https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=162.158.255.72&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T05:46:10ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1774:_Adjective_Foods&diff=1326771774: Adjective Foods2016-12-19T16:24:46Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1774<br />
| date = December 19, 2016<br />
| title = Adjective Foods<br />
| image = adjective_foods.png<br />
| titletext = Contains 100% of your recommended daily allowance!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|First draft}}<br />
This comic shows one of [[Randall]]'s goals in life- creating foods with 'adjective-only' names, where rather than Glazed Donuts or Lite Beer, just Glazed and Lite. This is a jab at food market buzzwords, usually relying on adjectives and words that bring up certain feelings and based on how the food is 'supposed to be'. An example of this is something like 'lean and tender beef'. It is also semi-difficult to determine the actual contents just by adjectives. <br />
<br />
The title text furthers this with 'recommended daily allowance of XXX', and removing 'of XXX', making it vague enough to be meaningless.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{notice|Format, if just a bit.}}<br />
:[An arrangement of labeled foodstuffs, from left to right and top to bottom:]<br />
:Premium Stone-ground <span style="font-size: 15px;">''Bespoke''</span>, Cage-free<br />
:''Gourmet'' Fire-roasted <span style="background:#000;color:#fff;">Glazed</span> ''flambé''<br />
:Organic All-natural Locally-sourced <span style="font-size: 15px;">Artisenal</span>, Kosher, Grade A<br />
:''Craft Barrel-aged Smoked'' <span style="font-size: 15px">Authentic Homemade</span> Sun-dried Whole Extra Sharp<br />
:Low-calorie <span style="background:#000;color:#fff;">''Lite''</span> Original Flavor<br />
:[Caption:] I'm trying to trick supermarkets into carrying my new line of adjective-only foods.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1762:_Moving_Boxes&diff=1323261762: Moving Boxes2016-12-10T01:44:09Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation of boxes */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1762<br />
| date = November 21, 2016<br />
| title = Moving Boxes<br />
| image = moving_boxes.png<br />
| titletext = Later, when I remember that I'm calling movers, I frantically scribble over the labels and write 'NORMAL HOUSE STUFF' on all of them, which actually makes things worse.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
[[Randall]] talks about moving boxes and not labeling them until he forgets what's in them. Since he doesn't know what's in them, he writes silly things on the boxes as a joke. Some things are unusual/unlikely (e.g. sand, hydrants, peat) and some are abstract/impossible (e.g. elves, taupe, dark matter). Several of the categories overlap confusingly; for instance, "sand" and "silt" and "dark matter" are all generally considered as "particles"; "membranes", "edges", and "shawls" are all kinds of "manifolds"; "hooves" are part of "bison"; "fog" contains "water"; and "triangles" consist of three "edges". Another way to interpret this comic is that Randall actually has these items (or at least some of them) in the boxes and has simply forgotten which boxes contain what.<br />
<br />
According to the title text, when Randall remembers that he is calling movers, he frantically scribbles "Normal House Stuff" on all the boxes. He says this makes the situation worse, possibly because the movers see the scribble and become suspicious. Alternatively, labeling every box with the exact same phrase will make it even harder to figure out what they contain and where they should go in the new dwelling.<br />
<br />
===Explanation of boxes===<br />
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"<br />
!Label<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
!Box 1<br />
|-<br />
|Grids|| [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grid Grids] are mathematical drawings; they would be constructed by drawing them, not stored in a box (though {{w|graph paper}} might be). May refer to a classic {{w|snipe hunt}} where a hazing victim is tasked with finding "a box of grid squares".<br />
|-<br />
|Bison||{{w|Bison}}, sometimes mistakenly called buffalo, are large animals that would probably not fit in the box{{Citation needed}}.<br />
|-<br />
|Checkerboards||The tabletop gaming boards on which one plays {{w|English draughts|Checkers}}. It is also the name of the corresponding pattern, and thus can be interpreted as an abstract term like many other "objects" in this comic.<br />
|-<br />
|Fog||{{w|Fog}} is essentially low-lying clouds which, being gaseous, are hard to box using only cardboard.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 2<br />
|-<br />
|Beacons||Beacons are devices designed to draw attention to themselves, for various reasons. From the generic term "beacon" this could mean anything from electronic GPS locator beacons to miniature replicas of naval lighthouses. Or, alternatively, it could be like what is referenced in the 7th panel of [[921: Delivery Notification]], which is used to summon elves (which happen to be in the same box). <br />
|-<br />
|Elves||Elves are a fictional race (or rather, many, many fictional races) of human-like magical creatures.<br />
|-<br />
|Sand||Sand grains are fine particles of rock. While it's not unheard of for people to need to store sand, it's usually not stored along with your personal belongings on moving day.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 3 - Blood<br />
|-<br />
|Hemoglobin||{{w|Hemoglobin}} is the protein found in red blood cells that carries oxygen around the body. This may be a solution of hemoglobin protein, but one human generally would not need a full box of it{{Citation needed}}.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 4<br />
|-<br />
|Water||As with sand, it's not unheard of for, say, a laboratory to store water samples for testing. But again, these wouldn't be stored along with your personal belongings on moving day. And if this is meant to be drinking water, it would be a waste of effort; it's taken as read that any house you're moving into has its own plumbing. Unless, of course, they insist on drinking bottled water (which some people do).<br />
|-<br />
|Hooves||{{w|Hooves}} are possibly best-known as horse and cow 'feet'. This could also be read as a compound word, Water-Hooves akin to water-wings. <br />
|-<br />
!Box 5 - Charadriiformes<br />
|-<br />
|Charadriiformes||{{w|Charadriiformes}} are a type of bird that contains (mostly) waterfowl. There are about 350 different species.<br />
|-<br />
|Shorebirds|| Also known as {{w|Wader|Waders}},these are an order of birds that wade in littoral waters.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 6 - Vector ?<br />
|-<br />
|Oil|| This could mean anything from cooking oil to petroleum; either way, most of a box full of oil bottles is unusual, but for different reasons (that's a lot of cooking oil, a ''lot'' of motor oil, and a comically small amount of crude oil).<br />
|-<br />
|Vectors||{{w|Vector}}s are properties with magnitude and direction, such as velocity, momentum, acceleration, etc., but can depend on the context. In any situation, they are not physical objects, so they cannot be put in boxes. Alternatively "vector" could mean a carrier of a disease, such as ticks or mosquitos, but while more possible to box they would still not be practical to keep with common household goods and the intent of moving them as such would be dubious at best. <br />
|-<br />
|Silt|| Material between sand and clay size-wise. A sediment. See sand and water above for why this is unusual. Randall has a special place in his heart for rock particles of various sizes; see [https://what-if.xkcd.com/83/ What If #83].<br />
|-<br />
!Box 7<br />
|-<br />
|Membranes||Delicate thin pliable sheet or skin of various kinds. Usually fragile or cut easily. Not something you would expect to be packed with something sharp, which shards are likely to be, although these labels are incorrect.<br />
|-<br />
|Shards||These are broken pieces of smooth and hard objects, e.g. ceramic, glass, crystal. Something you would normally expect to be thrown out, rather than packed up for moving house.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 8<br />
|-<br />
|Shawls||{{w|Shawls}} are a simple item of clothing, worn loosely over one's shoulders. Also being of rectangular shape, they are supposed to be worn in colder weather.<br />
|-<br />
|Glucose||{{w|Glucose}} is possibly best-known as the sugar plants produce for energy, but can be manufactured.<br />
|-<br />
|Kits||A {{w|kit}} is any set of tools, supplies, and/or instructions for a specific purpose. These could be first aid kits, software development kits, bomb-making kits, sewing kits... It can also refer to juveniles of some mammals, such as foxes or rabbits (it is not very likely that such animals would be packed in a box - though compare [[325: A-Minus-Minus]]). Alternatively, this may be a compound word "Glucose Kits", diabetic assay tools to help the patient regulate their blood sugar.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 9<br />
|-<br />
|Hydrants||{{w|Fire hydrant}}s are likely too big to fit in boxes, and are also simply odd objects to be packing into a box.<br />
|-<br />
|Particles||As almost all matter is composed of {{w|particles}}, it is hard to find exceptions. Thus, this is very vague.<br />
|-<br />
|Knots||{{w|Knot}}s are things tied in ropes; they can hold things or just be there. This would be hard to put in a box without rope{{Citation needed}}. Could also refer to knots in a piece of {{w|wood}}, which are hard to put in the box without the rest of the wood. Knots could also refer to the {{w|Knot_(unit)|unit of speed}}, usually used in meteorology, and in maritime and air navigation which would be impossible to box as it is not a physical object.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 10 - Palette<br />
|-<br />
|Graphite||{{w|Graphite}} is a crystalline form of carbon, where the atoms are arranged in sheets. It is found in some household products (pencils and lubricant oil), though in either case the name of the end product would be a more likely box label. Graphite is also a color.<br />
|-<br />
|Taupe|| {{w|Taupe}} is a dark tan color in between brown and gray, again, not an object. May be a reference to Gliese 581f (a.k.a. Taupe Mars) from [[1253|xkcd #1253]].<br />
|-<br />
!Box 11 - Gaussian surface?<br />
|-<br />
|Field Lines||This could refer to {{w|field line}}s as used to depict electromagnetic fields, or possibly to the lines painted on an athletic field to mark the boundaries of play. The former are a visualization tool rather than physical objects; the latter consist of streaks of paint on grass or artificial turf, and thus neither kind of field line is the kind of physical object that could be packed into a box. <br />
|-<br />
!Box 12<br />
|-<br />
|Traps||May be a reference to 'My house is full of traps' from [https://what-if.xkcd.com/34// What-If #34]<br />
|-<br />
!Box 13<br />
|-<br />
|Edges||{{w|Edge_(geometry)|Edge}} is a line segment joining two vertices. Even though physical objects do have edges, you cannot store edges themselves as they are just mathematical constructs.<br />
|-<br />
|Tribes||{{w|Tribe}} is a social group of people, tribes existed before states were formed. It is impossible to store a group of people in the box{{Citation needed}}. <br />
|-<br />
|Dough||{{w|Dough}} is a thick, malleable, sometimes elastic, paste made out of any grains, leguminous or chestnut crops. It is used in the process of cooking, but it doesn't make sense to pack it while moving.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 14<br />
|-<br />
|Dark Matter||{{w|Dark matter}} is what believe to be a big part of the mass of galaxies, but we have never observed it, so it is not possible to pack it {{Citation needed}}. Alternatively, if all dark matter was permanently packed in boxes like this it would explain why it has never been observed. According to the Copenhagen interpretation of the uncertainty principle, dark matter may both the in the box and somewhere else in the universe until such a time that somebody open the box.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 15<br />
|-<br />
|Manifolds||In topology, {{w|Manifold|Manifolds}} are s with certain "nice" properties (i.e. they are locally Euclidean). This is yet another mathematical construct which is impossible to pack into a box. Manifold could also refer to a pipe or chamber branching into several openings, for example an engine exhaust manifold. While physical, it's unlikely that multiple are put in a box for moving.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 16<br />
|-<br />
|Triangles||Within the context of this comic, the reference is likely to the shape. On the other hand, it would not be unusual to pack one or more {{w|Triangle (musical instrument)}}s into a box.<br />
|-<br />
|Peat|| {{w|Peat}} is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation that forms in wetland bogs, moors, mires, and swamps.<br />
|-<br />
|Crowns|| These may be royal crowns, or may be the coin worth five shillings in UK pre-decimal currency.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 17<br />
|-<br />
|Scrolls||A {{w|scroll}} is a roll of papyrus, paper, or parchment that contains writing. It is a common item in fantasy games (as elves and traps).<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A bunch of cardboard boxes stacked up, each labeled]<br />
:{| class="wikitable"<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
| colspan="2" height="80px" width="80px" |<br />
Grids<br><br />
Bison<br><br />
Checkerboards<br><br />
Fog<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px"|<br />
Beacons<br><br />
Elves<br><br />
Sand<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Hemoglobin<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Water<br><br />
Hooves<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
|-|<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Shorebirds<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Oil<br><br />
Vectors<br><br />
Silt <br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Membranes<br><br />
Shards<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Shawls<br><br />
Glucose<br><br />
Kits<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
|-|<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Hydrants<br><br />
Particles<br><br />
Knots<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Graphite<br><br />
Taupe<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Field Lines<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Traps<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
|-|<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Edges<br><br />
Tribes<br><br />
Dough<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Dark Matter<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Manifolds<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Triangles<br><br />
Peat<br><br />
Crowns<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Scrolls<br />
|}<br />
<br />
:[Caption: I always forget to label my moving boxes until they're sealed up and I've forgotten what's in them.]<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Biology]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]<br />
[[Category:Science]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1769:_Never_Seen_Star_Wars&diff=132281Talk:1769: Never Seen Star Wars2016-12-08T21:57:36Z<p>162.158.255.72: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~--><br />
Star Wars, pronounced Star Wors, was a very successful sci-fi action adventure movie from the 70s. Due to the success of the film, a sequel was made and is generally considered better than the first. The two movies are so iconic that someone who has not seen one or both of them would be considered unusual. Other sequals have been made, keeping the fanbase of the material constantly hoping for a 3rd movie that is on par with the firat two. Sadly, no such conclusion to the trilogy has arrived. Instead, each attempted sequel(more than half a dozen now) has been not much more than a 90 minute insult to the good taste and intelligence of the fans. This continued abuse of the star wars fanbase has prompted many former fans of the series to forgo watching recent releases, and to disavow ever seeing the original work in the first place. It appears that some of the cast of xkcd be doing likewise.{{unsigned ip|172.68.79.83}}<br />
:DAFUQ?? Seriously, just no...{{unsigned ip|108.162.242.98}}<br />
:The prequels were horrificly bad, but Episode VI was about as good as the original two, and Episode VII is actually better. Also, not including the first two movies, there are 5 sequals/prequals (6 if you include the unreleased Rogue One). That's not over 6. Also, everyone seems to agree that the 3 prequals are the only bad ones in the series (yet). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.60|162.158.2.60]] 10:10, 8 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
::Some people found the Ewoks annoying. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 13:37, 8 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
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My first time providing an explanation and transcript! For once I'm early enough, understand the joke, AND had time! LOL! Be kind... :)<br />
<br />
(Hey, if I had an account would I still have to do those damned Captchas?) - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.227|162.158.126.227]] 06:54, 7 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
:I assume your account would have to be autoconfirmed. That means its having over a certain "age" and over a certain edit count. I think the age is a couple of days and the edit threshold is fifteen, though this wiki may have those values configured differently. <span style="background:#0064de;font-size:12px;padding:4px 12px;border-radius:8px;">[[User talk:AgentMuffin|<span style="color:#f0faff;">~AgentMuffin</span>]]</span><br />
<br />
You mean it is not a reference to the BBC Radio 4 show. As an experience I will give XKCD 9/10. {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.183}}<br />
: It is the go-to example of a film that 'everyone' has seen. Added a not to this effect, although I feel it could be better phrased. Surprised TVTropes doesn't have a page on this. [[User:Luckykaa|Luckykaa]] ([[User talk:Luckykaa|talk]]) 12:34, 7 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />
I added a few speculations about the number of people who actually have seen the movies (or one of them). If someone find a decent reference feel free to edit that. I also noticed one word play, not sure if it should be explained or not, but probably. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.89|141.101.80.89]] 09:44, 7 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
:The issue with the numbers is that making them worldwide seems to miss the point and ends up being rather misleading. After all, any third world country is likely to have roughly 0 viewers, which brings the statistics down. It has been my impression that the feeling that everybody has seen Star Wars is a very North American thing, especially in America. And the cast of XKCD generally seem to reside in America. Of the billion people estimated viewers, I suspect a FAR higher percentage of them are North American than the precentage of North Americans to the world population (in other words, North America is over-represented in that billion). In the end, the assumption that everybody you encounter while in North America has seen them is actually a fairly reasonably assumption, while a percentage of 15% makes it sound like it's not. Also, there's the implied qualifier of opportunity. Cueball could easily have chosen to watch the films at some point, while there are many people worldwide for whom it has never been an option. And this comic is more about choosing not to, exercising their default option as it were. :) - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.227|162.158.126.227]] 04:06, 8 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
::The author above did mention that distinction but didn't supply any numbers so I took that part out. If we can get a good estimate of the proportion of Americans who have watched the movies then yes, let's use that. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 13:37, 8 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Is there any canonical evidence Vader didn't eat Jedi though? In the prequel films, he only kills Jedi off-screen. In A New Hope, when he kills Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan disappears. Maybe he just went hungry that day. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.143|141.101.98.143]] 11:38, 7 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
:Isn't there at least one scene in the prequel trilogy of Anakin eating something? Along with that, Vader has to have his helmet on outside his meditation chamber (evidenced by Luke saying Vader will die if Luke takes his helmet off in RotJ). It would be logical that Vader gets his nutrition intravenously or in a smoothie/drink form that he can ingest through his helmet, and Jedi are notoriously hard to turn into a smoothie. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.40|108.162.238.40]]<br />
::Jedi don't have to be the only part of his diet, and we don't know when in Vader's life he starts eating Jedi. Vader presumably drags them back to the meditation chamber when he wants to feast properly. He appears to have the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9ZMb0GOqfo teeth] to do it. Maybe when he's too desperate for Jedi flesh, he blends Jedi corpses using either mechanical or force means. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.143|141.101.98.143]] 19:10, 7 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
--<br />
I think that the explanation should point out that the author differently form cueball is actually a huge fan of the saga with a vast knowlage of the SW lore including obscure expanded universe publications [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.184|141.101.98.184]] 16:01, 7 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
--<br />
It's missing any comment on the "superpower" bit. I'm not sure where to add it and kind of rushed now, so I just leave this note to maybe prod someone else... [[User:MAP|MAP]] ([[User talk:MAP|talk]]) 16:30, 7 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
I think it's time for a Star Wars remake. Like start with the first movie (ep iv). Maybe I'm wrong but I think young people nowadays don't enjoy sci-fi/action movies without a lot of CG. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.218|162.158.91.218]] 06:38, 8 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
: Disney did that already, and called it ''Episode VII''. Unless you consider "reboot" to be separate from "remake" for some reason. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.58.226|162.158.58.226]] 18:44, 8 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
As a fan dear god I hope the idea to remake the originals does not catch on. The re-releases were bad enough.<br />
<br />
He's updated it with the lines added to the first pannel. [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 14:33, 8 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I used to be like Cueball. And then I ''grew the hell up'' and realized that avoiding good movies is the least normal thing of all[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.72|162.158.255.72]] 21:57, 8 December 2016 (UTC)</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1769:_Never_Seen_Star_Wars&diff=1322801769: Never Seen Star Wars2016-12-08T21:56:13Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1769<br />
| date = December 7, 2016<br />
| title = Never Seen Star Wars<br />
| image = never_seen_star_wars.png<br />
| titletext = If anyone calls you on any weird detail, just say it's from the Jedi Prince book series, which contains so much random incongruous stuff that even most Expanded Universe/Legends fans collectively agreed to forget about it decades ago.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[White Hat]] tries to start a conversation with [[Cueball]] about the [[wikipedia:Star Wars|''Star Wars'']] space opera film franchise, which Cueball cuts short by stating that he has never seen the movies. This deeply astonishes White Hat. Because the movies are known worldwide and are ingrained into American pop culture, White Hat considers seeing ''Star Wars'' a universal experience.<br />
<br />
Cueball reasons that not having watched the films is the "default option", the option that applies if a person makes no explicit choice. In this case it means that if a person does not make the explicit choice to watch the films, then they remain in their initial state of not having watched them. There is some (mildly flawed but still relevant) logic to this: it has been estimated that about 1 billion people, about 15% of the world's population, have seen at least one of the Star Wars movies. This means that about 85% of people alive today have, intentionally or otherwise, exercised that default option. Even accounting for people who have never had the option of seeing Star Wars movies (through poverty, age, country of residence, what have you) people who have not seen Star Wars are still in the majority.<br />
<br />
However, the Star Wars mythology is so frequently referenced in American popular culture that it's difficult to consume a normal media diet in the US without being exposed to enough quotes, clips, references, parodies and analogies to piece together most of the plot and major scenes of the films, even having taken no action to see them. Even without having watched it, it's reasonable that White Hat would expect Cueball to know something about the series. He is right, as it happens, since Cueball is able to recognize that "{{w|Death Star}}" is a ''Star Wars'' villain.<br />
<br />
When White Hat finally begins to grasp that Cueball has indeed not seen ''Star Wars'', he declares that they must see it very soon or even immediately. When Cueball again shows a lack of interest, White Hat seemingly calls in social reinforcements to agree with him that having watched ''Star Wars'' is the norm. Cueball feels threatened by his friend's unreasonably assertive behavior and quickly removes himself from the situation. <br />
<br />
White Hat's attitude during this exchange can be contrasted with [[1053: Ten Thousand]], where Cueball instead handles a similar knowledge gap as an opportunity rather than something horrifying.<br />
<br />
Later, [[Ponytail]] likewise wishes to start a conversation about ''Star Wars'', this time about a new movie coming out. Based on his previous experience, Cueball reconsiders admitting to not having seen the past movies, and instead pretends to be looking forward to the new one. Ponytail then tries to continue the conversation, so Cueball bluffs with an incorrect declaration that Darth Vader eats Jedi, likely constructed from other mentions of the ''Star Wars'' characters that he has overheard throughout his life. Cueball carefully chooses his words to make it seem as if he knows what he is talking about.<br />
<br />
However, Ponytail doesn't call him out on this error, instead agreeing with it. Cueball is relieved&mdash;expressed as his thinking an onomatopoeic sigh of relief&mdash;as he believes he has guessed at an accurate piece of information and has avoided entering a similar situation to the previous one. The punchline of this part of the comic is Ponytail's identical feeling of relief, showing that she likewise hasn't seen ''Star Wars'', is also hiding this fact, and is also glad to not be caught. It may be inferred that Ponytail thinks not starting a conversation about ''Star Wars'' might expose her as someone who doesn't follow the series closely.<br />
<br />
The "{{w|Star Wars expanded universe|Expanded Universe}}" (EU) was the term used to refer to canonical content outside of original six motion pictures, including novels, comic books, and video games, which existed in a shared continuity. After the ''Star Wars'' franchise was acquired by Disney it was announced that the "Expanded Universe" would be discontinued and rebranded as "Legends", so that the new ''Star Wars'' movies would not have to adhere to the established EU canon.<br />
<br />
The title text is a tip for people like Cueball, to help them hide deception when roped into conversations about the films. It argues that since the ''{{w|Jedi Prince series|Jedi Prince}}'' series of novels established so many strange concepts that don't mesh with most other canon information, it makes for an excellent scapegoat to blame ill-fitting declarations on, seeing as even the most devoted, well informed fan has agreed to forget the entire series. Casually bringing up such a forgotten series might also make the bluffer out to be extremely knowledgeable about the ''Star Wars'' franchise as a whole.<br />
<br />
This comic may be inspired by the fact that a new ''Star Wars'' movie, ''{{w|Rogue One}}'', will be released into American theaters on December 16, 2016, 9 days after the publishing of the strip. <br />
<br />
The huge pop cultural success of Star Wars means it is genuinely surprising to encounter an individual who has not seen it (at least amongst the typical audience of XKCD). The TV series ''{{w|How I Met Your Mother}}'' had {{w|Do I Know You?|an episode}} based around this premise, and there is a radio comedy chat show on {{w|BBC Radio 4}} in the UK titled ''{{w|I've Never Seen Star Wars (radio series)|I've Never Seen Star Wars}}'', in which celebrity guests try out experiences that are common to others, but new to them, as well as a television version.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
[White Hat is facing Cueball while talking to him]<br />
:White Hat: You know the scene on the Death Star where&mdash;<br />
:Cueball: Nah, I've never seen ''Star Wars''.<br />
<br />
[Close-up of White Hat in a smaller panel]<br />
:White Hat: <big style="background:#000;color:#fff;">''WHAT.''</big><br />
<br />
[White Hat and Cueball are still facing each other]<br />
:White Hat: ''&hellip;How?!''<br />
:Cueball: Uh, it was easy?<br />
:Cueball: It was literally the default option.<br />
<br />
[Close up of Cueball, White Hat is speaking off-panel]<br />
:White Hat: But&hellip; How did you&mdash;<br />
:Cueball: Not doing things is my superpower. I'm not doing an infinite number of things ''as we speak!''<br />
<br />
[White Hat and Cueball are still facing each other]<br />
:White Hat: We ''have'' to watch it!<br />
:Cueball: Nah, I'm good.<br />
<br />
[White Hat has turned away from Cueball and has his hands to his mouth to shout to people off-panel. Cueball has likewise turned away as he walks away and is speaking back over his shoulder]<br />
:White Hat: ''Hey everyone! This guy's never seen Star Wars!''<br />
:Cueball: Listen, I gotta go.<br />
<br />
{|class="wikitable"<br />
|Later&hellip;<br />
|}<br />
[Ponytail is looking down at her phone in her left hand while Cueball is facing her]<br />
:Ponytail: Wait, there's a new ''Star Wars''?<br />
:Cueball: Oh, I've nev&mdash;<br />
:Cueball: &hellip;Yeah! Excited for it! Big fan.<br />
<br />
[Ponytail holds her phone to her side, transferred to her right hand, as she and Cueball face each other]<br />
:Ponytail: What'd you think of the last one?<br />
:Cueball: Uh&hellip; That Darth Vader, man.<br />
:Cueball: Sure does love eating Jedi.<br />
<br />
[Ponytail and Cueball continue facing each other]<br />
:Ponytail: Haha, he sure does!<br />
:Cueball [thinking]: Phew!<br />
:Ponytail [thinking]: Phew!<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Star Wars]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1767:_US_State_Names&diff=1318541767: US State Names2016-12-02T06:15:37Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1767<br />
| date = December 2, 2016<br />
| title = US State Names<br />
| image = us_state_names.png<br />
| titletext = Technically DC isn't a state, but no one is too pedantic about it because they don't want to disturb the snakes.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}<br />
This is just a silly map. Randall has taken a map of the United States of America labeled "Geography Challenge: Name all 50 States" and filled in the states with words that sound similar to the states' names.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1766:_Apple_Spectrum&diff=1318531766: Apple Spectrum2016-12-02T06:03:09Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1766<br />
| date = November 30, 2016<br />
| title = Apple Spectrum<br />
| image = apple_spectrum.png<br />
| titletext = If I were trapped on a desert island, and could have an unlimited supply of any one type of apple, I'd be like, "How did this situation happen?"<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
The comic shows a {{w|spectrum}} of different types of apples, with {{w|Red Delicious}} towards the bad end of the spectrum, and {{w|Honeycrisp}} towards the good end of the spectrum. Although most spectra are only one-dimensional, {{w|Granny Smith}} is on some side branch, implying that the taste is so different from the other two that it deserves its own category. (Perhaps this refers to the fact that the Granny Smith is primarily a cooking apple while the named apples on the main spectrum are eating apples. Additionally, Granny Smith apples have a tart, or sour, flavor with a subtle sweetness.) The rest of the apple types fall somewhere in between. [[Randall]] has previously shown his disdain for Red Delicious apples in footnote 1 in [https://books.google.com/books?id=tgZIBAAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA97#v=onepage&q&f=false this what if]; he also ranked green apples as tastier than red apples in [[388: Fuck Grapefruit]].<br />
<br />
In the title text, Randall observes a common type of hypothetical question designed as a creative way to inquire about a person's preferences: If he were on a desert island with an unlimited access to something they like -- in this case, unlimited supply of any one type of apple -- what would he choose? However, Randall gives an unorthodox and unexpected answer to the typically playful hypothetical by taking it literally and questioning how such a situation would occur. How did he get stuck on the island, and how did he get a literally unlimited supply of apples? In reality, a desert island is unlikely to have an unlimited supply of any food{{Citation needed}}, let alone apples.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
[A mapping, showing types of apples. Each apple is in a bubble]<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="color: gray;">Bad <--</span> Red Delicious <span style="color: gray;">--</span> Regular apples <span style="color: gray;">--</span> Honeycrisp <span style="color: gray;">--> Good</span><br />
<span style="color: gray;"><br>|<br />
<br>|</span><br />
<br>Granny Smith<br />
<span style="color: gray;"><br>|<br />
<br>V<br />
<br>Doing their own thing</span><br />
</div><br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=516:_Wood_Chips&diff=131730516: Wood Chips2016-11-30T01:20:34Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 516<br />
| date = December 12, 2008<br />
| title = Wood Chips<br />
| image = wood_chips.png<br />
| titletext = You didn't run a chemical analysis against the Shroud of Turin? Man, all that work for NOTHING.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]] has tried to play an elaborate hoax on a woman involving wood chips that match the composition of the wood used to build a 19th-century ghost ship called the {{w|Mary Celeste}}. Unfortunately, the woman has done the sensible, reasonable thing and thrown them out instead of checking to see if they belong to a ghost ship, whose wood chips or what-have-you would probably not have found their way to the hallway. This causes Cueball to realize that he needs to rethink the complicated way in which he creates hoaxes, because the people he is trying to trick do not follow through with his elaborate plans.<br />
<br />
The title text suggests that he also set up some kind of chemical match with the {{w|Shroud of Turin}}. The Shroud of Turin is a famous artifact, said by some to have been used as Jesus's burial cloth, containing the ghostly image of a face.<br />
A chemical analysis was performed on it in the late 1980s, which appeared to prove the cloth '''was''' medieval in origin (albeit not old enough to have been used by Jesus); however, not everyone has fully accepted this finding.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball leans on desk; Woman sits behind desk.]<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Did you ever figure out those mysterious woodchips?<br />
:Woman: The ones in the hallway? No.<br />
:Cueball: You didn't suspect that they matched the timber used in 1861 to build the "ghost ship" Mary Celeste, prompting you to send them to a lab for analysis, the results of which raised new and stranger questions?<br />
:Woman: No, I threw them out. Why?<br />
<br />
:My hoaxes need to get a lot less subtle.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=510:_Egg_Drop_Failure&diff=131729510: Egg Drop Failure2016-11-30T01:12:35Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 510<br />
| date = November 28, 2008<br />
| title = Egg Drop Failure<br />
| image = egg_drop_failure.png<br />
| titletext = I hear my brother Ricky won his school's egg drop by leaving the egg inside the hen.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
A common competition for school-age children (e.g. in science fairs or summer camps) is the 'egg drop': each team is given an uncooked egg and an assortment of materials, e.g. newspaper, Popsicle sticks, string, tape, etc.. The challenge is to use the provided materials to build a contraption that will allow the egg to be dropped from some specified height onto a hard floor without breaking. Scoring varies wildly - common elements are speed of assembly, an accurately targetable landing, and mass of the contraption - but one near-universal requirement is that you are disqualified if the egg is broken.<br />
<br />
In the comic, the student pictured fails, not because of any flaw in his design, but because the egg he was given hatches during the fall! (Of course, this is exaggerated to ludicrous extents; the hatching process takes longer than the few seconds the fall would last, and the newborn chick cannot fly immediately.)<br />
<br />
The title text suggests an alternate strategy, one Randall hears was successful in real life: select for your egg one that has not yet been laid. The hen provides both active lift with her wings and significant padding, thus nearly guaranteeing that the egg will survive the fall. Of course, this would not be permitted in most contests, as a chicken is not one of the provided materials. And even if it were allowed, a chicken is much heavier than the usual contraptions of newspaper and string.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Boy tosses contraption off of building with egg in it.]<br />
:[Egg cracks and little chick flies out while people look quizzically at the hatched egg.]<br />
:''Crack''<br />
:''Chirp, chirp''<br />
:[Device with cracked egg lands on ground.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Science]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=510:_Egg_Drop_Failure&diff=131728510: Egg Drop Failure2016-11-30T00:56:07Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 510<br />
| date = November 28, 2008<br />
| title = Egg Drop Failure<br />
| image = egg_drop_failure.png<br />
| titletext = I hear my brother Ricky won his school's egg drop by leaving the egg inside the hen.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
A common competition for school-age children (e.g. in science fairs or summer camps) is the 'egg drop': each team is given an uncooked egg and an assortment of materials, e.g. newspaper, Popsicle sticks, string, tape, etc.. The challenge is to use the provided materials to build a contraption that will allow the egg to be dropped from some specified height onto a hard floor without breaking. Scoring varies wildly - common elements are speed of assembly, an accurately targetable landing, and mass of the contraption - but one near-universal requirement is that you are disqualified if the egg is broken.<br />
<br />
In the comic, the student pictured fails, not because of any flaw in his design, but because the egg he was given hatches during the fall! (Of course, this is ludicrous; the hatching process takes longer than the few seconds the fall would last, and the newborn chick cannot fly immediately.)<br />
