (that Randall probably wasn't thinking of): [https://www.serenityos.org/ SerenityOS].
* <code>shutdown</code> replies "Must be root.". See also <code>sudo poweroff</code>.
* <code>ssh</code> replies "ssh, this is a library.". {{w|Secure_Shell|ssh}} is the command to start a secure shell, but it also resembles the "{{w|Shh}}" sound.
* <code>su</code> replies "God mode activated. Remember, with great power comes great ... aw, screw it, go have fun.". The {{w|Su_(Unix)|su}} command is used to log in as an upper user, which gives you full and potentially dangerous access to the system. On some systems, "with great power comes great responsibility" is also part of a message that is printed the first time <code>sudo</code> is used.
* <code>sudo [command]</code> executes the command with {{w|Superuser|root}} privileges.
* <code>sudo apt-get dist-upgrade</code> Returns "You are already running [OS].".
* <code>sudo apt-get moo</code> replies "Have you mooed today?" (apt-get Easter egg).
* <code>sudo apt-get update</code> Refreshes the package list so the system knows which updates are available.
* <code>sudo apt-get upgrade</code> shows a link to [http://abetterbrowser.org/ A Better Browser] on Internet Explorer and Firefox (< v3). On all other browsers, it doesn't complain.
* <code>sudo make me a sandwich</code> behave like [[149: Sandwich]].
* <code>sudo !!</code> will sudo the last command.
* <code>sudo poweroff</code> will shutdown the system.
* <code>sudo reboot</code> will restart the system.
* <code>sudo restart</code> same as <code>sudo reboot</code>.
* <code>sudo shutdown</code> same as <code>sudo poweroff</code>.
* <code>sudo sudo</code> will print An internal error occurred: RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded in red text.
* <code>time travel</code> displays [[630: Time Travel]].
* <code>top</code> replies "It's up there --^". The {{w|Top_(software)|top}} command shows a table of processes. Here it is taken literally.
* <code>uname</code> replies "Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator". <code>uname</code> on Unix lists system information. The Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator is an explosive device created by Marvin the Martian in the {{w|Looney Tunes}} series.
* <code>unixkcd</code> opens a new terminal window.
* <code>use the force luke</code> replies "I believe you mean source.". A reference to the {{w|The_Force_(Star_Wars)|Force}} in the {{w|Star Wars}} franchise.
* <code>use the source luke</code> replies "I'm not luke, you're luke!", an old programmers' joke.
* <code>vi</code> reply "You should use emacs.". References [[378: Real Programmers]].
* <code>vim</code> same as <code>vi</code>.
* <code>wget [url]</code> shows the content of the specified url. The {{w|wget}} command on Unix will download the content and not show it.
* <code>who</code> replies "Doctor Who?". Another {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. The <code>who</code> command on Unix lists the logged-in users.
* <code> Whoami </code> replies "You are Richard Stallman.". The {{w|whoami}} command lists the name of the current user. Richard Stallman is the creator of the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation.
* <code>write [nick]</code> same as <code>irc</code>.
* <code>xkcd</code> replies "Yes?".
* <code>xyzzy</code> replies "Nothing happens.". {{w|Xyzzy_(computing)|xyzzy}} is a magic word, originally used in the game {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}.
* <code>your gay</code> replies "Keep your hands off it!".
* <code>!!</code> reruns the previous command after stating the command.

===Game commands===
* There are also some other commands borrowed from a {{w|Zork}} like {{w|Text-based game|text based adventure game}}.
* <code>look</code> describes your current surroundings.
* <code>go [direction]</code> moves you in the specified direction.
* <code>light lamp</code> lights your lamp.
* <code>sleep [seconds]</code> sleeps for the specified time. Without specifying, the nap is 5 seconds.
* You will be killed by a {{w|Grue (monster)|grue}} if you don't light your lamp when going south. Going West repeatedly will list the refrain from the song {{w|Go West (song)|Go West}}.

===Konami code===
[[File:Konami code.png|300px|thumb|The image used as the background after using the Konami code five times.]]
The terminal also responds to the {{w|Konami code}} Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A. Entering this code repeatedly will, in order:
# Transform all characters to uppercase
# Add a greatest shadow
# Add an orange text-shadow
# Shake the screen
# Add a background image of [[Richard Stallman]] from [[345: 1337: Part 5]].

[[Category:April fools' comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]
[[Category:Computers]]

2833: Lying

2024-07-01T01:02:07Z

Usb-rave: /* Explanation */ italicized titles

{{comic
| number = 2833
| date = September 25, 2023
| title = Lying
| image = lying_2x.png
| imagesize = 295x444px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I was, at least at the start of this disastrous game night, your friend.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Mafia (party game)|Mafia}} (and other games such as Werewolf) is a party game centered around two opposing teams who must eliminate each other: the mafiosi (or werewolves, accordingly) whose aim is to secretly gain a majority and the ordinary players (who may be termed 'townies' or 'villagers') who have to resist this. While the mafiosi know who are mafiosi and who are villagers, the villagers do not know any other person's role. The mafiosi also need to keep their affiliation secret from the villagers so long as they are outnumbered. The game alternates between day and night phases. During the day, all players vote on which suspected anti-villager should be 'killed' (removed from the game). During the night, all surviving members of the mafia decide which villager should be 'killed' to further their own purposes.

Play can be undertaken in person or across a suitable online forum/group-chat, whilst similar mechanics have been adopted for networked games such as ''{{w|Town of Salem}}'' or ''{{w|Among Us}}''.

Here we have [[Cueball]] (possibly [[Randall]]), [[Megan]], [[Ponytail]], and [[White Hat]] sitting at a table, apparently playing this type of game, in which some sort of secret must be maintained by lying. Cueball seems to have been unable to maintain the lie and came clean, perhaps hoping that they would remain friends, somehow fearing that playing the game as required would lose him the friendship that brought them together to play the game in the first place. The other members are annoyed by his undermining of the basic concept of the game, and White Hat offers to switch to playing another game called {{w|Taboo (game)|Taboo}}. This may not improve things; given Cueball's apparent inability to maintain secrets, he may feel compelled to tell them the word concealed on his card, and thereby immediately lose.

The title text could both be referring to what Cueball says about how the others are his friends, and also that the others could have gotten so annoyed that they stop being his friends. It is clearly very similar to Spock's dying words in Star Trek II: "I have been, and always shall be, your friend".

In reality, Cueball could actually be cleverly playing one of a number of other roles that a mafia/werewolf game can have. There are additional player-types that win by [https://wiki.mafiascum.net/index.php?title=Jester ''being'' voted off] (often this must be a day-vote, a night-vote by the 'bad guys' is a loss), and others that make the player [https://wiki.mafiascum.net/index.php?title=Diplomat invulnerable to votes] in certain conditions, make the 'kill' act upon another player and/or result in assisting those in a further 'team' of conspirators. Though usually such complications aren't included in gaming groups with as few as four players, and they usually rely on bluff (or multiple layers of bluff) against players who are aware of what they entail.

==Transcript==

:[Cueball, Megan, Ponytail, and White Hat sit around a table.]
:Cueball: It's me. I can't look you in the eyes and tell you it's not. I'm sorry, I know this ruins everything.
:Cueball: I just need you to know that you're my friends and you can trust me.
:Megan: ...This is ridiculous.
:White Hat: Let's just play Taboo instead.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I'm really bad at those Mafia-style games where you have to lie.

== Trivia ==
This comic was published as an upscaling of the original drawing, at an outstanding 4422x6653. This could have been an accident. A side effect of this is that details on Randall's graphic process and subtle penmanship habits were made obvious in the image.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Games]]

521: 2008 Christmas Special

2024-07-01T01:00:59Z

Usb-rave: /* Explanation */ typo

{{comic
| number = 521
| date = December 24, 2008
| title = 2008 Christmas Special
| image = 2008_christmas_special.png
| titletext = 'How could you possibly think typing 'import skynet' was a good idea?'
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is the xkcd Christmas Special from the year 2008. The prologue states that due to the {{w|2008 financial crisis}}, only very few images of the strip could be produced. This leaves the others to be blacked out. It is therefore left to the reader to reconstruct the whole story based on the given images. While it is claimed that the reconstruction should be rather easy, the complicated and abstruse plot-line makes it nearly impossible to fill the gaps. Any attempt at inferring the missing images would therefore be largely guesswork. The comic features the well-known xkcd characters getting involved in a strange fight with cyborgs and raptors on Christmas Eve.

The line "We apologize for the inconvenience." is possibly a reference to the famous book series ''{{w|The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy}}'' by {{w|Douglas Adams}}. It appears there as God's Final Message to His Creation, written in letters of fire on the side of the Quentulus Quazgar Mountains.

'''Panel 2:''' [[Megan]] strives to outdo some Christmas lights she has seen on YouTube.

'''Panel 3:''' Dissatisfied with her work, Megan is thinking about alternative ways to improve her light arrangement. The idea of firing {{w|Sodium}} pellets into snow is probably a bad one, as Sodium reacts exothermically with water and may, in large amounts, induce explosions.

'''Panel 5:''' Probably still obsessed with creating a large and impressive light display, Megan has constructed an electronic device with an {{w|Arduino}} processor, perhaps to make the light chain show patterns. However, the energy she used was too high. This causes one of the control boards to sublimate, i.e. go directly from a solid to a gaseous state without an intermediate liquid phase. She then wishes she could make the system self-repairing.

'''Panel 7:''' Megan's device has developed {{w|artificial intelligence}}, allowing it to feel. This is presumably a result of Megan attempting to make the device self-repairing. This common trope in science-fiction works usually leads to the system's attempt to eradicate its creator. [[Cueball]] attributes the emergence of a personality to the awesome ease and power of programming in {{w|Python (programming language)|Python}}.

'''Panel 11:''' Out of context, this panel introduces the idea of {{w|Santa Claus}} being a {{w|Muslim}}. This may be a reference to the persistent Internet rumours that Barack Obama is a Muslim, though he declares himself to be a Christian. However, the statement could also relate to the fact that Santa Claus is usually displayed with a large beard, which is sometimes also sported by conservative Muslims. Or it could just be nonsensical.

'''Panel 13:''' At this point, the self-aware Christmas light control systems have released {{w|cyborgs}} that tried to kill Megan and Cueball. To repel the cyborgs, they have cloned {{w|Velociraptors}}. Cueball expresses doubt about whether that was a good idea. Velociraptors appear frequently in xkcd, as seen in [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Velociraptors these comics]

'''Panel 17:''' As predicted, the raptors have gone wild, but Megan, Cueball and the two smaller characters (perhaps their children) managed to cage the dinosaurs. They believe themselves safe unless the raptors learn how to build {{w|lightsabers}}. This is a reference to a line in {{w|'' Jurassic Park''}} where the main characters believe themselves safe until they discover the raptors can learn how to open doors.

'''Panel 19:''' The raptors have indeed succeeded with constructing lightsabers and must now be fought. The "Clever girl" refers to a line from ''Jurassic Park'' where the raptors outflank (and kill) one of the human characters wearing a similar hat. “Snap-hiss” is a common phrase originated by Timothy Zahn to describe the sound of a lightsaber igniting in Star Wars literature.<ref>Zahn, Timothy, "Author Annotations: Chapter 7, 1", Star Wars: Heir to the Empire: The 20th Anniversary Edition, ISBN 0345530004, "I thought long and hard about how to write the sound of an igniting lightsaber. I finally went with snap-hiss.", corroborated by [https://boards.theforce.net/threads/snap-hiss.25830511/ forums]</ref>

'''Panel 23:''' IT billionaire {{w|Bill Gates}} has mistakenly killed Santa Claus, possibly in a sword fight. He claims to have mistaken him for [[Richard Stallman]], a prominent {{w|free software}} activist. (Gates strongly opposes the idea of free software and is therefore considered an antagonist by many of its supporters.) The most striking resemblance between Stallman and Santa Claus is probably the long and untamed beard. [[225: Open Source]] features Stallman involved in a sword fight. Much later, [[Randall]] again killed off Santa in his Christmas comics, and did so twice in only three years. First in [[2559: December 25th Launch]], from 2021, and then again in 2023's [[2872: Hydrothermal Vents]].

'''Panel 29:''' [[Black Hat]] is asked by Megan (or possibly his companion, [[Danish]]) where he obtained the enormously large {{w|Christmas tree}} that can be seen on the right side of the zoomed out picture. It is implied that he felled {{w|Yggdrasil}}, the giant ash tree of Norse mythology. According to tradition, Yggdrasil is the world tree representing the whole of creation and holding together the cosmological structure.

'''Panel 31:''' [[Randall]] wishes Merry Christmas to all xkcd readers.

The title text refers to panel 7. In Python, modules are imported using the "import ''module''" syntax. {{w|Skynet (Terminator)|Skynet}} is a self-aware artificial intelligence system featured in the ''{{w|Terminator}}'' film series as the main influence behind most of the antagonists. Importing the Skynet module might therefore account for Megan's system's developing an evil personality.

Note that this comic was first published in another version that had panel 29 as panel 27 and the "Merry Christmas from xkcd" message at the bottom. As 27 is not a {{w|prime number}}, the current version was published in place of the erroneous one.

It has been observed that the top left nine panels have the configuration of a {{w|Glider (Conway's Life)|Glider}} in ''{{w|Conway's Game of Life}}''. The glider is sometimes used as an emblem representing {{w|hacker subculture}}, although rotated by 90 degrees. However, it remains unclear whether the occurrence in the comic is intentional or an incidental side-effect of the prime number pattern in use. If you put the shown comic panels in The Game of Life, it turns into a Beehive, for reasons also probably not deliberate, unlike [[2293: RIP John Conway|a later comic]]'s explicit invocation of this mechanism. The last fourteen black panels also coincidentally form the shape of a crewmate from the game ''{{w|Among Us}}'', although the comic predates the game by a whole decade.

==Transcript==
:The 2008 XKCD Christmas Special
:Due to the slowing economy, we could only afford to produce the prime-numbered panels.
:You should be able to infer the missing parts of the story easily enough.
:We apologize for the inconvenience.
:[The first panel is blank.]
:[Megan carrying Christmas lights and Cueball watching.]
:Megan: I'm going to one-up those Christmas light displays on YouTube.
:[Megan thinking.]
:Megan: Hmm. Needs more flair. Do you know what happens when you fire sodium pellets into a snowbank?
:Cueball: No.
:Megan: Me neither.
:[The next panel is blank.]
:[Megan sitting in front of a console.]
:Megan: Whoops, one of the Arduino control boards sublimated.
:Megan: If only I could make it self-repairing...
:[The next panel is blank.]
:Megan: Shit. The system has become sentient.
:Cueball: Friggin' Python.
:System: GRAAARR!
:[The next three panels are blank.]
:[Megan showing laptop to Cueball.]
:Megan: But according to this email forward, Santa is secretly a Muslim!
:Cueball: It explains everything!
:[The next panel is blank.]
:Megan: Okay, the cloned raptors are hunting the last of the cyborgs. We're safe.
:Cueball: Are you sure you thought this through?
:[The next three panels are blank.]
:[Two couples appear in this next panel.]
:Cueball: Are the raptors contained?
:Ponytail: Sure. Unless they figure out how to build lightsabers.
:[The next panel is blank.]
:[Guy with hat fighting with a raptor using lightsabers.]
:Cueball: It's all right. I've got her.
:[Lightsaber appears from behind.]
:Snap-hiss!
:Cueball: ...Clever girl.
:[The next three panels are blank.]
:[Bill Gates is holding a weapon over Santa's body. The two girls are watching.]
:Megan: Great. Bill Gates kills Santa.
:Bill Gates: I thought it was Stallman with a dyed beard.
:[The next five panels are blank.]
:[Danish and Black Hat are looking at a tree.]
:Danish: Where did you get this Christmas tree?
:Black Hat: Nowhere.
:Danish: Did you cut down the Yggdrasil?
:Black Hat: ...Maybe.
:[The next panel is blank.]
:[Megan and Cueball holding hands and looking at reader.]
:Merry Christmas from XKCD <3
:[The last panel is blank.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Christmas]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Terminator]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]

521: 2008 Christmas Special

2024-07-01T01:00:36Z

Usb-rave: /* Explanation */ italicized “Among Us”

{{comic
| number = 521
| date = December 24, 2008
| title = 2008 Christmas Special
| image = 2008_christmas_special.png
| titletext = 'How could you possibly think typing 'import skynet' was a good idea?'
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is the xkcd Christmas Special from the year 2008. The prologue states that due to the {{w|2008 financial crisis}}, only very few images of the strip could be produced. This leaves the others to be blacked out. It is therefore left to the reader to reconstruct the whole story based on the given images. While it is claimed that the reconstruction should be rather easy, the complicated and abstruse plot-line makes it nearly impossible to fill the gaps. Any attempt at inferring the missing images would therefore be largely guesswork. The comic features the well-known xkcd characters getting involved in a strange fight with cyborgs and raptors on Christmas Eve.

The line "We apologize for the inconvenience." is possibly a reference to the famous book series ''{{w|The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy}}'' by {{w|Douglas Adams}}. It appears there as God's Final Message to His Creation, written in letters of fire on the side of the Quentulus Quazgar Mountains.

'''Panel 2:''' [[Megan]] strives to outdo some Christmas lights she has seen on YouTube.

'''Panel 3:''' Dissatisfied with her work, Megan is thinking about alternative ways to improve her light arrangement. The idea of firing {{w|Sodium}} pellets into snow is probably a bad one, as Sodium reacts exothermically with water and may, in large amounts, induce explosions.

'''Panel 5:''' Probably still obsessed with creating a large and impressive light display, Megan has constructed an electronic device with an {{w|Arduino}} processor, perhaps to make the light chain show patterns. However, the energy she used was too high. This causes one of the control boards to sublimate, i.e. go directly from a solid to a gaseous state without an intermediate liquid phase. She then wishes she could make the system self-repairing.

'''Panel 7:''' Megan's device has developed {{w|artificial intelligence}}, allowing it to feel. This is presumably a result of Megan attempting to make the device self-repairing. This common trope in science-fiction works usually leads to the system's attempt to eradicate its creator. [[Cueball]] attributes the emergence of a personality to the awesome ease and power of programming in {{w|Python (programming language)|Python}}.

'''Panel 11:''' Out of context, this panel introduces the idea of {{w|Santa Claus}} being a {{w|Muslim}}. This may be a reference to the persistent Internet rumours that Barack Obama is a Muslim, though he declares himself to be a Christian. However, the statement could also relate to the fact that Santa Claus is usually displayed with a large beard, which is sometimes also sported by conservative Muslims. Or it could just be nonsensical.

'''Panel 13:''' At this point, the self-aware Christmas light control systems have released {{w|cyborgs}} that tried to kill Megan and Cueball. To repel the cyborgs, they have cloned {{w|Velociraptors}}. Cueball expresses doubt about whether that was a good idea. Velociraptors appear frequently in xkcd, as seen in [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Velociraptors these comics]

'''Panel 17:''' As predicted, the raptors have gone wild, but Megan, Cueball and the two smaller characters (perhaps their children) managed to cage the dinosaurs. They believe themselves safe unless the raptors learn how to build {{w|lightsabers}}. This is a reference to a line in {{w|'' Jurassic Park''}} where the main characters believe themselves safe until they discover the raptors can learn how to open doors.

'''Panel 19:''' The raptors have indeed succeeded with constructing lightsabers and must now be fought. The "Clever girl" refers to a line from ''Jurassic Park'' where the raptors outflank (and kill) one of the human characters wearing a similar hat. “Snap-hiss” is a common phrase originated by Timothy Zahn to describe the sound of a lightsaber igniting in Star Wars literature.<ref>Zahn, Timothy, "Author Annotations: Chapter 7, 1", Star Wars: Heir to the Empire: The 20th Anniversary Edition, ISBN 0345530004, "I thought long and hard about how to write the sound of an igniting lightsaber. I finally went with snap-hiss.", corroborated by [https://boards.theforce.net/threads/snap-hiss.25830511/ forums]</ref>

'''Panel 23:''' IT billionaire {{w|Bill Gates}} has mistakenly killed Santa Claus, possibly in a sword fight. He claims to have mistaken him for [[Richard Stallman]], a prominent {{w|free software}} activist. (Gates strongly opposes the idea of free software and is therefore considered an antagonist by many of its supporters.) The most striking resemblance between Stallman and Santa Claus is probably the long and untamed beard. [[225: Open Source]] features Stallman involved in a sword fight. Much later, [[Randall]] again killed off Santa in his Christmas comics, and did so twice in only three years. First in [[2559: December 25th Launch]], from 2021, and then again in 2023's [[2872: Hydrothermal Vents]].

'''Panel 29:''' [[Black Hat]] is asked by Megan (or possibly his companion, [[Danish]]) where he obtained the enormously large {{w|Christmas tree}} that can be seen on the right side of the zoomed out picture. It is implied that he felled {{w|Yggdrasil}}, the giant ash tree of Norse mythology. According to tradition, Yggdrasil is the world tree representing the whole of creation and holding together the cosmological structure.

'''Panel 31:''' [[Randall]] wishes Merry Christmas to all xkcd readers.

The title text refers to panel 7. In Python, modules are imported using the "import ''module''" syntax. {{w|Skynet (Terminator)|Skynet}} is a self-aware artificial intelligence system featured in the ''{{w|Terminator}}'' film series as the main influence behind most of the antagonists. Importing the Skynet module might therefore account for Megan's system's developing an evil personality.

Note that this comic was first published in another version that had panel 29 as panel 27 and the "Merry Christmas from xkcd" message at the bottom. As 27 is not a {{w|prime number}}, the current version was published in place of the erroneous one.

It has been observed that the top left nine panels have the configuration of a {{w|Glider (Conway's Life)|Glider}} in ''{{w|Conway's Game of Life}}''. The glider is sometimes used as an emblem representing {{w|hacker subculture}}, although rotated by 90 degrees. However, it remains unclear whether the occurrence in the comic is intentional or an incidental side-effect of the prime number pattern in use. If you put the shown comic panels in The Game of Life, it turns into a Beehive, for reasons also probably not deliberate, unlike [[2293: RIP John Conway|a later comic]]'s explicit invocation of this mechanism. The last fourteen black panels also coincidentally form the shape of a crewmate from the game ''{{w|Among Us}}'', although the comic predates the game by a whole decade.

==Transcript==
:The 2008 XKCD Christmas Special
:Due to the slowing economy, we could only afford to produce the prime-numbered panels.
:You should be able to infer the missing parts of the story easily enough.
:We apologize for the inconvenience.
:[The first panel is blank.]
:[Megan carrying Christmas lights and Cueball watching.]
:Megan: I'm going to one-up those Christmas light displays on YouTube.
:[Megan thinking.]
:Megan: Hmm. Needs more flair. Do you know what happens when you fire sodium pellets into a snowbank?
:Cueball: No.
:Megan: Me neither.
:[The next panel is blank.]
:[Megan sitting in front of a console.]
:Megan: Whoops, one of the Arduino control boards sublimated.
:Megan: If only I could make it self-repairing...
:[The next panel is blank.]
:Megan: Shit. The system has become sentient.
:Cueball: Friggin' Python.
:System: GRAAARR!
:[The next three panels are blank.]
:[Megan showing laptop to Cueball.]
:Megan: But according to this email forward, Santa is secretly a Muslim!
:Cueball: It explains everything!
:[The next panel is blank.]
:Megan: Okay, the cloned raptors are hunting the last of the cyborgs. We're safe.
:Cueball: Are you sure you thought this through?
:[The next three panels are blank.]
:[Two couples appear in this next panel.]
:Cueball: Are the raptors contained?
:Ponytail: Sure. Unless they figure out how to build lightsabers.
:[The next panel is blank.]
:[Guy with hat fighting with a raptor using lightsabers.]
:Cueball: It's all right. I've got her.
:[Lightsaber appears from behind.]
:Snap-hiss!
:Cueball: ...Clever girl.
:[The next three panels are blank.]
:[Bill Gates is holding a weapon over Santa's body. The two girls are watching.]
:Megan: Great. Bill Gates kills Santa.
:Bill Gates: I thought it was Stallman with a dyed beard.
:[The next five panels are blank.]
:[Danish and Black Hat are looking at a tree.]
:Danish: Where did you get this Christmas tree?
:Black Hat: Nowhere.
:Danish: Did you cut down the Yggdrasil?
:Black Hat: ...Maybe.
:[The next panel is blank.]
:[Megan and Cueball holding hands and looking at reader.]
:Merry Christmas from XKCD <3
:[The last panel is blank.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Christmas]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Terminator]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]

hairbun

2024-07-01T00:48:37Z

Usb-rave: Redirected page to Hairbun

#REDIRECT [[Hairbun]]

Talk:2948: Electric vs Gas

2024-06-19T19:18:26Z

Usb-rave: added reply

Now I'm not a fan of gas engines, but that argument is in bad faith. Gas engines have one ''very big'' advantage over electrics: Energy density, and by extension, range. Batteries can't come close to the energy density of hydrocarbons, despite the latters' overall lower efficiency. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 17:22, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

:I think that's one of the main arguments for hybrid systems. Using a gas engine to charge an electric motor, and then using the electric motor to actually power the appliance, enables significant efficiency gains. If anything, combining the technologies enables even greater ''usable'' energy density from hydrocarbons. Hybrid electric vehicles for example are extremely efficient. [[User:Eunakria|Eunakria]] ([[User talk:Eunakria|talk]]) 17:43, 19 June 2024 (UTC)
:Energy density, and the ability to move large amounts of stored energy from one place to another quickly and easily (aka pump gas, vs charge or swap a battery), from a thermal and maintenance perspective. (Which is not entirely unrelated to energy density.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.39.54|172.70.39.54]] 18:08, 19 June 2024 (UTC)
::Plug-in hybrids have been superior since 1904, but the incremental capital cost is still an issue while oil is under $100/bbl. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.150.129|172.71.150.129]] 19:16, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

On the other other hand, in a lot of cases an electric motor is just a gas engine with extra steps due to the current state of the power grid. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.232|172.68.174.232]] 17:24, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

:I'd say an electric motor powered by a hydrocarbon grid still usually makes better use of gas than a typical gas engine. Gas engines that don't always run at full throttle (as in, a gas engine in an appliance) have dramatically worse efficiency than electric motors that don't always run at full throttle. It depends ''very'' heavily on use case, though; always take measurements and run the numbers before coming to a specific conclusion. Science would be nothing without empirical data. [[User:Eunakria|Eunakria]] ([[User talk:Eunakria|talk]]) 17:50, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

Should this have [[:Category:Climate change]]? I can’t decide. [[User:Usb-rave|Usb-rave]] ([[User talk:Usb-rave|talk]]) 17:40, 19 June 2024 (UTC)
:Yeah, it's better with it for people looking though the category later on, they will want to see it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.10|162.158.186.10]] 19:13, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

Honestly, with this argument the thing has engines have going for them over EVs is the refueling time and availability. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.59.175|172.69.59.175]] 18:58, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

It's really remarkable how uninformed and unintelligent this comic is, to the point where I now doubt the veracity of his entire What If? series.
:To be fair, there’s sort of an agenda here, while I don’t believe there’s one in ''What If?'' I can’t independently verify the accuracy of ''What If?'', of course, but there is that. [[User:Usb-rave|Usb-rave]] ([[User talk:Usb-rave|talk]]) 19:18, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2948: Electric vs Gas

2024-06-19T17:40:26Z

Usb-rave: added comment

2948: Electric vs Gas

2024-06-19T17:36:13Z

Usb-rave: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2948
| date = June 19, 2024
| title = Electric vs Gas
| image = electric_vs_gas_2x.png
| imagesize = 284x385px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = An idling gas engine may be annoyingly loud, but that's the price you pay for having WAY less torque available at a standstill.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a STEAM ENGINE OPERATED BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic, [[Randall]] critiques the idea that there are tradeoffs between gas and electric automobile engines.

==Transcript==
:[White Hat, with his palm raised, is talking to Cueball.]
:White Hat: Electric motors and gas engines each have their pros and cons.
:White Hat: On one hand, electric motors are cleaner and more efficient. On the other hand, electric motors are more powerful.
:White Hat: So it's hard to say which is better overall.

{{comic discussion}}

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

980: Money

2024-06-16T19:18:22Z

Usb-rave: copyedits

{{comic
| number = 980
| date = November 21, 2011
| title = Money
| image = money.png
| titletext = There, I showed you it.
}}
{{TOC}}
* Clicking on the image on ''xkcd'' takes you to an [https://xkcd.com/980/huge/ interactive] and much larger image. On the interactive image there are two links: one takes you to the [https://xkcd.com/980/sources/ sources and downloads] page where a list of sources and the [https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/money_huge.png full image] can be downloaded

==Explanation==
{{Quote| I had a huge amount of fun putting the money chart together. It was the first time in a long time that my life’s been stable enough that I’ve been able to really disappear into a project—I’d almost forgotten how enjoyable it can be.|[[Randall Munroe]]|[https://blog.xkcd.com/2011/11/24/money-chart/ Source]}}

This is a [[:Category:Charts|chart]] comic - a type of comic that [[Randall]] does from time to time. He has for instance done [[256: Online Communities|maps of the Internet]] ([[802: Online Communities 2|twice]]!) and other huge visualizations like this chart [[Radiation]] with a similar structure as this chart but with Radiation as the subject. The Radiation chart is most likely the inspiration for this much more comprehensive Money chart.

In this money chart there are five boxes with items on different scales of monetary value denoting prices and values of many things, big and small (with the values contemporary to the comic's release in 2011; most are now more expensive due to inflation). Each scale of dollar increments are different colors. One dollar increments are green - naturally, because American paper money is green. Thousands are orange/red. Millions are gray. Billions are yellow. Trillions are blue. This comic uses {{w|Long and short scales|the short scale}} for naming large numbers (so a billion = 1000 millions = 109 rather than a million millions = 1012 as in continental Europe).

Included in one frame is a small man with a red and white striped shirt, blue pants, a cane and a knit cap. He is known as Wally or Waldo (in the US) from the {{w|Where's Wally?|''Where's Waldo?'' books}}. To not give anything away for those who wish to search for him themselves there will be no spoiler here. But if someone needs a little help... Then by clicking this [[980: Money/Transcript#Billions|link]] you will be directed to the relevant section amongst the five sections where Waldo can be found. (The link will take you to that section of the full transcript page). If you still cannot find him (or give up in advance) then just search the transcript page for Wally or Waldo. There is a [[Header text#Money|unique header text]] for this comic.

The title text is a reference to the phrase "Show me the money!" which originates from the film ''{{w|Jerry Maguire}}''.

===Extra Money pages===
Since this comic is so big and complicated, extra pages have been created to include much more information than is wished for on this main page. These pages are listed here for convenience, but they are also listed in the relevant sections below:
* [[980: Money/Transcript]] - The full transcript of the entire comic can be found here. It is linked from the [[#Transcript|Transcript]] section.
* [[980: Money/Prices in tables]] is a complete list of every item in the comic.

===Tables with explanations===
====Dollars====
{| class="wikitable"
|+Dollars
|-
|Top-left
|The price of various common bills and commodities. The One Dollar Menu is a type of menu at various fast food restaurants. The one dollar bill and ten dollar bill are likely used for reference points. A Starbucks coffee actually ranges in price from $1.95 to $2.15 depending on the location.
|-
|Middle-left
|Pet Ownership. The {{w|ASPCA}} is the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The most expensive animal on this list may seem surprising; rabbits cost an average of 35 dollars more than dogs and 70 dollars more than cats.
|-
|Bottom-right
|Four boxes indicate that the CEO pay has skyrocketed from $490.31 (hourly) to $5,419.97 (hourly) in the same time period in which the average worker's salary has grown 10 cents.
|}

====Thousands====
{| class="wikitable"
|+Thousands
|-
|Top-right
|Hogwarts degree: a reference to {{w|Hogwarts|Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy}} from the popular book series by {{w|J. K. Rowling|J. K. Rowling}} about {{w|Harry Potter}}.
One box is the estimated yearly tuition for the school and the next is how much seven years at the school would cost. To get a degree at the school, it takes 7 years (starting at age 11, ending at age 18).
|-
|Bottom
|A reference to the song by {{w|Barenaked Ladies}} entitled "{{w|If I Had $1000000}}" and all the things referenced in the song to buy the love of another person.
|-
|Middle-Right
|A few items on the marriage of {{w|Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton|Kate Middleton and Prince William}}, the major royal wedding of 2011, including:
*a {{w|Wedding dress of Kate Middleton|wedding dress with its own Wikipedia page}} of 3 times the annual per capita income of the average UK person,
*an 8-tier [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1381944/Royal-Wedding-cake-Kate-Middleton-requested-8-tiers-decorated-900-flowers.html wedding cake],
*and the flowers for the wedding. These re-appear in the Millions section of the graph, where they also list the costs for the security around the event ($20 million).
|}

====Millions====
{| class="wikitable"
|+Millions
|-
|Left
|Dr. Evil's ransom demands from the film "Austin Powers" corrected for inflation between 1969 and 1997.
|-
|Middle-right
|Another reference to J. K. Rowling, comparing her (actual $1 billion) net worth as an author with her (imagined $82,000) net worth as a rapper.
The magnified 82 orange/red ($1,000) boxes are footnoted "Professional assessment by rapper/geek culture expert MC Frontalot." {{w|MC Front-A-Lot}} is the creator of the subgenre of {{w|hip-hop}} known as {{w|Nerd Core}}.
|-
|Middle
|An {{w|Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor|F-22 Raptor fighter jet}} (valued at $154.5M) is compared to a Velociraptor ($1.9M in production costs for the film Jurassic Park)
|}

====Billions====
{| class="wikitable"
|+Billions
|-
|Top-Left ((Fictional)Billionaires section)
|{{w|Carlisle Cullen}} is from the {{w|Twilight (series)|''Twilight'' series}} of books and movies. He is a vampire and adoptive father of {{w|Edward Cullen|Edward}}, {{w|Emmett Cullen|Emmett}} and {{w|Alice Cullen (Twilight)|Alice Cullen}}, as well as {{w|Rosalie Hale|Rosalie}} and {{w|Jasper Hale}}. He was born in the 1640s and amassed his wealth through many years of compound interest and investments.
|{{w|Scrooge McDuck}} is a cartoon character from many {{w|Disney}} properties including the afternoon cartoon, ''{{w|Duck Tales}}''. Scrooge McDuck has a "money bin" full of coins and other sorts of collectibles that he routinely [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMU2NwaaXEA goes swimming in].
|{{w|Bruce Wayne}} is {{w|Batman}}. {{w|Batman}} is {{w|Bruce Wayne}}. He is portrayed in many comic books, graphic novels, TV shows and movies by many different actors.
|{{w|Artemis Fowl II|Artemis Fowl}} is an Irish child prodigy and a ruthless master criminal from the {{w|Artemis Fowl (series)|eponymous book series}}. He uses his intelligence to build his family fortune through crime.
|}

====Trillions====
{| class="wikitable"
|+Trillions
|-
|As Randall already indicated in the transcript, this is the block for world, continent and nation finances. The numbers are really huge. There are no jokes in here (apart from the fact that Randall tried to make the shapes of the GDP look like the continent), likely because financial values this large aren't funny to start with.
|-
|GDP is {{w|gross domestic product}}, the market value of all goods and services produced in a nation.
*The major chart in the center shows the development of the GDP in the world since the 1940s. So far the US GDP has always grown, except for a small reduction in the early 1980s, a flat line around the 1991 global recession and a flat line in the second half of the naughts. The world-wide GDP is growing more rapidly, but is also much more volatile.
|-
|In the middle of the box, it shows the worth of all gold ever mined in 2011 prices. This is important because of the concept of the {{w|gold standard}}, a concept where monetary values are linked to the value of gold. As indicated in the top-right of the box, both the EU and the USA have more debt than the total value of all gold in the world.
|-
|{{w|Derivative (finance)|Derivatives}} are a complex financial instrument where one is not trading in something tangible, but in derived values - like options. Derivatives thus are dangerous as one trades in concepts instead of values. Critics claim that derivatives are at the base of the 'economic bubble'.
*The growth of the derivatives market size is incredible - more than doubling every four years. The derivatives market thus is much larger than the GDP of the entire world.
*We get a reference to [http://landartgenerator.org/blagi/archives/127 a proposed project to power the world] by erecting massive solar farms out in the deserts. The area of Texas alone would be enough to match almost all of our modern power costs (though the people who live in Texas wouldn't enjoy being displaced).
|}

==Transcript==
:[This transcript is only reproducing text visible on the [https://www.xkcd.com/980/ front page comic].]
:[Title panel at the top left has one large heading, and then it is possible to read the first and third out of five lines (but not for instance the second line which is just the word "almost"):]
:'''Money''' 
:A chart of 
:all of it 
:[Below this there are 5 large panels, each with a series of plots, comparing the values of various things. The only clearly visible text is the title of each panel written in white on black background at the top of each panel] 
:[The first section covers single coffees up to the hourly salaries of CEOs. It is located below the title panel and there are a lot of green groups marked by unreadable text.]
:'''Dollars'''
:[The next section discusses values from around $1000 to $1,000,000, including a dissection of the song If I had $1000000. It is located directly below the Dollars section and has mainly orange groups (but also some green) marked by unreadable text.]
:'''Thousands'''
:[The third section focuses on $1,000,000 to $1,000,000,000, with a large section on campaign contributions of American political presidential campaigns, values of expensive works of art, and J. K. Rowling. It is located to the right of the Thousands section below the Billions section and there are a lot of gray groups (but also some orange) marked by unreadable text.]
:'''Millions'''
:[The fourth section gets into larger scale finances, profits of various sectors, costs of natural disasters, and net worths of the richest people on the planet. Also, Donald Trump. It is located to the right of the Dollars section and above both the Millions and Trillions section and has mainly yellow groups (but also some gray and red) all marked by unreadable text. There are, however, a few large headings that can be read:]
:'''Billions'''
:Education
:The Economic (...?)
:US household income
:Federal budget
:[In the last panel global financial status is described. It discusses derivatives, liquid assets, public debt by nation and GDP by continent, culminating with the total economic production of the human race to date. It is located below the Billions section to the right of the Millions section and has mainly cyan groups (but also one yellow) all marked by unreadable text.]
:'''Trillions'''
:['''For the full transcript of the [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/money_huge.png huge image] see [[980: Money/Transcript]].''']

==Trivia==
* ''xkcd'' usually posts at around midnight Eastern time the day of the comic, but this comic was posted at about noon. The reason is that it was difficult to get it all finished in time, as was explained in the [[Blag]] post titled [https://blog.xkcd.com/2011/11/24/money-chart/ Money chart] released three days later. This post also states that this was the first big project he undertook after his [https://blog.xkcd.com/2011/06/30/family-illness/ fiancée was diagnosed] with breast [[:Category:Cancer|cancer]].
* This comic used to be [https://web.archive.org/web/20211215032232/https://store.xkcd.com/products/money-poster available as a poster] in the ''xkcd'' store before it was [[Store|shut down]].
* Randall misspelled "communication" as "communcation" in the section on campaign donations.
* This is the first ''xkcd'' comic featuring [[Donald Trump]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Playpen balls]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:The Lion King]]
[[Category:Harry Potter]]
[[Category:Ghostbusters]]
[[Category:Twilight]] 
[[Category:Climate change]] 
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Comics with xkcd store products]]
[[Category:Nuclear weapons]]
[[Category:Money]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Donald Trump]]
[[Category:Minecraft]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]
[[Category:Comics with citations]]

1049: Bookshelf

2024-06-16T19:03:58Z

Usb-rave: /* Explanation */ copyedits

{{comic
| number = 1049
| date = April 30, 2012
| title = Bookshelf
| image = bookshelf.png
| titletext = I had a hard time with Ayn Rand because I found myself enthusiastically agreeing with the first 90% of every sentence, but getting lost at 'therefore, be a huge asshole to everyone.'
}}

==Explanation==
This is a play on the {{tvtropes|BookcasePassage|"hidden door"}} in which you pull down the right book and suddenly a wall of books turns into a hidden door. It is most used in spy movies or books. In this case, the book is ''Atlas Shrugged'' and instead of a secret passage, the wall swings around and takes you to a message "You have terrible taste".

''{{w|Atlas Shrugged}}'' is a {{w|dystopian novel}} by {{w|Ayn Rand}}. [[Randall]] is suggesting it's a bad book.

Although the intent behind the book was in Rand's theory of {{w|Objectivism}}, it has become largely adopted as a battle-cry by Libertarians. One could find this as another reason to dislike Rand's literature, as Libertarians have been notoriously disruptive and annoying to many who oppose their political philosophy or their means to get their message across.

The title text is a general criticism Randall has with Rand, since most of Rand's characters are fiercely independent and rather tactless. Also see [[Ayn Random]].

But the title text also shows the fact that people reading Rand can easily be swayed and aligned with her beliefs by the fact that it stresses that you are unique and individual, and that Randall was victim of these circumstances until he finds Rand's approach preposterous and rejects it. Oddly, since he seems to be judging Rand this on his own accord and making his own decision, one could theorize that he is truly an individualist in that he is not swayed by anyone, even a person who preaches not to be swayed and to make your own decisions — a subject pursued in Ayn Rand's ''{{w|The Fountainhead}}''.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball stands in front of a bookshelf.]
:Cueball: Ooh, ''Atlas Shrugged''.
:[Cueball yanks out book only for a click to be heard.]
:[The entire setup begins to rumble, while the bookcase and a surrounding platform takes both it and Cueball behind the wall.]
:[The tiny, dark room behind the wall has one thing painted on it.]
:Wall: You have terrible taste.
:[The whole piece of kit moves back to its original position. Cueball stands there mildly stunned.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1215: Insight

2024-06-09T21:11:20Z

Usb-rave:

{{comic
| number = 1215
| date = May 22, 2013
| title = Insight
| image = insight.png
| titletext = The great thing is, the sentence is really just a reminder to the listener to worry about whatever aspects of the technology they're already feeling alarmist about, which in their mind gives you credit for addressing their biggest anxieties.
}}

==Explanation==
[[White Hat]] is giving a profound insight into <Google Glass>. This insight, however, can be given, sounding just as profound, for any other new technology that comes around—hence the angled brackets around ''Google Glass'', indicating that "Google Glass" is a placeholder. This, of course, means it is not profound at all, as it has no actual insight into {{w|Google Glass}} (or any other technology).

The title text highlights a common trait of human listeners. The above sentence is constructed in such a way as to trigger the listener's reservations about the new technology. The sentence sounds profound, not because it has any actual insights, but because it causes the listener to fill in the missing insights with their own pre-existing thoughts on the matter. This is a typical effect of {{w|Confirmation bias}}. Not only does this cause [[Cueball]] to regard White Hat as insightful, but it also causes Cueball to think that White Hat agrees with whatever it is that Cueball fears <Google Glass> for.

It seems no coincidence that [[Randall]] chose ''Google Glass'' as the placeholder. It seems generally that he is no fan of these, which was shown soon after in [[1251: Anti-Glass]] and later again in [[1304: Glass Trolling]]. This was the first time Google Glass was directly mentioned but since this comic Google Glass has become a [[:Category:Google Glass|recurring theme]] in xkcd.

The caption is reminiscent of Randall's [[:Category:Tips|tips]], but since the word tip is left out, it is not itself a tip comic.

*[[174: That's What SHE Said]]
*[[1656: It Begins]]
*[[559: No Pun Intended]]
*[[178: Not Really Into Pokemon]]
*[[1022: So It Has Come To This]]
*[[1627: Woosh]]

==Transcript==
:[White Hat is holding a finger up while talking to Cueball.]
:White Hat:
::Maybe before we rush to adopt
::::<'''Google Glass'''>
::we should stop to consider the consequences of blithely giving this technology such a central position in our lives.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Don't have any insights about a new technology? Just use this sentence!
:It makes you sound wise and you can say it about virtually anything.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Google Glass]]

1400: D.B. Cooper

2024-06-09T21:01:56Z

Usb-rave: added :Category:Comics with citations

{{comic
| number = 1400
| date = July 28, 2014
| title = D.B. Cooper
| image = d_b_cooper.png
| titletext = 'Why on Earth would someone commit air piracy just to finance a terrible movie decades later?' 'People are very strange these days.'
}}

==Explanation==
[[File:DBCooper.jpg|thumb|150px|Cooper]]
In 1971, a man referred to by the media as [[D. B. Cooper]] hijacked a Boeing 727 and escaped with $200,000 in ransom money (equivalent to $900,000 in 2003 or $1,250,000 in 2020). While the FBI maintains that Cooper was most likely killed when he parachuted from the plane, they have never determined his identity, and the investigation was called off in 2016, making it the United States' only unsolved plane hijacking. (This mystery was later referenced in [[1501: Mysteries]], and then again in [[2452: Aviation Firsts]].)

[[File:Tommy Wiseau.jpg|thumb|150px|Wiseau]]
In 2003, {{w|Tommy Wiseau}} released {{w|The Room (film)|''The Room''}}, which is considered by many to be the worst film ever made, but has also earned a sizable number of fans who uphold it as a prime example of a film that is "{{w|so bad, it's good}}". In the decade since, Wiseau has become something of an icon alongside his infamous movie, of which he was the producer, writer, director, and main star. Surprisingly little, however, is known about him. The comic refers to "The Room" as "...the '{{w|Citizen Kane}}' of bad movies." This is a comparison between what is widely considered the best film of all time, which was, coincidentally the first film produced by, written by, directed by, and starring Orson Welles and what is widely considered the worst film of all time, the first film produced by, written by, directed by, and starring Tommy Wiseau.

