https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=108.162.245.179&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T11:33:42ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1635:_Birdsong&diff=1103281635: Birdsong2016-01-31T20:31:07Z<p>108.162.245.179: /* Explanation */ clarifying that the bird isn't signing words in the first panel, but starts that in the 2nd</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1635<br />
| date = January 27, 2016<br />
| title = Birdsong<br />
| image = birdsong.png<br />
| titletext = Maybe if I put it in a box for a while with a speaker playing some pleasant pastoral music, I can reprogram it.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic shows [[Cueball]] walking and singing along with the {{w|songbird}} singing above him; Cueball is apparently enjoying the perfect weather and the birdsong as he comments on both. In the next panel, the bird continues to sing but now it sings actual words (to the song "{{w|Smooth (song)|Smooth}}" ([https://youtu.be/6Whgn_iE5uc?t=1m26s official video]) by {{w|Santana (band)|Santana}} featuring {{w|Rob Thomas (musician)|Rob Thomas}}). This gives the word songbird a completely new meaning. The bird's singing begins to annoy Cueball, so he chases the bird with a {{w|butterfly net}} in an attempt to catch it. Meanwhile the bird just continues with the song. (Interestingly the two lines from the last two panels follow each other in the song, but Cueball manages to get hold of the net in between).<br />
<br />
The lines the bird sings are (most) of the last three lines from the chorus (see the [http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/santana/smooth.html lyrics]):<br />
*And it's just like the ocean under the moon<br />
*Well, that's the same as the emotion that I get from you<br />
*You '''got the kind of loving that can be so smooth, yeah.'''<br />
*'''Gimme your heart, make it real'''<br />
*'''Or else forget about it'''<br />
<br />
The comic is a play on the words ''bird'' and ''song''. Songbirds, of course, don't actually sing: the sounds they make are territorial challenges, mating cries, etc. But in Western cultural traditions, particularly the {{w|pastoral}} one, imagining these sounds as 'song' is part of seeing nature as beautiful and harmonious. Ironically, the fact that this bird is really singing pop music, is perceived by Cueball to be an intrusion. <br />
<br />
In the title text Cueball suggest playing {{w|Pastoral#Pastoral_music|pastoral music}} to 'reprogram' the bird, which is of course an even more unnatural intervention - all with the purpose of restoring the pastoral naturalness of the nature. Of course some birds can actually {{w|Talking bird|emulate human words}}, and in this way also sing real words, like with the {{w|common hill myna}}. Other birds can mimic any odd and unusual sounds, particularly the {{w|lyrebird}} of Australia is known to reproduce all types of sounds from chainsaws to barking dogs and certainly also music.<br />
<br />
The title text of "reprogramming" the bird by placing it in a box also refers to {{w|B. F. Skinner|B.F. Skinner}} and his development of {{w|Programmed learning|programmed learning}} through his theories of operand conditioning and behaviorism in psychology. By famously using birds in so-called {{w|Skinner boxes}}, he conditioned birds to respond to certain stimuli and expect rewards for particular behaviors, leading to an understanding of many impulsive behaviors in humans like addiction. Cueball apparently hopes to "correct" the bird and its song through this method.<br />
<br />
Lately [[Randall]] has had his characters catch several things (but [[:Category:Butterfly net|never butterflies]]) with a butterfly net; most recently in [[1622: Henge]], where it was the Sun that was caught in the net...<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is walking and talking, while a bird, flying above him is singing, with four notes floating around it to indicate this. The notes are clearly above and removed from Cueball's text.]<br />
:Cueball (singing): The sun is shining, the birds are singing—<br />
<br />
:[Cueball stops and looks up when the bird above him starts to sing using human language, four notes are floating around the text. The text of the bird's song is in ''italic text'' to indicate this.]<br />
:Bird (singing): ''Got the kind of lovin' that can be so smooth, yeah''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball looks down and black smoke emanates from the top of his head. The bird now flies above the panel but still sings in human language, four notes are floating below the text.]<br />
:Bird (singing - off-panel): ''Give me your heart, make it real''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is chasing the bird with a butterfly net, the bird is flying away from Cueball, continuing to sing, four notes are floating around the text.]<br />
:Bird (singing): ''Or else forget about it''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Music]]<br />
[[Category:Songs]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Butterfly net]]</div>108.162.245.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1635:_Birdsong&diff=1101341635: Birdsong2016-01-28T05:17:57Z<p>108.162.245.179: /* Explanation */ dialog line in panel 1 clearly points to Cueball. It doesn't "become apparent" that the singer is "actually" the bird because in panel 1 it's clearly not the bird.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1635<br />
| date = January 27, 2016<br />
| title = Birdsong<br />
| image = birdsong.png<br />
| titletext = Maybe if I put it in a box for a while with a speaker playing some pleasant pastoral music, I can reprogram it.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic shows [[Cueball]] walking along with a {{w|songbird}} singing above him; Cueball is apparently enjoying the perfect weather and the birdsong as he comments on both. In the next panel, the bird is singing the words to the song "{{w|Smooth (song)|Smooth}}" ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Whgn_iE5uc official video]) by {{w|Santana (band)|Santana}} featuring {{w|Rob Thomas (musician)|Rob Thomas}}. This gives the word songbird a completely new meaning. The bird's singing begins to annoy Cueball, so he chases the bird with a {{w|butterfly net}} in an attempt to catch it. Meanwhile the bird just continues with the song. (Interestingly the two lines from the last two panels follow each other in the song, but Cueball manages to get hold of the net in between).<br />
<br />
The lines the bird sings are (most) of the last three lines from the chorus (see the [http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/santana/smooth.html lyrics]):<br />
*And it's just like the ocean under the moon<br />
*Well, that's the same as the emotion that I get from you<br />
*You '''got the kind of loving that can be so smooth, yeah.'''<br />
*'''Gimme your heart, make it real'''<br />
*'''Or else forget about it'''<br />
<br />
The comic is a play on the words ''bird'' and ''song''. Songbirds, of course, don't actually sing: the sounds they make are territorial challenges, mating cries, etc. But in Western cultural traditions, particularly the {{w|pastoral}} one, imagining these sounds as 'song' is part of seeing nature as beautiful and harmonious. Ironically, the fact that this bird is really singing urban pop music, is perceived by Cueball to be an intrusion. <br />
<br />
In the title text Cueball suggest playing {{w|Pastoral#Pastoral_music|pastoral music}} to 'reprogram' the bird, which is of course an even more unnatural intervention - all with the purpose of restoring the pastoral naturalness of the nature. Of course some birds can actually {{w|Talking bird|emulate human words}}, and in this way also sing real words, like with the {{w|common hill myna}}. Other birds can mimic any odd and unusual sounds, particularly the {{w|lyrebird}} of Australia is known to reproduce all types of sounds from chainsaws to barking dogs and certainly also music.<br />
<br />
The title text of "reprogramming" the bird by placing it in a box also refers to {{w|B. F. Skinner|B.F. Skinner}} and his development of {{w|Programmed learning|programmed learning}} through his theories of operand conditioning and behaviorism in psychology. By famously using birds in so-called {{w|Skinner boxes}}, he conditioned birds to respond to certain stimuli and expect rewards for particular behaviors, leading to an understanding of many impulsive behaviors in humans like addiction. Cueball apparently hopes to "correct" the bird and its song through this method.<br />
<br />
Lately Randall has had his characters catch several things (but [[:Category:Butterfly net|never butterflies]]) with a butterfly net; recently in [[1622: Henge]] it was the sun...<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is walking and talking, while a bird, flying above him is singing, with four notes floating around it to indicate this. The notes are clearly above and removed from Cueball's text.]<br />
:Cueball (singing): The sun is shining, the birds are singing—<br />
<br />
:[Cueball stops and looks up when the bird above him starts to sing using human language, four notes are floating around the text. The text of the bird's song is in ''italic text'' to indicate this.]<br />
:Bird (singing): ''Got the kind of lovin' that can be so smooth, yeah''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball looks down and black smoke emanates from the top of his head. The bird now flies above the panel but still sings in human language, four notes are floating below the text.]<br />
:Bird (singing - off-panel): ''Give me your heart, make it real''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is chasing the bird with a butterfly net, the bird is flying away from Cueball, continuing to sing, four notes are floating around the text.]<br />
:Bird (singing): ''Or else forget about it''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Music]]<br />
[[Category:Songs]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Butterfly net]]</div>108.162.245.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1632:_Palindrome&diff=1096781632: Palindrome2016-01-21T16:02:46Z<p>108.162.245.179: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1632<br />
| date = January 20, 2016<br />
| title = Palindrome<br />
| image = palindrome.png<br />
| titletext = I hope that somewhere in the world, "Panamax" is the last option on a "size" drop-down menu on a sex toy site.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
A {{w|palindrome}} is a word, phrase, or sentence that reads the same whether you read forwards or backwards, like ''race car''. Normally capitalization, spacing, and punctuation are ignored.<br />
<br />
This comic is based on the famous palindrome: "A Man, A Plan, A Canal: Panama", devised by {{w|Leigh Mercer}}, which references the construction of the {{w|Panama Canal}} and is the first mentioned on the Wikipedia page for palindromes [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Palindrome&oldid=700753837 at the time] this comic was released. <br />
<br />
[[Megan]] recites a much longer palindrome for [[Cueball]]. This palindrome is based on the original, (and was posted in this [http://www.talking-time.net/showthread.php?p=1370627#post1370627 forum thread] more than three years before the release of this comic). It is much less logical, and manages to include the word anal (which then refers to the title text and sex toys, see below). <br />
<br />
[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nam 'Nam] is an apheresis of Vietnam. See more explanation of the words in the palindrome in the [[#Trivia|Trivia]] section. Note that in the original version from the link above there was a comma before tables so it is two items in the list: God's 'Nam, tables, etc.<br />
<br />
Due to its list like structure, the Panama palindrome is easily extensible by adding additional [http://www2.vo.lu/homepages/phahn/anagrams/panama.htm noun phrases], and some of these extensions lay claim to being "[http://norvig.com/pal17txt.html The Longest Palindrome Ever]".<br />
<br />
The title text references the maximum size of ships that can fit through the Panama Canal, which is {{w|Panamax}}. [[Randall]] would really enjoy if this was the last option (i.e. biggest size) on a {{w|drop-down menu}} on a {{w|sex toy}} site. For instance such a site could have a banner saying; "If you have a ''Panama Anal'', then try our ''Panamax {{w|Butt plug}}''".<br />
<br />
In the game [[1608: Hoverboard]] there is also a reference to the Panama canal with the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/0/0d/1608_1026x1073y_Ruins_with_Cueball_singing_of_Spiders_and_Panama.png song that Cueball sings at the ruin] to the right.<br />
<br />
===The Palindrome===<br />
Although it is less logical it is indeed a palindrome:<br />
:'''Original''':<br />
:: A man, a plan, a God's 'Nam tables, nitrate, tar, tinsel, Batman's dog: Anal Panama.<br />
<br />
: '''Palindrome''', i.e. original sentence reversed:<br />
:: amanaP lanA :god s'namtaB ,lesnit ,rat ,etartin ,selbat maN' s'doG a ,nalp a ,nam A<br />
<br />
: '''With no spaces''' or other punctuation and in all lowercase:<br />
:: amanaplanagodsnamtablesnitratetartinselbatmansdoganalpanama<br />
<br />
: '''With no spaces and as palindrome''':<br />
:: amanaplanagodsnamtablesnitratetartinselbatmansdoganalpanama<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and Megan are walking. She holds up her arm and hand while reciting a palindrome:]<br />
:Megan: A man, a plan, a God's 'Nam tables, nitrate, tar, tinsel, Batman's dog: Anal Panama.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*In the [http://www.talking-time.net/showpost.php?p=1370627&postcount=6286 version] posted on-line in 2012, there was an extra comma after God's 'Nam:<br />
**A man, a plan, a God's 'Nam, tables, nitrate, tar, tinsel, Batman's dog: Anal Panama.<br />
**This means that it is not ''God's 'Nam tables'', but rather two items ''God's 'Nam'' and ''tables'', since it is a list of items.<br />
*The '''meaning of the words''':<br />
**These words are from the original palindrome: Man, Plan and Panama<br />
**But what about the rest, taking the original with the "," as mentioned above:<br />
***{{w|God|God's}} 'Nam - [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nam 'Nam] is here short for {{w|Vietnam}}; God's 'Nam would refer to a Quagmire of God's creation. (The Quagmire is a figurative name of the {{w|Vietnam War}}).<br />
***{{w|Tables}} - can either be a piece of furniture or a data table.<br />
***{{w|Nitrate}} - a polyatomic ion with the molecular formula NO3− that are mainly produced for use as fertilizers in agriculture. But as an oxidizing agents it can be used to create explosives where the rapid oxidation of carbon compounds liberates large volumes of gases. Given the end of the sentence it could also be a reference to {{w|Amyl nitrite}}, for which notable side effects includes "relaxation of involuntary muscles, especially the blood vessel walls and the internal and external anal sphincter." <br />
***{{w|Tar}} - is a black mixture of hydrocarbons and free carbon. Originally referred primarily to a substance derived from the wood and roots of pine. But it has also been used in {{w|Tar#Definition|other contexts}}. For instance naturally occurring "{{w|tar pits}}", actually contain {{w|asphalt}} rather than tar.<br />
***{{w|Tinsel}} - Tinsel, is a type of decorative material that mimics the effect of ice, consisting of thin strips of sparkling material attached to a thread. When in long narrow strips not attached to thread, it is called "lametta", and emulates icicles. It was originally a metallic garland for Christmas decoration. The modern production of tinsel typically involves plastic, and is used particularly to decorate Christmas trees.<br />
***{{w|Ace the Bat-Hound|Batman's dog}} - Ace the Bat-Hound was the canine crime-fighting partner of {{w|Batman}} and {{w|Robin (comics)|Robin}} in DC Comics of the 1950s and 1960s. <br />
***{{w|Anal}} - relates to {{w|anus}}. Searching for "Anal Panama" will return links to pages with {{w|porn}}. This is because the most used form of ''Anal'' is in regard to {{w|Anal Sex}} which is often used in porn. (It is not long since another xkcd comic referred directly to porn - see [[1629: Tools]]).<br />
*The '''meaning of the sentence''':<br />
