https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=108.162.216.35&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T15:21:06ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2665:_America_Songs&diff=2938122665: America Songs2022-08-31T06:41:14Z<p>108.162.216.35: /* Table of places/things */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2665<br />
| date = August 29, 2022<br />
| title = America Songs<br />
| image = america_songs.png<br />
| titletext = Juraaaassic Park, Juraaaassic Park, God shed his grace on theeeee<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a JURASSIC PARK SONGWRITER. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
Many songs, particularly those written by Americans, contain the word "America." These songs usually either praise America for its perceived virtues or mock it for its perceived flaws. Regardless of the content of the song, one could likely sing such songs replacing each usage of the word "America" or "American" with another four-syllable word or phrase with emphasis on the second syllable, without disrupting the {{w|cadence}} or meter of the song. Words and phrases like this are said to "{{w|Scansion|scan}}" with the word "America," which means to conform to that metrical pattern.<br />
<br />
The comic provides a list of such names, most of which are locations. While some share virtues or flaws with America, most would fit into songs about America poorly, and only some are prominent enough to justify a song praising or mocking them. So the substitution is humorous for most of the examples.<br />
<br />
Note that inhabitants of some real-world locations mentioned in this comic do not pronounce their names in a way that scans with "America". Also note that the adjective form of many of the places listed either does not exist or does not fit the same rhythmic structure as "American". (For instance, while "Antarctican Idiot" scans with "American Idiot," "St. Petersburgian Idiot" does not; meanwhile, "Canada" does not scan with "America", but "Canadian" does scan with "American" and was in fact used as such in Weird Al's parody, ''{{w|Canadian Idiot}}''.) In these cases, it would be necessary to use the noun form of the name to preserve the song's meter.<br />
<br />
The title text provides an example: substituting "{{w|Jurassic Park}}" for "America" in the song "{{w|America the Beautiful}}".<br />
<br />
A similar comparison in "scanning" was made in [[1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]].<br />
<br />
===Table of places/things===<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
! Name || Description<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="2" | Map<br />
|-<br />
| Sasketchewan || Spelled incorrectly, should be ''{{w|Saskatchewan}}''. A province in Canada, whose capital is {{w|Regina, Saskatchewan|Regina}} and largest city is {{w|Saskatoon}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Ontario}} || The largest Canadian province by population and 2nd largest by total area. Includes the capital of Canada, {{w|Ottawa}}, and its largest city, {{w|Toronto}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Olympia, Washington|Olympia}} || Capital of the state of {{w|Washington}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Yosemite}} || National park in the state of {{w|California}}. Pronounced "yoh-SEM-ih-tee".<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Los Angeles}} || Largest city in the state of California, and 2nd largest city in the United States.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Lake Michigan}} || One of the five {{w|Great Lakes}} in the United States. Borders the states of {{w|Wisconsin}}, {{w|Illinois}}, {{w|Indiana}}, and {{w|Michigan}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Peoria, Illinois|Peoria}} || The county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, and the largest city on the Illinois River. The oldest permanent European settlement in Illinois, according to the Illinois State Archaeological Survey.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Columbia, Missouri|Columbia}} (MO) || Fourth largest city in the state of {{w|Missouri}}. One of {{w|Columbia#United_States|many cities}} in the US named after {{w|Columbia (personification)|Columbia}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Montpelier, Vermont|Montpelier}} || The capital of the state of {{w|Vermont}}, which is a three syllable word pronounced mont-PEEL-yur and thus is erroneously on this list. However, the demonym "Montpelierite" is in fact four syllables so it can be used for the "American" songs.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Schenectady, New York|Schenectady}} || City in Schenectady County, {{w|New York}}. In the 19th century, nationally influential companies and industries developed in Schenectady, including {{w|General Electric}} and American Locomotive Company (ALCO).<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Centralia, Pennsylvania|Centralia}} || Near-ghost town in central {{w|Pennsylvania}} due to a {{w|Centralia mine fire|long running mine fire}} burning beneath the town.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Annapolis, Maryland|Annapolis}} || Capital city of the state of {{w|Maryland}} and home to the {{w|United States Naval Academy}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Columbia, South Carolina|Columbia}} (SC) || Capital of the state of {{w|South Carolina}}. One of {{w|Columbia#United_States|many cities}} in the US named after {{w|Columbia (personification)|Columbia}}.<br />
|- <br />
| {{w|Vidalia, Georgia|Vidalia}} || City in the state of {{w|Georgia}}, known for their {{w|Vidalia onion}}s. Vidalia may not actually scan to "America", as it is pronounced "vy-DALE-yuh", not "vy-DALE-ee-ah" or "vee-DAHL-ee-ah".<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Acadia National Park|Acadia}} || National park in the state of {{w|Maine}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Connecticut}} || US State, whose capital is {{w|Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford}} and largest city is {{w|Bridgeport, Connecticut|Bridgeport}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|LaGuardia Airport|LaGuardia}} || One of the three major airports in {{w|New York City}} metropolitan area, named after former mayor {{w|Fiorello La Guardia}}. Described in 2014 by then-Vice President Joe Biden as being like a "third-world country."<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Virginia Beach}} || Most populous city in the state of {{w|Virginia}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|The Villages, Florida|The Villages}} || An unincorporated senior living community in the state of {{w|Florida}}. Notable for its local newspaper, {{w|The Villages Daily Sun}}, which was the only top 25 American newspaper (by circulation) to show growth in 2022.[https://pressgazette.co.uk/us-newspaper-circulations-2022/]<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|St. Petersburg, Florida|St. Petersburg}} || The fifth largest city in the state of Florida. Part of the {{w|Tampa Bay area|Tampa Bay metropolitan area}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Miami Beach, Florida|Miami Beach}} || A coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, across the bay from the city of {{w|Miami}}.<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="2" | Below the map<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Algeria}} || A country in North Africa. The 9th largest country on the continent of Africa. Bordered to the northeast by Tunisia; to the east by Libya; to the southeast by Niger; to the southwest by Mali, Mauritania, and Western Sahara; to the west by Morocco; and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea. <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Armenia}} || A landlocked country located in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Monrovia}} || The capital city of the West African country of {{w|Liberia}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Brasília|Brasilia}} || The federal capital of the country of {{w|Brazil}} and Brazil's 3rd populous city. Actually spelled ''Brasília''. <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Australia}} || A country which comprises the mainland of the continent of Australia. The world's sixth largest country by area.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Valencia}} || The 3rd most populous city in the country of {{w|Spain}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Byzantium}} || An ancient Greek city and capital of the {{w|Byzantine Empire}}. Its name was changed to New Rome in 324, Constantinople in 330, and finally Istanbul in 1930.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Assyria}} || An major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state and then a territorial state and eventually an empire. The Assyrian Empire fell to the Babylonians and Medes in the late 7th century BC.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Beringia}} || A prehistoric land mass and region in the {{w|Bering Sea}} region. It is the most popular site of the hypothesized "land bridge" that early humans used to migrate to the Americas.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Antarctica}} || The earth's southernmost and least-populated continent, mostly covered by ice.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Sokovia}} || A fictional country in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Described to be in eastern Europe between Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Its capital city is destroyed during a battle between Ultron and the Avengers in the film ''{{w|Avengers: Age of Ultron}}'', leading to the ratification of the Sokovia Accords.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Andromeda}} || Several things: a {{w|Andromeda (constellation)|constellation in space}}, a {{w|Andromeda Galaxy|galaxy}} within that constellation, or the {{w|Andromeda (mythology)|Greek mythological character}} whom the constellation and galaxy are named after.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Lothlórien|Lothlorien}} || A realm of the elves in {{w|Middle-earth}} in the {{w|Tolkien's legendarium|works of J. R. R. Tolkien}}. Ruled by Galadriel and Celeborn. Actually spelled ''Lothlórien'' in the books.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Subnautica}} || Not a place, but an open-world survival action-adventure video game developed and published by Unknown Worlds Entertainment released in 2018.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|metaverse|The Metaverse}} || The online world of {{w|virtual reality}}.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Econo Lodge|EconoLodge}} || Actually spelled ''Econo Lodge'', though their wordmark doesn't help. An economy motel chain in the US and Canada. <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Jurassic Park}} (title text) || Jurassic Park is a franchise of books, films, and other media centered on the creation of theme parks of cloned dinosaurs. Inevitably, the dinosaurs escape and attack humans.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:[A header is written above a map of the US mainland:]<br />
:<big>Places whose names scan to "America," so they can be substituted into songs such as:</big><br />
:''America the Beautiful''<br />
:''God Bless America''<br />
:Neil Diamond – ''America''<br />
:West Side Story – ''America''<br />
:The Guess Who – ''American Woman''<br />
:Green Day – ''American Idiot''<br />
:[Above the map, towards the left:]<br />
:Sasketchewan<br />
:[Towards the right:]<br />
:Ontario<br />
:[A number of places are marked on the map. From top to bottom, left to right:]<br />
:Olympia<br />
:Yosemite<br />
:Los Angeles<br />
<br />
:Lake Michigan<br />
:Peoria<br />
:Columbia (in Missouri)<br />
<br />
:Acadia<br />
:Montpelier<br />
:Schenectady<br />
:Connecticut<br />
:LaGuardia<br />
:Centralia<br />
:Annapolis<br />
:Virginia Beach<br />
:Columbia (in South Carolina)<br />
:Vidalia<br />
:The Villages<br />
:St. Petersburg<br />
:Miami Beach<br />
:[Below the map, in columns:]<br />
:Australia<br />
:Armenia<br />
:Monrovia<br />
:Brasilia<br />
:Australia<br />
:Valencia<br />
<br />
:Byzantium<br />
:Assyria<br />
:Beringia<br />
:Antarctica<br />
<br />
:Sokovia<br />
:Andromenda<br />
<br />
:Lothlorien<br />
:Subnautica<br />
<br />
:The Metaverse<br />
:EconoLodge<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Maps]]<br />
[[Category:Language]]<br />
[[Category:Songs]]<br />
[[Category:Substitutions]]</div>108.162.216.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2390:_Linguists&diff=202356Talk:2390: Linguists2020-11-26T19:50:43Z<p>108.162.216.35: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
"Fell in a hole" sounds wrong, from a (possibly) Rightpondian perspective. If it was "...into...", then that'd be better. (Falling down a hole would probably imply total inholation, while into one might mean no more than a foot getting snagged. Though the former also separately implies starting from partial or imminent holedness, the latter indicates the hole was not previously a problem but then became a novel issue to deal with. Falling 'in' a hole could mean "I was already at the bottom of a hole, minding my own business, and then I tripped on something/lost my balance and fell over..." ''Edit: as it might also be for "Fell down a hole", thinking more about it. A comma after "Fell" would make that more definite.'') I also have problems with "Lit on fire", for something that is set fire to, but I know that's definitely a transatlantic issue.<br />
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.216|162.158.155.216]] 02:01, 26 November 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Yes, indeed, things are simply "lit" (if the sense of "fire" is contextually apparent) or "set on fire" (if it's not). A well lit room is a scene which need not involve a flaming component, whereas a burning room would have been set on fire. <br />
::However. Holes, and the falling therein(to). Were one to fall "in" a hole, one would probably fall in such a way that - initially unholed at the outset of the incident - one becomes partially holed in a hole too shallow to ever threaten total enholing. The barrel of possibility is being scraped somewhat here however; my suspicion is that the above is simply an allusion to the more acceptable (dialetically speaking) "fell in a puddle" (a puddle being a hole neither "into" nor "down" which one could fall).[[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 13:58, 26 November 2020 (UTC)<br />
:"Fell into..." makes me think that he fell/tripped and instead of landing on the ground, he went into the hole. (BTW, I've lived in this house 45+ years. I've never fallen down the stairs, but I have fallen "up" them, ie. I tripped on the way up and face-planted, even though I didn't continue upwards.) [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 09:22, 26 November 2020 (UTC)<br />
I suppose "in a hole" is probably ''technically'' wrong (except for those cases where the individual in question was in a hole and then fell), but I would probably use it in speech (though maybe not more formal writing). There ''is'' a distinction between 'in' and 'down' however. When something falls down a hole, no part of it remains outside the hole. If it falls in(/to) a hole, at least some -- possibly most -- of the object remains outside the hole. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.191|108.162.216.191]] 02:26, 26 November 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
::I'd say that under the circumstances, "Fell in a hole" carries the following implications:<br />
::That you were already "in" the hole, in some minimal sense. EG, your foot was inside a rut.<br />
::That you then fell.<br />
::That when you finished falling, you were 'more' in the hole than you were originally. EG, your knees and hands were now ALSO in the rut, because you landed on them.<br />
<br />
::Whereas "Fell Down a hole" implies that the lowest point of your body, when you STARTED falling, has actually experienced significant downward motion by the time you STOPPED falling. you can't fall 'down' a hole if your ::foot was resting on the hole's bottom when you started out.<br />
::[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.35|108.162.216.35]] 19:50, 26 November 2020 (UTC) <br />
<br />
<br />
Did anyone else notice that this comic seems to have significantly higher resolution than others? It’s especially noticeable on mobile browsers, but I haven’t tested it on PC. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.154|108.162.219.154]] 02:36, 26 November 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I fell down a hole, and while in the hole I fell.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.42|108.162.216.42]] 03:17, 26 November 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I guess you could fall "in" a hole without falling "down" a hole if you like...tripped into a sideways hole, like a doorway... <br />