<br />
The title text suggests an alternate strategy, one Randall hears was successful in real life: select for your egg one that has not yet been laid. The hen provides both active lift with her wings and significant padding, thus nearly guaranteeing that the egg will survive the fall. Of course, this would not be permitted in most contests, as a chicken is not one of the provided materials. And even if it were allowed, a chicken is much heavier than the usual contraptions of newspaper and string.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Boy tosses contraption off of building with egg in it.]<br />
:[Egg cracks and little chick flies out while people look quizzically at the hatched egg.]<br />
:''Crack''<br />
:''Chirp, chirp''<br />
:[Device with cracked egg lands on ground.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Science]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=935:_Missed_Connections&diff=131666935: Missed Connections2016-11-28T19:25:27Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 935<br />
| date = August 8, 2011<br />
| title = Missed Connections<br />
| image = missed_connections.png<br />
| titletext = The Street View van isn't going to find out anything Google won't already know from reading my email.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Missed Connections}} is a page on {{w|Craigslist}} in which people who saw each other briefly and want to reconnect attempt to find each other again. In the case of missed connections, one person describes themselves "Me" and describes the other person "You" in order that the second person would recognize themself and try to reconnect.<br />
<br />
The first entry appears to be a goofy joke, although there have been many {{w|Wienermobile #Notable incidents|Wienermobile incidents}} in the past. Given the timing of this comic, one can't help but wonder if it might also be a pun referencing the then recent resignation of Rep. {{w|Anthony Weiner}} over tweeting pictures of his, well, wiener with his mobile device.<br />
<br />
The second entry refers to a person (you) looking down into a wishing well (presumably to throw in a coin to get a wish), but someone (me) is sitting down in the well with a harpoon looking up spotting the silhouette at the top of the well. This seems like a very weird thing to do, and the vaguely human shadow may be lucky to be alive, since the only reason the "you" should know about the "me" is if the me fired the harpoon (and missed). A person sitting in a well telling people stuff (as if it was the well speaking) was the pun in [[568: Well 2]]. Oddly enough, this entry could possibly be a reference to [http://fairlyoddparents.wikia.com/wiki/Wishing_Well this] episode of {{w|The Fairly OddParents}}.<br />
<br />
The third entry is a reference to networking. UDP stands for {{w|User Datagram Protocol}}. UDP packets don't use handshaking to verify they have contacted the correct host, so they can get lost or confused. The Cisco router location is a block of IP addresses that was unallocated at the time when this comic was published but has been allocated to Latin America and Caribbean since then. {{w|Cisco}} is a company that makes networking equipment. This is a play on a missed connection for someone who was lost and asked for directions.<br />
<br />
The fourth entry is a reference to [http://m.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/08/fox-blasts-obamas-hip-hop-bbq-for-failing-to-create-jobs/243183/ two] [http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/hannity/transcript/should-controversial-rapper-common-have-been-invited-white-house events] in 2011 in which President {{w|Barack Obama}} invited rappers--among other people--to the White House. After each event, right-wing commentators blasted the event as a party unbecoming of the dignity of the White House. {{w|Nancy Pelosi}} is the Democratic Leader of the {{w|US House of Representatives}}. The acronym (D-CA) is a common notation for politicians which notates party (D for Democrat) and state (CA for California). Pelosi would have also been invited to these events, and the missed connections listing is a reference to what the commentators imagined the event would have been like. A "{{w|juggalo}}" is a term referring to a fan of the rap group {{w|Insane Clown Posse}} (which includes rapper {{w|Violent J}}), which is notorious for having wild, misogynistic and violent fanbase.<br />
<br />
The fifth entry is a straightforward joke. One of the two people getting married was so distracted by their phone they have no clue where their spouse is now, or even who they are. Alternatively, it could be that the second party deserted the wedding because they were frustrated by their partner being distracted by their cell phone during the wedding, and the first partner is now hoping to convince them to return.<br />
<br />
The sixth entry is a reference to how the {{w|Google Street View}} car was not only recording photos of the street in 360 degrees, it was also collecting data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks. The comic takes this to the next level, that the Google Street View van also scans what we have in our pockets and does a retinal scan. In this case, the social security number referenced is [http://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/misused.html the most used SSN of all time.] The retinal scan takes this even further, indicating that Google's cameras are collecting fine enough images to identify people by {{w|Retinal scan}}.<br />
<br />
The entry gets a bit absurd when you realize with all this data, it should be trivial for the Google employee to ID and meet this young man, and would not need the Missed Connections page.<br />
<br />
The last entry suggests that {{w|Babe Ruth}}, the American baseball slugger of 1914-1935, is actually a {{w|Time Lord}}. Time Lord is a reference to the popular sci-fi series {{w|Doctor Who}} in which The Doctor, who is a Time Lord, uses a {{w|TARDIS}}, which is a time travel machine. Possibly because he was a baseball player "ahead of his time".<br />
<br />
The title text is another reference to the privacy concerns surrounding Google Street View van, to which Google responded by claiming that the street view camera wouldn't capture anything that someone walking by wouldn't be able to see. [[Randall]] is not worried about the street view van since he expects that Google will already now anything that such a van could discover from reading his e-mails. This last statement is of course much more serious that having a photo taken by a passing van, thus making it clear what people should fuss about, and it is not the van.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[The page is set up like the missed connections area of Craigslist, with a list of messages from an individual to a person they weren't able to communicate with at the time. All readable text is in blue. There is a large heading at the top:]<br />
:<font color="blue">'''Personals > Missed Connections'''</font><br />
<br />
:[Below the heading there is a gray section in a black frame with two lines. The first line has a search box and a drop down menu with text and two black arrows to the right of it. The second line has three check boxes and two other boxes, all empty. all boxes has white background. Text is written many places around these boxes (and on the drop down menu), it is written in black, but none of it is readable.]<br />
<br />
:[Below this gray section follows seven missed connections, the last being cut before the description of "Me" is finished, and the line visible is cut of, so the lower third of the letters are hidden below the comics frame.]<br />
<font color="blue"><br />
:You: Clinging to hood of your stolen Wienermobile, trying to reach into engine to unstick throttle<br />
:Me: Screaming, diving out of the way<br />
<br />
:You: Vaguely human silhouette<br />
:Me: At bottom of wishing well with harpoon gun<br />
<br />
:You: Confused UDP packet<br />
:Me: Cisco router in 45.170/16 block<br />
<br />
:You: Baddest fuckin' Juggalo at Violent J's party<br />
:Me: Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca)<br />
<br />
:You: Getting married to me<br />
:Me: Also getting married, but distracted by my phone<br />
<br />
:You: Cute boy on corner of 4th & Main, 5'11, 169lbs, social security number 078-05-1120, pockets contained $2.09 in change, keys, and a condom. Retinal scan attached<br />
:Me: Driving street view van<br />
<br />
:You: George Herman "Babe" Ruth<br />
:Me: Fellow Time Lord. Saw your Tardis on third moon of<br />
</font><br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}} <br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Social networking]]<br />
[[Category:Doctor Who]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1765:_Baby_Post&diff=1316581765: Baby Post2016-11-28T17:22:52Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1765<br />
| date = November 28, 2016<br />
| title = Baby Post<br />
| image = baby_post.png<br />
| titletext = [bzzzt] "REMEMBER TO CHECK IN FOR YOUR FLIGHT TO LONDON." "My wha-" [bzzzt] "YOUR UBER WILL ARRIVE IN FOUR MINUTES."<br />
}}<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
[[Cueball]] often leaves his daughter unattended with his tablet. As a result, she often (probably accidentally) posts things on his {{w|Facebook}}. What she posts initially would be bizarre for an adult to post, but her posts make sense when one learns it was a young child posting by accident. She also appears to "accidentally" post links to webpages it seems she visited herself to plan a heist. As the comic continues, it seems as though Cueball's daughter is planning to break into the tower of {{w|London}} to steal the {{w|Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom|crown jewels}}, which are famous in several movies for being overly complicated to steal. In [[1698: Theft Quadrants]], they are explained slightly more thoroughly. The title text continues this by notifying Cueball that his plane flight is leaving soon, and an {{w|Uber}} taxi is coming to pick him up. Since his daughter was using the tablet, the flight and Uber are probably for her. Alternatively, Cueball is being roped into the crime.<br />
<br />
The comic is similar to [[1419: On the Phone]], though here it seems that the daughter isn't just a cover story.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
[Ponytail is looking at something on her phone while talking to Cueball]<br />
:Ponytail: Why did you post a ''The Wheels on the Bus'' video to Facebook six times?<br />
:Cueball: Haha, whoops! My daughter was watching the tablet and must have hit something.<br />
<br />
[Cueball is talking to someone on the phone while pushing a shopping cart with a few items in it]<br />
:Phone: Hey, did you mean to post "FHFF,,,M,,,," and a link to a map of hardware stores?<br />
:Cueball: I should really look up how to lock the screen.<br />
<br />
[White Hat is looking at his phone while talking to Cueball]<br />
:White Hat: You just posted videos on metal-working, zip lines, and camouflage.<br />
:Cueball: Uhh...<br />
<br />
[Ponytail is looking at her phone while talking to Cueball]<br />
:Ponytail: Um, you posted blueprints of the Crown Jewel rooms in the Tower of London.<br />
:Cueball: Maybe we should be keeping more of an eye on her.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=965:_Elements&diff=131586965: Elements2016-11-27T05:23:52Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 965<br />
| date = October 17, 2011<br />
| title = Elements<br />
| image = elements.png<br />
| titletext = Of all the nations, the armies of the ununoctium-benders are probably the least intimidating. The xenon-benders come close, but their flickery signs are at least effective for propaganda.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
In the popular children's TV show ''{{w|Avatar: The Last Airbender}}'', the four nations that inhabit the world can each control one of the four classical elements: water, earth, fire and air. One person, the avatar, can control all four elements and is markedly more powerful than any other character. {{w|Dmitri Mendeleev}} is the creator of the modern periodic table, which categorizes the 118+ elements by their atomic number.<br />
<br />
The comic is comparing the control over more magical power with more practical, "science-y" power. Fire, boulders, and storms may be more impressive visually, but science has proven time and again the "boring" can have very practical, very deadly applications.<br />
<br />
{{w|Polonium}} gained a level of notoriety as the poison used to kill Russian dissident {{w|Alexander Litvinenko}}.<br />
<br />
The title text talks about power levels of the elements if each element had a controlling nation as per the TV show. {{w|Ununoctium}} (1-1-8-ium) is the placeholder name for element #118 — the heaviest that has been created, as well as the one with the shortest life before it decays into other elements.<br />
{{w|Xenon}} is a noble gas with few practical applications, but it is sometimes used in glow signs.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Aang the Avatar and Dmitri Mendeleev stand in opposition to each other. Aang wields all 4 classical elements: Water, Fire, Earth, and Air.]<br />
:Aang: I'm the avatar, master of all 4 elements!<br />
:Mendeleev: Really? I'm Mendeleev, master of all 118+.<br />
:''swoosh''<br />
:Mendeleev: That was polonium-bending. You probably didn't feel anything, but the symptoms of radiation poisoning will set in shortly.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Chemistry]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=977:_Map_Projections&diff=131585977: Map Projections2016-11-27T04:53:26Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Van der Grinten */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 977<br />
| date = November 14, 2011<br />
| title = Map Projections<br />
| image = map_projections.png<br />
| titletext = What's that? You think I don't like the Peters map because I'm uncomfortable with having my cultural assumptions challenged? Are you sure you're not... ::puts on sunglasses:: ...projecting?<br />
}}<br />
__TOC__<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Map projection}}, or how to represent the spherical Earth surface onto a flat support (paper, screen...) to have a usable map, is a long-time issue with very practical aspects (navigation, geographical shapes and masses visualization, etc.) as well as very scientific/mathematical ones, involving geometry or even abstract algebra among other things. There is no universal solution to this problem: Any 2D map projection will always distort in a way the spherical reality. Many projections have been proposed in various contexts, each intending to minimize distortions for specific uses (for nautical navigation, for aerial navigation, for landmass size comparisons, etc.) but having drawbacks from other points of view. Some of them are more frequently used than others in mass media and therefore more well-known than others, some are purely historical and now deprecated, some are very obscure, etc.<br />
<br />
[[Randall]] suggests here the idea that someone's "favorite" map projection can reveal aspects of their personality, then goes through a series of them to show what they can mean:<br />
<br />
===Mercator===<br />
[[File:MercatorProjection.jpg|frame|The Mercator projection]]<br />
The {{w|Mercator projection}} was introduced by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569. The main purpose of this map is to preserve compass bearings; for example 13 degrees east of north will be 13 degrees clockwise from the ray pointing toward the top of the map, at every point. A mathematical consequence is the mapping is conformal, i.e. if two roads meet at a certain angle on the surface of the Earth, they will meet at that same angle on the map. It also follows that at every point the vertical and horizontal scales are the same, so locally i.e. considering only a small part of the map, geographical features (shapes, angles) are well represented, which helps a lot in recognizing them on-the-field, or for local navigation in that small part only. For this reason, that projection (or a close variant) is used in several online mapping services, such as Google Maps, which means that it is frequently encountered by the general public. A straight line on the map corresponds to a course of constant bearing (direction), which was very useful for nautical navigation in the past (and thus made that projection very well-known).<br />
<br />
However, from a global point of view, this projection is radically incorrect in how it shows the size of landmasses (for instance Antarctica or Greenland seem gigantic), and furthermore, it always excludes a small region around each pole (otherwise the map would be of infinite height), so it doesn't provide a complete solution for the problem of map projection. The comic implies that people who like that projection aren't very interested with map issues, and typically use what they are offered without thinking much about it.<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Van der Grinten===<br />
[[File:VanDerGrintenProjection.jpg|frame|The Van der Grinten projection]]<br />
The {{w|Van der Grinten projection}} is not much better than the Mercator. It was adopted by {{w|National Geographic}} in 1922 and was used until they updated to the Robinson projection in 1988.<br />
<br />
The Van der Grinten projection is circular as opposed to the Mercator projection. The fictional person believes a circular map is more fitting to the real Earth's three-dimensional spherical nature, failing to recognize "only just barely" (it may still cause a vast distortion of space and area, much as the Mercator projection, but at least it can be said to be ''round''). Because of this, Randall implies the Van der Grinten enthusiast to be optimistic and childishly simple-minded (e.g. "you like circles").<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Robinson===<br />
[[File:RobinsonProjection.jpg|frame|The Robinson projection]]<br />
The {{w|Robinson projection}} was developed by {{w|Arthur H. Robinson}} as a map that was supposed to look nice and is often used for classroom maps. National Geographic switched to this projection in 1988, and used it for ten years, switching to the Winkel-Tripel in 1998.<br />
<br />
{{w|The Beatles}} was a rock band that enjoyed great commercial success in the 1960s. The Beatles, coffee, and running shoes suggest an ordinary, easygoing lifestyle paralleled by the projection.<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Dymaxion===<br />
[[File:DymaxionProjection.jpg|frame|The Dymaxion projection]]<br />
Also called the Fuller Map, the {{w|Dymaxion map}} takes a sphere and projects it onto an icosahedron, that is a polyhedron with 20 triangular faces. It is far easier to unwrap an icosahedron than it is to unwrap a sphere into a 2D object and has very little skewing of the poles. {{w|Buckminster Fuller}} was an eccentric futurist who believed, for example, that world maps should allow no conception of "up" or "down". He was therefore more than happy to defy people's expectations about maps in the pursuit of mathematical accuracy.<br />
<br />
Randall associates the projection to geek subculture and niche markets:<br />
*{{w|Isaac Asimov}} was an American science-fiction writer, that (as well as publishing many textbooks) is considered the father of the modern concept of robots. He invented the {{w|Three Laws of Robotics}}. He also worked on more than 500 books throughout his career.<br />
*{{w|XML}} is the eXtensible Markup Language. It is used to represent data in a format that machines can read and understand, as well as being human-readable. In practice, XML is cumbersome to read.<br />
*{{w|Vibram FiveFingers|Toed shoes}} are a [[1065: Shoes|favorite]] of Randall's to pick on. In society they are seen as a {{w|geek}} clothing item.<br />
*Brought to the world by {{w|Dean Kamen}}, the {{w|Segway PT}} was supposed to be a device that changed the way cities were built. In reality, most principalities have put in place rules specifically against Segways, making them a frustration to own and use within the law (in some states in Australia, it is illegal to use them on public footpaths or roads). Also, the former owner of {{w|Segway Inc.}}, the late {{w|Jimi Heselden}}, accidentally rode his Segway off a cliff in 2010.<br />
*{{w|Virtual reality|3D goggles}} are a very niche market only pursued by enthusiasts. In the 1990s the promise of virtual realities was very tantalizing; many companies attempted to perfect it, but fell short of the mark. Also, the phrase "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" is relevant.<br />
*{{w|Dvorak Simplified Keyboard|Dvorak}} is an alternate keyboard layout to {{w|QWERTY}}. According to legend, QWERTY was invented to help keep manual typewriters from jamming (by placing the most used keys far from each other) but Dr. {{w|August Dvorak}} performed many studies and found the mathematically optimal keyboard layout to reduce finger travel for right handed typists. While some claim Dvorak is technically better than QWERTY, QWERTY had become the standard. All the keyboards were laid out in QWERTY format, and retraining the brain after becoming a touch typist is extremely difficult (although some software exists to make this learning process much easier).<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Winkel-Tripel===<br />
[[File:Winkel-TripelProjection.jpg|frame|The Winkel Tripel projection]]<br />
Proposed by Oswald Winkel in 1921, the {{w|Winkel tripel projection}} tried to reduce a set of three (German: Tripel) main problems with map projections: area, direction, and distance. The {{w|Kavrayskiy VII projection|Kavrayskiy projection}} is very similar to the Winkel Tripel and was used by the USSR, but very few in the Western world know of it.<br />
<br />
The comic links this projection to {{w|hipster}} subculture. The hipster stereotype is to avoid conforming to mainstream fashions. "Post-" refers to a variety of musical genres such as {{w|post-punk}}, {{w|post-grunge}}, {{w|post-minimalism}}, etc. that branch off of other genres.<br />
<br />
;Trivia<br />
In German "Winkel-Tripel-Projektion" means Winkel's triple projection, and therefore the hyphen shouldn't be there: "Winkel Tripel" or "Winkel tripel".<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Goode Homolosine===<br />
[[File:GoodeHomolosineProjection.jpg|frame|The Goode Homolosine projection]]<br />
The {{w|Goode homolosine projection}} takes a different approach to skewing a sphere into a roughly circular surface. An orange peel can be taken from an orange and flattened with fair success; this is roughly the procedure that {{w|John Paule Goode}} followed in creating this projection. Randall is suggesting that people who like this map also prefer relatively easy solutions to other things in life, despite those solutions having nuanced problems that are more difficult to address.<br />
<br />
Common people make arguments that if normal people would run the United States, then the US wouldn't be in the trouble it is. This is from the belief that career politicians are simply out to make money and will only act in the interest of their constituency when their continued easy life is threatened (usually around election time).<br />
<br />
Airline food is another, much maligned, problem. How do you store enough food to feed people on long airplane trips? The common solution is to use some kind of sub-standard microwaveable dinner. Randall is saying that the people in favor of the Goode Homolosine wonder why the airlines don't simply order meals from the restaurants in the airport, store that food, and serve it, rather than using frozen and microwaved food.<br />
<br />
Older cars burned oil like mad fiends, and oil back then would become corrosive to the innards of an engine, so oil had to be changed often. But, with the introduction of synthetic motor oil and better designed engines, new cars only need their oil changed about every 10,000 to 15,000 miles. A common conspiracy theory is that modern automobile oil manufacturers still recommend that car owners change their oil every 3,000-5,000 miles to "drum" up more business, even though that frequency is unnecessary.<br />
<br />
All of these references suggest that people who like the Goode Homolosine projection are fans of easy solutions to problems. However, the solutions would not necessarily work in practice. For instance, the restaurants might have trouble making enough food for the whole plane, and it could get cold before being served. Also, the air conditions [http://www.nbcnews.com/health/one-reason-airline-food-so-bad-your-own-tastebuds-6C10823522 aboard planes] can affect taste, so airlines say they optimize for this. And there is no such thing as a "normal" person, and if there were, he/she would have virtually no chance at actually getting into government office.<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Hobo–Dyer===<br />
[[File:Hobo-DyerProjection.jpg|frame|The Hobo–Dyer projection]]<br />
The {{w|Hobo–Dyer projection}} was commissioned by Bob Abramms and Howard Bronstein and was drafted by Mick Dyer in 2002. It is a modified {{w|Behrmann projection}}. The goal was to be a more visually pleasing version of the Gall–Peters.<br />
<br />
As is discussed in the Gall–Peters explanation, the Gall–Peters was developed to be equal area, so that economically disadvantaged areas can at least take comfort in the fact that their country is represented correctly by area on maps.<br />
<br />
Randall associates the Hobo–Dyer projection to "crunchy granola" — a stereotype associated with vegetarianism, environmental activism, anti-war activism, liberal political leanings, and some traces of {{w|hippie}} culture.<br />
<br />
With the new general acceptance of homosexual, bisexual, and transgender persons, some have begun to invent gender-neutral pronouns so that when referring to a person whose gender is not known they cannot be offended by being referred to by the wrong pronouns. In {{w|Middle English}} 'they' and 'their' were accepted gender-less pronouns that could replace 'he', 'she' as well as be used to represent a crowd, but this usage is considered by some to be grammatically incorrect because of the plural/singular debate ([http://www.merriam-webster.com/video/0033-hisher.htm stupid Victorian Grammarians!]). None of the {{w|gender-neutral pronoun#Invented_pronouns|many attempts at popularizing gender-neutral pronouns}} have achieved any degree of success in the mainstream.<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Plate Carrée===<br />
[[File:PlateCarreeProjection.jpg|frame|The Plate Carrée projection]]<br />
Also known as the {{w|Equirectangular projection}}, it has been in use since, apparently, 100 AD. The benefit of this projection is that latitude and longitude can be used as x,y coordinates. This makes it especially easy for computers to graph data on top of it.<br />
<br />
According to the comic, the projection appeals to people who find much beauty in simplicity.<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===A Globe!===<br />
[[File:GlobeProjection.jpg|frame|The Globe "projection"]]<br />
In any good discussion there has to be at least one smart-ass. This is a comic about map projections, that is, the science of taking a sphere and flattening it into 2 dimensions. The smart-ass believes that we shouldn't even try: a sphere is, tautologically, the perfect representation of a sphere.<br />
<br />
To quote ''{{w|The Princess Bride}}'': "Yes, you're very smart. Shut up."<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Waterman butterfly===<br />
[[File:WatermanButterflyProjection.jpg|frame|The Waterman Butterfly projection]]<br />
Similar to the Dymaxion, the {{w|Waterman butterfly projection}} turns a sphere into an octahedron, and then unfolds the net of the octahedron, which was devised by mathematician {{w|Waterman polyhedron|Steve Waterman}} based upon the work of {{w|Bernard J.S. Cahill}}.<br />
<br />
Bernard Cahill published a [http://www.genekeyes.com/B.J.S._CAHILL_RESOURCE.html butterfly map] in 1909. Steve Waterman probably has the only extant "ready to go" map following the same general principles, though Gene Keys may not be far behind. Waterman has a poem with graphics in a similar vein to this xkcd comic that is worth reading.[http://watermanpolyhedron.com/worldmap.html]<br />
<br />
[http://www.progonos.com/furuti/MapProj/Normal/ProjPoly/projPoly2.html Polyhedral projections] like Cahill, Dymaxion or Waterman typically offer better accuracy of size, shape and area than flat projections, at the expense of compass directionality, connectedness, and other complications.<br />
<br />
The joke is that the person responding deeply understands map projections; anyone who knows of this projection is a person that Randall would like to get to know.<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Peirce quincuncial===<br />
[[File:PeirceQuincuncialProjection.jpg|frame|The Peirce Quincuncial projection]]<br />
The {{w|Peirce quincuncial projection}} was devised by {{w|Charles Sanders Peirce}} in 1879 and uses {{w|complex analysis}} to make a {{w|conformal mapping}} of the Earth, that conforms except for four points which would make up the south pole.<br />
<br />
{{w|Inception}} was a 2010 movie about {{w|meta}} {{w|lucid dream}}ing. It has a complex story that is difficult to follow and leaves the viewer with many questions at the end, and almost needs to be watched multiple times to be understood.<br />
<br />
The human brain is not well developed to deal with oddly obvious things. One example is that everyone has a skeleton, but everyone is surprised to see a part of their body represented by an X-ray. Another is the fascinating complexity of the human hand, a machine which is amazingly complex, driven by a complex interplay of electrical and chemical signals; yet is the size of the hand and so useful.<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Gall–Peters===<br />
[[File:Gall-PetersProjection.jpg|frame|The Gall–Peters projection]]<br />
The {{w|Gall–Peters projection}} is mired in controversy, surprising for a map. {{w|James Gall}} a 19th-century clergyman presented this projection in 1855 before the {{w|British Association for the Advancement of Science}}. In 1967, the filmmaker {{w|Arno Peters}} created the same projection and presented it to the world as a "new invention" that put poorer, less powerful countries into their rightful proportions (as opposed to the Mercator). Peters played the marketing game and got quite a few followers of his map by saying it had "absolute angle conformality," "no extreme distortions of form," and was "totally distance-factual" in an age when society was very concerned about social justice. All of these claims were in fact false. The polar regions are horribly distorted, and south of the Mediterranean Sea is "taller" than it should be.<br />
<br />
Anyone who loves such a politically charged map that has become popular by way of marketing stunts, Randall would rather not have anything to do with.<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Title text===<br />
The title text makes a joke that goes to the familiar meme from ''{{w|CSI: Miami}}'', in which the star, David Caruso starts a sentence, then puts on his sunglasses and ends the sentence with a corny pun. In this case, the pun is on {{w|map projection}} and {{w|projection (psychology)|projection}} in psychology. Psychological projection is an unconscious defense mechanism wherein a person who is uncomfortable with their own impulses denies having them and attributes them to other people, and blames these people for these impulses. The Sunglasses internet meme has been used [[:Category:Puts on sunglasses|in other comics]] as well.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:What your favorite<br />
:'''Map Projection'''<br />
:says about you<br />
:[All of these are organized as Title, a copy of the particular projection underneath, and what it says about you under that.]<br />
<br />
:*Mercator<br />
:**You're not really into maps.<br />
:*Van der Grinten<br />
:**You're not a complicated person. You love the Mercator projection; you just wish it weren't square. The Earth's not a square, it's a circle. You like circles. Today is gonna be a good day!<br />
:*Robinson<br />
:**You have a comfortable pair of running shoes that you wear everywhere. You like coffee and enjoy The Beatles. You think the Robinson is the best-looking projection, hands down.<br />
:*Dymaxion<br />
:**You like Isaac Asimov, XML, and shoes with toes. You think the Segway got a bad rap. You own 3D goggles, which you use to view rotating models of better 3D goggles. You type in Dvorak.<br />
:*Winkel-Tripel<br />
:**National Geographic adopted the Winkel-Tripel in 1998, but you've been a W-T fan since ''long'' before "Nat Geo" showed up. You're worried it's getting played out, and are thinking of switching to the Kavrayskiy. You once left a party in disgust when a guest showed up wearing shoes with toes. Your favorite musical genre is "Post–".<br />
:*Goode Homolosine<br />
:**They say mapping the Earth on a 2D surface is like flattening an orange peel, which seems enough to you. You like easy solutions.You think we wouldn't have so many problems if we'd just elect ''normal'' people to Congress instead of Politicians. You think airlines should just buy food from the restaurants near the gates and serve ''that'' on board. You change your car's oil, but secretly wonder if you really ''need'' to.<br />
:*Hobo-Dyer<br />
:**You want to avoid cultural imperialism, but you've heard bad things about Gall-Peters. You're conflict-averse and buy organic. You use a recently-invented set of gender-neutral pronouns and think that what the world needs is a revolution in consciousness.<br />
:*Plate Carrée <small>(Equirectangular)</small><br />
:**You think this one is fine. You like how X and Y map to latitude and longitude. The other projections overcomplicate things. You want me to stop asking about maps so you can enjoy dinner.<br />
:*A Globe!<br />
:**Yes, you're very clever.<br />
:*Waterman Butterfly<br />
:**Really? You know the Waterman? Have you seen the 1909 Cahill Map it's based— ...You have a framed reproduction at home?! Whoa. ...Listen, forget these questions. Are you doing anything tonight?<br />
:*Peirce Quincuncial<br />
:**You think that when we look at a map, what we really see is ourselves. After you first saw ''Inception'', you sat silent in the theater for six hours. It freaks you out to realize that everyone around you has a skeleton inside them. You ''have'' really looked at your hands.<br />
:*Gall-Peters<br />
:**I ''hate'' you.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Maps]]<br />
[[Category:Puts on sunglasses]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=977:_Map_Projections&diff=131584977: Map Projections2016-11-27T04:37:44Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Van der Grinten */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 977<br />
| date = November 14, 2011<br />
| title = Map Projections<br />
| image = map_projections.png<br />
| titletext = What's that? You think I don't like the Peters map because I'm uncomfortable with having my cultural assumptions challenged? Are you sure you're not... ::puts on sunglasses:: ...projecting?<br />
}}<br />
__TOC__<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Map projection}}, or how to represent the spherical Earth surface onto a flat support (paper, screen...) to have a usable map, is a long-time issue with very practical aspects (navigation, geographical shapes and masses visualization, etc.) as well as very scientific/mathematical ones, involving geometry or even abstract algebra among other things. There is no universal solution to this problem: Any 2D map projection will always distort in a way the spherical reality. Many projections have been proposed in various contexts, each intending to minimize distortions for specific uses (for nautical navigation, for aerial navigation, for landmass size comparisons, etc.) but having drawbacks from other points of view. Some of them are more frequently used than others in mass media and therefore more well-known than others, some are purely historical and now deprecated, some are very obscure, etc.<br />
<br />
[[Randall]] suggests here the idea that someone's "favorite" map projection can reveal aspects of their personality, then goes through a series of them to show what they can mean:<br />
<br />
===Mercator===<br />
[[File:MercatorProjection.jpg|frame|The Mercator projection]]<br />
The {{w|Mercator projection}} was introduced by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569. The main purpose of this map is to preserve compass bearings; for example 13 degrees east of north will be 13 degrees clockwise from the ray pointing toward the top of the map, at every point. A mathematical consequence is the mapping is conformal, i.e. if two roads meet at a certain angle on the surface of the Earth, they will meet at that same angle on the map. It also follows that at every point the vertical and horizontal scales are the same, so locally i.e. considering only a small part of the map, geographical features (shapes, angles) are well represented, which helps a lot in recognizing them on-the-field, or for local navigation in that small part only. For this reason, that projection (or a close variant) is used in several online mapping services, such as Google Maps, which means that it is frequently encountered by the general public. A straight line on the map corresponds to a course of constant bearing (direction), which was very useful for nautical navigation in the past (and thus made that projection very well-known).<br />
<br />
However, from a global point of view, this projection is radically incorrect in how it shows the size of landmasses (for instance Antarctica or Greenland seem gigantic), and furthermore, it always excludes a small region around each pole (otherwise the map would be of infinite height), so it doesn't provide a complete solution for the problem of map projection. The comic implies that people who like that projection aren't very interested with map issues, and typically use what they are offered without thinking much about it.<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Van der Grinten===<br />
[[File:VanDerGrintenProjection.jpg|frame|The Van der Grinten projection]]<br />
The {{w|Van der Grinten projection}} is not much better than the Mercator. It was adopted by {{w|National Geographic}} in 1922 and was used until they updated to the Robinson projection in 1988.<br />
<br />
The Van der Grinten projection is circular as opposed to the Mercator projection. The fictional person believes a circular map is more fitting to the real Earth's three-dimensional spherical nature (it may still cause a vast distortion of space and area, much as the Mercator projection, but at least it can be said to be ''round''). Because of this, Randall implies the Van der Grinten enthusiast to be optimistic and childishly simple-minded (e.g. "you like circles").<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Robinson===<br />
[[File:RobinsonProjection.jpg|frame|The Robinson projection]]<br />
The {{w|Robinson projection}} was developed by {{w|Arthur H. Robinson}} as a map that was supposed to look nice and is often used for classroom maps. National Geographic switched to this projection in 1988, and used it for ten years, switching to the Winkel-Tripel in 1998.<br />
<br />
{{w|The Beatles}} was a rock band that enjoyed great commercial success in the 1960s. The Beatles, coffee, and running shoes suggest an ordinary, easygoing lifestyle paralleled by the projection.<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Dymaxion===<br />
[[File:DymaxionProjection.jpg|frame|The Dymaxion projection]]<br />
Also called the Fuller Map, the {{w|Dymaxion map}} takes a sphere and projects it onto an icosahedron, that is a polyhedron with 20 triangular faces. It is far easier to unwrap an icosahedron than it is to unwrap a sphere into a 2D object and has very little skewing of the poles. {{w|Buckminster Fuller}} was an eccentric futurist who believed, for example, that world maps should allow no conception of "up" or "down". He was therefore more than happy to defy people's expectations about maps in the pursuit of mathematical accuracy.<br />
<br />
Randall associates the projection to geek subculture and niche markets:<br />
*{{w|Isaac Asimov}} was an American science-fiction writer, that (as well as publishing many textbooks) is considered the father of the modern concept of robots. He invented the {{w|Three Laws of Robotics}}. He also worked on more than 500 books throughout his career.<br />
