https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=108.162.210.206&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T20:09:22ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2496:_Mine_Captcha&diff=2158672496: Mine Captcha2021-08-01T14:00:11Z<p>108.162.210.206: /* Explanation */ Removed unnecessary snark, this wiki is for giving context to the joke, not being clever about the solution.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2496<br />
| date = July 30, 2021<br />
| title = Mine Captcha<br />
| image = mine_captcha.png<br />
| titletext = This data is actually going into improving our self-driving car project, so hurry up--it's almost at the minefield.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a LIVE MINEFIELD WITH HUGE NUMBER CUBES SKEWED AROUND. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic, like [[1897: Self Driving]], references the approach of using {{W|CAPTCHA}} inputs to solve problems, particularly those involving image classification that computers need to know how to solve. Specifically, it reflects {{W|reCAPTCHA}} v2's fallback puzzle which is based on identifying road features and vehicles. A reCAPTCHA puzzle might ask a user to "check all squares containing a STOP SIGN." in order to help train systems that must do it automatically.<br />
<br />
This is actually a trick captcha. It asks to click on '''pictures''' of mines. There are no pictures of mines in the captcha, there are only numbers and empty fields.<br />
<br />
{{w|Minesweeper (video game)|Minesweeper}} is a logic puzzle game where the player must uncover tiles in a grid by clicking on them. Some of the tiles contain "mines" such that revealing those means immediate defeat. When uncovering a tile without a mine it shows how many of the (up to 8) adjacent tiles contain a mine or, if the tile has no neighbouring mines, it automatically and recursively reveals every neighbouring tile as far as all numbered 'clue' tiles. By reference to the indications provided by those numbers, a player (optionally, but typically) will mark those that they identify in their efforts to succesfully reveal all unmined locations and win the game having tripped none of the mines.<br />
<br />
This comic uses the game to create a CAPTCHA that ironically asks the user to "Click all the pictures of MINES", the opposite of the traditional goal, hence the title Mine Captcha.<br />
<br />
This mine CAPTCHA might be considered awkward for a variety of reasons. Firstly, unlike image recognition, which is a natural biological and developmental skill, humans don't naturally learn the tricks needed to win at Minesweeper. It is a logic game {{w|Microsoft Minesweeper|being bundled with Microsoft Windows}} which provides little obvious instruction and often it was bored people launching the program who would start randomly clicking on squares unsure of what they are supposed to do. Those who perservere get to learn the tricks and traps, but not everyone will do that and thus also understand how to adequately solve the CAPTCHA.<br />
<br />
Secondly, clicking on the squares that contain mines is the opposite of what you do in actual Minesweeper, and players who are sufficiently familiar with the game might get tripped up by muscle memory, putting you at a disadvantage no matter your skill level with the original game.<br />
<br />
Thirdly, minesweeper involves a certain degree of luck. While logical skills are important, there are possible instances (increasingly so as the chosen difficulty level is increased) where the numbers do not provide adequate information to confidently assure it is in a single specific square, leaving even expert players to have to guess and hope they do not trip on one the more unlikely (but possible) final mines after a lot of other mental work done to successfully clear and confirm the rest of the map. If luck plays any part in the CAPTCHA, this would increase false negatives in human detection. (The implication of most logic pizzles is that the problem given to the user is of a state where only one possible solution exists as an answer, but the conceipt of this one is that the solution is ''not'' known by the puzzle-creator.)<br />
<br />
Fourthly, solving a game of Minesweeper is usually (although not in this case) impossible without clicking more of the empty gray squares to reveal enough info to figure out which ones have mines on them.<br />
<br />
Fifthly, a CAPTCHA is meant to be a challenge designed to be solvable by humans but not computers; Minesweeper would be easily solvable by an AI (assuming no ambiguity) as it is, at its core, a logic puzzle, and the squares are simple shapes with solid-color backgrounds and thus relatively easy for an AI to process.<br />
<br />
Regarding the game itself, 6 of the 16 tiles hae a colored number, in blue for the three number ones, green for a single instance of two, and red for the two number threes. Given the current board configuration, one can deduce that there are four mines (in squares A2, B2, B3 and D3, where letters (numbers) mark columns (rows)), see [[#Trivia|trivia section]]. For example, there are two mines within the squares A2,B1,B2, as signified by the 2 in A1, but only one of those can be in B1 or B2 (because of the 1 in C1). Therefore, A2 has to be a mine.<br />
<br />
Each number is shown in a different font and style. This follows a technique used in CAPTCHAs that display text in various styles, often distorted, and ask the user to type in the displayed characters. <br />
<br />
<pre><br />
A B C D<br />
<br />
1 2 . 1 .<br />
2 * * 3 .<br />
3 3 * . *<br />
4 . 1 . 1<br />
</pre><br />
<br />
The title text is similar to [[1897: Self Driving]] where the CAPTCHA solver is asked to answer quickly, parodying the current tendency for CAPTCHAs to apparently be used as training data to teach AI how to correctly identify road hazards by instead suggesting the CAPTCHA offloads the task to a human instead. In this case the car is apparently driving into a minefield and can only avoid the mines if the user solves this CAPTCHA fast enough. Where the first would be plausible, although very dangerous, this time it hinges on ridiculous, as real minefields usually do not have large numbers indicating which of the surrounding land contains mines{{citation needed}}.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[A "CAPTCHA" box.]<br />
<br />
To proceed, click<br>all the pictures of<br>MINES<br />
<br />
[A 4 by 4 ''Minesweeper'' field, with some cells revealed with numbers. Each number is drawn in a different font/style.]<br />
<br />
<pre><br />
2 . 1 .<br />
. . 3 .<br />
3 . . .<br />
. 1 . 1<br />
</pre><br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*The solved version of the puzzle showing where the mines are in this comic, and thus the fields that needs to be pushed in this Captcha to prove you are human:<br />
:[[File:2946_Mine_Captcha_With_Bombs.png]]<br />
*The solved puzzle as it would look if played as a real minesweeper game, except the mines would be represented by flags. (The empty square top right corner has 0 bombs next to it. This is not written in the game but indicated as this field has been pushed down):<br />
:[[File:2946_Mine_Captcha_Solved.png]]<br />
*The original game can be played here: [https://minesweeper.online/ World of Minesweeper]<br />
**It is possible to build a 4x4 CAPTCHA game there:<br />
:[[File:2946_Mine_Captcha_Example_of_4x4_game.png]]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:CAPTCHA]]<br />
[[Category:Self-driving cars]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]</div>108.162.210.206https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1757:_November_2016&diff=1306321757: November 20162016-11-10T20:39:14Z<p>108.162.210.206: /* Table for the guide */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1757<br />
| date = November 9, 2016<br />
| title = November 2016<br />
| image = november_2016.png<br />
| titletext = Once you've done this, make a note of how old they were. Then, when their age reaches double that, show them this chart again.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|More on the entries in the [[#Table for the guide|table]] below on how this and that ting refers to a recurring subject like Star Wars, Pokemon etc.}}<br />
This is yet another comic designed to [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|make you feel old]], following soon after the last one [[1745: Record Scratch]]. Not so long ago a comic with the very title of the largest bold letters in the caption above the panel was released: [[1686: Feel Old]]. <br />
<br />
Specifically this comic contains ''The '''November 2016''' Guide to making people feel old''. (The [[#Trivia|unusual title]] for the comic indicates that it only works during this month). It lists ages between 16 and 41 and links each age to one or more events that happened approximately half that age ago, so 8 years ago for the 16 years old and 20 years ago for the 40 years old etc, which means that a person of that age would have had the mentioned thing in their life for the majority of their life. And then it explains that to make a person of a given [age] feel old, look up the [thing] (or things) connected to it, and say: <br />
:"Did you know [thing] has been around for the majority of your life?" <br />
As an example the '''age 21''' can be used, as it list both {{w|The Xbox 360}} as well as this comic, [[xkcd]] it self. The sentence would then be:<br />
:"Did you know that The Xbox 360 and xkcd has been around for the majority of your life?" <br />
<br />