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.138|162.158.75.138]] 07:50, 26 November 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I'd say if you mean the act of falling into the hole, you can indicate that with either 'into' or 'down' (or even both) and you could argue when to use which, but if you mean the place where you have fallen, you would use 'in'. Informally, I have heard people use 'in' as short of 'into'. On the other hand, the place where you have fallen could be "down a hole" (I have been down that hole). It now depends whether the "down" is connected to "I fell" or to "the hole". In theory, you could say "I fell down a hole down the hole" to indicate you fell down a second hole while being inside the first one.<br />
<br />
This whole discussion is just the result of Randall doing Nerd Sniping [[356]] XD [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 11:57, 26 November 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Someone needs to add a discussion of prescriptivist vs. descriptivist linguists -- the person in the comic is clearly a descriptivist, the pedants described in the caption would be prescriptivists. (Incidentally, [https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=49309 Language Log] posted about the comic and there's some discussion.) [[User:Arcorann|Arcorann]] ([[User talk:Arcorann|talk]]) 14:34, 26 November 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Yes this is saying most linguists are descriptivists, they find out what people say/write, and ask what they mean - Most linguists are descriptivists, and so are most dictionaries [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.128|162.158.159.128]] 15:09, 26 November 2020 (UTC)</div>108.162.216.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1648:_Famous_Duos&diff=1134331648: Famous Duos2016-02-26T23:45:14Z<p>108.162.216.35: cleanup</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1648<br />
| date = February 26, 2016<br />
| title = Famous Duos<br />
| image = famous_duos.png<br />
| titletext = The Romeo and Butt-Head film actually got two thumbs up from Siskel and Oates.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Needs to be expanded; Needs more for the main explanation and more info on what the combos would mean to people compared to the originals. It would be great if the cycles below was updated to fit with the table, so Thelma and Louise was 1 in both (and all the other numbers in the cycles thus also increased by one.) More wiki link in the first table.}}<br />
<br />
In popular culture (the term is loosely used in this case) there are many '''famous duos''', such as {{w|Calvin & Hobbes}} (six-year-old boy and his toy tiger, from the cartoon strip with the same name) or {{w|David & Goliath}} (future King of Israel and giant, from the Book of Samuel, Old Testament). In this table, [[Randall]] describes a fictional parallel universe where the same names are used in different combinations -- instead of Calvin, it is now Thelma (from the movie ''{{w|Thelma & Louise}}'') who is paired up with Hobbes, and Calvin is instead paired of with the King, from ''{{w|Anna and the King}}''. In all cases the one mentioned first on the list is also mentioned first in our universe, so it is always of the form Calvin and the King, never Calvin and Anna. There are 24 duos, and all 48 partners are mentioned (they go through four [[#Cycles|cycles]]).<br />
<br />
The humor of this comic comes from the ridiculousness of the pairings, and the reader's imagination of the stories that are created with the pairs. See the whole [[#List of real duos|list of real duos]] as well as the [[#List of alternative duos|list of alternative duos]] below. <br />
<br />
In the title text, alternative movie ''Romeo and Butt-Head'' is mentioned, the fifth entry on the list. This is a combination of the famous {{w|Shakespeare}} play "{{w|Romeo and Juliet}}", which was filmed (among other times) as ''{{w|Romeo + Juliet}}'' in 1996 with {{w|Leonardo DiCaprio}} and {{w|Claire Danes}} in the leading roles. {{w|Butt-Head}} is the less stupid one in the duo from the animated TV series ''{{w|Beavis and Butt-Head}}'' (and a {{w|Beavis and Butt-Head Do America|film}}). As Romeo and Juliet is one of the best known love stories and Butt-Head is one of the most disgusting teens ever depicted on the big screen, the combination could create disturbing pictures in people's heads (especially of teenage girls). <br />
<br />
In the alternative universe this movie has been released, and here it gets the best possible review of two thumbs up from Siskel and Oates. {{w|Gene Siskel}} was paired with {{w|Roger Ebert}}, when they reviewed movies as the famous duo {{w|Siskel and Ebert}}. They were widely known for the "thumbs up/thumbs down" review summaries, with their best combined review being ''Two Thumbs Up''. <br />
<br />
In the alternative universe Siskel gives the film a (surprising) thumbs up, but Ebert has been replaced with Oates, who also approves of the film. This is a reference to John Oates of {{w|Hall & Oates}}, an American musical duo from Philadelphia. <br />
<br />
There also exists a comedy duo named {{w|Garfunkel and Oates}}, formed by Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci, who chose the "Garfunkel and Oates" name by combining the second names from Hall & Oates and {{w|Simon and Garfunkel}} (who are both mentioned in the main comic). Although this exact combo would not be possible in the XKCD version, as it takes the second names from two duos rather than the first name from one and the second name from another, there may definitely be a deliberate reference to this group as well which has taken the parallel universe idea into our universe.<br />
<br />
===List of real duos===<br />
*See the list of [[#List of alternative duos|alternative duos]] below.<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable"<br />
|-<br />
|+ Famous duos in this universe<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | pairing<br />
! scope="col" | Partner<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | From<br />
! scope="col" | Name index<br />
! scope="col" | Partner index<br />
! scope="col" | Explanation<br />
|-<br />
| Thelma<br />
| and<br />
| Louise <br />
| {{w|Thelma_%26_Louise|road trip film}}<br />
| 1<br />
| 3<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| When Harry<br />
| Met <br />
| Sally <br />
| {{w|When_Harry_Met_Sally...|romantic comedy film}}<br />
| 2<br />
| 16<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Batman <br />
| and <br />
| Robin<br />
| {{w|Batman|comic book characters}}<br />
| 3<br />
| 4<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Antony <br />
| and<br />
| Cleopatra<br />
| historical figures<br />
| 4<br />
| 12<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Romeo <br />
| and <br />
| Juliet<br />
| {{w|Romeo_and_Juliet|Shakespeare characters}}<br />
| 5<br />
| 24<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Bonnie<br />
| and <br />
| Clyde<br />
| {{w|Bonnie_and_Clyde|historical figures}}<br />
| 6<br />
| 7<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Pinky<br />
| and<br />
| the Brain <br />
| {{w|Pinky_and_the_Brain|TV show}}<br />
| 7<br />
| 20<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Simon <br />
| and<br />
| Garfunkel<br />
| {{w|Simon_%26_Garfunkel|musical duo}}<br />
| 8<br />
| 22<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Beauty <br />
| and<br />
| the Beast <br />
| {{w|Beauty_and_the_Beast|fairy tale characters}}<br />
| 9<br />
| 10<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Beavis <br />
| and<br />
| Butthead<br />
| {{w|Beavis_and_Butt-Head|TV show}}<br />
| 10<br />
| 5<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Rocky<br />
| and<br />
| Bullwinkle<br />
| {{w|The_Rocky_and_Bullwinkle_Show|TV show}}<br />
| 11<br />
| 2<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Abbott<br />
| and<br />
| Costello<br />
| {{w|Abbott_and_Costello|comedy duo}}<br />
| 12<br />
| 17<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Dr. Jekyll <br />
| and <br />
| Mr. Hyde<br />
| {{w|Strange_Case_of_Dr_Jekyll_and_Mr_Hyde|book}}<br />
| 13<br />
| 15<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Samson<br />
| and<br />
| Delilah<br />
| {{w|Samson_and_Delilah|Biblical characters}}<br />
| 14<br />
| 11<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Butch Cassidy<br />
| and<br />
| the Sundance Kid<br />
| historical characters and famous movie<br />
| 15<br />
| 23<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Bill<br />
| and<br />
| Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Bogus Journey<br />
| movie series<br />
| 16<br />
| 6<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| David<br />
| and<br />
| Goliath<br />
| Biblical characters<br />
| 17<br />
| 8<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Sherlock Holmes<br />
| and<br />
| Dr. Watson<br />
| {{w|Sherlock_Holmes|Arthur Conan Doyle characters}}<br />
| 18<br />
| 19<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Jay <br />
| and<br />
| Silent Bob<br />
| {{w|Jay_and_Silent_Bob|View Askewniverse characters (Clerks movies)}}<br />
| 19<br />
| 18<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Anna <br />
| and<br />
| the King<br />
| {{w|Anna_and_the_King|movie}}, based on Anna and the King of Siam<br />
| 20<br />
| 21<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Calvin<br />
| and<br />
| Hobbes<br />
| {{w|Calvin_and_Hobbes|comic series}}<br />
| 21<br />
| 1<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Timon <br />
| and<br />
| Pumbaa<br />
| {{w|Timon_and_Pumbaa|characters from the Lion King film series}}<br />
| 22<br />
| 14<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Mary Kate<br />
| and<br />
| Ashley Olsen<br />
| {{w|Mary-Kate_and_Ashley_Olsen|twin actresses}}<br />
| 23<br />
| 13<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Mario<br />
| and<br />
| Luigi<br />
| {{w|Mario_Bros.|video game characters}}<br />
| 24<br />
| 9<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===List of alternative duos===<br />
*See the list of [[#List of real duos|real duos]] above.<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable"<br />
|-<br />
|+ Famous Duos in a nearby parallel universe<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Duo name<br />
! scope="col" | Explanation<br />
|-<br />
| Thelma and Hobbes<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| When Harry met Bullwinkle<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Batman and Louise<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Antony and Robin<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Romeo and Butthead<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Bonnie and Ted's excellent adventure<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Pinky and Clyde<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Simon and Goliath<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Beauty and Luigi<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Beavis and the Beast<br />
| Beavis starts with the same letters as Beauty<br />
|-<br />
| Rocky and Delilah<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Abbot and Cleopatra<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Dr. Jekyll and Ashley Olsen<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Samson and Pumbaa<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
| Butch Cassidy and Mr. Hyde<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Bill and Sally's Bogus Journey<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| David and Costello<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Sherlock Holmes and Silent Bob<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Jay and Dr. Watson<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Anna and the Brain<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Calvin and the King<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Timon and Garfunkel<br />
| Timon is put together with Garfunkel, which makes it a close match to Simon and Garfunkel.<br />
|-<br />
| Mary-Kate and the Sundance Kid<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Mario and Juliet<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Cycles===<br />
There are four cycles. The longest starts with "Thelma" and ends with "Louise" as follows:<br />
<br />
* First cycle: length 15<br />
Thelma & Louise<br />
Calvin & Hobbes<br />
Anna & the King<br />
Pinky & the Brain<br />
Bonnie & Clyde<br />
Bill & Ted<br />
Harry & Sally<br />
Rocky & Bullwinkle<br />
Samson & Delilah<br />
Timon & Pumbaa<br />
Simon & Garfunkel<br />
David & Goliath<br />
Abbot & Costello<br />
Antony & Cleopatra<br />
Batman & Robin<br />
<br />
This means, it starts with "Thelma", paired with "Hobbes" diagonally down, from "Hobbes" to "Calvin", who is paired with "the King" and so on, until "Batman" is paired with "Louise", completing the cycle.<br />
<br />
* Second cycle: length 4<br />
Romeo & Juliet<br />
Beavis & Butthead<br />
Beauty & the Beast<br />
Mario & Luigi<br />
<br />
* Third cycle: length 3<br />
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde<br />
Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen<br />
Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid<br />
<br />
* Fourth cycle: length 2<br />
Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson<br />
Jay & Silent Bob<br />
<br />
Assigning an index starting with 0 (= Thelma & Louise) to 23 (= Mario & Luigi), they can be written as:<br />
<br />
(0, 20, 19, 6, 5, 15, 1, 10, 13, 21, 7, 16, 11, 3, 2)<br />
(4, 9, 8, 23)<br />
(12, 22, 14) <br />
(17, 18)<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Caption above the panel:]<br />
:Famous Duos in a nearby parallel universe<br />
<br />
:[A list with 24 duos with a gray “and" between the two names (in one case it is a “met") and three times there is a gray word before (once) or after (twice) the names. The list is centered with the “and" in the middle disregarding the length of the names on each side:]<br />
:{|<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Thelma <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| Hobbes<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | <font color="gray">When</font> Harry<br />
| <font color="gray">met</font><br />
| Bullwinkle<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Batman <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| Louise<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Antony <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| Robin<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Romeo <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| Butthead<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Bonnie <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| Ted<font color="gray">'s excellent adventure</font><br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Pinky <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| Clyde<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Simon <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| Goliath<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Beauty <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| Luigi<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Beavis <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| the Beast<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Rocky <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| Delilah<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Abbot <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| Cleopatra<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Dr. Jekyll <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| Ashley Olsen<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Samson <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| Pumbaa<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Butch Cassidy <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| Mr. Hyde<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Bill <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| Sally<font color="gray">'s Bogus Journey</font><br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | David <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| Costello<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Sherlock Holmes <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| Silent Bob<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Jay <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| Dr. Watson<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Anna <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| the Brain<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Calvin <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| the King<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Timon <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| Garfunkel<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Mary-Kate <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| the Sundance Kid<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Mario <br />
| <font color="gray">and</font><br />
| Juliet<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category: Charts]]</div>108.162.216.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1636:_XKCD_Stack&diff=1103371636: XKCD Stack2016-02-01T04:39:36Z<p>108.162.216.35: /* Explanation of steps */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1636<br />