This comic points to similarities between several details of Cooper and Wiseau's stories:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Cooper
!Wiseau
|-
|"Vanished mysteriously with a large amount of money":Cooper escaped with $200,000 in 1971 dollars, equivalent to around $1.3M today. $5,800 of that money was recovered in 1980 in the vicinity of where Cooper jumped from the plane, but the rest was never found. Assuming Cooper survived, he would have had decades to turn the $200k into an even larger fortune.
|"Appeared mysteriously with a large amount of money":''The Room'' cost $6 million to make, and initially grossed a mere $1,900—a loss of 99.97% of the investment. It is generally assumed that all or most of that money was Wiseau's own, which raises the question of how he obtained such wealth. Although Wiseau claims to have earned his money by selling toys to tourists, and later factory-reject jeans, his ''Room'' co-star {{w|Greg Sestero}} considers it very unlikely that he earned so many millions this way.
|-
|"Real age/name unknown":Cooper's real name remains unknown. While he was estimated to be in his mid-40s, his precise age is also unknown.
|"Colleague says he's much older than he claims":In 2010, Wiseau stated that he was 41. Sestero, however, says he was born in the 1950s. If born in 1950, he would have been 21 when Cooper jumped.
|-
|"Ambiguous, possibly affected speaking style ('negotiable American currency')":Cooper's use of this unusual phrase has led to speculation about his origins, including as to whether he was perhaps not an American.
|"Ambiguous, possibly affected speaking style ('You are tearing me apart, Lisa!')":The most famously melodramatic line from ''The Room'', [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plz-bhcHryc "You are tearing me apart, Lisa!"] is one of several which highlights Wiseau's unusual accent and less-than-complete command of the English language. As with Cooper's "negotiable American currency," it is phrased in a way not typical of American English.The phrase "You're tearing me apart!" originally appeared in ''{{w|Rebel Without a Cause}}'', though it appeared in a more appropriate context. Wiseau simply wanted to include the phrase because he adored James Dean, without considering how the phrase ended up feeling in his movie.
|-
|"Fate unknown":Cooper has not been seen since he jumped from the plane, though the FBI has investigated over a thousand "serious suspects." He either died trying to jump from the plane, or disappeared completely after touching down.
|"Background unknown":Despite Wiseau being a public figure for over a decade since the release of ''The Room'', little is definitively known about his background. Sestero says Wiseau was born somewhere in Eastern Europe - people who have traced his family tree found his family are likely from {{w|Poznań}}, central Poland. Wiseau has said he has moved back and forth between Europe and the U.S. throughout his life, spending significant time in France and Louisiana. His accent is hard to place.His legal name, place of birth, date of birth, and nationality are all unknown, as are most of the details of how he's spent his life.
|-
|}

The comic then compares an FBI sketch of Cooper with a photograph of Wiseau, apparently to claim that they have similar appearances. The only real similarity is that they're both wearing sunglasses.

However, these are only a few cherry-picked aspects of their lives, and do not seriously suggest that they are the same person. For example, even if we assume that Wiseau was born in 1950, and that Cooper was only 35 (probably the youngest age which can be mistaken for mid-40s) in 1971, that leaves a 14-year gap between their ages. Likewise, Cooper was said to have either an American or Canadian accent, while Wiseau's bizarre accent is certainly not North American. While [[Cueball]]'s theory in this comic is clearly a joke on [[Randall]]'s part, given Randall's [[258: Conspiracy Theories|known]] [[690: Semicontrolled Demolition|distaste]] [[966: Jet Fuel|for]] conspiracy theories, this may also be making fun of people who base theories off of minor details while ignoring contradictory ones and bigger-picture questions. The question in the title text, for instance, notes that Cooper would have gone through a huge amount of effort just to produce a movie; a similar rhetorical device is often used against convoluted conspiracy theories, where one points out a vastly simpler way for the supposed conspirators to have accomplished their goals.

The title text goes on to attribute such a weird motive for hijacking to the impression that "people are very strange these days," which is another quote from ''The Room''.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is using a baton to point towards a projector.]
:D.B. Cooper
:("Dan Cooper")

:Hijacked a plane in the 1970s.
:On landing, demanded money and
:parachutes. Jumped from plane
:mid-flight and was never found.

:*Vanished mysteriously with large amount of money
:*Real age/name unknown
:*Ambiguous, possibly affected speaking style ("negotiable American currency")
:*Fate unknown

:[Cueball has his palm out.]
:Tommy Wiseau
:("Johnny")

:Wrote, directed, and starred in
:''The Room'', a film widely hailed as
:"The ''Citizen Kane'' of bad movies."

:*Appeared mysteriously with large amount of money
:*Colleague says he's much older than he claims.
:*Ambiguous, possibly affected speaking style ("You are tearing me apart, Lisa!")
:*Background unknown

:[Two images captioned "Cooper (FBI sketch)" and "Wiseau (Flickr photo by Al Pavangkanan)".]

:Offscreen voice: This is the dumbest theory I've ever heard.
:Cueball: But it explains ''everything!!''

==Trivia==
This is the first xkcd comic featuring [[D. B. Cooper]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring D. B. Cooper]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theory]]
[[Category:Comics with citations]]

Radiation

2024-06-09T20:58:43Z

Usb-rave: added :Category:Comics with citations

{{comic
| date = March 19, 2011
| title = Radiation
| image = radiation.png
| titletext = Click to view full
| lappend = 2011/03/19/radiation-chart
| ldomain = blog
| extra = yes
}}

* The full-size version of this chart can be found here: http://xkcd.com/radiation/.
* The original blog post "Radiation Chart" can be found here: http://blog.xkcd.com/2011/03/19/radiation-chart/.
* The additional blog post with updated commentary can be found here: http://blog.xkcd.com/2011/04/26/radiation-chart-update/.

==Explanation==
This is a chart listing various sources of radiation and the amount of dosage in sieverts (a unit of absorbed radiation) you would receive. There is an image of squares next to each radiation source, which act as a representation for an amount of sieverts. The blue squares represent .05 micro sieverts each, the green squares represent 20 micro sieverts each, the red squares represent 10 milli sieverts each, and the yellow squares represent 1 sievert each.

This was released shortly after, and due to, the {{w|Tohoku Earthquake}} and the beginning of the crisis at the {{w|Fukushima nuclear plant}}.

The first section, the blue section, shows small dosages of radiation compared to 1 to 800 blue squares.
A much smaller version of the blue chart is shown in the green section to compare blue to green squares. The green section uses green squares in comparison to its radiation amounts, which are much larger than those listed on the blue section.
The red section uses red squares to compare its much more powerful radiation sources. It has a smaller revision of the green chart to compare green to red squares.
The yellow section compares yellow squares to a single source, the amount of radiation absorbed during ten minutes next to the Chernobyl reactor core after explosion and meltdown. It likewise features a small version of the red chart to compare yellow to red squares.

Randall points out the cell phones do not produce ionizing radiation, "unless it's a bananaphone". This is in reference to ''[[wikipedia:Bananaphone|Bananaphone]]'', a 1994 children's song by Raffi which, on the internet, saw its peak of memetic popularity in 2004. As noted in the blue chart, bananas give off less than a fraction of a micro-Sievert of radiation; thus, a phone that is also a banana would give off radiation (although the amount is unclear since people don't eat their phones).{{citation needed}}

Below the charts there is a conversion table comparing various squares to each other and their conversion rates.
Below that is various web sources that have just the urls listed, not in any official citation like MLA or APA.

Randal explains at the bottom that this chart is merely a rough guideline, and may have errors. Indeed, his sources that he listed have many typos and some are broken links.

It is likely that this comic was the inspiration for the much larger and more complex [[980: Money]] that came out later that year.

==Transcript==
:Title: Radiation Dose Chart
:Subtitle: This is a chart of the ionization dose a person can absorb from various sources. The unit for absorbed dose is "sievert" (Sv), and measures the effect a dose of radiation will have on the cells of the body. One sievert (all at once) will make you sick, and too many more will kill you, but we safely absorb small amounts of natural radiation daily. Note: The same number of sieverts absorbed in a shorter time will generally cause more damage, but your cumulative long-term dose plays a big role in things like cancer risk.

:Blue section:
:1 blue square: Sleeping next to someone (0.05 μSv)
:1.8 blue squares: Living within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant for a year (0.09 μSv)
:2 blue squares: Eating one banana (0.1 μSv)
:6 blue squares: Living within 50 miles of a coal power plant for a year (0.3 μSv)
:20 blue squares: Arm X-Ray (1 μSv)
:25 blue squares: Extra dose from spending one day in an area with higher-than-average natural background radiation, such as the Colorado plateau (1.2 μSv)
:100 blue squares: Dental x-ray (5 μSv)
:200 blue squares: Background dose received by an average person over one normal day (10 μSv)
:800 blue squares: Airplane flight from New York to LA (40 μSv)

:Note under blue section: Using a cell phone (0 μSv)-a cell phone's transmitter does not produce ionizing radiation* and does not cause cancer.
:*Unless it's a bananaphone.

:Green section:
:1 green square: Chest x-ray (20 μSv)
:1.5 green squares: EPA yearly release target for a nuclear power plant (30 μSv)
:3 green squares: All the doses in the blue chart combined (~60 μSv)
:2 green squares: Extra dose to Tokyo in weeks following Fukushima accident (40 μSv)
:3.5 green squares: Living in a stone, brick, or concrete building for a year (70 μSv)
:4 green squares: Average total dose from the Three Mile Island accident to someone living within 10 miles (80 μSv)
:5 green squares: Approximate total dose received at Fukushima Town Hall over two weeks following accident (100 μSv)
:12.5 green squares: EPA yearly release limit for a nuclear power plant (250 μSv)
:19.5 green squares: Yearly dose from natural potassium in the body (390 μSv)
:20 green squares: Mammogram (400 μSv)
:50 green squares: EPA yearly limit on radiation exposure to a single member of the public (1 mSv=1,000 μSv)
:50 green squares: Maximum external dose from Three Mile Island accident (1 mSv)
:50 green squares: Typical dose over two weeks in Fukushima Exclusion Zone (1 mSv, but areas northwest saw far higher doses)
:100 green squares: Head CT Scan (2 mSv)
:200 green squares: Normal yearly background dose. About 85% is from natural sources. Nearly all the rest os from medical scans (~4 mSv)
:300 green squares: Dose from spending an hour on the grounds at the Chernobyl plant in 2010 (6 mSv in one spot, but varies wildly)
:350 green squares: Chest CT scan (7 mSv)
:2,500 green squares: Maximum yearly dose permitted for US radiation workers (50 mSv)

:Red section:
:4 red squares: Approximate total dose at one station at the north-west station of the Fukushima exclusion zone (40 mSv)
:5 red squares: Radiation worker one-year dose limit (50 mSv)
:7.5 red squares: All doses in green chart combined (~75 mSv)
:10 red squares: Lowest one-year dose clearly linked to increased cancer risk (100 mSv)
:18 red squares: Dose received by two Fukushima plant workers (~180 mSv)
:40 red squares: Dose causing symptoms of radiation poisoning if received in a short time (400 mSv, but it varies)
:200 red squares: severe radiation poisoning, in some cases fatal (2000 mSv, 2 Sv)
:400 red squares: Usually fatal radiation poisoning. Survival occassionally possible with prompt treatment (4 Sv)
:800 red squares: Fatal dose, even with treatment (8 Sv)

:Smaller section within red section:
:EPA guidelines for emergency situations, provided to ensure quick decision-making:
:10 red squares: Dose limit for emergency workers protecting valuable property (100 mSv)
:25 red squares: Dose limit for emergency workers in lifesaving operations (250 mSv)

:Yellow section:
:50 yellow squares: Ten minutes next to the Chernobyl reactor core after explosion and meltdown (50 Sv)

:Conversion charts:
:1 blue square equals (0.05 μSv)
:400 blue squares equal 1 green square (20 μSv)
:500 green squares equal 1 red square (10 mSv)
:100 red squares equal 1 yellow square (1 Sv)

:Sources:
:http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/part020/
:[https://nema.nebraska.gov/tech-hazard/radiation-dose-limits www.nema.ne.gov/technological/dose-limits.html]
:http://www.deq/idaho.gov/inl_oversight/radiation/dose_calculator.cfm
:http://www.deq/idaho.gov/inl_oversight/radiation/radiation_guide.cfm
:http://mitnse.com/
:http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/PDF/03SER/Chapter_8.pdf
:http://dels-old.nas.edu/dels/rpt_briefs/rerf_final.pdf
:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sievert
:http://blog.vornaskotti.com/2010/07/15/into-the-zone-chernobyl-pripyat/
:http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fzact-sheets/tritium-radiation-fs.html
:http://www.mext.go.jp/component/a_menu/other/detail/))icsFiles/afieldfile/20011/03/18/1303723_1716.pdf
:http://radiology.rnsa.org/content/248/1/254

:Chart by Randal Munroe, with help from Ellen, Senior Reactor Operator at the Reed Research Reactor, who suggested the idea and provided a lot of the sources. I'm sure I've added in lots of mistakes; it's for general education only. If you're basing radiation safety procedures on an internet PNG image and things go wrong, you have no one to blame but yourself.
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]
[[Category:Comics with citations]]

980: Money

2024-06-09T20:57:49Z

Usb-rave: added :Category:Comics with citations

{{comic
| number = 980
| date = November 21, 2011
| title = Money
| image = money.png
| titletext = There, I showed you it.
}}
{{TOC}}
* Clicking on the image on xkcd takes you to an [https://xkcd.com/980/huge/ interactive] and much larger image. On the interactive image there are two links: one takes you to the [https//xkcd.com/980/sources/ sources and downloads] page where a list of sources and the [https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/money_huge.png full image] can be downloaded

==Explanation==
{{Quote| I had a huge amount of fun putting the money chart together. It was the first time in a long time that my life’s been stable enough that I’ve been able to really disappear into a project—I’d almost forgotten how enjoyable it can be.|[[Randall Munroe]]|[https://blog.xkcd.com/2011/11/24/money-chart/ Source]}}

This is a [[:Category:Charts|chart]] comic - a type of comic that [[Randall]] does from time to time. He has for instance done [[Online Communities|maps of the Internet]] ([[Online Communities 2|twice]]!) and other huge visualizations like this chart [[Radiation]] with a similar structure as this chart but with Radiation as the subject. The Radiation chart is most likely the inspiration for this much more comprehensive Money chart.

In this money chart there are five boxes with items on different scales of monetary value denoting prices and values of many things, big and small (with the values contemporary to the comic's release in 2011; most are now more expensive due to inflation). Each scale of dollar increments are different colors. One dollar increments are green - naturally, because American paper money is green. Thousands are Orange/Red. Millions are gray. Billions are yellow. Trillions are blue. This comic uses {{w|Long and short scales|the short scale}} for naming large numbers (so a billion = 1000 millions = 109 rather than a million millions = 1012 as in continental Europe).

Included in one frame is a small man with a red and white striped shirt, blue pants, a cane and a knit cap. He is known as Wally or Waldo (in the US) from the {{w|Where's Wally?|Where's Waldo books}}. To not give anything away for those who wish to search for him themselves there will be no spoiler here. But if someone needs a little help... Then by clicking this [[980: Money/Transcript#Billions|link]] you will be directed to the relevant section amongst the five sections where Waldo can be found. (The link will take you to that section of the full transcript page). If you still cannot find him (or give up in advance) then just search the transcript page for Wally or Waldo. There is a [[Header text#Money|unique header text]] for this comic.

The title text is a reference to the phrase "Show me the money!" which originates from the film ''{{w|Jerry Maguire}}''.

===Extra Money pages===
Since this comic is so big and complicated, extra pages have been created to include much more information than is wished for on this main page. These pages are listed here for convenience, but they are also listed in the relevant sections below:
* [[980: Money/Transcript]] - The full transcript of the entire comic can be found here. It is linked from the [[#Transcript|Transcript]] section.
* [[980: Money/Prices in tables]] is a complete list of every item in the comic.

===Tables with explanations===
====Dollars====
{| class="wikitable"
|+Dollars
|-
|Top-left
|The price of various common bills and commodities. The One Dollar Menu is a type of menu at various fast food restaurants. The one dollar bill and ten dollar bill are likely used for reference points. A Starbucks coffee actually ranges in price from $1.95 to $2.15 depending on the location.
|-
|Middle-left
|Pet Ownership. The {{w|ASPCA}} is the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The most expensive animal on this list may seem surprising; rabbits cost an average of 35 dollars more than dogs and 70 dollars more than cats.
|-
|Bottom-right
|Four boxes indicate that the CEO pay has skyrocketed from $490.31 (hourly) to $5,419.97 (hourly) in the same time period in which the average worker's salary has grown 10 cents.
|}

====Thousands====
{| class="wikitable"
|+Thousands
|-
|Top-right
|Hogwarts degree: a reference to {{w|Hogwarts|Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy}} from the popular book series by {{w|J.K. Rowling}} about {{w|Harry Potter}}.
One box is the estimated yearly tuition for the school and the next is how much seven years at the school would cost. To get a degree at the school, it takes 7 years (starting at age 11, ending at age 18).
|-
|Bottom
|A reference to the song by {{w|Bare Naked Ladies}} entitled "{{w|If I Had $1000000}}" and all the things referenced in the song to buy the love of another person.
|-
|Middle-Right
|A few items on the marriage of {{w|Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton|Kate Middleton and Prince William}}, the major royal wedding of 2011, including:
*a {{w|Wedding dress of Kate Middleton|wedding dress with its own Wikipedia page}} of 3 times the annual per capita income of the average UK person,
*an 8-tier [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1381944/Royal-Wedding-cake-Kate-Middleton-requested-8-tiers-decorated-900-flowers.html wedding cake],
*and the flowers for the wedding. These re-appear in the Millions section of the graph, where they also list the costs for the security around the event ($20 million).
|}

====Millions====
{| class="wikitable"
|+Millions
|-
|Left
|Dr. Evil's ransom demands from the film "Austin Powers" corrected for inflation between 1969 and 1997.
|-
|Middle-right
|Another reference to JK Rowling, comparing her (actual $1 billion) net worth as an author with her (imagined $82,000) net worth as a rapper.
The magnified 82 orange/red ($1,000) boxes are footnoted "Professional assessment by rapper/geek culture expert MC Frontalot." {{w|MC Front-A-Lot}} is the creator of the subgenre of {{w|hip-hop}} known as {{w|Nerd Core}}.
|-
|Middle
|An {{w|Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor|F-22 Raptor fighter jet}} (valued at $154.5M) is compared to a Velociraptor ($1.9M in production costs for the film Jurassic Park)
|}

====Billions====
{| class="wikitable"
|+Billions
|-
|Top-Left ((Fictional)Billionaires section)
|{{w|Carlisle Cullen}} is from the {{w|Twilight (series)|Twilight Series}} of books and movies. He is a vampire and adoptive father of {{w|Edward Cullen|Edward}}, {{w|Emmett Cullen|Emmett}} and {{w|Alice Cullen (Twilight)|Alice Cullen}}, as well as {{w|Rosalie Hale|Rosalie}} and {{w|Jasper Hale}}. He was born in the 1640s and amassed his wealth through many years of compound interest and investments.
|{{w|Scrooge McDuck}} is a cartoon character from many {{w|Disney}} properties including the afternoon cartoon, {{w|Duck Tales}}. Scrooge McDuck has a "money bin" full of coins and other sorts of collectibles that he routinely [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMU2NwaaXEA goes swimming in].
|{{w|Bruce Wayne}} is {{w|Batman}}. {{w|Batman}} is {{w|Bruce Wayne}}. He is portrayed in many comic books, graphic novels, TV shows and movies by many different actors.
|{{w|Artemis Fowl II|Artemis Fowl}} is an Irish child prodigy and a ruthless master criminal from the {{w|Artemis Fowl (series)|eponymous book series}}. He uses his intelligence to build his family fortune through crime.
|}

====Trillions====
{| class="wikitable"
|+Trillions
|-
|As Randall already indicated in the transcript, this is the block for world, continent and nation finances. The numbers are really huge. There are no jokes in here (apart from the fact that Randall tried to make the shapes of the GDP look like the continent), likely because financial values this large aren't funny to start with.
|-
|GDP is {{w|Gross domestic product}}, the market value of all goods and services produced in a nation.
*The major chart in the center shows the development of the GDP in the world since the 1940s. So far the US GDP has always grown, except for a small reduction in the early 1980s, a flat line around the 1991 global recession and a flat line in the second half of the naughts. The world-wide GDP is growing more rapidly, but is also much more volatile.
|-
|In the middle of the box, it shows the worth of all gold ever mined in 2011 prices. This is important because of the concept of the {{w|Gold standard}}, a concept where monetary values are linked to the value of gold. As indicated in the top-right of the box, both the EU and the USA have more debt than the total value of all gold in the world.
|-
|{{w|Derivative (finance)|Derivatives}} are a complex financial instrument where one is not trading in something tangible, but in derived values - like options. Derivatives thus are dangerous as one trades in concepts instead of values. Critics claim that derivatives are at the base of the 'economic bubble'.
*The growth of the derivatives market size is incredible - more than doubling every four years. The derivatives market thus is much larger than the GDP of the entire world.
*We get a reference to [http://landartgenerator.org/blagi/archives/127 a proposed project to power the world] by erecting massive solar farms out in the deserts. The area of Texas alone would be enough to match almost all of our modern power costs (though the people who live in Texas wouldn't enjoy being displaced).
|}

==Transcript==
:[This transcript is only reproducing text visible on the [http://www.xkcd.com/980/ front page comic].]
:[Title panel at the top left has one large heading, and then it is possible to read the first and third out of five lines (but not for instance the second line which is just the word "almost"):]
:'''Money''' 
:A chart of 
:all of it 
:[Below this there are 5 large panels, each with a series of plots, comparing the values of various things. The only clearly visible text is the title of each panel written in white on black background at the top of each panel] 
:[The first section covers single coffees up to the hourly salaries of CEOs. It is located below the title panel and there are a lot of green groups marked by unreadable text.]
:'''Dollars'''
:[The next section discusses values from around $1000 to $1,000,000, including a dissection of the song If I had $1000000. It is located directly below the Dollars section and has mainly orange groups (but also some green) marked by unreadable text.]
:'''Thousands'''
:[The third section focuses on $1,000,000 to $1,000,000,000, with a large section on campaign contributions of American political presidential campaigns, values of expensive works of art, and J. K. Rowling. It is located to the right of the Thousands section below the Billions section and there are a lot of gray groups (but also some orange) marked by unreadable text.]
:'''Millions'''
:[The fourth section gets into larger scale finances, profits of various sectors, costs of natural disasters, and net worths of the richest people on the planet. Also, Donald Trump. It is located to the right of the Dollars section and above both the Millions and Trillions section and has mainly yellow groups (but also some gray and red) all marked by unreadable text. There are, however, a few large headings that can be read:]
:'''Billions'''
:Education
:The Economic (...?)
:US household income
:Federal budget
:[In the last panel global financial status is described. It discusses derivatives, liquid assets, public debt by nation and GDP by continent, culminating with the total economic production of the human race to date. It is located below the Billions section to the right of the Millions section and has mainly cyan groups (but also one yellow) all marked by unreadable text.]
:'''Trillions'''
:['''For the full transcript of the [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/money_huge.png huge image] see [[980: Money/Transcript]].''']

==Trivia==
* xkcd usually posts at around midnight Eastern time the day of the comic, but this comic was posted at about noon. The reason is that it was difficult to get it all finished in time, as was explained in the [[Blag]] post titled [https://blog.xkcd.com/2011/11/24/money-chart/ Money chart] released three days later. This post also states that this was the first big project he undertook after his [https://blog.xkcd.com/2011/06/30/family-illness/ fiancée was diagnosed] with breast [[:Category:Cancer|cancer]].
* This comic used to be [https://web.archive.org/web/20211215032232/https://store.xkcd.com/products/money-poster available as a poster] in the xkcd store before it was [[Store|shut down]].
* Randall misspelled "communication" as "communcation" in the section on campaign donations.
* This is the first xkcd comic featuring [[Donald Trump]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Playpen balls]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:The Lion King]]
[[Category:Harry Potter]]
[[Category:Ghostbusters]]
[[Category:Twilight]] 
[[Category:Climate change]] 
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Comics with xkcd store products]]
[[Category:Nuclear weapons]]
[[Category:Money]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Donald Trump]]
[[Category:Minecraft]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]
[[Category:Comics with citations]]

2859: Oceanography Gift

2024-06-09T20:55:46Z

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{{comic
| number = 2859
| date = November 24, 2023
| title = Oceanography Gift
| image = oceanography_gift_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Shipping times vary. Same-ocean delivery may only take a few years, but delivery from the Weddell Sea in Antarctica may take multiple decades, and molecules meant for inland seas like the Mediterranean may be returned as undeliverable by surface currents.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Randall]] seems inspired by the timing of {{w|ocean current}}s, much as he has previously been with [[2805: Global Atmospheric Circulation|air currents]], although he may even have already considered some of the technicalities [[1675: Message in a Bottle|prior to that]]. As supporting evidence, he provides a DOI reference to a 2016 Jönsson & Watson open-access article in Nature Communications, '[https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms11239 The timescales of global surface-ocean connectivity]'.This would be extremely impractical, since in ten years, it's possible that you and the recipient broke connections, or one of you (or both of you) passed away. If these scenarios are not the case, ten years is an awfully long time to wait for a present.

In this specific (fictional) example, the water dumped into the ocean today will take ten years to circulate round to the depicted neighbouring coastline (wherever that is). Which implies significant planning ahead is necessary before posting water to someone. And a lot of presumption about the lack of any other dispersal/dilution, or that some degree of fungibility is acceptable, so long as it is ''{{w|Ship of Theseus|philosophically}}'' the same group of molecules involved. Of course, some of the water molecules may take a short-cut by being evaporated then precipitated closer to the delivery site.

The title text mentions that "same-ocean delivery" may only take a few years, as the coast lines are in the same general body of circulating water, and doesn't have to pass around large obstacles (like continents) or through small gaps (straits). But if you wish delivery from {{w|Weddell Sea}} it may take decades. The Weddell sea lies near the {{w|Antarctic Peninsula}}, part of the {{w|Southern Ocean}} whose circulation can be considered largely isolated from the neighbouring bodies of water by the {{w|Antarctic Circumpolar Current}}. In particular, that area contains the {{w|Weddell Gyre}} one of the two {{w|ocean gyre}}s in that area.

The title text also mentions {{w|inland sea}}s, which can be generalised as bodies of water that are very large in area but either completely surrounded by dry land or connected to an ocean only by a river or a strait. He mentions the {{w|Mediterranean Sea}} which is only connected to the {{w|Atlantic Ocean}} through the narrow {{w|Strait of Gibraltar}}; the intention of the title text is to suggest that water molecules dumped in an ocean would not get to appear in such a sea (except by {{w|evaporation}} and re{{w|precipitation}}) into its catchment area) and thus they can only ever circulate back to the dumping point (deemed 'undeliverable').

In reality, the Mediterranean Sea is not completely cut off from the main oceans and surface currents actually do reach into and around the Mediterranean. The natural loss from evaporation is not fully compensated for by the inflow of the incident rivers from southern Europe, North Africa and Asia, directly or via other attached bodies of water (e.g. the Black Sea). The movement of water also involves the deeper Levantine Intermediate Waters layer (a subsurface current) which exits via Gibraltar and helps to further draw current inwards at the surface level. As such, except for a limited amount of water which reverses direction within the extreme western end the Mediterranean, it is more true to say that ''surface'' currents cannot actually transport water from within the sea outwards into the Atlantic (and beyond). (This explanation ignores flow through the Suez Canal.)

The {{w|Caspian Sea}} is a real inland sea that has no outlet to any oceans and only inlets from rivers, one of a number of [[2325: Endorheic Basin|endorheic basins]] that are also {{w|Endorheic lake|lakes}}, and thus trivially isolated from all other maritime currents.

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

:[Cueball and Megan are standing thigh deep, at either edge of a stretch of water between two steep but walkable shorelines.]

:[Cueball, at the left, is apparently opening bottles of water and pouring them into the sea while recording himself.]
:Cueball: Happy birthday!
:Cueball: I got you these water molecules.
:[Sound effects:] (click) (pour)

:[The water between has a morass of short swirling arrows indicating movement. In the air above this there is a square-bracketted 'label']
:[Label:] 10 years pass 

:[Megan, at the right, is dipping bottles into the water to fill them]
:Megan: Aww, thank you!
:[Sound effect:] (scoop)

:[Text below comic:]
: Global surface ocean connectivity times are ≤10 years (Jönsson & Watson, 2016, DOI:10.1038/ncomms11239), so if you're willing to plan ahead, you can pour water into the ocean while wishing someone a happy birthday, and then in 10 years let them know they can pick up their gift at the nearest coastline.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]] 
[[Category:Comics with citations]]

2858: Thanksgiving Arguments

2024-06-09T20:54:44Z

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{{comic
| number = 2858
| date = November 22, 2023
| title = Thanksgiving Arguments
| image = thanksgiving_arguments_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = An occasional source of mild Thanksgiving tension in my family is that my mother is a die-hard fan of The Core (2003), and various family members sometimes have differing levels of enthusiasm for her annual tradition of watching it.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic features a conversation between [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]], discussing the dynamics of family gatherings during {{w|Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving}}, specifically about the topics of political arguments and how to navigate them. This was a topical comic, as Thanksgiving in the United States in 2023 was on November 23, the day after the posting of this comic.

In the first panel, Cueball is depicted sitting at a computer, presumably writing an article or blog post titled "How to Win Political Arguments with Your Awful Relatives at Thanksgiving Dinner" - a common topic for 'filler' articles at this time of year. Such articles are based on the perception that political arguments are common at holiday dinners. This is likely based on the idea that people will tend to avoid relatives with "awful" political views, but holiday dinners carry the expectation that the whole family will be together, making such arguments difficult to avoid.

Megan challenges this perception, citing [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/poll-nobody-fights-thanksgiving_n_5deece02e4b07f6835b7eab6 an article in ''Huffington Post''] which reports on a poll which found that only 16% of families reported discussing politics at Thanksgiving dinner, and only 3% reporting having argued about politics. She also points out that Cueball's family has political views that are "mostly fine". This is probably not especially uncommon, as families tend to share similar experiences and backgrounds, which inform their political opinions. Where disagreements do occur, it's common for those to be minor, and not the subject of particularly emotional arguments. In addition, where politics are a source of friction within a family, most learn not to bring it up at holiday gatherings, precisely to avoid such arguments.

The misperception at the root of this may be a case of selection bias. There certainly are families in which members hold opposing political views{{Citation needed}} with such emotional fervor that gatherings typically devolve into arguments. Since those arguments can be so intense and emotional (and often personally hurtful), the people involved are far more likely to relate their experiences to others, both in person and in media (such as in articles, columns, and portrayal in fiction). By contrast, people who have quiet, undramatic family dinners are less likely to get attention. This can give rise to the perception that heated political arguments are the norm for such gatherings.

The comic concludes by revealing that Cueball's family, rather than arguing about politics, tends to argue about ''{{w|The Rise of Skywalker}}'', a controversial recent entry in the {{w|Star Wars}} franchise, with Megan agreeing that his aunt "brings that up a lot". The joke is that Cueball's family, like him, tend to have nerdy, pop-culture-based passions, and those are areas that are far more likely to result in family debates. The title text extends this theme by referencing the mother's devotion to the 2003 movie ''{{w|The Core}}'' (widely considered a contender for "{{w|The Core#Reception|all-time-worst 'science in a movie' winner}}") and her insistence on watching it annually during Thanksgiving is mentioned as a bone of contention within the family. This underscores the idea that perceptions of a "normal" family gathering (ie, arguing about politics) aren't necessarily applicable to most families. The individual character and eccentricities of each family are far more likely to define what their holidays are like.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting on an office chair at his desk typing on his stationary computer as Megan walks up behind him. The text he writes is shown above the screen with a zigzag line going from a starburst on the screen.]
:Text: ''How to win political arguments with your awful relatives at Thanksgiving dinner''

:[Closeup of Megan in a frame-less panel. Below Megan there is a footnote relating to the asterisk at the end of her sentence.]
:Megan: You know, despite all the posts about it, surveys show most families don't actually argue about politics at Thanksgiving.*
:Footnote: *<nowiki>https://www.huffpost.com/entry/poll-nobody-fights-thanksgiving_n_5deece02e4b07f6835b7eab6</nowiki>

:[Zoom back on to Cueball and Megan. Cueball has turned around in his chair, hands on his lap, looking up at Megan.]
:Megan: Take ''your'' relatives. Their political opinions are basically fine.
:Megan: Maybe you should write about what ''they'' argue about?

:[Closeup of Cueball typing on his computer. The text he writes is again shown above the screen with a zigzag line going from a starburst on the screen. Megan speaks to him from off-panel, her speech line coming from a starburst at the right edge of the panel.]
:Text: ''How to win arguments about '''The Rise of Skywalker''' at your Thanksgiving dinner''
:Megan (off-panel): Aunt Katie ''does'' bring that up a lot, doesn't she.
:Cueball: This'll be year four.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Social interactions]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Holidays]]
[[Category:The Core]]
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Category:Comics with citations

2024-06-09T20:53:34Z

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These comics include citations or references to external sources.

white hat

2024-06-07T00:04:55Z

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#REDIRECT [[White Hat]]

1: Barrel - Part 1

2024-06-07T00:03:01Z

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{{comic
| number = 1
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = Barrel - Part 1
| before = <big><big>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927001941/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=40#:~:text=8%3A38%20pm-,Barrel,-He%27s%20fairly%20upbeat Original title]: '''Barrel'''</big></big>
| image = barrel_cropped_(1).jpg
| titletext = Don't we all. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927001941/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=40#:~:text=8%3A38%20pm-,Barrel,-He%27s%20fairly%20upbeat Original caption]: He's fairly upbeat about the situation!
}}

==Explanation==
This was the fifth comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]], as well as being categorized as comic #1 on xkcd.com. The previous one was [[2: Petit Trees (sketch)]], and the next one was [[24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey]]. It was among the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|first thirteen comics]] posted to LiveJournal within 12 minutes on September 30, 2005, on the first day of the xkcd LiveJournal account.

This is the first comic in the [[:Category:The Boy and his Barrel|The Boy and his Barrel series]], which shows a young boy floating in a barrel in an ocean that doesn't have a visible end. It comments on the unlikely optimism and perhaps naïveté people sometimes display. The [[Barrel Boy]] is completely lost and seems hopelessly alone, without any plan or control of the situation. Yet rather than afraid or worried, he is instead quietly curious: "I wonder where I'll float next?" Although not necessarily the situation in this comic, this is a behavior people often exhibit when there is nothing they can do about a problematic situation for a long time; they may have given up hope or developed a cavalier attitude as a coping mechanism. The isolation of the boy may also represent the way in which we often feel lost through life, never knowing quite where we are, believing that there is no one to whom to turn. In [[1110: Click and Drag]] there is a reference to this comic at {{1110|1|n|48|e}}. ''{{w|Wired (magazine)|Wired}}'' determined a [http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/12/should-dwarves-stand-up-in-floating-barrels/ more realistic description] of the behaviour of a barrel in the water.

This is the first in a six-part series of comics whose parts were randomly published during the first several dozen strips. The series features [[Barrel Boy]], a character that is different from what would quickly become the ''xkcd'' [[stick figure]] style. The full series can be found [[:Category:The Boy and his Barrel|here]]. After Randall released the full [http://liveweb.archive.org/web/20070207052159/http://www.xkcd.com/barrel.html The Boy and his Barrel] story on the site, it became clear that the original comic [[20: Ferret]] was also part of the series. The comics are listed in the order chosen by Randall:
* [[1: Barrel - Part 1]]
* [[20: Ferret]]
* [[11: Barrel - Part 2]]
* [[22: Barrel - Part 3]]
* [[25: Barrel - Part 4]]
* [[31: Barrel - Part 5]]

The title text expands on the philosophical content, with the boy representing the average human being: wandering through life with no real plan, quietly optimistic, always opportunistic, and clueless as to what the future may hold.

==Transcript==
:[A boy sits in a barrel which is floating in an ocean.]
:Boy: i wonder where i'll float next?

:[A smaller frame with a zoom out of the boy in the barrel seen from afar. The barrel drifts into the distance. Nothing else can be seen.]

==Trivia==
* This is the first comic not drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].
* This is the first ''xkcd'' comic featuring [[Barrel Boy]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Posted on LiveJournal| 05]]
[[Category:First day on LiveJournal| 05]]
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hairy

2024-06-04T19:28:13Z

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#REDIRECT [[Hairy]]

hairy

2024-06-04T19:28:01Z

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#REDIRECT [[Harry]]

hat guy

2024-06-04T19:22:23Z

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#REDIRECT [[Black Hat]]

Black Hat

2024-06-04T19:19:42Z

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{{Infobox character
| image = BlackHat_head.png
| imagesize = 200px
| caption = '
| first_appearance = [[29: Hitler]]
}}

<noinclude>:''For a list of comics, see [[:Category:Comics featuring Black Hat|Comics featuring Black Hat]].''
:''For Black Hat's girlfriend, see [[Danish]].''</noinclude>

[[File:Man in Hats.png|400px|thumb|right|The [http://meninhats.com/d/20040225.html ''Men in Hats'' comic] which Black Hat is based on.]]'''Black Hat''' is a [[stick figure]] character in ''[[xkcd]]''. He is distinguished by his eponymous black hat, and, unlike other ''xkcd'' characters, he always represents the same character in every comic. In [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_zwyJ6IYR0#t=1451 his talk at Dartmouth], [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] discusses his why he wanted to create a separate "asshole" character in his comics, or "Classhole", a term coined by his friend Beth and used in [[72: Classhole]]. In his first appearance, [[29: Hitler]], Black Hat wore a taller top-hat style hat, that quickly evolved to have the current shape and style of a {{w|pork pie hat}}, already used in [[45: Schrodinger]].

The title text of [[29: Hitler]], his first appearance, says he's based on a character named Aram from a now discontinued webcomic called ''[http://www.meninhats.com Men in Hats]'' and, in the original caption, Randall directed the user to a specific ''Men in Hats'' [http://meninhats.com/d/20040225.html comic about parenting]. Like Black Hat, Aram frequently made judgmental, insulting, or controversial comments in a very emotionless manner. Aram wore a dark gray suit with a red bowtie and a black top hat with a white strip above the brim. Black Hat's hat clearly evolved from the top hat design later in ''xkcd''.

==Name==
It is possible that Black Hat has a name that has been used in the actual webcomic, as opposed to the name "Black Hat." In the title texts of [[29: Hitler]] and [[493: Actuarial]], Black Hat is referred to as "the hat guy" and "Hat guy" respectively. In [[1139: Rubber and Glue]] a young [[Hairy]] also gave him the nickname "Hatboy". These early characters may also be a different persona.

It's not verified that Black Hat is a reference to {{w|Black hat hacking}}, but the character's personality is in line with the idea of a "black hat hacker" from the software engineering culture that [[Randall|Randall's]] comics are written for. Black Hat speaks from a place of casual power and safety, living in the luxury that many early hobby hackers found by being ahead of the tech curve or even actually hacking financial systems, hatching evil schemes often for no reason other than to cause chaos or go against the societal norms.

The title text also says Black Hat is based on a character named Aram from a now discontinued webcomic called ''[http://www.meninhats.com Men in Hats]'' and, in the original caption, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] directed the user to a specific ''Men in Hats'' [http://meninhats.com/d/20040225.html comic about parenting]. Like Black Hat, Aram frequently made judgmental, insulting, or controversial comments in a very emotionless manner. Aram wore a gray suit with a red bowtie and a black top hat with a white strip above the brim. Black Hat's hat clearly evolved from the top hat design later in xkcd.

==Characteristics==
He almost always wears his hat and has short hair, as shown in the [[:Category:Journal|"Journal" series]], [[412: Startled]], and [[1401: New]]. Judging by [[1139: Rubber and Glue]] and [[1753: Thumb War]], he has worn the hat since he was a child. He used to work alone, sometimes helped by [[Cueball]], but he has found a female counterpart and partner in [[Danish]], his girlfriend.

While no definite reason is given for how he became so sadistic, in [[792: Password Reuse]] Black Hat says "since March of 1997 I don't really believe in anything" suggesting some traumatic experience made him this way. Some black hat hackers are simply so detached from the real world they don't understand that others suffer; others may have led rough lives and been through crime rings as a sole way to find community. In [[1139: Rubber and Glue]], the boys making fun of Black Hat as a child appear to be in elementary school based on one calling for his mom, so Black Hat probably is too. He is already sadistic by this point so the event would have happened when he was quite young; experiencing it so early would explain how the mystery event could have reshaped his entire personality. Unfortunately, no details are ever given.

{{navbox-characters}}

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Harding

2024-06-04T19:10:11Z

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#REDIRECT [[Ponytail]]

ponytail

2024-06-04T19:02:54Z

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#REDIRECT [[Ponytail]]

megan

2024-06-04T18:58:08Z

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#REDIRECT [[Megan]]

rob

2024-06-04T18:56:45Z

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#REDIRECT [[Rob]]

Thing Explainer

2024-06-04T02:01:08Z

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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Thing Explainer''}}
[[File:ThingExplainerBookCover.png|260px|right|thumb|The original cover of the book]][[File:New Thing Explainer cover.jpeg|260px|right|thumb|The new cover of the book]]{{TOC}}'''''Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words''''' is a book by [[Randall|Randall Munroe]] which explains things in the style of [[Up Goer Five]] (also included in the book), using only {{w|blueprint}} like drawings and a vocabulary of the 1,000 (or ''ten hundred'') most common words in the English language. Randall found his own method to determine which words would go on his list, a list that is revealed in the book. (It can also be found [https://www.xkcd.com/simplewriter/words.js here].)

The book explores, among other things, computer buildings (datacenters), the flat rocks we live on (tectonic plates), the things you use to steer a plane (airliner cockpit controls), and the little bags of water you're made of (cells). See a summary below and also the [[#Things in this book by page|entire index from the book]] listing all the 45 different explanations.

''Thing Explainer'' is Randall's second published book, not including ''xkcd'' comic books, which he announced on May 13th, 2015 in [http://blog.xkcd.com/2015/05/13/new-book-thing-explainer/ the blag] following the amazing success of his [[What If? (book)|''what if?'' book]] based on the ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'' blog.

The book is a collection of diagrams and line drawings similar in style to the Up Goer Five comic, which can also be purchased as a poster. It was [[#Release day|published]] by {{w|Houghton Mifflin Harcourt}} on November 24th and is available from among others {{w|Amazon.com|Amazon}} to which [http://amzn.to/1GCXMJ5 a link] has been posted on ''xkcd'' for a long time.

When the book was released, Randall collaborated with [https://www.youtube.com/@MinutePhysics Minute Physics] to publish a "commercial" [https://youtu.be/2p_8gx-XHJo version of the Upgoer comic].

==Release day==
On the day of the book's release (even though it was a Tuesday) Randall also released the comic [[1608: Hoverboard]], which was a direct celebration of the book's release (it says so in the comic). But it was far from being a small or normal comic! It was the first "real" game comic released on ''xkcd'' (albeit not the first [[:Category:Interactive comics|interactive comic]]). In the style of [[1110: Click and Drag]] it was possible to move around in a very much larger picture than what was shown in the frame. But this is not done by clicking and dragging though, instead the user controls [[Cueball]] on a {{w|hoverboard}} (hence the title of the comic) by using the arrow keys, assuming that the user is on a desktop computer or a laptop. If they are on a mobile device such as a smartphone, [[Cueball]] is controlled by tilting the device.

There are many themes and references throughout the game, but the two main themes are ''{{w|Star Wars}}'' (the largest part to the right part) and ''{{w|The Lord of the Rings}}'' to the left. Several references goes back to the book from this comic. These are [[1608: Hoverboard#Reference to Thing Explainer|listed in the explanation]] for the hoverboard comic.

On the release day Randall also released a [http://www.xkcd.com/simplewriter/ simple writer] that would only accept the thousand words listed at the back of the book under ''The ten hundred words people use the most''. In this way others can try to create simple explanations themselves.

==Summary==
Have you ever tried to learn more about some incredible thing, only to be frustrated by incomprehensible jargon? Randall Munroe is here to help. In ''Thing Explainer'', he uses line drawings and only the thousand (or, rather, “ten hundred”) most common words to provide simple explanations for some of the most interesting stuff there is, including:

*food-heating radio boxes (microwaves)
*tall roads (bridges)
*computer buildings (datacenters)
*the shared space house (the International Space Station)
*the other worlds around the sun (the solar system)
*the big flat rocks we live on (tectonic plates)
*the pieces everything is made of (the periodic table)
*planes with turning wings (helicopters)
*boxes that make clothes smell better (washers and dryers)
*the bags of stuff inside you (cells)

How do these things work? Where do they come from? What would life be like without them? And what would happen if we opened them up, heated them up, cooled them down, pointed them in a different direction, or pressed this button? In ''Thing Explainer'', Munroe gives us the answers to these questions and so many more. Funny, interesting, and always understandable, this book is for anyone—age 5 to 105—who has ever wondered how things work, and why.