*{{w|XML}} is the eXtensible Markup Language. It is used to represent data in a format that machines can read and understand, as well as being human-readable. In practice, XML is cumbersome to read.<br />
*{{w|Vibram FiveFingers|Toed shoes}} are a [[1065: Shoes|favorite]] of Randall's to pick on. In society they are seen as a {{w|geek}} clothing item.<br />
*Brought to the world by {{w|Dean Kamen}}, the {{w|Segway PT}} was supposed to be a device that changed the way cities were built. In reality, most principalities have put in place rules specifically against Segways, making them a frustration to own and use within the law (in some states in Australia, it is illegal to use them on public footpaths or roads). Also, the former owner of {{w|Segway Inc.}}, the late {{w|Jimi Heselden}}, accidentally rode his Segway off a cliff in 2010.<br />
*{{w|Virtual reality|3D goggles}} are a very niche market only pursued by enthusiasts. In the 1990s the promise of virtual realities was very tantalizing; many companies attempted to perfect it, but fell short of the mark. Also, the phrase "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" is relevant.<br />
*{{w|Dvorak Simplified Keyboard|Dvorak}} is an alternate keyboard layout to {{w|QWERTY}}. According to legend, QWERTY was invented to help keep manual typewriters from jamming (by placing the most used keys far from each other) but Dr. {{w|August Dvorak}} performed many studies and found the mathematically optimal keyboard layout to reduce finger travel for right handed typists. While some claim Dvorak is technically better than QWERTY, QWERTY had become the standard. All the keyboards were laid out in QWERTY format, and retraining the brain after becoming a touch typist is extremely difficult (although some software exists to make this learning process much easier).<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Winkel-Tripel===<br />
[[File:Winkel-TripelProjection.jpg|frame|The Winkel Tripel projection]]<br />
Proposed by Oswald Winkel in 1921, the {{w|Winkel tripel projection}} tried to reduce a set of three (German: Tripel) main problems with map projections: area, direction, and distance. The {{w|Kavrayskiy VII projection|Kavrayskiy projection}} is very similar to the Winkel Tripel and was used by the USSR, but very few in the Western world know of it.<br />
<br />
The comic links this projection to {{w|hipster}} subculture. The hipster stereotype is to avoid conforming to mainstream fashions. "Post-" refers to a variety of musical genres such as {{w|post-punk}}, {{w|post-grunge}}, {{w|post-minimalism}}, etc. that branch off of other genres.<br />
<br />
;Trivia<br />
In German "Winkel-Tripel-Projektion" means Winkel's triple projection, and therefore the hyphen shouldn't be there: "Winkel Tripel" or "Winkel tripel".<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Goode Homolosine===<br />
[[File:GoodeHomolosineProjection.jpg|frame|The Goode Homolosine projection]]<br />
The {{w|Goode homolosine projection}} takes a different approach to skewing a sphere into a roughly circular surface. An orange peel can be taken from an orange and flattened with fair success; this is roughly the procedure that {{w|John Paule Goode}} followed in creating this projection. Randall is suggesting that people who like this map also prefer relatively easy solutions to other things in life, despite those solutions having nuanced problems that are more difficult to address.<br />
<br />
Common people make arguments that if normal people would run the United States, then the US wouldn't be in the trouble it is. This is from the belief that career politicians are simply out to make money and will only act in the interest of their constituency when their continued easy life is threatened (usually around election time).<br />
<br />
Airline food is another, much maligned, problem. How do you store enough food to feed people on long airplane trips? The common solution is to use some kind of sub-standard microwaveable dinner. Randall is saying that the people in favor of the Goode Homolosine wonder why the airlines don't simply order meals from the restaurants in the airport, store that food, and serve it, rather than using frozen and microwaved food.<br />
<br />
Older cars burned oil like mad fiends, and oil back then would become corrosive to the innards of an engine, so oil had to be changed often. But, with the introduction of synthetic motor oil and better designed engines, new cars only need their oil changed about every 10,000 to 15,000 miles. A common conspiracy theory is that modern automobile oil manufacturers still recommend that car owners change their oil every 3,000-5,000 miles to "drum" up more business, even though that frequency is unnecessary.<br />
<br />
All of these references suggest that people who like the Goode Homolosine projection are fans of easy solutions to problems. However, the solutions would not necessarily work in practice. For instance, the restaurants might have trouble making enough food for the whole plane, and it could get cold before being served. Also, the air conditions [http://www.nbcnews.com/health/one-reason-airline-food-so-bad-your-own-tastebuds-6C10823522 aboard planes] can affect taste, so airlines say they optimize for this. And there is no such thing as a "normal" person, and if there were, he/she would have virtually no chance at actually getting into government office.<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Hobo–Dyer===<br />
[[File:Hobo-DyerProjection.jpg|frame|The Hobo–Dyer projection]]<br />
The {{w|Hobo–Dyer projection}} was commissioned by Bob Abramms and Howard Bronstein and was drafted by Mick Dyer in 2002. It is a modified {{w|Behrmann projection}}. The goal was to be a more visually pleasing version of the Gall–Peters.<br />
<br />
As is discussed in the Gall–Peters explanation, the Gall–Peters was developed to be equal area, so that economically disadvantaged areas can at least take comfort in the fact that their country is represented correctly by area on maps.<br />
<br />
Randall associates the Hobo–Dyer projection to "crunchy granola" — a stereotype associated with vegetarianism, environmental activism, anti-war activism, liberal political leanings, and some traces of {{w|hippie}} culture.<br />
<br />
With the new general acceptance of homosexual, bisexual, and transgender persons, some have begun to invent gender-neutral pronouns so that when referring to a person whose gender is not known they cannot be offended by being referred to by the wrong pronouns. In {{w|Middle English}} 'they' and 'their' were accepted gender-less pronouns that could replace 'he', 'she' as well as be used to represent a crowd, but this usage is considered by some to be grammatically incorrect because of the plural/singular debate ([http://www.merriam-webster.com/video/0033-hisher.htm stupid Victorian Grammarians!]). None of the {{w|gender-neutral pronoun#Invented_pronouns|many attempts at popularizing gender-neutral pronouns}} have achieved any degree of success in the mainstream.<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Plate Carrée===<br />
[[File:PlateCarreeProjection.jpg|frame|The Plate Carrée projection]]<br />
Also known as the {{w|Equirectangular projection}}, it has been in use since, apparently, 100 AD. The benefit of this projection is that latitude and longitude can be used as x,y coordinates. This makes it especially easy for computers to graph data on top of it.<br />
<br />
According to the comic, the projection appeals to people who find much beauty in simplicity.<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===A Globe!===<br />
[[File:GlobeProjection.jpg|frame|The Globe "projection"]]<br />
In any good discussion there has to be at least one smart-ass. This is a comic about map projections, that is, the science of taking a sphere and flattening it into 2 dimensions. The smart-ass believes that we shouldn't even try: a sphere is, tautologically, the perfect representation of a sphere.<br />
<br />
To quote ''{{w|The Princess Bride}}'': "Yes, you're very smart. Shut up."<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Waterman butterfly===<br />
[[File:WatermanButterflyProjection.jpg|frame|The Waterman Butterfly projection]]<br />
Similar to the Dymaxion, the {{w|Waterman butterfly projection}} turns a sphere into an octahedron, and then unfolds the net of the octahedron, which was devised by mathematician {{w|Waterman polyhedron|Steve Waterman}} based upon the work of {{w|Bernard J.S. Cahill}}.<br />
<br />
Bernard Cahill published a [http://www.genekeyes.com/B.J.S._CAHILL_RESOURCE.html butterfly map] in 1909. Steve Waterman probably has the only extant "ready to go" map following the same general principles, though Gene Keys may not be far behind. Waterman has a poem with graphics in a similar vein to this xkcd comic that is worth reading.[http://watermanpolyhedron.com/worldmap.html]<br />
<br />
[http://www.progonos.com/furuti/MapProj/Normal/ProjPoly/projPoly2.html Polyhedral projections] like Cahill, Dymaxion or Waterman typically offer better accuracy of size, shape and area than flat projections, at the expense of compass directionality, connectedness, and other complications.<br />
<br />
The joke is that the person responding deeply understands map projections; anyone who knows of this projection is a person that Randall would like to get to know.<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Peirce quincuncial===<br />
[[File:PeirceQuincuncialProjection.jpg|frame|The Peirce Quincuncial projection]]<br />
The {{w|Peirce quincuncial projection}} was devised by {{w|Charles Sanders Peirce}} in 1879 and uses {{w|complex analysis}} to make a {{w|conformal mapping}} of the Earth, that conforms except for four points which would make up the south pole.<br />
<br />
{{w|Inception}} was a 2010 movie about {{w|meta}} {{w|lucid dream}}ing. It has a complex story that is difficult to follow and leaves the viewer with many questions at the end, and almost needs to be watched multiple times to be understood.<br />
<br />
The human brain is not well developed to deal with oddly obvious things. One example is that everyone has a skeleton, but everyone is surprised to see a part of their body represented by an X-ray. Another is the fascinating complexity of the human hand, a machine which is amazingly complex, driven by a complex interplay of electrical and chemical signals; yet is the size of the hand and so useful.<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Gall–Peters===<br />
[[File:Gall-PetersProjection.jpg|frame|The Gall–Peters projection]]<br />
The {{w|Gall–Peters projection}} is mired in controversy, surprising for a map. {{w|James Gall}} a 19th-century clergyman presented this projection in 1855 before the {{w|British Association for the Advancement of Science}}. In 1967, the filmmaker {{w|Arno Peters}} created the same projection and presented it to the world as a "new invention" that put poorer, less powerful countries into their rightful proportions (as opposed to the Mercator). Peters played the marketing game and got quite a few followers of his map by saying it had "absolute angle conformality," "no extreme distortions of form," and was "totally distance-factual" in an age when society was very concerned about social justice. All of these claims were in fact false. The polar regions are horribly distorted, and south of the Mediterranean Sea is "taller" than it should be.<br />
<br />
Anyone who loves such a politically charged map that has become popular by way of marketing stunts, Randall would rather not have anything to do with.<br />
<br />
{{clear}}<br />
<br />
===Title text===<br />
The title text makes a joke that goes to the familiar meme from ''{{w|CSI: Miami}}'', in which the star, David Caruso starts a sentence, then puts on his sunglasses and ends the sentence with a corny pun. In this case, the pun is on {{w|map projection}} and {{w|projection (psychology)|projection}} in psychology. Psychological projection is an unconscious defense mechanism wherein a person who is uncomfortable with their own impulses denies having them and attributes them to other people, and blames these people for these impulses. The Sunglasses internet meme has been used [[:Category:Puts on sunglasses|in other comics]] as well.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:What your favorite<br />
:'''Map Projection'''<br />
:says about you<br />
:[All of these are organized as Title, a copy of the particular projection underneath, and what it says about you under that.]<br />
<br />
:*Mercator<br />
:**You're not really into maps.<br />
:*Van der Grinten<br />
:**You're not a complicated person. You love the Mercator projection; you just wish it weren't square. The Earth's not a square, it's a circle. You like circles. Today is gonna be a good day!<br />
:*Robinson<br />
:**You have a comfortable pair of running shoes that you wear everywhere. You like coffee and enjoy The Beatles. You think the Robinson is the best-looking projection, hands down.<br />
:*Dymaxion<br />
:**You like Isaac Asimov, XML, and shoes with toes. You think the Segway got a bad rap. You own 3D goggles, which you use to view rotating models of better 3D goggles. You type in Dvorak.<br />
:*Winkel-Tripel<br />
:**National Geographic adopted the Winkel-Tripel in 1998, but you've been a W-T fan since ''long'' before "Nat Geo" showed up. You're worried it's getting played out, and are thinking of switching to the Kavrayskiy. You once left a party in disgust when a guest showed up wearing shoes with toes. Your favorite musical genre is "Post–".<br />
:*Goode Homolosine<br />
:**They say mapping the Earth on a 2D surface is like flattening an orange peel, which seems enough to you. You like easy solutions.You think we wouldn't have so many problems if we'd just elect ''normal'' people to Congress instead of Politicians. You think airlines should just buy food from the restaurants near the gates and serve ''that'' on board. You change your car's oil, but secretly wonder if you really ''need'' to.<br />
:*Hobo-Dyer<br />
:**You want to avoid cultural imperialism, but you've heard bad things about Gall-Peters. You're conflict-averse and buy organic. You use a recently-invented set of gender-neutral pronouns and think that what the world needs is a revolution in consciousness.<br />
:*Plate Carrée <small>(Equirectangular)</small><br />
:**You think this one is fine. You like how X and Y map to latitude and longitude. The other projections overcomplicate things. You want me to stop asking about maps so you can enjoy dinner.<br />
:*A Globe!<br />
:**Yes, you're very clever.<br />
:*Waterman Butterfly<br />
:**Really? You know the Waterman? Have you seen the 1909 Cahill Map it's based— ...You have a framed reproduction at home?! Whoa. ...Listen, forget these questions. Are you doing anything tonight?<br />
:*Peirce Quincuncial<br />
:**You think that when we look at a map, what we really see is ourselves. After you first saw ''Inception'', you sat silent in the theater for six hours. It freaks you out to realize that everyone around you has a skeleton inside them. You ''have'' really looked at your hands.<br />
:*Gall-Peters<br />
:**I ''hate'' you.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Maps]]<br />
[[Category:Puts on sunglasses]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1650:_Baby&diff=1315821650: Baby2016-11-27T04:15:25Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Table */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1650<br />
| date = March 2, 2016<br />
| title = Baby<br />
| image = baby.png<br />
| titletext = Does it get taller first and then widen, or does it reach full width before getting taller, or alternate, or what?<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]] (possibly representing [[Randall]]) is uncomfortable about talking with couples who present their baby to him (here represented by [[Megan]] and another Cueball-like guy holding a baby in a blanket). Because he never knows what to say, he has many strange thoughts and/or reasonable questions, that shouldn't be mentioned in front of happy parents showing off their precious baby for the first time. See [[#Table|the table]] below for his thoughts.<br />
<br />
Cueball's thoughts of what he didn't say includes the awkward ''You sure did make that'', the plain strange ''What brand is it?'', and interesting musing about science, which has nothing to do with this baby, ''So do they learn words...'', and even rating someone's baby: ''★★★★☆ Great baby''! Some of the thoughts are quite true, like ''It doesn't really look like you since you're not a baby.''<br />
<br />
In the end he manages to make a comment about how cool the baby is, and immediately regrets this, as he just realized he has squandered the chance to say something meaningful and instead has come out with something quite inane.<br />
<br />
In the title text he continues his thoughts again, going in the scientific direction with a question regarding how a child grows. Does it get tall first and then put on weight? (i.e. widen). This is a valid question which has no general answer. (See more in the table below). But he is not serious, as he also wonders if the child ''reach full width before getting taller''.<br />
<br />
Randall was 31 at the time of the release of this comic. As far as this page and Wikipedia informs, at the time of writing, he has no children, although he is married. However, given his age, it is highly likely that many of his friends are having babies during these years, so he will probably often get into the depicted situation. Therefore, it is highly likely that the comic is based on his own experience, and that it is indeed Randall depicted as the thinking Cueball.<br />
<br />
Having problems with small talk is a recurring theme in xkcd (see [[222: Small Talk]]), even something as simple as talking about the weather can be a problem (see [[1324: Weather]]). This comic is the third in less than a month were Cueball has issues with this; the first two were [[1640: Super Bowl Context]] and [[1643: Degrees]].<br />
<br />
There has previously been a "plural" version of this comic called [[441: Babies]], here Cueball also manages to say something better left unsaid, even if it was about his own baby.<br />
<br />
===Table===<br />
*In the table is a list of all the different sentences Cueball can think of or actually speaks in this comic:<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
|+ Cueballs thoughts, including final statement and the title text.<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Sentence<br />
! scope="col" | Explanation<br />
|-<br />
| Wow, it's getting so big! Unlike most babies, which stay the same size forever.<br />
| The first part of the sentence is quite a normal response, if it is not the first time the person sees the baby. But the second part can be interpreted as sarcastic, as newborn babies are supposed to grow fast, and it would be strange/bad if the baby had not grown considerably if it had been some months since last time. This also shows how inane the normal statement is, though people often feel inclined to say it anyway.<br />
|-<br />
| Hi! I'm talking to a baby!<br />
| People often talk to the baby, rather than the parents. This makes no sense for Cueball, as the baby doesn't understand him. Should he mention this?<br />
|-<br />
| What brand is it?<br />
| Typically a question one would ask about a new car, article of clothing, electronics, or other inanimate object, not a baby. Alternatively, the "{{w|brand}}" could also figuratively refer to the baby's sex. Usually it may be OK to ask what sex the baby is, though the normal question would be ''Is it a boy or a girl.''<br />
|-<br />
| Wow, definitely much smaller than a regular person!<br />
| As all babies are... Typically a real response would be ''Wow, they are so small''. Possibly also a reference (in a complimentary sense) to, e.g., a compact vehicle vs. a normal-sized one, or how modern computers are/tend to be tinier (comparatively) than their predecessors, all other things equal.<br />
|-<br />
| You sure did make that.<br />
| A typical comment would be ''he sure looks like you''. (See the comment that it doesn't look like you.) Such a sentence basically means you can see that it is clear that these two people did in fact make this baby. But making a baby requires sex, so when he puts it like that he actually refers to the sex part, which may be uncomfortable for many people.<br />
|-<br />
| ★★★★☆ Great baby.<br />
| It is custom to praise parents for their lovely baby, but do not ever rate it with stars! In [[1608: Hoverboard]] Megan [http://xkcd.com/1608/1019:-1073+s.png rates a sea], something also not usually done. At least Cueball gave the baby more stars than Megan gave the sea. According to [[1098: Star Ratings]] this means the baby is OK.<br />
|-<br />
| It doesn't really look like you since you're not a baby.<br />
| A common comment is ''He totally looks like you''. What people mean is that they can see features in the face (he has his fathers nose but his mothers eyes). But of course given that the parents are adults they of course no longer look like a baby. Often it could be speculated that people just say this because they wish to see the similarities and to please the parents (hopefully).<br />
|-<br />
| So do they learn words one at a time alphabetically or can you pick the order or what?<br />
| Here Cueball displays interest in the process of learning to speak a language as a baby. Very interesting subject, but since this is a very small baby not something first time parents for instance would have thought about yet. Learning one word at a time seems reasonable, but the last two suggestions that they learn alphabetically or in a specific order the parents chooses is plain silly.<br />
|-<br />
| I hope it does a good job.<br />
| A baby actually does nothing that can be described as a ''job'', so this statement is not meaningful.<br />
If it were about the future of the baby, it would be a socially very inadequate comment to care only about the possible usefulness of the baby, than to anticipate the joy of the parents about the child's person.<br />
Alternatively, Cueball could mean ''does a good job of making the parents feel happy/fulfilled/meaningful'' in other words fulfill the reason the couple decided to have the baby in the first place. <br />
|-<br />
| Wow, that's a really cool baby!<br />
| This is what Cueball actually ends up saying. He thinks immediately that this was a silly thing to say and thinks ''Dammit'' (see title text of this comic: [[559: No Pun Intended]]).<br />
|-<br />
| Title text: Does it get taller first and then widen, or does it reach full width before getting taller, or alternate, or what?<br />
| It is not possible to generalize about how {{w|Child_development#Physical_growth|children grow}}, but of course it doesn't reach full width before getting taller! But it's mostly true that kids do alternate between putting on weight and using that weight to get taller. So they'll might get chubbier during a period of time, but then suddenly they will lose the fat as they grow taller and becomes thin again. If they don't eat much, they may stay small. If you feed them a diet with lots of sugar, they may stay fat even during growth spurts. But not necessarily as each kid is different. The question is thus very interesting, but again not something to discuss as an anecdote the first time you have the chance to comment on a newborn baby.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is standing in front of a family consisting a Cueball-like guy holding a newborn baby, with spiky hair, in a blanket and Megan. Cueball is thinking lots of thoughts about what to say to the couple upon seeing their baby for the first time. There is thus a huge thinking bubble in the top of the panel above the characters. Everything in this bubble has been crossed out like taking a pencil and drawing lines on top of the text, but it can still be read. After using all this time thinking, Cueball finally decides what to say, only to immediately regret this as can be seen in a small thought bubble below his spoken line, which is between the huge and the small bubble.]<br />
:Cueball (thoughts that are crossed out): <!--These thoughts are not striked-out --><br />
::Wow, it's getting so big! Unlike most babies, which stay the same size forever.<br />
::Hi! I'm talking to a baby!<br />
::What brand is it?<br />
::Wow, definitely much smaller than a regular person!<br />
::You sure did make that.<br />
::★★★★☆ Great baby.<br />
::It doesn't really look like you since you're not a baby.<br />
::So do they learn words one at a time alphabetically or can you pick the order or what?<br />
::I hope it does a good job.<br />
:Cueball: Wow, that's a really cool baby!<br />
:Cueball (thinking): Dammit.<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:I can never figure out what to say about babies.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Baby 2]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1662:_Jack_and_Jill&diff=1315801662: Jack and Jill2016-11-27T01:36:28Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1662<br />
| date = March 30, 2016<br />
| title = Jack and Jill<br />
| image = jack_and_jill.png<br />
| titletext = Jill and Jack / began to frack. / The oil boosts their town. / But fractures make / the bedrock shake / and Jack came tumbling down.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
"{{w|Jack and Jill (nursery rhyme)|Jack and Jill}}" is a traditional English nursery rhyme. The rhyme dates back at least to the 18th century, one version even with 15 stanzas.<br />
<br />
The first and most commonly known verse is the one referenced by Jill in the comic as she says the first three lines:<br />
:Jack and Jill<br />
:went up the hill<br />
:To fetch a {{w|wikt:pail|pail}} of water.<br />
:Jack fell down<br />
:and broke his crown,<br />
:And Jill came tumbling after.<br />
<br />
The comic makes fun of the counterintuitive idea that Jack and Jill go ''up'' a hill to fetch water, because natural water sources like rivers and streams flow downhill, making them usually found in valleys rather than on top of hills. Thus it shouldn't be necessary to have to go up a hill to get water. Similarly, if the water is coming from a well, then building a well at the top of a hill seems an odd choice to [[Megan]]. The groundwater table stays at about the same level over smaller areas, so building a well on a hill would require digging further.<br />
<br />
However, Megan is probably not aware that since groundwater tends to flow in a similar direction to the slope of the land, it is often considered safer to dig a well uphill from potential sources of runoff, such as outhouses, fields, or septic systems. In times when populations were more predominantly rural, and probably when the poem was composed, "Always dig your well uphill from the outhouse" was a well-known maxim. Moreover, since it takes more energy to bring water uphill from a well (especially in a pail), there is a long-term advantage to having wells higher than main residential areas, as opposed to lower. (This principle explains why water towers are used, even in cities.) Finally, artesian wells deliver water from confined aquifers, which can sometimes be as close to the surface at higher elevations as at lower ones. As an urban dweller, Megan probably gets water from city plumbing, and is not familiar with the principles of well placement that Jack and Jill grew up with.<br />
<br />
This all said, the predominance of [https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rkQ-MitrSvI/maxresdefault.jpg drawing Jack's and Jill's well at the peak], which is not the best place to put the well, makes Megan's (and Randall's) comment understandable. Alternatively, the nursery rhyme may refer to a {{w|Dew pond|dew pond}} (which is more likely to be at the peak than a well), another concept that Megan would not be familiar with, having not grown up in the English countryside.<br />
<br />
The title text is [[Randall]]'s own version, a parody of this first verse, where the names have been switched in the first and last line:<br />
:Jill and Jack<br />
:began to frack.<br />
:The oil boosts their town.<br />
:But fractures make<br />
:the bedrock shake<br />
:and Jack came tumbling down.<br />
<br />
This version, which may explain why they went up the hill after water, connects the idea to {{w|hydraulic fracturing}} (colloquially "fracking") methods for oil and gas extraction. In these methods, highly pressurized liquids are forced into a given ground stratum (or layer). With enough pressure, the stratum starts to deform and crack. This allows potential gas and oil to flow more freely. The liquid used for fracturing usually also contains materials like sand or ceramics which, once the liquid is removed, will help to maintain the newly formed cracks so as to further allow the desired free movement of oil and gas.<br />
<br />
A common {{w|Environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing|side effect of this method}} is that water levels and presence at the surface might be modified. In this comic, water can now be found at the top of the hill. This goes against the usual laws of hydraulics, themselves subject to the laws of gravity, which indicate that water should go down through ground cracks. Thus water is usually found at the bottom of valleys or hills. But in the comic, fracking at the bottom forces the water up, thus explaining why the kids go get water up the hill, which, as [[Megan]] points out, is messed-up {{w|hydrology}}. Also, fracking may cause {{w|induced seismicity}} in the form of {{w|micro-earthquake}}s, as alluded to in the title text, which is the cause for tumbling down in the title text version.<br />
<br />
Randall has previously composed another version of this poem, which was by mistake published in [[Five-Minute Comics: Part 4]]. <br />
:Jack and Jill went up a hill <br />
:To fetch a pail of water. <br />
:Alas, that hill was San Juan Hill, <br />
:And gruesome was the slaughter. <br />
In this comic it is made clear that Randall did know that it is possible to have a well on top of a hill, as he has drawn just one of these in the second image.<br />
<br />
This is the second Wednesday in a row that Randall uses two children to make a reference to an environmental issue, the first being [[1659: Tire Swing]], about {{w|tire recycling}}. In the other comic one of the girls is [[Science Girl]] who looks like Jill in this comic, and this fits well with her knowledge of science, fracking, and needing to go up the hill after water...<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan is watching as the two kids Jill (drawn as Science Girl) and Jack with spiky hair are walking by her. Jack has a pail in his hand.]<br />
:Jill: Me and Jack are going up the hill to fetch a pail of water.<br />
<br />
:[Megan, standing back alone, calls out after them.]<br />
:Megan: Okay, have fun!<br />
<br />
:[Same setting no talking. Beat panel.]<br />
<br />
:[Megan suddenly realizes something while looking down on the ground.]<br />
:Megan: ...Wait. What the ''heck'' is going on with the hydrology around here?<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Science Girl]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1724:_Proofs&diff=1315781724: Proofs2016-11-26T22:49:16Z<p>162.158.255.72: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1724<br />
| date = August 24, 2016<br />
| title = Proofs<br />
| image = proofs.png<br />
| titletext = Next, let's assume the decision of whether to take the Axiom of Choice is made by a deterministic process ...<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Miss Lenhart]] is back teaching a math class. She begins a proof when one of her students ([[Cueball]]) interrupts her asking if this is one of those dark-magic (unclear, incomprehensible) proofs. She claims no, but in a matter of seconds Cueball is calling out that he was right.<br />
<br />
The proof she starts setting up resembles a {{w|proof by contradiction}}. However, after Cueball's interruption Ms Lenhart's proof takes a turn for the absurd: rather than assuming there will be a point in the function that correlates to co-ordinates (x, y), Lenhart assumes that the ''act of writing numbers on the board'' will correlate to co-ordinates (x, y).<br />
<br />
A ''normal'' proof by contradiction assumes that a particular condition is true, and shows that this assumption leads to a contradiction, which disproves the initial assumption. For example assumption that √2 is a {{w|rational number}} means that, for some natural ''a'' and ''b'', √2=''a/b'', where ''a/b'' is an {{w|irreducible fraction}}. Yet, multiplying this equation by itself, we get 2=''a²/b²'' which in turn rearranges to 2''b²''=''a²''. Therefore ''a²'' is even (as any integer multiplied by 2 is even), which means that ''a'' is an even number, as an even number squared is always even and an odd number squared is always odd. This means, that ''a=2k'' and ''2b²=(2k)²=4k²'', meaning ''b²''=2''k²'', so ''b'' must be even too. But if both ''a'' and ''b'' are even, ''a/b'' cannot be irreducible. Contradiction means that the initial assumption is false, and √2 cannot be a rational number.<br />
<br />
Alternatively, instead of a proof by contradiction the setup could be for a one way function. For example, it is relatively easy to test that a solution to a differential equation is valid but choosing the correct solution to test can seem like black magic to students.<br />
<br />
The way that Ms Lenhart's proof refers to the act of doing math itself, is characteristic of metamathematical proofs, for example {{w|Gödel's incompleteness theorems}}, which, at first sight, may indeed look like black magic, even if in the end they must be a "perfectly sensible chain of reasoning" like the rest of good mathematics. While typical mathematical theorems and their proofs deal with such mathematical objects as numbers, functions, points or lines, the metamathematical theorems treat other theorems as objects of interest. In this way you can propose and prove theorems about possibility of proving other theorems. For example, in 1931 {{w|Kurt Gödel}} was able to prove that any mathematical system based on arithmetics (that is using numbers) has statements that are true, but can be neither proved nor disproved. This kind of metamathematical reasoning is especially useful in {{w|set theory}}, where many statements become impossible to prove and disprove if the {{w|axiom of choice}} is not taken as a part of the axiomatic system.<br />
<br />
Using a position on the blackboard as a part of the proof is a joke, but it bears a resemblance to {{w|Cantor's diagonal argument}} where a position in a sequence of digits of a real number was a tool in a proof that not all infinite sets have the same {{w|cardinality}} (rough equivalent of the number of elements). This "diagonal method" is also often used in metamathematical proofs.<br />
<br />
The axiom of choice itself states that for every collection of nonempty sets, you can have a function that draws one element from each set of the collection. This axiom, once considered controversial, was added relatively late to the axiomatic set theory, and even contemporary mathematicians still study which theorems really require its inclusion. In the title text the decision of whether to take the axiom of choice is made by a deterministic process, that is a process which future states can be developed with no randomness involved. {{w|Determinacy}} of infinite games is used as a tool in the set theory, however the deterministic process is rather a term of the {{w|stochastic process|stochastic processes theory}}, and the {{w|dynamical systems theory}}, branches of mathematics far from the abstract set theory, which makes the proof even more exotic. The axiom of choice was mentioned earlier in [[804: Pumpkin Carving]] and later in [[982: Set Theory]], another comic about a math class with a similar theme on how teachers teach their student mathematical proofs.<br />
<br />
Although Miss Lenhart did retire a year ago after [[1519: Venus]], she seems to have returned here for a math course at university level, but continues the trend she finished with in her prior class.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Miss Lenhart is standing facing left in front of a whiteboard writing on it. Eleven left aligned lines of writing is shown as unreadable scribbles. A voice interrupts her from off-panel right.]<br />
:Miss Lenhart: ... Let's assume there exists some function ''F''(''a,b,c''...) which produces the correct answer-<br />
:Cueball (off-panel): Hang on.<br />
<br />
:[In a frame-less panel Cueball is sitting on a chair at a desk with a pen in his hand taking notes.]<br />
:Cueball: This is going to be one of those weird, dark magic proofs, isn't it? I can tell.<br />
<br />
:[Miss Lenhart has turned right towards Cueball, who is again speaking off-panel. The white board is also off-panel.]<br />
:Miss Lenhart: What? No, no, it's a perfectly sensible chain of reasoning.<br />
:Cueball (off-panel): All right...<br />
<br />
:[Miss Lenhart is facing the whiteboard again writing more scribbles behind some of the lines from before (the first line has disappeared). The lines that have more text added are now number three and five (four and six before). Cueball again speaks off-panel.]<br />
:Miss Lenhart: Now, let's assume that the correct answer will eventually be written on the board at the coordinates (''x, y''). If we—<br />
:Cueball (off-panel): I ''knew'' it!<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1726:_Unicode&diff=1315771726: Unicode2016-11-26T22:45:44Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1726<br />
| date = August 29, 2016<br />
| title = Unicode<br />
| image = unicode.png<br />
| titletext = I'm excited about the proposal to add a "brontosaurus" emoji codepoint because it has the potential to bring together a half-dozen different groups of pedantic people into a single glorious internet argument.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]] is a highway engineer that has been placing two traffic signs in a river trying in vain to guide the water flow and thus he ends up talking to the water trying to make it take a detour instead of going under the bridge. On the distant bank two other engineers are arguing, with gestures, in presumably a heated manner (either about where to place a third sign lying next to them, at the the water to make it behave a certain way, or they are actually calling out to the crazy Cueball in the river to come back in)<br />
<br />
As rivers flow according to the landscape, this plan will not work and the river will continue on its course. Cueball is very frustrated by this and is still trying to make the river obey the traffic laws. The caption lays out the punchline: The comic compares the useless approach of Cueball attempting to divert a flowing, moving river with fixed signs that do nothing, with the {{w|Unicode Consortium}}'s attempt to define the diverse and ever-changing human language with strict technical standards.<br />
<br />
{{w|Unicode}} is a largely successful attempt to have a standard for representing all possible letters, numerals, digits and symbols that make up human writing in all languages. This includes the roman letters used in this article, characters with modifiers like ê (both with the common characters as well as the modifiers selectable separately), logographic characters like in Chinese, syllabic writing system like Japanese, right-to-left and/or top-to-bottom writing systems, mathematical symbols and many other writing systems. <br />
<br />
{{w|Emoji}}, one of the trendier Unicode blocks, are also referenced in the title text (see below). The symbols on the signs in the river are real road signs, but interestingly enough they also both exist in Unicode, with the warning sign triangle with an exclamation mark ⚠ having [http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/26a0/index.htm code (U+26A0)] and the black, rightwards arrow ➡ having [http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/27a1/index.htm code (U+271A)]. As can be imagined, coping with the wide variety of character sizes, orientations, ways they can be modified, capitalization rules, etc. can get to be very challenging as the Unicode Consortium tries to write rules that accommodate how printed language is actually used. Emoji have become a [[:Category:Emoji|recurrent theme]] on xkcd.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to [http://unicode.org/L2/L2016/16072-jurassic-emoji.pdf a proposal] to add three dinosaur heads to the official list of emoji.<br />
<br />
This is likely to stir a glorious internet argument between a half-dozen opposing (and {{w|pedantic}}) camps that may now be brought together, such as the following:<br />
