https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=Dextrous+Fred&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T22:40:20ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2879:_Like_This_One&diff=332801Talk:2879: Like This One2024-01-12T17:09:12Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Minor comment</p>
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i'm very confused what "this gas molecule" or "this skin microbe" is meant to be; it doesn't seem like there would contextually be an obvious specific instance of either of those classes? looking forward to seeing the conjecture given in the explanation when it settles down - [[User:Vaedez|Vaedez]] ([[User talk:Vaedez|talk]]) 02:48, 11 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
:I believe it's referring to her holding her hand out to signify a (large number of) gas molecules. --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.49|172.69.34.49]] 02:55, 11 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
::ahh, what she meant was "like these ones"--ok, I understand what both would mean now. - [[User:Vaedez|Vaedez]] ([[User talk:Vaedez|talk]]) 03:02, 11 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
:::She's pointing at one molecule. Just because you can't pick it out of the mass doesn't change that. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 03:55, 11 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
:::: Indeed. And one wouldn't want to get the wrong idea about ''which'' molecule she might study. Obviously, there are a lot of N<sub>2</sub> ones, and a few O<sub>2</sub>s, but they're not necessarily of interest. The odd noble gas atom (if that counts as a molecule-of-one) or CO<sub>2</sub> would probably be the more useful, along with SO<sub>2</sub> / O<sub>3</sub> / other trace ones as what she might be indicating. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.79|141.101.99.79]] 05:34, 11 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
:::::In my head-canon, she's using her stick-figure hand to point out an exceedingly long nitrogen nanotube that she's manufactured. Could be interpreted as a threatening gesture, I suppose? <br />
:::::[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 16:00, 11 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
: I think that's the whole joke - such statements are inevitably true, but at the same time essentially meaningless. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.140|172.70.86.140]] 16:49, 11 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
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Other possible instances would include "Hominids" and "False vacuums". I was sure it was going to end with, "Cartoons like this one." [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 03:55, 11 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
: Also, neutrinos would go on the list [[Special:Contributions/172.68.144.217|172.68.144.217]] 10:25, 11 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
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"I'm a researcher studying potential apocalyptic events..." [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.115|172.70.90.115]] 09:40, 11 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
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Hmm. I’m a criminologist studying the behavior patterns of psychopaths.<br />
::But wait, is the 'this one' referring to you, or me...? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.50|172.71.178.50]] 16:04, 11 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
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"I'm a researcher studying computer simulations…" (sadly, not actually the kind we are (maybe) living in but close enough) [[User:Brycemw|Brycemw]] ([[User talk:Brycemw|talk]]) 14:17, 11 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
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"I'm a researcher studying research topics..." [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 15:35, 11 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
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"I study logical paradoxes..." (¿"...like this one"?) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.43.180|172.69.43.180]] 15:45, 11 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
:"I study self-referential statements..." [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 17:09, 12 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
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"I'm a biologist studying key turning points in human evolution... like this one!" "Man - that is the worst pick-up line..."[[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.71|172.70.90.71]] 16:20, 11 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
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"I study mathematical integers... like this 1." [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 20:44, 11 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
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"I study human comments..." --Anonymous<br />
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"I study traditional pub signs, like The Swan" [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.55|172.71.178.55]] 09:32, 12 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
:Is ‘The Swan’ perhaps owned by [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Gnome_Ann Gnome Ann] (at least in this hypothetical)? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.1.131|172.68.1.131]] 14:59, 12 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
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"Skin microbes" seems a bit (intentionally?) obscure, especially since, it seems to me, the closest a modern microbiologist gets to an actual bacterium is its Illumina lane. "Skin <em>lesions</em>", however (warts, moles, calluses, liver spots, eczema/psoriasis, melanoma, yada) ... Of course, this might only occur to audiences of [<em>ahem</em>] a certain age (cue Rod Stewart's/Bob Dylan's "Forever Young" ...) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.207.186|172.70.207.186]] 21:51, 11 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
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”I’m a linguist studying languages”, and “I’m a student studying fictional works” also are kinda funny. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.1.130|172.68.1.130]] 15:01, 12 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
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== Do we really want to break down each bullet point? ==<br />
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We could probably do well to simplify it to just something saying the list contains things immediately surrounding the characters, part of their bodies, or intangible ideas commonly employed during normal conversation. It probably doesn't need to explain what sound waves are, for instance --[[User:Raviolio|Raviolio]] ([[User talk:Raviolio|talk]]) 15:34, 11 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
:If breaking them all down, perhaps better a simple table rather than each 'hanging off' a bullet-point. But then we're more committed to breaking them ''all'' down (including Title Text) with potentially several paragraphs per 'explanation column cell'. (My preference, this moment, would be to restore the simple bullet-list then follow with the "air molecules" expansion below in regular prose, perhaps briefly zoom through the others in a single para to follow that, if not just wikilink those and leave to be checked at will. But that's just based upon what the current text might best be formatted as.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.43.180|172.69.43.180]] 15:45, 11 January 2024 (UTC)<br />
::The long exploration of exactly what interpretation of 'like' should be placed on Ponytail's remark that's currently attached to the bullet point seems rather peripheral to the joke. If anything ought to be explained, it's why each thing would (a) always be present (or at least, with rare exceptions like being in a spacecraft in deep space), but also (b) not be usefully identified by the remark.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.36|172.69.194.36]] 16:43, 11 January 2024 (UTC)</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2824:_Abstract_Pickup&diff=323289Talk:2824: Abstract Pickup2023-09-05T15:03:45Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Typo, sorry</p>
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... nobody has anything to say? -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 02:34, 5 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
: self explanatory [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.144|172.69.22.144]] 02:54, 5 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
: we just dont like pickup artists, not much more to say - [[User:Vaedez|Vaedez]] ([[User talk:Vaedez|talk]]) 03:01, 5 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
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: I do: I think it is weird it is White Hat who performs the pickup-artistry on the abstract painting. Given the character traits, shouldn't we expect Black Hat? --[[Special:Contributions/172.64.238.101|172.64.238.101]] 12:52, 5 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
:: I get the impression that, while Black Hat has terrifying and misanthropic tendencies, mere pickup artistry is beneath him. He is, after all, a ''classhole''. I think White Hat (also rarely a sympathetic character) is being used because the casual jerkiness and disrespect (even in a slightly surreal scenario) would cheapen Black Hat's brand.[[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 15:03, 5 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
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: I suspect the US holiday on Monday had a large portion of editors busy with festivities. Editing will likely pickup today! (See what I did there?) [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 12:54, 5 September 2023 (UTC)</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2824:_Abstract_Pickup&diff=323288Talk:2824: Abstract Pickup2023-09-05T15:03:17Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Adding a comment</p>
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... nobody has anything to say? -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 02:34, 5 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
: self explanatory [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.144|172.69.22.144]] 02:54, 5 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
: we just dont like pickup artists, not much more to say - [[User:Vaedez|Vaedez]] ([[User talk:Vaedez|talk]]) 03:01, 5 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
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: I do: I think it is weird it is White Hat who performs the pickup-artistry on the abstract painting. Given the character traits, shouldn't we expect Black Hat? --[[Special:Contributions/172.64.238.101|172.64.238.101]] 12:52, 5 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
:: I get the impression that, while Black Hat has terrifying and misanthropic tendencies, that mere pickup artistry is beneath him. He is, after all, a ''classhole''. I think White Hat (also rarely a sympathetic character) is being used because the casual jerkiness and disrespect (even in a slightly surreal scenario) would cheapen Black Hat's brand.[[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 15:03, 5 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
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: I suspect the US holiday on Monday had a large portion of editors busy with festivities. Editing will likely pickup today! (See what I did there?) [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 12:54, 5 September 2023 (UTC)</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2818:_Circuit_Symbols&diff=321591Talk:2818: Circuit Symbols2023-08-22T15:18:16Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Response to comment</p>
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The direct link to the comic is getting a 404 error. But it appears at the xkcd.com home page. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 01:31, 22 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
:The link is working now. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 02:33, 22 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
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Randall is symbolizing sheep with a coil because ... wool takes a helical shape. See https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wool#/media/File:Royal_Winter_Fair_Wool.jpg. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 02:33, 22 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
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The title text is probably a reference to the classic novella "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne (a common classroom reading in the US). In this novella, a young Puritan woman "sins" by having a child out of wedlock. She is punished by having to wear the letter A (for adultery). [[User:Comsmomf|Comsmomf]] ([[User talk:Comsmomf|talk]]) 02:54, 22 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
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Can someone with more wiki-foo than me please put the actual images for the symbols in a new first column? [[User:Blackbearnh|Blackbearnh]] ([[User talk:Blackbearnh|talk]]) 03:01, 22 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I tried, unsuccessfully, to learn if there were "Scarlet Letters" that represented other sins ['A' is mentioned to be for 'Adultery', Maybe 'O' for Onanism?] [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 03:41, 22 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
:From what I understand, ‘BJ’ had its fair share of supporters. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.247|172.70.210.247]] 04:47, 22 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
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What exactly does "the opposite of capacitors" mean in this context? I'm not that familiar with EE, but from my limited understanding of inductors this is an incorrect and confusing statement. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.79|172.70.126.79]] 08:07, 22 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
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:They are the conjugate complex (so the sentence is kind of half-true), if you consider complex impedances. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.169|172.68.110.169]] 08:56, 22 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
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:Behaviorally the description makes sense, capacitors behave the same way regarding voltage vs. current as inductors behave regarding current vs. voltage and vice versa. Capacitors can "instantaneously" allow a spike in the current flowing through the circuit path that they are placed in, while the voltage across a capacitor can't change instantaneously and requires time to change incrementally (with a corresponding decline over time in the current flowing). Inductors "instantaneously" allow the voltage across their terminals to spike, but the current flowing through it can't change instantaneously and requires time to change incrementally (with a corresponding decline in the voltage across the inductor). Capacitors can act as a sort of "shock absorber" (no pun intended) or low-pass frequency filter for voltages, as inductors can for current. So they are very much considered complementary and the "essentially the opposite of capacitors" comment does pretty much make sense to EEs. But yes, it's not a particularly illuminating description without that background, and the description isn't really valid regarding their physical makeup or what makes them tick, just their role in a circuit. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.146.213|172.71.146.213]] 09:32, 22 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
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The "overpass" is troubling me, as a map fan. Dependant upon the conventions of any given map illustrator this could easily be more an ''underpass'' (main road being the || track, lesser track being the — that sneaks beneath it) or a 'green bridge' (road is the — and the bridge 'symbol' is the || with no actual route using the space between its edges) or a minor road intersection of an uncrossable dual carriageway (each || is a directional way, separated by central reservation, and a historic road/lane is given T-junction access to/from the adjacent direction of travel, but no local flyover to access the opposite continuation/direction, probably have to use other flyovers/turning points above and below this snapshot). Or it's just a regular major/minor crossroads (track-level horizontal/E-W, more main road vertically/N-S) and is entirely at-grade so not involving a bridge at all. But all very much will repy upon the publisher's/renderer's choice of map-symbolism. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.95|172.70.91.95]] 11:27, 22 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
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:What's your hope? That Randall will edit his comic? -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 11:41, 22 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
:I appreciated the map trivia, personally [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 15:18, 22 August 2023 (UTC)</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2816:_Types_of_Solar_Eclipse&diff=321144Talk:2816: Types of Solar Eclipse2023-08-18T16:54:01Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Response to comment</p>
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Is the annular eclipse actually possible? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.118|162.158.78.118]] 21:24, 16 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
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Yes. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/eclipses/2023/oct-14-annular/where-when/ [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.7|172.69.33.7]] 21:34, 16 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I interpret the Hug Eclipse as the sun wrapping around the moon giving it a hug, rather than the moon being pinched in on the sides. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.62|172.70.211.62]] 21:38, 16 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
:I amended that (twice, first time got blitzed in an Edit Conflict situation), when I thought of a better way (two slightly different better ways! ...might not even have used the better one, in instance #2) to describe it. But I rushed a bit anyway... I can see typos. (Not including the likes of "centre", which is not a typo but me defaulting to British English by default; though no doubt that 'needs' changing too.)<br />
:I'm still wondering if just "label" and "description" columns are needed (image details can be recycled into Transcript, per label). Or if it could be ";header" and ":...description" without the table, but I think it looks no worse than I had feared, as the current table form. Of course, others have added more prosaic explanation paragraphs, so I'll let it sit a while. Almost certainly the other active editors here are going to have ideas about how to merge/expunge my efforts, and I'll let them copyedit my errors/'errors' as well. But at least there's a framework answer (or several) now. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.179|172.70.162.179]] 22:20, 16 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
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That must be a VERY scary dragonite. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.153|172.71.26.153]] 02:20, 17 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
: I think I need an explain XKCD for the dragonite reference in the bot joke... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.160|172.70.210.160]] 16:49, 17 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
:: Looks like it was originally [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2816:_Types_of_Solar_Eclipse&diff=next&oldid=321046 just a dragon] (consistent with various actual eclipse-myths). I'm not so sure whether it became a Pokemon creature (does that have Sun-eating capabilities?), which seems to be the main searchable reference, or something even less known to me. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.63|172.70.86.63]] 17:17, 17 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
::: Presumably it's a dragon which has survived its atmospheric entry and landed on the earth's surface.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.219|172.70.85.219]] 16:10, 18 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I love this community, which will explain how a solar panel works and why the moon cannot give the sun a hug with the same level of rigor and detail. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.247.40|172.69.247.40]] 04:26, 17 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Arguably, the Sun is constantly hugging the Moon, through the warming arms of the Solar Winds.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.39|172.70.86.39]] 16:15, 18 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I have always wondered about solar eclipses... does anybody else think it's really weird that the Earth is not just the only planet with exactly the right ratios of star/satellite size/distance to make eclipses happen, but is also the only planet (so far as we know) where there's an evolved intelligence that can appreciate such a phenomenon? After all, a similar effect viewable only from Mars or Venus would be totally wasted... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.161|172.70.91.161]] 06:35, 17 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
: It is indeed a weird thing. We don't know if it is a weird thing that is of significance for life or intelligence or civilisation, or if it is just a happenstance weird thing. The universe has all kinds of weird things. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.22|162.158.74.22]] 07:22, 17 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
: "Right place, right time". It helps that we have a Moon roughly the same (angular) size of the Sun, which seems rare, but if we didn't know it was a thing then we might not miss the coincidence. And, because of the slightly drifting Moon, at some time in the past (tens/hundreds of millions of years ago), we never had annular eclipses – but then very few people appreciated that. In another few millions of years, we'll lose all possibility of total eclipses (imagine being there to witness that last one, everyone who makes effort to be there cramming into the short stretch of 'final, brief totality' in the literally-ultimate hybrid eclipse...).<br />
: On human scales, it's a fairly wide window that may very well out-spread the full reach of humanity (in fact, I'd bet on it, but do feel free to try to collect if we're both there jostling for room in that 'last eclipse sweet-spot' viewing platform). But imagine all the other astronomical co-inky-dinks that we ''might'' have witnessed if humanity were significantly shifted by time (and place) in the universe. Instead of "very edge of totality" eclipses, who knows what else might have been (surprisingly-)'normal'... Or at least totally different (not-)Earth (not-)Moon (not-)Sun eclipse combinations that are right-sized just like ours is. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.69|172.70.91.69]] 08:49, 17 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
::postscript: of course, if large moons (created like ours was supposed to be) had to be settled down enough to allow life (after the Thea-like impact) but significant enough to cause tides (variously theorised as driving the chemical creation of life, if not the later development of advanced life forms or even the prerequisites of civilisation leading to scientific enquiry) then ''perhaps'' the chances of any equivalent beings to ourselves having any equivalent eclipses to what we see is slightly raised above that of 'any random planet with or without appreciative audience'. But, until we get very good at surveying exoplanetary systems (if we ever do) and/or visit them ourselves (ditto, with bells on), it'll be hard to quantify any inherant tendency to serve such things up on a platter to all those who might appreciate it. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.69|172.70.91.69 (again)]] 09:07ish, 17 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
: I don't understand your 'evolved intelligence'. Whether planet that has intelligence is very not-correlated with its capacity to create eclipses. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.36|172.69.71.36]] 18:40, 17 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
:: SFAIK, there's no evidence from which to base ''any'' kind of correlation/non-correlation/anti-correlation between intelligence and eclipses, given that we have only one instance of a planet with intelligence upon it to study (and we might even learn of further eclipse-worthy planets well before we do of intelligence-populated ones). Speculative reasoning can try to fill in gaps, maybe (see just above), as long as one realises it's wild-ass-guessing. But, luckily, the thing you're replying to doesn't even try to suggest that by any reasonable reading of it. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.65|172.71.242.65]] 21:25, 17 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
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By the time you see the cuboid eclipse, it's already too late. Resistance is futile. <br />
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 23:52, 17 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
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Given that [https://socratic.org/questions/why-is-earth-s-moon-spherical the moon is slightly oblate], would an oblate eclipse be possible when the angular sizes of the moon and sun are almost the same? [[User:Ehusmark|EHusmark]] ([[User talk:Ehusmark|talk]]) 09:11, 18 August 2023 (UTC)<br />
:A good question, but the diagram shows the sun as being oblate, so I don't think the intention was to reference the slight (but real) oblate nature of the moon. Good catch, though. [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 16:54, 18 August 2023 (UTC)</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2798:_Room_Temperature&diff=3172042798: Room Temperature2023-07-05T21:37:03Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Adding a relevant link</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2798<br />
| date = July 5, 2023<br />
| title = Room Temperature<br />
| image = room_temperature_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 299x352px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = They're also refusing to fund my device that demonstrates uncontrolled hot fusion.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a LUKEWARM FUSION REACTOR - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
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Semiconductors are a common electronic component of many modern day devices including computers. Most computers have heat sinks, because semiconductors generate heat when operating and don’t work when they are too hot. However, [[Cueball]] has “discovered” a semiconductor that works in normal temperatures, which already exists, so this “discovery” is not useful to anyone. The second layer to this joke is the current hunt for room temperature superconductors, which would be a huge boon to the advancement of quantum computers, as most superconductors are predominantly only superconducting at 70 Kelvin or below. <br />
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In the title text, he is talking about a device that produces “uncontrollable hot fusion”. This is also known as a [[wikipedia:thermonuclear weapon| thermonuclear weapon]]. In reality, “cold fusion” is theoretically a way to produce lots of cheap energy, which many people would be interested in and has received significant research funding as a way to provide environmentally-safe energy for humanity. Again, in proposing something that sounds new he has “invented” something that already exists.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
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{{comic discussion}}</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:Dextrous_Fred&diff=313197User:Dextrous Fred2023-05-15T20:55:26Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Creating my one-sentence bio</p>
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<div>Just an xkcd fan here to browse and occasionally contribute.</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2775:_Siphon&diff=313191Talk:2775: Siphon2023-05-15T17:18:27Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Just a note to a community member</p>
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My understanding was that siphoning can essentially be explained by the Bernoulli equation? There is a difference in potential energy between the upper and lower container so it flows. The weight of water in the downhill part of the tube pulls water up the uphill section of the tube (think like a vacuum), and so on until there's either no difference in head or no more water. Siphoning will work with any diameter tube. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.151|172.70.91.151]] 15:43, 12 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
:That's right. The only mention of capillary action in the siphon wikipedia article is when talking about phenomenon that *isn't* a siphon. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:15, 12 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
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Agree, capillary action does not seem to be referenced or implied in the comic, presenting only the (not "functioning") siphon phenomenon. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.134.142|172.68.134.142]] 16:23, 12 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Seconded/thirded. Capillary action isn't even what they were expecting. The small amount of water in the lowe receptical indicates they correctly ''filled'' the tube, but then as the longer length drained it did not then induce further flow up and over through the shorter length. e.g. nature no longer abhored the resulting vacuum (or there was increased negative-pressure vapourisation, beyond that previously expected, or other method of seepage 'airlock'-breaking) and thus the short-end also drained straight back out again instead of becoming a potentially self-sustaining inflow to the whole siphoning setup.<br />
::If the upper end got restricted (say by touching the side of the bucket) the loss of flow would allow air to enter the bottom end and drain out the tube. I've done this. :-( [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 19:07, 12 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
:::Indeed, even having an especially large diameter "tube" (/pipe etc) can allow air from the bottom to flow up to the peak & break the siphon effect. For reliable results, the lower end needs to be kept immersed or the hose needs to be relatively small in diameter. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 14:11, 13 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
:While the capilliary action element ''could'' induce the start of a rather limited 'empty' siphon setup to start (maybe, I'd have doubts about the 'fluid friction' actually acting against the gravity-feed part, once the surface-tension bit has "climbed the mountain" and started to merely seep out of the other end, almost incidentally, for a sufficiently thin tubing where CA is a significant factor), this suddenly failing for whatever reason (surface-tension effects being nullified) wouldn't then send a token amount of water into the low bucket, nor particularly stop unrelated siphon-flow from continuing properly (in fact, suddenly 'interaction-free' liquid and tubing might siphon ''faster'', with effectively zero fluid boundary effects dragging on the induced flow).<br />
:But perhaps someone with more QFD experience could explain where my assessment is wrong. So not going to personally rewrite the current Explanation intro just now. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.161|172.70.162.161]] 16:21, 12 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
:I'd like to contribute as one more data point. I also don't see capillary action as being relevant. In particular, as another commenter said, the water in the lower bucket quite clearly supports the idea that the siphon effect was the subject of the characters' confusion. How else is Randall supposed to depict the siphon effect anyway? I agree that the drawing alone ''could'' also suggest capillary action is what's being investigated, but I don't think it suggests that the caption has ''incorrectly'' referred to it as the siphon effect. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.254.100|172.71.254.100]] 18:44, 12 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
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Of course, if some physical law would actually stop working, people wouldn't be confused. They would drop dead. Due to physical laws working on level of elementary particles, every change would have lot of different effects ... and living organism live only thanks to being very carefully balanced in lot of regards. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 20:49, 12 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
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Bug report 6EQUJ5: Odd signal emitted from Sagittarius constellation. Status: Closed - could not reproduce. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.69|172.71.26.69]] 03:20, 13 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
:(I get that reference... :) However, launching off that to say: ) There's an old (short?) story... H.G. Wells era, possibly, but not him I think... where someone (who happened to be the first decent but amateur astronomer to get a cloudless patch of sky, one night) realises the Moon is in the wrong place, and the news then reaches (and troubles) the professional community who get a chance to observe/notice the change for the first fime and confirm it.. A 'glitch' seems to have passed through space and moved/retimed it, for a limited time, before it later snaps back to where (in the orbit) it now should be.<br />