| date = January 29, 2016<br />
| title = XKCD Stack<br />
| image = xkcd_stack.png<br />
| titletext = This site requires Sun Java 6.0.0.1 (32-bit) or higher. You have Macromedia Java 7.3.8.1¾ (48-bit). Click here [link to java.com main page] to download an installer which will run fine but not really change anything.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Needs more detail. The table is great but should be corrected to not refer to a person's view or feelings. ''I think'' phrases are used more than once at the moment.}}<br />
<br />
In software engineering, a tech stack is the set of technology platforms and tools that a company or app uses. A common tech stack is LAMP, composed of a Linux operating system, an Apache web server, a MySQL database, and the PHP programming language. In this comic, the XKCD stack is introduced. The technologies comprising it are either non-existent, unreliable, or outdated. <br />
<br />
===Explanation of steps===<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
| | <b >Layer</b><br />
| | <b >Explanation</b><br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
EBNF/CSS<br />
| |<br />
BNF or {{w|Backus–Naur Form}} is a syntax used for describing {{w|context-free grammars}}.<br />
{{w|Extended Backus–Naur Form|EBNF}} is "Extended BNF", it is the same thing as BNF with a few more syntactic constructs intended to ease its use in the most common cases. [[1343: Manuals]] mentionned EBNF.<br />
<br />
CSS or {{w|Cascading Style Sheets}} are a language used to describe what a web page should look like. Web pages are usually written in {{w|HTML}}, which describes the ''structure'' of the page (i.e. divides the document into paragraphs, lists, etc.) complemented with CSS which describes the ''look and feel'' of the page (colors, fonts, margins, etc.). EBNF/CSS would suggest CSS with strange syntax.<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
Broken Java Applet<br />
| |<br />
In recent years it has become more difficult to run {{w|Java (programming language)|Java}} {{w|Applet|applets}} in several browsers. {{w|Google Chrome|Chrome}} 45 stopped supporting {{w|NPAPI}}, {{w|Mozilla Firefox|Firefox}} will drop support by 2016, and {{w|Microsoft Edge|Edge}} does not support NPAPI plugins at all. Furthermore, two days before this comic was published {{w|Oracle Corporation|Oracle}} (the developer of Java) announced plans to officially end support of Java applets in an upcoming version.<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
Archive.org Mirror<br />
| |<br />
{{incomplete|It could simply man that archive.org is the mirror}}<br />
<br />
{{w|Internet Archive|Archive.org}} is a website which archives websites, and created the {{w|Wayback Machine}}.An Archive.org mirror would be the copy of xkcd on Archive.org. <br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
Hypercard.js<br />
| |<br />
{{w|HyperCard}} can be considered as a kind of predecessor for the world wide web developed at {{w|Apple Inc.|Apple}}. The file extension .js indicates that is was rewritten in {{w|JavaScript}}. A similar reference to JavaScript is found in [[1508: Operating Systems]]. The .js extension also refers to node.js, where most library names end in .js<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
QBasic on Rails<br />
| |<br />
A mix between {{w|QBasic}} and {{w|Ruby on Rails}}. {{w|BASIC}} is a programming language that was very widespread during the 80s. QBasic is an implementation of BASIC created by Microsoft in early 90s, that, among other things, added support for {{w|structured programming}}. QBasic, lacking several of the things present on modern computer languages, is known for its spaghetti code. {{w|Ruby (programming language)|Ruby}} is a rather modern language, often used with Ruby on Rails web application {{w|Software framework |framework}}. QBasic on Rails would likely mean a port of Ruby on Rails, replacing Ruby with QBasic. QBasic no longer runs on modern computers, however there are a couple of free {{w|open source}} implementation of QBasic, one being [http://www.qb64.net/ QB64] and the other [http://www.freebasic.net/ FreeBASIC], which are available for Windows, Linux, Mac, and Android. There also exists a webserver on BASIC called [http://www.runbasic.com/ RunBasic].<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
[Blocked by AdBlocker]<br />
| |<br />
{{w|Ad blocking}} software are extensions to browsers that try to remove ads from web pages, so the user is not distracted by them. [[624: Branding]] shows what "browsing without adblock" looks like. The joke is that AdBlocker is preventing us from seeing what makes up this portion of the stack. Additionally, some websites insert advertisements in the middle of their lists and tables, so an AdBlocker would remove such advertisements, leaving a blank space in the middle of the table.<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
MongoDB/Excel<br />
| |<br />
{{w|MongoDB}} is a modern {{w|NoSQL}} {{w|Database|database}} system, {{w|Microsoft Excel}} is a {{w|Spreadsheet|spreadsheet}} program from Microsoft, which is sometimes misused as a database system.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
Some piece that works so nobody asks any questions<br />
| |<br />
Writing any non-trivial piece of software always require a phase of {{w|debugging}}, which consists in finding and fixing {{w|Software bug|bugs}}. With complex software, this is a long and tiring process, so when the product is finally finished no one dares to modify it any further for fear that it will fail in unexpected ways. After some time passes, it is even worse because nobody really remembers how the software was ''supposed'' to work, so the product becomes some kind of godlike treasure which must be treated with the utmost respect and reverence because, you know, if it stops working we're all doomed ([[1421: Future Self]]). After completion, {{w|Refactoring}} is the process of rewriting code for greater efficiency or reliability. However, if the performance is not 'too bad' (i.e. not unusably terrible in normal use) there is a great temptation to avoid this, in favour of the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' methodology. This could lead, for example, to a trained monkey and an abacus being used to crunch numbers. It works, but could be done far better. However, nobody wishes to change it, for fear of breaking a presently functional, if inefficient, system.<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
Triply-Nested Docker<br />
| |<br />
{{w|Docker (software)|Docker}} is a {{w|Operating-system-level virtualization|software container}}, which is a way that allows a complete operating system to run under different operating system (OS) (as long they share the same kernel, among other things). Triply-nested docker would mean OS A running under OS B running under OS C running under OS D (running under OS E?). That would likely be a performance and management nightmare<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
Paravirtual Boy®<br />
| |<br />
This is a reference to the {{w|Virtual Boy}}, a failed portable console created by {{w|Nintendo}}. It was [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKKK6FH1vGw promoted as being a highly immersive, incredible experience], but the poor technology that it used caused to be [https://youtu.be/OyVAp0tOk5A?t=56s very criticized] for not meeting the high expectations. {{w|Paravirtualization}} is a way of virtualization, that requires cooperation of the guest operating system, contrary of {{w|full virtualization}}, on which the guest operating system does not require to do anything special and the host handles everything.<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
A dev typing real <nowiki>[sic]</nowiki> fast<br />
| |<br />
A dev is a {{w|Software developer|software developer}}. This is possibly a reference to [[341: 1337: Part 1]], where [[Mrs. Roberts]] edits the {{w|Transmission Control Protocol|TCP}} stream live while wearing oven mitts and baking cookies. Such a feat would require really <br />
fast typing. It looks like the xkcd Webserver is not a computer after all -- we have a person manually replying to HTTP protocol queries. Such a feat would indeed require real fast typing.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
Older version of our software<br />
| |<br />
People are often reluctant to switch to newer versions of software because, even though newer versions are supposed to have more features and fewer bugs, they end up confusing users. Users of older versions are used to doing everything with less features and circumventing old bugs. They don't know how to use the new features, which of course come with new bugs they haven't learned how to circumvent yet. It is also often the case that newer versions remove weird unused old features, breaking the workflow of users who actually did use such features and are left without a suitable replacement ([[1172: Workflow]]). Alternately, since higher parts of a stack are dependent on lower parts, this could also be a reference to how the consumer versions of Microsoft Windows (3.x, 95, 98, and ME) ran on the "older version" software Microsoft DOS until Windows XP. Paired with the previous layer, it could instead mean that the human is merely retyping the output of the older version.<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
Mystery Networking Horror<br />
| |<br />
Randall suggests here that the whole networking stuff behind the XKCD service is both mysterious (no one actually knows the details) and horrific (technically questionable architecture and implementation, or somehow tentacled and eldritch in nature).<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
Microsoft Bob Server®<br />
| |<br />
{{w|Microsoft Bob}} was a short-lived, failed attempt by Microsoft, around 1995, to provide a user-friendly interface for the {{w|Microsoft Windows|Windows}} 3.1x, Windows 95 and Windows NT operating systems. It consisted of a virtual "house" and "rooms", and the idea was that you could click on a pen and open the word processor. It was heavily criticized and was soon discontinued. Randall seems to be making the suggestion the Bob has continued to be developed and now there's a Bob Server, similarly to Windows server.<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
A giant {{w|Central processing unit|CPU}} someone built in Minecraft<br />
| |<br />
{{w|Minecraft}} is a popular sandbox game where you place blocks to build things. Since the introduction of Redstone objects (materials used to create basic electric circuits within the game) people have made many machines within Minecraft, including calculators and clocks. The most complex of these machines simulate simple computers, capable of storing several lines of code and performing basic mathematical operations such as division, which requires thousands of blocks and extremely complex designs.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
The title text contains several jokes about the Java programming language:<br />
<br />
* First, it refers to Java both as {{w|Sun Microsystems|Sun}} Java and {{w|Macromedia}} Java. This is a pun on the fact that older documents refer to "Sun Java" where newer documents refer to "{{w|Oracle Corporation|Oracle}} Java", as if there were two different languages. The fact is that Java was designed originally by Sun and then bought by Oracle, so it "changed name" even though the language is the same. Macromedia was the company that developed Flash before it was bought by Adobe. Both Flash and Java were popular in the early WWW to have interactive web pages, but both are being deprecated in favor of JavaScript.<br />
<br />
* Second, the version numbers: older software products used to have two version numbers: major and minor (e.g. in {{w|MS-DOS}} 6.22 the major number is 6 and the minor is 22). Newer products tend to have hundreds of minor revisions, all of them numbered, so a typical user may well find themselves updating version 6.0.0.1 to 7.3.8.1 without knowing at all the differences between both versions or which other versions are in between. The ¾ in the Macromedia Java version is a joke on complex version numbers, which (so far) have never included fractions.<br />
<br />
* Third, the 32-bit or 48-bit version: The {{w|Intel 80386}} processor used an architecture known as {{w|IA-32}}, which implies the data bus is 32-bit wide and thus able to handle up to 4{{w|Gibibyte|GiB}} of {{w|Random-access memory|RAM}} memory. This was plenty for the early 1990s, when a typical home PC would have about 8MiB (this is 512 times less than 4GiB). However, about 10 years after that, a typical home PC could well use more than 4GiB of RAM, so several 64-bit architectures were created. These architectures are not compatible, so programs (including the Java Runtime Environment, or JRE) often have 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Furthermore, the JRE is heavily used by many web browsers, and for this to work the JRE and browser need to be the same "number of bits". This means that most people have installed both versions of the JRE to be able to use it with both 32-bit and 64-bit browsers. There's no 48-bit architecture (though some 64-bit processors including the {{w|x86-64|most common ones}} don't actually <b>use</b> all 64 bits everywhere, ignoring some bits so actual virtual or physical memory is smaller (in the case of the most common ones, 48bits virtual and 40bits physical), they simulate a full 64-bit environment to allow adding more bits later, so there are no specific 48-bit applications).<br />
<br />
* Fourth, an application trying to let the user install a new version of the JRE should direct the user to the download page in the [http://java.com/ java.com site], not to the main page which deals with lots of issues with java and is not particularly helpful when trying to update the JRE.<br />
<br />
* Fifth, and continuing with the joke of users updating from 7.3.8.1¾ to 6.0.0.1 and not knowing why they should, the new version is said to "run fine but not really change anything". This is the usual behavior for Java updates: they run fine (possibly in opposition to [[1197: All Adobe Updates]], where updating must be done several times and the user is never sure they have installed all the newest updates), but after finished updating the user can't see any difference with the previous behavior, and/or may still be told that an update is required. Considering that 7.3.8.1¾ is bigger number than 6.0.0.1, it can also refer to the fact that the test for upgrading is incorrect and 7.3.8.1¾ is actually newer version.<br />
<br />
* Sixth, Macromedia was a multimedia software company in the 90s that originally developed Flash, a popular plug-in similar to Java. Adobe purchased Macromedia in 2005.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
:Introducing<br />
<br />
:The XKCD Stack<br />
:{| class="wikitable"<br />
| |<br />
EBNF/CSS<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
Broken Java Applet<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
Archive.org Mirror<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
Hypercard.js<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
QBasic on Rails<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
[Blocked by AdBlocker]<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
MongoDB/Excel<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
Some piece that works so nobody asks any questions<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
Triply-Nested Docker<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
Paravirtual Boy®<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
A dev typing real fast<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
Older version of our software<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
Mystery Networking Horror<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
Microsoft Bob Server®<br />
|-<br />
| |<br />
A giant CPU someone built in Minecraft<br />
|}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]<br />
[[Category:Video games]]</div>108.162.216.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1628:_Magnus&diff=1090721628: Magnus2016-01-11T15:37:34Z<p>108.162.216.35: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1628<br />
| date = January 11, 2016<br />
| title = Magnus<br />
| image = magnus.png<br />
| titletext = In the latest round, 9-year-old Muhammad Ali beat 10-year-old JFK at air hockey, while Secretariat lost the hot-dog-eating crown to 12-year-old Ken Jennings. Meanwhile, in a huge upset, 11-year-old Martha Stewart knocked out the adult Ronda Rousey.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]] shows [[Megan]] an [https://itunes.apple.com/app/play-magnus/id808138395?mt=8 iOS app] that allows one to simulate playing {{w|chess}} against {{w|Magnus Carlsen}} at various ages. Magnus is a {{w|chess grandmaster}} who was ranked no. 1 in the world when this comic was released.<br />
<br />
