https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=162.158.90.220&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T21:22:41ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1159:_Countdown&diff=1149961159: Countdown2016-03-16T13:31:37Z<p>162.158.90.220: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1159<br />
| date = January 11, 2013<br />
| title = Countdown<br />
| image = countdown.png<br />
| titletext = For all we know, the odds are in our favor.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic shows a {{w|seven segment display}} (aka [http://www.ece.mtu.edu/labs/EElabs/EE2304/pages/bcd_to_seven_segment_TAversion.html calculator-style numbers]) with a countdown. [[Black Hat]] explains that it is a countdown, maybe to a {{w|supervolcano}} eruption. However, an unfortunately placed picture blocks view of the full display. Due to the form of a seven-segment display, the first digit could be 0, 6, or 8, and five digits are completely blocked by the picture. [[Cueball]] is worried and ask him to move the picture, but Black Hat lazily or teasingly refuses to move it. <br />
<br />
He has already teased that he doesn't know what the countdown is for. His reply can either be understood as if he do not know which one of the ({{w|Supervolcano#VEI_8|seven potential}}) supervolcanos it is counting down to, or to which other {{w|Global catastrophic risk|cataclysmic event}} it is a countdown for (such as a {{w|Impact event|meteor strike}} or global {{w|Nuclear warfare|nuclear war}} for instance - it could also just be a general {{w|Doomsday Clock}}). Since it seems to be Black Hat's countdown, it is safe to assume that he knows both what it counts down to and when it stops, but he just likes to mess with peoples' minds.<br />
<br />
The fully visible part starts at 2409, and based on the pace of the scene, it seems to be in seconds. Thus, it is unclear when the eruption might occur. If the obscured digits are all 0s, it could be as soon as 40 minutes. On the other hand, if the obscured digits are '899 999', there's another 2.85 million years to go; if they are '000 001', we have a little more than 3 years.<br />
<br />
The choice of the picture is probably also interesting. The image is distorted enough that you can imagine it as being two very different images. <br />
#It could depict a setting sun either reflecting in an ocean or with a river (possible also a lake) running out of the picture. But if it is a sun it is not very circular, although there do appear lines to indicate it is shining. This could maybe be explained with atmospheric interference.<br />
#Alternatively it depicts an exploding volcano, a mountain with lines away from it to indicate the explosion or the eruption. And then it is lava flowing away from it or collecting in lakes.<br />
In either case it makes sense, so maybe this is on purpose. If it is a volcano, the supervolcano clock makes sense. On the other hand we are talking about the possible end of the world as we know it, and for this kind of theme a sun setting upon humanity would be a great metaphor.<br />
<br />
The title text: "For all we know, the odds are in our favor" could imply the assumption that since we can't see the digits behind the picture, we can treat them as random. If so, chances are only 1 in 300 000 they are all zero's. However, because of statistical principles such as {{w|Benford's law}}, the digits are not entirely random, and the {{w|odds}} are higher than 1/299 999 for all the digits to be zero, since the middle 4 digits are zero. The title text might also be a reference to {{w|The Hunger Games trilogy}}, with a common phrase in the series being, "May the odds be ever in your favor." The {{w|The Hunger Games (film)|first movie}} in the series came out about a year before this comic was released. Finally, the "odds" could refer to {{w|Parity (mathematics)|odd numbers}}, meaning that if the hidden digits form an odd number (hence being non-zero), everything will be fine.<br />
<br />
In an alternative view, the strip is not about pondering at distributions of digits on an oracle countdown. It's more of a grim view of our natural disasters prediction capabilities. As they say – the question is not if it will happen but when it will happen. "Move the picture" would mean investing into research and warning systems - that would correspond to shifting the picture to the left. Disregard the 40 minutes - think of it as arbitrary interval of interests, minuscule as we folks have them, say - one's lifetime; or grimmer yet - some {{w|term of office}}. Because, hey, year after year passes and no apocalypse has been observed - the empirical odds are low indeed. An interesting question is what we would use the knowledge of the timing of our impending doom, if it is an event we can do nothing about, such as stopping a supervolcanic eruption or a large asteroid with direct impact course on Earth. Would we not have lives more happily for our remaining years, how few that might be, while not knowing... On the other hand, if the event is something we might prevent given enough time to plan (and the funding resources such knowledge would ensure), then it may have saved us, if we moved the picture just in time!<br />
<br />
Using a countdown theme for comic #1159 could be a subtle joke, as 11:59/23:59 is one minute to midnight (on the Doomsday clock!)<br />
<br />