:The trace of the glitch are seen further afield (implying a 'beam' of 'wrongness'), and ultimately it spawns something like Experimental Theology whereby observations of such clear "hand of the Creator" changes (implying we're essentially in a simulated universe being operated by a 'universal programmer', but in pre-computer terms) merge or muddy the boundaries between scientific rationalism (which clearly falls short) and religious philosophy (where undeniable 'proof' of something godlike is now suddenly an ironically confounding factor).<br />
:Cannot remember much about where I read it, I may be presuming some details about it that aren't actually there (even removing obvious mix-ups with similar brands of tale) and my Google-Fu fails to establish any obvious online reference to it (even just title+synoposis), so instead I'm setting down the 'spoilers' without reservation. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.151|172.70.91.151]] 13:04, 15 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
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Siphoning is NOT because of capillary action! That should be changed!! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.127.90|172.70.127.90]] 15:35, 13 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I guess I was wrong that siphons work because of capillary action. [[User:TianHanFei|TianHanFei]] ([[User talk:TianHanFei|talk]]) 1:57, 15 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
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::As someone who's been publicly wrong here before, it can be stressful, but if it's any consolation, you're one of today's (probably much fewer than) 10,000: https://xkcd.com/1053/ -- thanks for having a sense of humor about it [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 17:18, 15 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
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== Potential inspiration ==<br />
<br />
One potential source of inspiration for this comic is the Twitter [https://twitter.com/earth_updates account @Earth_Updates], which produces a lot of similar content. [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 19:54, 12 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I think if I added it to the article body it would get reverted, but the content seems very similar to how AI media produced delusional worlds for so many factions of people. It is not at all a big stretch to imagine people stepping into a metaverse or matrix where they aren’t sure what is real and physical laws match their intuition more than is actually correct. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.171|162.158.158.171]] 08:23, 13 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
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== Title text ==<br />
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Isn't the title text about stars like our sun rather than about plutonium? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.95|198.41.242.95]] 00:55, 13 May 2023 (UTC)h<br />
:Seems to me unlikely that anyone would refer to stars as 'rocks'.[[User:Catherine|Catherine]] ([[User talk:Catherine|talk]]) 02:54, 13 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
::There is Slate that turn into lava spontaneously after lying around for thousands of years. I think the area they are in is called "Smoking Hills". There was recent research why that slate does this while in much the rest of the world slate is just flat, black rocks. I still believe this title text is about plutonium, though, as that slate produces so much heat, that one still hasn't managed to measure how hot it gets - but it produces that heat not for an near-infinite duration.--[[User:Gunterkoenigsmann|Gunterkoenigsmann]] ([[User talk:Gunterkoenigsmann|talk]]) 01:48, 14 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
:::The only {{w|Smoking Hills}} that came to mind was natural shale-fires (chemical burning, and not hot enough for remelting to magma/lava.<br />
:::Possibly there is a {{w|natural nuclear fission reactor|situation}} where it has done as you say (in some natural mass of rock, spotted somewhere in this planet's lithosphere, or elsewhere out there), but given the fine line between nicely sustaining and runaway chain-reactions, I'm not sure how easy it is for nature to 'engineer' a way to land on the {{w|Corium (nuclear reactor)|middle ground}} and not go supercritical.<br />
:::In order for accumulating ores to not just start a low-level fizzle (as above), over millenia, you might need separate ore-patches either side of a fault to come together in a suddenish techtonic slip, rather than a slow buckling of layers to increase effective ore-densities. And then you've got earthquakes, already, so not sure if the very low-grade nuclear explosion that is awfully close to being possible in this chance contrived example (at one end of the probability curve, unless U<sup>238</sup> content is somehow preferentially leached out?) is going to be noticable.<br />
:::But ''just'' hot enough for lava? If not already close to melting, anyway, under local temperatures and pressures? Not sure we've seen anything like it, even if it is technically feasible given enough happenstance setups by geology(/exo-geology), since planets formed. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.152|172.70.91.152]] 09:16, 14 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
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== Title Text-Radiation ==<br />
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The title text is referring to the heat created by natural radioactive decay, not humans harnessing it in reactors. <br />
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The literal rocks of particularly radioactive elements still in the ground are constantly producing small amounts of heat without our assistance<br />
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[[Special:Contributions/172.71.151.48|172.71.151.48]] 06:27, 14 May 2023 (UTC)</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2775:_Siphon&diff=3130082775: Siphon2023-05-12T19:47:36Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Cleaned up a sentence</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2775<br />
| date = May 12, 2023<br />
| title = Siphon<br />
| image = siphon_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 310x378px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = ADDITIONAL NOTES: Fixed a bug that caused some rocks to generate virtually infinite heat while just sitting there.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a SIPHONIC WINDS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
Cueball and Megan have a demonstration of a {{w|Siphon}}, by which the gravitational force on an upper reservoir of liquid and molecular cohesion move a liquid upward through a tube, traversing a higher peak to reach a lower exit. Randall has also mentioned siphons in his book, "how to," section "how to make a pool."<br />
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Siphons are commonly used in modern society (e.g., American toilets are flushed by siphon action).<br />
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Siphons are separate from a similarly counterintuitive phenomenon of {{w|capillary action}}, where a liquid flows through narrow spaces, usually upwards (against gravity) in that a siphon can be of much larger diameter and capillary action can move liquid up an initially empty channel.<br />
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Apparently, even though Cueball and Megan have probably set up the experiment correctly, the water no longer demonstrates a siphon by flowing from the upper bucket to the lower. Cueball observes in surprise that "it's true," meaning that this is a very recent development, and Megan remarks that it was honestly weird in retrospect that scientists had ever tried to rationalise this admittedly counterintuitive phenomenon in the first place.<br />
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The punchline of the comic is in the caption, which delivers a piece of physics news that the "2023 update to the universe" finally fixed this phenomenon, dubbed "the siphon bug". The joke here is that the entire complex and multifaceted system of {{w|physics}} in and of itself is treated as though it's simply the logic (or perhaps the [[1620: Christmas Settings|officially maintained configuration]]) to a video game, and that capillary action (rather than being an interesting physical phenomenon worth studying) was nothing more than a bug unintentionally created by the "devs" (whoever that may be). In reality, capillary action still very much exists in our universe,{{citation needed}} though {{w|simulation hypothesis|the idea that we live in a computer simulation}} is also prevalent in {{w|the matrix|our modern pop culture}}.<br />
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The title text is a reference to [[2115: Plutonium]]. It expands on the joke surrounding the idea of an "Earth dev log" by referencing {{w|nuclear power}}, and how it's apparently another bug that some nuclear elements (notably {{w|uranium}} and {{w|plutonium}}, among others) can be and have been harnessed by humanity in order to generate virtually infinite amounts of energy, all while the elements themselves are simply sitting there in the core of some {{w|nuclear reactor}}.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[There are two jugs, the one on the left is on a stool and is filled with water, the other on the right is on the ground and has a small amount of water. Cueball standing on the left is holding a tube between the jugs, no water is flowing through it. Megan standing on the right is watching.]<br />
:Cueball: Wow, it's true—the water doesn't flow up the tube anymore.<br />
:Megan: Honestly, it's weird that it ever did.<br />
:Megan: Why did we think that was normal?<br />
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:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:Physics news: The 2023 update to the universe finally fixed the "siphon" bug.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2736:_Only_Serifs&diff=306203Talk:2736: Only Serifs2023-02-13T19:55:38Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Signing</p>
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<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
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first two letters are "A" and "R" I think [[Special:Contributions/172.71.167.10|172.71.167.10]] 04:35, 11 February 2023 (UTC)Bumpf<br />
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It's AaBbCcDd. Most likely in Caslon, based on the uppercase A. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.149|172.68.174.149]] 04:54, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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So much for a hidden message. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.238.22|172.68.238.22]] 05:05, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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If we've come to this page for an explanation, we probably don't know what a "solum-serif font" is. update the transcript with something more widely known? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.65.224|172.69.65.224]] 05:42, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Agreed, enthusiastically! Someone trying to show off, Google doesn't even know what it means, it found ONE result, which is a font of curved corners someone made (when I put "solum-serif" in quotes, to not allow Google to just search one or the other). But while I was Googling someone fixed it before I could, LOL! Which is weird as it's past midnight here in the Eastern time zone. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:56, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:: Perhaps you haven't realised that nighttime for Americans is daytime for, um, somewhere around 80-90% of the world's population? [[User:Paddles|Paddles]] ([[User talk:Paddles|talk]]) 14:54, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::: Of course I realize this. :) Seems like YOU don't realize that this site is one of many where it seems like most activity centers around the EST time zone... Perhaps related to Randall being in this time zone, perhaps not, but I'm usually alone at this time of night (for example, I almost NEVER get Edit Conflicts because seemingly everyone is asleep). For years I'm almost always the only person making contributions at this hour. Maybe think of that before making a misguided condescending reply. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:19, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::::You really live up to your username, eh? Charming ''and'' US-centric.<br />
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::I think that's probably because it was a joke. In fact the ridiculous of the notion of a "solum-serif" font is more or less the entirety of the joke of this comic. You're right, in the future we should make sure that these descriptions are devoid of humor.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.92|172.70.211.92]] 18:17, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:::But that's in the transcript particularly, the transcript should make sense as to what the image shows without prior knowledge [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.10|108.162.216.10]] 02:45, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:::Yes, as Mr./Ms. 216.10 pointed out, this was the transcript. PLENTY of room for jokes in the Explanation, but the Transcript should be as concise and straightforward as possible, in an effort to be clear. NOT the place for what seemed to be a self-coined term and trying to be clever. :) I've heard some blind and sight-impaired people follow the comic by having a reading program read these Transcripts, last thing they need is a non-word the program might trip over and can't define for them. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:19, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::::Exactly the transcript should not try to explain the comic. But should include all text as written text for later possibility to search for it. And finally the image should be described in some detail for those that are sight impaired. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::For anyone who is confused, 'solum' (solus) is Latin for 'only', as opposed to 'sans' (from the Latin 'sine'), without. I suppose the joke is rather hard to get, though, since the top Google search results for 'solum' refer to soil. (Not my joke, by the way. Also, first ever comment - hope I've done this right.) [[User:CryptekCathekh|CryptekCathekh]] ([[User talk:CryptekCathekh|talk]]) 21:21, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:::Thanks for the clarification, yes that makes sense. And yes, finely commented there. :) Yes, I got loads of industrial results for "Solum", which is why I had to force the search to include the "serif". [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:19, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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There was a whole thing on Wikipedia about formatting the f symbol for an arbitrary function. One camp held that f is just f, it always is and always was and if you italicize f in a san-serif font, you get an oblique ''f'' but if you italicize f in a serif font, you get a proper italic version, which I'm not sure how to display here. The italic f resembles ƒ, a character called the "hooked f," which is technically an oblique f with a descender ("hook"). That symbol has been used for florins, but sometimes it is also used to imitate the italic f to represent functions, because it has the descender in all environments. But Wikipedia uses a san-serif script, while most mathematical literature uses a serif script. However, it renders expressions in LaTeX with serif fonts and therefore these equations get an f with a descender. So some people were arguing that given this environment, the ƒ character was practically superior, even if it was conceptually wrong, because it most closely resembled the formatted LaTeX expressions. And on and on with the back and forth. I'm glad they eventually settled on just using f for f, like they use g for g and h for h, but still, it was amusingly nitpicky. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.100.50|172.70.100.50]] 07:58, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:What you listed as resembling italic f looks on my system like ⨍. There are lots of fun variations (some unrelated, just similar looking): ∫⨎ʄ∮∬∰⨏ƒʆᶘᔑ [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 08:48, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:That entire argument seems silly. Obviously the correct answer to "how do you write the function $f$ outside of math mode" is "don't". Just use math mode and let KaTeX handle the formatting. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.61|162.158.63.61]] 16:48, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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The title text teases the idea of a font made by adding the Times New Roman serifs to Comic Sans, and now I actually want to see such a cursed font. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.237|108.162.241.237]] 11:03, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Ask and ye shall receive: [[File:2736MovedSerifsV2.jpg]] :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::Is it weird that I kind of like Sans New Roman? (anonymous) 12:49, 13 February 2023 (EST)<br />
::Thanks I will include this in the explanation. Great work. Ugly as hell ;-) It might send some graphic designers your way! ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I think Caslon is correct:<br />
[https://ibb.co/J2WhP1g Caslon] [https://ibb.co/MG77JMX Overlay] [https://ibb.co/3yQtqbN Low Opacity Overlay]<br />
via [http://www.identifont.com/identify?58+.+5J+1JU+3YB+3RZ+35YX+94+JIA+58C+97+22X+8R8+1JY+2Z3A+6ZR+3Q+5BU+9J+1L0+76P+8Z+1QN+7UF+DG+5QE+J+JPK+8C+99+PAE+2AA6+2ZI+8X+8W+8J+1KS+JI6+2Z36+79+8E+53K+2E+1KI+8N+7VS+7S+2C6+1U6+8A+8R0+8F+3WO+2ZGL+1LA+7G+1QY+8B+A0 questions] in Identifont. If someone can add these to the wiki, please do. [[User:DragonDave|DragonDave]] ([[User talk:DragonDave|talk]]) 12:55 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I wonder if this is related to the US State Department dropping Times Roman in favor of Calibri, under the argument that the latter is easier to read. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.198|172.70.114.198]] 13:47, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I call these fonts seul serif, keeping with the theme of using French terminology. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.59|172.71.147.59]] 16:30, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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A free, existing example of [http://www.fontgrill.com/fonts/free/comic-serif/comic-serif.php Comic Serif].<br />
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.242|172.70.214.242]] 16:43, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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:^ TBH Comic Serif doesn't look half bad, if only it had a consistent baseline [[Special:Contributions/198.41.231.179|198.41.231.179]] 17:01, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Of course, since Comic is supposed to mimic casual handwriting, and people don't hand write serifs {{Citation needed}}, this messes up the concept, LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:02, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::Does not, if you go back far enough. Remember that a lot of old handwriting had serif-like parts due to the use of quills.<br />
:::True enough, but going back isn't appropriate, as computers '''''AREN'T''''' "back far enough", or at all. :) NOW, in the present day, nobody handwrites serifs. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC) <br />
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This comic reminds me of something I once actually did as a child: I once wrote a notepad full of game ideas and story concepts but wanted to keep them a secret; so I created my own "cipher" font where any straight lines in letters were removed, leaving only the curved lines. However, because some letters such as c and d would look similar without the straight lines, I gave some letters curved "serifs", which would be retained in my "font". --Jinji@donphan.social 20:32, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I'm most instances where the word "font" is used, the correct word is "typeface". "Times Roman" is a typeface whereas "Times Roman bold" is a font. -Jez [[Special:Contributions/172.70.93.42|172.70.93.42]] 20:56, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:I'd be inclined to suggest that "font", in common parlance, means what everyone here means it to mean, and that means that it is "correct". Nobody - OK, fine, potentially a negligible number of people - might wonder what's going on when "font" is used where you would prefer "typeface". It's not a matter of being "correct" though, unless we are (and we aren't) a community of people using typesetting language in a formal, technical sense. You know what ''is'' incorrect though? Writing "I'm" when you mean "In". Would I have said any of that had you not been so pedantic? You bet your sweet ass I wouldn't.[[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 22:08, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::Yorkshire Pudding there said everything I was tempted to and more last night, but said better than I would have. Thank you! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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That can't POSSIBLY be the right link under the word "events". We have an entire category of "my hobby"/"Cueball getting kicked out of events" comics and that isn't any of them. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.90|172.71.158.90]] 22:29, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:I concur. It links directly to comic 514, which has nothing to do with events or getting kicked out (I can't even think what comic they meant). I took a peek at 1514 and 2514, but those don't fit, either. ??? [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:07, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::Maybe [[541]] was meant? But I guess just linking to Category:Banned_from_conferences or even adding this to Category:Compromise would be better. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.166|198.41.242.166]] 14:58, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:::Yup, I feel sure you got it. I tried checking around 514 (going up to like 518, going down to like 510), didn't try transposing the digits. What's funny is that I often think of that specific comic 541, whenever I want a smiley face inside brackets, :) I'll update the explanation. EDIT: Ugh, someone removed it instead of fixing it. :( [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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It looks very similar to [http://tom7.org/lowercase/ Comic Sands] by tom7! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.30.106|172.71.30.106]] 16:49, 12 February 2023 (UTC)Bumpf<br />
:Oh incredible, I quite like the "futura work" section of that paper [[User:MrCandela|MrCandela]] ([[User talk:MrCandela|talk]]) 03:52, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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;A note for No Idea If There's A Character Limit LMAO<br />
:''(...because you don't have a Talk page I can write to...)''<br />
In response to recent edits from you with, for example, "(am i doing something wrong? THERE ARE TWO MANY JOKE TAGS!)" as the comment... The tag is the Incomplete (i.e. {{template|incomplete}}, and it is indeed arguable if all those marked as such are truly so (though you can bet your bottom dollar that plenty of times where the tag is removed, someone will then quite soon find something worth editing into an Explanation). But the "joke tag" is the community replacing the 'Bot-created reference to being created by A BOT with something an editor decides is funny. (They aren't always right, but someone else may impose their own humour - right or wrong - in place of the first comedian's attempt... And possibly the process repeats a few more times.)<br />
<br />So, anyway, that's what the joke ''part'' of the tag is about, though the presence of the tag itself is a bit more serious. Maybe you could say that an explanation a couple of weeks old (from time of creation, at comic-publication) is only going to be 'normally and irregularly tweaked, from now on', and so would lose the Incompleteness happily enough, but some might say sooner ''or'' later than that, perhaps depending upon the comic concerned. Mega-comics in particular (e.g. interactive April Fool ones, or Time-like in scope, or those needing a "larger" version to be linked to to red properly) where genuinely there are potentially still more discoveries to be made for quite some time.<br />
<br />Far more certain are the Incomplete Transcript statuses, because as soon as everything in the comic image is properly described (give or take subjective opinions), and it's in the de facto meta-notation, then removal of that status can be swift and painless (and still open to edits). Though do note that Transcripts do ''not'' currently need to contain the Title Text (it's already transcribed into the comic template header area, if done correctly), and in fact this is discouraged by the consensus view. The transcript just puts in text what is not aready in machine-readable text (for various purposes). So it's not Incomplete if every bit of Randall-drawn text is in there, every bit of drawn imagery is (sufficiently) described and - if necessary - the layout and relationships of things are also described (e.g, "There is a table which has...", rather than trying to render the table only in wikitable markup). It may not be ''correct'', but it should at least be considered complete, give or take a detail or so. ;)<br />
<br />You might understand the community process best by actually going through page history for a comic's page, from the very first creation by theusafBOT (or whoever) and looking at successive diff-pages. Depends on how much time you have, though :-p [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.223|172.70.162.223]] 01:14, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Who '''''are''''' you talking to? There's no comment like that or user name like that here (at least I don't see a comment when scanning through them). I was GOING to say instead of relying on a Talk page you should Reply to his comment, with a colon, like this... [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::There's a [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/No_Idea_If_There%27s_A_Character_Limit_LMAO relatively new user], who has (it seems) being confused over (+ removing), Incomplete template stuff. They currently have no Talk page, so looks like the chosen approach to 'message' them was to post something in the latest Discussion spot and hope they spot it by default. May not be the ideal way, but I can imagine it maybe working?<br />
::My POV is that Incomplete tags are supposed to help direct people to explanations needing completing, but don't really. For several reasons both technical and logistical. So their harmless fall-back as a s/A BOT/SOMETHING 'FUNNY'/ canvas is probably more a thing to be cherished. Which is not to say that they should stay that way forever, but I wouldn't persoally rush to remove them.<br />
::(And, though it may confuse new readers, as with Citation Needed, if it gets them thinking about what they might add then it's a sneaky nudge to get fresh blood actively into the editing community. Win-win? Opinions will vary!) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.134|172.70.162.134]] 12:05, 13 February 2023 (UTC) <br />
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I'm gonna make the comic sans/times new roman hybrid when I can get some time. Just calling dibs! [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 07:54, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:yeah, this is just "comic serif". It already exists [https://twitter.com/kiersi/status/1492183706009694210 here] [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 08:00, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::No it's not, it SAYS "remove the serifs from Times and add them to Comic", Comic Serif has its own serifs AND is missing a Times missing serifs. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:22, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Sorry, I already decided last night I would and I just made it before I read your dibs, guess I should have said something, :) Not going to throw out my work! :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:22, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::It's fine! I kinda abandoned it anyways and I don't think I would have done quite as good a job [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 09:04, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::I'd gotten as far as starting to manually tweak the tween-frames in a rather self-indulgent animated version. But your thing is as good as needs to be, and I don't have upload permissions here anyway, so it would have been too much fuss and probably just contributed to my own personal procrastination over the weekend. ;)<br />
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In case anyone wanted to know what it would look like if you moved the serifs from Times New Roman to Comic Sans, here's the before and after. :) [[File:2736MovedSerifsV2.jpg]][[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:22, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Please also adapt the [[kerning]]! This hurts my eyes. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.166|198.41.242.166]] 11:10, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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Randall's font isn't only serifs - there are some ball terminals in there as well.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.114|172.70.91.114]] 11:59, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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Any guesses on what the text in the comic actually says? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.75|172.70.111.75]] 15:41, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:As the second comment in this talk box suggest, I think the serifs are consistent with AaBbCcDd (an easy way to showcase a typeface in a few characters). If I'm not mistaken, the transcript used to imply as much as well; does anyone know why that was removed, and can we be confident enough about the text to put that back in the transcript?<br />
:Also, sorry about not signing above. [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 19:55, 13 February 2023 (UTC)</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2736:_Only_Serifs&diff=306202Talk:2736: Only Serifs2023-02-13T19:55:16Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Respond to question and suggest transcript edit</p>
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first two letters are "A" and "R" I think [[Special:Contributions/172.71.167.10|172.71.167.10]] 04:35, 11 February 2023 (UTC)Bumpf<br />
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It's AaBbCcDd. Most likely in Caslon, based on the uppercase A. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.149|172.68.174.149]] 04:54, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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So much for a hidden message. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.238.22|172.68.238.22]] 05:05, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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If we've come to this page for an explanation, we probably don't know what a "solum-serif font" is. update the transcript with something more widely known? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.65.224|172.69.65.224]] 05:42, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Agreed, enthusiastically! Someone trying to show off, Google doesn't even know what it means, it found ONE result, which is a font of curved corners someone made (when I put "solum-serif" in quotes, to not allow Google to just search one or the other). But while I was Googling someone fixed it before I could, LOL! Which is weird as it's past midnight here in the Eastern time zone. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:56, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:: Perhaps you haven't realised that nighttime for Americans is daytime for, um, somewhere around 80-90% of the world's population? [[User:Paddles|Paddles]] ([[User talk:Paddles|talk]]) 14:54, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::: Of course I realize this. :) Seems like YOU don't realize that this site is one of many where it seems like most activity centers around the EST time zone... Perhaps related to Randall being in this time zone, perhaps not, but I'm usually alone at this time of night (for example, I almost NEVER get Edit Conflicts because seemingly everyone is asleep). For years I'm almost always the only person making contributions at this hour. Maybe think of that before making a misguided condescending reply. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:19, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::::You really live up to your username, eh? Charming ''and'' US-centric.<br />
