https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=162.158.91.215&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T13:23:39ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1852:_Election_Map&diff=1415091852: Election Map2017-06-19T13:20:59Z<p>162.158.91.215: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1852<br />
| date = June 19, 2017<br />
| title = Election Map<br />
| image = election_map.png<br />
| titletext = Luckily for my interpretation, no precincts were won by the Green Party.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Basic explanation of some of the joke.}}<br />
Blueshift and redshift occur in light when objects are moving toward or away from the observer. This is called the Doppler effect. In this comic, Cueball uses an election map as if it were a picture of a distant galaxy and supposes that the blue and red (signifying Democratic and Republican votes) in fact signify that the pictured area is rotating in space.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Cueball is on live TV, pointing at a map colored according to election results.] <br />
:Cueball: These northern precincts appear red, which probably means they're moving away from us, whereas these bluer regions are approaching us. I believe the district may be rotating in space.<br />
<br />
:[Caption below:] <br />
:My career as an election analyst was short-lived.<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>162.158.91.215https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1798:_Box_Plot&diff=135220Talk:1798: Box Plot2017-02-14T19:57:20Z<p>162.158.91.215: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~--><br />
No Valentine's comic this year? (Or could it be later this week?) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.163|162.158.154.163]] 16:27, 13 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
:Trump killed Valentine's Day for Randall. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.219|162.158.74.219]] 17:54, 13 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
::I would agree with that, but it could just as well be next comic. However, Randall doesn't usually make Valentines comics, so... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:59, 13 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I thought this may also be similar to a bycicle pump because it doesn't explode it just enlarges. Wasn't there a comic similar to this where someone blows into a laptop power cord and it blows up like a balloon.[[User:XFez|XFez]] ([[User talk:XFez|talk]]) 18:54, 13 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
:Yes: https://xkcd.com/1395/ {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.100}}<br />
::Good call [[1395: Power Cord]] should be mentioned. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:01, 13 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
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I’m surprised this was Cueball, not Beret Guy. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.100}}<br />
:It could be that inflating/manipulating data is not supernatural. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.163|162.158.154.163]] 19:37, 13 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
::Yes many people do this all the time, sadly. Often referenced in xkcd... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:01, 13 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
There's also a blasting machine in Floor, /735<br />
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.148|141.101.88.148]] 22:11, 13 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Could whoever writes the transcripts, please keep them more concise? I am visually impaired and rely on transcripts to "get" the comics, but I find that detailed descriptions of how things are drawn make the joke harder, not easier, to understand. Most transcripts are great, with just the information needed to get it, but some are way too detailed—and this one is pushing it to the extreme. Does anyone really want to know the exact size of each box, or how many lines are drawn around Cueball's shoulders to indicate movement? I'd be much happier with something like "Cueball climbs on top of the second box and pushes the whisker as if it were a pump. The box inflates as if air had been pumped into it." I don't want to know precisely how this information is conveyed, I just want to laugh like you guys with a good joke without getting lost in details. That said, many many thanks to those who write the transcripts! Zetfr 23:11, 13 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
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:That is one very detailed transcript. [[User:Cardboardmech|Cardboardmech]] ([[User talk:Cardboardmech|talk]]) 14:00, 14 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::I have taken matters into my own hands and rewrote the transscript. This is my first contribution to this wiki, so feel free to revert this commit it if it does not fit explainxkcd's style. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.215|162.158.91.215]] 19:57, 14 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Its not mentioned in the explanation (and i dont feel confident enough to add it), but these plots are occasionally referred to by statistical types as "dynamite plots" (as some statistical folk dont like them), which is what i believe the title text may be a reference to. --[[User:Takigama|Takigama]] ([[User talk:Takigama|talk]]) 02:08, 14 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
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Box plots also resemble candle stick plots that are widely used in stock trading charts. It could be a reference to inflated stock prices[[Special:Contributions/172.68.62.22|172.68.62.22]] 05:57, 14 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
: If so Cueball did a pretty bad job. The open, close, and low are all at the same value and the high is ''lower''. I think you’re reaching a bit too far with that. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.154|162.158.78.154]] 06:14, 14 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
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I just had an funny thought: What if this comic is Randall's response to the recent "trend" of trying to see a connection to Trumps's election to his comics? (@Kynde: That comment is not meant to be that serious ;) ) [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 14:13, 14 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
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Pretty sure there is an Indiana Jones comic about data and artifacts we should maybe include that.[[User:XFez|XFez]] ([[User talk:XFez|talk]]) 14:59, 14 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