==Things in this book by page (Contents)==
Below is the complete index of the book called ''Things in this book by page''. First is the simple title listed. Then follows the translation of this to normal language in brackets, with a wiki link to the most relevant page, based on the books material rather than the actual title. After "…" follows the page number for the start of that title as listed in the book:
*Pages before the books starts ({{w|Introduction (writing)|Introduction}}) … vii
*Shared space house ({{w|International Space Station}}) … 1
*Tiny bags of water you’re made of ({{w|Animal cell}}) … 2
*Heavy metal power building ({{w|Nuclear reactor}}) … 3
*Red world space car ({{w|Curiosity Rover}}) … 4
*Bag of stuff inside you ({{w|Human torso}}) … 6
*Boxes that make clothes smell better ({{w|Washing machine}} and {{w|Clothes dryer|dryer}}) … 7
*Earth’s surface ({{w|World map|Physical map of the Earth}}) … 8
*Under a car’s front cover ({{w|Car engine}}) … 11
*Sky boat with turning wings ({{w|Helicopter}}) … 13
*The US’s laws of the land ({{w|US Constitution}}) … 14
*The US<strike>’</strike>S ''Laws of the Land'' ({{w|USS Constitution}}) … 15
*Food-heating radio box ({{w|Microwave oven|Microwave}}) … 16
*Shape checker ({{w|Padlock}}) … 17
*Lifting room ({{w|Elevator}}) … 18
*Boat that goes under the sea ({{w|Submarine}}) … 19
*Box that cleans food holders ({{w|Dishwasher}}) … 20
*Big flat rocks we live on ({{w|Tectonic plates}}) … 21
*Cloud maps ({{w|Weather maps}}) … 22
*Tree ({{w|Tree}}) … 23
*Machine for burning cities ({{w|Thermonuclear weapon|Nuclear bomb}}) … 24
*Water room ({{w|Bathroom|Toilet and sink}}) … 25
*Computer building ({{w|Data center}}) … 26
*US Space Team's Up Goer Five ({{w|Saturn V rocket}}) … 28
*Sky boat pusher ({{w|Jet engine}}) … 30
*Stuff you touch to fly a sky boat ({{w|Cockpit}}) … 31
*Big tiny thing hitter ({{w|Large Hadron Collider}}) … 32
*Power boxes ({{w|Battery (electricity)|Batteries}}) … 33
*Hole-making city boat ({{w|Oil platform|Oil-rig}}) … 34
*Stuff in the Earth we can burn ({{w|Mining|Mines}}) … 35
*Tall roads ({{w|Bridges}}) … 36
*Bending computer ({{w|Laptop}}) … 37
*Worlds around the sun ({{w|Solar system}}) … 38
*Picture taker ({{w|Camera}}) … 40
*Writing sticks ({{w|Pen}} and {{w|pencil}}) … 41
*Hand computer ({{w|Smart phone}}) … 42
*Colors of light ({{w|Electromagnetic spectrum}}) … 43
*The sky at night ({{w|Night sky}}) … 44
*The pieces everything is made of ({{w|Periodic table}}) … 47
*Our star ({{w|Sun}}) … 49
*How to count things ({{w|International System of Units|Units and measurement}}) … 50
*Room for helping people ({{w|Hospital bed}}) … 51
*Playing fields ({{w|Pitch (sports field)|Athletic fields}}) … 52
*Earth’s past ({{w|Period (geology)|Geologic periods of Earth}}) … 53
*Tree of life ({{w|Tree of life (biology)|Life’s family tree}}) … 54
*The ten hundred words people use the most ({{w|Most common words in English|The thousand most common words}} in {{w|English language|the English language.}}) … 57
*Helpers ({{w|Acknowledgment (creative arts and sciences)|Acknowledgments}}) … 63
*Sky toucher ({{w|Skyscraper}}) … 65

There are 45 entries, but with the introduction, the list of used words and the acknowledgments taking up three, the total ends up at 48 explanations.

==The ten hundred words people use the most==
*Since ''thousand'' is not among the 1000 most common words in the English language, he has to write it as ''ten hundred''.
**Also common is also not a common word (ironically enough).
*It is possible to check if a word is allowed by using his [http://www.xkcd.com/simplewriter/ simple writer].
**The list of allowed words can be found [https://www.xkcd.com/simplewriter/words.js here].
*He does not use numbers like 1, 5 or 1000 in the book. He writes them out with words. So he could not have written ''1000 words...''
**Not even in the ''How to count things'' explanation.
**Interestingly enough neither ''zero'' or ''nine'' is in the list
***But the other numbers from one to ten can be used as well as twenty, thirty and hundred. No other numbers work.
***Zero is thus written ''none'' and nine like ''the one after eight''.
**In the simple writer you can write numbers without getting an error.
***But except in the index (called the ''[[#Things in this book by page|Things in this book by page]]'') and on the page just before this, with the publication details, numbers are only used for page numbers at the bottom of the page, which is also the only numbers referenced to in the index.
*The list has been made by Randall himself from extensive searches of the use of words in different types of sources.
**Especially fiction texts was used, but he also searched through the text messages he had received from people as another source.
**He writes directly: ''This is '''my''' list of the ten hundred words people use the most.''
*He only included one version of a word in the list. But all the different forms/endings of those words are allowed, but they are not written in the list and thus also not counted towards the 1000 allowed words.
**Thus many more different words than 1000 can be used, but only words with 1000 different meanings are used!
**He mentions as an example the word ''talk'', which is on the list, and thus also ''talking'' and ''talked'' would be allowed.
***He also allows words that do not exist if they sound funny enough like ''talker''.
***This is similar to ''goer'' like in [[1133: Up Goer Five]] or ''Sky '''toucher''''' from the last explanation in the book.
**Another example is the word ''be'' which is in the list.
***This then allows for instance ''Am'', ''are'' and ''is'' to be used.
***Those words are thus not in the list.
***See example [[#References to comics|below]] regarding words used in an xkcd comic featured in the book.
*Some common swear words have been left out even though they would be in most "real" list with the top 1000 common words
**For instance ''fuck'' would most likely have made the cut and maybe also ''shit'', and probably also some less harsh swear words.
**As he writes in the notes at the bottom of the last page with the list of words:
***''I didn't want to use those words anyway.''
*In the section '''Helpers''' he specifically notes that he wants to thank people, even though their names are not in the list.
**So he writes them out anyway!

==References to comics==
*These obvious references have already been mentioned above:
**[[1133: Up Goer Five]]. But apart from the entire comic being in the book there are other references to the comic:
***The tip of the Saturn V rocket can be seen at the top of ''Sky Toucher''
***The moon lander (and two astronauts) can been seen on the Moon in ''Worlds Around the Sun''.
***In the explanation for ''The pieces everything is made of'' hydrogen is similarly "named" by showing a picture of the burning Hindenburg and using the same quote as in the comic, "Oh, the humanity", which becomes "Oh the Humans!" in the book vs. "Oh, the [Humans]!" in the comic.
**[[1608: Hoverboard]]. (See this [[1608:_Hoverboard#Reference_to_Thing_Explainer|extensive list]] of connections).
*But there are also other comics that are directly or indirectly references in the book.
**[[1388: Subduction License]] is one of the most obvious examples is this comic which is directly featured in the book:
***It is included as part of the explanation of the ''Big flat rocks we live on.''
***But it is only the three last panels after the first panel which is displayed.
***The reason the first panel is not included is of course the words ''Subduction License'' which would not be allowed in the book.
***The normal words in the two middle panels are all found in the list at the back of the book. That is some form of the words are.
****Here is what is written in these panels and below this a "translation" to the version of these words that can be found on the list (see [[#The ten hundred words people use the most|above]] for an explanation on this):
****What are you doing? Stop it! Stop it!
****What '''be''' you '''do'''? Stop it! Stop it!
****All versions of these words would be allowed in the book. But the last word, ''Augh'' is of course not on the list, mainly because it is not a real word but just a sound word for an exclamation. But it is left in for the sake of the comic.
**[[526: Converting to Metric]].
***It is just a more funny version of ''How to count things'' where only the volume segment has been left out.
***The only item going again in both is the weight of a cat, although this is listed as 4 kg in the comic and 5 kg in the book...
**[[1314: Photos]].
***There is a small drawing that is just a different version of the idea behind the comic (see more explanation on the comics explanation).
**[[1110: Click and Drag]].
***A very direct reference is found in ''Stuff you touch to fly a sky boat'' where Cueball with his balloon can be seen floating just outside the cockpit.
***But there are other less indirect references like the radio controlled helicopter chase across several longer and longer bridges in ''Tall roads'' where [[Megan]] in the end catches it with a fishing rod. In Click and Drag [[Beret Guy]] is [http://imgs.xkcd.com/clickdrag/1n1e.png chasing an RC helicopter] with a butterfly net. And butterfly nets are also used in the book for catching other strange tings, see more below.
**[[1655: Doomsday Clock]] as well as [[1626: Judgment Day]].
***Both came out shortly after the book, both concerns the weapons of mass destruction humanity has created.
***This is referenced both directly in ''Machine for burning cities'' and are also mentioned in ''Boat that goes under the sea''.
**[[1619: Watson Medical Algorithm]].
***In the explanation ''Colors of light'' for the electromagnetic spectrum, [[Ponytail]] as a doctor looks at a full body x-ray of [[Cueball]] and exclaims that ''... It looks like your body is full of bones'' to which Cueball replies ''Oh no! Is there any cure?'' Well if he meets Watson he might have them all removed.
***That comic came out about a month after the book so it may be viewed as a kind of reference to the problem with too many bones.
**[[1135: Arachnoneurology]].
***In the comic spiders weave a shirt for [[Beret Guy]] and under one of the bridges in ''Tall roads'' there is a ship whose sail is a spider web. [[:Category:Spiders|Spiders]] are also shown in ''Tree of Life'' where they are called ''Biters with eight legs''.
**[[1376: Jump]].
***Has some similarities to what happens with Cueball in ''Playing fields'' when he jumps to score with his basketball, but then just keeps floating up along a straight line until twice the height of the hoop he yells ''Help!''
*There are also several items that are more generally just often used in xkcd comic, and thus not specially a reference to a given comic but rather to an entire category. Here is a list of some of the categories that are referenced in the book:
**There are two [[:Category:Butterfly net|Butterfly nets]].
***Both in relation to catching a {{w|Ball (association football)|soccer football}}, both in ''Playing fields'' and in ''Hole-making city boat''.
**There are several [[:Category:Space probes|Space probes]] including all the [[:Category:Mars rovers|Mars rovers]] (see much more detail on these two category links).
***In ''Red world space car'' the {{w|Curiosity Rover}} is explained in details. But the rower is also shown inside the skyscraper in ''Sky Tougher''.
***In ''The sky at night'' {{w|Voyager 1}} is shown.
***Both of these as well as several other probes including all other successful missions to Mars are listed in ''Worlds around the sun''.
**There are several references to [[:Category:Sport|Sport]], including all the main ones with their own category as well.
***Especially in ''Playing fields'' where all of these major sports are mentioned:
****[[:Category:American football|American football]] aka ''Foot Ball (My country)''.
****[[:Category:Baseball|Baseball]] aka ''Stick Ball''. This is also played inside the skyscraper in ''Sky toucher''.
****[[:Category:Basketball|Basketball]] aka ''Circle Ball''.
****[[:Category:Soccer|Soccer]] aka ''Foot Ball (Most other countries)''. This is also played on top of the Oil rig in ''Hole-making city boat''
***Other sports mentioned in that explanation are:
****{{w|Volleyball}} aka ''Hand and Arm Ball''
****{{w|Tennis}} aka ''Circle-Stick Ball''
****{{w|Ice Hockey}} aka ''Sliding around with sticks''
***Finally a few more sports is just depicted without names:
****{{w|Pole vaulting}}
****{{w|Karate}}
****{{w|Poohsticks}}, i.e. throwing sticks in the water from a bridge to see which comes first to the other side of the bridge...
***Other explanation with sport are
****''Hole-making city boat'' with both soccer, {{w|table tennis}} and {{w|Pool (cue sports)|pool}}
****{{w|Ten pin bowling}} is depicted three times with bowling alleys in the hull of the ship in ''The USS Laws of the Land'' and on the suspension of the longest bridge in ''Tall roads'' and a bowling alley is used for measuring length in ''How to count things.''
****''Heavy metal power building'' with two people {{w|fencing}}.
**[[:Category:Animals|Animals]] are a big part of several comics:
***''Tree of life'' is "simply" about all life, and here almost all animals used regularly in xkcd are mentioned.
***''Tree'' shows lots of the life that can live in or near a tree and thus also several animals.
***A {{w|pegasus}} like horse, but with helicopter wings instead of bird wings are shown in ''Sky boat with turning wings''.
***{{w|Octopuses}} are used in six explanations:
****''Shared space house'', ''The USS Laws of the Land'' (two), ''Big flat rocks we live on'', ''Picture taker'', ''Writing sticks'' and ''Tree of life''.
***[[:Category:Sharks|Sharks]] are used in six explanations:
****''Heavy metal power building'', ''The USS Laws of the Land'', ''Big tiny thing hitter'', ''Hole-making city boat'', ''Tree of life'' and ''Sky toucher'' (two).
****The shark's situation in ''Big tiny thing hitter'' reminds a little of the shark in [[585: Outreach]].
***[[:Category:Giraffes|Giraffes]] are used twice
****Four wight weight and length in ''How to count things'' and of course in the ''Tree of life''.
***[[:Category:Dinosaurs|Dinosaurs]] are not prominently featured but they are in two explanations:
****In ''Tree of life'' three types of dinosaurs are shown, including both [[:Category:Velociraptors|Velociraptors]] and [[:Category:Apatosaurus|Apatosaurus]].
****The latter type, Apatosaurus, has also managed to sneak into the ''Sky toucher'', even though it is ''not allowed''.
***[[:Category:Squirrels|Squirrels]] are used in four explanations.
****The most noticeable is in the explanation for ''Boxes that make clothes smell better'' where the drawing of the squirrel at the bottom right even have a notation. Above the squirrel there is an arrow pointing to it and this text:
::::"'''Wait'''
::::Why is this in your house?"
:::*The other squirrels are under the the pipe at the bottom of the explanation for ''Big tiny thing hitter'', in the top of the ''Tree'' and of course in the ''Tree of life''.
::*There are plenty of other animals including for instance {{w|Whales}} and {{w|ants}} who appear in several explanations

==Book Cover==
[[Cueball]] can be seen on the cover overlooking some of the labeled pictures. It was thus already early clear that the book would explore the themes labeled on the front cover which includes astronomy, constellations, and geology.

There are several funny "explanations" on the cover, like labels on arrows pointing to the title and to Randall's name explaining that this is:
*Big words that tell you what this book is
*My name

The back cover of the book was also available: 
[[File:ThingExplainerBookBackCover.png]]

==Preview pages==
*Part of the Curiosity entry (note that red was not used inside the book, only blue):
[[File:Space Car.jpeg]]

== Promotion at the xkcd home page ==
*Already on [http://web.archive.org/web/20150514053623/http://www.xkcd.com/ May 14th 2015] the first promotion of the book appeared at the top in the [[Header text|header text]] of the ''xkcd'' home page. This was more than half a year before the release of the book.
**See the first entry described [[Header text#2015-05-14_-_New_book_Thing_Explainer|here]], and other changes will be mentioned above.
*While [[1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar]] was on the front page (2015-12-03), and until the comic [[1612: Colds]] came out, the top part of xkcd had been changed to [http://web.archive.org/web/20151203234149/http://xkcd.com/ promote the book], (see the image here below).
**The entire section was a link to [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0544668251/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0544668251&linkCode=as2&tag=thekcs-20&linkId=S4XRZJJKSMHOWEQU the book on amazon.com]
***See more details in the [[Header text|header text]] page here: [[Header text#2015-11-24 - Pages from my new book Thing Explainer|Pages from my new book]]. Here the image below is transcribed.
*Already later on the release day of Colds, (2015-12-04) it was moved to [http://web.archive.org/web/20151204190925/http://xkcd.com/ bottom section] of xkcd.
*But a [http://web.archive.org/web/20160401175527/https://www.xkcd.com/ commercial stayed at the top in the header] all the way until the problems with the [http://web.archive.org/web/20160401204749/https://xkcd.com/ April 1st comics release] in 2016, [[1663: Garden]].
**The commercial from above still stayed at the bottom below the comics even after April 1st 2016, until [http://web.archive.org/web/20160418061448/http://xkcd.com/ April 18th 2016].
**On [http://web.archive.org/web/20160418185337/http://xkcd.com/ April 19th 2016] the last reference to Thing Explainer disappeared from main page.
[[File:Thing Explainer promoted on xkcd.PNG]]

== Word decoder ==
Part of the fun of reading the book is finding out what 'complex' word the simple word phrases are encoding. For example, the {{w|Category:Supply_vehicles_for_the_International_Space_Station|International Space Station Supply vehicle}} described as 'bird' is {{w|Cygnus_(spacecraft)|Cygnus}}, and the one described as 'Pretend Fire Animal' is {{w|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Dragon|Dragon}}.

[[Category:Simplified language]]
[[Category:Books]]
{{xkcdmeta}}

New York Times: Good Question

2024-06-04T01:49:45Z

Usb-rave: /* Columns written and illustrated by Randall */ italicized more titles

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''New York Times'': ''Good Question''}}
''Good Question'' is a column written by [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] in the [https://www.nytimes.com/section/science Science section] of ''{{w|The New York Times}}'', beginning in November 2019. The columns give serious answers to science questions, illustrated in the style of ''xkcd''. Unlike for many of their other regular columnists, ''The New York Times'' does not provide a link to the byline "Randall Munroe", but they offer an [https://www.nytimes.com/column/good-question-randall-munroe-xkcd incomplete list] of ''Good Question'' articles. The following tables are intended to display every article, including the missing ones.

Note that, unlike ''xkcd'', ''The New York Times'' content is protected by copyright. To view its articles, [https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/register register for a free account] and to access a [https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/info/help/freesearch.html limited number of articles].

==Columns written and illustrated by Randall==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Column !! Headline !! Byline !! Date
|-
| ''Good Question''
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/12/science/randall-munroe-xkcd-universe-driving.html How Long Is the Drive to the Edge of the Universe?]
| Randall Munroe
| September 12, 2022
|-
| ''Good Question''
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/15/science/sharks-killer-whales-swimming.html Shark or Orca: Which Should You Fear More?]
| Randall Munroe
| August 15, 2022
|-
| ''Good Question''
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/14/science/children-languages-randall-munroe.html How Many Languages Could a Child Speak?]
| Randall Munroe
| June 14, 2022
|-
| ''Good Question''
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/26/science/randall-munroe-candle-xkcd.html Where Does a Candle Go When It Burns?]
| Randall Munroe
| April 26, 2021
|-
| ''Good Question''
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/29/science/randall-munroe-question-popcorn.html Will My Popcorn Explode?]
| Randall Munroe
| December 29, 2020
|-
| ''Good Question''
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/science/what-makes-sand-soft.html What Makes Sand Soft?]
| Randall Munroe
| November 9, 2020
|-
| ''Good Question''
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/06/science/randall-munroe-car-brake-question.html Can You Stop a Car With Your Hand?]
| Randall Munroe
| October 6, 2020
|-
| ''Good Question''
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/science/randall-munroe-xkcd-temperature.html How Hot Is Too Hot?]
| Randall Munroe
| August 4, 2020
|-
| ''Good Question''
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/07/science/neutrinos-snowball-randall-munroe.html Could You Make a Snowball of Neutrinos?]
| Randall Munroe
| July 7, 2020
|-
| ''Good Question''
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/09/science/randall-munroe-question-eggs.html Can You Boil an Egg Too Long?]
| Randall Munroe
| June 9, 2020
|-
| ''Good Question''
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/11/science/traffic-barrier-rice-krispies.html What’s the Sweetest, Crispiest Way to Stay Safe in a Car Crash?]
| Randall Munroe
| May 11, 2020
|-
| ''Good Question''
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/science/pulsar-xkcd-munroe-stars.html How’s the View From a Spinning Star?]
| Randall Munroe
| April 7, 2020
|-
| ''Good Question''
| [https://nytimes.com/2020/03/10/science/question-randall-munroe-bobsled-gravity.html What if Galileo Had Dropped Bobsleds From the Tower of Pisa?]
| Randall Munroe
| March 10, 2020
|-
| ''Good Question''
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/17/science/worst-odor-smell-thioacetone.html What’s the World’s Worst Smell?]
| Randall Munroe
| Feb. 17, 2020 / Feb. 26, 2020
|-
| ''Good Question''
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/21/science/human-running-speed-quadruped.html How Fast Can a Human Run?]
| Randall Munroe
| Jan. 21, 2020 / Feb. 7, 2020
|-
| ''Good Question''
| [https://nytimes.com/2019/12/10/science/earth-size-mass.html Is Earth Getting Bigger Over Time?]
| Randall Munroe
| Dec. 10, 2019
|-
| ''Good Question''
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/12/science/randall-munroe-moon.html If I Touched the Moon, What Would It Feel Like?]
| Randall Munroe
| Nov. 12, 2019
|-
| Science
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/science/what-makes-a-red-sky-at-night-and-at-morning.html What Makes a Red Sky at Night (and at Morning)]
| Randall Munroe
| Aug. 13, 2019
|}

==Columns about Randall==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Column !! Headline !! Byline !! Date
|-
| Books
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/14/books/review/randall-munroe-by-the-book-interview.html Randall Munroe Loves Outdated Views of the Future]
|
| Nov. 14, 2019
|-
| Science
| [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/03/18/science/document-Munroepages.html Randall Munroe of ‘XKCD’ Explains the Human Body, Elevators and the Saturn 5]
| (Actual pages from ''[[Thing Explainer]]'')
| March 21, 2016
|-
| Science
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/22/science/randall-munroe-xkcd-science-textbook.html Randall Munroe, XKCD Creator, Goes Back to High School]
| Kenneth Chang
| March 21, 2016
|-
| Books
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/24/books/randall-munroe-explains-it-all-for-us.html Randall Munroe Explains It All for Us]
| Alexandra Alter
| Nov. 23, 2015
|-
| Science
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/04/science/randall-munroe-the-creator-of-xkcd-explains-complexity-through-absurdity.html He’s Glad You Asked]
| Kenneth Chang
| Nov. 3, 2014
|-
| Books
| [https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/14/techs-favorite-cartoonist-enters-mainstream-publishing/ Tech’s Favorite Cartoonist Enters Mainstream Publishing]
| Noam Cohen
| March 14, 2014
|-
| Link by Link
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/business/media/26link.html This Is Funny Only if You Know Unix]
| Noam Cohen
| May 26, 2008
|}

[[Category:Meta]]
{{xkcdmeta}}

New York Times: Good Question

2024-06-04T01:44:10Z

Usb-rave: italicized titles

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''New York Times'': ''Good Question''}}
''Good Question'' is a column written by [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] in the [https://www.nytimes.com/section/science Science section] of ''{{w|The New York Times}}'', beginning in November 2019. The columns give serious answers to science questions, illustrated in the style of ''xkcd''. Unlike for many of their other regular columnists, ''The New York Times'' does not provide a link to the byline "Randall Munroe", but they offer an [https://www.nytimes.com/column/good-question-randall-munroe-xkcd incomplete list] of ''Good Question'' articles. The following tables are intended to display every article, including the missing ones.

Note that, unlike ''xkcd'', ''The New York Times'' content is protected by copyright. To view its articles, [https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/register register for a free account] and to access a [https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/info/help/freesearch.html limited number of articles].

==Columns written and illustrated by Randall==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Column !! Headline !! Byline !! Date
|-
| Good Question
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/12/science/randall-munroe-xkcd-universe-driving.html How Long Is the Drive to the Edge of the Universe?]
| Randall Munroe
| September 12, 2022
|-
| Good Question
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/15/science/sharks-killer-whales-swimming.html Shark or Orca: Which Should You Fear More?]
| Randall Munroe
| August 15, 2022
|-
| Good Question
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/14/science/children-languages-randall-munroe.html How Many Languages Could a Child Speak?]
| Randall Munroe
| June 14, 2022
|-
| Good Question
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/26/science/randall-munroe-candle-xkcd.html Where Does a Candle Go When It Burns?]
| Randall Munroe
| April 26, 2021
|-
| Good Question
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/29/science/randall-munroe-question-popcorn.html Will My Popcorn Explode?]
| Randall Munroe
| December 29, 2020
|-
| Good Question
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/science/what-makes-sand-soft.html What Makes Sand Soft?]
| Randall Munroe
| November 9, 2020
|-
| Good Question
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/06/science/randall-munroe-car-brake-question.html Can You Stop a Car With Your Hand?]
| Randall Munroe
| October 6, 2020
|-
| Good Question
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/science/randall-munroe-xkcd-temperature.html How Hot Is Too Hot?]
| Randall Munroe
| August 4, 2020
|-
| Good Question
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/07/science/neutrinos-snowball-randall-munroe.html Could You Make a Snowball of Neutrinos?]
| Randall Munroe
| July 7, 2020
|-
| Good Question
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/09/science/randall-munroe-question-eggs.html Can You Boil an Egg Too Long?]
| Randall Munroe
| June 9, 2020
|-
| Good Question
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/11/science/traffic-barrier-rice-krispies.html What’s the Sweetest, Crispiest Way to Stay Safe in a Car Crash?]
| Randall Munroe
| May 11, 2020
|-
| Good Question
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/science/pulsar-xkcd-munroe-stars.html How’s the View From a Spinning Star?]
| Randall Munroe
| April 7, 2020
|-
| Good Question
| [https://nytimes.com/2020/03/10/science/question-randall-munroe-bobsled-gravity.html What if Galileo Had Dropped Bobsleds From the Tower of Pisa?]
| Randall Munroe
| March 10, 2020
|-
| Good Question
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/17/science/worst-odor-smell-thioacetone.html What’s the World’s Worst Smell?]
| Randall Munroe
| Feb. 17, 2020 / Feb. 26, 2020
|-
| Good Question
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/21/science/human-running-speed-quadruped.html How Fast Can a Human Run?]
| Randall Munroe
| Jan. 21, 2020 / Feb. 7, 2020
|-
| Good Question
| [https://nytimes.com/2019/12/10/science/earth-size-mass.html Is Earth Getting Bigger Over Time?]
| Randall Munroe
| Dec. 10, 2019
|-
| Good Question
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/12/science/randall-munroe-moon.html If I Touched the Moon, What Would It Feel Like?]
| Randall Munroe
| Nov. 12, 2019
|-
| Science
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/science/what-makes-a-red-sky-at-night-and-at-morning.html What Makes a Red Sky at Night (and at Morning)]
| Randall Munroe
| Aug. 13, 2019
|}

==Columns about Randall==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Column !! Headline !! Byline !! Date
|-
| Books
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/14/books/review/randall-munroe-by-the-book-interview.html Randall Munroe Loves Outdated Views of the Future]
|
| Nov. 14, 2019
|-
| Science
| [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/03/18/science/document-Munroepages.html Randall Munroe of ‘XKCD’ Explains the Human Body, Elevators and the Saturn 5]
| (Actual pages from ''[[Thing Explainer]]'')
| March 21, 2016
|-
| Science
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/22/science/randall-munroe-xkcd-science-textbook.html Randall Munroe, XKCD Creator, Goes Back to High School]
| Kenneth Chang
| March 21, 2016
|-
| Books
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/24/books/randall-munroe-explains-it-all-for-us.html Randall Munroe Explains It All for Us]
| Alexandra Alter
| Nov. 23, 2015
|-
| Science
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/04/science/randall-munroe-the-creator-of-xkcd-explains-complexity-through-absurdity.html He’s Glad You Asked]
| Kenneth Chang
| Nov. 3, 2014
|-
| Books
| [https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/14/techs-favorite-cartoonist-enters-mainstream-publishing/ Tech’s Favorite Cartoonist Enters Mainstream Publishing]
| Noam Cohen
| March 14, 2014
|-
| Link by Link
| [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/business/media/26link.html This Is Funny Only if You Know Unix]
| Noam Cohen
| May 26, 2008
|}

[[Category:Meta]]
{{xkcdmeta}}

Randall Munroe

2024-06-04T01:40:25Z

Usb-rave: italicized titles

{{Infobox character
| image = Randall_Munroe_speaks_at_MIT.JPG
| imagesize = 250px
| caption = Randall speaking at {{w|re:publica}} in 2016
| first_appearance = [[120: Dating Service]]
}}

<noinclude>:''For a list of comics, see [[:Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe|Comics featuring Randall Munroe]].''</noinclude>

{{Quote|I'm just this guy, you know? I'm a CNU graduate with a degree in physics. Before starting xkcd, I worked on robots at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia. As of June 2007 I live in Massachusetts. In my spare time I climb things, open strange doors, and go to goth clubs dressed as a frat guy so I can stand around and look terribly uncomfortable. At frat parties I do the same thing, but the other way around.|Randall Munroe|[https://xkcd.com/about Source]}}

[[File:What If? 2 signature.png|300px|right|thumb|Randall's signature with [[Cueball]] from ''[[What If? 2]]'']]

'''{{w}}''' is the creator, writer, and artist of ''[[xkcd]]''. He has a degree in physics from the {{w|Christopher Newport University}} and, prior to his career as a professional webcomic artist, was a roboticist independently contracted with {{w|NASA}}. Since his contract was not renewed in 2006 as they [https://blog.xkcd.com/2006/10/06/many-news-things-some-overdue ran out of money to rehire him], he has supported himself primarily through xkcd, selling books and merchandise among other income streams. In his ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'' blog, he occasionally posts "scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions", while on his [https://blog.xkcd.com personal blog], called ''[[Blag]]'', he posts announcements related to his projects, comics, and books.

The content of ''xkcd'' tends to stem from Randall's thoughts, experiences, and his physics background. He sometimes writes comics in the first-person and even uses [[Cueball]] to represent himself (such as in [[541: TED Talk]]). That said it is likely that many of these strips are not factually based on Randall's real life; for example, the [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby series]] appears to be written about Randall's own hobbies, although it is likely that few if any are things Randall has ever done himself. Based on his ''what if?'' blog, he wrote two books called ''[[What If? (book)|What If?]]'' and ''[[What If? 2]]''. He also published ''[[Thing Explainer]]'', where he explains complex topics using only the 1,000 most common words'', and [[How To]]'', where he gives "absurd scientific advice for common real-world problems". His first book, ''[[xkcd: volume 0]]'', is a collection of his favourite comics published in 2009.

In June 2011, Randall announced that his then-fiancée had been diagnosed with stage 3 {{w|breast cancer}}. They married in September of that year. As with other events of his real life, the cancer diagnosis was [[:Category:Cancer|the subject]] of many future ''xkcd'' comics.

==Timeline==
{| class="wikitable"
! Date
! Event
|-
|October 17, 1984 || Is born.
|-
|September 30, 2005 || [https://archive.vn/hjmW Launches xkcd.com].
|-
|2006 || [https://xkcd.com/about Graduates] from Christopher Newport University with degree in Physics.
|-
|October 2006 || Starts working on ''xkcd'' full time after [https://blog.xkcd.com/2006/10/06/many-news-things-some-overdue NASA stops renewing his contract].
|-
|May 2008 || Moves to Somerville, Massachusetts.
|-
|2008 || Gets nominated for "Outstanding Use of the Medium", "Outstanding Short Form Comic", and "Outstanding Comedic Comic", and wins "Outstanding Single Panel Comic" in the [https://web.archive.org/web/20090310200607/https://www.ccawards.com/2008finalists.html 2008 Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards].
|-
|September 2009 || Releases ''[[xkcd: volume 0]]''.
|-
|June 2011 || [https://blog.xkcd.com/2011/06/30/family-illness Announces] his fiancée was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer.
|-
|August 2011 || [https://web.archive.org/web/20110429050214/https://www.renovationsf.org/hugo-intro.php Gets nominated] for "Best Fan Artist" in the 2011 Hugo Awards.
|-
|September 2011 || [https://blog.xkcd.com/2011/09/12/672 Marries his fiancée].
|-
|August 2012 || [https://web.archive.org/web/20120408045604/https://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/2012-hugo-awards Gets nominated] for "Best Fan Artist" in the 2012 Hugo Awards.
|-
|September 2013 || The asteroid {{w|4942 Munroe}} is named [https://blog.xkcd.com/2013/09/30/asteroid-4942-munroe after him].
|-
|August 2014 || [https://www.thehugoawards.org/2014/08/2014-hugo-award-winners Wins] the 2014 Hugo Awards for "Best Graphic Story" thanks to [[1190: Time]].
|-
|September 2014 || Releases ''[[What If? (book)|What If?]]''.
|-
|November 2015 || Releases ''[[Thing Explainer]]''.
|-
|September 2019 || Releases ''[[How To]]''.
|-
|September 2022 || Releases ''[[What If? 2]]''.
|}

==Speeches and interviews==

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOWntIdegws MIT Talk] (3 minutes) – May 14, 2007, {{w|Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}, Cambridge, MA

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJOS0sV2a24 Talks at Google: xkcd] (58 minutes) – December 7, 2007, {{w|Googleplex}}, Mountain View, CA

* [https://youtu.be/z_zwyJ6IYR0 XKCD Comes to Dartmouth!] (86 minutes) – Fall 2008, {{w|Dartmouth College}}, Hanover, NH

* [https://youtu.be/fCa4wPRuicY Randall Munroe at MIT] (excerpt, 7 minutes) – December 17, 2009, {{w|Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}, Cambridge, MA

* [https://youtu.be/AHp_Vh9TESU JoCo Cruise Crazy 3: Randall Munroe] (50 minutes) – February 15, 2013, {{w|MS Freedom of the Seas}} cruise ship, Caribbean Sea

* [https://archive.oredev.org/oredev2013/2013/wed-fri-conference/art-and-code-with-xkcd.html Øredev developer conference 2013: Art & Code with xkcd] (47 minutes) – November 7, 2013, [[Wikipedia:sv:Slagthuset|Slagthuset]], Malmö, Sweden

* [https://www.ted.com/talks/randall_munroe_comics_that_ask_what_if TED 2014: Comics that ask "what if?"] (9 minutes) – March 20, 2014, {{w|Vancouver Convention Centre}}, Vancouver, Canada

* [https://youtu.be/EnbhjvNRD_8 Live Talks Los Angeles: Randall Munroe] in conversation with {{w|Wil Wheaton}} (90 minutes) – September 14, 2014, {{w|Aero Theatre}}, Santa Monica, CA

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GIDDaF26zE Talks at Google: What If?] (60 minutes) – September 24, 2014, {{w|Googleplex}}, Mountain View, CA

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm4Gn9iQ6sE World Economic Forum: Simplicity In Complexity] (13 minutes) – June 27, 2016, Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center, Tianjin, China

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_mrGoFQgGs World Economic Forum: Education for a New Age], with {{w|Justine Cassell}}, R. May Lee, and Andrew Fursman (52 minutes) – June 28, 2016, Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center, Tianjin, China

* [https://youtu.be/ewdDSGv7Css BookCon 2019: Randall Munroe] in conversation with Adam Savage (34 minutes) – June 2, 2019, {{w|Javits Center}}, New York, NY

* [https://twit.tv/shows/triangulation/episodes/412 This Week in Tech: Triangulation], hosted by {{w|Leo Laporte}} (75 minutes) – August 30, 2019, podcast

* [https://mbmbam.simplecast.com/episodes/mbmbam-475-edchup?t=34m19s Maximum Fun: My Brother, My Brother and Me], by {{w|Justin McElroy|Justin}}, {{w|Travis McElroy|Travis}}, and {{w|Griffin McElroy}} (59 minutes) – September 2, 2019, podcast

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wwmt2M4-C9Y Politics and Prose: How To by Randall Munroe], with {{w|Alexandra Petri}} (72 minutes) – September 4, 2019, {{w|Sidwell Friends School}}, Washington, DC

* [https://teamcoco.com/video/randall-munroe-s-comics-inspired-fans-to-bring-chess-boards-on-coasters Conan: Randall Munroe’s Comics Inspired Fans To Bring Chess Boards On Coasters] (4 minutes) – December 12, 2019, Stage 15, {{w|Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank|Warner Bros. Studios}}, Burbank, CA

* [https://teamcoco.com/video/how-chris-hadfield-serena-williams-helped-randall-munroe-with-his-new-book Conan: How Chris Hadfield & Serena Williams Helped Randall Munroe With His New Book] (10 minutes) – December 12, 2019, Stage 15, {{w|Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank|Warner Bros. Studios}}, Burbank, CA

* [https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/ejt89o KPFA Radio 94.1 FM: Randall Munroe: How To] with {{w|Adam Savage}} (from {{w|MythBusters}}) (59 minutes) – September 10, 2019, First Congregational Church, Berkeley, CA

* [https://grist.org/video/how-to-power-your-house-with-xkcds-randall-munroe Grist Magazine: How to power your house, with xkcd's Randall Munroe] (5 minutes) – October 16, 2019, Grist Headquarters, Seattle, WA

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEExr56oXmw Tableau Conference 2019: Overthinking Things with Randall Munroe] (62 minutes) – November 14, 2019, {{w|Mandalay Bay Convention Center}}, Las Vegas, NV

==Absence from ''explain xkcd''==
{{Quote|xkcd has inspired a wiki of its own, [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page Explain xkcd], where fans dissect every comic and share their theories, including about Munroe himself. On the [[Talk:Randall_Munroe|talk page]] for the "Randall Munroe" entry, one user speculated that Munroe pranked Wikipedia editors into putting the fact that he was raised as a Quaker in his bio to illustrate the fake-news cycle of "citogenesis", a concept perhaps explained [[978: Citogenesis|best by Munroe himself]]. "No, I was really raised Quaker", he said bemusedly, when I asked him about the speculation. (He hasn’t spent much time on Explain xkcd, believing instead in "{{w|The Death of the Author|the death of the author}}".)|Marissa Martinelli|[https://slate.com/culture/2019/09/xkcd-randall-munroe-interview-how-to-book-wikipedia.html xkcd Creator Randall Munroe on the Joys of Overthinking Everything], Slate}}

==See also==
* The [https://xkcd.com/about About page] on ''xkcd''.
* The {{w|Randall Munroe}} article on Wikipedia.
* The comics made for ''[[:Category:A Smarter Planet|A Smarter Planet]]'', an IBM corporate blog
* The science columns for ''[[New York Times: Good Question|Good Question]]''

{{navbox-characters}}
[[Category:xkcd]]
[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Real people]]
[[Category:Friends of Randall]]
{{xkcdmeta}}

Header text

2024-06-04T01:29:50Z

Usb-rave: added period

[[File:xkcd_header.png|thumb|right|250px|The header segment on [[xkcd|xkcd.com]]]]
The '''header text''' is updated whenever [[Randall]] has news to share. However, after the novelty of the news ends, the page usually goes back to its default header text, which states:

:xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

In recent times there has been very long between the old go to text has been used for extended periods though. The most recent header text can be found at the top of the [[Header_text#Global_header_text|Global header text]] section, if it has been updated since the last change.

Usually, changes to the header text show up in all comics. However, in certain cases, the header text of a specific comic is changed permanently, which means it won't be modified like the rest of the comics. See the list of these comics [[#Comic-specific header text|here]].

==Comic-specific header text==
{{notice|'''This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect:''' This list is missing many comic-specific header texts. Don't remove this notice unless they're all mentioned here. [[Talk:header_text#1047|See the Talk page]] for some examples. If you can address this issue, please '''[{{fullurl:{{{target|{{FULLPAGENAME}}}}}|action=edit}} edit the page]!''' Thanks.}}

When editing the section, list the changes chronologically with the date of the web archive link and hyperlink each date. Include an internal link to the comic at the time of each change and describe the modifications with relevant information. Place the most recent changes at the top.

===Machine===
*[[2916: Machine]]
**This comic's header mentions the people who helped put it together.
***It was on the front page from Saturday [https://web.archive.org/web/20240406163326/https://xkcd.com/ 2024-04-06] (although it was supposed to have been a Friday release according to the xkcd archives) until the next comic to come out Monday [ 2024-04-08] ('''has not happened yet as of this writing!'''). (It may as precious years happen very late, possibly because this was an April fools' Day comic, and Randall wished it to stay on the front page longer?) '''Again written before it happens!'''
****When [ ?? ] was released the front page returned to normal header. '''????'''
****The precious comic [[2915: Eclipse Clouds]] was still on the front page Saturday [https://web.archive.org/web/20240406053609/https://xkcd.com/ 2024-04-06]. So a very late Friday release...
**The text:
***Today's comic was created with [https://chromakode.com/ Max Goodhart], [https://github.com/spyhi Ed White], [https://twitter.com/uh_oh_thats_bad Alex Garcia], [https://twitter.com/cotrone Kevin Cotrone], [http://burningcandle.io/ Conor & Ami Stokes], [https://liranuna.com/ Liran Nuna], [https://www.instagram.com/fading_interest/ Patrick], [https://manishearth.github.io/ Manish Goregaokar], [https://github.com/benley Benjamin Staffin], [https://github.com/ayust Amber], and [https://github.com/dyfrgi Michael Leuchtenburg] with physics by [https://rapier.rs/ Rapier].
**It thanks those that helped Randall create that years [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]].
***All have a link to their name, either to Instagram page or X or their own home pages. Some of them have also helped with the two previous April Fools' comic, see below, but there are many more involved in this one than any of the previous.
***Also the Fast 2D and 3D physics engine for the Rust programming language, Rapier, is mentioned as standing for the physics of the comic.
**Since this header was related only to the Fools' comic, it was removed from the frontpage header, when the next comic was released.
***But it stayed up as one of the permanent different headers on this comic, as seen two days after it stopped being on the front page on [?? 2022-04-10].
**See the comic on {{xkcd|2916}}.

===Escape Speed===
*[[2765: Escape Speed]]
**This comic's header mentions the people who helped put it together.
***It was on the front page from Thursday [https://web.archive.org/web/20230420203744/https://xkcd.com/ 2023-04-20] (although it was supposed to have been a Wednesday release according to the xkcd archives) until Friday [https://web.archive.org/web/20230421082400/https://xkcd.com/ 2023-04-21], when the next new comic was released (very late, possibly because this was an April fools' Day comic, and Randall wished it to stay on the front page longer?)
****When [[2766: Helium Reserve]] was released the front page returned to normal header. This seems to have not happened until Saturday as the earliest archive is form [https://web.archive.org/web/20230422121650/https://xkcd.com/ 2023-04-22] with the new comic.
**The text:
***Today's comic was put together with help from [https://chromakode.com/ Max Goodhart], [https://www.instagram.com/fading_interest/ Patrick Clapp], [https://amberyu.st/ Amber], [https://twitter.com/cotrone Kevin], [https://twitter.com/bstaffin Benjamin Staffin], and [https://www.aiweirdness.com/ Janelle Shane].
**It thanks those that helped Randall create that years [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]].
***All have a link to their name, either to Instagram page or Twitter or their own home pages. Most of them have also helped with the two previous April Fools' comic, see below.
**Since this header was related only to the Fools' comic, it was removed from the frontpage header, when the next comic was released.
***But it stayed up as one of the permanent different headers on this comic, as seen two days after it stopped being on the front page on [https://web.archive.org/web/20230423150206/https://xkcd.com/2765/ 2022-04-23].
**See the comic on xkcd {{xkcd|2765}}.

===Instructions===
*[[2601: Instructions]]
**This comic's header mentions the people who helped put it together.
***It was on the front page from Friday [https://web.archive.org/web/20220401210146/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-04-01] until Tuesday [https://web.archive.org/web/20220405031003/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-04-05], when the next new comic was released (very late, possibly because Instructions was an April fools' Day comic, and Randall wished it to stay on the front page longer?)
****When [[2602: Linguistics Degree]] was released the front page returned to normal header This seems to have not happened until Tuesday as the earliest archive is form [https://web.archive.org/web/20220405125644/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-04-05] with the new comic.
**The text:
***Today's comic was created with [https://twitter.com/fadinginterest Patrick], [https://twitter.com/Aiiane Amber], [https://twitter.com/chromakode @chromakode], [https://twitter.com/dyfrgi Michael], [https://twitter.com/wirehead2501 Kat], [https://twitter.com/xDirtyPunkx Conor], [https://twitter.com/zigdon @zigdon], and [https://twitter.com/bstaffin Benjamin Staffin].
**It thanks those that helped Randall create that years [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]].
***All have a link to their name, the first with an Instagram page, the other seven with a link to their Twitter account. Five of those also helped with the previous April Fools' comic, see below.
**Since this header was related only to the Fools' comic, it was removed from the frontpage header, when the next comic was released.
***But it stayed up as one of the permanent different headers on this comic, as seen two days after it stopped being on the front page on [https://web.archive.org/web/20220406021357/https://xkcd.com/2601/ 2022-04-06].
**See the comic on xkcd {{xkcd|2601}}.

===Checkbox===
*[[2445: Checkbox]]
**This comic's header mentions the people who helped put it together.
***It was on the front page from Thursday [https://web.archive.org/web/20210401232108/https://xkcd.com/ 2021-04-01] until Monday [https://web.archive.org/web/20210405130031/http://xkcd.com/ 2021-04-05], until the new comic was released on Monday.
**The text:
***This comic was put together by [https://chromakode.com/ Max Goodhart], [https://twitter.com/fadinginterest Patrick], [https://twitter.com/Aiiane Amber], [https://twitter.com/bstaffin Benjamin Staffin], [https://twitter.com/cotrone Kevin Cotrone], [https://twitter.com/wirehead2501 Kat], and [https://twitter.com/dyfrgi Michael Leuchtenburg].
**It thanks those that helped Randall create that years [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]].
***All have a link to their name, the first with a personal home page, the other six with a link to their Twitter account. Five of those also helped with the previous April Fools' comic, see below.
**Since this header was related only to the Fools' comic, it was removed from the front page header, when the next comic was released, here from the day after that release Tuesday [https://web.archive.org/web/20210406143023/http://xkcd.com/ 2021-04-06].
**But it stayed up as one of the permanent different headers on this comic, as seen two days later on [https://web.archive.org/web/20210407203547/https://xkcd.com/2445/ 2021-04-07].
**See the comic on xkcd {{xkcd|2445}}.

