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2024-03-28T15:30:13Z
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https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=913:_Core&diff=164131
913: Core
2018-10-13T00:17:39Z
<p>162.158.62.183: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 913<br />
| date = June 17, 2011<br />
| title = Core<br />
| image = core.png<br />
| titletext = If you're a geologist or geophysicist and you don't introduce yourself by saying your name, then gesturing downward and saying "... and I study that", I don't know what you're doing with your life.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic reflects on the fact that no matter where you are on {{w|Earth}}, its core is always directly under you, while incredibly hot and under huge amounts of pressure. Yet most of the time, we ignore this completely unless there is a volcanic eruption (which has nothing to do with the core, but mainly with the friction between the tectonic plates). <br />
<br />
[[Cueball]] is presumably reading a geology book with diagrams and various facts about the Earth's interior, such as the core being subdivided into an {{w|inner core}} and an {{w|outer core}}, that the inner core is a solid ball, the size of the moon, that the outer core is at a pressure of 30 million {{w|pounds per square inch}} (approximately 2 million times atmospheric pressure at sea level) and the outer core is made of molten metal in a constant turbulent motion - a bit like a pot of boiling water. But every time he gets 15 minutes in to such a book he freaks out, realizing this deadly stuff is right beneath him, and he bends over to look down to the Earth.<br />
<br />
The title text makes a note of how cool it would be to study this without getting too terrified. So if you do - then let everyone you meet know what you do for a living as soon as you introduce yourself by pointing at the ground beneath you! (Despite most geologists and geophysicists not studying the core, they do study what is beneath our feet.)<br />
<br />
Alternately, the title text may be a reference the fact that someone gesturing downward would looks like he's pointing to his genitals, which could be considered inappropriate.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A cutaway diagram of the Earth, with colored layers including a labeled outer core and inner core.]<br />
<br />
:[A closeup of the stylized outer core, labeled "Turbulent molten metals at 30 million PSI" with turbulence lines, and of the inner core, labeled "moon-sized iron sphere."]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball reading a book pulls legs up tight under office chair, peering downwards.]<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the frame:]<br />
:I freak out about fifteen minutes into reading anything about the Earth's core when I suddenly realize it's ''RIGHT UNDER ME''.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
What people of different science fields would often think about became the subject of [[2057: Internal Monologues]]. Geologist are not included, but the molten core beneath our feet would probably have been the choice if they had. That [[Randall]] was actually already thinking about adding geology was made clear in the next comic [[2058: Rock Wall]] about the core/mantle beneath our feet and 20 miles of rock (wall).<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]</div>
162.158.62.183
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:297:_Lisp_Cycles&diff=163888
Talk:297: Lisp Cycles
2018-10-09T06:50:48Z
<p>162.158.62.183: Looks like ASCII art</p>
<hr />
<div>Soon, I shall be one of those new coders. I shall be learning (Racket) Scheme, actually. [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 16:10, 16 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Georgia Tech's College of Computing did away with Lisp and Smalltalk as of 1999 or 2000. It is now C, or some version thereof, all the way down. This change has its own perils! {{unsigned ip|108.162.238.189}}<br />
<br />
I am a little saddened that this comment section doesn't have at least a few Star Wars quotes with coding/programming references mixed in. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.162|108.162.250.162]] 05:21, 17 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: Do or do not. If <nowiki>except NameError:</nowiki>, then <nowiki>var = 0</nowiki>. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 13:09, 7 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Let's go back to 1986 and learn Scheme in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Op3QLzMgSY&list=PL8FE88AA54363BC46 Lecture 1A | MIT 6.001 Structure and Interpretation, 1986]! Alex Vong [[Special:Contributions/173.245.62.65|173.245.62.65]] 03:36, 19 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
(after I read title-text) Noooo! That's impossible!!! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.59|108.162.246.59]] 21:33, 26 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The stack of parenthesis looks like the ASCII art version of a lightsaber blade. - Fox [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.183|162.158.62.183]] 06:50, 9 October 2018 (UTC)</div>
162.158.62.183
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1052:_Every_Major%27s_Terrible&diff=163803
1052: Every Major's Terrible
2018-10-08T02:23:14Z
<p>162.158.62.183: Fixed so that Panel 20's description has the proper formatting.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1052<br />
| date = May 7, 2012<br />
| title = Every Major's Terrible<br />
| before = [[#Explanation|↓ Skip to explanation ↓]]<br />
| image = every_majors_terrible.png<br />
| titletext = Someday I'll be the first to get a Ph. D in 'Undeclared'.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Randall]] has written a song called ''Every Major's Terrible'' and this comic illustrates the song. In this song the term {{w|Major (academic)|Major}} refers to the US version of an academic major. And the point of the song is that it makes no sense to pick any major since they are all terrible!<br />
<br />
The header notes that the song is written to the tune of the satirical {{w|Major-General's Song}} from {{w|Gilbert and Sullivan's}} 1879 comic opera ''{{w|The Pirates of Penzance}}''. The song satirizes the idea of the "modern" educated British Army officer of the latter 19th century. {{w|Major general}} is a military rank in Britain and many other countries. (As of August 2018, the title text has been changed to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhaEjgnmy3c a link to the said song]). The meter in the Major-General's Song is iambic octameter, which means that in each line there are eight iambs, where an iamb is two syllables in an unstressed-stressed pattern. Therefore, each line contains 16 syllables.<br />
<br />
The panels show Randall's rewritten lyrics to the song. Below each of the three verses are described in detail (go to [[#Verse 1|Verse 1]], [[#Verse 2|Verse 2]] or [[#Verse 3|Verse 3]]). Each verse ends with "Just put me down as 'Undecided' - Every Major's Terrible", which gives the song its name — and "Major's Terrible" is similar enough to "Major General", the corresponding lyrics in the original version, to serve as a callback. The last line of the first verse in each song goes as follows:<br />
*Original: I am the very model of a modern Major-General<br />
*Randall's: Just put me down as undecided- every major's terrible<br />
<br />
The lyrics are commonly rewritten, the most famous rewrite likely being {{w|The Elements (song)}} by {{w|Tom Lehrer}} which is also mentioned below the main header. This song is also [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcS3NOQnsQM available on-line]. <br />
<br />
His last suggestion, "{{w|Supercalifragilisticexpialadocious}}", from ''{{w|Mary Poppins}}'', is another fast-paced patter-song with a somewhat similar tune, though it doesn't fit quite so well, and the match falls apart at the end of the fourth line, when the "Um-diddly"s start up — still, it's better than nothing.<br />
<br />
There are at least two performances of this xkcd song online where the transcription is shown to make it easier to understand the text:<br />
*A video with each major acted out by the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seGpYa8UO0E SFU Choir - Every Major's Terrible].<br />
*A solo with piano: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRexBMPeRTo Every Major's Terrible' by Ben Miller].<br />
**See also this article [http://www.uproxx.com/gammasquad/2012/08/ben-miller-xkcd-every-majors-terrible/ Xkcd's 'Every Major's Terrible' Is Now A Real Song].<br />
<br />
Regarding the title text: "Undeclared" is sometimes called "General Studies". Most U.S. universities will not let you get a degree in this, let alone an advanced degree such as a {{w|Ph.D.}} Also, it should probably be noted that this song refers to U.S.-like university systems, in other countries, one will study little to nothing outside your major, making it more-or-less impossible to be undecided as to major.<br />
<br />
It should also be noted that the title text fits the cadence of the first line of the song, possibly teasing a fourth verse. As to what that consists of, only Randall knows.<br />
<br />
===Verse 1===<br />
;Panel 1, ''Philosophy's just math sans rigor, sense, and practicality'': [[Cueball]] is posing as {{w|Rodin}}'s {{w|The Thinker}}, a common symbol for {{w|philosophy}}. The equation in the background (two plus light bulb equals sailboat) is nonsense, hence "{{w|math}} sans rigor, sense or practicality" ([http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sans sans] meaning without).<br />
<br />
;Panel 2, ''And math's just physics unconstrained by precepts of reality.'': A cannon is firing. However, instead of going in the normal parabolic arc (a precept of reality and thus {{w|physics}}), the cannonball splits and splits again, so that it looks like a {{w|bifurcation diagram}} from {{w|chaos theory}}. The dashed line indicates the cannonball's trajectory, which bifurcates twice, although the sum of the momentums of the four resulting (1/4 sized?) cannonballs is presumably mathematically identical to the original.<br />
<br />
;Panel 3, ''A business major's just a thing you get so you can graduate'': {{w|Business education|Business}} is the most common major, often seen as a practical choice applicable to a wide variety of careers, or, as the comic illustrates, preferred by those who just want an easy way to graduate. Cueball gets his diploma and runs away from the dean on the podium while shedding both his robe and his {{w|square academic cap}} (or Mortarboard).<br />
<br />
;Panel 4, ''And chemistry's for stamp collectors high on methylacetate.'': Stamp collecting refers to the [https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernest_Rutherford famous quote] by {{w|Ernest Rutherford}}, "All science is either physics or stamp collecting." {{w|Methyl acetate}} is a solvent that for instance can be used to remove stamps from their envelope (although water will do the same). The stamps in the background form the {{W|periodic table}} of the chemical elements. And since {{w|chemistry}} is not physics, according to the quote, {{w|chemists}} must be stamp collectors (as, the high on methylacetate, [[Ponytail]] wearing goggles and holding an {{w|Erlenmeyer flask}}).<br />
<br />
;Panels 5, ''Why anyone who wants a job would study lit's a mystery''<br />
;Panels 6, ''Unless their only other choice were something like art history.'': These lines, both sung by Cueball, refer to subjects where a majority of graduates will end up unemployed or eventually working in a field outside their majors. Topics such as {{w|Literature}} or {{w|Art History}} are often and historically said to be in this category — although from [http://www.studentsreview.com/unemployment_by_major.php3?sort=Rate actual statistics], it is clear that there are far worse majors these days.<br />
<br />
;Panels 7, ''A BA in communications guarantees that you'll achieve''<br />
;Panels 8, ''A little less than if you'd learned to underwater basket-weave'': Here Cueball first has a major in {{w|Communication studies|Communications}} and next he is seen underwater with a basket. {{w|Underwater basket weaving}} is a commonly used metaphor for any college major that is easy or worthless. "Communications" is a major chosen by people interested in news broadcasting or other media. For why that might be criticized see [http://badpr.co.uk/ Bad PR]. Note that, if following the original music exactly, the line "A little less than if you'd learned to underwater basket-weave." will be repeated three times by the chorus after these panels.<br />
