explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:609: Tab Explosion

2024-02-15T21:07:36Z

Willlbrwillbr: /* i think explainxkcd is the new tvtropes */ new section

It also has a link, not only to the comic, but also to the ''explained'' comic here! Talk about a loop. Anonymous07:20, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

you can't access title-text on mobile devices [[Special:Contributions/173.245.62.75|173.245.62.75]] 14:29, 16 April 2014 (UTC)

could someone please poste a link to the cracked.com column that pay tribute to this comic? {{unsigned ip|141.101.81.222}}

This could be the one that makes some reference: http://www.cracked.com/blog/clippy-finally-messes-with-the-wrong-word-doc/ (the text appears inside) {{unsigned ip|Mercastan}}
:FYI: Link is broken perhaps you should reference the internet archive link: http://web.archive.org/web/20140208183044/http://www.cracked.com:80/blog/clippy-finally-messes-with-the-wrong-word-doc [[Special:Contributions/172.70.230.126|172.70.230.126]] 18:41, 19 January 2024 (UTC)

To access the title text on mobile devices, hold down the thing you need to see the title text of. Nate {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.20}}

You can also go to m.xkcd.com, and tapping on the image or the alt-text link makes the title text appear below the title (for those chrome users who can't see the entire title text by tap-holding). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.143|162.158.74.143]] 13:20, 24 March 2020 (UTC)

I have that website blocked by an application that blocked websites. The reason is NOT because of what is described in the comic, but it's because I got permabanned from that site back in 2017 for something I did not even know was against the rules, with no prior warnings, and the only appeal option that they gave that they did not consider "ban evasion" was an email address that never replied back to you, even years later, and I don't think they even deserve viewing traffic from people who they have treated so unfairly/punished so harshly like that. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.135.48|172.70.135.48]] 01:56, 18 December 2021 (UTC)
:Waitwhat? Presuming even that you mean Cracked (not sure what you did to annoy them, it must have been... interesting) and not m.xkcd.com, I'm not sure how they could remain targetted against you, nor how it'svan application. Assuming you're not reinstalling a Child-Safe-style application of your own on every machine you try to access via, and making sure it's using PG-13 limits of some kind.
:I doubt they can reliably IP-block you. If I go to edit wikipedia and it refuses because some idiot has previously made a nuisance of themselves under my current dynamic IP, it is trivial (without VPNing or similar) to get a newish IP-of-the-moment that usually lets me do my (non-nuisance) editing.
:Even if you stick to a single device then aggressive cookie-style tracking can be 'forgotten' so that you machine isn't traitorously restating your apparent blockability.
:...never mind me, it's way too late (GMT) and I'm just far too intrigued by your statement. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.19|162.158.159.19]] 02:30, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

aaah nooo A TVTropes link [[User:Thexkcdnerd|Thexkcdnerd]] ([[User talk:Thexkcdnerd|talk]]) 02:07, 20 February 2023 (UTC)

== i think explainxkcd is the new tvtropes ==

I have.. 1... 2.. SIX explainxkcd tabs are open right now

Talk:2466: In Your Classroom

2024-02-13T01:31:37Z

Willlbrwillbr: /* hey, uh, i think a joke in here needs an explain-explain-xkcd page. */ new section

yay! another one where a table is useful for an explanation! also first ALPHALUL [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.59|162.158.79.59]] 01:01, 22 May 2021 (UTC)Bumpf

Exobiology should not be in the Good area. I've seen those movies, I know what happens next. [[User:Andyd273|Andyd273]] ([[User talk:Andyd273|talk]]) 02:18, 22 May 2021 (UTC)

I'm sort of sad that the the hover text, or perhaps the origin, wasn't simply "Tautology" [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.74|108.162.237.74]] 21:01, 22 May 2021 (UTC)

I think that the scales would be better shown as +/- from a (0,0) point than %'s from the top left. At least for the Good/Bad axis It's really weird to say that "Education" has 10% ''danger'' because it's not quite as good as having an atmosphere. Is it just me? --[[User:Bobson|Bobson]] ([[User talk:Bobson|talk]]) 01:51, 23 May 2021 (UTC)
:Many students consider education - especially tests - dangerous. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 02:26, 23 May 2021 (UTC)
:No, I agree as well. Would it be out of line if I changed it? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.18|162.158.75.18]] 17:26, 25 May 2021 (UTC)