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This feels like one of the most detailed explanations on explainxkcd I've seen for a normal-size comic. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.208|141.101.98.208]] 15:33, 14 February 2017 (UTC)</div>162.158.91.215https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1798:_Box_Plot&diff=1352191798: Box Plot2017-02-14T19:54:37Z<p>162.158.91.215: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1798<br />
| date = February 13, 2017<br />
| title = Box Plot<br />
| image = box_plot.png<br />
| titletext = You have to be careful doing this. Sometimes, when you push the whisker down, dynamite explodes.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Are dynamite detonators like this still in use? Better explanation of box plot etc? Inflation of data, is that a real concept, which Randall mocks? Ref to other comics with data manipulation.}}<br />
<br />
This comic shows some {{w|Box plot|box plots}} in the first panel, hence the title.<br />
<br />
In {{w|descriptive statistics}}, a box plot is a convenient way of graphically depicting groups of numerical data through their {{w|quartiles}}. The second quartile is the median and it is not indicated in this comic, as it should be a line through the box, see the {{w|Quartile#Definitions|definitions of quartiles}}. But the top and bottom of the box is the first and third quartile, which splits the lowest/highest 25% off data of from the highest/lowest 75%, respectively. <br />
<br />
Box plots may also have lines extending vertically from the boxes (whiskers) indicating variability outside the upper and lower quartiles, (that is, the ''highest'' and ''lowest'' values in the data,) hence the terms box-and-whisker plot. These can be used to indicate the {{w|interquartile range}}, a measure of {{w|statistical dispersion}}. These have been included on the three boxes in the plot. <br />
<br />
The joke in the comic arises, because it turns out that the box plot is actually three real world objects and [[Cueball]] walks into the plot in the second panel, climbs up on the lower first box and on to the highest middle box. When the boxes are depicted in the orientation shown, the boxes can look like they are pumps, where the middle part, the box, can be pumped up. And Cueball does just that in the fourth panel, by pushing the top whisker down and when he leaves in the fifth and last panel, this box stays inflated, with the whisker visibly lower than in the first three panels, although higher than when he pushed it down in the fourth panel. (Inflating things, that cannot be inflated, was also the joke in [[1395: Power Cord]]. But as opposed to inflating the meaning of data, which many researchers sadly do in the real world, what [[Beret Guy]] does in that comic, is strictly [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|supernatural]].)<br />
<br />
It could be said that the "data" in this comic was "inflated" and thus Cueball has been trying to show a smaller interquartile range than there actually is, thus inflating the possible conclusions that could be drawn from the data. <br />
<br />
It is also possible that Randal is showing [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entasis Entasis] with [[Cueball]] repairing the aesthetic appearance of the middle column by making it more convex in shape, making the columns appear parallel by correcting the optical illusion of bowed columns.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to how {{w|dynamite}}, an explosive, often used to have detonator boxes (aka. {{w|blasting machine}}s) which also looked similar to the top part of the box (without the lower whisker). These detonators were most commonly used for mining, with long wires leading to the explosives. Modern blasting machines are operated by push buttons and key switches, but the old push-handle design still resonates in the public consciousness today, due to its exposure in classic slapstick cartoon shorts like {{w|Looney Tunes}}, especially often used by {{w|Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner|Wile E. Coyote}} against the Road Runner. See [https://youtu.be/0R66Fvhx0vQ?t=1m2s this compilation] for examples.<br />
<br />
The title text also refers to so-called [http://biostat.mc.vanderbilt.edu/wiki/pub/Main/TatsukiRcode/Poster3.pdf dynamite plots]. This type of plot used to be very common in scientific publications, but since it hides most details about one's actual data, it is now frowned upon. The recommended alternative is the box plot.<br />
<br />
The title text thus warns against this kind of data inflation, since sometimes it can go awry and lead to explosions. [[Randall]] has often made comics about presenting data as more important that they are, in one way or another, and this comics clearly falls into that category. See for example [[882: Significant]], [[1132: Frequentists vs. Bayesians]], [[1478: P-Values]] and [[1574: Trouble for Science]], and this one for manipulating the way data is presented: [[558: 1000 Times]].<br />
<br />
A box plot was also used in [[539: Boyfriend]], maybe the only other time in xkcd. There are many other types of [[:Category:Charts|data carts]] that have their own subcategories, but not this type.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A box plot with three vertical data points is shown. Each point consists of a shaded rectangular box, and a T shaped whisker on each end. ]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball walks in; revealing that the box plot is a physical object. ]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball climbs on top of the diagram, holding onto the top whisker of the leftmost data point. ]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball, now standing upright on top of the box plot, bends over, grips the whisker of the center data point and starts pumping. The shaded box of the data point bulges. Cueball's action is accompanied by the sound:]<br />
:''Pump''<br />
:''Pump''<br />
:''Pump''<br />
<br />
:[The box has been inflated so much, it touches the ones left and right of it. Cueball walks away. ]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Chart]]<br />
[[Category:Science]]</div>162.158.91.215https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=465:_Quantum_Teleportation&diff=132269465: Quantum Teleportation2016-12-08T12:19:55Z<p>162.158.91.215: Really now, it is possible in theory, you know?</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 465<br />
| date = August 20, 2008<br />
| title = Quantum Teleportation<br />
| image = quantum teleportation.png<br />
| titletext = Science should be exactly as cool as the headlines sound. Like the "RUSSIANS CUT APART AND REASSEMBLE DOGS" thing<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Quantum teleportation}} is a method of effectively taking a quantum state that exists in one laboratory and destroying it in the current laboratory and later recreating exactly the same — still unmeasured — quantum state in another laboratory that could potentially be very far away.<br />