<br />
;Panel 9, ''I'd rather eat a Fowler's toad than major in biology,'': We see Cueball holding a frog out in front of him while taking his hand to his head (in disgust?). A {{w|Fowler's toad}} is a relatively common toad in the eastern US, and a stereotype of studying {{w|biology}} is a frog {{w|dissection}}, which is likely part of the reference, albeit oblique. Fowler's Toad emits a {{w|Bufo_fowleri#Behavior|noxious secretion}} that [http://www.nwf.org/wildlife/wildlife-library/amphibians-reptiles-and-fish/toads.aspx irritates skin] and thus probably also the mucous membranes in the mouth. It would thus be rather painful to eat, making it very bad for Cueball to major in biology since he would rather eat such a toad.<br />
<br />
;Panel 10, ''And social psych is worse than either psych ''or'' sociology.'': {{w|Social psychology}} is compared to {{w|sociology}} (study of humans in society) and {{w|psychology}} (study of human minds). Psychology is represented by a {{w|serial killer}} with a chainsaw, and sociology is represented by a {{w|zombie}}. These are to the left of [[Megan]]. To her right is a zombie serial killer with chainsaw. She is standing between them undecided as to take one, the other or both. They are all terrible options...<br />
<br />
;Panels 11, ''The thought of picking any one of these is too unbearable,''<br />
;Panels 12, ''Just put me down as "Undecided"—Every major's terrible.'': End of the first verse where Cueball tells his academic advisor that he is undecided as every major's terrible. He even throws away his {{w|study guide}}. Every verse ends with some variation of this couplet, and in the original tune, each of these couplets are repeated by the chorus afterwards.<br />
:''Unbearable'' and ''terrible'' rhyme for people who have the {{w|English-language vowel changes before historic /r/#Mary–marry–merry merger|Mary-merry merger}}.<br />
<br />
===Verse 2===<br />
;Panel 13, ''Now, if you can't prognosticate, that's OK in seismology,'':[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prognosticate Prognosticate] means "to predict". This refers to the inability of {{w|seismology}} to reliably predict catastrophic {{w|earthquake}}s, even after centuries of extensive research. The panel shows {{w|Seismic wave|seismic waves}} from a {{w|seismograph}}. The seismograph chart has four traces and about halfway across one trace begins oscillating vigorously indicating an earthquake. Five months after this comic was published several seismologists in Italy were [http://www.nature.com/news/italian-court-finds-seismologists-guilty-of-manslaughter-1.11640 convicted of crimes] that effectively stemmed from an inability to predict an earthquake. This does not go down well for the message of this panel... Their conviction was [http://www.nature.com/news/italian-seismologists-cleared-of-manslaughter-1.16313 overturned on appeal] in 2014. <br />
<br />
;Panel 14, ''But if your hindsight's weak as well, you'd best stick to theology.'': The bearded [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/theologist theologist] represents {{w|Theology}} by stating the formal logic proposition shown in the illustration: "X ∴ ∃X". This says "I can describe this thing called X, therefore X exists". This is what Anselm’s {{w|ontological argument}} for God boils down to. Briefly, it asks you to imagine the best possible deity, which, by defintion, would be God. A God which exists in both reality and theory would be greater than one who exists in merely the latter. Therefore, this proposition concludes that God exists. The fatal flaw of this argument is that it could be used to prove the existence of a perfect vacuum cleaner (e.g. a vacuum cleaner which exists in both reality and theory would be greater than one which exists in merely the latter). Just because a perfect God would exist does not mean he does. Thus it has been largely rejected. (See [[1505: Ontological Argument]].)<br />
<br />
;Panel 15, ''CS will make each day a quest to find a missing close-paren.'': "CS" is short for "{{w|Computer Science}}." Most programming languages use parentheses as part of their syntax, and often have multiply-nested parenthetical expressions. This is especially true of {{w|Lisp (programming language)|Lisp}}. It is often difficult for a programmer to determine where the unbalanced parenthesis begins or ends when the code and parentheses are not properly formatted and indented. In the panel there is one more left "(" parenthesis (13) than right ")" or ''close-paren'' (12). The problem is now, where to put this last one...<br />
<br />
;Panel 16, ''Virology will guarantee you'll never get a hug again.'': {{w|Virology}} is the study of {{w|infectious diseases}}. The green symbol above the central figure is the {{w|Hazard_symbol#Biohazard_sign|biohazard symbol}}, implying that people who study infectious diseases, and are therefore located near them at some points in time, will be shunned like the plague, because they're probably carrying it. Thus no hugs to Megan as three Cueball like guys and Ponytail leans back away from her.<br />
<br />
;Panel 17, ''I.T. prepares you for a life of fighting with PCs nonstop.'': "I.T." is short for "{{w|Information Technology}}", a degree for people who maintain computer systems. If there is a need for an I.T. position (in which I.T. professionals are employed) there are computers which need fixing — hence the I.T. Professional is always fixing (or fighting) computers, which may or may not have been [http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=19980506 "broken" by users]. In the panel Megan, wielding an axe, is in a real fight with a PC.<br />
<br />
;Panel 18, ''As Pratchett said, "Geography's just physics slowed with trees on top."'': This is a slightly amended quote from {{w|Discworld}} author {{w|Terry Pratchett}}, from his book "{{w|The Last Continent}}". The actual quote is "{{w|Geography}} is just physics slowed down, with a couple of trees stuck in it." But the meaning is the same, that physics also describes geography - a similar quote to the one about physics vs. stamp collections mentioned under panel 4.<br />
<br />
;Panel 19, ''Though physics seems to promise you a Richard Feynman-like career,'': {{w|Richard Feynman}} was a 20th-century {{w|Nobel Prize|Nobel}}-laureate {{w|physicist}} known for his great sense of humor, including being photographed for one of his books while holding a {{w|bongo drum}}. Here he is depicted with the drum and with both a blond woman and Megan looking admiringly upon him. Feynman made physics seem cool, and many a young fan might choose the subject in the hope of obtaining a Feynman-like career. This is, however, very unlikely for most people as is also shown in the next panel.<br />
<br />
;Panel 20, ''The wiki page for "Physics major" redirects to "Engineer."'': A redirect on Wikipedia is a page which immediately sends the visitor to a different page. This implies that the title of the first is either a synonym or a sub-topic of the second. {{w|Physics major}} usually learn to code, and the standard joke is that they invariably get hired as {{w|computer programmers}} after graduation, but here in this comic they get hired as {{w|engineers}}. This relates back to the previous panel, as it is here shown that most of those that major in physics end up as engineers and not like Feynman. The Wikipedia page physics major didn't actually exist when this comic was published. It was created the same day, but as a [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Physics_major&redirect=no redirect] to {{w|physics education}}. It is such a redirect page that is shown in the panel. In the subsequent days, there were dozens of instances of people changing it to redirect to engineer, usually reverted within minutes. The redirect page is now ''fully protected'' and locked for editing. As with the underwater basket-weaving line in the first verse, after the soloist sings this, the line would be repeated three times by the chorus.<br />
<br />
;Panels 21, ''They say to study history or find yourself repeating it,''<br />
;Panels 22, ''But all that it prepares you for is forty years of teaching it.'': This uses a version of a quote by {{w|George Santayana}} (although often attributed to others as well), ''Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it'' as a reason to study {{w|history}} — only to be followed by an indication that by studying history as a major, you will only be prepared to become a history teacher, and you will then spend the rest of your life teaching history. The first panel shows a flow chart that will lead you to repeat your sad past if you cannot remember it, and only move on to happier times if you can. In the next panel we see a [[Hairbun]] as a history teacher, with glasses and her gray hair tied up in a bun, standing in front of a green {{w|blackboard}} with three important years for her current history class. (If anyone spots a connection between 1935, 1969 and 1991 please state it here).<br />
<br />
;Panels 23, ''I recognize my four-year plan's at this point not repairable,''<br />
;Panels 24, ''But put me down as "Undecided"—Every major's terrible.'': End of the second verse where Cueball again talks to his academic advisor saying that he is undecided. In the last of the two panel he says almost the same as at the end of the first verse. In the first, however, he mentioned his "four-year plan" which is the list of all the courses a student plans to include in his/her degree program. If you change majors every semester, or do not decide on one until too late, this list gets really difficult to turn into any one degree. Again these lines would be repeated by the chorus afterwards.<br />
<br />
===Verse 3===<br />
;Panel 25, ''Astronomers all cringe when they hear "supermoon" or "zodiac".'': {{w|Supermoon}} is a term invented by {{w|astrologers}} in the 1970s, with no significance in {{w|astronomy}} other than being the co-occurrence of orbital {{w|perigee}} and full-moon. But it comes up often in the press, linked to supernatural behavior. That also Randall dislikes seems realistic and he also "mocked" the term soon after in [[1080: Visual Field]] and then finally confirmed what he thought about the term directly when he published [[1394: Superm*n]]. This was the first comic referencing supermoon, here is [[:Category:Supermoon|a list]] of all such comics. The {{w|zodiac}} is the circular band in the sky containing the apparent path of the sun, moon and planets. Most often when people talk about it, they're referring to {{w|astrology}} and {{w|horoscopes}} and other pseudo-scientific notions which often lead to conversations which are frustrating to astronomers, like the bearded one from the panel.<br />
<br />
;Panel 26, ''Agronomy's a no-go; I'm a huge agorophobiac.'': {{w|Agronomy}} is the science of farming, while {{w|agoraphobia}} is the fear of wide open spaces. Fields, where most farming happens, are wide open spaces. In the panel an anxious Cueball is standing near a fence on an open field with a tractor. Presumable he may be OK inside the tractor, but once he gets outside he becomes anxious.<br />
<br />
;Panel 27, ''I'm too ophiophobic to consider herpetology,'': {{w|Herpetology}} is the study of {{w|reptiles}} and {{w|amphibians}}, while {{w|ophiophobia}} is the fear of {{w|snakes}} (a reptile). The panel shows sweating Cueball holding his hands to his mouth while looking at a green snake asking for his love? It is possible that Cueball is afraid of the snake, who is harmless and just wants to be friends.<br />
<br />
;Panel 28, ''And I can't stomach any part of gastroenterology.'': As the pun suggests, {{w|gastroenterology}} is the study of the human digestive system and the image shows the human {{w|stomach}}. To [http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/cannot+stomach not be able to stomach something] means you can't stand or tolerate this thing. <br />
<br />
;Panel 29, ''While pre-med gives you twitchy-eyed obsession with your GPA,'': {{w|Pre-med}} (pre-medical) is a major chosen by students hoping to go on to {{w|medical school}} to study {{w|medicine}} and eventually become {{w|Doctor of Medicine|doctors}}. Medical school is extremely competitive and usually requires a very high undergraduate {{w|GPA}} for prospective students. Hence we see a pre-med student holding on to all his GPA results.<br />
<br />