The idea behind the app is that as Magnus grows up he becomes better at chess and thus it become exceedingly difficult to beat him as he gets older. Cueball could actually have beaten Magnus when he was just 8½-year-old, but already half a year later Magnus had progressed beyond Cueball's chess skills.<br />
<br />
Megan then exclaims that she wants to have such an app for other games as well, and mentions two types of sport, {{w|tennis}} and {{w|Swimming (sport)|swimming}}, where a persons skill cannot be simulated in an app as with chess. She wants to compare herself to an 8-year-old {{W|Serena Williams}}, a professional tennis player who was ranked no. 1 on the women's singles player world ranking when this comic was released. Or to a 6-year-old {{W|Michael Phelps}} who is the {{w|List_of_multiple_Olympic_medalists#List_of_most_Olympic_medals_over_career|most decorated Olympian competitor}} of all time, with a total of 22 medals in three {{w|Olympiads}}. <br />
<br />
Cueball is not even satisfied with just looking into sport, and wish to find out if he could cook better than for instance an 11-year-old {{W|Martha Stewart}}, who among other things, has published several cookbooks. ''Martha Stewart's Cooking School'', debuted on {{w|PBS}} in October 2012. Each episode covers cooking techniques based on her book of the same name. Megan suggests finding out if she could have won an election against a 12-year old JFK. {{W|John F. Kennedy}} was the 35th President of the United States, who was assassinated in 1963.<br />
<br />
Being the nerds that they are, Cueball and Megan continues developing their idea into a program that simulates what famous people (or animals) could do at a certain age, often not even looking at the things they are famous. They finally end up comparing 8-year-old Magnus' swimming skill against 9-year-old Martha's (he wins). But those two would both lose a {{w|hot dog}}-{{w|Competitive eating|eating contest}} against the 2-year-old horse {{W|Secretariat (horse)|Secretariat}} which won the {{w|Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States)|Triple Crown}} in 1973 (it died in 1989). At this point even Megan realizes their project is weird.<br />
<br />
The title text continues the theme of the last panel with more comparisons, leading to the ludicrous situation of a young Martha Stewart knocking an adult {{W|Ronda Rousey}} unconscious. This may be a reference to Rousey's {{w|UFC_193#Rousey_vs._Holm_fight|fight}} against {{w|Holly Holm}} on 15 November 2015, less than two months before the release of this comic. When this comic was released, Rousey was the top ranked female {{w|bantamweight}} fighter in the world according to the {{w|Ultimate Fighting Championship}} (UFC). Rousey, who was then the female bantamweight champion for five championships straight, was largely expected to come out on top before being knocked out in less than 30 seconds.<br />
<br />
Others famous/known people are mentioned in the title text. The first is {{W|Muhammad Ali}}, a boxer who is "among the greatest heavyweights in the history of the sport", as it says on his wiki page. The 9-year-old Ali manages to beat a 10-year-old JFK in {{w|air hockey}}. Air hockey was not invented until the early 1970s, so neither Ali nor Kennedy could have played it when they were children (and Kennedy could not have played it at all during his lifetime).<br />
<br />
The horse is also mentioned again in the title text, this time losing in a hot dog eating contest against 11-year-old {{W|Ken Jennings}}. Ken currently holds the record for the longest winning streak on {{W|Jeopardy!}}.<br />
<br />
Note that there is no relationship between the age that different people are compared at.<br />
<br />
Chess was earlier compared to {{w|basketball}} in [[1392: Dominant Players]]. Magnus is also featured there and already then (July 2014) no. 1 for some years. This is currently the tenth [[:Category:Chess|comic about chess]] on {{xkcd}}.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball walks from the right towards Megan while holding up his smartphone.]<br />
:Cueball: Magnus Carlsen has an app where you can play chess against a simulated version of him at different ages. <br />
:Cueball: I can beat the 8½-year-old, but lose to him at 9.<br />
<br />
:[While Megan talks to Cueball he lifts his hand to his chin, while holding the smartphone down.]<br />
:Megan: I want that, but for other games. Can I beat 8-year-old Serena Williams at Tennis? Swim laps faster than a 6-year-olf Michael Phelps?<br />
:Cueball: We should make a simulator.<br />
<br />
:[Cueball walks out left and Megan follows him. He must have pocketed his phone as it is not in his hand.]<br />
:Cueball: ...Why limit it to games? Can I cook a better chicken than 11-year-old Martha Stewart?<br />
:Megan: Win an eating contest against 12-year-old JFK?<br />
<br />
:[At the top frame of this panel there is a small frame with a caption. Below lies Megan on the floor to the left in front of her laptop, while Cueball sits on the floor to the right facing her in front of his own laptop. Between them are some heavy books.]<br />
:Soon...<br />
:[Cueball and Megan sitting at laptops in the bottom of the panel.]<br />
:Megan: Looks like 8-year-old Magnus Carlsen can swim faster than 9-year-old Martha Stewart.<br />
:Cueball: But they both lose a hot-dog-eating contest to 2-year-old Secretariat.<br />
:Megan: This project has gotten weird.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
The app they are talking about is called [http://magnuscarlsen.com/playmagnus Play Magnus].<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring John F. Kennedy]]<br />
[[Category:Chess]]<br />
[[Category:Sport]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]</div>108.162.216.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1628:_Magnus&diff=1090701628: Magnus2016-01-11T15:36:40Z<p>108.162.216.35: no pokedexes here</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1628<br />
| date = January 11, 2016<br />
| title = Magnus<br />
| image = magnus.png<br />
| titletext = In the latest round, 9-year-old Muhammad Ali beat 10-year-old JFK at air hockey, while Secretariat lost the hot-dog-eating crown to 12-year-old Ken Jennings. Meanwhile, in a huge upset, 11-year-old Martha Stewart knocked out the adult Ronda Rousey.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]] shows [[Megan]] an [https://itunes.apple.com/app/play-magnus/id808138395?mt=8 iOS app] that allows one to simulate playing {{w|chess}} against {{w|Magnus Carlsen}} at various ages. Magnus is a {{w|chess grandmaster}} who was ranked no. 1 in the world when this comic was released.<br />
<br />
The idea behind the app is that as Magnus grows up he becomes better at chess and thus it become exceedingly difficult to beat him as he gets older. Cueball could actually have beaten Magnus when he was just 8½-year-old, but already half a year later Magnus had progressed beyond Cueball's chess skills.<br />
<br />
Megan then exclaims that she wants to have such an app for other games as well, and mentions two types of sport, {{w|tennis}} and {{w|Swimming (sport)|swimming}}, where a persons skill cannot be simulated in an app as with chess. She wants to compare herself to an 8-year-old {{W|Serena Williams}}, a professional tennis player who was ranked no. 1 on the women's singles player world ranking when this comic was released. Or to a 6-year-old {{W|Michael Phelps}} who is the {{w|List_of_multiple_Olympic_medalists#List_of_most_Olympic_medals_over_career|most decorated Olympian competitor}} of all time, with a total of 22 medals in three {{w|Olympiads}}. <br />
<br />
Cueball is not even satisfied with just looking into sport, and wish to find out if he could cook better than for instance an 11-year-old {{W|Martha Stewart}}, who among other things, has published several cookbooks. ''Martha Stewart's Cooking School'', debuted on {{w|PBS}} in October 2012. Each episode covers cooking techniques based on her book of the same name. Megan suggests finding out if she could have won an election against a 12-year old JFK. {{W|John F. Kennedy}} was the 35th President of the United States, and got assassinated in 1963.<br />
<br />
Being the nerds that they are, Cueball and Megan continues developing their idea into a program that simulates what famous people (or animals) could do at a certain age, often not even looking at the things they are famous. They finally end up comparing 8-year-old Magnus' swimming skill against 9-year-old Martha's (he wins). But those two would both lose a {{w|hot dog}}-{{w|Competitive eating|eating contest}} against the 2-year-old horse {{W|Secretariat (horse)|Secretariat}} which won the {{w|Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States)|Triple Crown}} in 1973 (it died in 1989). At this point even Megan realizes their project is weird.<br />
<br />
The title text continues the theme of the last panel with more comparisons, leading to the ludicrous situation of a young Martha Stewart knocking an adult {{W|Ronda Rousey}} unconscious. This may be a reference to Rousey's {{w|UFC_193#Rousey_vs._Holm_fight|fight}} against {{w|Holly Holm}} on 15 November 2015, less than two months before the release of this comic. When this comic was released, Rousey was the top ranked female {{w|bantamweight}} fighter in the world according to the {{w|Ultimate Fighting Championship}} (UFC). Rousey, who was then the female bantamweight champion for five championships straight, was largely expected to come out on top before being knocked out in less than 30 seconds.<br />
<br />
Others famous/known people are mentioned in the title text. The first is {{W|Muhammad Ali}}, a boxer who is "among the greatest heavyweights in the history of the sport", as it says on his wiki page. The 9-year-old Ali manages to beat a 10-year-old JFK in {{w|air hockey}}. Air hockey was not invented until the early 1970s, so neither Ali nor Kennedy could have played it when they were children (and Kennedy could not have played it at all during his lifetime).<br />
<br />
The horse is also mentioned again in the title text, this time losing in a hot dog eating contest against 11-year-old {{W|Ken Jennings}}. Ken currently holds the record for the longest winning streak on {{W|Jeopardy!}}.<br />
<br />
Note that there is no relationship between the age that different people are compared at.<br />
<br />
Chess was earlier compared to {{w|basketball}} in [[1392: Dominant Players]]. Magnus is also featured there and already then (July 2014) no. 1 for some years. This is currently the tenth [[:Category:Chess|comic about chess]] on {{xkcd}}.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball walks from the right towards Megan while holding up his smartphone.]<br />
:Cueball: Magnus Carlsen has an app where you can play chess against a simulated version of him at different ages. <br />
:Cueball: I can beat the 8½-year-old, but lose to him at 9.<br />
<br />
:[While Megan talks to Cueball he lifts his hand to his chin, while holding the smartphone down.]<br />
:Megan: I want that, but for other games. Can I beat 8-year-old Serena Williams at Tennis? Swim laps faster than a 6-year-olf Michael Phelps?<br />
:Cueball: We should make a simulator.<br />
<br />
:[Cueball walks out left and Megan follows him. He must have pocketed his phone as it is not in his hand.]<br />
:Cueball: ...Why limit it to games? Can I cook a better chicken than 11-year-old Martha Stewart?<br />
:Megan: Win an eating contest against 12-year-old JFK?<br />
<br />
:[At the top frame of this panel there is a small frame with a caption. Below lies Megan on the floor to the left in front of her laptop, while Cueball sits on the floor to the right facing her in front of his own laptop. Between them are some heavy books.]<br />
:Soon...<br />
:[Cueball and Megan sitting at laptops in the bottom of the panel.]<br />
:Megan: Looks like 8-year-old Magnus Carlsen can swim faster than 9-year-old Martha Stewart.<br />
:Cueball: But they both lose a hot-dog-eating contest to 2-year-old Secretariat.<br />
:Megan: This project has gotten weird.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
The app they are talking about is called [http://magnuscarlsen.com/playmagnus Play Magnus].<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring John F. Kennedy]]<br />
[[Category:Chess]]<br />
[[Category:Sport]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]</div>108.162.216.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1628:_Magnus&diff=1090681628: Magnus2016-01-11T15:31:15Z<p>108.162.216.35: Kennedy died in 1963, could not have played air hockey</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1628<br />
| date = January 11, 2016<br />
| title = Magnus<br />
| image = magnus.png<br />
| titletext = In the latest round, 9-year-old Muhammad Ali beat 10-year-old JFK at air hockey, while Secretariat lost the hot-dog-eating crown to 12-year-old Ken Jennings. Meanwhile, in a huge upset, 11-year-old Martha Stewart knocked out the adult Ronda Rousey.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]] shows [[Megan]] an [https://itunes.apple.com/app/play-magnus/id808138395?mt=8 iOS app] that allows one to simulate playing {{w|chess}} against {{w|Magnus Carlsen}} at various ages. Magnus is a {{w|chess grandmaster}} who was ranked no. 1 in the world when this comic was released.<br />
<br />
The idea behind the app is that as Magnus grows up he becomes better at chess and thus it become exceedingly difficult to beat him as he gets older. Cueball could actually have beaten Magnus when he was just 8½-year-old, but already half a year later Magnus had progressed beyond Cueball's chess skills.<br />
<br />
Megan then exclaims that she wants to have such an app for other games as well, and mentions two types of sport, {{w|tennis}} and {{w|Swimming (sport)|swimming}}, where a persons skill cannot be simulated in an app as with chess. She wants to compare herself to an 8-year-old {{W|Serena Williams}}, a professional tennis player who was ranked no. 1 on the women's singles player world ranking when this comic was released. Or to a 6-year-old {{W|Michael Phelps}} who is the {{w|List_of_multiple_Olympic_medalists#List_of_most_Olympic_medals_over_career|most decorated Olympian competitor}} of all time, with a total of 22 medals in three {{w|Olympiads}}. <br />
<br />
Cueball is not even satisfied with just looking into sport, and wish to find out if he could cook better than for instance an 11-year-old {{W|Martha Stewart}}, who among other things, has published several cookbooks. ''Martha Stewart's Cooking School'', debuted on {{w|PBS}} in October 2012. Each episode covers cooking techniques based on her book of the same name. Megan suggests finding out if she could have won an election against a 12-year old JFK. {{W|John F. Kennedy}} was the 35th President of the United States, and got assassinated in 1963.<br />
<br />
Being the nerds that they are, Cueball and Megan continues developing their idea into a program that simulates what famous people (or animals) could do at a certain age, often not even looking at the things they are famous. They finally end up comparing 8-year-old Magnus' swimming skill against 9-year-old Martha's (he wins). But those two would both lose a {{w|hot dog}}-{{w|Competitive eating|eating contest}} against the 2-year-old horse {{W|Secretariat (horse)|Secretariat}} which won the {{w|Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States)|Triple Crown}} in 1973 (it died in 1989). At this point even Megan realizes their project is weird.<br />
<br />
The title text continues the theme of the last panel with more comparisons, leading to the ludicrous situation of a young Martha Stewart knocking an adult {{W|Ronda Rousey}} unconscious. This may be a reference to Rousey's {{w|UFC_193#Rousey_vs._Holm_fight|fight}} against {{w|Holly Holm}} on 15 November 2015, less than two months before the release of this comic. When this comic was released, Rousey was the top ranked female {{w|bantamweight}} fighter in the world according to the {{w|Ultimate Fighting Championship}} (UFC). Rousey, who was then the female bantamweight champion for five championships straight, was largely expected to come out on top before being knocked out in less than 30 seconds.<br />
<br />
Others famous/known people are mentioned in the title text. The first is {{W|Muhammad Ali}}, a boxer who is "among the greatest heavyweights in the history of the sport", as it says on his wiki page. The 9-year-old Ali manages to beat a 10-year-old JFK in {{w|air hockey}}. Air hockey was not invented until the early 1970s, so neither Ali nor Kennedy could have played it when they were children (and Kennedy could not have played it at all during his lifetime).<br />
<br />
The horse is also mentioned again in the title text, this time losing in a hot dog eating contest against 11-year-old {{W|Ken Jennings}}. Ken currently holds the record for the longest winning streak on {{W|Jeopardy!}}.<br />
<br />
Note that there is no relationship between the age that different people are compared at.<br />
<br />
Chess was earlier compared to {{w|basketball}} in [[1392: Dominant Players]]. Magnus is also featured there and already then (July 2014) no. 1 for some years. This is currently the tenth [[:Category:Chess|comic about chess]] on {{xkcd}}.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball walks from the right towards Megan while holding up his pokédex.]<br />
