explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Category:Software updates

2025-08-05T14:48:46Z

Waldir: Created page with "Category:Computers"

[[Category:Computers]]

2224: Software Updates

2025-08-05T14:48:20Z

Waldir:

{{comic
| number = 2224
| date = November 4, 2019
| title = Software Updates
| image = software_updates.png
| titletext = Everything is a cloud application; the ping times just vary a lot.
}}

==Explanation==
As time passes, upgrades to most products are inevitable, with software being no exception.

However, as many updates create multiple versions, support for all of them can become a bit of a hassle for the company that creates them, so old versions frequently become unsupported after some years, or in some cases even months, of their releases.

{{w|Software as a Service}} (SaaS) is a software licensing and delivery model in which software runs on the vendor's computers (servers), accessed by customers remotely. The software is said to run "in the cloud" as "cloud applications". Customers purchase subscription licenses. Since the only copy of the software is that which the vendor runs on their own computers, all customers use the one latest version of the software, which is upgraded whenever the vendor chooses to.

The benefits of SaaS is that the customer mostly does not have to worry about whether their machine is able to run the software, and both the vendor and customer only have to concern with managing one version instead of being familiar with multiple ones. The downside of SaaS, however, is that if the vendor alters or removes a feature that the customer prefers or requires, or introduces a bug, the customer has no ability to remain with an older version, losing a feature of the software that they depend on, or get impacted by a new bug that is introduced by an upgrade to the software with no ability to run the older version.

This downside of SaaS is frequently pointed out by skeptics of SaaS, who like to argue that the traditional purchase model allows the consumer to theoretically able to operate that version indefinitely; there is no obligation to pay ongoing fees or to upgrade to later versions. Indeed, some users do stay on old editions because of unfavorable changes in the newer versions, which is not something SaaS customers can do.

Randall argues that in reality, though, because even these traditional pieces of software have versions and are equally susceptible to having a feature axed by the developer, as well as the problems of running increasingly old software - mainly concering bugs and later-discovered security vulnerabilities that would only be patched via upgrades, the practical upshot of these trends is that it's rarely plausible to buy a single copy of software and continue to run it indefinitely. Almost all consumers who continue to use a particular piece of software will eventually need to upgrade to and pay for new versions. While this isn't precisely the same as paying regular licensing fees and running software that automatically updates, it's an effectively similar model. In that sense, "All software is Software as a Service".

The title text refers to a different aspect of cloud applications. Since they run "in the cloud" on remote computers, they are subject to the limitations of network speed to the servers. The time for data to be sent to a server and a response to be received back is called the "ping time".

Since a "cloud server" is just a computer, there is no fundamental difference between software running remotely and software running locally on a user's computer. The biggest difference is that software running locally will respond almost instantly to user input, whereas software running remotely may take longer to respond, since the data first needs to be sent over a network (the internet), processed, and then sent back to the user's computer. In addition, the chance of data loss (packet loss) may cause the response to be even slower, as data has to be re-sent, or often result in no response at all. Hence, in practice, this can have an enormous impact on the experience of using remote software vs software that runs locally (as anyone who has tried online gaming on a laggy server can attest).

However, technically speaking, there is a nonzero time taken for the data to travel from the user's keyboard onto the computer, across the various circuitry, and back to the monitor. Hence there is a "ping" time even for a local computer (in fact, many "gaming" monitors advertise low input lag, in the order of 1-5 milliseconds, as a feature). Therefore, you could technically say that all applications are cloud applications, just that some (local computers) have very fast ping times whereas for others (servers on another continent) it may be quite slow.

This ignores the fact that being a "cloud application" implies that it runs on a server in a remote location. The joke is similar to the one that claims everyone commutes to work - including those that "work from home" - but their commute times just vary a lot. For example, consider the "commute" from your bedroom to your home office.

==Transcript==
:[A graph with two axes. Over and right of the axes are two labeled arrows pointing along the two axes:]
:X-axis: Time
:Y-axis: Software Version Number

:[The graph consists of three lines. Two gray lines moves in upwards step from left to right. The upper line begins a bit up the Y-axis, the bottom line begins somewhat down the X-axis. From there both lines move upwards in steps of different height. The distance between them stays on average about the same for the entire graph, but moves from bottom to top of the graph. Labeled arrows point to the top and the bottom gray line. The area between them is shaded light gray and has a gray label written in the middle. The third line is black. It begins from a dot just under the second step in the upper gray line. This line also makes steps, keeping close to the upper line, although it makes fewer steps than that line. But a bit over halfway to the top, it stops stepping, staying on the same level for the rest of the graph; thus eventually it falls outside of the light gray area between the other two lines, where it had been until the bottom line stepped above it. This black line is also labeled, with normal black text written beneath the first full step inside the gray area. There is one other point labeled on the black line: a dot just after the final step, under the next large step in the upper gray line. At the end of the black line there are question marks with an arrow beneath pointing right. The arrow has a label to the left.]
:Upper gray line: Newest Version
:Bottom gray line: Oldest Supported Version
:Light gray area: Support Zone
:Black line: My current version
:Start dot: First Install
:Second dot: An update finally breaks a feature I'm unwilling to lose
:End of black line: ???
:Arrow label: The Abyss

:[Caption below the chart]:
:All software is Software as a Service.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Timelines]]
[[Category:Software updates]]

1172: Workflow

2025-08-05T14:48:14Z

Waldir:

{{comic
| number = 1172
| date = February 11, 2013
| title = Workflow
| image = workflow.png
| titletext = There are probably children out there holding down spacebar to stay warm in the winter! YOUR UPDATE MURDERS CHILDREN.
}}

==Explanation==
Users will often try to work around bugs in software, and are sometimes able to get used to having the bugs around. Some bugs are even interpreted as features and users complain when the software authors fix them. This phenomenon has been named [https://www.hyrumslaw.com/ Hyrum's law]: the law states that whatever the official feature list actually says, if a program has enough users, eventually every behavior of the program (whether intentional, unintentional, or a bug) will be relied upon by someone. A similar effect may be caused by other changes, particularly those which involve alterations of the [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1770 user interface].

This comic shows a somewhat extreme example. An unnamed application had a bug causing the CPU to overheat whenever the spacebar was held down too long. In version 10.17, this bug was fixed. Soon, LongtimeUser4 complained that they relied on the fact that the CPU overheats if the spacebar is held down. They had stumbled across this "feature" (which is, again, weirder than usual) and took advantage of it to streamline their workflow, and they wanted an option to re-enable it.

{{w|Emacs}} (name originally derived from ''E''ditor ''MAC''ro''S'') is a text editor originally written at MIT in 1976 and adopted into the GNU project in 1984. The control key sees extensive use in Emacs, and since it's hard to reach, users often remap it to Caps Lock or some other key. LongtimeUser4 fixed the problem very clumsily ("horrifying," as the admin puts it) and is annoyed that their {{w|kludge}} no longer works. The moral of the story is that you can't please everyone.

Examples of real life changes in software which, though often acclaimed by critics, caused great annoyance among the existing user base include ribbons introduced in Microsoft Office 2007 and the Start screens of both Windows 8 and Unity desktop manager bundled with Ubuntu from versions 11.10 through 17.04. In the latter case, developers included an option to use the older interface; for the rest, applications emulating old behavior were developed by third parties.

The title text makes a hyperbole to humorous effect; children will freeze to death during the winter because they won't be warmed by a rather unconventional heater. Making (or creating an illusion of) a connection between one's opinion and {{tvtropes|ThinkOfTheChildren|care for children's welfare}} is a common method of gaining public support, as such arguments are hard to deflect without sounding cruel and uncaring. "holding down spacebar to stay warm" could also be a reference to {{w|space heater}}s.

==Transcript==
:[Changelog for version 10.17 of a piece of software.]
:One change listed: "The CPU no longer overheats when you hold down the spacebar"
:Comments: LongtimeUser4 writes: This update broke my workflow! My control key is hard to reach, so I hold spacebar instead, and I configured Emacs to interpret a rapid temperature rise as "control".
:Admin writes: That's horrifying.
:LongtimeUser4 writes: Look, my setup works for me. Just add an option to reenable spacebar heating.

:Every change breaks someone's workflow.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Software updates]]
[[Category:Emacs]]

1197: All Adobe Updates

2025-08-05T14:48:05Z

Waldir:

{{comic
| number = 1197
| date = April 10, 2013
| title = All Adobe Updates
| image = all adobe updates.png
| titletext = ALERT: Some pending mandatory software updates require version 21.1.2 of the Oracle/Sun Java(tm) JDK(tm) Update Manager Runtime Environment Meta-Updater, which is not available for your platform.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic was probably a reaction to the installation service {{w|Ninite}} [http://www.reddit.com/r/techsupport/comments/1c2h0b/flash_removed_from_ninite/ removing Adobe Flash Player] from their free version the previous day.

The comic makes fun of {{w|Adobe Systems}} software that delivers new versions of Adobe products to users' computers, such as ''Adobe Updater'' (which [http://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/acrobat-reader-updater-faq-9.html replaced] ''Adobe Update Manager'') and ''Adobe Download Manager'' (which [http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/akamai-download-manager-faq.html replaced] ''Akamai''). These {{w|Patch (computing)|software increments}} might either be technical (to fix compatibility or security issues), or they might add new features that would go unnoticed. In addition, these updates are downloaded automatically by default, but the operating system might install them only if a user allows it to. The frequency of software changes (and changes in the way Adobe allows users to download new software) could result in confused users. In this case, the comic is saying that you must update the program ''before'' it can actually check for updates, something it already seems to be doing.

There is an actual message that a specific version of these updaters display:

:[http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1348/738614725_09ad7d1d90.jpg ''The Adobe Updater must update itself before it can check for updates. Would you like to update the Adobe Updater now?'']

In fact, the general necessity of such update managers has often been questioned, as they require the user to "download software in order to download other software". Other notable examples of companies who use update managers include {{w|Google}} and {{w|Sun microsystems|Sun}}/{{w|Oracle}}, with the latter being also mentioned in the title text.

The two buttons 'OK' and 'Download' are implied to have the same effect, indicating the user has no real choice. Or, alternatively, 'OK' may simply just close the dialog without taking any action, as that is common in informational popups in many pieces of software. In that case, the placement of the 'OK' button implies that it is the default action, meaning most users will just ignore the update. Given the extreme frequency and perceived lack of changes (to your average end user), this anecdotally seems to be what most people do. Statistics for the high rate of un-patched systems in the wild support the anecdotal evidence.

The title text also suggests that using update helper software which in turn must be updated bears the risk of creating a {{w|dependency hell}}.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting at a laptop with a window with a red title bar floating over his head.]
:Adobe Update
:There is an update for:
:*'''Adobe Download Manager'''
:This update will allow you to download the new updates to the Adobe Update Downloader.
:[OK] [Download]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Software updates]]

1328: Update

2025-08-05T14:48:00Z

Waldir:

{{comic
| number = 1328
| date = February 10, 2014
| title = Update
| image = update.png
| titletext = I have a bunch of things open right now.
}}

==Explanation==
When developers responsible for fixing errors on a specific {{w|Operating System|operating system}} release a patch, the operating system often asks users to restart the computer after installing. This is often done by popup window shown to users, allowing them to choose to restart immediately or to be reminded later.

Many messages from these popups emphasize the importance of installing the updates, but [[Cueball]] is just annoyed about this. Sometimes, these issues are minor and do not affect most computers using the operating system. Often other programs, not part of the operating system, ask for a reboot because the updated routine only runs after the next reboot. Regardless, reboots can take a long time — a typical user doesn't like this. The user can choose to be reminded later multiple times. Because {{w|Reboot (computing)|rebooting}} a computer takes a significant amount of time and closes any programs running, a user may delay the update repeatedly to avoid interrupting what he was doing at the time.

The comic is making two jokes simultaneously: the core comic jokes that reboots are so tedious and disruptive it would actually be preferable for a laptop to burst into flame than to go through one, while the title text suggests that the real problem is that humans are so incapable of delayed gratification and/or risk evaluation they would rather risk bodily harm and destruction of expensive hardware than suffer a minor inconvenience.

The joke uses an "exploding laptop battery" as an exaggeration for comedic effect. Most software doesn't affect hardware issues like burning
{{w|Lithium-ion battery#Safety|laptop batteries}}.{{Citation needed}} However, low-level software, such as the {{w|kernel (computing)|kernel}} or {{w|driver (software)|drivers}}, might cause hardware to misbehave.

The title text reflects the fact that many users will have multiple applications open and a reboot would require closing them. They would then have to open all their applications again after the computer has restarted. This can also refer to a browser application having multiple tabs open. This is becoming less of an issue because browsers have an option to restart the last session again after being closed, as would happen with a reboot, but many users still don't trust it to work properly.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball sits at a desk. A message is being displayed on Cueball's laptop screen.]
:'''Urgent''': Critical update available!

:[The message continues.]
:'''''Details''''': Fixes an issue that was causing random laptop electrical fires.

:(This update will require restarting your computer.)
:[Cueball clicks on ''Remind me later''.]
:''click''

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

1654: Universal Install Script

2025-08-05T14:47:27Z

Waldir: trim down categories

{{comic
| number = 1654
| date = March 11, 2016
| title = Universal Install Script
| image = universal_install_script.png
| titletext = The failures usually don't hurt anything, and if it installs several versions, it increases the chance that one of them is right. (Note: The 'yes' command and '2>/dev/null' are recommended additions.)
}}

==Explanation==
Most users of computers today are used to simple, easy installation of programs. You just download a {{w|.exe}} or a {{w|Installer_(OS_X)#Installer_package|.pkg}}, double click it, and do what it says. Sometimes you don't even have to install anything at all, and it runs without any installation.

However, when things are more "home brew", for example downloading source code, things are more complicated. Under {{w|Unix-like}} systems, which this universal install script is designed for, you may have to work with "build environments" and "{{w|makefiles}}", and command line tools. To make this process simpler, there exist repositories of programs which host either packages of source code and the things needed to build it or the pre-built programs. When you download the package, it automatically does most of the work of building the code into something executable if necessary and then installing it. However, there are many such repositories, such as "{{w|pip (package manager)|pip}}" and "brew", among others listed in the comic. If you only know the name of a program or package, you may not know in which repository or repositories it resides.

The <code>install.sh</code> file provided in the comic is a {{w|shell script}}, which attempts to fix this problem by acting as a "universal install script" that contains a lot of common install commands used in various Unix-like systems. This script in particular is interpreted by the {{w|Bourne Again Shell}} (Bash), which is denoted by the <code>#!/bin/bash</code> in the first line. In between each of the install commands in the script is the & character, which in {{w|POSIX}}-compatible {{w|Unix shell|shells}} (including {{w|Bash (Unix shell)|Bash}}, a popular shell scripting language) means it should continue to run the next command without waiting for the first command to finish, also known as "running in the background". This has the effect of running all the install commands simultaneously; all output and error text provided by them will be mixed together as they are all displaying on the screen around the same time.

The script accepts the name of a program or package as an argument when you run it. This value is then referenced as "$1" (argument number 1). Everywhere the script says "$1", it substitutes in the name of the package you gave it. The end result is the name being tried against a large number of software repositories and package managers, and (hopefully) at least one of them will be appropriate and the program will be successfully installed. Near the end, it even tries copying the source code from an online source and then runs several commands which compile/build the program.

All in all, this script would probably work; it runs many standard popular repository programs and package managers, and runs the nearly-universal commands needed to build a program. Most of the commands would simply give an error and exit, but hopefully the correct one will proceed with the install.

One of the more subtle jokes in the comic is the inclusion of <code>apt-get</code> and <code>sudo apt-get</code> in the same script. Good unix practice dictates never logging in as root; instead you stay logged in as your normal user, and run system admin accounts via <code>sudo program name</code>. This prevents accidental errors and enables logging of all sensitive commands. A side effect of this, however, is that an administrator may forget to prefix their command with <code>sudo</code>, and re-running it properly the second time. This is a common joke in the Linux community, an example of which can be found at this [https://web.archive.org/web/20220304210306/https://twitter.com/liamosaur/status/506975850596536320 viral tweet] which shows a humorous workaround for the issue.

Since Randall's script does not use sudo for any but the <code>apt-get</code> command, there are two possibilities: the script itself was run via the root user or via sudo, in which case the <code>sudo apt-get</code> is not needed, or the script was run as a normal user, in this case the commands may install a local (as opposed to system-wide) version depending on local conditions. For instance, npm will install a copy of the package under $HOME/.npm and pip would work as long as the user is working in a [https://iamzed.com/2009/05/07/a-primer-on-virtualenv/ virtualenv] (which is standard practice for Python developers).

Sudo has also been used both by [[Randall]] in [[149: Sandwich]] and by Jason Fox to force Randall to let him appear on xkcd with [[824: Guest Week: Bill Amend (FoxTrot)]].

The tool <code>curl</code> downloads files from the network (e.g., the Internet). For example, <code>curl http://xkcd.com/</code> downloads and displays the xkcd HTML source. The pipe <code>|</code> in the script attaches the output of the command before the pipe to the input of the command after the pipe, thus running whatever commands exist in the web content. Although this "curl|sh" pattern is a common practice for conveniently installing software, it is considered extremely unwise; you are running untrusted code without validation, there may be a MITM who modifies the code you receive, or the remote system could have been hijacked and the code made malicious. Most local package managers (e.g. <code>apt</code>, <code>yum</code>) offer digitally-signed packages that thwart this problem. You can find many examples of software providers suggesting a <code>curl|sh</code> solution at [https://curlpipesh.tumblr.com/ curlpipesh]

There appears to be a bug with the & at the end of the "git clone" line; since a git repository typically contains program source code, not executables, it may have been intended to retrieve the source code with git and then compile and install the program in the next line. In this case, the single & should be replaced with &&, an operator that will run the second command only if the first one has completed successfully. This plays into a second bug on the "configure" line, where the placement of the & means that only the "make install" command will be run asynchronously after the "configure" and "make" steps have finished in sequence (though this would likely fail due to a lack for write permissions unless it was run with sudo). To make success as likely as possible, the two lines should be like this or script should be executed twice:

git clone <nowiki>https://github.com/</nowiki>"$1"/"$1" && (cd "$1"; ./configure; make; sudo make install) &

Since all commands are running in the background, any command that requires user input will stop and wait until brought to the foreground. A common request would be for a database password, or if it is allowed to restart services for the installation. This could lead to packages being only partly installed or configured. (See more about using "yes" below.)

===Title text===
The title text mentions the possibility that the same program may be in multiple repositories. In this case, the script may download and install several different versions of the same software. This would likely only create a confusing install-base, as an operating system would tend to prefer to use one version over another regardless of which one functions. It is unlikely that different repositories include the same software, with the exception of pip/easy_install and the two forms of apt-get, which would each likely see the software is already installed and abort. A way to fix this would be to use if statements. An example of this is [https://github.com/TheOddCell/Universal-Install-Script/blob/main/install.sh here].

The title text also mentions that adding a way of automatically saying "yes" to questions asked during the different repository-fetching programs' running, by making them read input from another program that writes a (nearly) endless stream of "y"s, could simplify things further. This would not work for any {{w|curses (programming library)|curses}}-based menus, or to answer any more complicated questions. Adding <code>2>/dev/null</code> to a command redirects the second output stream (the "error stream") to the null device driver, which discards all writes to it, meaning errors (the package not existing) will not be sent to the screen.

==Transcript==
:[In the panel is a shell script which, unusual for xkcd, uses only lower case. At the top the title of the program is inlaid in the frame, which has been broken here.]
:<big>Install.sh</big>

:<nowiki>#!/bin/bash</nowiki>

:pip install "$1" &
:easy_install "$1" &
:brew install "$1" &
:npm install "$1" &
:yum install "$1" & dnf install "$1" &
:docker run "$1" &
:pkg install "$1" &
:apt-get install "$1" &
:sudo apt-get install "$1" &
:steamcmd +app_update "$1" validate &
:git clone <nowiki>https://github.com/</nowiki>"$1"/"$1" &
:cd "$1";./configure;make;make install &
:curl "$1" | bash &

==Trivia==
*pip and easy install are package managers for {{w|Python (programming language)|Python}}
*brew is the successor/replacement for {{w|MacPorts}} and a third-party package manager for OS X
*{{w|npm (software)|npm}} is the node package manager that maintains node.js packages
*{{w|Yellowdog Updater, Modified|yum}} is the package management tool for {{w|Red Hat Enterprise Linux}} and some derivatives
*{{w|DNF (software)|dnf}} is the package management tool for {{w|Fedora (operating system)|Fedora}} since version 22
*docker run is a {{w|Docker (software)|Docker}} command that runs a given container (similar to a virtual machine)
*pkg is the package management tool on {{w|Berkeley Software Distribution|BSD systems}}
*apt-get is the package management tool of {{w|Debian}} and derivatives (e.g. Ubuntu)
*steamcmd refers to the command line version of {{w|Steam (software)|Steam}}, the computer game client
*git is the revision control software used for many projects and gained a lot of traction through the {{w|GitHub}} platform
*configure/make/make install refers to the standard way of compiling software from source (on Linux/Unix)
*curl is a tool for loading data via http:// (i.e. from a website), this data is then pushed to the shell interpreter (in order to install)
**Note: While this is a security nightmare, some projects (like Homebrew) still use it as the preferred or only method of installation.
* a similar comic is [[1987]] which concerns only Python.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Linux]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

1820: Security Advice

2025-08-05T14:44:50Z

Waldir: removed Category:Computers; added Category:Computer security using HotCat

{{comic
| number = 1820
| date = April 5, 2017
| title = Security Advice
| image = security_advice.png
| titletext = Never give your password or bank account number to anyone who doesn't have a blue check mark next to their name.
}}

==Explanation==
This is another one of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]], this time a list of security tips.

The comic depicts a conversation between [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]], discussing the fact that giving people security advice in the past has failed to improve their internet security, and in some cases even made things worse. One such example is telling people to create complicated passwords containing numbers and symbols, which not only made the passwords harder to remember (leading people to create huge security risks by [https://arstechnica.com/security/2015/04/hacked-french-network-exposed-its-own-passwords-during-tv-interview/ leaving post-it notes with their passwords on their computer monitor]), but did not actually make those passwords harder to crack (see [[936: Password Strength]]).

As a result, Cueball suggests using {{w|reverse psychology}} and give out bad advice instead, in hopes of achieving a positive effect. The last panel contains a list with 13 security tips, which are parodies of actual security tips. The title text is just one more tip. See [[#Security tips|table]] below for explanations for all 14 tips.

===Security tips===
{| class="wikitable"
!Security Tip
!Explanation
|- id="tip0"
|Print out this list and keep it in your bank safe deposit box (header)
|This is a standard recommendation for documents that must be kept secure because they are irreplaceable and/or contain sensitive information. However this list itself is easily replaceable and the contents will be well-known, so storing it in a safe place is totally unnecessary. Putting it in a {{w|safe deposit box}} would even be counterproductive since the list can only serve its purpose as a ready reminder if it's easily accessible to everyone. So when people fail to follow this tip, they may end up keeping it in a place where they have easy access to the tips so they may also fail to follow all the others.
|- id="tip1"
|Don't click links to websites
|The usual tip is "Don't click on ''suspicious'' website links" or "Don't click any links in suspicious emails". The comic's variation instead tells users not to click on any links to any websites, which essentially stops them from using the World Wide Web altogether. So this tip is not really helping, as the opposite of this would be to click on all links. [https://www.sketchywebsite.net This is an example website that showcases an extreme example of what ''could'' (probably wouldn't (this is not advice)) happen if you clicked on a suspicious link.]
|- id="tip2"
|Use prime numbers in your password
|It is usually recommended that one uses numbers in one's password, to increase its entropy, making it harder to find with a {{w|Brute-force attack|brute force}} attack. In contrast the comic suggests using {{w|prime numbers}} in one's password. Large prime numbers are an essential part of modern cryptography and security systems, when used in algorithms that are computed by machines. They don't have any effect when used by humans in passwords, except for maybe making it harder to remember. In addition, if people were to regularly use prime numbers in their passwords, it would actually make passwords ''easier'' to guess, as it would substantially reduce the number of possible passwords people may choose from.
|- id="tip3"
|Change your password manager monthly
|It is often recommended to change passwords on a regular basis and to use a {{w|password manager}}. Password managers are programs which can help users create, store, and change their passwords easily and securely. Changing password managers monthly would involve copying all stored passwords from one manager to another, which would be quite impractical and has no security benefit.
|- id="tip4"
|Hold your breath while crossing the border
|At some border crossings, government agents may search computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices. The usual advice for such situations ranges from asserting your rights to resetting all devices and deleting all data prior to crossing a border. Holding one's breath can potentially prevent inhaling germs or poisons in some situations, though useless in the context of computer security. These two topics mixed in the same advice won't achieve anything, but if you hold your breath for too long you could pass out when crossing, or look stressed/suspicious and invite even more scrutiny. This could also be a reference to the superstition of holding one's breath when passing a graveyard, or similarly to the movie ''{{w|Spirited Away}}'', where the main character is instructed to hold her breath while crossing the bridge that acts as the border between the human and spirit world. In any case, holding one's breath while browsing the Internet would have no useful effect, supernatural or otherwise.
|- id="tip5"
|Install a secure font
|A real tip might be "Install a secure browser" especially when many people used {{w|Internet Explorer 6}}. Secure fonts do exist and are designed to make checks difficult to alter, but using one on a computer would not help one's internet security. May also refer to Google Chrome [https://www.proofpoint.com/us/threat-insight/post/EITest-Nabbing-Chrome-Users-Chrome-Font-Social-Engineering-Scheme "Install missing font"] malware.
|- id="tip6"
|Use a 2-factor smoke detector
|{{w|Multi-factor authentication|Two factor authentication}} describes the practice of using two different identification factors (such as a password and a code from a secure token) to authenticate the user. A two factor smoke detector presumably uses two or more factors to identify ''smoke'' (such as {{w|Smoke_detector#Ionization|ionization}} and {{w|Smoke_detector#Photoelectric|photoelectric}}). Such devices [https://alarmspecs.com actually exist], but, while improving the user's general safety, they do nothing to improve their internet security.


A month before this comic the newest [[:Category:xkcd Phones|xkcd Phone]], [[1809: xkcd Phone 5]], was released with a 28-factor authentication.
|- id="tip7"
|Change your maiden name regularly
|A {{w|maiden name}} is the family name that a woman has at birth. (The gender-neutral term is "birth name" or "birth surname"; it is unclear whether this "advice" is meant to apply only to women.) Security experts frequently criticize the concept of security questions like "what is your mother's maiden name?", on the basis that they can often be deduced from publicly available information. In the sense that it refers to a historical fact, a maiden name cannot be changed retroactively, although in the sense that it refers to the last name on one's birth certificate, in some narrow cases this ''can'' be amended. For instance, when someone is {{w|adoption|adopted}} and takes their adoptive parent's last name, in many jurisdictions a {{w|legal fiction}} holds that they have had that last name since birth, and governments will issue new birth certificates to that effect. However, it is unlikely for anyone to be able to amend the surname on their birth certificate more than once, and impossible to do so "regularly".