This matches earlier attempts to make people feel old by mentioning how long ago it was that, for instance, a movie comes out as was the case in [[891: Movie Ages]]. (But on this exact day when the comic was released there might have many people who did already feel old an tired - see [[#Trivia|trivia]]). When an event seems to have occurred recently to you, like seeing a movie when you were twenty-one (with Toy Story) and then suddenly realizing that this was 20 years ago, you will very likely feel old. Since humans' perception of time is not related to how much time has actually passed but rather to important memories, then memories like seeing the first feature-length fully computer-animated movie (Toy Story) makes a big impression and may stay vivid in peoples' memories. When they then, after hearing the sentence from this comic, realize that half their life has passed since that event, they realize how much time has passed and that makes them feel old.<br />
<br />
This is why it affects a 20-year-old to hear that Twitter is ten years old, where this will not have the same impact on a 16-year-old, since they were so young when it came out that they probably feel like it has been around for ever, and you do not feel old by hearing that, for instance, the TV was invented before you were born. It thus makes sense to pick something that happened almost midway through a person's life, because they then realize they are now double as old as when they first heard of Twitter.<br />
<br />
The joke at the end is that people over 41 don't need anything to make them feel old, because they already feel old. He thus teases people above 41 years old by claiming they are old, although many people (above 40) would claim you are not old before you retire. This trick was also used to cap the above mentioned [[891: Movie Ages]] to 35 years old, stating anyone as older was already old. But that comic was also released five years ago, and now Randall is himself closing in on 35 at 32 years at the time of this comics release. So he pushed the limit 6 years further, probably for this reason. Now he no longer thinks people at 36 are too old to try to make them feel old. It may be a coincidence, but still interesting, that he stopped the list just before 42, a number Randall has referred to many times in relation to it being the "{{w|Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything}}" in the {{w|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}.<br />
<br />
For something to have existed for the majority of someones life, it is supposed to be older than half the persons age, but it seems [[Randall]] went for just about half the age. For instance for a 35-year-old person (born 1981), it lists the release of the movie {{w|The Matrix}}, which was released March 31, 1999 making it very close to 17.5 years ago, fitting with half of 35 years. For the 41-year-old it is slightly more than half of their life that has included the movie {{w|Toy Story}}, which was released almost exactly 21 years before this comic in November 1995, compared to the 20.5 years from half of 41 years. The only entry on the list that seems to veer more than half a year from the half age is the one for {{w|Auto-Tune|autotuned}} hit songs which seems to refer to 1998, maybe specifically starting with {{w|Cher|Cher's}} song ''{{w|Believe (Cher song)|Believe}}'' released on October 19, 1998, making it 18 years ago. But it is listed together with the age 33 years, which should thus have been connected with something around 16.5 years old (16-17 years). However, this entry is also one of the less time specific. However, the rule still applies, it's just the only one where it is such a big majority of the persons age (18 years in their life 15 years not in their life). See more in the [[#Table for the guide|table]] below.<br />
<br />
Many of the chosen events or movies relates to things that are recurring subjects in xkcd, as can be seen by the long list of categories that belongs to this comic.<br />
<br />
The title text points out that the same chart can be used for the same person once they are twice as old. So it urges the user to note down the age of the person it was used on, and then wait until their age reaches double that. So for a 16-year-old that would only be 16 more years until they are 32, but for a 41-year-old it would have to wait until they are 82 years old. When showing them this chart, they will realize that this has existed for half of their life and again have the same type of "feeling old" that this comic is supposed to instigate today.(It will work better if they still remember the joke made on them those many years ago)...<br />
<br />
==Table for the guide==<br />
*Explanation of table:<br />
**Persons age as given in the comic.<br />
**Persons birth year. 2016 minus persons age.<br />
**Date of things. For instance a release date, the year that a thing began/happened or a year where it became a phenomenon (in the US that is, in case if was already a phenomenon somewhere else first).<br />
**Things as given in the comic. There can be more than one "thing" for each age, so it should be things in plural form.<br />
**Half age - Persons age divided by two, so either an integer or a half integer (10 or 10.5). This number should never be higher than the last column, which is also the case, when taking release dates into account.<br />
**Years ago - the number of years since the things became "a thing". In order for this thing to have been in a persons life for the majority of their life this need to be larger (or at least equal) than half that persons age. So this number should be larger than the column before. If there are more than one thing for a given age, the average year for these things are taken and used to calculate the number of years. This number should be given with a decimal, and not necessarily in half years. Only one of the entries are more than one year higher than the half age. This has been highlighted in '''bold'''.<br />
<br />
{| class = "wikitable"<br />
! Age<br />
! Birth year<br />
! Date of things<br />
! Things<br />
! Explanation<br />
! Half age<br />
! Years ago<br />
|-<br />
| 16<br />
| 2000<br />
| April 29, 2008<br />
| ''{{w|Grand Theft Auto IV}}''<br />
| Popular video game published by {{w|Rockstar Games}}; the 11th title in the ''{{w|Grand Theft Auto}}'' series<br />
| 8<br />
| 8.5<br />
|-<br />
| 17<br />
| 1999<br />
| May 2007<br />
| {{w|Rickrolling}}<br />
| A prank and internet meme involving an unexpected appearance of the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "{{w|Never Gonna Give You Up}}". A type of bait and switch.<br />
| 8.5<br />
| 9.5<br />
|-<br />
| 18<br />
| 1998<br />
| April 13, 2007<br />
| ''{{w|Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters}}<br />
| American Flash animated surreal comedy film based on the {{w|Adult Swim}} animated series ''{{w|Aqua Teen Hunger Force}}''. This seems to be a joke, as both this movie and the one it was based on is for adults, and the person this targets would only have been 9 when it was released, and will thus not even recognize the reference. And then the joke will fail as they will not feel old. <br />
| 9<br />
| 9.6<br />
|-<br />
| 19<br />
| 1997<br />
| November 19, 2006<br />
| The {{w|Nintendo Wii}}<br />
| 2006 is the time when the Nintendo Wii was released, with the Wii dominating 2006-2012.<br />
| 9.5<br />
| 10.0<br />
|-<br />
| 20<br />
| 1996<br />
| March 2006<br />
| {{w|Twitter}}<br />
| 2006 was a big year, in that it lead to the creation of Twitter, a social networking service that is still used to this day.<br />
| 10<br />
| 10.7<br />
|-<br />
| 21<br />
| 1995<br />
| November 22, 2005 (Xbox),<br>September 30, 2005 (xkcd)<br />
| The {{w|Xbox 360}},<br>{{w|xkcd}}<br />
| 2005 led to the creation of the Xbox 360, another successful console. [[Randall]] also decided to throw in a 'reference joke', referring to the fact that xkcd was also created in 2005 where the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|first 13 comics]] where released on [[LiveJournal]] on September 30, 2005 and thus fits the criteria of the comic (and as a call back to the recent [[1750: Life Goals]] he has two x words in the same sentence, which where also both used in that comic). (Average release date for the two was October 25, 2005)<br />
| 10.5<br />
| 11.0<br />
|-<br />
| 22<br />
| 1994<br />
| 2005 (no specific date)<br />
| {{w|Chuck Norris Facts}}<br />
| Satirical factoids about martial artist and actor {{w|Chuck Norris}} which began to appear on the Internet in early 2005. But to begin with they where not centered on him but rather on {{w|Vin Diesel}} which makes it difficult to put any more precise date on it than during the year 2005. Chuck Norris has {{w|Chuck_Norris_facts#Norris.27_response|replied to these factoids}} more than once, but the first time was in December 2006, almost two years after the trend might have started out.<br />
| 11<br />
| 11.5<br />
|-<br />
| 23<br />
| 1993<br />
| January 25, 2004<br />
| {{w|Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity}}'s Mars Exploration<br />
| {{w|Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity}} is a Mars rover that landed on Mars on January 25, 2004<br />
| 11.5<br />
| 12.8<br />
|-<br />
| 24<br />
| 1992<br />
| February 4, 2004<br />
| {{w|Facebook}}<br />
| Facebook was a social networking service created in 2004 as a competitor to {{w|Myspace}} and quickly dominated as the #1 most used social networking service of all time.<br />
| 12<br />
| 12.8<br />
|-<br />
| 25<br />
| 1991<br />
| April 1, 2004 (Gmail),<br>July 9, 2003 (''Pirates of the Caribbean'')<br />
| {{w|Gmail}},<br>''{{w|Pirates of the Caribbean}}''<br />
| Gmail is an email service created by Google as a replacement to {{w|Hotmail}}. ''Pirates of the Caribbean'', a popular movie franchise, had its first movie {{w|Curse of the Black Pearl}} debut in 2003. (Average date is November 4, 2003).<br />
| 12.5<br />
| 13.0<br />
|-<br />
| 26<br />
| 1990<br />
| January 7, 2003<br />
| {{w|In da Club}}<br />
| Rap song by {{w|50 Cent}}<br />
| 13<br />
| 13.8<br />
|-<br />