:Cueball: Magnus Carlsen has an app where you can play chess against a simulated version of him at different ages. <br />
:Cueball: I can beat the 8½-year-old, but lose to him at 9.<br />
<br />
:[While Megan talks to Cueball he lifts his hand to his chin, while holding the pokédex down.]<br />
:Megan: I want that, but for other games. Can I beat 8-year-old Serena Williams at Tennis? Swim laps faster than a 6-year-olf Michael Phelps?<br />
:Cueball: We should make a simulator.<br />
<br />
:[Cueball walks out left and Megan follows him. He must have pocketed his phone as it is not in his hand.]<br />
:Cueball: ...Why limit it to games? Can I cook a better chicken than 11-year-old Martha Stewart?<br />
:Megan: Win an eating contest against 12-year-old JFK?<br />
<br />
:[At the top frame of this panel there is a small frame with a caption. Below lies Megan on the floor to the left in front of her laptop, while Cueball sits on the floor to the right facing her in front of his own laptop. Between them are some heavy books.]<br />
:Soon...<br />
:[Cueball and Megan sitting at laptops in the bottom of the panel.]<br />
:Megan: Looks like 8-year-old Magnus Carlsen can swim faster than 9-year-old Martha Stewart.<br />
:Cueball: But they both lose a hot-dog-eating contest to 2-year-old Secretariat.<br />
:Megan: This project has gotten weird.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
The app they are talking about is called [http://magnuscarlsen.com/playmagnus Play Magnus].<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring John F. Kennedy]]<br />
[[Category:Chess]]<br />
[[Category:Sport]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]</div>108.162.216.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1141:_Two_Years&diff=1063641141: Two Years2015-12-04T00:41:42Z<p>108.162.216.35: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1141<br />
| date = November 30, 2012<br />
| title = Two Years<br />
| image = two years.png<br />
| titletext = She won the first half of all our chemo Scrabble games, but then her IV drugs started kicking in and I *dominated*.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic marks the second year of [[Randall Munroe]]'s wife's battle with cancer, and appears to depict actual events from those two years. Randall is depicted as [[Cueball]] and his wife as [[Megan]], as per usual for both.<br />
<br />
Some explanations:<br />
*Panel 1: Randall's wife-to-be (at that point) receives a diagnosis over the phone (from Dr. [[Ponytail]]) as Randall sits by her side supportively. His wife has Megan long hair at this time.<br />
*Panel 2: His wife undergoes IV (intravenous) {{w|chemotherapy}}. Because of the hair loss that results from chemotherapy, many patients opt to shave their heads when they undergo chemotherapy. As can be seen from the stubble she did not shave her hair, but has lost almost all of it. Only the hair coming back between chemo sessions is the cause of the stubble. Her hair grows back over the course of the panels following the end of her chemo (from panel 7).<br />
*Panel 3: The two of them spend time alone together, experiencing something beautiful in the world for it may be one of her last chances to do so. Randall reinforces this sentiment in panel 8. In this panel (#3) she wears a knit cap presumably because it is cold, as well as the fact that patients with hair loss from chemo are urged by doctors to keep their heads covered to protect their scalps from the sun.<br />
*Panel 4: The couple waits for a phone call from her doctor to hear the results of a scan. Both are clearly impatient and anxious.<br />
*Panel 5: More chemotherapy. The couple plays {{w|Scrabble}}, in which players use letter tiles to spell words in a cross-word style. She uses the fact that she has cancer as leverage to get Randall to ignore the fact that the word she has played ('''zarg''') is not a real word.<br />
*Panel 6: Someone suggests they come for a visit next year, but all they can think about are the words "next year." Their future is entirely uncertain because of her health, making long-term planning a consistent source of worry and doubt. In this panel she wears a knit cap to hide her missing hair.<br />
*Panel 7: Randall and his fiancée marry. With the chemotherapy completed, her hair has grown back enough that she has stopped using her knit cap.<br />
*Panel 8: The couple goes whale ({{w|humpback whales}}) watching, possibly on their {{w|honeymoon}}. In this panel, she again wears the knit cap either because it is cold or because she is weak.<br />
*Panel 9: Randall paraphrases a line from the song "{{w|Still Alive}}" (watch the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_S0PGu-cH4 video]) from the video game ''{{w|Portal}}'' (''"I'm doing science and I'm still alive"''). He does this because his wife is again back at her laptop working.<br />
*Panel 10: The two of them sit under a tree reflecting on the significance of the past two years.<br />
*Panel 11: Randall and his wife go out to dinner to celebrate the fact that she has made it two years since her {{w|biopsy}}. This turns awkward for [[Hairy]], the waiter, since he had assumed it was an anniversary of their marriage.<br />
<br />
The title text is referring to a possible {{w|Chemotherapy#Neurological adverse effects|side-effect of chemotherapy drugs}}, the inability to concentrate. It could also just be the fact that the chemo can make you feel just terrible. When whatever effect kicks in, she loses the rest of their Scrabble games for that day. However, as we see in panel 5, there is a reason why she wins ''all'' of the first half of their games. But this is not enough, or she even forgets to play on the cancer, when the drugs takes effect.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit on a bed, Randall's fiancée is talking on the phone. The person she is talking to, a doctor holding a clipboard, is shown inset.]<br />
:Randall's fiancée: Oh god.<br />
<br />
:[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit together while Randall's fiancée, now bald, is receiving chemotherapy. They are both on their laptops.]<br />
:IV pump: ... Beeep ... Beeep ... Beeep ...<br />
<br />
:[Randall and Randall's fiancée (who is wearing a knit cap) are paddling a kayak against a scenic mountain backdrop.]<br />
<br />
:[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit at a table, staring at a cell phone. There is a clock on the wall. Her head is stubbly.]<br />
:Randall's fiancée: How long can it take to read a scan!?<br />
<br />
:[Randall and Randall's fiancée are back at the hospital again, Randall's fiancée receiving chemo. They are playing Scrabble.]<br />
:Randall: "Zarg" isn't a word.<br />
:Randall's fiancée: But ''caaaancer.''<br />
:Randall: ...Ok, fine.<br />
<br />
:[Randall and Randall's fiancée (wearing a knit cap) are listening to a Cueball-like friend. A large thought bubble is above their heads and it obscures the friends talk. The text below, split in three is the only part there can be no doubt about:]<br />
:Friend: So next year you should come visit us in the mounta<br />
::a<br />
::and<br />
:Randall and Randall's fiancée (thinking): '''"Next year"'''<br />
<br />
:[Randall and Randall's fiancée are getting married, with a heart above their heads. Randall's wife's hair is growing back.]<br />
<br />
:[Randall and Randall's wife (wearing a knit cap) stand on a beach, watching a whale jump out of water.]<br />
:''Fwoosh''<br />
<br />
:[Randall's wife is sitting at a desk with her laptop standing on top of two books. Her hair has grown back a little more. Randall stands behind her.]<br />
:Randall: Hey— you're doing science, and you're still alive.<br />
:Randall's wife: Yeah!<br />
<br />
:[Randall and Randall's wife sit under a tall tree on a hill.]<br />
:Randall: It's really only been two years?<br />
:Randall's wife: They were big years.<br />
<br />
:[Randall and Randall's wife sit at a table in a fancy restaurant. Her hair has grown back even more. The waiter (Hairy) brings them a dish with a cover on it.]<br />
:Waiter: Happy... Anniversary?<br />
:Randall's wife: Biopsy-versary!<br />
:Waiter: ...Eww.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Cancer]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]<br />
[[Category:Video games]]</div>108.162.216.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=697:_Tensile_vs._Shear_Strength&diff=106154697: Tensile vs. Shear Strength2015-12-01T07:47:20Z<p>108.162.216.35: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 697<br />
| date = February 3, 2010<br />
| title = Tensile vs. Shear Strength<br />
| image = tensile_vs_shear_strength.png<br />
| titletext = Although really, the damage was done when the party planners took the hole punch to the elevator ribbon to hang up the sign.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Tensile strength represents how hard you can pull on something without it breaking. Shear strength represents how hard you can try to cut it without it breaking. Many materials have great tensile strength but low shear strength (such as dental floss — try to break it by just pulling on two ends), including whatever this space elevator is made of. The material clearly has extremely high tensile strength because it can hold the elevator in place, with one end on the ground and one in space, but it can be cut with a simple pair of pruning shears. This also highlights the fact that "shear strength" and "shears" are etymologically related.<br />
<br />
The title text makes the point that even before [[Black Hat]] cut the space elevator's cable in two, it was ruined by the holes in it for the banner. The holes would reduce the surface area of the cross section of the pole, dwarfing its ability to keep the elevator attached to the ground. The flag and holes would also potentially make it impossible for the elevator to travel up the pole, making the entire elevator useless.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A banner flutters in the breeze, evidently attached to the elevator it mentions in its text. It reads "SPACE ELEVATOR" "GRAND OPENING".]<br />
:[A space elevator occupies the height of the frame, consisting of a base, a ribbon extending out into space, and an elevator unit with standard elevator features such as sliding doors and up/down buttons.]<br />
:[The following lines appear split across the elevator itself, the rhyming portions of the text separated from the others.]<br />
::{|<br />
|-<br />
|style="text-align:right;"|After countless<br />
|style="text-align:left;"|engineers<br />
|-<br />
|style="text-align:right;"|Spend trillions over<br />
|style="text-align:left;"|fifty years,<br />
|-<br />
|style="text-align:right;"|A modern babel<br />
|style="text-align:left;"|disappears<br />
|-<br />
|style="text-align:right;"|Because some fuck brought<br />
|style="text-align:left;"|pruning shears<br />
|}<br />
<br />
:[Five individuals stand at the base of the elevator: Megan, Cueball, Ponytail who has recently opened a bottle of champagne, an alarmed man, and Black Hat, who has smuggled the aforementioned shears into the ceremony and unceremoniously turned it into a ribbon cutting.]<br />
:''SNIP''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Elevators]]</div>108.162.216.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1591:_Bell%27s_Theorem&diff=1042851591: Bell's Theorem2015-10-31T20:55:43Z<p>108.162.216.35: others -> other</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1591<br />
| date = October 16, 2015<br />
| title = Bell's Theorem<br />
| image = bells_theorem.png<br />
| titletext = The no-communication theorem states that no communication about the no-communication theorem can clear up the misunderstanding quickly enough to allow faster-than-light signaling.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Title Text - Where does "turning off the signal" come in to the explanation of the title text? Still missing lots of wiki links in the entire explanation.}}<br />
<br />
{{w|Bell's Theorem|Bell's Theorem}} states "No physical theory of (finitely many) {{w|Local_hidden_variable_theory|local hidden variables}} can ever reproduce all of the predictions of quantum mechanics." It says that a theoretical treatment that divides the universe up into separate ("local") systems like this will always discard something about those systems' intercorrelations.<br />
<br />
"Global hidden variables" are another story: if there is classical information shared across systems (perhaps by superluminal communication) even up to superdeterminism where the universe is just reading off a script, any correlations can be explained away. But this is unsatisfying.<br />
<br />
The preferred resolution of the paradox is not to insist (as early physicists did) that the universe's state is a collection of bits (classical information), but treat it as a collection of qubits (quantum information).<br />
<br />
[[Ponytail]] begins reading Bell's theorem to [[Cueball]], who is standing 5 meters away. Cueball responds with a misunderstanding of Bell's Theorem in 1 nanosecond. The speed of light in a vacuum is 299,792,458 meters per second. In one nanosecond, the light from Ponytail would only have travelled 0.3 meters, thus Cueball misunderstands Bell's Theorem faster than the light from Ponytail reading the theorem can reach him, which implies that faster-than-light communication occurred to set up the misunderstanding.<br />
<br />
In quantum mechanics (QM), "measurement" is the process of allowing a small system to interact with its environment in a controlled way. The interaction allows information about the system's state to escape to the environment, producing an "observation." If the measurement apparatus is governed by classical mechanics (impossible in reality, but a very common simplification for the purposes of calculation), then the observation can be thought of as classical information, a bit (yes/no answer) in the simplest case. While the system may have been in any one of infinitely many states before the measurement (each a superposition of classical states), the fact that the measurement must leave it consistent with the classical result means that it can end up in only finitely many states afterwards. This is the "wave-function collapse" of early QM, popularized by {{w|Schrödinger's cat}}, but unrelated to the Heisenberg {{w|Uncertainty Principle}}, with which lay audiences often confuse it.<br />
<br />
Modern quantum mechanics acknowledges that the environment is not classical, and that wave-function collapse happens by a (comparatively) gradual process called "decoherence," where information leaving the system is made up for by information coming from the environment that drives the system closer and closer to one of the finitely many states predicted by the simplified model above. If a "Schrödinger's cat" is in a half-and-half superposition of the states "dead" and "alive", when its liveness is measured, the ratios of "dead" and "alive" will shift rapidly towards (though not quite reach) 0 and 100% or 100 and 0%. For all but the shortest time scales, the cat's post-measurement state might as well be classical.<br />
<br />
{{w|Quantum_entanglement|Entanglement}} is a situation where the future outcomes of two or more measurements that would be independent in a classical world are nonetheless correlated. For example, two widely separated electrons from one source could be in a state where, considered individually, each is in a superimposed spin-up/spin-down state, but if one is measured as spin-up, the other will necessarily be measured as spin-down. This is untroubling if the two electrons are modelled as a single system, but strange-seeming if we think of them as separate: how did the measurement of the first electron allow information from the environment around it affect the far-away second electron? It seems like the electrons are communicating, potentially at superluminal speeds, which would violate either relativity or causality. In actuality, there's a fairly simple proof (see below) that correlations from entanglement can't be used to communicate, and causality and relativity are safe. But that doesn't make the seemingly faster-than-light effects much less of a surprise.<br />
<br />
One can try to address these concerns by considering 'local hidden variables', classical properties of a local system (like a single electron) that could have been observed but were not. For example, perhaps a classical part of the electrons' state lets them "agree" on a future classical state at the moment they are entangled, and then they just reveal that state in the future. But this becomes unwieldy: there are infinitely many possible future observations the electrons would have to agree on, and it seems difficult to do this without infinitely many local hidden variables.<br />
<br />
===Title Text===<br />