**There are no obvious meaning of this palindrome. <br />
**As it also seems it is not of Randall's device, then it seems less important for this site, than if it were.<br />
**The original palindrome was also a list of things that lead to choosing Panama. <br />
***A man had a plan to make a canal. He chose Panama.<br />
**This one is also in list form:<br />
***A man had a plan to use the Vietnam war with nitrate, tar and tinsel (maybe some kind of explosives with Christmas decorations), finally adding Batman's dog to get Anal Panama...<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Language]]<br />
[[Category:Sex]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Religion]]</div>108.162.245.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1629:_Tools&diff=109199Talk:1629: Tools2016-01-13T21:24:29Z<p>108.162.245.179: </p>
<hr />
<div>Will X be used for porn? <br />
>Yes<br />
<br />
Problem solved. It WILL be used for porn.<br />
[[User:International Space Station|International Space Station]] ([[User talk:International Space Station|talk]]) 07:57, 13 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
:What about spent uranium fuel rods? [[User:Y1ff|Y1ff]] ([[User talk:Y1ff|talk]]) 15:15, 13 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
::Used for films with the very hottest of porn stars. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.179|108.162.245.179]] 21:24, 13 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
----<br />
Compare [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPTLg-ML9Ro The Thingummybob]. <br />
----</div>108.162.245.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=821:_Five-Minute_Comics:_Part_3&diff=108382821: Five-Minute Comics: Part 32016-01-01T03:24:36Z<p>108.162.245.179: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 821<br />
| date = November 19, 2010<br />
| title = Five-Minute Comics: Part 3<br />
| image = five minute comics part 3.png<br />
| titletext = Resulting in The Little Rock 9x + C.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This is the third and final "five-minute comics" post Randall made during November 2010. The introduction to the comic explains everything you need to know about the circumstances behind it.<br />
<br />
*{{w|Pearl Harbor}} is a US Navy base that was {{w|Attack on Pearl Harbor|attacked}} in 1941 by Japanese airplanes, which prompted the US to join World War II. The attacks were made on ''December'' 7, 1941, not November 7. Thus, Randall is correct in depicting a Navy base going about its usual business.<br />
<br />
*{{w|Breastfeeding in public}} is a touchy subject in parts of the world. In the US, it is considered by some to be inconsiderate to others who would prefer not to see such a display. Of course, women breastfeeding in public are generally feeding their infants, not other adults. The situation presented in the comic is an absurd exaggeration of the debate.<br />
<br />
*"s" is the command in {{w|sed}} to perform a pattern search-and-replace; the syntax has also been adopted by other text-processing utilities, including {{w|Perl}} (a favorite subject of xkcd), and has entered into the geek lexicon as something that could appear in general conversation. The specific command "s/I think that/I saw a study once that said/g" means "Find all occurrences of the phrase 'I think that', and replace it with the phrase 'I saw a study once that said'." This will, indeed, improve the persuasiveness of an article, as the existence of scientific evidence will make people more likely to believe what's said, while most people won't even think to actually look up the study in question.<br />
<br />
*Arson is the crime of intentionally setting fire to a structure. {{w|Billy Joel}} will no doubt claim {{w|We Didn't Start the Fire|he didn't start the fire}}.<br />
<br />
*Coca-Cola is a fizzy cola-flavored soft drink, commonly abbreviated as "coke." {{w|Pop Rocks}} are a candy that contain tiny bubbles of gas, so that as the sugary candy dissolves on your tongue, it creates a popping sensation. For a long time, it was claimed that drinking the two together would cause one's stomach to explode; this was finally put to rest as some people (the Mythbusters in particular) started actually trying it, and discovered that it's merely painful, not lethal.<br />
:Here, it's combined with elements of other common scary urban legends (phones ringing and creepy laughter) to form something bizarre.<br />
<br />
*After ''{{w|Brown v. Board of Education}}'' ruled that schools could not segregate based on race, nine African American students from Little Rock, Arkansas enrolled in the previously-segregated Little Rock Central High School. The school board could not officially deny them attendance, but members of the community (and, after Arkansas governor Orval Faubus intervened, the Arkansas National Guard) formed a blockade to physically prevent them from entering the school building. The governor claimed this was within his power even after ''Brown v. Board'', because the students were enrolled without issue, they were just physically blocked from entering the school building. After determining that the right to enroll in a school does, implicitly, include the right to actually attend classes there, president Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division to accompany the students and force the National Guard to stand down, thus integrating the school. This incident became known as the {{w|Little Rock Nine}}.<br />
:However, {{w|Integral|integration}} also has a meaning in mathematics. This is indicated in the comic with the soldiers lifting up a giant integral sign to place beside the school, in order to (mathematically) integrate it. Normally, an integral only makes sense on functions; however, since this is the Little Rock ''Nine'', if we take the integral of the constant function ''f''(''x'') = 9, we do, in fact, get 9''x'' + ''C'', as stated in the title text.<br />
<br />
*Cell phones with advanced computing capabilities, typically at least requiring fully-featured Internet browsing, multimedia capabilities, and the ability to run software applications, are called "smartphones." Most cell phones also have a "vibrate" function that allows someone in a public situation to receive calls without alerting others; the phone will discreetly vibrate rather than activate a ringtone, thus privately notifying the owner that a call is incoming. A semi-common problem with this feature is that a vibrating phone on a table that has a slight slope will slowly - or, if the slope is bad enough, rather quickly - slide down the slope, possibly falling off the table and breaking. If our smartphones ever decided to kill us, this would possibly be their only method of attack.<br />
**Randall later covered this in his [[what if?]] blog. [http://what-if.xkcd.com/5/]<br />
<br />
*The Three Little Pigs is a children's fairy tale about three pigs who build their houses out of, respectively, straw, sticks, and bricks. A wolf comes along and eats the pigs living in the straw and stick houses, but he can't knock down the brick house, because his only method for breaking them down is to blow on them until the material falls to pieces.<br />
:The 119 Little Pigs seems to be a variant where the pigs build their houses out of the 119 {{w|chemical elements}}. The 38th little pig builds his house out of {{w|strontium}}, which is, of course, the 38th element on the Periodic Table. One wonders what happened to the pigs who are stuck making their houses out of elements that are gaseous or liquid at room temperature, or those whose houses would react with the air and/or undergo nuclear decay.<br />
:Although given the water content in exhaled breath, it's {{w|Alkali metal#Reaction with water (alkali metal hydroxides)|easy to see}} how the wolf would huff, puff, and blow down the houses made of {{w|lithium}}, {{w|sodium}}, {{w|potassium}}, {{w|rubidium}}, {{w|caesium}}, and {{w|francium}}. Though making a houses out of hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, neon, chlorine and krypton would all be very difficult as they are gases at room temperature. Also, there would be issues such as death from the toxicity of the elements, e.g. fluorine would kill the wolf. The piggies may have difficulty collecting enough metal, as they would have trouble collecting enough Technetium (43), which only occurs in minute traces, and Astatine, of which approximately 1 ounce exists on earth. <br />
<br />
*"Fastest gun in the West" is a boast commonly made in Western movies, where it is used to mean that a person is the fastest at drawing his gun in a duel (or, alternatively, can fire his gun the fastest). It doesn't actually describe the gun itself, and certainly doesn't describe how fast the gun can gallop across the land.<br />
<br />
*"It's what separates the ''men'' from the ''boys''" is a phrase used to describe "macho" activities that, apparently, only "real men" will participate/do well in; all the other men haven't grown up yet, and are thus "boys." {{w|Centrifuge}}s are used to rapidly separate a material from the liquid it's suspended in, so apparently they can also be used to separate men from boys.{{Citation needed}}<br />
**In the film {{W|Moonraker_(film)|Moonraker}} {{W|James Bond}} was almost killed in a centrifuge used as a g-force training vehicle for pilots/astronauts - but he survived - and he for sure is a real man... See also [[123: Centrifugal Force]].<br />
<br />
*Narnia is the mythical land in ''{{w|The Chronicles of Narnia}}''. In the books, time passes differently in Narnia, such that one can spend many years in Narnia and come out to find that almost no time at all has passed on Earth; conversely, during a short trip back to Earth, hundreds of years could pass in Narnia. {{w|Lucy Pevensie|Lucy}} is taking advantage of this by putting a computer in Narnia to perform extremely fast computation. {{w|Folding@home}} and {{w|SETI@home}} are distributed computing projects that aim to solve extremely large computational problems by pooling together computer resources of thousands of home computers who volunteer for the project; Folding@home looks at how proteins are folded, which has applications in medical science, and SETI@home analyzes EM waves from space, looking for signs extraterrestrial intelligent life amongst the cosmic background noise. Running through all of that data in a few hours would be quite an accomplishment indeed, given that, as Peter points out, the idea has many problems Lucy has evidently overcome:<br />
**The book was written in 1957 and it occurs even earlier than that, long predating personal computers, so Lucy shouldn't even have one.<br />
**Even if it occurs in an alternate universe where the PC was invented before 1957, the storage that would be needed to store the entire Folding@home and SETI@home databases would be far beyond her means, since the characters in the book are evacuees who don't have any money.<br />
**Even if she somehow pulled that much storage space together, the time needed for one computer to run through those databases is on the order of millennia. A computer would not continuously run for that long without careful treatment, which Narnia is not equipped for.<br />
**Even if we handwave around that issue (''"Aslan, use your power to keep all dust away from this computer for the next ten thousand years, please"''), the wall socket powering the computer is on the Earth side. Mains power outlets in the UK provide alternating current with an amplitude of 230 volts and a frequency of 50 hertz. The 50&nbsp;Hz part is what's important here: all devices designed to work with UK mains power expect a 50&nbsp;Hz sine wave. The time difference between Earth and Narnia would substantially elongate the sine wave in a method similar to the Doppler effect, which would probably prevent the computer from functioning at all, though ignoring this, the electricity costs would be too high.<br />
**The time differential doesn't occur while people are entering/exiting Narnia (though they do occur while the wardrobe's open) or the Pevensie children would have had had some difficulty surviving the transition. Since the cables of the computer are crossing between the worlds, it seems unlikely that the time differential is even active yet.<br />
<br />
*''{{w|The Honeymooners}}'' is a classic American sitcom. The show stars Ralph and Alice Kramden, and Ralph frequently makes empty threats of the form "One of these days, Alice...," followed by a combination of onomatopoeia. For example: "One of these days, Alice... BANG! ZOOM! Straight to the moon!" (Alice inevitably replies "Ahhh, shut up.")<br />
:Here, Randall takes the pattern to a ridiculous and not-at-all threatening place.<br />
<br />
Randall obviously made more than three of these five minutes comics, and on of them was published (by a mistake?) on an android xkcd brower. So here is a complete list of all four comics in the entire [[:Category:Five-minute comics|Five-minute comics]] series:<br />
*[[819: Five-Minute Comics: Part 1]]<br />
*[[820: Five-Minute Comics: Part 2]]<br />
*[[821: Five-Minute Comics: Part 3]]<br />
*[[Five-Minute Comics: Unpublished]]<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Because of a family illness, instead of regular comics, this week I'll be sharing some strips that I drew as part of a game I played with friends. Each comic had to be written and drawn in five minutes.<br />
<br />
:--Randall<br />
<br />
:;Comic #1<br />
:Pearl Harbor. November 7th, 1941.<br />
:[There is a beach, with some ships floating in a crescent shaped harbor.]<br />
<br />
:[The same bay, again.]<br />
<br />
:[The boats continue to move about the harbor.]<br />
<br />
:[The boats do their thing. A title explains.]<br />
:(We're going to be here a while, since the attack wasn't until December.)<br />
<br />
:;Comic #2<br />
:[Cueball is sitting on a bus, Megan in front of him.]<br />
:I know it's natural and all, but I really wish women on the bus wouldn't try to breastfeed me.<br />
:Woman: C'mon, have some milk. Right here.<br />
:Me: I'm ''reading''.<br />
<br />
:;Comic #3<br />
:s/I think that/I saw a study once that said that/g<br />
:Instant persuasiveness multiplier!<br />
<br />
:;Comic #4<br />
:[A newspaper front page. Billy Joel is between two policemen.]<br />
:Times<br />
:Billy Joel Arrested for Arson<br />
<br />
:;Comic #5<br />
:[One person has a cord leaving their mouth, the other is holding a handset on the end of it to their ear.]<br />
:Handset: Hee hee hee... *giggle*<br />
:I hear that if you drink coke and eat pop rocks, you vomit up a corded telephone handset on which you hear creepy little girls giggling.<br />
<br />
:;Comic #6<br />
:[Three soldiers are holding a large integral sign, while a fourth points a gun at the Little Rock High School.]<br />
:1957: Eisenhower orders the military to integrate Little Rock High School.<br />
<br />
:;Comic #7<br />
:[A smartphone is vibrating across a table, towards a person.]<br />
:The smartphones got ''too'' smart... and developed a taste... for BLOOD!<br />
:Fortunately, the only way they could move was by turning on their vibrate while on a sloped table.<br />
<br />
:;Comic #8<br />
:[Cueball is reading to his child.]<br />
:Cueball: And the wolf went to see the 38th little pig, who had built his house out of strontium.<br />
:Cueball: And the wolf was all, "Ok, what is ''with'' this shit?"<br />
:The 119 Little Pigs<br />
<br />
