https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=Jaalenja&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T17:31:21ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2288:_Collector%27s_Edition&diff=190119Talk:2288: Collector's Edition2020-04-06T14:35:48Z<p>Jaalenja: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
== The joke == <br />
Very early on April 1st, Mojang\Microsoft released a version 20w14Infinite build of Minecraft which allows players to create millions of wildly different new worlds by writing text in a book & throwing it through a Nether portal. The world generated depends on what is written in the book, & some specific worlds contain many "starter chests" to help the player in their explorations. Players can share what they wrote in each book with others, allowing multiple players to each access the same new dimensions on their own. In this way, individual single-player Minecraft instances can essentially become a collaboratively evolving game featuring previously nonexistent block types. Given that Randall has done multiple comics referencing Minecraft & seems to be an avid player, & given the presence of "chests" & the "worldbuilding" & collaborative nature of this latest comic, I believe xkcd's April 3rd 2020 comic is a reference to this "final" Minecraft build. <br />
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 14:10, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I think this is extremely unlikely. Munroe has comics planned in advance, and a complex interactive comic like this one takes more than a couple hours to make.[[User:Matthias1|Matthias1]] ([[User talk:Matthias1|talk]]) 18:43, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
==The Meta-Message==<br />
Beginning one month earlier with [[2275: Coronavirus Name]] (March 2, 2020) there was a long [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] about the {{w|coronavirus}} pandemic. Superficially this April comic is not about the pandemic, but note that anybody anywhere can affect the comic's globally shared sandbox. Credit [[Randall|Randall]] with engineering a script reminding us that {{w|We%27re_All_In_This_Together|"We're all in this together."}} JohnB [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.215|162.158.74.215]] 19:01, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Clicking on the URLs in the explanation return "File not found". I will remove the hyperlink so people are less confused. [[User:Fwacer|Fwacer]] ([[User talk:Fwacer|talk]]) 02:18, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== How the comic works == <br />
... is this going to be like [[1190: Time]]? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.63|162.158.74.63]] 04:08, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: I hope so, otherwise I don't get the joke [[User:Forresthopkinsa|Forresthopkinsa]] ([[User talk:Forresthopkinsa|talk]]) 04:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: The page just went down for me so maybe what we've seen isn't what it's supposed to be? [[User:Avi m|avis_magpie]] ([[User talk:Avi m|talk]]) 04:20, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
Looks like the whole comic was just taken down. [[User:Parzivail|Parzivail]] ([[User talk:Parzivail|talk]]) 04:27, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: Can confirm - the most recent comic is Pathogen again [[Special:Contributions/162.158.187.207|162.158.187.207]] 04:26, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
It is still up on the mobile website, but only if you directly go to comic page https://m.xkcd.com/2288 [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.146|172.69.22.146]] 05:10, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: Perhaps this is a collector's edition because it was only up for a limited amount of time? {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.60|05:12, 3 April 2020}}<br />
:: That was my immediate assumption. The title text says, "I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives." And I was viewing the comic by using the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine — which, wouldn't you know it, captured the page exactly once before it went down. Between that and the title "Collector's Edition", I can't help thinking that the comic was actually intended to be viewed this way. Though for what reason, and what intended meaning, I couldn't tell you. …And jeez, in the time it took me to type this, the comic is back, but changed! Oy vey. [[User:NoriMori|NoriMori]] ([[User talk:NoriMori|talk]]) 06:42, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Maybe it's called collectors edition, because it was only available quite limited and to an unusual time? But that logic doesn't fit with the title text. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 05:14, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I doubt that could be caused by "technical difficulties". [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.186|172.69.34.186]] 06:14, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It looks like it went back up about 5 minutes age. I can't figure out if it's possible to do more than pan right now though. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.120|108.162.215.120]] 06:39, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Yeah I see the same thing, looks like they're just testing it live. What a shame :(--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.242|108.162.215.242]] 06:47, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::what makes you assume that this is testing right now? however it doesn't seem to be very interactive apart from panning through it, and that it seems to chagne over time (the moon from [[1300]] wasn't there a few minutes ago, was it? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:49, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:It's a giant pan similar to [https://xkcd.com/1110], although it's mostly empty, with some content at [https://xkcd.com/2288/#-361,-161]<br />
. The title reads that you can find world building material, if you scavenge through the archives. I assume, more content will be unlocked as you read through past comics. [[User:Goatfryed|Goatfryed]] ([[User talk:Goatfryed|talk]]) 06:52, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::That would mean it is individual? That everyone gets their own picture? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC) Edit: I can kinda rule that out. I get the same picture on my phone and my work laptop, the work laptop is in a different country via vpn, and doesn't share any logins/advertisement ID's apart from explain xkcd with my phone... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:05, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Yeah, it definitely changes. The orange swimming pool just showed up now. Also, at the bottom of the page, it says something about "backpack", and what appears to be a reference to some other xkcd comic. For example, "Hint: why waste time say few word when lot word do trick", which I think refers to Up Goer Five. But I have no idea what to do with that info. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.190|172.68.141.190]] 06:55, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:and the content seems to be related to previous comics and what-ifs... but still no clue what to do apart from exploring the page. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:57, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
So I just stumbled upon this and it seems to be exactly as other commentors have theorised: as you read previous comics more stuff gets added to the page. There seems to be some kind of backpack mechanic where you collect items from previous ones somehow, but, perhaps because I've already read all previous comics, that didn't seem to work for me. Instead I just had to click the link above the backpack, which opened the comic in a new tab, and it had a bunch of stuff there. We may need to co-ordinate to figure out if different people end up with different sets of items, and to ensure we have all of them, but I think other than that it should be just a cut and dry thing of making a table with every item in it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.202|162.158.34.202]] 07:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Hang on, mine just changed: before there was only 1 pool on the left, now there are two. I only went back to pathogens and then forwards agin. This may be harder than I thought, I'm going to start keeping a screenshot log of actions vs. results. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:17, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:You may need to try xkcd.com instead of www.xkcd.com - there seems to be an issue with the latter at the moment. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.216|162.158.255.216]] 07:18, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::Hold up it changed again! This time without a reload! [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:28, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::It seems to change periodically, the url does change everytime. New stuff always seems to be added, not old stuff rremoved. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:28, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::The URL is related to the coordinates, it changes when you pan the image. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:34, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::Timings seem to be random, working on double checking that rn. Highest first number so far is 1127, once it switches agin I'm going to experiement with manually editing the url.<br />
<br />
I was briefly able to do things. Open the archieve, navigate it to one of the comics, that are hinted for (e.g. compiling or iata) and when viewing that comic I get a lootbox, with an image I can then place in the 2288. It worked twice, and now it doesn't again... neither with those that have worked before, nor with others I am fairly sure have been placed by other people. (such as galilean moons) --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:21, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I'm working on assembling an image log, wonder if we could compare? Also, the two number url could be useful, rn I'm on -1378, -152 [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:25, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::What do you mean by compare? Also the URL is related to the coordinates, it changes when you pan the image. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:34, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::Yh just got that, is that the same for other panning comics (I'm a little new)? And I was wondering if the comic changed per person/system like certain previous comics. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:40, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::Just seen a previous comment from you saying it doesn't change cross-system. However, it definetely changes with time, so the question is whether that's per user or done on a sort of universal clock, so we all unlock the same new content at the same time.<br />