| 27<br />
| 1989<br />
| September 20, 2002<br />
| ''{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}''<br />
| ''{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}'' is a space western drama TV series created by Joss Whedon, that became a cult classic<br />
| 13.5<br />
| 14.1<br />
|-<br />
| 28<br />
| 1988<br />
| October 7, 2001<br />
| The {{w|War in Afghanistan}}<br />
| The United States of America invaded Afghanistan shortly after the events of September 11, 2001, in an effort to eliminate the terrorist group {{w|al-Qaeda}}.<br />
| 14<br />
| 15.1<br />
|-<br />
| 29<br />
| 1987<br />
| October 23, 2001<br />
| The {{w|iPod}}<br />
| The iPod was a music playing device created by {{w|Apple Inc.}} in 2001 as a replacement for MP3 players.<br />
| 14.5<br />
| 15.0<br />
|-<br />
| 30<br />
| 1986<br />
| May 18, 2001 (''Shrek''),<br>January 15, 2001 (Wikipedia)<br />
| ''{{w|Shrek}}'',<br>{{w|Wikipedia}}<br />
| ''Shrek'' is a popular parody film about fairy tales based on the book of the same name. It quickly gained a cult following and became a mega-hit, earning it 3 sequels and a franchise. Wikipedia is a website dedicated to looking up information based on specific topics, created in 2001. (Average date is March 17, 2001).<br />
| 15<br />
| 15.8<br />
|-<br />
| 31<br />
| 1985<br />
| July 14, 2000<br />
| Those X-Men movies<br />
| The {{w|X-Men (film series)|X-Men}} film series, probably only referring to the first trilogy (''{{w|X-Men (film)|X-Men}}'' (July 14, 2000), ''{{w|X2 (film)|X2}}'' (May 2, 2003), ''{{w|X-Men: The Last Stand}}'' (May 26, 2006) - us release dates). The release date refers to the first of these three movies, because even only taking the first two movies, the average day would only be 15 years ago, less than the 15.5 half age for a 31 year old person.<br />
| 15.5<br />
| 16.3<br />
|-<br />
| 32<br />
| 1984<br />
| February 4, 2000<br />
| ''{{w|The Sims}}''<br />
| ''The Sims'' is a video game created by Maxis in 2000 as a simulation game where you build homes, cities, and families. It was an immediate success upon launch.<br />
| 16<br />
| 16.8<br />
|-<br />
| 33<br />
| 1983<br />
| October 19, 1998<br />
| Autotuned hit songs<br />
| 1998 was the time period when people realized the capabilities of {{w|Auto-Tune|autotuning}} songs. {{w|Cher|Cher's}} song ''{{w|Believe (Cher song)|Believe}}'' from October 19, 1998 {{w|Auto-Tune#In_popular_music|may be the first time}} that people really noticed this effect. This is the only entry where there seems to be more than one year between the age of the ting and the half age of the person. But it is also one of the entries where specific dating is difficult to place.<br />
| 16.5<br />
| '''18.1'''<br />
|-<br />
| 34<br />
| 1982<br />
| May 19, 1999<br />
| The {{w|Star Wars Prequels}}<br />
| The Star Wars prequel trilogy (''{{w|Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace}}'' (May 19, 1999), ''{{w|Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones}}'' (May 16, 2002), ''{{w|Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith}}'' (May 19, 2005), us release dates). The release date refers to the first of these three movies, because even only taking the first two movies, the average day would only be 16 years ago, less than the 17 half age for a 34 year old person.<br />
| 17 <br />
| 17.5<br />
|-<br />
| 35<br />
| 1981<br />
| March 31, 1999<br />
| ''{{w|The Matrix}}''<br />
| Action film created by {{w|The Wachowskis}} (formerly known, at the time of ''The Matrix, as The Wachowski Brothers).<br />
| 17.5<br />
| 17.6<br />
|-<br />
| 36<br />
| 1980<br />
| September 28, 1998<br />
| {{w|Pokémon Red & Blue}}<br />
| A popular video game franchise in the {{w|Pokémon}}, series often referenced in xkcd. The game was first released in Japan in 1996, but not in North America until 1998.<br />
| 18<br />
| 18.1<br />
|-<br />
| 37<br />
| 1979<br />
| April 29, 1997 (Netflix),<br>June 26, 1997 (Harry Potter),<br>September 15, 1997 (Google)<br />
| {{w|Netflix}},<br>{{w|Harry Potter}},<br>{{w|Google}}<br />
| All three are major things still today 19 years later. "Harry Potter" refers to the original publishing date of ''{{w|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone}}''. Google refers to the date that the Google domain name was registered. (Average date is 03-07-1997).<br />
| 18.5<br />
| 19.4<br />
|-<br />
| 38<br />
| 1978<br />
| May 11, 1997<br />
| Deep Blue's Victory<br />
| {{w|Deep Blue (chess computer)|Deep Blue}} was a {{w|chess computer}}, who defeated {{w|Garry Kasparov}}, the reigning chess champion, in a match in 1997. It was the first chess computer to defeat a world champion under tournament conditions.<br />
| 19<br />
| 19.5<br />
|-<br />
| 39<br />
| 1977<br />
| September 13, 1996<br />
| Tupac's Death<br />
| {{w|Tupac Shakur}} was an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in 1996.<br />
| 19.5<br />
| 20.2<br />
|-<br />
| 40<br />
| 1976<br />
| December 31, 1995<br />
| The [http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/12/31 last ''Calvin and Hobbes'' strip]<br />
| ''{{w|Calvin and Hobbes}}'' is a comic strip by {{w|Bill Watterson}} that ran from November 18, 1985 to December 31, 1995.<br />
| 20<br />
| 20.9<br />
|-<br />
| 41<br />
| 1975<br />
| November 22, 1995<br />
| ''{{w|Toy Story}}''<br />
| The {{w|Pixar}} animated film ''Toy Story'' was the first feature length animation film to be released theatrically (and also Pixar's first feature film)<br />
| 20.5<br />
| 21.0<br />
|-<br />
| >41<br />
| Before 1975<br />
| N/A<br />
| [Don't worry, they've got this covered]<br />
| This joke is that people who are legitimately old already feel old. This could also be a reference to the number 42, Randall having stopped when this number was supposed to occur, 42 being the "{{w|Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything}}" in the {{w|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}. He has referenced this number more than once before, for instance in [[1213: Combination Vision Test]] and in the [[1608#Messages_in_Play_Area|messages in the ''Play Area'']] of [[1608: Hoverboard]].<br />
| >20.5<br />
| N/A<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Caption above the panel:]<br />
:The November 2016<br />
:<big>Guide to making people</big><br />
:<big><big>'''feel old'''</big></big><br />
<br />
:[A chart with a list of items to be put into the two first lines above the chart. First there are a line using the first column, then there are two lines using the second column. Below those lines are the two columns with underlined captions above. Between the columns are a long line connecting the two.]<br />
:If they're [age], you say:<br />
:<big>"Did you know</big> <u>[thing]</u> <big>has been around for the majority of your life?"</big><br />
<br />
:{| class = "wikitable"<br />
! <u>Age</u><br />
! <u>Thing</u><br />
|-<br />
| 16<br />
| Grand Theft Auto IV<br />
|-<br />
| 17<br />
| Rickrolling<br />
|-<br />
| 18<br />
| ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force <br> Colon Movie Film for Theaters'''<br />
|-<br />
| 19<br />
| The Nintendo Wii<br />
|-<br />
| 20<br />
| Twitter<br />
|-<br />
| 21<br />
| The Xbox 360, xkcd<br />
|-<br />
| 22<br />
| Chuck Norris Facts<br />
|-<br />
| 23<br />
| Opportunity's Mars Exploration<br />
|-<br />
| 24<br />
| Facebook<br />
|-<br />
| 25<br />
| Gmail, ''Pirates of the Caribbean''<br />
|-<br />
| 26<br />
| In da Club<br />
|-<br />
| 27<br />
| ''Firefly''<br />
|-<br />
| 28<br />
| The War in Afghanistan<br />
|-<br />
| 29<br />
| The iPod<br />
|-<br />
| 30<br />
| ''Shrek'', Wikipedia<br />
|-<br />
| 31<br />
| Those X-Men movies<br />
|-<br />
| 32<br />
| ''The Sims''<br />
|-<br />
| 33<br />
| Autotuned hit songs<br />
|-<br />
| 34<br />
| The ''Star Wars'' prequels<br />
|-<br />
| 35<br />
| ''The Matrix''<br />
|-<br />
| 36<br />
| ''Pokémon Red&Blue''<br />
|-<br />
| 37<br />
| Netflix, ''Harry Potter'', Google<br />
|-<br />
| 38<br />
| Deep Blue's Victory<br />
|-<br />
| 39<br />
| Tupac's Death<br />
|-<br />
| 40<br />
| The last ''Calvin and Hobbes'' strip<br />
|-<br />
| 41<br />
| ''Toy Story''<br />
|-<br />
| >41<br />
| [Don't worry, they've got this covered]<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*The title of this comic is special, and the like has never been seen before. Months have been included in the titles before, and also years, but never like this with a month and a year.<br />
**Of course this also indicates that this comic only really work during November 2016.<br />
**Three earlier comics has used month names in the title, two with specific holliday dates, and one with the month as part of a rhyme:<br />
***[[656: October 30th]]<br />
***[[680: December 25th]]<br />
***[[1595: 30 Days Hath September]]<br />
**And just a year has been used thrice (including 2016):<br />
***[[998: 2012]]<br />
***[[1311: 2014]]<br />
***[[1624: 2016]]<br />
*As a side note to the whole idea about feeling old, the chosen release day might not have been the most relevant to post such a comic. <br />
**This comic was released just past midnight on the day that the result of the {{w|2016 United States presidential election}} was determined (i.e. the day after the election on November 8th 2016), so before anything was determined but likely at a time when the first polls showed which way it might end. <br />
**In the previous comic [[1756: I'm With Her]], from Monday the day before the election, Randall had {{w|Political endorsement|endorsed}} {{w|Hillary Clinton}} from the {{w|US Democratic Party|Democratic Party}}. <br />
**Thus a 600 days election campaign finished on this day. It was a very controversial election and the {{w|US Republican Party|Republican}} nominee {{w|Donald Trump}} became {{w|President-elect of the United States}} after winning the election. <br />
**This result had been feared to happen by half of the people of the united states, and the other half had feared that Clinton would win. And many people thus stayed up to follow the election all night. And now the whole thing is over, and the headache starts. <br />
**And on this day Randall tries to make people feel old... It seems likely he did not need to try so hard, as lots of people probably felt much older than their years after all this!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Music]]<br />
[[Category:Video games]]<br />