:;Comic #9<br />
:[Cueball is holding up a gun.]<br />
:Cueball: Fastest gun in the west!<br />
<br />
:[The gun is galloping across the desert.]<br />
:''gallop gallop''<br />
<br />
:[There is a podium, with a gun in each position.]<br />
:Winner!<br />
<br />
:;Comic #10<br />
:[A picture of a centrifuge dominates the panel.]<br />
:Centrifuges: They're what separate the men from the boys.<br />
<br />
:;Comic #11<br />
:[A computer monitor is plugged in, and cables run into a wardrobe.]<br />
:Lucy: Time passes differently in Narnia, so by putting the CPU and storage for my machine there, I was able to run through the Folding@Home and Seti@Home databases in about an hour.<br />
:Peter: There are <u>so</u> many problems with that.<br />
<br />
:;Comic #12<br />
:[Someone is talking to Alice.]<br />
:Person: One of these days, Alice... Wham, zoom, sploosh, fwoom, splash, gurlle, wheeeee, fwoosh, aren't waterslides fun?!<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Five-minute comics| 03]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>108.162.245.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1621:_Fixion&diff=107813Talk:1621: Fixion2015-12-25T23:49:37Z<p>108.162.245.179: Add science.</p>
<hr />
<div>The next one someone asks me what ''deux ex machina'' or parsimony is, I'm pointing them to this comic. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.179|108.162.245.179]] 05:17, 25 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The next time someone ask me what "Deus Ex Machina" or parsmony is, I'm still linking them to [https://www.tvtropes.org TV Tropes].<br />
[[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 05:56, 25 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Concerning the title text; has anyone considered this could be a reference to [http://phineasandferb.wikia.com/wiki/Phineas_and_Ferb_Wiki Phineas and Ferb]? FRB being a reference to [http://phineasandferb.wikia.com/wiki/Ferb one] of the title characters (who speaks rarely) and the ''peryton'' a reference to [http://phineasandferb.wikia.com/wiki/Perry_the_Platypus Perry the Platypus]? Just sayin' ... --[[User:Dmbreakey|Dmbreakey]] ([[User talk:Dmbreakey|talk]]) 18:48, 25 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Actually, as far as I can tell, [[Randall]] is referencing the material [http://arxiv.org/abs/1504.02165 here]. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.179|108.162.245.179]] 23:49, 25 December 2015 (UTC)</div>108.162.245.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1621:_Fixion&diff=107748Talk:1621: Fixion2015-12-25T05:18:16Z<p>108.162.245.179: Remove extra italics.</p>
<hr />
<div>The next one someone asks me what ''deux ex machina'' or parsimony is, I'm pointing them to this comic. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.179|108.162.245.179]] 05:17, 25 December 2015 (UTC)</div>108.162.245.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1621:_Fixion&diff=107747Talk:1621: Fixion2015-12-25T05:17:08Z<p>108.162.245.179: First!</p>
<hr />
<div>The next one someone asks me what ''deux ex machina'' or ''parsimony'' is, I'm pointing them to this comic. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.179|108.162.245.179]] 05:17, 25 December 2015 (UTC)</div>108.162.245.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=802:_Online_Communities_2&diff=107409802: Online Communities 22015-12-21T07:23:34Z<p>108.162.245.179: Remove a nonexistent Wikipedia link</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 802<br />
| date = October 6, 2010<br />
| title = Online Communities 2<br />
| image = online_communities_2.png<br />
| titletext = Best trivia I learned while working on this: 'Man, Farmville is so huge! Do you realize it's the second-biggest browser-based social-networking-centered farming game in the WORLD?' Then you wait for the listener to do a double-take.<br />
}}<br />
A [http://xkcd.com/802_large/ larger version] of this picture can be found by clicking the comic on xkcd.<br />
{{TOC}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Not all of the regions are fully explained. Many labels aren't even mentioned outside of the transcript. Some towns need to be added for example.}}<br />
This comic shows a map of internet communities where the size of each region roughly corresponds to its size, and its proximity to other regions indicates similarities.<br />
<br />
This is the successor of [[256: Online Communities]]. It differs in that it is updated, and furthermore, instead of using the ''membership'' of whichever service to determine its size on the map, it uses its "daily social activity."<br />
<br />
The map actually has two super−maps: the online community map is surrounded by the "countries" of E−Mail and SMS ("Instant Messaging"). These, in turn, are surrounded by the "Spoken Language" country (which is odd, considering that e−mail, SMS, and the Internet in general are based on ''written'' language) with its own sub−country, "cell phones" (which ''do'' involve e−mail and the Internet while being the mean medium of SMS's).<br />
<br />
At the title text [[Randall]] explains that, using his definition of "most activity per day," Farmville is actually the ''second'' most popular social-network farming game - the Chinese game Happy Farm was more popular at the time. This strikes many English-speaking xkcd readers as odd, because Farmville is much more famous, leading one to wonder how the it could not be the most played. The phrase "browser-based social-networking-centered farming game" is an example of an [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OverlyNarrowSuperlative overly-narrow superlative.]<br />
<br />
===Facebook Region===<br />
The Facebook region deals with social networks, that is, websites oriented towards having people meet.<br />
<br />
'''{{w|Facebook}}''' is a social networking site that allows people to meet old real−life friends and make new friends that share similar interests. One of its most notable features is that a member can update a "status" or make normal posts about the happenings of the member's life, complete with pictures, other members "liking" these posts. The size of the Facebook region is not exaggerated; most websites seem to allow "liking" their content or allow/require logging in the website with a Facebook account. There even are cell phones with a "Facebook" button!<br />
<br />
*'''{{w|FarmVille}}''' and '''{{w|Farm Town}}''' are Facebook games in which users manage farms. '''{{w|Happy Farm}},''' the Chinese game that inspired the other two, does not require Facebook integration, so it is separated by a solid line from Facebook. The "Unethical Bay" refers to how these games tend to addict players into constantly buying virtual items of questionable value.<br />
<br />
*'''People You Can't Unfriend''' refers to people whom, due to real-life expectations and relationships, unfriending them is difficult, no matter how you really feel about them.<br />
<br />
*'''Blatherskite River''' refers to the conversations on Facebook, which may be long yet devoid of general meaning or logic.<br />
<br />
*'''Data Mines''' refer to the data mining that Facebook does with the interests of its members. This fuels the profitable advertising business at the expense of customer trust.<br />
<br />
*'''Plains of Awkwardly Public Family Interactions''' refer to how interactions with family members on Facebook suddenly become more awkward because everyone on Facebook (and sometimes ''off'' Facebook, given that you do not necessarily need to log in if you want to see someone's Facebook account) if you are discussing with your family through post comments.<br />
<br />
*'''524,287 Strong for Mersenne Primes''' refers to the communities who gain followers for a cause. A {{w|Mersenne prime}} is a prime number that is 1 less than a power of 2; 524287 is the 7th known Mersenne prime.<br />
<br />
*'''Jungle-Bay Mountains of "It's Complicated"''' refers to one of Facebook's options as to what a user's relationship status currently is. A Jungle-Bay Mountain is a complicated and undefined climate, hence the complication.<br />
<br />
*'''"Old Facebook" Resistance''' refers to Facebook's earlier users, who have often resisted (and resented) changes made to Facebook as it became more popular. <br />
<br />
*'''Privacy Controls''' is located on the map surrounded by a Lava Pool, which is a reference to how difficult it is to find the privacy controls within Facebook.<br />
*'''Niche Market Mountains''' refers to social networks aimed towards more niche markets are located. Similar to how mountains tend to be isolated from mainland, niche social networks tend to be just that: niche, without much interaction with the general populace.<br />
*'''Charred Wasteland of Abandoned Social Networks''' refers to the tons of websites wanting to take advantage of the success of websites like Facebook to compete or even overpower with them. Even so, these websites tend to not have the userbase or even the expertise towards the long-term, hence they become wastelands: environments devoid of life, except the few life forms that are from these wastelands (in this case, the ones who are loyal to the website or which are sadly few). <br />
*In the Charred Wasteland stands '''{{w|Ozymandias}}''', the titular broken statue of Shelley's poem. In the poem, only "two vast and trunkless legs of stone" and a "shattered visage" are all that remain of the once-great statue and both of these features are present in the comic. According to the poem, the pedestal before the broken statue reads "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings..." hence "friend of friends" below Ozymandias on the map.<br />
*In the north are the '''Duckface Mountains''' and the '''Red Cup Mountains'''."Duckface" refers to [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/duck-face this incredibly obnoxious facial expression], and "red cup pictures" are any pictures containing party-goers holding disposable red plastic beverage cups. Facebook is absolutely flooded with both types of pictures.<br />
*In the south is '''Buzzword Bay'''. {{w|Buzzword}}s are words and phrases that make you sound a lot more topical than you actually are, used to garner attention; again, Facebook status updates are commonly filled with buzzwords.<br />
<br />
While Facebook is the largest "country" of the Facebook Region, there are a lot of smaller "countries" that represent smaller social networks.<br />
<br />
*Below Facebook (and "Old Facebook' Resistance") is '''{{w|Diaspora (social network)|Diaspora}}''', a fully open-source, decentralized, privacy-respecting-and-expecting alternative to Facebook. From what this map tells, Diaspora is little-known, even if Facebook is taken out of the context.<br />
*'''{{w|StudiVZ}}''' is a German-speaking social network similar if not a ripped-off version of Facebook.<br />
*'''{{w|XING}}''' is a German-speaking social platform similar to LinkedIn.<br />
*'''{{w|Ning (website)|Ning}}''' is a service to create custom social websites. Its free services shut down in 2010.<br />
*'''{{w|Taringa!}}''' is a Spanish-speaking social network that is based on a forums. Copyrighted material is frequently found there.<br />
*Next to the Euro(pean) Gulf is '''{{w|Skyrock (social network site)}}''', a French-speaking social network.<br />
*'''{{w|Wer-kennt-wen}}''' is a German-social network somewhat like MySpace.<br />
*'''{{w|Nasza-klasa.pl}}''' or NK, is a Polish-speaking social network based on school relationships.<br />
*'''{{w|Badoo}}''' is a social network primarily based on dating and picture-sharing.<br />
*'''{{w|Classmates.com}}''' is a services in which the user can meet classmates that came from the same high school. The website is probably best known by its memetic advertisement that said [http://dudemanphat.blogspot.com/2005/10/how-am-i-supposed-to-care-about-nick.html "She married him??!! And they've got 7 kids??"] (Incidentally, [http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2003325519_adcouple27.html there is more to the coupled picture than what the advertisement says.])<br />
*'''{{w|Myspace}}''' is a social networking website that is a kind of proto-Facebook: users could customize their one-page websites with whatever they wanted, make their interests and daily lives public, and interact with other users. Back in the mid 2000s, MySpace was the largest social network, many people using the website; however, the surprisingly-less-customizable Facebook ended up taking the place of MySpace. The "bands" country of MySpace refers to how a lot of bands in the day advertised and interacted using the website. Indeed, the latest incarnation of MySpace (in terms of 2013) is more oriented towards band members.<br />
*'''{{w|LinkedIn}}''' is a social network aimed towards people in the workplace, which is why it is adjancent to '''Corporate Bay'''.<br />
*'''{{w|Orkut}}''' was one of Google's first social networks before Google made [https://plus.google.com/ Google+]. It shut down in 2014.<br />
*'''{{w|Hi5}}''' is a social network that is very popular among people in Latin America.<br />
*'''{{w|Renren}}''' ('''「人人」''', "people" in Chinese) is "a Chinese copy of Facebook."<br />
*'''{{w|Bebo}}''' was a social network popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It went bankrupt in 2013 and will move away from social networking and into apps.<br />
*'''{{w|Friendster}}''' - One of the first major social networks, it has fallen way off in usage in recent years and was eclipsed by MySpace. It is still popular in Asia.<br />
*'''{{w|VK (social networking website)|Vkontakte}}''' or VK, is the second largest social network service in Europe after Facebook. It is available in several languages, but particularly popular among Russian-speaking users around the world.<br />
*'''{{w|Netlog}}''' is a Belgian social networking website specifically targeted at the global youth demographic.<br />
*'''{{w|Mixi}}''' is an online Japanese social networking service.<br />
*'''{{w|Qzone}}''' is a social networking website, which is big in China. According to a report published by Tencent, possibly surpassing other social networking websites like Facebook and MySpace in China.<br />
*'''{{w|Tuenti}}''' is a Spain-based, social networking service, that has been referred to as the "Spanish Facebook."<br />
*'''{{w|Cloob}}''' is a Persian-language social networking website, mainly popular in Iran. After the locally (and internationally) popular social networking website Orkut was blocked by the Iranian government, a series of local sites and networks, including Cloob, emerged to fill the gap.<br />
*'''{{w|Kaixin001}}''' is a social networking website which ranks as the 13th most popular website in China and 67th overall.<br />
*'''{{w|Piczo}}''' was a privately held blog website for teens. In November 2012, Piczo.com shut down.<br />
*'''{{w|Odnoklassniki}}''' is a social network service for classmates and old friends. It is popular in Russia and former Soviet Republics.<br />
*'''{{w|Adult FriendFinder}}''' is a pornographic dating site.<br />
*'''{{w|Match.com}}''' is a dating site, mainly targeted at people looking for marriage.<br />
*'''{{w|Ok Cupid}}''' is another dating site, however it has been owned by Match.com since 2011.<br />
*'''{{w|PlentyofFish}}''' is yet another dating site, also owned by Match.com since June 2015.<br />
*'''{{w|Sulawesi}}''' is a real-life island in the Indonesian archipelago. It also appears in 256: Online Communities.<br />
<br />
===MMO Isle===<br />
MMO's (short form of "MMORPG", short form of "Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Player Game") are websites that host online games where multiple people take the role of a character and play in a setting hosted by the website. These types of games tend to be fantastical in setting. Frequently, missions are added to the game, giving current player more incentive towards playing more.<br />
<br />