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::I think that's probably because it was a joke. In fact the ridiculous of the notion of a "solum-serif" font is more or less the entirety of the joke of this comic. You're right, in the future we should make sure that these descriptions are devoid of humor.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.92|172.70.211.92]] 18:17, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:::But that's in the transcript particularly, the transcript should make sense as to what the image shows without prior knowledge [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.10|108.162.216.10]] 02:45, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:::Yes, as Mr./Ms. 216.10 pointed out, this was the transcript. PLENTY of room for jokes in the Explanation, but the Transcript should be as concise and straightforward as possible, in an effort to be clear. NOT the place for what seemed to be a self-coined term and trying to be clever. :) I've heard some blind and sight-impaired people follow the comic by having a reading program read these Transcripts, last thing they need is a non-word the program might trip over and can't define for them. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:19, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::::Exactly the transcript should not try to explain the comic. But should include all text as written text for later possibility to search for it. And finally the image should be described in some detail for those that are sight impaired. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::For anyone who is confused, 'solum' (solus) is Latin for 'only', as opposed to 'sans' (from the Latin 'sine'), without. I suppose the joke is rather hard to get, though, since the top Google search results for 'solum' refer to soil. (Not my joke, by the way. Also, first ever comment - hope I've done this right.) [[User:CryptekCathekh|CryptekCathekh]] ([[User talk:CryptekCathekh|talk]]) 21:21, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:::Thanks for the clarification, yes that makes sense. And yes, finely commented there. :) Yes, I got loads of industrial results for "Solum", which is why I had to force the search to include the "serif". [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:19, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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There was a whole thing on Wikipedia about formatting the f symbol for an arbitrary function. One camp held that f is just f, it always is and always was and if you italicize f in a san-serif font, you get an oblique ''f'' but if you italicize f in a serif font, you get a proper italic version, which I'm not sure how to display here. The italic f resembles ƒ, a character called the "hooked f," which is technically an oblique f with a descender ("hook"). That symbol has been used for florins, but sometimes it is also used to imitate the italic f to represent functions, because it has the descender in all environments. But Wikipedia uses a san-serif script, while most mathematical literature uses a serif script. However, it renders expressions in LaTeX with serif fonts and therefore these equations get an f with a descender. So some people were arguing that given this environment, the ƒ character was practically superior, even if it was conceptually wrong, because it most closely resembled the formatted LaTeX expressions. And on and on with the back and forth. I'm glad they eventually settled on just using f for f, like they use g for g and h for h, but still, it was amusingly nitpicky. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.100.50|172.70.100.50]] 07:58, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:What you listed as resembling italic f looks on my system like ⨍. There are lots of fun variations (some unrelated, just similar looking): ∫⨎ʄ∮∬∰⨏ƒʆᶘᔑ [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 08:48, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:That entire argument seems silly. Obviously the correct answer to "how do you write the function $f$ outside of math mode" is "don't". Just use math mode and let KaTeX handle the formatting. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.61|162.158.63.61]] 16:48, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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The title text teases the idea of a font made by adding the Times New Roman serifs to Comic Sans, and now I actually want to see such a cursed font. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.237|108.162.241.237]] 11:03, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Ask and ye shall receive: [[File:2736MovedSerifsV2.jpg]] :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::Is it weird that I kind of like Sans New Roman? (anonymous) 12:49, 13 February 2023 (EST)<br />
::Thanks I will include this in the explanation. Great work. Ugly as hell ;-) It might send some graphic designers your way! ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I think Caslon is correct:<br />
[https://ibb.co/J2WhP1g Caslon] [https://ibb.co/MG77JMX Overlay] [https://ibb.co/3yQtqbN Low Opacity Overlay]<br />
via [http://www.identifont.com/identify?58+.+5J+1JU+3YB+3RZ+35YX+94+JIA+58C+97+22X+8R8+1JY+2Z3A+6ZR+3Q+5BU+9J+1L0+76P+8Z+1QN+7UF+DG+5QE+J+JPK+8C+99+PAE+2AA6+2ZI+8X+8W+8J+1KS+JI6+2Z36+79+8E+53K+2E+1KI+8N+7VS+7S+2C6+1U6+8A+8R0+8F+3WO+2ZGL+1LA+7G+1QY+8B+A0 questions] in Identifont. If someone can add these to the wiki, please do. [[User:DragonDave|DragonDave]] ([[User talk:DragonDave|talk]]) 12:55 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I wonder if this is related to the US State Department dropping Times Roman in favor of Calibri, under the argument that the latter is easier to read. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.198|172.70.114.198]] 13:47, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I call these fonts seul serif, keeping with the theme of using French terminology. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.59|172.71.147.59]] 16:30, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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A free, existing example of [http://www.fontgrill.com/fonts/free/comic-serif/comic-serif.php Comic Serif].<br />
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.242|172.70.214.242]] 16:43, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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:^ TBH Comic Serif doesn't look half bad, if only it had a consistent baseline [[Special:Contributions/198.41.231.179|198.41.231.179]] 17:01, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Of course, since Comic is supposed to mimic casual handwriting, and people don't hand write serifs {{Citation needed}}, this messes up the concept, LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:02, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::Does not, if you go back far enough. Remember that a lot of old handwriting had serif-like parts due to the use of quills.<br />
:::True enough, but going back isn't appropriate, as computers '''''AREN'T''''' "back far enough", or at all. :) NOW, in the present day, nobody handwrites serifs. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC) <br />
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This comic reminds me of something I once actually did as a child: I once wrote a notepad full of game ideas and story concepts but wanted to keep them a secret; so I created my own "cipher" font where any straight lines in letters were removed, leaving only the curved lines. However, because some letters such as c and d would look similar without the straight lines, I gave some letters curved "serifs", which would be retained in my "font". --Jinji@donphan.social 20:32, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I'm most instances where the word "font" is used, the correct word is "typeface". "Times Roman" is a typeface whereas "Times Roman bold" is a font. -Jez [[Special:Contributions/172.70.93.42|172.70.93.42]] 20:56, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:I'd be inclined to suggest that "font", in common parlance, means what everyone here means it to mean, and that means that it is "correct". Nobody - OK, fine, potentially a negligible number of people - might wonder what's going on when "font" is used where you would prefer "typeface". It's not a matter of being "correct" though, unless we are (and we aren't) a community of people using typesetting language in a formal, technical sense. You know what ''is'' incorrect though? Writing "I'm" when you mean "In". Would I have said any of that had you not been so pedantic? You bet your sweet ass I wouldn't.[[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 22:08, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::Yorkshire Pudding there said everything I was tempted to and more last night, but said better than I would have. Thank you! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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That can't POSSIBLY be the right link under the word "events". We have an entire category of "my hobby"/"Cueball getting kicked out of events" comics and that isn't any of them. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.90|172.71.158.90]] 22:29, 11 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:I concur. It links directly to comic 514, which has nothing to do with events or getting kicked out (I can't even think what comic they meant). I took a peek at 1514 and 2514, but those don't fit, either. ??? [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:07, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::Maybe [[541]] was meant? But I guess just linking to Category:Banned_from_conferences or even adding this to Category:Compromise would be better. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.166|198.41.242.166]] 14:58, 12 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:::Yup, I feel sure you got it. I tried checking around 514 (going up to like 518, going down to like 510), didn't try transposing the digits. What's funny is that I often think of that specific comic 541, whenever I want a smiley face inside brackets, :) I'll update the explanation. EDIT: Ugh, someone removed it instead of fixing it. :( [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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It looks very similar to [http://tom7.org/lowercase/ Comic Sands] by tom7! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.30.106|172.71.30.106]] 16:49, 12 February 2023 (UTC)Bumpf<br />
:Oh incredible, I quite like the "futura work" section of that paper [[User:MrCandela|MrCandela]] ([[User talk:MrCandela|talk]]) 03:52, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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;A note for No Idea If There's A Character Limit LMAO<br />
:''(...because you don't have a Talk page I can write to...)''<br />
In response to recent edits from you with, for example, "(am i doing something wrong? THERE ARE TWO MANY JOKE TAGS!)" as the comment... The tag is the Incomplete (i.e. {{template|incomplete}}, and it is indeed arguable if all those marked as such are truly so (though you can bet your bottom dollar that plenty of times where the tag is removed, someone will then quite soon find something worth editing into an Explanation). But the "joke tag" is the community replacing the 'Bot-created reference to being created by A BOT with something an editor decides is funny. (They aren't always right, but someone else may impose their own humour - right or wrong - in place of the first comedian's attempt... And possibly the process repeats a few more times.)<br />
<br />So, anyway, that's what the joke ''part'' of the tag is about, though the presence of the tag itself is a bit more serious. Maybe you could say that an explanation a couple of weeks old (from time of creation, at comic-publication) is only going to be 'normally and irregularly tweaked, from now on', and so would lose the Incompleteness happily enough, but some might say sooner ''or'' later than that, perhaps depending upon the comic concerned. Mega-comics in particular (e.g. interactive April Fool ones, or Time-like in scope, or those needing a "larger" version to be linked to to red properly) where genuinely there are potentially still more discoveries to be made for quite some time.<br />
<br />Far more certain are the Incomplete Transcript statuses, because as soon as everything in the comic image is properly described (give or take subjective opinions), and it's in the de facto meta-notation, then removal of that status can be swift and painless (and still open to edits). Though do note that Transcripts do ''not'' currently need to contain the Title Text (it's already transcribed into the comic template header area, if done correctly), and in fact this is discouraged by the consensus view. The transcript just puts in text what is not aready in machine-readable text (for various purposes). So it's not Incomplete if every bit of Randall-drawn text is in there, every bit of drawn imagery is (sufficiently) described and - if necessary - the layout and relationships of things are also described (e.g, "There is a table which has...", rather than trying to render the table only in wikitable markup). It may not be ''correct'', but it should at least be considered complete, give or take a detail or so. ;)<br />
<br />You might understand the community process best by actually going through page history for a comic's page, from the very first creation by theusafBOT (or whoever) and looking at successive diff-pages. Depends on how much time you have, though :-p [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.223|172.70.162.223]] 01:14, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Who '''''are''''' you talking to? There's no comment like that or user name like that here (at least I don't see a comment when scanning through them). I was GOING to say instead of relying on a Talk page you should Reply to his comment, with a colon, like this... [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::There's a [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/No_Idea_If_There%27s_A_Character_Limit_LMAO relatively new user], who has (it seems) being confused over (+ removing), Incomplete template stuff. They currently have no Talk page, so looks like the chosen approach to 'message' them was to post something in the latest Discussion spot and hope they spot it by default. May not be the ideal way, but I can imagine it maybe working?<br />
::My POV is that Incomplete tags are supposed to help direct people to explanations needing completing, but don't really. For several reasons both technical and logistical. So their harmless fall-back as a s/A BOT/SOMETHING 'FUNNY'/ canvas is probably more a thing to be cherished. Which is not to say that they should stay that way forever, but I wouldn't persoally rush to remove them.<br />
::(And, though it may confuse new readers, as with Citation Needed, if it gets them thinking about what they might add then it's a sneaky nudge to get fresh blood actively into the editing community. Win-win? Opinions will vary!) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.134|172.70.162.134]] 12:05, 13 February 2023 (UTC) <br />
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I'm gonna make the comic sans/times new roman hybrid when I can get some time. Just calling dibs! [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 07:54, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:yeah, this is just "comic serif". It already exists [https://twitter.com/kiersi/status/1492183706009694210 here] [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 08:00, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::No it's not, it SAYS "remove the serifs from Times and add them to Comic", Comic Serif has its own serifs AND is missing a Times missing serifs. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:22, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Sorry, I already decided last night I would and I just made it before I read your dibs, guess I should have said something, :) Not going to throw out my work! :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:22, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::It's fine! I kinda abandoned it anyways and I don't think I would have done quite as good a job [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 09:04, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
::I'd gotten as far as starting to manually tweak the tween-frames in a rather self-indulgent animated version. But your thing is as good as needs to be, and I don't have upload permissions here anyway, so it would have been too much fuss and probably just contributed to my own personal procrastination over the weekend. ;)<br />
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In case anyone wanted to know what it would look like if you moved the serifs from Times New Roman to Comic Sans, here's the before and after. :) [[File:2736MovedSerifsV2.jpg]][[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:22, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Please also adapt the [[kerning]]! This hurts my eyes. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.166|198.41.242.166]] 11:10, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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Randall's font isn't only serifs - there are some ball terminals in there as well.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.114|172.70.91.114]] 11:59, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
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Any guesses on what the text in the comic actually says? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.75|172.70.111.75]] 15:41, 13 February 2023 (UTC)<br />
:As the second comment in this talk box suggest, I think the serifs are consistent with AaBbCcDd (an easy way to showcase a typeface in a few characters). If I'm not mistaken, the transcript used to imply as much as well; does anyone know why that was removed, and can we be confident enough about the text to put that back in the transcript?</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2725:_Sunspot_Cycle&diff=304876Talk:2725: Sunspot Cycle2023-01-17T05:02:10Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Response to comment</p>
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Holy cow, just made my first edit! It was SUPER stressful, and I didn't even know how to make a 'citation needed' thing. Hopefully it was ok, I tried to match the style of the wiki. [[User:GordonFreeman|GordonFreeman]] ([[User talk:GordonFreeman|talk]]) 03:06, 17 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
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Is it perhaps worth mentioning that sunspots, while they're darker than the rest of the sun's surface, are not actually black. They are cooler than surrounding regions and appear dark by contrast, but they're emitting lots of IR and some visible light. A sunspots-only (ignore the oxymoron) sun would still emit light and heat, just less. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 03:18, 17 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
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Wouldn't the cycle be 20 ("every other decade") or 22 years (11 in each half of the cycle)? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.173|162.158.166.173]] 03:51, 17 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
The cycle of darkness of the sun would be 22 years, but the 11-year cycle referred to in the comic, and described by both diagrams within the comic, is the cycle of "number of sunspots" which peaks when the sun is half light, half dark, and decreases again as there are so many spots that they start to merge into fewer, larger spots. It cycles from very few (or zero) sunspots, when the sun is light, through many sunspots, sun is heavily light/dark spotted, and completes the cycle when the number of spots returns down to near-zero, when the sun is dark.<br />
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To what "financial crash of 2014" does this refer? I recall the housing crisis causing financial trouble, but that was around 2008. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.173|162.158.166.173]] 03:51, 17 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
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Does anyone have any idea what is supposed to be on the Y axis of the bottom graph? Something that goes up when the sun is transitioning between brightnesses and is at its lowest when the sun is either fully bright or fully dark?<br />
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It's the "number of spots" (whether light or dark), since a fully bright sun has no dark spots and a fully dark sun has no "light spots"[[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 05:02, 17 January 2023 (UTC)</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2722:_Etymonline&diff=304554Talk:2722: Etymonline2023-01-11T16:52:34Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Deleting my own comment as redundant</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
Random fact: I recently finished reading etymonline.com from beginning to end. It taught me things about the English language that I didn't know that I didn't know. [[User:Darthpoppins|Darthpoppins]] ([[User talk:Darthpoppins|talk]]) 00:46, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Nice. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.167.235|172.71.167.235]] 04:16, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Dear whomever wrote the current explanation, please take an English composition course. It's clear you mean well, but it's really hard to read your work. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.216|172.71.158.216]] 04:44, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Fair enough; I'll try to clean it up [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 05:33, 11 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
::Also the complainer could take use of this being a wiki and make the changes himself ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:56, 11 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In the comic, french word "étymologie" is incorrectly spelled "ethimologie" which is referred to as "Old French". I wonder whether that mistake was done on purpose ?<br />
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.68.222|141.101.68.222]] 08:12, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
: "Old French etimologie, ethimologie (14c., Modern French étymologie), from Latin etymologia, from Greek etymologia" from the Etymonline entry for "etymology"[[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.223|172.70.162.223]] 10:25, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
: Given that it's over 350 years from now, it really ought to say 'from Old English etymology', with what we currently call Old English now being known as Really Old English.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.65|172.71.178.65]] 09:09, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
::Or Ancient English. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.160|172.68.51.160]] 14:47, 11 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
:With the comic revelling in the degredation of contemporary knowledge as future history passes (perhaps like [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/BabylonFiveS04E22TheDeconstructionOfFallingStars here, especially in 2762]), I don't think this relatively minor glitch is an error. Merely flavour. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.141|172.71.242.141]] 12:21, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In what is almost certainly not a coincidence, "etymology" and "blimp" are currently trending at #2 and #5, respectively, on etymoline.com as of right now (15:14, 10 January 2023 (UTC)) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.236|172.70.110.236]] 15:14, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Agree. Now Blimp is #1 and Etymology #3 as of now. Have made a screen shot with the date and ponder to insert it in the explanation under a trivia. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:56, 11 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
::I have added the image. If someone could knows hot change the size of the image shown I would be happy. Not sure how to do that. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:28, 11 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Shouldn't it be "folk etymonline"? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.26|172.68.35.26]] 18:57, 10 January 2023 (UTC) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.26|172.68.35.26]] 18:57, 10 January 2023 (UTC) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.26|172.68.35.26]] 18:57, 10 January 2023 (UTC) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.26|172.68.35.26]] 18:57, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
:I believe it uses "etymology" since that comment is from the perspective of some "present day" scholar, or Randall himself [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 05:32, 11 January 2023 (UTC)</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2722:_Etymonline&diff=304552Talk:2722: Etymonline2023-01-11T16:46:39Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Comment</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
Random fact: I recently finished reading etymonline.com from beginning to end. It taught me things about the English language that I didn't know that I didn't know. [[User:Darthpoppins|Darthpoppins]] ([[User talk:Darthpoppins|talk]]) 00:46, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Nice. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.167.235|172.71.167.235]] 04:16, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Dear whomever wrote the current explanation, please take an English composition course. It's clear you mean well, but it's really hard to read your work. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.216|172.71.158.216]] 04:44, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Fair enough; I'll try to clean it up [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 05:33, 11 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
::Also the complainer could take use of this being a wiki and make the changes himself ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:56, 11 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In the comic, french word "étymologie" is incorrectly spelled "ethimologie" which is referred to as "Old French". I wonder whether that mistake was done on purpose ?<br />
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.68.222|141.101.68.222]] 08:12, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
: "Old French etimologie, ethimologie (14c., Modern French étymologie), from Latin etymologia, from Greek etymologia" from the Etymonline entry for "etymology"[[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.223|172.70.162.223]] 10:25, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
: Given that it's over 350 years from now, it really ought to say 'from Old English etymology', with what we currently call Old English now being known as Really Old English.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.65|172.71.178.65]] 09:09, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
::Or Ancient English. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.160|172.68.51.160]] 14:47, 11 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
:With the comic revelling in the degredation of contemporary knowledge as future history passes (perhaps like [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/BabylonFiveS04E22TheDeconstructionOfFallingStars here, especially in 2762]), I don't think this relatively minor glitch is an error. Merely flavour. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.141|172.71.242.141]] 12:21, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In what is almost certainly not a coincidence, "etymology" and "blimp" are currently trending at #2 and #5, respectively, on etymoline.com as of right now (15:14, 10 January 2023 (UTC)) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.236|172.70.110.236]] 15:14, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Agree. Now Blimp is #1 and Etymology #3 as of now. Have made a screen shot with the date and ponder to insert it in the explanation under a trivia. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:56, 11 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
::I have added the image. If someone could knows hot change the size of the image shown I would be happy. Not sure how to do that. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:28, 11 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Shouldn't it be "folk etymonline"? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.26|172.68.35.26]] 18:57, 10 January 2023 (UTC) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.26|172.68.35.26]] 18:57, 10 January 2023 (UTC) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.26|172.68.35.26]] 18:57, 10 January 2023 (UTC) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.26|172.68.35.26]] 18:57, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
:I believe it uses "etymology" since that comment is from the perspective of some "present day" scholar, or Randall himself [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 05:32, 11 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I see the trivia section includes a screenshot, but I'm not sure it adds enough information to justify its enormous page footprint. I would suggest cropping the screenshot or just stating that "blimp" and "etymology" are among the top trending words. Thoughts?</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2722:_Etymonline&diff=3045102722: Etymonline2023-01-11T05:41:26Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Cleanup and clarity</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2722<br />
| date = January 9, 2023<br />
| title = Etymonline<br />
| image = etymonline_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 458x280px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = NOTE TO FUTURE ETYMONLINGUISTS: Our best guess is that 'blimp' is onomatopoeia. The 'B-Limp' thing is a folk etymology.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by an ETYMONLINGUIST - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic depicts an entry from a dictionary written in the far future (at least the year 2384 based on the textual reference). The definition of "etymonline" makes it clear that it has simply supplanted the word "etymology" in the intervening centuries. This is a reference to the internet service known as [https://www.etymonline.com/ Etymonline] or the Online Etymology Dictionary, and implies that Etymonline as a source became synonymous with the concept of etymology. Perhaps Etymonline grew into such a comprehensive and reputable source that it deserved the all-encompassing identification with the concept of etymology; alternatively, popular usage removed the original term in favor of the name for the tool associated with learning a word's origin. All we know is that the brief etymology given in the entry cites "modification" of a more archaic English form (the one we are familiar with), without any mention of the digital resource. This is a mild failure on the part of the dictionary entry, since the suffix "online" should at least have been noted as the modifier resulting in the current form. Perhaps a discussion of the specific internet service was not relevant in the entry, or the very concept of "online" has been so superseded by whatever its successors or usurpers might have become that it was lost to common, or indeed academic, knowledge.<br />
<br />
The title text plays with this (replacing "etymologist" with the derived term "etymonlinguist"). It is a comment from some present-day scholar directed to the author of the futuristic entry by clarifying what they know about the etymology of the word "blimp". The comment references two theories of the etymology (that it is simply onomatopoeia or that it was constructed from the phrase "Type B - Limp") and rejects the latter as a folk etymology (consistent with {{wiktionary|blimp|the explanation}} on Wiktionary). It is interesting to note that the current [https://www.etymonline.com/word/blimp Etymonline entry] only lists the B-Limp origin and does not mention onomatopoeia, though it does at least acknowledge that the origin is "obscure".<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:[A picture of a dictionary definition that is askew in the frame to imply that it is printed or written on physical paper rather than a digital resource.]<br />
<br />
:'''etymonline''' (n) et・y・mon・line /,ɛt.əmɒn'lain/ The history and derivation of a word. Altered form of English ''etymology'', from Old French ''ethimologie'', from Latin ''etymologia''. Quotation: "Before it came to refer to Jupiter's sky-cities, the term 'blimp' was used for 20th century Earth airships, but its etymonline before that is unknown." –''Jovian Blimps: A History'' (2384)<br />
<br />
:[Caption below comic:]<br />
:Ironically, the popularity of Etymonline eventually caused the loss of the word "etymology" from English.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Language]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2722:_Etymonline&diff=304509Talk:2722: Etymonline2023-01-11T05:33:19Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Response to comment</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
Random fact: I recently finished reading etymonline.com from beginning to end. It taught me things about the English language that I didn't know that I didn't know. [[User:Darthpoppins|Darthpoppins]] ([[User talk:Darthpoppins|talk]]) 00:46, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Nice. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.167.235|172.71.167.235]] 04:16, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Dear whomever wrote the current explanation, please take an English composition course. It's clear you mean well, but it's really hard to read your work. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.216|172.71.158.216]] 04:44, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: Fair enough; I'll try to clean it up [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 05:33, 11 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In the comic, french word "étymologie" is incorrectly spelled "ethimologie" which is referred to as "Old French". I wonder whether that mistake was done on purpose ?<br />
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.68.222|141.101.68.222]] 08:12, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
: "Old French etimologie, ethimologie (14c., Modern French étymologie), from Latin etymologia, from Greek etymologia" from the Etymonline entry for "etymology"[[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.223|172.70.162.223]] 10:25, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