*Those who favor the inclusion of more emoji vs. those who oppose emoji on principle.<br />
*Those who accept the existence of ''{{w|Brontosaurus}}'' vs. those who deny its status as a species unique from ''{{w|Apatosaurus}}''.<br />
**[[Randall]] has made it clear what he believes in [[636: Brontosaurus]].<br />
**Although it seems new development has occurred since the release of that comic, suggesting that Brontosaurus is a specific species. But that is still debated...<br />
*Those who favor a traditional, scaly image of dinosaurs vs. those who have accepted the feathered-dinosaur paradigm.<br />
*Those who want Brontosaurus depicted as an ordinary or shrinkwrapped sauropod vs. Those who want it depicted with extra soft tissue, especially the heavy neck padding thought to be used for elephant-seal-like duels (the "Brontosmash" hypothesis).<br />
*Those who prefer a different dinosaur species be included instead.<br />
*Those who point out that two of the dinosaurs in the "Jurassic Emoji" set actually come from the {{w|Cretaceous period}}, and as such renaming is necessary vs. those who think that "{{w|Jurassic}}" is a cooler word (because of the {{w|Jurassic Park}} movies).<br />
*Those who for religious or other reasons deny the existence of dinosaurs.<br />
<br />
See also this [http://www.unicode.org/mail-arch/unicode-ml/y2016-m08/0103.html discussion about this comic on the Unicode mailinglist]...<br />
<br />
Highway engineers were also the subject of [[253: Highway Engineer Pranks]] and [[781: Ahead Stop]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is standing in a river close to it's right bank, the water reaching up to his thighs. He is holding on to a traffic sign standing towards right. It has a label and an arrow below this pointing to the right bank. With his other arm he is pointing to the left at the advancing water masses. Further up the river is another street sign this sign has an exclamation mark inside a triangle. The water flow is indicated with several lines on the river surface, mainly moving along the river, but around Cueball and the signs there are circular lines. In the distance on the left bank of the river two people are standing and making gestures with raised arms. The left has white hair (could be either sex) and the other is a Cueball-like guy. A third sign is lying on the ground to the left of them face down. Behind them is a slope up to a road with a parked car. The road continues out over a a bridge that crosses the river. The river which passes under it both left and right of a central pillar. At that distance the right bank of the river (and thus the right end of the bridge) is not visible, being outside the panel. On each river bank grass can be seen and on the right bank also a small stone.]<br />
:Cueball: No, go ''this'' way, not-<br />
:Cueball: Are you even ''listening!?''<br />
:Cueball: ... ''Hey! That's not what that area is for!''<br />
:Sign with arrow: Detour<br />
:Sign with triangle: !<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:Watching the Unicode people try to govern the infinite chaos of human language with consistent technical standards is like watching highway engineers try to steer a river using traffic signs.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Apatosaurus]]<br />
[[Category:Emoji]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1740:_Rosetta&diff=1315761740: Rosetta2016-11-26T21:07:21Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1740<br />
| date = September 30, 2016<br />
| title = Rosetta<br />
| image = rosetta.png<br />
| titletext = I WONDERED why he kept asking whether we thought the impact speed was too low.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
On the day this comic was posted (September 30th 2016), the ''{{w|Rosetta (spacecraft)|Rosetta}}'' mission ended with the final descent of ''Rosetta'' onto the comet {{w|67P}}. Landing Rosetta on the comet gave the scientists ([[Ponytail]], [[Megan]] and [[Hairy]]) a chance to collect extra data from very close to the comet, using the spacecraft's powerful sensors. <br />
<br />
[[Cueball]] however [[1339: When You Assume|assumed]] that the landing was a "{{w|Asteroid_impact_avoidance#Kinetic_impact|kinetic impact}}" mission to deflect a comet that was on a collision course with Earth. A similar scenario (but using a nuclear weapon implanted inside of the asteroid to deflect it) was depicted in the 1998 film ''{{w|Armageddon (1998 film)|Armageddon}}'', of which Cueball is apparently a fan. ''Armageddon'' is a high-throttle action movie, [http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/01/nasa-uses-the-movie-armageddon-in-their-management-training-program/ infamous among NASA employees for its incredibly liberal application of artistic license].<br />
<br />
In reality, at the time ''Rosetta'' landed, 67P was already leaving the inner solar system and was [http://sci.esa.int/where_is_rosetta/ a long way past Earth]. It will return to the inner solar system in around 5 years time, but its orbit will not pass close of the Earth in any forseeable time.<br />
<br />
Also, as the title text hints, Rosetta's speed was only [https://astronomynow.com/2016/09/30/rosettas-final-hours/ 90 cm per second] relative to the surface at the moment of impact (or about 2 mph/3.25 km/h; the speed of a slow walk), while the comet was travelling at 14.39 km/s. Given that Rosetta only weighs a couple of tons (or [[1461: Payloads|six horses]]), and 67P weighs nearly 10 billion tons (or 22 billion horses), Rosetta's landing will have no actual measurable effect on the comet's momentum.<br />
<br />
''Rosetta'' (and its lander, ''Philae'') were previously the subject of the comics [[1402: Harpoons]] and [[1446: Landing]], and were mentioned in [[1461: Payloads]], [[1547: Solar System Questions]] and possibly [[1621: Fixion]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A control room with Megan and Hairy sitting on stools in front of opposite desk with computers. Hairy has his arms in the air. Ponytail is standing between them with Cueball, she is watching Megan and he is looking at Hairy.]<br />
:Megan: Signal lost.<br />
:Megan: ''Rosetta'' has impacted the comet.<br />
:Ponytail: Good work everyone.<br />
:Hairy: ''Woooo!''<br />
<br />
:[Zoom on Ponytail, still looking at Megan and Cueball who has turned towards Ponytail.]<br />
:Cueball: So.<br />
:Cueball: Do you think we deflected it?<br />
<br />
:[Ponytail turns to Cueball as does Hairy who turns and looks away from his computer.]<br />
:Ponytail: Huh?<br />
:Cueball: Did we hit the comet hard enough to deflect it away from Earth?<br />
<br />
:[In a frame-less panel Ponytail talks with Cueball.]<br />
:Ponytail: That... Is that what you thought we were doing?<br />
:Cueball: I just assumed...<br />
<br />
:[Megan enters whispering in Ponytail's ear, holding a hand up to her mouth. Ponytail still looks at Cueball who raises his arms up in the air.]<br />
:Megan: He's a huge ''Armageddon'' fan. Let him have this.<br />
:Ponytail: Okay, fine.<br />
:Ponytail: Yes! We did it! The Earth is saved!<br />
:Cueball: ''Wooo!''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Fiction]]<br />
[[Category:Space probes]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1762:_Moving_Boxes&diff=1313541762: Moving Boxes2016-11-22T00:31:17Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation of boxes */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1762<br />
| date = November 21, 2016<br />
| title = Moving Boxes<br />
| image = moving_boxes.png<br />
| titletext = Later, when I remember that I'm calling movers, I frantically scribble over the labels and write 'NORMAL HOUSE STUFF' on all of them, which actually makes things worse.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Fill table}}<br />
[[Randall]] talks about moving boxes and not labeling them until he forgets what's in them. Since he doesn't know what's in them, he writes silly things on the boxes as a joke. Some things are unusual/unlikely (e.g. sand, hydrants, peat) and some are abstract/impossible (e.g. elves, taupe, dark matter). Several of the categories overlap confusingly; for instance, "sand" and "silt" and "dark matter" are all generally considered as "particles"; "membranes", "edges", and "shawls" are all kinds of "manifolds"; "hooves" are part of "bison"; "fog" contains "water"; and "triangles" consist of three "edges". Another way to interpret this comic is that Randall actually has these items (or at least some of them) in the boxes and has simply forgotten which boxes contain what.<br />
<br />
===Explanation of boxes===<br />
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"<br />
!Label<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
!Box 1<br />
|-<br />
|Grids|| [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grid Grids] are mathematical drawings; they would be constructed by drawing them, not stored in a box (though {{w|graph paper}} might be). May refer to a classic {{w|snipe hunt}} where a hazing victim is tasked with finding "a box of grid squares".<br />
|-<br />
|Bison||{{w|Bison}}, sometimes mistakenly called buffalo, are large animals{{Citation needed}} that would probably not fit in the box{{Citation needed}}.<br />
|-<br />
|Checkerboards||A tabletop gaming board on which one plays {{w|English draughts|Checkers}}.<br />
|-<br />
|Fog||{{w|Fog}} is essentially low-lying clouds which, being gaseous, are hard to box using only cardboard.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 2<br />
|-<br />
|Beacons||A device designed to draw attention to itself, for various reasons. From the generic term "beacon" this could mean anything from electronic GPS locator beacons to miniature replicas of naval lighthouses.<br />
|-<br />
|Elves||A fictional race (or rather, [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OurElvesAreBetter many, many fictional races]) of human-like magical creatures.<br />
|-<br />
|Sand||Fine particles of rock. While it's not unheard of for people to need to store sand, it's usually not stored along with your personal belongings on moving day.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 3<br />
|-<br />
|Hemoglobin||{{w|Hemoglobin}} is the protein found in red blood cells that carries oxygen around the body. This may be a solution of hemoglobin protein, but one human generally would not need a full box of it{{Citation needed}}.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 4<br />
|-<br />
|Water||As with sand, it's not unheard of for, say, a laboratory to store water samples for testing. But again, these wouldn't be stored along with your personal belongings on moving day. And if this is meant to be drinking water, it would be a waste of effort; it's taken as read that any house you're moving into has its own plumbing.<br />
|-<br />
|Hooves||{{w|Hooves}} are possibly best-known as horse and cow 'feet'. This could also be read as a compound word, Water-Hooves akin to water-wings. <br />
|-<br />
!Box 5<br />
|-<br />
|Shorebirds|| Also known as {{w|Wader|Waders}}, an order of birds that wade in littoral waters.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 6<br />
|-<br />
|Oil|| This could mean anything from cooking oil to petroleum; either way, having a third of a box full of oil bottles is unusual, but for different reasons.<br />
|-<br />
|Vectors||{{w|Vector}}s are points on geometric shapes, not physical objects, so they cannot be put in boxes.<br />
|-<br />
|Silt|| Material between sand and clay size-wise. A sediment. See sand and water above for why this is unusual.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 7<br />
|-<br />
|Membranes||Delicate thin pliable sheet or skin of various kinds. Usually fragile or cut easily. Not something you would expect to be packed with something sharp, which shards are likely to be, although these labels are incorrect.<br />
|-<br />
|Shards||Broken pieces of smooth and hard objects, e.g. ceramic, glass, crystal. Something you would normally expect to be thrown out, rather than packed up for moving house.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 8<br />
|-<br />
|Shawls||{{w|Shawls}} are a simple item of clothing, worn loosely over one's shoulders. Also being of rectangular shape, they are supposed to be worn in colder weather.<br />
|-<br />
|Glucose||{{w|Glucose}} is possibly best-known as the sugar plants produce for energy, but can be manufactured.<br />
|-<br />
|Kits||A {{w|kit}} is any set of tools, supplies, and/or instructions for a specific purpose. These could be first aid kits, software development kits, bomb-making kits, sewing kits... Alternatively, this may be a compound word "Glucose Kits", diabetic assay tools to help the patient regulate their blood sugar.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 9<br />
|-<br />
|Hydrants||{{w|Fire hydrant}}s are likely too big to fit in boxes, and are also simply odd objects to be packing into a box.<br />
|-<br />
|Particles||As almost all matter is composed of {{w|particles}}, it is hard to find exceptions. Thus, this is very vague.<br />
|-<br />
|Knots||{{w|Knot}}s are things tied in ropes; they can hold things or just be there. This would be hard to put in a box without rope{{Citation needed}}.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 10<br />
|-<br />
|Graphite||{{w|Graphite}} is a material made of carbon that is found in sheets.<br />
|-<br />
|Taupe|| {{w|Taupe}} is a dark tan color in between brown and gray, again, not an object.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 11<br />
|-<br />
|Field Lines||This could refer to {{w|field line}}s as used to depict electromagnetic fields, or possibly to the lines painted on an athletic field to mark the boundaries of play. The former are a visualization tool rather than physical objects; the latter consist of streaks of paint on grass or artificial turf, and thus neither kind of field line is the kind of physical object that could be packed into a box. <br />
|-<br />
!Box 12<br />
|-<br />
|Traps||May be a reference to 'My house is full of traps' from [https://what-if.xkcd.com/34// What-If #34]<br />
|-<br />
!Box 13<br />
|-<br />
|Edges||<br />
|-<br />
|Tribes||<br />
|-<br />
|Dough||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 14<br />
|-<br />
|Dark Matter||{{w|Dark matter}}<br />
|-<br />
!Box 15<br />
|-<br />
|Manifolds||Manifolds are akin to {{w|topological}} {{w|universe}}s.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 16<br />
|-<br />
|Triangles||Within the context of this comic, the reference is likely to the shape. On the other hand, it would not be unusual to pack one or more {{w|Triangle (musical instrument)}}s into a box.<br />
|-<br />
|Peat|| {{w|Peat}}is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation that forms in wetland bogs, moors, mires, and swamps.<br />
|-<br />
|Crowns|| May be royal crowns, or may be the coin worth five shillings in UK pre-decimal currency.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 17<br />
|-<br />
|Scrolls||A {{w|scroll}} is a roll of papyrus, paper, or parchment that contains writing.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
According to the title text, when Randall remembers that he is calling movers, he frantically scribbles "Normal House Stuff" on all the boxes. He says this makes the situation worse, possibly because the movers see the scribble and become suspicious. Alternatively, labeling every box with the exact same phrase will make it even harder to figure out what they contain and where they should go in the new dwelling.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
[A bunch of cardboard boxes stacked up, each labeled]<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
| colspan="2" height="80px" width="80px" |<br />
Grids<br><br />
Bison<br><br />
Checkerboards<br><br />
Fog<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px"|<br />
Beacons<br><br />
Elves<br><br />
Sand<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Hemoglobin<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Water<br><br />
Hooves<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
|-|<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Shorebirds<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Oil<br><br />
Vectors<br><br />
Silt <br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Membranes<br><br />
Shards<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Shawls<br><br />
Glucose<br><br />
Kits<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
|-|<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Hydrants<br><br />
Particles<br><br />
Knots<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Graphite<br><br />
Taupe<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Field Lines<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Traps<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
|-|<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Edges<br><br />
Tribes<br><br />
Dough<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Dark Matter<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Manifolds<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Triangles<br><br />
Peat<br><br />
Crowns<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Scrolls<br />
|}<br />
[A caption:]<br />
I always forget to label my moving boxes until they're sealed up and I've forgotten what's in them.<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1762:_Moving_Boxes&diff=1313361762: Moving Boxes2016-11-21T20:11:41Z<p>162.158.255.72: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1762<br />
| date = November 21, 2016<br />
| title = Moving Boxes<br />
| image = moving_boxes.png<br />
| titletext = Later, when I remember that I'm calling movers, I frantically scribble over the labels and write 'NORMAL HOUSE STUFF' on all of them, which actually makes things worse.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Fill table}}<br />
[[Randall]] talks about moving boxes and not labeling them until he forgets what's in them. Since he doesn't know what's in them, he writes silly things on the boxes as a joke. Some things are unusual/unlikely (e.g. sand, hydrants, peat) and some are abstract/impossible (e.g. elves, taupe, dark matter). Several of the categories overlap confusingly; for instance, "sand" and "silt" and "dark matter" are all generally considered as "particles"; "membranes", "edges", and "shawls" are all kinds of "manifolds"; "hooves" are part of "bison"; "fog" contains "water"; and "triangles" consist of three "edges". Another way to interpret this comic is that Randall actually has these items (or at least some of them) in the boxes and has simply forgotten which boxes contain what.<br />
<br />
===Explanation of boxes===<br />
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"<br />
!Label<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
!Box 1<br />
|-<br />
|Grids|| [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grid Grids] are mathematical drawings; they would be constructed by drawing them, not stored in a box (though {{w|graph paper}} might be). May refer to a classic {{w|snipe hunt}} where a hazing victim is tasked with finding "a box of grid squares".<br />
|-<br />
|Bison||{{w|Bison}}, sometimes mistakenly called buffalo, are large animals{{Citation needed}} that would probably not fit in the box{{Citation needed}}.<br />
|-<br />
|Checkerboards||A tabletop gaming board on which one plays {{w|English draughts|Checkers}}.<br />
|-<br />
|Fog||{{w|Fog}} is essentially low-lying clouds which, being gaseous, are hard to box using only cardboard.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 2<br />
|-<br />
|Beacons||A device designed to draw attention to itself, for various reasons. From the generic term "beacon" this could mean anything from electronic GPS locator beacons to miniature replicas of naval lighthouses.<br />
|-<br />
|Elves||A fictional race (or rather, [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OurElvesAreBetter many, many fictional races]) of human-like magical creatures.<br />
|-<br />
|Sand||Fine particles of rock. While it's not unheard of for people to need to store sand, it's usually not stored along with your personal belongings on moving day.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 3<br />
|-<br />
|Hemoglobin||{w|Hemoglobin} is the protein found in red blood cells that carries oxygen around the body. This may be a solution of hemoglobin protein, but one human generally would not need a full box of it{{Citation needed}}.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 4<br />
|-<br />
|Water||As with sand, it's not unheard of for, say, a laboratory to store water samples for testing. But again, these wouldn't be stored along with your personal belongings on moving day. And if this is meant to be drinking water, it would be a waste of effort; it's taken as red that any house you're moving into has its own plumbing.<br />
|-<br />
|Hooves|| This could also be read as a compound word, Water-Hooves akin to water-wings. <br />
|-<br />
!Box 5<br />
|-<br />
|Shorebirds||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 6<br />
|-<br />
|Oil||<br />
|-<br />
|Vectors||{{w|Vector}}s are not physical objects, so they cannot be put in boxes.<br />
|-<br />
|Silt||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 7<br />
|-<br />
|Membranes||Delicate thin pliable sheet or skin of various kinds. Usually fragile or cut easily. Not something you would expect to be packed with something sharp, which shards are likely to be. <br />
|-<br />
|Shards||Broken pieces of smooth and hard objects, e.g. ceramic, glass, crystal. Something you would normally expect to be thrown out, rather than packed up for moving house.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 8<br />
|-<br />
|Shawls||Simple item of clothing, worn loosly over shoulders. Of rectangular shape, and is supposed to be worn in colder weather, winter.<br />
|-<br />
|Glucose||{{w|Glucose}} is possibly best-known as the sugar plants produce for energy, but can be manufactured.<br />
|-<br />
|Kits||A kit is any set of tools, supplies, and/or instructions for a specific purpose. These could be first aid kits, software development kits, bomb-making kits, sewing kits... Alternatively, this may be a compound word "Glucose Kits", diabetic assay tools to help the patient regulate their blood sugar.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 9<br />
|-<br />
|Hydrants||{{w|Fire Hydrant}}s, which are likely too big to fit n boxes, and is also simply an odd object to be packing into a box.<br />
|-<br />
|Particles||As almost all matter is composed of {{w|particles}}, it is hard to find exceptions. Thus, this is very vague.<br />
|-<br />
|Knots||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 10<br />
|-<br />
|Graphite||<br />
|-<br />
|Taupe|| {{w|Taupe}}, a dark tan color in between brown and gray.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 11<br />
|-<br />
|Field Lines||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 12<br />
|-<br />
|Traps||May be a reference to 'My house is full of traps from [https://what-if.xkcd.com/34// What-If #34]<br />
|-<br />
!Box 13<br />
|-<br />
|Edges||<br />
|-<br />
|Tribes||<br />
|-<br />
|Dough||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 14<br />
|-<br />
|Dark Matter||{{w|Dark Matter}}<br />
|-<br />
!Box 15<br />
|-<br />
|Manifolds||Akin to topological universes.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 16<br />
|-<br />
|Triangles||<br />
|-<br />
|Peat|| {{w|Peat}}, an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation that forms in wetland bogs, moors, mires, and swamps.<br />
|-<br />
|Crowns||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 17<br />
|-<br />
|Scrolls|| {{w|Scroll}}, a roll of papyrus, paper, or parchment that contains writing<br />
|}<br />
<br />
According to the title text, when Randall remembers that he is calling movers, he frantically scribbles "Normal House Stuff" on all the boxes. He says this makes the situation worse because the movers see the scribble and become suspicious.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
[A bunch of cardboard boxes stacked up, each labeled]<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
| colspan="2" height="80px" width="80px" |<br />
Grids<br><br />
Bison<br><br />
Checkerboards<br><br />
Fog<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px"|<br />
Beacons<br><br />
Elves<br><br />
Sand<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Hemoglobin<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Water<br><br />
Hooves<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
|-|<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Shorebirds<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Oil<br><br />
Vectors<br><br />
Silt <br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Membranes<br><br />
Shards<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Shawls<br><br />
Glucose<br><br />
Kits<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
|-|<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Hydrants<br><br />
Particles<br><br />
Knots<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Graphite<br><br />
Taupe<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Field Lines<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Traps<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
|-|<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Edges<br><br />
Tribes<br><br />
Dough<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Dark Matter<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Manifolds<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Triangles<br><br />
Peat<br><br />
Crowns<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Scrolls<br />
|}<br />
[A caption:]<br />
I always forget to label my moving boxes until they're sealed up and I've forgotten what's in them.<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1762:_Moving_Boxes&diff=1313331762: Moving Boxes2016-11-21T19:50:49Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation of boxes */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1762<br />
| date = November 21, 2016<br />
| title = Moving Boxes<br />
| image = moving_boxes.png<br />
| titletext = Later, when I remember that I'm calling movers, I frantically scribble over the labels and write 'NORMAL HOUSE STUFF' on all of them, which actually makes things worse.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Fill table}}<br />
[[Randall]] talks about moving boxes and not labeling them until he forgets what's in them. Since he doesn't know what's in them, he writes silly things on the boxes as a joke. Some things are unusual/unlikely (e.g. sand, hydrants, peat) and some are abstract/impossible (e.g. elves, taupe, dark matter). Several of the categories overlap confusingly; for instance, "sand" and "silt" and "dark matter" are all generally considered as "particles"; "membranes", "edges", and "shawls" are all kinds of "manifolds"; "hooves" are part of "bison"; "fog" contains "water"; and "triangles" consist of three "edges". Another way to interpret this comic is that Randall actually has these items (or at least some of them) in the boxes and has simply forgotten which boxes contain what.<br />
<br />
===Explanation of boxes===<br />
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"<br />
!Label<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
!Box 1<br />
|-<br />
|Grids|| [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grid Grids] are mathematical drawings; they would be constructed by drawing them, not stored in a box (though {{w|graph paper}} might be). May refer to a classic {{w|snipe hunt}} where a hazing victim is tasked with finding "a box of grid squares".<br />
|-<br />
|Bison||{{w|Bison}}, sometimes mistakenly called buffalo, are large animals{{Citation needed}} that would probably not fit in the box{{Citation needed}}.<br />
|-<br />
|Checkerboards||A tabletop gaming board on which one plays {{w|English draughts|Checkers}}.<br />
|-<br />
|Fog||{{w|Fog}} is essentially low-lying clouds which, being gaseous, are hard to box using only cardboard.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 2<br />
|-<br />
|Beacons||A device designed to draw attention to itself, for various reasons. From the generic term "beacon" this could mean anything from electronic GPS locator beacons to miniature replicas of naval lighthouses.<br />
|-<br />
|Elves||A fictional race (or rather, [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OurElvesAreBetter many, many fictional races]) of human-like magical creatures.<br />
|-<br />
|Sand||Fine particles of rock. While it's not unheard of for people to need to store sand, it's usually not stored along with your personal belongings on moving day.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 3<br />
|-<br />
|Hemoglobin||{w|Hemoglobin} is the protein found in red blood cells that carries oxygen around the body. This may be a solution of hemoglobin protein, but h<br />
one human generally would not need a full box of it{{Citation needed}}.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 4<br />
|-<br />
|Water||As with sand, it's not unheard of for, say, a laboratory to store water samples for testing. But again, these wouldn't be stored along with your personal belongings on moving day. And if this is meant to be drinking water, it would be a waste of effort; it's taken as red that any house you're moving into has its own plumbing.<br />
|-<br />
|Hooves||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 5<br />
|-<br />
|Shorebirds||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 6<br />
|-<br />
|Oil||<br />
|-<br />
|Vectors||{{w|Vector}}s are not physical objects, so they cannot be put in boxes.<br />
|-<br />
|Silt||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 7<br />
|-<br />
|Membranes||Delicate thin pliable sheet or skin of various kinds. Usually fragile or cut easily. Not something you would expect to be packed with something sharp, which shards are likely to be. <br />
|-<br />
|Shards||Broken pieces of smooth and hard objects, e.g. ceramic, glass, crystal. Something you would normally expect to be thrown out, rather than packed up for moving house.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 8<br />
|-<br />
|Shawls||Simple item of clothing, worn loosly over shoulders. Of rectangular shape, and is supposed to be worn in colder weather, winter.<br />
|-<br />
|Glucose||{{w|Glucose}} is possibly best-known as the sugar plants produce for energy, but can be manufactured.<br />
|-<br />
|Kits||A kit is any set of tools, supplies, and/or instructions for a specific purpose. These could be first aid kits, software development kits, bomb-making kits, sewing kits...<br />
|-<br />
!Box 9<br />
|-<br />
|Hydrants||{{w|Fire Hydrant}}s, which are likely too big to fit n boxes, and is also simply an odd object to be packing into a box.<br />
|-<br />
|Particles||As almost all matter is composed of {{w|particles}}, it is hard to find exceptions. Thus, this is very vague.<br />
|-<br />
|Knots||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 10<br />
|-<br />
|Graphite||<br />
|-<br />
|Taupe|| {{w|Taupe}}, a dark tan color in between brown and gray.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 11<br />
|-<br />
|Field Lines||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 12<br />
|-<br />
|Traps||May be a reference to 'My house is full of traps from [https://what-if.xkcd.com/34// What-If #34]<br />
|-<br />
!Box 13<br />
|-<br />
|Edges||<br />
|-<br />
|Tribes||<br />
|-<br />
|Dough||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 14<br />
|-<br />
|Dark Matter||{{w|Dark Matter}}<br />
|-<br />
!Box 15<br />
|-<br />
|Manifolds||Akin to topological universes.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 16<br />
|-<br />
|Triangles||<br />
|-<br />
|Peat|| {{w|Peat}}, an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation that forms in wetland bogs, moors, mires, and swamps.<br />
|-<br />
|Crowns||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 17<br />
|-<br />
|Scrolls|| {{w|Scroll}}, a roll of papyrus, paper, or parchment that contains writing<br />
|}<br />
<br />
According to the title text, when Randall remembers that he is calling movers, he frantically scribbles "Normal House Stuff" on all the boxes. He says this makes the situation worse because the movers see the scribble and become suspicious.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
[A bunch of cardboard boxes stacked up, each labeled]<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
| colspan="2" height="80px" width="80px" |<br />
Grids<br><br />
Bison<br><br />
Checkerboards<br><br />
Fog<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px"|<br />
Beacons<br><br />
Elves<br><br />
Sand<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Hemoglobin<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Water<br><br />
Hooves<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
|-|<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Shorebirds<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Oil<br><br />
Vectors<br><br />
Silt <br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Membranes<br><br />
Shards<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Shawls<br><br />
Glucose<br><br />
Kits<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
|-|<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Hydrants<br><br />
Particles<br><br />
Knots<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Graphite<br><br />
Taupe<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Field Lines<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Traps<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
|-|<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Edges<br><br />
Tribes<br><br />
Dough<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Dark Matter<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Manifolds<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Triangles<br><br />
Peat<br><br />
Crowns<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Scrolls<br />
|}<br />
[A caption:]<br />
I always forget to label my moving boxes until they're sealed up and I've forgotten what's in them.<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1762:_Moving_Boxes&diff=1313321762: Moving Boxes2016-11-21T19:42:47Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation of boxes */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1762<br />
| date = November 21, 2016<br />
| title = Moving Boxes<br />
| image = moving_boxes.png<br />
| titletext = Later, when I remember that I'm calling movers, I frantically scribble over the labels and write 'NORMAL HOUSE STUFF' on all of them, which actually makes things worse.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Fill table}}<br />
[[Randall]] talks about moving boxes and not labeling them until he forgets what's in them. Since he doesn't know what's in them, he writes silly things on the boxes as a joke. Some things are unusual/unlikely (e.g. sand, hydrants, peat) and some are abstract/impossible (e.g. elves, taupe, dark matter). Several of the categories overlap confusingly; for instance, "sand" and "silt" and "dark matter" are all generally considered as "particles"; "membranes", "edges", and "shawls" are all kinds of "manifolds"; "hooves" are part of "bison"; "fog" contains "water"; and "triangles" consist of three "edges". Another way to interpret this comic is that Randall actually has these items (or at least some of them) in the boxes and has simply forgotten which boxes contain what.<br />
<br />
===Explanation of boxes===<br />
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"<br />
!Label<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
!Box 1<br />
|-<br />
|Grids|| [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grid Grids] are mathematical drawings; they would be constructed by drawing them, not stored in a box (though {{w|graph paper}} might be). May refer to a classic {{w|snipe hunt}} where a hazing victim is tasked with finding "a box of grid squares".<br />
|-<br />
|Bison||{{w|Bison}}, sometimes mistakenly called buffalo, are large animals{{Citation needed}} that would probably not fit in the box{{Citation needed}}.<br />
|-<br />
|Checkerboards||A tabletop gaming board on which one plays {{w|English draughts|Checkers}}.<br />
|-<br />
|Fog||{{w|Fog}} is essentially low-lying clouds which, being gaseous, are hard to box using only cardboard.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 2<br />
|-<br />
|Beacons||A device designed to draw attention to itself, for various reasons. From the generic term "beacon" this could mean anything from electronic GPS locator beacons to miniature replicas of naval lighthouses.<br />
|-<br />
|Elves||A fictional race (or rather, [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OurElvesAreBetter many, many fictional races]) of human-like magical creatures.<br />
|-<br />
|Sand||Fine particles of rock. While it's not unheard of for people to need to store sand, it's usually not stored along with your personal belongings on moving day.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 3<br />
|-<br />
|Hemoglobin||{w|Hemoglobin} is the protein found in red blood cells that carries oxygen around the body. This may be a solution of hemoglobin protein, but h<br />
one human generally would not need a full box of it{{Citation needed}}.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 4<br />
|-<br />
|Water||<br />
|-<br />
|Hooves||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 5<br />
|-<br />
|Shorebirds||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 6<br />
|-<br />
|Oil||<br />
|-<br />
|Vectors||{{w|Vector}}s are not physical objects, so they cannot be put in boxes.<br />
|-<br />
|Silt||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 7<br />
|-<br />
|Membranes||Delicate thin pliable sheet or skin of various kinds. Usually fragile or cut easily. Not something you would expect to be packed with something sharp, which shards are likely to be. <br />
|-<br />
|Shards||Broken pieces of smooth and hard objects, e.g. ceramic, glass, crystal. Something you would normally expect to be thrown out, rather than packed up for moving house.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 8<br />
|-<br />
|Shawls||Simple item of clothing, worn loosly over shoulders. Of rectangular shape, and is supposed to be worn in colder weather, winter.<br />
|-<br />
|Glucose||{{w|Glucose}} is possibly best-known as the sugar plants produce for energy, but can be manufactured.<br />
|-<br />
|Kits||A kit is any set of tools, supplies, and/or instructions for a specific purpose. These could be first aid kits, software development kits, bomb-making kits, sewing kits...<br />
|-<br />
!Box 9<br />
|-<br />
|Hydrants||{{w|Fire Hydrant}}s, which are likely too big to fit n boxes, and is also simply an odd object to be packing into a box.<br />
|-<br />
|Particles||As almost all matter is composed of {{w|particles}}, it is hard to find exceptions. Thus, this is very vague.<br />
|-<br />
|Knots||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 10<br />
|-<br />
|Graphite||<br />
|-<br />
|Taupe|| {{w|Taupe}}, a dark tan color in between brown and gray.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 11<br />
|-<br />
|Field Lines||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 12<br />
|-<br />
|Traps||May be a reference to 'My house is full of traps from [https://what-if.xkcd.com/34// What-If #34]<br />
|-<br />
!Box 13<br />
|-<br />
|Edges||<br />
|-<br />
|Tribes||<br />
|-<br />
|Dough||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 14<br />
|-<br />
|Dark Matter||{{w|Dark Matter}}<br />
|-<br />
!Box 15<br />
|-<br />
|Manifolds||Akin to topological universes.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 16<br />
|-<br />
|Triangles||<br />
|-<br />
|Peat|| {{w|Peat}}, an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation that forms in wetland bogs, moors, mires, and swamps.<br />
|-<br />
|Crowns||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 17<br />
|-<br />
|Scrolls|| {{w|Scroll}}, a roll of papyrus, paper, or parchment that contains writing<br />
|}<br />
<br />
According to the title text, when Randall remembers that he is calling movers, he frantically scribbles "Normal House Stuff" on all the boxes. He says this makes the situation worse because the movers see the scribble and become suspicious.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
[A bunch of cardboard boxes stacked up, each labeled]<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
| colspan="2" height="80px" width="80px" |<br />
Grids<br><br />
Bison<br><br />
Checkerboards<br><br />
Fog<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px"|<br />
Beacons<br><br />
Elves<br><br />