*'''[https://www.habbo.com/ Habbo Hotel]''' is a website where someone creates a human avatar an interacts in a virtual world that is not that different from the one in real life.<br />
*'''[http://www.clubpenguin.com/ Club Penguin]''' is [http://disney.com/ Disney's] MMO where someone creates a penguin avatar and interacts with other in a more polar, cartoony setting. Club Penguin is aimed towards children.<br />
*'''[http://maplestory.nexon.net/ Maple Story]''' is an MMO that has a more natural setting. The most distinguishing feature of Maple Story is its cartoony pixel art.<br />
*'''[http://www.gamefaqs.com/ GameFAQs]''', while not an MMO, is a website that has the largest repository of walkthoughs, that is, guides that help someone beat a game. GameFAQs is notable for not only its large repository of walkthroughs of games that are across an extreme variety of consoles, handhelds, and even computers (not all of them MMOs), but also the drama that is rumoured to happen in the GameFAQs forums.<br />
*'''[http://www.ign.com/ IGN]''' (full: '''Imagine Games Network'''), while also not an MMO, is the largest website that gives news on video games in general, not just MMOs. Each of the games mentioned in the site have pages that have summaries, reviews, screenshots, other art, videos, and links to news related to its games.<br />
*'''[http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/index.shtml FFXI]''' (full: '''Final Fantasy XI''') is an MMO from SquareEnix, being the first MMO of the popular ''Final Fantasy'' series.<br />
*'''[http://www.runescape.com/community Runescape]''' is an older MMO.<br />
*'''[http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/ Starcraft II]''' is a realtime strategy game with a science fiction setting that heavily involves space travel. While technically not an MMO, it has a significant online multiplayer component.<br />
*'''[http://us.battle.net/wow/en/ WoW]''' (full: '''World of Warcraft''') is the definitive MMO, being not only the most popular and one of the longest-running but also the most expansive (having its own spinoff games, comic books, novels, and even figurines), WOW giving the idea of how an MMO should be. A player can choose from a variety of races, each with its own heavy history.<br />
*'''[http://secondlife.com/ Second Life]''' is similar to Habbo, albeit with a bigger suspension of disbelief (one example being that the player does not need to be a human) and in a 3D setting. <br />
*'''[http://www.nationstates.net/ NationStates]''' is a text-based political simulation game. Notably, some of its traffic comes not from the actual game (which is optional), but the extensive set of political, roleplaying, and general forums attached.<br />
*'''[http://www.urbandead.com/ Urban Dead]''' describes itself as "A Massively Multi-Player Web-Based Zombie Apocalypse", which sums it up pretty well. <br />
*'''[http://www.kingdomofloathing.com KoL]''' (full: '''Kingdom of Loathing''') is a comedic browser-based MMO-ish RPG with minimalistic stick-figure art.<br />
*'''{{w|CDC Games}}''' is a Chinese company reputed to be the largest MMORPG distributor.<br />
*'''{{w|Eve Online|EVE Online}}''' is a science fiction MMO which is notable because of its virtual economy.<br />
*'''{{w|Gaia Online|Gaia}}''' or Gaia Online, while not an MMO, is a forum oriented towards pop culture, including video games and Japanese media. Its most notable feature is the heavy customization possible of a member's pixel-art avatar. Its members tend to roleplay a lot, albeit in a more written, story-based form. Gaia has gained a reputation with its members stealing art and causing drama.<br />
*'''{{w|City of Heroes|CoH}}''' or City of Heroes was a superhero-based MMORPG that was shut down November 2012.<br />
<br />
Other notable regions include:<br />
*The '''Mountains of Steam''', referring to the game distribution service [http://store.steampowered.com/ Steam] where people could buy and download video games in general, not just MMOs.<br />
*'''River Grind''' refers to "grinding." In most MMOs, the character is a fighter of some sorts, yet starts at a level 1, signifying the character's aptitude level in combat. The character can level up and gain more aptitude levels through earning experience, of which the most reliable and otherwise common way is the process of "grinding," that is, repeatedly fighting opposing monsters (sometimes of a level notably lower that your character's), gaining experience points from winning these battles until your character gains a level, that is, "levels up". While a practical necessity in strengthening the character, this process can be tiresome, hence the expression "grinding."<br />
*'''Spawn Camp''' refers to "spawn points", the places in combat-oriented MMO's tend to produce ("spawn") random AI-powered creatures, and the act of "spawn camping", in which the player character simply stands behind or around the spawn points to fight the enemy creatures as soon as they appear.<br />
*'''Gulf of Lag''' refers to how the MMO can be slowed down a considerable amount due to the large amount of players simultaneously using the same server, this congestion bogging down the server and frustrating the users.<br />
*'''[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/final-boss-of-the-internet End Guy for the Internet]''' refers to "end bosses," the last — and usually hardest to defeat — "bad guy" in a game (or a section of a game).<br />
<br />
===YouTube Region===<br />
The YouTube region refers to websites that are based on user-created content.<br />
<br />
'''[https://www.youtube.com/ YouTube]''' is the definitive video website where people can upload videos with the purpose of public viewing, ranging from home movies through official music videos through Let's Plays of people playing video games to questionably-legal uploads of cartoons and films. Google had purchased YouTube.<br />
<br />
Many of the sites on the map are just references to {{w|viral video}}s at {{w|YouTube}}:<br />
*'''Viral Shores''' refers to how viral videos (whether they be viral marketing or simply memes) tend to proliferate on YouTube.<br />
*'''Britney''' likely refers to pop singer {{w|Britney Spears}} and the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmvkRoEowc "Leave Britney Alone" guy].<br />
*'''Maru Gulf''' refers to Maru the Cat, a YouTube celebrity [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/676:_Abstraction also mentioned in xkcd].<br />
*'''Prairie Dog Habitat''' likely refers to the viral video [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Y73sPHKxw Dramatic Chipmunk] (which is actually a Prairie Dog).<br />
*'''Rick Rolling Hills''' references, well, {{w|Rickrolling}}. More information [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ here]. The "deserted" note likely refers to how Rick Astley himself is tired of the meme, or again, how people tend to leave the video upon getting "Rick Roll'd," never actually going to the video with the express purpose of viewing the video.<br />
*'''Lunar Landing Soundstage''' is, of course, a reference to the {{w|Moon landing conspiracy theories}}, which Randall has railed on before.<br />
*'''{{w|OK Go}} Bay''' refers to the band "OK Go" who have multiple viral music videos on YouTube, most famously [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTAAsCNK7RA "Here it goes again"] featuring treadmills.<br />
<br />
The '''HTML5 swamp''' refers to YouTube's spotty support of HTML 5 (an update on HTML that is frequently touting its media capabilities, making HTML 5 a viable alternative to Flash). Of course, by the time the comic was written, HTML 5 was still in its infancy. The Music Video Bay refers to the amount of music videos (official or otherwise) are present in YouTube.<br />
<br />
Other counties of the YouTube region include:<br />
*'''[https://vimeo.com/ vimeo]''', a website where people tend to showcase artistic content that they made on their own, notably independent studios.<br />
<br />
Snob Sound:<br />
*'''[https://secure.flickr.com/ Flickr]''', a website where people can upload and share photographs they took.<br />
*'''[http://fotolog.com Fotolog]''', a photo website very popular in South America in 2004-2008, which was used as a social network.<br />
*'''[http://www.last.fm/ Last.fm]''', a music website that is notable of its "scrobbling" feature.<br />
*'''[http://www.deviantart.com/ deviantArt]''', the largest art website, where people can upload, sell, and buy not only art itself, but also video, audio, Flash-work, and even skins (the original purpose of deviantArt). While many big-name/professional people and organizations have their works in deviantArt, the site is more infamous for the large amount of people who upload low-quality fan-art and fan-characters, most notably of media from Japan. Another point of infamy is the large amount of drama that can happen in the website.<br />
<br />
*'''[https://www.newgrounds.com/ Newgrounds]''', a website that hosts art, (Flash-based) videos, audio, and (Flash-based) games to which other users can comment and rate. Even so, content from Newgrounds tends to be obscene, though there is a filtering system if a viewer does not wish to see obscene content.<br />
*'''[http://www.chatroulette.com/ Chatroulette]''' is a website where people are randomly paired up with each other and video/text chat.<br />
*'''{{w|Brickshelf}}''' is the online resource for {{w|LEGO}} fans.<br />
*'''[https://tumblr.com/ Tumblr]''', where people could make a blog and post text, pictures, video, audio, quotes, and links. The most distinguishing feature is the ability to "reblog" these posts from other's people's blogs into the user's own blog. Notable features of Tumblr include sketchblogs (where people upload their sketches), Ask blogs (where people answer questions other users ask, the moderators of these blogs usually pretending to be a character from a form of media), and the large amount of "social justice" (where people fight against racism, sexism, and other forms of negative discrimination). (See also [[1043: Ablogalypse]].)<br />
*'''{{w|b3ta}}''' is a popular British website, described as a "puerile digital arts community" by The Guardian.<br />
<br />
<br />
The '''Isle of teenagers who just discovered macroeconomics''' is a joke about how teenagers tend to think that the world and the economy are a lot simpler than they actually are. Combined with the typical internet mindset, this leads to a lot of teenagers posting blogs and videos and comments on blogs and videos describing how idiotic the government and other red-tape-related adults are.<br />
The '''Snob Sound''' could refer to the large amount of people who look down on others in the surrounding websites (one example being an original artist looking down on people who draw mainly fan-art). '''The Iraq''' is a reference to Miss Teen USA 2007, Ms. Teen South Carolina - Lauren Katlin said "I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and the Iraq everywhere like such as...the US should help the US and should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the asian countries so we are able to build up our future." The usage of "the iraq" became a meme.<br />
<br />
===Twitter Region===<br />
*'''Bieber Bay''' is a reference to {{w|Justin Bieber}} a pop singer whose singing sprouted on YouTube and became very popular on Twitter and other social media. He is very much vilified because of his rather feminine appearance and his hordes of fans (called "Beliebers") that seem to support him to ridiculous extents. Lately, though, Justin Beiber has taken a "bad boy" attitude because of all the Beliebers who are willing to defend him no matter what, him partaking in a lot of questionable activities that include tattoos, questionably-legal substances, and buying prostitution, thus lowering his popularity in the general populace.<br />
*'''{{w|Google Buzz}}''' is a former social network attempted by Google. It has since been shut down.<br />
*'''Bit.Ly Mountains''' is a reference to the URL shortening service {{w|bit.ly}}.<br />
*'''Kanye's Isle of Sadness''' is a reference to the musician {{w|Kanye West}}, whose Twitter, at the time, was [http://www.buzzfeed.com/mlew15/25-of-kanye-wests-most-thought-provoking-tweets-h0se famously introspective and stream-of-consciousness].<br />
*'''Sarah Palin USA''' is the Twitter handle of former politician {{w|Sarah Palin}}.<br />
*'''Clueless Politician Coast''' is a reference to the number of politicians on Twitter and other social networks who repeatedly share clueless updates that more often create an uproar than help their election chances.<br />
*'''Desert of Food Updates''' is a reference to the number of pictures of food that are shared on social media (especially Twitter). There has even been some controversy on posting such pictures.<br />
*'''Journalists Trying to Find the Cutting Edge''' is referencing journalists on Twitter trying to keep up with the way that news is gathered and delivered now, despite usually working for a newspaper that publishes once a day.<br />
*'''SHAQ''' is a reference to the former NBA basketball player, {{w|Shaq}}.<br />
*'''{{w|identi.ca}}''' is an open source social networking and micro-blogging service, being an alternative to Twitter.<br />
*''' Breaking! Waves''' is a pun on the fact that so many people used the word "Breaking" at the beginning of tweets that do not warrant that tag that the word has lost most of its meaning and become a joke. It is a pun because waves "break" on the shore.<br />
*'''Web 3.0''' refers to the unofficial term {{w|Web 2.0}}. In this case, "Web 1.0" refers to websites that give information to users. Web 2.0 refers to websites where the users themselves create content. Web 3.0 has sometimes been used as a term. For {{w|semantic web}}, a machine-readable version of the web, but this usage is far from universal.<br />
*'''Hashtag games whose popularity confuses and depresses you''' refers to the game where a user posts something under a particular hashtag and others respond with their own ideas, all tagged under the same phrase. This has been very popular for no clear reason, as Randall notes.<br />
<br />
===Geotagged Bay===<br />
*'''{{w|Yelp}}''' is a website where people post reviews of real-life public locations (one example being restaurants).<br />
*'''{{w|Geocaching}}''' is a worldwide GPS scavenger hunt where users upload positions of caches and others will find them and log it online.<br />
*'''{{w|Foursquare}}''' is a location-based social network.<br />
*'''Latitude''' refers to {{w|Google Latitude}}.<br />
<br />
===Troll Bay and the Sea of Memes===<br />
*'''{{w|Reddit}}''' is the self-described "front page of the Internet" in which users submit stories, photos and videos and the best are "up-voted" to the top of the page.<br />
*'''{{w|Help:Using talk pages|Wikipedia Talk Pages}}''' refer to the pages where Wikipedia editors discuss how to improve articles.<br />
*'''{{w|Wikia}}''' is a 3rd party wiki software, used in the making of the user-editable encyclopedias of just about any subject matter.<br />
*'''{{w|StumbleUpon}}''' is a website-sharing service.<br />
*'''{{w|Delicious (website)|Delicious}}''' is a bookmarking and bookmark-sharing service.<br />
*'''{{w|Digg}}''' is a former competitor to Reddit in the social-news sphere, but now has been sold and restarted as an aggregator of news stories.<br />
*'''{{w|Slashdot}}''', labeled "/." on the map, is a technical news site.<br />
*'''{{w|Fark}}''' is a community website that allows members to comment on news articles from other sites.<br />
*'''{{w|YTMND}}''' is an acronym for "You're The Man Now, Dog!" It's also a community in which users can create meme-type nonsense by playing music over an image (either static or animated).<br />
<br />
===Skype Region===<br />
The Skype Region refers to different IM, or Instant Messaging services, that enable almost-real-time text chatting between multiple people. These often allow services like voice chat and even video calls.<br />