The real {{w|No-Communication Theorem}} states that although determination of the state of one half of an entangled pair immediately determines that of the other half, however far away it may be, there's no way for the observer of the other half to see if he's the first to find out the state or whether it'd already been determined by the first observer. Thus, no information travels from one observer to the other. [[Randall]]'s version is recursive. It hypothesises a method of communication whereby somebody misunderstanding the no-communication theorem (which also happens faster than the speed of light) could function as the reception of a faster-than-light signal. However, it goes on to point out that turning the signal off requires clearing up the confusion which takes much, much longer, thus neatly restoring the normality of slower than light communication.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[First frame captioned: t = 0 nanoseconds.]<br />
:Ponytail, holding a piece of paper and facing to the right: This is called Bell's Theorem. It was first–<br />
<br />
:[A double-headed arrow links the characters in the two frames. The arrow is labelled "5 meters".]<br />
<br />
:[Second frame captioned: t = 1 nanosecond.]<br />
:Cueball, facing to the left towards Ponytail: Wow, faster-than-light communication is possible!<br />
<br />
:Bell's Second Theorem: Misunderstandings of Bell's Theorem happen so fast that they violate locality.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]<br />
[[Category:Science]]</div>108.162.216.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1490:_Atoms&diff=850091490: Atoms2015-02-23T20:57:27Z<p>108.162.216.35: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1490<br />
| date = February 23, 2015<br />
| title = Atoms<br />
| image = atoms.png<br />
| titletext = When I was little I had trouble telling my dad apart form "[Sic]" the dog. I always recognized my mom because she had a bunch of extra plutoniums in her middle. I never did ask her why ...<br />
}}<br />
<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
In this comic, [[Megan]] is preparing a sample of what appears to be some mineral for {{w|elemental analysis}}. It seems to be some kind of {{w|silicate}} containing a small amount of {{w|iron}} (a common example of this would be {{w|red sandstone}}), and she is running a test to see if it contains {{w|beryllium}} (a rarer element whose best-known natural form is as a component of {{w|emerald}}).<br />
<br />
[[Beret Guy]] seems to be able to tell what elements the substance is composed of just by eyeballing it, making him perhaps the perfect elemental analysis instrument. To confirm this, Megan asks Beret Guy what he sees when he looks at her face. Since he only sees the atoms Megan is composed of (mostly {{w|Composition_of_the_human_body|oxygen, carbon and hydrogen}}) he only notices the unusual atoms. In this case he sees the metal atoms her {{w|Dental_restoration#Materials_used|dental fillings}} are composed of. This shows his "atomic vision" extends beyond the surface of the substances. Megan finds this bizarre and asks him what is wrong with him. He states that he suspects people think he is weird because he contains too much {{w|zinc}}, missing Megan’s point: what is weird is not Beret guy’s zinc content, but his tendency to apparently see everyone as clouds of atoms.<br />
<br />
High zinc intake ({{w|Zinc_toxicity|zinc toxicity}}) can cause nausea, vomiting, pain, cramps and diarrhea. It also reduces copper absorption, which affects the immune system.<br />
<br />
The comic continues the theme of Beret Guy’s naive misunderstandings of scientific terminology turning to be literally true: in a previous [[1486: Vacuum|comic]] his ill-informed misinterpretation of the notion of energy in the vacuum resulted in him gaining significant superpowers.<br />
<br />
In the title text, the concept is taken even further: Beret Guy found his dad indistinguishable from a dog; and apparently could recognize his mother only because she contained {{w|plutonium}} ― a very unusual occurrence that cannot possibly occur in nature ― either she had an {{w|Radioisotope thermoelectric generator|RTG}}-powered pacemaker (a few hundred were made in the 1970s), or she was the victim of unethical medical experimentation. The presence of plutonium in his mother may be an explanation or source of his own differences. <br />
<br />
A typo in the title text mistakes form for from. This may alternatively be a play on form as in form factor - dog vs man or even man = dog.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Beret guy: What’re you doing?<br />
:<br />
:Megan: Testing a sample for beryllium.<br />
:Beret guy: That? Yeah, there’s a bunch of berylliums.<br />
:Megan: How do you know?<br />
:<br />
:Beret guy: Look at it! See? Tons of oxygens and silicons, a few irons but definitely some berylliums too! Can’t you see them?<br />
:<br />
:Megan: No, I can’t see a list of the atoms in a thing by looking.<br />
:Beret guy: How do you tell what things are?<br />
:<br />
:Megan: This is ridiculous. Look at me. What do you see?<br />
:Beret guy: You have tons of metal in your face. Lots of fillings, I guess?<br />
:<br />
:Megan: What’s wrong with you?<br />
:Beret guy: Too many zincs? I’ve always worried I had too much zinc and everyone thought I was weird.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>108.162.216.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1490:_Atoms&diff=850081490: Atoms2015-02-23T20:56:25Z<p>108.162.216.35: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1490<br />
| date = February 23, 2015<br />
| title = Atoms<br />
| image = atoms.png<br />
| titletext = When I was little I had trouble telling my dad apart form the dog. I always recognized my mom because she had a bunch of extra plutoniums in her middle. I never did ask her why ...<br />
}}<br />
<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
In this comic, [[Megan]] is preparing a sample of what appears to be some mineral for {{w|elemental analysis}}. It seems to be some kind of {{w|silicate}} containing a small amount of {{w|iron}} (a common example of this would be {{w|red sandstone}}), and she is running a test to see if it contains {{w|beryllium}} (a rarer element whose best-known natural form is as a component of {{w|emerald}}).<br />
<br />
[[Beret Guy]] seems to be able to tell what elements the substance is composed of just by eyeballing it, making him perhaps the perfect elemental analysis instrument. To confirm this, Megan asks Beret Guy what he sees when he looks at her face. Since he only sees the atoms Megan is composed of (mostly {{w|Composition_of_the_human_body|oxygen, carbon and hydrogen}}) he only notices the unusual atoms. In this case he sees the metal atoms her {{w|Dental_restoration#Materials_used|dental fillings}} are composed of. This shows his "atomic vision" extends beyond the surface of the substances. Megan finds this bizarre and asks him what is wrong with him. He states that he suspects people think he is weird because he contains too much {{w|zinc}}, missing Megan’s point: what is weird is not Beret guy’s zinc content, but his tendency to apparently see everyone as clouds of atoms.<br />
<br />
High zinc intake ({{w|Zinc_toxicity|zinc toxicity}}) can cause nausea, vomiting, pain, cramps and diarrhea. It also reduces copper absorption, which affects the immune system.<br />
<br />
The comic continues the theme of Beret Guy’s naive misunderstandings of scientific terminology turning to be literally true: in a previous [[1486: Vacuum|comic]] his ill-informed misinterpretation of the notion of energy in the vacuum resulted in him gaining significant superpowers.<br />
<br />
In the title text, the concept is taken even further: Beret Guy found his dad indistinguishable from a dog; and apparently could recognize his mother only because she contained {{w|plutonium}} ― a very unusual occurrence that cannot possibly occur in nature ― either she had an {{w|Radioisotope thermoelectric generator|RTG}}-powered pacemaker (a few hundred were made in the 1970s), or she was the victim of unethical medical experimentation. The presence of plutonium in his mother may be an explanation or source of his own differences. <br />
<br />
A typo in the title text mistakes form for from. This may alternatively be a play on form as in form factor - dog vs man or even man = dog.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Beret guy: What’re you doing?<br />
:<br />
:Megan: Testing a sample for beryllium.<br />
:Beret guy: That? Yeah, there’s a bunch of berylliums.<br />
:Megan: How do you know?<br />
:<br />
:Beret guy: Look at it! See? Tons of oxygens and silicons, a few irons but definitely some berylliums too! Can’t you see them?<br />
:<br />
:Megan: No, I can’t see a list of the atoms in a thing by looking.<br />
:Beret guy: How do you tell what things are?<br />
:<br />
:Megan: This is ridiculous. Look at me. What do you see?<br />
:Beret guy: You have tons of metal in your face. Lots of fillings, I guess?<br />
:<br />
:Megan: What’s wrong with you?<br />
:Beret guy: Too many zincs? I’ve always worried I had too much zinc and everyone thought I was weird.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>108.162.216.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1480:_Super_Bowl&diff=83772Talk:1480: Super Bowl2015-01-30T10:48:17Z<p>108.162.216.35: </p>
<hr />
<div>So should this be tagged as a my hobby comic? Not sure since it is only in the title text. [[User:Athang|Athang]] ([[User talk:Athang|talk]]) 08:25, 30 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I'm wondering - has he duplicated a comic title before? -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 10:26, 30 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
: It looks like this is the second comic title to be duplicated - the other pair appears to be [[Exoplanets]] ([[786]] and [[1071]]) -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 10:40, 30 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
It's actually the Superb Owl in my world.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.35|108.162.216.35]] 10:48, 30 January 2015 (UTC)</div>108.162.216.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1475:_Technically&diff=829921475: Technically2015-01-19T11:11:24Z<p>108.162.216.35: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1475<br />
| date = January 19, 2015<br />
| title = Technically<br />
| image = technically.png<br />
| titletext = "Technically that sentence started with 'well', so--" "Ooh, a rock with a fossil in it!"<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|First Draft}}<br />
<br />
When the word technically is used to start a sentence, the remainder of the sentence tends to follow one of a number of patterns:<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
! Sentence Pattern<br />
! Example<br />
|-<br />
| An explanation which is far more complex than the listener needs/wants.<br />
| Technically an inch is 25.4mm, but historically.....<br />
|-<br />
| A justification of a particular (usually unpopular) viewpoint through an unusual technical definition.<br />
| Technically a tomato is a fruit, so there is no reason it shouldn't be used in a fruit salad.<br />
|-<br />
| A pedantic overapplication of rules or laws, often to avoid the spirit of the law through a technical loophole.<br />
| [http://factually.gizmodo.com/technically-american-flag-napkins-are-illegal-1599774198 Technically, American flag napkins are illegal.]<br />
|-<br />
| The speaker repeating a 'little known fact', believing that he/she sounds incredibly knowledgable.<br />
| Technically we only use 10% of our brains, so imagine what we could do if we could use 100%!<br />
|}<br />
<br />
[[Cueball]] has decided that any sentence beginning with the word 'Technically' is highly likely to be completely worthless for him to listen to, so allows himself to be distracted by anything which happens to be around.<br />
<br />
The title text starts to pedantically overapply Cueball's rule to the comic panel, nothing that technically [[White Hat]]'s sentence started with the word 'well' instead of the word 'technically', and thus Cueball is wrong to have ignored it. Halfway through the sentence, this argument is cut off by the discovery of a rock with a fossil in, correctly applying the rule to sentences beginning with technically.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[White Hat and Cueball are discussing]<br />
:White Hat: Well, technically, food is a "drug", since it's a substance that alters how your body works, so yes, I'm —<br />
:[Cueball look to a fliyng bug]<br />
:Cueball: Hey Look at that weird bug!<br />
<br />
:My life improved when I realized I could just ignore any sentence that started with "technically."<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
<br />
I will be ignoring this whole explanation . . . for obvious reasons.</div>108.162.216.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1474:_Screws&diff=82839Talk:1474: Screws2015-01-16T11:14:45Z<p>108.162.216.35: </p>
<hr />
<div>This page is now on the first page of google for "uranium screw". [[User:Mrmakeit|Mrmakeit]] ([[User talk:Mrmakeit|talk]]) 05:31, 16 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
I don't think that patent is the right one, it seems to describe a uranium decontamination procedure, not a screw made of uranium like in the comic. [[User:LeoDeQuirm|LeoDeQuirm]] ([[User talk:LeoDeQuirm|talk]]) 05:46, 16 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
I'm pretty sure the "uranium screw" is just a reference to the fact that the head of the screw appears to have split in two ("fissioned"), as opposed to a normal flat head screw that still has the edges connected. [[User:Sam887|Sam887]] ([[User talk:Sam887|talk]]) 05:50, 16 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Just a shot in the dark here, but a company that sells uranium ore and radiological equipment happens to also sell screws for one of its Geigers that look just like the screw cross-section in the comic. [http://www.uraniumrocks.com/products/replacement-circuit-board-mount-screws-for-victoreen-cdv-700-short] [[User:Conqu2|Conqu2]] ([[User talk:Conqu2|talk]]) 06:01, 16 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I was wondering if the "uranium screw" was referring to the Demon Core -- two hemispherical domes that Louis Slotin was holding apart with a screwdriver. Then I remembered the Demon Core was plutonium, not uranium. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.119|173.245.48.119]] 06:49, 16 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
There are ferrous alloys containing (depleted, of course ;-) uranium for "increase[d] toughness and strength". [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrouranium] [[User:Knob creek|Knob creek]] ([[User talk:Knob creek|talk]]) 09:21, 16 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
I think the be was going for apple's pentalobe screw with the 5 ponted star {{unsigned ip|108.162.238.162}}<br />
<br />
I don't think the uranium screws are named for their use in stuff to do with uranium, as I have both seen and used screws that look like that before. It's basically a flat head screw whose divot extends all the way across the face of the screw. I agree more with the previous commentor who notes that the screw looks like it has fissioned. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.182|108.162.237.182]] 06:34, 16 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
An actual rivet is neither a screw nor a bolt; it's a fastener that is placed and then has one end plastically deformed -- traditionally by a rivet gun, but more often in smaller sizes by some sort of press or clamp. (Pop rivets are hollow, and are deformed by pulling a cone-sheaped wedge into the open end of the hollow core.) There's no way to remove one except to destroy it (drill it out or cut one end off). The item pictured could also be the head of a carriage bolt, but that's no help if you can't get at the other end of the bolt. Randall is slightly pessemistic, though: there *are* some "security" screws and bolts that use a slightly-elliptical domed head that's hard to tell from a rivet; they can be unscrewed, but only with a matching slightly-elliptical socket. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.70|199.27.133.70]] 06:35, 16 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
All of which can be removed by a sonic screwdriver. Totally a real thing. {{unsigned ip|173.245.50.86}}<br />
<br />
<br />
Could the "cursed -1" be a Nethack reference? I don't know if Dungeons and Dragons has the "blessed/uncursed/cursed" status, but in Nethack cursed items with negative enchantments (denoted "cursed -whatever") are a pretty common occurrence. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.25|199.27.133.25]] 07:31, 16 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In Nethack, Cursed objects cannot be removed. Seems appropriate. At first I thought it was a pozidrive screw head. Posts on the fission screw head: where have you seen screws whose divot does *not* extend across the head? {{unsigned ip|199.27.128.230}}<br />
<br />
[[User:Kreuiter|Kreuiter]] ([[User talk:Kreuiter|talk]]) 08:03, 16 January 2015 (UTC)from wikipedia: Louis Philippe Joseph d'Orléans (13 April 1747 – 6 November 1793) commonly known as Philippe, was a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the ruling dynasty of France. He actively supported the French Revolution and adopted the name Philippe Égalité, but was nonetheless guillotined during the Reign of Terror<br />