[[Category:Pokémon]]<br />
[[Category:Rickrolling]]<br />
[[Category:Social networking]] <br />
[[Category:Mars rovers]]<br />
[[Category:Fiction]]<br />
[[Category:Firefly]]<br />
[[Category:Wikipedia]]<br />
[[Category:Star Wars]]<br />
[[Category:Chess]]<br />
[[Category:Calvin and Hobbes]]</div>108.162.210.206https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1757:_November_2016&diff=1306311757: November 20162016-11-10T20:36:38Z<p>108.162.210.206: /* Table for the guide */ the wii u is not mentioned in the comic (and it would not make someone feel old)</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1757<br />
| date = November 9, 2016<br />
| title = November 2016<br />
| image = november_2016.png<br />
| titletext = Once you've done this, make a note of how old they were. Then, when their age reaches double that, show them this chart again.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|More on the entries in the [[#Table for the guide|table]] below on how this and that ting refers to a recurring subject like Star Wars, Pokemon etc.}}<br />
This is yet another comic designed to [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|make you feel old]], following soon after the last one [[1745: Record Scratch]]. Not so long ago a comic with the very title of the largest bold letters in the caption above the panel was released: [[1686: Feel Old]]. <br />
<br />
Specifically this comic contains ''The '''November 2016''' Guide to making people feel old''. (The [[#Trivia|unusual title]] for the comic indicates that it only works during this month). It lists ages between 16 and 41 and links each age to one or more events that happened approximately half that age ago, so 8 years ago for the 16 years old and 20 years ago for the 40 years old etc, which means that a person of that age would have had the mentioned thing in their life for the majority of their life. And then it explains that to make a person of a given [age] feel old, look up the [thing] (or things) connected to it, and say: <br />
:"Did you know [thing] has been around for the majority of your life?" <br />
As an example the '''age 21''' can be used, as it list both {{w|The Xbox 360}} as well as this comic, [[xkcd]] it self. The sentence would then be:<br />
:"Did you know that The Xbox 360 and xkcd has been around for the majority of your life?" <br />
<br />
This matches earlier attempts to make people feel old by mentioning how long ago it was that, for instance, a movie comes out as was the case in [[891: Movie Ages]]. (But on this exact day when the comic was released there might have many people who did already feel old an tired - see [[#Trivia|trivia]]). When an event seems to have occurred recently to you, like seeing a movie when you were twenty-one (with Toy Story) and then suddenly realizing that this was 20 years ago, you will very likely feel old. Since humans' perception of time is not related to how much time has actually passed but rather to important memories, then memories like seeing the first feature-length fully computer-animated movie (Toy Story) makes a big impression and may stay vivid in peoples' memories. When they then, after hearing the sentence from this comic, realize that half their life has passed since that event, they realize how much time has passed and that makes them feel old.<br />
<br />
This is why it affects a 20-year-old to hear that Twitter is ten years old, where this will not have the same impact on a 16-year-old, since they were so young when it came out that they probably feel like it has been around for ever, and you do not feel old by hearing that, for instance, the TV was invented before you were born. It thus makes sense to pick something that happened almost midway through a person's life, because they then realize they are now double as old as when they first heard of Twitter.<br />
<br />
The joke at the end is that people over 41 don't need anything to make them feel old, because they already feel old. He thus teases people above 41 years old by claiming they are old, although many people (above 40) would claim you are not old before you retire. This trick was also used to cap the above mentioned [[891: Movie Ages]] to 35 years old, stating anyone as older was already old. But that comic was also released five years ago, and now Randall is himself closing in on 35 at 32 years at the time of this comics release. So he pushed the limit 6 years further, probably for this reason. Now he no longer thinks people at 36 are too old to try to make them feel old. It may be a coincidence, but still interesting, that he stopped the list just before 42, a number Randall has referred to many times in relation to it being the "{{w|Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything}}" in the {{w|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}.<br />
<br />
For something to have existed for the majority of someones life, it is supposed to be older than half the persons age, but it seems [[Randall]] went for just about half the age. For instance for a 35-year-old person (born 1981), it lists the release of the movie {{w|The Matrix}}, which was released March 31, 1999 making it very close to 17.5 years ago, fitting with half of 35 years. For the 41-year-old it is slightly more than half of their life that has included the movie {{w|Toy Story}}, which was released almost exactly 21 years before this comic in November 1995, compared to the 20.5 years from half of 41 years. The only entry on the list that seems to veer more than half a year from the half age is the one for {{w|Auto-Tune|autotuned}} hit songs which seems to refer to 1998, maybe specifically starting with {{w|Cher|Cher's}} song ''{{w|Believe (Cher song)|Believe}}'' released on October 19, 1998, making it 18 years ago. But it is listed together with the age 33 years, which should thus have been connected with something around 16.5 years old (16-17 years). However, this entry is also one of the less time specific. However, the rule still applies, it's just the only one where it is such a big majority of the persons age (18 years in their life 15 years not in their life). See more in the [[#Table for the guide|table]] below.<br />
<br />
Many of the chosen events or movies relates to things that are recurring subjects in xkcd, as can be seen by the long list of categories that belongs to this comic.<br />
<br />
The title text points out that the same chart can be used for the same person once they are twice as old. So it urges the user to note down the age of the person it was used on, and then wait until their age reaches double that. So for a 16-year-old that would only be 16 more years until they are 32, but for a 41-year-old it would have to wait until they are 82 years old. When showing them this chart, they will realize that this has existed for half of their life and again have the same type of "feeling old" that this comic is supposed to instigate today.(It will work better if they still remember the joke made on them those many years ago)...<br />
<br />
==Table for the guide==<br />
*Explanation of table:<br />
**Persons age as given in the comic.<br />
**Persons birth year. 2016 minus persons age.<br />
**Date of things. For instance a release date, the year that a thing began/happened or a year where it became a phenomenon (in the US that is, in case if was already a phenomenon somewhere else first).<br />
**Things as given in the comic. There can be more than one "thing" for each age, so it should be things in plural form.<br />
**Half age - Persons age divided by two, so either an integer or a half integer (10 or 10.5). This number should never be higher than the last column, which is also the case, when taking release dates into account.<br />
**Years ago - the number of years since the things became "a thing". In order for this thing to have been in a persons life for the majority of their life this need to be larger (or at least equal) than half that persons age. So this number should be larger than the column before. If there are more than one thing for a given age, the average year for these things are taken and used to calculate the number of years. This number should be given with a decimal, and not necessarily in half years. Only one of the entries are more than one year higher than the half age. This has been highlighted in '''bold'''.<br />
<br />
{| class = "wikitable"<br />
! Age<br />
! Birth year<br />
! Date of things<br />
! Things<br />
! Explanation<br />
! Half age<br />
! Years ago<br />
|-<br />
| 16<br />
| 2000<br />
| April 29, 2008<br />
| ''{{w|Grand Theft Auto IV}}''<br />
| Popular video game published by {{w|Rockstar Games}}; the 11th title in the ''{{w|Grand Theft Auto}}'' series<br />
| 8<br />
| 8.5<br />
|-<br />
| 17<br />
| 1999<br />
| May 2007<br />
| {{w|Rickrolling}}<br />
| A prank and internet meme involving an unexpected appearance of the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "{{w|Never Gonna Give You Up}}". A type of bait and switch.<br />
| 8.5<br />
| 9.5<br />
|-<br />
| 18<br />
| 1998<br />
| April 13, 2007<br />
| ''{{w|Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters}}<br />