Supervolcanos was also referenced in the title text of [[1053: Ten Thousand]] and it is the subject of in [[1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Black Hat is sitting with his laptop on a desk when Cueball, standing behind him, looks up on the wall and asks him about the large digital countdown timer with red numbers which is hanging high up on the wall. It has a white frame around the black display with the red numbers. Most of the left part of the counter is covered by a framed picture which hangs on a string attached to a nail above the counter. The picture depicts either a setting sun reflecting in an ocean, or an exploding volcano with lava flowing away from it. The picture does not block the left most part of the frame around the counter, and it is also possible to see the two left-most lines of the first digit on the countdown, so they are both turned on. This proves that the numbers goes all the way to the left end. The next five digits are covered by the picture. Then one digit is only partly covered, as only the two most left lines are not visible. From the visible lines it is though clear that this digit shows a 0. The next seven digits are fully visible, giving eight discernible digits.]<br />
:{| class="wikitable"<br />
|style="background-color:black;"| <font color="red">'''00002409'''</font><br />
|} <br />
:Cueball: What's that?<br />
:Black Hat: Countdown.<br />
<br><br />
:[Same picture, but Cueball is looking at Black Hat. The counter counts down.]<br />
:{| class="wikitable"<br />
|style="background-color:black;"| <font color="red">'''00002400'''</font><br />
|} <br />
:Cueball: To what?<br />
:Black Hat: Supervolcano, I think. I forget which one.<br />
<br><br />
:[Cueball looks up again for about 18s (between 2nd and fourth image) - beat panel.]<br />
:{| class="wikitable"<br />
|style="background-color:black;"| <font color="red">'''00002396'''</font><br />
|} <br />
<br><br />
:[Cueball looks at Black Hat again.]<br />
:{| class="wikitable"<br />
|style="background-color:black;"| <font color="red">'''00002382'''</font><br />
|} <br />
:Cueball: Maybe we should move that picture?<br />
:Black Hat: Too hard to reach. It's probably fine.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]<br />
[[Category:Statistics]]</div>162.158.90.220https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1597:_Git&diff=1042891597: Git2015-10-31T22:43:00Z<p>162.158.90.220: /* Explanation */ Git is generally PERCEIVED as complex, but has a SIMPLE underlying design, not the reverse!!</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1597<br />
| date = October 30, 2015<br />
| title = Git<br />
| image = git.png<br />
| titletext = If that doesn't fix it, git.txt contains the phone number of a friend of mine who understands git. Just wait through a few minutes of 'It's really pretty simple, just think of branches as...' and eventually you'll learn the commands that will fix everything.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
This comic is a play on how git, a popular version control system, is misused by people who have a very poor understanding of its inner workings. Git is a particularly apt target for such a joke due to its widespread use and significant discrepancy between perceived complexity and simple underlying design. Tutorials for git tend to make extensive use of a cozy bootstrap layout and deal only with the most basic commands to get started, which can fool a novice to believe that git can be used appropriately without extensive studying. As this is rarely the case, a large group of git users (including Cueball) have a knowledge of git that extends to memorizing set of commands rather than a conceptual understanding of what those commands actually do. As this habit eventually will lead to a corrupt working tree, Cueball suggests that Ponytail keeps an alternative copy of her project outside git which, of course, defies every purpose of employing a version control system to begin with.<br />
<br />
{{w|Git (software)|Git}} is a {{w|Version control|version control}} system often used to track changes to (usually) plain text files, such as computer code. Within a folder and its subfolders, the user can tell Git which files to keep track of changes for. All the files that are being tracked in this manner make up a repository. Internally, Git works by saving entire snapshots of the files hashed by contents so that the same file content is only stored once, rather than creating a new copy each time the user "commits" the current version of the code. This approach allows the user to switch between various versions of the code fairly quickly. However, this can be confusing for new users because when changing between versions, Git effectively rewrites the files under its control to match that version - one file may have several different versions depending on which state Git has set it to, but only one of these versions is visible at any given moment. The others are not hidden or moved, they do not exist until Git modifies the file to match that version.<br />
<br />