<br />
*'''{{w|Skype}}''' is, according to Randall, the most popular of these among the internet. It has many features to allow peer-to-peer voice chats, as well as allowing calls to be made at a price to actual phones.<br />
*'''{{w|AIM}}''' or AOL Instant Messenger is a chat client created by AOL.<br />
*'''GG''' is {{w|Gadu-Gadu}} and instant messenger client popular in Poland.<br />
*'''{{w|Yahoo Messenger}}''' is an instant messenger client by Yahoo.<br />
*'''{{w|Google Talk}}''' is a voice/video chatting service from Google (that Google has been replacing with Hangouts). Google Talk also has an invasion fleet at its shores.<br />
*'''{{w|ICQ}}''' is an older messaging service, albeit with an 18+ requirement (despite pornography not being the point of ICQ).<br />
*'''{{w|Windows Live Messenger}}''', or "MSN", was the messaging service of Microsoft before Microsoft bought Skype. MSN was useful in that people could draw and send pictures to other chatters.<br />
*'''{{w|UseNet}}''' was one of the original ways to communicate on the internet, though people can download (copyrighted) files through the service. Since it is still in use by some, it gets the tag "Still Around!" on the map.<br />
*'''{{w|IRC}} Isles''' refers to the ancestor of Internet-powered chatting. People would have connected to a server and spoke publicly. IRC is still in use (per 2014, notably in getting help from users4. One of those isles is #xkcd which is an IRC community around [[xkcd]].<br />
<br />
===Bay of Drama===<br />
*'''{{w|FanFiction.net}}''' is a website where people can submit their fanfiction (stories by fans written about other peoples' media, normally that about popular media). The website tend to have people that are not helpful to those who legitimately want critique of their own stories.<br />
*'''{{w|Xanga}}''' is a blogging service that, while popular at its time, lost out to...<br />
*'''{{w|LiveJournal}}''' was the most popular blogging service before Tumblr.<br />
*'''ONYD''' - Reference to {{w|Oh No You Didn't}}, which is explained in the Blogosphere region.<br />
*'''{{w|Dreamwidth}}''' is a LiveJournal fork emphasizing its open-source nature.<br />
<br />
===Blogosphere===<br />
The Blogosphere region contains several general {{w|blog}} topics.<br />
*'''{{w|photo blog|Photo Blogs}}''' are commonly used to chronicle the lives of the authors through photographs.<br />
*'''Diary Blogs''' are another popular use of blogs (and, in fact, the original use) where authors write commentary about their lives.<br />
*'''Bay of Grammar Pedantry''' deals with the fact that, whether due to a lack of proper education, a habit of using "chat-speak" in the text-limited SMS and MMS, or simply due to the (generally) more relaxed nature of the Internet, blog authors tend to write with horrible composition, a point of annoyment to a lot of other people due to the subsequent increased difficulty of reading the horribly-written material.<br />
*'''Fandom Blogs''' are blogs created by a "{{w|fandom}}" which is a community of fans. A fandom blog deals with the subject matter of the respective fandom.<br />
*'''Sea of Zero (0) Comments''' refers to blogs that get very little attention and therefore have no comments.<br />
*'''SpamBlog Straits''' references spammers who use blogs to increase the number of links to their site to try to game search engines.<br />
*'''OffTopic.com''' is a general interest forum that refers to itself as "the largest general discussion forum on the internet."<br />
*Many more straightforward blogs, including:<br />
**'''Writing/Poetry'''<br />
**'''Gossip Blogs'''<br />
**'''Political Blogs'''<br />
**'''Music Blogs'''<br />
**'''Tech Blogs'''<br />
**'''Business Blogs'''<br />
**'''Corporate Blogs'''<br />
**'''Religious Blogs'''<br />
**'''Miscellaneous Blogs'''<br />
*'''Blog Blogs''' - These can refer to blogs that talk about the matter about blogging itself, though they can also refer to blogs which authors use in talking about blogging.<br />
<br />
===Blogosphere (Core Region)===<br />
Gossip Blogs: <br />
Each blog below focuses on gossip surrounding celebrities and other well-known persons.<br />
*'''{{w|Jezebel}}''' is a liberally feminist blog, hosted by Gawker.<br />
*'''{{w|deadline.com|Deadline}}''' is an online entertainment news magazine.<br />
*'''{{w|TMZ}}''' is a celebrity news website.<br />
*'''{{w|Gawker}}''' is a blog that is the host of other blogs.<br />
*'''LJ Oh No They Didn't''' - LiveJournal {{w|Oh No They Didn't}} - Oh No They Didn't, also known as ONTD, is the largest community on LiveJournal with over 100,000 members. The community focuses on celebrity gossip and pop culture with most of its posts aggregated from other gossip blogs.<br />
*'''Doucheblog''' refers to blogs that were once insightful but that spiraled into long rants due to relationship changes of their authors.<br />
*'''Isle of Mockery''' is a reference to the fact that some of what these blogs do is mock celebrities or other for doing or saying stupid things on camera.<br />
<br />
Liberal Blogs: <br />
Each blog below focuses on American political news with a "liberal" or "progressive" slant. These blogs tend to lean for the Democratic party.<br />
*'''{{w|Huffington Post}}''' is a news blog.<br />
*'''{{w|Paul Krugman}}''' is an American economist who considers himself a liberal.<br />
*'''{{w|Daily Beast}}''' is a news and opinion website focusing on politics and pop culture.<br />
*'''{{w|Talking Points Memo|TPM}}''' is a political journal run by Josh Marshall.<br />
*'''{{w|Ezra Klein}}''' used to have his own site at the Washington Post, but is now the editor of [Vox.com]. <br />
*'''{{w|Think Progress}}''' is a political news blog.<br />
*'''{{w|Daily Kos|Kos}}''' is another political blog.<br />
<br />
Bay of Flame:<br />
*'''{{w|Politics Daily}}''' is a political journalism website launched by AOL.<br />
*'''CNN Political Ticker''' is CNN's political blog.<br />
*'''{{w|Mediaite}}''' is a news and opinion blog covering politics and entertainment in the media.<br />
*'''{{w|NY Times}}''' is one of the most famous newspapers, thus the comparatively large size of its island.<br />
*'''{{w|The Talk}}''' is a talk show on CBS that discusses the latest headlines "through the eyes of mothers."<br />
*Libertarian Isle (shaped like a {{w|Nolan Chart}})<br />
<br />
Conservative Blogs: <br />
Each blog below focuses on American political news with a "conservative" or Republican slant.<br />
*'''{{w|Pajamas Media}}''' is a media company and operator of conservative news.<br />
*'''{{w|Michelle Malkin}}''' is a conservative blogger, political commentator, and author.<br />
*'''{{w|Hot Air}}''' is a news blog founded by Michelle Malkin.<br />
*'''{{w|RedState|Red State}}''' is a political blog.<br />
*'''{{w|American Thinker}}''' is a daily online magazine focused on politics.<br />
*'''{{w|Townhall}}''' is a web publication and print magazine.<br />
<br />
Tech Blogs:<br />
*'''{{w|Boy Genius Report}}''' is a weblog that focuses on technology and consumer gadgets.<br />
*'''{{w|Gizmodo}}''' is a news and opinion blog, hosted by Gawker, that talks about life's more technological matters.<br />
*'''{{w|Engadget}}''' is another technology-oriented, albeit independent, blog.<br />
*'''Crunchgear''' is a blog that reviews gadgets and other hardware.<br />
*'''{{w|Techcrunch}}''' is an online publisher of technology industry news.<br />
*'''{{w|Joystiq}}''' is a news and opinion blog that focuses on gaming.<br />
*'''{{w|Kotaku}}''' is another gaming-oriented news/opinion blog, the main difference beig that Kotaku is owned by Gawker. <br />
<br />
Assorted:<br />
*'''{{w|BoingBoing}}''' is "i blog about wonderful things", the topics being quite random.<br />
*'''{{w|Lifehacker}}''' is another Gawker blog, is a blog that teaches people how to simplify their lives through 'lifehacking', that is, using their resources in creative wayss. While the subject matter is life in general, there is a significant technological slant.<br />
*'''{{w|Deadspin}}''' is a sports and sports gossip blog founded by Will Leitch.<br />
*'''Meatorama''' is a blog that talks about cooking meat.<br />
<br />
===QQ Region===<br />
*'''Baidu Baike''' (「百度百科」, "Baidu Encyclopedia") and '''Hudong''' (「互动百科」, "Interactive Encyclopedia" ) are two Chinese online encyclopedias. Baidu Baike is powered by the same company as Baidu, the search engine popular in China.<br />
* The '''Ma Le Ge Bi''' and the '''Grass Mud Horse Bay''' could refer to the {{w|Baidu 10 Mythical Creatures}}.<br />
* The '''Location of Jia Junpeng''' refers to the Internet meme of {{w|Jia Junpeng}} in 2009 in China.<br />
*'''{{w|Tencent QQ}}''' is a Chinese instant messaging program.<br />
*In English communities "QQ" has several more common definitions:<br />
**An {{w|emoticon}}, representing a face with two large, crying eyes.<br />
**A synonym for "rage quit", in which a video game player quits the game out of sheer frustration. It originated in ''Warcraft II'' multiplayer, where pressing Ctrl+Q+Q would quit the game, and became more widely known in ''World of Warcraft''.<br />
**These definitions are commonly combined, usually to mock the "rage quitter".<br />
*The Gulf of China refers to how sites in the region are based in People's Republic of China ("Red China"). The '''Great Firewall''' refers to {{w|The Great Firewall of China}}, a pun on {{w|The Great Wall of China}}. Similar to how The Great Wall of China was meant to keep intruding nations out of the then-capital of the city, The Great Firewall of China is meant to keep visitors from visiting censored websites. However, either a VPN or remote access to a computer in a "freer" country can circumvent the Firewall. Oddly other Chinese websites (Qzone, Renren etc.) are not enclosed in this zone.<br />
<br />
===Forums Islands===<br />
Forums are websites where one person post a topic to which other people can discuss.<br />
<br />
While the map has a zoomed in version, this article shall discuss the two bigger islands, first.<br />
<br />
*'''[http://www.2ch.net 2channel]''' is a Japanese imageboard that was actually the original inspiration for 4chan.<br />
*'''[http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites Craigslist]''' is a classified advertisement website with sections devoted to just about everything... which formerly included prostitution services, hence the '''The Former Site of Adult Services'''.<br />
<br />
In the zoomed-in map, there is...<br />
*'''[https://www.4chan.org/ 4chan.org]''' is an {{w|imageboard}} in which people can upload pictures while others comment on them. The website is infamous for its loose/often non-existent rules, incredibly vulgar userbase, source of new memes, and spawning of trolls. 4chan's random board, known internally as '''/b/''', is almost constantly flooded with porn and image macros. This is why Randall's incarnation of 4chan is shaped like a penis.<br />
*'''420chan''' and '''7chan''', other imageboards in the style of 4chan. Their relative lack of popularity and derivative nature leads a lot of 4chan users to mock them; hence, their position on Randall's map suggests that they're mere wads of semen.<br />
*'''Encyclopedia Dramatica''', labeled '''ED''' on the map, is a wiki site dedicated to chronicling internet memes and other noteworthy sites, events, people, and anything else that catches their attention, their respective articles written in an incredibly arbitrary and vulgar manner. The site is ''heavily'' steeped in the attitude of veteran, vulgar 4chan users. People who have articles in the website tend to react with despair, given not only the cruelty in which the articles talk about the person in question, but the presence of the article means that the person is now an eternal target from the trolls. The user is not in a position of retaliation, since the userbase of Encyclopedia Dramatica and 4chan tends to overpower the victim easily...<br />
:...usually. Due to the founder's talk against the Australian Aboriginals (the founder is Australian), legal action has gone against the founder to the point of the founder having to shut down Encyclopedia Dramatica, founding the far tamer website Oh, Internet! (which is now shut down), instead. Trolls responded by not only uploading their own mirror of the website but also vilifying the former founder forever.<br />
*'''Tunnel to Habbo''' is a reference to [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/pools-closed the 2006 Habbo Hotel Raids], in which hundreds of 4chan Anons simultaneously logged onto Habbo Hotel and proceeded to be as obnoxious as possible, standing in formations of swastikas and penises or body-blocking the swimming pools.<br />
*'''{{w|Catbus}} Route''' is likely a reference to {{w|Lolcat}}s in general.<br />
*'''[http://www.ebaumsworld.com/ eBaum's World]''' is a media-hosting website founded by Eric Bauman. The site has lost a lot of traffic after (quite valid) accusations of stolen content.<br />
*The gulf labelled '''{{w|Anonymous (group)|Anonymous}}''' is a reference to the trolls that label themselves "Anonymous" who recently had gained national acknowledgement because of the group's real-life tirades, including cracking attacks against the Church of Scientology and the founding of WikiLeaks (a website that leaks confidential material related to governments).<br />
*[http://www.somethingawful.com/ SomethingAwful] is a website that is meant to showcase all things "awful". SomethingAwful also has a large trollbase, but they tend to be more honorable than the ones from Encyclopedia Dramatica and 4chan. One example is there being a spotty holding of the no-furries rule in the forums. The forums themselves are famous because of the holding of the Let's Plays of [http://lparchive.org/Dangan-Ronpa/ Dangan Ronpa] and [http://danganronpa2mirror.tumblr.com/ Super Dangan Ronpa 2], which had cooked up public interest to the point of there being an English-language release of the games.<br />
Please note that, due to these Let's Plays being in a forums that frequently hides behind a "paywall" that requires a paid account before accessing, the links provided go to their mirrors.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:'''Map of Online Communities'''<br />
:Size on map represents volume of Daily Social activity (posts, chat, etc). Based on data gathered over the Spring and Summer of 2010.<br />
<br />
:[Two insets on the upper left-hand corner shows that this map is a tiny portion of the huge continent of Spoken Language, encompassing portions of the Internet, Email, and Cell Phones (SMS).]<br />
<br />
:[The largest landmass on the map by far, which takes up nearly the entire northern half of the map is "Facebook" - with large states in the south-east of the country labeled 'Farmville' and 'Happy Farm'. There is a much smaller state to the west of these called 'Farm Town'. To the north of these states is a large swath of unremarkable land entitled 'Northern Wasteland of Unread Updates.' This is directly north of the large Dopamine Sea.<br />
<br />
:A peninsula on the south-west, just below the Plains of Awkwardly Public Family Interactions, houses many tiny states, such as MySpace, Orkut, LinkedIn, Bebo, & Hi5. It is bordered on the south by Buzzword Bay, which contains several islands of varying sizes. Among these are YouTube and Twitter (the largest), which are separated by the Social Media Consultant Channel. To the south-east of Twitter, across the Sea of Protocol Confusion, is another, equally large island. Most of it is Skype, with the north having two largish states called AIM and Windows Live Messenger. On the south-west part of the island are two smaller states called GG and Yahoo Messenger.<br />
<br />