A real tip for dealing with security questions is to enter false data.
|- id="tip8"
|Put strange USB drives in a bag of rice overnight
|The usual security tip is "Don't plug strange {{w|USB flash drive|USB drives}} into your computer," because sometimes attackers leave USB devices with malicious programs lying around, hoping that people will plug them into target computers out of curiosity. This tip states that you should "put USB drives in a bag of rice overnight" which is a common technique for drying out water-damaged devices, due to rice's absorbent qualities. This would not clean the drive of viruses, and unless the drive was wet (perhaps because you found it outside due to it being called "strange") it would not do anything. In [[1598: Salvage]], another attempt is made to salvage something unconventional with rice, and here it is shown that Randall considers the rice drying of a wet mobile is a myth, so this is yet another jab at the idea.
|- id="tip9"
|Use special characters like & and %
|You can use special characters to increase the entropy/strength of your password, though as described in [[936: Password Strength]], that often leads to passwords that are hard to remember but not particularly strong. The password context is missing here, and in everyday situations the characters & and % are not special. These two characters are often disallowed in passwords because of their relevance to {{w|SQL}} (a common database query language). If these characters were used in a password, a badly written security system using SQL could have severe bugs (and security vulnerabilities) similar to the security flaw in [[327: Exploits of a Mom]].
|- id="tip10"
|Only read content published through Tor.com
|{{w|tor (anonymity network)|Tor}} is a software solution to provide anonymity on the web for its users. The website [https://tor.com Tor.com] is the website of fantasy and sci-fi book publisher {{w|Tor Books}}, which has no relation to the Tor-network. In January 2024, the website was renamed to [https://reactormag.com/ Reactormag.com].
|- id="tip11"
|Use a burner's phone
|A play on using a {{w|Prepay mobile phone|burner phone}} (a cheap/disposable cell phone like those purchased at 7-11, often used for drug deals or other activity one might not want traced), and using the cell phone of a burner, i.e. a person who habitually uses marijuana (or, less likely, a person who goes to the {{w|Burning Man|Burning Man festival}}).
|- id="tip12"
|Get an SSL certificate and store it in a safe place
|{{w|Transport Layer Security|SSL/TLS}} is a protocol for securing connections on the internet. To check if someone is who they claim to be, you can check the individual's {{w|Public key certificate|certificate}}. Such a certificate has to be public; storing it in a safe place makes the certificate useless. You have to store the private key that matches the certificate in a safe place, else someone could steal the identity.
|- id="tip13"
|If a border guard asks to examine your laptop, you have a legal right to challenge them to a chess game for your soul.
|This tip is a reference to the common trope {{tvtropes|ChessWithDeath|Chess with Death}}, in which a mortal challenges a god to a game or challenge, often for their life. This version of the trope traces back to {{w|Ingmar Bergman|Ingmar Bergman's}} film {{w|The Seventh Seal}}, in which the protagonist {{w|The Seventh Seal#Synopsis|challenges Death}} to a game of chess. But instead of avoiding death, this tip suggests you have the right to do the same to get out of handing your devices over to a border guard. (This trope is also featured in [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/393 393: Ultimate Game]).

Extrapolating from context clues, the real advice may have been that one has a legal right under the Fourth Amendment to be secure from unreasonable search and seizures. This, however, falls under the [https://security.ucop.edu/resources/traveling-with-electronic-devices/border-search.html#q1 border search exception], rendering it pointless.

|- id="tip14"
|'''Title Text''': Never give your password or bank account number to anyone who doesn't have a blue check mark next to their name.
|The usual security tip here is ''"only trust Twitter accounts claiming to be legitimate if they have a blue check mark next to their name"'', which means that the account is verified as legitimate. This tip suggests only giving your ''password'' to verified accounts, although you shouldn't give your password to ''any'' account. Twitter Verification would be revisited in [[1914: Twitter Verification]].

Twitter blue check marks have become even less reliable since Twitter's purchase by [[Elon Musk]] in October 2022, as Twitter has been loosening their verification policies and for a brief time, [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/10/twitter-blue-verification-parody-impersonation allowed anyone who paid to have a verified checkmark]. At time of writing (2023-04-11) Twitter has [https://web.archive.org/web/20230000000000*/https://help.twitter.com/en/managing-your-account/about-twitter-verified-accounts some verification checks], but still less than when this comic was written, making this even worse advice.

It also refers to problems especially visible in the US banking system, where there is very little security for direct account drafts, and because of that it is advised there to keep the account number as secret as possible. In contrast, in Europe giving your account number to someone is one of the most common ways to get paid.

A related tip might be "Never give your password or bank details to a website that doesn't have a padlock icon next to the URL". In most modern browsers, if you access a secure website, there will be a padlock icon in the browser indicating you've connected to a secure website using {{w|HTTPS|Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure}}. It doesn't provide that it is not malicious site, and that is secure to enter. So this tip treats the verified account icon the same way you might treat a secure website icon.
|}

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is listening to Ponytail who holds her hands out in front of her.]
:Ponytail: We've been trying for decades to give people good security advice.
:Ponytail: But in retrospect, lots of the tips actually made things worse.

:[Cueball takes his hand to his chin as Ponytail takes her arms down.]
:Cueball: Maybe we should try to give ''bad'' advice?
:Ponytail: I guess it's worth a shot.

:[Below these two panel is one large and long panel with a long list with 13 tips. The underlined heading and the bracket below it are centered above the bullet list below.]
:<big>Security tips</big>
:(Print out this list and keep it in your bank safe deposit box.)
* Don't click links to websites
* Use prime numbers in your password
* Change your password manager monthly
* Hold your breath while crossing the border
* Install a secure font
* Use a 2-factor smoke detector
* Change your maiden name regularly
* Put strange USB drives in a bag of rice overnight
* Use special characters like & and %
* Only read content published through tor.com
* Use a burner's phone
* Get an SSL certificate and store it in a safe place
* If a border guard asks to examine your laptop, you have a legal right to challenge them to a chess game for your soul.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Chess]]
[[Category:Computer security]]
[[Category:Tips]]

1722: Debugging

2025-08-05T14:44:23Z

Waldir: removed Category:Computers using HotCat

{{comic
| number = 1722
| date = August 19, 2016
| title = Debugging
| image = debugging.png
| titletext = When you Google an error message and it gets no results, you can be pretty sure you've found a clue to the location of Martin's sword.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is telling [[White Hat]] about his attempt at {{w|debugging}}, i.e. the process of finding out what is causing a given (computer) problem, which can become increasingly difficult and convoluted. In this case, Cueball had a problem with his {{w|Web browser|browser}}. His attempts to solve this problem led him to a problem with the {{w|Device driver|device driver}} for his {{w|Computer keyboard|keyboard}}. Chasing that issue, he found an unclear error message from a {{w|Utility software|system utility}}, and so on.

Cueball decides to "make a long story short" by skipping several steps he believes are boring, and he unexpectedly reveals this process has led him to find the “[[wikia:w:c:redwall:Sword of Martin|Sword]] of {{w|List of Redwall characters#Martin I|Martin the Warrior}}”, a legendary relic from the children's fantasy novel series ''{{w|Redwall}}'', implying that the debugging process was so long and convoluted that along the way he somehow ended up with a fantasy quest. This refers to the fact that a complicated riddled path was devised in the series that would lead to the sword, which is similar to the process of debugging, as it involves following clues to achieve an answer. But apart from that, they are entirely different.{{Citation needed}} This is pointed out by White Hat who states that at some point in the process he switched from the puzzle of debugging to the Redwall puzzle of finding Martin's sword. Redwall has been referenced before, most prominently in [[370: Redwall]]; where Martin and the sword can be seen; but also in [[1286: Encryptic]] and more recently in [[1688: Map Age Guide]].

The characters in ''Redwall'' are woodland animals, and Martin the Warrior is a mouse; the sword that Cueball finds is correspondingly tiny.

{{w|Googling}} an error message is a common method used during debugging, often leading to useful information. However, when there are no search results for a given message, it may mean the problem is so obscure that almost nobody had experienced it before. (See also [[979: Wisdom of the Ancients]] about getting only one result.) Or, as the title text hints, it might mean it was a hidden clue to the location of Martin’s sword.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and White Hat are walking, while Cueball holds a hand out while talking.]
:Cueball: I was trying to figure out why my browser was acting weird.

:[In a frame-less panel they keep in walking, Cueball holds both hands up in front of him.]
:Cueball: Turns out it wasn't the browser-the issue was with my keyboard driver.

:[Zoom in on Cueball's upper torso as he is holding a finger up.]
:Cueball: Debugging '''''that''''' led me to a mysterious error message from a system utility...

:[Zoom out as Cueball holds up a miniature sword by the blade in one hand. White Hat turns his head around and looks at it while they keep walking.]
:Cueball: Anyway, long story short, I found the sword of Martin the Warrior.
:White Hat: I think at some point there you switched puzzles.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Redwall]]
[[Category:Cueball's computer problems]]

2224: Software Updates

2025-08-05T14:40:49Z

Waldir: removed Category:Programming; added Category:Computers using HotCat

Template:comic

2025-07-04T15:09:54Z

Waldir: fix template for when the titletext parameter is specified without a value

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margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 0;">[[7: Girl sleeping (Sketch -- 11th grade Spanish class)||<]]</li><li style="background-color: #FFFFF;
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display: inline; font-size: 16px; font-variant: small-caps; font-weight: 600;
margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 0;">[[{{{ognext| ERROR: NEXT NUMBER MISSING. PLEASE ADD <code><nowiki>|OGNEXT=NUMBER</nowiki></code> TO THE PAGE!    }}}|#{{{ognext}}} Next >]]</li><li style="background-color: #FFFFF;
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Template:comic

2025-07-04T15:07:15Z

Waldir: default to linking to Category:No title text when no title text is provided

<includeonly><metadesc>explain xkcd is a wiki dedicated to explaining the webcomic xkcd. Go figure.</metadesc><table class="comic-content {{#if:{{{bodyclass|}}}|{{{bodyclass}}}|}}" cellspacing="5" style="background-color: #FFFFFF;
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margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 0;">[[1: Barrel - Part 1||<]]</li><li style="background-color: #6E7B91;
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display: inline; font-size: 16px; font-variant: small-caps; font-weight: 600;
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border: 1.5px solid #333333; border-radius: 3px 3px 3px 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 5px 0 gray;
display: inline; font-size: 16px; font-variant: small-caps; font-weight: 600;
margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 0;" class="plainlinks">[[LiveJournal#G|#{{{ognumber|}}} {{#if:{{{ognote|}}}|({{#replace:{{{ognote}}}| | }})|(Original Order)}}]]}}</li>{{#ifexist:{{#expr:{{{ognumber|-2}}}+1}}|{{#ifexpr:52-{{{ognumber|1}}}>0|<li style="background-color: #FFFFF;
border: 1.5px solid #333333; border-radius: 3px 3px 3px 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 5px 0 gray;
display: inline; font-size: 16px; font-variant: small-caps; font-weight: 600;
margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 0;">[[{{{ognext| ERROR: NEXT NUMBER MISSING. PLEASE ADD <code><nowiki>|OGNEXT=NUMBER</nowiki></code> TO THE PAGE!    }}}|#{{{ognext}}} Next >]]</li><li style="background-color: #FFFFF;
border: 1.5px solid #333333; border-radius: 3px 3px 3px 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 5px 0 gray;
display: inline; font-size: 16px; font-variant: small-caps; font-weight: 600;
margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 0;">[[55: Useless{{!}}>|]]</li>|                                         }}|}}</ul></td></tr>{{#ifexist: {{{ognumber}}} | |<tr><td><ul style="text-align: center; margin-top:-7px; margin-bottom:15px;" class="no-link-underline">{{#ifexpr:{{{number|-1}}}>1|<li style="background-color: #6E7B91;
border: 1.5px solid #333333; border-radius: 3px 3px 3px 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 5px 0 gray;
display: inline; font-size: 16px; font-variant: small-caps; font-weight: 600;
margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 0;">[[1: Barrel - Part 1||<]]</li><li style="background-color: #6E7B91;
border: 1.5px solid #333333; border-radius: 3px 3px 3px 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 5px 0 gray;
display: inline; font-size: 16px; font-variant: small-caps; font-weight: 600;
margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 0;">[[{{#expr:{{{number|2}}}-1}}|< Prev]]</li><li style="background-color: #6E7B91;
border: 1.5px solid #333333; border-radius: 3px 3px 3px 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 5px 0 gray;
display: inline; font-size: 16px; font-variant: small-caps; font-weight: 600;
margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 0;" class="plainlinks">[[Special:RandomInCategory/All pages|Random Explanation]]</li>{{#ifexist:{{#expr:{{{number|-2}}}+1}}|{{#ifexpr:{{LATESTCOMIC}}-{{{number|0}}}>0|<li style="background-color: #6E7B91;
border: 1.5px solid #333333; border-radius: 3px 3px 3px 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 5px 0 gray;
display: inline; font-size: 16px; font-variant: small-caps; font-weight: 600;
margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 0;">[[{{#expr:{{{number|0}}}+1}}{{!}}Next >]]</li><li style="background-color: #6E7B91;
border: 1.5px solid #333333; border-radius: 3px 3px 3px 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 5px 0 gray;
display: inline; font-size: 16px; font-variant: small-caps; font-weight: 600;
margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 0;">[[{{LATESTCOMIC}}{{!}}>|]]</li>|                                      }}|                                       }}|}}</ul></td></tr>}}</table>{{#ifexpr:{{{number|-1}}}>=1|{{DEFAULTSORT: {{padleft:{{{number}}}|4}}}}|}}{{#ifeq:{{NAMESPACE}}|{{ns:0}}|{{#ifeq:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{int:mainpage}}||{{#ifeq:{{{extra|}}}|yes|[[Category:Extra comics]][[Category:All pages]]|[[Category:All comics]][[Category:All pages]]{{#if:{{{date|}}}|[[Category:Comics from {{#time:Y|{{{date}}}}}]] [[Category:Comics from {{#time:F|{{{date}}}}}]] [[Category:{{#time:l|{{{date}}}}} comics]] }}}}}}|}}</includeonly><noinclude>{{:Template:comic/doc}}[[Category:Templates]]</noinclude>

Talk:List of all comics (1-500)

2025-07-04T14:53:39Z

Waldir: centralize discussion for this set of pages

#REDIRECT[[Talk:List of all comics]]

Talk:List of all comics (full)

2025-07-04T14:53:10Z

Waldir: centralize discussion for this set of pages

#REDIRECT[[Talk:List of all comics]]

Talk:List of all comics (501-1000)

2025-07-04T14:52:59Z

Waldir: centralize discussion for this set of pages

#REDIRECT[[Talk:List of all comics]]

Talk:List of all comics

2025-07-04T14:51:39Z

Waldir: Waldir moved page Talk:List of all comics (1501-2000) to Talk:List of all comics: centralize discussion for this set of pages

==Add blog entry==
Hmm is there a way we can have a column linking to the original explainxkcd blog entry if it exists? --[[User:SurturZ|SurturZ]] ([[User talk:SurturZ|talk]]) 08:55, 5 August 2012 (EDT)
:Sure, that makes perfect sense, especially since the comments were very important for many of the comics. Feel free to add it :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 14:27, 5 August 2012 (EDT)

==Create not working==
The create-links don't work because "Template:'''C'''reate" has to be written with a capital C. Unfortunately, text replacing is not installed. --[[User:Kronf|Kronf]] ([[User talk:Kronf|talk]]) 13:58, 29 August 2012 (UTC)
:For future reference, Kronf himself {{diff|11070|moved}} the template to the lowercase title to make this work. [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 18:01, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

==Dates==
The dates for comics 12 and 5 can be deduced from the dates of the adjacent comics - they're all 2005-09-30. We can also make a jab at guessing that comic number 36 is between 2005-10-28 and 2005-10-26. Those comments in the source annoy me, and I wish them gone. We could also jump on the XKCD forums and see if they know anything, but the relative dates should be telling enough. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 09:06, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

:XKCD back in 2005 was not published on a regular schedule. Randall doesn't have logs from when those comics went live, so the dates are in fact lost to history. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 15:57, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

::Yeeah, but we can see from the dates on comics submitted around the unknowns that the first 14 comics seem to have been batch-uploaded on the same day, and that comics 35 and 37 leave a three-day range that comic 36 could have been published on, the most likely of those dates being 2005-10-27 given the way that Randall seems to never release two comics on the same day after his initial 14. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 06:10, 28 November 2012 (UTC)

According to [http://xkcd.com/archive/ xkcd archive] the first comics are released on 01.01.2006 at xkcd. I think we should reflect this here and only mention earlier releases at explanation. What do you think?--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:34, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

:Those are automatically entered dates for null fields. They're not necessarily correct. It would be nice if we could figure out exactly when they were uploaded though. Not enough information, we'll probably just have to build up clout and grill Randall for information. Nooot optimal. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:39, 3 June 2013 (UTC)
::You're right, it's not optimal. When I am looking for historical websites I am often using this site: [http://web.archive.org web.archive.org]. The first entry gave me this:
:::http://www.xkcd.com:80/ | 17:01:40 Dec 17, 2003
:::Got an HTTP 302 response at crawl time
:::Redirecting to...
:::lacuna.res.wpi.net/~xkcd
::'''Whois''' is telling this (Registered through: GoDaddy.com):
::: Domain Name: XKCD.COM Created on: 25-Jan-03
::So it seems it's really hard to determine what Randall did ten years ago. Needs many more investigations...--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:58, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

== Broken comics here ==

The comics 1031 and 1245 do need a review on special characters. Links do not work while pages do exit.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 31 July 2013 (UTC)

== GIF ==

Crap. 1264 is an animated GIF, and the template used on this page has PNG hardcoded into it. Can someone fix this? [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 05:51, 13 September 2013 (UTC)
: Fixed. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:34, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

== Extra comics ==

There are several [[:Category:Extra comics|extra comics]]. Should they be linked here somehow. [[User:ScienceD90|ScienceD90]] ([[User talk:ScienceD90|talk]]) 15:25, 11 March 2025 (UTC)

Talk:List of all comics (1501-2000)

2025-07-04T14:51:39Z

Waldir: Waldir moved page Talk:List of all comics (1501-2000) to Talk:List of all comics: centralize discussion for this set of pages

#REDIRECT [[Talk:List of all comics]]

MediaWiki:Common.css

2025-07-04T14:44:04Z

Waldir: add sidebar icon for the "What If?" book

/**********************************************************************
* Styles for the Navbox (navigation box) template *
**********************************************************************/

.navbox { /* Navbox container style */
border: 1px solid #aaa;
width: 100%;
margin: auto;
clear: both;
font-size: 88%;
text-align: center;
padding: 5px;
}
.navbox-inner,
.navbox-subgroup {
width: 100%;
}
.navbox th,
.navbox-title,
.navbox-abovebelow {
text-align: center; /* Title and above/below styles */
padding-left: 2em;
padding-right: 1em;
}
th.navbox-group { /* Group style */
white-space: nowrap;
/* @noflip */
text-align: right;
}
.navbox,
.navbox-subgroup {
background: #fdfdfd; /* Background color */
}
.navbox-list {
border-color: #fdfdfd; /* Must match background color */
}
.navbox th,
.navbox-title {
background: #ccccff; /* Level 1 color */
}
.navbox-abovebelow,
th.navbox-group,
.navbox-subgroup .navbox-title {
background: #ddddff; /* Level 2 color */
}
.navbox-subgroup .navbox-group,
.navbox-subgroup .navbox-abovebelow {
background: #e6e6ff; /* Level 3 color */
}
.navbox-even {
background: #f7f7f7; /* Even row striping */mediawik
}
.navbox-odd {
background: transparent; /* Odd row striping */
}
table.navbox + table.navbox { /* Single pixel border between adjacent navboxes */
margin-top: -1px; /* (doesn't work for IE6, but that's okay) */
}
.navbox .hlist td dl,
.navbox .hlist td ol,
.navbox .hlist td ul,
.navbox td.hlist dl,
.navbox td.hlist ol,
.navbox td.hlist ul {
padding: 0.125em 0; /* Adjust hlist padding in navboxes */
}
.navbox .hlist dd,
.navbox .hlist dt,
.navbox .hlist li {
white-space: nowrap; /* Nowrap list items in navboxes */
white-space: normal !ie; /* IE < 8 no-wraps entire list, so disable it */
}
.navbox .hlist dd dl,
.navbox .hlist dt dl,
.navbox .hlist li ol,
.navbox .hlist li ul {
white-space: normal; /* But allow parent list items to be wrapped */
}
ol + table.navbox,
ul + table.navbox {
margin-top: 0.5em; /* Prevent lists from clinging to navboxes */
}

/* Default styling for Navbar template */
.navbar {
display: inline;
font-size: 88%;
font-weight: normal;
}
.navbar ul {
display: inline;
white-space: nowrap;
}
.navbar li {
word-spacing: -0.125em;
}
.navbar.mini li span {
font-variant: small-caps;
}
/* Navbar styling when nested in navbox */
.navbox .navbar {
display: block;
font-size: 100%;
}
.navbox-title .navbar {
/* @noflip */
float: left;
/* @noflip */
text-align: left;
/* @noflip */
margin-right: 0.5em;
width: 6em;
}
/* 'show'/'hide' buttons created dynamically by the CollapsibleTables javascript
in [[MediaWiki:Common.js]] are styled here so they can be customised. */
.collapseButton {
/* @noflip */
float: right;
font-weight: normal;
/* @noflip */
margin-left: 0.5em;
/* @noflip */
text-align: right;
width: auto;
}

div.leftAlign span.mw-collapsible-toggle
{
float: left;
margin-left: 0px;
margin-right: 3px;
}

/* In navboxes, the show/hide button balances the v·d·e links
from [[Template:Navbar]], so they need to be the same width. */
.navbox .collapseButton {
width: 6em;
}

/* Styling for JQuery makeCollapsible, matching that of collapseButton */
.mw-collapsible-toggle {
font-weight: normal;
/* @noflip */
text-align: right;
}
.navbox .mw-collapsible-toggle {
width: 6em;
}

.hlist dd:after, .hlist li:after {
content: " ·";
font-weight: bold;
}

.hlist dd:last-child:after, .hlist dt:last-child:after, .hlist li:last-child:after {
content: none;
}

.hlist dd, .hlist dt, .hlist li {
display: inline;
margin: 0;
white-space: nowrap;
}

.hlist dl, .hlist ol, .hlist ul {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Styles for the Infobox template *
**********************************************************************/

.infobox {
border: 1px solid #aaa;
background-color: #f9f9f9;
color: black;
/* @noflip */
margin: 0.5em 0 0.5em 1em;
padding: 0.2em;
/* @noflip */
float: right;
/* @noflip */
clear: right;
/* @noflip */
text-align: left;
font-size: 88%;
line-height: 1.5em;
}
.infobox caption {
font-size: 125%;
font-weight: bold;
}
.infobox td,
.infobox th {
vertical-align: top;
}
.infobox.bordered {
border-collapse: collapse;
}
.infobox.bordered td,
.infobox.bordered th {
border: 1px solid #aaa;
}
.infobox.bordered .borderless td,
.infobox.bordered .borderless th {
border: 0;
}

.infobox.sisterproject {
width: 20em;
font-size: 90%;
}

.infobox.standard-talk {
border: 1px solid #c0c090;
background-color: #f8eaba;
}
.infobox.standard-talk.bordered td,
.infobox.standard-talk.bordered th {
border: 1px solid #c0c090;
}

/* styles for bordered infobox with merged rows */
.infobox.bordered .mergedtoprow td,
.infobox.bordered .mergedtoprow th {
border: 0;
border-top: 1px solid #aaa;
/* @noflip */
border-right: 1px solid #aaa;
}

/* User block messages */
div.user-block {
padding: 5px;
margin-bottom: 0.5em;
border: 1px solid #A9A9A9;
background-color: #FFEFD5;
}

.infobox.bordered .mergedrow td,
.infobox.bordered .mergedrow th {
border: 0;
/* @noflip */
border-right: 1px solid #aaa;
}

/**********************************************************************
* External link tweaks *
**********************************************************************/

/* Custom icon for links to xkcd.com */
a.external[href*="xkcd.com"] {
background: url("//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1f/xkcd_favicon.png") no-repeat scroll right center transparent !important;
padding-right: 18px !important;
}

/* Don't add the external link arrow to urls pointing to this site.
* Also, don't add the xkcd favicon (see above) to elements marked
* with the class "plainlinks", nor to the page [[explain xkcd:Copyrights]]. */
a.external[href*="explainxkcd.com"],
.plainlinks a.external[href*="xkcd.com"],
.page-explain_xkcd_Copyrights a.external[href*="xkcd.com"] {
background: none !important;
padding-right: 0 !important;
}

/* Don't underline links on hover if so instructed. Used in Template:comic */
.no-link-underline a:hover {
text-decoration: none;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Special styles for [[List of all comics]] (and elsewhere) *
**********************************************************************/

/* Don't show create link for articles that already exist */
a:not(.new) + span.create {
display: none;
}

/* Add some horizontal padding to tables, if they request it*/
table.table-padding > * > tr > td {
padding-left: 0.5em;
padding-right: 0.5em;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Add icons to the left navigation menu (sidebar) *
**********************************************************************/

#mw-panel #p-navigation li {
line-height: 2em;
}
div#p-navigation li a {
padding-left: 20px;
background-repeat: no-repeat;
display: inline-block;
line-height: 16px;
}
div#p-navigation li#n-mainpage-description a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/House_icon.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-Latest-comic a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/New_silk.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-portal a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Group.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-xkcd-com a {
background-image: url("//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1f/xkcd_favicon.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-recentchanges a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Clock_edit.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-Random-comic a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Silk_arrow_switch.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-All-comics a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Images.png");
}
div#p-navigation li a[href*="What_If"] {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Book_open.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-Browse-comics a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Chart_organisation.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-RSS-feed a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Feed.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-Editing-FAQ a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Help.png");
}

/**********************************************************************
* Format tagline *
**********************************************************************/

#siteSub {
display:block;
font-style:italic;
opacity:0.5;
padding-left:20px;
background-repeat:no-repeat;
background-image:url('//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/0/04/16px-BlackHat_head.png');
padding-left:18px;
speak:never;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Mobile-friendly tweaks *
**********************************************************************/

/* Improve margin between paragraphs, to make them more evident */
#mw-content-text p {
margin: 0.8em 0;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Bolden xkcd's main topics at Category:comics by topic *
**********************************************************************/

.page-Category_Comics_by_topic a[title$=Romance],
.page-Category_Comics_by_topic a[title$=Sarcasm],
.page-Category_Comics_by_topic a[title$=Math],
.page-Category_Comics_by_topic a[title$=Language] {
font-weight: bold;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Main page formatting *
**********************************************************************/