;Panel 30, <tt>a poetry degree bespeaks bewildering naïveté.</tt>: The text is in all lower-case, a different font and strangely laid out compared to the text in all the other panels. All-lower-case and "free" layout are both associated with 20th century "{{w|Modernist}}" {{w|poetry}}, especially the works of {{w|E. E. Cummings}}. Ponytail is actually reciting this line of the song.<br />
<br />
;Panels 31, ''TV's behind the rush into forensic criminology''<br />
;Panels 32, ''(Or so claims meta-academic epidemiology).'': This refers to how {{w|forensic}}-{{w|criminology}} shows, specifically {{w|CSI: Miami}} (Crime Scene Investigation: Miami) as shown on the TV screen in both panels, that often dramatize, exaggerate or otherwise confuse the science behind forensics, give people unrealistically glamorous views of the career, thus encouraging them to join it. {{w|Epidemiology}} is the study of causes and effects of events and trends. We see a pipe smoking epidemiologist standing with Ponytail and watching CSI - presumably making wild claims on cause and effect based only on what they see on TV... This is, again, the point where the chorus joins in three times, as in the previous two verses.<br />
<br />
;Panels 33, ''By dubbing econ "dismal science" adherents exaggerate;''<br />
;Panels 34, ''The "dismal"'s fine - it's "science" where they patently prevaricate.'': "Econ" is short for "{{w|economics}}". {{w|Thomas Carlyle}} declared economics "{{w|the dismal science}}" in the {{w|Victorian era}} as a derogatory alternative name. {{w|Economists}} often claim that economics is a {{w|science}} like any other; however, as the predictive power of all economic theories are exceedingly weak compared to those of any science, this is disputed by those outside the field at times. It is of course also disputed by this song, in which Cueball "clearly" (see below) states that economics should not call it self a science - that is the ''dismal science'' is not derogatory enough for him. <br />
*The sentences uttered by Cueball in these two panels are extremely difficult English for non-native English speakers. <br />
*Here is some help in understanding the sentences:<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dub Dubbing] something means ''giving it a nickname''.<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dismal Dismal] science means ''disappointingly inadequate science''.<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/adherent Adherents] means ''supporters''.<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/patently Patently] means ''in a clear and unambiguous manner''<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prevaricate Prevaricate] means to ''evade the truth''.<br />
*Using these meanings of the words the two sentences can be re-written as:<br />
**By giving economics the nickname "disappointingly inadequate science" the supporters [of economics] exaggerate;<br />
**The "disappointingly inadequate" is fine - it's "science" where they evade the truth in a clear and unambiguous manner.<br />
<br />
;Panels 35, ''In terms of choices, I'd say only Sophie's was comparable.''<br />
;Panels 36, ''Just put me down as "Undecided"—Every major's terrible!'': End of the third verse, with yet another variant on the closing couplet. Choosing a major is compared to {{w|Sophie's Choice}}, which is any {{w|dilemma}} where choosing one cherished person or thing over the other will result in the death or destruction of the other, derived from the theme of the {{w|Sophie's Choice (novel)|novel}} of the same name, which has also been turned into a {{w|Sophie's Choice (film)|romantic drama film}}. So Cueball tells the academic advisor that choosing any of the majors over any other is as horrible as to have to choose which cherished person should die to save the other. Although in his case, it is the other way around, since he thinks all choices sucks. Again these lines would be repeated by the chorus.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Headings to the left and above the 36 panels:]<br />
:'''Every Major's Terrible'''<br />
:to the tune of Gilbert & Sullivan's<br />
:'''Modern Major-General Song'''<br />
:(Which you may know from Tom Lehrer's ''Elements''. <br />
:If not, just hum ''Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious''.)<br />
<br />
:[To make it easier to read the lyrics, the lyrics text is double indented. If someone says the line, their name stands above the line they say. If no one says the line it is just written after the description. Unless otherwise stated, the text is inside the frame of the panel above the drawing. If any other text is present it will be written after the lyrics.]<br />
<br />
:[Panel 1: Cueball sitting with his chin on fist on a gray rock. Next to him is a mathematical expression "2 + a picture of yellow glowing light bulb = picture of Cueball in sailboat on a blue sea".]<br />
::Philosophy's just math sans rigor, sense, and practicality<br />
:Expression: 2+ =<br />
:[Panel 2: A black and brown cannon standing on a green hill fires and a dashed line indicates the cannonball's trajectory. The line splits in two twice ending up at 4 cannonballs.]<br />
::And math's just physics unconstrained by precepts of reality.<br />
:[Panel 3: A student in robes and square academic cap receives a diploma from a dean on a brown podium, while Cueball, diploma in hand, runs away on the green lawn, arms in the air, shedding both robe and cap.]<br />
::A business major's just a thing you get so you can graduate<br />
:[Panel 4: Ponytail wearing goggles and holding a flask with the periodic table in the background. Three stars and circle lines around her head indicates that she is dizzy.]<br />
::And chemistry's for stamp collectors high on methylacetate.<br />
:[Panel 5: Cueball holds up hands questioningly.]<br />
:Cueball:<br />
::Why anyone who wants a job would study lit's a mystery<br />
:[Panel 6: Cueball holding his chin.]<br />
:Cueball:<br />
::Unless their only other choice were something like art history.<br />
:[Panel 7: The text is above this panels frame, which is only about two third of the other frames. In the frame is a close-up of Cueball as a graduate wearing yellow embroidered robe and yellow tasseled mortarboard.]<br />
::A BA in communications guarantees that you'll achieve<br />
:[Panel 8: The text is above this panels frame, which is only about two third of the other frames. In the frame is again the same Cueball graduate. Only now he is emerged in blue water. A wicker basket flows to the left, where air bubbles escape from Cueball. To the right are two fish.]<br />
::A little less than if you'd learned to underwater basket-weave<br />
:[Panel 9: Cueball holding a gray frog at arm's length.]<br />
:Cueball:<br />
::I'd rather eat a Fowler's toad than major in biology,<br />
:Frog: Ribbit<br />
:[Panel 10: Megan indicating to the left a scruffy individual and an individual holding a chainsaw, and to the right another scruffy individual holding a chainsaw.]<br />
::And social psych is worse than either psych or sociology.<br />
:[Panel 11: Cueball stands in front of a brown desk holding a gray course catalog. Behind the desk sits a man with glasses and hair at the back of his head. He sits on his gray office chair. There is a stack of papers on the desk.]<br />
:Cueball:<br />
::The thought of picking any one of these is too unbearable.<br />
:[Panel 12: Same picture as panel 11, only now Cueball tosses the course catalog over his shoulder.]<br />
:Cueball:<br />
::Just put me down as "Undecided"—Every major's terrible. <br />
:[Panel 13: The text is above this panels frame, which is only about two third of the other frames. In the frame is a seismograph chart with four traces; about halfway across one trace begins oscillating vigorously.]<br />
::Now, if you can't prognosticate, that's OK in seismology,<br />
:[Panel 14: A bearded man with white hair states a formula with his left arm lifted.]<br />
::But if your hindsight's weak as well, you'd best stick to theology.<br />
:Bearded man: X ∴ ∃X<br />
:[Panel 15: Two lines with gray parenthesis.]<br />
::CS will make each day a quest to find a missing close-paren.<br />
:Code: <code>(((()((((()(</code><br />
:Code: <code>))))())())())</code><br />
:[Panel 16: Megan with a green biohazard symbol floating above her head stands alone; to the left and right three Cueball-like guys and Ponytail shun her.]<br />
::Virology will guarantee you'll never get a hug again.<br />
:[Panel 17: Megan running at a PC on a brown table with a brown and black axe raised over her head.]<br />
::I.T. prepares you for a life of fighting with PCs nonstop.<br />
:[Panel 18: The frame is a little smaller than the other frames. Above the frame is the first part of the text. In the frame is an image of a bearded man with glasses who says the rest of the text. ]<br />
::As Pratchett said, <br />
:Pratchett:<br />
::"Geography's just physics slowed with trees on top."<br />
:[Panel 19: A man with black hair plays on brown bongo drums while a blond woman and Megan look in at him from left and right.]<br />
::Though physics seems to promise you a Richard Feynman-like career,<br />
:[Panel 20: The text is above this panels frame, which is only about two third of the other frames. In the frame is screenshot of a wiki redirect page. Below the title is the normal text for such a page. This is unreadable though, although it is possible to imagine it is possible to read the first line which would say: ''From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia''. But not the other line which would be ''Redirect page''. Below this line is an arrow down to the page the redirect points to. This is written in blue letters.]<br />
::The wiki page for "Physics major" redirects to "Engineer."<br />
:Wiki page: <br />
::Physics major<br />
::<font color="blue"> Engineer</font><br />
:[Panel 21: Flowchart: a gray box with a sad face chains to a decision diamond reading simply "?"; the "yes" branch leads to a yellow happy-face box while the "no" branch loops back to the initial sad face.]<br />
::They say to study history or find yourself repeating it,<br />
:Flow chart:<br />
::? <br />
::No <br />
::Yes<br />
:[Panel 22: The text is above this panels frame, which is only about two third of the other frames. In the frame is Hairbun as a teacher with boxy spectacles and a bun in front of a green chalkboard with three years in white.]<br />
::But all that it prepares you for is forty years of teaching it.<br />
:Chalkboard: <br />
::1935 <br />
::1969<br />
::1991<br />
:[Panel 23: Cueball at his adviser's desk again as in panel 12, but now without any catalog and holding his arms down.]<br />
:Cueball:<br />
::I recognize my four-year plan's at this point not repairable,<br />
:[Panel 24: Same as panel 23 except Cueball has raised a first and the adviser has his hand to his mouth.]<br />
:Cueball:<br />
::But put me down as "Undecided"—Every major's terrible.<br />
:[Panel 25: Image of a bald man with beard and glasses. He raised both hands one as a fist the other pointing up. There are lines out from his head to the left and lightning lines out from his head to the right.]<br />
::Astronomers all cringe when they hear "supermoon" or "zodiac".<br />
:[Panel 26: Silhouette of Cueball, agitated, in an open field near a fence and a tractor.]<br />
::Agronomy's a no-go; I'm a huge agorophobiac.<br />
:[Panel 27: Cueball looking aghast at a green snake on the ground, both hands at his mouth and sweat jumping from his head. The snake also thinks about Cueball but in red and black.]<br />
::I'm too ophiophobic to consider herpetology,<br />
:Snake: <font color="red"> ♥</font>?<br />
:[Panel 28: Anatomical image of a stomach in pink and red.]<br />
::And I can't stomach any part of gastroenterology.<br />
:[Panel 29: A man with wild hair, glasses askew, clutching folders and papers (green, blue and white), and dropping several.]<br />
:Man:<br />
::While pre-med gives you twitchy-eyed obsession with your GPA,<br />
:[Panel 30: Ponytail reciting poetry; her poem is this panel's line, in a lighter, lower-case font.]<br />
:Ponytail:<br />
::<tt>a poetry degree bespeaks bewildering naïveté.</tt><br />
:[Panel 31: The text is above this panels frame, which is only about two third of the other frames. The frame is a TV screen with the ''CSI: Miami'' logo, CSI in yellow.]<br />
::TV's behind the rush into forensic criminology<br />
:TV screen: <br />
::'''<font color="yellow"> CSI:</font> '''<br />
::'''Miami'''<br />
:[Panel 32: A balding man wearing glasses and holding a smoking pipe together with Ponytail holding a notebook watch a wall-mounted flat-screen TV on which the ''CSI: Miami'' logo from the previous panel is showing.]<br />
::(Or so claims meta-academic epidemiology).<br />
:TV screen: <br />