:::::I didn't complete writing up the thing I was able to do above... after opening the lootbox I got one image related to the comic I opened in my backpack and was able to place that in the actual 2288, where it now is placed. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:50, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::For me that didn't happen, it started with a loading screen type thing, and then objects just started appearing seemingly at random. I've also noticed some of them dissapear. I feel like the best course of action would be to start with a table of all the different objects, and then see if we can figure out when/why they appear later.<br />
::::::: At least 2 objects appeared, because I placed them. It is a colaboration of many xkcd readers to do this world building here. I placed one of the sword fights around #439,-181 and the non-inverted kite at #-1679,-290 . --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:55, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::::Do you agree that the best course of action would therefore be a table with all the items? [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 08:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::::::::Not a big fan of tables, unless there really is content of muliple categories to be entered for one line. A list would do fine I guess? Also I find lists easier to work with. Or what would be the columns you'd set up? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:08, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::::::Something along the lines of the comic that it's a reference to, an image, and an explanation. Do we know if you find the same sticker at the same comic every time? If so, then that. A list would work well too. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 08:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::::::From looking at what image URLs don't 404, it looks like there are 253 stickers, which is quite a lot for a table.[[User:Matthias1|Matthias1]] ([[User talk:Matthias1|talk]]) 10:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::::I think we can unlock new elements by reading older comics (seemingly at random, it doesn't work with every comic read) and that everyone can see the changes once they are put on the global picture. If someone could check, I have put berret guy and his goat around (5000,0)<br />
::::::Yep, he's there. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 08:01, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I almost feel like someone needs to show them this xkcd... https://xkcd.com/169/<br />
<br />
It seems to be an interactive canvas. You can find stickers in chests on specific comics and put them in your backpack, and then when you come back here you can choose where to put them on the canvas. The hints in the empty backpack are cryptic references to comics. {{unsigned ip|162.158.107.85}}<br />
:Yep, I figured the same thing, but for me it only worked twice (fly from wtf to lol was a reference to the iata thing and compiling was a reference to the compiling one) - but it didn't work again. Also: Some of the placed images are clearly references to what-if. Like the squirrel on top of an AK47 or the yoda powering an IPOD. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:59, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I've made a catalog of the stickers but it's only partial because stuff keeps appearing: https://photos.app.goo.gl/dPYeYVpGqu5tqGTt5 [[User:Lev|Lev]] ([[User talk:Lev|talk]]) 08:02, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I got it. I wrote the steps on reddit and included some screenshots. Feel free to use it to edit this page https://old.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/fu1dt0/xkcd_2288_collectors_edition/fmaqp1w/ [[User:Ufolicker|Ufolicker]] ([[User talk:Ufolicker|talk]]) 09:27, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Am I too late to participate in this or am I doing something wrong? Where is this hint supposed to appear? I only see an empty backpack and the canvas on which references to different comics are placed. No comic I've visited, either inspired by references on the canvas, nor by random selection has any chest or other interactive components to it. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 09:53, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:No, you're doing it right. Hints show up in the backpack area. Obviously no one is sure of anything, but even users who have seen hints have reported not seeing hints on a different browser/device. I suspect something similar to [https://xkcd.com/1037/ Umwelt], where different hints are shown to different people. And I think once a chest is picked up, it stops appearing to everyone that could see it, but that's a guess.[[User:Matthias1|Matthias1]] ([[User talk:Matthias1|talk]]) 10:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::Ok, I was unsure because on my windows 10 laptop I have yet to see a hint. I've tried chrome, firefox and internet explorer. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 11:09, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::Finally got it to work in Safari in iOS [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 11:13, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::That's really great, Bischoff, we were worried about you. Care to share how you did it, for the benefit of others? [[User:Jimmbo|Jimmbo]] ([[User talk:Jimmbo|talk]]) 14:19, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::I took part in the scavenger hunt and about 2 hours ago it stopped showing hints. So I assume it shut down and there is nothing to do anymore.¯\_(ツ)_/¯ [[User:Curse|Curse]] ([[User talk:Curse|talk]]) 15:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::::I think everybody gets a limited number of hints, and once you've found them all it won't show any more to you, but other people can still get hints. [[User:Pelosujamo|Pelosujamo]] ([[User talk:Pelosujamo|talk]]) 20:09, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::Nope, it's not that. I visited this comic for the first time today, and no hints for me at all. [[User:Dansiman|Dansiman]] ([[User talk:Dansiman|talk]]) 14:16, 5 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
When I view the comic, I don't see the closed box - the screen is absolutely full of stickers. I've not done any scavenger hunting (I'd upload an image, but I don't have permissions to do so) [[User:Kvetch|Kvetch]] ([[User talk:Kvetch|talk]]) 11:10, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Hints I've seen so far: "The first one was funnier" (chest appeared in comic 1, contained I'm a turtle);<br />
"418 I'm a teapot"<br />
"26th September, 1983" (comic 2052, Stanislav Petrov Day, white dove); [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.135|172.69.134.135]] 11:20, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Perhaps a table for found chests with no attached hints? I've stumbled across a few but don't know if they're hinted at or not :). [[User:Deranged|Deranged]] ([[User talk:Deranged|talk]]) 11:54, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Maybe add a line to the table with a blank first box, the link in the second box, empty third box? Someone will match it up. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.37|162.158.166.37]] 12:21, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"Churchill's gonna have to rehydrate" is Nothing to Offer. Can't remember what number, I think 1148?<br />
<br />
In other news, the bad ads are back ([[Talk:2220: Imagine Going Back in Time/Ads|previous discussion]]) - who's in charge of dealing with them anyway? [[User:Arcorann|Arcorann]] ([[User talk:Arcorann|talk]]) 12:25, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Could someone post an image showing what it looks like to find a chest on a comic? I've browsed to some of the comics referenced as having chests but couldn't see one so far. Thanks![[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.13|141.101.69.13]] 12:54, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I've uploaded a few images on https://imgur.com/gallery/4q1QIW5. Can't upload them here yet, new account [[User:Madsmtm|madsmtm]] ([[User talk:Madsmtm|talk]]) 13:24, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"The other side of the wardrobe", someone's put in the solution [[2218: Wardrobe]]; but I also found the chest on [[665: Prudence]]. Can there be multiple solutions to the same hint? [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 13:00, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Is anyone else having issues with things just not working? I clicked around a bit, it gave me the award in being very smart, and now won't give me any hints or chests. [[User:Crazymachinefan|Crazymachinefan]] ([[User talk:Crazymachinefan|talk]]) 13:57, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::I am also not getting any hints anymore after getting one chest.[[User:Eesley|Eesley]] ([[User talk:Eesley|talk]]) 14:01, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::Nope, nothing to get anymore. [[User:Curse|Curse]] ([[User talk:Curse|talk]]) 15:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The "Was it a rat I saw" hint is probably [[1632: Palindrome]]. I haven't gotten the hint yet, so I can't confirm. [[User:Nvaiko24|Nvaiko24]] ([[User talk:Nvaiko24|talk]]) 14:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Interestingly, the [[1110: Click and Drag]] disables the backpack overlay. Also, anyone have any news on how to get the Go Big to Go Small hint? <br />
<br />
I got the "First annual award for excellence in being very smart" on page 7, rather than 179 as stated above. Can't remember what the hint was. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.222|162.158.34.222]] 14:26, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Found that award on comic 7, too. And "Researchers are reporting record number of sharks (loot 159) on comic 1368, but I'll be damned if I know the hint. Those give me nothing [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.43|162.158.91.43]] 14:44, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Found another one! It's a bug on a box, loot_007. From comic #442, no idea what hint goes with it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.7|162.158.74.7]] 15:18, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
For the ooOOOooo hint, I've now gone through every comic, and none of them give a chest. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: Well that's just ducky! I'm stuck on that hint. Any way to get the hint to change without losing my collectibles? Anonymous 02:19, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
If you scroll almost directly upward, the Y-coordinate keeps resetting to 5000 (same with downward and -5000. However, if you scroll up and to the side with a slope of less than 1, you eventually get to this URL: https://xkcd.com/#-Infinity,-Infinity which just has the word "[LOADING_]" hand-drawn. -- brad<br />