: Given that it's over 350 years from now, it really ought to say 'from Old English etymology', with what we currently call Old English now being known as Really Old English.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.65|172.71.178.65]] 09:09, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
:With the comic revelling in the degredation of contemporary knowledge as future history passes (perhaps like [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/BabylonFiveS04E22TheDeconstructionOfFallingStars here, especially in 2762]), I don't think this relatively minor glitch is an error. Merely flavour. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.141|172.71.242.141]] 12:21, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In what is almost certainly not a coincidence, "etymology" and "blimp" are currently trending at #2 and #5, respectively, on etymoline.com as of right now (15:14, 10 January 2023 (UTC)) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.236|172.70.110.236]] 15:14, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Shouldn't it be "folk etymonline"? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.26|172.68.35.26]] 18:57, 10 January 2023 (UTC) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.26|172.68.35.26]] 18:57, 10 January 2023 (UTC) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.26|172.68.35.26]] 18:57, 10 January 2023 (UTC) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.26|172.68.35.26]] 18:57, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: I believe it uses "etymology" since that comment is from the perspective of some "present day" scholar, or Randall himself [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 05:32, 11 January 2023 (UTC)</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2722:_Etymonline&diff=304508Talk:2722: Etymonline2023-01-11T05:32:12Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Response</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
Random fact: I recently finished reading etymonline.com from beginning to end. It taught me things about the English language that I didn't know that I didn't know. [[User:Darthpoppins|Darthpoppins]] ([[User talk:Darthpoppins|talk]]) 00:46, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Nice. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.167.235|172.71.167.235]] 04:16, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Dear whomever wrote the current explanation, please take an English composition course. It's clear you mean well, but it's really hard to read your work. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.216|172.71.158.216]] 04:44, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In the comic, french word "étymologie" is incorrectly spelled "ethimologie" which is referred to as "Old French". I wonder whether that mistake was done on purpose ?<br />
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.68.222|141.101.68.222]] 08:12, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
: "Old French etimologie, ethimologie (14c., Modern French étymologie), from Latin etymologia, from Greek etymologia" from the Etymonline entry for "etymology"[[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.223|172.70.162.223]] 10:25, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
: Given that it's over 350 years from now, it really ought to say 'from Old English etymology', with what we currently call Old English now being known as Really Old English.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.65|172.71.178.65]] 09:09, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
:With the comic revelling in the degredation of contemporary knowledge as future history passes (perhaps like [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/BabylonFiveS04E22TheDeconstructionOfFallingStars here, especially in 2762]), I don't think this relatively minor glitch is an error. Merely flavour. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.141|172.71.242.141]] 12:21, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In what is almost certainly not a coincidence, "etymology" and "blimp" are currently trending at #2 and #5, respectively, on etymoline.com as of right now (15:14, 10 January 2023 (UTC)) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.236|172.70.110.236]] 15:14, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Shouldn't it be "folk etymonline"? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.26|172.68.35.26]] 18:57, 10 January 2023 (UTC) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.26|172.68.35.26]] 18:57, 10 January 2023 (UTC) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.26|172.68.35.26]] 18:57, 10 January 2023 (UTC) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.26|172.68.35.26]] 18:57, 10 January 2023 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: I believe it uses "etymology" since that comment is from the perspective of some "present day" scholar, or Randall himself [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 05:32, 11 January 2023 (UTC)</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2722:_Etymonline&diff=3044532722: Etymonline2023-01-10T00:01:16Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Cleanup</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2722<br />
| date = January 9, 2023<br />
| title = Etymonline<br />
| image = etymonline_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 458x280px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = NOTE TO FUTURE ETYMONLINGUISTS: Our best guess is that 'blimp' is onomatopoeia. The 'B-Limp' thing is a folk etymology.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a BLIMP - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic appears to be an entry from a dictionary posted in the far future (at least the year 2384 based on the textual reference). The entry defines the term "etymonline" in a way that makes it clear that it has simply supplanted the word "etymology" in the intervening centuries. This is a reference to the internet service known as [https://www.etymonline.com/ Etymonline] or the Online Etymology Dictionary, and implies that Etymonline as a source became synonymous with the concept of etymology. This may have been because Etymonline grew into such a comprehensive and reputable source that it truly deserved the all-encompassing identification with the concept of etymology; alternatively, humans' efficiency of language removed the original term in favor of the name for the tool they used when they needed to learn a word's origin. All we know is that the origin of the "modern" term is simply cited as a modification of a more archaic English form, without any mention of the digital resource. This is a mild failure on the part of the dictionary entry, since the suffix "online" should at least have been noted as the modifier resulting in the current form, even if a discussion of the specific internet service was not relevant in the entry.<br />
<br />
The title text plays with this (replacing "etymologist" with the derived term "etymonlinguist"). It is a comment from some present-day scholar attempting to communicate with the author of the futuristic entry by clarifying what they know about the etymology of the word "blimp". The comment references two theories of the etymology (that it is simply onomatopoeia or that it was constructed from the phrase B-Limp) and rejects the latter as a folk etymology (consistent with the explanation on [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blimp wiktionary]). It is interesting to note that the current [https://www.etymonline.com/word/blimp Etymonline entry] only lists the B-Limp origin and does not mention onomatopoeia, though it does at least acknowledge that the origin is "obscure". <br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[picture of what appears to be a dictionary definition, askew in the frame to imply that it is printed on physical paper rather than a digital resource. The text reads as follows]<br />
<br />
'''etymonline''' [pronunciation guide]<br />
The history and derivation of a word. Altered form of English ''etymology'', from Old French ''ethimologie'', from Latin ''etymologia''. Quotation: "Before it came to refer to Jupiter's sky-cities, the term 'blimp' was used for 20th century Earth airships, but its etymonline before that is unknown." –''Jovian Blimps: A History'' (2384)<br />
<br />
[Caption below comic]<br />
Ironically, the popularity of Etymonline eventually caused the loss of the word "etymology" from English<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2722:_Etymonline&diff=3044522722: Etymonline2023-01-10T00:00:53Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Punctuation</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2722<br />
| date = January 9, 2023<br />
| title = Etymonline<br />
| image = etymonline_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 458x280px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = NOTE TO FUTURE ETYMONLINGUISTS: Our best guess is that 'blimp' is onomatopoeia. The 'B-Limp' thing is a folk etymology.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a BLIMP - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic appears to be an entry from a dictionary posted in the far future (at least the year 2384 based on the textual reference). The entry defines the term "etymonline" in a way that makes it clear that it has simply supplanted the word "etymology" in the intervening centuries. This is a clear reference to the internet service known as [https://www.etymonline.com/ Etymonline] or the Online Etymology Dictionary, and implies that Etymonline as a source became synonymous with the concept of etymology. This may have been because Etymonline grew into such a comprehensive and reputable source that it truly deserved the all-encompassing identification with the concept of etymology; alternatively, humans' efficiency of language removed the original term in favor of the name for the tool they used when they needed to learn a word's origin. All we know is that the origin of the "modern" term is simply cited as a modification of a more archaic English form, without any mention of the digital resource. This is a mild failure on the part of the dictionary entry, since the suffix "online" should at least have been noted as the modifier resulting in the current form, even if a discussion of the specific internet service was not relevant in the entry.<br />
<br />
The title text plays with this (replacing "etymologist" with the derived term "etymonlinguist"). It is a comment from some present-day scholar attempting to communicate with the author of the futuristic entry by clarifying what they know about the etymology of the word "blimp". The comment references two theories of the etymology (that it is simply onomatopoeia or that it was constructed from the phrase B-Limp) and rejects the latter as a folk etymology (consistent with the explanation on [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blimp wiktionary]). It is interesting to note that the current [https://www.etymonline.com/word/blimp Etymonline entry] only lists the B-Limp origin and does not mention onomatopoeia, though it does at least acknowledge that the origin is "obscure". <br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[picture of what appears to be a dictionary definition, askew in the frame to imply that it is printed on physical paper rather than a digital resource. The text reads as follows]<br />
<br />
'''etymonline''' [pronunciation guide]<br />
The history and derivation of a word. Altered form of English ''etymology'', from Old French ''ethimologie'', from Latin ''etymologia''. Quotation: "Before it came to refer to Jupiter's sky-cities, the term 'blimp' was used for 20th century Earth airships, but its etymonline before that is unknown." –''Jovian Blimps: A History'' (2384)<br />
<br />
[Caption below comic]<br />
Ironically, the popularity of Etymonline eventually caused the loss of the word "etymology" from English<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2722:_Etymonline&diff=3044512722: Etymonline2023-01-10T00:00:27Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Added link to wiktionary</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2722<br />
| date = January 9, 2023<br />
| title = Etymonline<br />
| image = etymonline_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 458x280px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = NOTE TO FUTURE ETYMONLINGUISTS: Our best guess is that 'blimp' is onomatopoeia. The 'B-Limp' thing is a folk etymology.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a BLIMP - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic appears to be an entry from a dictionary posted in the far future (at least the year 2384 based on the textual reference). The entry defines the term "etymonline" in a way that makes it clear that it has simply supplanted the word "etymology" in the intervening centuries. This is a clear reference to the internet service known as [https://www.etymonline.com/ Etymonline] or the Online Etymology Dictionary, and implies that Etymonline as a source became synonymous with the concept of etymology. This may have been because Etymonline grew into such a comprehensive and reputable source that it truly deserved the all-encompassing identification with the concept of etymology; alternatively, humans' efficiency of language removed the original term in favor of the name for the tool they used when they needed to learn a word's origin. All we know is that the origin of the "modern" term is simply cited as a modification of a more archaic English form, without any mention of the digital resource. This is a mild failure on the part of the dictionary entry, since the suffix "online" should at least have been noted as the modifier resulting in the current form, even if a discussion of the specific internet service was not relevant in the entry.<br />
<br />
The title text plays with this (replacing "etymologist" with the derived term "etymonlinguist"). It is a comment from some present-day scholar attempting to communicate with the author of the futuristic entry by clarifying what they know about the etymology of the word "blimp". The comment references two theories of the etymology (that it is simply onomatopoeia or that it was constructed from the phrase B-Limp) and rejects the latter as a folk etymology (consistent with the explanation on [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blimp wiktionary]. It is interesting to note that the current [https://www.etymonline.com/word/blimp Etymonline entry] only lists the B-Limp origin and does not mention onomatopoeia, though it does at least acknowledge that the origin is "obscure". <br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[picture of what appears to be a dictionary definition, askew in the frame to imply that it is printed on physical paper rather than a digital resource. The text reads as follows]<br />
<br />
'''etymonline''' [pronunciation guide]<br />
The history and derivation of a word. Altered form of English ''etymology'', from Old French ''ethimologie'', from Latin ''etymologia''. Quotation: "Before it came to refer to Jupiter's sky-cities, the term 'blimp' was used for 20th century Earth airships, but its etymonline before that is unknown." –''Jovian Blimps: A History'' (2384)<br />
<br />
[Caption below comic]<br />
Ironically, the popularity of Etymonline eventually caused the loss of the word "etymology" from English<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2722:_Etymonline&diff=3044502722: Etymonline2023-01-09T23:59:16Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Added some links, gave comment on the etymology of etymonline</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2722<br />
| date = January 9, 2023<br />
| title = Etymonline<br />
| image = etymonline_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 458x280px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = NOTE TO FUTURE ETYMONLINGUISTS: Our best guess is that 'blimp' is onomatopoeia. The 'B-Limp' thing is a folk etymology.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a BLIMP - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic appears to be an entry from a dictionary posted in the far future (at least the year 2384 based on the textual reference). The entry defines the term "etymonline" in a way that makes it clear that it has simply supplanted the word "etymology" in the intervening centuries. This is a clear reference to the internet service known as [https://www.etymonline.com/ Etymonline] or the Online Etymology Dictionary, and implies that Etymonline as a source became synonymous with the concept of etymology. This may have been because Etymonline grew into such a comprehensive and reputable source that it truly deserved the all-encompassing identification with the concept of etymology; alternatively, humans' efficiency of language removed the original term in favor of the name for the tool they used when they needed to learn a word's origin. All we know is that the origin of the "modern" term is simply cited as a modification of a more archaic English form, without any mention of the digital resource. This is a mild failure on the part of the dictionary entry, since the suffix "online" should at least have been noted as the modifier resulting in the current form, even if a discussion of the specific internet service was not relevant in the entry.<br />
<br />
The title text plays with this (replacing "etymologist" with the derived term "etymonlinguist"). It is a comment from some present-day scholar attempting to communicate with the author of the futuristic entry by clarifying what they know about the etymology of the word "blimp". The comment references two theories of the etymology (that it is simply onomatopoeia or that it was constructed from the phrase B-Limp) and rejects the latter as a folk etymology. It is interesting to note that the current [https://www.etymonline.com/word/blimp Etymonline entry] only lists the B-Limp origin and does not mention onomatopoeia, though it does at least acknowledge that the origin is "obscure". <br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[picture of what appears to be a dictionary definition, askew in the frame to imply that it is printed on physical paper rather than a digital resource. The text reads as follows]<br />
<br />
'''etymonline''' [pronunciation guide]<br />
The history and derivation of a word. Altered form of English ''etymology'', from Old French ''ethimologie'', from Latin ''etymologia''. Quotation: "Before it came to refer to Jupiter's sky-cities, the term 'blimp' was used for 20th century Earth airships, but its etymonline before that is unknown." –''Jovian Blimps: A History'' (2384)<br />
<br />
[Caption below comic]<br />
Ironically, the popularity of Etymonline eventually caused the loss of the word "etymology" from English<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2722:_Etymonline&diff=3044492722: Etymonline2023-01-09T23:52:09Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Summary of title text</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2722<br />
| date = January 9, 2023<br />
| title = Etymonline<br />
| image = etymonline_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 458x280px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = NOTE TO FUTURE ETYMONLINGUISTS: Our best guess is that 'blimp' is onomatopoeia. The 'B-Limp' thing is a folk etymology.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a BLIMP - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic appears to be an entry from a dictionary posted in the far future (at least the year 2384 based on the textual reference). The entry defines the term "etymonline" in a way that makes it clear that it has simply supplanted the word "etymology" in the intervening centuries. This is a clear reference to the internet service "etymonline", an online etymology dictionary, and implies that Etymonline as a source became synonymous with the concept of etymology. Whether this is because Etymonline grew into such a comprehensive and reputable source that it truly deserved the all-encompassing identification with the concept of etymology or simply because humans' efficiency of language removed the original term in favor of the name for the tool they used when they needed to learn a word's origin is irrelevant.<br />
<br />
The title text plays with this (replacing "etymologist" with the derived term "etymonlinguist"). It is a comment from some present-day scholar attempting to communicate with the author of the futuristic entry by clarifying what they know about the etymology of the word "blimp". The comment references two theories of the etymology (that it is simply onomatopoeia or that it was constructed from the phrase B-Limp) and rejects the latter as a folk etymology. It is interesting to note that the current Etymonline article only lists the B-Limp origin and does not mention onomatopoeia, though it does at least acknowledge that the origin is "obscure". <br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[picture of what appears to be a dictionary definition, askew in the frame to imply that it is printed on physical paper rather than a digital resource. The text reads as follows]<br />
<br />
'''etymonline''' [pronunciation guide]<br />
The history and derivation of a word. Altered form of English ''etymology'', from Old French ''ethimologie'', from Latin ''etymologia''. Quotation: "Before it came to refer to Jupiter's sky-cities, the term 'blimp' was used for 20th century Earth airships, but its etymonline before that is unknown." –''Jovian Blimps: A History'' (2384)<br />
<br />
[Caption below comic]<br />
Ironically, the popularity of Etymonline eventually caused the loss of the word "etymology" from English<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2722:_Etymonline&diff=3044482722: Etymonline2023-01-09T23:42:09Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Transcript and first part of explanation</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2722<br />
| date = January 9, 2023<br />
| title = Etymonline<br />
| image = etymonline_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 458x280px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = NOTE TO FUTURE ETYMONLINGUISTS: Our best guess is that 'blimp' is onomatopoeia. The 'B-Limp' thing is a folk etymology.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a BLIMP - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic appears to be an entry from a dictionary posted in the far future (at least the year 2384 based on the textual reference). The entry defines the term "etymonline" in a way that makes it clear that it has simply supplanted the word "etymology". This is a clear reference to the internet service "etymonline", an online etymology dictionary. <br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[picture of what appears to be a dictionary definition, askew in the frame to imply that it is printed on physical paper rather than a digital resource. The text reads as follows]<br />
<br />
'''etymonline''' [pronunciation guide]<br />
The history and derivation of a word. Altered form of English ''etymology'', from Old French ''ethimologie'', from Latin ''etymologia''. Quotation: "Before it came to refer to Jupiter's sky-cities, the term 'blimp' was used for 20th century Earth airships, but its etymonline before that is unknown." –''Jovian Blimps: A History'' (2384)<br />
<br />
[Caption below comic]<br />
Ironically, the popularity of Etymonline eventually caused the loss of the word "etymology" from English<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2704:_Faucet&diff=3000162704: Faucet2022-11-29T03:48:22Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Title text explanation (not sure if the ent reference is necessary but I thought it was fun)</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2704<br />
| date = November 28, 2022<br />
| title = Faucet<br />
| image = faucet_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 315x414px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = It's okay, they can figure out which control positions produce scalding water via a trial-and-error feedback loop with a barely-perceptible 10-second lag.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a SCALDING AND CONFUSED FAUCET - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
A variety of faucet controls have been designed for the control of a shower or sink's output; however, Randall seems to find all the existing options to be inadequate in some way and posits in this comic that engineers share a desire to create a more ideal design. <br />
<br />
In general, a faucet's output has two independent parameters: flow velocity and temperature; some particularly frustrating faucet controls only offer one degree of freedom which simultaneously turns up the flow rate and the temperature, and thus cannot fully explore the shower-space (making it sometimes difficult to find a comfortable setting). Some faucets can adjust both parameters but only have a single lever which must be angled along degrees of freedom which are not always labeled clearly, and this may also irk Randall. However, other faucets have two independent controls for the flow of cold water and hot water, and it is less obvious why these are not sufficiently advanced to satisfy Randall (and his generic engineer). <br />
<br />
While two-handle faucets may seem simple in the abstract, they are imperfect in practice. In older houses or those with hot water systems based on tankless or instanthot water heaters, the hot water pressure is rarely the same as the cold water pressure. This can cause problems with cold water flowing back into the hot line, creating temperature drifts, unexpected changes in temperature based on slight input changes, and non-reproducibility in shower settings. In addition, it is not obvious how to change the flow rate without changing the temperature in these systems.<br />
<br />
Newer systems include "Thermostatic Valves" which are designed to alleviate these problems; ideally, they contain one control for temperature and one for flow, which would seem to fit the "non-confusing" brief and solve Randall's problems. However, designing a system technically functional and making it intuitive (and making it work in practice for all water supply systems) is non-trivial, so Randall may have had trouble with even these faucets in the past.<br />
<br />
The title text is a hyperbolic and slightly sarcastic explanation of the merits of a faucet system (presumably from the engineer who designed it): it describes that the user can achieve an undesirable result (scalding water) through a lot of effort (a trial-and-error feedback loop) with a decidedly long delay in response time (10 seconds is only barely perceptible if you happen to be an ent).<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2704:_Faucet&diff=300015Talk:2704: Faucet2022-11-29T03:44:54Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Offering my personal opinion</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
<br />
Are faucet designs considered to be confusing? I'm never confused by normal ones like [https://www.ikea.com/us/en/images/products/sundsvik-kitchen-faucet-chrome-plated__0756711_pe749051_s5.jpg?f=s these]<br />
<br />
Yeah I came here wondering the same thing. Is the joke perhaps not so much that the controls are confusing in terms of intent, but just in terms of determining the bounds? Eg, with two identical faucet controls and identical water pressures, "full blast hot" still translates to something radically different, if one building has a water heater set to 120F and the other building has a water heater set to 160F.{{unsigned ip|172.69.170.189|02:46, 29 November 2022}}<br />
:(I find °F confusing, personally, but...) ...the easiest thing is to have two taps, one hot and one cold. Yes, they can combine into a single spout, but there are various conflicting plusses and minuses of that over having the two independent ones per outlet. Speaking (as I'm sure mixer-tap afficionados worldwide will appreciate) as a Brit. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.24|172.70.85.24]] 03:03, 29 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
::Relevant Tom Scott video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfHgUu_8KgA Why Britain Uses Separate Hot and Cold Taps]. TL;DR: British houses used to get their hot water from rat-filled cisterns so they wanted to keep the hot water separate from the cold water, and old habits die hard. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.152|162.158.63.152]] 03:34, 29 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
:::Silliness of dual-taps aside, that doesn't solve the issue of identical tap hardware yielding radically different results depending on what the hot water thermostat is set to. Maybe that's not the original joke (I'm still not sure what it was) but it's worth mentioning at least. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.170.146|172.69.170.146]] 03:39, 29 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I sympathize with Randall here; even controls designed to independently control temperature and flow rarely meet both the "intuitive to use at a glance" and "function as described" requirements to make them non-confusing. [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 03:44, 29 November 2022 (UTC)</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2704:_Faucet&diff=3000142704: Faucet2022-11-29T03:42:49Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Continuing explanation</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2704<br />
| date = November 28, 2022<br />
| title = Faucet<br />
| image = faucet_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 315x414px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = It's okay, they can figure out which control positions produce scalding water via a trial-and-error feedback loop with a barely-perceptible 10-second lag.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a SCALDING AND CONFUSED FAUCET - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
A variety of faucet controls have been designed for the control of a shower or sink's output; however, Randall seems to find all the existing options to be inadequate in some way and posits in this comic that engineers share a desire to create a more ideal design. <br />
<br />
In general, a faucet's output has two independent parameters: flow velocity and temperature; some particularly frustrating faucet controls only offer one degree of freedom which simultaneously turns up the flow rate and the temperature, and thus cannot fully explore the shower-space (making it sometimes difficult to find a comfortable setting). Some faucets can adjust both parameters but only have a single lever which must be angled along degrees of freedom which are not always labeled clearly, and this may also irk Randall. However, other faucets have two independent controls for the flow of cold water and hot water, and it is less obvious why these are not sufficiently advanced to satisfy Randall (and his generic engineer). <br />
<br />
While two-handle faucets may seem simple in the abstract, they are imperfect in practice. In older houses or those with hot water systems based on tankless or instanthot water heaters, the hot water pressure is rarely the same as the cold water pressure. This can cause problems with cold water flowing back into the hot line, creating temperature drifts, unexpected changes in temperature based on slight input changes, and non-reproducibility in shower settings. In addition, it is not obvious how to change the flow rate without changing the temperature in these systems.<br />
<br />
Newer systems include "Thermostatic Valves" which are designed to alleviate these problems; ideally, they contain one control for temperature and one for flow, which would seem to fit the "non-confusing" brief and solve Randall's problems. However, designing a system technically functional and making it intuitive (and making it work in practice for all water supply systems) is non-trivial, so Randall may have had trouble with even these faucets in the past.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2704:_Faucet&diff=3000112704: Faucet2022-11-29T03:32:00Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Initial explanation (will add more)</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2704<br />
| date = November 28, 2022<br />
| title = Faucet<br />
| image = faucet_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 315x414px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = It's okay, they can figure out which control positions produce scalding water via a trial-and-error feedback loop with a barely-perceptible 10-second lag.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a SCALDING AND CONFUSED FAUCET - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
A variety of faucet controls have been designed for the control of a shower or sink's output; however, Randall seems to find all the existing options to be inadequate in some way and posits in this comic that engineers share a desire to create a more ideal design. <br />
<br />
In general, a faucet's output has two independent parameters: flow velocity and temperature; some particularly frustrating faucet controls only offer one degree of freedom which simultaneously turns up the flow rate and the temperature, and thus cannot fully explore the shower-space (making it sometimes difficult to find a comfortable setting). Some faucets can adjust both parameters but only have a single lever which must be angled along degrees of freedom which are not always labeled clearly, and this may also irk Randall. However, other faucets have two independent controls for the flow of cold water and hot water, and it is less obvious why these are not sufficiently advanced to satisfy Randall (and his generic engineer). <br />
<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1836:_Okeanos&diff=295563Talk:1836: Okeanos2022-09-26T22:30:43Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Real-life example</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~--><br />