::<font color="yellow"> CSI:</font> <br />
::Miami<br />
:[Panel 33: Cueball is talking with his left arm raised, palm up.]<br />
:Cueball:<br />
::By dubbing econ "dismal science" adherents exaggerate;<br />
:[Panel 34: Close-up on Cueball with left arm up.]<br />
:Cueball:<br />
::The "dismal"'s fine—it's "science" where they patently prevaricate.<br />
:[Panel 35: As panel 23 with Cueball at his adviser's desk once more though with both hands held out in front of him.]<br />
:Cueball:<br />
::In terms of choices, I'd say only Sophie's was comparable.<br />
:[Panel 36: Same as panel 35 except that Cueball makes a final dramatic flair spreading both arms out.]<br />
:Cueball:<br />
::Just put me down as "Undecided"—Every major's terrible!<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Songs]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Supermoon]]<br />
[[Category:Astronomy]]<br />
[[Category:Biology]]<br />
[[Category:Chemistry]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Geography]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]<br />
[[Category:Philosophy]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]<br />
[[Category:Psychology]]<br />
[[Category:Science ]]<br />
[[Category:Flowcharts]]<br />
[[Category:Puns]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]</div>
162.158.62.183
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2022:_Sports_Champions&diff=160927
2022: Sports Champions
2018-08-08T00:31:39Z
<p>162.158.62.183: Jebediah is not an uncommon name, and space travel is not a sport (yet). It is unlikely that this is a KSP reference.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2022<br />
| date = July 20, 2018<br />
| title = Sports Champions<br />
| image = sports_champions.png<br />
| titletext = For a long time, people thought maybe Usain Bolt was the one for running, until the 2090s and the incredible dominance of Derek Legs.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
In an example of {{w|nominative determinism}}, the comic lists people whose surname relates to their participation in various sports. It is presented as though it was created in the far future, reflecting on champions over the decades through to the 2080s. The first three are real sportspeople, the remainder are imaginary players of the future. The names progress from real, to fictional-but-plausible, to rare or highly unusual, to utterly implausible and impractical names.<br />
<br />
The caricatures are participating in their sport, except for Jebediah who is standing at a {{w|lectern}}.<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!style="width:20%"|Name<br />
!style="width:10%"|Years<br />
!style="width:15%"|Sport<br />
!style="width:55%"|Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|Margaret Court<br />
|1960s<br />
|Tennis<br />
|{{w|Margaret Court}} is an Australian tennis player, former world number 1, who won many competitions in the 1960s and 70s. A {{w|tennis court|tennis '''court'''}} is the playing arena used in that sport.<br />
|-<br />
|Gary Player<br />
|1970s<br />
|Golf<br />
|{{w|Gary Player}} is a South African golfer who won nine major championships between 1959 and 1978. Competitors are often known as '''player'''s, such as in {{w|The Players Championship}}.<br />
|-<br />
|Lonzo Ball<br />
|2020s<br />
|Basketball<br />
|{{w|Lonzo Ball}} is an American professional basketball player, currently with the Los Angeles Lakers. The 2020s decade predicts future success, as he began playing professionally in 2017. Basketball is, of course, a {{w|ball game|'''ball''' game}}.<br />
|-<br />
|Jake Halfpipe<br />
|2030s<br />
|Skateboarding<br />
|A '''{{w|half-pipe|halfpipe}}''' is a structure used in extreme sports such as skateboarding and snowboarding.<br />
|-<br />
|Sarah Goggles<br />
|2030s<br />
|Swimming<br />
|'''{{w|Goggles}}''' are protective eyewear used in many sports, such as swimming or skiing.<br />
|-<br />
|Kevin Slurve<br />
|2050s<br />
|Baseball<br />
|A '''{{w|slurve}}''' is a baseball throwing technique, a portmanteau of '''sl'''ider and c'''urve'''.<br />
|-<br />
|Julia Chairlift<br />
|2050s<br />
|Skiing<br />
|A '''{{w|chairlift}}''' is an aerial machine often used to transport winter sports participants up mountains.<br />
|-<br />
|Dwight Shuttlecock<br />
|2060s<br />
|Badminton<br />
|A '''{{w|shuttlecock}}''' is a projectile used in the sport of badminton.<br />
|-<br />
|Brandon Sponsorship<br />
|2060s<br />
|Unclear<br />
|Sporting professionals are often {{w|Sponsor (commercial)|sponsored}} by corporations. Brandon is holding a pair of shoes, which are probably a branded '''sponsorship''' item.<br />
|-<br />
|Kate Dopingscandal<br />
|2070s<br />
|Cycling<br />
|There have been many '''{{w|List of doping cases in cycling|doping scandal}}s''' in the world of cycling. Doping refers to the "use of physiological substances or abnormal methods to obtain an artificial increase in performance." <br />
|-<br />
|Jebediah Disasterous Postgame-PressConference<br />
|2080s<br />
|Unspecified<br />
|At the end of sporting events - <i>i.e.</i> post-game - there is often a {{w|News conference|press conference}} where the competitors discuss the result. Sometimes, these live interviews are a disaster. Randall has chosen to spell his name as "Disasterous", rather than the more conventional "Disastrous".<br />
|-<br />
|Usain Bolt (in title text, not depicted)<br />
|(2010s)<br />
|rowspan="2"|Sprinting<br />
|rowspan="2"|From the title text, {{w|Usain Bolt}} is a retired world record {{w|100 metres|sprinter}}. He was a solid contender for this list since he can '''bolt''' down the track. However the fictional Derek '''Legs''' is selected, either as an even faster sprinter, or because “legs” more clearly and unambiguously relates to running than “bolt” does.<br />
|-<br />
|Derek Legs (title text, not depicted)<br />
|2090s<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Two rows of people wielding sports equipment are shown, six in the upper row, five in the lower, only the last has no equipment but is standing behind a lectern with a microphone attached to it. Below each person, their name is given and the decade in which they were champions of their sport is given below their name, in brackets. Here is a list of the 11 people:]<br />
<br />
:[Woman with dark hair holding a tennis racket]<br />
:Margaret Court<br />
:(1960s)<br />
<br />
:[Cueball with a golf club]<br />
:Gary Player<br />
:(1970s)<br />
<br />
:[Cueball with a basketball]<br />
:Lonzo Ball<br />
:(2020s)<br />
<br />
:[Hairy on a skateboard]<br />
:Jake Halfpipe<br />
:(2030s)<br />
<br />
:[Woman with dark hair wearing a swim cap and goggles]<br />
:Sarah Goggles<br />
:(2030s)<br />
<br />
:[A man with a baseball cap throwing a baseball to the right]<br />
:Kevin Slurve<br />
:(2050s)<br />
<br />
:[A woman with long black hair in a knit cap and wearing ski googles is standing on skis holding ski poles]<br />
:Julia Chairlift<br />
:(2050s)<br />
<br />
:[Hairy holding a badminton racket bouncing a shuttlecock on it]<br />
:Dwight Shuttlecock<br />
:(2060s)<br />
<br />
:[Hairy holding a pair of shoes in his hand]<br />
:Brandon Sponsorship<br />
:(2060s)<br />
<br />
:[Hairbun standing next to a bicycle.]<br />
:Kate Dopingscandal<br />
:(2070s)<br />
<br />
:[Hairy standing behind a lectern with a microphone on it.]<br />
:Jebediah Disasterous Postgame PressConference<br />
:(2080s)<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:Fun fact: Every sport eventually produces a champion competitor named after a common element of the game.<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Sport]]<br />
[[Category:Baseball]]<br />
[[Category:Basketball]]</div>
162.158.62.183
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=526:_Converting_to_Metric&diff=160590
526: Converting to Metric
2018-07-28T13:29:22Z
<p>162.158.62.183: /* Speed */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 526<br />
| date = January 5, 2009 <br />
| title = Converting to Metric<br />
| image = converting to metric.png<br />
| titletext = According to River, "adequate" vacuuming systems drain the human body at about half a liter per second.<br />
}}<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Most people will eventually develop an intuitive feel for how big certain measurements are (e.g., how long an inch or a foot is, how much a pound weighs). This comic points out that people who were brought up using the {{w|United States customary units|United States system of customary units}} probably don't have the same intuitive understanding for metric units and attempts to provide some benchmarks for these people. Most of the benchmarks are common sense, highly-useful ones (e.g., if it's 30 degrees Celsius, you'd be quite comfortable outside dressed for the beach) but some of the benchmarks are humorous and/or completely useless as can be seen below.<br />
<br />
Some people argue for switching to metric units in the US, and these people became part of the comic [[1982: Evangelism]].<br />
<br />
In the book [[Thing Explainer]] a similar chart for metrics is shown in the explanation for ''How to count things'', with four of the five measures from this comic also explained in simple language. Only volume is left out there. Only thing used in both explanations is the weight of a cat, but in the book it weighs 5 kg rather than 4 kg in this comic.<br />
<br />
===Temperature===<br />
*60&nbsp;°C - {{w|Extremes on Earth|Earth's hottest}}: The hottest temperature recorded on earth is actually {{W|List_of_weather_records#Heat|"only" 56.7&nbsp;°C}}. There have been reports of temperatures ten-twenty degrees higher (70−80&nbsp;°C) but these measurements are not verified or accepted as world records.<br />
*45&nbsp;°C, 40&nbsp;°C, 35&nbsp;°C: Various heat waves. {{w|Dubai}} is a city in the United Arab Emirates, and is smack-dab in the middle of an equatorial desert, so their heat waves can get ''hot!''. The southern United States will typically be a few degrees hotter than the northern United States simply because it's closer to the equator, but as mentioned they're both above "Beach Weather".<br />
*30&nbsp;°C: A little too hot so perfect for a trip to the beach.<br />
*25&nbsp;°C: Would as mentioned be too warm for room temperature... <br />
*20&nbsp;°C: Defined as room temperature in many experimental settings. For some this would feel a little cool.<br />
*10&nbsp;°C: Definitely wear a jacket. Especially if there is just a little breeze.<br />
*0&nbsp;°C: The freezing point of water.<br />
*−5&nbsp;°C, −10&nbsp;°C: In Moscow −10&nbsp;°C is not really that cold - it can go "spit goes clink" cold in {{W|Moscow#Climate|Moscow}}, whereas −5&nbsp;°C in {{W|Boston#Climate|Boston}} may be very cold.<br />
*−20&nbsp;°C - FuckFuckFuckCold, −30&nbsp;°C - Fuuuuuuuuuuck!: This is implied to be basically what some people would say when they step outside at this temperature. In reality, it would be best to keep ones's mouth firmly closed. At −30&nbsp;°C, without taking wind chill into account, exposed skin will feel painful in under a minute and frostbite could begin in as little as ten minutes [http://www.ec.gc.ca/meteo-weather/default.asp?lang=En&n=5FBF816A-1]. The differing statements seem to imply that at −20&nbsp;°C, the user would be saying "fuck" repeatedly, whereas at −30&nbsp;°C, the user is incapable of closing their mouth after starting the first "fuck", and so extends it into one long one.<br />
*−40&nbsp;°C - Spit goes "clink": As shown in the drawing your spit would freeze ''before'' it hits the ground. This is the agreement point of the two temperature scales i.e. −40&nbsp;°C = −40&nbsp;°F.<br />
<br />
See also [[1643: Degrees]] about not being able to choose between the two temperature scales and [[1923: Felsius]] about a compromise between the two scales. In the comic [[1982: Evangelism]], some people are stated to argue for the US to convert to the metric system, except for the Fahrenheit scale which they wish to keep.<br />
<br />
===Length===<br />
*1&nbsp;cm - Width of microSD card, 3&nbsp;cm - Length of SD card: Refers to the {{w|MicroSD card|memory cards}} used in cell phones, digital cameras, etc.<br />
*12&nbsp;cm: CD-ROM is a common object so nice to know it is a dozen centimeters.<br />
*14&nbsp;cm: Most males would probably exaggerate the size of their penis, but 14–15&nbsp;cm is very average.<br />
*15&nbsp;cm: A Bic pen.<br />