: I think that's just Javascript floatingpoint math for ya. The loading image just appears while it is trying to load in new tiles --[[User:Jhollowe|Jhollowe]] ([[User talk:Jhollowe|talk]]) 19:11, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I wrote a script that gives a list of all the loot images that are on the page if we want to make a complete list of loot images, and a list of images that haven't been found yet. --[[User:Jhollowe|Jhollowe]] ([[User talk:Jhollowe|talk]]) 19:11, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Has anyone else gotten a "miniloot"? I just got "/2288/collectors/static/loot/miniloot-words-laser.png" from [[293: RTFM]] with the hint listed in the above table. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In a private window on Firefox, I had previously seen the hint, but it's now disappeared. I got loot_109.png (which is the sheeple eye from [[1013: Wake Up Sheeple]]), and I can place it, but it stays in the inventory. Possible bug? [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:43, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Viewable at https://xkcd.com/2288/#453,1003, both eyes posted using the same item. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:50, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The "tea time" hint seems a bit weird; I found it at [[579: The Race: Part 3]], and others have apparently found it at 581, 578, 479 and maybe elsewhere. Not sure what connection any of those comics have to tea, except that 579 and 479 both have 79 in them and the image is from what-if 79. [[User:Pelosujamo|Pelosujamo]] ([[User talk:Pelosujamo|talk]]) 01:17, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I don't know if there's an element of "the clue you get depends on the clues you answered"..? Yesterday, when I first visited, it seemed to be giving different hints as I scrolled through/jumped around the comics looking for the answers to earlier hints. Now (after finding three, confirmed as listed in the table) it's just flipping between two of the early once, the "chnace" and "fetish" ones, still undetailed in the table so I can't even cheat) leading me to believe I'm left with those two in my (personal?) 'pool' of hints, and I won't get any more until I answer one or other. Either that or I need to ''place'' my current meagre three discoveries, but I was actually wanting more first so I could be creative in combination... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.141|162.158.93.141]] 04:04, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Are "oOOOoooo" and "oooooooo" different clues? I don't see the second one listed.<br />
<br />
Unless I missed something, "Hint: Everyone deserves a second chnace" doesn't refer to a particular comic, but rather something else. I went through comics 500-2288. <small> -- [[User:162.158.92.22|162.158.92.22]] ([[User talk:162.158.92.22|talk]]) 08:29, 4 April 2020 (UTC) <span style="color:grey; white-space:nowrap;">''(please sign your comments with <nowiki>~~</nowiki>~~)''</span></small><br />
:Probably requires a sequence of comics to be visited in specific order, like "A new model released each year" or "Take a ride in a barrel" [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 11:29, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Random question--is there a way to edit or delete items once they have been placed? This world is pretty messy.... <small> -- [[User:162.158.74.65|162.158.74.65]] ([[User talk:162.158.74.65|talk]]) 14:12, 4 April 2020 <span style="color:grey; white-space:nowrap;">''(please sign your comments with <nowiki>~~</nowiki>~~)''</span></small><br />
<br />
I had these hints (along with 2 other) hints: oOOOoooo, Keep coming back, Everyone deserves a second chance. I have visited ''every'' comic and every series on [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comic_series this list], forwards and backwards, and none of them was awarded. They are either glitched or have very unusual requirements. Maybe something with one of the interactive comics? (I even tried collecting all coins in Hoverboard!) Maybe there is something that Randall considers a series but this wiki doesn't? Something else altogether (visit the same comic a number of times, return after elapsed time...)? I am giving up, if someone gets one of these and is up to the challenge, good luck, hopefully I helped a bit with getting a small list of things not to try. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 14:58, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Browser agent related issues: Post what browser (Chrome, Firefox; mobile, desktop) you are using here & what issues (if any) you experience when interacting with this comic. ==<br />
<br />
On Chrome version 80.0.3987.162 in mobile view, only "Collector's Edition" appears for me. The comic is not scrollable or interactive, & the backpack does not appear. In desktop view, the collectively added content appears, as does the backpack. (I have not tested whether I can add things, yet.) <br />
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 13:52, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
On Chrome version 80.0.3987.163 on desktop, the hint doesn't seem to appear. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Firefox 74.0 on desktop - looks like I don't get any hints. Everything else seems to be fine. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.98|162.158.92.98]] 19:59, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Apologies if this has been covered, but if you right-click-->inspect the backpack area, can you see the hint in the Java script? I can't find it with Chrome running in Windows 10, but it is entirely possible I don't know how/where to look.[[User:Godzilla|Godzilla]] ([[User talk:Godzilla|talk]]) 21:38, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
On Opera, hint doesn't appear.<br />
<br />
In Firefox I have an item in my loot box, I can scroll around the world and the text is "find an empty area". I find an empty area (Damn long way out :P ) and the text changes to "place it" or "Cancel" I can cancel OK, but place it doesn't work at all. Is this a bug or have I hit the limit of my abilities? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.86.34|172.68.86.34]] 01:05, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:oh...wait...there is a 5 second or more delay from clicking to it appearing. May be caused by the size of the world and number of elements. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.86.34|172.68.86.34]] 01:08, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Firefox 52.9 Windows XP Doesn't get past "loading" and cannot drag around. However, the backpack does appear and can be closed and opened. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.76|172.68.174.76]] 04:20, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I tried Samsung browser (mobile, tablet), Chrome (mobile, desktop) and Edge (desktop). At first, only the Samsung browser on only one of the devices worked. Then it glitched, I got infinite Polish sausages and no more hints. It unglitched after deleting browser data. Then glitched after deleting browser data gain (I was stuck and wanted fresh batch of hints, karma is a bitch, I guess). Then it started working again after clearing browser data few more time. Then, on one occasion, I got a set of hints on desktop Chrome in incognito mode. Something weird is going on related to cookies, it seems. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 07:35, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
FireFox/Ubuntu, nothing is working. No bag, no hint, whatever.<br />
<br />
Firefox/Chromium on Ububntu, I seem to see evertything, it looks like this for example: https://ibb.co/BL1gDvX or https://ibb.co/PCByw8f (all add-ons disabled, chrome in standard settings)<br />
<br />
== Screenshots ==<br />
<br />
Since this appears to be a time-limited event, I decided it would be good idea to save some screenshots for posterity. I have uploaded several screenshots:<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_hint_1.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_hint_2.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_chest.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_chest_open.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_place_item.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_place_item_cant.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_place_item_kitty.png<br />
<br />
Add them to the article as you see fit. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 09:29, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Spelling ==<br />
<br />
I've moved this from [[2288: Collectors Edition]] to [[2288: Collector's Edition]], which is both the correct spelling and the one used on xkcd; but was it misspelled on xkcd earlier, or did the typo originate here? [[User:Pelosujamo|Pelosujamo]] ([[User talk:Pelosujamo|talk]]) 20:09, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
New Comic:<br />
<br />
I don't know if anyone has noticed since it's Saturday and xkcd doesn't usually update. But there's been a new comic 22889: Scenario 4. Can someone who knows how and actually has an account add the next page for it.<br />
<br />
Thanks,<br />
<br />
--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.207|173.245.52.207]] 22:08, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Interactivity finished ==<br />
<br />
Now that the next comic ([[2289]]) has been published it looks like the ability to interact and find chests has ended. This is going to make it quite difficult to complete the table unless someone manages to reverse-engineer the code. Also noting that whilst there are >250 possible images there are only 80 hints listed in the table. It's not clear if all images were used - perhaps comparing the images in the table to those placed in the comic could help identify any that we don't have known hints for? <br />
<br />
I was also wondering if it's worth including a thumbnail of each image in the table, and possibly a separate list of images for which the hint is not known?<br />
[[User:A(l)Chemist|AlChemist]] ([[User talk:A(l)Chemist|talk]]) 10:15, 6 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I did some quick ctrl+F in [https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/client/comic/comic.js the client codes] for comic numbers, item names etc. and it doesn't appear to contain the relevant information, must be server-side. Maybe one of the devs listed at the top of the page would leak something if asked nicely? [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 14:35, 6 April 2020 (UTC)</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2288:_Collector%27s_Edition&diff=1900102288: Collector's Edition2020-04-04T15:02:08Z<p>Jaalenja: guest week confirmed</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2288<br />
| date = April 3, 2020<br />
| title = Collectors Edition<br />
| image = collectors_edition.png<br />
| titletext = I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. The hint table needs to be completed. The mechanics should be explained more in depth, if possible, screenshots of the hints, items in inventory, items-placing mechanics etc. should be added.}}<br />