<br />
This is achieved by first creating an entangled quantum state in a laboratory and moving one part of the entangled quantum state to a faraway laboratory. Now let's say a scientist desires to teleport the quantum state |ψ> to a faraway lab. The scientists does a specific measurement on the combination of |ψ> and their half of the entangled quantum state and the outcome of their measurement will be two bits of classical information. They can then telephone over the results of their two bits of information to tell scientists at the faraway lab how to do a measurement on their half of the entangled quantum state, which will recreate the quantum state |ψ> at the faraway lab, effectively teleporting it. This is an important result in quantum mechanics, especially in regards to quantum computing.<br />
<br />
The name is misleading in that it does not create an efficient means of transportation via teleportation — something like the {{w|Transporter (Star Trek)|teleporters}} from {{w|Star Trek}} i.e. a ''conventional teleporter'' — where macroscopic objects like humans (composed of [http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=number+of+atoms+in+a+human&lk=4&num=3 7x10<sup>27</sup> atoms]) could be teleported to an arbitrary place.<br />
<br />
The comic jokes with the fact that news reporters wish to get a story about Star Trek teleporters and the scientist is angry that there is no interest in his quantum version — the reporters are even disappointed when they write their story. The last panel appears to indicate this scientist not only has a quantum teleporter he also has a "regular" teleporter of the type the reporter is asking about, which would be a gigantic news item, as it is one of the biggest challenges of this century (and possibly future ones as well), to build one. He uses the conventional to escape to The Bahamas.<br />
<br />
The whole method of quantum teleportation is predicated on being able to first create entangled quantum states and then transport, by conventional means, one-half of the entangled state. Only after this step, could you then destroy the shared entangled quantum state, to "teleport" a different quantum state to the new location.<br />
<br />
Quantum teleportation is deeply related to {{w|Bell's theorem}} where it's shown that quantum mechanics is incompatible with the idea of local hidden variables and which has been experimentally demonstrated (though a few very small loopholes still have not been conclusively ruled out). Explaining "it's a particle statistics thing" is a great explanation of the related Bell's theorem experiments, which demonstrate quantum entanglement which is at the root of quantum teleportation. In these experiments, physicists take an entangled quantum state move it apart and then randomly decide which direction to measure each side of the quantum states. Through a statistical analysis of the results, you can demonstrate and measure each entangled particle in a randomly chosen direction. The statistical correlations between the particles are consistent with quantum mechanics and inconsistent with any local hidden variable theory; however this instantaneous wave-function collapse does not break special relativity as wave-function collapse {{w|No-communication theorem|does not allow communication of any information}}. Instead you can just analyze the correlations after the fact and compare the hypothesis of local hidden variables to the inconsistent hypothesis predicted by quantum mechanics, and verify the quantum mechanical prediction.<br />
<br />
In the comic, Cueball explains to the reporter that quantum teleportation isn't what reporters build it up to be, before Cueball successfully teleports by switching his teleportation machine from quantum teleportation to regular teleportation.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to the controversial 1940s Soviet {{w|Experiments in the Revival of Organisms}} video that depicts a dog's head being cut off and revived. The film is controversial in that the footage is often perceived as being staged, though the {{w|Sergei S. Bryukhonenko|Soviet scientist}} depicted in the video was attempting these sorts of experiments and this research eventually led to the first Soviet open heart operation in 1957. Another instance of crazy headlines that may not be as interesting to the public when first explained — but may be an important step on the way to some type of practical use.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A Cueball-like reporter and Cueball are facing each other, sitting in chairs.]<br />
:Reporter: So, Quantum Teleportation-<br />
:Cueball: The name is misleading. It's a particle statistics thing.<br />
<br />
:[Zoom in on the reporter.]<br />
:Reporter: So it's not like Star Trek? That's boring.<br />
<br />
:[Zoom out again to both. Cueball leaves seat and moves behind it.]<br />
:Cueball: Okay, I'm sick of this. Every time there's a paper on quantum teleportation, you reporters write the same disappointed story.<br />
<br />
:[Cueball has gone to device that was behind him and was out of the scope of the three previous panels. He turns a knob that makes a sound in a zigzag sound buble.]<br />
:Reporter (Off panel): But-<br />
:Cueball: Talk to someone else. I'm going to the Bahamas. <br />
:Knob: ''Click''<br />
<br />
:[Inserted panel with a zoom in on the device which is labeled and the knob is now turned to the right position. Both possible positions are labeled.]<br />
:Label: Teleporter<br />
:Left: Quantum<br />
:Right: Regular<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is beamed up in classic Star Trek fashion.]<br />
:''Vrmmm''<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]<br />
[[Category:Star Trek]]</div>162.158.91.215https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1641:_Hot_Dogs&diff=111093Talk:1641: Hot Dogs2016-02-10T15:25:39Z<p>162.158.91.215: </p>
<hr />
<div>a friend of mine told a story once of a girl in his high school that used a hot dog as a toy once. supposedly it broke off inside and she had to go to the ER to have it removed. Is it unreasonable to theorize, since condoms are used primarily for sexual activities, and hot dogs are shaped similar to sexual objects, whether anatomical or otherwise, that the person off screen is using the hot dogs in condoms possibly for sexual activity, or maybe (https://explainxkcd.com/330/). <br />
I really don't know, but if someone else thinks there is possibly validity in this theory, i don't know how to incorporate it into the explanation --[[User:Beardmcbeardson|Beardmcbeardson]] ([[User talk:Beardmcbeardson|talk]]) 07:46, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