<br />
I don't think it is specifically a reference to Nethack as a lot of ol games (both video and tabletop) use the mechanic of non removable cursed objects. It is common enough in my opinion that we could argue about until we are blue in the face and get nowhere. {{unsigned ip|108.162.237.193}}<br />
<br />
<br />
uranium screw may be a reference to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Slotin#Criticality_accident Louis Slotin], who died when he was using a screw driver to seperate two halves of a plutonium sphere as part of a science demonstration, and triggered a large burst of radiation when his hand slipped.<br />
--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.59|108.162.216.59]] 08:28, 16 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I'm thinking it might benefit the article to include a place in the wikitable for the correct term for each drive socket. Of course their are not correct terms for each of them. Not to mention rivets and Phillip's heads don't even have drive sockets. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.189|173.245.56.189]] 09:04, 16 January 2015 (UTC)BLuDgeons<br />
<br />
<br />
If you suggest cursed-1 is because if misuse - I in first place thought of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives#Pozidriv] as the cursed one - because Philipps and Pozidriv are slightly incompatible and causes damage. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.18|108.162.254.18]] 09:09, 16 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:+1, the cursed one looked to me like pozidriv at the first glance, and it's really cursed as interchanging them leads to damage ... And the most fun is when you get some Chinese crap that looks like pozidriv but it doesn't fit so you use philips which doesn't quite fit too but at least it can be inserted and you end up damaging both the driver and the screw :-/ --kavol, [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.96|108.162.254.96]] 10:02, 16 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Is it really true that Phillips head are 'commonly used in construction'? At least in Europe they were replaced by Pozidriv in the 1990's and these days by Torx. {{unsigned|Popup}}<br />
<br />
Maybe this depends on the quality of the product? If i look around, i find lots of products held together by phillips screws and only a few (usually more hi-tech and expensive) one with torx screws. [[User:Knob creek|Knob creek]] ([[User talk:Knob creek|talk]]) 09:28, 16 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:er, what do you call "a product"? - If "construction" is mentioned, I imagine things like wooden skeleton of a roof, fastening of windows/doors, self-tapping screws, wallplug screws ... and it's almost 100% pozidriv and torx here in central Europe. ("Almost" accounts for imports by non-european companies.) If I imagine metal constructions, from racks to bridges, hex and inbus (= hex slot) prevail. --kavol, [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.96|108.162.254.96]] 10:02, 16 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Perhaps a reference to http://xkcd.com/927/ - Standards? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.79.61|141.101.79.61]]<br />
<br />
Phillips screws have a larger number for larger size, not smaller.</div>108.162.216.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=396:_The_Ring&diff=73187396: The Ring2014-08-08T06:04:51Z<p>108.162.216.35: /* corrects grammar: The old wording made it seem like the video tape dies within seven days. */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 396<br />
| date = March 14, 2008<br />
| title = The Ring<br />
| image = the_ring.png<br />
| titletext = On the other hand, poor Samara -- transcoded to FLV. No one deserves that.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|The Ring (2002 film)|The Ring}} is a {{w|horror movie}} released in 2002 based off the Japanese movie {{w|Ring (film)|Ringu}}. In it, there is a video tape that causes everyone who watches it to die after seven days. However, the viewer can prevent their death by making a copy of the tape and giving it to someone else.<br />
<br />
A young boy [[Cueball]] watches the tape and prevents his own death by "copying" the tape and uploading it to a video-sharing website, presumably {{w|YouTube}}. Cueball not only got one person to watch it, the requirement for escaping death, but 363,104 people; all of whom are most likely going to die in seven days.<br />
<br />
{{w|Rickrolling}} is an Internet meme where someone is lured into clicking on a video link of {{w|Rick Astley}} singing "{{w|Never Gonna Give You Up}}." When someone is Rickrolled, they usually get very upset. Cueball states in the comic that he uploaded the tape to get revenge on everyone who Rickrolled him, though it was obvious that he would likely kill many more people than those who Rickrolled him (or those who've Rickrolled anyone else).<br />
<br />
The title text refers to the file format used by the YouTube player. Historically, YouTube was famous for having extremely poor quality videos because their Internet connections were slower and server storage space was expensive. So, all videos were {{w|transcode}}d into a very low quality {{w|FLV}} (flash video) format.<br />
<br />
The girl shown in the video tape — a major part of The Ring series — is named Samara. Posting the tape on YouTube would result in heavily compressed videos in the FLV format. This, presumably, would reduce the quality of Samara's apparition. The title text also implies that nobody deserves that although Rickrolling is apparently punishable by death.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Ponytail is speaking to young Cueball sitting in front of a TV with a black background and a white ring.]<br />
:Ponytail: You watched the tape!?<br />
:Cueball: Yeah, sorry.<br />
<br />
:Ponytail: Now you'll die in seven days!<br />
:Cueball: It's worse than that.<br />
<br />
:[TV is cut from the frame.]<br />
:Ponytail: ...You didn't.<br />
:Cueball: Yup.<br />
<br />
:[Both are now in front of a computer, Ponytail leaning in.]<br />
:Ponytail: Great, It's got 363,104 views ''already''.<br />
:Cueball: They kept Rickrolling me! It was only fair.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]</div>108.162.216.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1398:_Snake_Facts&diff=722001398: Snake Facts2014-07-23T20:42:01Z<p>108.162.216.35: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1398<br />
| date = July 23, 2014<br />
| title = Snake Facts<br />
| image = snake_facts_new.png<br />
| titletext = Biologically speaking, what we call a 'snake' is actually a human digestive tract which has escaped from its host.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic lists a few '{{w|factoid}}s' about snakes, ranging from the mildly informative to the strictly tongue-in-cheek. The first factoid references the hypothesis that {{w|snake venom}} was an evolutionary development of {{w|saliva}} that, over time, gradually became more toxic as snakes with saliva that was able to assist in subduing their prey possessed an evolutionary advantage. It then posits that the evolutionary branch that developed into venomous snakes began with a snake whose mutation gave him a mouth that was 'slightly more gross than usual'.<br />
<br />
The second factoid references the 'longest snake in the world', citing a South American habitat. Given the habitat listed, it is possible the comic is referring to the Green Anaconda ''({{w|Eunectes murinus}})'', but the Green Anaconda, while an impressive creature and one of the longest snakes in the world, is generally not as long as the Reticulated Python ''({{w|Python reticulatus}})'' of Southeast Asia, which is generally recognized as the world's longest snake, though not its largest by mass. The factoid then states that the world's longest snake is 'believed to be over 60 years old'. As Anacondas generally do not live beyond 20 years in captivity, and likely less in the wild, the factoid appears to be in error on this count also. Its wording seems intended to imply that the snake in question is not a ''species'', but rather a ''single specimen''. Also, this information can be disappointing, as one could expect to learn about the length of the snake, not his age.<br />
<br />
Additionally, the comic illustration accompanying the second factoid colors in a '{{w|habitat}} range' on a map of South America that is snake-shaped, possibly implying that when it states 'The longest snake is found in {{w|Brazil}} into {{w|Chile}} and {{w|Peru}}' that this snake is so long that it literally stretches from Brazil, Chile, and Peru, and that the 'habitat' shaded on the map is, in fact, this mammoth snake's {{w|silhouette}}.<br />
<br />
The final factoid is entirely tongue-in-cheek, beginning with a typical factoid trope in which a collection of related items are laid end-to-end, then the length is compared to something else in a way intended to surprise the reader that the collection of items is indeed, so extensive (literally and figuratively). For example, "If you laid all the veins and arteries in the human body end-to-end, they would stretch 60,000 miles". The third factoid takes the form of that trope and turns it into a joke, "If you laid all the bones in a snake end to end, you would have a snake." The resulting length would not be a surprise to anyone, as snake's bodies are long and narrow and thus their bones are roughly arranged 'end to end' already (at least compared to most other creatures). Obviously, you would not have an entire snake, literally, but you would have a skeleton that was recognizably that of a snake and could reasonably be referred to as 'a snake', albeit a skeletal one.<br />
<br />
The title text presents the amusing idea that 'snakes' as we know them are not, in fact, a suborder of reptiles but are instead human {{w|digestive tract}}s that, rather than being a system of organs, are creatures capable of escaping from their 'host' human and living independently. The idea seems to follow from the superficial resemblance between snakes and the human digestive tract as long, roughly tubular collections of animal matter, which can process the food entering the top end, and getting rid of the waste in the other end. Actually the human digestive tract is essentially a hole that runs through the body, closed off most of the time only by {{w|sphincter}}s, and digestion thus can be said to take place outside the body. Nutrients are absorbed across membranes via osmosis, active transport, and diffusion.<br />
<br />
==Correction==<br />
*Randall had previously posted an incorrect map, that included the snake's habitat in {{w|Bolivia}} instead of Peru. [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/0/0e/snake_facts.png]<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:'''Snake Facts:'''<br />
:Snake venom evolved from saliva, which means it all started with a snake whose mouth was slightly more gross than usual.<br />
:[Picture of a snake below the text above] <br />
:Snake: Hi guys!<br />
:Off-panel voice: Eww, it's Frank.<br />
:[Map of South America with gray shade in the form of a snake. Text to the left of it] <br />
:The world's longest snake is found in Brazil, Peru and Chile. It is believed to be over 60 years old. <br />
:[Picture of a snake skeleton between the first and the second of the lines below] <br />
:If you laid all the bones in a snake end-to-end,<br />
:you would have a snake<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Animals]]</div>108.162.216.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1386:_People_are_Stupid&diff=70393Talk:1386: People are Stupid2014-06-25T15:12:22Z<p>108.162.216.35: </p>
<hr />
<div>On average yes, an individual is of average intelligence. But taken as a population of a whole, well, that's a different story entirely. Randall needs a vacation, ever since he jumped the shark with the dead baby it just feels like the downward trend is getting steeper. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.135|108.162.210.135]] 13:20, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Isn't that a reference to the Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence? [[Special:Contributions/103.22.200.119|103.22.200.119]] 04:49, 25 June 2014 (UTC)krayZpaving<br />
<br />
White Hat being burned? This certainly will not end here.--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.102.208|141.101.102.208]] 04:52, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
'''''Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.''''' This wiki is founded on the very principle that people are stupid. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.223.29|108.162.223.29]] 05:35, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
: You make an intelligent point, which I both appreciate and like. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.222.50|108.162.222.50]] 13:41, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
::Awww, it's just a joke, it's not personal or anything! '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:43, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
This comment is one that makes me scratch my head and wonder... surely Randall is able to see that intelligence is not a relative but rather an absolute thing (if one were to kill the 10% most intelligent people the rest wouldn't get dumber, nor smarter). Surely intelligence is not to be measured in units of the common denominator. Surely it is obvious that 2nd panel is a pure strawman. Sigh...<br />
Oh and btw an IQ of 100 is the median, not the average. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.17|141.101.104.17]] 09:18, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
: I am wondering if the explanation should not include a mention of the Median/Mean problem because it is entirely possible for a majority of a population to be above or below some mean (average) statistic depending on the distribution. Also stupidity is a standard that is not dependent on either median or mean.[[User:Sturmovik|Sturmovik]] ([[User talk:Sturmovik|talk]]) 11:46, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
: The IQ of 100 is actually defined to be the median AND the average (and also the mode). It is also defined that the distibution around the IQ of 100 is a perfect bell curve. The IQ just tells you how many people in the world have your IQ (It is also defined that two values that have same distance from hundred, e.g. 80 and 120 have the same amount of people, 'cause it's a perfect bell curve (this means that there are as many people with IQ 120 as people with IQ 80). If the overall population gets more intelligent they have to make the IQ tests harder, so that 100 is again the average and median (This really happened). This and some other things are reasons why I think that IQ tests are BS. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.93.219|141.101.93.219]] 14:01, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
:: "A test device with numerous correlates measures an amount of environmental influences beside innate determinants, therefore bullshit"... What are your other objections to I.Q. testing? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.221|141.101.89.221]] 14:17, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The mocking "award", which is an analogy of saying "intelligence isn't everything" (an EXTREMELY common cliche), reflects the fact that Randall, like just about anyone, is oblivious to the magnitude of the totality of positive correlates of intelligence, and even (TRIGGER WARNING, TABOO CONCEPT AHEAD) I.Q. Intelligence, I.Q., not only makes you happier, it also makes you more helpful to other people, more creative, more socially stable, better-to-do, less susceptible to mental illnesses, more likely to remember events in your life, etc. etc. etc... Basically, there isn't a positive trait or quality of life with which intelligence doesn't correlate. But people positively LOATHE awareness of how highly intelligence, in fact, matters. Hence the vehement denial whenever someone indicates its importance, all the "I know an intelligent person who is miserable/mean/...", all stressing of exceptions, all ridicule of the notion of intelligence in general, all the "don't think about it"-mentality, all writing off of I.Q. as "antiquated, grossly limited, racist, metric" rather than the extremely potent predictor that it is. tl;dr Randall at all, take time to actually STUDY intelligence or the g factor before you mock it like that. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 09:25, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
: In other words (and this is going to be my last addendum to this note, because it is a vast subject), whenever people say (or imply, as in the comic's case) that "intelligence isn't everything", the question to ask in return is, "okay, now what is the degree to which intelligence enables, facilitates, contributes to, 'the rest' to which you're opposing intelligence here?". People minimise the depth and breadth of the intellectual substrate of achievement. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 09:33, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