:The Island of Skype is extremely close to, but separated by the Great Firewall (a dashed line), the large landmass of QQ. It's north shore is the Gulf of China and Grass Mud Horse Bay. Outside of these bays, over the Great Firewall are two islands called Craigslist and 2Channel.<br />
<br />
:In the Dopamine Sea, off the southern shores of Farmville and Happy Farm, is MMO Isle. Its largest state is WoW, with Runescape, Lineage, Maple Story, Habbo, and the Mountains of Steam among its notable landmarks. To the southeast of the island is the Gulf of Lag, in which sits the CDC Games island, with Eve Online.<br />
<br />
:To the east of Twitter is Troll Bay, with such islands as Reddit and Reddit, Digg, Stumbleupon, Delicio.us, and Wikipedia Talk Pages. To their south are the IRC isles, of which one is the tiny island of #xkcd.<br />
<br />
:East of these islands, and north of Skype island, is the Sea of Memes. In this sea, to the north of Craigslist and 2Channel, is an archipelago of tiny islands. There is an inset, labeled 'Forums.' (See below.)<br />
<br />
:To the southwest of Twitter island, in the Sea of Opinions, are the blog islands. These lie south of the islands in Buzzword Bay, as well. The northernmost islands in this group are centered around the Bay of Drama, on which can be found Diary Blogs, Gossip Blogs, and Livejournal. Gossip Blogs share an island with Political, Music, and Tech Blogs. To the north of this island is a smaller island called Photo Blogs. South of Diary Blogs, and off the southwest coast of Music blogs is a smaller island called Fandom Blogs. South of Tech Blogs, off of which sprouts the small peninsula of Business Blogs, is the Spamblog Straits. On the other side of the straits is a large island made up of Miscellaneous Blogs, with two states demarcated as Religious Blogs and Blog Blogs. Southwest of the Blog Islands is the Sea of Zero (0) Comments.]<br />
<br />
:[An inset of a group of islands in the sea of memes located on the lower right corner of the map, labeled 'Forums'. The largest by far is 4chan and /b/. Also found here are D2JSP, JLA Frums, Fan Forum, Something Awful, and many smaller ones, too numerous to list here.]<br />
<br />
:[The northeastern third of Gossip/Political/Tech Blogs island is another inset labeled 'Blogosphere (Core)'. This can be found on the lower left corner of the map. Two peninsulas in Political Blogs bookend the Bay of Flame -- these are Liberal Blogs and Conservative Blogs. Between them lie several tiny islands such as Politics Daily, CNN Politcal Ticker, and Mediaite. Off the coast of Liberal Blogs lies the island of NYTimes, off the coast of Conservative Blogs is Libertarian Isle. Between the two lies The Talk. The northern peninsula of Tech Blogs contains places such as Gizmodo, Engadget, Joystiq, and Kotaku.] <br />
<br />
:[Text found between the two insets, which are directly below the main map.]<br />
:ABOUT THIS MAP<br />
:Communities rise and fall, and total membership numbers are no longer a good measure of a community's current size and health. This updated map uses size to represent total social activity in a community -- that is, how much talking, playing, sharing, or other socializing happens there. This meant some comparing of apples and oranges, but I did my best and tried to be consistent.<br />
<br />
:Estimates are based on the numbers I could find, but involved a great deal of guesswork, statistical inference, random sampling, nonrandom sampling, a 20,000-cell spreadsheet, emailing, cajoling, tea-leaf reading, goat sacrifices, and gut instinct (i.e. making things up).<br />
<br />
:Sources of data include Google and Bing, Wikipedia, Alexa, Big-Boards.com, StumbleUpon, Wordpress, Akismet, every website statistics page I could find, press releases, news articles, and individual site employees. Thanks in particular to folks at Last.fm, LiveJournal, Reddit, and the New York Times, as well as sysadmins at a number of sites who shared statistics on condition of anonymity.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Large drawings]]<br />
[[Category:Internet]]<br />
[[Category:Online Communities]]<br />
[[Category:Rickrolling]]</div>108.162.245.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1619:_Watson_Medical_Algorithm&diff=1074081619: Watson Medical Algorithm2015-12-21T07:20:00Z<p>108.162.245.179: Add a missing colon (likely removed from patient by Watson)</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1619<br />
| date = December 21, 2015<br />
| title = Watson Medical Algorithm<br />
| image = watson_medical_algorithm.png<br />
| titletext = Due to a minor glitch, 'discharge patient' does not cause the algorithm to exit, but instead leads back to 'hunt down and capture patient'.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
IBM's {{w|Watson_(computer)|Watson}} is a natural language system designed to answer questions posed by humans. Recently, IBM has extended Watson to act as a {{w|Clinical-decision_support_system|clinical decision support system}}, using image analytics to aid physicians in medical decision making. In this comic, Randall shows a {{w|Flowchart|flowchart}} representing a possible algorithm for Watson, including bizarre techniques including surgical alteration of a patient to match a height and weight chart and squeezing the patient to remove yellow fluids. Like [[416: Zealous Autoconfig]], this comic pokes fun at a rigid, poorly-designed setup that ends up potentially doing more harm than good. The algorithm depicted treats a patient as more of a machine or mechanical system than a living being, especially through decisions such as:<br />
<br />
* Injecting oxygen into patients with low oxygen saturation, rather than treating the root cause<br />
* Removing and inspecting a skeleton, then diagnosing the patient's condition with a bone count<br />
* Dissecting a doctor "for parts" after consulting him or her for advice<br />
* Removing extra limbs from a patient if the count is less than 100<br />
* Determining whether the "build environment" of the patient is sane<br />
* Rinsing the whole patient with a saline solution<br />
* Removing organs from a patient regardless of response to an organ donation request<br />
<br />
Other decisions appear to be entirely unrelated to the conditions upon which they are predicated:<br />
<br />
* If the patient doesn't rate their pain on a scale from 0-10, sequence their genome, apply a tourniquet, and perform an autopsy<br />
* If the patient's battery is low, defibrillate until the battery is charged, sync photos, then administer general anesthesia<br />
* If the patient is successfully comforted after an oxygen injection, check their medical history and apply skin grafts<br />
* If green fluid is released from the patient, begin to cauterize<br />
* If the patient has 100+ limbs, check their Vitamin D level<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]<br />
[[Category:Flowcharts]]</div>108.162.245.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1619:_Watson_Medical_Algorithm&diff=1074071619: Watson Medical Algorithm2015-12-21T07:19:23Z<p>108.162.245.179: Add further decisions</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1619<br />
| date = December 21, 2015<br />
| title = Watson Medical Algorithm<br />
| image = watson_medical_algorithm.png<br />
| titletext = Due to a minor glitch, 'discharge patient' does not cause the algorithm to exit, but instead leads back to 'hunt down and capture patient'.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
IBM's {{w|Watson_(computer)|Watson}} is a natural language system designed to answer questions posed by humans. Recently, IBM has extended Watson to act as a {{w|Clinical-decision_support_system|clinical decision support system}}, using image analytics to aid physicians in medical decision making. In this comic, Randall shows a {{w|Flowchart|flowchart}} representing a possible algorithm for Watson, including bizarre techniques including surgical alteration of a patient to match a height and weight chart and squeezing the patient to remove yellow fluids. Like [[416: Zealous Autoconfig]], this comic pokes fun at a rigid, poorly-designed setup that ends up potentially doing more harm than good. The algorithm depicted treats a patient as more of a machine or mechanical system than a living being, especially through decisions such as<br />
<br />
* Injecting oxygen into patients with low oxygen saturation, rather than treating the root cause<br />
* Removing and inspecting a skeleton, then diagnosing the patient's condition with a bone count<br />
* Dissecting a doctor "for parts" after consulting him or her for advice<br />
* Removing extra limbs from a patient if the count is less than 100<br />
* Determining whether the "build environment" of the patient is sane<br />
* Rinsing the whole patient with a saline solution<br />
* Removing organs from a patient regardless of response to an organ donation request<br />
<br />
Other decisions appear to be entirely unrelated to the conditions upon which they are predicated:<br />
<br />
* If the patient doesn't rate their pain on a scale from 0-10, sequence their genome, apply a tourniquet, and perform an autopsy<br />
* If the patient's battery is low, defibrillate until the battery is charged, sync photos, then administer general anesthesia<br />
* If the patient is successfully comforted after an oxygen injection, check their medical history and apply skin grafts<br />
* If green fluid is released from the patient, begin to cauterize<br />
* If the patient has 100+ limbs, check their Vitamin D level<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]<br />
[[Category:Flowcharts]]</div>108.162.245.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1619:_Watson_Medical_Algorithm&diff=107405Talk:1619: Watson Medical Algorithm2015-12-21T07:00:49Z<p>108.162.245.179: Add my signature</p>
<hr />
<div>Build environment is still insane since comic #371.<br />
<br />
(Above poster please sign comments with four tildes)<br />
<br />
I'm trying to picture Baymax using this algorithm.<br />
<br />
Well, at least the autoconfig isn't as threatening as #416.<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.179|108.162.245.179]] 07:00, 21 December 2015 (UTC)</div>108.162.245.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1619:_Watson_Medical_Algorithm&diff=107404Talk:1619: Watson Medical Algorithm2015-12-21T07:00:00Z<p>108.162.245.179: Add comment about comic #416</p>
<hr />
<div>Build environment is still insane since comic #371.<br />
<br />
(Above poster please sign comments with four tildes)<br />
<br />
I'm trying to picture Baymax using this algorithm.<br />
<br />
Well, at least the autoconfig isn't as threatening as #416.</div>108.162.245.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1619:_Watson_Medical_Algorithm&diff=1074031619: Watson Medical Algorithm2015-12-21T06:57:38Z<p>108.162.245.179: Add more information about Watson</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1619<br />
| date = December 21, 2015<br />
| title = Watson Medical Algorithm<br />
| image = watson_medical_algorithm.png<br />
| titletext = Due to a minor glitch, 'discharge patient' does not cause the algorithm to exit, but instead leads back to 'hunt down and capture patient'.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
IBM's {{w|Watson_(computer)|Watson}} is a natural language system designed to answer questions posed by humans. Recently, IBM has extended Watson to act as a {{w|Clinical-decision_support_system|clinical decision support system}}, using image analytics to aid physicians in medical decision making. In this comic, Randall shows a flow chart representing a possible algorithm for Watson, including bizarre techniques including surgical alteration of a patient to match a height and weight chart and squeezing the patient to remove yellow fluids.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]</div>108.162.245.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1619:_Watson_Medical_Algorithm&diff=1074011619: Watson Medical Algorithm2015-12-21T06:52:42Z<p>108.162.245.179: Add a start to an explanation</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1619<br />
| date = December 21, 2015<br />
| title = Watson Medical Algorithm<br />
| image = watson_medical_algorithm.png<br />
| titletext = Due to a minor glitch, 'discharge patient' does not cause the algorithm to exit, but instead leads back to 'hunt down and capture patient'.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
[http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/ibmwatson/health/ IBM Watson Health ] is a machine learning system innovated by IBM which uses image analytics to aid physicians in medical decision making. In this comic, Randall shows a flow chart representing a possible algorithm for Watson, including bizarre techniques including surgical alteration of a patient to match a height and weight chart and squeezing the patient to remove yellow fluids.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>108.162.245.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1572:_xkcd_Survey&diff=1073421572: xkcd Survey2015-12-20T00:39:35Z<p>108.162.245.179: Update the last checked date for updates</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1572<br />
| date = September 2, 2015<br />
| title = xkcd Survey<br />
| image = xkcd_survey.png<br />
| titletext = The xkcd Survey: Big Data for a Big Planet<br />
}}<br />
*The comic links to [http://goo.gl/forms/B5RaBeZ6nw The xkcd survey] on Google.<br />
<br />
{{incomplete|This comic cannot be complete until Randall releases the raw and/or analysed data. The analysis needs to be mentioned here. Until then, this comic needs to be marked incomplete.}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
As the comic image states, it links to a survey created with [https://www.google.com/forms/about/ Google Forms], containing a series of questions. The questions range from mundane typical survey questions such as “Do you have any food allergies?”, to rather strange, such as “Fill this text box with random letters by randomly mashing keys on your keyboard.” (See [[1530: Keyboard Mash]]).<br />
<br />
The stated goal of the survey is to “create an interesting and unusual data set for people to play with”. A strange data set is a ripe opportunity for a sampling of readers. It's also supposed to be “a search for weird correlations” – presumably the goal is to be able to say things like “people who have been skydiving are (more/less) likely than average to dislike cilantro”. (See also [[882: Significant]] about finding presumably-spurious correlations between unrelated data.)<br />
<br />
This explanation will undoubtedly expand when the data comes in.<br />
<br />
{{w|Image_map#Client-side_image_map|HTML image maps}} is a technique for marking up areas of an image on a web page, such that each area can be a link without the whole image being a link. [[Randall]] could have used this type of image map to make only the “Click here to take the survey” button be a link, and none of the rest of the image. But he cannot get the hang of it (or knowing his skills, does not wish to take the time to learn it). Not getting the hang of HTML image maps was also referenced on [http://imgs.xkcd.com/store/tour-news.png the banner for his book tour] from [http://web.archive.org/web/20140901023821/http://xkcd.com/ September 2014]<br />
<br />
The title text is a joke off of {{w|Big Data}}, which is a name for analysis of a set of data that includes a huge amount of information. He also says "for a big planet" because the Earth is big.{{Citation needed}}<br />
<br />
The survey is closed, and the questions replaced with the text: "The xkcd survey is now closed. Thank you for all your answers! Response data is being collected and will be posted soon." As of 19 December 2015, the same caption is still there, with no indication of exactly how soon the data is intended to be posted.<br />
<br />
==The Survey==<br />
The Survey started off with the following statement:<br />
<br />