Sand<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Hemoglobin<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Water<br><br />
Hooves<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
|-|<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Shorebirds<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Oil<br><br />
Vectors<br><br />
Silt <br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Membranes<br><br />
Shards<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Shawls<br><br />
Glucose<br><br />
Kits<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
|-|<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Hydrants<br><br />
Particles<br><br />
Knots<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Graphite<br><br />
Taupe<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Field Lines<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Traps<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
|-|<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Edges<br><br />
Tribes<br><br />
Dough<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Dark Matter<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Manifolds<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Triangles<br><br />
Peat<br><br />
Crowns<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Scrolls<br />
|}<br />
[A caption:]<br />
I always forget to label my moving boxes until they're sealed up and I've forgotten what's in them.<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1762:_Moving_Boxes&diff=1313261762: Moving Boxes2016-11-21T18:19:27Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation of boxes */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1762<br />
| date = November 21, 2016<br />
| title = Moving Boxes<br />
| image = moving_boxes.png<br />
| titletext = Later, when I remember that I'm calling movers, I frantically scribble over the labels and write 'NORMAL HOUSE STUFF' on all of them, which actually makes things worse.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Fill table}}<br />
[[Randall]] talks about moving boxes and not labeling them until he forgets what's in them. Since he doesn't know what's in them, he writes silly things on the boxes as a joke. Some things are unusual/unlikely (e.g. sand, hydrants, peat) and some are abstract/impossible (e.g. elves, taupe, dark matter). Several of the categories overlap confusingly; for instance, "sand" and "silt" and "dark matter" are all generally considered as "particles"; "membranes", "edges", and "shawls" are all kinds of "manifolds"; "hooves" are part of "bison"; "fog" contains "water"; and "triangles" consist of three "edges". Another way to interpret this comic is that Randall actually has these items (or at least some of them) in the boxes and has simply forgotten which boxes contain what.<br />
<br />
===Explanation of boxes===<br />
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"<br />
!Label<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
!Box 1<br />
|-<br />
|Grids|| [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grid Grids] are mathematical drawings; they would be constructed by drawing them, not stored in a box (though {{w|graph paper}} might be). May refer to a classic {{w|snipe hunt}} where a hazing victim is tasked with finding "a box of grid squares".<br />
|-<br />
|Bison||{{w|Bison}}, also known as buffalo, are large animals{{Citation needed}} that would probably not fit in the box{{Citation needed}}.<br />
|-<br />
|Checkerboards||<br />
|-<br />
|Fog||{{w|Fog}} is essentially low-lying clouds which, being gaseous, are hard to box using only cardboard.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 2<br />
|-<br />
|Beacons||<br />
|-<br />
|Elves||<br />
|-<br />
|Sand||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 3<br />
|-<br />
|Hemoglobin||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 4<br />
|-<br />
|Water||<br />
|-<br />
|Hooves||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 5<br />
|-<br />
|Shorebirds||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 6<br />
|-<br />
|Oil||<br />
|-<br />
|Vectors||{{w|Vector}}s are not physical objects, so they cannot be put in boxes.<br />
|-<br />
|Silt||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 7<br />
|-<br />
|Membranes||Delicate thin pliable sheet or skin of various kinds. Usually fragile or cut easily. Not something you would expect to be packed with something sharp, which shards are likely to be. <br />
|-<br />
|Shards||Broken pieces of smooth and hard objects, e.g. ceramic, glass, crystal. Something you would normally expect to be thrown out, rather than packed up for moving house.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 8<br />
|-<br />
|Shawls||Simple item of clothing, worn loosly over shoulders. Of rectangular shape, and is supposed to be worn in colder weather, winter.<br />
|-<br />
|Glucose||{{w|Glucose}} is possibly best-known as the sugar plants produce for energy, but can be manufactured.<br />
|-<br />
|Kits||A kit is any set of tools, supplies, and/or instructions for a specific purpose. These could be first aid kits, software development kits, bomb-making kits, sewing kits...<br />
|-<br />
!Box 9<br />
|-<br />
|Hydrants||{{w|Fire Hydrant}}s, which are likely too big to fit n boxes, and is also simply an odd object to be packing into a box.<br />
|-<br />
|Particles||As almost all matter is composed of {{w|particles}}, it is hard to find exceptions. Thus, this is very vague.<br />
|-<br />
|Knots||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 10<br />
|-<br />
|Graphite||<br />
|-<br />
|Taupe|| {{w|Taupe}}, a dark tan color in between brown and gray.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 11<br />
|-<br />
|Field Lines||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 12<br />
|-<br />
|Traps||May be a reference to 'My house is full of traps from [https://what-if.xkcd.com/34// What-If #34]<br />
|-<br />
!Box 13<br />
|-<br />
|Edges||<br />
|-<br />
|Tribes||<br />
|-<br />
|Dough||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 14<br />
|-<br />
|Dark Matter||{{w|Dark Matter}}<br />
|-<br />
!Box 15<br />
|-<br />
|Manifolds||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 16<br />
|-<br />
|Triangles||<br />
|-<br />
|Peat|| {{w|Peat}}, an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation that forms in wetland bogs, moors, mires, and swamps.<br />
|-<br />
|Crowns||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 17<br />
|-<br />
|Scrolls|| {{w|Scroll}}, a roll of papyrus, paper, or parchment that contains writing<br />
|}<br />
<br />
According to the title text, when Randall remembers that he is calling movers, he frantically scribbles "Normal House Stuff" on all the boxes. He says this makes the situation worse because the movers see the scribble and become suspicious.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
[A bunch of cardboard boxes stacked up, each labeled]<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
| colspan="2" height="80px" width="80px" |<br />
Grids<br><br />
Bison<br><br />
Checkerboards<br><br />
Fog<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px"|<br />
Beacons<br><br />
Elves<br><br />
Sand<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Hemoglobin<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Water<br><br />
Hooves<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
|-|<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Shorebirds<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Oil<br><br />
Vectors<br><br />
Silt <br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Membranes<br><br />
Shards<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Shawls<br><br />
Glucose<br><br />
Kits<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
|-|<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Hydrants<br><br />
Particles<br><br />
Knots<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Graphite<br><br />
Taupe<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Field Lines<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Traps<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
|-|<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Edges<br><br />
Tribes<br><br />
Dough<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Dark Matter<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Manifolds<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Triangles<br><br />
Peat<br><br />
Crowns<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Scrolls<br />
|}<br />
[A caption:]<br />
I always forget to label my moving boxes until they're sealed up and I've forgotten what's in them.<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1762:_Moving_Boxes&diff=1313241762: Moving Boxes2016-11-21T18:15:59Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation of boxes */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1762<br />
| date = November 21, 2016<br />
| title = Moving Boxes<br />
| image = moving_boxes.png<br />
| titletext = Later, when I remember that I'm calling movers, I frantically scribble over the labels and write 'NORMAL HOUSE STUFF' on all of them, which actually makes things worse.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Fill table}}<br />
[[Randall]] talks about moving boxes and not labeling them until he forgets what's in them. Since he doesn't know what's in them, he writes silly things on the boxes as a joke. Some things are unusual/unlikely (e.g. sand, hydrants, peat) and some are abstract/impossible (e.g. elves, taupe, dark matter). Several of the categories overlap confusingly; for instance, "sand" and "silt" and "dark matter" are all generally considered as "particles"; "membranes", "edges", and "shawls" are all kinds of "manifolds"; "hooves" are part of "bison"; "fog" contains "water"; and "triangles" consist of three "edges". Another way to interpret this comic is that Randall actually has these items (or at least some of them) in the boxes and has simply forgotten which boxes contain what.<br />
<br />
===Explanation of boxes===<br />
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"<br />
!Label<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
!Box 1<br />
|-<br />
|Grids||May refer to a classic {{w|snipe hunt}} where a hazing victim is tasked with finding "a box of grid squares". [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grid Grids] are mathematical drawings; more squares would be constructed by drawing them, not found in a storeroom.<br />
|-<br />
|Bison||{{w|Bison}}, also known as buffalo, are large animals{{Citation needed}} that would probably not fit in the box{{Citation needed}}.<br />
|-<br />
|Checkerboards||<br />
|-<br />
|Fog||{{w|Fog}} is essentially low-lying clouds which, being gaseous, are hard to box using only cardboard.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 2<br />
|-<br />
|Beacons||<br />
|-<br />
|Elves||<br />
|-<br />
|Sand||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 3<br />
|-<br />
|Hemoglobin||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 4<br />
|-<br />
|Water||<br />
|-<br />
|Hooves||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 5<br />
|-<br />
|Shorebirds||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 6<br />
|-<br />
|Oil||<br />
|-<br />
|Vectors||{{w|Vector}}s are not physical objects, so they cannot be put in boxes.<br />
|-<br />
|Silt||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 7<br />
|-<br />
|Membranes||Delicate thin pliable sheet or skin of various kinds. Usually fragile or cut easily. Not something you would expect to be packed with something sharp, which shards are likely to be. <br />
|-<br />
|Shards||Broken pieces of smooth and hard objects, e.g. ceramic, glass, crystal. Something you would normally expect to be thrown out, rather than packed up for moving house.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 8<br />
|-<br />
|Shawls||Simple item of clothing, worn loosly over shoulders. Of rectangular shape, and is supposed to be worn in colder weather, winter.<br />
|-<br />
|Glucose||{{w|Glucose}} is possibly best-known as the sugar plants produce for energy, but can be manufactured.<br />
|-<br />
|Kits||A kit is any set of tools, supplies, and/or instructions for a specific purpose. These could be first aid kits, software development kits, bomb-making kits, sewing kits...<br />
|-<br />
!Box 9<br />
|-<br />
|Hydrants||{{w|Fire Hydrant}}s, which are likely too big to fit n boxes, and is also simply an odd object to be packing into a box.<br />
|-<br />
|Particles||As almost all matter is composed of {{w|particles}}, it is hard to find exceptions. Thus, this is very vague.<br />
|-<br />
|Knots||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 10<br />
|-<br />
|Graphite||<br />
|-<br />
|Taupe|| {{w|Taupe}}, a dark tan color in between brown and gray.<br />
|-<br />
!Box 11<br />
|-<br />
|Field Lines||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 12<br />
|-<br />
|Traps||May be a reference to 'My house is full of traps from [https://what-if.xkcd.com/34// What-If #34]<br />
|-<br />
!Box 13<br />
|-<br />
|Edges||<br />
|-<br />
|Tribes||<br />
|-<br />
|Dough||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 14<br />
|-<br />
|Dark Matter||{{w|Dark Matter}}<br />
|-<br />
!Box 15<br />
|-<br />
|Manifolds||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 16<br />
|-<br />
|Triangles||<br />
|-<br />
|Peat|| {{w|Peat}}, an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation that forms in wetland bogs, moors, mires, and swamps.<br />
|-<br />
|Crowns||<br />
|-<br />
!Box 17<br />
|-<br />
|Scrolls|| {{w|Scroll}}, a roll of papyrus, paper, or parchment that contains writing<br />
|}<br />
<br />
According to the title text, when Randall remembers that he is calling movers, he frantically scribbles "Normal House Stuff" on all the boxes. He says this makes the situation worse because the movers see the scribble and become suspicious.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
[A bunch of cardboard boxes stacked up, each labeled]<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
| colspan="2" height="80px" width="80px" |<br />
Grids<br><br />
Bison<br><br />
Checkerboards<br><br />
Fog<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px"|<br />
Beacons<br><br />
Elves<br><br />
Sand<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Hemoglobin<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Water<br><br />
Hooves<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
|-|<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Shorebirds<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Oil<br><br />
Vectors<br><br />
Silt <br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Membranes<br><br />
Shards<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Shawls<br><br />
Glucose<br><br />
Kits<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
|-|<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Hydrants<br><br />
Particles<br><br />
Knots<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Graphite<br><br />
Taupe<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Field Lines<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Traps<br />
| style="visibility:hidden" |<br />
|-|<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Edges<br><br />
Tribes<br><br />
Dough<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Dark Matter<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Manifolds<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Triangles<br><br />
Peat<br><br />
Crowns<br />
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |<br />
Scrolls<br />
|}<br />
[A caption:]<br />
I always forget to label my moving boxes until they're sealed up and I've forgotten what's in them.<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1086:_Eyelash_Wish_Log&diff=1312601086: Eyelash Wish Log2016-11-20T21:04:27Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1086<br />
| date = July 25, 2012<br />
| title = Eyelash Wish Log<br />
| image = eyelash wish log.png<br />
| titletext = Ooh, another one. Uh... the ability to alter any coefficients of friction at will during sporting events.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic is based on a common belief/superstition that when someone's eyelash falls out, that person can make a wish on it. This comic appears to be a page from the fictitious Wish Bureau in charge of granting said wishes. And of course the wisher is [[Black Hat]] and he has quite a few wishes, most of them based on the previous wish. A common trope in fiction is that wishing for more wishes is prohibited and for many of his wishes Black Hat attempts to circumvent that.<br />
<br />
;January 9: That wishing on eyelashes worked<br />
:This wish is pointless. If wishing on eyelashes worked, then this would do absolutely nothing (because it already works) and if it didn't then nothing would happen because wishing on eyelashes wouldn't work.<br />
<br />
;January 12: A pony<br />
:This wish functions as a test to see whether or not previous wish worked. It can be assumed that it did, as Black Hat then continued to make additional wishes. Wishing for a pony is a stereotypical wish made by very young girls; since Black Hat is an adult man (with a very dark sense of humor), the contrast is humorous. It could also be a reference to Mr. Krabs wishing for a pony (with saddlebags full of money) on the Spongebob episode "Christmas Who?".<br />
<br />
;January 15: Unlimited wishes<br />
:This appears to have failed, due to the typical ban of wishing for additional wishes in conventional folklore.<br />
<br />
;January 19: Revocation of rules prohibiting unlimited wishes<br />
:An attempt to circumvent the ban in the previous wish. <br />
<br />
;January 20: A finite but arbitrarily large number of wishes<br />
:Another attempt to circumvent the ban on unlimited wishes.<br />
<br />
;January 28: The power to dictate the rules governing wishes<br />
:Yet another attempt to circumvent the ban on unlimited wishes.<br />
<br />
;February 5: Unlimited eyelashes<br />
:This wish likely caused Black Hat to grow unlimited eyelashes, which could be quite inconvenient and painful. And, yes, one more attempt to circumvent the ban on unlimited wishes.<br />
<br />
;February 6: That wish-granting entities be required to interpret wishes in accordance with the intent of the wisher<br />
:This wish is likely a response to the previous day's misguided wish. It's actually quite a common problem that people making wishes leave them open for misinterpretation.<br />
<br />
;February 8: That wish-granting entities be incapable of impatience<br />
:An attempt to prevent whatever being is powerful enough to grant wishes from becoming angry with Black Hat while he tries to manipulate the system.<br />
<br />
;February 12 #1: Unlimited breadsticks<br />
:The first wish of this day seems to be a reference to the unlimited {{w|breadsticks}} offered at {{w|Olive Garden}}.<br />
<br />
;February 12 #2: Veto power over others' wishes<br />
:A power that could be interesting to have. It also very much fits with Black Hat's character.<br />
<br />
;February 19: Veto power over others' wishes and all congressional legislation<br />
:An improvement of the previous wish. This would be very interesting to have indeed, especially if you are Black Hat, because you could veto any federal law, a power normally entrusted only to the President.<br />
<br />
;February 23: The power to override any veto<br />
:This wish would allow Black Hat to override vetoes which in addition to the previous wish would effectively make him control the US legislature and, to some extent, also all other governing bodies. (Notably the UN, where the veto powers wielded by the "big 5" cannot be overridden and can have large impacts on global politics.) Note that it will not allow him to turn laws off (veto them) and on again (override the veto) at any moment, as once a bill becomes law it cannot be vetoed. Without the ability to propose legislation, Black Hat's powers are still limited. The wish may also refer back to the February 19 wish: by granting himself veto power over wishes, Black Hat just made vetoes more powerful than wishes; now he is trying to control other people's vetoes as well, lest they one-up him.<br />
<br />
;February 27: The power to see where any shortened URL goes without clicking<br />
:This wish relates to a common practice especially in tweets or other short length media where full length specific HTML addresses such as <tt>www.somewhere.com/articles/specificdate/the page.html</tt> would not be feasible. So a more compressed but nonsensical string of seemingly random characters is used which links to a link of the full text address. This creates some problems for people who are security or privacy conscious and prefer to be informed beforehand where they will be traveling on the Internet. The use of shortened URLs is also central to many types of trolls or practical jokes, most notably Rickrolling (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5MDnkV8DZA for an example), by directing someone to a different location than the link would initially suggest. Thus Black Hat might be wishing to be able to tell where the links go for the purpose of avoiding this sort of trolling.<br />
<br />
;February 29: The power to control the direction news anchors are looking while they talk<br />
:This wish likely appeals to Black Hat's mischievous side, allowing him to cause news anchors to look at the wrong camera during live broadcast. Repeatedly switching to the incorrect camera would cause havoc in the studio. Additionally, Black Hat may also attempt to get a news anchor fired by having them stare where they should not such as a female anchor's breasts.<br />
<br />
;March 7: The power to introduce arbitrary error into Nate Silver's predictions<br />
:A reference to {{w|Nate Silver}}, who is a former writer for {{w|Baseball Prospectus}} working on predicting baseball players' stats and now writes for {{w|Five Thirty Eight}} in which he predicts the outcome of elections based on polling data. This would grant Black Hat the power to influence the result of elections. This would tighten the Black Hat's control of the US even more.<br />
<br />
;March 15: A house of stairs<br />
:This wish refers to the {{w|lithograph}} {{w|House of Stairs}} by {{w|M. C. Escher}}, or perhaps another of his lithographs, {{w|Relativity (M. C. Escher)|Relativity}}<br />
<br />
;March 23: A universe which is a replica of this one sans rules against meta-wishes<br />
:Another attempt to circumvent the rules against wishing for more wishes.<br />
<br />
;March 29: Free transportation to and from that universe<br />
:While the previous wish appears to have worked, Black Hat notes a problem with it: he is still in our universe with no ways to get to the new one.<br />
<br />
;April 2: A clear explanation of how wish rules are structured and enforced<br />
:It appears that one or both of the previous two wishes failed, so Black Hat tries to discover exactly what is offending the Bureau. Having clear rules and how they work helps anyone finding loopholes in them.<br />
<br />
;April 7: The power to banish people into the TV show they are talking about<br />
:Black hat is obviously fed up of hearing people talking about certain TV shows, and would like to be able to banish them into the show, thus prevent him having to listen to those people.<br />
<br />
;April 8: Zero wishes<br />
:An attempt to hack the wish-granting system by using a quite common vulnerability in input validation: an unexpected value. There may be multiple vectors this can work:<br />
:* in many computer systems, 0 is reserved for unlimited<br />
:* the number may be used as a divisor in some equation and this will make the system divide by zero and probably crash<br />
:* there also may be an assertion like "number of wishes granted == 1" which would fail, again crashing the system<br />
:* similarly, if viewed as a computer system, it is possible that the wish decrement is performed after the wish is granted, thus resulting in either -1 wishes (another common placeholder for unlimited numbers), or an integer overflow if the wish counter is stored in an unsigned integer; the overflow can result in an exception, otherwise -1 becomes represented as MAX_INT-1 - basically, an arbitrarily large number.<br />
:However it seems the eyelash wish-granting system does proper input validation on zero because it did not crash or grant unlimited wishes<br />
:This wish may also be a reversal of the January 9 wish. Black Hat is attempting to win his game by introducing a logical contradiction: if he gets "zero wishes", this is one wish granted; however, if it is not granted, then, de facto, he will have been granted zero wishes. This is a common technique used in logical proofs to show that an earlier assumption does not hold (in this case, the possibility of eyelash wishing to work).<br />
<br />
<br />
;April 15: Veto power over clocks<br />
:Midnight, April 15 is the deadline for filing income tax returns in the United States.<br />
:It may also be that Black Hat, now in control of all human legislation, is attempting to extend this to further control also rules of nature -- in this case: time. The strange wording is likely to be due to Black Hat having consulted with the wish-hacking manual he acquired April 2.<br />
<br />
;April 22: A pokéball that works on strangers' pets<br />
:A reference to the cartoon and video game series {{w|Pokémon}}. A Pokéball can be thrown at a Pokémon (or in this case, a pet that the Pokéball thrower finds either annoying or cute) to capture/contain it and/or achieve ownership of it. Unless cheats are used, Pokéballs cannot be used on Pokémon owned by other people in the Pokémon games. Many players wish to obtain the often high-level Pokémon of NPCs, and Black Hat may also be interested in pranking other players by stealing their powerful Pokémon. This was later revealed to be one of Randall's wishes in the title text of [[1705: Pokémon Go]].<br />
<br />
The title text is yet another mischievous wish. The coefficients of friction, though usually not noticed as they are unchanging, are all-important when performing physical activities — imagine trying to play hockey on a field of sand or sprinting over a sheet of ice. In addition to the difficulty going where you want or getting any balls that might be in play where you want them to go in a changing friction environment, angular momentum would also be very difficult to control.<br />
<br />
Note, when Black Hat makes meta-wishes no follow-up wishes are logged. This would be logical as any wish made to test the meta-wish would not involve the eyelash process. Since the meta-wishes failed, no valid eyelash wish condition existed and the test wishes were not logged in the eyelash wish log.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:{|<br />
! align="left" colspan="2" |<font size="+1">Eyelash Wish Log</font><br />
|-style="color: gray;"<br />
|<br />
|align="right"|Wish bureau ID#:<br />
|-<br />
|<br />
|align="right"|21118378<br />
|-style="color: gray;"<br />
|<br />
|align="right"|Date range:<br />
|-<br />
!scope="row" style="color: gray;"|Wisher<br />
|align="right"|Jan-Apr 2012<br />
|}<br />
<br />
:{|<br />
!align="left" width="50px"|Date<br />
!align="left"|Wish<br />
|-<br />
|Jan 09<br />
|That wishing on eyelashes worked<br />
|-<br />
|Jan 12<br />
|A pony<br />
|-<br />
|Jan 15<br />
|Unlimited wishes<br />
|-<br />
|Jan 19<br />
|Revocation of rules prohibiting unlimited wishes<br />
|-<br />
|Jan 20<br />
|A finite but arbitrarily large number of wishes<br />
|-<br />
|Jan 28<br />
|The power to dictate the rules governing wishes<br />
|-<br />
|Feb 05<br />
|Unlimited eyelashes<br />
|-<br />
|Feb 06<br />
|That wish-granting entities be required to interpret wishes in<br>accordance with the intent of the wisher<br />
|-<br />
|Feb 08<br />
|That wish-granting entities be incapable of impatience<br />
|-<br />
|Feb 12<br />
|Unlimited breadsticks<br />
|-<br />
|Feb 12<br />
|Veto power over others' wishes<br />
|-<br />
|Feb 19<br />
|Veto power over others' wishes and all congressional legislation<br />
|-<br />
|Feb 23<br />
|The power to override any veto<br />
|-<br />
|Feb 27<br />
|The power to see where any shortened URL goes without clicking<br />
|-<br />
|Feb 29<br />
|The power to control the direction news anchors are looking while they talk<br />
|-<br />
|Mar 07<br />
|The power to introduce arbitrary error into Nate Silver's predictions<br />
|-<br />
|Mar 15<br />
|A house of stairs<br />
|-<br />
|Mar 23<br />
|A universe which is a replica of this one sans rules against meta-wishes<br />
|-<br />
|Mar 29<br />
|Free transportation to and from that universe<br />
|-<br />
|Apr 02<br />
|A clear explanation of how wish rules are structured and enforced<br />
|-<br />
|Apr 07<br />
|The power to banish people into the TV show they're talking about<br />
|-<br />
|Apr 08<br />
|Zero wishes<br />
|-<br />
|Apr 15<br />
|Veto power over clocks<br />
|-<br />
|Apr 22<br />
|A Pokéball that works on strangers' pets<br />
|}<br />
<br />
{{Comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Nate Silver]]<br />
[[Category:Pokémon]]<br />
[[Category:Time]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:News anchor]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1618:_Cold_Medicine&diff=1311311618: Cold Medicine2016-11-18T03:44:12Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1618<br />
| date = December 18, 2015<br />
| title = Cold Medicine<br />
| image = cold_medicine.png<br />
| titletext = Seriously considering buying some illegal drugs to try to turn them back into cold medicine.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
In this comic [[Cueball]] is probably representing [[Randall]] who seems to have been suffering from a long lasting {{w|Common cold|cold}} that he just can't get rid of. Two weeks before this comic Randall posted another comic about how a cold works: [[1612: Colds]]. This is also supported by the way the title text is phrased to make it sound like something Randall writes, disconnected with the action in the comic (see below).<br />
<br />
The comic was released in December, and since Randall is living in {{w|Massachusetts}} in the {{w|Geographical zone|North Temperate Zone}} he, and everyone else living in this zone, is very likely to catch a cold at least at some point during fall and winter.<br />
<br />
In the comic Cueball is evidently suffering from a cold and he is searching the shelves labeled cold and {{w|Influenza|Flu}} at a {{w|pharmacy}} for any kind of '''cold medicine''' (hence the title), to alleviate his symptoms. Note that this is all he can hope for, as there are still {{w|Common_cold#Management|no cure}} that really helps getting rid of the cold any faster. All medication can do is help relieving the symptoms until the body's own {{w|immune system}} takes care of the relatively harmless cold virus.<br />
<br />
After looking at several different options Cueball is clearly unsatisfied with what he finds. Either he doesn't feel that any of the unmonitored drugs available on the serve-yourself-shelf is useful, or he is actually too sick to properly ascertain which medicine he needs. In the end he approaches the counter and asks the {{w|pharmacist}} ([[Ponytail]]) to give him one of every kind of cold medicine which requires an ID to purchase. <br />
<br />
'''Warning:''' Taking lots of different medicines together in real life could harm, or even kill you, because certain combinations of medications interact in ways that make them dangerous or even lethal.<br />
<br />
Back in the comic, Ponytail tries to warn Cueball of another danger, that by simply ''purchasing'' so much cold medicine he would end up on a law enforcement watchlist, presumably one of the government agencies ({{w|DEA}}, {{w|FBI}}, {{w|CIA}} etc.) But she never get to finish her sentence because Cueball is beyond caring and tells her this.<br />
<br />
In the USA, cold medicines containing {{w|pseudoephedrine}} are kept behind the counter and IDs purchasing them are monitored, because pseudoephedrine can be used to make the {{w|List of Schedule I drugs (US)|scheduled}} drug {{w|methamphetamine}} or meth (a more hydrophobic - and thus potent - version of {{w|amphetamine}}). However, it is also an extremely effective {{w|decongestant}} (a pharmaceutical drug that is used to relieve {{w|nasal congestion}}/plugged nose), much more so than the common substitutes such as {{w|phenylephrine}} and {{w|oxymetazoline}} which have no clinically proven decongestant effect. <br />
<br />
This could be one reason why Cueball just requests all kinds of cold medicines of amongst other this type; he does not appear to care what exactly he is purchasing, believing that his one criterion will provide him medicine powerful enough for his illness. It may also be that he is just too sick to care or realize that this will arouse suspicion of him being a drug dealer, or to recognize the need to select only one medication of these type.<br />
<br />
This could be a reference to the medicine with the brand name {{w|Sudafed}}, sold as an over the counter decongestants with pseudoephedrine as the active ingredient. Now the manufacturer also sells a different type of medicine with the same brand name without pseudoephedrine, but with phenylephrine, which seems to be much less effective. If you buy this off the shelf (where it can be sold because it does not contain methamphetamine precursors) then you could easily get home with the once effective Sudafed, only to realize later that it does not alleviate any symptoms. This could offer another explanation for Cueball's request and outburst in the final panel.<br />
<br />
The title text seems to be Randall's own comment on how badly he is affected by his cold. He thus, humorously, suggest that he is now ready to purchase illegal drugs (this would then be ''meth'') in order to turn it back into a cold medicine (i.e. pseudoephedrine). This would not be safe to do, but may may be a reference to this spoof paper: ''[http://heterodoxy.cc/meowdocs/pseudo/pseudosynth.pdf A Simple and Convenient Synthesis of Pseudoephedrine From N-Methylamphetamine''], a take on the long-going joke on the recent difficulty in obtaining pseudoephedrine, i.e. it is now easier to get your hands on the illegal drug made from it. <br />
<br />
It is a humorous exaggeration of how far Randall is willing to go to get the best cold medicine, and the potency of the drugs needed to treat his apparently debilitating illness. There are many illegal drugs that when first synthesized were planned to use as a medical drug, but then later abused by drug addicts, but given the subject of the comic, the title text obviously refers to meth.<br />
<br />
Randall continued in the medical world with the next comic: [[1619: Watson Medical Algorithm]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is standing in a drug store, with a drug in his hand he has taken from the shelf he is standing next to. The shelf is labeled.]<br />
:Cueball: *Sniffle*<br />
:Label: Cold & Flu<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is standing alone, examining some medicine he is holding up, while having some other medicine in the other hand.]<br />
:Cueball: *Cough*<br />
:Cueball: *Sniff*<br />
<br />
:[Cueball continues examining more medicine. Looking down on one in his hand, having another in the other hand and there are also three packages at his feet.]<br />
:Cueball: Ughhh...<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is at the labeled counter in the drug store with computer etc. Ponytail is behind the counter.]<br />
:Counter label: Sale<br />
:Cueball: Just gimme one of every kind of cold medicine you need ID to buy.<br />
:Ponytail: You'll go on the watchlist for—<br />
:Cueball: Don't care.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1760:_TV_Problems&diff=1311291760: TV Problems2016-11-18T00:08:35Z<p>162.158.255.72: I don't see how ANY of that can be taken from the comic</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1760<br />
| date = November 16, 2016<br />
| title = TV Problems<br />
| image = tv_problems.png<br />
| titletext = Certified skydiving instructors know way more about safely falling from planes than I do, and are way more likely to die that way.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Some links to previous comics where things go unexpectedly wrong could probably be added.}}<br />
In this comic, [[Cueball]] has broken his computer's software so much that he is unable to "turn on the news" as requested by [[White Hat]]. Since his computer is not working at all, he is using the next best thing to download a fix: his smartphone, via a {{w|CD}}. This is probably one of two things: <br />
<br />
1. Cueball has broken his computer enough that the operating system no longer works, in which case he would probably be downloading an {{w|ISO file}}(which is the type of image on a CD) to his phone. This would enable him to connect his phone as a USB device to his computer and boot from it. After booting from his phone, he could repair or reinstall his computer's operating system. <br />
<br />
2. Cueball is trying to connect his computer to his TV, but needs a driver or other software to make the connection. He is unable to connect to the Internet from his computer (Maybe he is using a network dongle that also requires drivers/software to function, or maybe the internet from his ISP is down, so he is using cellular data), so he is using his phone to download the files. Perhaps the computer has internal {{w|Bluetooth}} or he can transfer files from his phone to his computer via a wired connection. <br />
<br />
He later states that even that first step of mending won't be enough to display the news, as his computer's state is so bad that being able to send information to the TV screen is just the first step of debugging. In the last panel, he tells White Hat that his computer science degree just helps him understand ''how'' he ended up with such a terrible situation, but did not give him enough foresight to prevent the most unexpected issues. The title text clarifies this statement with a similar problem- when things start to go horribly wrong while falling from a plane, certified skydiving instructors will be able to better understand why and how bad the situation is, but won't be able to do anything if their usual tools have failed them. Besides, while they are less likely to make a fatal mistake on a given flight and fall, they are more likely to make one in their life, because of the far greater number of attempts. This also resembles [[795: Conditional Risk]]: the more informed a person is, the more likely this person is to suffer from the issue they know about.<br />
<br />
<ref>Martin_Samuelson, [https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/3w32by/eddy_cue_says_were_working_on_a_new_apple_tv/cxt0noy/ "Physical buttons are great"]</ref> In this instance Cueball has his single tasking phone busy while he downloads to it and cannot interrupt what he's doing just to use the phone as a remote for the TV, although it appears more that the TV is one of the things he is trying to fix.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is sitting by his TV, holding his phone, when White Hat walks in.]<br />
:White Hat: Hey, turn on the news.<br />
:Cueball (Sitting on the floor in front of a computer holding a cell phone): Can't. Downloading a CD onto my phone.<br />
<br />
:White Hat (off panel): Why?<br />
:Cueball: So I can use it to fix my computer's operating system enough that I can teach it to talk to my TV screen.<br />
<br />
:White Hat: But then you'll be able to watch the news?<br />
:Cueball: (off panel): No.<br />
<br />
:White Hat: Don't you have a computer science degree?<br />
:Cueball: That just means I ''understand'' how everything went so wrong.<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references /><br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1712:_Politifact&diff=1303771712: Politifact2016-11-09T01:32:15Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1712<br />
| date = July 27, 2016<br />
| title = Politifact<br />
| image = politifact.png<br />
| titletext = "Ok, I lit the smoke bomb and rolled it under the bed. Let's see if it--" ::FWOOOSH:: "Politifact says: PANTS ON FIRE!"<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The website {{w|PolitiFact.com}} rates political claims based on how true they are. The rulings from the Truth-O-Meter™ at PolitiFact are:<br />
*True<br />
*Mostly True<br />
*Half-True<br />
*Mostly False<br />
*False<br />
*Pants on Fire!<br />
<br />