: That's actually an [http://www.snopes.com/college/risque/hotdog.asp old urban legend]. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.142.148|162.158.142.148]] 08:24, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In point of fact, hot dogs come in packages of seven. At least the ones I like do [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 09:35, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I always buy condoms in packs of one hundred. The fun / expense ratio is much better, than in small packs. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.203.142|162.158.203.142]] 10:45, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
This is a very simple problem: Hot dogs go back to German tradition, where <br />
a sausage is held within a German "Weck" but a real one, not one of those American <br />
buns. (See Wikipedia) <br />
The American style buns were an invention of American bakers, so the reason for those <br />
numbers is obvious: <br />
The Hot Dogs stuck with the German tradition (decimal system), whereas the buns <br />
are in packages of eight for easy break down in halves, quarters, eights. (Witworth)<br />
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.215|162.158.91.215]] 15:21, 10 February 2016 (UTC)</div>162.158.91.215https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1641:_Hot_Dogs&diff=111092Talk:1641: Hot Dogs2016-02-10T15:21:04Z<p>162.158.91.215: </p>
<hr />
<div>a friend of mine told a story once of a girl in his high school that used a hot dog as a toy once. supposedly it broke off inside and she had to go to the ER to have it removed. Is it unreasonable to theorize, since condoms are used primarily for sexual activities, and hot dogs are shaped similar to sexual objects, whether anatomical or otherwise, that the person off screen is using the hot dogs in condoms possibly for sexual activity, or maybe (https://explainxkcd.com/330/). <br />
I really don't know, but if someone else thinks there is possibly validity in this theory, i don't know how to incorporate it into the explanation --[[User:Beardmcbeardson|Beardmcbeardson]] ([[User talk:Beardmcbeardson|talk]]) 07:46, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
: That's actually an [http://www.snopes.com/college/risque/hotdog.asp old urban legend]. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.142.148|162.158.142.148]] 08:24, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In point of fact, hot dogs come in packages of seven. At least the ones I like do [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 09:35, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I always buy condoms in packs of one hundred. The fun / expense ratio is much better, than in small packs. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.203.142|162.158.203.142]] 10:45, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
This is a very simple problem: Hot dogs go back to German tradition, where <br />
a sausage is held within a German "Weck" but a real one, not one of that American <br />
buns. (See Wikipedia) <br />
The American style buns were an invention of American bakers, so the reason for those <br />
numbers should is clear: <br />
The Hot Dogs stuck with the German tradition (decimal system), whereas the buns <br />
are in packages of eight for easy break down in halves, quarters, eights. <br />
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.215|162.158.91.215]] 15:21, 10 February 2016 (UTC)</div>162.158.91.215https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1638:_Backslashes&diff=110547Talk:1638: Backslashes2016-02-03T10:18:51Z<p>162.158.91.215: </p>
<hr />
<div>It should be noted that this also occurs in almost every programming language where "\" is the escape character. i.e.<br />
print("Hello")<br />
> Hello<br />
print("\"Hello\"")<br />
> "Hello"<br />
print("\\Hello\\")<br />
> \Hello\<br />
Oh, and by the way, isn't this the third comic to mention "Ba'al, the Soul Eater"? Maybe we should start a category. (Others are [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1246:_Pale_Blue_Dot 1246] (title text) and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1419:_On_the_Phone 1419].)<br />
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.29|173.245.54.29]] 06:14, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:[[:Category:Ba'al|Did that]] before seeing you comment, so yes I agree. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:47, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;I don't think the regex is invalid<br />
<br />
According to <tt>man grep</tt> you need to specify the <tt>-E</tt> option to use extended regex; without it unescaped parentheses are not interpreted, so they don't need to match.<br />
<br />
My - very wild - guess is that it was the command he used to find the line with the most special characters, but I am not confident enough to edit the article (if someone can confirm?). {{unsigned ip|141.101.66.83}}<br />
<br />
If it was supposed to do that, it doesn't work. Running it on my bash history matches no lines, and I have lots of special characters in there [[Special:Contributions/197.234.242.243|197.234.242.243]] 07:12, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Explain it to me like I'm dumb. What is this comic going on about? I think the explanation needs more examples like that hello, above, because that's almost understandable. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.231|198.41.238.231]] 07:47, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:I agree. But I cannot help either.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:51, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
This is the third time Randall has mentioned Ba'al the Soul Eater xD [[User:International Space Station|International Space Station]] ([[User talk:International Space Station|talk]]) 08:26, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:Yes, that was already mentioned a few hours before you comment, see the first comment. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:51, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
After passing the regex through bash, you get <nowiki>\\[[(].*\\[\])][^)\]]*$</nowiki> That is, the literal character \, followed by [ or (, followed by any number of any characters, followed by \, followed by ] or ), followed by any number of characters that aren't ) or ], until the end of the line. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.44|108.162.216.44]] 08:33, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:It sounds like you know what you are talking about. Anyone who can explain it good enough for the explanation, and correct the explanation of the title text if it is wrong to say that it would not work. I have added this as the reason for incomplete. But maybe also examples are needed for people with not programming skills/knowledge. We also enjoy xkcd ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:51, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