In addition to allowing the user to track changes to the files over time using "commits" (versions of the files stored by the user), Git also allows the user to develop several versions of the files in parallel using "branches" (mentioned in the title text). This allows a programmer to, for example, keep a stable, functioning version of their code in one branch, while developing a new feature in a separate branch. When the new feature is ready, Git provides tools to efficiently "merge" the changes from the development branch back into the main branch. While powerful, there are also several pitfalls which can confuse users. For example, a file may have only been committed in one branch (so it is only visible in that branch), causing a user who has switched to a different branch to think that file was lost somehow.<br />
<br />
Sharing a Git repository with other users is done through a remote repository, such as [https://github.com/ GitHub], [https://about.gitlab.com/ GitLab], or one set up by the user themselves. This remote repository acts as a central location through which collaborators share their work. Changes do not automatically propagate between users; instead, once someone has changes they are ready to share, they must upload ("push" in Git terminology) their changes to the remote repository. Other users can then download ("pull") those changes. This allows each user complete control over when changes are applied to their version of the files. Once one user has pushed his or her changes, all other users will need to merge those changes into their code before they can push. Depending on how much the changes conflict, Git may be able to automatically combine both users' versions, or the user may need to do so manually.<br />
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In programming, Git is a very popular way to share source code of programs between computers and users and thus work on projects collaboratively. <br />
<br />
However, problems often arise when, for example, one attempts to upload code to a file someone else has already edited. <br />
Git has quite a few tricks to handle "merging" itself. <br />
<br />
One way of simplifying collaboration is to work in a different "branch" than other collaborators. All branches independently track their changes and can be viewed independently of each other. Only when you successfully "merge" (there we go again) individual branches together will you see other collaborators' "commits" in your working set of files.<br />
<br />
But, due to the complex nature of Git (and its notoriously counter-intuitively named commands), a large portion of users are unable to use it beyond basic commands. They consider it usually much more efficient just to save the code to a different file, download a newer copy, and then re-apply their original changes to the new copy than to try and understand and use Git's own convoluted built-in commands to attempt to fix it properly.<br />
<br />
The git.txt refers probably to a habit of some development teams to put readme-like instructions into a simple text file into the project. These are usually helpful for special tasks like creating databases, or deal with unusual quirks of the project. It's use here is ironical because Git should be well understood by the team members as one of main tools. Moreover, you have to use Git to get the file to be able to read it in the first place.<br />
Putting a telephone number of someone into such file can really make the friend quite busy (with all consequences), depending on the number of cargo cult Git users in the project team. <br />
<br />
Git was originally created by {{w|Linus Torvalds}}, the same person who originally created {{w|Linux}}.<br />
<br />
==={{w|Wikipedia:Too long; didn't read|tl;dr}}===<br />
<br />
The explanation above was written by that friend whose name is in git.txt, and gives a good idea of what you need to wait through before he tells you the commands you need. In short: programmers use {{w|Version control|version control systems}} to track changes to code. Most of these version control systems are quite similar and easy to learn if you already know another one. Git is a version control system based on completely different principles, and most programmers find it difficult to wrap their heads around it. Cueball is one of those programmers.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball points to a computer on a desk while Ponytail and Hairy are standing further away behind an office chair.]<br />
:Cueball: This is Git. It tracks collaborative work on projects through a beautiful distributed graph theory tree model.<br />
:Ponytail: Cool. How do we use it?<br />
:Cueball: No idea. Just memorize these shell commands and type them to sync up. If you get errors, save your work elsewhere, delete the project, and download a fresh copy.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Internet]]</div>162.158.90.220https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1593:_Play-By-Play&diff=104051Talk:1593: Play-By-Play2015-10-28T06:47:54Z<p>162.158.90.220: </p>
<hr />
<div>First!<br />
Sorry. On a more serious note, is "how rude" a reference to the ugly guy on the first Star Wars? I'm sleepy and can't think well. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 05:41, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
:I strongly doubt it, since this is a completely unrelated topic to Star Wars [[Special:Contributions/162.158.38.231|162.158.38.231]] 06:07, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Also, the comic doesn't even include the phrase "how rude"... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.161|108.162.250.161]] 06:11, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