| American Flash animated surreal comedy film based on the {{w|Adult Swim}} animated series ''{{w|Aqua Teen Hunger Force}}''. This seems to be a joke, as both this movie and the one it was based on is for adults, and the person this targets would only have been 9 when it was released, and will thus not even recognize the reference. And then the joke will fail as they will not feel old. <br />
| 9<br />
| 9.6<br />
|-<br />
| 19<br />
| 1997<br />
| November 19, 2006<br />
| The {{w|Nintendo Wii}}<br />
| From 2006 onwards is the time when the Nintendo Wii brand (Wii - Wii U) was released, with the Wii dominating 2006-2012.<br />
| 9.5<br />
| 10.0<br />
|-<br />
| 20<br />
| 1996<br />
| March 2006<br />
| {{w|Twitter}}<br />
| 2006 was a big year, in that it lead to the creation of Twitter, a social networking service that is still used to this day.<br />
| 10<br />
| 10.7<br />
|-<br />
| 21<br />
| 1995<br />
| November 22, 2005 (Xbox),<br>September 30, 2005 (xkcd)<br />
| The {{w|Xbox 360}},<br>{{w|xkcd}}<br />
| 2005 led to the creation of the Xbox 360, another successful console. [[Randall]] also decided to throw in a 'reference joke', referring to the fact that xkcd was also created in 2005 where the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|first 13 comics]] where released on [[LiveJournal]] on September 30, 2005 and thus fits the criteria of the comic (and as a call back to the recent [[1750: Life Goals]] he has two x words in the same sentence, which where also both used in that comic). (Average release date for the two was October 25, 2005)<br />
| 10.5<br />
| 11.0<br />
|-<br />
| 22<br />
| 1994<br />
| 2005 (no specific date)<br />
| {{w|Chuck Norris Facts}}<br />
| Satirical factoids about martial artist and actor {{w|Chuck Norris}} which began to appear on the Internet in early 2005. But to begin with they where not centered on him but rather on {{w|Vin Diesel}} which makes it difficult to put any more precise date on it than during the year 2005. Chuck Norris has {{w|Chuck_Norris_facts#Norris.27_response|replied to these factoids}} more than once, but the first time was in December 2006, almost two years after the trend might have started out.<br />
| 11<br />
| 11.5<br />
|-<br />
| 23<br />
| 1993<br />
| January 25, 2004<br />
| {{w|Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity}}'s Mars Exploration<br />
| {{w|Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity}} is a Mars rover that landed on Mars on January 25, 2004<br />
| 11.5<br />
| 12.8<br />
|-<br />
| 24<br />
| 1992<br />
| February 4, 2004<br />
| {{w|Facebook}}<br />
| Facebook was a social networking service created in 2004 as a competitor to {{w|Myspace}} and quickly dominated as the #1 most used social networking service of all time.<br />
| 12<br />
| 12.8<br />
|-<br />
| 25<br />
| 1991<br />
| April 1, 2004 (Gmail),<br>July 9, 2003 (''Pirates of the Caribbean'')<br />
| {{w|Gmail}},<br>''{{w|Pirates of the Caribbean}}''<br />
| Gmail is an email service created by Google as a replacement to {{w|Hotmail}}. ''Pirates of the Caribbean'', a popular movie franchise, had its first movie {{w|Curse of the Black Pearl}} debut in 2003. (Average date is November 4, 2003).<br />
| 12.5<br />
| 13.0<br />
|-<br />
| 26<br />
| 1990<br />
| January 7, 2003<br />
| {{w|In da Club}}<br />
| Rap song by {{w|50 Cent}}<br />
| 13<br />
| 13.8<br />
|-<br />
| 27<br />
| 1989<br />
| September 20, 2002<br />
| ''{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}''<br />
| ''{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}'' is a space western drama TV series created by Joss Whedon, that became a cult classic<br />
| 13.5<br />
| 14.1<br />
|-<br />
| 28<br />
| 1988<br />
| October 7, 2001<br />
| The {{w|War in Afghanistan}}<br />
| The United States of America invaded Afghanistan shortly after the events of September 11, 2001, in an effort to eliminate the terrorist group {{w|al-Qaeda}}.<br />
| 14<br />
| 15.1<br />
|-<br />
| 29<br />
| 1987<br />
| October 23, 2001<br />
| The {{w|iPod}}<br />
| The iPod was a music playing device created by {{w|Apple Inc.}} in 2001 as a replacement for MP3 players.<br />
| 14.5<br />
| 15.0<br />
|-<br />
| 30<br />
| 1986<br />
| May 18, 2001 (''Shrek''),<br>January 15, 2001 (Wikipedia)<br />
| ''{{w|Shrek}}'',<br>{{w|Wikipedia}}<br />
| ''Shrek'' is a popular parody film about fairy tales based on the book of the same name. It quickly gained a cult following and became a mega-hit, earning it 3 sequels and a franchise. Wikipedia is a website dedicated to looking up information based on specific topics, created in 2001. (Average date is March 17, 2001).<br />
| 15<br />
| 15.8<br />
|-<br />
| 31<br />
| 1985<br />
| July 14, 2000<br />
| Those X-Men movies<br />
| The {{w|X-Men (film series)|X-Men}} film series, probably only referring to the first trilogy (''{{w|X-Men (film)|X-Men}}'' (July 14, 2000), ''{{w|X2 (film)|X2}}'' (May 2, 2003), ''{{w|X-Men: The Last Stand}}'' (May 26, 2006) - us release dates). The release date refers to the first of these three movies, because even only taking the first two movies, the average day would only be 15 years ago, less than the 15.5 half age for a 31 year old person.<br />
| 15.5<br />
| 16.3<br />
|-<br />
| 32<br />
| 1984<br />
| February 4, 2000<br />
| ''{{w|The Sims}}''<br />
| ''The Sims'' is a video game created by Maxis in 2000 as a simulation game where you build homes, cities, and families. It was an immediate success upon launch.<br />
| 16<br />
| 16.8<br />
|-<br />
| 33<br />
| 1983<br />
| October 19, 1998<br />
| Autotuned hit songs<br />
| 1998 was the time period when people realized the capabilities of {{w|Auto-Tune|autotuning}} songs. {{w|Cher|Cher's}} song ''{{w|Believe (Cher song)|Believe}}'' from October 19, 1998 {{w|Auto-Tune#In_popular_music|may be the first time}} that people really noticed this effect. This is the only entry where there seems to be more than one year between the age of the ting and the half age of the person. But it is also one of the entries where specific dating is difficult to place.<br />
| 16.5<br />
| '''18.1'''<br />
|-<br />
| 34<br />
| 1982<br />
| May 19, 1999<br />
| The {{w|Star Wars Prequels}}<br />
| The Star Wars prequel trilogy (''{{w|Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace}}'' (May 19, 1999), ''{{w|Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones}}'' (May 16, 2002), ''{{w|Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith}}'' (May 19, 2005), us release dates). The release date refers to the first of these three movies, because even only taking the first two movies, the average day would only be 16 years ago, less than the 17 half age for a 34 year old person.<br />
| 17 <br />
| 17.5<br />
|-<br />
| 35<br />
| 1981<br />
| March 31, 1999<br />
| ''{{w|The Matrix}}''<br />
| Action film created by {{w|The Wachowskis}} (formerly known, at the time of ''The Matrix, as The Wachowski Brothers).<br />
| 17.5<br />
| 17.6<br />
|-<br />
| 36<br />
| 1980<br />
| September 28, 1998<br />
| {{w|Pokémon Red & Blue}}<br />
| A popular video game franchise in the {{w|Pokémon}}, series often referenced in xkcd. The game was first released in Japan in 1996, but not in North America until 1998.<br />
| 18<br />
| 18.1<br />
|-<br />
| 37<br />
| 1979<br />
| April 29, 1997 (Netflix),<br>June 26, 1997 (Harry Potter),<br>September 15, 1997 (Google)<br />
| {{w|Netflix}},<br>{{w|Harry Potter}},<br>{{w|Google}}<br />
| All three are major things still today 19 years later. "Harry Potter" refers to the original publishing date of ''{{w|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone}}''. Google refers to the date that the Google domain name was registered. (Average date is 03-07-1997).<br />
| 18.5<br />
| 19.4<br />
|-<br />
| 38<br />
| 1978<br />
| May 11, 1997<br />
| Deep Blue's Victory<br />
| {{w|Deep Blue (chess computer)|Deep Blue}} was a {{w|chess computer}}, who defeated {{w|Garry Kasparov}}, the reigning chess champion, in a match in 1997. It was the first chess computer to defeat a world champion under tournament conditions.<br />
| 19<br />
| 19.5<br />
|-<br />
| 39<br />
| 1977<br />
| September 13, 1996<br />
| Tupac's Death<br />
| {{w|Tupac Shakur}} was an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in 1996.<br />
| 19.5<br />
| 20.2<br />
|-<br />
| 40<br />
| 1976<br />
| December 31, 1995<br />
| The [http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/12/31 last ''Calvin and Hobbes'' strip]<br />
| ''{{w|Calvin and Hobbes}}'' is a comic strip by {{w|Bill Watterson}} that ran from November 18, 1985 to December 31, 1995.<br />
| 20<br />
| 20.9<br />
|-<br />
| 41<br />
| 1975<br />
| November 22, 1995<br />
| ''{{w|Toy Story}}''<br />
| The {{w|Pixar}} animated film ''Toy Story'' was the first feature length animation film to be released theatrically (and also Pixar's first feature film)<br />
| 20.5<br />
| 21.0<br />
|-<br />
| >41<br />
| Before 1975<br />
| N/A<br />
| [Don't worry, they've got this covered]<br />
| This joke is that people who are legitimately old already feel old. This could also be a reference to the number 42, Randall having stopped when this number was supposed to occur, 42 being the "{{w|Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything}}" in the {{w|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}. He has referenced this number more than once before, for instance in [[1213: Combination Vision Test]] and in the [[1608#Messages_in_Play_Area|messages in the ''Play Area'']] of [[1608: Hoverboard]].<br />
| >20.5<br />
| N/A<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Caption above the panel:]<br />
:The November 2016<br />
:<big>Guide to making people</big><br />
:<big><big>'''feel old'''</big></big><br />
<br />
:[A chart with a list of items to be put into the two first lines above the chart. First there are a line using the first column, then there are two lines using the second column. Below those lines are the two columns with underlined captions above. Between the columns are a long line connecting the two.]<br />