<br />
This is an April 1st comic. It is a large image, of which only part is visible, but it can be dragged around. This Space acts as a virtual common sandbox where viewers can interact. "Items" (small, often humorous images) can be 'collected' from other comics and then placed in this image by viewers. The collection then updates for all viewers in real-time. Multiples of the same item are often seen. <br />
<br />
There is a "backpack" at the bottom, similar to "backpacks" in video games containing items collected by the player. As hinted by the title text, items can be found by visiting different XKCD comics/pages. Randomly, some pages will have a treasure chest which will contain the sticker related to the page. It is believed that the hint represents what page currently has a chest.<br />
<br />
The sticker images can be seen at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot_</nowiki>'''XXX'''.png, where XXX is a number from 001-253. Additionally, some images can be found at custom URLs, for example the periodic elements can be found at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/element-</nowiki>'''XX'''.png, where XX is the element, and text loot at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot-words-</nowiki>'''X'''.png, where X is the sentence.<br />
<br />
===Hints===<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Hint<br />
!Comic<br />
!Unlocked item<br />
!Item image<br />
!Notes<br />
|-<br />
|Doctors in a row||Maybe [[1529: Bracket]] or [[497: Secretary: Part 4]]? Need confirmation.||Cory Doctorow || loot_019.png || These comics all have the same hint, but only one will have the chest<br />
|-<br />
|Get out the (US) vote||[[2224: Software Updates]]|| Statue of liberty ||loot_246.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Find a box of nice stuff on a picture with words like these|| [[1133: Up Goer Five]] (maybe incomplete) || Signpost || loot_126.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Plug in or find another power source||[[1373: Screenshot]]|| ||loot_228.png or miniloot-words-dispenser.png (maybe incomplete)||<br />
|-<br />
|Sweet dreams, kitty||[[729: Laser Pointer]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cat licking laser point || loot_090.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|What is this hint pointing to? Hell if I know.||[[28: Elefino]] (maybe incomplete)|| ||loot_185.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Somebody set up us the bomb||[[286: All Your Base]]||Exploding rock||loot_197.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Cowabunga||[[1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] (maybe incomplete)||Women Science Fiction Authors || loot_175.png || [[197: Ninja Turtles]] also works<br />
|-<br />
|I want to believe||[[2156: Ufo]]||Ufo||loot_210.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Bleeped||[[290]], [[398]], [[430]], [[447]], [[533]], [[549]], [[677]], [[724]] or [[1671]]|| *$@#! ||loot_044.png||Comics that involve swearing<br />
|-<br />
|why waste time say few word when lot word do trick||[[7]], [[111]], [[139]], [[143]], [[179]], [[217]], [[445]], [[470]], [[822]], [[823]], [[1022]], [[1247]], [[1491]], [[1921]], [[1991]], [[2182]] or [[2231]]|| First Annual Award for Excellence in Being Very Smart ||loot_159.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Cooler than electric scooters||[[139]], [[409]], [[577]], [[578]], [[579]], [[580]] or [[581]]||An electric scooter||loot_006.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Take it from the top||[[1: Barrel - Part 1]] (maybe incomplete)||I am a turtle from [[889: Turtles]] || loot_095.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|I accept the yucca gnocchi, this meal is a success!||[[1713: 50 ccs]] (maybe incomplete)||Man carrying parentheses from [[297: Lisp Cycles]] || loot_031.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Catch up on the news||[[1699: Local News]] (maybe incomplete)|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Participation trophy||[[2288: Collectors Edition]] (maybe incomplete)|| Server rack || loot_096.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Find an opportunity for a sojourn||[[665]], [[681]], [[695]], [[1091]], [[1504]], [[1613]], [[1663]] or [[2111]]||Opportunity Mars rover from [[2111: Opportunity Rover]]||loot_161.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Tastier than tau day||[[179: e to the pi times i]] (maybe incomplete)||First annual award for excellence in being very smart || loot_159.png || Need to find out the difference between this, and the entry below!<br />
|-<br />
|Tastier than tau day||[[235]], [[396]], [[872]], [[1029]], [[1342]], [[1655]] or [[1967]]|| Pie sign ||loot_056.png|| Published on Pi day<br />
|-<br />
|418 I'm a teapot||[[1866: Russell's Teapot]] (maybe incomplete)||S.S. NASA: Space is Hard || loot_216.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|26th September, 1983||[[2052: Stanislav Petrov Day]]||White dove||loot_205.png||Might also be written "September 26th, 1983". Locale dependent?<br />
|-<br />
|There are 4241 as of Apr 1, 2020||[[1071: Exoplanets]] (maybe incomplete)|| Little girl from [[2264: Satellite]] || loot_151.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|asableiK||[[645: RPS]]|| A reverse Polish hotdog ||loot_079.png|| "Kielbasa" backwards, which is "sausage" in Polish<br />
|-<br />
|Critical mass elements||[[235: Kite]] or [[239: Blagofaire]]|| ||loot_203.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Some Februarys are more equal than others||[[390: Nightmares]]? (maybe incomplete)|| Cueball wheelie from [[272: Linux User at Best Buy]] || loot_036.png || Comic-hint connection largely conjectural; 390 was the first comic published on a leap day.<br />
|-<br />
|Five spice||[[1511: Spice Girl]] or [[1554: Spice Girls]]|| Rock guitarist ||loot_022.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Call the plumber||[[290: Fucking Blue Shells]] (maybe incomplete)|| || loot_058.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Was it a rat I saw?||[[1632: Palindrome]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cueball with a large sack, pulling a wagon || loot_103.png || or [[1503: Squirrel Plan]] for cueball holding a balloon caught in a ceiling fan.<br />
|-<br />
|Churchill's gonna have to seriously rehydrate||[[1148: Nothing to Offer]]|| Bottle of soda ||loot_045.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Keep coming back|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|A new model released each year||Triggered by visiting all xkcd phone comics|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Tea Time||Maybe [[581: The Race: Part 5]]? Need confirmation.||All our tea ||loot_232.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Try pattern-matching! Look for comic 'bout alphabet?||[[1045: Constraints]]||Two Tetris blocks||loot_092.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Where's Hilbert?||[[195: Map of the Internet]] (maybe incomplete)|| Hilbert Curve || loot_021.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Science fiction fetish||[[1585: Similarities]]|| ||loot_202.png||<br />
|-<br />
|The first one was funnier||[[11: Barrel - Part 2]] (maybe incomplete)||Falling feather / Sign "The uncomfortable truths well" || loot_250.png / loot_067.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|It's up to over 260 million cycles!||[[1941: Dying Gift]]|| Megan on a tire swing ||loot_127.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Sleeping Beauty is the same everywhere though||[[2233: Aurora Meaning]] (maybe incomplete)|| Sleeping Cat || loot_163.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|On the internet, nobody knows you're an arachnid||[[1530: Keyboard Mash]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cobwebbed frame from [[1135: Arachnoneurology]]|| loot_191.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Did James Cameron pay for the rice cooker too?||[[1598: Salvage]] (maybe incomplete)||Rice bowl || loot_152.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Never going to give you up||[[351]], [[389]], [[396]], [[524]], [[573]], [[609]], [[802]], [[1212]], [[1757]] or [[1981]]|| Cueball in car listening to music ||loot_010.png||<br />
|-<br />
|If red touches yellow, that's 24 ohms||[[1604: Snakes]], [[227: Color Codes]]? (maybe incomplete)|| Yoda with an mp3 player from What If || loot_247.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|An enthusiastic but questionable business opportunity||[[1021]], [[1032]], [[1117]], [[1293]], [[1493]], [[1533]], [[1772]], [[1812]], [[1871]], [[1903]], [[1997]], [[2140]], [[2209]] or [[2277]]|| Beret guy with a goat on leash ||loot_115.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Read the fine manual||[[293]], [[434]], [[456]], [[912]], [[1343]] or [[1692]]|| ||Multiple: loot_106.png, miniloot-words-hair.png, miniloot-words-ominous.png, miniloot-words-eruption.png, miniloot-words-flying.png or miniloot-words-ghost.png (maybe incomplete)||<br />
|-<br />
|That thing's undecimodal!||[[1347: t Distribution]] (maybe incomplete)|| Floating tentacled alien || loot_209.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Actually, it's Myanmar-Shave now||[[491: Twitter]] (maybe incomplete)||Expensive bottle || loot_253.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|You don't have to find all 99||[[121: Balloon]] (maybe incomplete)||Balloon copter || loot_002.png || Or [[51: Malaria]] ?<br />
|-<br />
|Going in circles||[[378: Real Programmers]] (maybe incomplete)|| Cueball spinning in desk chair || loot_098.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Couldn't you try knitting, or maybe stamp collecting?||[[37]], [[53]], [[60]], [[75]], [[79]], [[148]], [[168]], [[174]], [[236]], [[259]], [[287]], [[296]], [[326]], [[331]], [[389]], [[437]], [[451]], [[559]], [[590]], [[605]], [[687]], [[719]], [[733]], [[790]], [[845]], [[966]], [[1004]], [[1119]], [[1145]], [[1169]], [[1208]], [[1278]], [[1304]], [[1329]], [[1340]], [[1355]], [[1405]], [[1480]], [[1546]], [[1598]], [[1677]], [[1697]], [[1705]], [[1788]], [[1795]], [[1960]], [[1995]], [[2032]], [[2123]], [[2208]] or [[2252]]||Phishing License sign||loot_158.png||Mostly comics that include "My hobby:"<br />
|-<br />
|It's the ciiiiircle of HONK||[[537: Ducklings]] or [[1729: Migrating Geese]]||DUCKLOOP'D?||loot_069.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Fool me twice||Maybe [[880: Headache]]? Need confirmation.|| Raptor Attack || loot_033.png ||The second April fools' comic<br />
|-<br />
|oOOOoooo||Maybe [[316: Loud Sex]]? Need confirmation.|| Sleeping cat || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Maybe we can ask for new wishes||[[879: Lamp]]||Genie and his bottle||loot_004.png||If you place the genie last, you get another genie (indefinitely) - Needs verification, this may also just be a bug!<br />
|-<br />