::Why is Star Wars and its trailer even mentioned? Completely unrelated. The trailer aired during a football game not baseball. If Randall was trying to make that point it would be as such. This is more akin to a non-sports minded son-in-law trying to enjoy the sport with his wife's father (been there done that). Or perhaps Randall is saying that baseball is having a hard time trying to attract new fans with all the scandals so baseball has turned to reeling in non-traditional fans who need the games rules and play-by-play toned down to an understandable level. Anything but Star Wars.--[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 15:56, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
::Sorry, I read "Wow. Rude" as "How rude." [[Special:Contributions/108.162.220.227|108.162.220.227]] 17:16, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Isn't the guy being yelled at in the "Wow. Rude." section the umpire? I think it's more likely that people would yell at an umpire (or maybe a coach) than any standard player. 21:19, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
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The big issue I have is that he says there's no one else. There is the catcher. Would have made more sense to say two men are playing catch and someone else is rudely trying to hit the ball. Or that they're playing monkey in the middle... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.236.235|108.162.236.235]] 15:18, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;Simple Words<br />
<br />
Could someone check if this is an instance of Randall Munroe doing a comic using only the 1000 most commonly used words? It looks like it might be. {{unsigned ip|108.162.218.197}}<br />
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:Nope! Lots of difficult words like "Wow" and "shelves" and "teammates" {{unsigned ip|198.41.235.59}}<br />
::Yes should this even be references in the trivia. I vote for deleting the trivia, as I do not see this as an example of Beret Guy trying to speak simple, he just uses other words because he do not know the baseball version for these. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:50, 21 October 2015 (UTC) <br />
<br />
:I put the transcript and title text into Randall's word checker and came up with eleven words that didn't make the cut (twelve if you count all forms of a word separately): "bat", "shelves", "wow", "rude", "teammates", "pillow", "rules", "yikes", "hopefully", ("bats",) "king", and "jail". --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.65|108.162.218.65]] 12:47, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
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;Surreal<br />
<br />
I do not see this as surreal at all. His description is spot on, assuming that he knows nothing about the game.--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.79.73|141.101.79.73]] 06:32, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
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What's surreal is the (somewhat implausible) scenario where someone who knows nothing about baseball (or softball, I suppose. Or sport...) whould be commentating on a game.[[User:ChrisBedford|ChrisBedford]] ([[User talk:ChrisBedford|talk]]) 06:46, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
: That's not surreal. That's ironic. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.81|108.162.237.81]] 15:11, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
;Pillow<br />
<br />
Why is beret guy talking about a pillow? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.125|173.245.49.125]] 07:12, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
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:I read it as a reference to the points on the field (“bases”?) that the runner has to go around. The ones that are used as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_metaphors_for_sex a euphemism for touching genitalia]. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.236|141.101.104.236]] 07:19, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
::See [[540: Base System]]! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:50, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
: Historically, the bases were made from stuffed fabric, they were essentially pillows.[[User:Tverma|Tverma]] ([[User talk:Tverma|talk]]) 08:15, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;Baseball and cricket<br />
<br />
Not being American, and never having watched a game of baseball in my life, this sounds like pretty much the way I would see baseball. Americans can get the same effect by watching a game of cricket. [[User:GreenWyvern|GreenWyvern]] ([[User talk:GreenWyvern|talk]]) 07:28, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Until he said "second pillow" I wasn't sure if it was commentary on baseball or cricket.[[User:Tverma|Tverma]] ([[User talk:Tverma|talk]]) 08:05, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
::Agreed, when you never have watched a full game of baseball even the explanation above is not enough to understand the rules and events he is talking about. So spot on ;-) We only play this in early school as we think it is a kids game (probably like many Americans consider soccer?) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:50, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