<nowiki>This is an anonymous survey. After it's done, a database of everyone's responses will be posted.<br />
There's no specific reason for any of the questions. The goal is to create an interesting and unusual data set for people to play with. This is obviously not going to be a real random sample of people, but in the interest of getting cooler data, if you're sharing this with friends, try sending it to some people who wouldn't normally see this kind of thing!<br />
<br />
WARNING: This survey is anonymous, but your answers WILL BE MADE PUBLIC. Depending what you write, it's possible that someone may be able to identify you by looking at your responses. None of these questions should ask about anything too private, but don't write anything that you don't want people to see. If you're not comfortable answering a question, just skip it.</nowiki><br />
<br />
'''Note:''' The order of the possible answers (the list of possibilities) was random, and changed every time the page is reloaded. So do not try to fix the order here below...<br />
<br />
===Plane===<br />
*Have you ever been in a plane?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Skydiving===<br />
*Have you ever been {{w|Parachuting|skydiving}}?<br />
**No, but I might someday<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===The Dress===<br />
*When you first saw {{w|The dress (viral phenomenon)|The Dress}}, what color was it? — (Also see [[1492: Dress Color]] and the [[Blag]] ENTRY [http://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/ Color Survey Results]).<br />
**White and gold<br />
**A color combination not listed here<br />
**I don't remember<br />
**Blue and black<br />
**What dress?<br />
<br />
===Popular food===<br />
*What's a really popular food that you don't like?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Floaters===<br />
*When you look at a blue sky, do you see those swirly {{w|floater|floaters}} in your vision?<br />
**Yes, constantly<br />
**I'm not sure what things you mean<br />
**Yes, occasionally<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Running out of gas===<br />
*Have you ever had a car run out of gas while you were driving it?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Animals===<br />
*Name the first five animals you can think of<br />
**''Multi line text box''<br />
<br />
===Weather===<br />
*What's the weather like where you are right now?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Activities===<br />
*Which of these can you do reasonably well?<br />
*(Check all that apply)<br />
**{{w|slam dunk|Dunk}} a basketball &mdash; A "slam dunk" or simply "dunk" is the act of jumping up and putting the ball through the net with a lot of force<br />
**Tie a {{w|sheet bend}} or {{w|bowline}} &mdash; A sheet bend is a knot that joins two ropes together; A bowline is a knot used to form a fixed loop at the end of a rope<br />
**Roller skate<br />
**[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/high-heel-race/ Run in high heels]<br />
**Drive a stick shift — See {{w|Manual transmission}} of a car<br />
**Solve a {{w|Rubik's cube}}<br />
**Dive headfirst off a diving board &mdash; See {{w|Springboard}} and {{w|Diving platform}}<br />
**Ice skate<br />
**{{w|Skateboarding|Skateboard}}<br />
**Walk on {{w|stilts}} — Stilts are poles, posts or pillars used to allow a person to walk at a height above the ground<br />
**Ski<br />
**Cut vegetables with a knife<br />
**Swim<br />
**Ride a horse<br />
**{{w|Unicycle}}<br />
**Change the oil on a car<br />
**Do a back {{w|Handspring (gymnastics)|handspring}} &mdash; A handspring is an exercise in gymnastics in which you jump through the air landing on your hands, then again landing on your feet<br />
**Juggle — {{w|Toss juggling}} (the most recognizable form of juggling) consists in throwing objects into the air and catching them.<br />
<br />
===Spelling===<br />
*What word can you never seem to spell on the first try?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Condiments===<br />
*Do you eat {{w|condiments}} directly out of the fridge as a snack?<br />
**No <br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Thermostat===<br />
*When you adjust a thermostat that was set by someone else, it's usually because you want the room to be...<br />
**Cooler<br />
**Warmer<br />
<br />
===Clothing===<br />
*What color is the shirt/dress/upper-body-clothing you're wearing right now, if any?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Colds===<br />
*Do you get {{w|Common cold|colds}} often?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Number===<br />
*Pick a number from 1 to 100<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Spelling===<br />
*On a scale of 1 to 10, how good at spelling are you? (Note that the question does not specify which end of the scale is good or bad.)<br />
**''Tick off list with numbers from 1 to 10.''<br />
<br />
===Myers-Briggs===<br />
*Do you know your {{w|Myers–Briggs_Type_Indicator|Myers-Briggs type}}?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Astrology===<br />
*Do you know your {{w|astrological sign}}?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Siblings===<br />
*How many older siblings do you have?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
*How many younger siblings do you have?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
*How many twin/etc siblings do you have?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Sleepiness===<br />
*Do you feel sleepy a lot?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Movie star===<br />
*Name a movie star<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Time in sun===<br />
*Do you spend a lot of time in the sun?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Broccoli===<br />
*Does {{w|broccoli}} taste bitter to you?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
**I've never had it<br />
<br />
===Wakefulness===<br />
*Do you regularly stay awake much later than you meant to?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Keyboard mashing===<br />
*Fill this text box with gibberish by mashing random keyboard keys (See [[1530: Keyboard Mash]]).<br />
**''Broad multi-line text box''<br />
<br />
===Driving===<br />
*On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is terrible and 3 is average, how good a driver do you think you are?<br />
**''Tick off list with numbers from 1 to 5.''<br />
<br />
===Allergies===<br />
*Do you have any food allergies?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes <br />
<br />
===Thunder===<br />
*Have you heard thunder or seen lightning in the past year? — (The title-text of [[831: Weather Radar]] mentions the belief that thunderstorms seemed more common when one was a kid. Since the survey also asks for age this question is likely a test of that belief.)<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Flavor preference===<br />
*Which do you prefer? (It seems to be missing the ''neither'' option...)<br />
**Chocolate<br />
**Vanilla<br />
<br />
===Number (reprise)===<br />
*Pick another number from 1 to 100 (Supposedly is should not be the same as in the first pick a number box).<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Internet===<br />
*When you think about stuff on the internet, where do you picture it being physically located? Even if you know it's not really how things work, is there a place you imagine websites and social media posts sitting before you look at them? If so, where is it?<br />
**''Broad multi-line text box''<br />
<br />
===Roll tongue===<br />
*Can you {{w|Tongue rolling|roll your tongue}}?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
**What?<br />
<br />
===Toes===<br />
*Can you pick things up with your toes?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Age===<br />
*How old are you?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Walls===<br />
*What color are the walls around you right now?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Cell phone===<br />
*What kind of cell phone do you have?<br />
**{{w|iPhone}}<br />
**{{w|Android (operating system)|Android}}<br />
**Other smartphone<br />
**Non-smartphone<br />
**I don't have a cell phone<br />
<br />
===Eating===<br />
*What's the last thing you ate?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Difficult words===<br />
*Which of these words do you know the meaning of?<br />
*Some of these words don’t appear in any of the following dictionaries: the Oxford English Dictionary, the New Oxford American Dictionary, Wiktionary, or Dictionary.com. These words were probably made up by Randall. Perhaps the goal is to make people feel like they have a weak vocabulary because they don’t know many of the words, until they try look up the meanings and realize they have been tricked.<br />
*More likely, the inclusion of fictitious words is a validity check. Hidden tests of the validity of responses is a part of good questionnaire design. For example, long lists of questions with "Agree-Disagree" responses will often have one or more items which are "reverse-coded" (phrased in a direction opposite to the rest of the questions): if a respondent provides a response which contradicts the pattern presented by the rest of the responses, this casts doubt on the validity of the other responses - suggesting that the respondent is not actually reading the questions properly. In the instance of Randall's survey, claiming to know the meaning of fictitious words would cast doubt on the respondent's claims of a knowing the meaning of the other words in the list.<br />
*In addition, these false claims by respondents may themselves then be used as a source of data: for example, an analysis of the data could find that males (and/or skydivers) are more likely than females to over-represent their actual level of knowledge.<br />
*[http://dictionary.reference.com/ Dictionary.com] has an index of difficulty (measured in pixels, with class name <code>difficulty-indicator</code>). We add it at the right of the words that have it. N/A means that a word isn't present in Dictionary.com, or that it doesn't have an index.<br />
**Slickle – Not in any standard dictionary. However, it [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Slickle is in] the crowd-sourced in Urban Dictionary, as well as a suggested planet name in [[1253: Exoplanet Names]]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rife Rife] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rife 117]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/soliloquy Soliloquy] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/soliloquy 150]<br />
**Fination – not in any dictionary. Appears infrequently in Victorian texts (e.g., [http://books.google.com/books?id=ghNOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA245&dq=Fination 1889], [http://books.google.com/books?id=nwlCAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA214&dq=Fination 1839])<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stipple Stipple] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stipple 144]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/peristeronic Peristeronic] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/peristeronic N/A]. Randall used it and defined it for readers in [[798: Adjectives]].<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/modicum Modicum] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/modicum 120]<br />
**Trephony – Not available in reference dictionaries. An obsolete spelling of "{{w|Trephine}}" (especially when used as a verb for the process of {{w|Trepanning|trephination}}). Initially a transliteration of Greek [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=tru/panon τρυπάω] for the same.<br />
**Tribution – A regular construction from [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tribute#Verb Tribute (verb)] using "-tion" to transform into a noun. Using this regular formation, the term would mean the act of tribute, but no examples of actual use are available. It is worth noting that the use of "tribute" as a verb is generally considered obsolete and the few forms that persist in use relate primarily to the tributary and distibutary river systems<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/phoropter Phoropter] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/phoropter N/A] 1.An instrument used in eye examinations to determine an individual's prescription, the patient looking through various lenses at a chart on the other side.<br />
**Unitory – Not available in reference dictionaries. An obsolete spelling of "Unitary," chiefly British. While long obsolete in normal usage, it persisted longer in mathematics that it did elsewhere (particularly for "Unitory Method" and "Unitory Matrixes"). Example of use: [https://books.google.com/books?id=Wl1BAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA5-PA27&lpg=RA5-PA27&dq=unitory+method&source=bl&ots=rfRKJXAJqV&sig=Wsr_gV7xG6Airah9Lx1M0hi-7Zc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDsQ6AEwBmoVChMInd_R9qTbxwIVChU-Ch36IAh_#v=onepage&q=unitory%20method&f=false (1)]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/amiable Amiable] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/amiable 123]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/salient Salient] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/salient 69]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/regolith Regolith] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/regolith 162]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lithe Lithe] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lithe 105]<br />
**Revergent – technical word from {{w|fern}} biology, referring to the edges of fern leaves which curl back on themselves (see [http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00985044 Schölch, 2000])<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hubris Hubris] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hubris 117]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fleek Fleek] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fleek N/A]<br />
**Cadine – A rare loan-word for [https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/cadine a sultan's wife or a noble ottoman woman] which comes to English through the French. Examples of Use: [https://books.google.com/books?id=4yz-Y-_OOO0C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=cadine&f=false (1)]. Also the name of an [https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadine italian city]. <br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apricity Apricity] – Not available in reference dictionaries. An obsolete word for the sun's heat in winter (e.g., [http://books.google.com/books?id=CFBGAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT76&dq=apricity Bailey 1775]). According to the What If? book (page 80), this is Randall's single favourite word in the English language.<br />
<br />
===cat===<br />
*Please type "cat" here: <br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Dreams===<br />
*Do you usually remember your dreams?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Text editors===<br />
*Do you have strong opinions about text editors? (See {{w|Editor war}})<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Emoji===<br />
*How do you feel about {{w|emoji}}?<br />
**Negative 😠 (Unicode 1f620 - Angry face)<br />
**Positive 😊 (Unicode 263a - Smiling face)<br />
**Neutral 😐 (Unicode 1F610 - Neutral face)<br />
<br />
===Snow===<br />
*Does it ever snow where you live?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Taste of food===<br />
*Do you strongly dislike the taste or texture of any of these things?<br />
**Eggs<br />
**Chocolate ice cream<br />
**Beer<br />
**White wine<br />
**{{w|Carbonation}} (or Fizz)<br />
**Red wine<br />
**{{w|Cilantro}}<br />
**Coffee<br />
**Tomatoes<br />
**Yogurt<br />
<br />
===Beverages===<br />
*Which of these do you regularly drink?<br />