|HACK THE PLANET||[[1337: Hack]] (maybe incomplete)|| Crash and Burn in the pool from the end of ''Hackers'' || loot_130.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Monetization haute couteur||[[20]], [[23]], [[55]], [[123]], [[149]], [[150]], [[162]], [[208]], [[231]], [[242]], [[256]], [[273]], [[285]], [[303]], [[327]], [[377]], [[386]], [[420]], [[435]], [[442]], [[482]], [[505]], [[552]], [[556]], [[585]], [[614]], [[627]], [[657]], [[681]], [[688]], [[705]], [[710]], [[802]], [[821]], [[980]], [[1033]], [[1040]], [[1079]], [[1127]], [[1133]], [[1196]], [[1298]] or [[1428]] (maybe false positives)||Two bags of money ||loot_162.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Maybe writing a script would help||[[1319: Automation]]|| ||miniloot-words-eater.png (maybe incomplete)||<br />
|-<br />
|Go big to go small||[[1365: Inflation]]|| ||loot_245.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Are you projecting||[[850]], [[977]], [[1500]], [[1784]], [[1799]], [[2242]] or [[2256]]||Squirrel on a gun||loot_237.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Do spiders really have six legs||[[8]], [[43]], [[126]], [[427]], [[442]] or [[1110]]|| ||loot_007.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Istanbul or Constantinople or St. Trimble's Island?||[[1688: Map Age Guide]]||Cephalopod||loot_071.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Another rulebook?||[[393: Ultimate Game]]|| Merlin in a chair from [[270: Merlin]] ||loot_037.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Moooooon||[[482]], [[681]], [[1276]], [[1291]], [[1300]], [[1389]], [[1458]], [[1515]], [[1633]], [[1738]], [[1878]] or [[2258]]|| MOOOOOON ||loot_192.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Take a flight from LOL to FFS||[[1937: IATA Airport Abbreviations]]|| ||loot_049.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Everyone deserves a second chnace||All comics searched, no matches|| || ||The misspelling is intentional. [[745: Dyslexics]] would have been a good fit<br />
|-<br />
|Community contribution||[[822]], [[823]], [[824]], [[825]], [[826]]|| [Citation Needed] protester from [[285: Wikipedian Protester]] || loot_035.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|On the other side of the wardrobe||[[665: Prudence]], [[969: Delta-P]] or [[2218: Wardrobe]] (maybe incomplete)||Authentic Reindeer pulling sled from [[1776: Reindeer]] || loot_154.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Today's your lucky day||[[1053: Ten Thousand]] (maybe incomplete)|| Ms. Frizzle || loot_105.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|[This hint has been redacted due to a copyright claim]||[[1005: SOPA]]|| ||loot_038.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Try a different approach||[[55: Useless]] (maybe incomplete)|| Equals sign ||loot_times.png or loot_div.png (maybe incomplete)||<br />
|-<br />
|The cake is a lie!||[[606: Cutting Edge]]|| Cake ||loot_144.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Joanna, fire.||[[322: Pix Plz]]|| Joanna with EMP cannon ||loot_026.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Everything changes from time to time when the fire nation attacks|| [[965: Elements]] || Symposium || ||<br />
|-<br />
|90KG x 300M||[[382: Trebuchet]]|| Trebuchet ||loot_041.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Copyright Enforcement Brigade||[[344: 1337: Part 4]]|| ||loot_046.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Where Cape Town meets Chukotka||[[1500: Upside-Down Map]]|| Crater ||loot_128.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Take a ride in a barrel||View all five barrel comics in reverse order ([[31]], [[25]], [[22]], [[11]], [[1]])|| Cueball at the door to the playpen-ball-filled apartment from [[150: Grownups]] || loot_005.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Compiling...||[[303: Compiling]]|| ||loot_030.png||<br />
|-<br />
| || [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Sheeple eye || loot_109.png ||<br />
|-<br />
| || [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Time machine from [[1747: Spider Paleontology]] || loot_167.png ||<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
* This comic is the 2020 April Fools comic and was supposed to be released April 1st. However, the below message was displayed on the top of the page until early Friday (April 3rd) morning, when the comic finally went live. It remains to be seen if Friday's intended comic will be published later.<br />
<blockquote><br />
Note: For technical reasons Wednesday's comic will be posted Thursday instead. Apologies for the delay!<br />
</blockquote><br />
* Placement is limited to 10,000 units from the origin. Users will receive no messages if they try placing something outside the boundary.<br />
* Coordinates are relative to the bottom left corner of the canvass, thus as the default coordinates are "-370,-277" the canvass can be found to be 740 x 544 units.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Cueball stands to the left of a vibrating box.]<br />
:[The words "Collector's Edition" are written above him and boxed.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:April fools' comics]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Interactive comics]]</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2288:_Collector%27s_Edition&diff=190009Talk:2288: Collector's Edition2020-04-04T14:59:53Z<p>Jaalenja: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
== The joke == <br />
Very early on April 1st, Mojang\Microsoft released a version 20w14Infinite build of Minecraft which allows players to create millions of wildly different new worlds by writing text in a book & throwing it through a Nether portal. The world generated depends on what is written in the book, & some specific worlds contain many "starter chests" to help the player in their explorations. Players can share what they wrote in each book with others, allowing multiple players to each access the same new dimensions on their own. In this way, individual single-player Minecraft instances can essentially become a collaboratively evolving game featuring previously nonexistent block types. Given that Randall has done multiple comics referencing Minecraft & seems to be an avid player, & given the presence of "chests" & the "worldbuilding" & collaborative nature of this latest comic, I believe xkcd's April 3rd 2020 comic is a reference to this "final" Minecraft build. <br />
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 14:10, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Clicking on the URLs in the explanation return "File not found". I will remove the hyperlink so people are less confused. [[User:Fwacer|Fwacer]] ([[User talk:Fwacer|talk]]) 02:18, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== How the comic works == <br />
... is this going to be like [[1190: Time]]? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.63|162.158.74.63]] 04:08, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: I hope so, otherwise I don't get the joke [[User:Forresthopkinsa|Forresthopkinsa]] ([[User talk:Forresthopkinsa|talk]]) 04:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: The page just went down for me so maybe what we've seen isn't what it's supposed to be? [[User:Avi m|avis_magpie]] ([[User talk:Avi m|talk]]) 04:20, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
Looks like the whole comic was just taken down. [[User:Parzivail|Parzivail]] ([[User talk:Parzivail|talk]]) 04:27, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: Can confirm - the most recent comic is Pathogen again [[Special:Contributions/162.158.187.207|162.158.187.207]] 04:26, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
It is still up on the mobile website, but only if you directly go to comic page https://m.xkcd.com/2288 [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.146|172.69.22.146]] 05:10, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: Perhaps this is a collector's edition because it was only up for a limited amount of time? {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.60|05:12, 3 April 2020}}<br />
:: That was my immediate assumption. The title text says, "I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives." And I was viewing the comic by using the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine — which, wouldn't you know it, captured the page exactly once before it went down. Between that and the title "Collector's Edition", I can't help thinking that the comic was actually intended to be viewed this way. Though for what reason, and what intended meaning, I couldn't tell you. …And jeez, in the time it took me to type this, the comic is back, but changed! Oy vey. [[User:NoriMori|NoriMori]] ([[User talk:NoriMori|talk]]) 06:42, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Maybe it's called collectors edition, because it was only available quite limited and to an unusual time? But that logic doesn't fit with the title text. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 05:14, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I doubt that could be caused by "technical difficulties". [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.186|172.69.34.186]] 06:14, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It looks like it went back up about 5 minutes age. I can't figure out if it's possible to do more than pan right now though. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.120|108.162.215.120]] 06:39, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Yeah I see the same thing, looks like they're just testing it live. What a shame :(--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.242|108.162.215.242]] 06:47, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::what makes you assume that this is testing right now? however it doesn't seem to be very interactive apart from panning through it, and that it seems to chagne over time (the moon from [[1300]] wasn't there a few minutes ago, was it? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:49, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:It's a giant pan similar to [https://xkcd.com/1110], although it's mostly empty, with some content at [https://xkcd.com/2288/#-361,-161]<br />
. The title reads that you can find world building material, if you scavenge through the archives. I assume, more content will be unlocked as you read through past comics. [[User:Goatfryed|Goatfryed]] ([[User talk:Goatfryed|talk]]) 06:52, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::That would mean it is individual? That everyone gets their own picture? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC) Edit: I can kinda rule that out. I get the same picture on my phone and my work laptop, the work laptop is in a different country via vpn, and doesn't share any logins/advertisement ID's apart from explain xkcd with my phone... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:05, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Yeah, it definitely changes. The orange swimming pool just showed up now. Also, at the bottom of the page, it says something about "backpack", and what appears to be a reference to some other xkcd comic. For example, "Hint: why waste time say few word when lot word do trick", which I think refers to Up Goer Five. But I have no idea what to do with that info. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.190|172.68.141.190]] 06:55, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:and the content seems to be related to previous comics and what-ifs... but still no clue what to do apart from exploring the page. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:57, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