.page-Main_Page .firstHeading {
display: none;
}
/* Dirty hack to hide the categories of the current comic from main page.
* A clean implementation should be instead done
* with a "categories" template that <noinclude>'s the categories.
* Although it seems the Main Page isn't *really* included in those categories,
* so this fix should suffice for the time being
*/
.page-Main_Page div#catlinks li a:not([title="Category:Root category"]),
.page-Main_Page div#catlinks span.noprint {
display: none;
}
.page-Main_Page div#catlinks ul li {
border-left: none;
position: absolute;
left: 70px;
bottom: 6px;
}
.page-Main_Page li#ca-viewsource a[href$="Main_Page&action=edit"]:hover {
cursor: help;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Special:ContributionScores *
**********************************************************************/

table.contributionscores {
text-align: right;
}
table.contributionscores td:first-child { /* score column */
font-weight: bold; /* make it bold so it stands out from the other numbers */
}
.page-Special_ContributionScores table.contributionscores td:first-child { /* score column, only in Special:ContributionScores */
padding: 0 !important; /* remove padding so that the graphical meter touches the cell edges */
width: 25em; /* use a constant width so all the tables in the page align */
}
.page-Special_ContributionScores table.contributionscores td:last-child { /* username column, only in Special:ContributionScores */
width: 40em; /* use a constant width so all the tables in the page align */
}
table.contributionscores tr {
background-color: Lavender;
}
.contributionscores.sortable tr:nth-child(-n+10),
.contributionscores:not(.sortable) tr:nth-child(-n+11) { /* top 10 entries */
background-color: white;
}
.contributionscores tr:nth-child(1) td:last-child:before,
.contributionscores tr.header + tr td:last-child:before {
color: Goldenrod;
content: "❶ ";
}
.contributionscores tr:nth-child(2) td:last-child:before,
.contributionscores tr.header + tr + tr td:last-child:before {
color: Grey;
content: "❷ ";
}
.contributionscores tr:nth-child(3) td:last-child:before,
.contributionscores tr.header + tr + tr + tr td:last-child:before {
color: SaddleBrown;
content: "❸ ";
}
.contributionscores-meter {
line-height: 2em; /* to make it fill the default row height */
display: inline-block; /* so that it will align right */
background-color: LightGreen;
padding-right: 0.2em; /* to counter the fact that the cell's padding was removed above */
}
/* for the home page */
.page-Main_Page h4.contributionscores-title:before {
content: "Active users - ";
}
/* Make preformatted text wrap. */
pre {
white-space: pre-wrap; /* css-3 */
white-space: -moz-pre-wrap; /* Mozilla, since 1999 */
white-space: -pre-wrap; /* Opera 4-6 */
white-space: -webkit-pre-wrap; /* WebKit browsers */
white-space: -o-pre-wrap; /* Opera 7 */
word-wrap: break-word; /* Internet Explorer 5.5+ */
}

/* Allow limiting of which header levels are shown in a TOC;
<div class="toclimit-3">, for instance, will limit to
showing ==headings== and ===headings=== but no further
(as long as there are no =headings= on the page). */
.toclimit-2 .toclevel-1 ul,
.toclimit-3 .toclevel-2 ul,
.toclimit-4 .toclevel-3 ul,
.toclimit-5 .toclevel-4 ul,
.toclimit-6 .toclevel-5 ul,
.toclimit-7 .toclevel-6 ul {
display: none;
}

/**********************************************************************
* {{Template:comic}} formatting *
**********************************************************************/

li.plainlinks:hover, .no-link-underline > li:hover {
background-color: #FFF !important;
box-shadow: none !important;
-moz-box-shadow: none !important;
-webkit-box-shadow: none !important;
}
li.plainlinks:hover > a > span, .no-link-underline > li:hover > a > span {
color: #6E7B91 !important;
}

MediaWiki:Sidebar

2025-07-04T14:40:36Z

Waldir: HTML doesn't work either. Try Unicode characters for math sans-serif italic text

* navigation
** {{LATESTCOMIC}}|Latest comic
** xkcd.com-url|xkcd-com
** Special:RandomInCategory/All pages|Random comic
** Category:Comics|Browse comics
** List of all comics (full)|All comics
** What If? chapters|𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐𝘧?
** portal-url|portal
** recentchanges-url|recentchanges
** helppage|Editing FAQ
* SEARCH
* TOOLBOX
* LANGUAGES

MediaWiki:Sidebar

2025-07-04T14:39:02Z

Waldir: wikicode does not work in this page. Changed '' to

* navigation
** {{LATESTCOMIC}}|Latest comic
** xkcd.com-url|xkcd-com
** Special:RandomInCategory/All pages|Random comic
** Category:Comics|Browse comics
** List of all comics (full)|All comics
** What If? chapters|What If?
** portal-url|portal
** recentchanges-url|recentchanges
** helppage|Editing FAQ
* SEARCH
* TOOLBOX
* LANGUAGES

MediaWiki:Common.css

2025-07-04T14:33:20Z

Waldir: use a recent changes icon that's been designed to work at 16px (less blurry). Follow up of Special:Diff/6327

/**********************************************************************
* Styles for the Navbox (navigation box) template *
**********************************************************************/

.navbox { /* Navbox container style */
border: 1px solid #aaa;
width: 100%;
margin: auto;
clear: both;
font-size: 88%;
text-align: center;
padding: 5px;
}
.navbox-inner,
.navbox-subgroup {
width: 100%;
}
.navbox th,
.navbox-title,
.navbox-abovebelow {
text-align: center; /* Title and above/below styles */
padding-left: 2em;
padding-right: 1em;
}
th.navbox-group { /* Group style */
white-space: nowrap;
/* @noflip */
text-align: right;
}
.navbox,
.navbox-subgroup {
background: #fdfdfd; /* Background color */
}
.navbox-list {
border-color: #fdfdfd; /* Must match background color */
}
.navbox th,
.navbox-title {
background: #ccccff; /* Level 1 color */
}
.navbox-abovebelow,
th.navbox-group,
.navbox-subgroup .navbox-title {
background: #ddddff; /* Level 2 color */
}
.navbox-subgroup .navbox-group,
.navbox-subgroup .navbox-abovebelow {
background: #e6e6ff; /* Level 3 color */
}
.navbox-even {
background: #f7f7f7; /* Even row striping */mediawik
}
.navbox-odd {
background: transparent; /* Odd row striping */
}
table.navbox + table.navbox { /* Single pixel border between adjacent navboxes */
margin-top: -1px; /* (doesn't work for IE6, but that's okay) */
}
.navbox .hlist td dl,
.navbox .hlist td ol,
.navbox .hlist td ul,
.navbox td.hlist dl,
.navbox td.hlist ol,
.navbox td.hlist ul {
padding: 0.125em 0; /* Adjust hlist padding in navboxes */
}
.navbox .hlist dd,
.navbox .hlist dt,
.navbox .hlist li {
white-space: nowrap; /* Nowrap list items in navboxes */
white-space: normal !ie; /* IE < 8 no-wraps entire list, so disable it */
}
.navbox .hlist dd dl,
.navbox .hlist dt dl,
.navbox .hlist li ol,
.navbox .hlist li ul {
white-space: normal; /* But allow parent list items to be wrapped */
}
ol + table.navbox,
ul + table.navbox {
margin-top: 0.5em; /* Prevent lists from clinging to navboxes */
}

/* Default styling for Navbar template */
.navbar {
display: inline;
font-size: 88%;
font-weight: normal;
}
.navbar ul {
display: inline;
white-space: nowrap;
}
.navbar li {
word-spacing: -0.125em;
}
.navbar.mini li span {
font-variant: small-caps;
}
/* Navbar styling when nested in navbox */
.navbox .navbar {
display: block;
font-size: 100%;
}
.navbox-title .navbar {
/* @noflip */
float: left;
/* @noflip */
text-align: left;
/* @noflip */
margin-right: 0.5em;
width: 6em;
}
/* 'show'/'hide' buttons created dynamically by the CollapsibleTables javascript
in [[MediaWiki:Common.js]] are styled here so they can be customised. */
.collapseButton {
/* @noflip */
float: right;
font-weight: normal;
/* @noflip */
margin-left: 0.5em;
/* @noflip */
text-align: right;
width: auto;
}

div.leftAlign span.mw-collapsible-toggle
{
float: left;
margin-left: 0px;
margin-right: 3px;
}

/* In navboxes, the show/hide button balances the v·d·e links
from [[Template:Navbar]], so they need to be the same width. */
.navbox .collapseButton {
width: 6em;
}

/* Styling for JQuery makeCollapsible, matching that of collapseButton */
.mw-collapsible-toggle {
font-weight: normal;
/* @noflip */
text-align: right;
}
.navbox .mw-collapsible-toggle {
width: 6em;
}

.hlist dd:after, .hlist li:after {
content: " ·";
font-weight: bold;
}

.hlist dd:last-child:after, .hlist dt:last-child:after, .hlist li:last-child:after {
content: none;
}

.hlist dd, .hlist dt, .hlist li {
display: inline;
margin: 0;
white-space: nowrap;
}

.hlist dl, .hlist ol, .hlist ul {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Styles for the Infobox template *
**********************************************************************/

.infobox {
border: 1px solid #aaa;
background-color: #f9f9f9;
color: black;
/* @noflip */
margin: 0.5em 0 0.5em 1em;
padding: 0.2em;
/* @noflip */
float: right;
/* @noflip */
clear: right;
/* @noflip */
text-align: left;
font-size: 88%;
line-height: 1.5em;
}
.infobox caption {
font-size: 125%;
font-weight: bold;
}
.infobox td,
.infobox th {
vertical-align: top;
}
.infobox.bordered {
border-collapse: collapse;
}
.infobox.bordered td,
.infobox.bordered th {
border: 1px solid #aaa;
}
.infobox.bordered .borderless td,
.infobox.bordered .borderless th {
border: 0;
}

.infobox.sisterproject {
width: 20em;
font-size: 90%;
}

.infobox.standard-talk {
border: 1px solid #c0c090;
background-color: #f8eaba;
}
.infobox.standard-talk.bordered td,
.infobox.standard-talk.bordered th {
border: 1px solid #c0c090;
}

/* styles for bordered infobox with merged rows */
.infobox.bordered .mergedtoprow td,
.infobox.bordered .mergedtoprow th {
border: 0;
border-top: 1px solid #aaa;
/* @noflip */
border-right: 1px solid #aaa;
}

/* User block messages */
div.user-block {
padding: 5px;
margin-bottom: 0.5em;
border: 1px solid #A9A9A9;
background-color: #FFEFD5;
}

.infobox.bordered .mergedrow td,
.infobox.bordered .mergedrow th {
border: 0;
/* @noflip */
border-right: 1px solid #aaa;
}

/**********************************************************************
* External link tweaks *
**********************************************************************/

/* Custom icon for links to xkcd.com */
a.external[href*="xkcd.com"] {
background: url("//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1f/xkcd_favicon.png") no-repeat scroll right center transparent !important;
padding-right: 18px !important;
}

/* Don't add the external link arrow to urls pointing to this site.
* Also, don't add the xkcd favicon (see above) to elements marked
* with the class "plainlinks", nor to the page [[explain xkcd:Copyrights]]. */
a.external[href*="explainxkcd.com"],
.plainlinks a.external[href*="xkcd.com"],
.page-explain_xkcd_Copyrights a.external[href*="xkcd.com"] {
background: none !important;
padding-right: 0 !important;
}

/* Don't underline links on hover if so instructed. Used in Template:comic */
.no-link-underline a:hover {
text-decoration: none;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Special styles for [[List of all comics]] (and elsewhere) *
**********************************************************************/

/* Don't show create link for articles that already exist */
a:not(.new) + span.create {
display: none;
}

/* Add some horizontal padding to tables, if they request it*/
table.table-padding > * > tr > td {
padding-left: 0.5em;
padding-right: 0.5em;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Add icons to the left navigation menu (sidebar) *
**********************************************************************/

#mw-panel #p-navigation li {
line-height: 2em;
}
div#p-navigation li a {
padding-left: 20px;
background-repeat: no-repeat;
display: inline-block;
line-height: 16px;
}
div#p-navigation li#n-mainpage-description a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/House_icon.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-Latest-comic a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/New_silk.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-portal a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Group.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-xkcd-com a {
background-image: url("//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1f/xkcd_favicon.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-recentchanges a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Clock_edit.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-Random-comic a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Silk_arrow_switch.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-All-comics a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Images.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-Browse-comics a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Chart_organisation.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-RSS-feed a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Feed.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-Editing-FAQ a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Help.png");
}

/**********************************************************************
* Format tagline *
**********************************************************************/

#siteSub {
display:block;
font-style:italic;
opacity:0.5;
padding-left:20px;
background-repeat:no-repeat;
background-image:url('//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/0/04/16px-BlackHat_head.png');
padding-left:18px;
speak:never;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Mobile-friendly tweaks *
**********************************************************************/

/* Improve margin between paragraphs, to make them more evident */
#mw-content-text p {
margin: 0.8em 0;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Bolden xkcd's main topics at Category:comics by topic *
**********************************************************************/

.page-Category_Comics_by_topic a[title$=Romance],
.page-Category_Comics_by_topic a[title$=Sarcasm],
.page-Category_Comics_by_topic a[title$=Math],
.page-Category_Comics_by_topic a[title$=Language] {
font-weight: bold;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Main page formatting *
**********************************************************************/

.page-Main_Page .firstHeading {
display: none;
}
/* Dirty hack to hide the categories of the current comic from main page.
* A clean implementation should be instead done
* with a "categories" template that <noinclude>'s the categories.
* Although it seems the Main Page isn't *really* included in those categories,
* so this fix should suffice for the time being
*/
.page-Main_Page div#catlinks li a:not([title="Category:Root category"]),
.page-Main_Page div#catlinks span.noprint {
display: none;
}
.page-Main_Page div#catlinks ul li {
border-left: none;
position: absolute;
left: 70px;
bottom: 6px;
}
.page-Main_Page li#ca-viewsource a[href$="Main_Page&action=edit"]:hover {
cursor: help;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Special:ContributionScores *
**********************************************************************/

table.contributionscores {
text-align: right;
}
table.contributionscores td:first-child { /* score column */
font-weight: bold; /* make it bold so it stands out from the other numbers */
}
.page-Special_ContributionScores table.contributionscores td:first-child { /* score column, only in Special:ContributionScores */
padding: 0 !important; /* remove padding so that the graphical meter touches the cell edges */
width: 25em; /* use a constant width so all the tables in the page align */
}
.page-Special_ContributionScores table.contributionscores td:last-child { /* username column, only in Special:ContributionScores */
width: 40em; /* use a constant width so all the tables in the page align */
}
table.contributionscores tr {
background-color: Lavender;
}
.contributionscores.sortable tr:nth-child(-n+10),
.contributionscores:not(.sortable) tr:nth-child(-n+11) { /* top 10 entries */
background-color: white;
}
.contributionscores tr:nth-child(1) td:last-child:before,
.contributionscores tr.header + tr td:last-child:before {
color: Goldenrod;
content: "❶ ";
}
.contributionscores tr:nth-child(2) td:last-child:before,
.contributionscores tr.header + tr + tr td:last-child:before {
color: Grey;
content: "❷ ";
}
.contributionscores tr:nth-child(3) td:last-child:before,
.contributionscores tr.header + tr + tr + tr td:last-child:before {
color: SaddleBrown;
content: "❸ ";
}
.contributionscores-meter {
line-height: 2em; /* to make it fill the default row height */
display: inline-block; /* so that it will align right */
background-color: LightGreen;
padding-right: 0.2em; /* to counter the fact that the cell's padding was removed above */
}
/* for the home page */
.page-Main_Page h4.contributionscores-title:before {
content: "Active users - ";
}
/* Make preformatted text wrap. */
pre {
white-space: pre-wrap; /* css-3 */
white-space: -moz-pre-wrap; /* Mozilla, since 1999 */
white-space: -pre-wrap; /* Opera 4-6 */
white-space: -webkit-pre-wrap; /* WebKit browsers */
white-space: -o-pre-wrap; /* Opera 7 */
word-wrap: break-word; /* Internet Explorer 5.5+ */
}

/* Allow limiting of which header levels are shown in a TOC;
<div class="toclimit-3">, for instance, will limit to
showing ==headings== and ===headings=== but no further
(as long as there are no =headings= on the page). */
.toclimit-2 .toclevel-1 ul,
.toclimit-3 .toclevel-2 ul,
.toclimit-4 .toclevel-3 ul,
.toclimit-5 .toclevel-4 ul,
.toclimit-6 .toclevel-5 ul,
.toclimit-7 .toclevel-6 ul {
display: none;
}

/**********************************************************************
* {{Template:comic}} formatting *
**********************************************************************/

li.plainlinks:hover, .no-link-underline > li:hover {
background-color: #FFF !important;
box-shadow: none !important;
-moz-box-shadow: none !important;
-webkit-box-shadow: none !important;
}
li.plainlinks:hover > a > span, .no-link-underline > li:hover > a > span {
color: #6E7B91 !important;
}

MediaWiki:Common.css

2025-07-04T13:57:17Z

Waldir: Fix ID of the Editing FAQ (fka Help) page, so the icon shows up in the sidebar

/**********************************************************************
* Styles for the Navbox (navigation box) template *
**********************************************************************/

.navbox { /* Navbox container style */
border: 1px solid #aaa;
width: 100%;
margin: auto;
clear: both;
font-size: 88%;
text-align: center;
padding: 5px;
}
.navbox-inner,
.navbox-subgroup {
width: 100%;
}
.navbox th,
.navbox-title,
.navbox-abovebelow {
text-align: center; /* Title and above/below styles */
padding-left: 2em;
padding-right: 1em;
}
th.navbox-group { /* Group style */
white-space: nowrap;
/* @noflip */
text-align: right;
}
.navbox,
.navbox-subgroup {
background: #fdfdfd; /* Background color */
}
.navbox-list {
border-color: #fdfdfd; /* Must match background color */
}
.navbox th,
.navbox-title {
background: #ccccff; /* Level 1 color */
}
.navbox-abovebelow,
th.navbox-group,
.navbox-subgroup .navbox-title {
background: #ddddff; /* Level 2 color */
}
.navbox-subgroup .navbox-group,
.navbox-subgroup .navbox-abovebelow {
background: #e6e6ff; /* Level 3 color */
}
.navbox-even {
background: #f7f7f7; /* Even row striping */mediawik
}
.navbox-odd {
background: transparent; /* Odd row striping */
}
table.navbox + table.navbox { /* Single pixel border between adjacent navboxes */
margin-top: -1px; /* (doesn't work for IE6, but that's okay) */
}
.navbox .hlist td dl,
.navbox .hlist td ol,
.navbox .hlist td ul,
.navbox td.hlist dl,
.navbox td.hlist ol,
.navbox td.hlist ul {
padding: 0.125em 0; /* Adjust hlist padding in navboxes */
}
.navbox .hlist dd,
.navbox .hlist dt,
.navbox .hlist li {
white-space: nowrap; /* Nowrap list items in navboxes */
white-space: normal !ie; /* IE < 8 no-wraps entire list, so disable it */
}
.navbox .hlist dd dl,
.navbox .hlist dt dl,
.navbox .hlist li ol,
.navbox .hlist li ul {
white-space: normal; /* But allow parent list items to be wrapped */
}
ol + table.navbox,
ul + table.navbox {
margin-top: 0.5em; /* Prevent lists from clinging to navboxes */
}

/* Default styling for Navbar template */
.navbar {
display: inline;
font-size: 88%;
font-weight: normal;
}
.navbar ul {
display: inline;
white-space: nowrap;
}
.navbar li {
word-spacing: -0.125em;
}
.navbar.mini li span {
font-variant: small-caps;
}
/* Navbar styling when nested in navbox */
.navbox .navbar {
display: block;
font-size: 100%;
}
.navbox-title .navbar {
/* @noflip */
float: left;
/* @noflip */
text-align: left;
/* @noflip */
margin-right: 0.5em;
width: 6em;
}
/* 'show'/'hide' buttons created dynamically by the CollapsibleTables javascript
in [[MediaWiki:Common.js]] are styled here so they can be customised. */
.collapseButton {
/* @noflip */
float: right;
font-weight: normal;
/* @noflip */
margin-left: 0.5em;
/* @noflip */
text-align: right;
width: auto;
}

div.leftAlign span.mw-collapsible-toggle
{
float: left;
margin-left: 0px;
margin-right: 3px;
}

/* In navboxes, the show/hide button balances the v·d·e links
from [[Template:Navbar]], so they need to be the same width. */
.navbox .collapseButton {
width: 6em;
}

/* Styling for JQuery makeCollapsible, matching that of collapseButton */
.mw-collapsible-toggle {
font-weight: normal;
/* @noflip */
text-align: right;
}
.navbox .mw-collapsible-toggle {
width: 6em;
}

.hlist dd:after, .hlist li:after {
content: " ·";
font-weight: bold;
}

.hlist dd:last-child:after, .hlist dt:last-child:after, .hlist li:last-child:after {
content: none;
}

.hlist dd, .hlist dt, .hlist li {
display: inline;
margin: 0;
white-space: nowrap;
}

.hlist dl, .hlist ol, .hlist ul {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Styles for the Infobox template *
**********************************************************************/

.infobox {
border: 1px solid #aaa;
background-color: #f9f9f9;
color: black;
/* @noflip */
margin: 0.5em 0 0.5em 1em;
padding: 0.2em;
/* @noflip */
float: right;
/* @noflip */
clear: right;
/* @noflip */
text-align: left;
font-size: 88%;
line-height: 1.5em;
}
.infobox caption {
font-size: 125%;
font-weight: bold;
}
.infobox td,
.infobox th {
vertical-align: top;
}
.infobox.bordered {
border-collapse: collapse;
}
.infobox.bordered td,
.infobox.bordered th {
border: 1px solid #aaa;
}
.infobox.bordered .borderless td,
.infobox.bordered .borderless th {
border: 0;
}

.infobox.sisterproject {
width: 20em;
font-size: 90%;
}

.infobox.standard-talk {
border: 1px solid #c0c090;
background-color: #f8eaba;
}
.infobox.standard-talk.bordered td,
.infobox.standard-talk.bordered th {
border: 1px solid #c0c090;
}

/* styles for bordered infobox with merged rows */
.infobox.bordered .mergedtoprow td,
.infobox.bordered .mergedtoprow th {
border: 0;
border-top: 1px solid #aaa;
/* @noflip */
border-right: 1px solid #aaa;
}

/* User block messages */
div.user-block {
padding: 5px;
margin-bottom: 0.5em;
border: 1px solid #A9A9A9;
background-color: #FFEFD5;
}

.infobox.bordered .mergedrow td,
.infobox.bordered .mergedrow th {
border: 0;
/* @noflip */
border-right: 1px solid #aaa;
}

/**********************************************************************
* External link tweaks *
**********************************************************************/

/* Custom icon for links to xkcd.com */
a.external[href*="xkcd.com"] {
background: url("//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1f/xkcd_favicon.png") no-repeat scroll right center transparent !important;
padding-right: 18px !important;
}

/* Don't add the external link arrow to urls pointing to this site.
* Also, don't add the xkcd favicon (see above) to elements marked
* with the class "plainlinks", nor to the page [[explain xkcd:Copyrights]]. */
a.external[href*="explainxkcd.com"],
.plainlinks a.external[href*="xkcd.com"],
.page-explain_xkcd_Copyrights a.external[href*="xkcd.com"] {
background: none !important;
padding-right: 0 !important;
}

/* Don't underline links on hover if so instructed. Used in Template:comic */
.no-link-underline a:hover {
text-decoration: none;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Special styles for [[List of all comics]] (and elsewhere) *
**********************************************************************/

/* Don't show create link for articles that already exist */
a:not(.new) + span.create {
display: none;
}

/* Add some horizontal padding to tables, if they request it*/
table.table-padding > * > tr > td {
padding-left: 0.5em;
padding-right: 0.5em;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Add icons to the left navigation menu (sidebar) *
**********************************************************************/

#mw-panel #p-navigation li {
line-height: 2em;
}
div#p-navigation li a {
padding-left: 20px;
background-repeat: no-repeat;
display: inline-block;
line-height: 16px;
}
div#p-navigation li#n-mainpage-description a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/House_icon.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-Latest-comic a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/New_silk.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-portal a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Group.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-xkcd-com a {
background-image: url("//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1f/xkcd_favicon.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-recentchanges a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Farm-Fresh_clock_edit.png/16px-Farm-Fresh_clock_edit.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-Random-comic a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Silk_arrow_switch.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-All-comics a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Images.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-Browse-comics a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Chart_organisation.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-RSS-feed a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Feed.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-Editing-FAQ a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Help.png");
}

/**********************************************************************
* Format tagline *
**********************************************************************/

#siteSub {
display:block;
font-style:italic;
opacity:0.5;
padding-left:20px;
background-repeat:no-repeat;
background-image:url('//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/0/04/16px-BlackHat_head.png');
padding-left:18px;
speak:never;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Mobile-friendly tweaks *
**********************************************************************/

/* Improve margin between paragraphs, to make them more evident */
#mw-content-text p {
margin: 0.8em 0;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Bolden xkcd's main topics at Category:comics by topic *
**********************************************************************/

.page-Category_Comics_by_topic a[title$=Romance],
.page-Category_Comics_by_topic a[title$=Sarcasm],
.page-Category_Comics_by_topic a[title$=Math],
.page-Category_Comics_by_topic a[title$=Language] {
font-weight: bold;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Main page formatting *
**********************************************************************/

.page-Main_Page .firstHeading {
display: none;
}
/* Dirty hack to hide the categories of the current comic from main page.
* A clean implementation should be instead done
* with a "categories" template that <noinclude>'s the categories.
* Although it seems the Main Page isn't *really* included in those categories,
* so this fix should suffice for the time being
*/
.page-Main_Page div#catlinks li a:not([title="Category:Root category"]),
.page-Main_Page div#catlinks span.noprint {
display: none;
}
.page-Main_Page div#catlinks ul li {
border-left: none;
position: absolute;
left: 70px;
bottom: 6px;
}
.page-Main_Page li#ca-viewsource a[href$="Main_Page&action=edit"]:hover {
cursor: help;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Special:ContributionScores *
**********************************************************************/

table.contributionscores {
text-align: right;
}
table.contributionscores td:first-child { /* score column */
font-weight: bold; /* make it bold so it stands out from the other numbers */
}
.page-Special_ContributionScores table.contributionscores td:first-child { /* score column, only in Special:ContributionScores */
padding: 0 !important; /* remove padding so that the graphical meter touches the cell edges */
width: 25em; /* use a constant width so all the tables in the page align */
}
.page-Special_ContributionScores table.contributionscores td:last-child { /* username column, only in Special:ContributionScores */
width: 40em; /* use a constant width so all the tables in the page align */
}
table.contributionscores tr {
background-color: Lavender;
}
.contributionscores.sortable tr:nth-child(-n+10),
.contributionscores:not(.sortable) tr:nth-child(-n+11) { /* top 10 entries */
background-color: white;
}
.contributionscores tr:nth-child(1) td:last-child:before,
.contributionscores tr.header + tr td:last-child:before {
color: Goldenrod;
content: "❶ ";
}
.contributionscores tr:nth-child(2) td:last-child:before,
.contributionscores tr.header + tr + tr td:last-child:before {
color: Grey;
content: "❷ ";
}
.contributionscores tr:nth-child(3) td:last-child:before,
.contributionscores tr.header + tr + tr + tr td:last-child:before {
color: SaddleBrown;
content: "❸ ";
}
.contributionscores-meter {
line-height: 2em; /* to make it fill the default row height */
display: inline-block; /* so that it will align right */
background-color: LightGreen;
padding-right: 0.2em; /* to counter the fact that the cell's padding was removed above */
}
/* for the home page */
.page-Main_Page h4.contributionscores-title:before {
content: "Active users - ";
}
/* Make preformatted text wrap. */
pre {
white-space: pre-wrap; /* css-3 */
white-space: -moz-pre-wrap; /* Mozilla, since 1999 */
white-space: -pre-wrap; /* Opera 4-6 */
white-space: -webkit-pre-wrap; /* WebKit browsers */
white-space: -o-pre-wrap; /* Opera 7 */
word-wrap: break-word; /* Internet Explorer 5.5+ */
}

/* Allow limiting of which header levels are shown in a TOC;
<div class="toclimit-3">, for instance, will limit to
showing ==headings== and ===headings=== but no further
(as long as there are no =headings= on the page). */
.toclimit-2 .toclevel-1 ul,
.toclimit-3 .toclevel-2 ul,
.toclimit-4 .toclevel-3 ul,
.toclimit-5 .toclevel-4 ul,
.toclimit-6 .toclevel-5 ul,
.toclimit-7 .toclevel-6 ul {
display: none;
}

/**********************************************************************
* {{Template:comic}} formatting *
**********************************************************************/

li.plainlinks:hover, .no-link-underline > li:hover {
background-color: #FFF !important;
box-shadow: none !important;
-moz-box-shadow: none !important;
-webkit-box-shadow: none !important;
}
li.plainlinks:hover > a > span, .no-link-underline > li:hover > a > span {
color: #6E7B91 !important;
}

Transcript

2025-07-04T13:51:40Z

Waldir: fix grammar

Most [[xkcd]] comics have a '''transcript''' posted on xkcd. This info covers details like the comics title, the date and link to the image and the [[Title text|title text]]. The [https://www.xkcd.com/about/ xkcd About page] says:

{{Quote|Is there an interface for automated systems to access comics and metadata?
:''Yes. You can get comics through the JSON interface, at URLs like https://xkcd.com/info.0.json (current comic) and https://xkcd.com/614/info.0.json (comic #614).|[[Randall Munroe]]|[https://www.xkcd.com/about/ About xkcd]}}

The official transcripts are different from the ones in [[explain xkcd|this wiki]], which are much more detailed and descriptive. Randall occasionally cites explain xkcd for the transcript, like for [[1461: Payloads]]. You can find more information in [[1461: Payloads#Trivia|that comic's trivia section]].