Take it from here guys. Also, glad the website is back online! [[User:Nialpxe|Nialpxe]] ([[User talk:Nialpxe|talk]]) 06:58, 12 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"Who else is watching..." is used as some form of community bonding on Youtube to connect with other people re-watching (or watching for the first time) (much) older videos at a later date. COmpare with "Who else got here from XKCD [or similar]" if the video was linked from a particular site and it's users are trying to recognize each other. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.222.76|162.158.222.76]] 07:03, 12 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Yay! The website's finally back online! --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|'''JayRules''XKCD''' ]]<sup>[[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|what's up?]]</sup> 11:35, 12 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Isn't often Randall does color. Hmmm, must be Fake. :) --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.11|108.162.238.11]] 11:37, 12 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
:Guess it is supposed to be funny, but just for the sake of it... Randall has done [[:Category:Comics with color|383 comics with color]], including this one, making it more than one in five (20.9%) that use color! ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:54, 14 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
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"When I went on a boat I dropped my phone can you look for it" I wonder if this is supposed to mean that the phone [insert name here] dropped is the one live-streaming or if [insert name here] is asking the people on the live-stream to look for his phone. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|'''JayRules''XKCD''' ]]<sup>[[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|what's up?]]</sup> 11:49, 12 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Crafting might not be a Minecraft reference, as lots of games have crafting. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.206.52|172.68.206.52]] 12:54, 12 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
:Fixed it. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|'''JayRules''XKCD''' ]]<sup>[[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|what's up?]]</sup> 13:30, 12 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
:First time I read that, I was thinking along the lines of a Let's Play with a MMO. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.70|172.68.78.70]] 13:08, 13 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
:: Me too. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 09:43, 15 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"[T]he ocean... is not a small place[citation needed]" is flat out hilarious. I just want to show my appreciation for whoever put 'citation needed' in there. I'm going to spend the next several days just thinking about how funny that is. [[User:IonFreeman|IonFreeman]] ([[User talk:IonFreeman|talk]]) 13:38, 12 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
:Honestly, I feel that joke is ''way'' too overused on this wiki [[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.197|172.68.142.197]] 16:19, 12 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
::{{Citation needed}} [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.10|108.162.219.10]] 17:46, 13 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
::I only can remember it being used twice, and this was one of those two. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 16:33, 12 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
:::Yes it is used too much. I have rephrased the title text explanation anyway, and deleted it. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:54, 14 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Did anyone notice the subtle style changes to xkcd? The buttons at the top have their glow going beyond the black line now, and (less noticable) your mouse needs to be one pixel farther into the comic to see the mouseover text. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.82|172.68.34.82]] 18:24, 12 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
:No, but thanks for mentioning. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:54, 14 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Why is the title text capitalized?<br />
:Whoever added that to the chat has capslock on, I assume--[[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.220|172.68.141.220]] 11:47, 27 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It says that this comic needs more explanation of the comments. However, there is a quite detailed table beneath it that described the comments. Does this still need the incomplete tag? [[User:Dretler|Dretler]] ([[User talk:Dretler|talk]]) 18:35, 31 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I thought that this comic was being a little unfair to the average person watching a scientific livestream. I am watching the live NASA feed of the impact of DART into Didymos, and of the 120,000 people currently watching, it does seem that the most vocal people are exhibiting this level, or more, of trolling and scientifically dubious comments. Randall, I should not have doubted you. [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 22:30, 26 September 2022 (UTC)</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2037:_Supreme_Court_Bracket&diff=295064Talk:2037: Supreme Court Bracket2022-09-19T03:10:58Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Adding one more comment</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
<br />
Came here for insight, only to discover this is tomorrow's comic, I'm viewing Friday's comic on Thursday after midnight. D'oh! Damn, seeing a comic early and I can't provide or contribute to the explanation, LOL! I realize the bracket and "Sweet 16" are sports things, I think football and/or basketball, and I spotted the famous name Roe vs. Wade, so seems like court cases, but that's it. Looking forward to people explaining the smaller jokes (I spotted "Loving" and "Virginia", and I feel like I recall their license plates say "Virginia Is For Lovers" I think, I expect something there). [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:58, 24 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
:Protip: Thursday after midnight is Friday! Nonetheless this comic was released at 0:00 EDT meaning it was still Thursday at time zones westwards. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 07:03, 24 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
::Protip: While technically true that after midnight is the next day, you'll find that anybody who stays awake past midnight, especially people who habitually do so, don't consider the day to have changed until they've gone to sleep and woken up. :) Since the majority of the time, the new XKCD is posted several hours later - I suspect 8am in Randall's / my time zone (I don't know, I've never been awake for it) - I find this is actually a valid point. It was available when night owls like me and Randall were still awake for Thursday, and when it even technically WAS still Thursday for the rest of the continent. Also, pointing this out is what most people call nitpicking, making the effort to make a pointless point, to declare something everybody knows already. It's a bad thing. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 12:38, 31 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
:I got here at like 9:10 Pacific time and the comic was already up; normally I have to wait until like 1 AM before Randall posts it/you guys auto-mirror it.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.235|172.68.189.235]] 08:23, 24 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
::The pages here are created automatically less than two minutes after the original was published on xkcd. Today, like some others in the recent past, this happened at 4:01 UTC (or GMT - the server time) which corresponds to 0:01 EDT (Randall time) and 21:01 PDT (the day before at your time.) The weekday is defined by Randall's time zone - US citizens should know about the shift from east to west. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:01, 24 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Errm. You can go back to the previous comic if you hit the [<Prev] button just above the current one. {{unsigned ip|141.101.107.36}}<br />
:Do you have a point? Who are you talking to? I suspect it's me, in which case you seemed to have missed something somewhere. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 12:38, 31 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
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I agree that this is a sports reference, but can someone also include some sort of note about the title? I think that the "Supreme COURT" is referring to a basketball COURT, connected to how brackets like this are used in basketball like with March Madness. [[User:B. A. Beder|B. A. Beder]] ([[User talk:B. A. Beder|talk]]) 05:50, 24 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
:No, I'm pretty sure it's titled Supreme Court Bracket because the bracket consists of cases in which the Supreme Court of the United States made the rulings. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.6|162.158.90.6]] 10:35, 24 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
::Why not both? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.82|108.162.219.82]] 18:49, 24 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
:::There is an actual basketball court in the Supreme Court building: https://www.si.com/nba/2018/07/25/supreme-court-building-basketball-court [[User:Tplaza64|Tplaza64]] ([[User talk:Tplaza64|talk]]) 00:03, 25 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
:::This is clearly both, combining "Basketball Court" with "Supreme Court". This crossover is the very basis of this comic's joke. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 12:38, 31 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
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Well, how would the tournament turn out? We know who won the cases, so who's the king of the US legal system? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.66|162.158.90.66]] 06:41, 24 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
: Many participants fail to reappear for the round 2, so not much progress yet. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.86|141.101.77.86]] 13:24, 24 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
:: I think it would be interesting if someone who knows a little more about the US legal system could write some short fanfic pieces about each of the cases later in the bracket. Maybe write each participant as if they were actually individuals, and try to come up with a reason for each case that's kind of consistent with their previously shown personalities. In cases like NLRB v Brown (mentioned below), you could just link to the case or give a short dramatised summary. For cases that haven't happened in reality, post a short piece describing the case presented, and let people vote on the outcome (as I believe was previously done for another comic about brackets, on Twitter or something I think?). I'd love to see how it went. -- [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 15:38, 25 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
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Moral of the story: If you are the respondent in a landmark case, you might as well give up. --[[User:Troy0|Troy0]] ([[User talk:Troy0|talk]]) 07:53, 24 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
:I noticed that as well. Do most "landmark" cases go to the plaintiff or is this just an outlier sample?[[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.235|172.68.189.235]] 08:23, 24 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
: But Marbury actually won the case, the court was unable to deliver the ruling [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.104|162.158.155.104]] 09:42, 24 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
::"Marbury won"? Not according to the unanimous 4-0 ruling AGAINST Marbury.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.140|172.69.22.140]] 20:20, 24 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
: As I see it (IANAL), the plaintiff goal in the Supreme Court usually is to change something (overrule a previous court decision, repeal a law), while the respondent typically fights to keep things the same. If the plaintiff loses, no changes are made. If nobody sees any changes in the country, why the case would be a landmark? Only when both outcomes change things for many people, like in the Dred Scott case, the respondent win makes a landmark. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.86|141.101.77.86]] 13:24, 24 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
I think this comic is unique because the comic references real life events without throwing in any fake events for comic effect. Usually the comic would have some imaginary events included. I guess just the idea that winners of Supreme Court cases are going to come back to the court and compete against each other is comical enough. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 15:42, 24 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;Adding an image<br />
I created an image showing the winners superimposed on the original comic so you can see who is due to "play" each other next. Is there any way to upload the file? the image is this: http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:UploadStash/thumb/15zj3hymeul4.6wctza.13964.png/600px-15zj3hymeul4.6wctza.13964.png [[User:Mrdownes|Mrdownes]] ([[User talk:Mrdownes|talk]]) 11:27, 24 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
:In general we don't need such an image because it doesn't explain much and the winners are already highlighted at the explanation. This Wiki isn't a picture book. Nevertheless check the menu and you will find the entry "Upload file". --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:09, 24 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
:: I found it helpful in order to see who would play who in the next round. I couldn't upload the image because it said I didn't have permission to create a page. {{unsigned|Mrdownes}}<br />
:::Sorry, I didn't want to offend you. Even I get a stupid error message when clicking your link above. Nevertheless you only have to do a few edits or comments here until you automatically granted the rights for uploading files. So you are welcome to participate, if it is helpful or not will be decided by the community not only me or other admins. I've stated my opinion but that's only me. There is no censorship here. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:53, 27 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
::On the contrary, I must strongly disagree. Such an image would be so helpful and informative that it should actually be considered a mandatory addition, that this article is incomplete without such an image (or some other representation of this). As it stands, anyone wanting to know about Round 2 would have to go back and forth between the comic and the explanation multiple times, to see which cases are matched together and to see who won those cases. And this wouldn't work for the entire round, as there's a limit to how many cases someone can do this for only in our minds, we'd have to write it down. Might as well have it written down once and include it for everybody.[[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 12:38, 31 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
:I think that updated bracket image would be fun to see regardless. Please do post it. [[User:Wisnij|Wisnij]] ([[User talk:Wisnij|talk]]) 19:08, 24 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
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The Brown won the NLRB v Brown match in round 2. (https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/380/278/) -[[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.244|172.69.69.244]] 15:19, 24 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
: Are there any other possible matchups that were actual cases in the same way? Someone already mentioned ''Massachusetts v Connecticut''. How would you fill in the bracket to get the maximum number of real cases? -- [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 15:38, 25 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
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Just wanted to thank all you folks for the explanation! I couldn't make head or tail of this comic… (Comes of being a non-USian, I guess. Even after reading this page, I only recognised two of those cases. xkcd is usually pretty universal — within the geek world, anyway — and US-specific ones like this are pretty puzzling to the rest of us.) Cheers! — [[User:Gidds|Gidds]] ([[User talk:Gidds|talk]]) 23:56, 24 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
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The joke here is simply that, while court cases are competitions, the winner of a case does not challenge the winner of another case (unlike sports tournaments). It's a juxtaposition joke, made funnier by the fact that "court" is used in sports as well. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.163|172.68.189.163]] 00:09, 25 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
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I just realized that the part of the explanation about the title text is not entirely correct. It mentions that a bracket is busted when a matchup does not have the predicted result, but I think it needs to point out the fact that it's related to any matchup that includes the team you picked to win the bracket instead of just any matchup in the bracket. In summary, if the team you picked to make it past the bracket loses a matchup, you then have no chance of a correct pick for any team from that bracket in later matchups - hence that bracket is busted. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 04:04, 26 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
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Just as tables cause readability issues, semantic use of italics can cause issues. Specifically, it is not safe to assume that screen reading software will distinguish italicized content such that a blind person will be aware which side won the case in the comic description. It is safe only to explicity indicate the winner through text. [[User:Thisisnotatest|Thisisnotatest]] ([[User talk:Thisisnotatest|talk]]) 07:01, 26 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
:The headers were no headers but just links with the winner in bold. I changed it to headers (which are already bold) and the link in the text below. No links in headers is a common wiki style. And because the header is bold I switched to italics. And as now together with the word winner in parentheses it looks fine, doesn't it? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:47, 27 August 2018 (UTC) <br />
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Random human:Did you know there's a basketball court above the supreme court? The highest court in the land... Is this a basketball match ending with finalists playing in that basketball court? {{unsigned ip|162.158.63.238}}<br />
:Was already mentioned above. While the Supreme Court is the highest court in the US, the basketball court in the same building is one floor above the actual courtroom. Thus it may be literally "the highest court in the land..." (Washington DC). --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:27, 27 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
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I think there's more to this than the current description suggests. These cases are precedents which all currently exist alongside each other but which could, theoretically (but in the light of recent appointments, very possibly) be used to overrule each other in some way. If, as is widely feared, Roe v. Wade were to be overturned it would not be overturned in a vacuum but by a judgement based on another legal precedent. The point being made therefore is not that the claimants themselves are in competition (as the description notes, many are dead) but that the cases themselves are as precedents, none of which has any greater legal authority than any other. My knowledge of the minutiae of the cases themselves is not up to analysing whether there's particular reasoning behind the choices of which cases are in which brackets, but I'm sure there is insight and irony hidden here for someone with a better background in the law to uncover - lawyers needed![[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.21|162.158.158.21]] 17:57, 28 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
:I'm not a lawyer but simple logic tells me that you are over-interpreting the comic. When reading the still not complete explanation you can see the cases are ordered chronological. This means the cases at the nearby brackets are only connected within a small time frame. As one example look at the bracket ''Bush v. Gore'' (2000 Presidential election) and ''Lawrence v. Texas'' (sodomy laws, same-sex sexual activity); I can't see any further meanings at that bracket. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:41, 28 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
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I've added in the last explanations for the court cases; the description in the "incomplete" template would seem to suggest that said template should be removed. Do y'all concur? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.66|162.158.106.66]] 05:03, 23 October 2018 (UTC)<br />
:Thanks for your work. I've removed the incomplete tag. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:23, 23 October 2018 (UTC)<br />
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Is it worth mentioning that Row v Wade is not the binding precedent on abortion laws anymore (and hasn't been since Planned Parenthood v Casey in 1992)? To the best of my knowledge, its the only case in the bracket that is no longer precedent.14:05, 20 December 2018 (UTC)<br />
:It's 2022 and Roe v Wade is not the binding precedent for a wholly different reason (not sure if the explanation needs an update but it's certainly a development that was unforeseen when the comic was made...)</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2669:_Things_You_Should_Not_Do&diff=2948482669: Things You Should Not Do2022-09-14T16:37:26Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Removed reference that I added because someone has added a better reference</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2669<br />
| date = September 7, 2022<br />
| title = Things You Should Not Do<br />
| image = things_you_should_not_do.png<br />
| titletext = Now I'm tempted to start telling people that I secretly don't actually know how to do any physics calculations, and so all the answers in What If are based on me actually trying to do the thing and then reporting what happened, but phrased as if it's hypothetical.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a SUNSCREEN BALL. Seem people forget that he learned this from writing the new book, thus no reason to assume they reference old stuff, for instance see the update to the peel the planets crust away, that clearly is a reference to a new what if in the book. Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic references various questions submitted to the what if? blog, and is a promotion for [[Randall]]'s new book, ''What if? 2'' (to be released 6 days from the date of this comic publication). This comic has a list of things not to do, an extension of a previous list, and is purportedly things Randall discovered as he was doing research for his book. A visit to the [https://what-if.xkcd.com/archive/ What If? archive] shows the titles, publishing date, and a thumbnail for each article. Many of the acts described under the "new" section of the list are depicted in these thumbnails (see table below); others are references to examples or hypotheticals explored within the articles. Other entries do not seem to reference currently published ''What If?'' content and may therefore be found in the upcoming book, but this cannot be confirmed as of yet. <br />
<br />
The title text says that Randall is tempted to tell people that all the things in the book were things that he actually tried to do, not that he calculated the solutions for their problems. Many of the questions and answers in his new book are impossible to attempt in real life.{{citation needed}}<br />
<br />
===Table of things you should not do===<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
!Number !! Entry !! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="3" | From existing list<br />
|-<br />
|156,812<br />
|Eat Tide Pods<br />
|{{w|Consumption of Tide Pods|Tide Pod}}s are a brand of laundry detergent sold in small packets ("pods") of water-soluble gel. Many children have tried to eat them, thinking them to be candy, and have had to go to the hospital to treat poisoning. In 2017 and 2018, a satirical "challenge" originated around eating Tide Pods.<br />
|-<br />
|156,813<br />
|Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm<br />
|Taller objects are more likely to be struck by lightning, so walking on stilts outdoors would increase the risk of death by electrocution. It would also presumably risk falling and injuring oneself that way, since the ground becomes wet in a rainstorm.<br />
|-<br />
|156,814<br />
|Set off fireworks at a gas station<br />
|This has the risk of potentially causing an explosion in the gas station, from the sparks of the fireworks.<br />
|-<br />
|156,815<br />
|Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand<br />
|This probably runs the risk of the cat attempting to eat your hand, instead of a cat treat.<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="3" | New!<br />
|-<br />
|156,816<br />
|Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it<br />
|Geysers shoot steam and hot water upward. If a person were to lean over the geyser and look down during an eruption, they would be struck in the face by this hot liquid and gas mixture and severely injured or killed. This is a reference to a question from ''What-If? 2'' (called, appropriately enough, "Geyser"), in which it is asked what might happen to a person if they stood on top of the Old Faithful geyser as it erupted.<br />
|-<br />
|156,817<br />
|Fly a hot-air balloon over a firing range<br />
|A hot air balloon could present an irresistible target to the people firing their weapons at the range. The balloon could be shot and you could fall to your death. See image on [https://what-if.xkcd.com/81/ this entry].<br />
|-<br />
|156,818<br />
|Peel away the earth's crust<br />
|This is a reference to an entry in the new book, and an image of what it would look like is shown in [[2575: What If? 2]], where a potato peeler is used to remove the crust of the Earth. Several *What If* blog posts also result in massive damage to the earth's crust, including what happened to Texas [https://what-if.xkcd.com/153/ here]. <br />
<br />
This is a reference to a chapter from the new book, which refers to removing the Earth's mass to lose weight.<br />
|-<br />
|156,819<br />
|Try to paint the Sahara Desert by hand<br />
|This would be [https://what-if.xkcd.com/84/ difficult] and require more paint than humanity has ever produced[https://what-if.xkcd.com/84/].<br />
|-<br />
|156,820<br />
|Remove someone's bones without asking<br />
|Possibly a reference to ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'', in which Professor Gilderoy Lockhart removes all the bones of Harry's arm (instead of merely fixing a broken bone).<br />
|-<br />
|156,821<br />
|Spend 100% of your government's budget on mobile game in-app purchases<br />
|A reference to one of the examples listed in [https://what-if.xkcd.com/108/ this post].<br />
|-<br />
|156,822<br />
|Fill a lava lamp with actual lava<br />
|A {{w|lava lamp}} is a glass lamp, which contains a wax mixture inside, and heats so that the wax rises and falls. Putting actual lava inside a regular lava lamp would most likely cause the lamp to melt and the glass to shatter, not to mention handling lava is very dangerous.{{citation needed}} However, in [https://what-if.xkcd.com/122/ this entry], Randall says it would be fairly easy to find a material that would be able to handle the heat of the lava and thus this would be rather anticlimactic.<br />
|-<br />
|156,823<br />
|Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic (''sic'') fever<br />
|Drinking someone else's blood is a bad idea unless you are a vampire. If someone has a {{w|viral hemorrhagic fever}}, it is much worse, as they have a very serious and likely deadly disease which can be transmitted by sharing bodily fluids, such as blood. Drinking blood is the theme of [https://what-if.xkcd.com/98/ this article].<br />
|-<br />
|156,824<br />
|Eat meat from rabid animals<br />
|Eating meat from rabid animals could give you {{w|rabies}}, a virus which is nearly always fatal if not treated prior to the appearance of initial symptoms. Pathogen contamination in cooked foods can persist on the surface of ''e.g.'' tongs, chopsticks, or a fork used to grill, which is why the USDA doesn't generally allow kitchen utensils to touch raw or ready to eat foods at all. Exceptions for utensils which touch only raw or partially cooked foods, such as grill spatulas and the like, are often allowed and can be negotiated on a case-by-case basis when they would otherwise be prohibited. The rabies virus permeates essentially all nerve tissue before symptoms appear.<br />
|-<br />
|156,825<br />
|Perform your own laser eye surgery<br />
|Refer to the end of [https://what-if.xkcd.com/82/ this article]<br />
|-<br />
|156,826<br />
|Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs<br />
|While issuing false statements to government regulators is a violation of both California and Federal law, for which prison sentences can reach ten and fines can reach ten thousand dollars plus any compensatory damages, as per [https://california.public.law/codes/ca_penal_code_section_132 California Penal Code § 132] and [https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001 18 U.S. Code § 1001], there is some question about whether any competent regulatory authority would ever take such an assertion seriously, and whether they would be liable for greater damages for doing so than the potential liability of the original culprit involved. Actually doing this, even to county level regulators, could result in a series of events very disadvantageous to you, your farm, and your employees. However, declaring that you're producing Pokémon eggs to your local municipality is probably harmless, and likely to brighten the day of your local regulators.{{cn}}<br />
|-<br />
|156,827<br />
|Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab<br />
|Likely an oblique reference to the image near the end of [https://what-if.xkcd.com/147/ this article].<br />
|-<br />
|156,828<br />
|Pump ammonia into your abdomen<br />
|{{w|Ammonia}} is an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPA_list_of_extremely_hazardous_substances extremely hazardous substance] and pumping it into your abdomen would result in a painful death.<br />
|-<br />
|156,829<br />
|Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the Sun<br />
|Despite its name, sunscreen only protects against some types of radiation from the sun. No amount is going to be adequate protection if you are right inside the sun.{{Actual citation needed}} Also, sunscreen, being a gel, would evaporate when exposed to vacuum. When exposed to the plasma of the coronal surface or the Sun's interior, it would quickly ionize along with anything inside it, becoming plasma like the rest of the Sun.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
:[Caption:]<br />
:Updates to my "Things You Should Not Do" list, based on what I learned writing ''What If? 2''<br />
:(out 9/13, xkcd.com/whatif2)<br />
<br />
:[The rest of the text appears in a box.]<br />
<br />
:<big>Things You Should Not Do</big><br /><br />
:(part 3647 of ????)<br />
<br />
:[A numbered list, the first four items in a lighter grey]<br />
<br />
:<nowiki>#156,812 Eat Tide pods</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,813 Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,814 Set off fireworks at a gas station</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,815 Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand</nowiki><br />
<br />
:[A horizontal divider with the text "''New!''" in the middle in black. The remaining items on the list are also in black.]<br />
<br />
:<nowiki>#156,816 Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,817 Fly a hot air balloon over a firing range</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,818 Peel away the Earth's crust</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,819 Try to paint the Sahara Desert by hand</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,820 Remove someone's bones without asking</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,821 Spend 100% of your governments budget on mobile game in-app purchases</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,822 Fill a lava lamp with actual lava</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,823 Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic fever</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,824 Eat meat from rabid animals</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,825 Perform your own laser eye surgery</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,826 Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,827 Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,828 Pump ammonia into your abdomen</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,829 Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the sun</nowiki><br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Book promotion]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Pokémon]]<br />
[[Category:Cats]]</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2669:_Things_You_Should_Not_Do&diff=294699Talk:2669: Things You Should Not Do2022-09-12T22:52:57Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Explaining why I don't think I failed to read</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
Seems like this could become a series. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.210.31|172.68.210.31]] 20:42, 7 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