So I just stumbled upon this and it seems to be exactly as other commentors have theorised: as you read previous comics more stuff gets added to the page. There seems to be some kind of backpack mechanic where you collect items from previous ones somehow, but, perhaps because I've already read all previous comics, that didn't seem to work for me. Instead I just had to click the link above the backpack, which opened the comic in a new tab, and it had a bunch of stuff there. We may need to co-ordinate to figure out if different people end up with different sets of items, and to ensure we have all of them, but I think other than that it should be just a cut and dry thing of making a table with every item in it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.202|162.158.34.202]] 07:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Hang on, mine just changed: before there was only 1 pool on the left, now there are two. I only went back to pathogens and then forwards agin. This may be harder than I thought, I'm going to start keeping a screenshot log of actions vs. results. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:17, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:You may need to try xkcd.com instead of www.xkcd.com - there seems to be an issue with the latter at the moment. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.216|162.158.255.216]] 07:18, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::Hold up it changed again! This time without a reload! [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:28, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::It seems to change periodically, the url does change everytime. New stuff always seems to be added, not old stuff rremoved. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:28, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::The URL is related to the coordinates, it changes when you pan the image. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:34, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::Timings seem to be random, working on double checking that rn. Highest first number so far is 1127, once it switches agin I'm going to experiement with manually editing the url.<br />
<br />
I was briefly able to do things. Open the archieve, navigate it to one of the comics, that are hinted for (e.g. compiling or iata) and when viewing that comic I get a lootbox, with an image I can then place in the 2288. It worked twice, and now it doesn't again... neither with those that have worked before, nor with others I am fairly sure have been placed by other people. (such as galilean moons) --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:21, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I'm working on assembling an image log, wonder if we could compare? Also, the two number url could be useful, rn I'm on -1378, -152 [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:25, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::What do you mean by compare? Also the URL is related to the coordinates, it changes when you pan the image. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:34, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::Yh just got that, is that the same for other panning comics (I'm a little new)? And I was wondering if the comic changed per person/system like certain previous comics. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:40, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::Just seen a previous comment from you saying it doesn't change cross-system. However, it definetely changes with time, so the question is whether that's per user or done on a sort of universal clock, so we all unlock the same new content at the same time.<br />
:::::I didn't complete writing up the thing I was able to do above... after opening the lootbox I got one image related to the comic I opened in my backpack and was able to place that in the actual 2288, where it now is placed. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:50, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::For me that didn't happen, it started with a loading screen type thing, and then objects just started appearing seemingly at random. I've also noticed some of them dissapear. I feel like the best course of action would be to start with a table of all the different objects, and then see if we can figure out when/why they appear later.<br />
::::::: At least 2 objects appeared, because I placed them. It is a colaboration of many xkcd readers to do this world building here. I placed one of the sword fights around #439,-181 and the non-inverted kite at #-1679,-290 . --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:55, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::::Do you agree that the best course of action would therefore be a table with all the items? [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 08:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::::::::Not a big fan of tables, unless there really is content of muliple categories to be entered for one line. A list would do fine I guess? Also I find lists easier to work with. Or what would be the columns you'd set up? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:08, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::::::Something along the lines of the comic that it's a reference to, an image, and an explanation. Do we know if you find the same sticker at the same comic every time? If so, then that. A list would work well too. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 08:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::::::From looking at what image URLs don't 404, it looks like there are 253 stickers, which is quite a lot for a table.[[User:Matthias1|Matthias1]] ([[User talk:Matthias1|talk]]) 10:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::::I think we can unlock new elements by reading older comics (seemingly at random, it doesn't work with every comic read) and that everyone can see the changes once they are put on the global picture. If someone could check, I have put berret guy and his goat around (5000,0)<br />
::::::Yep, he's there. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 08:01, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I almost feel like someone needs to show them this xkcd... https://xkcd.com/169/<br />
<br />
It seems to be an interactive canvas. You can find stickers in chests on specific comics and put them in your backpack, and then when you come back here you can choose where to put them on the canvas. The hints in the empty backpack are cryptic references to comics. {{unsigned ip|162.158.107.85}}<br />
:Yep, I figured the same thing, but for me it only worked twice (fly from wtf to lol was a reference to the iata thing and compiling was a reference to the compiling one) - but it didn't work again. Also: Some of the placed images are clearly references to what-if. Like the squirrel on top of an AK47 or the yoda powering an IPOD. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:59, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I've made a catalog of the stickers but it's only partial because stuff keeps appearing: https://photos.app.goo.gl/dPYeYVpGqu5tqGTt5 [[User:Lev|Lev]] ([[User talk:Lev|talk]]) 08:02, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I got it. I wrote the steps on reddit and included some screenshots. Feel free to use it to edit this page https://old.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/fu1dt0/xkcd_2288_collectors_edition/fmaqp1w/ [[User:Ufolicker|Ufolicker]] ([[User talk:Ufolicker|talk]]) 09:27, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Am I too late to participate in this or am I doing something wrong? Where is this hint supposed to appear? I only see an empty backpack and the canvas on which references to different comics are placed. No comic I've visited, either inspired by references on the canvas, nor by random selection has any chest or other interactive components to it. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 09:53, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:No, you're doing it right. Hints show up in the backpack area. Obviously no one is sure of anything, but even users who have seen hints have reported not seeing hints on a different browser/device. I suspect something similar to [https://xkcd.com/1037/ Umwelt], where different hints are shown to different people. And I think once a chest is picked up, it stops appearing to everyone that could see it, but that's a guess.[[User:Matthias1|Matthias1]] ([[User talk:Matthias1|talk]]) 10:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::Ok, I was unsure because on my windows 10 laptop I have yet to see a hint. I've tried chrome, firefox and internet explorer. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 11:09, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::Finally got it to work in Safari in iOS [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 11:13, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::That's really great, Bischoff, we were worried about you. Care to share how you did it, for the benefit of others? [[User:Jimmbo|Jimmbo]] ([[User talk:Jimmbo|talk]]) 14:19, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::I took part in the scavenger hunt and about 2 hours ago it stopped showing hints. So I assume it shut down and there is nothing to do anymore.¯\_(ツ)_/¯ [[User:Curse|Curse]] ([[User talk:Curse|talk]]) 15:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
When I view the comic, I don't see the closed box - the screen is absolutely full of stickers. I've not done any scavenger hunting (I'd upload an image, but I don't have permissions to do so) [[User:Kvetch|Kvetch]] ([[User talk:Kvetch|talk]]) 11:10, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Hints I've seen so far: "The first one was funnier" (chest appeared in comic 1, contained I'm a turtle);<br />
"418 I'm a teapot"<br />
"26th September, 1983" (comic 2052, Stanislav Petrov Day, white dove); [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.135|172.69.134.135]] 11:20, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Perhaps a table for found chests with no attached hints? I've stumbled across a few but don't know if they're hinted at or not :). [[User:Deranged|Deranged]] ([[User talk:Deranged|talk]]) 11:54, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Maybe add a line to the table with a blank first box, the link in the second box, empty third box? Someone will match it up. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.37|162.158.166.37]] 12:21, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"Churchill's gonna have to rehydrate" is Nothing to Offer. Can't remember what number, I think 1148?<br />