Not sure how big is smallest quasar, but I suspect one appearing in class would be bad even for Sun and rest of solar system. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 02:29, 23 May 2021 (UTC)
:I agree. This should be sooooo far below the bad axis (or Volcanoes) that it should only have been mentioned in the title text. Of course Quasars do not exist in this age... But if one suddenly began in your class room it would be the end of the local spiral arm of the galaxy, and would devour most of what was there forming a new black hole center of the galaxy (a double black hole center). It would of course end all of Earth history as well as the solar system and the local cluster of stars. So putting it right under volcanoes, which would only destroy the local city (it was not given it was a super volcano), compared to ending Earths existence is not really serious. And as explained in the explanation he has previously also mentioned off chart points in the title text, as he does also for less interesting subjects in this one as well. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:06, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

Is vertical axis how dangerous? I read it as either being positive utility (Societal good and bad) or how much Randall likes it? [[User:Kev|Kev]] ([[User talk:Kev|talk]]) 10:19, 23 May 2021 (UTC)

Shouldn't it be vulcanology?[[User:Joem5636|Joem5636]] ([[User talk:Joem5636|talk]]) 12:33, 24 May 2021 (UTC)
:I thought that, but it appears that vulcanology/volcanology are both possibly equally valid (though the 'vulc' definitions point to 'volc' ones almost always in online dictionaries, with the reverse mostly only as 'alternative', and 'vulcanologist' seems less acknowledged than 'volcanologist' in related-words linking). In many ways, that annoys me, but that might be the classicist in me rather than the geographer/geologist who appreciates that "vulcanology" might be a rather more limited field that would require no more travel to extensively study than can be afforded by a handy Sicilian fishing boat or light aircraft. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.19|141.101.99.19]] 14:48, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

Would an alternate Geography = weird be due to an invading nation-state? We already have volcanology and other similar "The earth came into the classroom" things in the graph. [[User:OhFFS|OhFFS]] ([[User talk:OhFFS|talk]]) 21:42, 24 May 2021 (UTC)
:That would be bad, but still less weird than the actual Earth. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.48|172.70.114.48]] 18:09, 26 May 2021 (UTC)

TL;DR: Too many "citation needed" tags! It's not funny if you use it too much.

Several parts of this explanation seem to have been written in such a way as to include statements against which nobody in their right mind would argue and, in any other context at least, would not require any supporting citation, and are hence appropriate places for the humourous use of "citation needed" often seen on this site.{{citation needed}} I very much appreciate the hitherto typical Explain-XKCD-style sparse (about once per article) use of "citation needed" but I feel that it loses much of it's comedic effect when used frequently (six times in this article as I write!) in text that appears to be composed with the purpose of including the tag several times. I appreciate that some of us enjoy reading explanations peppered with the tags, so I haven't removed any of them, but my feeling is that the 'too much of a good thing' concept applies here. In future articles I personally hope to see normally written explanations (or as normally written as we can reasonably expect given the subject matter) with "citation needed" tags used only sparingly.

Missed opportunity: "...and Quantum Mechanics is both way off to the left and way off to the right." --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.35.102|172.69.35.102]] 22:25, 1 June 2021 (UTC)

I tried to edit the table to have the weirdness and badness from -10 to 10, but the table broke. Can someone fix it please? [[User:Cal3000000|Cal3000000]] ([[User talk:Cal3000000|talk]]) 12:12, 4 February 2024 (UTC)
:Fixed it [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2466:_In_Your_Classroom&diff=334172&oldid=334170 here] (before I read your call for help). I mention in the summary the ''reason'' it broke, and was just about to let you know anyway (you don't have a Talk page yet, so came here to give the link and then find the above plea).
:(I had to squash the reason down, to fit, however. Table-data lines get the "|-" symbol at the start of a line (text after that doesn't appear as regular cell data). Table cell-data starts as "|" on a line-start (or "||" where adding more cells on a single line of markup) and when the cell ("|") starts with a "-" (e.g. "-5") then it clearly looks like a row-break ("|-[...]") unless you do something about it. In this case, I put a space between the cell-pipe and the value-negative (and also could have added one, or two, before the unsigned values ...just for markup neatness). Other solutions might have been to use a different dash (”–” instead of "-", visually not too different, but might have annoyed other people doing text-searches [edit: and caused more fuss in supporting table-sorting functionality, of course!]), moved the new-line cells into being "||" followups to the respective prior line or used something like a <code><nowiki><nowiki/></nowiki></code> "breaking-nonspace" interjection (i.e. technically the opposite of an <code>&nbsp;</code>, though that would have worked also for several reasons). I'm sure there are other ways of doing it, as well, but I only tried the first, with the others in mind in case I'd got the right sort of diagnosis in mind but hadn't immediately identified a working cure.)
:The only suggestion I have, for future, is to use the Preview button more. As I ought to, sometimes. But it lets you play around to see if you can identify (and solve!) any problems, especially with notoriously miseditable table markup. You can also entirely back out of changes easier, while you try to learn what went wrong or seek help from others. It's always good to learn, of course! And I also learnt from this, and it's probably only circumstantial that I had never made the same inadvertent error in the past... ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.80|172.69.194.80]] 13:57, 4 February 2024 (UTC)