===Collector's Edition===
*[[2288: Collector's Edition]]
**This comic's header mentions the people who helped put it together.
***It was on the front page only for about a day around April 3rd and [https://web.archive.org/web/20200404014814/http://xkcd.com/#-370,-277vApril 4th 2020].
**The text:
***Today's comic was put together by [https://chromakode.com/ Max Goodhart], [https://twitter.com/Aiiane Amber], [https://twitter.com/bstaffin Benjamin Staffin], [https://twitter.com/cotrone Kevin], [https://www.instagram.com/fading_interest/ @fading_interest], [https://twitter.com/wirehead2501 Kat], [https://twitter.com/zigdon @zigdon], and Christopher Night.
****All names have links except the last.
**It thanks those that helped Randall create the 2020 [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]], which had taken two extra days before it was released due to the complex nature of the comic.
*Due to the delay the next comic, [[2289: Scenario 4]], was released already the day after the Fool's comic, even though it was thus [[2289:_Scenario_4#Trivia|on a Saturday]]!
**Since this header was related only to the Fools' comic, it was removed from the front page header, when the next comic was released, but it stayed up as one of the permanent different headers on this comic
**See the comic on xkcd {{xkcd|2288}}.

=== Seven Years===
*[[1928: Seven Years]]
**[http://web.archive.org/web/20171214171157/https://xkcd.com/ 2017-12-14]
**It was released as a response to another cancer diagnosis, this is explained in the [[Design_of_xkcd.com#Header_text|Header text]] which has replaced the standard ''xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.'' The new one is this one, with the active link included:
**The text (with link):
***Becky Beaton, sister of fellow cartoonist Kate Beaton, has also been diagnosed with cancer. You can support her treatment [https://www.youcaring.com/beckybeaton-1008390 here].
**{{w|Kate Beaton}} is the creator of the web comic [http://www.harkavagrant.com/ Hark! A Vagrant].
***Although this comic is not one on Randall's list of ''[[Design_of_xkcd.com#Comics_I_enjoy|Comics I enjoy]]'', he is clearly much influenced by another cancer diagnosis among someone in his own creative field.below.
**On [https://web.archive.org/web/20190817141450/https://www.xkcd.com/1928/ 2019-08-17], close to two years later, the message was still there and also [https://web.archive.org/web/20211226120634/https://xkcd.com/1928/ 2021-12-26] just past four years later.
***There was the possibility that it would be removed, when the support page was discontinued...
***But as that already happened before [http://web.archive.org/web/20181106124430/https://www.youcaring.com/beckybeaton-1008390 2018-11-06] it seems like it will be there to stay.
***Last archived version was from [http://web.archive.org/web/20180305022301/https://www.youcaring.com/beckybeaton-1008390 2018-03-05].
***Randall has previously done something similar for another friend, Emiliy, but [[#2014-11-27_-_Help_Emily|that header]] was not made permanent.
**See the comic on xkcd {{xkcd|1928}}.

===ISS Solar Transit 2===
*[[1830: ISS Solar Transit 2]]
**[https://web.archive.org/web/20170428041338/https://xkcd.com/ 2017-04-28]
**This header links back to [[1828: ISS Solar Transit]], a comic with the same joke setup released on the Monday of the same week
**See the comic on xkcd {{xkcd|1830}}.

===Meteorite Identification===
*[[1723: Meteorite Identification]]
**Randall realized that his comic was almost a copy of some other person. And he has since then acknowledged this on the comics specific page see more [[1723: Meteorite Identification#Trivia|here]].
**At the time of this post, in the newest saved version on the archive from [http://web.archive.org/web/20161010215516/http://xkcd.com/1723/ 2016-10-10] it is still there and says:
***Note: Jolyon, founder of [http://www.mindat.org/ mindat.org], made a similar chart way before me!
**See the comic on xkcd {{xkcd|1723}}.

===Substitutions 3===
*[[1679: Substitutions 3]]
**This was the third installment of Substitutions and as he did with [[#Substitutions 2|the second]] linking to the first and telling about browser extensions for this he did the same with this one:
**The text:
***(Previously: {{xkcd|1288|Substitutions}} and {{xkcd|1625|Substitutions 2}})
***Note: There are various [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/replacerator/gaajhenbcclienfnniphiiambbbninnp?hl=en browser extensions] for this.
**It was on the main page while the comic was up, for instance here on [https://web.archive.org/web/20160512102325/http://xkcd.com/ 2016-05-12].
**See the comic on xkcd {{xkcd|1679}}.

=== Garden===
*[[1663: Garden]]
**This comic had a header text to help people use the comic when it came out.
**For some time this text was the main header text, but after a while is disappeared from the main header, but remained as the header for Garden.
***See more [[xkcd_Header_text#2016-04-04_-_Protip_on_Garden|below]] or on the Garden page [[Garden#Header_text_after_release|here]]
**Today and as of the newest saved version on the archive from [http://web.archive.org/web/20161231231600/http://xkcd.com/1663/ 2016-12-31] it is still there and says:
***Protip: If you don't like how your garden is growing, you can click to prune it.
***You can copy the URL to share your garden. From other browsers, it will be view-only.
**See the comic on xkcd {{xkcd|1663}}.

===Substitutions 2===
*[[1625: Substitutions 2]]
**This was the second installment of Substitutions and Randall links to the first and tells about browser extensions for this:
**The text:
***(Previously: {{xkcd|1288|Substitutions}})
***Note: There are various [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/xkcd-substitutions/jkgogmboalmaijfgfhfepckdgjeopfhk?hl=en browser extensions] for this.
****He did the same when [[xkcd_Header_text#Substitutions_3|Substitutions 3]] came out, linking to the two previous.
**It was on the main page while the comic was up, for instance here on [https://web.archive.org/web/20160104171722/http://xkcd.com/ 2016-01-04].
**See the comic on xkcd {{xkcd|1625}}.

===United Shapes===
*[[1079: United Shapes]]
**The header was unique for this comic on the day it came out: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120709045709/http://xkcd.com:80/ 2012-07-09].
**The text:
***There's a larger version of this map [http://xkcd.com/1079/large/ here] (Colorado is [http://xkcd.com/1079/colorado/ here]).
***It's also available as a [https://web.archive.org/web/20120709045709/http://store.xkcd.com/xkcd/#StateMap poster].
**The text was never on other pages:
***Before US was released, also on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120709004956/http://www.xkcd.com/ 2012-07-09] the comic [[1078: Knights]] was on the main page, with the previous [[xkcd_Header_text#2012-04-09 -_Standard_text_plus_store_link|promotion of the store]].
***The US version was still on the front the day after [https://web.archive.org/web/20120710063424/http://xkcd.com/ 2012-07-10].
***But the same day [https://web.archive.org/web/20120710114846/http://xkcd.com/1078/ 2012-07-10] the page for Knights did show a new header, which may only have been active on other pages than the front on this day... See details here [[xkcd_Header_text#2012-07-10_-_New:_what-if.xkcd.com|New:_what-if.xkcd.com]]
****Here is another page from [https://web.archive.org/web/20120710095644/http://xkcd.com/1070/ 2012-07-10] with [[1070: Words for Small Sets]], that was also saved that day, so this was on the top of all other comics, except the front page.
**There are simply no version of the front page from the 11th and 12th of July 2012. But from other pages it can be shown that from the 11th there was a difference.
***On [https://web.archive.org/web/20120711223349/http://xkcd.com/1078/ 2012-07-11] on the page for Knights and for instance from the same day on page number [https://web.archive.org/web/20120711223339/http://xkcd.com:80/1077 1077] [[1077: Home Organization]] there is the same but new header, different than the one Knights had both two days before and the other one from the day before.
***And also on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120711123734/http://xkcd.com:80/1079/ 2012-07-11] the numbered page {{xkcd|1079}} for US displays a mix of this new and the unique version of the header text.
****It left our the part about Colorado and moved the bottom line up so the unique part is written in one line (that may still take up two lines as the text will spill over, (maybe just in some browsers?)
****And then it added the two lines of header text that was on all the other pages (presumably also the front page, but that was first proved with the version from [https://web.archive.org/web/20120713154207/http://xkcd.com/ 2012-07-13]).
****And this is the version still shown on {{xkcd|1079}} today, even though the bottom lines was a normal header that was supposed to disappear.
**The final text that is still on US today:
***There's a larger version of this map [http://xkcd.com/1079/large/ here]! It's also available as a [https://store.xkcd.com/collections/posters/products/united-shapes-poster poster].
***New: [https://what-if.xkcd.com/1/ what-if.xkcd.com]: abusing science to answer hypothetical questions.
***I'll answer a new reader question every Tuesday.
****Here above the link has been updated to the one in the current version, where as the above link in the original version, that is now a dead link, has been directed to an archived version of the stores poster.
****The link the new part is to the very first ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'' article ''{{what if|1|Relativistic Baseball}}'' which was released on 2012-07-10, the day after US was released, but before the next comic [[1080: Visual Field]] was released on 2012-07-11.
*****There are no version of comic {{xkcd|1080}} archived while it was on the front page, so it is not possible to tell what the front page looked like on the 11th and 12th of July. But best guess is that it looked like that on Knight shown above from the 11th.
**The first version was on the main page while the comic was up.
***Maybe there was a time with the final version on the front page, but seems like Randall put the new header text there in hand, and forgot to delete it after, so he probably first changed it when the new comic came out.
***Since the new header was important, promoting his new ''what if'' blog, he likely did not wish to have a fairly new page (maybe even on the front page on the 10th) without the reference. Also he did not wish to remove the link to the poster in the store.
***But this makes it a special unique header, as a relic from the past header text is left together with the text that was supposed to be permanent. It should have been deleted when the link to ''what if'' 1 was removed.
**See the comic on xkcd {{xkcd|1079}}.

===Approximations===
*[[1047: Approximations]]
**It has a permanent text saying that many people emailed Randall about another approximation for one year than the one given in the comic.
***As it was already there from the release day on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120425220409/http://xkcd.com:80/ 2012-04-25] it seems unlikely that he actually received those e-mails before changing the header text for this comic!
**The unique text:
***Lots of emails mention the physicist favorite, 1 year = pi x 107 seconds.
***75^4 is a hair more accurate, but it's hard to top 3,141,592's elegance.
**There was a different header on other comics even while this comic was on the front page with the unique text. See [[#2012-04-09_-_Standard_text_plus_store_link|Plus store link]].
**See the comic on xkcd {{xkcd|1047}}.

===Umwelt===
*[[1037: Umwelt]]
**It has a permanent promotion of the store already from the release day on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120401151639/http://xkcd.com:80/ 2012-04-01]:
**The unique text:
***You can get posters, prints, and t-shirts in the [https://store.xkcd.com/ xkcd store].
**It stayed on the front page while this comic was the most recent, so for instance also two days later on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120403223453/http://www.xkcd.com/ 2012-04-03]
***There was a different header on other comics even while this comic was on the front page with the unique text. See [[xkcd_Header_text#2012-03-28_-_Visiting_Newport_News|Visiting Newport News]].
**See the comic on xkcd {{xkcd|1037}}.

===s/keyboard/leopard/===
*[[1031: s/keyboard/leopard/]]
**In response to the idea of having you browser replace keyboard with leopard a reader made a script that could do just that.
**Randall seem to have gotten this script before release (or at least on the day of release) as it was already the header text on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120319130702/http://xkcd.com/ 2012-03-19] the day the comic was released.
**The unique text is:
***A helpful reader has provided an [https://userscripts.org/scripts/show/128626 s/keyboard/leopard/ user script].
****The link does not go anywhere useful any longer, but here is the archived version of the link from two days after the release of the comic on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120321174019/http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/128626 2012-03-21]
**It was never changed on the other comics so was only on the front while this comic was up until 2012-03-21
***Here also shown on the second day it was up on its own page on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120320143916/http://xkcd.com:80/1031/ 2012-03-20].
**The next comic [[1032: Networking]] came out on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120321205835/http://xkcd.com:80/ 2012-03-21] and here the header text has returned to what it was before the leopard comic: [[xkcd_Header_text#2012-03-12_-_xkcd_Holistic_Browser|xkcd Holistic Browser]].
***Here are examples from dates around this showing it was not used on other pages:
****The last archived version of the front page from before the 19th was this version from [https://web.archive.org/web/20120317121834/http://xkcd.com:80/ 2012-03-17], but here is an example from [https://web.archive.org/web/20120318153256/http://xkcd.com:80/1030/ 2012-03-18] (from comic [[1030: Keyed]]), the day before leopard comic came out.
****Both on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120319174700/http://xkcd.com/1030/ 2012-03-19] (from comic [[1030: Keyed]]) and on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120320191039/http://xkcd.com:80/1012 2012-03-20] (from comic [[1012: Wrong Superhero]]) during the time leopard was up, the header text currently in used was still shown.
**See the comic on xkcd {{xkcd|1031}}.

===Making Things Difficult===
*[[996: Making Things Difficult]]
**Randall links to a blog post about cancer as related to this cancer comic
**The unique text:
***Some context for the cancer comics:
***[https://blog.xkcd.com/2011/06/30/family-illness/ https://blog.xkcd.com/2011/06/30/family-illness/]
****The link is for post on his [[Blag]].
****It is on the oldest stored version from [https://web.archive.org/web/20111229043804/http://xkcd.com:80/ 2011-12-29] when it was on the header.
**See the comic on xkcd {{xkcd|996}}.

===Money===
*[[980: Money]]
**Randall notes his thoughts about making it and makes a promotion of the poster.
**The unique text:
***This one was fun (and exhausting) to make.
***There's a poster of it in the [https://store.xkcd.com/products/money-poster store]!
****It is both at the oldest stored version from [https://web.archive.org/web/20120404110059/http://xkcd.com:80/980 2012-04-04] and the newest at time of editing [https://web.archive.org/web/20220108132250/https://xkcd.com/980/ 2022-01-08].
**See the comic on xkcd {{xkcd|980}}.

===Map Projections===
*[[977: Map Projections]]
**Randall notes that a person had birthday on the release of this comic about maps, and this guy has maps on his homepage
**The unique text:
***It turns out Monday was Steve Waterman's birthday. His [https://web.archive.org/web/20111118003418/http://www.watermanpolyhedron.com/ site] has posters of his map, plus maybe the world's only Winkel Tripel-critiquing poetry.
****The link goes to [http://www.watermanpolyhedron.com/ Waterman project] home page. Above the link goes to an archived version from around the time of release of the header text.
****It is at the oldest stored version with the comic on the front page on [https://web.archive.org/web/20111115231643/http://xkcd.com:80/ 2011-11-15].
**See the comic on xkcd {{xkcd|977}}.

===Na===
*[[851: Na]]
**After Randall made this comic, he realized he could have "made it better" and changed the header text to:
***I can't ''believe'' I forgot Hey Jude.
***I don't get do-overs, but I couldn't resist making [https://xkcd.com/851_make_it_better/ a fixed version].
**See more about it in that comics [[851:_Na#Trivia|trivia section]].
**See the comic on xkcd {{xkcd|851}}.

===Malamanteau===
*[[739: Malamanteau]]
**Randall notices that he has changed this comics license, so it can be used on Wikipedia.
**The text:
***At Wikipedia's request, I release this comic under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/ cc-by-sa] license.
****The link is to the page regarding {{w|Creative Commons license}} in the US.
****Specifically for Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States (CC BY-SA 3.0 US)
*****Usually xkcd is [[Design_of_xkcd.com#License_and_copyright|shared under]] [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License]. This does not allow commercial use, But the 3.0 does.
**When the comic came out it had the normal header text from that time, as seen here two days after release on [https://web.archive.org/web/20100514072436/http://xkcd.com/ 2010-05-14].
***First archived version with the unique text is from [https://web.archive.org/web/20100913003146/http://xkcd.com/739/ 2010-09-13], but the previous archived version of this comic is from [https://web.archive.org/web/20100713160533/http://xkcd.com:80/739/ 2010-07-13].
***So it happened somewhere in the two months in between. But at least it was not there the first two months after release, but there before four month after release.
**See the comic on xkcd {{xkcd|739}}.

===Steal This Comic===
*[[488: Steal This Comic]]
**Randall is tired of {{w|DRM}}, an acronym standing for Digital Rights Management. This comic displays this. He thus make a promotion of Amazon that sells music without DRM.
**The text:
***Note: the [https://www.amazon.com/MP3-Music-Download/b?ie=UTF8&node=163856011 Amazon.com MP3 store] sells DRM-free music. Kudos.
****The link is to Amazon MP3 music. Here is an archived version from [https://web.archive.org/web/20081001083843/http://www.amazon.com/MP3-Music-Download/b?ie=UTF8&node=163856011 2008-10-01], two weeks prior to the release of the comic.
**The header text was on the comic from the release day, here seen the day after on the first archived version from [https://web.archive.org/web/20081014232952/http://xkcd.com/ 2008-10-14].
**See the comic on xkcd {{xkcd|488}}.

===House of Pancakes===
*[[472: House of Pancakes]]
**This comic's header notes its status as a parody:
***(Today's comic is a parody of [https://www.amazon.com/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764 House of Leaves].)
**Only on the days this comic was the newest was this header featured on the front page of xkcd for instance as seen here the day after release on [https://web.archive.org/web/20080906103932/http://www.xkcd.com/ 2008-09-06].
***But it was only on this comic. The commercial for his new t-shirt was on all the other pages, also on [https://web.archive.org/web/20080906103932/http://www.xkcd.com/ 2008-09-06] and presumably returned to the front page with the next comic. But there is a gap in the archive after this comic.
**See the comic on xkcd {{xkcd|472}}.

==Global header text==
When editing the section, list the changes chronologically with the date of the web archive link and hyperlink each date. Include an internal link to the newest comic at the time of each change and describe the modifications with relevant information. Position the last comic displaying the header text below the other data and place the most recent change at the top.

===2024-05-15 - Special 10th anniversary edition of WHAT IF?===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20240515200351/https://xkcd.com/ 2024-05-15]
**[[2933: Elementary Physics Paths]] came out when the header changed.
**The text:
***[https://xkcd.com/what-if/ Special 10th anniversary edition of WHAT IF?]—revised and annotated with brand-
***“new illustrations and answers to important questions you never thought to ask—
***coming from November 2024. Preorder [https://bit.ly/WhatIf10th here]!
**The first link goes to the page for the what if? book on xkcd and the other link is to the HarperCollins page for the 10th anniversary edition of the book.
*This version is the current header text as of May 16th 2024.

===2024-03-20 - What If? is on YouTube!===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20240320173158/https://xkcd.com/ 2024-03-20]
**[[2909: Moon Landing Mission Profiles]] came out when the header changed.
*The only text version from the previous header was trimmed having some words removed taking it down from four to three lines (and solving the bad alignment that happened five days before at the end of the previous header text).
**The text:
***[https://what-if.xkcd.com/ What If?] is on YouTube! The first video answers
***“[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LSyizrk8-0 What if we aimed Hubble at Earth?]” Follow the
***[https://www.youtube.com/@xkcd_whatif What If?] channel to be notified about new videos.
**The first link goes to the what if? page on xkcd and the other two links are to the YouTube channel and to its very first video.
*The promotion of the what if? franchise continues for the second year running. A few words were taken off as the YouTube channel was no longer new at this point.

===2023-11-29 - What If? is now on YouTube!===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20231129184009/https://xkcd.com/ 2023-11-29]
**[[2861: X Value]] came out when the header changed.
*There was only text this time.
**The text:
***[https://what-if.xkcd.com/ What If?] is now on YouTube!
***Check out the first video for the answer to
***“[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LSyizrk8-0 What if we aimed the Hubble Telescope at Earth?]”
***and follow [https://www.youtube.com/@xkcd_whatif xkcd’s What If? The Video Series channel] to be notified about each new video.
**The links goes to the what if page on xkcd and the other two links is to the new YouTube channel with videos of some of the what if articles and to the very first video.
*This is thus not a promotion of the what if? 2 book but stil promotion of the what if? franchise.
*A small change happened on [https://web.archive.org/web/20240314113602/https://xkcd.com/ 2024-03-14], as the first two lines became one line which made the alignment worse. So it seemed strange to do this. It looked like normal up until [https://web.archive.org/web/20240313113429/https://xkcd.com/ 2024-03-13]. But it only lasted five days before a change was made that made it into a new although very similar header text.
*This version ended on [https://web.archive.org/web/20240319134138/https://xkcd.com/ 2024-03-19], while [[2908: Moon Armor Index]] was on the front page, but was replaced by a very similar What If? header.

===2023-08-31 - What if? 2 is now available in paperback in the UK!===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20230831200321/https://xkcd.com/ 2023-08-31]
**[[2822: *@gmail.com]] came out when the header changed.
**The image to the right stayed, but after more than a half year with no text, text was added to the left of the picture because the paper back was available in the UK.
***As opposed to the previous headers this was plain text and not a picture.
***The image is taken from the front cover of the new book, with red background, showing a passenger plane taking off with the wheels still down. On top of it a Tyrannosaurus Rex has begun eating its way into the plane. Below the plane is the book title in white text.
**The text:
***What if? 2 is [https://xkcd.com/what-if-2/#UK now available] in paperback in the UK!
***what if? 2
**The link goes to https://xkcd.com/what-if-2/#UK, the page on xkcd about the What if? 2 book, and directing to the UK order links where there now also it a paper back version.
*This version was still up in the middle of November 2023 when this segment was updated.
*This version ended on [https://web.archive.org/web/20231128174224/https://xkcd.com/ 2023-11-28], while [[2860: Decay Modes]] was on the front page, but was replaced by another What If? header.
**Although it was not specifically related to the new book. Thus it ended a more than 22 month long constant promotion of the book since the [[#2022-01-10_-_Standard_text_with_countdown|countdown]] began in January 2022.

===2023-02-17 - What if? 2 picture only===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20230217185629/https://xkcd.com/ 2023-02-17]
**[[2739: Data Quality]] came out when the header changed.
**For the first time in a very long time there is no real header text. Only the small red picture with the plane and the title of the what if? 2 book in the right section of the header. As it has been since [[#2022-01-10 - Standard text with countdown|the countdown]] stopped.
***The image is taken from the front cover of the new book, with red background, showing a passenger plane taking off with the wheels still down. On top of it a Tyrannosaurus Rex has begun eating its way into the plane. Below the plane is the book title in white text.
**The text:
***what if? 2
*This version ended on [https://web.archive.org/web/20230830064414/https://xkcd.com/ 2023-08-30], while [[2821: Path Minimization]] was on the front page, but was replaced by another What If? 2 header.

===2022-09-23 - What if? 2 Instant New York Times Bestseller===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20220923182825/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-09-23]
**[[2675: Pilot Priority List]] was on the front page when the header changed.
***The header celebrates that the new what if? 2 book has become an instant New York Times bestseller.
**The header kept the same layout as the previous and thus still consist of two parts. With the right picture the window also used in [[#2022-01-10 - Standard text with countdown|the countdown]], but with the image that appeared in it after the count down ended.
***The image is taken from the front cover of the new book, with red background, showing a passenger plane taking off with the wheels still down. On top of it a Tyrannosaurus Rex has begun eating its way into the plane. Below the plane is the book title in white text.
**The new image to the left has a black border. To the left is still the picture of the new what if? 2 book. It has the same image as in the picture to the right, but showing the entire front of the book, with details of those looking up at the plane from the ground. The title and the author name can be read in white on the red book. There are also unreadable white text above the plane and below the author name. The spine of the book can also be seen, as the book is seen a bit from the side. Here are also unreadable white text. To the right of the book there are two lines of text, with the first line in very large bold letters.
**The text:
***what if? 2
***Randall Munroe
***What if? 2
***Instant New York Times bestseller.
***what if? 2
****Both images are links that goes to a dedicated page on xkcd about [https://xkcd.com/what-if-2/ what if? 2: the book].
*This version ended on [https://web.archive.org/web/20230216181705/https://xkcd.com/ 2023-02-16], while [[2738: Omniknot]] was on the front page, but was replaced by another What If? 2 header,

===2022-09-13 - What if? 2 is available now===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20220913142432/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-09-13]
**[[2672: What If? 2 Flowchart]] was released as the header changed, even though it was a Tuesday.
***The header and the comic celebrates the release of the new what if? 2 book, that came out on this day.
**The header kept the same layout as the previous and thus still consist of two parts. With the right picture the window also used in [[#2022-01-10 - Standard text with countdown|the countdown]], but with the image that appeared in it after the count down ended.
***The image is taken from the front cover of the new book, with red background, showing a passenger plane taking off with the wheels still down. On top of it a Tyrannosaurus Rex has begun eating its way into the plane. Below the plane is the book title in white text.
**The new image to the left has a black border. To the left is still the picture of the new what if? 2 book. It has the same image as in the picture to the right, but showing the entire front of the book, with details of those looking up at the plane from the ground. The title and the author name can be read in white on the red book. There are also unreadable white text above the plane and below the author name. The spine of the book can also be seen, as the book is seen a bit from the side. Here are also unreadable white text. To the right of the book there are two lines of text, with the first line in very large bold letters
**The text:
***what if? 2
***Randall Munroe
***What if? 2 is available now!
***what if? 2
****Both images are links that goes to a dedicated page on xkcd about [https://xkcd.com/what-if-2/ what if? 2: the book].
*This thus ended the pre-release promotion of the book, that began on [[#xkcd_Header_text#2022-01-31_-_What_if.3F_2|2022-01-31]], plus of course the three weeks of [[#2022-01-10 - Standard text with countdown|countdown]] before. For a sum total of 8 months and three days.
**It will be interesting to see how long before any reference to what if? 2 will disappear from the header text.
*This version ended on [https://web.archive.org/web/20220922150042/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-09-22], but was replaced by another What If? 2 header, while [[2675: Pilot Priority List]] was on the front page.

===2022-09-12 - One day to What if? 2 comes out===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20220912125617/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-09-12]
**This was while [[2670: Interruption]] was still up.
**The header is the same layout as the previous and thus still consist of two parts. With the right picture the window also used in [[#2022-01-10 - Standard text with countdown|the countdown]], but with the image that appeared in it after the count down ended.
***The image is taken from the front cover of the new book, with red background, showing a passenger plane taking off with the wheels still down. On top of it a Tyrannosaurus Rex has begun eating its way into the plane. Below the plane is the book title in white text.
**The new image to the left has a black border. To the left is still the picture of the new what if? 2 book. It has the same image as in the picture to the right, but showing the entire front of the book, with details of those looking up at he plane from the ground. The title and the author name can be read in white on the red book. There are also unreadable white text above the plane and below the author name. The spine of the book can also be seen, as the book is seen a bit from the side. Here are also unreadable white text. To the right of the book there are three lines of text. With the first line written in large bold letters. This also has a footnote star. And the footnote is then written to the right in smaller font over five lines of text.
**The text:
***what if? 2
***Randall Munroe
***One day* until what if? 2 comes out!
***<nowiki>*</nowiki>I'm going to spend the day with that Les Mis song stuck in my head, aren't I.
***what if? 2
****Both images are links that goes to a dedicated page on xkcd about [https://xkcd.com/what-if-2/ what if? 2: the book].
**The foot note refers to the [[2636: What If? 2 Countdown]]. For the date where the header changed 2022-09-12 it was ''F(99) where F(N) means sing all the verses of N Bottles of Beer On the wall followed by F(N-1)'' to release day.
***It is thus for certain this song Randall mentions will now be stuck in his head.
***Les mis song, probably meaning les miserables song, as in a horrible song, he now has stuck in his head for an entire day.
**The header stayed the same until [https://web.archive.org/web/20220913134002/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-09-13].
***This was while [[2671: Rotation]] was still up, early on the release day of the new book.

===2022-09-12 - Three days to What if? 2 comes out===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20220911102450/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-09-11]
**This was while [[2670: Interruption]] was still up.
**The header is the same layout as the previous and thus still consist of two parts. With the right picture the window also used in [[#2022-01-10 - Standard text with countdown|the countdown]], but with the image that appeared in it after the count down ended.
***The image is taken from the front cover of the new book, with red background, showing a passenger plane taking off with the wheels still down. On top of it a Tyrannosaurus Rex has begun eating its way into the plane. Below the plane is the book title in white text.
**The new image to the left has a black border. To the left is still the picture of the new what if? 2 book. It has the same image as in the picture to the right, but showing the entire front of the book, with details of those looking up at he plane from the ground. The title and the author name can be read in white on the red book. There are also unreadable white text above the plane and below the author name. The spine of the book can also be seen, as the book is seen a bit from the side. Here are also unreadable white text. To the right of the book there are three lines of text. With the first line written in large bold letters. This also has a footnote star. And the footnote is then written to the right in smaller font over five lines of text.
**The text:
***what if? 2
***Randall Munroe
***Three days* until what if? 2 comes out!
***<nowiki>*</nowiki>Assuming it's still Saturday. I'm a static png image and can't perceive time.
***what if? 2
****Both images are links that goes to a dedicated page on xkcd about [https://xkcd.com/what-if-2/ what if? 2: the book].
**The header only stayed the same for one day and [[2670: Interruption]] was still up when it changed to the next.

===2022-09-07 - Less than one week to What if? 2 comes out===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20220907211736/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-09-07]
**This was while [[2668: Artemis Quote]] was still up.
**The header still consist of two parts. With the right picture the window also used in [[#2022-01-10 - Standard text with countdown|the countdown]], but with the image that appeared in it after the count down ended.
***The image is taken from the front cover of the new book, with red background, showing a passenger plane taking off with the wheels still down. On top of it a Tyrannosaurus Rex has begun eating its way into the plane. Below the plane is the book title in white text.
**The new image to the left has a black border. To the left is still the picture of the new what if? 2 book. It has the same image as in the picture to the right, but showing the entire front of the book, with details of those looking up at he plane from the ground. The title and the author name can be read in white on the red book. There are also unreadable white text above the plane and below the author name. The spine of the book can also be seen, as the book is seen a bit from the side. Here are also unreadable white text. To the right of the book there are four lines of text. With the middle line written in large bold letters. This also has a footnote star. And the footnote is then written to the right in smaller font over four lines of text.
**The text:
***what if? 2
***Randall Munroe
***Less than one week* until what if? 2 comes out!
***<nowiki>*</nowiki>Oh no, now I have that song stuck in my head.
***what if? 2
****Both images are links that goes to a dedicated page on xkcd about [https://xkcd.com/what-if-2/ what if? 2: the book].
**The foot note refers to the [[2636: What If? 2 Countdown]]. For the date where the header changed 2022-09-07 it was ''one pico-universe-lifetime'' to release day. But the next day 2022-09-08 it was ''The Baby Shark chorus for a family of 50,000 sharks''.
***It is thus for certain this song Randall mentions will now be stuck in his head.
**The header stayed the same until [https://web.archive.org/web/20220910024549/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-09-10].
***This was while [[2670: Interruption]] was up.

===2022-08-27 - Preorder What if? 2 - with image - again===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20220827232205/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-08-27]
**[[2664: Cloud Swirls]] came out when it changed.
**The header [[#2022-08-16 - Preorder What if? 2 - with image|changed back]] to the preorder image from the previous header, when Randall's book tour ended. See the link.
*It ended on [https://web.archive.org/web/20220906191403/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-09-06].
**This was while [[2668: Artemis Quote]] was up.

===2022-08-17 - What if? 2 book tour===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20220817161136/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-08-17]
**[[2659: Unreliable Connection]] was out when it changed.
**The header still consist of two parts. With the right picture the window also used in [[#2022-01-10 - Standard text with countdown|the countdown]], but with the image that appeared in it after the count down ended.
***The image is taken from the front cover of the new book, with red background, showing a passenger plane taking off with the wheels still down. On top of it a Tyrannosaurus Rex has begun eating its way into the plane. Below the plane is the book title in white text.
**The new image to the left has a black border. Inside this there is text to the left. Then Cueball is seen flying by holding on to a single balloon (like in [[1110: Click and Drag]]). He flies over five mountain peaks with snow, with three clouds and three distant birds in front of him, as he drifts to the right, as shown with movements lines behind him. In front of him is a dark feature at the bottom of the frame. Above this is a blue square (like a button) with white text.
**The text:
***I'm going on a what if? 2 book tour!
***Click to see where
***what if? 2
****The image to the left is a link to [https://xkcd.com/events/ randall munroe: events] page on xkcd. Which at the time showed the calendar with the planned stop for his book tour, which covered the US and London.
****As always the link button in blue is not the only part of the image that is a link, as he just mentioned in the [[#2022-08-11 - Preorder What if? 2 - with image|previous header text]], and several times before...
****The right image is a link that goes to a dedicated page on xkcd about [https://xkcd.com/what-if-2/ what if? 2: the book].
*This header thus continues the promotion of the new book, which was at the time was only 27 days away (or [[2636:_What_If%3F_2_Countdown|6 dog months]]).
**It will be interesting to see how long it takes before promotion for the book disappears from the header. It may still take months.
*The header stayed the same until [https://web.archive.org/web/20220826202043/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-08-26].
**This was while [[2663: Tetherball Configurations]] was up.

===2022-08-11 - Preorder What if? 2 - with image===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20220811055445/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-08-11]
**[[2657: Complex Vowels]] came out as it changed.
*The message in the header was not really changed, but the meaning of the text from the previous header was now written in an image, although the text did change somewhat.
**The header thus still consist of two parts. To the left the new image with an picture of the book and text. And to the right the window also used in [[#2022-01-10 - Standard text with countdown|the countdown]], but with the image that appeared in it after the count down ended.
***The image is taken from the front cover of the new book, with red background, showing a passenger plane taking off with the wheels still down. On top of it a Tyrannosaurus Rex has begun eating its way into the plane. Below the plane is the book title in white text.
**The new image to the left has a black border. Inside this to the right is the new text. To the left is a picture of the new what if? 2 book. It has the same image as in the picture to the right, but showing the entire front of the book, with details of those looking up at he plane from the ground. The title and the author name can be read in white on the red book. There are also unreadable white text above the plane and below the author name. The spine of the book can also be seen, as the book is seen a bit from the side. Here are also unreadable white text.
**The text:
***what if? 2
***Randall Munroe
***Preorder what if? 2 and enter for a chance to win a comic inspired by your question! Click here to learn more. Or click wherever. This whole image is a link because html is hard.
***what if? 2
****In the left image there is a blue link font on the word "here" in click here. However the entire left image is a link to the [https://sites.prh.com/whatif2 what if 2 contest]. As explained he did not only make the word a link because html is hard! This is something Randall [[xkcd_Header_text#2014-07-23_-_what_if.3F_book_tour|often comments on]].
*****The link in the text goes to a contest page that starts with the words:
*****[https://web.archive.org/web/20220718171904/https://sites.prh.com/whatif2 Want Randall Munroe to answer you What If? question?]
*****Here above the web archive version of the link, in case the link from the text goes dead in the future.
****The right image is a link that goes to a dedicated page on xkcd about [https://xkcd.com/what-if-2/ what if? 2: the book].
**The header stayed the same until [https://web.archive.org/web/20220816124823/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-08-16].
***This was while [[2659: Unreliable Connection]] was up.

===2022-07-19 - Preorder What if? 2===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20220719153239/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-07-19]
**[[2647: Capri Suns]] came out as it changed.
*The header looked a lot like the previous one, only part of the text changed.
**The header thus still consist of two part. To the left a line of text (split up, most likely over four lines for most users). And to the right the window also used in [[#2022-01-10 - Standard text with countdown|the countdown]], but with the image that appeared in it after the count down ended.
***The image is taken from the front cover of the new book, with red background, showing a passenger plane taking off with the wheels still down. On top of it a Tyrannosaurus Rex has begun eating its way into the plane. Below the plane is the book title in white text.
**The text:
***Preorder What If? 2 (all US preorders eligible) and [https://sites.prh.com/whatif2 enter our contest] for a chance to win a dedicated comic and What If blog post!
***what if? 2
****The image is a link that goes to a dedicated page on xkcd about [https://xkcd.com/what-if-2/ what if? 2: the book].
***The link in the text goes to a contest page that starts with the words:
****[https://web.archive.org/web/20220718171904/https://sites.prh.com/whatif2 Want Randall Munroe to answer you What If? question?]
****Here above the web archive version of the link, in case the link from the text goes dead in the future.
**The header stayed the same until [https://web.archive.org/web/20220810034709/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-08-10].
***This was while [[2656: Scientific Field Prefixes]] was up.

===2022-01-31 - What if? 2===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20220201000434/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-02-01]
**[[2575: What If? 2]] came out as it changed, and then it [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/3/36/Countdown_in_header_text_page_when_what_if_comic_came_out.png looked like this] already on 2022-01-31. But there is no archived version from that day after the header changed.
***This was what [[#2022-01-10 - Standard text with countdown|the countdown]] had been counting down to.
***An announcement that Randall had written a sequel to the first ''[[What If? (book)|What If?]]'' book, based on his blog.
**The header consist of two part. To the left a line of text (split up, most likely over three lines for most users). And to the right the window also used in the countdown, but with the image that appeared in it after the count down ended.
***The image is taken from the front cover of the new book, with red background, showing a passenger plane taking off with the wheels still down. On top of it a Tyrannosaurus Rex has begun eating its way into the plane. Below the plan ia the book title in white text.
**The text:
***What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions comes out 9/13. Preorder [https://xkcd.com/what-if-2/ here!]
***What If? 2:
****The link goes to a dedicated page on xkcd about what if? 2: the book. The image is also a link to this page.
****The entire comic that came out along with the new header text is also a link to that page.
**At the same time the [[Design_of_xkcd.com#xkcd_links|xkcd links]] in the top left section of xkcd also changed to include links to books, and especially this new book.
*It will be interesting to see how long this version of the promotion for the new books stays up. But most likely there will be promotion for the book until release, and then more after the release.
**The header stayed the same until [https://web.archive.org/web/20220718145816/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-07-18], for more than 5,5 month. This was while [[2646: Minkowski Space]] was up.
***The change was rather small, but part of the text changed. The promotion continued though.

===2022-01-10 - Standard text with countdown===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20220110183238/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-01-10].
**[[2565: Latency]] was still up when the [[Countdown in header text]] was added.
**The text was still the standard xkcd header: xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
**But a countdown was added. This was inserted in a rectangular box, placed at the end of the standard header text.
***In some browsers the box forces the last word "Friday" to jump down to the next line.
**Inside the box the following time was displayed in the version in the link:
***20d 20h 27m
****This clock will also count down every minute, although it will return to the time at the time of archive when reloaded!
****While this was edited into this wiki the time had changed to 20d 19h 12m. So it was a very fresh download in the web archive, only about 1 hour old when it was updated to this wiki.
****The minutes change without refreshing the page, and follows this editors computers clock exactly, so it will end at 59 minutes, not at a full hour.
***It looks like it started on [https://munvoseli.github.io/xkcd-countdown/ 01-10 17:00 UTC].
****A calculation shows that this countdown will reach zero on Monday 2022-01-31 at 14:59 (2:59 PM) {{w|UTC}}.
****This will be at 9:59 (9:59 AM) in [[Randall]]'s home town
*****The last ten minutes it switched to seconds for the last minute so it made the switch 15:00 UTC 10:00 in Boston!
****From that it can be deduced that the count started at 20d 22h 0m
*****The first image on the archive thus came 1h 33m after the count began.
**At [https://web.archive.org/web/20220111153818/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-01-11] a diagonal black bar appeared in the lower left-hand corner of the countdown box.
***After that the [[Countdown in header text]] page was created and any further development on the count down will be mentioned on that page.
*It was last up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20220131124817/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-01-31] when [[2574: Autoresponder]] was on the front page.
**This archived version was when the counter was at 0d 2h 11m, and the last normal frame was already up at this time.
***It stayed like this until the [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/17/Countdown_in_header_text_page_0_seconds.png counter ran out].
****Then for a few minutes the final frame, that revealed that all this was a promotion for Randall's new book what if? 2 was up [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/4/48/Countdown_in_header_text_page_just_after_countdown.png while the Friday comic was still up].
****Then when the new Monday comic came out with the promotion for what if? 2, the header changed.

===2022-01-08 - Back to standard text===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20220108044654/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-01-08].
**[[2565: Latency]] came out around the time the new header text appeared, on a Friday!
**The text returned to the standard xkcd header:
***xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
**This was the first time since [[#2018-11-07 - Back to standard text|2018-11-07]] that the text had changed back to that, and at that time it lasted until 2019-02-05.
***That is 1067 days (less than a month short of three years) without the standard text! (Can it be called standard anymore?)
**It was only left in the complete standard version until [https://web.archive.org/web/20220109030513/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-01-09] when Latency was still on the front page.
***Then the next day a [[#2022-01-10 - Standard text with countdown|countdown]] was added to it.
****That was after the weekend on Monday but before the Monday comic came up.
****So only during the weekend was it normal standard header text.

===2021-12-20 - What If in stock===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20211220211220/https://xkcd.com/ 2021-12-20].
**[[2557: Immunity]] came out around the time the new header text appeared.
**The text:
***For anyone trying to find What If? this year, it's in stock at [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/what-if-serious-scientific-answers-to-absurd-hypothetical-questions-randall-munroe/1118864093 Barnes & Noble], [https://m.booksamillion.com/p/What-If/Randall-Munroe/9780544272996 Books-a-Million], and [https://bookshop.org/books/what-if-serious-scientific-answers-to-absurd-hypothetical-questions-9781483041827/9780544272996 Bookshop]
**Each store name is a link to the corresponding store's page for ''[[What If? (book)|What If?]]''.
*It was last seen on [https://web.archive.org/web/20220106100957/https://xkcd.com/ 2022-01-06] when [[2564: Sunshield]] was up.

===2020-06-03 - Black Lives Matter===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20200604003700/https://xkcd.com/ 2020-06-03].
**[[2315: Eventual Consistency]] came out as a new header text was finally inserted after almost two months without one.
**Cueball is standing to the left and speaks a single line of text: "Black Lives Matter"
**To the right is a gray link button with text: "[https://www.joincampaignzero.org/ How To Help]."
**As always, the entire image (which is only below the xkcd logo) is a link
***The button is thus not needed, but it will also work when clicking the location of the button.
**The link goes to [https://www.joincampaignzero.org/ Join Campaign Zero].
***{{w|Black Lives Matter}} is a loose, grassroots, decentralized confederation of groups and individuals advocating for racial justice. It arose in 2013 after the acquittal of {{w|George Zimmerman}}, who took the life of {{w|Trayvon Martin}}.
***Randall's featuring Black Lives Matter came on the heels of the {{w|Killing of George Floyd}} on May 25th 2020, which had sparked {{w|George Floyd protests|protest in the US}}
***Floyd died while saying "{{w|I can't breathe}}," which was already used due to other Black men's killings, the first was from the {{w|Killing of Eric Garner}}, back in 2014.
*It stayed like this until [https://web.archive.org/web/20200616114945/https://xkcd.com/ 2020-06-16] when [[2320: Millennium Problems]] was up.
**Then on [https://web.archive.org/web/20200617131438/https://xkcd.com/ 2020-06-17] the link changed to [https://blacklivesmatter.com/ Black Lives Matter]. [[2320: Millennium Problems]] was still on the front page on that day.
*On April 1st 2021 the front page header changed to mention who made the April Fools' comic.
**But this was only for this comic [[#Checkbox|Checkbox]].
**The rest of the pages kept the BLM header and it returned to this on the front page once the next comic was released on April 5th. At that time it will have been up for 13 months, making it the longest header different from the standard header.
*It was last up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20211219202204/https://xkcd.com/ 2021-12-19] when [[2556: Turing Complete]] was on the front page.
**At that time it had been up for 564 days or 1,5 year plus 16 days! This is most likely a record.

===2020-04-05 - Empty header===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20200405042955/https://xkcd.com/ 2020-04-05].
**[[2289: Scenario 4]] came out and the header belonging to the previous comic was removed.
**But no new header was inserted. Not even the go to [[#Header text|Header text]] about the release days of xkcd.
***Since the previous header was related only to the [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]] [[2288: Collector's Edition]], and that had stopped the promotion of the [[How To]] book, after first experiencing problems with it's release, it seems Randall forgot what he usually put in the header.
*It stayed empty like this until [https://web.archive.org/web/20200602213017/https://xkcd.com/ 2020-06-02] when [[2314: Carcinization]] was on the front page.
**So almost two month without a header. This had not happened before.

===2020-04-04 - Put together by===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20200404014814/https://xkcd.com/ 2020-04-04].
**[[2288: Collector's Edition]] came out and the header changed.
**The text:
***Today's comic was put together by [https://chromakode.com/ Max Goodhart], [https://twitter.com/Aiiane Amber], [https://twitter.com/bstaffin Benjamin Staffin], [https://twitter.com/cotrone Kevin], [https://www.instagram.com/fading_interest/ @fading_interest], [https://twitter.com/wirehead2501 Kat], [https://twitter.com/zigdon @zigdon], and Christopher Night.
****All names have links except the last.
**It thanks those that helped Randall create this years [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]], which had taken two extra days before it was released due to the complex nature of the comic.
*Due to the delay the next comic, [[2289: Scenario 4]], was released already the day after the Fool's comic, even though it was thus [[2289:_Scenario_4#Trivia|on a Saturday]]!
**Since this header was related only to the Fool's comic, it was thus removed from the general header, but it stayed up as [[#Collector.27s_Edition|one of]] the permanent [[#Unique_header_text|unique header texts]].
***However, when it was removed from the general header, the header was left empty.
***Unlike some other headers that stayed on a given comic, this one was on all comics for the duration of the time it stayed on the front page, see for instance the previous comic on [https://web.archive.org/web/20200403232031/https://xkcd.com/2287/ 2020-04-03].

===2020-04-02 - Technical Reasons===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20200402234828/https://xkcd.com/ 2020-04-02].
**[[2287: Pathogen Resistance]] was up when the header changed.
*Randall turned out to, again, have problems with his complicated and interactive [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]] for 2020.
**The text:
***Note: For technical reasons Wednesday's comic will be posted Thursday instead. Apologies for the delay!
*This finally stopped the promotion of the [[How To]] book.
**It had then been part of the header for well over a year since [https://web.archive.org/web/20190206060904/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-02-06].
*It stayed up a day longer than planed as the fool's comic, [[2288: Collector's Edition]] was first released on Friday, so the note was still up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20200403012612/https://xkcd.com/ 2020-04-03].
**[[2287: Pathogen Resistance]] thus stayed two extra day on the front page, and the third comic of that week, [[2289: Scenario 4]] was released already the day after the Fool's comic, even though it was thus [[2289:_Scenario_4#Trivia|on a Saturday]]!