==End of transcripts==
Using the mentioned method, the last available transcript on xkcd for [[1608: Hoverboard]] can be found at https://xkcd.com/1608/info.0.json. However, an error occurred during the combination of transcripts with other details. The subsequent two comics after Hoverboard do not have transcripts, only the accompanying details such as title, date, and title text. Then, the transcripts resumed, but for the comic released two numbers prior. Therefore, the transcript for [[1609: Food Combinations]], which should have been on https://xkcd.com/1609/info.0.json, was instead "released" on https://xkcd.com/1611/info.0.json, where the transcript for [[1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar]] should have been. The pattern continued, and the last comic with a transcript is [[1674: Adult]], with the transcript for that comic found three comics later under [[1677: Contrails]] on https://xkcd.com/1677/info.0.json. After [[1674: Adult]], no more transcripts have been provided.

This python script (public domain) can be used to quickly verify if and where new transcripts have been added:

<pre>#!/usr/bin/env python3
import requests
import sys

last_known_transcript = 1677
latest = requests.get(url='https://xkcd.com/info.0.json').json()['num']

new_transcripts = False
for i in range(latest, last_known_transcript, -1):
sys.stderr.write('.')
sys.stderr.flush()
if requests.get(url='https://xkcd.com/'+str(i)+'/info.0.json').json()['transcript'] != '':
print("\n", i, "has a transcript")
new_transcripts = True
print()

if not new_transcripts:
print("no new transcripts have been added")</pre>

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

MediaWiki:Common.css

2025-07-04T13:43:15Z

Waldir: Fix ID of the Random comic page, so the icon shows up in the sidebar

/**********************************************************************
* Styles for the Navbox (navigation box) template *
**********************************************************************/

.navbox { /* Navbox container style */
border: 1px solid #aaa;
width: 100%;
margin: auto;
clear: both;
font-size: 88%;
text-align: center;
padding: 5px;
}
.navbox-inner,
.navbox-subgroup {
width: 100%;
}
.navbox th,
.navbox-title,
.navbox-abovebelow {
text-align: center; /* Title and above/below styles */
padding-left: 2em;
padding-right: 1em;
}
th.navbox-group { /* Group style */
white-space: nowrap;
/* @noflip */
text-align: right;
}
.navbox,
.navbox-subgroup {
background: #fdfdfd; /* Background color */
}
.navbox-list {
border-color: #fdfdfd; /* Must match background color */
}
.navbox th,
.navbox-title {
background: #ccccff; /* Level 1 color */
}
.navbox-abovebelow,
th.navbox-group,
.navbox-subgroup .navbox-title {
background: #ddddff; /* Level 2 color */
}
.navbox-subgroup .navbox-group,
.navbox-subgroup .navbox-abovebelow {
background: #e6e6ff; /* Level 3 color */
}
.navbox-even {
background: #f7f7f7; /* Even row striping */mediawik
}
.navbox-odd {
background: transparent; /* Odd row striping */
}
table.navbox + table.navbox { /* Single pixel border between adjacent navboxes */
margin-top: -1px; /* (doesn't work for IE6, but that's okay) */
}
.navbox .hlist td dl,
.navbox .hlist td ol,
.navbox .hlist td ul,
.navbox td.hlist dl,
.navbox td.hlist ol,
.navbox td.hlist ul {
padding: 0.125em 0; /* Adjust hlist padding in navboxes */
}
.navbox .hlist dd,
.navbox .hlist dt,
.navbox .hlist li {
white-space: nowrap; /* Nowrap list items in navboxes */
white-space: normal !ie; /* IE < 8 no-wraps entire list, so disable it */
}
.navbox .hlist dd dl,
.navbox .hlist dt dl,
.navbox .hlist li ol,
.navbox .hlist li ul {
white-space: normal; /* But allow parent list items to be wrapped */
}
ol + table.navbox,
ul + table.navbox {
margin-top: 0.5em; /* Prevent lists from clinging to navboxes */
}

/* Default styling for Navbar template */
.navbar {
display: inline;
font-size: 88%;
font-weight: normal;
}
.navbar ul {
display: inline;
white-space: nowrap;
}
.navbar li {
word-spacing: -0.125em;
}
.navbar.mini li span {
font-variant: small-caps;
}
/* Navbar styling when nested in navbox */
.navbox .navbar {
display: block;
font-size: 100%;
}
.navbox-title .navbar {
/* @noflip */
float: left;
/* @noflip */
text-align: left;
/* @noflip */
margin-right: 0.5em;
width: 6em;
}
/* 'show'/'hide' buttons created dynamically by the CollapsibleTables javascript
in [[MediaWiki:Common.js]] are styled here so they can be customised. */
.collapseButton {
/* @noflip */
float: right;
font-weight: normal;
/* @noflip */
margin-left: 0.5em;
/* @noflip */
text-align: right;
width: auto;
}

div.leftAlign span.mw-collapsible-toggle
{
float: left;
margin-left: 0px;
margin-right: 3px;
}

/* In navboxes, the show/hide button balances the v·d·e links
from [[Template:Navbar]], so they need to be the same width. */
.navbox .collapseButton {
width: 6em;
}

/* Styling for JQuery makeCollapsible, matching that of collapseButton */
.mw-collapsible-toggle {
font-weight: normal;
/* @noflip */
text-align: right;
}
.navbox .mw-collapsible-toggle {
width: 6em;
}

.hlist dd:after, .hlist li:after {
content: " ·";
font-weight: bold;
}

.hlist dd:last-child:after, .hlist dt:last-child:after, .hlist li:last-child:after {
content: none;
}

.hlist dd, .hlist dt, .hlist li {
display: inline;
margin: 0;
white-space: nowrap;
}

.hlist dl, .hlist ol, .hlist ul {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Styles for the Infobox template *
**********************************************************************/

.infobox {
border: 1px solid #aaa;
background-color: #f9f9f9;
color: black;
/* @noflip */
margin: 0.5em 0 0.5em 1em;
padding: 0.2em;
/* @noflip */
float: right;
/* @noflip */
clear: right;
/* @noflip */
text-align: left;
font-size: 88%;
line-height: 1.5em;
}
.infobox caption {
font-size: 125%;
font-weight: bold;
}
.infobox td,
.infobox th {
vertical-align: top;
}
.infobox.bordered {
border-collapse: collapse;
}
.infobox.bordered td,
.infobox.bordered th {
border: 1px solid #aaa;
}
.infobox.bordered .borderless td,
.infobox.bordered .borderless th {
border: 0;
}

.infobox.sisterproject {
width: 20em;
font-size: 90%;
}

.infobox.standard-talk {
border: 1px solid #c0c090;
background-color: #f8eaba;
}
.infobox.standard-talk.bordered td,
.infobox.standard-talk.bordered th {
border: 1px solid #c0c090;
}

/* styles for bordered infobox with merged rows */
.infobox.bordered .mergedtoprow td,
.infobox.bordered .mergedtoprow th {
border: 0;
border-top: 1px solid #aaa;
/* @noflip */
border-right: 1px solid #aaa;
}

/* User block messages */
div.user-block {
padding: 5px;
margin-bottom: 0.5em;
border: 1px solid #A9A9A9;
background-color: #FFEFD5;
}

.infobox.bordered .mergedrow td,
.infobox.bordered .mergedrow th {
border: 0;
/* @noflip */
border-right: 1px solid #aaa;
}

/**********************************************************************
* External link tweaks *
**********************************************************************/

/* Custom icon for links to xkcd.com */
a.external[href*="xkcd.com"] {
background: url("//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1f/xkcd_favicon.png") no-repeat scroll right center transparent !important;
padding-right: 18px !important;
}

/* Don't add the external link arrow to urls pointing to this site.
* Also, don't add the xkcd favicon (see above) to elements marked
* with the class "plainlinks", nor to the page [[explain xkcd:Copyrights]]. */
a.external[href*="explainxkcd.com"],
.plainlinks a.external[href*="xkcd.com"],
.page-explain_xkcd_Copyrights a.external[href*="xkcd.com"] {
background: none !important;
padding-right: 0 !important;
}

/* Don't underline links on hover if so instructed. Used in Template:comic */
.no-link-underline a:hover {
text-decoration: none;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Special styles for [[List of all comics]] (and elsewhere) *
**********************************************************************/

/* Don't show create link for articles that already exist */
a:not(.new) + span.create {
display: none;
}

/* Add some horizontal padding to tables, if they request it*/
table.table-padding > * > tr > td {
padding-left: 0.5em;
padding-right: 0.5em;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Add icons to the left navigation menu (sidebar) *
**********************************************************************/

#mw-panel #p-navigation li {
line-height: 2em;
}
div#p-navigation li a {
padding-left: 20px;
background-repeat: no-repeat;
display: inline-block;
line-height: 16px;
}
div#p-navigation li#n-mainpage-description a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/House_icon.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-Latest-comic a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/New_silk.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-portal a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Group.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-xkcd-com a {
background-image: url("//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1f/xkcd_favicon.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-recentchanges a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Farm-Fresh_clock_edit.png/16px-Farm-Fresh_clock_edit.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-Random-comic a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Silk_arrow_switch.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-All-comics a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Images.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-Browse-comics a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Chart_organisation.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-RSS-feed a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Feed.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-help a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Help.png");
}

/**********************************************************************
* Format tagline *
**********************************************************************/

#siteSub {
display:block;
font-style:italic;
opacity:0.5;
padding-left:20px;
background-repeat:no-repeat;
background-image:url('//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/0/04/16px-BlackHat_head.png');
padding-left:18px;
speak:never;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Mobile-friendly tweaks *
**********************************************************************/

/* Improve margin between paragraphs, to make them more evident */
#mw-content-text p {
margin: 0.8em 0;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Bolden xkcd's main topics at Category:comics by topic *
**********************************************************************/

.page-Category_Comics_by_topic a[title$=Romance],
.page-Category_Comics_by_topic a[title$=Sarcasm],
.page-Category_Comics_by_topic a[title$=Math],
.page-Category_Comics_by_topic a[title$=Language] {
font-weight: bold;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Main page formatting *
**********************************************************************/

.page-Main_Page .firstHeading {
display: none;
}
/* Dirty hack to hide the categories of the current comic from main page.
* A clean implementation should be instead done
* with a "categories" template that <noinclude>'s the categories.
* Although it seems the Main Page isn't *really* included in those categories,
* so this fix should suffice for the time being
*/
.page-Main_Page div#catlinks li a:not([title="Category:Root category"]),
.page-Main_Page div#catlinks span.noprint {
display: none;
}
.page-Main_Page div#catlinks ul li {
border-left: none;
position: absolute;
left: 70px;
bottom: 6px;
}
.page-Main_Page li#ca-viewsource a[href$="Main_Page&action=edit"]:hover {
cursor: help;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Special:ContributionScores *
**********************************************************************/

table.contributionscores {
text-align: right;
}
table.contributionscores td:first-child { /* score column */
font-weight: bold; /* make it bold so it stands out from the other numbers */
}
.page-Special_ContributionScores table.contributionscores td:first-child { /* score column, only in Special:ContributionScores */
padding: 0 !important; /* remove padding so that the graphical meter touches the cell edges */
width: 25em; /* use a constant width so all the tables in the page align */
}
.page-Special_ContributionScores table.contributionscores td:last-child { /* username column, only in Special:ContributionScores */
width: 40em; /* use a constant width so all the tables in the page align */
}
table.contributionscores tr {
background-color: Lavender;
}
.contributionscores.sortable tr:nth-child(-n+10),
.contributionscores:not(.sortable) tr:nth-child(-n+11) { /* top 10 entries */
background-color: white;
}
.contributionscores tr:nth-child(1) td:last-child:before,
.contributionscores tr.header + tr td:last-child:before {
color: Goldenrod;
content: "❶ ";
}
.contributionscores tr:nth-child(2) td:last-child:before,
.contributionscores tr.header + tr + tr td:last-child:before {
color: Grey;
content: "❷ ";
}
.contributionscores tr:nth-child(3) td:last-child:before,
.contributionscores tr.header + tr + tr + tr td:last-child:before {
color: SaddleBrown;
content: "❸ ";
}
.contributionscores-meter {
line-height: 2em; /* to make it fill the default row height */
display: inline-block; /* so that it will align right */
background-color: LightGreen;
padding-right: 0.2em; /* to counter the fact that the cell's padding was removed above */
}
/* for the home page */
.page-Main_Page h4.contributionscores-title:before {
content: "Active users - ";
}
/* Make preformatted text wrap. */
pre {
white-space: pre-wrap; /* css-3 */
white-space: -moz-pre-wrap; /* Mozilla, since 1999 */
white-space: -pre-wrap; /* Opera 4-6 */
white-space: -webkit-pre-wrap; /* WebKit browsers */
white-space: -o-pre-wrap; /* Opera 7 */
word-wrap: break-word; /* Internet Explorer 5.5+ */
}

/* Allow limiting of which header levels are shown in a TOC;
<div class="toclimit-3">, for instance, will limit to
showing ==headings== and ===headings=== but no further
(as long as there are no =headings= on the page). */
.toclimit-2 .toclevel-1 ul,
.toclimit-3 .toclevel-2 ul,
.toclimit-4 .toclevel-3 ul,
.toclimit-5 .toclevel-4 ul,
.toclimit-6 .toclevel-5 ul,
.toclimit-7 .toclevel-6 ul {
display: none;
}

/**********************************************************************
* {{Template:comic}} formatting *
**********************************************************************/

li.plainlinks:hover, .no-link-underline > li:hover {
background-color: #FFF !important;
box-shadow: none !important;
-moz-box-shadow: none !important;
-webkit-box-shadow: none !important;
}
li.plainlinks:hover > a > span, .no-link-underline > li:hover > a > span {
color: #6E7B91 !important;
}

MediaWiki:Common.css

2025-07-04T13:41:24Z

Waldir: fix link to xkcd.com's favicon (File:Favicon.png → File:xkcd_favicon.png)

/**********************************************************************
* Styles for the Navbox (navigation box) template *
**********************************************************************/

.navbox { /* Navbox container style */
border: 1px solid #aaa;
width: 100%;
margin: auto;
clear: both;
font-size: 88%;
text-align: center;
padding: 5px;
}
.navbox-inner,
.navbox-subgroup {
width: 100%;
}
.navbox th,
.navbox-title,
.navbox-abovebelow {
text-align: center; /* Title and above/below styles */
padding-left: 2em;
padding-right: 1em;
}
th.navbox-group { /* Group style */
white-space: nowrap;
/* @noflip */
text-align: right;
}
.navbox,
.navbox-subgroup {
background: #fdfdfd; /* Background color */
}
.navbox-list {
border-color: #fdfdfd; /* Must match background color */
}
.navbox th,
.navbox-title {
background: #ccccff; /* Level 1 color */
}
.navbox-abovebelow,
th.navbox-group,
.navbox-subgroup .navbox-title {
background: #ddddff; /* Level 2 color */
}
.navbox-subgroup .navbox-group,
.navbox-subgroup .navbox-abovebelow {
background: #e6e6ff; /* Level 3 color */
}
.navbox-even {
background: #f7f7f7; /* Even row striping */mediawik
}
.navbox-odd {
background: transparent; /* Odd row striping */
}
table.navbox + table.navbox { /* Single pixel border between adjacent navboxes */
margin-top: -1px; /* (doesn't work for IE6, but that's okay) */
}
.navbox .hlist td dl,
.navbox .hlist td ol,
.navbox .hlist td ul,
.navbox td.hlist dl,
.navbox td.hlist ol,
.navbox td.hlist ul {
padding: 0.125em 0; /* Adjust hlist padding in navboxes */
}
.navbox .hlist dd,
.navbox .hlist dt,
.navbox .hlist li {
white-space: nowrap; /* Nowrap list items in navboxes */
white-space: normal !ie; /* IE < 8 no-wraps entire list, so disable it */
}
.navbox .hlist dd dl,
.navbox .hlist dt dl,
.navbox .hlist li ol,
.navbox .hlist li ul {
white-space: normal; /* But allow parent list items to be wrapped */
}
ol + table.navbox,
ul + table.navbox {
margin-top: 0.5em; /* Prevent lists from clinging to navboxes */
}

/* Default styling for Navbar template */
.navbar {
display: inline;
font-size: 88%;
font-weight: normal;
}
.navbar ul {
display: inline;
white-space: nowrap;
}
.navbar li {
word-spacing: -0.125em;
}
.navbar.mini li span {
font-variant: small-caps;
}
/* Navbar styling when nested in navbox */
.navbox .navbar {
display: block;
font-size: 100%;
}
.navbox-title .navbar {
/* @noflip */
float: left;
/* @noflip */
text-align: left;
/* @noflip */
margin-right: 0.5em;
width: 6em;
}
/* 'show'/'hide' buttons created dynamically by the CollapsibleTables javascript
in [[MediaWiki:Common.js]] are styled here so they can be customised. */
.collapseButton {
/* @noflip */
float: right;
font-weight: normal;
/* @noflip */
margin-left: 0.5em;
/* @noflip */
text-align: right;
width: auto;
}

div.leftAlign span.mw-collapsible-toggle
{
float: left;
margin-left: 0px;
margin-right: 3px;
}

/* In navboxes, the show/hide button balances the v·d·e links
from [[Template:Navbar]], so they need to be the same width. */
.navbox .collapseButton {
width: 6em;
}

/* Styling for JQuery makeCollapsible, matching that of collapseButton */
.mw-collapsible-toggle {
font-weight: normal;
/* @noflip */
text-align: right;
}
.navbox .mw-collapsible-toggle {
width: 6em;
}

.hlist dd:after, .hlist li:after {
content: " ·";
font-weight: bold;
}

.hlist dd:last-child:after, .hlist dt:last-child:after, .hlist li:last-child:after {
content: none;
}

.hlist dd, .hlist dt, .hlist li {
display: inline;
margin: 0;
white-space: nowrap;
}

.hlist dl, .hlist ol, .hlist ul {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Styles for the Infobox template *
**********************************************************************/

.infobox {
border: 1px solid #aaa;
background-color: #f9f9f9;
color: black;
/* @noflip */
margin: 0.5em 0 0.5em 1em;
padding: 0.2em;
/* @noflip */
float: right;
/* @noflip */
clear: right;
/* @noflip */
text-align: left;
font-size: 88%;
line-height: 1.5em;
}
.infobox caption {
font-size: 125%;
font-weight: bold;
}
.infobox td,
.infobox th {
vertical-align: top;
}
.infobox.bordered {
border-collapse: collapse;
}
.infobox.bordered td,
.infobox.bordered th {
border: 1px solid #aaa;
}
.infobox.bordered .borderless td,
.infobox.bordered .borderless th {
border: 0;
}

.infobox.sisterproject {
width: 20em;
font-size: 90%;
}

.infobox.standard-talk {
border: 1px solid #c0c090;
background-color: #f8eaba;
}
.infobox.standard-talk.bordered td,
.infobox.standard-talk.bordered th {
border: 1px solid #c0c090;
}

/* styles for bordered infobox with merged rows */
.infobox.bordered .mergedtoprow td,
.infobox.bordered .mergedtoprow th {
border: 0;
border-top: 1px solid #aaa;
/* @noflip */
border-right: 1px solid #aaa;
}

/* User block messages */
div.user-block {
padding: 5px;
margin-bottom: 0.5em;
border: 1px solid #A9A9A9;
background-color: #FFEFD5;
}

.infobox.bordered .mergedrow td,
.infobox.bordered .mergedrow th {
border: 0;
/* @noflip */
border-right: 1px solid #aaa;
}

/**********************************************************************
* External link tweaks *
**********************************************************************/

/* Custom icon for links to xkcd.com */
a.external[href*="xkcd.com"] {
background: url("//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1f/xkcd_favicon.png") no-repeat scroll right center transparent !important;
padding-right: 18px !important;
}

/* Don't add the external link arrow to urls pointing to this site.
* Also, don't add the xkcd favicon (see above) to elements marked
* with the class "plainlinks", nor to the page [[explain xkcd:Copyrights]]. */
a.external[href*="explainxkcd.com"],
.plainlinks a.external[href*="xkcd.com"],
.page-explain_xkcd_Copyrights a.external[href*="xkcd.com"] {
background: none !important;
padding-right: 0 !important;
}

/* Don't underline links on hover if so instructed. Used in Template:comic */
.no-link-underline a:hover {
text-decoration: none;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Special styles for [[List of all comics]] (and elsewhere) *
**********************************************************************/

/* Don't show create link for articles that already exist */
a:not(.new) + span.create {
display: none;
}

/* Add some horizontal padding to tables, if they request it*/
table.table-padding > * > tr > td {
padding-left: 0.5em;
padding-right: 0.5em;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Add icons to the left navigation menu (sidebar) *
**********************************************************************/

#mw-panel #p-navigation li {
line-height: 2em;
}
div#p-navigation li a {
padding-left: 20px;
background-repeat: no-repeat;
display: inline-block;
line-height: 16px;
}
div#p-navigation li#n-mainpage-description a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/House_icon.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-Latest-comic a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/New_silk.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-portal a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Group.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-xkcd-com a {
background-image: url("//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1f/xkcd_favicon.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-recentchanges a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Farm-Fresh_clock_edit.png/16px-Farm-Fresh_clock_edit.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-randompage a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Silk_arrow_switch.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-All-comics a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Images.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-Browse-comics a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Chart_organisation.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-RSS-feed a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Feed.png");
}
div#p-navigation li#n-help a {
background-image: url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Help.png");
}

/**********************************************************************
* Format tagline *
**********************************************************************/

#siteSub {
display:block;
font-style:italic;
opacity:0.5;
padding-left:20px;
background-repeat:no-repeat;
background-image:url('//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/0/04/16px-BlackHat_head.png');
padding-left:18px;
speak:never;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Mobile-friendly tweaks *
**********************************************************************/

/* Improve margin between paragraphs, to make them more evident */
#mw-content-text p {
margin: 0.8em 0;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Bolden xkcd's main topics at Category:comics by topic *
**********************************************************************/

.page-Category_Comics_by_topic a[title$=Romance],
.page-Category_Comics_by_topic a[title$=Sarcasm],
.page-Category_Comics_by_topic a[title$=Math],
.page-Category_Comics_by_topic a[title$=Language] {
font-weight: bold;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Main page formatting *
**********************************************************************/

.page-Main_Page .firstHeading {
display: none;
}
/* Dirty hack to hide the categories of the current comic from main page.
* A clean implementation should be instead done
* with a "categories" template that <noinclude>'s the categories.
* Although it seems the Main Page isn't *really* included in those categories,
* so this fix should suffice for the time being
*/
.page-Main_Page div#catlinks li a:not([title="Category:Root category"]),
.page-Main_Page div#catlinks span.noprint {
display: none;
}
.page-Main_Page div#catlinks ul li {
border-left: none;
position: absolute;
left: 70px;
bottom: 6px;
}
.page-Main_Page li#ca-viewsource a[href$="Main_Page&action=edit"]:hover {
cursor: help;
}

/**********************************************************************
* Special:ContributionScores *
**********************************************************************/

table.contributionscores {
text-align: right;
}
table.contributionscores td:first-child { /* score column */
font-weight: bold; /* make it bold so it stands out from the other numbers */
}
.page-Special_ContributionScores table.contributionscores td:first-child { /* score column, only in Special:ContributionScores */
padding: 0 !important; /* remove padding so that the graphical meter touches the cell edges */
width: 25em; /* use a constant width so all the tables in the page align */
}
.page-Special_ContributionScores table.contributionscores td:last-child { /* username column, only in Special:ContributionScores */
width: 40em; /* use a constant width so all the tables in the page align */
}
table.contributionscores tr {
background-color: Lavender;
}
.contributionscores.sortable tr:nth-child(-n+10),
.contributionscores:not(.sortable) tr:nth-child(-n+11) { /* top 10 entries */
background-color: white;
}
.contributionscores tr:nth-child(1) td:last-child:before,
.contributionscores tr.header + tr td:last-child:before {
color: Goldenrod;
content: "❶ ";
}
.contributionscores tr:nth-child(2) td:last-child:before,
.contributionscores tr.header + tr + tr td:last-child:before {
color: Grey;
content: "❷ ";
}
.contributionscores tr:nth-child(3) td:last-child:before,
.contributionscores tr.header + tr + tr + tr td:last-child:before {
color: SaddleBrown;
content: "❸ ";
}
.contributionscores-meter {
line-height: 2em; /* to make it fill the default row height */
display: inline-block; /* so that it will align right */
background-color: LightGreen;
padding-right: 0.2em; /* to counter the fact that the cell's padding was removed above */
}
/* for the home page */
.page-Main_Page h4.contributionscores-title:before {
content: "Active users - ";
}
/* Make preformatted text wrap. */
pre {
white-space: pre-wrap; /* css-3 */
white-space: -moz-pre-wrap; /* Mozilla, since 1999 */
white-space: -pre-wrap; /* Opera 4-6 */
white-space: -webkit-pre-wrap; /* WebKit browsers */
white-space: -o-pre-wrap; /* Opera 7 */
word-wrap: break-word; /* Internet Explorer 5.5+ */
}

/* Allow limiting of which header levels are shown in a TOC;
<div class="toclimit-3">, for instance, will limit to
showing ==headings== and ===headings=== but no further
(as long as there are no =headings= on the page). */
.toclimit-2 .toclevel-1 ul,
.toclimit-3 .toclevel-2 ul,
.toclimit-4 .toclevel-3 ul,
.toclimit-5 .toclevel-4 ul,
.toclimit-6 .toclevel-5 ul,
.toclimit-7 .toclevel-6 ul {
display: none;
}

/**********************************************************************
* {{Template:comic}} formatting *
**********************************************************************/

li.plainlinks:hover, .no-link-underline > li:hover {
background-color: #FFF !important;
box-shadow: none !important;
-moz-box-shadow: none !important;
-webkit-box-shadow: none !important;
}
li.plainlinks:hover > a > span, .no-link-underline > li:hover > a > span {
color: #6E7B91 !important;
}

Title text

2025-07-04T13:23:44Z

Waldir: also link "almost all" to Category:No title text

<noinclude>{{xkcd.com}}[[File:xkcd_comic.png|thumb|right|250px|The [[Design of xkcd.com#Comic section|Comic section]] is one of the [[Design of xkcd.com|four main sections]] of the [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] website.]]{{TOC}}[[File:tt.png|right|thumb|The title text for [[2760: Paleontology Museum]]]]
The '''title text''', also known as {{w|mouseover|mouseover text}} or {{w|tooltip}}, is an {{w|HTML attribute}} [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] puts on [[:Category:No title text|almost every xkcd comic]] to add something tangentially relevant to the topic of the comic. In some of the early comics, the title text was also used to comment on how they were drawn (see [[24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey]]) and explain the joke (see [[5: Blown apart]]). In [[:Category:No title text|a few comics]], the title text is missing. The comic with the longest title text is [[1363: xkcd Phone]] (816 characters), while [[1311: 2014]] has the title text with the highest word count (134 words).