:Maybe. But I don't think it will be.<br />
:What I was thinking was that there are clearly, on average, around 43 <!-- (!) miscalculated. Not as significant as I thought. --> items per 'page', up to this point. This page shows only 19 items (both pre-New and New, or 20 if the "New" line counts as one, don't know if multilines reduce the number of numbered items ler page), so either it's been{{Citation needed}} manually split/new-paged (for changing aesthetics) or else it is highly varying according to the font-height/multiline-wrappings in use beforehand. Or perhaps we should expect around the same number of 'newer New' items to complete this page before the next page number is automatically started to be populated. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.8|172.70.86.8]] 20:53, 7 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<nowiki>#156,819</nowiki> looks like a reference to the Phineas and Ferb title sequence, and the episode Oil on Candace and probably more relevant here, What If 84. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.233|108.162.210.233]] 21:49, 7 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
:It's true that it could be a reference, but I think I recognized most of the topics on the list as being mentioned in some what-if article from the archives--in the case of the "painting" one, https://what-if.xkcd.com/84/. [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 22:13, 7 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
::I think that given that he learned about this doing his new book that has not been released yet most of the new items would first be clear when we read the book, and hence all references to old what if seems moot to me... In my opinion it seems that those writing the current explanation failed to read this sentence: ''Updates to my "Things You Should Not Do" list, based on what I learned writing What If? 2''!!! Taking this into acount nothing on the new list should be from the old what if blog/book. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:02, 8 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
:::Many articles (roughly half) in the blog were published after the first book was written, so those references are fair game to be included in the new book, and thus valid references as things he learned in the interim. Take a look at the archive thumbnails for the articles in 2014. [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 22:52, 12 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
:I think <nowiki>#156,819</nowiki> is confusing because [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gustave_Guillaumet-_Le_Sahara.jpeg it's been done]. -- [[User:Ken g6|Ken g6]] ([[User talk:Ken g6|talk]]) 17:01, 8 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
Added a transcript, hopefully it isn't too terrible. (also first explainxkcd edit!) [[User:Merrybot|Merrybot]] ([[User talk:Merrybot|talk]]) 21:52, 7 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
Any indication what the purpose of the misspelling of ''hemorrhagic'' as ''*hemorraghic'' might be? XKCD is usually typo-free, which makes this look deliberate – but why? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.94.3|172.71.94.3]] 00:29, 8 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
:I assume just a typo by Randall Munroe. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.79|172.70.214.79]] 02:11, 8 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
::"XKCD is usually typo-free" Oh, they do happen every now and then but usually get corrected eventually by Randall. Nothing too special about this. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:13, 8 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<nowiki>#156,823</nowiki> is actually a subplot in the movie "Only Lovers left Alive" by Jim Jarmusch. {{unsigned ip|162.158.129.163}}<br />
<br />
<nowiki>#156,820</nowiki> sounds like a reference to TF2's "Meet the medic" which starts off with The Medic describing how he lost his medical licence by stealing a patient's skeleton {{unsigned ip|108.162.241.103}}<br />
<br />
The last item suggests to me that the new book has a question like "What SPF would the sunscreen need to be if you were falling into the sun?" [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:10, 8 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
: Far more than any SPF a terrestrial chemical could attain, which is essentially equivalent to positive infinity in this case, barring any new extremely unlikely physics. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.79|172.70.214.79]] 04:08, 9 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Is the maximum jail sentence for telling California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs eight or ten years? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.213|172.70.206.213]] 04:06, 9 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
:We need a more practical approach to legal advice. For example, how realistically could there ever be any compensatory damages? If a government regulator ever took a claim that a farm was producing Pokemon eggs seriously, wouldn't their liability for waste, fraud, and abuse damages to the public overwhelm that of the supposed defendant? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.163|172.70.206.163]] 07:26, 9 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I'm assuming that a Sun-sized ball of sunscreen would collapse and ignite as a star, right? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.79|172.70.214.79]] 10:47, 11 September 2022 (UTC)</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2669:_Things_You_Should_Not_Do&diff=2944662669: Things You Should Not Do2022-09-08T03:34:42Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Added more references</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2669<br />
| date = September 7, 2022<br />
| title = Things You Should Not Do<br />
| image = things_you_should_not_do.png<br />
| titletext = Now I'm tempted to start telling people that I secretly don't actually know how to do any physics calculations, and so all the answers in What If are based on me actually trying to do the thing and then reporting what happened, but phrased as if it's hypothetical.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a SUNSCREEN BALL - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
This comic references various questions submitted to the what if? blog, and is a promotion for Randall's new book, ''What if? 2'' (to be released 6 days from the date of this comic publication). This comic has a list of things not to do, an extension of a previous list, and is purportedly things Randall discovered as he was doing research for his book. A visit to the [https://what-if.xkcd.com/archive/ What If? archive] shows the titles, publishing date, and a thumbnail for each article. Many of the acts described under the "new" section of the list are depicted in these thumbnails (see table below); others are references to examples or hypotheticals explored within the articles. Other entries do not seem to reference currently published ''What If?'' content and may therefore be found in the upcoming book, but this cannot be confirmed as of yet. <br />
<br />
The title text says that Randall is tempted to tell people that all the things in the book were things that he actually tried to do, not that he calculated the solutions for their problems. Many of the questions/answers in his new book are impossible to attempt in real life.{{citation needed}}<br />
<br />
===Table===<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
!Number !! Entry !! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="3" | From existing list<br />
|-<br />
|156,812<br />
|Eat Tide Pods<br />
|{{w|Consumption of Tide Pods|Tide Pod}}s are a brand of laundry detergent sold in small packets ("pods") of water-soluble gel. Many children have tried to eat them, thinking them to be candy, and have had to go to the hospital to treat poisoning. In 2017 and 2018, a satirical "challenge" originated around eating Tide Pods.<br />
|-<br />
|156,813<br />
|Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm<br />
|Taller objects are more likely to be struck by lightning, so walking on stilts outdoors would increase the risk of death by electrocution. It would also presumably risk falling and injuring oneself that way, since the ground becomes wet in a rainstorm.<br />
|-<br />
|156,814<br />
|Set off fireworks at a gas station<br />
|This has the risk of potentially an explosion in the gas station, from the sparks of the fireworks.<br />
|-<br />
|156,815<br />
|Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand<br />
|This seems to run the risk of the cat attempting to eat your hand, instead of a cat treat.<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="3" | New!<br />
|-<br />
|156,816<br />
|Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it<br />
|Geysers shoot steam and hot water upward. If a person were to lean over the geyser and look down during an eruption, they would be struck in the face by this hot liquid/gas mixture and severely injured or killed.<br />
|-<br />
|156,817<br />
|Fly a hot-air balloon over a firing range<br />
|A hot air balloon could present an irresistible target to the people firing their weapons at the range. The balloon could be shot and you could fall to your death. See image on [https://what-if.xkcd.com/81/ this entry].<br />
|-<br />
|156,818<br />
|Peel away the earth's crust<br />
|Reminiscent of [https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/mercator this comic], though several *What If* blog posts also result in massive damage to the earth's crust, including what happened to Texas [https://what-if.xkcd.com/153/ here].<br />
|-<br />
|156,819<br />
|Try to paint the Sahara Desert by hand<br />
|This would be [https://what-if.xkcd.com/84/ difficult] and require more paint than humanity has ever produced[https://what-if.xkcd.com/84/].<br />
|-<br />
|156,820<br />
|Remove someone's bones without asking<br />
|Possibly a reference to ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'', in which Professor Gilderoy Lockhart removes all the bones of Harry's arm (instead of merely fixing a broken bone).<br />
|-<br />
|156,821<br />
|Spend 100% of your government's budget on mobile game in-app purchases<br />
|A reference to one of the examples listed in [https://what-if.xkcd.com/108/ this post].<br />
|-<br />
|156,822<br />
|Fill a lava lamp with actual lava<br />
|A {{w|lava lamp}} is a glass lamp, which contains a wax mixture inside, and heats so that the wax rises and falls. Putting actual lava inside one of these lamps would most likely cause the lamp to melt and the glass to shatter, not to mention handling lava is very dangerous.{{citation needed}} See [https://what-if.xkcd.com/122/ this entry].<br />
|-<br />
|156,823<br />
|Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic (''sic'') fever<br />
|Drinking someone's blood is a bad idea,{{citation needed}} unless you are a vampire. If someone has a {{w|viral hemorrhagic fever}}, it is potentially much worse, as they have a potentially deadly disease, such as Ebola.<br />
|-<br />
|156,824<br />
|Eat meat from rabid animals<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,825<br />
|Perform your own laser eye surgery<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,826<br />
|Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,827<br />
|Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab<br />
|Likely an oblique reference to the image near the end of [https://what-if.xkcd.com/147/ this article].<br />
|-<br />
|156,828<br />
|Pump ammonia into your abdomen<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,829<br />
|Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the Sun<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:[Caption:]<br />
:Updates to my "Things You Should Not Do" list, based on what I learned writing ''What If? 2''<br />
:(out 9/13, xkcd.com/whatif2)<br />
<br />
:[The rest of the text appears in a box.]<br />
<br />
:<big>Things You Should Not Do</big><br /><br />
:(part 3647 of ????)<br />
<br />
:[A numbered list, the first four items in a lighter grey]<br />
<br />
:<nowiki>#156,812 Eat Tide pods</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,813 Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,814 Set off fireworks at a gas station</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,815 Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand</nowiki><br />
<br />
:[A horizontal divider with the text "New!" in the middle in black. The remaining items on the list are also in black.]<br />
<br />
:<nowiki>#156,816 Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,817 Fly a hot air balloon over a firing range</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,818 Peel away the Earth's crust</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,819 Try to paint the Sahara Desert by hand</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,820 Remove someone's bones without asking</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,821 Spend 100% of your governments budget on mobile game in-app purchases</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,822 Fill a lava lamp with actual lava</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,823 Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic fever</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,824 Eat meat from rabid animals</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,825 Perform your own laser eye surgery</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,826 Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,827 Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,828 Pump ammonia into your abdomen</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,829 Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the sun</nowiki><br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Book promotion]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Pokémon]]<br />
[[Category:Cats]]</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2669:_Things_You_Should_Not_Do&diff=2944652669: Things You Should Not Do2022-09-08T03:25:38Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Typo, sorry</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2669<br />
| date = September 7, 2022<br />
| title = Things You Should Not Do<br />
| image = things_you_should_not_do.png<br />
| titletext = Now I'm tempted to start telling people that I secretly don't actually know how to do any physics calculations, and so all the answers in What If are based on me actually trying to do the thing and then reporting what happened, but phrased as if it's hypothetical.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a SUNSCREEN BALL - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
This comic references various questions submitted to the what if? blog, and is a promotion for Randall's new book, ''What if? 2'' (to be released 6 days from the date of this comic publication). This comic has a list of things not to do, an extension of a previous list, and is purportedly things Randall discovered as he was doing research for his book. A visit to the [https://what-if.xkcd.com/archive/ What If? archive] shows the titles, publishing date, and a thumbnail for each article. Many of the acts described under the "new" section of the list are depicted in these thumbnails (see table below). <br />
<br />
The title text says that Randall is tempted to tell people that all the things in the book were things that he actually tried to do, not that he calculated the solutions for their problems. Many of the questions/answers in his new book are impossible to attempt in real life.{{citation needed}}<br />
<br />
===Table===<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
!Number !! Entry !! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="3" | From existing list<br />
|-<br />
|156,812<br />
|Eat Tide Pods<br />
|{{w|Consumption of Tide Pods|Tide Pod}}s are a brand of laundry detergent sold in small packets ("pods") of water-soluble gel. Many children have tried to eat them, thinking them to be candy, and have had to go to the hospital to treat poisoning. In 2017 and 2018, a satirical "challenge" originated around eating Tide Pods.<br />
|-<br />
|156,813<br />
|Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm<br />
|Taller objects are more likely to be struck by lightning, so walking on stilts outdoors would increase the risk of death by electrocution. It would also presumably risk falling and injuring oneself that way, since the ground becomes wet in a rainstorm.<br />
|-<br />
|156,814<br />
|Set off fireworks at a gas station<br />
|This has the risk of potentially an explosion in the gas station, from the sparks of the fireworks.<br />
|-<br />
|156,815<br />
|Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand<br />
|This seems to run the risk of the cat attempting to eat your hand, instead of a cat treat.<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="3" | New!<br />
|-<br />
|156,816<br />
|Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it<br />
|Geysers shoot steam and hot water upward. If a person were to lean over the geyser and look down during an eruption, they would be struck in the face by this hot liquid/gas mixture and severely injured or killed.<br />
|-<br />
|156,817<br />
|Fly a hot-air balloon over a firing range<br />
|A hot air balloon could present an irresistible target to the people firing their weapons at the range. The balloon could be shot and you could fall to your death. See image on [https://what-if.xkcd.com/81/ this entry].<br />
|-<br />
|156,818<br />
|Peel away the earth's crust<br />
|Reminiscent of [https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/mercator this comic], though several *What If* blog posts also result in massive damage to the earth's crust, including what happened to Texas [https://what-if.xkcd.com/153/ here].<br />
|-<br />
|156,819<br />
|Try to paint the Sahara Desert by hand<br />
|This would be [https://what-if.xkcd.com/84/ difficult] and require more paint than humanity has ever produced[https://what-if.xkcd.com/84/].<br />
|-<br />
|156,820<br />
|Remove someone's bones without asking<br />
|Possibly a reference to ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'', in which Professor Gilderoy Lockhart removes all the bones of Harry's arm (instead of merely fixing a broken bone).<br />
|-<br />
|156,821<br />
|Spend 100% of your government's budget on mobile game in-app purchases<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,822<br />
|Fill a lava lamp with actual lava<br />
|A {{w|lava lamp}} is a glass lamp, which contains a wax mixture inside, and heats so that the wax rises and falls. Putting actual lava inside one of these lamps would most likely cause the lamp to melt and the glass to shatter, not to mention handling lava is very dangerous.{{citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
|156,823<br />
|Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic (''sic'') fever<br />
|Drinking someone's blood is a bad idea,{{citation needed}} unless you are a vampire. If someone has a {{w|viral hemorrhagic fever}}, it is potentially much worse, as they have a potentially deadly disease, such as Ebola.<br />
|-<br />
|156,824<br />
|Eat meat from rabid animals<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,825<br />
|Perform your own laser eye surgery<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,826<br />
|Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,827<br />
|Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,828<br />
|Pump ammonia into your abdomen<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,829<br />
|Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the Sun<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:[Caption:]<br />
:Updates to my "Things You Should Not Do" list, based on what I learned writing ''What If? 2''<br />
:(out 9/13, xkcd.com/whatif2)<br />
<br />
:[The rest of the text appears in a box.]<br />
<br />
:<big>Things You Should Not Do</big><br /><br />
:(part 3647 of ????)<br />
<br />
:[A numbered list, the first four items in a lighter grey]<br />
<br />
:<nowiki>#156,812 Eat Tide pods</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,813 Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,814 Set off fireworks at a gas station</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,815 Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand</nowiki><br />
<br />
:[A horizontal divider with the text "New!" in the middle in black. The remaining items on the list are also in black.]<br />
<br />
:<nowiki>#156,816 Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,817 Fly a hot air balloon over a firing range</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,818 Peel away the Earth's crust</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,819 Try to paint the Sahara Desert by hand</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,820 Remove someone's bones without asking</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,821 Spend 100% of your governments budget on mobile game in-app purchases</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,822 Fill a lava lamp with actual lava</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,823 Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic fever</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,824 Eat meat from rabid animals</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,825 Perform your own laser eye surgery</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,826 Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,827 Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,828 Pump ammonia into your abdomen</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,829 Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the sun</nowiki><br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Book promotion]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Pokémon]]<br />
[[Category:Cats]]</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2669:_Things_You_Should_Not_Do&diff=2944642669: Things You Should Not Do2022-09-08T03:25:14Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Clarify first paragraph and continue adding references.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2669<br />
| date = September 7, 2022<br />
| title = Things You Should Not Do<br />
| image = things_you_should_not_do.png<br />
| titletext = Now I'm tempted to start telling people that I secretly don't actually know how to do any physics calculations, and so all the answers in What If are based on me actually trying to do the thing and then reporting what happened, but phrased as if it's hypothetical.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a SUNSCREEN BALL - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
This comic references various questions submitted to the what if? blog, and is a promotion for Randall's new book, ''What if? 2'' (to be released 6 days from the date of this comic publication). This comic has a list of things not to do, an extension of a previous list, and is purportedly things Randall discovered as he was doing research for his book. A visit to the [https://what-if.xkcd.com/archive/ What If? archive] shows the titles, publishing date, and a thumbnail for each image. Many of the acts described under the "new" section of the list are depicted in these thumbnails (see table below). <br />
<br />
The title text says that Randall is tempted to tell people that all the things in the book were things that he actually tried to do, not that he calculated the solutions for their problems. Many of the questions/answers in his new book are impossible to attempt in real life.{{citation needed}}<br />
<br />
===Table===<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
!Number !! Entry !! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="3" | From existing list<br />
|-<br />
|156,812<br />
|Eat Tide Pods<br />
|{{w|Consumption of Tide Pods|Tide Pod}}s are a brand of laundry detergent sold in small packets ("pods") of water-soluble gel. Many children have tried to eat them, thinking them to be candy, and have had to go to the hospital to treat poisoning. In 2017 and 2018, a satirical "challenge" originated around eating Tide Pods.<br />
|-<br />
|156,813<br />
|Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm<br />
|Taller objects are more likely to be struck by lightning, so walking on stilts outdoors would increase the risk of death by electrocution. It would also presumably risk falling and injuring oneself that way, since the ground becomes wet in a rainstorm.<br />
|-<br />
|156,814<br />
|Set off fireworks at a gas station<br />
|This has the risk of potentially an explosion in the gas station, from the sparks of the fireworks.<br />
|-<br />
|156,815<br />
|Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand<br />
|This seems to run the risk of the cat attempting to eat your hand, instead of a cat treat.<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="3" | New!<br />
|-<br />
|156,816<br />
|Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it<br />
|Geysers shoot steam and hot water upward. If a person were to lean over the geyser and look down during an eruption, they would be struck in the face by this hot liquid/gas mixture and severely injured or killed.<br />
|-<br />
|156,817<br />
|Fly a hot-air balloon over a firing range<br />
|A hot air balloon could present an irresistible target to the people firing their weapons at the range. The balloon could be shot and you could fall to your death. See image on [https://what-if.xkcd.com/81/ this entry].<br />
|-<br />
|156,818<br />
|Peel away the earth's crust<br />
|Reminiscent of [https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/mercator this comic], though several *What If* blog posts also result in massive damage to the earth's crust, including what happened to Texas [https://what-if.xkcd.com/153/ here].<br />
|-<br />
|156,819<br />
|Try to paint the Sahara Desert by hand<br />
|This would be [https://what-if.xkcd.com/84/ difficult] and require more paint than humanity has ever produced[https://what-if.xkcd.com/84/].<br />
|-<br />
|156,820<br />
|Remove someone's bones without asking<br />
|Possibly a reference to ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'', in which Professor Gilderoy Lockhart removes all the bones of Harry's arm (instead of merely fixing a broken bone).<br />
|-<br />
|156,821<br />
|Spend 100% of your government's budget on mobile game in-app purchases<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,822<br />
|Fill a lava lamp with actual lava<br />
|A {{w|lava lamp}} is a glass lamp, which contains a wax mixture inside, and heats so that the wax rises and falls. Putting actual lava inside one of these lamps would most likely cause the lamp to melt and the glass to shatter, not to mention handling lava is very dangerous.{{citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
|156,823<br />
|Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic (''sic'') fever<br />
|Drinking someone's blood is a bad idea,{{citation needed}} unless you are a vampire. If someone has a {{w|viral hemorrhagic fever}}, it is potentially much worse, as they have a potentially deadly disease, such as Ebola.<br />
|-<br />
|156,824<br />
|Eat meat from rabid animals<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,825<br />
|Perform your own laser eye surgery<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,826<br />
|Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,827<br />
|Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,828<br />
|Pump ammonia into your abdomen<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,829<br />
|Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the Sun<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:[Caption:]<br />
:Updates to my "Things You Should Not Do" list, based on what I learned writing ''What If? 2''<br />
:(out 9/13, xkcd.com/whatif2)<br />
<br />
:[The rest of the text appears in a box.]<br />
<br />
:<big>Things You Should Not Do</big><br /><br />
:(part 3647 of ????)<br />
<br />
:[A numbered list, the first four items in a lighter grey]<br />
<br />
:<nowiki>#156,812 Eat Tide pods</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,813 Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,814 Set off fireworks at a gas station</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,815 Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand</nowiki><br />
<br />
:[A horizontal divider with the text "New!" in the middle in black. The remaining items on the list are also in black.]<br />
<br />
:<nowiki>#156,816 Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,817 Fly a hot air balloon over a firing range</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,818 Peel away the Earth's crust</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,819 Try to paint the Sahara Desert by hand</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,820 Remove someone's bones without asking</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,821 Spend 100% of your governments budget on mobile game in-app purchases</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,822 Fill a lava lamp with actual lava</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,823 Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic fever</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,824 Eat meat from rabid animals</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,825 Perform your own laser eye surgery</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,826 Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,827 Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,828 Pump ammonia into your abdomen</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,829 Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the sun</nowiki><br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Book promotion]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Pokémon]]<br />
[[Category:Cats]]</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2669:_Things_You_Should_Not_Do&diff=2944632669: Things You Should Not Do2022-09-08T03:22:45Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Start to add What If references</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2669<br />
| date = September 7, 2022<br />
| title = Things You Should Not Do<br />
| image = things_you_should_not_do.png<br />
| titletext = Now I'm tempted to start telling people that I secretly don't actually know how to do any physics calculations, and so all the answers in What If are based on me actually trying to do the thing and then reporting what happened, but phrased as if it's hypothetical.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a SUNSCREEN BALL - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
This comic references various questions submitted to the what if? blog, and is a promotion for Randall's new book, ''What if? 2'' (to be released 6 days from the date of this comic publication). This comic has a list of things not to do, an extension of a previous list, and is purportedly things Randall discovered as he was doing research for his book.<br />
<br />
The title text says that Randall is tempted to tell people that all the things in the book were things that he actually tried to do, not that he calculated the solutions for their problems. Many of the questions/answers in his new book are impossible to attempt in real life.{{citation needed}}<br />
<br />
===Table===<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
!Number !! Entry !! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="3" | From existing list<br />
|-<br />
|156,812<br />
|Eat Tide Pods<br />
|{{w|Consumption of Tide Pods|Tide Pod}}s are a brand of laundry detergent sold in small packets ("pods") of water-soluble gel. Many children have tried to eat them, thinking them to be candy, and have had to go to the hospital to treat poisoning. In 2017 and 2018, a satirical "challenge" originated around eating Tide Pods.<br />
|-<br />
|156,813<br />
|Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm<br />
|Taller objects are more likely to be struck by lightning, so walking on stilts outdoors would increase the risk of death by electrocution. It would also presumably risk falling and injuring oneself that way, since the ground becomes wet in a rainstorm.<br />
|-<br />
|156,814<br />
|Set off fireworks at a gas station<br />
|This has the risk of potentially an explosion in the gas station, from the sparks of the fireworks.<br />
|-<br />
|156,815<br />
|Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand<br />
|This seems to run the risk of the cat attempting to eat your hand, instead of a cat treat.<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="3" | New!<br />
|-<br />
|156,816<br />
|Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it<br />
|Geysers shoot steam and hot water upward. If a person were to lean over the geyser and look down during an eruption, they would be struck in the face by this hot liquid/gas mixture and severely injured or killed.<br />
|-<br />
|156,817<br />
|Fly a hot-air balloon over a firing range<br />
|A hot air balloon could present an irresistible target to the people firing their weapons at the range. The balloon could be shot and you could fall to your death. See image on [https://what-if.xkcd.com/81/ this entry].<br />
|-<br />
|156,818<br />
|Peel away the earth's crust<br />
|Reminiscent of [https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/mercator this comic], though several *What If* blog posts also result in massive damage to the earth's crust, including what happened to Texas [https://what-if.xkcd.com/153/ here].<br />
|-<br />
|156,819<br />
|Try to pain the Sahara Desert by hand<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,820<br />
|Remove someone's bones without asking<br />
|Possibly a reference to ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'', in which Professor Gilderoy Lockhart removes all the bones of Harry's arm (instead of merely fixing a broken bone).<br />
|-<br />
|156,821<br />
|Spend 100% of your government's budget on mobile game in-app purchases<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,822<br />
|Fill a lava lamp with actual lava<br />