<br />
In other news, the bad ads are back ([[Talk:2220: Imagine Going Back in Time/Ads|previous discussion]]) - who's in charge of dealing with them anyway? [[User:Arcorann|Arcorann]] ([[User talk:Arcorann|talk]]) 12:25, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Could someone post an image showing what it looks like to find a chest on a comic? I've browsed to some of the comics referenced as having chests but couldn't see one so far. Thanks![[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.13|141.101.69.13]] 12:54, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I've uploaded a few images on https://imgur.com/gallery/4q1QIW5. Can't upload them here yet, new account [[User:Madsmtm|madsmtm]] ([[User talk:Madsmtm|talk]]) 13:24, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"The other side of the wardrobe", someone's put in the solution [[2218: Wardrobe]]; but I also found the chest on [[665: Prudence]]. Can there be multiple solutions to the same hint? [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 13:00, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Is anyone else having issues with things just not working? I clicked around a bit, it gave me the award in being very smart, and now won't give me any hints or chests. [[User:Crazymachinefan|Crazymachinefan]] ([[User talk:Crazymachinefan|talk]]) 13:57, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::I am also not getting any hints anymore after getting one chest.[[User:Eesley|Eesley]] ([[User talk:Eesley|talk]]) 14:01, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::Nope, nothing to get anymore. [[User:Curse|Curse]] ([[User talk:Curse|talk]]) 15:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The "Was it a rat I saw" hint is probably [[1632: Palindrome]]. I haven't gotten the hint yet, so I can't confirm. [[User:Nvaiko24|Nvaiko24]] ([[User talk:Nvaiko24|talk]]) 14:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Interestingly, the [[1110: Click and Drag]] disables the backpack overlay. Also, anyone have any news on how to get the Go Big to Go Small hint? <br />
<br />
I got the "First annual award for excellence in being very smart" on page 7, rather than 179 as stated above. Can't remember what the hint was. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.222|162.158.34.222]] 14:26, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Found that award on comic 7, too. And "Researchers are reporting record number of sharks (loot 159) on comic 1368, but I'll be damned if I know the hint. Those give me nothing [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.43|162.158.91.43]] 14:44, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Found another one! It's a bug on a box, loot_007. From comic #442, no idea what hint goes with it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.7|162.158.74.7]] 15:18, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
For the ooOOOooo hint, I've now gone through every comic, and none of them give a chest. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: Well that's just ducky! I'm stuck on that hint. Any way to get the hint to change without losing my collectibles? Anonymous 02:19, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
If you scroll almost directly upward, the Y-coordinate keeps resetting to 5000 (same with downward and -5000. However, if you scroll up and to the side with a slope of less than 1, you eventually get to this URL: https://xkcd.com/#-Infinity,-Infinity which just has the word "[LOADING_]" hand-drawn. -- brad<br />
: I think that's just Javascript floatingpoint math for ya. The loading image just appears while it is trying to load in new tiles --[[User:Jhollowe|Jhollowe]] ([[User talk:Jhollowe|talk]]) 19:11, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I wrote a script that gives a list of all the loot images that are on the page if we want to make a complete list of loot images, and a list of images that haven't been found yet. --[[User:Jhollowe|Jhollowe]] ([[User talk:Jhollowe|talk]]) 19:11, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Has anyone else gotten a "miniloot"? I just got "/2288/collectors/static/loot/miniloot-words-laser.png" from [[293: RTFM]] with the hint listed in the above table. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In a private window on Firefox, I had previously seen the hint, but it's now disappeared. I got loot_109.png (which is the sheeple eye from [[1013: Wake Up Sheeple]]), and I can place it, but it stays in the inventory. Possible bug? [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:43, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Viewable at https://xkcd.com/2288/#453,1003, both eyes posted using the same item. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:50, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The "tea time" hint seems a bit weird; I found it at [[579: The Race: Part 3]], and others have apparently found it at 581, 578, 479 and maybe elsewhere. Not sure what connection any of those comics have to tea, except that 579 and 479 both have 79 in them and the image is from what-if 79. [[User:Pelosujamo|Pelosujamo]] ([[User talk:Pelosujamo|talk]]) 01:17, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I don't know if there's an element of "the clue you get depends on the clues you answered"..? Yesterday, when I first visited, it seemed to be giving different hints as I scrolled through/jumped around the comics looking for the answers to earlier hints. Now (after finding three, confirmed as listed in the table) it's just flipping between two of the early once, the "chnace" and "fetish" ones, still undetailed in the table so I can't even cheat) leading me to believe I'm left with those two in my (personal?) 'pool' of hints, and I won't get any more until I answer one or other. Either that or I need to ''place'' my current meagre three discoveries, but I was actually wanting more first so I could be creative in combination... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.141|162.158.93.141]] 04:04, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Are "oOOOoooo" and "oooooooo" different clues? I don't see the second one listed.<br />
<br />
Unless I missed something, "Hint: Everyone deserves a second chnace" doesn't refer to a particular comic, but rather something else. I went through comics 500-2288. <small> -- [[User:162.158.92.22|162.158.92.22]] ([[User talk:162.158.92.22|talk]]) 08:29, 4 April 2020 (UTC) <span style="color:grey; white-space:nowrap;">''(please sign your comments with <nowiki>~~</nowiki>~~)''</span></small><br />
:Probably requires a sequence of comics to be visited in specific order, like "A new model released each year" or "Take a ride in a barrel" [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 11:29, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Random question--is there a way to edit or delete items once they have been placed? This world is pretty messy.... <small> -- [[User:162.158.74.65|162.158.74.65]] ([[User talk:162.158.74.65|talk]]) 14:12, 4 April 2020 <span style="color:grey; white-space:nowrap;">''(please sign your comments with <nowiki>~~</nowiki>~~)''</span></small><br />
<br />
I had these hints (along with 2 other) hints: oOOOoooo, Keep coming back, Everyone deserves a second chance. I have visited ''every'' comic and every series on [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comic_series this list], forwards and backwards, and none of them was awarded. They are either glitched or have very unusual requirements. Maybe something with one of the interactive comics? (I even tried collecting all coins in Hoverboard!) Maybe there is something that Randall considers a series but this wiki doesn't? Something else altogether (visit the same comic a number of times, return after elapsed time...)? I am giving up, if someone gets one of these and is up to the challenge, good luck, hopefully I helped a bit with getting a small list of things not to try. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 14:58, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Browser agent related issues: Post what browser (Chrome, Firefox; mobile, desktop) you are using here & what issues (if any) you experience when interacting with this comic. ==<br />
<br />
On Chrome version 80.0.3987.162 in mobile view, only "Collector's Edition" appears for me. The comic is not scrollable or interactive, & the backpack does not appear. In desktop view, the collectively added content appears, as does the backpack. (I have not tested whether I can add things, yet.) <br />
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 13:52, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
On Chrome version 80.0.3987.163 on desktop, the hint doesn't seem to appear. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Firefox 74.0 on desktop - looks like I don't get any hints. Everything else seems to be fine. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.98|162.158.92.98]] 19:59, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Apologies if this has been covered, but if you right-click-->inspect the backpack area, can you see the hint in the Java script? I can't find it with Chrome running in Windows 10, but it is entirely possible I don't know how/where to look.[[User:Godzilla|Godzilla]] ([[User talk:Godzilla|talk]]) 21:38, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
On Opera, hint doesn't appear.<br />
<br />
In Firefox I have an item in my loot box, I can scroll around the world and the text is "find an empty area". I find an empty area (Damn long way out :P ) and the text changes to "place it" or "Cancel" I can cancel OK, but place it doesn't work at all. Is this a bug or have I hit the limit of my abilities? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.86.34|172.68.86.34]] 01:05, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:oh...wait...there is a 5 second or more delay from clicking to it appearing. May be caused by the size of the world and number of elements. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.86.34|172.68.86.34]] 01:08, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Firefox 52.9 Windows XP Doesn't get past "loading" and cannot drag around. However, the backpack does appear and can be closed and opened. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.76|172.68.174.76]] 04:20, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I tried Samsung browser (mobile, tablet), Chrome (mobile, desktop) and Edge (desktop). At first, only the Samsung browser on only one of the devices worked. Then it glitched, I got infinite Polish sausages and no more hints. It unglitched after deleting browser data. Then glitched after deleting browser data gain (I was stuck and wanted fresh batch of hints, karma is a bitch, I guess). Then it started working again after clearing browser data few more time. Then, on one occasion, I got a set of hints on desktop Chrome in incognito mode. Something weird is going on related to cookies, it seems. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 07:35, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Screenshots ==<br />