For fun: <br />
cat ~/.bash_history | xargs -d "\n" -n 1 -I {} bash -c 'chars="$(echo "$1" | grep -o "[a-zA-Z0-9 ]" | wc -l)"; echo "$(( 100 - $(( $chars * 100 / ${#1} )) )) $1"' _ {} | sort -nrk 1 | less<br />
<br />
Outputs your bash_history, ordered by relative gibberishness. This was copied by hand from desktop to mobile, might well have a few typos.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.208|162.158.90.208]] 10:04, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The problem in the comic is not with regexes per se but with situations when the entered text or expression passes through several interpreters, like bash -> grep/sed/awk, or program text -> external shell command. In such cases, you have to escape backslashes for each program in the sequence, and it gets worse if you have 'real' backslashes in the final text that you're processing with the utilities (Windows' file paths, for example). See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_toothpick_syndrome.<br />
Feel free to lift this to the explanation page, since I'm not good at longer and more careful explanations than this one.<br />
Also, gotta notice that Feedly stripped paired backslashes in the title text (probably passed it through some 'interpreter' embedded in its scripts). [[User:Aasasd|Aasasd]] ([[User talk:Aasasd|talk]]) 10:13, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:A funny comment about the MediaWiki software, which is even worse than this comic: <code><nowiki><Nikerabbit> I looked the code for rlike and didn't find where it does this. Can you point me to it? <vvv> $pattern = preg_replace( '!(\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\)*(\\\\\\\\)?/!', '$1\\/', $pattern ); <Nikerabbit> I thought that was ascii art :)</nowiki></code> ([https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/P110$275 source]) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.215|162.158.91.215]] 10:18, 3 February 2016 (UTC)</div>162.158.91.215https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1632:_Palindrome&diff=109550Talk:1632: Palindrome2016-01-20T10:09:02Z<p>162.158.91.215: </p>
<hr />
<div>> Megan (i.e. Randall) has created a much longer palindrome based on this original<br />
<br />
Seems Randall didn't create the palindrome, which is also found in a forum posting on The Return of Talking Time dated May 14, 2012:<br />
<br />
[http://www.talking-time.net/showpost.php?p=1370627&postcount=6286 View Single Post]<br />
<br />
... unless of course that user was Randall.<br />
<br />
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.64.191|141.101.64.191]] 08:25, 20 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
:That does not seem likely. If the user invented the palindrome is of course also impossible to say, but it seems unlikely that Randall created it. I have corrected the explanation accordingly. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:44, 20 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
I found the centre of the very long palindrome that was linked to, it's the 'e' in "Hehre" which only occurs once in that 17826 word monstrousity. Easy to control F.<br />
<br />
Edit: first e. Not second one.<br />
--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.149|108.162.245.149]] 09:41, 20 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Is it really necessary to have the palindrome written forwards, without spaces, capitalised, reversed etc etc etc. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 09:58, 20 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Actually, there is another method to construct palindromes of arbitrary length: If X is a palindrome, then "'X' sides reversed is 'X'" is a palindrome, too. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.215|162.158.91.215]] 10:09, 20 January 2016 (UTC)</div>162.158.91.215https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1619:_Watson_Medical_Algorithm&diff=1074381619: Watson Medical Algorithm2015-12-21T10:22:51Z<p>162.158.91.215: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1619<br />
| date = December 21, 2015<br />
| title = Watson Medical Algorithm<br />
| image = watson_medical_algorithm.png<br />
| titletext = Due to a minor glitch, 'discharge patient' does not cause the algorithm to exit, but instead leads back to 'hunt down and capture patient'.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|much more on the different procedures etc.}}<br />
<br />
IBM's {{w|Watson_(computer)|Watson}} is a natural language system designed to answer questions posed by humans. Recently, IBM has extended Watson to act as a {{w|clinical decision support system}}, using image analytics to aid physicians in medical decision making. In this comic, Randall shows a {{w|Flowchart|flowchart}} representing a possible algorithm for Watson, including bizarre techniques including surgical alteration of a patient to match a height and weight chart and squeezing the patient to remove yellow fluids. Like [[416: Zealous Autoconfig]], this comic pokes fun at a rigid, poorly-designed setup that ends up potentially doing more harm than good. The algorithm depicted treats a patient as more of a machine or mechanical system than a living being, especially through decisions such as:<br />
<br />
* Injecting oxygen into patients with low oxygen saturation, rather than treating the root cause<br />
* Removing and inspecting a skeleton, then diagnosing the patient's condition with a bone count<br />
* Dissecting a doctor "for parts" after consulting him or her for advice<br />
* Removing extra limbs from a patient if the count is less than 100<br />
* Determining whether the "build environment" of the patient is sane. This is most probably a reference to the configure script used in the {{w|GNU_build_system|GNU build system}}, which emits "checking whether build environment is sane" as one of its status messages.<br />
* Rinsing the whole patient with a saline solution<br />
* Removing organs from a patient regardless of response to an organ donation request<br />
<br />
Other decisions appear to be entirely unrelated to the conditions upon which they are predicated:<br />
<br />
* If the patient has left because he did not cough up blood, then hunt down and capture patient (and continue)<br />
* If the patient doesn't rate their pain on a scale from 0-10, sequence their genome, apply a {{w|tourniquet}}, and perform an {{w|autopsy}}<br />
* If the patient's phones battery is low, defibrillate until the battery is charged, sync photos, then administer general anesthesia<br />
* If the patient is successfully comforted after an oxygen injection, check their medical history and apply skin grafts<br />