:::And just like the football/'soccer' difference in naming local variants in Association Football, our baseball is generally called 'rounders'. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.185|141.101.75.185]] 13:21, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:While the description of the game might match someone who never saw any baseball, the failure to identify cheering and heckling suggest he never saw ANY game nor other sport event, which seems improbable. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:25, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
::Although not for Beret Guy! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:50, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Main text says the words are not part of the "10,000" common words. But Randall's simplespeak is only a 1000 word corpus -- ten hundred. <digressing rant> That's somewhat irrelevant given the dubious qualities of Randall's simplespeak anyway. "bat" for example is a common word that kids learn early in kindergarten and elementary school when they learn the CVC pattern, not to mention it's a fairly common theme for Halloween and children books. Same goes to some of the other words. "wow" is not a word but an onomatopoeia, and "rude" is a basic English word known to everybody {{Citation needed|}}. Somewhere along the line, followers forgot this is all a game and are taking it way too seriously. </rant> [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 16:48, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;Variant games<br />
<br />
It might be interesting to mention which comments by the Beret Guy lead to the elimination of other ball and bat games, especially when only a single comment does so. For instance, it looks like the description of the game would also fit [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pes%C3%A4pallo pesäpallo], a Finnish ball and bat game, save that in that game you don't throw the ball at the batter. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.164|173.245.54.164]] 13:37, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
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<br />
This comic makes me think of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptrSoRSq8vw&feature=youtu.be [[User:Macarthur1950|Macarthur1950]] ([[User talk:Macarthur1950|talk]]) 20:27, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
It reminded me of this IT-crowd scene (never actually watched the IT crowd, just seen the video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjC38Z4T6zc [[User:Jack|Jack]] ([[User talk:Jack|talk]]) 22:15, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It's amusing to see various games ruled out in the notes. The one game that can't be ruled out is Calvinball. Being utterly random, there is a possibility that at the moment Beret Guy is commenting that the game overlaps the rules of baseball. {{unsigned ip|199.27.128.82}}<br />
<br />
<br />
The chair shelves are the bunker, not the bleachers, no? This would make the people yelling from the chair shelves his team mates, providing "noise" and instructions about where to hit the ball?<br />
AFAIK In pro baseball, it's a slightly recessed secure box from which they send "signals" to the batter, telling them what to do -- either bunt, hit left field, keep infield, allow the steal, etc<br />
The batter has to not acknowledge the signals, and that way the fielding team doesn't know whether there was actually a signal sent at all. The psych strategy has the hitting team constantly send random signal "noise" i.e. movements that look like they *might* be signals, but mean nothing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dugout_(baseball) Bottom picture on the page shows the chair in the dugout (bench) and the plastic seats the crowd is in (basically the same as in any other stadium) https://www.google.com.au/search?q=dugout&es_sm=122&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAWoVChMIhMiVt9DUyAIVYjimCh1JKw9N&biw=1549&bih=965#imgrc=dtPIvP1bSgcIMM%3A Importantly, dugout benches are often mounted to the dugout wall. Whereas bleachers (stadium seats) are mounted on poles attached to the ground. This, in my mind, makes me think that "chair shelves" would need to be wall-mounted, therefore dugout. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.217|162.158.2.217]] 22:52, 21 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Not at all. Most dugouts are actual benches. Hes talking about the folding chairs in the stands. <br />
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT8wD8kiPsUKZz9dqfSgiQE3vztPd0rj60WDKKCVDxdMDSM2_dzbA<br />
<br />
Notice they mount to the wall behind them. Some don't but some do. His explanations aren't perfect presumably because Randall isnt a baseball fan. Everyone is way over thinking this. {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.60}}<br />
<br />
;Second Pillow<br />
The text currently complains that Beret Guy wouldn't know which pillow was second, but this is the fifth period, folks! Beret Guy is not dumb just lacking experience. It's not unreasonable that enough runners have reached the second pillow or even gotten all the way back to the house pillow and given up, for Beret Guy to figure that out. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.236.175|108.162.236.175]] 14:06, 22 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
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<br />