|A {{w|lava lamp}} is a glass lamp, which contains a wax mixture inside, and heats so that the wax rises and falls. Putting actual lava inside one of these lamps would most likely cause the lamp to melt and the glass to shatter, not to mention handling lava is very dangerous.{{citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
|156,823<br />
|Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic (''sic'') fever<br />
|Drinking someone's blood is a bad idea,{{citation needed}} unless you are a vampire. If someone has a {{w|viral hemorrhagic fever}}, it is potentially much worse, as they have a potentially deadly disease, such as Ebola.<br />
|-<br />
|156,824<br />
|Eat meat from rabid animals<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,825<br />
|Perform your own laser eye surgery<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,826<br />
|Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,827<br />
|Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,828<br />
|Pump ammonia into your abdomen<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|156,829<br />
|Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the Sun<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:[Caption:]<br />
:Updates to my "Things You Should Not Do" list, based on what I learned writing ''What If? 2''<br />
:(out 9/13, xkcd.com/whatif2)<br />
<br />
:[The rest of the text appears in a box.]<br />
<br />
:<big>Things You Should Not Do</big><br /><br />
:(part 3647 of ????)<br />
<br />
:[A numbered list, the first four items in a lighter grey]<br />
<br />
:<nowiki>#156,812 Eat Tide pods</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,813 Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,814 Set off fireworks at a gas station</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,815 Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand</nowiki><br />
<br />
:[A horizontal divider with the text "New!" in the middle in black. The remaining items on the list are also in black.]<br />
<br />
:<nowiki>#156,816 Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,817 Fly a hot air balloon over a firing range</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,818 Peel away the Earth's crust</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,819 Try to paint the Sahara Desert by hand</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,820 Remove someone's bones without asking</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,821 Spend 100% of your governments budget on mobile game in-app purchases</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,822 Fill a lava lamp with actual lava</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,823 Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic fever</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,824 Eat meat from rabid animals</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,825 Perform your own laser eye surgery</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,826 Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,827 Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,828 Pump ammonia into your abdomen</nowiki><br />
:<nowiki>#156,829 Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the sun</nowiki><br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Book promotion]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Pokémon]]<br />
[[Category:Cats]]</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2669:_Things_You_Should_Not_Do&diff=294436Talk:2669: Things You Should Not Do2022-09-07T22:13:28Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Clarify paint reference</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
Seems like this could become a series. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.210.31|172.68.210.31]] 20:42, 7 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
:Maybe. But I don't think it will be.<br />
:What I was thinking was that there are clearly, on average, around 43 <!-- (!) miscalculated. Not as significant as I thought. --> items per 'page', up to this point. This page shows only 19 items (both pre-New and New, or 20 if the "New" line counts as one, don't know if multilines reduce the number of numbered items ler page), so either it's been{{Citation needed}} manually split/new-paged (for changing aesthetics) or else it is highly varying according to the font-height/multiline-wrappings in use beforehand. Or perhaps we should expect around the same number of 'newer New' items to complete this page before the next page number is automatically started to be populated. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.8|172.70.86.8]] 20:53, 7 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
#156,819 looks like a reference to the Phineas and Ferb title sequence, and the episode Oil on Candace and probably more relevant here, What If 84. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.233|108.162.210.233]] 21:49, 7 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
:It's true that it could be a reference, but I think I recognized most of the topics on the list as being mentioned in some what-if article from the archives--in the case of the "painting" one, https://what-if.xkcd.com/84/. [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 22:13, 7 September 2022 (UTC)<br />
Added a transcript, hopefully it isn't too terrible. (also first explainxkcd edit!) [[User:Merrybot|Merrybot]] ([[User talk:Merrybot|talk]]) 21:52, 7 September 2022 (UTC)</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2666:_Universe_Price_Tiers&diff=2938862666: Universe Price Tiers2022-09-01T03:55:12Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Deleted some strange references to Buddhism and added some additional details</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2666<br />
| date = August 31, 2022<br />
| title = Universe Price Tiers<br />
| image = universe_price_tiers.png<br />
| titletext = In Universe Pro®™ the laws of physics remain unchanged under time reversal, to maintain backward compatibility.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a SOWN WIND - Explained the main point, more details needed. Please change this comment when editing the page . Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
Philosophers have posed many questions in trying to understand the nature of the universe. Some of these have become well-known in popular culture; while some are deliberately open-ended, several others are presented as a choice between two or more options, and are assumed to have a single answer, the debate being about which is correct. In this comic, Randall proposes that the answers to these questions are instead not fixed, but vary according to a tiered {{w|subscription business model}}, as seen in many business pricing schemes, particularly in software. In this model, the no-cost tier gets you a universe experience of a lower quality, while at higher tiers better options are available for a cost - for example in the highest tier the processes of aging and death are "Opt-in" rather than "Mandatory". It is not clear from the comic who is supposed to be paying these subscription fees, or whose experience of the universe is supposed to be affected.<br />
<br />
The universe does not have a subscription model,{{citation needed}} but on the chart some of the categories that refer to observable properties such as the speed limit or existence of the {{w|Uncertainty Principle}} indicate ours is the Universe Standard® subscription, but other specifications may not entirely match our user experience.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to the concept of {{w|T-symmetry}} in physical laws. Most properties of our universe are asymmetric, meaning that the property changes if time is reversed (e.g. the entropy of the universe decreases as time flows backwards). Randall again makes a reference to software subscription models in a play on words as the Universe Pro®™ sub appears to have laws that maintain "backwards compatibility".<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
! !! Universe Lite™ !! Universe Standard® !! Universe Pro®™!!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
! Price <br />
| Free || $14.95/month || $49.95/month || Indicative of a typical Freemium product, the versions released include what is effectively an 'unlimited trial' version, but lacking some potentially desired features, and then extra tiers with increased functionality so that you can "get what you pay for".<br />
|-<br />
! Ads<br />
| Yes || Yes || No || There are indeed ads in our own universe, but whether they are an intrinsic property of the universe or not is an open question.<br />
|-<br />
! Number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin<br />
| 4 || 64 || 4,096 || "{{w|How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?}}" is a question used to poke fun at medieval angelology and medieval scholasticism in general by claiming discussions in its fields revolve around meaningless questions. It is also used as a metaphor for wasting time debating useless questions, as it is generally accepted that we can have no definititive answer. Here, the question is given concrete answers that are powers of 2 often seen when using binary representation.<br />
|-<br />
! Free will or determinism <br />
| Determinism || Free will || Free will || Another predominantly philosophical issue, although physics (both Newtonian and Quantum) has not shied away from trying to answer this (see Does God Play Dice? below). It is interesting that the paid versions of the universe are the only ones to include free will, implying that either such a quality is inherently desirable or it is a necessary condition of some other feature in the paid plan (such as, for instance, the aforementioned dice-playing).<br />
|-<br />
! Cosmic speed limit <br />
| 65 mph || 300,000 km/s || Unlimited || The Cosmic speed limit refers to the {{w|speed of light}}, which rounds to 300,000 kilometers per second in our particular universe, one of the few definite clues as to which tier we might exist in. Living in a universe with such a low speed limit would render many aspects of experience unrecognizable from our own; assuming the speed of light and thus all relativistic effects were similarly scaled, the act of driving at highway speeds would result in human-observable time dilation and apparent spatial distortion. The idea of having a speed cap is reminiscent of computer simulations and game engines, which often prevent agents from accelerating beyond a certain point to prevent unintended behavior.<br />
|-<br />
! If a tree falls in a forest and there's no one there to hear... <br />
| No sound || Simple beep || Full sound || {{w|If a tree falls in a forest}} is a popular philosophical question whose answer depends largely on one's philosophical belief system and the interpretation of the question itself. Here it's suggested that there is a definite answer which differs depending on the quality of the universe subscription. On the assumption that "our" universe is on the Standard Plan, this table implies that all trees falling outside of the auditory range of anyone or anything capable of noticing it emit a simplified "beep" sound, rather than the complex crashing one would expect. Given loose enough assumptions, we cannot "prove" in a classical sense that this is not the case, and this may contribute to the humor of this entry.<br />
|-<br />
! Meaning of Life <br />
| Unknowable || Uncertain || Clearly explained || All we can know is that we (currently) don't know, which makes our universe one almost certainly either with an unknowable or uncertain state of affairs.{{Actual citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
! Sound of one hand clapping <br />
| [None] || [None] || ''Kazzap!'' || A further philosophical question, as the sound of two hands clapping relies upon there being two hands percussing and displacing/resonating air. The "Kazzap" referenced is humorous because it provides an answer to an ill-formed question (what is the sound of one hand clapping?) in the form of a nonsense onomatopoeia. To members of our universe, this is absurd. The implication is that those in the Pro version of the universe have access to this seemingly impossible feat.<br />
|-<br />
! Aging and death <br />
| Mandatory || Mandatory || Opt-in || If this is a mere option, we clearly haven't read (or understood) the online manual or perhaps read the tool-tips.<br />
|-<br />
! Does god play dice with the universe? <br />
| Yes, and he cheats || Yes || No || A reference to a phrase famously ascribed to Einstein (in opposition to the concept of quantum uncertainty) that "God does not play dice with the universe." This option and the Determinism/Free Will choice, above, are interestingly linked but not necessarily in a way we can comprehend.<br />
|-<br />
! Bad things... <br />
| Happen to good people only || Happen to good and bad people || Don't happen || Relates to whether there is justice, compassion or fairness in the universe, or perhaps if there specifically is not. In theological arguments, this detabe is intimately connected with theodicy (the "problem of evil"), but like the existence of free will it is hotly debated in non-theological contexts as well. <br />
|-<br />
! What happens to those who sow the wind <br />
| Reap the whirlwind || Reap the whirlwind || Lots of crops everywhere || <!-- A famous quote but I need to save before I research this further, and I'm likely to get an Edit Conflict if I take my time to do it and the other things I need to do to provide sufficient Wikilinks for my other additions... --><br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
! !! Universe Lite™ !! Universe Standard® !! Universe Pro®™<br />
|-<br />
! Price <br />
| Free || $14.95/month || $49.95/month<br />
|-<br />
! Ads<br />
| Yes || Yes || No<br />
|-<br />
! Number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin<br />
| 4 || 64 || 4,096<br />
|-<br />
! Free will or determinism <br />
| Determinism || Free will || Free will<br />
|-<br />
! Cosmic speed limit <br />
| 65mph || 300,000 km/s || Unlimited<br />
|-<br />
! If a tree falls in a forest and there's no one there to hear... <br />
| No sound || Simple beep || Full sound<br />
|-<br />
! Meaning of Life <br />
| Unknowable || Uncertain || Clearly explained<br />
|-<br />
! Sound of one hand clapping <br />
| [None] || [None] || ''Kazzap!''<br />
|-<br />
! Aging and death <br />
| Mandatory || Mandatory || Opt-in<br />
|-<br />
! Does god play dice with the universe? <br />
| Yes, and he cheats || Yes || No<br />
|-<br />
! Bad things... <br />
| Happen to good people only || Happen to good and bad people || Don't happen<br />
|-<br />
! What happens to those who sow the wind <br />
| Reap the whirlwind || Reap the whirlwind || Lots of crops everywhere<br />
|}<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2663:_Tetherball_Configurations&diff=293490Talk:2663: Tetherball Configurations2022-08-25T16:28:29Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Editing my previous comment to remove irrelevant sentence</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
Is anyone else reminded of the "classes of a lever" sort of classification? Where the load, fulcrum, and force are permuted. I know that's not explicitly connected to this comic, but it feels like a similar vibe, since you've got 4 (or 3 out of the 4) elements, and you're just changing the order they're oriented relative to each other. [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 03:52, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Ground-rope-ball is arguably a playable cooperative configuration. Player 1 whirls the ball above her head like a bola; Player 2 attempts to hit the ball and get it to reverse direction. Play continues until the ball hits the ground. The final score is equal to the number of reversals. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.93.43|172.70.93.43]] 06:29, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
: Ground-rope-ball is actually quite legit - I have one of these somewhere in the basement... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FT0Z95kN4w [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 06:59, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
:: How does that base stay on the ground? --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 07:52, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
::: It's quite heavy. You could have the same result by somehow connecting the rope directly to the ground. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:35, 25 August 2022 (UTC) <br />
: Ground-rope-ball (GRB) definitely looks good. If you just place it in a playground and let some kids mess around, I guarantee they will eventually come up with rules that make for a fun game. It might not be Tetherball, but it's gotta be worthy of at least 4 stars. --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 07:52, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
::Not agreeing that it would work in any way related to Tetherball. But a call stuck in the ground like this would definitely get kicked by kids. So as a game it might be used, gut not as Tetherball. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:27, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
:::Though I take your point that the original comic probably intends the meaning of the rating as being "how good AS tetherball" I disagree that it's that bad at being tether ball. There is still a ball, it is tethered and you can even kick it and have it orbit back towards you. [[User:Nbrader|Nbrader]] ([[User talk:Nbrader|talk]]) 12:20, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I feel like this comic missed some opportunities:<br />
*Pole-Rope-Pole: Nunchuks<br />
*Ground-Pole-Rope-Pole-Ground: Tightrope<br />
*Pole: This configuration could be used at the same time as the above for added stability<br />
I'm sure there are more![[User:Nbrader|Nbrader]] ([[User talk:Nbrader|talk]]) 12:20, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
:If it doesn't have a ball, can it really be called tetherball? I think the ball and rope are the minimum requirements. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 13:48, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In Denmark I never played this game, but often played {{w|Totem tennis}} (tether tennis or swingball). Had to find out what it was called in English first before I could write it here. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:27, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
:I always assumed that tetherball/swingball was effectively the same whether entirely freely pivoting/rolling-over or as the helical-track system (which just automated the 'scoring' system, and undeniably triggered the top to pop up when either limit of travel was reached) that I recall from my teen years. Not sure if it was branded to Mookie Toys, but was definitely more than a decade before the 1993 date that this article appears to suggest the helix-version was created (by some interpretations*) so it could have been amongst the properties it says they bought at that time.<br />
:(* - I'd check exactly what it should mean and rewrite that article accordingly, but my mobile IP at any given moment is almost always on Wikipedia's no-editting list, so I'd need to wait to be tethered to a landline broadband again, and by then I'll have forgotten...)<br />
:I also recall a 'ground weight'-tethered version (with optional peg-holes for further immobilisation if placed upon peggable ground, like your average lawn) in the box of sports equipment taken on cub-/scout-camps, which was full of many other (and often not very Health-And-Safety-compatible) outdoor 'toys' and sports equipment like lawn-darts and several rather antique-looking boxing gloves. Can't recall any branding. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.78|172.70.91.78]] 09:03, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
:In wikipedia it mentions something I think which is similar: "An early variant described in Jessie H. Bancroft's 1909 book Games for the Playground... involves a tethered tennis ball hit by racquets, with similar rules of the game." It sounds like this would be a rather dangerous version, with kids swinging racquets wildly in close quarters. Are there a lot of racquet-related injuries? [[User:Gbisaga|Gbisaga]] ([[User talk:Gbisaga|talk]]) 11:42, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
::Wait, I didn't even notice thst thetherball was ''not'' played with rackets. Whatever-it-was-I-played used rackets (probably light plastic toy rackets/flyswat-griddle-alikes), though, not full-blown competition tennis rackets with a strung wooden frame. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.77|172.70.162.77]] 13:39, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In France, we have "Jokari" which is pretty similar to the first scenario, except that the rope is a rubber band, played by two people. It's a bit like tennis but without the net and with a ball that comes back. Totally playable. The article on English Wikipedia is not the same thing. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.130.29|172.71.130.29]] 10:17, 25 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Ground-Pole-Ground is described in What-if 157: https://what-if.xkcd.com/157/</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2663:_Tetherball_Configurations&diff=293444Talk:2663: Tetherball Configurations2022-08-25T03:52:06Z<p>Dextrous Fred: First (real) contribution</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
First<br />
<br />
Is anyone else reminded of the "classes of a lever" sort of classification? Where the load, fulcrum, and force are permuted. I know that's not explicitly connected to this comic, but it feels like a similar vibe, since you've got 4 (or 3 out of the 4) elements, and you're just changing the order they're oriented relative to each other. Also, tempted to delete the above comment because it's neither relevant nor signed. [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 03:52, 25 August 2022 (UTC)</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2660:_Gen_Z&diff=293102Talk:2660: Gen Z2022-08-18T21:19:17Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Response to comment</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
It makes sense that Randall isn't calling out any particular fads, trends, tendencies, or commonalities in Gen Z to comment on, but some immediately came to my mind as I read the comic. Is it worth putting a list of possibilities in the explanation, or just one or two examples? That knowledge probably isn't going to contribute to the understanding of the joke, which is that for *every* generation there have been such observations and complaints from older folks. [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 21:28, 17 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
:I don't think there's a need for that, but someone should add a definition of Generation Z. The Wikipedia page that it links to should describe the notable features of that generation. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:41, 17 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I found the title text in the New Zealand Mail, Issue 1729, 19 April 1905, Page 15 (https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZMAIL19050419.2.44).<br />
:Not quite the same, though both articles were probably based on reading the same medical communication that one references. The Kansas one, however, appears to be the source of the quote in the comic. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]])<br />
<br />
holy shit randall is based --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.17|108.162.221.17]] 01:35, 18 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
:Based on what? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.125|162.158.159.125]] 03:33, 18 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
::Binary [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.5|172.70.162.5]] 14:46, 18 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
::Based is a term I have heard of, it means really like something but you say it in a jokey, possibly sarcastic way. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.163|172.70.206.163]] 06:10, 18 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
::: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=based [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:11, 18 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I'm pretty sure the five listeners represent the five generations between the {{w|Lost Generation}} (when {{w|Boater}} hats like the speaker is wearing were popular) and the Gen Z that he is talking about. The middle character with the flower in her hair is definitely a {{w|hippie}}, for the {{w|Baby boomers}}. I mentally associate the white {{w|Flat cap}} with post-WW2, which would be the {{w|Silent generation}}, although I'm not sure why I have that association. Extending this, the {{w|Millennial}} is the one saying "Gosh", the one in the black hat would be a {{w|Gen X|Gen Xer}} (no idea why), and the last one with the hairbun would be from the {{w|Greatest generation}}. I don't think I can describe those associations well enough to actually write it up, though. Does this view make sense to anyone else? -- [[User:Bobson|Bobson]] ([[User talk:Bobson|talk]]) 21:13, 18 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I think that's an interesting interpretation, but I would invoke Occam's razor to suggest that the fashions depicted could all be from the early 1900s, and that the gathered crowd is composed of "small town salespeople in 1905" as the caption describes. I think if Randall wanted to make it clear they were from different generations, he would include more obvious cultural touchstones in their clothing or speech, and he wouldn't have them conversing with each other unless there were a reason to introduce time travel<br />
<br />
I agree with the Elk Falls Journal correspondent. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 21:15, 18 August 2022 (UTC)</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2660:_Gen_Z&diff=2931012660: Gen Z2022-08-18T21:15:38Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Clarify previous edit, change last See Also sentence</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2660<br />
| date = August 17, 2022<br />
| title = Gen Z<br />
| image = gen_z.png<br />
| titletext = Curdled milk, of a peculiar kind, made after a Bulgarian recipe and called "yaghurt," is now a Parisian fad and is believed to be a remedy against growing old. A correspondent who has tried it, says he would prefer to die young. (1905, The Elk Falls Journal)<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a CONFUSINGLY TRENDY BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
Older generations are often confused by the trends and norms of younger people, and this comic aims to contextualize this common situation by placing it in a historical perspective. The man in the black hat is expressing a notion that sounds a lot like [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD0x7ho_IYc juvenoia], and is quick to make sweeping generalizations about the younger group. The other reactions depicted are representative of the broader spectrum of possible responses: either surprised interest or cautious acceptance. Neither knee-jerk rejection nor forward-looking sympathy are specifically praised by the main text of the comic, but the example highlighted in the title text seems to imply that Randall would like to emphasize openness to new things.<br />
<br />
The title text [https://mobile.twitter.com/xkcd/status/1560020008545165319 apparently quotes] a 1905 paper from Elk Falls, Kansas, which tells of a "Parisian fad". In this case, the "fad" is the introduction of {{w|yogurt}} (spelled "yaghurt" in this publication, probably because English spelling of the word was not standardized yet and may have been influenced by the French spelling and phonology). In the modern day, yogurt is enjoyed as a common food in most [[559: No Pun Intended|cultures]], but in 1905 the concept was bizarre and repulsive to the readers of this Kansas newspaper. This shows that things which are dismissed as "strange" because of preconceived notions of a particular group (that curdled milk is necessarily bad) may, in fact, be perfectly acceptable once more context is obtained. It is also worth noting that yogurt was not invented in 1905, but had existed for centuries prior; despite this, the recent introduction to French culture is what prompted its recognition as a nascent "fad" by the Kansan writer. This may be analogized to various fads and trends which {{w|Gen Z}} is embracing which may appear unfounded to members of older generations, but which nevertheless represent acceptance of ideas which did not originate with members of that generation.<br />
<br />
This is not the first comic to identify "modern" complaints or viewpoints as having been present throughout history in various forms (see comics [[1227: The Pace of Modern Life]] and [[1601: Isolation]]).<br />
<br />
The humor in making generalizations about people born in specific time periods is also seen in [[973: MTV Generation]], [[1962: Generations]] and [[2249: I Love the 20s]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:[Six individuals in clothing representing early 1900s' American fashion stand in a line. Four of them have speaking roles, from left to right, and two stand in silence, contributing to the feeling of a conversation amongst a crowd gathered around the first speaker]<br />
:Speaker 1 (white brim hat): Now, it may sound strange, but it's how Gen Z is doing things!<br />
:Speaker 2 (wavy hair, dress with belt): Gosh! Is that really true??<br />
:Speaker 3 (dark hat with indent): Ridiculous. It just goes to show what I've been saying about them.<br />
:Speaker 4 (hair in bun, dress with lace hem): Now now, maybe we just need to change with the times.<br />
<br />
:Caption below comic: People ascribing qualities to "Gen Z" have the same energy as small-town salespeople in 1905 talking about what the ladies in Paris are up to.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Food]]<br />
[[Category:Social interactions]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2660:_Gen_Z&diff=2930982660: Gen Z2022-08-18T21:12:05Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Reading into Randall's mindset (may go too far, but I think it's justified)</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2660<br />
| date = August 17, 2022<br />
| title = Gen Z<br />
| image = gen_z.png<br />
| titletext = Curdled milk, of a peculiar kind, made after a Bulgarian recipe and called "yaghurt," is now a Parisian fad and is believed to be a remedy against growing old. A correspondent who has tried it, says he would prefer to die young. (1905, The Elk Falls Journal)<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a CONFUSINGLY TRENDY BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
Older generations are often confused by the trends and norms of younger people, and this comic aims to contextualize this common situation by placing it in a historical perspective. The man in the black hat is expressing a notion that sounds a lot like [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD0x7ho_IYc juvenoia], and is quick to make sweeping generalizations about the younger group. The other reactions depicted are representative of the broader spectrum of possible responses: either confusion or cautious acceptance. Neither knee-jerk rejection nor forward-looking sympathy are specifically praised by the main text of the comic, but the title text seems to imply greater openness to new things.<br />
<br />
The title text [https://mobile.twitter.com/xkcd/status/1560020008545165319 apparently quotes] a 1905 paper from Elk Falls, Kansas, which tells of a "Parisian fad". In this case, the "fad" is the introduction of {{w|yogurt}} (spelled "yaghurt" in this publication, probably because English spelling of the word was not standardized yet and may have been influenced by the French spelling and phonology). In the modern day, yogurt is enjoyed as a common food in most [[559: No Pun Intended|cultures]], but in 1905 the concept was bizarre and repulsive to the readers of this Kansas newspaper. This shows that things which are dismissed as "strange" because of preconceived notions of a particular group (that curdled milk is necessarily bad) may, in fact, be perfectly acceptable once more context is obtained. It is also worth noting that yogurt was not invented in 1905, but had existed for centuries prior; despite this, the recent introduction to French culture is what prompted its recognition as a nascent "fad" by the Kansan writer. This may be analogized to various fads and trends which {{w|Gen Z}} is embracing which may appear unfounded to members of older generations, but which nevertheless represent acceptance of ideas which did not originate with members of that generation.<br />
<br />
This is not the first comic to identify "modern" complaints or viewpoints as having been present throughout history in various forms (see comics [[1227: The Pace of Modern Life]] and [[1601: Isolation]]).<br />
<br />
Arguing against using generation names is also seen before for instance in [[973: MTV Generation]], [[1962: Generations]] and [[2249: I Love the 20s]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:[Six individuals in clothing representing early 1900s' American fashion stand in a line. Four of them have speaking roles, from left to right, and two stand in silence, contributing to the feeling of a conversation amongst a crowd gathered around the first speaker]<br />
:Speaker 1 (white brim hat): Now, it may sound strange, but it's how Gen Z is doing things!<br />
:Speaker 2 (wavy hair, dress with belt): Gosh! Is that really true??<br />
:Speaker 3 (dark hat with indent): Ridiculous. It just goes to show what I've been saying about them.<br />
:Speaker 4 (hair in bun, dress with lace hem): Now now, maybe we just need to change with the times.<br />
<br />
:Caption below comic: People ascribing qualities to "Gen Z" have the same energy as small-town salespeople in 1905 talking about what the ladies in Paris are up to.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Food]]<br />
[[Category:Social interactions]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2660:_Gen_Z&diff=2930282660: Gen Z2022-08-17T21:46:09Z<p>Dextrous Fred: A tiny clarification</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2660<br />