*80&nbsp;cm: A typical doorway width is also of standard size. This is barely over the minimum size typically required by codes for buildings (30 inches or 76.2&nbsp;cm in the US), but more than 50% over the size required for aircraft emergency exits. (It may seem illogical that larger doors are required in buildings than in airplanes, given airplanes are arguably more dangerous. However, there is no real disadvantage to using larger doors in buildings, which are not significantly pressurized, but using larger doors in aircraft would increase the force on the door caused by cabin pressure proportionally.)<br />
*1&nbsp;m - {{w|Lightsaber|Lightsaber blade}}: Refers to the weapon used in the ''{{w|Star Wars}}'' movie franchise. Canonically, the length of a lightsaber's blade varies greatly depending on the setting of the weapon, but "one meter" is by no means a bad approximation.<br />
*170&nbsp;cm - {{w|Summer Glau}}: Refers to the height of the actress who portrays the character River Tam on the TV show {{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}.<br />
*200&nbsp;cm - {{w|Darth Vader}}: Refers to the height of the main antagonist from ''Star Wars''.<br />
*2.5&nbsp;m: A ceiling - of course very much depending on which type of building you are in!<br />
*5&nbsp;m: A car length - also very much depending on the car...<br />
*16&nbsp;m 4&nbsp;cm - Human tower of Serenity crew: Again, this refers to the Firefly TV show, which takes place mostly on a space ship called Serenity. <br />
**Presumably, if all the crew of Serenity were stacked on top of each other, this would be their combined height. <br />
**The comic depicts four characters from the show standing on top of each other; the bottom figure is the crew's captain, {{w|Malcolm Reynolds}} in his signature coat. Judging from the other drawing of Summer Glau from the volume section, she is standing on top of the captain. <br />
**The other five members of the crew should also be stacked on top of these four to reach the 16.04&nbsp;m height - giving them an average height of 1.78&nbsp;m (8&nbsp;cm more than Summer Glau's height!)<br />
<br />
===Speed===<br />
:Here both the SI unit m/s as well as the more commonly used unit kph (km/h) is given. Note that the SI prefers "km/h" over the non-standard abbreviation "kph".<br />
*5 kph - 1.5&nbsp;m/s: Walking at a normal pace.<br />
*13−25 kph - 3.5−7&nbsp;m/s: Jogging to sprinting.<br />
*35 kph - 10&nbsp;m/s - Fastest human: As of 2009, the fastest a human has been recorded to run in a single sprint is actually 12.4&nbsp;m/s or 44.7&nbsp;km/h, a record set by {{w|Usain Bolt}}.<br />
*45−55 kph - 13−15&nbsp;m/s: Both cats and rabbits go much faster than normal people.<br />
*75 kph - 20&nbsp;m/s - Raptor: It's a comic written by [[Randall]]; of course a reference to the {{w|velociraptors}} from ''{{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}}'' was going to be here.<br />
*100 kph - 25&nbsp;m/s: A slow highway. (25&nbsp;m/s actually exactly equals 90&nbsp;km/h.)<br />
*110 kph - 30&nbsp;m/s - Interstate (65&nbsp;mph): Refers to the {{w|Interstate|American highway system}}. (65&nbsp;mph would actually be only 104.6&nbsp;km/h.)<br />
*120 kph - 35&nbsp;m/s - Speed you actually go when it says "65": People routinely break the aforementioned speed limit, and the police typically don't mind as long as it's not posing any danger.<br />
*140 kph - 40&nbsp;m/s - Raptor on hoverboard: The {{w|hoverboard}} and its speed (~88&nbsp;mph) is probably a reference to the ''{{w|Back to the Future Part II}}'', though hoverboards are a fairly common trope in older science fiction stories. Randall obviously did a lot of google searching on this subject the week before - see [[522: Google Trends]].<br />
<br />
===Volume===<br />
*3&nbsp;mL: The amount of blood in a fieldmouse. A similar amount is used in comic [[434: xkcd Goes to the Airport]].<br />
*5&nbsp;mL: A teaspoon - a very common measure.<br />
*30&nbsp;mL - Nasal passages, 40&nbsp;mL - Shot glass: The comic points out that you could just about fill a shot glass using the mucus from your nose. Since shot glasses are usually used for mixed drinks, the comic jokes that this mucus could constitute a new, disgusting drink - and this is depicted in the drawing.<br />
*350&nbsp;mL: Soda can (this is roughly correct for the cans used in the U.S., which hold 12 fluid ounces or 355&nbsp;mL; in Europe, soda cans commonly hold 330&nbsp;mL or 500&nbsp;mL).<br />
*500&nbsp;mL: Water bottle (this is also the volume of a European water bottle).<br />
*3&nbsp;L - Two-liter bottle: Refers to a bottle which contains 2&nbsp;L (in the US usually soda). There is debate as to the reason for the discrepancy in volume. It may be a reference to stereotypical Americans consuming a lot of high-calorie foods and drinks. The simpler explanation would be that it is a joke. The two-liter bottle is named using its volume. Labeling it with a volume of three liters is the joke.<br />
*5&nbsp;L: An adult male has about 5&nbsp;L of blood in his body (An ''adequate'' vacuuming system could drain this blood out in 10&nbsp;s - as per the title text!)<br />
*30&nbsp;L - Milk crate: Refers to a {{w|Milk crate|type of small box}} originally used to transport milk but now often in demand to be used as bicycle basket, storage spaces, etc.<br />
*55&nbsp;L - Summer Glau: Again, this refers to the actress from Firefly.<br />
*65&nbsp;L - {{w|Dennis Kucinich}}: An American politician belonging to the {{w|Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic party}}, noted for his relatively strong (for the US) leftist views.<br />
*75&nbsp;L - {{w|Ron Paul}}: An American politician belonging to the rival {{w|Republican Party (United States)|Republican party}}, noted for his strong rightist views. <br />
*200&nbsp;L: Volume of a refrigerator. <br />
**As shown in the drawing of this part of the comic, the three persons mentioned above - Glau, Kucinich and Paul (summing up to 195&nbsp;L) - could in principle all fit inside a standard refrigerator. Cueball thus attempts to push them all inside of one - though human bodies are not likely to be sufficiently malleable for this to succeed.<br />
<br />
===Mass===<br />
*3&nbsp;g - {{w|M&M's|Peanut M&M}}: A small chocolate candy with a peanut inside.<br />
*100&nbsp;g - Cell phone: The weight of a cell phone very much depends on the age, type etc.<br />
*500&nbsp;g: A bottle of water contains 500&nbsp;mL according to the volume section and thus has a mass of 500&nbsp;g.<br />
*1−3&nbsp;kg: Different types of laptops. The newest and the best is the lightest...<br />
*5&nbsp;kg - {{w|LCD monitor}}: A modern flat-screen-style monitor.<br />
*15&nbsp;kg - {{w|CRT monitor}}: An older-style, cathode ray tube-based monitor.<br />
**This ends the section on computer screens, which overrode the normal sequence by weight as the next two feline inspired entries are lighter than the two before. This was presumably done so that the reader's eye will be confused or amused at seeing (in the comic's caseless captioning font) CRT immediately followed by CAT in the vertical text column.<br />
*4&nbsp;kg - Cat, 4.1&nbsp;kg - Cat (with caption): Refers to the internet's love of putting {{w|Lolcat|captions on cats}}. Usually, this is done in a graphics program, but here the cat is actually physically carrying around his caption. The "with caption" part is most likely a reference to [[262: IN UR REALITY]], where [[Black Hat]] glues captions to cats, after running out of staples.<br />
*60&nbsp;kg - Lady: For instance if she is Summer Glau - could be her again depicted in the comic - the average weight of an adult woman.<br />
*70&nbsp;kg - Dude: Here depicted as Cueball who is the average guy, and 70&nbsp;kg is average weight for an adult man.<br />
*150&nbsp;kg - Shaq: {{w|Shaq|Shaquille O'Neal}}, a famously tall basketball player.<br />
*200&nbsp;kg - Your mom,<br />
*220&nbsp;kg - Your mom (incl. cheap jewelry), <br />
*223&nbsp;kg - Your mom (also incl. makeup)<br />
**The last three refer to a common type of {{w|Your mom}} joking insult whereby someone insults someone else's mother in a creative way. Here, the comic slyly calls your mom fat, then implies she wears way too much jewelry and finally also 3&nbsp;kg of makeup. This is a common theme in [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Your_Mom xkcd]. (20&nbsp;kg of "cheap" jewelry has several times the volume than 20&nbsp;kg of gold jewelry, because of the difference in density.)<br />
<br />
===Title text===<br />
The title text refers once again to Summer Glau's Firefly character, {{w|River Tam}}, who (after being subjected to a long series of medical experiments) is severely mentally ill and often comes out with macabre — though scientifically accurate — pronouncements. In Firefly episode "Safe" (season&nbsp;1, episode&nbsp;7), she says: "The human body can be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds given adequate vacuuming systems."<br />
<br />
===Conversion table===<br />
The idea of the comic is to establish new metric reference points and ''not'' to resort to unit conversions. Nevertheless, the following table lists all units from the comic with their US customary equivalents:<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
! colspan="2" | Temp.<br />
! colspan="2" | Length<br />
! colspan="3" | Speed<br />
! colspan="2" | Volume<br />
! colspan="2" | Mass<br />
|-<br />
|60 °C||140 °F||1 cm||0.4 in||km/h||mph||m/s||3 mL||0.10 fl oz||3 g||0.11 oz<br />
|-<br />
|45 °C||113 °F||3 cm||1.2 in||5||3||1.5||5 mL||0.17 fl oz||100 g||3.5 oz<br />
|-<br />
|40 °C||104 F||12 cm||4.7 in||13||8||3.5||30 mL||1.0 fl oz||500 g||1.1 lb<br />
|-<br />
|35 °C||95 °F||14 cm||5.5 in||25||16||7||40 mL||1.4 fl oz||1 kg||2.2 lb<br />
|-<br />
|30 °C||86 °F||15 cm||5.9 in||35||22||10||350 mL||12 fl oz||2 kg||4.4 lb<br />
|-<br />
|25 °C||77 °F||80 cm||31 in||45||28||13||500 mL||17 fl oz||3 kg||6.6 lb<br />
|-<br />
|20 °C||68 °F||1 m||3 ft 3 in||55||34||15||3 L||0.8 gal||5 kg||11 lb<br />
|-<br />
|10 °C||50 °F||170 cm||5 ft 7 in||75||47||20||5 L||1.3 gal||15 kg||33 lb<br />
|-<br />
| 0 °C||32 °F||200 cm||6 ft 7 in||100||62||25||30 L||7.9 gal||4 kg||8.8 lb<br />
|-<br />
| -5 °C||23 °F||2.5 m||8 ft 2 in||110||68||30||55 L||15 gal||4.1 kg||9.0 lb<br />
|-<br />
| -10 °C||14 °F||5 m||16 ft||120||75||35||65 L||17 gal||60 kg||130 lb<br />
|-<br />
| -20 °C||-4 °F||16.04 m||52 ft 7 in||140||87||40||75 L||20 gal||70 kg||150 lb<br />
|-<br />
| -30 °C||-22 °F|| || || || || ||200 L||53 gal||150 kg||330 lb<br />
|-<br />
| -40 °C||-40 °F|| || || || || || || ||200 kg||440 lb<br />
|-<br />
| || || || || || || || || ||220 kg||485 lb<br />
|-<br />
| || || || || || || || || ||223 kg||492 lb<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:'''Guide to Converting to Metric'''<br />
<br />
<br />
:[There are five frames with tables for different units. Between the two upper frames is the following text:]<br />
:The key to converting to metric is establishing <br />
:new reference points. When you hear "26°C", <br />
:instead of thinking "That's 79°F" you should think,<br />
:"that's warmer than a house but cool for swimming." <br />
:Here are some helpful tables of reference points:<br />
<br />
<br />
:[The frame to the left of the above text:]<br />
:Temperature:<br />
:{| class="wikitable"<br />
|60°C||Earth's hottest<br />
|-<br />
|45°C||Dubai heat wave<br />
|-<br />
|40°C||Southern US heat wave<br />
|-<br />
|35°C||Northern US heat wave<br />
|-<br />
|30°C||Beach weather<br />
|-<br />
|25°C||Warm room<br />
|-<br />
|20°C||Room temperature<br />
|-<br />
|10°C||Jacket weather<br />
|-<br />
|0°C||Snow!<br />
|-<br />
| -5°C||Cold day (Boston)<br />
|-<br />
| -10°C||Cold day (Moscow)<br />
|-<br />
| -20°C||Fuckfuckfuckcold<br />
|-<br />
| -30°C||Fuuuuuuuuuuck!<br />
|-<br />
| -40°C||Spit goes "clink"<br />
|}<br />
:[Next to the last three entries we see Cueball spitting on the ground. The spit bounces.]<br />
:Cueball: Ptoo<br />
:Spit: Clink!<br />
<br />
<br />
:[The frame to the right of the above text:]<br />
:Length<br />
:{| class="wikitable"<br />
|1 cm||Width of microSD card<br />
|-<br />
|3 cm||Length of SD card<br />
|-<br />
|12 cm||CD diameter<br />
|-<br />
|14 cm||Penis<br />
|-<br />
|15 cm||BIC pen<br />
|-<br />
|80 cm||Doorway width<br />
|-<br />
|1 m||Lightsaber blade<br />
|-<br />
|170 cm||Summer Glau<br />
|-<br />
|200 cm||Darth Vader<br />
|-<br />
|2.5 m||Ceiling<br />
|-<br />
|5 m||Car-length<br />
|-<br />
|16 m 4 cm||Human tower of Serenity crew<br />
|}<br />
:[To the right of the table is a human tower of four of the people from the Serenity crew. The head of the upper person is right below the first entry.]<br />
<br />
<br />
:[The frame below to the left:]<br />
:Speed<br />
:{| class="wikitable"<br />
|kph|| m/s||<br />
|-<br />
|5||1.5||Walking<br />
|-<br />
|13||3.5||Jogging<br />
|-<br />