;Reference<br />
Could this also be a reference to all the nerds being 'forced' to watch Monday night football to watch the new The Force Awakens trailer released just two days before this comic? {{unsigned ip|162.158.255.82}}<br />
<br />
<br />
;The inning<br />
he says their on part five of hitting game could that also mean their in the top of the third {{unsigned ip|Fdfpi47}}<br />
:I'd say it's possible. Since it's likely Beret Guy is watching the game live in front of him, he may not know the distinction of top/bottom innings. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.223.239|108.162.223.239]] 05:45, 23 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
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<br />
;Title<br />
Can someone please explain the title "play-by-play"? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.149|162.158.114.149]] 22:28, 22 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
:In sport reporting, [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/play-by-play play-by-play] means giving detailed descriptions (in some level) of the events happening on the field. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.223.239|108.162.223.239]] 05:45, 23 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
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;Isn't there another comic where Beret Guy uses all the wrong words for things?<br />
<br />
I just can't remember which one it is... [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.116|173.245.54.116]] 17:41, 23 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Any significance to the fact that Beret Guy is apparently wearing Beats brand headphones? Sportscasters generally do not use such, maybe another indicator of his inexperience? [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 02:34, 25 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;Stolen Base<br />
If the runner ran to second base and no one noticed, wouldn't that imply that there was no attempt to get the runner out? If so, wouldn't that be [http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Defensive_Indifference Defensive Indifference] instead of a stolen base? {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.51}}<br />
<br />
;Fourth panel<br />
Isn't "This thrower is good! He keeps making people leave by throwing balls at them." more likely a reference to the pitcher hitting the batters and advancing them to first base, rather than just walking them (or striking them out)? That interpretation would make Beret Guy's assessment of the pitcher's performance completely wrong (he's actually rather bad, not good), which seems to fit better with the tone of the comic. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.220|162.158.90.220]] 06:47, 28 October 2015 (UTC)</div>162.158.90.220https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1575:_Footprints&diff=101450Talk:1575: Footprints2015-09-10T06:41:52Z<p>162.158.90.220: </p>
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<div>I know a lot about the poem this is referencing as it was my deceased grandmothers favourite. However I am omitting myself from making any changes other than putting in the poem it is referencing and the most brief of explanations to begin so someone with less emotional bias can fix formatting and improve wording. The poem can be found here: http://www.onlythebible.com/Poems/Footprints-in-the-Sand-Poem.html [[User:Squirrel killer-|Squirrel killer-]] ([[User talk:Squirrel killer-|talk]]) 06:01, 9 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Should we address that AT-ST' nickname is "chicken Walker"? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.243.249|198.41.243.249]] 08:46, 9 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
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The title text is not in textese (which you be "theres 1 set of fps bcs I carried U".) I'm not sure what it is exactly (not being American) the closest I can get is "Valley girl" (which is not right) and "that one dialect the frat-boys speak in the movies", which can't be it's name. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.224|141.101.88.224]] 09:43, 9 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
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"Going home == death" Are we certain that this is meant? I feel it could also poke fun at the whole "walk of life" concept, and going home simply means going home... --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.10|162.158.92.10]] 09:55, 9 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
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I've removed the definite implication that "Going home == death", and instead made it a possible interpretation. I agree that the title text is "frat-boy speak", but I'm not sure what you would call it -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.55|141.101.99.55]] 10:08, 9 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
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I think the quicksand is a reference to Lawrence of Arabia, in the movie(spoiler alert?) Lawrence walks across the Sinai Desert only to see one of his men caught in quicksand and die immediately before reaching their destination.<br />
[[User:Joar|Joar]] ([[User talk:Joar|talk]]) 10:15, 9 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