This comic presents a woman wearing a white hat with a {{w|press pass}} in the hat's belt. She is calling herself "PolitiFact" -- either pretending to come from PolitiFact.com or she is representing a personification of the website itself. She is obviously annoying [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] by rating everything they say on the Truth-O-Meter. (She is using the official logo of PolitiFact as her name, and since they write their name PolitiFact her name should also be written like this, even though [[Randall]] has named the comic Politifact with all lower case letters and also uses it like this in the title text.)<br />
<br />
When Megan, apparently just having gotten out of bed, says she had trouble sleeping, the PolitiFact.com woman (henceforth simply PolitiFact) appears at an open window and observes that Megan is telling the truth with the rating of "''Mostly True!''" (So according to PolitiFact she did not sleep well most of the night, but may have slept OK for some parts of the night...) <br />
<br />
Megan appears distressed, which is not improved when PolitiFact enters their house through the window. Megan give chase to PolitiFact, passing by Cueball, whose comment ''Not again'' makes it clear that this is not the first time PolitiFact has annoyed them in this way. Megan swears that she had locked the window, which if true would mean that PolitiFact had illegally opened a locked window. PolitiFact gives that claim the rating of "''False!''", indicating that the window was unlocked. Entering someone's house against their wishes is illegal the state of their windows non-withstanding, and Cueball clearly asks her to leave, apart from the fact that Megan chases her through their house.<br />
<br />
After the chase, PolitiFact ends up hiding under the couple's bed; Cueball's claim that PolitiFact "can't stay under there forever" is promptly rated "''False''". Megan's remark, however, that no one likes PolitiFact, is rated "''Mostly True!''" This exchange is likely metaphorical just as much as it is literal -- Randall's PolitiFact acknowledges that what she does annoys people, but she keeps on doing it anyway.<br />
<br />
As for metaphors, Megan is likely commenting on the popularity of the website, which Randall's PolitiFact is no less correct about. People become very defensive when claims they make in political discussions are debunked by PolitiFact.com. There is a phenomenon where the people most influenced by an erroneous claim are the least likely to believe a fact checker. For example, The Washington Post [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/12/18/what-was-fake-on-the-internet-this-week-why-this-is-the-final-column/ shut down their internet rumor fact checker] because, "institutional distrust is so high right now, and cognitive bias so strong always, that the people who fall for hoax news stories are frequently only interested in consuming information that conforms with their views — even when it's demonstrably fake." Simply put, people like the idea of a fact checker until they disagree with it. <br />
<br />
PolitiFact.com has been accused of being both [http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2015/03/14/mostly-true-ted-cruz-attack-proves-politifact-is-run-by-gigantic-assholes/ liberally biased] and [http://www.rifuture.org/politifact-ri-once-again-shows-right-wing-bias.html conservatively biased] at various times and has angered politicians on both sides of the aisle. The summary statistic "rulings" are especially troublesome; often the critics will agree that the information presented by the fact check is correct, and may agree that all relevant information has been included, but will disagree as to the importance of context omitted by the original speaker or the interpretation of ambiguous language.<br />
<br />
The title text makes a play on PolitiFact.com's most untrue rating, "Pants on Fire!" - a reference to the childhood accusation "{{w|Pants on Fire|Liar, liar, pants on fire!}}" <br />
<br />
In the title text either Cueball or Megan says to the other that they have lit the {{w|smoke bomb}} and rolled it under the bed near PolitiFact (seems they have discussed this first). When it goes off it apparently manages to ignite PolitiFact's pants - thus, PolitiFact's pants are ''literally'' on fire and she yells "PANTS ON FIRE!". Cueball has thrown smoke bombs before while in a relation with Megan, see [[486: I am Not a Ninja]], so it would be likely he had a smoke bomb on his person for immediate use.<br />
<br />
Alternatively, either Cueball or Megan just says this as a threat (they could even roll a non-bomb object under the bed and maybe they have talked out loud about the idea of using such a bomb before) and they could try to make the loud ''fwooosh'' sound themselves to simulate that the bomb going off. Then they would be telling an outright lie that would be rated as "Pants on Fire!". The fact that the ''fwooosh'' is located outside of the "quotation marks", is no indication as the sound is not part of the quote. Also the fact that "PANTS ON FIRE" is yelled, rather than calmly delivered in the fashion of her other judgments, is not necessarily any indication that this is not the case, since a threat that is so blatantly a lie as to warrant such a rating should be proclaimed out loud.<br />
<br />
It may be a coincidence, but PolitiFact.com was {{w|PolitiFact.com#Reception|awarded}} the {{w|Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting}} in 2009 for work done in their first full year of work (after it was started in August 2007), and this comic was released right after [[1711: Snapchat]], which hinges on the existence of little-known {{w|Pulitzer Prize}} categories.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan with messy morning hair is walking right and rubs her eyes.]<br />
:Megan: I did ''not'' sleep well last night.<br />
<br />
:[A woman with hair like Megan (but a bit longer) wearing a white hat with brim and a small white card attached to the hat's belt (like a press pass) crawls up on the pane of an open window. She begins all her sentences with the word PolitiFact. When she says this it is written in the color and style of the PolitiFact.com logo with blue ''Politi'' and red ''Fact''. Megan has just walked past the window and has turned to look at the woman. She is still holding one hand up and her hair is still messy.]<br />
:PolitiFact: <span style="color: #1855AE;">Politi</span><span style="color: #D73C1C;">Fact</span> says ''mostly true!''<br />
:Megan: Oh no...<br />
<br />
:[In a frame-less panel Cueball is walking right, while Megan, arms stretched out and hair flowing out behind her, runs by him chasing PolitiFact who is running with a hand up to hold her hat in place, hair also flowing out behind her.]<br />
:Cueball: Not again. Get out of here, PolitiFact!<br />
:Megan: I '''''swear''''' I locked that window.<br />
:PolitiFact: <span style="color: #1855AE;">Politi</span><span style="color: #D73C1C;">Fact</span> says: ''False!''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball and Megan, looking downwards, are standing at the foot of a well made bed with two pillows, and the bedsheets drawn tight. PolitiFact's voice emanates from a starburst at the edge of the shadow under the bed.]<br />
:Cueball: You can't stay under there forever.<br />
:PolitiFact (voice from under bed): <span style="color: #1855AE;">Politi</span><span style="color: #D73C1C;">Fact</span> says: ''False!''<br />
:Megan: Nobody likes you, Politifact.<br />
:PolitiFact (voice from under bed): <span style="color: #1855AE;">Politi</span><span style="color: #D73C1C;">Fact</span> says: ''Mostly true!''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Characters with Hats]]<br />
[[Category:Politics]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1712:_Politifact&diff=1303761712: Politifact2016-11-09T01:31:31Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1712<br />
| date = July 27, 2016<br />
| title = Politifact<br />
| image = politifact.png<br />
| titletext = "Ok, I lit the smoke bomb and rolled it under the bed. Let's see if it--" ::FWOOOSH:: "Politifact says: PANTS ON FIRE!"<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The website {{w|PolitiFact.com}} rates political claims based on how true they are. The rulings from the Truth-O-Meter™ at PolitiFact are:<br />
*True<br />
*Mostly True<br />
*Half-True<br />
*Mostly False<br />
*False<br />
*Pants on Fire!<br />
<br />
This comic presents a woman wearing a white hat with a {{w|press pass}} in the hat's belt. She is calling herself "PolitiFact" -- either pretending to come from PolitiFact.com or she is representing a personification of the website itself. She is obviously annoying [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] by rating everything they say on the Truth-O-Meter. (She is using the official logo of PolitiFact as her name, and since they write their name PolitiFact her name should also be written like this, even though [[Randall]] has named the comic Politifact with all lower case letters and also uses it like this in the title text.)<br />
<br />
When Megan, apparently just having gotten out of bed, says she had trouble sleeping, the PolitiFact.com woman (called PolitiFact from now on) appears at an open window and observes that Megan is telling the truth with the rating of "''Mostly True!''" (So according to PolitiFact she did not sleep well most of the night, but may have slept OK for some parts of the night...) <br />
<br />
Megan appears distressed, which is not improved when PolitiFact enters their house through the window. Megan give chase to PolitiFact, passing by Cueball, whose comment ''Not again'' makes it clear that this is not the first time PolitiFact has annoyed them in this way. Megan swears that she had locked the window, which if true would mean that PolitiFact had illegally opened a locked window. PolitiFact gives that claim the rating of "''False!''", indicating that the window was unlocked. Entering someone's house against their wishes is illegal the state of their windows non-withstanding, and Cueball clearly asks her to leave, apart from the fact that Megan chases her through their house.<br />
<br />
After the chase, PolitiFact ends up hiding under the couple's bed; Cueball's claim that PolitiFact "can't stay under there forever" is promptly rated "''False''". Megan's remark, however, that no one likes PolitiFact, is rated "''Mostly True!''" This exchange is likely metaphorical just as much as it is literal -- Randall's PolitiFact acknowledges that what she does annoys people, but she keeps on doing it anyway.<br />
<br />
As for metaphors, Megan is likely commenting on the popularity of the website, which Randall's PolitiFact is no less correct about. People become very defensive when claims they make in political discussions are debunked by PolitiFact.com. There is a phenomenon where the people most influenced by an erroneous claim are the least likely to believe a fact checker. For example, The Washington Post [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/12/18/what-was-fake-on-the-internet-this-week-why-this-is-the-final-column/ shut down their internet rumor fact checker] because, "institutional distrust is so high right now, and cognitive bias so strong always, that the people who fall for hoax news stories are frequently only interested in consuming information that conforms with their views — even when it's demonstrably fake." Simply put, people like the idea of a fact checker until they disagree with it. <br />
<br />
PolitiFact.com has been accused of being both [http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2015/03/14/mostly-true-ted-cruz-attack-proves-politifact-is-run-by-gigantic-assholes/ liberally biased] and [http://www.rifuture.org/politifact-ri-once-again-shows-right-wing-bias.html conservatively biased] at various times and has angered politicians on both sides of the aisle. The summary statistic "rulings" are especially troublesome; often the critics will agree that the information presented by the fact check is correct, and may agree that all relevant information has been included, but will disagree as to the importance of context omitted by the original speaker or the interpretation of ambiguous language.<br />
<br />
The title text makes a play on PolitiFact.com's most untrue rating, "Pants on Fire!" - a reference to the childhood accusation "{{w|Pants on Fire|Liar, liar, pants on fire!}}" <br />
<br />
In the title text either Cueball or Megan says to the other that they have lit the {{w|smoke bomb}} and rolled it under the bed near PolitiFact (seems they have discussed this first). When it goes off it apparently manages to ignite PolitiFact's pants - thus, PolitiFact's pants are ''literally'' on fire and she yells "PANTS ON FIRE!". Cueball has thrown smoke bombs before while in a relation with Megan, see [[486: I am Not a Ninja]], so it would be likely he had a smoke bomb on his person for immediate use.<br />
<br />
Alternatively, either Cueball or Megan just says this as a threat (they could even roll a non-bomb object under the bed and maybe they have talked out loud about the idea of using such a bomb before) and they could try to make the loud ''fwooosh'' sound themselves to simulate that the bomb going off. Then they would be telling an outright lie that would be rated as "Pants on Fire!". The fact that the ''fwooosh'' is located outside of the "quotation marks", is no indication as the sound is not part of the quote. Also the fact that "PANTS ON FIRE" is yelled, rather than calmly delivered in the fashion of her other judgments, is not necessarily any indication that this is not the case, since a threat that is so blatantly a lie as to warrant such a rating should be proclaimed out loud.<br />
<br />
It may be a coincidence, but PolitiFact.com was {{w|PolitiFact.com#Reception|awarded}} the {{w|Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting}} in 2009 for work done in their first full year of work (after it was started in August 2007), and this comic was released right after [[1711: Snapchat]], which hinges on the existence of little-known {{w|Pulitzer Prize}} categories.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan with messy morning hair is walking right and rubs her eyes.]<br />
:Megan: I did ''not'' sleep well last night.<br />
<br />
:[A woman with hair like Megan (but a bit longer) wearing a white hat with brim and a small white card attached to the hat's belt (like a press pass) crawls up on the pane of an open window. She begins all her sentences with the word PolitiFact. When she says this it is written in the color and style of the PolitiFact.com logo with blue ''Politi'' and red ''Fact''. Megan has just walked past the window and has turned to look at the woman. She is still holding one hand up and her hair is still messy.]<br />
:PolitiFact: <span style="color: #1855AE;">Politi</span><span style="color: #D73C1C;">Fact</span> says ''mostly true!''<br />
:Megan: Oh no...<br />
<br />
:[In a frame-less panel Cueball is walking right, while Megan, arms stretched out and hair flowing out behind her, runs by him chasing PolitiFact who is running with a hand up to hold her hat in place, hair also flowing out behind her.]<br />
:Cueball: Not again. Get out of here, PolitiFact!<br />
:Megan: I '''''swear''''' I locked that window.<br />
:PolitiFact: <span style="color: #1855AE;">Politi</span><span style="color: #D73C1C;">Fact</span> says: ''False!''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball and Megan, looking downwards, are standing at the foot of a well made bed with two pillows, and the bedsheets drawn tight. PolitiFact's voice emanates from a starburst at the edge of the shadow under the bed.]<br />
:Cueball: You can't stay under there forever.<br />
:PolitiFact (voice from under bed): <span style="color: #1855AE;">Politi</span><span style="color: #D73C1C;">Fact</span> says: ''False!''<br />
:Megan: Nobody likes you, Politifact.<br />
:PolitiFact (voice from under bed): <span style="color: #1855AE;">Politi</span><span style="color: #D73C1C;">Fact</span> says: ''Mostly true!''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Characters with Hats]]<br />
[[Category:Politics]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1742:_Will_It_Work&diff=1300581742: Will It Work2016-11-06T00:54:52Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1742<br />
| date = October 5, 2016<br />
| title = Will It Work<br />
| image = will_it_work.png<br />
| titletext = 'Copy and paste from a random thread on a website' is the hardest to predict, and depends on the specific website, programming language, tone of the description, and current phase of the moon.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
This comic humorously lists how likely computer code is to function on the user's computer based on the source of the code.<br />
<br />
'''App store or package manager:''' Most likely referring to the {{w|Apple Inc.|Apple's}} {{w|Mac App Store|Mac}} or {{w|App Store (iOS)|iOS}} {{w|App Store}}, {{w|Google|Google's}} {{w|Google Play}}, {{w|Microsoft|Microsoft's}} {{w|Windows Store|Windows}} or {{w|Windows Phone Store}}, or {{w|Package manager|package managers}} such as {{w|Debian|Debian's}} {{w|Advanced Packaging Tool}} (APT). Programs in the App Store are already compiled from raw code into executable files that have been tested on their respective platform -- otherwise they would be rejected from the storefront -- and so should be expected to run with no effort from the user. Similarly, a package manager for a Linux OS handles downloading and installing the program requested, as well as installing any dependencies (other programs or libraries needed by the desired program) automatically.<br />
<br />
'''GitHub Link:''' {{w|GitHub}} is a website where people can host {{w|Git}} repositories of code that they are working on. Since Git is built to track changes in code for an entire project, it is likely that all of the code needed to run the project is included in the download. One reason it may be less reliable than the previous entry is that it may not include external libraries expected to already be on the user's computer.<br />
<br />
'''SourceForge Link:''' {{w|SourceForge}} is similar in scope to GitHub : hosting source code repositories but also binary packages. But it is older and dwindling in popularity. As a results, a project hosted on SourceForge is more likely to be abandoned.<br />
<br />
'''Geocities/Tripod Link:''' {{w|Geocities}} is a now defunct free website host. [http://www.tripod.lycos.com/ Tripod] is a similar website host owned by {{w|Lycos}}. The fact that the software comes from there means that nobody has paid attention to the project since Geocities shut down. Which could mean that code rot has begun to take effect, with various dependencies being less and less likely to work over time.<br />
<br />
'''Copy-and-paste example from paper's appendix:''' Some academic papers publish code or {{w|Pseudocode|pseudocode}} ([https://www.cs.drexel.edu/~david/Papers/ecal07.pdf#page=11 example of a paper with pseudocode in appendix]) in order to illustrate their concepts, strategies or algorithms. Often this code is not meant to be compiled because it is thought to illustrate ideas rather than be used in an actual working piece of software. Copying and pasting this code and trying to compile it will rarely give a satisfactory results, and that is why it is at this point in the comic's spectrum.<br />
<br />
'''Anything that "requires only minimal configuration and tweaking":''' The punchline of the comic is that something advertised as having been tested and working with "minimal configuration and tweaking" on the system it was developed on turns out to be a frustrating mess that will almost inevitably require huge fixes for anybody else trying to get it to function. It's also often used by technically advanced people who are not aware how difficult even minimal configuration and tweaking can be for beginners.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to websites such as {{w|Stack Overflow}} that allow users to post questions about their code and other users answer. Websites like StackOverflow usually generate [http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6827834/how-to-filter-a-dict-to-contain-only-keys-in-a-given-list?noredirect=1&lq=1 useful answers] but the quality may be lower if the conversation is disgruntled (i.e. if the asker has put in very little effort to solve the problem themselves) or if the language is less commonly used. The title text of [[1185: Ineffective Sorts]] also references executing arbitrary code until it works, in that comic the code is actually mentioned as being from StackOverflow.<br />
<br />
Saying that something "depends on the phase of the moon" usually means that there is some apparently random component to the problem, as neither the performance of a program nor the quality of answers on websites should depend on the position of the moon in its orbit. However, there was [http://www.hacker-dictionary.com/terms/phase-of-the-moon at least one case] where the phase of the moon did, in fact, trigger a bug in code. This comic released the day after Rosh Hashanah, a Jewish holiday that always occurs at or near a new moon. It is not clear whether this is why Randall was thinking about moon phases or just a coincidence.<br />
<br />
The shape of the moon was the subject of [[1738: Moon Shapes]] released during the week before this comic was released. This comic is called ''Will It Work'', the previous comic was just called [[1741: Work]]<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Caption above the panel:]<br />
:Likelihood you will get code working based on how you're supposed to install it:<br />
<br />
:[A chart with a double arrow going from the top to the bottom. Both arrows are labeled. Along the arrow six labels follows from top to bottom. The first five take up different amount of space, but the space between them (bottom of one to top of the next) are the same, and resembles a typical line shift between paragraphs. The space, however, to the last label is more than three times as wide.]<br />
:Very likely<br />
<br />
::App store or package manager<br />
<br />
::GitHub Link<br />
<br />
::SourceForge Link<br />
<br />
::Geocities/Tripod Link<br />
<br />
::Copy-and-paste example from paper's appendix<br />
<br><br />
::Anything that "requires only minimal configuration and tweaking"<br />
<br />
:Unlikely<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Charts]] <br />
[[Category:Programming]] <br />
[[Category:Rankings]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1289:_Simple_Answers&diff=1300561289: Simple Answers2016-11-05T17:50:35Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1289<br />
| date = November 11, 2013<br />
| title = Simple Answers<br />
| image = simple answers.png<br />
| titletext = 'Will [ ] allow us to better understand each other and thus make war undesirable?' is one that pops up whenever we invent a new communication medium.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This is [[Randall]]'s commentary on some of the baseless skepticism and equally baseless optimism directed at new technologies. Related: [[1215: Insight]] and [[1227: The Pace of Modern Life]]. While it's always healthy to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of cutting-edge tech before blindly diving in and adopting it, it's not healthy to base that evaluation on unrealistically high standards and expectations. New developments will have pros and cons, and it's hard to tell whether they make the world a better place or not.<br />
<br />
Randall has set up a Q&A for this kind of questioning. Most of the them are straightforward, but we'll provide some commentary on selected questions.<br />
<br />
''Will [ ] destroy whole industries? Yes.'' A widely adopted technology usually causes another to gradually phase out, and industries will rise and fall as technologies do. This is a bit of a loaded question because "destroy industries" sounds negative, and only covers half the effect — instead of merely destroying them, we're also {{w|Creative destruction|replacing}} them with something (hopefully) better.<br />
<br />
''Will teens use [ ] for sex? Yes. Were they going to have sex anyway? Yes.'' Sex is pretty important to almost everyone, so it'll find its way into most generic technologies. Hormone-crazed tech-savvy teenagers are a particularly strong intersection of the two. Parents fearing teen sex might be worried about how their kids would use the technology, but the second question refutes these concerns quite concisely. This might also refer to {{w|Rule 34 (Internet meme)|Rule 34}} which states that if something exists, it will also be used inside porn as well.<br />
<br />
''Will [ ] destroy music/art? No.'' Every new technology for reproducing musical and artistic works (such as [https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2004/03/wicked-player-piano player pianos] and [http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbarro/2012/01/18/thirty-years-before-sopa-mpaa-feared-the-vcr/ video cassette recorders]) has been accompanied by warnings that it will destroy the industry that supplies it content. The reality is a special case of the "destroy industries" question - old business models will fall but new ones will arise in their place, and art and music as a whole will survive.<br />
<br />
''But can't we go back to a time when— No.'' Elderly people [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WhenIWasYourAge express their disapproval] of today's technological luxuries, nostalgically longing for a time before Foo or Bar came around. That's just how the stereotype goes, but there is a large helping of truth to it. Usually, their sentiments are not a fair judgement, but an emotional attachment to the olden days and a [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheyChangedItNowItSucks resistance to change].<br />
<br />
''Will [ ] bring about world peace?- No.'' People have been trying to bring about world peace for centuries; sadly, other people are in no such hurry and insist on more conflict to solve their own problems.<br />
<br />
The final answer is a depressing and strangely beautiful comment on human nature: ''Will [ ] cause widespread alienation by creating a world of empty experiences? We were already alienated.'' Skeptics may be concerned that a new technology will make people's pleasures and interactions more artificial and shallow; Randall comments that this is already something well known in our society.<br />
<br />
From the Title Text, ''Will [ ] allow us to better understand each other and thus make war undesirable?'' describes the usual theory that a technology might use to bring about world peace. Unfortunately, not only does the answer seem to be "no" to World Peace either way, but there's no indication that increased global communication actually facilitates understanding and empathy between distant communities. In fact, many cynics say the Internet has in fact caused the opposite effect, causing people to fracture into like-minded cliques rather than intermingle.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:The '''simple answers''' to the questions that get asked about every new technology:<br />
:{| class="wikitable"<br />
|Will [ ] make us all geniuses?||align="center"|No<br />
|-<br />
|Will [ ] make us all morons?||align="center"|No<br />
|-<br />
|Will [ ] destroy whole industries?||align="center" |Yes<br />
|-<br />
|Will [ ] make us more empathetic?||align="center" |No<br />
|-<br />
|Will [ ] make us less caring?||align="center" |No<br />
|-<br />
|Will teens use [ ] for sex?||align="center" |Yes<br />
|-<br />
|Were they going to have sex anyway?||align="center" |Yes<br />
|-<br />
|Will [ ] destroy music?||align="center" |No<br />
|-<br />
|Will [ ] destroy art?||align="center" |No<br />
|-<br />
|But can't we go back to a time when-||align="center" |No<br />
|-<br />
|Will [ ] bring about world peace?||align="center" |No<br />
|-<br />
|Will [ ] cause widespread<br />alienation by creating a world<br />of empty experiences?||align="center" |We were<br />already<br />alienated<br />
|}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Charts]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1604:_Snakes&diff=1300551604: Snakes2016-11-05T17:33:39Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1604<br />
| date = November 16, 2015<br />
| title = Snakes<br />
| image = snakes.png<br />
| titletext = The last band of color indicates the snake's tolerance for being held before biting.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
In the comic, [[Megan]] confuses a popular method of identification of the dangerous North American {{w|coral snake}} by its red, yellow, and black stripes with the {{w|Electronic color code|color-coding system}} used to indicate the resistance of electrical resistors.<br />
<br />
The coral snake has red bands adjacent to its yellow bands. However, coral snakes are {{w|mimicry|mimicked}} by nonvenomous species with similar coloring, such as the {{w|milk snake}}, whose red bands are not adjacent to its yellow bands. This has led to a variety of rhyming {{w|mnemonic}}s, such as “Red touches yellow, kill a fellow; red touches black, friend of Jack.” Because Megan is describing a red band being adjacent to a yellow band, she is indeed holding a coral snake, which contains the most potent venom of any snake in North America. (This assumes, of course, that Randall isn't faking us out; there are other lesser-known subspecies of the coral snake, such as the [http://naturejournals.blogspot.com/2010/05/texas-coral-snake.html Cattinga and Pygmy coral snakes of South America], who do not follow the above patterns.)<br />
<br />
Instead of realizing the danger, Megan equates the color bands to having the same function as those printed on electrical {{w|resistor}}s. Resistors have at least three bands to identify their resistance value in {{w|ohm}}s, followed by an optional fourth band showing the {{w|engineering tolerance|tolerance}} as within the bounds of a certain percentage of the aforementioned resistance value. A red band followed by a yellow and a black one identifies a 24 ohm resistor (the Omega symbol, “Ω”, stands for ohms). As per the mnemonic, North American coral snakes have an additional yellow band between the black band and the next red band. Yellow corresponds to a tolerance of &plusmn;5%, so the actual resistance will be between 22.8Ω and 25.2Ω. See this [http://www.audionotekits.com/resistorcodes.html resistor code calculator]. Resistor color codes were also mentioned in [[227: Color Codes]].<br />
<br />
The title text refers to the fourth band specifying the tolerance but interprets it as the snake's tolerance for being held before biting, instead of the measure of the imprecision of the 24 ohms. In the case of yellow, this would refer to a tolerance value of 5%. How tolerance to being held is measured left ambiguous. If the value represents the probability of being bitten over a given period of time, then larger numbers would mean a less tolerant snake. If it instead represents the position on some per-determined "tolerance scale" between 0 and 1, then larger values would represent a 'more' tolerant snake.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan and Cueball are standing in some grass. Megan is holding a snake with red, yellow, and black stripes.]<br />
<br />
:Megan: Red touches yellow, which I think means this is a 24Ω snake.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1755:_Old_Days&diff=1300321755: Old Days2016-11-04T18:28:02Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Table of statements */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1755<br />
| date = November 4, 2016<br />
| title = Old Days<br />
| image = old_days.png<br />
| titletext = Lot of drama in those days, including constant efforts to force the "Reflections on Trusting Trust" guy into retirement so we could stop being so paranoid about compilers.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|More explanation required on computer programming. Fill out the explanation column in the [[#Table of statements|table]] that lists all the statements.}}<br />
This comic is showing a conversation between (young) [[Cueball]] and (old) [[Hairbun]] about computer programming in the past, specifically the {{w|compilers}}. Cueball, having a faint idea of just how difficult and byzantine programming was "in the old days", asks Hairbun to enlighten him on the specifics. Hairbun promptly seizes the opportunity to screw with his head.<br />
<br />
While her initial explanation that code needed to be compiled for multiple architectures is correct, Hairbun's claims rapidly grow ridiculous to the point where the improvement from {{w|C (programming language)|C}} to {{w|C++}} was that C++ finally supported {{w|floppy disks}} but just punched holes in them rather than using {{w|punch cards}} "like C used". (A notch in the side of 5.25" floppy disks indicates when the disk could be written. Though many floppy disks were intended to have only a single side with data, many people used a hole punch to notch the opposite side of the disk, allowing a drive to write data to the other side of the disk in a single sided drive.)<br />
<br />
Hairbun tells Cueball a tall tale about how hard it was back in the '''old days''', making it sound like some of the programming languages used today (C, C++) were written on punch cards and that you had to ship your code in the mail to a computer company ({{w|IBM}} in this case) to compile your code, which would take from four to six weeks. If there was a simple error, you would have to ship it again for another compilation. <br />
<br />
Nothing of what she tells Cueball makes any sense, but it is clear from Cueball's final ''Wow'' that he falls for it, ready to believe anything the old Hairbun tells him about how horrible it was to program in the olden days. It is true that it was tough and slow to program on punch cards, which were actually used for an extended period of time, but there is nothing in the rest of Hairbun's story that accurate, except that it was a big deal when the floppy disk was invented.<br />
<br />
In the title text, Hairbun continues her musings on the old compiler days, stating that there was ''a lot of drama in those days''. Specifically the references ''[http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/linux/hh/thompson/trust.html Reflections on Trusting Trust]'' a famous 1984 paper by {{w|UNIX}} co-creator {{w|Ken Thompson}} in which he described a way to hide a virtually undetectable backdoor in the UNIX login code via a second backdoor in the C compiler. Using the technique in his paper, it would be impossible to discover the hacked login by examining the official source code for either the login or the compiler itself. Ken Thompson may have actually included this backdoor in early versions of UNIX, undiscovered. Ken Thompson's paper demonstrated that it was functionally impossible to prove that any piece of software was fully trustworthy. <br />
<br />
Hairbun claims that one of the dramas she refers to was that people tried to force Ken Thompson to retire, so everyone could stop being so paranoid about compilers. In reality, any coder who created the first version of a compiler (or a similar critical component) could inject a similar backdoor into software, so it would be false safety. Even if no one else had thought of this, then Thompson's paper was there for any future hacker to see. Though the problem was (claimed to be) solved in {{w|David A. Wheeler}} Ph.D dissertation "[http://www.dwheeler.com/trusting-trust/ Fully Countering Trusting Trust through Diverse Double-Compiling (DDC)]".<br />
<br />
==Table of statements==<br />
{|class="wikitable"<br />
!Statements<br />
!Concepts used<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|Compile things for different processors<br />
|Compilers convert code from a human-readable programming language into a binary code that can be directly executed by computer processors.<br />
|Many popular modern programming languages are either interpreted - meaning that they run directly from source code - or compile to an intermediate bytecode, like Java or common Python implementations. Programs written in such languages are portable across processor architectures - x86 to ARM, for example. Lower-level languages must take into account the features available on a given processor architecture and operating system. Before that, programs needed to compile directly into the native machine language for each processor they were intended to run on.<br />
Native machine language is dependent on processor architecture. Therefore different processors designed around different architectures will not run the same compiled code (unless the architectures are compatible; AMD64 processors will run i386 code natively, for example.) If the same code needs to be run on multiple architectures, it must be compiled separately for each supported architecture.<br />
|-<br />
|To compile your code, you had to mail it to IBM. It took 4-6 weeks.<br />
|Similar to sending Kodachrome slide film to Kodak to be developed.<br />
|While IBM has released multiple compilers, they sent the compiler to you, you did not send the code to them. There is some kind of truth in the statement, though: When programming on mainframes, programmers submitted their source code in the evening for compilation over night. When there was an error in the code, they did not get a compiled version of it back, and had to resubmit their code. Sometimes there were time slots available for compilation, and in universities, students will have to wait for their next time slot for another try.<br />
|-<br />
|Before garbage collection, data would pile up until the computer got full and you had to throw it away. <br />
|A {{w|Garbage collection (computer science)|garbage collector}} is a piece of the software that cleans the {{w|RAM}} of data that is no longer being used in the execution of a program. <br />
|Hairbun's comment is grounded in reality. Garbage collection is a form of memory management that generally destroys objects or frees up memory once a program no longer needs it. In languages without automatic memory management, like C, the program itself must keep track of what memory has been allocated, and free it once it is no longer needed. If the program does not, it can end up trying to use more memory than the computer has, and may crash. This was, however, a ''temporary'' condition. In the worst case, a simple reboot will clear the computer's memory. <br />
|-<br />
|Early compilers could handle code fine, but comments had to be written in assembly.<br />
|A {{w|Comment (computer programming)|comment}} in programming is a text written in natural language that is meant to explain some feature of the source code; it is tagged such that the compiler will discard it to save space. {{w|Assembly}} is a low-level programming language.<br />
|Comments, in code, are portions of one or more lines that are ignored by the compiler. They are commonly used to explain or comment on the code itself. But sometimes the comments are written in a certain way to compile documentation automatically from it. Also, when examining the output of compilers it's a common practice to use assembly code annotated with comments containing the source code of the program from which the assembly code was generated.<br />
<br />
Hairbun's comment is thus very strange, implying the compilers of the day could only distinguish between comments and code if assembly was used to insert the separating tags. <br />
|-<br />
|C could only be written on punch cards. You had to pick a compact font, or you'd only fit a few characters per card.<br />
|{{w|C (programming language)|C}} is a programming language. A {{w|punch card}} is a primitive form of storing data; it stored data in {{w|binary language}} with holes in a paper or cardboard card where a hole meant a 1 and the absence of a hole meant a 0. <br />
|While punch cards were used through the late 1970s and early 1980s to enter programs and data in COBOL, FORTRAN and other early languages, the use of punch cards and punch card machines had been replaced by a {{w|text editor}} long before C (or C++) was developed as a language.<br />
<br />
Hairbun claims that code was not written using keyboards, but by punching out letter and character shapes in the punch cards, and the computer would load read keystrokes that way. Simply put, this was never true. Punch cards store characters in binary; there is no font involved and they store up to fixed limit of characters per card (80 characters in the most common format.)<br />
|-<br />
|C++ was big because it supported floppy disks. It still punched holes in them, but it was a start<br />
|{{w|C++ (programming language)|C++}} is a programming language. A {{w|floppy disk}} is a (more advanced than punch cards but still old) form of storing data magnetically.<br />