|25||7||Sprinting<br />
|-<br />
|35||10||Fastest human<br />
|-<br />
|45||13||Housecat<br />
|-<br />
|55||15||Rabbit<br />
|-<br />
|75||20||Raptor<br />
|-<br />
|100||25||Slow highway<br />
|-<br />
|110||30||Interstate (65 mph)<br />
|-<br />
|120||35||Speed you actually go when it says “65”<br />
|-<br />
|140||40||Raptor on hoverboard<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
:[The frame below in the middle:]<br />
:Volume<br />
:{| class="wikitable"<br />
|3 mL||Blood in a fieldmouse<br />
|-<br />
|5 mL||Teaspoon<br />
|-<br />
|30 mL||Nasal passages<br />
|-<br />
|40 mL||Shot glass<br />
|-<br />
|350 mL||Soda can<br />
|-<br />
|500 mL||Water bottle<br />
|-<br />
|3 L||Two-liter bottle<br />
|-<br />
|5 L||Blood in a human male<br />
|-<br />
|30 L||Milk crate<br />
|-<br />
|55 L||Summer Glau<br />
|-<br />
|65 L||Dennis Kucinich<br />
|-<br />
|75 L||Ron Paul<br />
|-<br />
|200 L||Fridge<br />
|}<br />
:[Next to the entry on nasal passages and shoot glass (starting one entry higher and finishing one entry lower) are the following text:]<br />
:So, when it's blocked<br />
:the mucus in your<br />
:nose could about <br />
:fill a shot glass.<br />
:[Below this text is a drawing of a mucus filled shot glass.] <br />
:Related: I've<br />
:invented the <br />
:worst mixed <br />
:drink ever.<br />
:[Below this next to the four last entries we see Cueball shoving Summer Glau, Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul into an open fridge. Above the fridge in a loosely drawn ellipse are the following text:]<br />
:55+65+75<200<br />
<br />
<br />
:[The frame below to the right:]<br />
:Mass<br />
:{| class="wikitable"<br />
|3 g||Peanut M&M<br />
|-<br />
|100 g||Cell phone<br />
|-<br />
|500 g||Bottled water<br />
|-<br />
|1 kg||Ultraportable laptop<br />
|-<br />
|2 kg||Light-medium laptop<br />
|-<br />
|3 kg||Heavy laptop<br />
|-<br />
|5 kg||LCD monitor<br />
|-<br />
|15 kg||CRT monitor<br />
|-<br />
|4 kg||Cat <br />
|-<br />
|4.1 kg||Cat (with caption)<br />
|-<br />
|60 kg||Lady<br />
|-<br />
|70 kg||Dude<br />
|-<br />
|150 kg||Shaq<br />
|-<br />
|200 kg||Your mom<br />
|-<br />
|220 kg||Your mom (incl. cheap jewelry)<br />
|-<br />
|223 kg||Your mom (also incl. makeup)<br />
|}<br />
:[Next to the entries of cat and cat (with caption) are two drawings of cats. The second one has a caption across its chest.]<br />
:Cat (with caption): Mrowl?<br />
:[Below this and next to the lady and dude entries (and the Shaq entry) are drawings of Megan and Cueball.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Velociraptors]]<br />
[[Category:Your Mom]]<br />
[[Category:Firefly]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Summer Glau]]</div>
162.158.62.183
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2024:_Light_Hacks&diff=160466
Talk:2024: Light Hacks
2018-07-25T15:21:15Z
<p>162.158.62.183: </p>
<hr />
<div>We all know what we thinking, right :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECLvFLkvY7Y<br />
<br />
Dyson spheres are the future but we’ll never see one in our lifetime, right? Maybe we can build small ones around candles and things as practice. Great art display for your local makerspace! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.100|162.158.63.100]] 11:03, 25 July 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Here’s a real light hack: https://hackaday.com/2016/02/29/fake-window-brings-natural-light-into-basement/ [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.183|162.158.62.183]] 15:21, 25 July 2018 (UTC)</div>
162.158.62.183
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=5:_Blown_apart&diff=159490
5: Blown apart
2018-06-30T19:13:18Z
<p>162.158.62.183: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 5<br />
| date = October 25, 2005<!-- Per http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http:////www.xkcd.com//blownapart_color.jpg - at least that was the first crawl date --><!--DO NOT ADD 2006-01-01 - this was NOT the actual post date of the comic, but merely the default date in the xkcd database. These comics do not have a known post date--><br />
| title = Blown apart<br />
| image = blownapart_color.jpg<br />
| titletext = Blown into prime factors<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic is a mathematical and technical joke involving prime numbers and primary colors.<br />
<br />
In the comic, an {{w|anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic}} black-colored number ''70'' sees a package, but it turns out to be a [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_bomb letter bomb] that explodes when opened. The result is pieces of the number scattered about. The specific pieces are a red-colored ''7'', a green-colored ''5'', and a blue-colored ''2''.<br />
<br />
The title text explains the logic for splitting 70 into 7, 5, and 2. It is a {{w|prime factorization}} of the number. {{w|Prime number|Prime numbers}} are numbers that cannot be divided by any number other than itself and 1. Factors of a number are numbers that can be multiplied together to produce that number (i.e. 2&times;5&times;7 = 70). 70 has other factors, including 1, 10, 14, 35, and 70, but 2, 5, and 7 are the only factors that are prime. All other factors of 70 can be formed by choosing zero, two, or three of the prime factors and multiplying them together.<br />
<br />
An implication of this comic is that prime numbers would be immune to explosions, as they are already their smallest parts.<br />
<br />
Although not explicitly called out, the colors of the numbers also seem to have been blown apart. Red, green, and blue are the primary colors in the {{w|additive color}} model. These colors mixed in pairs produce cyan, magenta, and yellow, which are primary colors in the {{w|subtractive color}} model. The removal of all additive primary colors, or conversely, the combination of all subtractive primary colors, produces black, which is the color of the original 70 (according to the [http://xkcd.com/5/info.0.json official transcript], although it looks dark blue in the drawing). The comic is somewhat misleading in that red, green, and blue do not compose black in either color model, but the difference between the two models is not widely understood (most still view the additive primaries as red, yellow, and blue).<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A black number 70 sees a red package and a line indicate that the number speaks. This small panel is partly overlaid on the next larger panel, which is shifted down.]<br />
:'''''70'''''<br />
:70: hey, a package!<br />
<br />
:[The package explodes in a cloud of brown smoke. This panel is both behind the first in the top left corner, and below the last panel, which has been laid on top of that corner:]<br />
:'''''BOOM'''''<br />
<br />
:[There are a red 7, a green 5, and a blue 2 lying near a scorched mark on the floor.]<br />
:'''''<font color="red">7</font>'''''<br />
::'''''<font color="green">5</font>'''''<br />
:'''''<font color="blue">2</font>'''''<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.<br />
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with the 41 comics]] posted before that on LiveJournal.<br />
**On the site, it is the first comic with an actual punchline (all previous comics are either just sketches or establishing the background for later comics)<br />
**But this comic, as well as [[12: Poisson]] also released that day, were never posted on [[LiveJournal]]. <br />
*The release date is given from [http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http:////www.xkcd.com//blownapart_color.jpg - wayback.archive]. At least the 25th of October was the first crawl date. <br />
**This also explains why it was "released" on a Tuesday. <br />
**On xkcd, it was released for the first time to the public on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.<br />
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:First day on xkcd]]<br />
[[Category:Checkered paper]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]</div>
162.158.62.183
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3:_Island_(sketch)&diff=159489
3: Island (sketch)
2018-06-30T19:04:11Z
<p>162.158.62.183: hello social fourth wall</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3<br />
| date = September 30, 2005<br />
| title = Island (sketch)<br />
| image = island_color.jpg<br />
| titletext = Hello, island<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The early comics sometimes do not present a particular point, but are just pictures drawn by [[Randall]].<br />
<br />
The title text words "Hello, island" could be a reference to the popular programming print statement {{w|Hello world program|"Hello, world"}}. Usually, the first thing you learn in programming is to make a program that prints out this text.<br />
<br />
"Hello, <inanimate object>" is also a phrase used among socially disconnected people (such as nerds) in an attempt to be "cute", feigning stupidity, perhaps because it is one of the few strategies that has worked for them to garner a positive social response on occasion. The statement expresses acknowledgement of the existence of something else, while subtly anthropomorphizing it. It can be used to fill the social role of commenting on a presented item, when one lacks the creativity in that domain to come up with a comment that holds meaning. It's something nerdy people say, perhaps subconsciously to bond over how their social experience differs from what is commonly portrayed as the norm.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A color sketch of an island.]<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*This was the 3rd comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]]. <br />
**The previous was [[4: Landscape (sketch)]]. <br />
**The next was [[2: Petit Trees (sketch)]].<br />
**This is the only comic that has the same number both on xkcd and on LiveJournal.<br />
*Original title: "Island"<br />
*Original [[Randall]] quote: "I draw these a lot."<br />
*This was one of the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|thirteen first comics]] posted to LiveJournal within 12 minutes on Friday September 30, 2005.<br />
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.<br />
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with all 41 comics]] posted before that on LiveJournal as well as a few others.<br />
**The latter explaining why the numbers of these 41 LiveJournal comics ranges from 1-44.<br />
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].<br />
*You can kinda see a women as the island. Kinda.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 03]]<br />
[[Category:First day on LiveJournal| 03]]<br />
[[Category:First day on xkcd]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Checkered paper]]</div>
162.158.62.183
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=4:_Landscape_(sketch)&diff=159487
4: Landscape (sketch)
2018-06-30T17:36:31Z
<p>162.158.62.183: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 4<br />
| date = September 30, 2005<br />
| title = 4: Landscape (sketch)<br />
| image = landscape_cropped_(1).jpg<br />
| titletext = There's a river flowing through the ocean<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The early comics sometimes do not present a particular point, but are just pictures drawn by [[Randall]].<br />
<br />
There is a joke in the title text that a river, made of water, is flowing through the ocean, which is also made of water.<br />
<br />
It is also worth noting that the sketch, when flipped vertically, maintains the appearance of having the sea on the bottom and sky on top, although the setting sun is on the wrong part of the horizon.<br />
<br />
Similar to [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_(M._C._Escher) works of M. C. Escher], this picture takes visual components of a typical scene and combines then in ways that appear to work well on a small scale, but would never combine that way in real life and do not make sense in the larger context of the image. The clouds are casting shadows on the sky.<br />
<br />
[[File:Flipped sketch.jpg|thumb|Flipped sketch]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A sketch of a landscape with sun on the horizon. There is text from the checkered paper at the top:]<br />
:From Page No.__<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*This was the 2nd comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].<br />
**The previous was [[7: Girl sleeping (Sketch -- 11th grade Spanish class)]]. <br />
**The next was [[3: Island (sketch)]].<br />
*Original title: "Landscape"<br />