* If green fluid is released from the patient, begin to cauterize<br />
* If the patient has 100+ limbs, check their Vitamin D level<br />
<br />
The title text implies that, if the patient is so lucky to ever reach one of the two places with the option "discharge patient," a minor glitch will cause to program to go back to the ''hunt down and capture patient'' option which thus force the patient and the program to repeat the process again in an infinite cycle, that will only end once the patient give another rating of their pain level than on the 0-10 scale. Then the program will start to sequence their genome then apply a tourniquet and finally perform an autopsy, on what will in the end for certain be a deceased patient, but maybe not when the autopsy began. This will finally cause the patient to leave the cycle... as a corpse!<br />
<br />
This is one of many comics with [[:Category:Flowcharts|flowcharts]], amongst other a recent comic with that very name: [[1488: Flowcharts]].<br />
<br />
This is the second comic in a row about health issues with the last comic being [[1618: Cold Medicine]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript and Discussion of Medical Appropriateness==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
{| border=1 <br />
| | <b >Step</b><br />
| | <b >Medically valid?</b><br />
| | <b >Conditions and following step</b><br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Draw Blood<br />
| background-color:green |<br />
Phlebotomy is a normal early step in the diagnostic process, but not as first and unconditional step<br />
| | <br />
Record patient’s name<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Record patient’s name<br />
| background-color:green |<br />
OK<br />
| | <br />
Measure Patient’s height and Weight<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Measure Patient’s height and Weight<br />
| | <br />
OK<br />
| | <br />
Consult Standard height/weight chart<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Consult Standard height/weight chart<br />
| | <br />
OK<br />
| | <br />
Surgically adjust patient to match<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Surgically adjust patient to match<br />
| | <br />
May be considered ethically dubious unless there are sound medical reasons for doing so. Could be an allusion to [[en:Procrustes]]<br />
| | <br />
Is patient coughing up blood?<br />
|- <br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
Is patient coughing up blood?<br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
| | <br />
Yes: Gather blood and return it to body<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
No: Is patient still here?<br />
|- <br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
Is patient still here?<br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
| | <br />
Yes: Record pulse rate<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
No: Hunt down and capture patient<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Hunt down and capture patient<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
Is patient still here?<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Gather blood and return it to body<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
Record pulse rate<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Record pulse rate<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
Is patient screaming?<br />
<br />
<br />
|- <br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
Is patient screaming? <br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
| | <br />
Yes: Ignore <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
No: Check blood O2 saturation<br />
|- <br />
|- <br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 ` | <br />
Check blood O2 saturation<br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
<br />
| | <br />
&gt;50%: Remove and inspect skeleton<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
&lt;50%: Inject oxygen<br />
|- <br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
Remove and inspect skeleton<br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
| | <br />
Too many bones: Is fluid coming out of patient?<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Too few bones: Request consult with human doctor<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Request consult with human doctor<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
Dissect doctor for parts<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Dissect doctor for parts<br />
| | <b >This may be considered ethically dubious.<span > </span></b>Possible<br />
reference to the Doctor Who episode “The girl in the fireplace”<br />
| | <br />
Discharge patient<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Discharge patient<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
END STATE<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Is fluid coming out of patient<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Squeeze patient<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
What colour?<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Activate sprinklers<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Subdue patient<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Apply cream<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Ask patient to rate pain level<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Massage scalp<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Patient is healthy<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Admit for observation<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Laser eye removal<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Sequence genome<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Apply tourniquet<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Perform autopsy<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Inject oxygen<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Comfort patient<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Subdue patient<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Review medical history<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Skin grafts<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Count number of limbs<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Remove extra limbs<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Measure vitamin D<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Check whether build environment is sane<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Rinse patient with saline solution<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Is patient phone battery low?<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Defibrillate<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Sync photos from camera<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Administer general anaesthesia<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Blood loss?<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Patient address changed?<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Request organ donation<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Remove organs<br />