| date = August 17, 2022<br />
| title = Gen Z<br />
| image = gen_z.png<br />
| titletext = Curdled milk, of a peculiar kind, made after a Bulgarian recipe and called "yaghurt," is now a Parisian fad and is believed to be a remedy against growing old. A correspondent who has tried it, says he would prefer to die young. (1905, The Elk Falls Journal)<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a CONFUSINGLY TRENDY BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
Older generations are often confused by the trends and norms of younger people, and this comic aims to contextualize this common situation by placing it in a historical perspective. <br />
<br />
The title text apparently quotes a 1905 paper from Elk Falls, Kansas, which tells of a "Parisian fad". In this case, the "fad" is the introduction of yogurt (spelled "yaghurt" in this publication, probably because English spelling of the word was not standardized yet and may have been influenced by the French spelling). In the modern day, yogurt is enjoyed as a common food in most cultures, but in 1905 the concept was bizarre and repulsive to the readers of this Kansas newspaper. This shows that things which are dismissed as "strange" because of preconceived notions of a particular group (that curdled milk is necessarily bad) may, in fact, be perfectly acceptable once more context is obtained. It is also worth noting that yogurt was not invented in 1905, but had existed for centuries prior; despite this, the recent introduction to French culture is what prompted its recognition as a nascent "fad" by the Kansan writer. This may be analogized to various fads and trends which Gen Z is embracing which may appear unfounded to members of older generations, but which nevertheless represent acceptance of ideas which did not originate with members of that generation.<br />
<br />
This is not the first comic to identify "modern" complaints or viewpoints as having been present throughout history in various forms (see comics [[1227: The Pace of Modern Life]] and [[1601: Isolation]]).<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[Six individuals in clothing representing early 1900's American fashion stand in a line. Four of them have speaking roles, from left to right, and two stand in silence, contributing to the feeling of a conversation amongst a crowd gathered around the first speaker]<br />
<br />
Speaker 1 (white brim hat): Now, it may sound strange, but it's how Gen Z is doing things!<br />
<br />
Speaker 2 (wavy hair, dress with belt): Gosh! Is that really true??<br />
<br />
Speaker 3 (dark hat with indent): Ridiculous. It just goes to show what I've been saying about them.<br />
<br />
Speaker 4 (hair in bun, dress with lace hem): Now now, maybe we just need to change with the times.<br />
<br />
Caption below comic: People ascribing qualities to "Gen Z" have the same energy as small-town salespeople in 1905 talking about what the ladies in Paris are up to.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2660:_Gen_Z&diff=2930272660: Gen Z2022-08-17T21:44:52Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Added explanation for title text</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2660<br />
| date = August 17, 2022<br />
| title = Gen Z<br />
| image = gen_z.png<br />
| titletext = Curdled milk, of a peculiar kind, made after a Bulgarian recipe and called "yaghurt," is now a Parisian fad and is believed to be a remedy against growing old. A correspondent who has tried it, says he would prefer to die young. (1905, The Elk Falls Journal)<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a CONFUSINGLY TRENDY BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
Older generations are often confused by the trends and norms of younger people, and this comic aims to contextualize this common situation by placing it in a historical perspective. <br />
<br />
The title text apparently quotes a 1905 paper from Elk Falls, Kansas, which tells of a "Parisian fad". In this case, the "fad" is the introduction of yogurt (spelled "yaghurt" in this publication, probably because English spelling of the word was not standardized yet and may have been influenced by the French spelling). In the modern day, yogurt is enjoyed as a common food in most cultures, but in 1905 the concept was bizarre and repulsive to the readers of this Kansas newspaper. This shows that things which are dismissed as "strange" because of preconceived notions of a particular group (that curdled milk is necessarily bad) may, in fact, be perfectly acceptable once more context is obtained. It is also worth noting that yogurt was not invented in 1905, but had existed for centuries prior; despite this, the recent introduction to French culture is what prompted its recognition as a nascent "fad" by the Kansan writer. This may be analogized to various fads and trends which Gen Z is embracing which may appear unfounded to members of older generations.<br />
<br />
This is not the first comic to identify "modern" complaints or viewpoints as having been present throughout history in various forms (see comics [[1227: The Pace of Modern Life]] and [[1601: Isolation]]).<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[Six individuals in clothing representing early 1900's American fashion stand in a line. Four of them have speaking roles, from left to right, and two stand in silence, contributing to the feeling of a conversation amongst a crowd gathered around the first speaker]<br />
<br />
Speaker 1 (white brim hat): Now, it may sound strange, but it's how Gen Z is doing things!<br />
<br />
Speaker 2 (wavy hair, dress with belt): Gosh! Is that really true??<br />
<br />
Speaker 3 (dark hat with indent): Ridiculous. It just goes to show what I've been saying about them.<br />
<br />
Speaker 4 (hair in bun, dress with lace hem): Now now, maybe we just need to change with the times.<br />
<br />
Caption below comic: People ascribing qualities to "Gen Z" have the same energy as small-town salespeople in 1905 talking about what the ladies in Paris are up to.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2660:_Gen_Z&diff=2930252660: Gen Z2022-08-17T21:31:38Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Fixing transcript format a little, add caption</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2660<br />
| date = August 17, 2022<br />
| title = Gen Z<br />
| image = gen_z.png<br />
| titletext = Curdled milk, of a peculiar kind, made after a Bulgarian recipe and called "yaghurt," is now a Parisian fad and is believed to be a remedy against growing old. A correspondent who has tried it, says he would prefer to die young. (1905, The Elk Falls Journal)<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a CONFUSINGLY TRENDY BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
Older generations are often confused by the trends and norms of younger people, and this comic aims to contextualize this common situation by placing it in a historical perspective. <br />
<br />
This is not the first comic to identify "modern" complaints or viewpoints as having been present throughout history in various forms (see comics 1227 and 1601).<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[Six individuals in clothing representing early 1900's American fashion stand in a line. Four of them have speaking roles, from left to right, and two stand in silence, contributing to the feeling of a conversation amongst a crowd gathered around the first speaker]<br />
<br />
Speaker 1 (white brim hat): Now, it may sound strange, but it's how Gen Z is doing things!<br />
<br />
Speaker 2 (wavy hair, dress with belt): Gosh! Is that really true??<br />
<br />
Speaker 3 (dark hat with indent): Ridiculous. It just goes to show what I've been saying about them.<br />
<br />
Speaker 4 (hair in bun, dress with lace hem): Now now, maybe we just need to change with the times.<br />
<br />
Caption below comic: People ascribing qualities to "Gen Z" have the same energy as small-town salespeople in 1905 talking about what the ladies in Paris are up to.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2660:_Gen_Z&diff=293024Talk:2660: Gen Z2022-08-17T21:28:13Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Starting the conversation</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
It makes sense that Randall isn't calling out any particular fads, trends, tendencies, or commonalities in Gen Z to comment on, but some immediately came to my mind as I read the comic. Is it worth putting a list of possibilities in the explanation, or just one or two examples? That knowledge probably isn't going to contribute to the understanding of the joke, which is that for *every* generation there have been such observations and complaints from older folks. [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 21:28, 17 August 2022 (UTC)</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2660:_Gen_Z&diff=2930232660: Gen Z2022-08-17T21:25:49Z<p>Dextrous Fred: The beginnings of a transcript</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2660<br />
| date = August 17, 2022<br />
| title = Gen Z<br />
| image = gen_z.png<br />
| titletext = Curdled milk, of a peculiar kind, made after a Bulgarian recipe and called "yaghurt," is now a Parisian fad and is believed to be a remedy against growing old. A correspondent who has tried it, says he would prefer to die young. (1905, The Elk Falls Journal)<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a CONFUSINGLY TRENDY BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
Older generations are often confused by the trends and norms of younger people, and this comic aims to contextualize this common situation by placing it in a historical perspective. <br />
<br />
This is not the first comic to identify "modern" complaints or viewpoints as having been present throughout history in various forms (see comics 1227 and 1601).<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
Six individuals in clothing representing early 1900's American fashion stand in a line.<br />
<br />
Speaker 1 (white brim hat): Now, it may sound strange, but it's how Gen Z is doing things!<br />
Speaker 2 (wavy hair, dress with belt): Gosh! Is that really true??<br />
Speaker 3 (dark hat with indent): Ridiculous. It just goes to show what I've been saying about them.<br />
Speaker 4 (hair in bun, dress with lace hem): Now now, maybe we just need to change with the times.<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2660:_Gen_Z&diff=2930222660: Gen Z2022-08-17T21:21:18Z<p>Dextrous Fred: The bare bones of an explanation</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2660<br />
| date = August 17, 2022<br />
| title = Gen Z<br />
| image = gen_z.png<br />
| titletext = Curdled milk, of a peculiar kind, made after a Bulgarian recipe and called "yaghurt," is now a Parisian fad and is believed to be a remedy against growing old. A correspondent who has tried it, says he would prefer to die young. (1905, The Elk Falls Journal)<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a CONFUSINGLY TRENDY BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
Older generations are often confused by the trends and norms of younger people, and this comic aims to contextualize this common situation by placing it in a historical perspective. <br />
<br />
This is not the first comic to identify "modern" complaints or viewpoints as having been present throughout history in various forms (see comics 1227 and 1601).<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2652:_Proxy_Variable&diff=291642Talk:2652: Proxy Variable2022-08-01T18:04:10Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Noting the bot title change</p>
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<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
Maybe Randall is commenting on this recent article [https://www.nature.com/articles/s43588-022-00281-6 Nature Computational Science: Automated discovery of fundamental variables hidden in experimental data]?<br />
02:10, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
suggested by a proxy editor<br />
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Might be tangentially related to the alleged Alzheimer's disease drug Aduhelm, the anti-amyloid therapy, that did show some success in proxy variable (biomarker), but no success at all in curing the disease or its symptoms (no efficacy), but which got accepted with a huge amount of controversy by NDA (which disregarded its advisory committee’s recommendation against approving Aduhelm). --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 07:32, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
: More relevantly, it came out recently that [https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/22/2111914/-Two-decades-of-Alzheimer-s-research-may-be-based-on-deliberate-fraud-that-has-cost-millions-of-lives|the last ~decade and a half of Alzheimer's drug research] is based on monitoring effects in mice on a specific biomarker that ''may not actually exist in humans'', and the initial study was potentially fraudulent. Seems like a damn topical proxy variable to me. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.249|162.158.166.249]] 00:56, 31 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
:"It’s not much of a stretch to suggest those amyloids are a primary cause of the associated memory loss and dementia," is the failed proxy hypothesis. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.163|172.69.33.163]] 02:47, 31 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
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I removed this paragraph:<br />
:''Proxy variables are of interest to non-scientists as they provide a scientific way to indirectly monitor or improve the complex systems that affect their lives. For example, blood pressure is a causative factor for cardiovascular disease so it can be used as a proxy variable for healthy lifestyle. However, people need to remember that it isn't necessarily the proxy variable alone that is of concern. Atmospheric carbon dioxide is not the only gas released by humanity with global warming potential and other factors affect climate change; and it is not carbon dioxide but the impact of climate change that will cause major social, economic, cultural damage to the future of the planet. ''<br />
because I want to discuss it. The first sentence needs a source, the second and third sentences claim blood pressure is used by non-scientists as a proxy for living a healthy lifestyle, which I'm not sure about on multiple levels, and the fourth and fifth sentences seem like PR for fossil fuel companies. #notallgreenhousegases Nevertheless, I feel as if there are likely one or two good ideas hidden in it. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.95|172.70.206.95]] 16:01, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
:I feel like the author doesn't know the work climate scientists go to to avoid using greenhouse gas concentration as a proxy for global warming (all the models of atmospheric water and its forms.) For blood pressure, it's easier to see what was attempted to be gotten at. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.90|172.70.211.90]] 16:37, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
::Yes: the ones who dangerously simplify the climate change to "we must stop produce carbon dioxide" are not scientists but politicians. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 16:53, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
:Definitely. We don't even KNOW all factors affecting climate change. Still, the link between rising carbon dioxide and temperature looks much more solid that the link between money spent on fighting climate change and levels of carbon dioxide. ... Wait, you didn't wanted to talk about climate did you? :-) (For record, I always though there are much better reasons to stop using fossil fuels than fighting global warming. Recently, for example, the energetic security from geopolitically problematic regions came under lot of attention.) -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 16:46, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
::I want to talk about climate. Do you think we will be able to transition to carbon neutral and negative technologies in time to avoid the {{w|Jevons paradox}}? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.185|172.70.214.185]] 17:00, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
:::The Jevons Paradox exists if the only forces affecting the consumption of a resource are supply and demand. If you're asking about carbon-neutral/negative technological process making sustainable technologies profitable faster than fossil fuel profits grow, then no, there's no hope even before the Jevons Paradox is considered. But if other options are considered, the Jevons Paradox doesn't really apply. (To take an extreme example: It doesn't matter how fuel-efficient internal combustion engines get, they'll never be the preferred choice if their manufacture is banned.) [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 18:14, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
::Only carbon negative technology requires {{w|Carbon-burning_process|5×10^8 K or 50 keV and densities > 3×10^9 kg/m3}}. I think that in the moment we will be using THAT on industrial scale we would be quite desperate. Also, the amount of energy we will need is going to grow unless we reduce population a LOT (like, for example, if all ecological activists would do the carbon responsible thing and commit suicide). Also, more and more of that energy we will need will be specifically electrical energy. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 20:21, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
:::We need to remove 38 gigatons per year, which is only 0.7 milligrams per square centimeter of ocean. Think of the mean depth of the ocean: that square centimeter is very tall. From that perspective, isn't this an easy biological solution? That's only 0.5 micrograms per minute, from the full depth of each square centimeter of ocean, right? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.43|172.70.214.43]] 20:47, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
::::I'm not sure what is the "this" you talk about but it sounds you are only storing carbon, not removing it. BTW, one of best way to store carbon is to make more highways. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:07, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
:::::Where on Earth would you ever want to build 38 gigatons of highways per year? By "this" I mean genetically modified {{w|phytoplankton}}; in particular modified by changes to {{w|carbonic anhydrase}} expression. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.81|172.70.214.81]] 23:13, 30 July 2022 (UTC) <br />
::::::Are there enough dissolved minerals in the ocean for that volume, assuming {{w|diatom}}s intended to sink to the seabed? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.134|172.70.211.134]] 09:35, 31 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
::: The 'carbon responsible' thing to do would be for the 'ecological activists' to assassinate the people with the most polluting lifestyles, rather than committing suicide. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.147|172.70.162.147]] 08:47, 1 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
:::: Only if this can be achieved with entirely renewable means... Or offset whatever part of their efforts (like launching the orbital solar reflector, then burning their target to a crisp) cannot be considered entirely unpolluting. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.221|172.70.85.221]] 09:06, 1 August 2022 (UTC)<br />
:Everyone thinks this is about pharmacology, and maybe it is. But I've been taking economics courses this semester, so that's what I think of. "We can't measure this factor directly, so we made up a formula that should let us calculate it (if we've measured all relevant factors correctly and all our other assumptions and theories are valid)" is a pretty common thing in that field. [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 18:14, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
:: What's the best example, using GDP as a proxy for development? Or something current like using the money supply as a proxy for inflation? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.95|172.70.214.95]] 20:19, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
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:This is the remainder from below, apparently objected to:<br />
::''Proxy variables are of interest to non-scientists as they provide a way to indirectly monitor or improve the complex systems that affect their lives. For example, people use local temperature as a rough experiential proxy for the severity of global warming. Economists might mistake GDP for productive or useful development, or mistake the size of the {{w|money supply}} for {{w|price inflation}}. While correlated, the causation implied by such assumptions is very much in doubt, because the GDP increase of demolishing a hospital might conflict with the widespread understanding of development, and while the money supply size is a cause of inflation, there are many other causes.''<br />
:But it's different from the original. Regardless of what my IP address may or may not suggest, I know the original objector to the earliest version does not object to this edited version, because that objector was and is me. However, I have not yet decided whether I think it should be in the explanation. I will let you know when it gets off the main page, like tomorrow, roughly in a day unless Monday morning continues its traditional trend of presenting unexpected immediate commitments. I have to run a long errand tomorrow so let's say Tuesdayish. <br />
:My initial impulse is to add another paragraph from the climate discussion above, and propose it for a subsection or collapse box. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.81|172.70.214.81]] 14:35, 31 July 2022 (UTC) <br />
::How about inserting: "The rate and conditions of {{w|carbonic anhydrase}} expression in genetically modified {{w|phytoplankton}}, such as {{w|diatom}}s intended to sink to the seabed, could be one of many partial proxies for carbon negative direct ocean removal. However, {{w|geoengineering}} success is difficult to measure, and harder to predict, because sometimes even small biological changes in one organism, like modulation of a gene, can have wide-ranging ecosystem effects."<br />
::Not sure where the paragraph break should be. If two paragraphs, try appending a subsection; if one, try the collapse box before the first title text paragraph. If people could contribute other interesting examples of proxies for carbon removal (I remember reading about a desalination process?) that would be awesome. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.43|172.70.214.43]] 14:53, 31 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
::: I'm not sure if you can use proportion of renewables, because of Jevons paradox. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.90|172.70.211.90]] 14:59, 31 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
::: ... We could do {{w|Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis}} application rate as a proxy for {{w|mosquito abatement}} to carry the ecology theme. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.207.8|172.70.207.8]] 15:08, 31 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
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::: I have questions about the phytoplankton stuff. Is it true that completely carbon negative sequestration could be accomplished with 0.5 micrograms per minute (carbon or carbonate) for each square centimeter of ocean? How can the innoculator be sure the strain is viable but not destructive? Are there any {{w|synthetic biology}} proposals for new carbonate diatoms? Can you guarantee sufficient sinking buoyancy from carbonates alone, or is silicon necessary for sequestration? Won't ocean bottom-feeders or e.g. whales just eat the phytoplankton and return it to the ocean and atmosphere when they die? (There could be worse carbon removal solutions than those providing extra whale food, but I fear keeping it unpalatable to bottom-feeders would require making it hazardous for other ocean life. What was the desalination ocean carbon removal proposal?) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.90|172.70.211.90]] 15:47, 31 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
:::: Desalination plus carbon capture: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B73LgocyHQnfV1Q4VE45RmFFeFlPSDlKalctVS1nRlYyY3lR/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-3YeR9jAkROsI0YLf4_07GQ] or [https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B73LgocyHQnfQ0lKOTFuWElQaFk/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-2_EmUy2f7XGIvs6hpeaJdg] or [https://drive.google.com/file/d/14igVdhaIhrbHVTN5lI3XfxgNWPsvjNa7] or [https://i.imgur.com/K6j87Lp.png] or [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1750583617304322]. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.9|172.69.33.9]] 16:33, 31 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
::::: Is the amount desalinated a good proxy for the mass of carbon sequestered? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.50|172.69.34.50]] 19:44, 31 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
::::: If you have to fund it by selling the captured carbonate as hydrocarbon fuel, then it's carbon neutral, not carbon negative. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.90|172.70.211.90]] 20:02, 31 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
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The title of the bot at the top changed; it might have been done by the spammer, but regardless it seems less relevant than it usually is. <br />
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;this dude keeps spamming<br />
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Sorry for the mild crassness, especially as a new user, but some Nazi f*ck is vandalizing the page. May someone please ban them?{{unsigned ip|172.71.26.59|03:49, 30 July 2022}}<br />
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Nah, they're using multiple IPs. Someone could semi-protect it or something but there ain't any mods doing their job it seems.{{unsigned ip|172.70.147.47|03:55, 30 July 2022}}<br />
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Where are the mods, anyways?{{unsigned ip|172.71.82.65|03:59, 30 July 2022}}<br />
:You can't always count on volunteer authorities. Even us lowly IP address editors can revert vandalism. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.199|172.69.33.199]] 04:09, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
::Yeah nah, we need it semi-protected {{unsigned ip|162.158.162.199|04:13, 30 July 2022}}<br />
::: Funny if that were the goal of the vandalism. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.95|172.70.206.95]] 16:03, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
:::: One reason that I don't think it should be the go-to counter-vandalism approach being used. But not for me to say. Whilstsoever I'm capable of intervening ''at least'' as much as any vandal tries to, I support the mod actions (they are there, doing things, BTW).<br />
:::: Without actually tolerating the vandal, we easily outnumber the person concerned (and the very few other spammers/bots that sneak through the clearly effective existing speedbumps) and this means that such nuisance edits are heavily mitigated. If you see the damaged bits then you're either a regular or a very unlucky occasional visitor.<br />
:::: (This morning, I went to revert an ad-spam that I noted had been written over a page-redirect, to be told that someone else had just gotten there before me!)<br />
:::: I've been on far more abused online resources, both web (early days, long before CAPTCHA technology) and elsewhere (having seen how Usenet was both before and after The Eternal September) and the interference here is extraordinarily given the generally open nature of the submission process.<br />
:::: PS. Please do sign your posts ( with <code><nowiki>~~~~</nowiki></code> ), if only for the timestamp that makes the to and fro of conversations more understandable... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.221|162.158.34.221]] 19:01, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
:The rant gets replaced within two minutes of each revert. Presumably it's done by bot. We need a mod to take action. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.217|172.70.130.217]] 05:15, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
Article has been restored but some idiots keep spamming the page with random things. pls do something mods {{unsigned ip|172.70.147.47|03:59, 30 July 2022}}<br />
:it's not "some idiots" it's all one person using different ips. he posted the exact same covid rant several times. i think he's schizophrenic or something and just really wants to be heard --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.40|172.69.69.40]] 04:39, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
::But why here? Like, this is such a weird place to try and be heard, I'm sure even Reddit posts would have more visibility than edits to a webcomic wiki. [[User:NErDysprosium|NErDysprosium]] ([[User talk:NErDysprosium|talk]]) 06:06, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
::: Don't underestimate the importance of the can't-get-jokes demographic for PSYOP recruitment. The invasion of Panama might not even have occurred if it weren't for people distracted by cartoons. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.185|172.69.33.185]] 17:16, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
:As one of the admin I can say that I only come here when I have time. Also I'm not as technically skilled as some of the others. But we all just do this as a hobby. At least we are now some active admins, after several years with none... I was just made admin recently. But I can see that both Theusa and Davidy22 has been active, and that Theusa has made some changes to his bot so it also can revert spam. Hope that helps. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:57, 31 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
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[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2652:_Proxy_Variable&diff=291433&oldid=291400 The protected version has much less text than the last non-vandalized version.] [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.90|172.70.211.90]] 20:02, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
: Re "The history of pharmaceutical research is largely a graveyard of failed proxy hypotheses." True, but someone should add that is the reason for experiment registration regulations. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.145|172.70.210.145]] 20:17, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
:: I'm placing that version here, in hopes that it can be edited as a proxy for the protected version: [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.229|172.69.33.229]] 20:28, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
{{cot|Mostly approved (see above) non-vandalized version of the explanation, as further edited}}<br />
[Superceded draft removed]<br />
{{cob}}<br />
:That such improvements are withheld from the main public view must feel like a victory for the vandal. Can autoconfimed users promote it? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.145|172.70.210.145]] 23:08, 30 July 2022 (UTC)<br />
::I have added the above except the "Proxy variables are of interest to non-scientists" part as there was someone explaining why this was removed above here. I will thus not be the one putting it back in.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:57, 31 July 2022 (UTC) <br />
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Is anyone going to comment that all of us IP editors are listed by our CDN proxy address? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.123|172.69.33.123]] 20:44, 30 July 2022 (UTC)</div>Dextrous Fredhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2647:_Capri_Suns&diff=2890132647: Capri Suns2022-07-18T17:31:32Z<p>Dextrous Fred: Add to description, one more transcript change</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2647<br />
| date = July 18, 2022<br />
| title = Capri Suns<br />
| image = capri_suns.png<br />
| titletext = [As security is dragging me away] "Come on, at least I didn't make the mistake in the other direction!"<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a CAPRI SUN - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
IV bags kinda look like {{w|Capri Sun}}, a German juice concentrate drink. Drinking IV bags like a Capri Sun is not something a doctor usually does{{citation needed}}, because they are full of saline solution and not juice. Saline solution is a salty liquid that is safe for human injection, and is the basis of quite a few vaccines, as well as the eye drops used to make your contact lenses slightly less annoying.<br />
The title text is pointing out that drinking whatever was in the bag like a Capri Sun is better than a Capri Sun being mistaken as a saline IV drip, as this would like seriously endanger, if not kill, the recipient. The speaker appears to be using this as a justification for their actions, since their incompetence was, while inexcusable, at least not actually deadly to anyone. The security mentioned in the title text are likely not impressed by this, as hospitals are places where the act of pretending to be a doctor has the potential for many dangerous outcomes. <br />
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==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Created by SOMEONE W.H.O. IS NOT A DOCTOR - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
(Cueball, wearing a lab coat, is drinking out of a straw inserted into an IV drip bag. The figure is surrounded by doctors and hospital staff who appear to include Ponytail and Megan, all of whom are looking at Cueball)<br />
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Cueball: You know, these Capri Suns are good, but they're ''really'' salty<br />
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[Caption below panel:]<br />
I think the hospital may be starting to realize that I'm not actually a doctor<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Dextrous Fred