:If they're [age], you say:<br />
:<big>"Did you know</big> <u>[thing]</u> <big>has been around for the majority of your life?"</big><br />
<br />
:{| class = "wikitable"<br />
! <u>Age</u><br />
! <u>Thing</u><br />
|-<br />
| 16<br />
| Grand Theft Auto IV<br />
|-<br />
| 17<br />
| Rickrolling<br />
|-<br />
| 18<br />
| ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force <br> Colon Movie Film for Theaters'''<br />
|-<br />
| 19<br />
| The Nintendo Wii<br />
|-<br />
| 20<br />
| Twitter<br />
|-<br />
| 21<br />
| The Xbox 360, xkcd<br />
|-<br />
| 22<br />
| Chuck Norris Facts<br />
|-<br />
| 23<br />
| Opportunity's Mars Exploration<br />
|-<br />
| 24<br />
| Facebook<br />
|-<br />
| 25<br />
| Gmail, ''Pirates of the Caribbean''<br />
|-<br />
| 26<br />
| In da Club<br />
|-<br />
| 27<br />
| ''Firefly''<br />
|-<br />
| 28<br />
| The War in Afghanistan<br />
|-<br />
| 29<br />
| The iPod<br />
|-<br />
| 30<br />
| ''Shrek'', Wikipedia<br />
|-<br />
| 31<br />
| Those X-Men movies<br />
|-<br />
| 32<br />
| ''The Sims''<br />
|-<br />
| 33<br />
| Autotuned hit songs<br />
|-<br />
| 34<br />
| The ''Star Wars'' prequels<br />
|-<br />
| 35<br />
| ''The Matrix''<br />
|-<br />
| 36<br />
| ''Pokémon Red&Blue''<br />
|-<br />
| 37<br />
| Netflix, ''Harry Potter'', Google<br />
|-<br />
| 38<br />
| Deep Blue's Victory<br />
|-<br />
| 39<br />
| Tupac's Death<br />
|-<br />
| 40<br />
| The last ''Calvin and Hobbes'' strip<br />
|-<br />
| 41<br />
| ''Toy Story''<br />
|-<br />
| >41<br />
| [Don't worry, they've got this covered]<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*The title of this comic is special, and the like has never been seen before. Months have been included in the titles before, and also years, but never like this with a month and a year.<br />
**Of course this also indicates that this comic only really work during November 2016.<br />
**Three earlier comics has used month names in the title, two with specific holliday dates, and one with the month as part of a rhyme:<br />
***[[656: October 30th]]<br />
***[[680: December 25th]]<br />
***[[1595: 30 Days Hath September]]<br />
**And just a year has been used thrice (including 2016):<br />
***[[998: 2012]]<br />
***[[1311: 2014]]<br />
***[[1624: 2016]]<br />
*As a side note to the whole idea about feeling old, the chosen release day might not have been the most relevant to post such a comic. <br />
**This comic was released just past midnight on the day that the result of the {{w|2016 United States presidential election}} was determined (i.e. the day after the election on November 8th 2016), so before anything was determined but likely at a time when the first polls showed which way it might end. <br />
**In the previous comic [[1756: I'm With Her]], from Monday the day before the election, Randall had {{w|Political endorsement|endorsed}} {{w|Hillary Clinton}} from the {{w|US Democratic Party|Democratic Party}}. <br />
**Thus a 600 days election campaign finished on this day. It was a very controversial election and the {{w|US Republican Party|Republican}} nominee {{w|Donald Trump}} became {{w|President-elect of the United States}} after winning the election. <br />
**This result had been feared to happen by half of the people of the united states, and the other half had feared that Clinton would win. And many people thus stayed up to follow the election all night. And now the whole thing is over, and the headache starts. <br />
**And on this day Randall tries to make people feel old... It seems likely he did not need to try so hard, as lots of people probably felt much older than their years after all this!<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Calvin and Hobbes]]</div>108.162.210.206https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1615:_Red_Car&diff=106772Talk:1615: Red Car2015-12-11T08:40:45Z<p>108.162.210.206: Created page with "Penises: They're about ''this'' red. Now can we <u>please</u>, as a culture, move on? ~~~~"</p>
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<div>Penises: They're about ''this'' red. Now can we <u>please</u>, as a culture, move on? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.206|108.162.210.206]] 08:40, 11 December 2015 (UTC)</div>108.162.210.206https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1159:_Countdown&diff=1064681159: Countdown2015-12-06T01:34:58Z<p>108.162.210.206: /* Explanation */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1159<br />
| date = January 11, 2013<br />
| title = Countdown<br />
| image = countdown.png<br />
| titletext = For all we know, the odds are in our favor.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
The comic shows a {{w|seven segment display}} (aka [http://www.ece.mtu.edu/labs/EElabs/EE2304/pages/bcd_to_seven_segment_TAversion.html calculator-style numbers]) with a countdown. [[Black Hat]] explains that it is a countdown, maybe to a {{w|supervolcano}} eruption. However, an unfortunately placed picture blocks view of the full display. Due to the form of a seven-segment display, the first digit could be 0, 6, or 8, and five digits are completely blocked by the picture. [[Cueball]] is worried and ask him to move the picture, but Black Hat lazily or teasingly refuses to move it. <br />
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He has already teased that he doesn't know what the countdown is for. His reply can either be understood as if he do not know which one of the ({{w|Supervolcano#VEI_8|seven potential}}) supervolcanos it is counting down to, or to which other {{w|Global catastrophic risk|cataclysmic event}} it is a countdown for. (Such as a {{w|Impact event|meteor strike}} or global {{w|Nuclear warfare|nuclear war}} for instance - it could also just be a general {{w|Doomsday Clock}}). Since it seems to be Black Hat's countdown, it is safe to assume that he knows both what it counts down to and when it stops. He just likes to mess with peoples mind.<br />
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The fully visible part starts at 2409, and based on the pace of the scene, it seems to be in seconds. Thus, it is unclear when the eruption might occur. If the obscured digits are all 0s, it could be as soon as 40 minutes. On the other hand, if the obscured digits are '899 999', there's another 2.85 million years to go; if they are '000 001', we have a little more than 3 years.<br />
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The choice of the picture is probably also interesting. The image is distorted enough that you can imagine it as being two very different images. <br />
#It could depict a setting sun either reflecting in an ocean or with a river (possible also a lake) running out of the picture. But if it is a sun it is not very circular, although there do appear lines to indicate it is shining. This could maybe be explained with atmospheric interference.<br />
#Alternatively it depicts an exploding volcano, a mountain with lines away from it to indicate the explosion or the eruption. And then it is lava flowing away from it or collecting in lakes.<br />
In either case it makes sense, so maybe this is on purpose. If it is a volcano, the supervolcano clock makes sense. On the other hand we are talking about the possible end of the world as we know it, and for this kind of theme a sun setting upon humanity would be a great metaphor.<br />
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The title text: "For all we know, the odds are in our favor" could imply the assumption that since we can't see the digits behind the picture, we can treat them as random. If so, chances are only 1 in 300 000 they are all zero's. However, because of statistical principles such as {{w|Benford's law}}, the digits are not entirely random, and the {{w|odds}} are higher than 1/299 999 for all the digits to be zero, since the middle 4 digits are zero. The title text might also be a reference to {{w|The Hunger Games trilogy}}, with a common phrase in the series being, "May the odds be ever in your favor." The {{w|The Hunger Games (film)|first movie}} in the series came out about a year before this comic was released.<br />
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In an alternative view, the strip is not about pondering at distributions of digits on an oracle countdown. It's more of a grim view of our natural disasters prediction capabilities. As they say – the question is not if it will happen but when it will happen. "Move the picture" would mean investing into research and warning systems - that would correspond to shifting the picture to the left. Disregard the 40 minutes - think of it as arbitrary interval of interests, minuscule as we folks have them, say - one's lifetime; or grimmer yet - some {{w|term of office}}. Because, hey, year after year passes and no apocalypse has been observed - the empirical odds are low indeed. An interesting question is what we would use the knowledge of the timing of our impending doom, if it is an event we can do nothing about, such as stopping a supervolcanic eruption or a large asteroid with direct impact course on Earth. Would we not have lives more happily for our remaining years, how few that might be, while not knowing... On the other hand, if the event is something we might prevent given enough time to plan (and the funding resources such knowledge would ensure), then it may have saved us, if we moved the picture just in time!<br />
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Using a countdown theme for comic #1159 could be a subtle joke, as 11:59/23:59 is one minute to midnight (on the Doomsday clock!)<br />