| | <br />
| <br />
|- <br />
| |<br />
Discharge patient<br />
| | <br />
| END STATE<br />
<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]<br />
[[Category:Flowcharts]]</div>162.158.91.215https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1619:_Watson_Medical_Algorithm&diff=1074371619: Watson Medical Algorithm2015-12-21T10:21:04Z<p>162.158.91.215: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1619<br />
| date = December 21, 2015<br />
| title = Watson Medical Algorithm<br />
| image = watson_medical_algorithm.png<br />
| titletext = Due to a minor glitch, 'discharge patient' does not cause the algorithm to exit, but instead leads back to 'hunt down and capture patient'.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|much more on the different procedures etc.}}<br />
<br />
IBM's {{w|Watson_(computer)|Watson}} is a natural language system designed to answer questions posed by humans. Recently, IBM has extended Watson to act as a {{w|clinical decision support system}}, using image analytics to aid physicians in medical decision making. In this comic, Randall shows a {{w|Flowchart|flowchart}} representing a possible algorithm for Watson, including bizarre techniques including surgical alteration of a patient to match a height and weight chart and squeezing the patient to remove yellow fluids. Like [[416: Zealous Autoconfig]], this comic pokes fun at a rigid, poorly-designed setup that ends up potentially doing more harm than good. The algorithm depicted treats a patient as more of a machine or mechanical system than a living being, especially through decisions such as:<br />
<br />
* Injecting oxygen into patients with low oxygen saturation, rather than treating the root cause<br />
* Removing and inspecting a skeleton, then diagnosing the patient's condition with a bone count<br />
* Dissecting a doctor "for parts" after consulting him or her for advice<br />
* Removing extra limbs from a patient if the count is less than 100<br />
* Determining whether the "build environment" of the patient is sane. This is most probably a reference to the configure script used in the {{w|GNU_build_system|GNU build system}}, which emits "checking whether build environment is sane" as one of its status messages.<br />
* Rinsing the whole patient with a saline solution<br />
* Removing organs from a patient regardless of response to an organ donation request<br />
<br />
Other decisions appear to be entirely unrelated to the conditions upon which they are predicated:<br />
<br />
* If the patient has left because he did not cough up blood, then hunt down and capture patient (and continue)<br />
* If the patient doesn't rate their pain on a scale from 0-10, sequence their genome, apply a {{w|tourniquet}}, and perform an {{w|autopsy}}<br />
* If the patient's phones battery is low, defibrillate until the battery is charged, sync photos, then administer general anesthesia<br />
* If the patient is successfully comforted after an oxygen injection, check their medical history and apply skin grafts<br />
* If green fluid is released from the patient, begin to cauterize<br />
* If the patient has 100+ limbs, check their Vitamin D level<br />
<br />
The title text implies that, if the patient is so lucky to ever reach one of the two places with the option "discharge patient," a minor glitch will cause to program to go back to the ''hunt down and capture patient'' option which thus force the patient and the program to repeat the process again in an infinite cycle, that will only end once the patient give another rating of their pain level than on the 0-10 scale. Then the program will start to sequence their genome then apply a tourniquet and finally perform an autopsy, on what will in the end for certain be a deceased patient, but maybe not when the autopsy began. This will finally cause the patient to leave the cycle... as a corpse!<br />
<br />
This is one of many comics with [[:Category:Flowcharts|flowcharts]], amongst other a recent comic with that very name: [[1488: Flowcharts]].<br />
<br />
This is the second comic in a row about health issues with the last comic being [[1618: Cold Medicine]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript and Discussion of Medical Appropriateness==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
{| border=1 <br />
| | <b >Step</b><br />
| | <b >Medically valid?</b><br />
| | <b >Conditions and following step</b><br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Draw Blood<br />
| background-color:green |<br />
Phlebotomy is a normal early step in the diagnostic process, but not as first and unconditional step<br />
| | <br />
Record patient’s name<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Record patient’s name<br />
| background-color:green |<br />
OK<br />
| | <br />
Measure Patient’s height and Weight<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Measure Patient’s height and Weight<br />
| | <br />
OK<br />
| | <br />
Consult Standard height/weight chart<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Consult Standard height/weight chart<br />
| | <br />
OK<br />
| | <br />
Surgically adjust patient to match<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Surgically adjust patient to match<br />
| | <br />
May be considered ethically dubious unless there are sound medical reasons for doing so.<br />
| | <br />
Is patient coughing up blood?<br />
|- <br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
Is patient coughing up blood?<br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
| | <br />
Yes: Gather blood and return it to body<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
No: Is patient still here?<br />
|- <br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
Is patient still here?<br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
| | <br />
Yes: Record pulse rate<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
No: Hunt down and capture patient<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Hunt down and capture patient<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
Is patient still here?<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Gather blood and return it to body<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
Record pulse rate<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Record pulse rate<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
Is patient screaming?<br />
<br />
<br />
|- <br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