===2020-01-16 - How To explores - again===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20200116190038/https://xkcd.com/ 2020-01-16].
**[[2255: Tattoo Ideas]] was still up when the header changed.
**The ongoing promotion of the book continued but here more than three weeks after Christmas the reference to Christmas was removed.
**The header then returned to the one from before Christmas:
***[[#2019-11-22 - How To explores|How To explores]] - see that for all other details.
*It was last up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20200401221435/https://xkcd.com/ 2020-04-01] when [[2287: Pathogen Resistance]] was on the front page.
**It was the problems with [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]] of 2020 that finally stopped the promotion of the [[How To]] book.
**It had then been part of the header for well over a year since [https://web.archive.org/web/20190206060904/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-02-06].

===2019-12-02 - Into Science===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20191202223745/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-12-02].
**[[2236: Is it Christmas?]] came out when the header changed. Fitting as the change is about Christmas list.
**Still promoting the new [[How To]] book, continuing to make the image a link to the [https://xkcd.com/how-to/ How To book] page on xkcd.
***The links below to order are the same as in the previous header.
***Actually most of the header stays the same with the same four images and the same layout. But the text above has changed completely and the two main text sections between the drawings has changed but only slightly. The description of the images is thus left out, see below. Only new thing is that there are now two red circles connected with a red arrow. The first circle is around the word How To at the end of the first text with the arrow going from that circle to the second circle drawn around the picture of the book.
**The text:
***Is there someone on you Christmas list who's into science? They might like my new book '''''How To'''''
***It explores ridiculous ideas for applying scientific research to everyday problems...
***...And illustrates what would happen if you tried them.
***''Boom''
***You can get it here:
***[https://www.amazon.com/How-Absurd-Scientific-Real-World-Problems/dp/0525537090/ Amazon], [https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/2/trackingcode/PRH5522E62429 B&N], [https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/6/trackingcode/penguinrandom IndieBound], [https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/how-to/id1451461524?mt=11 Apple], [https://www.audible.com/search?advsearchKeywords=How+To+Randall+Munroe&source_code=COMA0213WS031709&SID=PRHA9A5E24CFB--9780525635680 Audible], [https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/23/trackingcode/PRH3D17167A3B Target]
*It was last up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20200115155040/https://xkcd.com/ 2020-01-15] when [[2255: Tattoo Ideas]] was on the front page.

===2019-11-22 - How To explores===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20191122214439/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-11-22].
**[[2232: Hotel Room Party]] was up when the header changed. It most likely changed when the comic appeared. Earlier on that day it was the previous header over the previous comic.
**Still promoting the new [[How To]] book, here again making the image a link to the [https://xkcd.com/how-to/ How To book] page on xkcd, after it previously was a link to where to listen to the audio book.
***The links below to order returns to the same as in the header before the previous header with links to audio books, except that the link to an exclusive edition has been removed.
***The header consist of an image with text above five small drawings with two text parts in between them. To the left is the closed How To book which is black with a blue readable title, How To, and unreadable white text below this as well as below the unreadable blue author name, which are below the image. The image shows Cueball putting in a light-bulb with drones under each foot while Megan, holding a ladder, and White/Black Hat are looking up at him. To the right of the book is a drawing of Ponytail pole-vaulting with two black helium filled balloons. Next to her is the first text segment. Then after that is the drawing, seen before in the header text, of a truck towing a house up a steep hill. This truck goes above the second text segment, with Cueball somersaulting above the text. Furthest right, above and just right of the text is an explosion with the sound written inside. Below the header image is some black text and then the links to where to get it as regular blue link text.
**The text:
***My new book '''''How To''''' explores the science behind spacecraft heat shields, butterfly metabolisms, and land border surveys...
***...By imagining ridiculous ideas for applying the research to you everyday life...
***...And illustrating what would happen if you tried them.
***''Boom''
***You can get it here:
***[https://www.amazon.com/How-Absurd-Scientific-Real-World-Problems/dp/0525537090/ Amazon], [https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/2/trackingcode/PRH5522E62429 B&N], [https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/6/trackingcode/penguinrandom IndieBound], [https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/how-to/id1451461524?mt=11 Apple], [https://www.audible.com/search?advsearchKeywords=How+To+Randall+Munroe&source_code=COMA0213WS031709&SID=PRHA9A5E24CFB--9780525635680 Audible], [https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/23/trackingcode/PRH3D17167A3B Target]
*It was last up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20191201191025/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-12-01] when [[2235: Group Chat Rules]] was on the front page.

===2019-11-06 - Audio clip===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20191106204314/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-11-06].
**[[2224: Software Updates]] was still up when the header changed, but the first archive version was first from after the next comic came out [[2225: Voting Referendum]].
**Still promoting the new [[How To]] book, here making the image a link to the How To book on Penguin Random House's audio book, where an audio clip read by Wil Wheaton can be sampled.
***The links below to order have now changed to those with audio books.
***The header consist of an image with text, with a "blue link", above the How To book that is being folded out from closed; to partially open; to opened up on two full pages; this takes three images. The closed book is the black book with a blue readable title, How To, and unreadable white text below this as well as below the unreadable blue author name, which are below the image. The image shows Cueball putting in a light-bulb with drones under each foot while Megan, holding a ladder, and White/Black Hat are looking up at him. The partly open book still has this cover partly visible, but unreadable, as well as come unreadable text in the open side. The open book shows two pages with lots of unreadable text and three figures (maybe one is a table). Next to the open book there is an arrow to the right pointing at an audio icon with three audio lines in front. Below the header image are the links as regular text.
**The text:
***You can click here to hear a clip from the audio version of '''''How To''''', read by Wil Wheaton.
***[https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/how-to-absurd-scientific-advice-for-common-real-world/id1475319694 Apple], [https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/how-to-absurd-scientific-advice-for-common-real-world-problems/369279 Audiobooks], [https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/How-To-Audiobook/1473680360?qid=1574679523&sr=1-1&pf_rd_p=c6e316b8-14da-418d-8f91-b3cad83c5183&pf_rd_r=DX3EZ14M14CFQPP9GHJY&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1 Audible], [https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Randall_Munroe_How_To?id=LzSGDwAAQBAJ Google Play], and [https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780525635680 Libro.fm]
**The entire image is a link to the [https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/576760/how-to/ How To book on Penguin Random House] page, where the audio clip can he played.
***As always it is the entire picture that is a link, and not only the blue underlined text that says click here!
*It was last on the archive on [https://web.archive.org/web/20191122044456/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-11-22] when [[2231: the Time Before And After Land]] was on the front page. But it was most likely still up when [[2232: Hotel Room Party]] came out. But then changed during the next day.

===2019-10-02 - Horse vs football team===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20191002005854/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-10-02].
**[[2210: College Athletes]] was up when the header changed.
**Still promoting the new [[How To]] book, but seeing this is no longer close to the release day the focus has changed. This time the image seems to be from one of the How To explanations in the book.
***The links below to order are the same as the previous header.
***But new text is added after the links to promote two events with Randall in New York the two days after this header came up.
****These links disappeared after a week leaving only the picture and the link to buy the book. See below.
***The header consist of an image with Cueball riding bareback on a horse. He comes from the left holding an American football. Running towards him from the right are eight American football players with helmets with three stars on the back of the helmet. Two of the players at the back are almost hidden by players in front of them. Beneath them is a line of text that belongs to the image, the period at the end of the sentence hangs in height with the center line of the last letter E... Then below the image follows the link and promotion of the NY events, these are written in regular.
**The text:
***My new book ''How To'' is out now! You can get it here.
***[https://www.amazon.com/How-Absurd-Scientific-Real-World-Problems/dp/0525537090/ Amazon], [https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/2/trackingcode/PRH5522E62429 B&N], [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-to-randall-munroe/1130494832?ean=9780525686910#/ B&N Exclusive Edition], [https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/6/trackingcode/penguinrandom IndieBound], [https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/how-to/id1451461524?mt=11 Apple], [https://www.audible.com/search?advsearchKeywords=How+To+Randall+Munroe&source_code=COMA0213WS031709&SID=PRHA9A5E24CFB--9780525635680 Audible], [https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/23/trackingcode/PRH3D17167A3B Target] I'll be at New York Comic Con! I'm giving [https://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/Explore/Panels/Panels-And-Screenings/#/event/how-todo-anything-with-randall-munroe-creator-of-xkcd a talk on Thursday], and on
***Friday [https://smbc-comics.com/ Zach Weinersmith] and I will be hosting [https://www.caveat.nyc/event/how-to--absurd-scientific-advice-for-common-real-world-problems-10-4-2019 an event at Caveat NYC].
**The image is a link to the [https://xkcd.com/how-to/ How To book page] on xkcd.
***The link to Target still seems to go the main page rather than to [https://intl.target.com/p/how-to-by-randall-munroe-hardcover/-/A-76508342 their How To book page]... Probably a still undiscovered error on Randall's part?
*This header changed, but so slightly that the changes will only be mentioned here rather than in a new section:
**The first link was last active on [https://web.archive.org/web/20191004014438/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-10-04]
**Then the day after only the second link remained from [https://web.archive.org/web/20191005041539/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2019-10-05]. [[2211: Hours Before Departure]] came out when it changed.
***But the text of this link changed as it had been a continues text from one to the other link. Also it was not entirely on it's own line, thus not as with the first link whose text was directly connected to the line with the links to buy the book.
***The new text of that link was:
****[https://smbc-comics.com/ Zach Weinersmith] and I will be hosting [https://www.caveat.nyc/event/how-to--absurd-scientific-advice-for-common-real-world-problems-10-4-2019 an event] Friday night at Caveat NYC!
****The last link was the same, but now it only covered two words not the entire end of the sentence.
***This other link was last active on [https://web.archive.org/web/20191007042707/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-10-07].
**And then the last link was gone by [https://web.archive.org/web/20191008053609/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-10-08], when [[2212: Cell Phone Functions]] came out.
*It ended on [https://web.archive.org/web/20191105164001/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-11-05] when [[2224: Software Updates]] was up.

===2019-09-30 - Tons of fun===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190930234245/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-09-30].
**[[2209: Fresh Pears]] was up when the header changed.
**Still promoting the new [[How To]] book, but seeing this is no longer close to the release day the focus has changed to how much fun it was for Randall to write it and how proud he is of the result. Randall, as Cueball, is saying this in the new header image.
***The links below to order are the same, except a new has been added at the end.
***The header consist of an image with Cueball standing to the left of the book, shown as tall as he is. The book is opened up on two pages with lots of unreadable text as well as three drawings, only one of these, with a circle diagram, can clearly be seen. Cueball is speaking, and the text is above him and the book. Two words are blue with a line under as if they where a link. But as always the entire image is a link. Beneath the image is the links on where to order the book.
**The text:
***Writing my new book '''''How To''''' was tons of fun and I'm so proud of the result. It's out now-Click Here to order!
***Order: [https://www.amazon.com/How-Absurd-Scientific-Real-World-Problems/dp/0525537090/ Amazon], [https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/2/trackingcode/PRH5522E62429 B&N], [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-to-randall-munroe/1130494832?ean=9780525686910#/ B&N Exclusive Edition], [https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/6/trackingcode/penguinrandom IndieBound], [https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/how-to/id1451461524?mt=11 Apple], [https://www.audible.com/search?advsearchKeywords=How+To+Randall+Munroe&source_code=COMA0213WS031709&SID=PRHA9A5E24CFB--9780525635680 Audible], [https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/23/trackingcode/PRH3D17167A3B Target]
**The image is a link to the [https://xkcd.com/how-to/ How To book page] on xkcd.
***The new link to Target seems to go the main page rather than to [https://intl.target.com/p/how-to-by-randall-munroe-hardcover/-/A-76508342 their How To book page]... Probably an error on Randall's part.
*It ended on October 2nd while [[2210: College Athletes]] where up. But there is no archived versions from the 1st of October and the one from the 2nd is with the next version. But the editor of this was making changes to the explanation of College Athletes before the next header change came along.

===2019-09-11 - How To available===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190911053115/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-09-11].
**[[2200: Unreachable State]] was still up when the header changed.
**The release day part of the promotion was changed to telling that the new [[How To]] book was available. With teasers about what is in the book below the heading. On either side of the text a picture of the book is still shown. Also the links below changed, adding three new and removing one old.
***The header consist of an image with the book shown both left and right of some text. Both books have blue title and author name, and white unreadable title and white drawing of Cueball flying on two quadcopters to put in a light-bulb in a ceiling lamp, while White/Black? Hat is watching together with Megan, who is holding a ladder. Beneath the image is the links on where to order it.
***Between the two books are two sections of text above each other, the lover with smaller font.
**The text:
***How To is available now!
***Learn how to open bottles with nuclear weapons and how to be on time for meetings by altering the Earths rotation. The book also features advice from real-life experts including Chris Hadfield and Serena Williams.
***Order: [https://www.amazon.com/How-Absurd-Scientific-Real-World-Problems/dp/0525537090/ Amazon], [https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/2/trackingcode/PRH5522E62429 B&N], [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-to-randall-munroe/1130494832?ean=9780525686910#/ B&N Exclusive Edition], [https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/6/trackingcode/penguinrandom IndieBound],[https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/how-to/id1451461524?mt=11 Apple], [https://www.audible.com/search?advsearchKeywords=How+To+Randall+Munroe&source_code=COMA0213WS031709&SID=PRHA9A5E24CFB--9780525635680 Audible]
**The image is a link to the [https://xkcd.com/how-to/ How To book page] on xkcd.
**{{w|Serena Williams}} is a famous tennis player who was also featured in one of the [[:Category:Book promotion|promotion comics]] for How To: [[2190: Serena Versus the Drones]]
**{{w|Chris Hadfield}} is a Canadian retired astronaut, engineer, and former Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot. The first Canadian to walk in space, Hadfield has flown two Space Shuttle missions and served as commander of the International Space Station.
***The new link to audible probably needs the user to be signed up, else it will go to the front page and ask yo to sign up. But from the archive the page can be seen [https://web.archive.org/web/20190923004816/https://www.audible.com/search?advsearchKeywords=How+To+Randall+Munroe&source_code=COMA0213WS031709&SID=PRHA9A5E24CFB--9780525635680 here].
*Up till [https://web.archive.org/web/20190922143253/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-09-22] it looked like this.
**Then on [https://web.archive.org/web/20190923145251/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-09-23] and extra link was added after Audible:
***[https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/23/trackingcode/PRH3D17167A3B Target].
**[[2205: Types of Approximation]] was up when this change occurred during a weekend.
*It ended on [https://web.archive.org/web/20190929223547/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-09-29] when [[2208: Drone Fishing]] was up.

===2019-09-04 - Happy Release Day - bookstore===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190904051509/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-09-04].
**[[2198: Throw]] was already up when the header changed slightly, as the text below Happy release day changed.
*Most of the header stayed the same as the [[#2019-09-03 - Happy Release Day - calendar|day before]], but the reference to the Gregorian/Julian calendar was changed.
**The header consist of an image with the book shown both left and right of some text.Both books have blue title and author name, and white unreadable title and white drawing of Cueball flowing on two quadcopters to put in a light-bulb in a ceiling lamp, while White/Black? Hat is watching together with Megan comes who is holding a ladder. Beneath the image is the link on where to order it, now the preorder has been changed to order.
***Between the two books are two sections of text above each other, the lover with smaller font and in brackets.
**The text:
***Happy How To release day!
***Available wherever books are sold.
***(Mostly bookstores, I assume but you can always try your luck at Wendy's.)
**See below for any other details.
*It ended on [https://web.archive.org/web/20190909211737/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-09-09] when [[2200: Unreachable State]] was up.

===2019-09-03 - Happy Release Day - calendar===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190903051503/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-09-03]
**[[2197: Game Show]] was still up when the header changed, but it was for sure to coincide with [[2198: Throw]] which came out later on the release day while it still looked like in this version.
**Randall celebrated the release day of [[How To]], coming out the day the header changed.
***The comic is also a reference to a chapter in the book on how to throw things. A very complicated interactive comic where different persons or other living things can be chosen to throw dead or living things. The trow will then be shown below with distance measured in two units, normal and special. That is if the thrower can actually manage to throw the thing.
**The header consist of an image with the book shown both left and right of some text. The two black books have red stars around them, five on the outer side of the image and 6 on the inner, the stars are mirrored around left and right book. Both books have blue title and author name, and white unreadable title and white drawing of Cueball flying on two quadcopters to put in a light-bulb in a ceiling lamp, while White/Black? Hat is watching together with Megan, who is holding a ladder. Beneath the image is the link on where to order it, now the preorder has been changed to order.
***Between the two books are two sections of text above each other, the lover with smaller font and in brackets.
**The text:
***How To Randall Munroe
***Happy How To release day!*
***(*Gregorian calendar. The Julian edition doesn't come out for 13 more days.)
***How To Randall Munroe
***Order: [https://www.amazon.com/How-Absurd-Scientific-Real-World-Problems/dp/0525537090/ Amazon],[https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/2/trackingcode/PRH5522E62429 Barnes & Noble],[https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/6/trackingcode/penguinrandom IndieBound],[https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/how-to/id1451461524?mt=11 Apple Books]
**The image is a link to the [https://xkcd.com/how-to/ How To book page] on xkcd.
**Most of the world uses the {{w|Gregorian calendar}}, but before it was taken into use, the {{w|Julian calendar}} was in use.
***The Julian calendar does not take into account that every 100 years a leap year should be passed as in the Gregorian calendar, and thus it is at the moment 13 days behind, as it has has this many February 29th too many. Since there should actually be a leap year every 400 year, and the last of those was 2000, then it has been 13 days since 1900, and will stay like this until 2100 when it will become 14 days.
***The image is a link to the [https://xkcd.com/how-to/ How To book page] on xkcd.
**Already the next day the part of the header below happy release day about the Gregorian calendar changed. See [[#2019-09-04 - Happy Release Day - bookstore|above]].

===2019-08-27 - Out in a week===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190827082224/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-08-27].
**[[2194: How to Send a File]] was up when the header changed.
**Randall continues to promote his new book, [[How To]], coming out a week from this header.
***It is only three lines of text
**The text:
***My new book, How To, comes out next week!
***Read an exclusive excerpt about transmission [https://blog.xkcd.com/2019/08/26/how-to-send-a-file/ here].
***[Four links in gray blue are given with the first words in black:] Preorder ''How To'': [https://www.amazon.com/How-Absurd-Scientific-Real-World-Problems/dp/0525537090/ Amazon],[https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/2/trackingcode/PRH5522E62429 Barnes & Noble],[https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/6/trackingcode/penguinrandom IndieBound],[https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/how-to/id1451461524?mt=11 Apple Books]
**Later [https://web.archive.org/web/20190827184229/https://xkcd.com/2194/ on the same day], (and here for the next day [https://web.archive.org/web/20190828095401/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-08-27] for the front page), more text and links where added, plus the order of the text was changed.
**The later text was:
***My new book, [https://xkcd.com/how-to/ How To], comes out in a week! ([https://blog.xkcd.com/2019/08/23/book-tour-and-contest-winner/ Book tour info])
***You can preorder it now to get a copy when it's released:
***[https://www.amazon.com/How-Absurd-Scientific-Real-World-Problems/dp/0525537090/ Amazon],[https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/2/trackingcode/PRH5522E62429 Barnes & Noble],[https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/6/trackingcode/penguinrandom IndieBound],[https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/how-to/id1451461524?mt=11 Apple Books]
***You can also read an exclusive excerpt about file transfers [https://blog.xkcd.com/2019/08/26/how-to-send-a-file/ here].
**The link to the book tour also include the winner of the [[#2019-06-25 - People with books|contest]] to get Randall to add "your" city to his book tour.
***The winner was {{w|Juneau, Alaska}}.
*It ended on the release day 2019-09-03, so this was last on the page on [https://web.archive.org/web/20190902042108/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-09-02].

===2019-08-06 - Win a sketch===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190806052948/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-08-06].
**[[2185: Cumulonimbus]] was up when the header changed.
***Most likely the header changed when that comic came out on 2019-08-05. But the previous header was also out during that day.
**Randall continues to promote his new book, [[How To]], now making a competition where you can win a stick figure sketch of yourself. (Although only for US residents!)
***The image shows Hairy, with a cat at his feet and Megan (or Danish?) with a samurai sword. They are standing with their backs towards each other, the cat on the left, Megan facing right with the sword towards the words.
***Below the drawing are links to places to preorder the book.
**The text:
***Want to win a sketch of yourself as a stick figure? [https://blog.xkcd.com/2019/08/05/win-an-xkcd-sketch/ Click here] to find out how!
***[Four links in gray blue are given with the first words in black:] Preorder ''How To'': [https://www.amazon.com/How-Absurd-Scientific-Real-World-Problems/dp/0525537090/ Amazon],[https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/2/trackingcode/PRH5522E62429 Barnes & Noble],[https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/6/trackingcode/penguinrandom IndieBound],[https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/how-to/id1451461524?mt=11 Apple Books]
****The entire picture is a [https://blog.xkcd.com/2019/08/05/win-an-xkcd-sketch/ link] to a [[Blag]] post: ''Win an xkcd sketch''
****That is even though only the click here part of the text is in blue, like a link.
****Cause as he often has written: I still haven't figured out HTML imagemaps, most recently in the [[#2019-07-09 - Drawings from How To|2019-07-09]] header.
*The header stayed like this until [https://web.archive.org/web/20190826062701/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2019-08-26] when [[2193: Well-Ordering Principle]] was up.

===2019-08-03 - First look inside===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190803222711/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-08-03].
**[[2184: Unpopular Opinions]] was up when the header changed.
**Randall continues to promote his new book, [[How To]], now stating that it comes out next month.
***Set to be released on September 3rd 2019, this update was made exactly one month before.
***The image shows text to the left of three drawings of the book: First the closed book showing the black front cover with blue and white text and white drawings, then the book is partly opened, and finally it lays opened up showing two pages, with a readable heading on the right page.
***Below the drawing are links to places to preorder the book.
**The text:
***My new book comes out next month. Click here for a first look inside!
***[On the books front cover only two thins can be read:]
****How To
****Randal Munroe.
***[These two words can also partly be read on the opening book.]
***[Only the large heading can be read on the right page of the open book:]
****How to Dig a Hole.
***[These two pages also became part of a special comic relased during the weekend when this header was up: [[Disappearing Sunday Update]].]
***[The [[Disappearing_Sunday_Update#Transcript|transcript of that comic]] describes the images in the open book.]
***[Four links in gray blue are given with the first word in black:] Preorder:[https://www.amazon.com/How-Absurd-Scientific-Real-World-Problems/dp/0525537090/ Amazon],[https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/2/trackingcode/PRH5522E62429 Barnes & Noble],[https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/6/trackingcode/penguinrandom IndieBound],[https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/how-to/id1451461524?mt=11 Apple Books]
****The entire picture is a [https://blog.xkcd.com/2019/08/02/how-to-chapter-list-and-introduction/ link] to a [[Blag]] post: ''How To: Chapter list and introduction''.
*It stayed up like this while the special [[Disappearing Sunday Update]] came out on Sunday 2019-08-04, and was there still on Monday [ https://web.archive.org/web/20190805050812/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2019-08-05], at least during the time that the Sudan Update was still up.
**When the next comic came out late that Monday, it probably disappeared along with the Disappearing comic, but the first update with the next header is from Tuesday [https://web.archive.org/web/20190806052948/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-08-06], but the Monday comic [[2185: Cumulonimbus]] was still on the front page at that time,.

===2019-07-23 - Back to previous header===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190723205152/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-07-23].
**[[2179: NWS Warnings]] was up when the header changed.
*It returned to the previous header from before the ComicCon header, see [[#2019-07-10 - Adding links|2019-07-10]]
*It stayed up until [https://web.archive.org/web/20190802192259/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-08-02] while [[2184: Unpopular Opinions]] was up. The day after when it changed that comic was still up.

===2019-07-15 - ComiCon===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190715181016/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-07-15].
**[[2176: How Hacking Works]] was up when the header changed.
*Randall tells that he will be at ComicCon and links to his plans there.
**The text:
***Going to San Diego Comic Con this week? I'll [https://blog.xkcd.com/2019/07/15/san-diego-comic-con/ see you there]!
****The link is to a [[Blag]] post about his plans for the ComicCon
**Randall appeared in a couple of panels, and gave a talk.
**Finally he also handed out signed copies of his new [[How To]] book more than a month before official release.
***So still promoting the book, also in this header...
*It stayed up until [https://web.archive.org/web/20190722192637/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2019-07-22] the day after the ComiCon ended, while [[2178: Expiration Date High Score]] was up.
**Then it returned to the previous header from before the ComicCon announcement when [[2179: NWS Warnings]] came out.

===2019-07-10 - Adding links===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190710165920/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-07-10].
**[[2173: Trained a Neural Net]] was still up when the header changed slightly from that fro the day before.
**Only change was that beneath the picture, see [[#2019-07-09 - Drawings from How To|2019-07-09]], there is now a list of four links to companies where the book can be preordered.
**The extra text:
***[Four links in gray blue are given with the first word in black:] Preorder:[https://www.amazon.com/How-Absurd-Scientific-Real-World-Problems/dp/0525537090/ Amazon],[https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/2/trackingcode/PRH5522E62429 Barnes & Noble],[https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/6/trackingcode/penguinrandom IndieBound],[https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/how-to/id1451461524?mt=11 Apple Books]
*Note that the day after this change, [https://web.archive.org/web/20190711172451/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-07-11], a link to [[How To]] was added to the [[Design_of_xkcd.com#xkcd_links|links]] in the top left corner of xkcd.
*The header stayed like this until [https://web.archive.org/web/20190714175710/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-07-14] when [[2175: Flag Interpretation]] was up. When it changed the day after [[2176: How Hacking Works]] was up.

===2019-07-09 - Drawings from How To===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190709162102/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-07-09].
**[[2173: Trained a Neural Net]] was up when the header changed.
**Randall continues to promote his new book, [[How To]].
***The image shows a small picture of his book with text on either side.
***Below are what appears to be three drawings from the book. [[Ponytail]] pole vaultig with three baloons in one hand, then text, then a truck with a house behind it speeding fast up a hill then text and finally [[Cueball]] somersaulting towards an explosion.
***To the right there is a big blue button to click for preorder, with text below.
**The text:
***New book [Arrow points to book. Title can be read: How To]
***How To: Absurd Scientific Answers to Common Real-world Problems
***It's a guide to bad ways to do things...
***...And what would happen if you tried them.
***''Boom''
***Click here to preorder
***Or click anywhere. I still haven't figured out HTML imagemaps.
****The entire picture is a [https://xkcd.com/how-to/ link] to the official [[How To]] page on xkcd: https://xkcd.com/how-to/
****See [[1572: xkcd Survey]] where Randall mentions that he cannot make imagemaps.
*It stayed up like this only for a day, then an extra line of links was added the day after while the same comic was still up, see [[#2019-07-10 - Adding links|2019-07-10]].
**But the general header stayed up first for five days, and then it returned again for 10 more days after a break to announce a [[#2019-07-15 - ComiCon|ComiCon visit]].
**So a total of 16 days with this drawing.

===2019-06-25 - People with books===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190625190843/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-06-25].
**[[2167: Motivated Reasoning Olympics]] was up when the header changed.
**Randall continues to promote his new book, [[How To]], and his book tour.
***The image now shows 15 people standing side by side each holding a book up in front of them with unreadable titles.
***From left: [[Megan]], [[Cueball]], a man with blonde hair, [[Jill]], [[Blondie]], [[Hairy]], another Hairy, [[White Hat]], a kid with curly hair, [[Hairbun]], another Cueball, another Megan, a guy with a knit cap, [[Ponytail]], and [[Beret Guy]].
***Above them is a text message.
**The text:
***Want to bring me to your town for my '''''How To''''' book tour? Click to find out how to enter the challenge!
****The entire picture is a [https://blog.xkcd.com/2019/06/10/book-tour-announcement/ link] to the official book tour announcement posted on the [[Blag]], with all cities and dates listed with details.
****In the link it is explained how to enter a competition on how to bring Randall to your city.
****Make a story using only book titles and get the books used to be held up by different individuals.
****A longer sentence will improve your chances.
*****This is indeed what this header picture shows.
*The header stayed like this until [https://web.archive.org/web/20190708155517/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-07-08] when [[2172: Lunar Cycles]] was up. When it changed the day after [[2173: Trained a Neural Net]] was up.

===2019-06-15 - Adding dates===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190615100645/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-06-15]
**[[2163: Chernobyl]] was up when the header changed.
**Randall only made a small change to the one that had been up for four days at this time.
**The text only changed by adding a line below the first line:
***Announcing the '''''How To''''' book tour:
***[Click here for dates and tickets]
****The rest of the header is exactly the same as on [[#2019-06-11 - Book tour|2019-06-11]], except everything is a bit smaller to make room in the same place for the extra line.
****The link is not located on the blue part of the text and it was already there before this update.
****Best guess is that not many clicked through and Randall then made it obvious that there was a link.
****The entire picture is a [https://blog.xkcd.com/2019/06/10/book-tour-announcement/ link] to the official book tour announcement posted on the [[Blag]], with all cities and dates listed with details.
****Randall has previously made it clear, in [[1572: xkcd Survey]], that he knows how to make an image a link, but not how to put the link only where he says to click. But it is easier to make a place for people to click than tell them this...
*The header stayed like this until 2019-06-25, when it changed while [[2167: Motivated Reasoning Olympics]] was up. But this one was still up when that comic came out the day before [https://web.archive.org/web/20190624162740/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-06-24].

===2019-06-11 - Book tour===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190611031920/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-06-11]
**[[2161: An Apple a Day]] was up when the header changed.
***'''Note''' when this change happened two new links was added to the [[Design_of_xkcd.com#xkcd_links|xkcd links]] section of xkcd.
**Randall changed the header text to announce the official book tour for his newest book ''[[How To]]'' to be released 3 months later.
**The text:
***Announcing the '''''How To''''' book tour:
***[Below this header is a map of the mainland USA with 14 labeled black dots indicates the 14 cities that the book tour will take Randall to. One red dot with five red question marks above is located beneath the map to the left, indicating a 15th city to be chosen in a contest. Above the map to the right is a small picture of the book with the blue title on the black cover. Above the book is the release date and with an arrow pointing down to the book.]
***September 3rd
***How to
***Seattle
***Portland
***San Francisco
***Santa Cruz
***Los Angeles
***Salt Lake City
***Kansas City
***Ann Arbor
***Cincinnati
***Louisville
***Cambridge
***New York
***D.C.
***Raleigh
***????? (Chosen by readers)
***[The entire picture is a [https://blog.xkcd.com/2019/06/10/book-tour-announcement/ link] to the official book tour announcement posted on the [[Blag]], with all cities and dates listed with details.]
****In the link it is explained how to enter a competition on how to bring Randall to your city.
****Make a story using only book titles and get the books used to be held up by different individuals.
****Only US cities can apply.
**The header only stayed exactly like this for three days, and was still up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20190614094729/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-06-14] when [[2162: Literary Opinions]] was on the front page.
***Then it changed slightly to indicate that the picture was a link which was not clear before. See above.

===2019-05-17 - Back to previous header===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190517103928/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-05-17]:
**[[2150: XKeyboarCD]] was still up when the header changed.
*It changed back to the exact same heading as before the one with Google reader here below.
**See [[#2019-02-06 - How to book|2019-02-06]] below for all details.
**It stayed up for more than three weeks and was still up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20190610055519/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2019-06-10], while [[2160: Ken Burns Theory]] was still up on the day the next comic [[2161: An Apple a Day]] was to be released (where the new header could be found at least the next day, but maybe from the release of that comic?). Then it changed to announce the book tour for his new book.

===2019-04-23 - Google Reader===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190423155458/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-04-23]:
**[[2140: Reinvent the Wheel]] came out when it changed, ending a more than two and half month long [[#2019-02-06 - How to book|promotion]] of Randall's new book [[How To]].
**Randall changed the header text to ask if the reader still mourned the loss of {{w|Google Reader}} which closed on 2013-07-01, almost 6 years before this comic..
***He offers the possibility to sign up to receive the newest comic by e-mail.
**The comic may have relation to this, as some where using Google reader for different purposes when they closed it, without any chance of [https://www.google.com/reader/about/ getting your data out].
***The comic "Reinvent the Wheel" mentions that using external dependencies carry risks, such as Google closing down a feature. given the fact that the comic came out as the header changed it is probably not a coincidence.
**The text:
***Still mourning the demise of Google Reader? You can sign up to get new comics delivered by email [https://xkcd.com/newsletter/ here].
**The link is to https://xkcd.com/newsletter, where it is possible to submit your e-mail address and press a subscribe button.
***the following text is written above it:
***To receive the comic and news postings in your inbox, subscribe here.
**It stayed up for more than three weeks and was still up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20190516100403/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-05-16], when [[2150: XKeyboarCD]] was up. Then it changed back to the promotion of his new book.

===2019-02-06 - How to book===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190206060904/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-02-06]:
**[[2107: Launch Risk]] was up at the time when it changed, having been up since Monday the 4th of February.
***Here it can be seen being on the front of xkcd on [https://web.archive.org/web/20190205050302/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-02-05], without the new text. This was also the last time the standard header text was used in several months.
***[[2108: Carbonated Beverage Language Map]] came up later on the day the header changed.
**Randall changed the header text to promote his newest book ''[[How To]]'' to be released 7 months later.
***He added an image of the book with large text next to it regarding the release and links on how to preorder it.
***There was no direct relation to the comics released at the time, except of course that he kind of launched his new book with all the risk it involves, while having a comic called launch risk up. It was though a very different and more real type of launch risk (of a human carrying space rocket) in the comic.
**The text:
***[The book is shown to the left as a black rectangle with large blue text and smaller gray text. On the book cover, in white drawings, are seen Megan with a ladder and either Black or White Hat (hard to say on black background). Both are looking up on Cueball who is floating in the air with a quadcopter beneath either leg, trying to plug in an electric light bulb in a naked lamp hanging down near him. It seems he has already removed the broken light bulb, as he has one in both hands. And now he tries to put in the new one. He could have let Megan use the ladder...]
***[The header in blue above it all:] How To.
***[Sub header in gray to the left of Cueball:] Absurd Scientific Answers to Common Real-world Problems
***[Author name in blue below the drawing:] Randall Munroe
***[Sub header to this below in gray:] Creator of xkcd
***[Sub header to this below in gray:] Author of what if? and Thing Explainer
***[Next to this book image are the following text:]
***[Large heading:] HOW TO
***[Normal size sub header:] Absurd Scientific Answers to Common Real-world Problems
***[In smaller gray font below:] Available September 3, 2019.
***[Four links in gray blue are given with the first word still in gray:] Preorder:[https://www.amazon.com/How-Absurd-Scientific-Real-World-Problems/dp/0525537090/ Amazon],[https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/2/trackingcode/PRH5522E62429 Barnes & Noble],[https://links.penguinrandomhouse.com/type/affiliate/isbn/9780525537090/siteID/8001/retailerid/6/trackingcode/penguinrandom IndieBound],[https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/how-to/id1451461524?mt=11 Apple Books]
**It stayed up for more than two and a half month and was still up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20190422030324/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-04-22], when [[2139: Email Settings]] was up. Then it finally changed to a new header without going back to the standard.

===2018-11-07 - Back to standard text===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20181107144453/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2018-11-07]
**The text returned to the standard xkcd header:
***xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
**It stayed like this until [[2107: Launch Risk]] was up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20190205050302/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-02-05], so two days less than three months.
***After this it did not return to the standard text for almost three years, but just short of a month before the third year without it, it returned on [[#2022-01-08 - Back to standard text|2022-01-08]].

===2018-11-06 - Election Day===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20181106122850/https://xkcd.com/ 2018-11-06]:
**[[2068: Election Night]] (on election day the day after this comic was released).
***It added a larger comic above the two links from the previous header. Those links of the previous header text was still up the day before [https://web.archive.org/web/20181105105855/https://xkcd.com/ 2018-11-05], when [[2067: Challengers]] was still up.
**Randall changed the xkcd header once more to try to make more people vote, and in this case help others to vote.
***Once again directly related to the new comic about election night.
**The text:
***[A line of altering blue and red stars, blue first and last of two rows of nine starts around of the heading:]
***Election Day!
***[Below Black Hat and Ponytail to the left and Megan to the right of Cueball is checking their smart phones. Cueball is addressing the reader:]
***Cueball: The biggest thing you can do th help is to check in with friends and family and make sure they know when and where they're voting.
***[Below these four characters there is the following text with two arrows pointing left and right. Both are turning up to text/links on either side of the four:]
***Use these links to answer questions
***[To the left:] Where and how to vote: [https://www.vote.org/ Vote-org]
***[To the right:] What's on your ballot: [https://www.ballotready.org/ BallotReady.org]
***[Below was the two links from the previous header:]
***Find out where to vote: [https://www.vote.org/ vote.org].
***See what's on your ballot: [https://www.ballotready.org/ BallotReady.org]
**It was only up one day and thus on ended the day after [https://web.archive.org/web/20181107144453/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2018-11-07] when the next comic [[2069: Wishlist]] came out.
***The text then returned to the standard xkcd header: xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
****It stayed like this until [[2107: Launch Risk]] was up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20190205050302/https://xkcd.com/ 2019-02-05].

===2018-11-02 - Where to vote===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20181103021059/https://xkcd.com/ 2018-11-02]:
**[[2067: Challengers]] (on the Friday, it was released).
***It added another link to the previous header text. That text was still up the day before on Thursday [https://web.archive.org/web/20181102015102/https://xkcd.com/ 2018-11-01].
***That was while comic [[2066: Ballot Selfies]] was still up.
**Randall changed the xkcd header to let people know who is on their voting ballot, and as before there is also a link on how to register for voting.
***This is also directly related to the new comic that came out that day, about helping people to decide who to vote for, i.e. who is on their ballot.
**The text:
***Find out where to vote: [https://www.vote.org/ vote.org].
***See what's on your ballot: [https://www.ballotready.org/ BallotReady.org]
**This was done at this moment because the {{w|United States midterm election}} was held on {{w|United States elections, 2018|Tuesday, November 6, 2018}}, four days after the release of this comic.
**It was still up the day before the election day, [https://web.archive.org/web/20181105105855/https://xkcd.com/ 2018-11-05], and then it changed with the next comic.

===2018-10-22 - Register for voting===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20181022120935/https://xkcd.com/ 2018-10-22]:
**[[2061: Tectonics Game]] (on a Monday, the 3rd day after release of this Friday comic)
***The standard text was still up Sunday [https://web.archive.org/web/20181021141446/https://xkcd.com/ 2018-10-21].
***The comic [[2062: Barnard's Star]] was released later that day.
**Randall changed the xkcd header to try to get people to register for voting.
**The text:
***Check your registration and find your polling place at [https://www.vote.org/ vote.org].
**This was done at this moment because the {{w|United States midterm election}} was held on {{w|United States elections, 2018|Tuesday, November 6, 2018}}, about two weeks after the release of this comic.
***It is generally believed that many of those not voting would have chosen democrats on election day, and thus Randall has an interest in getting as many as possible to register, see [[1756: I'm With Her]] (apart from the fact that he also most likely thinks that it is important to use the right to vote).
**It ended on [https://web.archive.org/web/20181103021059/https://xkcd.com/ 2018-11-02], when [[2067: Challengers]] came out.
***It was still there while [[2066: Ballot Selfies]] was still up the day before on [https://web.archive.org/web/20181102015102/https://xkcd.com/ 2018-11-01].

===2018-09-13 - NY votes today===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20180913133544/https://xkcd.com/ 2018-09-13]
**[[2045: Social Media Announcement]] (the day after the release of the comic.)
***It was not up when the comic was released on [https://web.archive.org/web/20180912131437/https://xkcd.com/ 2018-09-12].
**It was a short lived reminder that NY votes today below the usual standard text.
**The text:
***xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
***NY votes today! Find your polling place [https://voterlookup.elections.ny.gov/ here]. (Zephyr Teachout for AG!)
**It ended with [[2046: Trum-]], the very next comic, on [https://web.archive.org/web/20180914175605/https://xkcd.com/ 2018-09-14], returning to the standard text.

===2017-11-26 - Christmas gifts===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20171126130857/https://xkcd.com/ 2017-11-26]
**[[1920: Emoji Sports]] had been up two days [https://web.archive.org/web/20171125125648/https://xkcd.com/ 2017-11-25] before the message changed from the normal version. But it changed the day before the next comic came up.
***It was changed to a commercial for Christmas shopping with a code for getting 5$ of the price with a codes for different online shops.
**The text:
***To anyone looking for Christmas gifts: Until Monday you can get $5 off
***[https://www.amazon.com/What-International-Scientific-Hypothetical-Questions/dp/0544456866 What If?] and [https://www.amazon.com/Thing-Explainer-Complicated-Stuff-Simple/dp/0544668251 Thing Explainer] on Amazon with coupon code GIFTBOOK17.
***At Barnes & Noble, until Sunday you can get 20% off [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/what-if-serious-scientific-answers-to-absurd-hypothetical-questions-randall-munroe/1118864093 What If?] and [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/thing-explainer-randall-munroe/1121864432 Thing Explainer] using code GIVETHANKS.
**It was only up a few days and ended with [[1922: Interferometry]] on [https://web.archive.org/web/20171130150053/https://xkcd.com/ 2017-11-30] where it returned to the standard text.
***But it was still up when the comic in between [[1921: The Moon and the Great Wall]] was up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20171129140033/https://xkcd.com/ 2017-11-29].

===2017-09-22 - Visiting the UK===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20170922232616/https://xkcd.com/ 2017-09-22]:
**[[1893: Thread]] (with its release).
***It was not up on the previous comic [[1892: USB Cables]], on the day they changed [https://web.archive.org/web/20170922025204/https://xkcd.com/ 2017-09-22].
**It was an announcement that Randall would visit the UK next week.
**The text:
***I'll be visiting the UK next week! You can join me in London from September 30-October 2 (at [https://live.newscientist.com/speakers/randall-munroe New Scientist Live], [https://www.rigb.org/whats-on/events-2017/october/public-lunchtime-talk--randall-munroe The Royal Institution], and [https://www.intelligencesquared.com/events/randall-munroe-on-making-complicated-stuff-simple/ Intelligence Squared]), then from October 3-6 in [https://www.stpetersyork.org.uk/public_lectures/randall_munroe_thing_explainer York], [https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/thing-explaining-with-randall-munroe-tickets-37832289396 Edinburgh], [https://www.toppingbooks.co.uk/events/ely/randall-murray-thing-explainer/ Cambridge and Ely], [https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/randall-munroe-book-signing-thing-explainer-tickets-38041072873 Oxford], and [https://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/literature/whats-on/2017/randall-munroe/ Cheltenham].
**Ended with [[1900: Jet Lag]] on [https://web.archive.org/web/20171010045802/https://xkcd.com/ 2017-10-10] when the text returned to normal.
***But it was still up the day before with [[1899: Ears]] on [https://web.archive.org/web/20171009040109/https://xkcd.com/ 2017-10-09].

===2017-07-31 - Thank you===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20170731021227/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2017-07-31]:
**[[1869: Positive and Negative Reviews]] (3rd day after release of this Friday comic)
***The comic [[1870: Emoji Movie Reviews]] was released later that day.
***Megan is holding hand with Cueball and next to them is two words above each other: Thank you.
***The image is also a link.
****The link goes to [https://web.archive.org/web/20170801042453/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/07/25/us/politics/senate-votes-repeal-obamacare.html How Each Senator Voted on Obamacare Repeal Proposals], an article showing the senate votes. (here in an archived version).
**Ended with [[1872: Backup Batteries]] on [https://web.archive.org/web/20170804152509/https://xkcd.com/ 2017-08-04], but was still up when [[1871: Bun Alert]] was up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20170803124342/https://xkcd.com/ 2017-08-03].

===2017-07-25 - Vote against health care bill===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20170725103104/https://xkcd.com/ 2017-07-25]:
**[[1867: Physics Confession]] (2nd day after release of the comic, it was not up on the first day: [https://web.archive.org/web/20170724095252/https://xkcd.com/ 2017-07-24]).
**Randall modified the xkcd header to ask readers to support voting against Donald Trump's new health care bill.
***The header was replaced with an image which is available in an archived version [https://web.archive.org/web/20170726150959im_/https://imgs.xkcd.com/notes/call-senate.png here].
***The image is also a link (and you can click anywhere on it to go to the link that is mentioned).
****The link goes to [https://web.archive.org/web/20170729003307/https://www.trumpcareten.org/daily TrumpCare Ten] (here in an archived version).
****Randall has previously made it clear, in [[1572: xkcd Survey]], that he knows how to make an image a link, but not how to put the link only where he says to click.
***Transcript of the image:
****[Megan is holding hand with Cueball next to three lines of large text, the same height as they are:]
****Please tell your senators to vote against this health care bill. It will hurt people.
****[After these three lines there is a phone number in a very large bold font with a line of text below:]
****202-224-3121
****Or click here for more info
****[Below the above is a gray line which is split in the middle with gray text, and below that four state names in white text inside black boxes:]
****Know anyone in these states? Ask them to call, too.
****Alaska Maine Nevada Ohio West Virginia
**Ended while [[1869: Positive and Negative Reviews]] was up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20170731164828/https://xkcd.com/ 2017-07-31], when it was replaced by a ''Thank you''.
***That comic came out already [https://web.archive.org/web/20170728124230/https://xkcd.com/ three days before] (Friday comic), but was still up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20170730141019/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2017-07-30]) when the message changed sometimes between Sunday 30th and Monday 31st (where [[1870: Emoji Movie Reviews]] was released).