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I'd call the title text dialect "bro talk" or something similar. Also, the quicksand bit is definitely in reference to Jesus' ability to walk on water: since quicksand is a mixture of water and sand, presumably it would be easier to walk on than regular water. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.153|173.245.54.153]] 13:52, 9 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
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The presumed reference to "Winnie the Pooh" is very far fetched. The joke of following its own footprint is used in many other works. Same for drawing in a quicksand. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.66.23|141.101.66.23]] 14:03, 9 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Ha! Edit conflict, for exactly the same subject. What I was about to say was: The 'following our own footprints' bit reminded me, initially, of Tintin (In The Land Of The Black Gold?), with Thomson and Thompson's jeep, although that was two, four, six, etc tyre-tracks. I think the Pooh example is the more likely archetype.<br />
:(i.e., in light of what I'm now replying to, more likely than the Tintin version. Whether or not Pooh was ''the'' inspiration.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.114|141.101.99.114]] 14:11, 9 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
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: I've noticed that problem quite a bit around here - generic comments being explained as specific references. But I'm too lazy to change them myself. Anyone up for it? [[User:Zweisteine|Zweisteine]] ([[User talk:Zweisteine|talk]]) 14:35, 9 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Can someone translate "There's one set of foot-p's cause I was totes carrying you, bro!" into normal english? {{User:17jiangz1/signature|15:45, 09 September 2015}}<br />
: "There is one set of footprints because I was totally carrying you, my brother"<br />
: "There is one set of footprints because I was fully-committed to carrying you, my good friend whom I consider like a brother" [[User:JamesCurran|JamesCurran]] ([[User talk:JamesCurran|talk]]) 16:17, 9 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
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So, given the width of the "1-night" disappearances of Jesus on the chart, I think we can infer that the length of time between the quicksand incident and "going home" was a pretty long time. My sources tell me that Jesus has an affinity for resurrecting 3-days after death, and that his angels get him out of whatever place he's stuck (rolling away the tomb-stone, etc). Because of this, we might assume that the narrator had cleared enough distance away from the quicksand that he didn't notice Jesus resurrecting and being pulled out by angels... but in that case the vertical axis was being recorded "as the narrator walked", as opposed to someone else coming back and recording them after the events had taken place. (This is my first contribution to explainxkcd, so I'm keeping it in the comments unless someone else publishes it.)[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.56|162.158.255.56]] 16:08, 9 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
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I think it's a cool deduction if a bit far fetched, but I can't complain considering we might all be over-thinking things here. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.55|141.101.99.55]] 17:00, 9 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
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"Who was that guy?" "That was no guy; that was ... the Lone Ranger!" [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 19:24, 9 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Note that one of the twelve Danish cartoons depicting Mohammed was not of the Prophet, but of a schoolboy of the same name. Jesus is a common Mexican name. Randall may be showing how context and prejudice may stir up strong religious reaction, by giving situations where one can deduce that the Biblical Jesus is not the one leaving footprints everywhere.<br />
[[http://www.linkedin.com/in/Comet Comet]] 21:18, 9 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
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''"Jesus disappeared for an evening each time a new Twilight movie came out" probably means either that Jesus went to see the movie and left the narrator alone or that the narrator went to see the movie and Jesus refused to come with.''<br />
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The second interpretation (the narrator went to see the movie and Jesus refused to come with) is absurdly far fetched for a sentence that says "Jesus disappeared for an evening". --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.85|141.101.99.85]] 21:38, 9 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
: I agree [[User:Teleksterling|Teleksterling]] ([[User talk:Teleksterling|talk]]) 23:32, 9 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
I thought it meant either Jesus not being there (and preventing evil from happening) allowed for a Twilight movie to come out or else Jesus was the originator of the Twilight movies and he disappeared every time to make one. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.220|162.158.90.220]] 06:41, 10 September 2015 (UTC)</div>162.158.90.220