Is patient screaming? <br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
| | <br />
Yes: Ignore <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
No: Check blood O2 saturation<br />
|- <br />
|- <br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 ` | <br />
Check blood O2 saturation<br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
<br />
| | <br />
&gt;50%: Remove and inspect skeleton<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
&lt;50%: Inject oxygen<br />
|- <br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
Remove and inspect skeleton<br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
| | <br />
Too many bones: Is fluid coming out of patient?<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Too few bones: Request consult with human doctor<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Request consult with human doctor<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
Dissect doctor for parts<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Dissect doctor for parts<br />
| | <b >This may be considered ethically dubious.<span > </span></b>Possible<br />
reference to the Doctor Who episode “The girl in the fireplace”<br />
| | <br />
Discharge patient<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Discharge patient<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
END STATE<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Is fluid coming out of patient<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Squeeze patient<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
What colour?<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Activate sprinklers<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Subdue patient<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Apply cream<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Ask patient to rate pain level<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Massage scalp<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Patient is healthy<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Admit for observation<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Laser eye removal<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Sequence genome<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Apply tourniquet<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Perform autopsy<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Inject oxygen<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Comfort patient<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Subdue patient<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Review medical history<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Skin grafts<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Count number of limbs<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Remove extra limbs<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Measure vitamin D<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Check whether build environment is sane<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Rinse patient with saline solution<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Is patient phone battery low?<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Defibrillate<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Sync photos from camera<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Administer general anaesthesia<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Blood loss?<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Patient address changed?<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Request organ donation<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Remove organs<br />
| | <br />
| <br />
|- <br />
| |<br />
Discharge patient<br />
| | <br />
| END STATE<br />
<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]<br />
[[Category:Flowcharts]]</div>162.158.91.215https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1603:_Flashlights&diff=1050051603: Flashlights2015-11-13T11:09:18Z<p>162.158.91.215: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1603<br />
| date = November 13, 2015<br />
| title = Flashlights<br />
| image = flashlights.png<br />
| titletext = Due to a typo, I initially found a forum for serious Fleshlight enthusiasts, and it turns out their highest-end models are ALSO capable of setting trees on fire. They're impossible to use without severe burns, but some of them swear it's worth it.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
In this comic, Cueball has acquired or built a new high powered flashlight, which he wants to demonstrate to Megan. When Cueball refers to classic [[Wikipedia:flashlights|Flashlights]] (torches) as dim and finnicky, this gives reason to assume that the flashlight he is holding is going to be ridiculously overengineered.<br />
<br />
Indeed, when he switches it on outside the house, the light completely drowns out the scene with only the beam and its immediate reflections being drawn as bright.<br />
<br />
Megan observes that the trees the light is pointed at are now on fire, indicating that Cueball's flashlight is so overpowered that the energy of its beam is sufficient to cause the organic matter of trees to combust.<br />
<br />
Of course, a flashlight that cannot safely be pointed at things is fairly useless for the traditional purpose of a flashlight, which would be to find things in the dark by directing light over them. This mundane and practical reasoning does not seem to matter to Cueball of course, who appears only interested in the intensity and brightness the device is capable of achieving.<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
The title text refers to Fleshlight, which turns out to be a brand of male masturbation toys modelled after various female orifices. The means by which the highest-end models of their product lines would generate enough heat and friction to set a tree on fire is better left to the imagination, and best not imagined at all.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
[Cueball carries a flashlight walking towards Megan who is sitting on a couch]<br />
<br />
Cueball: Remember how flashlights sucked when we were kids? Always dim and finnicky?<br />
<br />
Megan: I guess?<br />
<br />
[Cueball and Megan walking away to the left]<br />
<br />
Cueball: Well, I discovered there are now internet flashlight enthusiasts.And the technology has... improved.<br />
<br />
Megan: OK, Let's see<br />
<br />
[Darkness surrounds Cueball and Megan. '''''FWOOSH''''' a beam of light from the flashlight. Megan shielding her eyes with her arm]<br />
<br />
Cueball: See how it lights up the whole forest?<br />
<br />
Megan: ...the trees are on fire.<br />
<br />
Cueball: Real bright though.<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>162.158.91.215