{{Quote|I do occasionally fix typos and things but to my knowledge none of the comics were ever missing a tooltip. It's all in a database (overbuilt, I know) and I think I would have noticed an empty field. More likely someone was just confused by their browser's erratic tooltip display behavior. Sometimes you have to do little incantations (or mouse over a link and then back onto the picture) to get them to appear.|[[Randall Munroe]]|{{w|Talk:Xkcd/Archive_1#All but one...|Source}}}}

It can be accessed in many ways:
* By hovering the mouse pointer over the image on the main site;
* By clicking the "(alt-text)" button next to the comic title on the [https://m.xkcd.com mobile site];
* By viewing the [[Transcript|official transcript]] of the comics;
* By installing a [[Browser helpers|browser helper]]

Randall uses the "title" attribute rather than the {{w|Alternative text for images|"alt" attribute}} in the HTML sources. In the [https://xkcd.com/rss.xml comics feed] and [https://xkcd.com/info.0.json API data] the "alt text" is labelled "alt".
{{incomplete|
*Explain that Randall previously '''erroneously''' called it "alt text" (like in [[45]]) and mouseover text, but he more recently calls it "title text", like in [[442]]. (Give a bit of history.) Add more comics/examples of Randall calling it "alt text", "mouseover text", and "title" text.

* Explain that in the book [[xkcd: volume 0]], comics sometimes include a different title text.

* Better explain '''[[:Category:No title text]]''' and '''[[:Category:Multiple title texts]]'''.

* Explain the use of title texts in the images of his ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'' articles (explained [[what if? (blog)|here]]) and how the use changed from describing the image to adding jokes.}}

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

Category:Comics without title text

2025-07-04T13:22:32Z

Waldir: Redirected page to Category:No title text

#REDIRECT[[:Category:No title text]]

User talk:Waldir

2025-07-04T13:20:26Z

Waldir: /* Errors */ re

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

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

== Comic Template ==

Hey,

Just in reference to your todo list, {{tl|comic}} is quite human unreadable, I agree. Part of the problem is that if you add line breaks and spacing to templates with layout and if statements it can quickly break the code. I'll try to clean it up a bit though. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 15:59, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

:No problem; I've done the best I can do. I used some noinclude to allow for some whitespace which I think helps, but the tradeoff is I includeonly-ed the whole template, and then just put a sample to show what it looks like. without images and things, the default on the page didn't show much anyway.

:I was having a similar discussion with [[User:SlashMe]] about the comic/comicheader templates. He suggestd the comic template be compartmentalized to include other subtemplates so pieces can be used where the whole is not needed (this navbar could be such a piece). I just wasn't sure when pieces (or which pieces) would ever be useful alone. I figure we could create a text field (like 'text1') where the image field is just to be used as backup for weird days without requiring the user to create their own box and piece together the subtemplates. I'm open to discussion, but nobody has suggested to me which pieces they'd like to compartmentalize and what a possible use would be. I included the comicheader template as it was when I built the comic template, but I also added improvements. For example, the prev box used to show on all comics other than comic 1. I changed it to also check if the previous comic has an article. I think that's the best way to do it until all the article have comics. Also, I added some spacing so where there is no next or prev, the comic#/date box is more or less centred still. I think it would make more sense to do any improvements or edits to the {{tl|comic}} template and if its agreed to subdivide it, the up to date navbar from that can be pulled out to replace the old comicheader template. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 16:22, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

==RE: Welcome==
Thanks. By missing extensions, I was just jokingly referencing how a key number of extensions were, at least at first, missing, such as the references and ability to upload multiple files ([http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:MultiUpload Extension:MultiUpload]). Is the signature really a problem, though? I just imported the same signature that I used on the RuneScape wiki ([http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/User:Hofmic 7K edits like a baws]). In the page source, it's actually far more streamlined than most peoples' signatures, as it is templated (and not substituted). I could change it if absolutely necessary, although I am slightly attached to it, and do have to point out we don't actually have a signature policy (perhaps we should have one, though, particularly before someone starts creating five line sigs). {{User:Omega/sig}} 21:08, 8 August 2012 (UTC)
:Heh, sorry, rather used to the somewhat laxer [http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/RS:SIG signature policy] on the RuneScape wiki ([http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/User:Hofmic/Signatures some of my past sigs]). I changed it to a slightly simpler signature, just two colours, and would say that's a bit less "flashy". Don't really know how much more I can scale down before it'd just be a plain link. I like being creative. {{User:Omega/sig}} 22:28, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

== Broken templates ==

Could you take a look at admin requests and Jeff's talk? The change you requested to $wgCapitalLinks seems to have broken our templates and possibly [[Special:RecentChanges]]. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 04:45, 12 August 2012 (UTC)
:Thanks for the heads-up. I tried to fix the problems with capitalization, and replied on that thread. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 09:01, 12 August 2012 (UTC)

==Captchas==
:''This thread has been moved to [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Technical#We need more maintainers]]''

== Would you weigh in on which userbox? ==

Would you mind being the tie-breaker for Davidy and me? It's the conversation that has evolved out of [[User talk:Davidy22#autoblocking suspicious users]] whether we should use IronyChef's {{tl|UserBox}}, or the {{tl|Userbox}} templates that I imported from wikipedia. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 16:05, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

== [[Talk:1110: Click and Drag#Locked|Re:]]Semi-protection for new users ==
Aha, thanks for the info! Nice to hear that the system works everything out automatically :) [[User:Jerodast|- jerodast]] ([[User talk:Jerodast|talk]]) 20:07, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

== LocalSettings.php ==

Is it possible to view LocalSettings.php? If so, where would I find it? – ''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 23:51, 19 December 2012 (UTC)
:Technically, it should be located at http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/LocalSettings.php, but I believe by default MediaWiki sets up access rules that make it inaccessible to the public (or maybe it's the server software itself that doesn't allow raw php files to be sent to the browser, without the preprocessing). In either case, only those who have access to the server (ftp, ssh, web control panel, etc.) will be able to see and edit it. Why do you ask? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 15:26, 23 December 2012 (UTC)
::Trying to figure out what's set in the LocalSettings.php on Ballotpedia - you were the first person I could think of who might know how to view it. Too bad it's hidden. Thanks, though. – ''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 03:29, 1 January 2013 (UTC)

==xkcd link icons==
They're popping up in the headers of explanation pages, next to the dates. It r bad. fixplx. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:20, 28 March 2013 (UTC)
:Oh, and the xkcd links on the all comics page also have the icon now. So that can do with some fixing too. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:31, 28 March 2013 (UTC)
:: Thanks for the heads-up. I recently edited [[MediaWiki:Common.css]] to replace the custom class "no-xkcd-favicon" with the more common "plainlinks" already [[mw:Manual:Plainlinks|included in MediaWiki]]. Mediawiki search, however, sucks at finding such instances of code, so I missed those two usages of the "no-xkcd-favicon" class. I've fixed them now. Cheers, [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:19, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

==Incomplete pages==
We should mention also the list of incomplete comics at the main page. This page is becoming more important than the missing ones.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:04, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
:Sorry for taking a long time to reply. I see someone already took care of it :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:17, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

==Picture uploads==
Is anyone able to fix the missing thumbnail feature? I am responsible for many different web sites, maybe I can help.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:04, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
: As someone already mentioned in the community portal, you need to contact Jeff. He is the only one with server access. Have you managed mediawiki sites before? I think the thumbnail issue is not uncommon in mediawiki, and [[mw:Manual:Image administration#Image thumbnailing|this page]] may shed some light into the issue. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:23, 17 June 2013 (UTC)
::I did post also a message at Jeff's discussion page. No answer so far. I am relatively new to mediawiki but I did install and configure one at my company and I am also responsible fore many more PHP based Web sites. So I am sure there is a wrong path to the image tools at the "LocalSettings.php" config file.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 09:33, 18 June 2013 (UTC)
:::Sorry for not replying earlier. I think to get faster responses from Jeff you should probably email him instead of leaving a message in his talk page. He also seems to be quite active [https://twitter.com/jeff_underscore on twitter]. Hope this helps! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:14, 25 July 2013 (UTC)

==Block request==
As you seem to be the most recently active admin: The two users 172.70.126.87 and 🎄 have been vandalising the latest comic heavily.

[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User talk:While False|talk]]) 22:31, 28 April 2022 (UTC)

: Apologies for the late response. I took a look at the latest contributions of both [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.87|172.70.126.87]] and [[Special:Contributions/🎄|🎄]], and neither seems to be active anymore, so hopefully a block isn't needed anymore. Cheers, and thanks for contributing to the wiki! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 14:29, 14 November 2022 (UTC)
::Swift enough for me. Cheers! —[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User:While False/explain xkcd museum|'''museum''']] | [[User talk:While False|talk]] | [[special:Contributions/While_False|contributions]] | [[special:Log/While_False|logs]] | [[Special:UserRights/While_False|rights]] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&printable=yes printable version] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&action=info page information] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere/User:While_False what links there] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:RecentChangesLinked&days=30&from=&target=User%3AWhile_False related changes] | [https://www.google.com Google search] | current time: {{CURRENTTIME}}) 15:55, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

== Errors ==

Hi Waldir. I’m reaching out because there’s been a large amount of errors being thrown around recently. I’ve reached out to all semi-active admins that are on the wiki. A lot of users are getting 503 Errors and saying that server can’t be reached at the moment, please check the Technical Community Portal to see. Do you have server access or are able to personally contact Jeff? I know that he has a Twitter but I don’t have a Twitter account since my parents don’t let me. If you see this message, please respond as soon as possible, as I don’t think that this issue will resolve itself. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 21:55, 19 September 2024 (UTC)

: Sorry, I didn't see your message until now. I am not in touch with Jeff anyway, though, nor I have server access, so it's not like I could have helped much. I hope other admins were able to respond to your prompts in time :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 13:20, 4 July 2025 (UTC)

2922: Pub Trivia

2024-04-20T07:49:02Z

Waldir: /* Explanation */ clarify alternative question

{{comic
| number = 2922
| date = April 19, 2024
| title = Pub Trivia
| image = pub_trivia_2x.png
| imagesize = 422x666px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Bonus question: Where is London located? (a) The British Isles (b) Great Britain and Northern Ireland (c) The UK (d) Europe (or 'the EU') (e) Greater London
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by A BOT ASKING BAD TRIVIA QUESTIONS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Many pubs have {{w|pub trivia|trivia nights}}, where patrons form teams and compete to answer questions about a range of topics. The typical goal for trivia games is that they be challenging, yet possible, and so the questions whose answers are too difficult or too easy generally make for a poor game. In addition, it's usually preferable that questions are clearly worded with a single, objective answer, so as to avoid disputes about which answers are correct.

Cueball has apparently been hired by one bar to infiltrate ''other'' bars' quiz nights and ask particularly bad questions. The implication is that this will make the games unpleasant, in the hopes that people will leave, and possibly go to the bar that hired Cueball.

Cueball uses a variety of strategies to write bad questions, including questions that are trivial (where the answer is painfully obvious), unanswerable (either because there is no answer, or because the answer is unknown), ambiguously worded or arguable.

Many of his questions could be altered slightly to make them more reasonable for such a game, but that would defeat Cueball's purpose.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Question !! Problem with the Question !! Explanation !! More Reasonable Alternative(s)
|-
|1. Which member of {{w|BTS}} has a birthday this year?||Multiple correct answers||All people have birthdays every year{{Citation needed}} (other than pedantic exceptions due to calendar issues or timezone alterations, or someone dying before their birthday, or being born on a leap day, none of which apply in this case). Therefore, all seven members of BTS have birthdays this year.||Which member of BTS has a birthday today/this week/this month? Which member of BTS turns [a specific age] this year?
|-
|2. How many sides does a {{w|platonic solid}} have?||Multiple answers, ambiguous language||There are five {{w|Platonic solids}}, with 4, 6, 8, 12 or 20 faces (colloquially called sides) in {{w|Euclid|Euclidean}} {{w|Euclidean geometry|3-space}}. The solids have, respectively, 6, 12, 8, 30 and 30 edges (also occasionally called sides colloquially). A more devious quizmaster might actually include this as a trick question with the correct answer being 'zero', since strictly speaking solids do not have 'sides'.||How many Platonic solids are there? What is the highest number of faces on a Platonic solid? How many faces does a [specific platonic solid] have? How many faces (or edges, or vertices) do ''all'' the platonic solids have (i.e., added together)?
|-
|3. What is the smallest lake in the world?||Arguable||While the largest lakes are relatively straightforward to categorize, smaller bodies of water range in size down to individual puddles. There is no clear, definitional line at which a body goes from being a lake to a pond, for example. In addition, the size of small lakes will fluctuate due to variability in precipitation, and other weather effects, and some lakes only exist for brief periods (intermittent lakes). Hence, which small bodies of water are "lakes" and which is the smallest can't be clearly answered, without specifying a whole list of parameters and standards.||What lake has the largest surface area in the world? What is the world's deepest lake? What lake is recognized by the Guinness World Records as the world's smallest? (Benxi Lake in China).
|-
|4. Which Steven Spielberg movie features more shark attacks, {{w|Jaws (movie)|Jaws (1975)}} or {{w|Lincoln (movie)|Lincoln (2012)}}?||Trivial||''Jaws'' is a famous movie about a killer shark, and features at least five fatal shark attacks. Lincoln is a movie about the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, containing zero shark attacks.{{Citation needed}} Anyone with even a passing familiarity with American popular culture should be able to get this one right, and someone with no knowledge could likely guess the answer from the titles alone. This might be mistaken for a silly trick question, as ''Lincoln'' is a much less famous movie.||How many times is a shark seen on screen in "Jaws"? Which film won more {{w|Academy Awards}}? How many fatal shark attacks occur in "Jaws"?
|-
|5. How many planets were there originally?||Ambiguous||The question doesn't specify a time frame or culture, and also doesn't specify that it's referring to our solar system (in the observable universe, there are almost certainly trillions of planets, as there are trillions of stars and almost every one of them has a planet orbiting it). Additionally, it asks how many "were there", as opposed to how many planets were known (the number which are known and defined as such is far smaller than the number of planets in the universe). The word "originally" could imply the origin of the solar system, or the origin of the universe, in which case the answer would be 'zero' as no planets had yet accreted.||How many planets were known to Ancient Greece? How many planets were known to science prior to the invention of the telescope? How many planets were in our Solar System at the end of the 20th century?
|-
|6. What {{w|NFL}} player has scored the most points outside of a game?||Ambiguous, Unknowable||The term "scored the most points" generally only applies within the context of a game, making it very unclear what kind of "points" the question is referring to. Does it mean points in non-NFL games? Points in games other than football? Points outside the context of any game at all (such as 'making a point' in conversation)? Even if this were clarified, points scored in official games in professional sports leagues are meticulously recorded and published, points scored in any other context are not, so the question is likely impossible to answer. Arguably, Brian Jordan would be an answer, with 121 Minor League and 755 MLB runs scored (points).||Which NFL player scored the most points in a game/season/career?
|-
|7. The {{w|Wright brothers}} built the first airplane. Who built the last one?||Unknowable||Orville and Wilbur Wright are widely credited with designing and building the first airplane (in the sense of a heavier-than-air flying machine that could take off, steer and land under its own power). In modern times, design and construction of airplanes has become a huge, international industry, with many airplanes of widely varying sizings being built each year. Since airplanes are built continuously, which one was made most recently depends on when the question is asked (and would be very difficult for the average person to know -- and not trivial for even a member of the aerospace industry to know). If it's asking about the last airplane ''ever'', that's impossible to know, since that plane hasn't been built yet (and hopefully won't for a very long time).||Who built the first airplane '''after''' the Wright brothers? When was the final Wright Model B aircraft built?
|-
|8. Is every even number greater than 2 the sum of two primes?||Unknown, Possibly unknowable||This is a famous, centuries-old {{w|open question}} in math known as {{w|Goldbach's conjecture}}. Mathematicians widely believe that it is true, and it has held true for every number checked up to 4 ⋅ 1018, but since it's impossible to check every number, we can't assume it's universally true. No mathematical proof of its veracity exists at this point. Since it is {{w|Gödel's incompleteness theorems|known}} that something can be true but impossible to prove (and, being true, impossible to disprove), this may be the situation forever.||According to which mathematical conjecture is every even number greater than 2 the sum of two primes?
|-
|9. Not counting {{w|Canberra}}, what city is the capital of {{w|Australia}}?||No answer exists||Australia has only one capital (unlike some countries, which divide the legislative and administrative capitals, for example), and that capital is Canberra. Hence, by definition, there is no national capital "not counting Canberra". Though each constituent state also has its state capital (inclusive of Canberra, which is the entirety of its {{w|Australian Capital Territory|own state territory}}), this would still leave us with an ambiguous choice. Before 1927, the answer could be Melbourne, as that was where the Parliament sat at that time. ||What city is the capital of Australia? What is currently the largest city in Australia? What is the smallest state capital in Australia? Not counting Canberra, what city was the most recently founded state capital of Australia? What city was the capital city before Canberra?
|-
|10. Who played the drums?||Trivial, yet unknowable without context||As worded, the question could be answered with anyone who's ever played the drums, in any context, whether professional or not, in all of history. This would include a huge number of people, most of whom would not be well-known. Most people would be able to offer a technically correct answer, and almost none of them would be interesting. Or maybe the host is wondering who it was that played drums that night, as part of the bar's live music.||Who played the drums for some specific band/album/track/concert?
|-
|(Title text) Where is {{w|London}} located? (a) the {{w|British Isles}} (b) {{w|Great Britain and Northern Ireland}} (c) the {{w|United Kingdom|UK}} (d) {{w|Europe}} (or 'the {{w|European Union|EU}}') (e) {{w|Greater London}}||Multiple answers||All choices are technically correct as they are various geographical areas that include the city of London, England. Also note that the City of London is different from the city ''named'' London as it is technically surrounded by it, hence (e) as an answer. Answer (d) is both correct and incorrect, as it conflates a geographic region, Europe, and a political body, the European Union. The United Kingdom (and therefore London) {{w|Brexit|left the EU}} in 2020, but is still geographically included in Europe. In addition, 'the UK' is short for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, so answers (b) and (c) refer to the same thing. This also does not get into cities named London outside of the UK, so for example "Ontario" or "Canada" could also be possible answers if the test designer were truly evil, thus making none of the answers correct. ||What is the capital of the United Kingdom? (answer: London) Where is London, England '''not''' located? (a) the British Isles (b) Great Britain and Northern Ireland (c) the UK (d) Europe (e) the EU (answer: (e))
|}

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

:[Cueball, holding a wireless microphone in one hand and a pencil and notebook in the other, reading from the notebook]:
:Welcome to pub trivia! Round one is 10 questions:

# Which member of BTS has a birthday this year?
# How many sides does a platonic solid have?
# What is the smallest lake in the world?
# Which Steven Spielberg movie features more shark attacks - ''Jaws'' (1975) or ''Lincoln'' (2012)?
# How many planets were there originally?
# What NFL player has scored the most points outside of a game?
# The Wright brothers built the first airplane. Who built the last one?
# Is every even number greater than 2 the sum of two primes?
# Not counting Canberra, what city is the capital of Australia?
# Who played the drums?

:[Caption below the panel]:
:A local pub trivia place hired me to run bad quizzes at competing bars.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category: Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category: American football]]
[[Category: Astronomy]]
[[Category: Geography]]
[[Category: Math]]
[[Category: Music]]

2922: Pub Trivia

2024-04-20T07:46:57Z

Waldir: /* Explanation */ move alternative questions to the correct column

{{comic
| number = 2922
| date = April 19, 2024
| title = Pub Trivia
| image = pub_trivia_2x.png
| imagesize = 422x666px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Bonus question: Where is London located? (a) The British Isles (b) Great Britain and Northern Ireland (c) The UK (d) Europe (or 'the EU') (e) Greater London
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by A BOT ASKING BAD TRIVIA QUESTIONS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Many pubs have {{w|pub trivia|trivia nights}}, where patrons form teams and compete to answer questions about a range of topics. The typical goal for trivia games is that they be challenging, yet possible, and so the questions whose answers are too difficult or too easy generally make for a poor game. In addition, it's usually preferable that questions are clearly worded with a single, objective answer, so as to avoid disputes about which answers are correct.

Cueball has apparently been hired by one bar to infiltrate ''other'' bars' quiz nights and ask particularly bad questions. The implication is that this will make the games unpleasant, in the hopes that people will leave, and possibly go to the bar that hired Cueball.

Cueball uses a variety of strategies to write bad questions, including questions that are trivial (where the answer is painfully obvious), unanswerable (either because there is no answer, or because the answer is unknown), ambiguously worded or arguable.

Many of his questions could be altered slightly to make them more reasonable for such a game, but that would defeat Cueball's purpose.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Question !! Problem with the Question !! Explanation !! More Reasonable Alternative(s)
|-
|1. Which member of {{w|BTS}} has a birthday this year?||Multiple correct answers||All people have birthdays every year{{Citation needed}} (other than pedantic exceptions due to calendar issues or timezone alterations, or someone dying before their birthday, or being born on a leap day, none of which apply in this case). Therefore, all seven members of BTS have birthdays this year.||Which member of BTS has a birthday today/this week/this month? Which member of BTS turns [a specific age] this year?
|-
|2. How many sides does a {{w|platonic solid}} have?||Multiple answers, ambiguous language||There are five {{w|Platonic solids}}, with 4, 6, 8, 12 or 20 faces (colloquially called sides) in {{w|Euclid|Euclidean}} {{w|Euclidean geometry|3-space}}. The solids have, respectively, 6, 12, 8, 30 and 30 edges (also occasionally called sides colloquially). A more devious quizmaster might actually include this as a trick question with the correct answer being 'zero', since strictly speaking solids do not have 'sides'.||How many Platonic solids are there? What is the highest number of faces on a Platonic solid? How many faces does a [specific platonic solid] have? How many faces (or edges, or vertices) do ''all'' the platonic solids have (i.e., added together)?
|-
|3. What is the smallest lake in the world?||Arguable||While the largest lakes are relatively straightforward to categorize, smaller bodies of water range in size down to individual puddles. There is no clear, definitional line at which a body goes from being a lake to a pond, for example. In addition, the size of small lakes will fluctuate due to variability in precipitation, and other weather effects, and some lakes only exist for brief periods (intermittent lakes). Hence, which small bodies of water are "lakes" and which is the smallest can't be clearly answered, without specifying a whole list of parameters and standards.||What lake has the largest surface area in the world? What is the world's deepest lake? What lake is recognized by the Guinness World Records as the world's smallest? (Benxi Lake in China).
|-
|4. Which Steven Spielberg movie features more shark attacks, {{w|Jaws (movie)|Jaws (1975)}} or {{w|Lincoln (movie)|Lincoln (2012)}}?||Trivial||''Jaws'' is a famous movie about a killer shark, and features at least five fatal shark attacks. Lincoln is a movie about the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, containing zero shark attacks.{{Citation needed}} Anyone with even a passing familiarity with American popular culture should be able to get this one right, and someone with no knowledge could likely guess the answer from the titles alone. This might be mistaken for a silly trick question, as ''Lincoln'' is a much less famous movie.||How many times is the shark seen on screen? Which film won more {{w|Academy Awards}}? How many fatal shark attacks occur in "Jaws"?
|-
|5. How many planets were there originally?||Ambiguous||The question doesn't specify a time frame or culture, and also doesn't specify that it's referring to our solar system (in the observable universe, there are almost certainly trillions of planets, as there are trillions of stars and almost every one of them has a planet orbiting it). Additionally, it asks how many "were there", as opposed to how many planets were known (the number which are known and defined as such is far smaller than the number of planets in the universe). The word "originally" could imply the origin of the solar system, or the origin of the universe, in which case the answer would be 'zero' as no planets had yet accreted.||How many planets were known to Ancient Greece? How many planets were known to science prior to the invention of the telescope? How many planets were in our Solar System at the end of the 20th century?
|-
|6. What {{w|NFL}} player has scored the most points outside of a game?||Ambiguous, Unknowable||The term "scored the most points" generally only applies within the context of a game, making it very unclear what kind of "points" the question is referring to. Does it mean points in non-NFL games? Points in games other than football? Points outside the context of any game at all (such as 'making a point' in conversation)? Even if this were clarified, points scored in official games in professional sports leagues are meticulously recorded and published, points scored in any other context are not, so the question is likely impossible to answer. Arguably, Brian Jordan would be an answer, with 121 Minor League and 755 MLB runs scored (points).||Which NFL player scored the most points in a game/season/career?
|-
|7. The {{w|Wright brothers}} built the first airplane. Who built the last one?||Unknowable||Orville and Wilbur Wright are widely credited with designing and building the first airplane (in the sense of a heavier-than-air flying machine that could take off, steer and land under its own power). In modern times, design and construction of airplanes has become a huge, international industry, with many airplanes of widely varying sizings being built each year. Since airplanes are built continuously, which one was made most recently depends on when the question is asked (and would be very difficult for the average person to know -- and not trivial for even a member of the aerospace industry to know). If it's asking about the last airplane ''ever'', that's impossible to know, since that plane hasn't been built yet (and hopefully won't for a very long time).||Who built the first airplane '''after''' the Wright brothers? When was the final Wright Model B aircraft built?
|-
|8. Is every even number greater than 2 the sum of two primes?||Unknown, Possibly unknowable||This is a famous, centuries-old {{w|open question}} in math known as {{w|Goldbach's conjecture}}. Mathematicians widely believe that it is true, and it has held true for every number checked up to 4 ⋅ 1018, but since it's impossible to check every number, we can't assume it's universally true. No mathematical proof of its veracity exists at this point. Since it is {{w|Gödel's incompleteness theorems|known}} that something can be true but impossible to prove (and, being true, impossible to disprove), this may be the situation forever.||According to which mathematical conjecture is every even number greater than 2 the sum of two primes?
|-
|9. Not counting {{w|Canberra}}, what city is the capital of {{w|Australia}}?||No answer exists||Australia has only one capital (unlike some countries, which divide the legislative and administrative capitals, for example), and that capital is Canberra. Hence, by definition, there is no national capital "not counting Canberra". Though each constituent state also has its state capital (inclusive of Canberra, which is the entirety of its {{w|Australian Capital Territory|own state territory}}), this would still leave us with an ambiguous choice. Before 1927, the answer could be Melbourne, as that was where the Parliament sat at that time. ||What city is the capital of Australia? What is currently the largest city in Australia? What is the smallest state capital in Australia? Not counting Canberra, what city was the most recently founded state capital of Australia? What city was the capital city before Canberra?
|-
|10. Who played the drums?||Trivial, yet unknowable without context||As worded, the question could be answered with anyone who's ever played the drums, in any context, whether professional or not, in all of history. This would include a huge number of people, most of whom would not be well-known. Most people would be able to offer a technically correct answer, and almost none of them would be interesting. Or maybe the host is wondering who it was that played drums that night, as part of the bar's live music.||Who played the drums for some specific band/album/track/concert?
|-
|(Title text) Where is {{w|London}} located? (a) the {{w|British Isles}} (b) {{w|Great Britain and Northern Ireland}} (c) the {{w|United Kingdom|UK}} (d) {{w|Europe}} (or 'the {{w|European Union|EU}}') (e) {{w|Greater London}}||Multiple answers||All choices are technically correct as they are various geographical areas that include the city of London, England. Also note that the City of London is different from the city ''named'' London as it is technically surrounded by it, hence (e) as an answer. Answer (d) is both correct and incorrect, as it conflates a geographic region, Europe, and a political body, the European Union. The United Kingdom (and therefore London) {{w|Brexit|left the EU}} in 2020, but is still geographically included in Europe. In addition, 'the UK' is short for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, so answers (b) and (c) refer to the same thing. This also does not get into cities named London outside of the UK, so for example "Ontario" or "Canada" could also be possible answers if the test designer were truly evil, thus making none of the answers correct. ||What is the capital of the United Kingdom? (answer: London) Where is London, England '''not''' located? (a) the British Isles (b) Great Britain and Northern Ireland (c) the UK (d) Europe (e) the EU (answer: (e))
|}

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

:[Cueball, holding a wireless microphone in one hand and a pencil and notebook in the other, reading from the notebook]:
:Welcome to pub trivia! Round one is 10 questions:

# Which member of BTS has a birthday this year?
# How many sides does a platonic solid have?
# What is the smallest lake in the world?
# Which Steven Spielberg movie features more shark attacks - ''Jaws'' (1975) or ''Lincoln'' (2012)?
# How many planets were there originally?
# What NFL player has scored the most points outside of a game?
# The Wright brothers built the first airplane. Who built the last one?
# Is every even number greater than 2 the sum of two primes?
# Not counting Canberra, what city is the capital of Australia?
# Who played the drums?