: Also, Randall (and everyone saying that) is being highly unjust in equating "people aren't smart" with "people aren't as smart as me". A perfectly valid alternative sense is, "people aren't as smart as to be rationally expected to contribute to rather than damage the discussion/situation/position at hand"--having the objective good, the objective recognition that certain situations (for instance, a certain online conversation which is expected to be competent) require certain minimal intellectual thresholds (for instance, an I.Q. of 120), in mind rather than egotic comparison. Lower intelligence, deny it all you please, comes with temperamental problems for instance. Selection for intelligence will largely filter them out. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 09:46, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
:: tl;dr of my entire production here: people must learn that BOTH situations of the Dunning-Kruger are equally harmful, the one that's less often considered perhaps actually even more so. Mistaken self-perception as intelligent is bad for the individual, but refusal to acknowledge the importance of one's own cognitive capacity (which is as good as universal in intelligent people--"I am not that smart" (who hasn't heard that one innumerable times?), "I just like doing thing x, my proficiency in it has nothing to do with my intelligence or I.Q.", "I have areas in which I'm 'stupid' too", "effort counts too") has societal consequences, of contributing to erroneous dismissal of the notions of intelligence & I.Q. & g etc. Shutting up for good now. Night. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 10:11, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
::: GAHHHHH just one more thing. Consider this: the fact that people dismiss I.Q. is the best indicator of how important a trait it really is. Thing is, people would not feel compelled by modesty to deny its importance had it not been vitally integral to many, many things. We deny what we value, so to give hope to those who lack that thing (to comfort those who lack intelligence). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 10:15, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::: Hey 141.101.89.211... I wonder if you have something to say, but despite my best efforts, I'm having trouble following everything you're saying - I have a feeling you were a bit emotional (perhaps tired?) when writing that, or you might have had fewer "more things" immediately following "I'm done" statements. If you're up for it, I'd appreciate you taking the time to make sure you're saying what you want to say, and ''then'' say it, because you seem to at least have good grammar (though there ''were'' a few British spellings... :-D), so I suspect you probably have a good point. It's also conceivable that I'm just not smart enough to get what you're saying (?) or perhaps it's just too ''early'' for me. BTW the best way of making sure I see what you're saying would probably be to let me know on my [[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk page]]... might even have the conversation there if you'd prefer. Thanks for your time. [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 11:25, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I would add one "people are stupid" angle not yet mentioned: judging by behavior, most groups of people are less intelligent that any member of that group individually. This is valid even for the "all people" group - just look at the planet. Surprisingly, judging by content of most wikis, the "editors of wiki" groups seems to immune. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:05, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
: Good point--conforming to pressures of one's group or one's position to the detriment of one's judgment is a separate personality trait. The phenomenon is remedied by intelligence, but independent from it. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 10:11, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
: Beat me to it. I'd like to add that even individual people have their occasional stupid and intelligent moments, with the stupid ones typically being of greater magnitude. Thus, it's not unreasonable to say that the average actions of people are at least slightly less intelligent than the average intelligence of most people on most days. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.83|173.245.55.83]] 12:13, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I can't believe people say things like that, man, people are stupid [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 10:52, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Thanks for the Lake Wobegon references. Not only is it on-target, but I take personal joy seeing mentions of uniquely Minnesotan culture anywhere I can find them. --BigMal27, Minnesota-born, Minnesotan-raised // [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.88|173.245.55.88]] 11:53, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Instead of saying, "People are stupid," we would do better to say "People make poor decisions / statements / judgments." And this, for multiple reasons, few of them I suspect tied to basal intelligence. Stage of life, level of health and stress, experience relative to the topic, level of education and the quality of that education, cultural idiotic beliefs that interfere with optimal choices, and a zillion others. Plus, as a large percentage of humans are either just coming online in experience and education, or are winding down in health and mental function, we are guaranteed to see a large percentage of stupid decisions right across the IQ landscape. No help for it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.217|108.162.246.217]] 13:04, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
: I.Q. affects level of health and stress, rate of acquisition of experience, level of education, quality of education obtained, preference of cultural beliefs. It doesn't seem to defy reason that it affects the zillion other factors, too. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.221|141.101.89.221]] 13:17, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
: Remember, in interaction between psychological and social factors, the question is never of *existence* of a connection, but of its magnitude. It is fine to posit a multitude of environmental factors that determine (ir)rationality, but as long as such position keeps people from connecting I.Q. with those factors' actual occurrence (how much I.Q. does it take to finish a good school? to develop a habit of reading a book every month? this is not at all trivial question, and it needs to be resolved with more than anecdotal evidence of "I know an intelligent illiterate person"), there might be an elephant buried underneath the room which no one knows about. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.221|141.101.89.221]] 13:25, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I know Cueball's explanation can be construed to illustrate otherwise; but I doubt the comic was meant to be a comment on the relative intelligence of humanity. It seems more likely, to me, that the purpose of the comic was to comment on the stonewalling that the mindset, "I'm better than you," induces. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.35|108.162.216.35]] 15:12, 25 June 2014 (UTC)</div>108.162.216.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1056:_Felidae&diff=688301056: Felidae2014-06-04T14:32:52Z<p>108.162.216.35: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1056<br />
| date = May 16, 2012<br />
| title = Felidae<br />
| image = felidae.png<br />
| titletext = 'Smilodon fatalis' narrowly edged out 'Tyrannosaurus rex' to win this year's Most Badass Latin Names competition, after edging out 'Dracorex hogwartsia' and 'Stygimoloch spinifer' (meaning 'horned dragon from the river of death') in the semifinals.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic shows a graph with three parts.<br />
<br />
First, the names are sorted up by genera (plural of {{w|genus}}, a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms) from bottom to top of which animals would win in a fight. Secondly, the names within the genus are then sorted by coolness of name from left to right. Thirdly, in red you can see the direction that {{w|Apple Inc.|Apple}} has taken with nicknaming the versions of their {{w|OS X}} operating system. They started at v10.0 "Cheetah", and have moved through genera from there in no order that this chart can make out.<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!OS X version<br />
!code name<br />
!year released<br />
|-<br />
|10.0||Cheetah||2001<br />
|-<br />
|10.1||Puma||2001<br />
|-<br />
|10.2||Jaguar||2002<br />
|-<br />
|10.3||Panther||2003<br />
|-<br />
|10.4||Tiger||2004<br />
|-<br />
|10.5||Leopard||2006<br />
|-<br />
|10.6||Snow Leopard||2008<br />
|-<br />
|10.7||Lion||2010<br />
|-<br />
|10.8||Mountain Lion||2012<br />
|}<br />
<br />
[[:Category:Bobcats|Bobcats]] are a joke in this comic because they appear in the strangest places. The genus ''Puma'' here only lists synonyms for the puma (see {{w|cougar}}) instead of {{w|Puma_(genus)|the actual genus}}. Of course, the three OS X versions named by three of these synonyms are not the same.<br />
<br />
Despite being named after "Hogwarts", the magical school from the Harry Potter series of books and movies, ''{{w|Dracorex hogwartsia}}'' is real.<br />
<br />
Since this comic was published, Apple has stopped naming versions of OS X after big cats: v10.8 "Mountain Lion" was followed by v10.9 "Mavericks", named after a beach in California, and will be followed by v10.10 "Yosemite", named after the California national park.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Well-known felines:<br />
:[A graph organizing various feline species labeled with common names ordered by Genera (in order of which would win in a fight) on the y axis, and coolness of name on the x axis.]<br />
:Smilodon (extinct): "Saber-toothed cat (scientific name: Smilodon fatalis)<br />
:Panthera: "Jaguar", "Leopard", "Snow Leopard", "Tiger", "Lion"<br />
:Puma: "Cougar", "Puma", "Panther", "Mountain Lion"<br />
:Other felidae: "Ocelot", "Cheetah"<br />
:Felis & Lynx: "Housecat", "Bobcat", "Wildcat", "Lynx"<br />
:[Some elements are further connected using an unbranched acyclic digraph. The elements are connected thus: "Cheetah" -> "Puma" -> "Jaguar" -> "Panther" -> "Tiger" -> "Leopard" -> "Snow Leopard" -> "Lion" -> "Mountain Lion".]<br />
:The OS X Problem<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Bobcats]]</div>108.162.216.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1375:_Astronaut_Vandalism&diff=68378Talk:1375: Astronaut Vandalism2014-05-30T12:00:29Z<p>108.162.216.35: </p>
<hr />
<div>Is there an actual place that this is referencing? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.222.41|108.162.222.41]] 05:14, 30 May 2014 (UTC)<br />
:This seems to be Grenada, MS. {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.28}}<br />
<br />
Grenada is possible - but given the NASA connection to Winona, and the fact that the numbers are exact (but reversed), I think it's a better candidate. {{unsigned|Thesetwoutes}}<br />
:There is Camp McCain 17 miles north of Winona which would have the correct distances. [[User:Sten|'''S<small>TEN</small>''']] <small>([[User talk:Sten|talk]])</small> 10:20, 30 May 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Space is usually indicated by pointing straight up. This sign points a little to one side as well though. Since these places the other pointers reference are in the northern hemisphere, and from the comic's point of view Memphis (North) is on the left and Jackson (south) is on the right, the 'Space' sign is pointing slightly south. Assuming the sign would point straight up at the equator, measuring the angle from the direction the sign is pointing to the vertical axis, and doing some math, would give the latitude of the sign and a better indication of its exact location. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.225|141.101.89.225]] 06:49, 30 May 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
There doesn't seem to be anywhere named anything like "space" 53 miles from Jackson along this line. (Approximately Goodman, MS, birthplace of John Lomax.) Is the marker supposed to have been brought in specifically for this purpose? I thought it would make more sense if the arrow had just been turned up. (For the numbers reversed theory, 36 miles from Jackson appears to be completely rural, though features the site of Casey Jones' death.) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.35|108.162.216.35]] 12:00, 30 May 2014 (UTC)</div>108.162.216.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1360:_Old_Files&diff=66104Talk:1360: Old Files2014-04-25T12:42:48Z<p>108.162.216.35: Speculation of symbolism</p>
<hr />
<div>I notice backup and recovery files. I once had a folder on my father's computer that housed everything I did. When the drive crashed, I managed to recover it and store it to a CD-ROM (this was before thumb drives). I copied everything onto my first computer within my main folder (I don't use My Documents), and I continue to move my main folder into a new main folder each time I migrate between computers. I have so many nested memories. I, too, have incomplete fan-fiction and instant message logs. Oh, and a dream.txt. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.218|108.162.237.218]] 04:47, 25 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I don't have as much of a problem with the "old files room", because I keep nearly all of my files on my laptop, but my hard drive is almost full. Another hard drive replace the CD drive, but this computer won't last much longer (bye cd drive workaround). I'll have to build an "old files room" sooner or later. [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 05:07, 25 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Back in the... early '90s, I think it was... I recall there being someone like a buddhist monk (or someone ''claiming'' to be someone like a buddhist monk, and the religion could have been something else) who set up an internet site (not necessarily a website) as a temple for "all lost data". The files you had accidentally deleted, the floppies that got damaged or otherwise corrupted, forgotten formats on old drives that you'd lost the wherewithall to access them. Between this and the "hoarder" behaviour exhibitted in the above XKCD folder we encompass ''all'' long-term computer users. At the same time. I know I regret the dead USB sticks (with irreplacable content) and yet I stare in hopelessness at the folders "GStick" and "FStick" within My Documents, that really need looking at again. (No, they don't contain the lost material. Datestamped at 2009.) But they're two of fifty-three separate subfolders (and a helluva lot of loose files) in that level. "WebRedo"? I remember that. That site hasn't even been ''active'' for about a decade. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.224|141.101.89.224]] 06:50, 25 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;Explanation<br />
I think the point of the comic doesn't come across in the explanation. It's not just that he's sifting through files, but that he's finding files nested deeply in his folder structure that just came to pass because he always copied contents of an old computer to some folder on the next computer and then ignored its contents.<br />
<br />
I.e. in his "Documents" folder, there is the "Old Desktop" folder from a previous computer, which contains the "Recovered from drive crash" folder from another previous system, which has another "Mu Documents" folder within, ... etc. The nesting aspect should somehow be integrated into the explanation.<br />
--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.57|108.162.229.57]] 09:59, 25 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The shape of the panel is vaguely reminiscent of a hard drive, this may be intentional, being emphasized by the increasing size of the individual layers. In which case there might be some metaphor construed by the placement of the two characters based on their location in the structure of the hard-drive perhaps involving the catalog index.</div>108.162.216.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:774:_Atheists&diff=59747Talk:774: Atheists2014-02-11T02:17:32Z<p>108.162.216.35: </p>
<hr />
<div>Atheists aren't annoying, they are just boring. Nobody likes a party pooper. <br />
<br />
The sad truth is that there's nothing out there but the universe. Luckily, it's a magnificent one. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.58|108.162.219.58]] 01:50, 24 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Just as i read the word 'magnificent' the conclusion part of 'eclipse' (from dark side of the moon) started. Great timing :) --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.35|108.162.216.35]] 02:17, 11 February 2014 (UTC)</div>108.162.216.35