|Hairbun says that the improvement from C to C++ was the C++ finally supported floppy disks, but then it turns out that in C++ the floppy disks were just used instead of punch cards. So the programing was to make holes in floppy disks rather than punch cards. This would of course not be an improvement as floppy disk are not as easy (actually very difficult) to make holes in, compared to punch card, which are made for this purpose and then the whole concept of using floppy disk to store data magnetically is ignored (you could not re-use the floppy again). In any case, a hole punched in a floppy disk would render it useless.<br />
<br />
On the other hand hole punches were really used (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Double-sided_disk&oldid=713168494) to turn single-sided 5¼ inch floppy discs into double-sided ones - thus doubling the capacity.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and Hairbun are standing together and Cueball is talking to her.]<br />
:Cueball: What were things like in the old days?<br />
:Cueball: I hear that you had to ... compile things for different processors?<br />
:Hairbun: Yeah<br />
<br />
:[Same setting in a slimmer panel, now Hairbun is replying.]<br />
:Hairbun: To compile your code, you had to mail it to IBM.<br />
:Hairbun: It took 4-6 weeks.<br />
<br />
:[Close-up of Hairbun from the waist up.]<br />
:Hairbun: Before garbage collection, data would pile up until the computer got full and you had to throw it away.<br />
<br />
:[Same setting as in the first panel with Hairbun gesturing toward Cueball raising one hand palm up.]<br />
:Hairbun: Early compilers could handle code fine, but comments had to be written in assembly.<br />
<br />
:[In a frame-less panel Hairbun is seen from the front, with both arms out to the side with both hands held palm up.]<br />
:Hairbun: '''C''' could only be written on punch cards.You had to pick a compact font, or you'd only fit a few characters per card.<br />
<br />
:[Exactly the same setting as the first panel, but with Hairbun doing the talking.]<br />
:Hairbun: '''C++''' was big because it supported floppy disks.<br />
:Hairbun: It still punched holes in them, but it was a start.<br />
:Cueball: Wow.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1753:_Thumb_War&diff=1296671753: Thumb War2016-10-31T17:41:18Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1753<br />
| date = October 31, 2016<br />
| title = Thumb War<br />
| image = thumb_war.png<br />
| titletext = "Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty--" / "Can't we just read Pat the Bunny?"<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Just... More. Some parts seem like a stretch}}<br />
A {{w|thumb war}} is a common game for children, in which two players hold hands and attempt to pin each other's thumb down. The game is often started with both players chanting "one, two three, four, I declare a thumb war," and then counting up by fours and making rhymes, all the while trying to pin the opponent's thumbs down.<br />
<br />
The standard concept is subverted here: [[Black Hat]] interprets the simulation of hand-to-hand combat with thumbs differently, comparing it with real conflict. He shows this in further lines, invented by himself.<br />
<br />
The second rhyme, "finger guns proliferate," is a pun on the {{w|finger gun}} gesture and describes {{w|Small arms trade|small arms proliferation}} - the spread of black-market weapons which often comes with war as captured and smuggled guns make their way into the hands of paramilitary groups. Black Hat transfers this into the "thumb war universe", introducing finger guns into the thumb hand-to-hand combat. The finger gun faction uses their military superiority to establish dominance, and thus proliferate, that is, extend territory or numbers. This is, of course, nonsensical.<br />
<br />
The third rhyme continues the counting until twelve, thus entering the two digit number space, the idea being that multiple digits (numbers) have united against a common foe, since one alone cannot protect itself, according to Black Hat. It is left open from what the thumbs are supposed to be protected, maybe multiple digits. This is funny because of the pun involved: Digits are glyphs of numbers (compare single-digit number vs. multi-digit number) as well as one's fingers. Thus, also "fingers can't protect themselves".<br />
<br />
The last line is utterly nonsensical: Black Hat states that, even though this useless thumb war goes on and on, the "thumb U.N.", the thumb war universe equivalent to our {{w|United Nations}}, won't try to put an end to it using diplomatic power. In real life, the U.N. has the power to mandate intervention using (blue-helmet) peace forces in war zones to put an end to violence or give out a mandate to nations so that they can intervene in some crisis on their own behalf.<br />
<br />
All of this is a nonsensical continuation of the original rhyme since fingers don't reproduce or own territory nor unite to form a common Organization. It is, instead, a quite cynical portrayal of our world, criticizing the "might is right" mentality that is the sad reality of our globe, and the government of the world by the militarily strongest nations. It puts the UN in an unfavorable light since it portrays it either as corrupt or apathetic, both equally bad.<br />
<br />
[[Hairy]], meanwhile, is unnerved by all this and wants to stop playing. This could be a metaphor for how our industrialized, fun-oriented societies only care about entertainment and not the real problems mankind has. Hairy could portray a happy European or American, who is only satisfied with instant gratification, games, and joy instead of confronting the problems we western nations brought about as would be our responsibility or duty.<br />
<br />
Black Hat continues to make Hairy uncomfortable as an adult, such as in [[1210: I'm So Random]].<br />
In the title text, Black Hat attempts to add another verse, but Hairy interrupts, requesting to do something more appropriate for children, reading a picture book.<br />
<br />
This is the second time a young Black Hat has been used. The first was in [[1139: Rubber and Glue]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
[A young Black Hat and Hairy are sitting across from each other. A toy truck is on Black Hat's left, and a stack of blocks is on Hairy's right.]<br />
<br />
:Black hat: One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war.<br />
:Black hat: Five, six, seven, eight, finger guns proliferate.<br />
:Black hat: Nine, ten, eleven, twelve, digits can't protect themselves.<br />
:Black hat: Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, thumb U.N. won't intervene.<br />
:Hairy: I don't want to play with you anymore.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=471:_Aversion_Fads&diff=129469471: Aversion Fads2016-10-27T23:32:06Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Further Explanation Regarding Furries */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 471<br />
| date = September 3, 2008<br />
| title = Aversion Fads<br />
| image = aversion_fads.png<br />
| titletext = Hey, are you friends with any hamsters? This kite needs a passenger.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
Here, we see [[Cueball]] and his Cueball-like friend, who are grossed out that there is a furry (noted by the kid's fox ears and tail) near them. These people most likely have bought into the stereotype of furries, and as such, are showing their disgust towards what they perceive the fandom to (wrongly) be. [[Megan]] then calls for the furry to help her with her kite. The way this turns out, she also thinks that furries are "weird as hell", but she is also irritated by the fact that a lot of people on the Internet are involved with a lot of weird things that may gross out or otherwise offend the general population, yet the Internet in general frequently mocks furries for engaging in essentially the same things. This hypocrisy bothers her, so she takes whatever opportunity she has to defend furries, who are, after all, people of the Internet.<br />
<br />
Hearing this, the furry brings up {{w|The Lion and the Mouse|the fable of the lion and the mouse}} (from {{w|Aesop}}). This fable talks about a lion who spares a mouse from being eaten, since the mouse's promise that he would repay the lion gave the lion a good laugh. In the story, the lion later gets caught in a trap and the mouse chews through the cords, freeing the lion. The furry now has a debt to repay Megan, but before we can get to that Megan curtails the simile. She assumes that the furry will perceive the story to be about animal bondage relationships, and be aroused by such, although it should be noted that this will very likely NOT arouse the furry. <br />
<br />
In the title text, Megan realizes that her kite needs a passenger. So, she asks the furry if he has any hamster friends. Being a furry, this could be either real hamsters (which could be tied to the kite), or people with hamster fursonas (who would probably be too large to be tied to the kite and remain buoyant). This may be a reference to [[20: Ferret]].<br />
<br />
===Further Explanation Regarding Furries===<br />
<br />
The term "{{w|Furry|Furries}}" can mean a lot of things, though all related, involving stylized artwork of animals (typically anthropomorphic cartoon or anime animals). We will be looking at a specific definition here, the most commonly criticized, the people who create an animal persona (fursona) version of themselves. These furries often create "fursuits" (costume versions of their character) and roleplay and cosplay their character while wearing their fursuits. Sometimes they will wear partial fursuits, which can consist of any part of the fursuit, such as ears and tails. Contrary to popular belief, furries are not bestial, and there is a distinction between the furry fandom and the furry sexuality. Unfortunately, it appears that Randall has bought into the media's stereotype of furries, assuming furries are all entirely sexual. It should be noted that while less than 1% of furries are bestial, around 90% of the furry fandom does partake in the more sexual aspect of the fandom, directing their fetishism primarily towards cartoon anthropomorphic animals, often incorporating far weirder fetishes into the sexuality (such as paw fetishism, coprophilia, vore, and macro/micro). This isn't to say the furry fandom is entirely comprised of the furry fetish. Many fursuiters who publicly fursuit are doing it moreso to show off the cuteness of their character, and to cuddle with other furries, rather than be an exhibitionist of their fetish. It should be noted, however, that at furry conventions, there are individuals who do wear fursuits with zippers at the crotch (known as murrsuits) for the obvious use. Said people rarely wear their murrsuits in public, and if they do so, their character usually wears clothing. If you see a fursuiter in public, kindly do not react as the people in this comic have reacted, nor react how [[Megan]] reacts assuming they're partaking in their fetish and that any mention of animals will turn them on. It is no different than publicly cosplaying, and while a bit childish, is almost every time, not a sexual thing for the furry, who even if a sexual furry, will typically keep their fetish to themselves, other furries, and furcons. Instead, try asking them for a picture, or completely ignoring them. Unfortunately, the media often misrepresents and misunderstands things {{Citation needed}}, and have done so with the furry fandom, too.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Two Cueball-like guys stand together as a young guy dressed up with small ears and a tail approaches.]<br />
:Cueball: Oh God, a furry. Don't let it touch you.<br />
<br />
:[The furry hears someone call out to him.]<br />
:Off-screen: Hey, kid.<br />
<br />
:[Megan is seen preparing a kite to be flown.]<br />
:Megan: Forget those assholes. Come help me.<br />
<br />
:[The furry begins to help Megan set up the kite.]<br />
:Furry: Thanks. So you're cool with furries?<br />
<br />
:[The two are now standing far appart the furry with the kite and the line going over to Megan.]<br />
:Megan: Well, I think your fetish is weird as hell. It just bothers me how you're this designated Internet punching bag among people who are otherwise down with weird fetishes. So I stick up for you when I can.<br />
<br />
:[The kite now successfully up in the air and Megan pulls the line with both hands moving backwards.]<br />
:Furry: Well, thanks. I owe you one.<br />
:Megan: It's no big deal.<br />
<br />
:[Megan stops some distance from the fury holding the line with one hhand. The fury lift one hand up apologising.]<br />
:Furry: No, this is like the lion and the mouse.<br />
:Megan: ...Listen, can we pick a comparison less likely to turn you on?<br />
:Furry: Sorry.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Furries]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=769:_War&diff=129350769: War2016-10-26T17:20:45Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 769<br />
| date = July 21, 2010<br />
| title = War<br />
| image = war.png<br />
| titletext =They offered to make me a green beret, but I liked my regular one. Although it gets kind of squashed under my helmet.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Today's comic seems to be a parable about the perils of love during wartime. Our protagonist is seen here leaning against his pack behind a low wall, surely a good hiding spot for any gentleman with a rifle and scope. Judging by the letter he's in the midst of writing, he has a complex relationship with Cordelia. On the one hand, she's attractive. On the other hand, she's a hostile combatant, as evidenced by the shots fired mid-missive. Cordelia's fire works against her, though, as her volley of shots has revealed her own position atop the maintenance shed. We can presume that in a matter of minutes, this love affair will go sour as the love letter is wrapped around a live grenade and "delivered," so to speak. War is indeed hell. It is possibly that they're playing a game such as paintball though, in which case the green beret would mask friendly fire of the same color.<br />
<br />
As to the title text, the green berets are worn only by Special Forces soldiers. It takes a lot of training to become a green beret, and as evidenced by our protagonist's clever use of decoys to outwit a sniper, he may be qualified for the honor. It sounds, however, as if he didn't understand the proposition, preferring his regular beret instead. Further evidence for his idiocy is given immediately thereafter, as he confesses that he wears a beret under his helmet -- thus revealing our protagonist's true identity (and explaining how he fell in love with an enemy soldier actively trying to kill him): [[Beret Guy]]. Then again, he does not have a choice, since [[291: Dignified|he has stapled the beret on his head.]]<br />
<br />
The comic starts off with the commonly known stereotype of a soldier in war writing a letter to his sweetheart (Cordelia), presumably at home. After the gunshots interrupt his writing, we come to know that Cordelia is actually fighting on the opposite side - it is left open whether they are in an actual relationship or the soldier just writes love letters to his enemies. He explains to her that he can now locate her after she shot a decoy set up by him, closing with the phrase "War is hell", often used in the stereotypical situation described above and now having a much darker tint. The title text gives the reader some kind of closure - the soldier is revealed to be [[Beret Guy]], from whom this kind of behavior doesn't seem so weird after all.<br />
<br />
"Cordelia" is likely a reference to [http://atoracle.wikidot.com/en-cordelia-rosalind Cordelia Rosalind]—the sniper from the {{w|Miniature wargaming|miniature game}} "{{w|Anima: Beyond Fantasy#Anima: Tactics|Anima: Tactics}}".<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A soldier is on the ground behind a low wall, writing a letter.]<br />
:My Dearest Cordelia,<br />
:it has been far too long since I last gazed<br />
:upon your lithe and supple body through my<br />
:telescopic sights, and I fear you may have<br />
:found a superior vantage poin—<br />
<br />
:''BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!''<br />
<br />
:—a splendid effort, my love, but your shots<br />
:find only a decoy, and reveal your position atop<br />
:the maintenance shed.<br />
<br />
:I pray this missive and my grenades find you well.<br />
<br />
:War is hell.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1751:_Movie_Folder&diff=1293471751: Movie Folder2016-10-26T17:03:02Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Black Hat's downloaded movies */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1751<br />
| date = October 26, 2016<br />
| title = Movie Folder<br />
| image = movie_folder.png<br />
| titletext = That's actually the original Japanese version of A Million Random Digits, which is much better than the American remake the book was based on.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|First draft}}<br />
<br />
[[Cueball]] is looking through [[Black Hat]]'s downloaded movies, which are all adaptations of non-literary works, improbable sequels, and/or crossovers between very disparate properties. Cueball reacts with increasing incredulity to Black Hat's collection, while Black Hat casually responds with equally unlikely (non-)explanations. Knowing Black Hat, his movie folder is deliberately weird just to provoke this kind of reaction.<br />
<br />
=== Black Hat's downloaded movies ===<br />
{|class="wikitable"<br />
! Title<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
| ''Lorem Ipsum: The Movie'' || ''Lorem Ipsum'' are the first two words of a common block of pseudo Latin filler text used by typesetters to layout pages before real text is available. This title implies that this movie is entirely random filler with no meaningful content, although according to the Internet Movie Database, there is a 2011 movie titled [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2032487/ Lorem Ipsum].<br />
|-<br />
| ''Titanic XCVIII'' || Implies that there were 98 Titanics which all sank, creating an artificial reef<br />
|-<br />
| ''Debbie Did 9/11'' || A combination of ''Debbie Does Dallas'' and a 9/11 conspiracy theory<br />
|-<br />
| ''Time Jam: A Connecticut Huskie on King Arthur's Court'' || A combination of ''A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court'' and ''Space Jam''<br />
|-<br />
| ''Harold and Kumar Go to Howl's Moving Castle'' || A combination of ''Harold and Kumar go to White Castle'' and ''Howl's Moving Castle''<br />
|-<br />
| ''A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates'' || This is actually [https://www.amazon.com/Million-Random-Digits-Normal-Deviates/dp/0833030477 a real book] from 1955, however as far as we know it was not based on an existing movie.<br />
|-<br />
| ''Michael Bay's The Vagina Monologues'' || ''The Vagina Monologues'' as directed by Michael Bay (who is known for over-doing explosions in the movies he directs)<br />
|}<br />
<br />
Title text then talks about ''A Million Random Digits'' again and says that it is an adaptation of Japanese version. But in modern world digits are universal, so it is hard to understand how adaptation would be different from original. The drop in 1,000,000 Japanese digits to 100,000 US digits is likely a reference to the values of the Japanese Yen and the US Dollar; through most of the 20th and 21st centuries, the value of the Yen has roughly fluctuated at around 0.01 US Dollars (1 US cent).<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
<br />
:[Black Hat is sitting in a chair reading his phone.]<br />
:Cueball (off-panel): Your movie folder is so ''weird''. Where do you find all this stuff?<br />
:Black Hat: Dunno.<br />
:Black Hat: Around.<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]<br />
:Cueball: ''Lorem Ipsum: The Movie?''<br />
:Cueball: ''Titanic XCVIII?''<br />
:Black Hat (off-panel): That series gets good when they start hitting the reef created by all the previous wrecks.<br />
<br />
:[Cueball leans in closer to the screen.]<br />
:Cueball: ''Debbie Did 9/11?''<br />
:Cueball: ''Time Jam: A Connecticut Huskie on King Arthur's Court?''<br />
:Black Hat: Really underrated ''Space Jam'' sequel.<br />
<br />
:[Close-up of Cueball's head and the monitor.]<br />
:Cueball: ''Harold and Kumar Go to Howl's Moving Castle?''<br />
:Cueball: ''A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates?''<br />
:Black Hat: That's the original--the book was a novelization.<br />
<br />
:[Back to Black Hat sitting in the chair.]<br />
:Cueball (off-panel): ''Michael Bay's The Vagina Monologues!?''<br />
:Black Hat: It's pretty good, despite all the CGI explosions.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1749:_Mushrooms&diff=1289521749: Mushrooms2016-10-21T16:06:53Z<p>162.158.255.72: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1749<br />
| date = October 21, 2016<br />
| title = Mushrooms<br />
| image = mushrooms.png<br />
| titletext = Evolutionarily speaking, mushrooms are technically a type of ghost.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|First draft—need transcript, links, and more detailed explanation.}}<br />
<br />
Cueball is looking at a mushroom, and Megan tells him that genetically, mushrooms are closer to animals than to plants - both animals and fungi are part of the {{w|Opisthokont}} group, while plants are in {{w|Archaeplastida}} with the algae. Megan then walks away, and Cueball, after a while, stops looking at the mushroom and walks away too. When Cueball has his back turned, the mushroom growls, and Cueball turns his head back to look at the mushroom. This is a bit of absurdist humor; while mushrooms are ''technically'' more animal-like than plant-like (eukaryotic organisms that resperate and don't photosynthesize) fungi are still so far removed from animals they wouldn't have any of the body parts needed to growl. Cueball's shock and astonishment is quite justified.<br />
<br />
The title text takes this further, by stating that mushrooms are technically a type of ghost. Arguably, since they arise from decaying remains. The title text may refer to 1475: Technically [[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Technically]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
[Cueball is squatting in front of a mushroom.]<br />
:Cueball: Mushrooms are ''so weird.''<br />
:Megan: You know, evolutionarily, they're closer to being animals than to plants.<br />
[Megan starts walking away.]<br />
:Cueball: ...Really?<br />
:Megan: Yup!<br />
[Cueball is still squatting.]<br />
<br />
[Cueball stands up and starts walking away.]<br />
:Mushroom: Grrrr<br />
[Cueball snaps his head around to look at the mushroom again.]<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=183:_Snacktime_Rules&diff=128783183: Snacktime Rules2016-10-18T23:47:17Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number =183<br />
| date =November 13, 2006<br />
| title =Snacktime Rules<br />
| image =snacktime_rules.png<br />
| titletext =I am not making this rule up. Although my mom wants you all to know it made perfect sense at the time.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic shows [[Randall]]'s mother telling Randall that he can have a snack between meals only when his age is "one less than a multiple of three". This means the child starts getting snacks when he turns 2 years old, then stops getting them when he turns 3. Then he starts again getting snacks when he turns 5 but stops when he turns 6. This cycle repeats every 3 years, so the kid gets snacks when his age is 2, 5, 8, 11, etc. (one every 3 years).<br />
<br />
It's difficult to defend this policy with a reasonable argument; and the first impression is that the mother just made up the rule for some obscure, unknown reason. However, the title text explains that Randall's mother actually enforced this rule on him, and his mother claims that, at the time, there was a valid reason for it (though the reason is not explained in the comic). The caption says that Randall has figured out that his {{w|Nerd|nerdiness}} as an adult comes (at least in part) from his mother's strange rules.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:My dad was always the one who taught me about science, but looking back, I'm starting to realize how much my nerdiness was influenced by my mom.<br />
<br />
:[A woman and a child are talking.]<br />
:Child: Mom, can I have a snack in my room before bed?<br />
:Mom: No, Dear. You know you only get that privilege when your age is one less than a multiple of three.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1458:_Small_Moon&diff=1287181458: Small Moon2016-10-17T17:25:45Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1458<br />
| date = December 10, 2014<br />
| title = Small Moon<br />
| image = small_moon.png<br />
| titletext = GENERAL JAN DODONNA: An analysis of the plans provided by Princess Leia has reinvigorated the arguments of the 'artificial moonlet' and 'rogue planet-station' camps. I fear this question is fracturing the Rebellion.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic depicts a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVekNsgUqn4 classic scene] from {{w|Star Wars Episode IV}}, in which the heroes trail a TIE fighter to the never-before-seen Death Star: a super-weapon the size of a small moon capable of demolishing entire planets. In the original scene and the comic, Luke Skywalker misidentifies a body as a natural satellite, and Obi-Wan 'Ben' Kenobi ominously corrects him. After which Han Solo, still distracted with chasing an Imperial fighter, claims "it's too big to be a space station".<br />
<br />
The comic's version diverges at this point, as the dialogue devolves into a rather bitter argument over the semantics of size classifications, alluding to scientific discussions on whether Pluto should be classified as a planet or as a dwarf planet. The argument goes on for hours, which in the original plot would suggest one of two situations:<br />
*The Death Star apparently never caught them, and Princess Leia was never rescued (but Ben survived).<br />
*The argument was picked up after escaping the Death Star, and now Leia is joining in.<br />
<br />
The argument is confused as to whether they're talking about size or about natural vs artificial objects. In terms of size, the Death Star is much larger (70&nbsp;km radius) than dozens of {{w|List of natural satellites|full-fledged moons}} in our solar system. One of the smallest moons found so far in the solar system is {{w|S/2009 S 1}}, which is about 400&nbsp;meters in diameter and orbits Saturn. But we don't generally speak of the tiny rocks in the rings of Saturn as moons, so there is some distinction there, which may include the orbit of the object [http://www.exploratorium.edu/saturn/moon.html]. There is also the distinction between natural moons and spacecraft, which seems to be ignored in the final panel.<br />
<br />
The title text makes reference to a later scene in the film when Rebel pilots are being briefed on the planned attack on the Death Star. Those who analysed the plans for the Death Star run into the same discussion picture, and end up arguing about the classification of the Death Star, dividing those involved into the 'artificial moonlet' camp and the 'rogue planet-station' camp, thus deunifying the rebellion. If events are otherwise the same from the movie, this is also happening at threat of their destruction, and thus a crippling of the Rebellion.<br />
<br />
The timing of the comic may be related to the {{w|New Horizons}} mission to {{w|Pluto}}. The spacecraft awoke from hibernation 4 days earlier, on December 6, 2014, to start the encounter phase with Pluto.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Millennium Falcon follows a Tie Fighter towards an unidentified orb in the distance.]<br />
:Luke Skywalker: He's heading for that small moon.<br />
:Ben Kenobi: That's no moon - it's a space station.<br />
:Luke Skywalker: It's too big to be a space station.<br />
:Ben Kenobi: But it's too '''''small''''' to be a moon.<br />
:[Three hours pass]<br />
:Ben Kenobi: Fine! What if we agree it's not a moon, but we make a new category called "Dwarf Moon"?<br />
:Luke Skywalker: And what's the cutoff, asshole?! Is this '''''ship''''' a dwarf moon now?<br />
:Ben Kenobi: Screw you.<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Space]]<br />
[[Category:Star Wars]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1458:_Small_Moon&diff=1287171458: Small Moon2016-10-17T17:22:23Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1458<br />
| date = December 10, 2014<br />
| title = Small Moon<br />
| image = small_moon.png<br />
| titletext = GENERAL JAN DODONNA: An analysis of the plans provided by Princess Leia has reinvigorated the arguments of the 'artificial moonlet' and 'rogue planet-station' camps. I fear this question is fracturing the Rebellion.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic depicts a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVekNsgUqn4 classic scene] from {{w|Star Wars Episode IV}}, in which the heroes trail a TIE fighter to the never-before-seen Death Star: a super-weapon the size of a small moon capable of demolishing entire planets. In the original scene and the comic, Luke Skywalker misidentifies a body as a natural satellite, and Obi-Wan 'Ben' Kenobi ominously corrects him; Han Solo believes "it's too big to be a space station", still distracted with flying his ship through the debris of planet Alderaan. The comic's version diverges at this point, as the dialogue devolves into a rather bitter argument over the semantics of size classifications, alluding to scientific discussions on whether Pluto should be classified as a planet or as a dwarf planet.<br />
<br />
The argument goes on for hours, which in the original plot would suggest one of two situations:<br />
*The Death Star apparently never caught them, and Princess Leia was never rescued (but Ben survived).<br />
*The argument was picked up after escaping the Death Star, and now Leia is joining in.<br />
<br />
The argument is confused as to whether they're talking about size or about natural vs artificial objects. In terms of size, the Death Star is much larger (70&nbsp;km radius) than dozens of {{w|List of natural satellites|full-fledged moons}} in our solar system. One of the smallest moons found so far in the solar system is {{w|S/2009 S 1}}, which is about 400&nbsp;meters in diameter and orbits Saturn. But we don't generally speak of the tiny rocks in the rings of Saturn as moons, so there is some distinction there, which may include the orbit of the object [http://www.exploratorium.edu/saturn/moon.html]. There is also the distinction between natural moons and spacecraft, which seems to be ignored in the final panel.<br />
<br />
The title text makes reference to a later scene in the film when Rebel pilots are being briefed on the planned attack on the Death Star. Those who analysed the plans for the Death Star run into the same discussion picture, and end up arguing about the classification of the Death Star, dividing those involved into the 'artificial moonlet' camp and the 'rogue planet-station' camp, thus deunifying the rebellion. If events are otherwise the same from the movie, this is also happening at threat of their destruction, and thus a crippling of the Rebellion.<br />
<br />
The timing of the comic may be related to the {{w|New Horizons}} mission to {{w|Pluto}}. The spacecraft awoke from hibernation 4 days earlier, on December 6, 2014, to start the encounter phase with Pluto.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Millennium Falcon follows a Tie Fighter towards an unidentified orb in the distance.]<br />
:Luke Skywalker: He's heading for that small moon.<br />
:Ben Kenobi: That's no moon - it's a space station.<br />
:Luke Skywalker: It's too big to be a space station.<br />
:Ben Kenobi: But it's too '''''small''''' to be a moon.<br />
:[Three hours pass]<br />
:Ben Kenobi: Fine! What if we agree it's not a moon, but we make a new category called "Dwarf Moon"?<br />
:Luke Skywalker: And what's the cutoff, asshole?! Is this '''''ship''''' a dwarf moon now?<br />
:Ben Kenobi: Screw you.<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Space]]<br />
[[Category:Star Wars]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1714:_Volcano_Types&diff=1286061714: Volcano Types2016-10-14T03:58:21Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Joke volcanoes */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1714<br />
| date = August 1, 2016<br />
| title = Volcano Types<br />
| image = volcano_types.png<br />
| titletext = It's hard living somewhere with antlions, because every time you find one of their traps, you feel compelled to spend all day constructing a tiny model of Jabba's sail barge next to it.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic presents a table of 12 different types of volcano. Split into 3 rows, the first 4 are authentic types of volcano; while the remaining 8 are parodies, one not even trying to represent a volcano but shows a real animal in its inverted trap cone.<br />
<br />
Volcanoes have featured in many xkcd comics, [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/d/d5/1608_Entire_Volcano_plateau_zoom_out_extra.png most prominently] in the left part of the world (the Lord of the Rings section) of [[1608: Hoverboard]]. This comic's volcano looks like it could soon turn into a Somma volcano...<br />
<br />
===Real volcanoes===<br />
* {{w|Cinder cone}}: small, steep-sided volcano formed of {{w|scoria}} and ash.<br />
* {{w|Shield volcano}}: wide, rounded volcano formed of solidified lava flow.<br />
* {{w|Stratovolcano}}: large volcano formed of layers (strata) from multiple eruptions.<br />
* {{w|Somma volcano}}: new volcanic cone in the middle of an old collapsed volcanic crater.<br />
<br />
===Joke volcanoes===<br />
* Metasomma volcano: nested layers of somma volcanos i.e. a whole set of new volcanoes (three in this situation) formed inside of old ones. "Meta" is a prefix that often denotes recursion.<br />
* {{w|Waffle cone}}: type of pastry that ice cream is served in, related to volcano cones only insofar as they are the same shape, but typically the waffle cones are turned the other way up to keep the ice cream inside... If the tip of the waffle cone is not filled with solid chocolate or similar, then the contents may very well melt and run out the bottom like the smoke coming out at the very tip of the Waffle cone volcano.<br />
* Science fair cone: common elementary science experiment that is often used as a project for science fairs. A structure is built to resemble a model volcano and is filled with a mix of baking soda, vinegar, and sometimes food coloring. The reaction between baking soda and vinegar quickly produces a large amount of carbon dioxide, creating a foam that overflows and mimics a volcanic eruption. In this picture, there are people running away from the volcano that are much smaller than it. This is likely a reference to [[1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar]], either the scale-model people on the first volcano, or real people running from the baking soda supervolcano (in this case two [[Cueball]]-like guys and [[Megan]]).<br />
* Doot cone: This may likely be a reference to the meme of the [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/skull-trumpet skull-trumpet] where the trumpet playing skull [https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/39xnk2/what_is_this_doot_thing_with_the_skeletons/cs7jdsa produces the sound Doot] as a large part of the meme. Doot is also a fart sound, a doot cone could be just ejecting farts instead of lava.<br />
** There has been some discussion about if this is likely, with someone referencing the [https://www.amazon.com/Florida-DOT-Approved-Traffic-Cone/dp/B009RUTKZA DOT cones], traffic cones approved by DOT or the {{w|Department of transportation}} in the US.<br />
** Also there have been mention of ''{{w|Dot-com}}'' coming close to ''Doot cone''. The {{w|Dot-com bubble}} could be said to burst, just like this volcano bursts/erupts.<br />
* {{w|Antlion}}: a burrowing insect that digs a conical hole to catch prey at the larval stage. Maybe a reference to {{w|Formica Leo}}, a small volcanic crater in the Reunion island named after the antlion. Also, a recurring boss villain in the video game Final Fantasy series. Also appears in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Moomin_(1990)_episodes Moomin (1990) TV series], as a literal, black lion.<br />
* Inverse Volcano: as the name implies, a regular volcano but reversed. A real volcano consists of solid rock on the outside, magma on the inside and spewing lava from the top.<br />
* Ghost Vent: cone with ghosts coming out of it. It may be a reference to {{w|Scientology}}, where part of the faith states that the souls of aliens were stored in a volcano from which they later escaped, as described in the story of {{w|Xenu}}. The ghosts could also refer to the {{w|Pac-Man}} video game.<br />
* Pedant's Bane: the joke is that people sometimes confuse magma and lava, which are different names for the same heated liquid rock. Magma becomes lava when it emerges from a volcano. The Pedant's Bane volcano is therefore impossible by definition, but if it were possible, then a {{w|pedant}} would have met his [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bane#Etymology_1 bane] (i.e. his downfall), because when he corrected someone's description of this volcano, the pedant would actually be wrong. Alternatively, the illustration itself could be Pedant's Bane because a pedant would be lured into pointing out how wrong it is. This is a direct reference to the pedant in [[1405: Meteor]].<br />
<br />
The title text refers to a famous scene in ''{{w|Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi}}'' where {{w|Jabba the Hutt}} intends to feed {{w|Luke Skywalker}} to the {{w|Sarlacc|sarlacc}}, an underground creature that builds a huge funnel trap similar to that of an antlion. [[wikia:c:starwars:Khetanna|Jabba's distinctive sail barge]] features prominently in that scene, and when Randall comes upon an antlion he can't help himself starting to build a scale model next to the antlions inverted cone. Given how small antlions are, this will be very difficult to do, see for instance [[878: Model Rail]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Twelve drawings in four rows of different "volcano" types, the first four real, and some not even volcanoes of any sort, real or fake. Below each panel is a caption with the name of the drawn volcano. Some of the volcanoes have labels or sound written inside the panel. Each of the volcanoes has a baseline for the ground going straight a short distance over the bottom of each panel. All 11 volcanoes lie on top of this line, but some show the inside of the volcano going further into the ground.]<br />
<br />
:[Standard cone shaped volcano, with straight sides sloping up to a triangular shape, but with the tip of the cone cut off to form the central jagged edged crater. White smoke rises straight up and then drifts to the left forming three separate clouds.]<br />
:Cinder Cone<br />
<br />
:[Flat rounded shaped volcano, as a part of a circle. There is not a real crater visible but from the center a thin plume of smoke rises up, drift drifts to the left and forms a small white cloud.]<br />
:Shield Volcano<br />
<br />
:[This is the largest volcano. The tip of this volcano is similar to the first volcano, but with more uneven slopes and a bit smaller. The tip is clearly separated from the bottom section by a thin jagged line, and below the sides of the volcano decreases their slope, so they are less steep than the tip. Black smoke rises straight up from the crater and then drifts to the left in four thin lines.]<br />
:Stratovolcano<br />
<br />
:[A wide volcano spans the entire panel, with a large central crater, with a bottom baseline far above the ground level. Just left of the middle of this crater is a standard smaller volcano cone, very similar to the shape of the tip in the previous panel. Even the smoke from this cones small crater is similar to the previous panels.]<br />
:Somma Volcano<br />
<br />
:[The central part of this volcano is the same shape as the previous panel. This could be a zoom out, revealing that the large crater, is at the center on an even larger crater, which again is at the center of a crater that spans the panel. A plume of black smoke rises from the centeral cones crater, and drifts left as five white clouds.]<br />
:Metasomma Volcano<br />
<br />
:[A perfect cone-shape, triangular and steep, with checkered ice cone waffle texture, even with a line indicating where the waffle has been a folded. It looks like a road up the volcano. Black smoke drift up from the sharp tip, no crater, and drifts left forming a small cloud separated from the rest of the smoke lines.]<br />