:[Caption below the panel]:
:A local pub trivia place hired me to run bad quizzes at competing bars.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category: Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category: American football]]
[[Category: Astronomy]]
[[Category: Geography]]
[[Category: Math]]
[[Category: Music]]

2626: d65536

2023-08-07T14:51:13Z

Waldir: added Category:Binary using HotCat

{{comic
| number = 2626
| date = May 30, 2022
| title = d65536
| image = d65536.png
| titletext = They're robust against quantum attacks because it's hard to make a quantum system that large.
}}

==Explanation==
In binary computing, 16 bit unsigned numbers range from 0 to 65535, for a total of 65536 unique numbers, a number which is hence well-known to software engineers. Generating large numbers in a manner that is truly random is a recurring problem in cryptography, required to send private messages to another party. People today still use dierolls to generate private random numbers.

In role-playing games (and occasionally in other tabletop games), multiple shapes of dice are often used to generate random numbers in specific ranges. By convention, these are referred to as d''n'' according to their number of faces. A traditional six-faced die would be a d6, and many popular pen-and-paper role-playing games use dice ranging between d4 and d20. While there are larger dice used in tabletop games (most commonly d100), these are usually split into multiple smaller ones. For example, a d100 is often two d10s rolled together, with one die providing the first digit and the other die giving the second digit — the total number of possible combinations (100) is the product of the number of faces of the two dice (10 * 10). While "real" {{w|Zocchihedron|d100s}} and other large-numbered dice do exist, most people consider them to be impractical: they need to be either impractically large or have very small faces (resulting in small print for the numbers), they're close enough to being spheres that it's difficult to get them into a stable resting position, and even if they are stationary, determining which face is "on top" is difficult to do by eye. The Zocchihedron (d100) die is also difficult to ensure as unbiased because of geometry requiring dissimilar faces and therefore a different mixture of 'stopping factors' for each face it could land upon. The largest unbiased die is a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disdyakis_triacontahedron d120] (excluding the bipyramids, which can theoretically be made with arbitrarily many sides), so it is very likely that [[Cueball|Cueball's]] d65536 die is also biased.

Here, Cueball has constructed a d65536 for generating random 16 bit numbers. It may have solved the problem of generating large random numbers with fewer die rolls, but it magnifies all of the problems with large-numbered dice to ludicrous extremes. In order for the faces to be readable, the die is ridiculously huge, dwarfing the human standing next to it. Rolling such a die is not only physically challenging, but it would also need a huge space in which to roll if the result is to be random, and that space would need to have an extremely flat and rigid surface in order for the die to come to rest. And even if those problems were solved, simply getting to a vantage point to see the top of the die would be a major challenge, and determining which number was truly on top would be near impossible to do by eye. If one really wished to use dice, it would be much easier to simply use multiple dice rolls. For instance, one could roll eight d4 dice (or use 16 coin flips), and convert the result into binary. This has the same randomness as a single die roll{{fact}}, but can take much longer, so people do purchase d16s to simplify it and speed it up.

The closest regular shape similar to the depicted in the comic could be a {{w|Goldberg polyhedron}}. However, no such polyhedron exists with exactly 65536 hexagonal faces. The closest Goldberg Polyhedron has a mixture of 65520 hexagons and 12 pentagons, totaling 65532 faces. It is possible to construct a fair die without a matching regular shape by limiting the sides which it could land on and designing those sides to be fair (for instance, a prism with rectangular facets that extend its entire length, and rounded ends to ensure it doesn't balance on end).

The title text references how cryptographic systems (especially RSA and other factoring-is-hard based systems) are vulnerable to quantum attacks as quantum computing technology develops. The title text is essentially punning on the idea of a "large" quantum system. "Large" in the quantum computing sense would be on the order of 64 qubits each of which would be an atom or two at most. This would still be microscopic and will never be as large as the giant die the comic is centered on; but for a well-observed environment and human rolling without sufficient entropy (consider somebody obsessed with a certain number dropping the die on something soft), a conventional computer could predict some rolls. See also [[538]] for non-mathematical paths of cryptography.

Since 65536 is 2^16, if for some reason you must simulate a D65536 using nothing but D&D dice, the most efficient method is to roll a D8 4 times and roll a D4 twice (2^(3×4) · 2^(2×2)), or roll a D8 5 times and toss a coin (2^(3×5) × 2).

==Transcript==
:[A large sphere with a several lines, and in some places grids, are shown. Cueball, standing next to it, is dwarfed by its size, as it is at least seven times as tall as he is. The sphere has many lines following various great circles or parallel lesser circles around the curve of the sphere, and some patches of cross hatching to suggest further texturing along these lines hovering just below the degree of most of the illustrative detailing. The lines and grids cover the sphere in three layers of parallel axes, angled sixty degrees from each other, implying a huge mesh of equilateral triangles or hexagons. In the top right part of the ball is a black circle. An arrow points to this circle, and the end of the arrow goes to a larger circle that partly obscures the rightmost part of the sphere. The circle shows a zoom in on the surface in the black circle on the sphere. The zoom shows a small portion of the sphere's surface, showing that the grid comes along because the sphere is divided into elongated hexagonal faces with numbers up to at least five-digits. Seven numbers can be fully seen, but there are nine other faces partly shown, five of these with part of their numbers visible, one of these clearly only have four digits. One of the empty faces must also have a number with only 1-3 digits, as no numbers are visible although a significant part of the face is visible.]

:[Here follows the numbers in the zoomed in part of the sphere, with "..." represents numbers being cut off. The numbers are read in lines left to right, even though the numbers are tilted from down towards the right, which could have suggested a different reading order.]
:30827
:16[bottom part of a cut-off line][small cut-off circle]
:...38
:11875
:25444
:...[top part of a cut-off line]5
:12082
:28525
:3 [left part of a cut-off line]...
:13359
:13874
:[Two cut-off lines, likely the start of the number 2]...

:[Caption below the image:]
:The hardest part of securely generating random 16-bit numbers is rolling the d65536.

==Trivia==
*If a real d65536 were constructed with each number having an equal area and each printed in 12 point font, the resulting die would be about 5 feet (1.5 meters) in diameter, which isn't several times the size of a person as the comic suggests, but is still large enough to be hilariously inconvenient. If it were made out of standard acrylic, and not hollow, it would weigh about 2 tons (1700kg).
*This die would have a 0.00001526 chance of rolling a natural one (or any other number).
*There are seven 16-bit numbers fully visible in the picture: 30827, 25444, 11875, 28525, 12082, 13874 and 13359. [https://dotnetfiddle.net/fjLYZe They conceal a message.] If these numbers are split big-endian into two 8-bit ASCII characters each, the result is <code>xkcd.com/2624/</code>. For example, converting the first number 30,827 to hexadecimal (in which a four digit number covers exactly 65,536 different values) converts to a hex value of 786B. Splitting this into 78 and 6B, these are the hex ASCII codes for "x" and "k" respectively.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Cryptography]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Binary]]

2526: TSP vs TBSP

2023-08-07T14:47:10Z

Waldir: replaced Category:Math with Category:Binary using HotCat

{{comic
| number = 2526
| date = October 8, 2021
| title = TSP vs TBSP
| image = tsp_vs_tbsp.png
| titletext = It's like one teraspoon / when all you need is a kilonife
}}

==Explanation==
This is another one of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]], this time a Cooking Tip.

This comic plays a joke on the common liquid measurements of {{w|teaspoon}}s (tsp) and {{w|tablespoon}}s (tbsp), which are commonly confused. In the US, a teaspoon is defined as 4.9 ml (0.18 imp fl oz; 0.17 US fl oz) while a tablespoon is defined as 14.8 ml (0.50 US fl oz; 3 tsp).

It also plays a joke on metric prefixes (based on powers of 10) versus binary prefixes (based on powers of 2), which are also a common source of confusion (see also [[394: Kilobyte]]). In the International System of Units (SI), T (for ''tera-'') signifies a multiplier of 1012 (that is, 1 000 000 000 000), while Ti (''tebi-'', for ''terabinary''), and not Tb, is an ISO standard binary prefix meaning 240 (that is, 10244 = 1 099 511 627 776).

If "spoon" is understood as US teaspoon, then one teraspoon will be 4 928 922 cubic meters (1.302 billion US gallons or 3996 acre-feet) and a binary teraspoon will be 5 419 407 cubic meters (1.432 B gal or 4394 acre-ft). If the US tablespoon is taken as base unit, a teraspoon will be 14 786 765 cubic meters and a binary teraspoon 16 258 220 cubic meters – roughly equivalent to six thousand Olympic-size swimming pools or slightly more than six times the volume of the Pyramid of Giza. All these units have fairly limited uses in cooking.{{Citation needed}}

The title text is a play on a lyric from the Alanis Morissette song "{{w|Ironic (song)|Ironic}}": "It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife." Randall changes the line to "teraspoon" and "kilonife". The "kilonife" comes from ''knife'' being interpreted as "nife" with a ''k'' prefix – ''k'' being the SI symbol for ''kilo-'' –, in a similar vein as taking ''tsp'' for "teraspoon". "Nife" is a geophysical name for Earth's core, thought to be composed of nickel and iron, and hence the word comes from the chemical symbols Ni (nickel) and Fe (iron).

==Transcript==

:Cooking tips: tsp vs tbsp
:[left column:]
:<big>Tsp</big>
:Teraspoon
:1,000,000,000,000
:(1012) spoons

:[right column:]
:<big>Tbsp</big>
:Binary tsp
:1,099,511,627,776
:(10244) spoons

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Tips]]
[[Category:Binary]]
[[Category:Food]]

2497: Logic Gates

2023-08-07T14:45:36Z

Waldir: added Category:Binary using HotCat

{{comic
| number = 2497
| date = August 2, 2021
| title = Logic Gates
| image = logic_gates.png
| titletext = In C, the multiocular O represents the bitwise norxondor gorgonax.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic lists {{w|logic gate}}s. The first six are real but the last six are made up and get increasingly absurd. The names for these last six use the same letters and syllables as the first six so as to appear at a glance to be consistent with their naming conventions.

Some of the ways the gate parts are combined seemingly-impossibly can raise ideas in the mind of the reader of how quantum computing involves processing multiple possibilities at once, or how machine learning involves solving systems backward from their outputs to their inputs. The names ring of calling more and more profoundly to some mythological catastrophe.

{| class="wikitable"
!Name
!Explanation
|-
|{{w|AND gate}}
|An AND gate outputs true if and only if both inputs are true. (Inputs 1 '''and''' 2 must be true.)

By convention it is a symbol with a flat input end leading to a semicircular output end.
|-
|{{w|OR gate}}
| An OR gate outputs true if one or the other or both of the inputs are true. (Input 1 '''or''' 2 may be true.)

By convention it is a symbol with a concave input edge leading to an output end resembling a gothic pointed-arch, turned to point onwards.
|-
|{{w|NOT gate}}
|A NOT gate outputs true if and only if the input is false. (The sole input must '''not''' be true.)

The convention for the isolated NOT gate is to be a triangle (reminiscent of a diode or op-amp comparator), that conspicuously points in the direction of logical passage, tipped with a circle.
|-
|{{w|NOR gate}}
|A NOR gate outputs true if and only if both inputs are false. (Neither 1 '''nor''' 2 must be true; alternately interpreted as it must '''n'''ot be true that either 1 '''or''' 2 are true.)

The symbol is the OR shape with the NOT-circle at its tip.
|-
|{{w|XOR gate}}
|A XOR (short for "eXclusive OR") gate outputs true if one, or the other, but not both of the inputs are true. (Mutually e'''x'''cusively, either 1 '''or''' 2 must be true.)

This symbol is the standard OR one but with a further concave line stood-off slightly from the usual one to connect to the input lines to distinguish its more discriminating behaviour.
|-
|{{w|NAND gate}}
|A NAND (short for "Not AND") gate outputs true if one or the other or both of the inputs is false. (It must '''n'''ot be true that both 1 '''and''' 2 are true.)

The symbol is the AND gate with the NOT-circle at its tip.
|-
|NORX gate
|A ''single'' feedline leads into a standard OR-style input end, while two lines are seen departing from an AND-style output front.

If the gate obeys only AND logic and the input is not internally duplicated for the purpose then the result would always be false.

If the gate uses OR logic ''and/or'' the input is internally used for both traditionally-required inputs, then the output would be exactly of the state of the original input.

The two outputs appear to be duplications (unlike Out And Not Out pairings) so the overall effect may be to act as a non-interfering 'splitter' gate.

Alternately, if the single input carries a superposition of two signals (see NORG XORT, below) then this might be teased apart into two inputs, internally, processed (optionally making a new superposition of AND and OR results upon the separated inputs) and propagating onwards into two different and deliberately unentangled (but possibly still each superpositonal) outputs for further quantum processing.

(There are no NOT-type or XOR-type elements to the diagram, yet it is notable as being a partially-rearranged anagram of "XNOR Gate".)
|-
|GAND Ate
|Two inputs feed into an AND-style receiving end. The presumed output end features a mirrored XOR input design complete with two connections onwards.

Assuming it still accepts inputs from the left and produces outputs to the right, it is possible this gate initially acts as an AND-gate to the inward pair but then (randomly?) generates output signals that would, as inputs to an XOR, produce the same output. That is, if both inputs are true then the two outputs are paired as one as true and one as false (in either order); for any other inputs both outputs are in the same and identical (not-specified) logic-state.

(The name is a spoonerism of "AND Gate", but may not necessarily have any meaning beyond that.)
|-
|XAND Gort
|Two inputs, unconventionally, feed into what is otherwise a perfectly standard NOT-symbol with the traditional single output.

How a single NOT is intended to handle two inputs and merge them is not obvious. All obvious functions are already met by existing two-input gates. Perhaps it is logically identical to the NOR gate, but drawn and named to express its nature as "not A and not B" rather than the less intuitive equivalent "not (A or B)".

Or possibly this is intended to create (and then invert) a combined quantum superposition of the two singular input feeds and therefore act as a form of signal multiplexer.

(The name seems only trivially related to the gate names associated with the drawn elements of functionality. "Xand" is a familiar form of the name "Alexander" that is sometimes used for major figures in fantasy novels for its striking "X", while "Gort" is the name of a particularly powerful alien robot seen in various versions of the film The Day The Earth Stood Still. Neither of these facts may bear true relevance, however.)
|-
|NORG Xort
|The initial input end resembles an XOR gate, but with 'negation'-nodes unconventionally sited where the inputs lead inwards. The output end is given a NAND appearance.

An XOR gate should not ultimately react any differently with both inputs pre-negated, compared to how the straight inputs would be handled, but the promise of NANDness may not make things quite so simple, without straying into the possibility of quantum-logic (as suggested above) where it may 'merely' be just highly complex to understand.

(The name given references NOR and XOR, but may be entirely divorced from any logical interpretation of its logical implications.)
|-
|ANDORX Gant
|Two inputs appear to feed into an OR-receiving end-cap, but this transitions into feedlines into a follow-up XOR-receiver, which in turn transitions (without output-capping) into two output tracks each with an 'orphaned' NOT-node upon them.

Generously, it could be interpreted as an OR-gate whose internal result is sent to one output track while the opposite is output to the other track, then both are inverted. Or quantum (re-)superposition and separations may again be at work in this case in ways hard to narrow down.

(The nominal title is yet further lacking in obvious logic, starting with a possible rearrangement of XOR and AND followed by part of GATE with an N inserted. "Gant" could possibly be a reference to a particular sportswear manufacturer/retailer. There is, of course, also the {{w|Gantt chart}}.)
|-
|NORXONDOR Gorgonax
|Two inputs lead into a (N)OR-like entry, the continuing sides of which repurpose as connectors leading through a pair of full anti-parallel NOT gates, before resuming drawn purpose as a NOR-gate output tip.

It is possible the peculiarly placed NOTs are acting as indications of some kind of two-way signal filter/rectifier, if they were to be taken seriously.

(The gate name, however, is a bizarre construct that may even be echoing fantasy/mythology references, such as Gondor and the Gorgon.)
|}

The only real-life logic gate that was omitted is the XNOR gate (short for "eXclusive Not OR"; it compares the inputs, and if and only if they are equal, it outputs true). Note that the "NORG XORT" gate would be logically equivalent to it, if it were tipped to match its uniquely XOR-style tail, since it would then be an XNOR gate with NOT on both inputs, a modification that has no ultimate effect on the logic as it merely switches the case of which exclusivity it needs to be, and does not care which version of same-input it might be responding to.

A double-NOT on an input would produce the identical output again (...if the input is '''not not''' true). Two NOTs preapplied to a (N)AND or (N)OR would produce the same output as a (further-)NOTed version of the (N)OR or (N)AND, conversely (...if '''not'''-1 '''and''' '''not'''-2 then this also means that neither 1 '''nor''' 2). Normally this would be shown, if necessary, as full NOT gates on the lead-in inputs but (see Transcript, below, and the NORG XORT description above) the shortcut element is occasionally used in further mix'n'match symbology (together with reinterpreting connectivity lines as partial shape-edges and vice-versa) in 'understandable' but definitely non-standard ways.

Along with the deliberate confusion of connector and shape-edge lines, directionality is also played with in several cases, with input 'ends' perhaps also at the (implied) output end and reversed sub-symbols implying a composite gate with substructural feedback or perhaps diode-rectification upon a bidirectional logic path.

Much like [[2360: Common Star Types]], as the list progresses, the names start to sound more like mythical creatures, closing with the "Norxondor gorgonax". As with the symbology, the names appear to be nonsensical recombinations of the standard ones (perhaps with off-subject inspirations, in some cases) but often do not match up with the symbolic (mis)use, such as an X in the name not implying/being implied by an XOR's unique drawn feature.

In the title text [[Randall]] claims that in the {{w|C (programming language)|programming language C}} the {{w|multiocular O}} (ꙮ) character, an exotic glyph variant of the Cyrillic letter O, is used to represent the bitwise version of the last operator Norxondor gorgonax (presumably ꙮꙮ represents the non-bitwise version), fitting as the multiocular O is used to refer to "many-eyed {{w|seraphim}}" (angels) in some religious literature. {{w|Gorgon}}s ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2360:_Common_Star_Types beige] or otherwise) have heads covered with snakes instead of hair, and so possess multiple eyes, the most famous was known as {{w|Medusa}} (she was [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/e/e5/1608_1088x1074y_Medusa_and_floating_earth.png depicted] in [[1608: Hoverboard]]). The ꙮ character abstractly inspires ideas of great otherworldly demons like those of the Cthulhu mythos.

C is a low-level programming language, and as such, it has many operations that correspond to logical (i.e. bitwise) operations. These contrast with operations that work in a non-bitwise way. For example, "&&" is the non-bitwise "AND" operator that takes the operands as a whole, while "&" is the bitwise "AND" that combines the respective bits of its two inputs independently before spitting out the new single composite value the output bits represent. In non-bitwise operations, 0 always represents "FALSE", while any non-zero value means "TRUE" for inputs, and 1 is used to represent TRUE for outputs. Thus, "14 && 3" gives the result 1: TRUE AND TRUE -> TRUE. In the bitwise operation, using the same values, the decimal value 14 has the binary value 1110 and the decimal value 3 has the binary value 0011, and for this example we get:
1110 = 14
& 0011 = 3
0010 = 2

==Transcript==
:[The comic shows a chart with twelve electronic logic gates arranged in three rows of four. Each gate is depicted as a schematic symbol, with a label underneath. Above them is a header:]
:Common logic gate symbols

:[Here below follows a description of the 12 gates in the three rows, with their label given beneath each description:]

:[A standard gate symbol used in real life. Two inputs on the left lead to the vertical left edge of a solid D-shaped symbol. From the right side of the D there is one output.]
:AND gate

:[A standard gate symbol used in real life. Two inputs on the left lead to a convex-crescent left edge of a crescent-shaped symbol. The right side of the crescent symbol's shape forms a point at its output. From the right side of the crescent there is one output.]
:OR gate

:[A standard gate symbol used in real life. One input leads to a triangular symbol pointing to the right. There is a small bubble symbol connected to the triangle on the output, which leads right.]
:NOT gate

:[A standard gate symbol used in real life. This is identical to the OR GATE, except the output has a bubble attached, like the NOT GATE's output.)
:NOR gate

:[A standard gate symbol used in real life. This is identical to the OR GATE, except the left-hand arc at the input has a double-stroked line.]
:XOR gate

:[A standard gate symbol used in real life. This is identical to the AND GATE, except the output has a bubble attached, like the NOT GATE's output.]
:NAND gate

:[An unusual symbol. This symbol has one input on the left leading to a convex-crescent left edge, like the OR GATE. The output side as a smooth crescent like the AND GATE but has two outputs.]
:NORX gate

:[An unusual symbol. This symbol has two inputs on the left leading to a vertical left edge input, like the AND GATE. The output side has a convex-crescent double-stroked output like the mirror image of the XOR GATE's input. There are two outputs.]
:GAND ate

:[An unusual symbol. This resembles the NOT GATE except there are two inputs instead of one leading into the left side.]
:XAND gort

:[An unusual symbol. This has a double-stroked convex-crescent input like the XOR GATE, but the two inputs have bubbles attached. The single output has a smooth crescent shape with a bubble, like a NAND GATE.]
:NORG xort

:[An unusual symbol. Two inputs lead to a convex-crescent edge, and the two lines of this symbol now enter a double-stroked convex-crescent input like the XOR GATE. The two lines of -this- symbol have bubbles placed half way across their horizontal length, and are presumably the outputs.]
:ANDORX gant

:[An unusual symbol. The symbol is identical to the NOR GATE, except the upper and lower horizontal parts of the symbols hull have a NOT GATE placed on them - one pointing to the left on the upper line, and to the right on the lower line. There is one output to the symbol, with a bubble attached.]
:NORXONDOR gorgonax

==Trivia==

*If you want to test out how the logic gates work, click [http://mathigon.org/polypad#logic here].
* There was a very famous computer programmer named Gates.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Binary]]

1179: ISO 8601

2023-08-07T14:39:43Z

Waldir: added Category:Binary using HotCat

{{comic
| number = 1179
| date = February 27, 2013
| title = ISO 8601
| image = iso_8601.png
| titletext = ISO 8601 was published on 06/05/88 and most recently amended on 12/01/04.
}}

==Explanation==
When abbreviating the date into numerical form, {{w|Date format by country|various areas of the world}} tend to list the year, month, and day in different orders (as well as with different delimiting symbols), which can cause confusion particularly when the day value is 12 or lower allowing it to be easily interpreted as the month and vice versa. As a {{w|public service announcement}}, this comic states that there is in fact one international standard for writing numeric dates, set by the {{w|International Organization for Standardization}} in its {{w|ISO 8601}} standard: YYYY-MM-DD.

The comic then proceeds to list several discouraged ways of writing out the date of the comic's publication, as they do not match the standard. It begins with several commonly used ones in countries around the world, but then begins to list increasingly uncommon ways, ranging from strange (Roman numerals) to quirky (binary, Unix time) to essentially impossible (painting the numbers onto a black cat).

The title text provides a perfect example of the kind of ambiguity that can arise when non-standard formats are used. The ISO standard was in fact published on 1988-06-05 and amended on 2004-12-01. This is mentioned in the title text in MM/DD/YY format; however, there is no way to naturally figure this out, particularly with the second date.

With the year truncated to two digits and all three numbers at 12 or lower, the date referring to December 1, 2004 (the digits pairs 12, 01 and 04) has a number of misinterpretations. Usually 12th Jan '04 (if written as US-style but read as European, or vice-versa) but with ISO-influenced "YY MM DD" ordering as one side or other of the misunderstanding it can easily become the 12th day of April 2001, the 4th day of December 2001 and the 4th of January 2012. It takes two such communication errors to 'become' the 1st day of April 2012.