*Original [[Randall]] quote: "Don't ask me why there's a river running through the ocean. Please."<br />
*This was one of the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|thirteen first comics]] posted to LiveJournal within 12 minutes on Friday September 30, 2005.<br />
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.<br />
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with all 41 comics]] posted before that on LiveJournal as well as a few others.<br />
**The latter explaining why the numbers of these 41 LiveJournal comics ranges from 1-44.<br />
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 02]]<br />
[[Category:First day on LiveJournal| 02]]<br />
[[Category:First day on xkcd]]<br />
[[Category:Checkered paper]]</div>
162.158.62.183
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=4:_Landscape_(sketch)&diff=159486
4: Landscape (sketch)
2018-06-30T17:36:03Z
<p>162.158.62.183: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 4<br />
| date = September 30, 2005<br />
| title = 4: Landscape (sketch)<br />
| image = landscape_cropped_(1).jpg<br />
| titletext = There's a river flowing through the ocean<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The early comics sometimes do not present a particular point, but are just pictures drawn by [[Randall]].<br />
<br />
There is a joke in the title text that a river, made of water, is flowing through the ocean, which is also made of water.<br />
<br />
It is also worth noting that the sketch, when flipped vertically, maintains the appearance of having the sea on the bottom and sky on top, although the setting sun is on the wrong part of the horizon.<br />
<br />
Similar to [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_(M._C._Escher) works of M. C. Escher), this picture takes visual components of a typical scene and combines then in ways that appear to work well on a small scale, but would never combine that way in real life and do not make sense in the larger context of the image. The clouds are casting shadows on the sky.<br />
<br />
[[File:Flipped sketch.jpg|thumb|Flipped sketch]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A sketch of a landscape with sun on the horizon. There is text from the checkered paper at the top:]<br />
:From Page No.__<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*This was the 2nd comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].<br />
**The previous was [[7: Girl sleeping (Sketch -- 11th grade Spanish class)]]. <br />
**The next was [[3: Island (sketch)]].<br />
*Original title: "Landscape"<br />
*Original [[Randall]] quote: "Don't ask me why there's a river running through the ocean. Please."<br />
*This was one of the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|thirteen first comics]] posted to LiveJournal within 12 minutes on Friday September 30, 2005.<br />
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.<br />
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with all 41 comics]] posted before that on LiveJournal as well as a few others.<br />
**The latter explaining why the numbers of these 41 LiveJournal comics ranges from 1-44.<br />
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 02]]<br />
[[Category:First day on LiveJournal| 02]]<br />
[[Category:First day on xkcd]]<br />
[[Category:Checkered paper]]</div>
162.158.62.183
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2000:_xkcd_Phone_2000&diff=157990
2000: xkcd Phone 2000
2018-05-30T18:34:12Z
<p>162.158.62.183: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2000<br />
| date = May 30, 2018<br />
| title = xkcd Phone 2000<br />
| image = xkcd_phone_2000.png<br />
| titletext = Our retina display features hundreds of pixels per inch in the central fovea region.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by an XKCD PHONE 2000 USER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This is the seventh entry in the [[:Category:xkcd Phones|xkcd Phone series]] after [[1889: xkcd Phone 6]].<br />
<br />
List of features (clockwise from top-center):<br />
<br />
*'''Dockless:''' It was common practice for older standard cellphones (i.e. non-smartphones) to use a docking station for charging. "Dockless" could be a catchy marketing term for wireless charging.<br />
*'''Silent:''' Implying perhaps that the phone is unable to produce sound entirely. Labelled at the location where a headphone socket would traditionally be, although some recent phones have discarded the traditional headphone jack in place of wireless headphones.<br />
*'''Quad Camera Takes Four Copies of Every Picture:''' Recent phones have added up to three rear-facing cameras, offering different fields of view, monochrome cameras for low light, and a wider base for emulating depth of field effects. At the time of writing no phone on the market has four rear-facing cameras. However, YouTube personality nigahiga created a parody of the iPhone (iFhone 8) that has four cameras structured similarly, e.g. taking a picture of a letter K gives 4K. An alternative interpretation is that the cameras take four ''identical'' pictures simultaneously, which would use up storage space at 4 times the rate of a standard camera while providing no advantage.<br />
*'''Front-Facing Camera Obscura:''' A [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_obscura camera obscura] is a dark room or box with a small hole allowing light to enter. The size of the hole causes light travelling in straight lines to project a dim inverted image on the back of the room or box; the concept is the predecessor to a modern camera, which uses a lens to allow more light to enter. A camera obscura is not strictly speaking a camera as in an image capture device (although there are pin-hole cameras which use the same mechanism). Actual phones have front-facing conventional cameras, allowing selfies, video calling, etc. Ant<br />
*'''3D Facial Contour Analysis Shows You a Realistic Preview of Your Death Mask:''' Recent computational photography effects implemented on mobile phones support facial analysis, allowing for artificial relighting or the creation of avatars. A death mask would be a new take on this.<br />
*'''Sponsored Pixels:''' Presumably this means that parts of the screen (pixels) can be bought in a sponsoring deal. If enough pixels are sold, your screen would be rendered unusable. It is common for advertisers to buy part of the screen real-estate on a service web site (in fact, [[Wikipedia:The Million Dollar Homepage|The Million Dollar Homepage]] hosted nothing but a 1000x1000 pixel grid of advetisements), and "images" the size of individual pixels can be used to track site access without being intrusive to the user. For the XKCD Phone 2000, it appears that advertisers have access to part of the screen (worryingly, right in the middle). Slightly less intrusive approaches have been used in bookstores selling customised versions of the Kindle, for example, and it is common for cell phone networks to insist on network-specific software to be installed on a phone. <br />
*'''Front and Rear Pop-Out Grips:''' There are accessories that stick to the rear of a phone and can be "popped out", offering a grip, a stand, or somewhere to store headphone cables. Integrating such a feature into the phone design is novel, although some phones have incorporated kick stands. Pop-out grips are normally placed on the back of the phone to make it easier to hold with one hand. Having a second grip to the front of the phone does nothing except block part of the screen. There could be a small screen on the top of the grip since the grip is shown to contain "Sponsored Pixels".<br />
*'''Humidity-Controlled Crisper:''' A crisper is a drawer in a refrigerator meant to control the humidity to keep vegetables from drying out and getting limp. <br />
*'''Antikythera Mechanism:''' The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism Antikythera Mechanism] is an ancient Greek clockwork device for predicting astronomical positions. It is one of the earliest known analogue computers.<br />
*'''New York Times Partnership: All Photos Taken with Camera App are Captioned in Real Time by Reporter Maggie Haberman:''' Modern phones can use machine learning techniques (usually in the cloud) to identify and tag camera content - this makes it possible to search, for example, for photos containing a particular person or subject without requiring user input. Cellphone photos are often used in contributions to social media with some form of user-provided caption. This phone appears to combine the two, using {{w|Maggie Haberman}} to provide automatic captions for photos taken by the phone's owner (although whether this is explicitly for social media use or internal to the phone is unclear).<br />
*'''Spit Valve:''' A spit valve is used for emptying saliva out of wind instruments, particularly large brass instruments. It is to be hoped that less saliva accumulates in a smart phone than a tuba. (best not to think about it){{Citation needed}}<br />
*'''Standard USB Connector:''' a USB 3.0 A port is displayed. Unfortunately, a "standard" USB connector, according to the USB standard, would be a USB B port as a phone typically acts as the "slave" device, rather than the "host" as a USB A port would imply.<br />
*'''Coin Purse-Style Squeeze Access:''' presumably, the casing is flexible in this region, and when squeezed at the sides (a bad idea, considering the next design item) reveals the USB A port and spit valve.<br />
*'''Hollow-Ground:''' a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grind#Typical_grinds hollow grind] is a type of knife (or similar sharp tool) edge noted for sharpness and general fragility, often seen in razors and certainly not what you'd want on the edge of a phone.<br />
*'''Absorbent:''' Many modern phones are designed to be waterproof, to avoid accidents and allow use in the rain. It's also common to have some form of oleophobic coating on the screen to reduce smearing as fingers are used on the touchscreen. This phone seems to have the reverse feature, and be explicitly designed to absorb things (presumably liquids--perhaps that's why it needs a spit valve).<br />
*'''Keyboard Supports Dynamic Typing:''' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_system#Dynamic_type_checking_and_runtime_type_information dynamic typing] is a computer programming concept, and has nothing to do with typing on a keyboard.<br />
*'''Backflow Preventer:''' A [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backflow_prevention_device backflow prevention device] is a mechanism that avoids the possibility of liquid (usually water) travelling in the opposite direction from the normal intent if the expected pressure is inverted. Since there is not normally any liquid flowing through a phone (unless in this case relating to the spit valve), this would not normally be a useful feature. However, some smart phones do contain pressure measuring devices such as barometers (which can also be used in some cases to detect the phone being squeezed), so maybe this phone is intended to be resilient to such conditions.<br />
*'''Swiss Army Partnership: Folding Knife (Unlocks Only if Switzerland is Invaded):''' A [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Army_knife Swiss Army knife] is a folding knife, traditionally with many secondary "blades" for multiple uses such as can openers and files. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland Swizerland] is known for remaining neutral (and not being invaded) in both of the World Wars of the 20th century despite war raging across surrounding countries, suggesting that it is unlikely that the knife would ever been unlocked. While such a feature on a phone (or phone case) may be useful, it is likely to be a safety concern, and a phone does not provide the ideal grip for a knife blade - especially if force is to be applied to it.<br />
*'''100% BPA-Free PCB Construction:''' {{w|Bisphenol A}} (BPA) is a chemical used in plastics such as waterbottles. Recent studies show that BPA can leech estrogen-like compounds into liquids, so BPA-free waterbottles have become popular. {{w|Polychlorinated biphenyl}} (PCB) is a category of persistent organic pollutants which are not used very much any more; it would be far worse than BPA for anyone concerned with the issue.<br />