===2017-01-21 - Update on previous===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20170122003124/https://xkcd.com/ 2017-01-21]:
**[[1788: Barge]]
**It came up almost a month after Christmas but did not really change the sales pitch of the previous. It just removed the link image with the large red text, see previous version below.
**The text:
***There are [https://store.xkcd.com/collections/featured four new shirts] in [https://store.xkcd.com/ the xkcd store],
***along with [https://store.xkcd.com/collections/posters posters] and [https://store.xkcd.com/collections/everything lots of other stuff]!
**Ended with [[1867: Physics Confession]] on [https://web.archive.org/web/20170725103104/https://xkcd.com/ 2017-07-25].
***That comic came up [https://web.archive.org/web/20170724095252/https://xkcd.com/ the day before] the above version of the header appeared.
***So the first day after release it was still the T-shirt commercial.
***And it did not return to the standard version in between.

===2016-11-28 - Christmas sale===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20161128153015/https://xkcd.com 2016-11-28]
**[[1765: Baby Post]]
**This came up in time for the Christmas sale of 2016.
**The text was
***There are [https://store.xkcd.com/collections/featured four new shirts] in [https://store.xkcd.com/ the xkcd store],
***along with [https://store.xkcd.com/collections/posters posters] and [https://store.xkcd.com/collections/everything lots of other stuff]!
***Above the text there was an image with two black t-shirts with white print on the chest. They were located at either end of a large red text written in the text type used in the comic. This text said New xkcd shirts.
***The entire image was a link to the [https://store.xkcd.com/ xkcd store].
**Ended with [[1788: Barge]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20170121114423/https://xkcd.com/ 2017-01-21]

===2016-04-23 - Back to standard text===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160423103108/https://xkcd.com/ 2016-04-23]
**When [[1671: Arcane Bullshit]] came out (probably 2016-04-22, but no earlier archived versions exist) the text returned to the standard xkcd header:
***xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
**It stayed like this for more than 7 months until [[1764: XKCDE]] was up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20161128093459/https://xkcd.com/ 2016-11-28].

===2016-04-04 - Protip on Garden===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160404185353/https://www.xkcd.com/#5dbfbb82-fc20-11e5-8001-42010a8e000d 2016-04-04]
**Because of the complexity of the [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]] [[1663: Garden]], Randall needed to give people some advice, hence a [[:Category:Protip|protip]] was added.
***This came in several versions, not all managed to be documented in the archive. See more in the trivia for garden regarding the [[1663:_Garden#Header_text_after_release|Header text after release]].
**The header text became a protip with the following text (the first version not documented only had the first line):
***'''Protip''': If you don't like how your garden is growing, you can click to prune it.
***You can copy the URL to share your garden. From other browsers, it will be view-only.
**When the next comic, [[1664: Mycology]], was released two days later on [https://web.archive.org/web/20160406194653/https://xkcd.com/1664/ 2016-04-06], an extra line of text was added, due to the issues caused by Garden not being on the front page {{xkcd}} but only on the numbered page {{xkcd|1663}}.
***This change was first documented on the front page the day after on [https://web.archive.org/web/20160407010635/https://xkcd.com/ 2016-04-07]
***The change was of course also on and all the other comic and thus also on the Garden comic from [https://web.archive.org/web/20160406192530/https://xkcd.com/1663/ 2016-04-06].
**Text added below the other two lines:
***Note: If you're seeing today's comic in place of your garden, change the URL from xkcd.com/#<your code> to xkcd.com/1663/#<your code>.
****This extra line was only there until next time the comic change, so last day was [https://web.archive.org/web/20160408145017/https://xkcd.com/ 2016-04-08].
**On [https://web.archive.org/web/20160408195958/https://xkcd.com/ 2016-04-08] when [[1665: City Talk Pages]] was released the extra line was removed leaving the two written first here above.
***This was also the case on the Garden comic (and all other comics) from [https://web.archive.org/web/20160408204740/https://xkcd.com:80/1663/ 2016-04-08].
**The Protip stayed in the main header text until [https://web.archive.org/web/20160422102754/https://xkcd.com/ 2016-04-22] when [[1670: Laws of Physics]] was up.
***But even though it disappeared from main header and thus from all other comic it stayed on the Garden comic, also on [https://web.archive.org/web/20160423182630/https://xkcd.com:80/1663/ 2016-04-23].
***And it has then turned out to become one of the permanent [[xkcd_Header_text#Garden|Unique header texts]].

===2016-04-04 - Back to standard text as Garden came up===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160404123555/https://xkcd.com/ 2016-04-04]
**For a brief period of time, when [[1663: Garden]] was finally released, the Header text returned to the standard xkcd header:
***xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
**But this lasted less than 13 hours. (Time between the previous and next archived version is 13 hours and 7 minutes).
***As people needed guidance to the new complicated comic.

===2016-04-01 - April 1st comic - technical difficulties===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160401204749/https://xkcd.com/ 2016-04-01]
**When Randall had problem releasing [[1663: Garden]] several [[1663:_Garden#April_Fools.27_header_text|April Fools' header text]] arrived in short succession while [[1662: Jack and Jill]] was still up.
**Each of these where simple text.
***The first from the link abve:
****The xkcd April 1st comic is currently experiencing technical difficulties.
****Please stand by!
***The next from [https://web.archive.org/web/20160402125723/https://xkcd.com:80/ 2016-04-02] at 12:57:
****The xkcd April 1st comic is currently experiencing technical difficulties.
****Status update: Please stand by.
****Status update: This is fine. Everything is fine.
****Status update: Everything is on fire.
****Status update: Searching for calendar systems in which Saturday is April 1st.
***The next from [https://web.archive.org/web/20160402175822/https://www.xkcd.com 2016-04-02] at 17:58:
****The Friday xkcd comic is currently experiencing technical difficulties
****[Editor's note: Everything is on fire] and has been delayed until Sunday night.
**It stayed like the third version until [https://web.archive.org/web/20160404054612/https://xkcd.com/ 2016-04-04] three days after the April Fools' comic was supposed to come out, so Jack and Jill was up until it changed.
*This was what was needed to stop more than 10 months of promotion of the [[Thing Explainer]] book, see below.

===2015-12-13 - Thing Explainer is available===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20151213194534/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-12-13]
**[[1615: Red Car]] was still up when the header changed.
***The change was that the promotion for where Randall was last week where removed and left only the promotion the book [[Thing Explainer]]:
**The text:
***Thing Explainer is available at: [https://www.amazon.com/Thing-Explainer-Complicated-Stuff-Simple/dp/0544668251 Amazon], [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/thing-explainer-randall-munroe/1121864432?ean=9780544668256#/ Barnes & Noble], [https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780544668256 Indie Bound], [https://www.hudsonbooksellers.com/thingexplainer Hudson]
**It was last up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20160401125621/https://xkcd.com/ 2016-04-01] while [[1662: Jack and Jill]] was on the front page.
***This was the last time that Thing Explainer was [[:Category:Book promotion|promoted]] in the header text.
****The first time was [[xkcd_Header_text#2015-05-14_-_New_book_Thing_Explainer|2015-05-14]], so it had been part of the header text for almost ten and a half month. That is a record!

===2015-12-05 - Thing Explainer is available and Next week===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20151205070539/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-12-05]
**[[1612: Colds]] was up when the header changed.
***This was also at this time the [[2015-11-24 - Pages from my new book Thing Explainer|previous header texts image] was moved below the comic.
**Randall goes back to a simple promotion of the book [[Thing Explainer]] listing where to boy it.'
***But he adds a line about where he will be next week, first to a book shop on Illinois and then later in Toronto, where the host was {{w|Ryan North}} from [https://qwantz.com/ Dinosaur comics], one of the [[Design_of_xkcd.com#Comics_I_enjoy|comics Randall enjoys]].
**The text:
***Thing Explainer is available at: [https://www.amazon.com/Thing-Explainer-Complicated-Stuff-Simple/dp/0544668251 Amazon], [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/thing-explainer-randall-munroe/1121864432?ean=9780544668256#/ Barnes & Noble], [https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780544668256 Indie Bound], [https://www.hudsonbooksellers.com/thingexplainer Hudson]
***I'll be in [https://web.archive.org/web/20151211002159/https://www.andersonsbookshop.com/event/naperville-reads-randall-munroe Naperville, IL] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20151205205714/https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/indigo-exclusive-randall-munroe-tickets-18694384407 Toronto, ON] (with [https://qwantz.com/ Ryan North]!) next week.
**It was last up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20151212133400/https://xkcd.com:80/ 2015-12-12] while [[1615: Red Car]] was on the front page.

===2015-11-24 - Pages from my new book Thing Explainer===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20151203234149/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-12-03]
**[[1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar]] was still up when the header changed.
***This was a special one comic header text consisting of a large image with pages and excerpts from the book [[Thing Explainer]].
***The image was larger than most comics, and took away the focus of today's comic.
***So already two days after, when [[1612: Colds]] was released, the image was relegated to the being below the comic, but inside the [[Design_of_xkcd.com#Main_comic|main comic]] segment, thus not a part of the [[Design_of_xkcd.com#Bottom_segment|bottom segment]].
****But it was displayed in the header for all comics, here [https://web.archive.org/web/20151204030024/https://xkcd.com/1609/ an example] from the comic released two comics before 1611, [[1609: Food Combinations]].
****See more (and the image) [[Thing_Explainer#Promotion_at_the_xkcd_home_page|here]] on the page for Thing Explainer.
**Description of the image:
***At the top are shown four pages from the book. Two mainly blue, left and right, with white text and large images and between them two mainly white pages with blue text and smaller images. None of the text is readable, but the two blue pages pictures can be understood even in this size.
****The first page is number 2 about an animal cell: ''Tiny bags of water you’re made of''. It shows a detailed drawing of a human cell, with text at the top, and then several labels with text beneath that have arrows pointing to different parts of the cell.
****The second page is number 31 about the cockpit of an airplane: ''Stuff you touch to fly a sky boat''. It shows the inside of a cockpit with view out of the four windows, with lots of buttons in the ceiling, and blue screens and instruments at the bottom. Out the windows can be seen clouds and Cueball hanging from a balloon (a reference to [[1110: Click and Drag]]).
*****A zoom in on this page is shown beneath the four pages, see more below.
****The third page is page 27. What is on this page is a bit difficult to see, as there are no big drawings with clear meaning. It is the second page in a two page section on Data centers, with the second page focusing on the Computer: ''Computer building''. The pictures shows the data racks, to the right, and the individual computer components put into these, to the top left, with the wiring shown below to the left. Lots of text with arrows to different parts.
****The fourth page is page 23 about Trees: ''Tree''. It clearly shows the silhouette of a white tree on blue background. Several animal live on, in and beneath it. Cueball is standing on the ground. All the text are beneath labels that points to parts of the tree or the tree dwellers.
***In between the two time two pages there is a readable text, split over five lines, with two arrow at the top going from the corners of the text to the near corners of the white pages to either side. And below three arrows, with two pointing similarly as the two top arrows, but starting at the bottom of the text, and one arrow pointing straight down from the middle of the text to the large image below.
***Beneath all this is a large image which shows a zoom in on the left part of the cockpit from the second page above. The zoom is focused on the two front windows, but only the left is entirely in the picture, and the balloon hanging Cueball, cannot be seen in this part of the right window.
****At this zoom level, most of the text van be read (that is labels written on things or having arrows pointing to them). Clouds can bee seen out of both windows and in the background a rocket launch with smoke plume below the rocket is visible. The horizon line is well defines across both windows. Some of the instruments can be seen below the windows with text written on them. And some blue areas, mainly screens can be seen.
***Beneath this picture is a line with links to where the book can be ordered, like the one from the previous header text.
**The text:
***Pages from my new book, ''Thing Explainer'': Complicated stuff in simple words.
***[Labels in the cockpit]:
****Sky
****Ground (This should be below the sky. If it's above the sky, you're either having a big problem or doing something ''really'' fun.)
****Use this stuff to tell the sky boat to fly itself.
****Fly
****How fast it feels IAS 172
****Direction HDG 240
****Fall or rise
****How high 2500
****Fly
****Helpful screen
****Where the ground is
****You are: Flying
****Look here if there is a problem
***Below this image is a line of text with the first word in black and the other are four links to where to order the book:
****Order: [https://www.amazon.com/Thing-Explainer-Complicated-Stuff-Simple/dp/0544668251 Amazon], [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/thing-explainer-randall-munroe/1121864432?ean=9780544668256#/ Barnes & Noble], [https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780544668256 Indie Bound], [https://www.hudsonbooksellers.com/thingexplainer Hudson]
***The image is a link to [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0544668251/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0544668251&linkCode=as2&tag=thekcs-20&linkId=S4XRZJJKSMHOWEQU Thing Explainer on Amazon].
**It was only part of the header for two days until [https://web.archive.org/web/20151204050419/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-12-04].
***It was then moved below the comics as mentioned above from [https://web.archive.org/web/20151205070539/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-12-05] when the next comic [[1612: Colds]] came out.

===2015-11-24 - Thing Explainer is out today===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20151124201602/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-11-24]
**[[1607: Supreme Court]] was still up, but [[1608: Hoverboard]] most have come out close to the change.
***See both [https://web.archive.org/web/20151125001228/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-11-25 00:12] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20151125230753/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-11-25 23:07].
***Since this new "comic" was actually a {{w|browser game}} made to celebrate the release of Randall's new book, ''[[Thing Explainer]]'', which was released on the same day as this comic: Tuesday, November 24, 2015. The comic thus appeared on a Tuesday, replacing that week's normal Wednesday release to coincide with the release day.
***Hence it is a shame that there is no archived versions on the 24th showing Hoverboard on the front page. Even though the new version of the Header text is shown on the 24th, but on the previous comic.
**Cause all the header text is about is the release day of Thing Explainer!
***The top part is text with a line with large letters and a line below in brackets and using smaller letters. Below that there is a line dividing the text from the next part.
***Below follows the same header that was up as early as [[#2015-05-15 - Thing Explainer details|2015-05-15]] with the open book and three lines of text.
**The text:
***My new book, [https://blog.xkcd.com/2015/05/13/new-book-thing-explainer/ Thing Explainer], is out today!
***(If you're in NYC, you can also [https://web.archive.org/web/20150925015809/https://stores.barnesandnoble.com:80/author/11170358 come see me]!)
***A picture of the open book is shown with diagrams of a human cell on the left page and suspension bridges on the right. All held in blue nuances. And arrow goes from the first word of the text to the right to the book on the left. The text is also blue except the title of the book which is in red:
****New book: Thing Explainer
****Up Goer Five-style diagrams of things (explained in the ten-hundred most common words)
***Below this image is a line of text with the first word in black and the other are four links to where to order the book:
****Order: [https://www.amazon.com/Thing-Explainer-Complicated-Stuff-Simple/dp/0544668251 Amazon], [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/thing-explainer-randall-munroe/1121864432?ean=9780544668256#/ Barnes & Noble], [https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780544668256 Indie Bound], [https://www.hudsonbooksellers.com/thingexplainer Hudson]
***The image above the order line is a link to the [[Blag]] post [https://blog.xkcd.com/2015/05/13/new-book-thing-explainer/ New book: Thing Explainer].
**Already the day after [https://web.archive.org/web/20151125001228/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-11-25], when [[1608: Hoverboard]] was up, an extra line (a link) was added below the above. A line was separating it from the links above:
***[https://blog.xkcd.com/2015/11/24/a-puzzle-for-the-uk/ A puzzle for UK readers]
****This was to a blag post with A puzzle for the UK because he could not go to UK in person. So this was a kind of bonus for those who could solve it. (We need an entry on that here on xkcd...)
**On [https://web.archive.org/web/20151127114432/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-11-27] is still looked like this but then when the next comic, [[1609: Food Combinations]], came out on [https://web.archive.org/web/20151128130851/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-11-28] the line about seeing him in New York was removed.
**The version with the puzzle, but without the New York line, was then up until [https://web.archive.org/web/20151201222148/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-12-01] when [[1610: Fire Ants]] was up.
**Then on [https://web.archive.org/web/20151202225254/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2015-12-02] the line with the puzzle at the bottom was changed to:
***I'm doing a [https://www.facebook.com/AndyWeirAuthor/ live Q&A;] at 2:30pm PT with The Martian author Andy Weir.
****The link is to {{w|Andy Weir}}'s Facebook page. And the Q&A can likely not be seen anymore.
****Randall has made no less than two comics about the movie {{w|The Martian (film)|The Martian}}, [[1536: The Martian]] and [[1585: Similarities]].
***It only lasted that day, and this became the last day with this header text, so it ended while [[1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar]] was up.

===2015-10-22 - World Polio Day===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20151022200022/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-10-22]
**[[1593: Play-By-Play]] was up when the header changed.
***Randall mentions World Polio Day and the comic he drew for Bill Gates' blog, [[XKCD Marks the Spot]].
***Although he still keeps mentioning the release date for [[Thing Explainer]].
**The text:
***We've [https://slate.com/technology/2015/08/no-new-polio-in-africa-for-one-year-gates-epidemiologist-on-vaccines-and-surveillance.html almost eradicated polio]. For World Polio Day, I drew a comic
***about the eradication efforts. You can see it on [https://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/XKCD-Marks-the-Spot Bill Gates's blog].
***My [https://blog.xkcd.com/2015/05/13/new-book-thing-explainer/ new book] of complex diagrams and simple words comes out Nov 24th.
****The last line is split from the Polio announcement with a line.
**Was there until [[1607: Supreme Court]] was up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20151124065108/https://xkcd.com:80/ 2015-11-24].
***That was the day that the book was released, and when the next comic [[1608: Hoverboard]] came out, it was a celebration of the book.

===2015-09-23 - Book trip and tool===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150923044724/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-09-23]:
**[[1580: Travel Ghost]] was up when the header changed.
***Announcing the book trip for the [[Thing Explainer]] book as well as linking to a Thing Explainer word checker tool! Two lines of text with links.
**The text:
***News: Announcing my Thing Explainer [https://blog.xkcd.com/2015/09/22/im-going-on-a-book-trip/ book trip]. Come say hi!
***Other news: Announcing the Thing Explainer [https://blog.xkcd.com/2015/09/22/a-thing-explainer-word-checker/ word checker] tool!
****Both links are to the [[Blag]], the first a schedule for his book trip, and the second telling about Randall's new [https://xkcd.com/simplewriter/ Simple Writer] that could help you ''Write Like Up Goer Five and Thing Explainer''.
**Was there until [[1593: Play-By-Play]] was up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20151021164208/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-10-21].

===2015-09-06 - New links===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150906181550/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-09-06]:
**[[1573: Cyberintelligence]] was still up when the header changed.
***The promotion of the book, [[Thing Explainer]], stayed the same with a picture above links to preorder it, but the links was reduced from four to two, the amazon link changed and a new company was added for the second link removing the other three.
***See [[#2015-05-15 - Thing Explainer details|2015-05-15]] below for all details on the image.
**The new link text:
***Preorder: [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thing-Explainer-Randall-Munroe/dp/1473620910 Amazon.co.uk}, [https://www.waterstones.com/book/thing-explainer/9781473620919 Waterstones]
**Was there until [[1579: Tech Loops]] was up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20150919220105/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-09-22].

===2015-08-09 - Back to previous header===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150809230825/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-08-09]:
**[[1561: Water Phase Diagram]] was still up when the header changed.
***It changed back to the exact same heading as before the one with other news here below.
****See [[#2015-05-15 - Thing Explainer details|2015-05-15]] below for all details.
**Stayed like this until [[1573: Cyberintelligence]] was out on [https://web.archive.org/web/20150905154014/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-09-05], but the only change was that the links to preorder changed from four to only two.

===2015-06-06 - Other news===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150606084120/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2015-06-06]
**Changed while [[1534: Beer]] was still up.
***This was just adding some "Other news", but leaving the promotion of [[Thing Explainer]] unchanged as in the [[#2015-05-15 - Thing Explainer details|previous header]], but adding two news stories in text below the link to preorder.
**The new text:
***In other news, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygrdAvmr-MA Space Weird Thing] is delightful, and I feel surprisingly invested in [https://web.archive.org/web/20150720074919/https://twitter.com/xkcdbracket @xkcdbracket's] results.
****The link to Space Weird Thing is a YouTube video with a simple words version of {{w|David Bowie|David Bowie's}} [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYYRH4apXDo Space Oddity] music video, using only the top then hundred words. The creators contributes the idea to the [[1133: Up Goer Five]] diagram which also inspired the book Thing Explainer, also promoted in this header text.
****The other link is referring to [[1529: Bracket]] released 12 days before this update, as a twitter user made a survey going through all the brackets all the way to a winner was found. Seems Randall became interested in who won. See more on the comics page.
**Was there until [[1561: Water Phase Diagram]] was up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20150807181044/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-08-07]. Then it returned back to the previous header with only the promotion of the book.

===2015-05-15 - Thing Explainer details===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150515060322/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2015-05-15]
**[[1525: Emojic 8 Ball]]
**This was a more detailed promotion for Randall's new book: [[Thing Explainer]] to be published in November 2015, more than half a year after the announcement, compared to the previous change which was just a line and a link.
**The text:
***A picture of the open book is shown with diagrams of a human cell on the left page and suspension bridges on the right. All held in blue nuances. And arrow goes from the first word of the text to the right to the book on the left. The text is also blue except the title of the book which is in red:
****New book: Thing Explainer
****Up Goer Five-style diagrams of things (explained in the then hundred most common words)
***Below this image is a line of text with the first word in black and the other are four links to where to preorder the book:
****Preorder: [https://www.amazon.com/Thing-Explainer-Complicated-Stuff-Simple/dp/0544668251 Amazon], [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/thing-explainer-randall-munroe/1121864432?ean=9780544668256#/ Barnes & Noble], [https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780544668256 Indie Bound], [https://www.hudsonbooksellers.com/thingexplainer Hudson]
***The image above the preorder line is a link to the [[Blag]] post [https://blog.xkcd.com/2015/05/13/new-book-thing-explainer/ New book: Thing Explainer].
**Changed while [[1534: Beer]] was up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20150605082643/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-06-05], but only to add other information. The main promotion of the book stayed the same.

===2015-05-14 - New book Thing Explainer===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150514053623/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2015-05-14]
**[[1524: Dimensions]] was up.
***A single line announced the new [[Thing Explainer]] book, with link to the [[Blag]] post from the day before.
**The text:
***New book: [https://blog.xkcd.com/2015/05/13/new-book-thing-explainer/ Thing Explainer!]
*The [[:Category:Book promotion|promotion of the book]] stayed up with some changes for [[xkcd_Header_text#2015-12-13_-_Thing_Explainer_is_available|more than 10 month]] first stopping when Randall had [[xkcd_Header_text#2016-04-01_-_The_xkcd_April_1st_comic_is_currently_experiencing_technical_difficulties|problems with his April Fool's comic]] in 2016... It is a record length.
**The first came already the day after so this short announcement was only up on this day and ended with the next comic. See above.
**See more details on the promotion of the book on the Thing Explainer page [[Thing_Explainer#Promotion_at_the_xkcd_home_page|here]].

===2015-02-11 - Back to standard text===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150211154103/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-02-11]
**When [[1485: Friendship]] came out the text returned to the standard xkcd header:
***xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
**It stayed like this until [[1523: Microdrones]] was up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20150512184622/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-05-12], so just a day more than three months.

===2015-02-04 - Valentine cards only===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150204051152/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-02-04]
**[[1482: NowPlaying]] came out as it changed.
***After the last day of ordering t-shirt had passed it changed back to the picture with the Valentine cards from the previous header, but without the t-shirt picture.
***See that [[#2015-01-29 - Valentine cards and shirt|header change]], but only the first picture described.
**Ended while [[1484: Apollo Speeches]] was up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20150210005540/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-02-10].

===2015-02-02 - Last day shirt===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150202092804/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-02-02]
**[[1481: API]] came out as it changed.
***Just letting people know it is the last chance to order the binary t-shirt.
***There was just a line of text:
**The text was:
***Today is the last day to order the limited-run [https://web.archive.org/web/20150202092804/https://teespring.com/xkcdbinaryheart binary heart shirt]!
***The last words is link to the shirt in the shop.
**Ended before the next comic was up, but still the day after, when it was too late to order: [https://web.archive.org/web/20150203022036/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-02-03].

===2015-01-29 - Valentine cards and shirt===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150129183442/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-01-29]
**[[1479: Troubleshooting]] was up when it changed.
***It was to tell about both the two previous updates in the same header- Both about the collaboration to make science themed Valentine's Day cards and his new Valentine t-shirt.
***There where two pictures, with a promotion of the two products and a link to them in the shop.
***On the left was text about the cards with a small drawing to the right of the text showing the four cards.
****An ant talking to an aphids; Earth rotating about the sun but locked so one side melts; an ant with a fungus growing from it's head with a heart, and a Velociraptor skeleton where the last bit of the tail is put on by a person. The text on the cards are unreadable, but they can be seen via the link.
***The text (in three lines) was:
****Webcomic science Valentine card collaboration
****The [https://web.archive.org/web/20150127161237/https://store.xkcd.com/products/webcomic-science-valentines link to the cards] from the picture.
***The picture on the left shows binary numbers 0 and 1 in white on a black background. The middle of the three lines of those have message in red text.
***The text:
****0 1 0 1 0 Binary heart 1 1 1
****1 1 1 Valentine shirt 0 1
****0 0 0 1 [limited run] 0 0 1
****The [https://web.archive.org/web/20150125080756/https://teespring.com/xkcdbinaryheart link to the shirt] from the picture.
**Ended while [[1480: Super Bowl]] was up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20150201015913/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-02-01].

===2015-01-27 - Valentine's Day cards===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150127161237/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-01-27]
**[[1478: P-Values]] was up when it changed.
***It was to tell that about a collaboration to make science themed Valentine's Day cards.
***There was just two lines of text:
**The text was:
***I've teamed up with three other webcomic artists
***to make [https://web.archive.org/web/20150127161237/https://store.xkcd.com/products/webcomic-science-valentines a set of science-themed Valentine's Day cards]!
**There was a link to the cards on the store.
**Ended while [[1479: Troubleshooting]] was up [https://web.archive.org/web/20150128172147/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-01-28].

===2015-01-24 - Get shirts in store===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150124110707/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-01-24]
**[[1477: Star Wars]] came out as it changed.
***It was to tell about a new type of t-shirt for Valentine Day.
***There was just two lines of text:
**The text was:
***For Valentine's Day, you can get a binary heart shirt
***(from {{xkcd|99|comic #99!}}) in [https://web.archive.org/web/20150125080756/https://teespring.com/xkcdbinaryheart a limited run on TeeSpring]
**There was a link to [[99: Binary Heart]] and to the relevant t-shirt on the [https://teespring.com/ Teespring] home page.
**Ended while [[1478: P-Values]] was up [https://web.archive.org/web/20150126133139/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-01-26].

===2014-12-22 - Get shirts in store===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141222233233/https://xkcd.com/ 2014-12-22]
**[[1463: Altitude]] came out as it changed.
***After the Christmas sale deadline there was still merchandise in the [https://store.xkcd.com/ xkcd store].
***There was just a line of text:
**The text was:
***You can get xkcd shirts, prints, and posters in the [https://shop.xkcd.com/ store]!
**The word store was a link to the shop.
**Ended while [[1476: Ceres]] was up [https://web.archive.org/web/20150123102318/https://xkcd.com/ 2015-01-23].

===2014-12-19 - Back to previous header===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141219092349/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2014-12-19]:
**[[1462: Blind Trials]] came out as it changed.
*It changed back to the exact same heading as before the one with order now here below.
**See [[#2014-12-17 - Christmas deadline|2014-12-17]] below for all details.
**Ended while [[1462: Blind Trials]] was still up [https://web.archive.org/web/20141221172450/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2014-12-21].

===2014-12-18 - Order now===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141218090650/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2014-12-18]
**[[1461: Payloads]] was still up when it changed.
***It was to alert that the deadline for shipping before Christmas from the [https://store.xkcd.com/ xkcd store] was Friday and that it was rapidly approaching. This was a follow up on the [[#2014-12-17 - Christmas deadline|Wednesdays announcement]] the day before.
***The image was just four lines of text with several red and blue words.
**The text was:
***The xkcd store Christmas shipping deadline is Friday!
***Once it passes, there is no going back. The arrow of time drags us all
***Inexorably forward toward decay and disorder. toward the end of all things.
***Towards the empty silence of the grave. Order now!
**The entire drawing was a link to the [https://store.xkcd.com/ xkcd store], not just the blue text.
**Ended a day later while [[1461: Payloads]] was still up [https://web.archive.org/web/20141216084107/https://xkcd.com/ 2014-12-16].

===2014-12-17 - Christmas deadline===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141217085320/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2014-12-17]
**[[1461: Payloads]] came out as it changed.
***It was to alert that the deadline for shipping before Christmas from the [https://store.xkcd.com/ xkcd store] was Friday. This was announced Wednesday two days before the deadline.
***The image was just text with the last word in each line in red and the xkcd store blue as a link.
**The text was:
***Looking for a gift?
***xkcd store Christmas shipping deadline is Friday!
**The entire drawing was a link to the [https://store.xkcd.com/ xkcd store], not just the blue text
**Ended a day later while [[1461: Payloads]] was still up!

===2014-12-03 - Christmas shopping===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141203132024/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2014-12-03]
**[[1455: Trolley Problem]] came out as it changed.
***It was to announce the start of the Christmas shopping on the [https://store.xkcd.com/ xkcd store]
***Four boxes with shipping details are shown. Two green and two red, alternating from green. Between them are three text messages in two, two and three lines.
**The text was:
***xkcd store
***Christmas shopping
***I will probably not ship you a bobcat.
**The entire drawing was a link to the [https://store.xkcd.com/ xkcd store].
**The bobcat is a reference to [[325: A-Minus-Minus]].
**Ended while [[1460: SMFW]] was up [https://web.archive.org/web/20141216084107/https://xkcd.com/ 2014-12-16].

===2014-11-29 - Thanks - Emily===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141129211604/https://xkcd.com/ 2014-11-29]
**[[1453: fMRI]] was still up when it changed.
***It was to thanks for all the help his friend Emily with cancer got through among other his previous header text [[#2014-11-27 - Help Emily| Help Emily]].
***That only needed to be up two days before the goal was met.
**The text was:
***Thank you for helping my friend Emily.
***It means so much.
**Ended three days later while [[1454: Done]] was up [https://web.archive.org/web/20141202065133/https://xkcd.com/ 2014-12-02].

===2014-11-27 - Help Emily===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141127005239/https://xkcd.com/ 2014-11-27]
**[[1452: Jurassic World]] came out as it changed.
***It was to help a friend who got cancer by raising money for her.
**The text was:
***Hey all. My friend Emily—the economist who helped
***me with my {{xkcd|980|money chart}}—has been fighting cancer. She's
***having a rough time and could use some [https://web.archive.org/web/20141128183414/https://www.gofundme.com/e07dqk help]. Thank you.
**There are two links, one to the [[980: Money]] comic she helped Randall create, and one for her Go Fund Me page to raise money for her cancer cure.
***The help link above is to the archived version from that time, but the link was still active in August 2019: [https://www.gofundme.com/e07dqk Helping Emily Fight Cancer].
**Ended while [[1453: fMRI]] was up [https://web.archive.org/web/20141128070838/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2014-11-28].
***She did thus not get a permanent header as did Becky on the [[#Seven_Years|Seven Years]] comic.

===2014-10-02 - what if? bestseller===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141002211139/https://xkcd.com/ 2014-10-02]
**[[1428: Move Fast and Break Things]] was up when it changed from the [[#2014-09-02 - what if? book out|book is out]].
**This was a month after the ''[[What If? (book)|What If?]]'' book came out.
***It added a line of red text beneath the previous header to announce that the book was the #1 New York bestseller.
**The text was:
***My book is out!
***(#1 New York bestseller!)
**The entire image was a link to the [https://whatif.xkcd.com/book/ The Book] page on the [https://whatif.xkcd.com/ what if?] page on xkcd. post.
**Ended while [[1451: Background Screens]] was up [https://web.archive.org/web/20141125234520/https://xkcd.com/ 2014-11-25].

===2014-09-04 - what if? book out===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140904150600/https://xkcd.com/ 2014-09-04]
**[[1416: Pixels]] was up when it changed from the [[#2014-09-02 - what if? book out today|book is out today]].
**This was two days after the ''[[What If? (book)|What If?]]'' book came out.
***It only removed to today from the previous header, that had only been up two days.
**The text was:
***My book is out!
**The entire image was a link to the [https://whatif.xkcd.com/book/ The Book] page on the [https://whatif.xkcd.com/ what if?] page on xkcd. post.
**Ended while [[1428: Move Fast and Break Things]] was up [https://web.archive.org/web/20141001130827/https://xkcd.com/ 2014-09-01].

===2014-09-02 - what if? book out today===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140902125802/https://xkcd.com/ 2014-09-02]
**[[1415: Ballooning]] was up when it changed from the [[#2014-07-23 - what if? book tour|book tour header]].
**This was the day the ''[[What If? (book)|What If?]]'' book came out. [[Cueball]] standing to the left of the text with arms raised shouts this out.. The word Book is underlined and blue to indicate a link.
**The text was:
***My book is out today!
**The entire image was a link to the [https://whatif.xkcd.com/book/ The Book] page on the [https://whatif.xkcd.com/ what if?] page on xkcd. post.
**Ended while [[1416: Pixels]] was still [https://web.archive.org/web/20140903134518/https://xkcd.com/ 2014-09-03].

===2014-07-23 - what if? book tour===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140723180600/https://xkcd.com/ 2014-07-23]
**[[1398: Snake Facts]]
**This was a promotion of his book tour for the ''[[What If? (book)|What If?]]'' book made by [[Cueball]] standing to the left of the text with arms raised. Several parts of the text was underlined and blue to indicate links.
**The text was:
***I'm going on a book tour! click here for a list of stops.
***Or click anywhere-this whole image is one link because I've never gotten the hang of HTML imagemaps.
**The entire image was a link to the [[Blag]] post: [https://blog.xkcd.com/2014/07/22/what-if-book-tour/ What If book tour!].
***Later Randall commented on this lacking ability in the comic: [[1572: xkcd Survey]].
***He also mentions it in one of the [[#xkcd_Header_text#2019-07-09_-_Drawings_from_How_To|promotions]] for his [[How To]] book.
***He much later he again mentions that html is hard, thus explaining why the entire image is a link instead of the actual blue highlighted link in one of the promotions for [[xkcd_Header_text#2022-08-11_-_Preorder_What_if.3F_2_-_with_image|what if? 2]].
**Ended while [[1415: Ballooning]] was still up [https://web.archive.org/web/20140901113916/https://xkcd.com/ 2014-09-01].

===2014-03-13 - what if? announced===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140313070951/https://xkcd.com/ 2014-03-13]
**[[1341: Types of Editors]] was up.
**This was the first promotion of Randall's new ''[[What If? (book)|What If?]]'' book which is shown next to two lines of text.
**The text was:
***News:
***I'm publishing a ''what if'' book!
**The entire image was a link to the [[Blag]] post: [https://blog.xkcd.com/2014/03/12/what-if-i-wrote-a-book/ What if I wrote a book?]
**Ended while [[1397: Luke]] was up [https://web.archive.org/web/20140722142115/https://xkcd.com/ 2014-07-22].

===2014-01-09 - Back to standard text===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140109190927/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2014-01-09]
**When [[1314: Photos]] was still up when the text returned to the standard xkcd header:
***xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
**It stayed until [https://web.archive.org/web/20140312070248/https://xkcd.com/ 2014-03-12] when [[1340: Unique Date]] was up, a bit more than two months.

===2013-12-21 - Deadline for Christmas shipping has passed===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20131221043417/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2013-12-21]
**It changed when [[1306: Sigil Cycle]] came out.
**This came up when it was too close to Christmas in 2013 for shipping to arrive in time for Christmas. And Randall makes a note of this, but lets people know that they could still buy presents...
**The text was
***The deadline for guaranteed Christmas shipping has passed, but if you order something from the [https://store.xkcd.com/ xkcd store], we'll get it to you as fast as possible!
**Ended when [[1314: Photos]] was up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20140108181520/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2014-01-08].

===2013-12-06 - Empty header===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20131206213503/https://xkcd.com/ 2013-12-06]
**It changed when [[1300: Galilean Moons]] came out.
***There was no header text. This happened next on [[Header_text#2020-04-05 - Empty header|2020-04-05]]. It looks really weird.
**Ended when [[1305: Undocumented Feature]] was up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20131220005306/https://xkcd.com/ 2013-12-20].

===Changes not documented yet 3===
*More changes will for sure be here between this and the one below.

====Interesting links in the Archive 3====
*Just put the link here with a date and maybe a short note:
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20131205202730/https://xkcd.com/ 2013-12-05]: Xmas sale before above
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130315162227/https://xkcd.com:80/ 2013-03-15]: Empty follows below

===2013-03-15 - Empty header===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130315162227/https://xkcd.com:80/ 2013-03-15]
**It changed while [[1186: Bumblebees]] was on the front page.
***After the text saying a comic would be delayed disappeared no text replaced this.
***So the header was left empty!
**This lasted until [https://web.archive.org/web/20130318072820/https://xkcd.com/ 2013-03-18] while [[1187: Aspect Ratio]] was up.

===2013-03-13 - Comic will be delayed===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130313133631/https://xkcd.com/ 2013-03-13]
**It changed when [[1184: Circumference Formula]] came out, likely because the next comic was delayed.
***But there is a gap of three days before where no archived version exist, so cannot say if there where more than a few hours with this text.
**The text:
***The comic will be delayed until late morning EDT.
**Ended when [[1185: Ineffective Sorts]] was up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20130313175306/https://xkcd.com:80/ 2013-03-13].
***That was later same day as the first archived version. But could have been longer as mentioned above.

===2012-11-26 - xkcd store===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20121126235628/https://xkcd.com/1138/ 2012-11-26]
**It changed while [[1138: Heatmap]] was up.
***Notice that the above link is not from the main page, but from {{xkcd|1138}}.
***There was a gap of five days in the archive of the main page.
***The first day that it was archived from the front page was on [https://web.archive.org/web/20121201111432/https://xkcd.com/ 2012-12-01], while [[1141: Two Years]] was up.
**The standard header text is replaced with an image that makes it seem like a rip is being torn in the white region where the text used to be. Beneath the white material that has now been ripped, some text can partly be seen. It is possible to read it.
**The text:
***xkcd store
****The image is a link to the [https://store.xkcd.com/ xkcd store] (tadaaa!)
**Ended when [[1183: Rose Petals]] was up on [https://web.archive.org/web/20130311073948/https://xkcd.com:80/1183/ 2013-03-11]
***The above link is from {{xkcd|1183}}.
***Last time the front page was archived with it was though on [https://web.archive.org/web/20130309010403/https://xkcd.com/ 2013-03-09].

===2012-10-24 - Back to standard text===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20121024082017/https://xkcd.com:80/ 2012-10-24]
**While [[1124: Law of Drama]] was on the front the header returned to the standard xkcd header:
***xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
**It stayed until [https://web.archive.org/web/20121126035129/https://xkcd.com:80/ 2012-11-26] when [[1138: Heatmap]] was up, a few days more than a month.

===2012-10-17 - New What-If - Lightning===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20121017232102/https://xkcd.com/1121/ 2012-10-17]
**Probably while [[1122: Electoral Precedent]] was up.
***But the link above showing it was up on the 2012-10-17 is from the previous comics page {{xkcd|1121}} [[1121: Identity]].
***But the first version archived with this header is saved on [https://web.archive.org/web/20121018082304/https://xkcd.com/ 2012-10-18]
**Randall promotes another New What-If article.
***See the ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'' article ''{{what if|16|Today's topic: Lightning}}''.
**The text
***New What-If article:
***[https://what-if.xkcd.com/16/ What if lightning struck while you were ...]
**This lasted until [https://web.archive.org/web/20121023023404/https://xkcd.com/1121/ 2012-10-23] when [[1124: Law of Drama]] was on the front page
***This link is though from {{xkcd|1121}}.
***The last this version was archived on the front page was the day before on [https://web.archive.org/web/20121022120008/https://xkcd.com:80/ 2012-10-22].

===2012-10-10 - New What-If - Mariana Trench Explosion===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20121010003837/https://xkcd.com/ 2012-10-10]
**[[1118: Microsoft]] was still up at this time.
**Randall promotes another New What-If article.
***See the ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'' article ''{{what if|15|Mariana Trench Explosion}}''.
**The text
***New What-If article:
***[https://what-if.xkcd.com/15/ What if you set off a nuclear bomb in the Mariana Trench?].
**This lasted until [https://web.archive.org/web/20121016055538/https://xkcd.com:80/ 2012-10-16] when [[1121: Identity]] was up.

===2012-10-02 - This week's What-If - Short Answer Section===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20121002231724/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2012-10-02]
**[[1115: Sky]] was still up at this time.
**Randall promotes another New What-If article.
***See the ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'' article ''{{what if|14|Short Answer Section}}''.
**The text
***In this week's What-If article I [https://what-if.xkcd.com/14/ answer multiple reader questions].
**This lasted until [https://web.archive.org/web/20121008112434/https://xkcd.com/ 2012-10-08] when [[1118: Microsoft]] was up.

===2012-09-26 - New What-If - Laser Pointer===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120926163111/https://xkcd.com/1108/ 2012-09-26]
**[[1113: Killed in Action]] was up at this time.
***The link above showing it happened on the 26th is from {{xkcd|1108}}
***The first day this version was archived on the front page was on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120928003838/https://xkcd.com:80/ 2012-09-28]
**Randall promotes another New What-If article.
***See the ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'' article ''{{what if|13|Laser Pointer}}''.
**The text
***New What-If article:
***[https://what-if.xkcd.com/13/ If everyone aimed a laser pointer at the Moon at once, would it change color?]
**This lasted until [https://web.archive.org/web/20121001080517/https://xkcd.com/ 2012-10-01] when [[1115: Sky]] was up.

===2012-09-18 - what-if.xkcd.com - Raindrop===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120918143653/https://www.xkcd.com/1108/ 2012-09-18]
**[[1109: Refrigerator]] was still up at this time.
***The link above showing it happened on the 18th is from {{xkcd|1108}}
***The first day this version was archived on the front page was on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120919015232/https://xkcd.com/ 2012-09-19]
**Randall promotes another What-If article on the what-if page.
***See the the ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'' article ''{{what if|12|Raindrop}}''.
**The text
***what-if.xkcd.com: [https://what-if.xkcd.com/12/ What if all of a storm's water fell in a single raindrop?].
**This lasted until [https://web.archive.org/web/20120925090123/https://xkcd.com:80/ 2012-09-25] when [[1112: Think Logically]] was up.

===Changes not documented yet 2===
*The above is the last documented.
**There will for sure be more changes earlier than this.

====Interesting links in the Archive 2====
*Just put the link here with a date and maybe a short note:
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120917052827/https://xkcd.com:80/ 2012-09-17]: What if Droppings ends.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120718231719/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2012-07-18] Next stores header text

===2012-07-10 - New: what-if.xkcd.com===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120710114846/https://xkcd.com/1078/ 2012-07-10]
**This was a special change happening over a few days. The above "new" header text from the given date is actually shown on the previous comic [[1078: Knights]].
***Another example from [https://web.archive.org/web/20120710072249/https://xkcd.com:80/1070 2012-07-10] is shown for [[1070: Words for Small Sets]].
**The comic on the main page released on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120709045709/https://xkcd.com:80/ 2012-07-09] was [[1079: United Shapes]], but that comic had a [[xkcd_Header_text#United_Shapes|unique header text]] upon its release.
***So both on the 9th as shown above and on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120710114846/https://xkcd.com/1078/ 2012-07-10] the header text was different on the front than on all other pages.
****As can be read in the link above, the new header text actually got incorporated into the unique text, so that after the next comic was released on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120711234408/https://xkcd.com/1079/ 2012-07-11] the current new header text and a smaller version of the original unique header text was now shown on the Unites Shapes page.
****{{xkcd|1079|And it was never changed back}}.
**The first version of the new text from the 10th was only active one day:
***The text:
****New site: what-if.xkcd.com, where I abuse science to answer hypothetical questions. I'll answer a new question every Tuesday.
*****The link was not an active link. And this was never shown on the front page, but on all other comics.
**Already on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120711223349/https://xkcd.com/1078/ 2012-07-11] when [[1080: Visual Field]] was released the new header changed a bit
***At this time it most have been shown on the front page, but the link above is again from [[1078: Knights]].
****For some reason the front page was not saved on either the 11th or 12th, so no version of the front page with Visual Field exist
****The first archived version of the front page with this new header text was from [https://web.archive.org/web/20120713154207/https://xkcd.com/ 2012-07-13] when [[1081: Argument Victory]] was on the front page.
**The final text:
***New: [https://what-if.xkcd.com/1/ what-if.xkcd.com]: abusing science to answer hypothetical questions.
***I'll answer a new reader question every Tuesday.
****This time the link was active and directs to the new ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'' blog and its first entry {{what if|1|Relativistic Baseball}}
**The whole idea was that Randall released the new what if? blog on the 10th of July 2012. And thus would like to make a promotion of it.
***And then he timed it so poorly that the front page had a different header than the rest of the comics.
***It was so annoying for him that he actually changed the header for Unites Shapes manually so that page also showed the new link. Maybe even before it left the front page, but that has not been documented in the archive.
***And then he forgot about it when the header changed for all the other comics, so it is now a relic of the promotion of his first what if release.
**The what if promotion continued for a long time, but the final version from above only lasted until 17th at the latest. There is again no archived versions of the front page from the 15th, 16th or 17th.
***The last time it was archived on the front page was [https://web.archive.org/web/20120714062857/https://xkcd.com/ 2012-07-14], when [[1081: Argument Victory]] was still up.
***But on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120715070938/https://xkcd.com:80/1081/ 2012-07-15] it was still shown on the page for Argument Victory and same for [https://web.archive.org/web/20120716235458/https://www.xkcd.com/998/ 2012-07-16] on [[998: 2012]]
****So seemed it stayed up while [[1082: Geology]] was up on the 16-17/7.