Thanks to whoever added to my clarification on top of the table [[User:Moderator|Moderator]] ([[User talk:Moderator|talk]]) 01:50, 5 February 2024 (UTC)

== hey, uh, i think a joke in here needs an explain-explain-xkcd page. ==

the thing in robotics' row about sarah connor from terminator. self-explanatory.

Talk:2284: Sabotage

2024-01-20T18:24:31Z

Willlbrwillbr: /* what other ways can we sabotage events? */ new section

I don't entirely understand this comic (else I wouldn't be here), but I don't think that the current explanation is on the right track. It doesn't fit with the title, Sabotage. My reading is that some people are planning to get together IRL, and Cueball is threatening to sabotage their event with Baby Shark and skunks, presumably hoping that they'll call it off. [Edit: Fixed now.] [[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 05:19, 23 March 2020 (UTC)
: +1! [[User:John.Adriaan|John.Adriaan]] ([[User talk:John.Adriaan|talk]]) 05:48, 23 March 2020 (UTC)

::My Impression is that upon observing some group of people ignoring the social distancing stuff, he's attempting to scare them off actually having their gathering by piling up a long list of things you wouldn't want to be around. Doing an especially-annoying spoken word version of an especially-annoying song for long periods of time(Possible); Bringing a large number of wild skunks (unlikely); claiming to have just come from a cruise ship after several recent cases of mass-infections on cruise ships, making him seem like a high risk person to be around(probably lying); further claiming to have come from an event involving close, physical contact with a large group of random people, again making him seem like he's highly likely to be infected (almost certainly lying).

::In other words, trying to sabotage their gathering so that nobody shows up... in order to keep their stupidity/ignorance/arrogance from potentially spreading the virus to everyone present. -Graptor [[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.78|162.158.186.78]] 05:54, 23 March 2020 (UTC)

Shouldn't this comic be about BHG? Seems more up his alley. [[User:Cellocgw|Cellocgw]] ([[User talk:Cellocgw|talk]]) 12:26, 23 March 2020 (UTC)
:Who or what is "BHG"? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.222.124|172.68.222.124]] 12:30, 23 March 2020 (UTC)
::I guess [[Black hat]] guy. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 12:31, 23 March 2020 (UTC)
:Since black hat usually has sinister motives, this wouldn't be his kind of thing. Cueball here only claims to do these things to help others by persuading them not to attend. So in the end he's really the good guy. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 15:11, 23 March 2020 (UTC)
::not necesarily. see e.g. [[322: Pix Plz]]. But I agree. Black hat would more likely just set up the skunk thing and other things to ruin peoples gatherings, instead of just pretending to. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 15:51, 23 March 2020 (UTC)
:::Ok, I've seen this several times now by different users. Do you all know xkcd so well, that you can just come up with these precise examples? [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 07:45, 24 March 2020 (UTC)
::::I seem to have a mind made for remembering random stuff like that. plus I once had a very boring internship, and one of the few interesting pages that wasn't blocked there, was xkcd.com - so I used to go through the comics (back then the first ~1200)a lot, and ever since regularily look for new ones, and click random from time to time. the search function here + the transcripts really help finding the one you are remembering then. For this one e.g. my random keyword to search for was just "EMP". --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:59, 24 March 2020 (UTC)

:I like to think this more as poking fun at the uncountable idiots who still find it necessary to loudly complain (online) against ''alleged'' public meetings, or ones that took place a week ago, or sports meetings that have not been officially canceled, when there is no chance that they will be held anyway.
:And since this is not our clever and ever sabotaging black hat guy, I find my interpretation more likely. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.94.186|162.158.94.186]] 08:33, 25 March 2020 (UTC)

The Baby Shark reference also alludes to some saying the proper hand washing duration is equivalent to singing "Baby Shark" through the Daddy Shark verse.
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.69|172.69.68.69]] 04:17, 28 March 2020 (UTC)

== what other ways can we sabotage events? ==

for example: pin the tail on the donkey, but the donkey has sensors that make a TON of noise! WON'T THAT BE FUN!? HUH!? WHAD DID YOU SAY!? I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF SCREAMS!