*'''AMOLCD Display (7-Segment):''' [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMOLED AMOLED] is a display technology often used in cell phones, providing thin and emissive displays. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid-crystal_display LCD] is another display technology used in phones, and works by blocking light from a separate backlight. A [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven-segment_display 7-segment display] is a device made of seven independently-controlled segments (usually either LCD or LED) which can be used to display a single digit; as such the technology is common in traditional digital watches. In contrast most phone displays are made of a uniform high-resolution pixel grid that allows arbitrary content to be displayed, although some very old (pre-smart) cellphones and land lines did use this technology in displaying a phone number. The technology cannot represent the entire alphabet without modification, so it is inappropriate for text messages, let alone graphics.<br />
*'''Runs on Battery for the First 6 Hours, then Uses Gasoline:''' A nod to the increased popularity of gas-electric hybrid vehicles. This would be a fantastic breakthrough for fuel cells. There have been many attempts to create a highly portable fuel cell that can be used to power phones. Although having to use gasoline instead of a USB cord would likely cause more problems for the average consumer a fuel cell does have some notable advantages over a standard lithium-ion battery. When comparing a fuel cell to a battery of equal size the fuel cell will be capable of powering an object for far longer than the battery. This includes lithium-ion batteries which are commonly used for powering phones and are typically the majority of it's mass. This would mean one could shrink the size of the battery substantially yet still be able to provide the same amount of power. The smaller battery can be kept as is in order to reduce the weight of the phone or can free up space for more features to be installed into the phone. This might simply be the first XKCD phone that mentions that it does this. Providing a possible explanation to how the manufacturer of the phone is capable of fitting so many unusual features into the phone to begin with. Another advantage of a fuel cell powered phone is that it is independent from a working power grid (useful for disaster situations where thousands of people would no longer be capable of staying in contact with others or people who are stranded and alone) and there is no need for a bulky generator to convert the gasoline into electricity first. This is not the first time Randall has talked about this before, with much of the information here coming from what-if #128: Zippo Phone [https://what-if.xkcd.com/128/].<br />
*'''Sharpie® Dual Stylus (Dry-Erase + Permenant)''' "Permenant" is curiously spelled incorrectly, perhaps comically highlighting that the permanent portion of the dual stylus would be unable to correct any typos that a dry-erase marker would allow.<br />
*'''Mouse Cursor:''' A feature of Blackberry smartphones which has gone out of favor due to the popularity of touch screens. However, Android phones, at least, still support bluetooth HID access, and on some devices it is possible to pair the phone with a mouse (and keyboard) and access the screen through a mouse pointer. This can be particularly useful if the phone is exporting its display to a large external screen - and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_DeX some manufacturers] have provided tethering systems based around pairing a phone with a mouse. A mouse pointer is relatively useless when a touch screen is in use, since the user's finger usually covers the pointer.<br />
<br />
The tagline for the phone says that the marketing team hopes that 2000 still sounds like a futuristic number. It was common for a time to have futuristic science-fiction take place on or around the year 2000 (e.g. 2001: A Space Odyssey), and many devices marketed in the late 20th century had a "2000" as part of their product name in order to sound futuristic. However, since the year 2000 was 18 years ago at the time of this comic's publication, this is no longer the case.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to {{w|Retina Display}}, a term used to describe Apple products with higher pixel densities. The XKCD Phone marketing team would be unable to use the term due to Apple's having registered it as a trademark. Additionally, the {{w|Fovea centralis|Central fovea region}} is a portion of your eye's retina (confusing the biological retina with the electronics display of the same name). [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foveated_rendering Foveated rendering] is a genuine computer graphics technique intended to increase performance by rendering with higher quality to the regions of the display where the user is looking, and lower quality at the edges of vision; it is expected to be useful for virtual reality (one of the uses for cell phones) as a way to deal with the required high pixel densities while managing power consumption. There are displays with variable density, in specialist uses, but such a feature is not practical in a phone because the whole area of the display is typically useful and needs to provide high resolution (as the user's eye moves across it).<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:Dockless<br />
:Silent<br />
:Quad camera takes four copies of every picture<br />
:Front-facing camera obscura<br />
:3d facial contour analysis shows you a realistic preview of your death mask<br />
:Sponsored pixels<br />
:Front and rear pop-out grips<br />
:Humidity-controlled crisper<br />
:Antikythera mechanism<br />
:New Tork Times partnership: all photos taken with camera app are captioned in real time by reporter Maggie Haberman<br />
:Spit valve<br />
:Standard usb connector<br />
:Coin purse-style squeeze access<br />
:Hollow-ground<br />
:Absorbent<br />
:Keyboard supports dynamic typing<br />
:Backflow preventer<br />
:Swiss army partnership: folding knife (unlocks only if Switzerland is invaded)<br />
:100% BPA-free PCB construction<br />
:AMOLCD display (7-segment)<br />
:Runs on battery for the first 6 hours, then uses gasoline<br />
:Sharpie® dual stylus (dry-erase + permenant)<br />
:Mouse cursor<br />
<br />
:Introducing<br />
:<big>The xkcd Phone 2000</big><br />
:We're still hoping this sounds like a futuristic number®®™®©™<sup>®</sup><br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:xkcd Phones]]</div>
162.158.62.183
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2000:_xkcd_Phone_2000&diff=157946
2000: xkcd Phone 2000
2018-05-30T16:55:29Z
<p>162.158.62.183: Added link to the wikipedia page for the Antikythera Mechanism</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2000<br />
| date = May 30, 2018<br />
| title = xkcd Phone 2000<br />
| image = xkcd_phone_2000.png<br />
| titletext = Our retina display features hundreds of pixels per inch in the central fovea region.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by an XKCD PHONE 2000 USER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
*'''Dockless:'''<br />
*'''Silent: Implying perhaps that the phone is unable to produce sound entirely.'''<br />
*'''Quad Camera Takes Four Copies of Every Picture:'''<br />
*'''Front-Facing Camera Obscura:'''<br />
*'''3D Facial Contour Analysis Shows You a Realistic Preview of Your Death Mask:'''<br />
*'''Sponsored Pixels:'''<br />
*'''Front and Rear Pop-Out Grips:'''<br />
*'''Humidity-Controlled Crisper:''' A crisper is a drawer in a refrigerator meant to control the humidity to keep vegetables from drying out and getting limp. <br />
*'''Antikythera Mechanism:''' The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism Antikythera Mechanism] is an ancient Greek clockwork device for predicting astronomical positions. It is one of the earliest known analogue computers.<br />
*'''New York Times Partnership: All Photos Taken with Camera App are Captioned in Real Time by Reporter Maggie Haberman:'''<br />
*'''Spit Valve:''' A spit valve is used for emptying saliva out of wind instruments, particularly large brass instruments. It is to be hoped that less saliva accumulates in a smart phone (best not to think about it!)<br />
*'''Standard USB Connector:''' a USB 3.0 A port is displayed. Unfortunately, a "standard" USB connector, according to the USB standard, would be a USB B port as a phone typically acts as the "slave" device, rather than the "host" as a USB A port would imply.<br />
*'''Coin Purse-Style Squeeze Access:'''<br />
*'''Hollow-Ground:'''<br />
*'''Absorbent:'''<br />
*'''Keyboard Supports Dynamic Typing:'''<br />
*'''Backflow Preventer:'''<br />
*'''Swiss Army Partnership: Folding Knife (Unlocks Only if Switzerland is Invaded):'''<br />
*'''100% BPA-Free PCB Construction:'''<br />
*'''AMOLCD Display (7-Segment):'''<br />
*'''Runs on Battery for the First 6 Hours, then Uses Gasoline:'''<br />
*'''Sharpie® Dual Stylus (Dry-Erase + Permenant)''' "Permenant" is curiously spelled incorrectly, perhaps comically highlighting that the permanent portion of the dual stylus would be unable to correct any typos that a dry-erase marker would allow.<br />
®<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>
162.158.62.183
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1955:_Robots&diff=152416
Talk:1955: Robots
2018-02-14T06:22:44Z
<p>162.158.62.183: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
The door handle is a lever, which is relatively easy to open. A doorknob would be harder.<br />
[[User:The Dining Logician|The Dining Logician]] ([[User talk:The Dining Logician|talk]]) 06:04, 14 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
Apparently, a lot of the YouTube comments reference "black mirror" a lot. Can someone explain this to someone out of the loop?<br />
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.183|162.158.62.183]] 06:22, 14 February 2018 (UTC)Jury76</div>
162.158.62.183
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1823:_Hottest_Editors&diff=138793
Talk:1823: Hottest Editors
2017-04-15T13:54:10Z
<p>162.158.62.183: vim not emacs</p>
<hr />
<div>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRISPR, a procaryotic immune defense system that, coupled with Cas9, has been used by molecular biologists as a technology for precise edition of a the genome of virtually any organism.<br />
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.216|141.101.105.216]] 14:59, 12 April 2017 (UTC) LinVl<br />
<br />
So.. the M-x crispr command? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.172|172.68.51.172]] 15:54, 12 April 2017 (UTC)ZZ<br />
You mean `ESC:crispr` ? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.183|162.158.62.183]] 13:54, 15 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
The first editors are not for machine-readable Text. But for sourcecode which is human-readable.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.192|162.158.90.192]] 16:49, 12 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
:Well, the compiler or interpreter can hopefully read your source code, so in some sense it's machine-readable :P. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.112|172.68.54.112]] 18:13, 12 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
i noticed the article fails to mention the comic declaring vim as the winner in 2005... kind of a huge oversight. mayhaps there is bias in the author of this wiki? mayhaps the author is a huge emacs fan?<br />
:Maybe he's alluding to this with CRISPR-VIM in 2025.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.51|162.158.74.51]] 22:12, 12 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I'm surprised no female name is included. I mean, there must be lot of newspapers with female editors and some of them are likely hot. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 02:06, 13 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Could CRISPR being the hottest editor refer to DNA computing? https://www.britannica.com/technology/DNA-computing<br />
<br />
"Sublime Text is the current "most popular" text editor according to Randall[citation needed]". Citation needed? Someone should link that phrase to this comic then, LOL!<br />
<br />
And I want to mention, this site has been looking all wrong and messed up on my iPad 1 for the last week or two. The entire left side is missing, being relegated to looking wrong below, the logo is gone, the buttons are in some different Times-looking font, and this comment text box is only using the centre half of the screen, horizontally. It's like a style sheet got corrupted. Or it's been made prejudiced against older devices and OSes. :) - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.88|108.162.219.88]] 03:18, 14 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Have you tried turning it off and on again? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.46|162.158.114.46]] 21:06, 14 April 2017 (UTC)</div>
162.158.62.183