:Waffle Cone<br />
<br />
:[Standard cone as in the first, but zoomed in so it fills the panel from left to right. The volcano's top has been cut much further down leaving a wide crater from which lava is pouring down the sides in large rivers of different width and length. To the left one long river has almost reached the ground. Cueball is running down the left side, and Megan is running after another Cueball with his arms up on the right side. There is a label with an arrow pointing to the lava:]<br />
:Label: Baking soda and vinegar<br />
:Science Fair Cone<br />
<br />
:[Standard cone like the previous, but with more jagged sloped and crater. This volcano erupts with a large explosion with fire and smoke coming out in all directions above the crater. A large sound is written above the explosion:]<br />
:Sound. <big>'''Doooooot'''</big><br />
:Doot Cone<br />
<br />
:[This is not a volcano, but the inverse, a cone down into the ground, the ground level no above the center of the panel. The slope down into this cone hole is straight, the ground above is more jagged. At the bottom of the hole sits a small animal with six legs and an open mouth piece sticking up out of the hole. Its fat body is hidden under the ground along with its legs.]<br />
:Antlion<br />
<br />
:[Standard volcano cone like the previous volcano. It erupts and the central part shows how the erupting material comes up from below ground level (below the line at the bottom in which the cone it self stands). The erupting material is white rocks on black background. At the top several rocks is blown out of the crater top. The sides of the volcano is filled with blobs small and large, and stones rolling down the sides. There are two labels, each with two arrows. The first labels arrows points to the side of the volcano, the second labels arrows points to the erupting material inside and outside the volcano:]<br />
:First label: Lava<br />
:Second label: Solid rocks<br />
:Inverse Volcano<br />
<br />
:[Standard cone like the doot cone, with a crater that bends down in the middle. From this crater eight white ghosts with two black eyes are rising, like the smoke, drifting left. The highest ghost is just reaching the edge at the top left of the panel. The lowest ghost is still inside the crater with its wavy lower parts.]<br />
:Ghost Vent<br />
<br />
:[A standard cone like the doot cone. At the top there is lave over the outer edges, some of it running down the side. The inside of the volcano has been drawn like in the inverse volcano, so it is clear that the magma inside the volcano comes up from below ground level (below the line at the bottom in which the cone it self stands). There are two labels that contradicts the description above. The top label outside the volcano points to the lava with an arrow, and the bottom label inside the volcano points to the magma:]<br />
:Top label: Magma<br />
:Bottom label: Lava<br />
:Pedant's Bane<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Food]] <!-- Waffle cone--><br />
[[Category:Animals]] <!-- Ant lion--><br />
[[Category:Star Wars]]<br />
[[Category:Geography]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1744:_Metabolism&diff=1285981744: Metabolism2016-10-14T01:21:55Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1744<br />
| date = October 10, 2016<br />
| title = Metabolism<br />
| image = metabolism.png<br />
| titletext = I have this weird thing where if I don't drink enough water, I start feeling bad and then die of dehydration.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Eating is fundamentally a process where energy from food gets absorbed into the body in order to drive every cellular process in the body. Energy that is absorbed but not needed in the short term gets converted and stored as body fat. This is called {{w|metabolism}}. Consuming too much food and not exercising enough are major factors for {{w|obesity}}, which is a problem in many first world countries today, {{w|Obesity in the United States|especially in the United States}}.<br />
<br />
For obese people, losing weight is often an enormously difficult task. Standing in stark contrast, there are also lean people who do not seem to ever gain any weight even though they appear to eat whatever and however much they want. This leads some people (including the lean people themselves) to believe that one can have a special {{w|metabolism}} where excess food energy somehow does not affect the body. This belief is common, though not supported by scientific evidence. The comic makes fun of that kind of notion. While [[Cueball]] describes to [[White Hat]] how his metabolism is "special" (the phrase "one of those" implicitly meaning unusual), he is in fact only describing the normal case: no matter what he eats, his body converts the food to energy and stores any excess food as fat which stays in his body for future use.<br />
<br />
The title text stretches this further, telling about the normal habit of drinking water (and the consequences of not drinking it) as something odd. Starting to feel bad at first and eventually dying if refraining from drinking for too long a time are perfectly normal consequences of dehydration. This was also touched upon in [[1708: Dehydration]], in which Megan spent all day researching whether low-grade dehydration is really a thing -- ironically forgetting to eat or drink at all, to predictable results.<br />
<br />
Obesity has only fairly recently become a public health issue due to lifestyle changes brought on by technologies such as industrialization and trade. Human bodies evolved under conditions where it was hard to ever find enough to eat, so to store as much excess energy as possible as fat was a beneficial adaptation. Historically, stored fat would be consumed during hard times that was sure to come. The act of collecting food through farming or hunting/gathering also demanded physical labor which limited the amount of excess energy that would remain. In comparison, people nowadays hardly need to expend any energy to buy their food from a nearby market. They also have much more sedentary lifestyles and rarely ever go hungry. Without an active commitment to exercise more or eat less, there would almost never be a shortage of energy and no chance for body fat to be used. Randall has previously shown how bad his health becomes when he starts eating lots of fat (or sweet) food in [[418: Stove Ownership]].<br />
<br />
There are many rational explanations for why some people might not gain weight despite eating a lot. For example, it's possible that they only eat a lot during special occasions and social gatherings, where they are easily '''seen''' eating. On more private occasions when no one is watching, they could just as well eat much less or even skip entire meals. They might also lead a much more active lifestyle and thus require more energy than an average person despite their thin appearance. Other less pleasant reasons might include chronic diseases or parasite infections.<br />
<br />
This is the second comic in a row about food, the previous being [[1743: Coffee]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball, on the left, and White Hat are sitting on chairs on either side of a table, facing each other. They each have plates of food and glasses of some beverage set in front of them. Each has picked up a portion of food on a fork to eat it.]<br />
<br />
:Cueball: I have one of those metabolisms where I can eat whatever I want and my body converts it to energy and stores the excess as fat.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Food]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1182:_Rembrandt_Photo&diff=1284791182: Rembrandt Photo2016-10-11T02:16:43Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1182<br />
| date = March 6, 2013<br />
| title = Rembrandt Photo<br />
| image = rembrandt photo.png<br />
| titletext = ::click:: Come back! You didn't see the one of Whistler's mother!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Rembrandt}} was a 17th-century Dutch artist. [[Megan]] shows [[Cueball]] an alleged photo of Rembrandt's parents at the time that his mother became pregnant; his {{w|human conception|conception}}. Since photography wasn't invented until the 19th century, it can't be a real photo. Megan responds to Cueball's disbelief by stating that it is an artist's conception: an artistic imagination and depiction of an event.<br />
<br />
The joke thus is a pun on the phrase 'artist's conception' that can mean two different things: one, Rembrandt's mother becoming pregnant with him and two, the creation of the image.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to {{w|James McNeill Whistler}} who painted a portrait of his mother, known to Whistler himself as "Arrangement in Grey and Black No1" but more commonly known as "{{w|Whistler's Mother}}". As a joke on this, Megan seems to want to show a photo of Whistler's mother, which would probably be pornographic or at least different from the famous portrait. The ::click:: is Megan switching to that picture on her laptop.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan is holding a laptop. Cueball is sitting at a desk and turned around to face Megan.]<br />
:Megan: Hey, look - Rembrandt's parents having sex!<br />
:Cueball: ''Waugh!'' Why do you-<br />
:Cueball: ...Wait, how can there be a photo of that?<br />
:Megan: It's an artist's conception.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Language]]<br />
[[Category:Puns]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1743:_Coffee&diff=1284781743: Coffee2016-10-11T01:58:58Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1743<br />
| date = October 7, 2016<br />
| title = Coffee<br />
| image = coffee.png<br />
| titletext = Remind me to order another pack of coffee filters from Dyson. Man, these things are EXPENSIVE.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Very brief summary, please update}}<br />
<br />
In this comic [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] are anticipating guests. Offering {{w|coffee}} to house guests is a commonly-accepted courtesy in the United States (and most of the western world). However, they seem to be unaware of the basics of {{w|Coffee_preparation|coffee making}}. Cueball is concerned that this lack of knowledge is an indication of their mutual immaturity (thinking of himself as a "fake adult"), <br />
<br />
This strip thus follows a frequently used theme of people growing up but finding themselves unable or unwilling to accept traditional adult roles (see [[150: Grownups]], [[441: Babies]], [[616: Lease]], [[905: Homeownership]] and [[1674: Adult]]). While there are cultures where coffee is served to children, it is generally seen in the United States (and western world) as an adult beverage&mdash;like {{w|beer}} which has also served as the subject in the comic [[1534: Beer]].<br />
<br />
Megan is, however, confident that the necessary steps can be determined. The steps she follows however are quite unorthodox...<br />
<br />
She attempts to make coffee by pouring the ingredients on the ground (misinterpreting the meaning of "ground coffee"), sucking it up with a {{w|Dyson (company)|Dyson}} {{w|vacuum cleaner}} (misinterpreting the meaning of "{{w|Vacuum coffee maker|vacuum brewing}}"), then boiling the mixture by placing the vacuum cleaner's removable plastic canister over a hot stove, and pouring the resulting sludge through the vacuum-cleaner filter (instead of a standard {{w|coffee filter}}).<br />
<br />
Megan says she is a regular "Starbuck" after pouring the batch of coffee, believing the name of the cafe chain {{w|Starbucks}} to be synonymous with the actual job title "{{w|barista}}", further indicating a general lack of knowledge regarding the subject of coffee. The Starbucks coffee chain was loosely {{w|Starbucks#Founding|named after}} the fictional character {{w|List_of_Moby-Dick_characters#Mates|Starbuck}} from the book {{w|Moby Dick}}, she could be referring to this, although Starbuck had nothing to do with coffee brewing! See more [[#Trivia|trivia about Starbuck]] below.<br />
<br />
This method of making coffee would be very expensive as it would most likely destroy the vacuum-cleaner canister and filter. If the vacuum cleaner had ever been used, then it would not be very hygienic either, although if it had not been used then the floor would probably also be very unhygienic anyway. On the other hand floors are always unhygienic. Since the plastic from the canister has probably also gone into contact with the sludge after being heated over open fire, there is a high risk that this "coffee" is actually poisonous for more than one reason.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to the expense of replacing the "filter", as vacuum-cleaner filters are considerably more costly than single-use coffee filters.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and Megan are talking.]<br />
:Cueball: We should make coffee for our guests.<br />
:Megan: Crap. I know nothing about coffee.<br />
:Cueball: We're basically fake adults.<br />
:Megan: Don't panic. We can figure this out.<br />
<br />
:[Megan shakes a can of coffee grounds out on the floor as Cueball watches.]<br />
:Megan: We just pour the coffee grounds...<br />
<br />
:[Pan to only Megan who pours a pail of water over the grounds now lying in a pile on the floor.]<br />
:Megan: ...Add water...<br />
<br />
:[Cueball watches as Megan vacuums up the mixture on the floor with a bag-less vacuum cleaner, the wire going off panel right behind her.]<br />
:Vacuum cleaner: ''Vrrrr''<br />
<br />
:[Megan is holding the dirt canister from the vacuum cleaner over two lit gas burners on a stove. The canister free vacuum cleaner is standing behind her and Cueball is behind this watching her.]<br />
:Megan: Now we just hold it over the burners...<br />
:Burners: ''Hissss''<br />
<br />
:[Megan is holding the dirt canister over one shoulder while pouring the hot content into a small mug, as Cueball watches. Three wiggly lines above the liquid indicates that it is hot.]<br />
:Megan: Annnd... serve.<br />
:Cueball: Nice!<br />
:Megan: I'm a regular Starbuck!<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*In fiction, "Starbuck" is also the name of<br />
**A male character in the {{w|Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)|original Battlestar Galactica television show}}.<br />
**A female character in the {{w|Battlestar Galactica (miniseries)|reboot of Battlestar Galactica}}. <br />
*In real life, {{w|Starbuck Island}} is an island in the Pacific Ocean. <br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Food]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1744:_Metabolism&diff=1284771744: Metabolism2016-10-11T01:25:39Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1744<br />
| date = October 10, 2016<br />
| title = Metabolism<br />
| image = metabolism.png<br />
| titletext = I have this weird thing where if I don't drink enough water, I start feeling bad and then die of dehydration.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Eating is fundamentally a process where energy from food gets absorbed into the body in order to drive muscle movement, growth, and other bodily functions. Energy that is absorbed but not needed in the short term gets converted and stored as body fat. This is called {{w|metabolism}}. Consuming too much food and not exercising enough are major factors for {{w|obesity}}, which is a problem in many first world countries today, {{w|Obesity in the United States|especially in the United States}}.<br />
<br />
For obese people, losing weight is often an enormously difficult task. Standing in stark contrast, there are also lean people who do not seem to ever gain any weight even though they appear to eat whatever and however much they want. This leads some people (including the lean people themselves) to believe that one can have a special {{w|metabolism}} where excess food energy somehow does not affect the body. This belief is common, though not supported by scientific evidence. The comic makes fun of that kind of notion. While [[Cueball]] describes to [[White Hat]] how his metabolism is "special", he is in fact only describing the normal case: no matter what he eats, his body converts the food to energy and stores any excess food as fat which stays in his body for future use.<br />
<br />
The title text stretches this further, telling about the normal habit of drinking water (and the consequences of not drinking it) as something odd. Starting to feel bad at first and eventually dying if refraining from drinking for too long a time are perfectly normal consequences of dehydration.<br />
<br />
Obesity has only fairly recently become a public health issue due to lifestyle changes brought on by technologies such as industrialization and trade. Human bodies evolved under conditions where it was hard to ever find enough to eat, so to store as much excess energy as possible as fat was a beneficial adaptation. Historically, stored fat would be consumed during hard times that was sure to come. The act of collecting food through farming or hunting/gathering also demanded physical labor which limited the amount of excess energy that would remain. In comparison, people nowadays hardly need to expend any energy to buy their food from a nearby market. They also have much more sedentary lifestyles and rarely ever go hungry. Without an active commitment to exercise more or eat less, there would almost never be a shortage of energy and no chance for body fat to be used. [[Randall]] has previously shown how bad his health becomes when he starts eating lots of fat (or sweet) food in [[418: Stove Ownership]].<br />
<br />
There are many rational explanations for why some people might not gain weight despite eating a lot. For example, it's possible that they only eat a lot during special occasions and social gatherings, where they are easily '''seen''' eating. On more private occasions when no one is watching, they could just as well eat much less or even skip entire meals. They might also lead a much more active lifestyle and thus require more energy than an average person despite their thin appearance. Other less pleasant reasons might include chronic diseases or parasite infections.<br />
<br />
This is the second comic in a row about food, the previous being [[1743: Coffee]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball, on the left, and White Hat are sitting on chairs on either side of a table, facing each other. They each have plates of food and glasses of some beverage set in front of them. Each has picked up a portion of food on a fork to eat it.]<br />
<br />
:Cueball: I have one of those metabolisms where I can eat whatever I want and my body converts it to energy and stores the excess as fat.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Food]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1743:_Coffee&diff=1283661743: Coffee2016-10-07T16:52:43Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1743<br />
| date = October 7, 2016<br />
| title = Coffee<br />
| image = coffee.png<br />
| titletext = Remind me to order another pack of coffee filters from Dyson. Man, these things are EXPENSIVE.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Very brief summary, please update}}<br />
<br />
This strip follows the frequently used theme of people growing up but finding themselves unable or unwilling to accept traditional adult roles (see [[441: Babies]], [[616: Lease]], [[905: Homeownership]] and [[1674: Adult]]). In many cultures, drinking coffee is considered an adult activity; most children aren't served coffee and likely wouldn't like the taste if they were, however there are cultures where coffee is served to children, as in many Hispanic countries with "{{w|Café con leche}}" (coffee with milk) which is at least 50% milk with plenty of sugar.<br />
<br />
In this case, Cueball and Megan are anticipating guests. Offering coffee to houseguests is a commonly-accepted courtesy in the United States. However, they seem to be unaware of the basics of {{w|Coffee_preparation|coffee making}}. Cueball is concerned that this lack of knowledge is an indication of their mutual immaturity (thinking of himself as a "fake adult"), but Megan is confident that the necessary steps can be determined.<br />
<br />
They attempt to make coffee by pouring the ingredients on the ground (misinterpreting the meaning of "ground coffee"), sucking it up with a Dyson vacuum-cleaner (misinterpreting the meaning of "vacuum brewing"), then boiling the mixture by placing the vacuum-cleaner's removable (plastic) canister over a hot stove, and serving the resulting sludge without separating the grounds from the liquid.<br />
<br />
Megan says she is a regular "Starbuck" after serving the batch of coffee, believing the name of the cafe chain {{w|Starbucks}} to be synonymous with the actual job title "barrista", further indicating a general lack of knowledge regarding the subject of coffee.<br />
<br />
This method of making coffee would be very expensive as it would most likely destroy the (previously functional) vacuum cleaner. It would probably not be very hygienic either. Furthermore, the removable canisters on bagless vacuums (such as the Dyson shown) are made of plastic and would melt or ignite if placed over direct heat from a stove. Furthermore, failing to remove the grounds before serving would produce a slurry, rather than the smooth golden-brown liquid that is customary in the western world.<br />
<br />
The joke here is that Megan misunderstands the words "coffee grounds", attempts to pour coffee grounds on the "ground", tries to vacuum brew the coffee using a vacuum cleaner, and uses the wrong kind of filter (a vacuum cleaner filter instead of a coffee filter) in order to make a proper coffee. It demonstrates her total lack of knowledge of coffee making.<br />
<br />
The title-text refers to the extreme expense of replacing the "filter", as vacuum-cleaner filters are considerably more costly than single-use coffee filters. It also suggests that they genuinely believe that a key function of the Dyson is to make coffee, implying that vacuuming is another 'adult' responsibility with which Cueball and Megan are unfamiliar.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
<br />
:[Cueball and Megan are standing.]<br />
:Cueball: We should make coffee for our guests.<br />
:Megan: Crap. I know nothing about coffee.<br />
:Cueball: We're basically fake adults.<br />
:Megan: Don't panic. We can figure this out.<br />
<br />
:[Megan shaking can of coffee grounds out on floor as Cueball watches.]<br />
:Megan: We just pour the coffee grounds...<br />
<br />
:[Megan pouring pail of water over grounds on floor.]<br />
:Megan: ...Add water...<br />
<br />
:[Cueball watching Megan vacuum up mixture with bagless vaccum cleaner.]<br />
:vacuum: vrrrr<br />
<br />
:[Megan holding vacuum cleaner dirt canister over stove, Cueball watching. Vacuum cleaner in background.]<br />
:Megan: Now we just hold it over the burners...<br />
:oven: hissss<br />
<br />
:[Megan pouring contents of vacuum cleaner dirt canister into mug, while Cueball watches]<br />
:Megan: Annnd...Serve.<br />
:Cueball: Nice<br />
:Megan: I'm a regular starbuck!<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1742:_Will_It_Work&diff=1282881742: Will It Work2016-10-05T19:44:02Z<p>162.158.255.72: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1742<br />
| date = October 5, 2016<br />
| title = Will It Work<br />
| image = will_it_work.png<br />
| titletext = 'Copy and paste from a random thread on a website' is the hardest to predict, and depends on the specific website, programming language, tone of the description, and current phase of the moon.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
This comic humorously lists how likely computer code is to function on the user's computer based on the source of the code.<br />
<br />
'''App store or package manager:''' Most likely referring to the {{w|Apple Inc.|Apple's}} {{w|Mac App Store|Mac}} or {{w|App Store (iOS)|iOS}} {{w|App Store}}, {{w|Google|Google's}} {{w|Google Play}}, {{w|Microsoft|Microsoft's}} {{w|Windows Store|Windows}} or {{w|Windows Phone Store}}, or {{w|Package manager|package managers}} such as {{w|Debian|Debian's}} {{w|Advanced Packaging Tool}} (APT). Programs in the App Store are already compiled from raw code into executable files that have been tested on a Mac computer or iOS device, and so should be expected to run with no effort from the user. Similarly, a package manager for a Linux OS handles downloading and installing the program requested, as well as installing any dependencies (other programs or libraries needed by the desired program) automatically.<br />
<br />
'''GitHub Link:''' {{w|GitHub}} is a website where people can host {{w|Git}} repositories of code that they are working on. Since Git is built to track changes in code for an entire project, it is likely that all of the code needed to run the project is included in the download. One reason it may be less reliable than the previous entry is that it may not include external libraries expected to already be on the user's computer.<br />
<br />
'''SourceForge Link:''' {{w|SourceForge}} is similar in scope to GitHub : hosting source code repositories but also binary packages. But it is older and dwindling in popularity. As a results, a project hosted on SourceForge is more likely to be abandoned.<br />
<br />
'''Geocities/Tripod Link:''' {{w|Geocities}} is a now defunct free website host. The fact that the software comes from there means that nobody has paid attention to the project since Geocities shut down. Which could mean that code rot has begun to take effect, with various dependencies being less and less likely to work over time.<br />
<br />
'''Copy-and-paste example from paper's appendix:''' Some academic papers publish code or {{w|Pseudocode|psudeocode}} ([https://www.cs.drexel.edu/~david/Papers/ecal07.pdf#page=11 example of a paper with pseudocode in appendix]) in order to illustrate their concepts, strategies or algorithms. Often this code is not meant to be compiled because it is thought to illustrate ideas rather than be used in an actual working piece of software. Copying and pasting this code and trying to compile it will rarely give a satisfactory results and that is why it is this point in the comic's spectrum.<br />
<br />
'''Anything that "requires only minimal configuration and tweaking":''' The punchline of the comic is that something advertised as having been tested and working with "minimal configuration and tweaking" on the system it was developed on turns out to be a frustrating mess that will almost inevitably require huge fixes for anybody else trying to get it to function. It's also often used by technically advanced people who are not aware how difficult even minimal configuration and tweaking can be for beginners.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to websites such as {{w|Stack Overflow}} that allow users to post questions about their code and other users answer. Websites like StackOverflow usually generate [http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6827834/how-to-filter-a-dict-to-contain-only-keys-in-a-given-list?noredirect=1&lq=1 useful answers] but the quality may be lower if the conversation is disgruntled (i.e. if the asker has put in very little effort to solve the problem themselves) or if the language is less commonly used. The title text of [[1185: Ineffective Sorts]] also references executing arbitrary code until it works, in that comic the code is actually mentioned as being from StackOverflow.<br />
<br />
Saying that something "depends on the phase of the moon" usually means that there is some apparently random component to the problem, as neither the performance of a program nor the quality of answers on websites should depend on the position of the moon in its orbit. However, there was [http://www.hacker-dictionary.com/terms/phase-of-the-moon at least one case] where the phase of the moon did, in fact, cause a bug in code.<br />
<br />
The shape of the moon was the subject of [[1738: Moon Shapes]] released during the week before this comic was released. This comic is called ''Will It Work'', the previous comic was just called [[1741: Work]]<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Caption above the panel:]<br />
:Likelihood you will get code working based on how you're supposed to install it:<br />
<br />
:[A chart with a double arrow going from the top to the bottom. Both arrows are labeled. Along the arrow six labels follows from top to bottom. The first five take up different amount of space, but the space between them (bottom of one to top of the next) are the same, and resembles a typical line shift between paragraphs. The space, however, to the last label is more than three times as wide.]<br />
<br />
:[Top arrow:] <br />
:Very likely<br />
<br />
::App store <br />
::or package <br />
::manager<br />
<br><br />
::GitHub Link<br />
<br><br />
::SourceForge Link<br />
<br><br />
::Geocities/Tripod Link<br />
<br><br />
::Copy-and-paste <br />
::example from <br />
::paper's appendix<br />
<br><br />
<br><br />
<br><br />
::Anything that "requires <br />
::only minimal configuration <br />
::and tweaking"<br />
<br />
:[Bottom arrow:]<br />
:Unlikely<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Charts]] <br />
[[Category:Programming]] <br />
[[Category:Rankings]]</div>162.158.255.72https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1735:_Fashion_Police_and_Grammar_Police&diff=1275161735: Fashion Police and Grammar Police2016-09-21T18:06:54Z<p>162.158.255.72: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1735<br />
| date = September 19, 2016<br />
| title = Fashion Police and Grammar Police<br />
| image = fashion_police_and_grammar_police.png<br />
| titletext = * Mad about jorts<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
In this comic, two groups of angry protesters are presented and labeled. They are likely not actually protesting side by side, but simply drawn side by side to compare their similarities.<br />
<br />
The left group represents the '''Fashion Police''' with [[Cueball]] holding a sign saying {{w|Crocs}} not allowed (by showing a pair of Crocs shoes in a circle with a strike through it). Crocs are a type of {{w|Clog|clogs}} made of foam. There may be some ergonomic advantages to these special looking shoes, but they will {{w|Crocs#Fashion|never become fashionable}}. It is not the first time [[Randall]] mocks a special type of shoes (although here it may not so much be himself that are against Crocs, but rather he just chose something easy to recognize that the Fashion Police would hate). Previously in [[1065: Shoes]] Randall was after shoes that ''has those creepy individual toes'' like {{w|Vibram FiveFingers}}. They will also never be a hit with the Fashion Police.{{Citation needed}}<br />
<br />
The right group represents the '''Grammar Police''' with another Cueball holding a sign with three commonly confused words beneath each other: [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/their Their] (belongs to them), [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/they%27re They're] (contraction meaning "they are"), [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/there There] (a location). The words are written on the sign to explain that there is a difference between these three almost identically-sounding words as many people confuse them with each other, and then the Grammar Police ''have'' to correct them (see [[386: Duty Calls]]). See the [https://twitter.com/_grammar_ Grammar Police on Twitter] and also {{w|Grammar Police|Linguistic prescription}} which comes up on Wikipedia when searching for Grammar Police.<br />
<br />
The two groups look similar, standing in similar poses and apart from one Cueball holding signs in each group, one [[Megan]] is also in the front line of both groups. [[Hairy]] is only shown with the fashion police, together with yet another [[:Category:Multiple Cueballs|Cueball-like guy]], while [[Ponytail]] is only shown with the grammar police together with a bald man with glasses.<br />
<br />
Both types of police are groups of people who make fun of others who wear or say something that doesn't meet their criteria of "good". Fashion police are people who make fun of others who wear clothing that is mismatched, out of style/{{w|fashion}} or straight-up "ugly" to them. Grammar police are people who are "sticklers" to {{w|grammar}} rules and get mad or contradictory if someone uses non-standard grammar in a sentence. The comic explains how the two groups are similar to each other by listing eight points (plus a ninth in the title text) that can be used on both groups. See explanation in the [[#Table of individual items|table below]].<br />
<br />
In the caption below the comic Randall notes that he just realized that these are literally the same people because they both exhibit the listed traits. The use of "[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/literally literally]" to emphasize a statement is considered by the grammar police as a dread crime that should be pointed out as such, although the dictionaries already include this definition as acceptable. However it would likely be more appropriate to say figuratively the same people, see [[725: Literally]]. On the other hand, fashion police are known for overusing "literally" in the way the grammar police finds disgusting.<br />
<br />
Since it seem like a safe assumption (see [[1339: When You Assume]]) that there are more grammar pedants (see title text of [[1652: Conditionals]]) than fashion police people who read xkcd, and it also would seem likely that many xkcd readers would dislike the Fashion Police (more), it seems likely that Randall is actually mainly targeting the Grammar Police people reading xkcd than the fashion people who do not. They will not like to be compared to the Fashion Police! Ponytail also represented the grammar police in [[1576: I Could Care Less]], where Megan puts her in place after she polices her sentence; this thus shows what Randall thinks about such police work and supports the above assumption. In 1576: I Could Care Less, "literally" was also used in the title text.<br />
<br />
Randall is, with regards to language, definitely one of those that can belong in this group: ''To seem cool and casual, pretend to ignore them while understanding them very well.''<br />
<br />
The title is a ninth point on the list with the star in front representing one more bullet (see the last entry in the [[#Table of individual items|table below]]): <br />
*Mad about jorts.<br />
<br />
==Table of individual items==<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|+Explanation of individual items in the list<br />
!list item<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|Judgemental and Smug || Both types of police will look down upon those who violate their 'laws'.<br />
|-<br />
|Angry&nbsp;about&nbsp;something&nbsp;deeply&nbsp;arbitrary || Both grammar and fashion are, essentially, made-up human constructs.<br />
|-<br />
| Strong opinions backed by style guides || Grammar has ''{{w|The Elements of Style}}'', fashion has fashion magazines.<br />
|-<br />
| Appreciate that the way that you are interpreted <i>is</i> your responsibility || Your choices in both grammar and fashion affect how people see you, and it would be silly to disclaim responsibility for what is essentially your own actions.<br />
|-<br />
| Understand that there's no way to "opt out" of sending messages by how you present yourself, and attempts to do so send strong messages of their own || This means that even if you deliberately choose to not listen to the fashion gurus, then you are actually making a fashion statement anyway, as opposed to those that just don't realize they have a horrible style (and are not dressing wrongly on purpose). Both types can thus be harassed by the Fashion Police. Same goes for those who deliberately do not try to follow the grammar rules. They have thus taken a stance anyway as opposed to those who just do not know how to use grammar correctly. And both types can be harassed for it by the Grammar Police.<br />
|- <br />
|To seem cool and casual, pretend to ignore them while understanding them very well || Deliberately violating fashion or grammar rules gives off a particular 'casual' vibe, distinct from those who violate the rules out of ignorance.<br />
|-<br />
|Vindictive about things that are often uncomfortably transparent proxies for race or social class || "Proper" dress and "proper" language are often defined in terms of how high class people dress and speak. But since "high class" in much of the Western world has generally meant white, alternative ways of dress (e.g. the Afro) or alternative ways of speaking (e.g. Ebonics or Pidgin English) are treated as somehow objectively "wrong", rather than simply as alternatives. Furthermore, dressing or speaking poorly are often marks of "lower class" people who for whatever reason cannot afford fashionable clothing, or don't have access to quality education. So when we judge people for their clothing or their speech, we are often indirectly judging them for their race and class. Randall identifies this fact as "uncomfortably transparent".<br />
|-<br />
| Fun to cheer on until one of them disagrees with you|| This may have to do with the human tendency to view the morality of an activity differently when applied to oneself compared to a stranger.<br />
|-<br />
| Mad about jorts (Title text) || "{{w|Shorts#Jorts|Jorts}}" is a {{w|portmanteau}} for a pair of jeans that are made into shorts. <br />
<br />
The fashion police would be mad about jorts for being unfashionable.<br />
<br />
The grammar police would be mad about the word 'jorts' being an inappropriate portmanteau of jeans and shorts, and also for the fact that the sentence could be misinterpreted as if someone like jorts, as in being mad about something in a positive way. <br />
<br />
{{w|Sentence_clause_structure#Incomplete_sentence|Also a fragment}}, with no subject (properly it would be "I am mad about jorts"). Randall has [[:Category:Portmanteau|often used]] portmanteaus as part of his jokes.<br />
<br />
It is also possible that the Grammar police are indeed "mad about Jorts" in the positive sense, i.e Grammar Police love Jorts.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Beneath two headings to the left and right are shown two aggressive-looking groups of people with only the four people in the front clearly shown for each group. Behind them five other people can be seen, but they are not drawn with the same solid line and are only partly shown behind the first four, but legs from all five in each group can be seen along with some heads (all Cueball like) and arms etc. The front of the left group consist of Hairy holding a fist up towards left, Megan with her arms crossed in front of her chest, Cueball holding a sign, using both hands, straight up above his head and another Cueball-like guy to the right is holding up a broken branch in one hand toward right. The person behind this last person is shown to hold up his fist towards right like Hairy does to the left. The sign shows a Crocs shoe in a circle with a strike through it going above the Crocs from top left to bottom right. The front of the right group consist of Megan holding both her arms over her head hands folded into fist while looking towards left, Cueball holding a sign, using both hands, towards the right and up above Ponytails head, she is raising one hand in a fist to the left and finally a bald guy with glasses is brandishing a short sword in one hand toward right while holding his other hand palm up. The sign has three similar words written beneath each other.]<br />
:Left: Fashion Police<br />
:Right: Grammar Police<br />
:Sign:<br />
::Their<br />
::They're<br />
::There<br />
<br />
:[Below the two groups are eight points with bullets:]<br />
:*Judgemental and smug<br />
:*Angry about something deeply arbitrary<br />
:*Strong opinions backed by style guides<br />
:*Appreciate that the way that you are interpreted ''is'' your responsibility<br />
:*Understand that there's no way to "opt out" of sending messages by how you present yourself, and attempts to do so send strong messages of their own<br />
:*To seem cool and casual, pretend to ignore them while understanding them very well<br />
:*Vindictive about things that are often uncomfortably transparent proxies for race or social class<br />
:*Fun to cheer on until one of them disagrees with you<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:I just realized these are literally the same people<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Language]]<br />
[[Category:Portmanteau]]</div>162.158.255.72