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Supervolcanos was also referenced in the title text of [[1053: Ten Thousand]] and it is the subject of in [[1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar]].<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[Black Hat is sitting with his laptop on a desk when Cueball, standing behind him, looks up on the wall and asks him about the large digital countdown timer with red numbers which is hanging high up on the wall. It has a white frame around the black display with the red numbers. Most of the left part of the counter is covered by a framed picture which hangs on a string attached to a nail above the counter. The picture depicts either a setting sun reflecting in an ocean, or an exploding volcano with lava flowing away from it. The picture does not block the left most part of the frame around the counter, and it is also possible to see the two left-most lines of the first digit on the countdown, so they are both turned on. This proves that the numbers goes all the way to the left end. The next five digits are covered by the picture. Then one digit is only partly covered, as only the two most left lines are not visible. From the visible lines it is though clear that this digit shows a 0. The next seven digits are fully visible, giving eight discernible digits.]<br />
:{| class="wikitable"<br />
|style="background-color:black;"| <font color="red">'''00002409'''</font><br />
|} <br />
:Cueball: What's that?<br />
:Black Hat: Countdown.<br />
<br><br />
:[Same picture, but Cueball is looking at Black Hat. The counter counts down.]<br />
:{| class="wikitable"<br />
|style="background-color:black;"| <font color="red">'''00002400'''</font><br />
|} <br />
:Cueball: To what?<br />
:Black Hat: Supervolcano, I think. I forget which one.<br />
<br><br />
:[Cueball looks up again for about 18s (between 2nd and fourth image) - beat panel.]<br />
:{| class="wikitable"<br />
|style="background-color:black;"| <font color="red">'''00002396'''</font><br />
|} <br />
<br><br />
:[Cueball looks at Black Hat again.]<br />
:{| class="wikitable"<br />
|style="background-color:black;"| <font color="red">'''00002382'''</font><br />
|} <br />
:Cueball: Maybe we should move that picture?<br />
:Black Hat: Too hard to reach. It's probably fine.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]<br />
[[Category:Statistics]]</div>108.162.210.206https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1611:_Baking_Soda_and_Vinegar&diff=106467Talk:1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar2015-12-06T01:31:04Z<p>108.162.210.206: </p>
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<div>The only experience I have with such a volcano exhibit is from US TV programmes representing the nerds (or the desperate non-nerds with no imagination) at a science-fair in Stateside schools, but I laid down my impressions of the tradition anyway. No embedded links to anything, as yet, as I expect other people will know what needs explaining (or re-writing) better than me. - I was going to go onto Supervolcano territory, but I'm not sure it's supposed to be more than 'regular' increased volcanic activity, outside, albeit through the power of acid/base interaction (thus salt being the equivalent of volcanic dust plumes, no doubt). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.227|162.158.152.227]] 10:00, 2 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Another trans-Atleantean here, I've expanded on your explanation with some links and the title-text, but your overall draft concurs with my experience of science-fair volcanoes being a stereotypical "easy/lame" project for science fairs [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.193|162.158.90.193]] 11:33, 2 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Humanity should hope that the supervolcano is built in scale, resulting in ONLY Decade Volcanoes level of damage. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 13:50, 2 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
:According to the title text it is so no worries if you do not live close by or has to fly close to the ash clouds ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:03, 2 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Isn't the girl the same one as in Feathers[[https://xkcd.com/1104/]]? [[Special:Contributions/199.27.129.95|199.27.129.95]] 23:08, 2 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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I thought Megan was about to say that the mini volcano had nothing to do with the scientific method, which would fill in the holes mentioned by the incomplete box and thus complete the explanation. If anyone else agrees with me, I think we should edit it to say that (I'm too busy right now to do so.)[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.49|173.245.54.49]] 23:39, 2 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Can we all agree that this is a young Danish? {{unsigned ip|Zakka}}<br />
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i personally think shes kinda a black hat type guy who caused unusual things to happen maybe her volcano is like a voodoo doll of sorts for the real earth which now suddenly has such volcanoes because of her. [[User:Needforsuv|Needforsuv]] ([[User talk:Needforsuv|talk]]) 11:39, 3 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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;other xkcd volcano/lava comics<br />
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* https://xkcd.com/735/<br />
* https://what-if.xkcd.com/122/ (if you drop molten tungsten into hot lava, the lava will freeze the tungsten)<br />
* https://what-if.xkcd.com/35/ (what if we go higher)<br />
* https://what-if.xkcd.com/135/ (digging downward)<br />
* https://what-if.xkcd.com/57/ (ok, it's about mountains, but still...)<br />
[[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 14:14, 3 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Are you suggesting we add a volcano category? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.206|108.162.210.206]] 01:31, 6 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
I don't think that the model "extends some way beyond [the table]". I think the joke is that it's a small-scale model of an actual, geological baking soda/vinegar volcano, countering Ponytail's implied claim that it isn't based on real geology. --[[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.25|199.27.128.25]] 01:48, 5 December 2015 (UTC)</div>108.162.210.206https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1610:_Fire_Ants&diff=106466Talk:1610: Fire Ants2015-12-06T01:05:03Z<p>108.162.210.206: </p>
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<div>misinterpreting a question as an invitation to talk about one's pet obsession is symptomatic of autistic spectrum disorder. although not necessarily so. as, i suppose, is wanting to do science in academe. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.223|108.162.210.223]] 13:12, 30 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
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i don't think she was misinterpreting the question,she probably is so obsessed about ants that she tries to talk about them every chance she gets. {{unsigned ip|173.245.62.29}}<br />
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:ok, so "misinterpreting" was a poor choice. try "interpreting, wrongly". and only autists feel like that. to a neuro-typical this isn't even an issue. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.233|141.101.106.233]] 12:57, 1 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Theoretically, there's a hidden analogy in that a colony of rather simplistic and specialist individuals can ensure their own survival in the face of adverse environmental conditions by keeping themselves all in one location so that they can continue to perpetuate themselves in the future. And as it is with those heading off to Grad School, so it may also be with ants. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.185|141.101.75.185]] 13:29, 30 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
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I've just joined, so please forgive the new boy. Perhaps the joke is really to do with biblical references and metaphors, as I have suggested in my contribution to the main article. (User:Paw 42)<br />
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There is absolutely no reason to junk up this explanation with biblical references. Please correct, or I will do so. --[[User:BobTheMad|BobTheMad]] ([[User talk:BobTheMad|talk]]) 14:41, 30 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Ooh, scary threat. The biblical reference is completely justified. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.32|198.41.238.32]] 22:59, 30 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
::Hey jerk, it wasn't a threat. When I made the comment, around 2/3 of the article was about biblical references. It has since been resolved because most people agreed with me. But thanks for playing anyway. --[[User:BobTheMad|BobTheMad]] ([[User talk:BobTheMad|talk]]) 14:28, 4 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Really?? Life of Brian is the most popular? Sorry, that's either crazy inaccurate or needs a citation. I'm pretty confident the Biblical reference was more accurate as a phase origin, though I can't say I feel it adds much to the explanation. Google likes "Consider the lobster" and "Consider the source" better than either when I search for it. When I search for it adding the keyword "phrase," it gives the Biblical reference, but still not as a first result. The Life of Brian doesn't show up in any front page results. [[User:Ancientt|Ancientt]] ([[User talk:Ancientt|talk]]) 15:13, 30 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