Date formats were again the subject in [[1340: Unique Date]] and [[2562: Formatting Meeting]].

The other mentioned formats are:

{| class=wikitable
! Date !! Explanation
|-
| 02/27/2013
| MM/DD/YYYY, used mostly in the [https://www.trustedtranslations.com/blog/how-are-dates-written-in-different-countries United States, Belize and Micronesia].
|-
| 02/27/13
| MM/DD/YY, same as above but with the year shortened to two digits.
|-
| 27/02/2013
| DD/MM/YYYY, used variously in South America, Canada ({{w|Date_and_time_notation_in_Canada|officially uses ISO 8601}}), Australia, New Zealand and much of Europe.
|-
| 27/02/13
| DD/MM/YY, same as above but with the year shortened to two digits.
|-
| 20130227
| YYYYMMDD, same as ISO 8601 without delimiting punctuation. Allowed by the standard. Technically not ambiguous but is hard to read as a date at first glance.
|-
| 2013.02.27
| YYYY.MM.DD, used in Japan, South Korea and Hungary. Same as ISO 8601 except with different punctuation.
|-
| 27.02.13
| DD.MM.YY, used in Germany, Russia, and others.
|-
| 27-02-13
| DD-MM-YY, used in Denmark, Netherlands, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, and others.
|-
| 27.2.13
| D.M.YY. It is common in several areas to abbreviate the month or day to a single digit and drop the leading zero when possible.
|-
| 2013. II. 27.
| YYYY. MM. DD., with month as {{w|Roman numerals}}, used in Hungary. In this format, February and November are prone to be confused with each other: "II" vs. "11". Similar formats with the opposite ordering (27. II. 2013) existed historically in various European countries like France, Germany and Italy.
|-
| 27⁄2-13
| D⁄M-YY, traditional format in Denmark, Norway and Sweden
|-
| 2013.158904109
| Year and decimal fraction of year. 0.158904109 is a decimal approximation of 58/365, with February 27 being the 58th day of the year. This format may be easier to read for computers/programs in some contexts, but is difficult for humans to interpret.
|-
| MMXIII-II-XXVII
| The ISO 8601 standard but written in Roman numerals. Never used as a traditional standard anywhere as it is hard to read, parse, and interpret for no benefit.
|-
| MMXIII LVII⁄CCCLXV
| Year followed by its partial fraction 57/365, all in Roman numerals. Equally useless as the above. As a note, apparently this 'standard' is different from the decimal fraction two rows above, as the decimal fraction notation uses the ''end'' of the day (first day of the year is 1/365 while the last is 365/365), while this uses the ''beginning'' (first day is 0/365 and last is 364/365).
|-
| 1330300800
| {{w|Unix time|UNIX Timestamp}}, a standard method of storing absolute time in many computer systems and defined as the number of seconds since 00:00:00 on 1970-01-01 (UTC). The Unix time listed here appears to mistakenly be for '''2012'''-02-27, which is also mentioned by [[Randall]] in the original transcript. The Unix Timestamp for 2013-02-27 would be 1361923200.
|-
| ((3+3)×(111+1)-1)×3/3-1/33
| A useless format where the numbers 2013, 2, and 27 written as needlessly long arithmetic expressions using just the digits 1 and 3. For additional confusion, the values are delimited by slashes, enabling confusion with the fraction bar. (If evaluated literally, the entire expression evaluates to 670.963, or 671 minus one twenty-seventh.)
|-
|    2  272013
| A nearly impossible to read date "format" that can be considered a parody "compromise" between different formats: rather than argue about the order in which the year, month, and day should be, they are simply all written on top of each other. As a "bonus", there is also no arguing over which separator character to use.
|-
| 10/11011/1101
| The US mm/dd/yy format in {{w|Binary number|binary}}, corresponding to 2/27/13. Never used for obvious reasons.
|-
| 02/27/20/13
| MM/DD/CC/YY, where CC stands for century. This format is never used.{{Citation needed}} Note that while months and days count starting from 1, centuries and years in this format count from 0 for extra confusion. But the CC value is widely used on many operating systems to distinguish between the 20th and 21st century, represented by the values "19" and "20" because 1950 belongs to the 20th century.
|-
| <ruby><rb>0</rb><rb>1</rb><rb>2</rb><rb>3</rb><rb>7</rb><rt>2</rt><rt>3</rt><rt>1</rt><rt>4</rt><rtc style="ruby-position: under"><rt>5</rt><rt></rt><rt>67</rt><rt></rt><rt>8</rt></rtc></ruby>
| An obfuscated format where the small numbers indicate the positions where the large digits should be placed. In this reading, 0 is used at positions 2 and 5, 1 is used on position 3, etc.; the result being 20130227
|-
| [A hissing black cat with "2-27-13" painted on it]
| In Western cultures, black cats and the number 13 are associated with bad luck. The cat might also just be angry that someone covered it in paint.
|}

==Transcript==
:Public Service Announcement:

:Our different ways of writing dates as numbers can lead to online confusion. That's why in 1988 ISO set a global standard numeric date format. This is '''''the''''' correct way to write numeric dates:

::2013-02-27

:The following formats are therefore discouraged:
:*02/27/2013
:*02/27/13
:*27/02/2013
:*27/02/13
:*20130227
:*2013.02.27
:*27.02.13
:*27-02-13
:*27.2.13
:*2013. II. 27.
:*27⁄2-13
:*2013.158904109
:*MMXIII-II-XXVII
:*MMXIII LVII⁄CCCLXV
:*1330300800
:*((3+3)×(111+1)-1)×3/3-1/33
:*   2  272013 [the numbers 2013, 02, and 27 written overlapping each other]
:*10/11011/1101
:*02/27/20/13
:*2053112674378
:*[A black cat with 2-27-13 scrawled across its body in dripping white paint.]
:**Cat: ''Hissss''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Calendar]]
[[Category:Binary]]

1000: 1000 Comics

2023-08-07T14:37:26Z

Waldir: cleanup category instructions; replace Category:Computers+Category:Math with Category:Binary

{{comic
| number = 1000
| date = January 6, 2012
| title = 1000 Comics
| image = 1000 comics small.png
| titletext = Thank you for making me feel less alone.
}}
A [http://xkcd.com/1000/large/ larger version] of this image can be found by clicking the image at xkcd.com which can as always be accessed by clicking on the comic number above. It can also be found here: [[Media:1000 comics.png|1000 comics]].

==Explanation==

This comic is the 1000th comic shown on xkcd containing 1000 characters from previous comics arranged in the shape of the number "1000". [[Megan]] is clearly excited as she screams "Woooo!", but [[Cueball]], in true nerd fashion, thinks in base-2, saying that there are just 24 to go until a "big round-number milestone". The joke is that during programming, base-2 is used more often than base-10, making milestones powers of two rather than powers of 10. Where 1000 is a round number in base 10 (103), 1024 is a round number in base 2 (210). Binary is also referenced in the "Connect the Dots" puzzle, explained below.

In the 1000 comic [[Randall]] included [[404: Not Found]], see why in the explanation for this comic. This comic strengthens the fact that Randall did indeed count 404 as a "real" comic.

===The 1000 characters===
Each of the characters/drawings is numbered on this page:
*[[1000: 1000 Comics/Numbered images]]
About 2/3rds are described on this page:
*[[1000: 1000 Comics/1000 characters]]

===Connect the Dots===
There is a "Connect the Dots" puzzle hidden within the comic. However, rather than using the conventional decimal system numbering which would start with 1 and count up, 2, 3, 4, 5, ... This "Connect the Dots" puzzle starts with 0 as a programmer would do and counts up in binary numerical order - 0,1,10,11,100,101,110,111,1000,1001 and back to 0. The revealed image forms the shape of a heart. This fits well with the title text where feeling less alone can equate to feeling loved.

[[File:1000 comics binary.png]]

==Transcript==
:[1000 characters, numerous of which have appeared previously in other comics, are arranged to create the number "1000". Two more people stand in the foreground commenting on the formation. There are several comments amongst these 1000 but here are only written the text that can be read from the small version shown above.]
:1000
:Megan: ''Woooo!''
:Cueball: Wow—Just 24 to go until a big round-number milestone!

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Binary]]



[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring Mrs. Roberts]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring Jill]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring Rob]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring Cory Doctorow]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring Ron Paul]] 
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]] 
[[Category:Public speaking]] 
[[Category:Animals]] 
[[Category:Squirrels]] 
[[Category:Kites]] 
[[Category:Hamster Ball]] 
[[Category:Fiction]] 
[[Category:Electric skateboard]] 
[[Category:Star Wars]] 
[[Category:Boomerangs]] 
[[Category:American football]] 
[[Category:Soccer]]

953: 1 to 10

2023-08-07T10:22:13Z

Waldir:

{{comic
| number = 953
| date = September 19, 2011
| title = 1 to 10
| image = 1 to 10.png
| titletext = If you get an 11/100 on a CS test, but you claim it should be counted as a 'C', they'll probably decide you deserve the upgrade.
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|Binary number|binary numeral system}} refers to a counting system in base-2, which uses only the digits 0 and 1, as opposed to the more familiar base-10 decimal system, which uses the digits 0 through 9. In this case, the scale of 1 to 10 is using binary, so in decimal it would be a scale of 1 to 2. Since 4 in binary is "100" it doesn't fit into the range "1" to "10" in a binary system. And [[Megan]] doesn't even know the number "4" because she's only working on the binary system, this character does not exist for her.

It is also possible that Megan is using base-3 or base-4, both of which don't have a 4 (base-3 counts 1, 2, 10, etc., and base 4 counts 1, 2, 3, 10 etc.)

It should be noted that if Megan is indeed speaking out loud in such a way that confuses Cueball, she would be saying "ten" out loud; this would automatically indicate she is indeed using base-10 (or higher). The correct pronunciation of "10" in base-2 is "one zero".

The title text uses a similar joke. Since test scores are usually written as either a letter grade or a percentage, 11 correct questions out of 100 would be a failing score in decimal notation. However, 11/100 in binary translates to 3/4 in decimal, which would be 75%, accepted in most classes as a 'C' grade.

It could also be argued that a score of 11 should count as a "B", as 11 is B in hexadecimal, however this link is a bit more tenuous, as the whole score would then be interpreted as "B/256".

==Transcript==
:Megan: On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely is it that this question is using binary?
:Cueball: ...4?
:Megan: What's a 4?

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

[[Category:Binary]]

Category:Binary

2023-08-07T10:21:53Z

Waldir:

[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Math]]

394: Kilobyte

2023-08-07T10:21:27Z

Waldir:

{{comic
| number = 394
| date = March 10, 2008
| title = Kilobyte
| image = kilobyte.png
| titletext = I would take 'kibibyte' more seriously if it didn't sound so much like 'Kibbles N Bits'.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic pokes fun at the confusion over the definition of a kilobyte. Historically, 1024 bytes was called a kilobyte for convenience purposes (same with megabyte and gigabyte); this usage was frowned upon by both the {{w|International Bureau of Weights and Measures}} and the {{w|Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers}}, but both let it slide as they had more important things to deal with. Later, hard drive manufacturers realized they could save money by selling hard drives marketed X amount of gigabytes and declare that they meant it as a literal 1,000,000 bytes (a 7% difference). Despite its iffy origins, the official definition now states that 1 kilobyte is 1000 bytes, however some continue to use the older meaning referring to 1024. The first row of the table is simply mocking this discrepancy.

The second row is Randall's interpretation on how {{w|Stan Kelly-Bootle}} would approach this problem. Kelly-Bootle is known for writing ''The Computer Contradictionary'', which satirizes the jargon and language of the computer industry. Kelly-Bootle was likely motivated to write this work after working for several years at IBM, a company infamous for its excessive use of acronyms in the work place. Averaging the two definitions together to get 1012 bytes is simply a humorous approach that Kelly-Bootle would likely have taken ("''Should array indices start at 0 or 1? My compromise of 0.5 was rejected without, I thought, proper consideration.''" — Stan Kelly-Bootle). The serendipitous fact that the initials of Kelly-Bootle's name are "KB," the same letters used to abbreviate the word "kilobyte," adds a layer of plausibility to the joke. This is the first of Randall's many humorous [[:category:Compromise|compromises]].

The {{w|Imaginary number|imaginary}} kilobyte simply plays on the fact that complex analysis is required in quantum computing in relation to quantum mechanics. The imaginary number is represented as ''i'' and has a value of the square root of -1. This is a pun on the fact that KiB is used for the "binary kilobyte" (occasionally "{{w|Binary prefix|kibibyte}}"), which is standardized at 1024 bytes.

The Intel kilobyte mocks the Pentium floating point unit that, in 1994, became notorious for having a {{w|Pentium FDIV bug|major flaw}} in its {{w|Floating-point arithmetic|floating point}} division algorithm that gave slightly erroneous results.

The smaller, drivemaker's kilobyte mocks a business model for handling higher prices that keeps prices constant but reduces quantity. The food industry has been notorious for decreasing quantity of food and keeping prices the same instead of increasing prices and keeping quantity the same. Randall is suggesting that if the computer industry tried to do this with hard drives, it could have humorous results such as smaller number of bytes in a kilobyte. In reality, hard drive capacity is specified in 103 byte (kB) units, while the content you put on it (programs, etc.) is specified in 210 (KiB) units. Formatting the drive, i.e. making it usable for storage, further decreases the available space. Thus a 250 GB drive might be reported to have a capacity of only 232 GB (really GiB) by the operating system. This discrepancy increases with increasing drive size. The trend humorously suggested in the comic, however, would make the drivemaker's kilobyte 1024 bytes in 1979, 1000 bytes in 1985, {{#expr:8940-4*{{#time:Y}}}} bytes in {{#time:Y}}, and 0 bytes in 2235!

The baker's kilobyte is a play on the {{w|Dozen#Baker's dozen|baker's dozen}}, which is 13 instead of 12. A baker's byte with 9 bits to the byte would result in a total of 9216 bits in a 1024 byte kilobyte. Converting this into "normal" bytes (with 8 bits), we divide 9216 bits by 8 bits per byte to get 1152 8-bit bytes to the baker's kilobyte.

In the title text, [[Randall]] mentions the definition {{w|kibibyte}}, which is defined more precisely. The binary prefix kibi means 1024, a portmanteau of the words kilo and binary. But he doesn't like the word because it sounds like the dog food {{w|Kibbles 'n Bits}}.

==Transcript==

:There's been a lot of confusion over 1024 vs 1000,
:kbyte vs kbit, and the capitalization for each.
:Here, at last, is a single, definitive standard:
:[table of various kinds of kilobytes]
:{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="wikitable" style="width: 50%; text-align: left;"
|-
|SYMBOL
|NAME
|SIZE
|NOTES
|-
|kB
|Kilobyte
|1024 bytes OR 1000 bytes
|1000 bytes during leap years, 1024 otherwise
|-
|KB
|Kelly-Bootle standard unit
|1012 bytes
|compromise between 1000 and 1024 bytes
|-
|KiB
|Imaginary kilobyte
|1024 √-1 bytes
|used in quantum computing
|-
|kb
|Intel kilobyte
|1023.937528 bytes
|calculated on Pentium F.P.U.
|-
|Kb
|Drivemaker's kilobyte
|currently 908 bytes
|shrinks by 4 bytes each year for marketing reasons
|-
|KBa
|Baker's kilobyte
|1152 bytes
|9 bits to the byte since you're such a good customer
|}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Binary]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Compromise]]

953: 1 to 10

2023-08-07T10:20:36Z

Waldir:

394: Kilobyte

2023-08-07T10:20:14Z

Waldir:

540: Base System

2023-08-07T10:20:03Z

Waldir:

{{comic
| number = 540
| date = February 6, 2009
| title = Base System
| image = base system.png
| titletext = I once got to second base with a basketball player. She was so confused.
}}

==Explanation==

This comic comes in two parts and is a pun on the {{w|Baseball metaphors for sex|baseball metaphor}} used to describe how far a date went regarding erotic actions. Many different versions of the baseball metaphor exist, with varying degrees of complexity. But it has rarely been described with as many details as the one drawn by [[Randall]] in this comic.

===First part - the comic strip===
In the first part, a four frame strip along the top, [[Ponytail]] and [[Cueball]] discuss how Cueball's date went. When Cueball answers Ponytail's question with "second base", Ponytail asks what that means exactly. They fumble around with the definition in panel two where Ponytail ask ''is that Below the waist, but... not under the clothes?'' Cueball tries to put this into the base system and suggest that this could be compared to the difficult {{w|shortstop}} fielding position in baseball, between 2nd and 3rd base. This fits with the position of [[#The diamond|Hands on the pants]] metaphor from the picture below the comic strip. Then Ponytail begins with yet another base analogy by mentioning crossing the {{w|Baseball_field#Pitcher.27s_mound|pitcher's mound}}, but then suddenly she brings two more, very different, sports into the metaphor: {{w|American football}} (with the 50 yard line) and {{w|bowling}} (with the {{w|ten-pin}}). It certainly sounds tricky, as Cueball says. Ponytail then brings up a ''third'' sport in her elaboration; her reference to getting a "red flag" could refer to different sports, as {{w|Flag#In sports|many sports use flags}}, some of them red. It is, however, most likely a reference to {{w|Racing_flags#Red_flag|racing in motor sport}} as the red flag is displayed when conditions are too dangerous to continue the session. This makes sense when looking at the "translation" here below. Cueball, however, has not got a clue which he expresses when Ponytail asks him ''If you know what I mean.''
(Note that this comic came out less than a week after {{w|Super Bowl XLIII}}, the final game of the {{w|2008 NFL season}}, which was played on 2009-02-01).

Here is a possible '''translation''' of Ponytails comment:
::Original: You should try crossing the '''pitcher's mound'''. Then down the '''50-yard line''', and right past her '''ten-pin'''.
::Translation: You should try crossing her '''{{w|Mons pubis|pubic mound}}''', then down the '''{{w|Bikini_waxing#The_Landing_Strip|landing strip}}''', and right past her '''{{w|clitoris}}'''.
:::Original: Last time I tried it, '''I got a red flag'''.
:::Translation: Last time I tried it, '''she had her {{w|Menstruation|period}}'''.

This would mean that Ponytail was about to {{w|Cunnilingus|go down}} on another girl, while this girl had her period. Many people would find it disgusting to go down on a girl while she was menstruating, explaining why Ponytail brought it up when Cueball said ''Sounds tricky''. However, Cueball doesn't seem to understand Ponytail's metaphors, explaining his replies of ''Sounds tricky'' and ''I really don't''.

===Second part - the baseball diamond===
The second part, the diagram, depicts a much more complex version of the baseball metaphor, where baseball terms and jargon are used to describe the many and varied things human beings like to do in the bedroom. Explanations have been separated by position. In order to understand the terms used, one may want to consult this picture:

[[File:540baseballdiamond.jpg|The baseball diamond and surrounding areas]]
:Note that Randall did not include any features from within the diamond; the pitchers mound or plate.

====The diamond====

The "{{w|Baseball field|diamond}}" is the geometric pattern formed by the four bases - first, second, third, and {{W|Baseball_field#Home_plate|home plate}}. Through the course of one side's turn (half of an "inning") players have a chance to move from one base to the next base in line: from first, to second, to third, and finally to home plate (scoring only if they make it to home plate). Thus there is a "progression" from one base to the next of sexual activity in the metaphor, until climax is achieved (getting to 'home plate' and 'scoring a run'). In both cases, players can be removed before making it to the next "base" in the sequence.

The entries in this section are ordered roughly from home plate to first, to second, to third, and then to home plate again, in the counterclockwise direction that the players move.

*Eye contact is placed just alongside the initial stage where the 'player' has just stepped off the home plate and is starting to move towards first. This is a deliberate setup for the 'thigh contact' pun later just before home plate. First eye, then thigh contact. First then can the sex begin and you have finally scored by reaching the home plate.
*Passing notes refers to a common method of communication in the classroom in school, often used by students as a form of courtship. It is placed halfway between the start and first base - the point at which communication has begun.
*First base is kissing. This is one of the most common assigned meanings for what the 'first base' is in the baseball metaphor - as in, "getting to first base".
*The boring zone is the point between kissing and sexual teasing or activity - the point where intimacy has become normal but sexual behaviors have not been accepted yet. This is boring for many (stereotypically this goes especially for men). It can also be the point at which a workup is attempted from kissing to gentle stroking and finally to the overt sexual teasing that is found by the time you have gotten to second base.
*Second base is licking or hands under the shirt. Overt sexual teasing, in an attempt to get the other person aroused.
*'Hands on the pants' and 'hands in the pants' are two activities that happen in a very short distance of each other during an average sexual encounter. They are also separated by the 'orgasm line', indicating that teasing has stopped and actual sexual activity has begun.
*Third base is oral sex. Oral sex is often used to prepare or arouse another person in preparation for intercourse, although it can be performed until one or both climax. In older versions of the baseball metaphor, third base was "hands in the pants" instead, which has been moved to earlier on the line in this new, "modern" version - or at least, Randall's conception of it.
*The Virginity line, which is also named, in brackets, after the {{w|Maginot Line}}, a series of French fortifications that were thought to be impenetrable during the lead-up to {{w|World War II}}. This line provides a direct "barrier" to the path between third base and a home run. The Maginot Line was thought to be completely impenetrable until it was bypassed by the German army during WW2 through the {{w|Ardennes forest}}, whereupon it was encircled and destroyed. Virginity is often seen as an impenetrable barrier, or an unwillingness, up until arousal and desire conspire to make it go away rapidly.
*Teens, naturally, having a propensity for hormone-driven sex, bypass the Virginity line with ease.
*Sharing root PWs (passwords) is placed very close to home plate. As a {{w|system administrator}}, the one thing you never, ever do is give anyone the {{w|root password|root (core) password}} to an operating system, because anyone with the password is able to get unlimited access to the system to do whatever they please. Sharing a root password with another person is a nerdy way of saying that you trust them on an intimate, deep level. In other words, it requires more trust than oral sex.
*Finally, there is home plate. In this diagram, it is unlabelled, but in all versions of the baseball metaphor, the home plate signifies sexual intercourse and climax. Scoring a "home run" with a sexual partner means you "took it all the way" and "scored a point"; i.e. got laid. Close to the home plate, the virginity line and orgasm line cross, as penetrative sex is rarely the most effective way for a woman to reach orgasm.

====Within the diamond and around the orgasm line====
Inside the diamond, at the center of the mound, is the pitcher. Several odd positions are placed here in Randall's diagram.
*The Orgasm Line, which passes through almost every other play field, seems to be a divider that runs throughout the entire map that separates teasing and arousing behavior from overt sexual behavior intended to pleasure others.
**Using the scroll thingy on that one Apple mouse is presumably here because the small, rounded scroll button can be imagined to be a clitoris. But it does not even get close to cross the orgasm line. (See also [[243: Appropriate Term]].) The Apple mouse mentioned is presumably the {{w|Apple Mighty Mouse}}, which has a small scrolling trackball instead of a scroll wheel, which is the usual method on most computer mice.
**Fursuits (arousing, to some) become crotchless fursuits (overtly a sexual tool) when they cross the orgasm line.
**Hands on the pants and hands in the pants are two related but different activities - hands on the pants is arousing but not past the orgasm line, whereas hands in the pants can give pleasure enough to cross the orgasm line.
**Dry humping is the activity of humping (thrusting against) a partner without one or both of them removing their clothes, in order to arouse or gain sexual satisfaction. The location is probably a combination of the fact that it lies somewhere between hands on/in the pants, is definitely not an activity that is considered "out there" (in the outfield), hasn't quite made it to 3rd base, but at least it crosses the orgasm line.

====Infield====

The {{w|Infield#Baseball|infield}} is the part of the baseball field which is '''inside''' the baserunning paths (not inside the lines between the bases, because baserunners are allowed to run a certain distance outside those lines).

*Napoleon's Forces is a cartography joke, suggesting that all of this complicated positioning makes the image look like a map depicting military maneuvers (and also evoking the comical image of Napoleon's army marching through a land of sexual behaviors). The specific reference is probably to {{w|Charles Joseph Minard}}'s famous [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Joseph_Minard#/media/File:Minard.png diagram of Napoleon's 1812 Russian campaign], often cited as the best statistical graphic ever. It's mentioned in the title text of [[731: Desert Island]].
*Fursuits are anthropmorphic animal costumes worn by some members of the {{w|Furry Fandom}}, people who are fans of anthropomorphized (human-like) animals. Fursuiters are a small fraction of the entire fandom,(though most furries have expressed interest in owning one, some being unable to due to the high cost involved in commissioning one [https://www.furscience.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fur-Science-Final-pdf-for-Website_2017_10_18.pdf IARP]), and are rarely used in sexual play.
*Fursuits (crotchless) are fursuits with no fabric or covering on the groin (crotch) of the wearer, and as such are specifically intended for sexual play. They are placed slightly further "out there" on the field due to this being more unusual, and across the orgasm line.
*Standing anywhere near Peaches is referring to the musician {{w|Peaches (musician)|Peaches}} who is known for her heavy use of sexual imagery. 

====Outfield====

The "{{w|Outfield#In_cricket_and_baseball|outfield}}" is a group of players who are there to catch the ball if it goes away from the main play area (anything outside the upper curving line) and return it to play in a manner advantageous to their team. As they separated away from the main play area, the things in the outfield are often references to sexual behaviors that are "kinky" and "out there".

*2outfielders1glove is a reference to the infamous {{w|2girls1cup}} scatological site and associated meme.
*The [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=retrograde%20wheelbarrow Retrograde Wheelbarrow] is a sex position, one referenced previously in [[300: Facebook]], making this a callback.
*Eye contact from {{w|Janeane Garofalo}} is a tie-in to the "eye contact" entry positioned near home base. It's possible that this is placed in the outfield because fantasizing about celebrities like Janeane Garofalo is a behavior that is often considered unusual, even though many people do it.

====Foul ball====

A {{w|foul ball}} occurs when a ball ends up in foul territory which is outside the foul line extending from either side of the diamond, the area is "out of play". Anyone who takes the ball into this area has committed a foul, and as such breached one of the acceptable rules of sexual conduct in the metaphor.

*Anal sex is a pun on the term "foul ball", as the anus is where fecal matter collects. The position is placed just outside the foul line.
*Downloading Star Trek fanfiction and replacing Riker's name with your crush is a reference to {{w|Star Trek: The Next Generation}}. Riker, the First Officer of the Enterprise-D, is often a subject of sexual desire among the fandom, and so taking a piece of fanfiction (fan-written, noncanon stories written about a piece of fiction) and replacing Riker's name with that of your crush is an ultra-nerdy way of indicating that they are attractive — so ultra-nerdy, it's creepy.
*The binary (i.e. base 2) numbers are an {{w|ASCII}} representation of the characters "base 2". The base of a number system is the number of unique digits required to represent numbers in that system. Binary is therefore a "base 2" system. This seems to be a little nerd sniping: wasting the time of anyone familiar enough with computing to know how to decode it.
*"Your base" is a reference to the original "base" metaphor mixed with a reference to the Zero Wing {{w|All Your Base}} meme. It is most likely a reference to {{w|masturbation}} (i.e. solo sex or you-sex and is in the foul area). First you make eye contact with a gorgeous girl (boy) and then you go home and satisfy yourself with a fantasy about all the things you would like to do with her (him). It's possible that this being here is also a stealth insult towards the reader — the reader's own base (him/herself) is "out of play" and thus undesirable.