===2012-04-09 - Standard text plus store link===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120409190952/https://xkcd.com/1026/ 2012-04-09]
**It changed when [[1040: Lakes and Oceans]] came up.
***The above link to prove this is though from comic {{xkcd|1026}} [[1026: Compare and Contrast]] the first to be found that where archived on the 9th.
***The first archived version on the main page is from [https://web.archive.org/web/20120411053543/https://xkcd.com/ 2012-04-11] when [[1041: Whites of Their Eyes]] was up.
***There where no archived version of the front page on the 9th or 10th while Lake and Oceans was up. So it was also first on the 11th that this new text could be seen, but only when it had moved to its own page number [https://web.archive.org/web/20120411052948/https://xkcd.com/1040/ 1040].
****The change probably came because of this special comic, which may became a [https://store.xkcd.com/collections/posters/products/lakes-oceans-poster poster].
**The update was to add a promotion for the store under the standard header text.
**The text
***XKCD updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
***You can get prints, posters, and t-shirts in the [https://store.xkcd.com/ store].
**This lasted until [https://web.archive.org/web/20120709004956/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2012-07-09] when [[1078: Knights]] was up, exactly three months, so although not only the standard text, the standard text was first for three months and three days, see [[#2012-04-05 - Back to standard text|below]].

===2012-04-05 - Back to standard text===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120405195956/https://www.xkcd.com/1021/ 2012-04-05]
**While [[1038: Fountain]] was on the front the header returned to the standard xkcd header:
***xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
**The link above to prove the date is seen on [[1021: Business Plan]].
***The first archived version on front page is from [https://web.archive.org/web/20120406111048/https://xkcd.com/ 2012-04-06], when [[1039: RuBisCO]] was up.
***A version showing Fountain with this can be found on it's own page {{xkcd|1038}} on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120406085618/https://xkcd.com:80/1038/ 2012-04-06].
****When it was archived while on the front page it still had the previous header on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120404210927/https://xkcd.com:80/ 2012-04-05].
**It stayed up, unchanged, until [https://web.archive.org/web/20120408200414/https://xkcd.com:80/ 2012-04-08] when [[1039: RuBisCO]] was up. So only three days.
***But [[#2012-04-09- Standard text plus store link|the change]] did not remove the standard text but just added a link to the store. And this version, still with the standard text at the top stayed for three more months.

===2012-03-28 - Visiting Newport News===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120328103319/https://xkcd.com/ 2012-03-28]
**[[1035: Cadbury Eggs]] was on the front when it changed.
***From the end of March 2012, there is a problem with the archived versions of xkcd, so they do not load properly and do not include the comic picture.
**It was to announce a talk Randall gave at his old school.
**The text:
***I'm [https://blog.xkcd.com/2012/03/22/im-visiting-cnu-on-april-4th/ visiting] Newport News, VA next week, where I'll be speaking at CNU, my old school. If you want to come, reserve a seat [https://web.archive.org/web/20120329214411/https://www.cnu.edu/pcs/xkcd/index.asp here]!
****The first link it to a post in the [[Blag]]: [https://blog.xkcd.com/2012/03/22/im-visiting-cnu-on-april-4th/ I’m visiting CNU on April 4th].
****The other link is no longer working, but the link above goes to an archived version.
**There was a special situation with this header text. For three days it was not on the front page, as the [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]] [[1037: Umwelt]] came out and stayed from April 1st to April 3rd on the front page.
***This comic had it's own [[#Unique header text|unique header text]] from the start, one that has [[#Umwelt|stayed like this]] since!
****So from [https://web.archive.org/web/20120401151639/https://xkcd.com:80/ 2012-04-01] to [https://web.archive.org/web/20120403223453/https://www.xkcd.com/ 2012-04-03] the front page had another header:
*****You can get posters, prints, and t-shirts in the [https://store.xkcd.com/ xkcd store].
***But all the other comics kept the Visiting header on all three days as shown here:
****[https://web.archive.org/web/20120401214214/https://xkcd.com:80/1036/ 2012-04-01] from[[1036: Reviews]].
****[https://web.archive.org/web/20120402150258/https://xkcd.com/1019 2012-04-02] from [[1019: First Post]].
****[https://web.archive.org/web/20120403164523/https://xkcd.com:80/1036/ 2012-04-03] from [[1036: Reviews]].
*****The one from the 2nd of April was hardest to find, but the most important, because that was clearly in the time period where Umwelt was up, thus definitely proving that the other pages had a different header than the front page. This is rare.
**It returned to the front page on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120404210927/https://xkcd.com:80/ 2012-04-04] and stayed up until [https://web.archive.org/web/20120405195956/https://www.xkcd.com/1021/ 2012-04-05] when [[1038: Fountain]] was up.
***The link from the 5th though is from {{xkcd|1021}} [[1021: Business Plan]], the only comic archived on the 5ht to be found.
****The previous link was the last time it was archived while on the front page.

===2012-03-12 - xkcd Holistic Browser===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120312185125/https://xkcd.com/ 2012-03-12]
**[[1028: Communication]] was up at the time.
***From here the archive doesn't load the page properly so it is really boring to document. This goes for both first and last day of this text.
**The text:
***New: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120318153220/https://holistic.xkcd.com/ holistic.xkcd.com], the least useful web navigation tool ever.
****The link is now dead, but the link above is to an archived version.
****On that page there is the following text:
*****The XKCD Holistic Browser
*****Because we are all one.
*****Type a web address
*****and you'll be taken to one
*****typed by someone else.
*****URL:
*****Warning: This allows strangers to direct your browser!
*****They may send you to pages containing
*****porn, viruses, or Justin Bieber fanfiction.
*****At the very least, turn on private browsing.
**During the time this header was active the comic [[1031: s/keyboard/leopard/]] came out.
***It had its own [[xkcd_Header_text#Unique_header_text|unique header text]] which thus replaced this text on the front page for two days.
***But it did not replace it on all the other pages so this was the active header text during the entire period, see more here: [[xkcd_Header_text#s.2Fkeyboard.2Fleopard.2F|s/keyboard/leopard/]]
**This lasted till [https://web.archive.org/web/20120327050311/https://xkcd.com/1033 2012-03-27] while [[1034: Share Buttons]] was up.
**But the last archived version with this on the front page was the day before [https://web.archive.org/web/20120326180811/https://xkcd.com// 2012-03-26].
***The link from 27th is from an archived version of [[1033: Formal Logic]].

===Changes not documented yet 1===
*The above is the last documented.
**There will for sure be more changes earlier than this.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120311135259/https://xkcd.com/ 2012-03-11] Text before. For next entry below...



__NOTOC__

[[Category:Protip]] 
[[Category:Problematic pages]]
[[Category:Design of xkcd.com]]
{{xkcdmeta}}

What If? 2

2024-06-04T01:27:09Z

Usb-rave: italicized titles

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''What If? 2''}}
<noinclude>:''For other instances of this title, see [[What If (disambiguation)]].</noinclude>

[[File:What If? 2 cover.jpeg|260px|right|thumb|The cover of the book]]
[[File:What If? 2 cover blog?.png|200px|right]]

'''''What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions''''' is a book released by [[Randall Munroe]] on September 13, 2022. This was announced on xkcd on January 31st when the comic [[2575: What If? 2]] came out. This came out after a three week countdown revealing the image from the cover of the new book over 136 frames released with about 4 hours between each frame. This has become known as the [[Countdown in header text]], see all details on that page. Later he released a different countdown with comic [[2636: What If? 2 Countdown]]. In 2014, the first [[What If? (book)|''What If?'' book]] was released.

The books are based on ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'', a blog hosted on the [[xkcd]].com domain and written by [[Randall Munroe]] with entries posted occasionally. Before publishing the first ''what if?'' book, articles were posted weekly. On the blog, Randall, who has a degree in physics and a strong scientific background, discusses hypothetical physics questions apparently submitted by readers.

Unlike other sites which answer readers' questions, ''what if?'' typically takes the question beyond the original scope likely intended by the reader and takes it to some extreme for humorous effect. For example, in {{what if|1|the first article}}, he discusses what would happen if a baseball were pitched at 90% of the speed of light. After effectively describing what would occur as a nuclear explosion, leveling the stadium and the surrounding mile radius, he concludes with the note ''"A careful reading of official Major League Baseball Rule 6.08(b) suggests that in this situation, the batter would be considered 'hit by pitch', and would be eligible to advance to first base."''

The questions Randall tackles range from realistic possibilities (e.g. the probability of achieving a {{what if|2|perfect SAT score by guessing}}) to completely fictional questions (e.g. {{what if|3|How much Force power}} can {{w|Yoda}} output?). In his explanations, Randall, often uses diagrams in an ''xkcd'' style. Regardless of the context, Randall tends to take the questions extremely literally and responds seriously to them, even if they are whimsical (such as the Yoda question). This is clear from his response to the question of what would happen if everybody on Earth stood together and {{what if|8|jumped at the same time}}. After acknowledging that the question has been answered elsewhere, he recaps the result, but then focuses more intently on the unasked resulting issue of the aftermath of everyone on Earth being magically transported to one location as they all try to return home.

==Articles==
For a complete list of the articles contained in the book, see [[What If? chapters|''What If?'' chapters]]. This list can also be found in the [https://what-if.xkcd.com/archive/ archive section] on the ''what if?'' blog.

[[Category:Books]]
[[Category:What If?| 3]]
{{xkcdmeta}}

What If? (book)

2024-06-04T01:25:21Z

Usb-rave: italicized titles

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''What If?'' (book)}}
<noinclude>:''For other instances of this title, see [[What If (disambiguation)]].</noinclude>

[[Image:What_If?.jpeg|260px|right|thumb|The original cover of the book]]
[[Image:New_What_If?_cover.jpeg|260px|thumb|right|The new cover of the book]]
[[Image:whatifcover.jpg|260px|right|thumb|The alternate cover of the book]]

'''''What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions''''' was released on September 2, 2014. This was announced on ''xkcd'' on January 31st when the comic [[2575: What If? 2]] came out. This came out after a three week countdown revealing the image from the cover of the new book over 136 frames released with about 4 hours between each frame. This has become known as the [[Countdown in header text]], see all details on that page. Later he released a different countdown with comic [[2636: What If? 2 Countdown]]. In 2022, the second book in the series, [[What If? 2]], was released.

The books are based on ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'', a blog hosted on the [[xkcd]].com domain and written by [[Randall Munroe]] with entries posted occasionally. Before publishing the first ''what if?'' book, articles were posted weekly. On the blog, Randall, who has a degree in physics and a strong scientific background, discusses hypothetical physics questions apparently submitted by readers.

Unlike other sites which answer readers' questions, ''what if?'' typically takes the question beyond the original scope likely intended by the reader and takes it to some extreme for humorous effect. For example, in {{what if|1|the first article}}, he discusses what would happen if a baseball were pitched at 90% of the speed of light. After effectively describing what would occur as a nuclear explosion, leveling the stadium and the surrounding mile radius, he concludes with the note ''"A careful reading of official Major League Baseball Rule 6.08(b) suggests that in this situation, the batter would be considered 'hit by pitch', and would be eligible to advance to first base."''

The questions Randall tackles range from realistic possibilities (e.g. the probability of achieving a {{what if|2|perfect SAT score by guessing}}) to completely fictional questions (e.g. {{what if|3|How much Force power}} can {{w|Yoda}} output?). In his explanations, Randall, often uses diagrams in an ''xkcd'' style. Regardless of the context, Randall tends to take the questions extremely literally and responds seriously to them, even if they are whimsical (such as the Yoda question). This is clear from his response to the question of what would happen if everybody on Earth stood together and {{what if|8|jumped at the same time}}. After acknowledging that the question has been answered elsewhere, he recaps the result, but then focuses more intently on the unasked resulting issue of the aftermath of everyone on Earth being magically transported to one location as they all try to return home.

Randall announced his ''what if?'' book on 12 March 2014 in [http://blog.xkcd.com/2014/03/12/what-if-i-wrote-a-book/ the blag]. It was published on September 2, 2014, and the UK edition of the book was published on September 4, 2014. It is the 2nd book published by Randall.
It is just like ''[[xkcd: volume 0]]'' a compilation of some questions from the website, but half of them are new.

In the UK edition of the book, Randall included a preface about his thoughts on the units used in the UK. (The Metric System)

==Articles==
For a complete list of the articles contained in the book, see [[What If? chapters|''What If?'' chapters]]. This list can also be found in the [https://what-if.xkcd.com/archive/ archive section] on the ''what if?'' blog.

===General summary===
Randall Munroe left NASA in 2005 to start up his hugely popular site XKCD 'a web comic of romance, sarcasm, math and language' which offers a witty take on the world of science and geeks. It now has 600,000 to a million page hits daily. Every now and then, Munroe would get emails asking him to arbitrate a science debate. 'My friend and I were arguing about what would happen if a bullet got struck by lightning, and we agreed that you should resolve it . . . ' He liked these questions so much that he started up What If.

*If your cells suddenly lost the power to divide, how long would you survive?
*How dangerous is it, really, to be in a swimming pool in a thunderstorm?
*If we hooked turbines to people exercising in gyms, how much power could we produce?
*What if everyone only had one soulmate?
*When (if ever) did the sun go down on the British empire?
*How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live?
*What would happen if the moon went away?

In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, studded with memorable cartoons and infographics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion. Far more than a book for geeks, WHAT IF: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions explains the laws of science in operation in a way that every intelligent reader will enjoy and feel much the smarter for having read.

===UK edition===
''Hey! Thanks for looking at my book. If you're thinking about buying it, here are some things you might want to know:''

Humans can't digest the cellulose in paper, but if we could, eating this book would give you about 2,300 calories (including the cover).

This book can't stop most bullets; if you want to use it for armour, you may want a lot more than one copy.

If you have a good arm, you could probably throw this book about 45 feet. With practice, it's possible to throw a book every 800 milliseconds, which means that if human attackers are sprinting towards you, you'll have three or four chances to hit them before they reach you. If, on the other hand, you're being attacked by a coyote, its higher top speed means you'll have only one chance to hit it. Aim carefully.

''HIDDEN FEATURE: The inside of this book has words and pictures, plus a special UK foreword.'' It answers many important questions, including whether you could jump from a plane with a helium tank and inflate balloons fast enough to slow your fall and survive (yes) and whether you could hide from a supersonic windstorm in Finland (yes, but it won't help).

[[Category:Books]]
[[Category:What If?| 2]]
{{xkcdmeta}}

what if? articles

2024-06-04T01:22:50Z

Usb-rave: italicized ''what if?''

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''What If?'' chapters}}
<noinclude>:''For other instances of this title, see [[What If (disambiguation)]].</noinclude>
This is a list of all articles featured in Randall Munroe's ''what if?'' [[what if? (blog)|blog]] and [[What If? (book)|book]] [[What If? 2|series]]. If the title of a blog article differs from the title in the book, the book's title will be listed next to the original. A similar list can also be found in the [https://what-if.xkcd.com/archive/ archive section] of the blog.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Article title
! Title in the book
! Blog number
! ''What If?'' chapter
! ''What If? 2'' chapter
|-
| Relativistic Baseball || || 1 || 2 ||
|-
| SAT Guessing || || 2 || 66 ||
|-
| Yoda || || 3 || 32 ||
|-
| Mole of Moles || || 4 || 10 ||
|-
| Robot Apocalypse || || 5 || ||
|-
| Glass Half Empty || || 6 || 26 ||
|-
| Everybody Out || || 7 || 35 ||
|-
| Everybody Jump || || 8 || 9 ||
|-
| Soul Mates || || 9 || 6 ||
|-
| Cassini || || 10 || ||
|-
| Droppings || || 11 || ||
|-
| Raindrop || || 12 || 65 ||
|-
| Laser Pointer || || 13 || 7 ||
|-
| Short Answer Section || || 14 || ||
|-
| Mariana Trench Explosion || || 15 || ||
|-
| Today’s topic: Lightning || Lightning || 16 || 19 ||
|-
| Green Cows || || 17 || ||
|-
| BB Gun || || 18 || ||
|-
| Tie Vote || || 19 || ||
|-
| Diamond || || 20 || ||
|-
| Machine-Gun Jetpack || || 21 || 14 ||
|-
| Cost of Pennies || || 22 || ||
|-
| Short Answer Section II || Short-Answer Section || 23 || 18 ||
|-
| Model Rockets || || 24 || ||
|-
| Three Wise Men || || 25 || ||
|-
| Leap Seconds || || 26 || ||
|-
| Death Rates || || 27 || ||
|-
| Steak Drop || || 28 || 23 ||
|-
| Spent Fuel Pool || || 29 || 3 ||
|-
| Interplanetary Cessna || || 30 || 30 ||
|-
| FedEx Bandwidth || || 31 || 44 ||
|-
| Hubble || || 32 || ||
|-
| Ships || || 33 || ||
|-
| Twitter || || 34 || 50 ||
|-
| Hair Dryer || || 35 || 11 ||
|-
| Cornstarch || || 36 || ||
|-
| Supersonic Stereo || || 37 || ||
|-
| Voyager || || 38 || ||
|-
| Hockey Puck || || 39 || 24 ||
|-
| Pressure Cooker || || 40 || ||
|-
| Go West || || 41 || ||
|-
| Longest Sunset || || 42 || 52 ||
|-
| Train Loop || || 43 || ||
|-
| High Throw || || 44 || 38 ||
|-
| ISS Music Video || || 45 || ||
|-
| Bowling Ball || || 46 || ||
|-
| Alien Astronomers || || 47 || 28 ||
|-
| Sunset on the British Empire || || 48 || 60 ||
|-
| Sunless Earth || || 49 || 57 ||
|-
| Extreme Boating || || 50 || ||
|-
| Free Fall || || 51 || 45 ||
|-
| Bouncy Balls || || 52 || ||
|-
| Drain the Oceans || || 53 || 48 ||
|-
| Drain the Oceans: Part II || || 54 || 49 ||
|-
| Random Sneeze Call || || 55 || 53 ||
|-
| Restraining an Airplane || || 56 || ||
|-
| Dropping a Mountain || || 57 || ||
|-
| Orbital Speed || || 58 || 43 ||
|-
| Updating a Printed Wikipedia || || 59 || 58 ||
|-
| Signs of Life || || 60 || ||
|-
| Speed Bump || || 61 || 41 ||
|-
| Falling with Helium || || 62 || 34 ||
|-
| Google’s Datacenters on Punch Cards || || 63 || ||
|-
| Rising Steadily || || 64 || 15 ||
|-
| Twitter Timeline Height || || 65 || ||
|-
| 500 MPH || || 66 || ||
|-
| Expanding Earth || || 67 || 55 ||
|-
| Human Computer || || 68 || 21 ||
|-
| Facebook of the Dead || || 69 || 59 ||
|-
| The Constant Groundskeeper || || 70 || ||
|-
| Stirring Tea || || 71 || 61 ||
|-
| Loneliest Human || || 72 || 63 ||
|-
| Lethal Neutrinos || || 73 || 39 ||
|-
| Soda Planet || || 74 || ||
|-
| Phone Keypad || || 75 || ||
|-
| Reading Every Book || || 76 || || 10
|-
| Growth Rate || || 77 || ||
|-
| T-rex Calories || || 78 || || 7
|-
| Lake Tea || || 79 || ||
|-
| Pile of Viruses || || 80 || ||
|-
| Catch! || || 81 || || 12
|-
| Hitting a comet || || 82 || ||
|-
| Star Sand || || 83 || || 16
|-
| Paint the Earth || || 84 || || 14
|-
| Rocket Golf || || 85 || ||
|-
| Far-Traveling Objects || || 86 || ||
|-
| Enforced by Radar || || 87 || ||
|-
| Soda Sequestration || || 88 || ||
|-
| Tungsten Countertop || || 89 || ||
|-
| Great Tree, Great Axe || || 90 || ||
|-
| Faucet Power || || 91 || ||
|-
| One-Second Day || || 92 || || 21
|-
| Windshield Raindrops || || 93 || ||
|-
| Billion-Story Building || || 94 || || 22
|-
| Pyramid Energy || || 95 || ||
|-
| $2 Undecillion Lawsuit || || 96 || || 23
|-
| Burning Pollen || || 97 || ||
|-
| Blood Alcohol || || 98 || || 42
|-
| Starlings || || 99 || ||
|-
| WWII Films || || 100 || ||
|-
| Plastic Dinosaurs || || 101 || || 26
|-
| Keyboard Power || || 102 || ||
|-
| Vanishing Water || || 103 || ||
|-
| Global Snow || || 104 || || 59
|-
| Cannibalism || || 105 || ||
|-
| Ink Molecules || || 106 || ||
|-
| Letter to Mom || || 107 || ||
|-
| Expensive Shoebox || || 108 || ||
|-
| Into the Blue || || 109 || ||
|-
| Walking New York || || 110 || ||
|-
| All the Money || || 111 || ||
|-
| Balloon Car || || 112 || ||
|-
| Visit Every State || || 113 || ||
|-
| Antimatter || || 114 || ||
|-
| Into the Sun || || 115 || || 61
|-
| No-Rules NASCAR || || 116 || || 35
|-
| Distant Death || || 117 || ||
|-
| Physical Salary || || 118 || ||
|-
| Laser Umbrella || || 119 || ||
|-
| Alternate Universe What Ifs || || 120 || ||
|-
| Frozen Rivers || || 121 || ||
|-
| Lava Lamp || || 122 || || 40
|-
| Fairy Demographics || || 123 || ||
|-
| Lunar Swimming || || 124 || ||
|-
| Bowling Ball || || 125 || ||
|-
| Stairs || || 126 || ||
|-
| Tug of War || || 127 || ||
|-
| Zippo Phone || || 128 || ||
|-
| Black Hole Moon || || 129 || ||
|-
| Snow Removal || || 130 || ||
|-
| Microwaves || || 131 || ||
|-
| Hotter than Average || || 132 || ||
|-
| Flagpole || || 133 || ||
|-
| Space Burial || || 134 || ||
|-
| Digging Downward || || 135 || ||
|-
| Spiders vs. the Sun || || 136 || || 44
|-
| New Horizons || || 137 || ||
|-
| Jupiter Submarine || || 138 || ||
|-
| Jupiter Descending || || 139 || ||
|-
| Proton Earth, Electron Moon || || 140 || || 48
|-
| Sunbeam || || 141 || ||
|-
| Space Jetta || || 142 || ||
|-
| Europa Water Siphon || || 143 || ||
|-
| Saliva Pool || || 144 || || 53
|-
| Fire from Moonlight || || 145 || || 51
|-
| Stop Jupiter || || 146 || ||
|-
| Niagara Straw || || 147 || || 55
|-
| Eat the Sun || || 148 || ||
|-
| Pizza Bird || || 149 || ||
|-
| Tattooine Rainbow || || 150 || ||
|-
| Sun Bug || || 151 || ||
|-
| Flood Death Valley || || 152 || ||
|-
| Hide the Atmosphere || || 153 || ||
|-
| Coast-to-Coast Coasting || || 154 || ||
|-
| Toaster vs. Freezer || || 155 || ||
|-
| Electrofishing for Whales || || 156 || ||
|-
| Earth-Moon Fire Pole || || 157 || || 58
|-
| Global Windstorm || || || 1 ||
|-
| Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #1 || || || 4 ||
|-
| New York–Style Time Machine || || || 5 ||
|-
| Periodic Wall of the Elements || || || 8 ||
|-
| Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #2 || || || 12 ||
|-
| The Last Human Light || || || 13 ||
|-
| Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #3 || || || 16 ||
|-
| Orbital Submarine || || || 17 ||
|-
| Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #4 || || || 20 ||
|-
| Little Planet || || || 22 ||
|-
| Common Cold || || || 25 ||
|-
| Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #5 || || || 27 ||
|-
| No More DNA || || || 29 ||
|-
| Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #6 || || || 31 ||
|-
| Flyover States || || || 33 ||
|-
| Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #7 || || || 36 ||
|-
| Self-Fertilization || || || 37 ||
|-
| Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #8 || || || 40 ||
|-
| Lost Immortals || || || 42 ||
|-
| Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #9 || || || 46 ||
|-
| Sparta || || || 47 ||
|-
| Lego Bridge || || || 51 ||
|-
| Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #10 || || || 54 ||
|-
| Weightless Arrow || || || 56 ||
|-
| Stirring Tea || || || 62 ||
|-
| Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #11 || || || 64 ||
|-
| Neutron Bullet || || || 67 ||
|-
| Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #12 || || || 68 ||
|-
| Richter 15 || || || 69 ||
|-
| Soupiter || || || || 1
|-
| Helicopter Ride || || || || 2
|-
| Dangerously Cold || || || || 3
|-
| Ironic Vaporization || || || || 4
|-
| Cosmic Road Trip || || || || 5
|-
| Pigeon Chair || || || || 6
|-
| Short Answers #1 || || || || Unnumbered (between 6 and 7)
|-
| Geyser || || || || 8
|-
| Pew, Pew, Pew || || || || 9
|-
| Weird & Worrying #1 || || || || Unnumbered (between 10 and 11)
|-
| Banana Church || || || || 11
|-
| Lose Weight the Slow and Incredibly Difficult Way || || || || 13
|-
| Jupiter Comes to Town || || || || 15
|-
| Swing Set || || || || 17
|-
| Airliner Catapult || || || || 18
|-
| Short Answers #2 || || || || Unnumbered (between 18 and 19)
|-
| Slow Dinosaur Apocalypse || || || || 19
|-
| Elemental Worlds || || || || 20
|-
| Star Ownership || || || || 24
|-
| Tire Rubber || || || || 25
|-
| Short Answers #3 || || || || Unnumbered (between 26 and 27)
|-
| Suction Aquarium || || || || 27
|-
| Earth Eye || || || || 28
|-
| Build Rome in a Day || || || || 29
|-
| Mariana Trench Tube || || || || 30
|-
| Expensive Shoebox || || || || 31
|-
| MRI Compass || || || || 32
|-
| Ancestor Fraction || || || || 33
|-
| Bird Car || || || || 34
|-
| Weird & Worrying #2 || || || || Unnumbered (between 35 and 36)
|-
| Vacuum Tube Smartphone || || || || 36
|-
| Laser Umbrella || || || || 37
|-
| Eat a Cloud || || || || 38
|-
| Tall Sunsets || || || || 39
|-
| Sisyphean Refrigerators || || || || 41
|-
| Basketball Earth || || || || 43
|-
| Inhale a Person || || || || 45
|-
| Candy Crush Lightning || || || || 46
|-
| Short Answers #4 || || || || Unnumbered (between 46 and 47)
|-
| Toasty Warm || || || || 47
|-
| Eyeball || || || || 49
|-
| Japan Runs an Errand || || || || 50
|-
| Read All the Laws || || || || 52
|-
| Weird & Worrying #3 || || || || Unnumbered (between 52 and 53)
|-
| Snowball || || || || 54
|-
| Walking Backward in Time || || || || 56
|-
| Ammonia Tube || || || || 57
|-
| Short Answers #5 || || || || Unnumbered (between 58 and 59)
|-
| Dog Overload || || || || 60
|-
| Sunscreen || || || || 62
|-
| Walking on the Sun || || || || 63
|-
| Lemon Drops and Gumdrops || || || || 64
|}

[[Category:What If?| 9]]
{{xkcdmeta}}

xkcd

2024-06-04T01:20:50Z

Usb-rave: /* Style */ italicized an ''xkcd''

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''xkcd''}}
[[File:Terrible small logo.png|200px|right]]{{TOC}}{{Quote|A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.|[https://xkcd.com xkcd.com]}}

'''''xkcd''''' is a webcomic drawn by [[Randall Munroe]] and hosted at [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com]. It focuses on {{w|science}}, {{w|mathematics}}, {{w|technology}}, and general {{w|geek|geekiness}}, told with a light, quirky sense of humor, and at times profound philosophizing. Its art style is minimalist, told through simple [[stick figure]]s. New comics are posted every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and are accompanied by a [[Title text|title text]], serving as Randall's commentary.

==Style==
''xkcd'' comics are usually plain, predominantly black-and-white line drawings, but [[:Category:Comics with color|sometimes]] they make use of hues beyond the usual monochrome colors, even if it is just [[:Category:Comics with red annotations|red annotations]]. Although quite complex objects can be drawn, or conventionally cartoon-like representations of things and [[:Category:Squirrels|animals]], a majority of the people featured are [[stick figure]]s who have become a cast of recurring [[characters]]. The ''xkcd'' art style has undergone many changes over time. Initially, the comics were made by scanning hand-drawn sketches. However, they eventually transitioned to being entirely digitally inked and lettered. Another notable change was in the style of text used. While [[:Category:Comics with lowercase text|early comics featured sentence-case text]], Randall began writing in all-caps non-cursive handwriting with [[90: Jacket]]. It took several comics for this to become the standard practice. In the early days of ''xkcd'', Randall used [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]] with a grid for most of his initial drawings. This grid became a distinctive part of the style of the early ''xkcd'' comics, as it was used for most of his LiveJournal comics, and the last comic by date to use it was [[39: Bowl]]. The faint remains of gridlines in some comics suggest that Randall may have erased gridlines in these comics. In 2012, Randall revived the blue grid as a background image for ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]''.

Occasionally, Randall releases comics that go beyond the norm. These unique comics might involve user interactivity, utilize specific HTTP behaviors, or explore innovative graphic techniques, setting them apart from the ordinary static comics. He will use {{w|GIF#Animated GIF|animated GIFs}}, rather than standard formats, for some of the simpler [[:Category:Comics with animation|dynamic comic]] images and will engage with complex page and server-side scripting to present the reader with the more immersive or interactive content.

==Meaning of ''xkcd''==
{{Quote|It's not actually an acronym. It's just a word with no phonetic pronunciation — a treasured and carefully-guarded point in the space of four-character strings.|[[Randall Munroe]]|[https://xkcd.com/about Source]}}

{{Quote|Actually, I've been using [''xkcd''] as just a unique point in the space of four-character strings to point to me. I've been using it as my name on every service box since at least the nineties, because I got tired of changing my name every time my interest changed. I started out when I was 10 years old when AOL first popped up and I was on there as, I think I had, first, "Skywalker4", then "Animorph7", and then [...] other names [...] like "Redtailedhawk6" or something. Eventually, I was like, I'm tired of names that point to other things, that identify me with those things. I want to get a string that will just point uniquely to me that's not my name, because that's kind of boring. And so, I [decided] to generate random strings and find one that had a certain set of qualities, which included:
*''none of the letters could be mistaken for other letters [or] numbers, so no "L", because "L", lower-cased, can look like "i" or "1";''
*''it couldn't have any obvious acronym decoding [...] or be an existing acronym;''
*''it couldn't be pronounceable because then it would sound like [...] a word, and people would think of other words like it.''
''So, I searched though a bunch of names that weren't taken, until I found one that wasn't taken on all the services I wanted.|[[Randall Munroe]]|In a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJOS0sV2a24#t=44m31s Google speech]}}

According to the [https://xkcd.com/about ''xkcd FAQ''] and [[Randall Munroe]] himself, the name ''xkcd'' doesn't stand for anything. In a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJOS0sV2a24#t=44m31s Google speech], he said that it originated as a previously unused random four-letter string which he used as his username on various internet services. See also [[207: What xkcd Means]].

There are other theories about what ''xkcd'' stands for:
* If each letter of the alphabet is [https://web.archive.org/web/20090908204959im_/http://explainxkcd.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/XKCD1.jpg mapped to 1 through 26], the sum of the values for "x", "k", "c", and "d" is equal to 42, which is the answer given to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything by the supercomputer in ''{{w|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}''. However, according to Randall himself, this is a coincidence.
* A [https://web.archive.org/web/20200728001540/https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/c2049n/the_names_mystery_unveiled/ now-deleted] Reddit account noted that typing "xkcd" on a Persian QWERTY keyboard returns "طنزی", which means satirical, sarcastic, and comic.
* "X", "k", "c", and "d" are consecutive letters when typed on a left-handed [[:Category:Dvorak|Dvorak]] keyboard.

==History==
:''For more information, visit the [[Links|LiveJournal]].''

{{Quote|I was going through old math/sketching graph paper notebooks and didn't want to lose some of the work in them, so I started scanning pages. I took the more comic-y ones and put them up on a server I was testing out, and got a bunch of readers when BoingBoing linked to me. I started drawing more seriously, gained a lot more readers, started selling t-shirts on the site, and am currently shipping t-shirts and drawing this comic full-time. It's immensely fun and I really appreciate y'all's support.|[[Randall Munroe]]}}

Before [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] started using the [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] website for his comics, he posted them on {{w|LiveJournal}} using the "[https://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/ xkcd_drawings]" account. The images on the page are now broken, but there are archived versions for the [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927001941/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=40 first 16 comics], comics [https://web.archive.org/web/20060529063505/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=20 from 17 to 27], and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20060529063441/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/ last 20 comics]. Randall didn't add a [[Title text|title text]] to his comics before [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com], but most of the comics posted on LiveJournal had an original caption beneath the image, and many had comments by LiveJournal users. All the comics transferred to the new site had a title text, which was often along the same lines, but was almost never the same as the caption on LiveJournal. The original title, caption, and release number of these early comics can be viewed on their explanation page, so if you want to browse them in the original order, you can [[7: Girl sleeping (Sketch -- 11th grade Spanish class)|start here]] and follow the links at the top of each explanation to go to the next one. To view a list of all the comics in the original order, see [[:Category:Posted on LiveJournal|Posted on LiveJournal]].

The first thirteen comics were posted on LiveJournal within 12 minutes on September 30, 2005, on the first day of the ''xkcd'' LiveJournal account. The first comic posted on that day was [[7: Girl sleeping (Sketch -- 11th grade Spanish class)]] and the last one was [[11: Barrel - Part 2]]. Starting from the next post, he began following the normal Monday, Wednesday, Friday release date routine, although he often forgot to post the comic in time, making them come out a day earlier or a day later.

The last comic to be released before [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] was in use was [[39: Bowl]]. It was the forty-first comic posted on LiveJournal on December 5, 2005, but the following day Randall made another post, titled "[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529063441/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/#:~:text=12%3A59%20am-,Announcement,-What%20with%20winter Announcement]": where he said he would post fewer comics during winter. This might be owing to his exams coming up, or the preparation for the release of [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] the following year. The next LiveJournal comic, [[45: Schrodinger]], was released almost a month later, on January 4, 2006, after Randall had already posted all the previous comics to his new site.

The new ''xkcd'' website opened up on January 1, 2006, and the backlog of forty-one comics from LiveJournal from [[1: Barrel - Part 1]] to [[44: Love]] was transferred on the same day, but in a completely different order. The only comic that has the same number on both sites is [[3: Island (sketch)]], while all the other comics were uploaded seemingly at random. Also, only eleven of the original comic titles were reused of the new site, and even among the last eleven comics posted on both sites, only six used the same title. There were also two new comics released on the first day of [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] (and one added a few months later) that have never been posted on LiveJournal. [[12: Poisson]] and [[5: Blown apart]] were exclusively published on the first day of [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] and were never shared on LiveJournal. [[36: Scientists]] was instead initially published as a duplicate of comic [[10: Pi Equals]]. Over three months after the original posting, Randall noticed the error and corrected it sometime between [https://web.archive.org/web/20060423175703/http://www.xkcd.com/c36.html April 23, 2006] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20060705231511/http://xkcd.com/c36.html July 5, 2006], when the updated version appeared in the Web Archive. He likely found an old drawing that was never meant for publication and used it instead, so it wouldn't appear out of place among the other comics from that period. This is why [[36: Scientists]] [[:Category:No date|doesn't have a date]] like every other comic.

Most of the eleven comics posted on LiveJournal after the new website opened, from [[45: Schrodinger]] to [[55: Useless]], were posted on the same days on both sites. For unknown reasons, on January 18, 2006, [[54: Science]] was posted on LiveJournal on the same day that [[51: Malaria]] was released on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com]. Three days later, on January 21, 2006, [[51: Malaria]] was posted on LiveJournal, thus forcing the next two comics ([[52: Secret Worlds]] and [[53: Hobby]]) to be released on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] two days before LiveJournal. Four days later, on January 25, 2006, [[54: Science]] was finally posted on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com], which fixed the date discrepancies and allowed the next comic, [[55: Useless]], to be published on the same day across both sites. When the next comic, [[56: The Cure]], came out only on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] on January 30, 2006, Randall made a post on LiveJournal, titled "[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529063441/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/#:~:text=xkcd%20drawings%20moving%20to%20RSS%20feed xkcd drawings moving to RSS feed]", to let people know he would only post new comics to [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] and abandon LiveJournal.

==Other wikis==
*{{w|xkcd|Wikipedia}}
*{{rw|xkcd|RationalWiki}} – They often use its comics [https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Xkcd#Gallery on their articles].
*{{tvtropes|Xkcd|TV Tropes}}
*[https://geekfeminism.wikia.org/wiki/Xkcd Geek Feminism Wiki]
*[https://fortranwiki.org/fortran/show/xkcd Fortran Wiki]
*[https://hpluspedia.org/wiki/Xkcd H+Pedia]

==See also==
*[[Design of xkcd.com]]
*[[Header text]]
*[[Tagline]]
*[[Title text]]
*[[Transcript]]

[[Category:xkcd]]
{{xkcdmeta}}

xkcd

2024-06-04T01:18:18Z

Usb-rave: italicized ''xkcd'' when either 1) referring to the comic itself or 2) when the word itself is the noun

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''xkcd''}}
[[File:Terrible small logo.png|200px|right]]{{TOC}}{{Quote|A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.|[https://xkcd.com xkcd.com]}}

'''''xkcd''''' is a webcomic drawn by [[Randall Munroe]] and hosted at [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com]. It focuses on {{w|science}}, {{w|mathematics}}, {{w|technology}}, and general {{w|geek|geekiness}}, told with a light, quirky sense of humor, and at times profound philosophizing. Its art style is minimalist, told through simple [[stick figure]]s. New comics are posted every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and are accompanied by a [[Title text|title text]], serving as Randall's commentary.

==Style==
''xkcd'' comics are usually plain, predominantly black-and-white line drawings, but [[:Category:Comics with color|sometimes]] they make use of hues beyond the usual monochrome colors, even if it is just [[:Category:Comics with red annotations|red annotations]]. Although quite complex objects can be drawn, or conventionally cartoon-like representations of things and [[:Category:Squirrels|animals]], a majority of the people featured are [[stick figure]]s who have become a cast of recurring [[characters]]. The ''xkcd'' art style has undergone many changes over time. Initially, the comics were made by scanning hand-drawn sketches. However, they eventually transitioned to being entirely digitally inked and lettered. Another notable change was in the style of text used. While [[:Category:Comics with lowercase text|early comics featured sentence-case text]], Randall began writing in all-caps non-cursive handwriting with [[90: Jacket]]. It took several comics for this to become the standard practice. In the early days of ''xkcd'', Randall used [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]] with a grid for most of his initial drawings. This grid became a distinctive part of the style of the early xkcd comics, as it was used for most of his LiveJournal comics, and the last comic by date to use it was [[39: Bowl]]. The faint remains of gridlines in some comics suggest that Randall may have erased gridlines in these comics. In 2012, Randall revived the blue grid as a background image for ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]''.

Occasionally, Randall releases comics that go beyond the norm. These unique comics might involve user interactivity, utilize specific HTTP behaviors, or explore innovative graphic techniques, setting them apart from the ordinary static comics. He will use {{w|GIF#Animated GIF|animated GIFs}}, rather than standard formats, for some of the simpler [[:Category:Comics with animation|dynamic comic]] images and will engage with complex page and server-side scripting to present the reader with the more immersive or interactive content.

==Meaning of ''xkcd''==
{{Quote|It's not actually an acronym. It's just a word with no phonetic pronunciation — a treasured and carefully-guarded point in the space of four-character strings.|[[Randall Munroe]]|[https://xkcd.com/about Source]}}

{{Quote|Actually, I've been using [''xkcd''] as just a unique point in the space of four-character strings to point to me. I've been using it as my name on every service box since at least the nineties, because I got tired of changing my name every time my interest changed. I started out when I was 10 years old when AOL first popped up and I was on there as, I think I had, first, "Skywalker4", then "Animorph7", and then [...] other names [...] like "Redtailedhawk6" or something. Eventually, I was like, I'm tired of names that point to other things, that identify me with those things. I want to get a string that will just point uniquely to me that's not my name, because that's kind of boring. And so, I [decided] to generate random strings and find one that had a certain set of qualities, which included:
*''none of the letters could be mistaken for other letters [or] numbers, so no "L", because "L", lower-cased, can look like "i" or "1";''
*''it couldn't have any obvious acronym decoding [...] or be an existing acronym;''
*''it couldn't be pronounceable because then it would sound like [...] a word, and people would think of other words like it.''
''So, I searched though a bunch of names that weren't taken, until I found one that wasn't taken on all the services I wanted.|[[Randall Munroe]]|In a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJOS0sV2a24#t=44m31s Google speech]}}

According to the [https://xkcd.com/about ''xkcd FAQ''] and [[Randall Munroe]] himself, the name ''xkcd'' doesn't stand for anything. In a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJOS0sV2a24#t=44m31s Google speech], he said that it originated as a previously unused random four-letter string which he used as his username on various internet services. See also [[207: What xkcd Means]].

There are other theories about what ''xkcd'' stands for:
* If each letter of the alphabet is [https://web.archive.org/web/20090908204959im_/http://explainxkcd.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/XKCD1.jpg mapped to 1 through 26], the sum of the values for "x", "k", "c", and "d" is equal to 42, which is the answer given to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything by the supercomputer in ''{{w|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}''. However, according to Randall himself, this is a coincidence.
* A [https://web.archive.org/web/20200728001540/https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/c2049n/the_names_mystery_unveiled/ now-deleted] Reddit account noted that typing "xkcd" on a Persian QWERTY keyboard returns "طنزی", which means satirical, sarcastic, and comic.
* "X", "k", "c", and "d" are consecutive letters when typed on a left-handed [[:Category:Dvorak|Dvorak]] keyboard.

==History==
:''For more information, visit the [[Links|LiveJournal]].''

{{Quote|I was going through old math/sketching graph paper notebooks and didn't want to lose some of the work in them, so I started scanning pages. I took the more comic-y ones and put them up on a server I was testing out, and got a bunch of readers when BoingBoing linked to me. I started drawing more seriously, gained a lot more readers, started selling t-shirts on the site, and am currently shipping t-shirts and drawing this comic full-time. It's immensely fun and I really appreciate y'all's support.|[[Randall Munroe]]}}

Before [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] started using the [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] website for his comics, he posted them on {{w|LiveJournal}} using the "[https://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/ xkcd_drawings]" account. The images on the page are now broken, but there are archived versions for the [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927001941/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=40 first 16 comics], comics [https://web.archive.org/web/20060529063505/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=20 from 17 to 27], and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20060529063441/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/ last 20 comics]. Randall didn't add a [[Title text|title text]] to his comics before [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com], but most of the comics posted on LiveJournal had an original caption beneath the image, and many had comments by LiveJournal users. All the comics transferred to the new site had a title text, which was often along the same lines, but was almost never the same as the caption on LiveJournal. The original title, caption, and release number of these early comics can be viewed on their explanation page, so if you want to browse them in the original order, you can [[7: Girl sleeping (Sketch -- 11th grade Spanish class)|start here]] and follow the links at the top of each explanation to go to the next one. To view a list of all the comics in the original order, see [[:Category:Posted on LiveJournal|Posted on LiveJournal]].

The first thirteen comics were posted on LiveJournal within 12 minutes on September 30, 2005, on the first day of the ''xkcd'' LiveJournal account. The first comic posted on that day was [[7: Girl sleeping (Sketch -- 11th grade Spanish class)]] and the last one was [[11: Barrel - Part 2]]. Starting from the next post, he began following the normal Monday, Wednesday, Friday release date routine, although he often forgot to post the comic in time, making them come out a day earlier or a day later.

The last comic to be released before [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] was in use was [[39: Bowl]]. It was the forty-first comic posted on LiveJournal on December 5, 2005, but the following day Randall made another post, titled "[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529063441/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/#:~:text=12%3A59%20am-,Announcement,-What%20with%20winter Announcement]": where he said he would post fewer comics during winter. This might be owing to his exams coming up, or the preparation for the release of [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] the following year. The next LiveJournal comic, [[45: Schrodinger]], was released almost a month later, on January 4, 2006, after Randall had already posted all the previous comics to his new site.

The new ''xkcd'' website opened up on January 1, 2006, and the backlog of forty-one comics from LiveJournal from [[1: Barrel - Part 1]] to [[44: Love]] was transferred on the same day, but in a completely different order. The only comic that has the same number on both sites is [[3: Island (sketch)]], while all the other comics were uploaded seemingly at random. Also, only eleven of the original comic titles were reused of the new site, and even among the last eleven comics posted on both sites, only six used the same title. There were also two new comics released on the first day of [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] (and one added a few months later) that have never been posted on LiveJournal. [[12: Poisson]] and [[5: Blown apart]] were exclusively published on the first day of [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] and were never shared on LiveJournal. [[36: Scientists]] was instead initially published as a duplicate of comic [[10: Pi Equals]]. Over three months after the original posting, Randall noticed the error and corrected it sometime between [https://web.archive.org/web/20060423175703/http://www.xkcd.com/c36.html April 23, 2006] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20060705231511/http://xkcd.com/c36.html July 5, 2006], when the updated version appeared in the Web Archive. He likely found an old drawing that was never meant for publication and used it instead, so it wouldn't appear out of place among the other comics from that period. This is why [[36: Scientists]] [[:Category:No date|doesn't have a date]] like every other comic.