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During an initial read through I assumed that he was speaking to a career adviser. Thus, the "consider the fire ant" statement was a take off from the Biblical "consider the ant" statement found in Proverbs 6:6-8. For those who don't know, that particular Proverb is a reprimand to lazy people to consider the diligence and foresight of ants who prepare for the future without being told to do so. Where, lazy people typically have to be micro-managed to get any results from them. So, you assume that hair bun girl is calling cueball lazy because he is rethinking grad school (in this view he is sacrificing diligence and future planning for the now). However, she takes the statement in such a radical direction it loses this meaning - it becomes a rant about how cool fire ants are. Which seems odd until you read the title text and you discover he is in the entomology department (study of insects). Unless cueball regularly visits the entomology department for career advice you can assume that his grad school is about the study of insects. Thus in conclusion, her weird rant about ants really IS meant as a parallel to Proverbs; however, instead of contrasting his behavior to that of ants she is encouraging him to continue his study of insects because of how cool they are. Thus, the joke of using the statement "consider the ant" as a means to get someone to live more responsibly is still being used exactly for that purpose. That's my understanding of it.--[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 17:06, 30 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
:I like this explanation much better. And even if you use Life of Brian this is still a reference to the bible (as the whole film spoofs Jesus). Hope someone will change to incorporate these bible verses. I do not know them so will stay out of this ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:17, 30 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
::I added the above explanation as alternate because I wasn't sure how to mix in elements of the existing explanation. The quotes from the book of Matthew referenced by Life of Brian may have used the same "consider the" format but it is clear to me by Randall's use of fire ants and the situational context of the joke that he was referencing Proverbs. So I didn't find the Life of Brian reference to have any meaning to the explanation.--[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 18:00, 1 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
::It's just a really, really minor point (and not germane to anything - but I do feel quite strongly about it) The Life of Brian does not "spoof Jesus" it spoofs the attitudes and behaviours of the people surrounding Jesus.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.147|162.158.34.147]] 09:06, 2 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
:::Thank you to whoever helped by merging the explanations. I moved the Life of Brian fact to the end because it breaks up the explanation and because it is not found in the same area. The wording is similar but meaning is entirely different.--[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 21:30, 1 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Here's my interpretation. I don't think hair bun girl is making an analogy whatsoever. She is simply expressing her obsession/love of ants. By doing so in response to cue ball's plea for advice, she illustrates (knowingly or unknowingly) why she herself attended grad school (I'm assuming she is a professor of entomology - which I think is reasonable given her comment and the title text). She is so obsessed with ants that she attended grad school (a very large undertaking) in order to study them further. Then she proceeded to pursue a career in Academia to continue to study ants. To her, the very idea of having second thoughts of pursuing graduate school to further her studies is probably ridiculous. She probably never had them. Hence she demonstrates all that she needed to know to pursue graduate school - she is big on ants. A little background on me since it informs my interpretation: I spent a lot of time trying to answer this question for myself: "Should I pursue graduate school?" I saw a common thread amongst my professors, leading graduate students, etc. They all wanted nothing more than to learn more about their field of study. The very fact that I was having doubts ended up being a sign to myself that I did not really want to go to graduate school to study, I wanted to go for other reasons that would have made grad school unfulfilling. [[User:Supersixfour|Supersixfour]] ([[User talk:Supersixfour|talk]]) 20:27, 30 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
:I tried to incorporate your thoughts into the alternate explanation as her reason for launching into the cool fact about fire ants. That is to persuade him that the study of insects is really cool and worthwhile. We never learn Cueball's motivation and whether her enthusiasm won him over or made him realize he wasn't committed enough to that field or level of study. The joke seems to have little to actually do with grad school and more to do with how we give advice or attempt to motivate others through difficult tasks.--[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 18:00, 1 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Maybe Cueball meant to go to the Etymology Dept, not the Entomology Dept. {{unsigned|Ren0901}}<br />
:I'm not sure he would find any more answers to his question in the etymology department than he did in entomology. It would make for a different twist on the same joke though! Probably have less cool information about fire ants though.--[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 18:00, 1 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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As someone who has been fascinated by ants my entire life (60+ years) I totally get Hair Bun Girl's enthusiasm. My family treats me the same way when I get on my favorite topic (as I often do and they they always have). Ants are super cool - they've the unofficial mascot for the ALife community, and arguably the most studied insect in most entomology departments. Ed Wilson is one of my heroes (he was the first to form the hypothesis that ants communicate using chemical signals), not only for his work on ants but his impact on all of natural science, and his sincere concern for the future of our world and all the creatures in it. I was excited and happy to see xkcd referring to ants in both the Hoverboard game and the 11/30/15 comic (as well as [https://xkcd.com/638 #638 The Search]). From the perspective of a life-long myrmecophile I don't think there's anything complex behind HBG's responses except one I heartily endorse: "Because ANTS!" (maybe I'm on the spectrum, too.) As for the biblical reference, I don't specifically think of it as a "biblical" reference except in as much as it seems to refer to an oft-quoted phrase in the book. Most entomologists and myrmecologists know it well: "Go to the ant, thou sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise..." (probably referring to a species of Harvester ants that gathers and stores grain). One reason they love it is that it correctly identifies the ones doing the work as female. Personally I think the bible is hilarious (full disclosure - not a believer). I love pointing out (especially to Christians) that there are not 10 but 600 to 1,000 commandments in the bible (depending on your version, affiliation, definition, etc.) including a prohibition against eating hoopoes (a colorful woodpecker-like bird in Afro-Eurasia that eats ants). Finally I would say that there are a large number of more interesting facts about ants that might be used. These could include suicide bombers who blow themselves up to harm enemies, turtle ants with plug-shaped heads to seal nest entrances, honey-pot ants who gorge on food and become living storage vessels to feed the colony - nearly endless fascinating adaptations (see some [http://bogleech.com/bio-ants.html here]). I also take exception to the comment that the queen controls all the other ants. In reality, ants perform different functions depending on caste, age, etc. The queen produces eggs and receives food and chemical feedback about the colony's health and requirements, and adjusts her production of quantity and type of eggs (castes, etc.) as a result of this feedback. She's basically an egg-laying machine enslaved by the colony. And now I'm at risk of someone saying, "Wait, what lesson am I supposed to take from that?" So go to the [http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Welcome_to_AntWiki AntWiki] thou sluggard; consider its ways and be wise. [[User:Usagi|Usagi]] ([[User talk:Usagi|talk]]) 19:56, 1 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Fascinating. You are correct about the larger number of commandments in the Bible (greater than ten); however, they can all be understood with just two. Full disclosure, I am a believer. If you want to talk about it (friendly-like) you can always give me a chat. :) --[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 21:30, 1 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Could the lesson be "if you're struggling, ask your classmates for help"? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.125|162.158.152.125]] 15:40, 3 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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At my university, the adviser assigned to me is in the physics department. My friend is in information sciences, and his adviser is in the computer science department. Is this uncommon? The explanation currently seems to suggest that the person Cueball is speaking to wouldn't be an adviser by virtue of what department they are in. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.206|108.162.210.206]] 01:05, 6 December 2015 (UTC)</div>108.162.210.206