====Title text====
If you are together with a {{w|basketball}} player and then tell her that you are now ''at second base'', she might become very confused as bases are not an element in basketball. Also there is the joke that basketball players never get laid because they always jump before they score.

==Transcript==
:[At the top there is a four panel regular comic strip.]
:[Cueball and Ponytail are talking; Ponytail is sitting on the back of a chair with her feet on the seat, and Cueball is sitting on the floor facing her.]
:Ponytail: So how far did you get with her?
:Cueball: Second base?

:[Zoom in on Ponytail on the chair.]
:Ponytail: Wait, which one is that? Below the waist, but... not under the clothes?
:Cueball (off-panel): I think that's... shortstop?

:[In a frameless panel, Cueball now almost lies down and Ponytail is sitting on the armrest of the chair.]
:Ponytail: You should try crossing the pitcher's mound. Then down the 50-yard line, and right past her ten-pin.
:Cueball: Sounds tricky.

:[Again a zoom in on Ponytail now on the armrest.]
:Ponytail: Yeah. Last time I tried it, I got a red flag. If you know what I mean.
:Cueball (off-panel): I really don't.

:[Below the strip there is a large frame with a diagram of a baseball diamond.]
:[At the bottom left there is a box with this text:]
:'''The "Base" Metaphor Explained'''

:[Bases are pointed too with thick black arrows (except home plate) and there are also arrows pointing to different parts of the diagram. All arrows and points marked with "x" have a description, as do the dashed lines covering the field. Below they will be listed anti-clockwise from the home plate.]

:[Along the line towards first base is the following five items in the order they appear:]
::[x slightly right of home plate:]
::Eye contact
::[Black arrow pointing to a base half way to first base outside the line:]
::Your Base
::[x inside the line opposite your base]
::Passing notes
::[Black arrow pointing to a base further along and outside the line:]
::0110 0010 0110 0001
::0111 0011 0110 0101
::0010 0000 0011 0010
::[x Slightly before first base:]
::Downloading Star Trek fanfiction and replacing Riker's name with your crush's.

:[Black arrow pointing to first base:]
::First base: Kissing

:[Further along the line past the first base is one x point in the right outfield:]
::Eye contact from Janeane Garofalo.

:[On the way towards second base there are the following two items:]
::[A region along the line from first to second has been marked off by a dotted line. It has the following text written inside:]
::The boring zone.
::[x some way inside the line next to the boring zone:]
::Using the scroll thingy on that one Apple mouse

:[Black arrow pointing to second base:]
::Second base: Hands under the shirt and/or licking

:[On the route from second to third base are eight items:]
::[A dotted line traveling from near the outfield above second base, then crossing the second baseline about 1/3 of the way to third base, snaking its way almost down to the home plate ending close to the third baseline. The following text is written along the dotted line inside the diamond:]
::The orgasm line
::[Above second base a large black arrow crosses the orgasm line near the outfield:]
::Napoleon's forces
::[x below the Napoleon arrow right before crossing the orgasm line:]
::Fursuits
::[Two arrows points to the second base line on each side of the orgasm line:]
::Hands on the pants
::Hands in the pants
::[x some way into the diamond just past the orgasm line:]
::Dry humping
::[x same distance down the second base line as dry humping, but equally far outside the line still infield:]
::Fursuits (crotchless)
::[x almost at the extension of the 3rd base line close to the outfield:]
::Standing anywhere near Peaches

:[In the left outfield there are two x points:]
::[x in the outfield halfway along the second base line:]
::Retrograde wheelbarrow
::[x in the outfield almost at the extension of the third base line:]
::2outfielders1glove.

:[Foul of the third base line just left of where the grass line divides the in- and outfield:]
::Anal sex (fill in your own "foul ball" pun here.)

:[Black arrow pointing to third base:]
::Third base: Oral sex (formerly "hands in the pants")

:[On the route from third to home plate there are four items:]
::[Between third base and home there is a dotted line that makes a curve from right outside the third base line and ends right afer it has crossed the orgasm line. The text is written inside the diamond with the first word above and the other two below the dotted line:]
::"Virginity" (Maginot) line
::[A large black arrow curves around the end of the "Virginity" line outside of the diamond:]
::Teens
::[A large black arrow points from outside the diamond to a point right between home plate and the virginity line:]
::Sharing root PWs
::[x just before home plate at the end of the orgasm line inside the diamond:]
::Thigh contact

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

[[Category:Baseball]]
[[Category:Binary]]
[[Category:Sex]]
[[Category:Furries]]
[[Category:American football]]
[[Category:Sport]]
[[Category:Basketball]]
[[Category:Star Trek]]

505: A Bunch of Rocks

2023-08-07T10:19:27Z

Waldir:

{{comic
| number = 505
| date = November 17, 2008
| title = A Bunch of Rocks
| image = a_bunch_of_rocks.png
| titletext = I call Rule 34 on Wolfram's Rule 34.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] awakens to find himself trapped for eternity in an endless expanse of sand and rocks. At first, he uses this time to derive all of mathematics and physics, plus more, including {{w|quantum mechanics}} and {{w|general relativity}}. Next Cueball creates a computer that can process any possible function, out of rocks and rules for the interaction between rocks. He then simulates a particle followed by the interactions between particles, followed by the entire universe. The amount of time it takes to simulate the change in the universe merely from one instant to the next takes an extremely long time, as the time it takes to update just one row of rocks would be eons, assuming a realistic time to place each rock.

Cueball is using the rocks to build a {{w|cellular automaton}}, a computational model based on simple rules to advance from one state to the next. Certain cellular automata are {{w|Turing-complete}}, which means that they can be used to represent any conceivable algorithm if expanded infinitely, including simulating the physics of the universe. He specifically seems to be running Wolfram's {{w|Rule 110}}, which is capable of universal computation. When using Rule 110 for universal computation, one builds a background pattern, which can be seen in the comic as the pattern of smaller triangles, and then performs computation by sending out "rockets" to collide and interact with each other. Cueball can simulate the functioning of an entire universe because he has unlimited time and space (and rocks).

Cueball then apologizes for any flaws we see in the simulation. This implies that the audience is living in Cueball's simulation, making Cueball essentially God, and that he might make mistakes along the way.

The final frame cuts to a classroom where a bored student stares at his hands waiting for class to end. Cueball admonishes the student for thinking that class is lasting forever, the joke being that the boredom felt in a classroom is nothing compared to the boredom that inspires Cueball to spend his endless time toiling to keep the universe moving. Indeed, the minutes of lecture actually took many "billions and billions of millennia" for Cueball to simulate. Another possible explanation is that the entirety of this comic is a fantasy in Cueball’s mind as he zones out during a math lecture.

The title text suggests that {{w|Rule 34 (Internet meme)|Rule 34}} should be called on {{w|Elementary cellular automaton#Random initial state|Wolfram's Rule 34}}. Rule 34 (see [[305: Rule 34]]) is a humorous rule of the Internet that states, "If you can imagine it, there is porn of it. No exceptions." Wolfram's Rule 34 is a cellular automaton. Therefore, the title text says that either someone has made pornography featuring the cellular automaton in question, or someone has used the cellular automaton to produce pornography.

===Graphs===
The three diagrams in the "Physics, too. I worked out the kinks..." panel are, from left to right:
# The {{w|Normal distribution}} of the {{w|Gaussian curve}} marking the points that represent a standard deviation of σ and 2σ. This is one of the fundamental building blocks of statistics. In quantum mechanics, particles are viewed as inherently random, therefore the time at which a particle will decay, the position of a particle, and its velocity are all calculated using similar curves. A deviation of at least σ occurs 32% of the time, while a deviation of 2σ or more occurs about 5% of the time.
# The {{w|Inclined plane#History|Epitaph of Stevinus}}, an explanation of the mechanical advantage of using an {{w|inclined plane}}. The inclined plane is one of the six classical {{w|simple machine}}s, one of the fundamental building blocks of mechanical and civil engineering.
# The last graph is unknown. It may represent coupled pendulums, {{w|length contraction}}, or a hypothetical solution to something we haven't derived yet.

The graph that represents particle interaction is a {{w|Feynman Diagram}}. This shows the interaction of subatomic particles that collide and exchange some momentum via a photon. The slope of the middle line represents the distance moved and the time lost/gained during the interaction.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing in a desert with lots of rocks lying around. He is narrating his own situation. The first panel spans the entire width of the comic. The first line of text is written to the left of him, the second line to the right.]
:So I'm stuck in this desert for eternity.
:I don't know why. I just woke up here one day.

:[The next four panels take up the second line of the comic.]
:[Cueball stand in the desert.]
:I never feel hungry or thirsty.

:[Cueball walks in the desert.]
:I just walk.

:[Zooming out while Cueball continues to walk in the desert.]
:Sand and rocks

:[Zooming far out as Cueball again just stands in the desert. First line of text, above him, is a continuation of the text in the previous panel. The second line is below him.]
:stretch to infinity.
:As best as I can tell.

:[The next three panels take up the third line of the comic. The last takes up half the width.]
:[Cueball is sitting in the desert, in a contemplative position. First line of text above him, the second below.]
:There's plenty of time for thinking out here.
:An eternity, really.

:[Cueball is sketching stuff in the sand. First line of text above him, the second below.]
:I've rederived modern math in the sand
:and then some.

:[Three different graph types are depicted. First line of text above them, the second below.]
:Physics too. I worked out the kinks in quantum mechanics and relativity.
:Took a lot of thinking, but this place has fewer distractions than a Swiss patent office.

:[The next eight panels take up the fourth and fifth lines of the comic. All pictures are the same size.]
:[Cueball is walking along the desert, laying out rocks on a line. Four have been deployed. He is laying down the fifth and has a sixth in his other hand.]
:One day I started laying down rows of rocks.

:[Cueball, with a rock in his hand, continues to deploy rock 16, in a more intricate pattern. There are grid-lines in the sand (5 rows, 6 columns), with each intersection either empty of filled with a rock. No rocks lay anywhere but at an intersection on the grid.]
:Each new row followed from the last in a simple pattern.

:[Zooming out showing even more laid out rocks. Cueball is seen directly from above, and we see his shadow falling on the grid of rocks (7 rows, 14 columns).]
:With the right set of rules and enough space,

:[Continues to zoom further out showing clear triangular patterns (with no rocks) in the laid out grid of rocks. Cueball is not seen. (8 rows, 42 columns). First line of text above the grid, the second line below.]
:I was able to build a computer.
:Each new row of stones is the next iteration of the computation.

:[Zooming far out (no Cueball) with rows intersected by five clear V lines on top of them. The V's are drawn inside each other, with the smallest V at the top right, and the other V's starting just to the right of the previous one, and then continuing the same distance past the previous V, as the total length of the first V. The "*" in the first line of text above this grid references to the footnote below written in a smaller font.]
:Sure it's rocks instead of electricity, but it's the same* thing. Just slower.
:<nowiki>*Turing-complete</nowiki>

:[Cueball stands in a contemplative pose (on a clean white background - i.e. no dessert).]
:After a while, I programmed it to be a physics simulator.

:[A black panel with white drawings and text. A small white dot (a particle) is labeled by two arrows coming of two binary strings.]
:Every piece of information about a particle was encoded as a string of bits written in the stones.
:00101010
:00101010

:[A Feynman diagram showing two particles interacting. Two arrows going in and out with a snaking line between them.]
:With enough time and space, I could fully simulate two particles interacting.

:[The next two panels take up the sixth line of the comic. The second panel takes up three-quarters of the width.]
:[Cueball standing before the vastness of the desert, with his programmed lines of rock stretching to infinity.]
:But I have infinite time and space.

:[A black panel with white drawings and text. Depiction of two large galaxies, one with four jets coming out of its center, the other a flat disc. Several smaller galaxies and/or stars are shown around them.]
:So I decided to simulate a universe.

:[The next four panels take up the seventh line of the comic. They are of similar widths.]
:[Cueball is walking by his grid of rocks, lines indicate he has just thrown another rock down in its place. It falls so hard it sinks into the sand that splashes out around it. The 14 rocks above him lie on the grid, four others below this grid have not been used yet.]
:The eons blur past as I walk down a single row.

:[Zoom far far out to show multiple rows of rocks. It is not very clear that there are several triangular patterns (with no rocks) in different sizes in the laid out grid of rocks. There are about 50 rows and 90 columns. There are six large triangles on top of each other at the left edge. To the right, there are three even larger triangles from top to bottom, the one in the middle further to the left than the one above, but further right than the bottom one.]
:The rows blur past to compute a single step.

:[Shows the placement of two particles in the simulation.]
:And in the simulation...

:[The two particles have moved just long enough as to not overlap with their previous positions, shown as an after-image with faint gray lines. The text continues directly the one from the previous panel.]
:another instant ticks by.

:[The next two panels take up the eighth line of the comic. They each take up half the width.]
:[A Cueball-like person (you) observes a mote of dust vanish.]
:So if you see a mote of dust vanish from your vision in a little flash or something

:[Cueball is standing between two rocks on the ground, while holding two rocks, one lifted up to his head. The first line of text is above him. It is a direct continuation of the text in the previous panel. The second line stands below to the right of him.]
:I'm sorry. I must have misplaced a rock
:sometime in the last few billions and billions of millennia.

:[Cueball stands in the "clean" part of his infinite desert, in front of the vastness of his infinity of infinite lines or rocks.]
:Oh, and...

:[A Cueball-like student sits in a classroom with his head in his hands, Megan sits behind him, and a teacher points to the blackboard. A clock shows the time at five minutes to ten.]
:If you think the minutes in your morning lecture are taking a long time to pass for ''you''...

==Trivia==
*This comic is available as a signed print in the [https://store.xkcd.com/products/signed-prints xkcd store].
*The Swiss patent office line refers to {{w|Albert Einstein}}, who was employed as a Swiss patent clerk while coming up with his theory of special relativity. This joke is also referenced in [[1067|1067: Pressures]]. Also, there is a standing joke that very few important inventions have come from Switzerland, since the country hadn't been involved in the world wars, and thus has not been part of the weapons race, nor was it a driving force in the preceding Industrial Revolution.
*In the center of the comic, the binary numbers pointing to the particle are both 42. This is a reference to the comedic answer to the ''Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything'' from the ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' series.
*Cueball mentions that if we see an artifact flutter in and out of reality, he must have made a mistake in the last "billions and billions of millennia." This implies that the small period of time the artifact is present in his time is much longer than our universe has existed. That is a ''very'' long time. However, because it was a really long time, the difference could be [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect more than just a small mote of dust disappearing].
*The line "I've rederived modern math in the sand and then some," is possibly referring to "Surreal Numbers: How two ex-students turned on to pure mathematics and found total happiness" by Donald Knuth. The {{w|Surreal number}}s are a system of numbers that includes the familiar real numbers, but are infinitely more dense. Knuth wrote a novelette about a young couple who finds themselves stranded on a deserted island (much like Cueball), and spend much of their time deriving the properties of this number system from a few base axioms.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Comics with xkcd store products]]

[[Category:Binary]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Programming]]

257: Code Talkers

2023-08-07T10:17:43Z

Waldir:

{{comic
| number = 257
| date = May 4, 2007
| title = Code Talkers
| image = code_talkers.png
| titletext = As far as I can tell, Navajo doesn't have a common word for 'zero'. do-neh-lini means 'neutral'.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Code talker}}s are people who communicate using their native language not known by the enemies. The most well-known code talkers were the {{w|Navajo language|Navajo-speaking}} Marines serving during World War II.

This comic shows a {{w|Navajo people|Navajo}} code talker transmitting an encrypted binary file by speaking "one" and "zero" (actually "neutral," as explained in the title text) into a microphone. By using only two words, the code is easily cracked. Unlike the Navajo Marines, this process does not add security, because it easily can be decrypted and is also much slower than simply transmitting the file over a network.

Note that (probably unbeknownst to Randall) the actual code used by the Navajo code talkers was not so far removed from the depiction in the comics: The Navajos used a mostly alphabetic code, with one Navajo word for each English letter. (This meant that even though the Axis captured at least one native Navajo speaker, he could not make any sense of what was said.) However, several important terms were given their own Navajo idioms, so the entropy would be somewhat higher than depicted in the comic.

The title text is a disclaimer from [[Randall]] about using "neutral" instead of "zero" — Navajo has words for the concept of nothing, but not for the numeral zero. Most number systems are not [[Wikipedia:positional notation|positional]], and therefore may lack the number zero. The [[Wikipedia:Arabic numerals|Arabic numeral system]] used in the West required the invention of the zero as a placeholder, so that numbers could retain their position when one column has nothing in it.

==Transcript==
:[A man is looking at a computer monitor and speaking into a microphone.]
:Code talker: A'la'ih, do'neh'lini,
:do'neh'lini, a'la'ih,
:a'la'ih, do'neh'lini,
:do'neh'lini, do'neh'lini,
:a'la'ih, a'la'ih,
:do'neh'lini, a'la'ih,
:do'neh'lini,do'neh'lini,
:do'neh'lini...
:[Two men are talking nearby.]
:Cueball: For added security, after we encrypt the data stream, we send it through our Navajo code talker.
:Friend: ...Is he just using Navajo words for "Zero" and "One"?
:Cueball: Whoa, hey, keep your voice down!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

[[Category:Binary]]
[[Category:Language]]

153: Cryptography

2023-08-07T10:17:07Z

Waldir:

{{comic
| number = 153
| date = September 6, 2006
| title = Cryptography
| image = cryptography.png
| titletext = If you got a big keyspace, let me search it.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic refers to the study of {{w|cryptography}}. We can note the presence of the {{w|International Association for Cryptologic Research|International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR)}} logo in the lectern ([[1661|podium?]]), an association that organizes the most important conferences in the cryptology field.

[[Randall]], drawn as [[Cueball]] behind the lectern at the podium, is describing a proposed crypto system in which a computer program turns a very large number, called the "{{w|key (cryptography)|key}}," and a message into an encrypted form that can only be read by using the same key, based on the model of a {{w|Feistel cipher}}. Part of any Feistel cipher is the "round function," which determines how the key is applied to the original message; this is applied multiple times with a variety of tricks and techniques to ensure that the process can eventually be reversed. One common component of round functions is the {{w|S-box}}, a simple table that converts input bytes into output bytes, preferably in a way that doesn't correspond to any mathematical rules.

Here, the S-box would be implemented by doing the following (with the computer operation actually shown in the diagrams indicated in parentheses):

#Take the bitstring down (roll right by 1)
#Flip it (take its binary NOT)
#Reverse it (run the bits in the opposite order)

This would be run on each round of the cipher to further scramble the message for the next round. As the caption implies, the steps are based on a line from the {{w|Missy Elliott}} song ''{{w|Work It (Missy Elliott song)|Work It}}'': '''"I put my thing down, flip it and reverse it."''' As with any encryption system, there must be a way to decrypt the cipher text. In Missy Elliott's song, the phrase "I put my thing down, flip it and reverse it" is repeatedly played backward, sounding like gibberish. In the same way, steps to a Feistel cipher-based algorithm are executed in reverse to obtain the original plain text from a cipher text.

The {{w|Key space (cryptography)|keyspace}} for a cryptographic algorithm is the number of possible keys the algorithm can possibly accept. For example, {{w|Advanced Encryption Standard|AES-256}} has a keyspace of 2256 (roughly 1.1579209e+77) possible keys, simply because the algorithm specifies that each key is 256 bits wide. The title text is referring to "searching a keyspace," which is to say, simply trying every key until you find one that works. (For reference, a computer would require roughly the energy of a billion billion supernovas to even count to 2256, let alone actually try each one.) The precise wording, "If you got a big keyspace, let me search it" is, of course, another reference to the same song: "If you got a big **** let me search ya" (The word "penis" is censored by the trumpeting of an elephant).

This was the first comic where Randall was banned from conferences. Since then, he has been [[:Category:Banned from conferences|banned from multiple conferences]] for similar pranks; especially in [[541: TED Talk]], there is a whole list of conferences from which he has been banned. This has sometimes resulted in him being invited to those conferences - see more here on this [[541:_TED_Talk#PyCon response|PyCon response]] to Randall claiming he was banned from their conference.

==Transcript==
:[Randall Munroe (drawn as Cueball) stands behind a lectern on a podium in front of a large conference audience (consisting of Cueball heads), with a poster hanging beside him.]
:Randall: My cryptosystem is like any Feistel cipher, except in the S-Boxes we simply take the bitstring down, flip it, and reverse it.

:[The poster reads:]
:: Decryption
:: <code>01101010</code>
:: <code>   >></code>
:: <code>00110101</code>
:: [inverter symbol]
:: <code>11001010</code>
:: [crossed arrows]
:: <code>01010011</code>

:[Caption below the crowd:]
:I've been barred from speaking at any major cryptography conferences ever since it became clear that all my algorithms were just thinly disguised Missy Elliott songs.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

[[Category:Banned from conferences]]
[[Category:Binary]]
[[Category:Cryptography]]
[[Category:Public speaking]]

74: Su Doku

2023-08-07T10:16:01Z

Waldir:

{{comic
| number = 74
| date = March 10, 2006
| title = Su Doku
| image = su doku.jpg
| titletext = This one is from the Red Belt collection, of 'medium' difficulty
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Sudoku|Su Doku}} (Japanese for "single number," and now usually written as "sudoku") is a type of number puzzle, in which the player must place digits in a matrix field in the correct arrangement, such that they do not repeat within given domains. The most common arrangement is a 9×9 grid subdivided into nine 3×3 grids, into which the nine non-zero digits of the normal decimal counting system must be inserted, with no digit being allowed to appear twice in a horizontal or vertical row or in each individual 3×3 grid. The number and combination of pre-filled squares determines the difficulty of the puzzle.

However, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] presents a 2x2 {{w|binary}} sudoku puzzle which isn't subdivided. The joke is that the binary system has only two digits (0 and 1), and as a result binary sudoku puzzles would be trivially easy and thus pointless. The puzzle in the comic would be completed by filling 0 in the top-left and 1 in the bottom-left empty box. The only other possible grid would have the 0s and 1s swapped. This fulfills the criterion of having no repeated digits in any row, column or cell.

The title text appears to reference a series of published sudoku puzzle books called "Martial Arts Sudoku". The difficulty of each book is denoted by a martial arts belt color, with each color representing a certain skill level. A red belt is a rather high level, second only to the black belt. When applied to binary sudokus, a sudoku with one number given would be the most difficult one (though still trivial) and thus be a black belt. This sudoku has two numbers given, hence the medium red belt level.

==Transcript==
:[A square divided into 2×2 squares, the top-right one has an 1 in it, the bottom-right one has a 0, the two left ones are empty.]
:Binary Su Doku

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Binary]]
[[Category:Logic]]
[[Category:Math]]

Category:Binary

2023-08-07T10:15:50Z

Waldir: Created page with "Category:Computers"

[[Category:Computers]]

99: Binary Heart

2023-08-07T10:15:35Z

Waldir:

{{comic
| number = 99
| date = May 8, 2006
| title = Binary Heart
| image = binary_heart.jpg
| titletext = i love you
}}

==Explanation==
An array of zeros and ones is depicted, 21 across by 23 down. Some of the zeros and ones are red instead of black to form the shape of a Valentine heart.

The digits themselves are an {{w|ASCII}} bit stream reading:
iloveyOuilOveyouiloveyOuilOveyOuiloveyouilOveyouilOveyOuilOv
The final octet is incomplete, but the three bits that are present are consistent with the start of an "e".

The mixture of upper-case and lower-case "O"s is presumed intentional to avoid a repeating pattern.

==Transcript==
:[All the numbers are black except for a heart-shaped red section in the middle.]
0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1
1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1
1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0
1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0
1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1
0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1
0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1
0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0
1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1
0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0
1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1
0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0
1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1
0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1
1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0
0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0
1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1
1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0
0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0
0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0
1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1
0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Binary]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Language]]

User:Waldir/vector.js

2023-08-07T10:11:59Z

Waldir: try loading HotCat directly

//mw.loader.load( 'https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Waldyrious/global.js&action=raw&ctype=text/javascript' );

mw.loader.load( '//commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=MediaWiki:Gadget-HotCat.js&action=raw&ctype=text/javascript' );

User:Waldir/vector.js

2023-08-07T10:10:19Z

Waldir: try using mw.loader.load

mw.loader.load( 'https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Waldyrious/global.js&action=raw&ctype=text/javascript' );

User:Waldir/vector.js

2023-08-07T10:07:09Z

Waldir:

importScriptURI('https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Waldyrious/global.js&action=raw&ctype=text/javascript');

835: Tree

2023-08-07T10:04:33Z

Waldir: +Category:Programming

{{comic
| number = 835
| date = December 17, 2010
| title = Tree
| image = tree.png
| titletext = Not only is that terrible in general, but you just KNOW Billy's going to open the root present first, and then everyone will have to wait while the heap is rebuilt.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] turns his family's living room Christmas tree into a cringingly-awful programming pun. His parents, [[Hairbun]] and a father-Cueball, are so unamused, he's not welcome back next year.

{{w|Tree (data structure)|Trees}} are data structures in computer science, based on two simple rules:

*A tree starts at a single node, called its root.
*Each node in a tree has two or more spaces for its children, each of which may be empty or occupied by another node. Of course, that node may have its own children, and so forth. Each node except the root has exactly one parent. As a bit of trivia, a node with no children is called a "leaf node."

A binary tree is a tree where each node has spaces for exactly 2 children.

The "Christmas tree" is a basic representation of a binary tree - the star at the top is the root node, and the lights running down indicate the connections between parent and child. Contrary to what the terms "root" and "leaf" might imply, trees in computer science are typically represented upside-down, with the root on top and the leaves fanning out below.

The Christmas tree is constructed based on no apparent rules, but the main power of binary trees comes in organizing them according to specific rules. Because code that runs later can assume the data is organized in this specific way, it can use different algorithms that make things run faster. One way of doing this is with a heap. A {{w|Heap (data structure)|heap}} is a special kind of tree (usually a binary tree, but in this case a quaternary tree), subject to one additional rule:

*For every node in the tree, ''everything'' beneath that node - both or all of its children, all of its children's children, all of ''their'' children, and so on - are "less than" the node itself.

"Less than" in this case can refer to any comparison that can be made between two nodes - in this case, it's based on the size of the presents. Of course, there's a cost to all this; the heap must first be placed in that order. Not only that, but if a node gets removed from the heap, the heap has to be "rebuilt" to put it back in the right order. This is referenced in the title text - if Billy opens the root present, several comparisons must be done to shift other presents in its place to preserve the heap rule.

In [[1308: Christmas Lights]] a similar strange Christmas tree has been constructed using the electromagnetic spectrum.

==Transcript==
:[There is a binary Christmas tree, with each node a ball, and lights strung between parent and child nodes. Beneath it is a heap of presents - sorted with the largest on top, smaller presents connected to it with string. Next to the tree is Cueball and his parents, Hairbun and another Cueball.]
:Cueball: It's a Christmas tree with a heap of presents underneath!
:Mother: ...We're not inviting you home next year.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Christmas]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Puns]]