Most of the eleven comics posted on LiveJournal after the new website opened, from [[45: Schrodinger]] to [[55: Useless]], were posted on the same days on both sites. For unknown reasons, on January 18, 2006, [[54: Science]] was posted on LiveJournal on the same day that [[51: Malaria]] was released on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com]. Three days later, on January 21, 2006, [[51: Malaria]] was posted on LiveJournal, thus forcing the next two comics ([[52: Secret Worlds]] and [[53: Hobby]]) to be released on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] two days before LiveJournal. Four days later, on January 25, 2006, [[54: Science]] was finally posted on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com], which fixed the date discrepancies and allowed the next comic, [[55: Useless]], to be published on the same day across both sites. When the next comic, [[56: The Cure]], came out only on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] on January 30, 2006, Randall made a post on LiveJournal, titled "[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529063441/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/#:~:text=xkcd%20drawings%20moving%20to%20RSS%20feed xkcd drawings moving to RSS feed]", to let people know he would only post new comics to [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] and abandon LiveJournal.

==Other wikis==
*{{w|xkcd|Wikipedia}}
*{{rw|xkcd|RationalWiki}} – They often use its comics [https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Xkcd#Gallery on their articles].
*{{tvtropes|Xkcd|TV Tropes}}
*[https://geekfeminism.wikia.org/wiki/Xkcd Geek Feminism Wiki]
*[https://fortranwiki.org/fortran/show/xkcd Fortran Wiki]
*[https://hpluspedia.org/wiki/Xkcd H+Pedia]

==See also==
*[[Design of xkcd.com]]
*[[Header text]]
*[[Tagline]]
*[[Title text]]
*[[Transcript]]

[[Category:xkcd]]
{{xkcdmeta}}

Talk:2941: Cell Organelles

2024-06-04T00:48:25Z

Usb-rave: added comment

I'm a little disappointed there isn't a continuous endoplasmic reticulum with a zigzag in it.
Rogue mathematician away [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.77|172.71.154.77]] 19:20, 3 June 2024 (UTC)

Sorry about the edit conflicts, attempting to fix.... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.237|108.162.245.237]] 20:12, 3 June 2024 (UTC)

Re [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2941:_Cell_Organelles&diff=343629&oldid=343628] is LLM use forbidden? I recall we have several ChatGPT-authored explanations, and had an ongoing discussion back when it was new. In any case, I've proofread and vouch for it, so I'm replacing the text. I encourage anyone who's bothered by it to paraphrase instead of delete. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.237|108.162.245.237]] 21:22, 3 June 2024 (UTC)

:If you've got the time to check AI-generated content properly and agree that it's what ''you'' would have written, you've got time to write it from scratch exactly how you'd have written it. And you get dangerously close to just putting in AI-content without checking at all, which right now is remains foolhardy.
:But, most of all, anything anyone submits can be changed by anyone else, and I don't know who picked up on it being AI and dealt with it the way they did, but only consensus can truly resolve where any attempt to impose an edit leads. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.119|162.158.74.119]] 22:36, 3 June 2024 (UTC)

::I almost completely agree with you for Wikipedia (I'd just change 'would' to 'could') and similar wikis, but it's undeniable that ExplainXkcd is different in some very substantial and obvious ways, many of which bear on whether to utilize AI. In particular, I would accept pretty much anything that helps explain the comic whether authored by human, machine, animal, or alien, but not hesitate for a second to, as the text below the Summary text input box says, edit it "mercilessly" whether I thought it was LLM-generated or not. But I wouldn't delete an even barely serviceable explanation ''just'' because I thought it came from an LLM, even if it was objectively low quality. I would try to improve it, which almost never means starting over from scratch. I'm not sure I believe the same is true for humans, who often insert, e.g., vandalism, trolling, or extremely undue and/or fringe topic passages. If an LLM is doing that, there's probably a human behind it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.17|108.162.245.17]] 00:21, 4 June 2024 (UTC)

Re: the chloroplasts explanation: how do we know that this is an animal cell? (Would be good to say why...) -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 22:18, 3 June 2024 (UTC)
:The cell has a membrane instead of a wall. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.199|162.158.90.199]] 22:24, 3 June 2024 (UTC)
::No, that’s human skin. [[User:Usb-rave|Usb-rave]] ([[User talk:Usb-rave|talk]]) 00:48, 4 June 2024 (UTC)

Why does Golgi look like an alien, he's so little and cute. Wtf. [[User:Psychoticpotato|Psychoticpotato]] ([[User talk:Psychoticpotato|talk]]) 23:11, 3 June 2024 (UTC)

2941: Cell Organelles

2024-06-04T00:44:03Z

Usb-rave: /* Explanation */ added citation needed joke + copyedits

{{comic
| number = 2941
| date = June 3, 2024
| title = Cell Organelles
| image = cell_organelles_2x.png
| imagesize = 563x451px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's believed that Golgi was originally an independent organism who was eventually absorbed into our cells, where he began work on his Apparatus.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a GOLGI ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic depicts a {{w|Cell (biology)|biological cell}} diagram with a mix of real and fictional {{w|organelle}}s, blending accurate {{w|Cell biology|cell biology}} terms with misplaced or absurd labels. While it includes actual cell components like the nucleus, mitochondria, and Golgi apparatus, it also includes unrelated concepts from various fields such as geology, engineering, software, and pop culture. Terms like "evil endoplasmic reticulum" and "sticky endoplasmic reticulum" make fun of scientific terms. The comic plays on the complexity and diversity of cell structures by mixing in unrelated and humorous terms, highlighting the often confusing and intricate nature of scientific diagrams with clever wordplay and cross-disciplinary jokes.

The title text adds a humorous fictional backstory to the {{w|Golgi apparatus}}, an essential cell organelle involved in processing and packaging proteins. It playfully suggests that {{w|Camillo Golgi}}, the scientist who discovered the Golgi apparatus, was originally an independent organism. This organism was supposedly absorbed into our cells, where it then started working on what is now known as the Golgi apparatus. The joke is a satirical take on {{w|Symbiogenesis|endosymbiotic theory}}, which posits that certain organelles within {{w|Eukaryote|eukaryotic}} cells, like {{w|mitochondria}} and {{w|chloroplasts}}, originated from independent symbiotic {{w|Prokaryote|prokaryotic organisms}} that were absorbed by a host cell. Golgi appears to be depicted in the comic as a tiny alien being.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Label
! Meaning
! Real?
! Cell organelle?
! Explanation
|-
| {{w|Carbonation}}
| Carbon dioxide dissolved in a liquid.
| Yes
| No
| The process that causes soda and similar things to bubble.
|-
| {{w|Cellophane}}
| A thin, transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose.
| Yes
| No
| A type of packaging material.
|-
| {{w|Chloroplast}}s if you're lucky
| Organelles in plant cells responsible for photosynthesis.
| Yes
| Yes
| Actual cell organelles, only found in plant cells. Not found in animal cells such as is depicted, given that the membrane does not appear to have a {{w|cell wall}}. The phrase "if you're lucky" could suggest that they might be less dangerous than other misplaced plant organelles, or that the animal cell is lucky to be able to photosynthesize.
|-
| Drain plug
| A stopper for a drain.
| Yes
| Conceivably
| Plumbing term. Could refer to a {{w|porosome}}.
|-
| Evil endoplasmic reticulum
| Not a real term.
| No
| No
| A humorous twist on the different types of actual {{w|endoplasmic reticulum}}, implying a malevolent version.
|-
| Golgi
| {{w|Camillo Golgi}} (1843–1926) was an Italian biologist and pathologist who discovered and for whom the Golgi apparatus is named, known also for his works on the central nervous system.
| Yes
| No
| The real Golgi was not and is not a tiny alien being who merged with our cells, as the comic and title text imply.{{citation needed}}
|-
| {{w|Golgi apparatus}}
| A complex of vesicles and folded membranes involved in secretion and intracellular transport.
| Yes
| Yes
| Actual cell organelle, which takes polypeptide chains from the rough endoplasmic reticulum (carried via transport vesicle) and processes them into their ultimate protein structure before sending them (via vesiscle) to their destination (such as an organelle or outside of the cell).
|-
| Human skin
| The outer covering of the human body.
| Yes
| No
| Skin cells aren't normally inside cells.{{cn}}
|-
| {{w|Hypoallergenic}} filling
| Materials that do not cause allergic reactions.
| Yes
| No
| Consumer product term.
|-
| {{w|Lithosphere}}
| The rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.
| Yes
| No
| Term from geology, It is part of the Earth's crust.
|-
| {{w|Mantle}} 
| The layer of the earth between the crust and the core.
| Yes
| No
| Misplaced geological term. Many other meanings.
|-
| {{w|Midichlorians}}
| Fictional microorganisms in the {{w|Star Wars}} universe, which confer Force sensitivity.
| Yes
| Fictional
| Unclear whether {{w|George Lucas}} intended for "midi-chlorians" to be {{w|Symbiogenesis|endosymbiotic organelles}} or internal {{w|Symbiosis|symbionts}}.
|-
| {{w|Mitochondria}}
| Organelles that generate energy for the cell.
| Yes
| Yes
| Actual cell organelles, known as the "powerhouse of the cell."
|-
| Natural flavor
| Flavoring derived from natural sources.
| Yes
| Conceivably
| A common ingredient on labels. Is used as an euphenism for many things.
|-
| {{w|Norton AntiVirus}}
| A software product designed to protect computers from malware.
| Yes
| No
| Computer viruses and biological viruses are completely different, and systems designed to counter one generally don't work for the other.
|-
| {{w|Nucleolus}}
| A small dense spherical structure in the nucleus of a cell during interphase.
| Yes
| Yes
| Actual cell organelle, involved in ribosome production.
|-
| Nucleoloulous
| Not a real term.
| No
| No
| A humorous continuation of the terms "nucleus" and "nucleolus."
|-
| {{w|Cell nucleus|Nucleus}}
| The central and most important part of an object, forming the basis for its activity and growth.
| Yes
| Yes
| Actual cell organelle which houses genetic material.
|-
| {{w|Nucleon}}s
| Protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom.
| Yes
| No
| The depicted circles are far too big to be actual nucleons.
|-
| {{w|O-ring}}
| A mechanical gasket in the shape of a torus; used to seal connections.
| Yes
| No
| Engineering term.
|-
| {{w|Pith}}
| The central tissue in plants, used for nutrient transport.
| Yes
| No
| Botanical term.
|-
| {{w|Pleiades}}
| A cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus.
| Yes
| No
| A cluster of stars is far too big to fit in a cell. {{Citation needed}}
|-
| {{w|Rough endoplasmic reticulum}}
| Endoplasmic reticulum with ribosomes attached, involved in protein synthesis.
| Yes
| Yes
| Actual cell organelle. "Rough" refers to the presence of ribosomes covering its membrane, which translate messenger RNA into polypeptide chains. Normally the endoplasmic reticulum would wrap around the cell nucleus.
|-
| {{w|Seed}}s
| Plant embryos used for reproduction.
| Yes
| No
| Seeds are used for other things in animals, but they are not generally found in cells.
|-
| {{w|Slime}}
| A moist, soft, and slippery substance.
| Yes
| Conceivably
| Could refer to the texture and appearance of {{w|cytoplasm}}, but not specific to cells.
|-
| {{w|Smooth endoplasmic reticulum}}
| A network of tubular membranes within the cytoplasm of the cell, involved in the transport of materials.
| Yes
| Yes
| A standard term for the smooth [ie, not ribosome-covered] portion of the endoplasmic reticulum. Normally the endoplasmic reticulum would wrap around the cell nucleus.
|-
| Sticky endoplasmic reticulum
| Not a real term.
| No
| No
| Another humorous twist on the actual types of endoplasmic reticulum.
|-
| {{w|Ventricle}}
| A chamber of the heart that pumps blood out.
| Yes
| No
| Ventricles are actually part of the body, and they are composed of many cells. Possibly a pun on vesicle (or vacuole), a small membrane-enclosed vessel, such as the transport vesicles that carry polypeptides from the rough endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus for processing.
|-
| {{w|Vitreous humour}}
| The clear gel that fills the space between the lens and the retina in the eyeball.
| Yes
| No
| The vitreous humor is in eyes, not cells.
|-
| Weak spot
| A vulnerable point.
| Yes
| Conceivably
| Cell membrane surfaces do indeed vary in strength, often due to the presence of organelles such as {{w|ion channel pore}}s or {{w|porosome}} ducts, both of which can be leveraged by viruses to enter cells.
|}

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

Cell Organelles

[A cell is shown with the following structures and areas labeled, counter-clockwise from upper left then down the middle (with the last five labels being inside the cell):]

* Smooth endoplasmic reticulum
* Lithosphere
* O-Ring
* Pith
* Nucleus
* Nucleolus
* Nucleoloulous
* Nucleons
* Drain plug
* Evil endoplasmic reticulum
* Hypoallergenic filling
* Weak spot
* Mitochondria
* Midichlorians
* Chloroplasts if you're lucky
* Human skin
* Carbonation
* Golgi
* Golgi apparatus
* Norton AntiVirus
* Sticky endoplasmic reticulum
* Pleiades
* Natural flavor
* Cellophane
* Rough endoplasmic reticulum
* Ventricle
* Mantle
* Slime
* Vitreous humour
* Seeds

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Biology]]

UniXKCD

2024-05-22T15:32:32Z

Usb-rave: /* Undocumented commands */ added joke citation needed

{{TOC}}On April Fools' Day in 2010, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] altered [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] to mimic a {{w|Unix}} command line interface. This interface is still available on [https://uni.xkcd.com uni.xkcd.com] and the source code is [https://github.com/chromakode/xkcdfools available on GitHub]. The comic [[721: Flatland]], which was released on March 31, 2010, was still up on April 1st, 2010, but had in itself nothing to do with the Unix interface. This Unix interface is thus in itself not one of Randall's [[:Category: April fools' comics|April fools' comics]]. The terminal only lists a few available commands, but most commands are undocumented.

==Documented commands==
* <code>next</code> shows the next comic. It shows the error "Time travel mode not enabled" on the last comic (see <code>enable time travel</code>).
* <code>prev</code> shows the previous comic.
* <code>first</code> shows the first comic.
* <code>last</code> shows the last comic.
* <code>display [number]</code> shows the comic with the specified number. (Trying to display comic [[404: Not Found|404]] will result in an endless loading attempt.)
* <code>random</code> shows a random comic.
* <code>ls</code> shows the content of the current directory.
* <code>cat [filename]</code> shows the content of the file, or "You're a kitty!" if [filename] is left blank.
* <code>cd [directory]</code> changes to the specified directory.

==Undocumented commands==
* <code>:(){:|:&};:</code> This command, otherwise known as a [https://askubuntu.com/questions/159491/why-did-the-command-make-my-system-lag-so-badly-i-had-to-reboot shell fork bomb] will make the terminal display the <code>[. . .]</code> loading text indefinitely, as though it crashed.
* <code>a/s/l</code> [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=a%2Fs%2Fl A/S/L] is not a Unix command, but an acronym of Age/Sex/Location. The following replies are possible:
** "2/AMD64/Server Rack", answered as if the server replied.
** "328/M/Transylvania", answered by {{w|Dracula}}.
** "6/M/Battle School", answered by {{w|Ender Wiggin}} or another boy from battle school.
** "48/M/The White House", answered by {{w|Barack Obama}} or another male of the same age in the White House.
** "7/F/Rapture", answered by a {{w|Little_Sister_(BioShock)|Little Sister}} from {{w|BioShock}}.
** "Exactly your age/A gender you're attracted to/Far far away.", Requests for a/s/l are often not answered truthfully, but crafted to suit the one asking the question.
** "7,831/F/Lothlórien", answered by {{w|Galadriel}} or another elf.
** "42/M/FBI Field Office", answered by an FBI agent (referencing the old [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet trope] that all girls on the internet are FBI agents impersonating them).
* <code>apt-get</code> replies "This APT has Super Cow Powers.". The <code>apt-get</code> command is part of the Debian package manager {{w|Advanced_Packaging_Tool|APT}}. This reply is one of the built-in Easter eggs.
* <code>apt-get moo</code> replies "Have you mooed today" with an ASCII cow.
* <code>asl</code> same as <code>a/s/l</code>.
* <code>bash</code> replies "You bash your head against the wall. It's not very effective.". {{w|Bash}} is a shell for POSIX-based systems.
* <code>buy stuff</code> same as <code>cd store</code>.
* <code>cat [number]/alt.txt</code> displays the title text of the specified comic.
* <code>cat</code> (without a filename, or an invalid one) will show "You're a kitty!", possibly referencing [[231: Cat Proximity]].
* <code>cheat</code> promotes the [https://store.xkcd.com/ xkcd store].
* <code>clear</code> clears the screen.
* <code>curl</code> creates an iframe to the URL specified
* <code>date</code> replies "March 32nd", which is not a real date.{{citation needed}}
* <code>dir</code> same as <code>ls</code>.
* <code>display title text</code> will print: display: unable to open image "title": No such file or directory. in red text.
* <code>echo</code> replies "Echo ... echo ... echo ...". The {{w|Echo_(command)|echo}} command is used to print text to the terminal.
* <code>ed</code> replies "You are not a diety ''[sic]''.". {{w|Ed_(text_editor)|ed}} is a very simple text editor. It is usually not considered very user-friendly (see also <code>vi</code> and <code>emacs</code>).
* <code>emacs</code> replies "You should use Vim.". References [[378: Real Programmers]].
* <code>enable time travel</code> replies "TARDIS error: Time Lord missing.". A {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. See also the <code>next</code> command.
* <code>exit</code> will end the terminal session.
* <code>find kitten</code> showed the {{w|robotfindskitten}} game (the link to the Flash version no longer works, but an HTML version is available [http://robotfindskitten.org/play/robotfindskitten/ here]).
* <code>find</code> replies "What do you want to find? Kitten would be nice.".
* <code>finger</code> replies "Mmmmmm...". <code>finger USER</code> is used on UNIX-like systems to get information about another USER (here, Randall is taking advantage of its suggestive name... pardon the pun).
* <code>fuck</code> replies "I have a headache.".
* <code>goto [any]</code> shows comic [[292: goto]] and asks if you meant <code>display</code> instead.
* <code>go back</code> replies "You cannot go back."
* <code>go down</code> replies "On our first date?"
* <code>halp</code> same as <code>help</code>.
* <code> Hello Joshua </code> replies "How about a nice game of Global Thermonuclear War?". A reference to the {{w|WarGames}} movie.
* <code>hello</code> replies "Hello.". A second reply "Why hello there!" is coded, but it is never used.
* <code>help</code> says "That would be cheating!".
* <code>hi</code> replies "Hi.".
* <code>hint</code> randomly replies "We offer some nice polos.", "This terminal will remain available at xkcd.com/unixkcd/", "Use the source, Luke!" or "There are cheat codes.".
* <code>i read the source code</code> replies "<3".
* <code>irc [nick]</code> starts an {{w|IRC}} session on the xkcd channel on irc.foonetic.net.
* <code>kill</code> replies "Terminator deployed to 1984.". A reference to the {{w|The_Terminator|Terminator}} movie. In Bash, <code>kill</code> is used to end a process.
* <code>latest</code> displays the latest comic.
* <code>locate [filename]</code> is normally used to locate a file in a directory. It will give humorous results when searching for <code>ninja</code>, <code>keys</code>, <code>joke</code>, <code>problem</code> and <code>raptor</code>.
* <code>logout</code> same as <code>exit</code>.
* <code>lpr</code> replies "PC LOAD LETTER". {{w|Line_Printer_Daemon_protocol|lpr}} is a command to print documents. {{w|PC_LOAD_LETTER}} is a printer error.
* <code>make love</code> replies "I put on my robe and wizard hat.". A reference to this [http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/bloodninja roleplay chat transscript] (NSFW), also mentioned in [[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]]. <code>make love</code> is a standard Unix joke, because the reply is "make: don't know how to make love.".
* <code>make me a sandwich</code> behaves like [[149: Sandwich]].
* <code>man [command]</code> show unhelpful information about the command (only <code>last</code>, <code>help</code>, <code>next</code>, <code>cat</code> or no command are supported).
* <code>moo</code> replies "moo".
* <code>more</code> replies "Oh, yes! More! More!". The {{w|More_(command)|more}} command is used to paginate output.
* <code>nano</code> replies "Seriously? Why don't you just use Notepad.exe? Or MS Paint?". {{w|GNU_nano|Nano}} is another text editor for Unix systems (see <code>vi</code> and <code>emacs</code>).
* <code>ping</code> replies "There is another submarine three miles ahead, bearing 225, forty fathoms down.". The {{w|Ping_(networking_utility)|ping}} command is used to measure round trip times to a destination. The name does indeed originate from {{w|sonar}} technology.
* <code>pwd</code> replies "You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike.". The {{w|pwd}} command prints the current working directory (see <code>look</code>). The output is a reference to {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}.
* <code>poweroff</code> same as <code>shutdown</code>.
* <code>quit</code> same as <code>exit</code>.
* <code> Reddit [number]</code> shows the [https://www.reddit.com/ Reddit] voting bar for the specified comic (or xkcd when no number is specified).
* <code>rm [filename]</code> will "remove" a file, while <code>rm -r</code> will remove a directory. (<code>sudo rm -rf /</code> will break all commands until the page is reloaded.)
* <code>serenity</code> replies "You can't take the sky from me.". This is a line from the Balad of Serenity from the {{w|Firefly_(TV_series)|Firefly}} TV series. Serenity is also the name of an Operating System (that Randall probably wasn't thinking of): [https://www.serenityos.org/ SerenityOS].
* <code>shutdown</code> replies "Must be root.". See also <code>sudo poweroff</code>.
* <code>ssh</code> replies "ssh, this is a library.". {{w|Secure_Shell|ssh}} is the command to start a secure shell, but it also resembles the "{{w|Shh}}" sound.
* <code>su</code> replies "God mode activated. Remember, with great power comes great ... aw, screw it, go have fun.". The {{w|Su_(Unix)|su}} command is used to log in as an upper user, which gives you full and potentially dangerous access to the system. On some systems, "with great power comes great responsibility" is also part of a message that is printed the first time <code>sudo</code> is used.
* <code>sudo [command]</code> executes the command with {{w|Superuser|root}} privileges.
* <code>sudo apt-get dist-upgrade</code> Returns "You are already running [OS].".
* <code>sudo apt-get moo</code> replies "Have you mooed today?" (apt-get Easter egg).
* <code>sudo apt-get update</code> Refreshes the package list so the system knows which updates are available.
* <code>sudo apt-get upgrade</code> shows a link to [http://abetterbrowser.org/ A Better Browser] on Internet Explorer and Firefox (< v3). On all other browsers, it doesn't complain.
* <code>sudo make me a sandwich</code> behave like [[149: Sandwich]].
* <code>sudo !!</code> will sudo the last command.
* <code>sudo poweroff</code> will shutdown the system.
* <code>sudo reboot</code> will restart the system.
* <code>sudo restart</code> same as <code>sudo reboot</code>.
* <code>sudo shutdown</code> same as <code>sudo poweroff</code>.
* <code>sudo sudo</code> will print An internal error occurred: RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded in red text.
* <code>time travel</code> displays [[630: Time Travel]].
* <code>top</code> replies "It's up there --^". The {{w|Top_(software)|top}} command shows a table of processes. Here it is taken literally.
* <code>uname</code> replies "Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator". <code>uname</code> on Unix lists system information. The Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator is an explosive device created by Marvin the Martian in the {{w|Looney Tunes}} series.
* <code>unixkcd</code> opens a new terminal window.
* <code>use the force luke</code> replies "I believe you mean source.". A reference to the {{w|The_Force_(Star_Wars)|Force}} in the {{w|Star Wars}} franchise.
* <code>use the source luke</code> replies "I'm not luke, you're luke!", an old programmers' joke.
* <code>vi</code> reply "You should use emacs.". References [[378: Real Programmers]].
* <code>vim</code> same as <code>vi</code>.
* <code>wget [url]</code> shows the content of the specified url. The {{w|wget}} command on Unix will download the content and not show it.
* <code>who</code> replies "Doctor Who?". Another {{w|Doctor Who}} reference. The <code>who</code> command on Unix lists the logged-in users.
* <code> Whoami </code> replies "You are Richard Stallman.". The {{w|whoami}} command lists the name of the current user. Richard Stallman is the creator of the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation.
* <code>write [nick]</code> same as <code>irc</code>.
* <code>xkcd</code> replies "Yes?".
* <code>xyzzy</code> replies "Nothing happens.". {{w|Xyzzy_(computing)|xyzzy}} is a magic word, originally used in the game {{w|Colossal Cave Adventure}}.
* <code>your gay</code> replies "Keep your hands off it!".
* <code>!!</code> reruns the previous command after stating the command.

===Game commands===
* There are also some other commands borrowed from a {{w|Zork}} like {{w|Text-based game|text based adventure game}}.
* <code>look</code> describes your current surroundings.
* <code>go [direction]</code> moves you in the specified direction.
* <code>light lamp</code> lights your lamp.
* <code>sleep [seconds]</code> sleeps for the specified time. Without specifying, the nap is 5 seconds.
* You will be killed by a {{w|Grue (monster)|grue}} if you don't light your lamp when going south. Going West repeatedly will list the refrain from the song {{w|Go West (song)|Go West}}.

===Konami code===
[[File:Konami code.png|300px|thumb|The image used as the background after using the Konami code five times.]]
The terminal also responds to the {{w|Konami code}} Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A. Entering this code repeatedly will, in order:
# Transform all characters to uppercase
# Add a greatest shadow
# Add an orange text-shadow
# Shake the screen
# Add a background image of [[Richard Stallman]] from [[345: 1337: Part 5]].

[[Category:April fools' comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]
[[Category:Computers]]

Template:distinguish

2024-05-22T15:17:33Z

Usb-rave: nowrap links

<onlyinclude>''Not to be confused with {{nowrap|[[{{{1}}}]]}}{{#if:{{{2|}}}| or {{nowrap|[[{{{2}}}]]}}|}}.''</onlyinclude>

To use this template to distinguish two similarly-named pages, place <code><nowiki>{{distinguish|page}}</nowiki></code> at the top of a page.

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{{distinguish|Template:disambig}}

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{{distinguish|Template:disambig|Template:diff}}

1195: Flowchart

2024-05-22T15:13:42Z

Usb-rave: added disambig

{{disambig|518: Flow Charts|1488: Flowcharts}}
{{comic
| number = 1195
| date = April 5, 2013
| title = Flowchart
| image = flowchart.png
| titletext = The way out is to use the marker you have to add a box that says 'get a marker' to the line between you and 'start', then add a 'no' line from the trap box to 'end'.
}}

== Explanation ==
{{w|Flowcharts}} are diagrams used to show the logical flow of an {{w|algorithm}}, process, or program. Flowcharts are a [[:Category:Flowcharts|recurring theme]] in [[xkcd]]. In this comic, [[Randall]] uses the fact that flowcharts can indeed be used to show a loop in the procedure: in this case, the reader will theoretically become trapped in a loop of reading the text in the diamond, following the line marked "YES," and ending back up in the diamond. Those familiar with flowcharts will notice though that, while diamonds usually contain decision questions (which can be answered multiple ways), the diamond here actually includes a statement instead.

The title text contains a suggested solution to the loop: the way to escape the loop is to use a marker and add an additional "NO" arrow proceeding from the diamond to a rounded box labelled "END" before you start the algorithm at "START." This suggests that the decision question in the diamond could more properly be phrased as "Is this flowchart a trap?" However, to follow this suggestion, you would need to actually have the marker that you are about to write instructions to go get. Thus, you must also add the instruction "get a marker" somewhere before the flowchart actually begins (before "START"), so that you actually have the marker by the time you get to the flowchart in the comic. And since you did not have a marker and could thus not write this way out, you are still trapped!

Of course, the reader could disregard the algorithm, but this would break the conventions of following the flowchart. This is perhaps part the comic's purpose - to suggest that a problem cannot be solved from within the confines of its own conventions.

Randall has made use of [[:Category:Flowcharts|flowcharts]] before, and previously released another comic named [[518: Flow Charts]].

== Transcript ==
:[A flow chart is shown with two boxes and two arrows. The first box rectangular:]
:Start

:[From the first box there is a short arrow straight down to a diamond shaped box:]
:Hey, wait, this flowchart is a trap!

:[An arrow continues down below from the bottom corner of the diamond box, where there is labeled, and quickly it turns left (in the direction of the arrow), going out under the diamond and then turns left two more times to end up on the right corner of the same box where the arrow points back again.]
:Yes

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics sharing name|Flowcharts02]]
[[Category:Flowcharts]]

518: Flow Charts

2024-05-22T15:10:38Z

Usb-rave: added second disambig page

{{distinguish|1195: Flowchart|1488: Flowcharts}}
{{comic
| number = 518
| date = December 17, 2008
| title = Flow Charts
| image = flow_charts.png
| titletext = At 8 drinks, you switch the torrent from FreeBSD to Microsoft Bob. C'mon, it'll be fun!
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Flowchart|Flowcharts}} are diagrams that represent processes in a graphical form. While predominantly used in {{w|computer programming}} to visualize the structure of source code, flowcharts can in theory be used to depict any real or virtual procedure. In this comic, this idea is subverted by employing a flowchart to explain how flowcharts work. Flowcharts are a [[:Category:Flowcharts|recurring theme]] on xkcd.

This seems like a faulty basis for explaining anything, but the basic functionality of flowcharts is quite intuitive, and the attempted self-description is almost unnecessary. In fact, the comic does not actually explain how to use the flowchart: it just uses an example of a very simple flowchart to demonstrate to the reader that they can easily work out how to follow it. If the reader attempts to "game" the system by either giving contradictory answers, or refusing to acknowledge that they can see the "Yes" and "No" labels, the flowchart gets confused or becomes abusive. <strike>Just like a real computer.</strike>

If you confirm or demonstrate that you can follow the flowchart, it inevitably leads to the "Let's go drink" box, which gives rise to the assumption that the whole chart was only a pretense for drinking.

{{w|FreeBSD}} is a {{w|unixoid}} operating system for computers that is generally considered to require advanced skills. The question whether {{w|Linux|GNU/Linux}} or (Free)BSD is the preferable operating system is a question of almost religious belief to some. The comic takes a shot against FreeBSD by implying that one would only decide to install it when under the influence of alcohol. This may also be a reference to [[349: Success]].

The title text mentions {{w|Microsoft Bob}}, a software package published in 1995 by {{w|Microsoft}}. The product was targeted towards beginners, and Microsoft decided to use a cartoon-style interface instead of a more 'professional' environment. It was a commercial failure, and still serves as an inside joke among IT professionals.

"Torrent" refers to {{w|BitTorrent}}, a peer-to-peer filesharing protocol that is often used to share large files, such as the files for an operating system, via the internet. BitTorrent allows users to, rather than downloading whole files from a central server, download small pieces from each of many "peers" who are downloading the same file concurrently. In the title-text, the reader initially torrents the FreeBSD operating system in order to install it. The reference to "switching the torrent" suggests that if you were even more drunk than you would need to be to download FreeBSD, you would start downloading Microsoft Bob instead.

In ''[[xkcd: volume 0]]'', there is an extra step, from installing FreeBSD to "more drinking".

==Transcript==
:[A flow chart is shown beneath a caption. There are 14 boxes, five rhombus shaped and the rest rectangular. From all the rhombus boxes there are one arrow entering and two arrows leaving (with yes/no labels on them). One of the other boxes is the start with only one arrow leaving, and three of these boxes are endings with only one arrow entering. Three have two arrows entering and one leaving. And two have one in and one out. Caption:]
:A guide to
:<big>understanding flow charts</big>
:presented in flow chart form.

:Box 0: Start
::[Arrow to Box 1.]
:Box 1: Do you understand flow charts?
::[Arrow to Box 2.] Yes
::[Arrow to Box 4.] No
:Box 2: Good
::[Arrow to Box 3.] Yes
:Box 3: Let's go drink.
::[Arrow to Final Box.] 6 Drinks
:Box 4: Okay. You see the line labeled "Yes"?
::[Arrow to Box 6.] Yes
::[Arrow to Box 5.] No
:Box 5: But you see the ones labeled "No".
::[Arrow to End-Box 1.] Yes
::[Arrow to End-Box 2a.] No
:End-Box 1: Wait, what?
::[No Arrows.]
:End-Box 2a: Listen.
::[Arrow to End-Box 2b.]
:End-Box 2b: I hate you.
::[No Arrows.]
:Box 6: ...and you can see the ones labeled "No"?
::[Arrow to Box 2.] Yes
::[Arrow to Box 7.] No
:Box 7: But you just followed them twice!
::[Arrow to Box 8a.] Yes
::[Arrow to Box 8a.] No
:Box 8a: (That wasn't a question.)
::[Arrow to Box 8b.]
:Box 8b: Screw it.
::[Arrow to Box 3.]
:Final Box: Hey I should try installing FreeBSD!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics sharing name|Flowcharts01]]
[[Category:Flowcharts]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:BSD]]

1488: Flowcharts

2024-05-22T15:09:44Z

Usb-rave: added second disambig page

{{distinguish|518: Flow Charts|1195: Flowchart}}
{{comic
| number = 1488
| date = February 18, 2015
| title = Flowcharts
| image = flowcharts.png
| titletext = Whoa, and if you overlay a Fibonacci spiral on a golden spiral it matches up almost perfectly!
}}
*The comic is a link to [https://xkcd.com/spiral/].
*The arrow at the bottom of this comic points to the "Random" button at the bottom of the xkcd page.

==Explanation==
'''Note''': A flawed version of this comic was posted at first and then quickly a correct version was uploaded. But this gave rise to several misunderstandings and confusion. See the [[#Trivia|Trivia]] section below.

This comic is a {{w|flowchart}} style, like many [[Category:Flowcharts|other comics]]. Interestingly, the first option, ''Do you like flowcharts?'' loops back to itself if you say ''Yes''. As the yes lines of other options point to the type of graph they describe (for example, the yes line of ''Do you like line graphs?'' points to a line graph), this may be interpreted as a recursive reference to the flowchart itself, although it points to the option itself rather than the ''START'' node. Also, this may cause the reader who actually likes flow charts to go into an endless loop of choosing ''Yes'', until they are so annoyed by flowcharts that they do not like them anymore and can progress by saying ''No''.

After asking about flowcharts, the reader is asked whether they like {{w|line graph|line graphs}}. If they follow the yes line, it becomes a line graph where "Time" is the x-axis and "Your Happiness" is the y-axis, and shows that your happiness increases with time. If you don't like line graphs, they are asked the same question about {{w|scatter plots}} where again the lines turn into the points and the axis of such a plot.

Taking yet another line, the reader is asked "Charge a battery?" If they follow the line marked yes they are asked whether they are {{w|Alternating current|A/C}} or {{w|Direct current|D/C}} current and are led to a portion of the flowchart which resembles a {{w|circuit diagram}} of a {{w|rectifier bridge}} with a battery connected to it.

If the reader follows the "no" line, they are asked if they like spirals. If they choose "no" they are asked whether they would take the {{w|path of least resistance}}. This part of the flowchart resembles a circuit diagram, and the word "{{w|resistance}}" is a pun because resistance can have several meanings. In electricity it is an electrical quantity that measures how the device or material impedes the electric current flow through it. Going left is the "Never" option, which goes through extra resistors and a diode, therefore making the "Yes" option the "path of least resistance". However, when asked if you choose the path of least resistance and answers ''never'' it could also mean that you do not try to avoid a little trouble.

Whether they choose "Yes" or "No", they arrive at "Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?" If they choose "yes" the line fades into a drawing of a golden spiral, and we see that the flowchart is structured around it. If they choose "no" they are asked if they are tired of flowcharts. If not, they are taken to the beginning to start over again. If they are tired, the line points to the "random" button on the xkcd website.

The title text and the faint image of a {{w|golden spiral}} parody the fact that the golden spiral is superimposed on nearly ''everything''. The golden spiral is a spiral that has the growth rate of the golden ratio, a number that has inspired both artists and mathematicians alike. However, people try to find the golden ratio in seemingly random objects, and they fall to confirmation bias when drawing a golden spiral on top that seemingly fits. The comic links to [https://xkcd.com/spiral/], where one can see exactly that- golden spirals Randall "found" in random photographs. This may be a spoof of the viral video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPCkcKNUVoo Illuminati Confirmed]. The limit of the ratio of two consecutive terms of the Fibonacci sequence is equal to the golden ratio, so a Fibonacci spiral match up almost perfectly for a good reason, unlike the coincidental matchings of the pictures in the mobile site link.

This comic bears reminiscence of [[730: Circuit Diagram]], although it is not exactly the same idea. Putting a golden spiral over other things was again used in [[2322: ISO Paper Size Golden Spiral]], like the [https://xkcd.com/spiral/ spiral] page on xkcd which this comic is a link to.

===List of Items in Flowchart===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Text in boxes
! Explanation
! Successor(s)
! Predecessor(s)
|-
| Start
| Start here
| Do you like flowcharts?
| Tired of flowcharts yet?
|-
| Do you like flowcharts?
| Asking whether or not the reader likes flow charts. Recursively returns to itself until the reader is annoyed enough to not like flowcharts and can move on to the next point.
| Do you like flowcharts?, Do you like line graphs?
| Start, Do you like flowcharts?
|-
| Do you like line graphs?
| It asks if you like {{w|line graph|line graphs}}
| Line or axis? [The one after yes to line graphs], Scatter plots?
| Do you like flowcharts?
|-
| Line or axis? [The one after yes to line graphs]
| It is asking if you wish to be the Line or the axis. If you choose the line, the flow chart line turns into a line graph with a positive curve. The same question will be asked later if you say no to line graphs and yes to scatter plots.
| [A line in a line graph], Time or your happiness?
| Do you like line graphs?
|-
| Time or your happiness?
| If you choose ''time'' the flow chart line becomes the x-axis of time and if you choose ''your happiness'' it becomes the y-axis in the line graph with the line from before indicating that your happiness increases over time (maybe because you like line graphs and are now becoming part of one?)
| [Time axis], [Your Happiness axis]
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to line graphs]
|-
| Scatter plots?
| If you don't like line graphs then maybe you like {{w|scatterplot|scatter plots}}?
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to scatter plots], Help charge a battery?
| Do you like line graphs?
|-
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to scatter plots]
| It is asking if you wish to be the data or the axis. If you choose the data, the flow chart line turns into a scatter plot that is also a flowchart where each of the 10 flow chart boxes is black with two white arrow, one pointing up and the other to the right. They are all connected with multiple connections. The same question was asked earlier if you said yes to line graphs.
| [A flow chart that looks like points in a scatter plot], X of Y?
| Scatter plots?
|-
| X or Y?
| Which axis do you prefer? The line you chooses turns in to this axis in the scatter plot.
| [X axis], [Y axis]
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to scatter plots]
|-
| Help charge a battery?
| From here on the flowchart is at the beginning of morphing into a circuit diagram.
| Like spirals?, Are you A/C or D/C?
| Scatter plots?
|-
| Are you A/C or D/C?,
| Asks whether you are an {{w|AC current}} or a {{w|DC current}}.
| Positive or negative phase?, positive or negative DC terminal?
| Help charging a battery?
|-
| Positive or negative phase?
| Conventional current will flow forwards during the positive phase of AC current, whereas in the negative phase the forwards directions matches the actual flow of electrons (see [[567: Urgent Mission]]).
| Positive or negative DC terminal? [To either side of this box]
| Are you A/C or D/C?
|-
| Positive or negative DC terminal?
| This box looks like a {{w|rectifier bridge}}, which is used to convert AC to DC. The single output leads to a battery which is joined in a circuit to the bottom of the rectifier bridge.
| Battery [plus or minus]
| Positive or negative phase?
|-
| Like spirals?
| Well, do you? If you do you instantly go to the question of golden spirals. If not, you take a detour.
| Take the path of least resistance?, Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Help charge a battery?
|-
| Take the path of least resistance?
| This one is a pun. If resistance is seen as electrical resistance, then the bottom one labeled ''yes'' is the one with least resistance. The other labeled "Never" sends you through ''more'' resistance, and a 'protective' diode. But in either case you are lead to the same decision box. Also the resistors could look like spirals - making this detour for those who dislike these even more painful.
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Like spirals?
|-
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Here is a question regarding if you like the idea that some people can find and superimpose a {{w|golden spiral}} on a random image. No matter which options you choose you are forced to admit that it is totally BS ({{w|bullshit}}). But maybe you like it anyway? If you choose the ''Yes, even though it's total BS'' option the flow chart continues to the side of the chart, then starts to spiral up only to fades out to a very faint golden spiral aligned to the other items in the flow chart. It is almost impossible to see it before you follow this line. The other option is of course ''No, it's total BS''. If you do like it, then click on the [https://www.xkcd.com/1488/ comic on xkcd].
| Tired of flowcharts yet?, [A very faint golden spiral]
| Like spirals?, Take the path of least resistance?
|-
| Tired of flowcharts yet?
| Have you had enough of flow chart? If not, then you are returned to the ''start'' box at the top of the chart. Maybe you have not tried all options yet, although you have already answered that you are tired of flow charts if you get this far. If you have had enough and answers ''Yes, I want to look at something else'' this option leads to the random comic button below the comic (only on xkcd). This decision ''literally'' breaks the fourth wall in traveling through the image's nominal boundary to point at a specific button to look at some other comic.
| Start, [The xkcd [https://c.xkcd.com/random/comic/ Random] comic button]
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
|}

==Transcript==
:[A flow chart. The first option the start box is white text on a black rectangle. The other boxes are rhombuses standing on edge. Except for the first there are always two options going out. Most only have one option coming in, but there are exceptions with two options going in.]
:Start
:[One arrow points to the first real choice.]
:[Below the text on the two options going out from each option will be indented. The top of these two options will be the one to be mentioned first below. Then the chart will be mapped like this going back to the previous unfinished option.]
:Do you like flowcharts?
::Yes
::No
:[Yes goes back where it came from.]
:Do you like line graphs?
::Yes
::No
:Line or axis?
::Line
::Axis
:[The line is just a line – but now as the line in a line graph.]
:Time or your happiness?
::Time
::Your happiness
:[These two lines turn into the x and y axis of the line graph.]
:Scatter plots?
::Yes
::No
:Data or axis?
::Data
::Axis
:[The data line turns into the points in a scatter plot.]
:X or Y?
::X
::Y
:[These two lines turn into the x and y axis of the scatter plot.]
:Help charge a battery?
::Yes
::No
:Are you A/C or D/C?,
::A/C
::D/C
:Positive or negative phase?
::+
::-
:[The D/C option also goes to this next option, but directly. This next rhombus looks like a part of a circuit diagram.]
:Positive or negative DC terminal?
::+
::-
:[These two lines goes to the + and – poles of a battery.]
:Like spirals?
::No
::Yes
:Take the path of least resistance?
::Never
::Yes
:[Never goes through two resistors and a diode before reaching the point of the Yes option, which then also goes though yet another resistor. Both thus end at the same option, which is also the one that Yes to like Spirals ends up at:]
:Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
::Yes, even though it's total BS.
::No, it's total BS.
:[Yes option takes the chart into a fading line that turns into a golden spiral spanning the whole chart.]
:Tired of flowcharts yet?
::No
::Yes, I want to look at something else
:[No takes you back to the start box at the top.]
:[Yes takes you out of the comic and points to the Random button at xkcd.]

==Trivia==
*A corrected version of the comic was uploaded later on the same day.
**This is the second time in February 2015 this has occurred; previously with [[1482: NowPlaying]].
*It appears that an unfinished version of the comic was uploaded, with several of the lines and labels missing, and the bridge circuit incorrectly drawn.
*This [[Media:OriginalFlowcharts.png|original]] comic can be seen on the link.
*The errors were:
**Missing yes/no at the line graph options.
**The diamond that points to the line in the line graph originally says "Data or axis?"
**Missing yes/no at the scatter plot options and missing the line for the yes option going to the second Data axis.
**Missing yes at charge a battery options.
**Missing DC from the AC or DC options and missing the line for the DC option going to the terminal.
**Missing the arrow pointing to the terminal from the "-" option of the phase.
**Missing +/- at terminal option and missing the line going from the negative pole of the battery to the terminal.
**The terminal, which is a rectifier bridge, had both diodes drawn in the wrong direction on the left side of the decision box.
**There was a + floating between the phase and terminal option. This was deleted.
**Missing yes at the spiral options.
**Missing yes/never! at the least resistance options. Also the arrow pointing to the next option was missing.
*The comic has reference to charging a battery, and was posted on the 270th birthday of Alessandro Volta, the original creator of the battery. This could, however, have been a coincidence.
*Later after the initial release of this comic Randall added a link to this page. It's viewable in the HTML-source or here: [https://xkcd.com/1488/info.0.json https://xkcd.com/1488/info.0.json]. The text is: ''"This is a gods-damned flowchart, huge surprise. a transcription and explanation and other things available on an external site http:\n\nwww.explainxkcd.com\nwiki\nindex.php\n1488 ]]\nhttp:\n\nwww.explainxkcd.com\nwiki\nindex.php\n148"''.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics sharing name|Flowcharts03]]
[[Category:Flowcharts]]
[[Category:Scatter plots]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Puns]]

Template:distinguish

2024-05-20T23:23:12Z

Usb-rave: improved template and documentation

<onlyinclude>''Not to be confused with [[{{{1}}}]]{{#if:{{{2|}}}| or [[{{{2}}}]]|}}.''</onlyinclude>

To use this template to distinguish two similarly-named pages, place <code><nowiki>{{distinguish|page}}</nowiki></code> at the top of a page.

For example:

<code><nowiki>{{distinguish|Template:disambig}}</nowiki></code>

{{distinguish|Template:disambig}}

You can also use two parameters to link to two other pages:

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{{distinguish|Template:disambig|Template:diff}}