**Caffeinated soda (e.g. Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper)<br />
**Noncaffeinated soda<br />
**Coffee<br />
**Fruit juice<br />
**Milk<br />
**Beer<br />
**Wine<br />
**Tea<br />
**{{w|Maple syrup}}<br />
**Water<br />
<br />
===Random words===<br />
*Type five random words<br />
**''Broad multi-line text box''<br />
<br />
===Flying===<br />
*Are you nervous about flying?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
**A little<br />
<br />
===Favorite number===<br />
*On a scale of 1 to 5, which number is your favorite?<br />
**''Tick off list with numbers from 1 to 5.''<br />
<br />
===Sandwich===<br />
*Which of these would you consider a {{w|sandwich}}?<br />
*(Check all that apply)<br />
**{{w|Taco}}<br />
**{{w|Quesadilla}}<br />
**{{w|Submarine sandwich|Sub/Hoagie}}<br />
**{{w|Cheesesteak}}<br />
**{{w|Hamburger}}<br />
**{{w|Open-faced sandwich}}<br />
**{{w|Calzone}}<br />
<br />
===Animal affinity===<br />
*Which of these describes you?<br />
*(Check all that apply)<br />
**Dog person<br />
**Cat person<br />
**Half-cat half-person<br />
**Part of a subterranean race of dog people<br />
**Literally named "Catherine Person"<br />
<br />
===Sense of direction===<br />
*Would you say you have a good sense of direction?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Socks or underwear===<br />
*Have you ever thrown out all your different pairs of socks/underwear, bought a bunch of replacements that were all one kind, and then told all your friends how great it was and how they should do it too?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
**I did the throwing out thing, but didn't talk to everyone about it<br />
**No, but I'm totally doing that now<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A simple comic with text only. The ''click here'' part is inside a black frame.]<br />
:Introducing <br />
:'''The xkcd Survey'''<br />
:A search for weird correlations<br />
:Note: This survey is anonymous, but<br />
:<font color="red"> all responses will be posted publicly </font><br />
:so people can play with the data.<br />
:'''Click here to'''<br />
:'''take the survey'''<br />
:Or click here, or here.<br />
:The whole comic is a link,<br />
:because I still haven't gotten<br />
:the hang of HTML imagemaps.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]</div>108.162.245.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=28:_Elefino&diff=10681828: Elefino2015-12-11T15:22:23Z<p>108.162.245.179: /* Explanation */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 28<br />
| date = November 14, 2005<br />
| title = Elefino<br />
| image = elefino.jpg<br />
| titletext = Hell if I know<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The basis for this fairly simple xkcd comic is the subject riddle, which is properly answered, as given in the title text: "Hell if I know". When spoken, this "correct" answer sounds like "elefino" – a {{w|portmanteau}} of "'''eleph'''ant" and "rh'''ino'''". This makes it again one of the early comics where Randall explains the comic via the title text.<br />
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Instead of giving the punchline of the joke, Randall answers with the unexpected "I haven't a goddamn clue", which, while having the same meaning, ruins the joke. This is akin to the way {{w|Biff Tannen}} in the ''{{w|Back to the Future}}'' film series says "make like a tree and get out of here" (rather than the proper "make like a tree and leave" [leaf]).<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:Q: What do you get when you cross an Elephant with a Rhino?<br />
:[Picture of elephant, mathematical addition symbol, picture of rhino, equals sign, large question mark.]<br />
:A: I haven't a goddamn clue.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*This was the 32nd comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].<br />
**The previous was [[29: Hitler]].<br />
**The next was [[31: Barrel - Part 5]].<br />
*Original title: "Monday's Drawing - Elefino"<br />
*There were no original [[Randall]] quote for this comic.<br />
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.<br />
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with all 41 comics]] posted before that on LiveJournal as well as a few others.<br />
**The latter explaining why the numbers of these 41 LiveJournal comics ranges from 1-44.<br />
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].<br />
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{{Comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 32]]<br />
[[Category:First day on xkcd]]<br />
[[Category:Checkered paper]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Portmanteau]]</div>108.162.245.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1615:_Red_Car&diff=1068171615: Red Car2015-12-11T15:17:40Z<p>108.162.245.179: /* Explanation */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1615<br />
| date = December 11, 2015<br />
| title = Red Car<br />
| image = red_car.png<br />
| titletext = That guy only drives an alkaline car to overcompensate for his highly acidic penis.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic is a take on the common stereotype that men who drive expensive sports cars do so because they're insecure in their manhood. Typically this is summarized as saying they are compensating for having a small penis.<br />
<br />
{{w|Cyan}} is a greenish-blue color that is not a basic color term in most languages. It is the {{w|complementary color}} to red in the CMYK color model.<br />
<br />
[[Megan]], upon seeing [[Hairy]] drive past in a red convertible, tells [[Cueball]] that he must be compensating for his cyan colored penis.<br />
<br />
This comic thus generalizes the original stereotype to an assumption that men drive cars that compensate for problems with their penis. Under this principle, a red car would complement (be the opposite of) a cyan penis. <br />
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In the title text two other opposites are mentioned: {{w|acid}} and {{w|alkaline}}. An alkaline car would complement an acidic penis. This may also be a alkaline battery reference and refer to drivers of expensive electric cars.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan and Cueball are standing next to an intersection as Hairy drives by in a red convertible.]<br />
:Megan: I bet he just drives that car to overcompensate for his cyan penis.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]</div>108.162.245.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1613:_The_Three_Laws_of_Robotics&diff=106542Talk:1613: The Three Laws of Robotics2015-12-07T15:36:03Z<p>108.162.245.179: </p>
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<div>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PKx3kS7f4A Relevant Computerphile] {{unsigned ip|141.101.84.114}}<br />
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I think the second one would also create the "best" robots i.e. ones that have the same level of "free will" as humans do, but won't end up with the robot uprising. X3[[User:International Space Station|International Space Station]] ([[User talk:International Space Station|talk]]) 09:37, 7 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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The second ordering was actually covered in a story by Asimov, where a strengthed third law caused a robot to run around a hazard at a distance which maintained an equilibrium between not getting destroyed and obeying orders. More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runaround_(story) [[User:Gearoid|Gearóid]] ([[User talk:Gearoid|talk]]) 09:45, 7 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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The explanation itself seems pretty close to complete. I'll leave others to judge if the tag is ready to be removed though. [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 12:20, 7 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Technically, in the world we live in, robots are barely following ONE law - obey orders. Noone ever tried to built robot programmed to never harm human, because such programming would be ridiculously complex. Sure, most robots are built with failsafes, but nothing nearly as effective as Asimov's law, which makes permanent damage to robots brain when it fails to protect humans. Meanwhile, there is lot of effort spent on making robots only follow orders of authorized people, while Asimov's robots generally didn't distinguish between humans. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 13:36, 7 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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I'm wondering about the title text: why would a driverless car kill its passenger before going into a dealership?13:43, 7 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
: A driverless car would feel threatened by a trip to a car dealership. The owner would presumably be contemplating a trade-in, which could lead to a visit to the junk yard. [[User:Erickhagstrom|Erickhagstrom]] ([[User talk:Erickhagstrom|talk]]) 14:28, 7 December 2015 (UTC)</div>108.162.245.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1613:_The_Three_Laws_of_Robotics&diff=1065411613: The Three Laws of Robotics2015-12-07T15:34:29Z<p>108.162.245.179: /* Explanation */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1613<br />
| date = December 7, 2015<br />
| title = The Three Laws of Robotics<br />
| image = the_three_laws_of_robotics.png<br />
| titletext = In ordering #5, self-driving cars will happily drive you around, but if you tell them to drive to a car dealership, they just lock the doors and politely ask how long humans take to starve to death.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Very basic first draft, and I'm pretty inexperienced [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 09:38, 7 December 2015 (UTC) you should also check my awful spelling [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 09:46, 7 December 2015 (UTC)}}<br />
This comic explores alternative orderings of sci-fi author Isaac Asimov's famous {{w|Three Laws of Robotics}}. These laws form the basis of a number of Asimov works of fiction, including most famously, "I, Robot". The comic answers the generally unasked question: "Why are they in that order?"<br />
<br />
The joke here is that any alternative ordering of the three laws results in ridiculous worlds; two of these are designated yellow (pretty bad) and three results are designated red ("Hellscape").<br />
<br />
;Ordering #1:This is the original ordering.<br />
;Ordering #2: The robots value their existence over their job and so many would be much less functional. The silliness of this is portrayed in the accompanying image, where the robot laughs at the idea of doing what it was clearly built to do (explore mars) because of the risk. This personification is augmented by the robot being switched on on Earth and ordered by the fleshy human known as [[Megan]]. The personification is humorous since it is a very nonhuman robot. <br />
;Ordering #3: This puts obeying orders above not harming humans which means anyone could send them on a killing spree, resulting in a "Killbot Hellscape". It should also be noted humor is derived from the superlative nature of "Killbot Hellscape", as well as its over the top accompanying image, where there are multiple mushroom clouds (not necessarily nuclear). It also appears there are no humans, only robots. <br />
;Ordering #4:The next would also result in much the same, the only difference here is that they would be willing to kill humans to protect themselves. <br />
;Ordering #5:The penultimate would result in a unpleasant world, though not a full Hellscape, where the robots would not only disobey to protect themselves, but also kill if necessary. The absurdity of this one is further demonstrated with the very unhuman robot happily doing repetitive mundane tasks but then threatening its user, the terrified relic of the age of men known as [[Cueball]]. <br />
;Ordering #6:The last also results in a Hellscape wherein robots not only kill for self defense but will also go on killing sprees if ordered as long as they didn't risk themselves.<br />
<br />
The titletext further adds to ordering #5 by noting anyone wishing to trade in their self-driving car could be killed, despite it (currently) being a standard and mundane and (mostly) risk free activity.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>108.162.245.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1613:_The_Three_Laws_of_Robotics&diff=1065401613: The Three Laws of Robotics2015-12-07T15:31:46Z<p>108.162.245.179: /* Explanation */ proper English</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1613<br />
| date = December 7, 2015<br />
| title = The Three Laws of Robotics<br />
| image = the_three_laws_of_robotics.png<br />
| titletext = In ordering #5, self-driving cars will happily drive you around, but if you tell them to drive to a car dealership, they just lock the doors and politely ask how long humans take to starve to death.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Very basic first draft, and I'm pretty inexperienced [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 09:38, 7 December 2015 (UTC) you should also check my awful spelling [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 09:46, 7 December 2015 (UTC)}}<br />
This comic explores alternative orderings of sci-fi author Isaac Asimov's famous {{w|Three Laws of Robotics}}. These laws form the basis of a number of Asimov works of fiction, including most famously, "I, Robot". The comic answers the generally unasked question: "Why are they in that order?"<br />
<br />
The joke here is that any alternative ordering of the three laws results in ridiculous worlds; two of these are designated orange (pretty bad) and three results are designated red ("Hellscape").<br />
<br />
;Ordering #1:This is the original ordering.<br />
;Ordering #2: The robots value their existence over their job and so many would be much less functional. The silliness of this is portrayed in the accompanying image, where the robot laughs at the idea of doing what it was clearly built to do (explore mars), because of the risk. This personification is augmented by the robot being switched on on earth and ordered by the fleshy human known as [[Megan]]. The personification is humorous since it is a very nonhuman robot. <br />
;Ordering #3: This puts obeying orders above not harming humans which means anyone could send them on a killing spree, resulting in a "Killbot Hellscape"; It should also be noted humour is derived from the superlative nature of "Killbot Hellscape", as well as its over the top accompanying image, where there are multiple mushroom clouds (not necessarily nuclear), it also appears there are no humans, only robots. <br />
<br />
;Ordering #4:The next would also result in much the same, the only difference here is that they would be willing to kill humans to protect themselves. <br />
<br />
;Ordering #5:The penultimate would result in a unpleasant world, though not a full hellscape, where the robots would not only disobey to protect themselves, but also kill if necessary. The absurdity of this one is further demonstrated with the very unhuman robot happily doing repetitive mundane tasks but then threatening its user, the terrified relic of the age of men known as [[Cueball]]. <br />
<br />
;Ordering #6:The last also results in a hellscape wherein robots not only kill for self defense but will also go on killing sprees if ordered as long as they didn't risk themselves.<br />
<br />
The titletext further adding to ordering #5 by noting anyone wishing to trade in their self-driving car could be killed, despite it (currently) being a standard and mundane and (mostly) risk free activity.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>108.162.245.179