<br />
Since this appears to be a time-limited event, I decided it would be good idea to save some screenshots for posterity. I have uploaded several screenshots:<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_hint_1.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_hint_2.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_chest.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_chest_open.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_place_item.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_place_item_cant.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_place_item_kitty.png<br />
<br />
Add them to the article as you see fit. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 09:29, 4 April 2020 (UTC)</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2288:_Collector%27s_Edition&diff=190008Talk:2288: Collector's Edition2020-04-04T14:58:27Z<p>Jaalenja: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
== The joke == <br />
Very early on April 1st, Mojang\Microsoft released a version 20w14Infinite build of Minecraft which allows players to create millions of wildly different new worlds by writing text in a book & throwing it through a Nether portal. The world generated depends on what is written in the book, & some specific worlds contain many "starter chests" to help the player in their explorations. Players can share what they wrote in each book with others, allowing multiple players to each access the same new dimensions on their own. In this way, individual single-player Minecraft instances can essentially become a collaboratively evolving game featuring previously nonexistent block types. Given that Randall has done multiple comics referencing Minecraft & seems to be an avid player, & given the presence of "chests" & the "worldbuilding" & collaborative nature of this latest comic, I believe xkcd's April 3rd 2020 comic is a reference to this "final" Minecraft build. <br />
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 14:10, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Clicking on the URLs in the explanation return "File not found". I will remove the hyperlink so people are less confused. [[User:Fwacer|Fwacer]] ([[User talk:Fwacer|talk]]) 02:18, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== How the comic works == <br />
... is this going to be like [[1190: Time]]? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.63|162.158.74.63]] 04:08, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: I hope so, otherwise I don't get the joke [[User:Forresthopkinsa|Forresthopkinsa]] ([[User talk:Forresthopkinsa|talk]]) 04:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: The page just went down for me so maybe what we've seen isn't what it's supposed to be? [[User:Avi m|avis_magpie]] ([[User talk:Avi m|talk]]) 04:20, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
Looks like the whole comic was just taken down. [[User:Parzivail|Parzivail]] ([[User talk:Parzivail|talk]]) 04:27, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: Can confirm - the most recent comic is Pathogen again [[Special:Contributions/162.158.187.207|162.158.187.207]] 04:26, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
It is still up on the mobile website, but only if you directly go to comic page https://m.xkcd.com/2288 [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.146|172.69.22.146]] 05:10, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: Perhaps this is a collector's edition because it was only up for a limited amount of time? {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.60|05:12, 3 April 2020}}<br />
:: That was my immediate assumption. The title text says, "I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives." And I was viewing the comic by using the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine — which, wouldn't you know it, captured the page exactly once before it went down. Between that and the title "Collector's Edition", I can't help thinking that the comic was actually intended to be viewed this way. Though for what reason, and what intended meaning, I couldn't tell you. …And jeez, in the time it took me to type this, the comic is back, but changed! Oy vey. [[User:NoriMori|NoriMori]] ([[User talk:NoriMori|talk]]) 06:42, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Maybe it's called collectors edition, because it was only available quite limited and to an unusual time? But that logic doesn't fit with the title text. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 05:14, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I doubt that could be caused by "technical difficulties". [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.186|172.69.34.186]] 06:14, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It looks like it went back up about 5 minutes age. I can't figure out if it's possible to do more than pan right now though. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.120|108.162.215.120]] 06:39, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Yeah I see the same thing, looks like they're just testing it live. What a shame :(--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.242|108.162.215.242]] 06:47, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::what makes you assume that this is testing right now? however it doesn't seem to be very interactive apart from panning through it, and that it seems to chagne over time (the moon from [[1300]] wasn't there a few minutes ago, was it? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:49, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:It's a giant pan similar to [https://xkcd.com/1110], although it's mostly empty, with some content at [https://xkcd.com/2288/#-361,-161]<br />
. The title reads that you can find world building material, if you scavenge through the archives. I assume, more content will be unlocked as you read through past comics. [[User:Goatfryed|Goatfryed]] ([[User talk:Goatfryed|talk]]) 06:52, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::That would mean it is individual? That everyone gets their own picture? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC) Edit: I can kinda rule that out. I get the same picture on my phone and my work laptop, the work laptop is in a different country via vpn, and doesn't share any logins/advertisement ID's apart from explain xkcd with my phone... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:05, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Yeah, it definitely changes. The orange swimming pool just showed up now. Also, at the bottom of the page, it says something about "backpack", and what appears to be a reference to some other xkcd comic. For example, "Hint: why waste time say few word when lot word do trick", which I think refers to Up Goer Five. But I have no idea what to do with that info. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.190|172.68.141.190]] 06:55, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:and the content seems to be related to previous comics and what-ifs... but still no clue what to do apart from exploring the page. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:57, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
So I just stumbled upon this and it seems to be exactly as other commentors have theorised: as you read previous comics more stuff gets added to the page. There seems to be some kind of backpack mechanic where you collect items from previous ones somehow, but, perhaps because I've already read all previous comics, that didn't seem to work for me. Instead I just had to click the link above the backpack, which opened the comic in a new tab, and it had a bunch of stuff there. We may need to co-ordinate to figure out if different people end up with different sets of items, and to ensure we have all of them, but I think other than that it should be just a cut and dry thing of making a table with every item in it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.202|162.158.34.202]] 07:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Hang on, mine just changed: before there was only 1 pool on the left, now there are two. I only went back to pathogens and then forwards agin. This may be harder than I thought, I'm going to start keeping a screenshot log of actions vs. results. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:17, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:You may need to try xkcd.com instead of www.xkcd.com - there seems to be an issue with the latter at the moment. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.216|162.158.255.216]] 07:18, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::Hold up it changed again! This time without a reload! [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:28, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::It seems to change periodically, the url does change everytime. New stuff always seems to be added, not old stuff rremoved. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:28, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::The URL is related to the coordinates, it changes when you pan the image. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:34, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::Timings seem to be random, working on double checking that rn. Highest first number so far is 1127, once it switches agin I'm going to experiement with manually editing the url.<br />
<br />
I was briefly able to do things. Open the archieve, navigate it to one of the comics, that are hinted for (e.g. compiling or iata) and when viewing that comic I get a lootbox, with an image I can then place in the 2288. It worked twice, and now it doesn't again... neither with those that have worked before, nor with others I am fairly sure have been placed by other people. (such as galilean moons) --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:21, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I'm working on assembling an image log, wonder if we could compare? Also, the two number url could be useful, rn I'm on -1378, -152 [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:25, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::What do you mean by compare? Also the URL is related to the coordinates, it changes when you pan the image. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:34, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::Yh just got that, is that the same for other panning comics (I'm a little new)? And I was wondering if the comic changed per person/system like certain previous comics. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:40, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::Just seen a previous comment from you saying it doesn't change cross-system. However, it definetely changes with time, so the question is whether that's per user or done on a sort of universal clock, so we all unlock the same new content at the same time.<br />
:::::I didn't complete writing up the thing I was able to do above... after opening the lootbox I got one image related to the comic I opened in my backpack and was able to place that in the actual 2288, where it now is placed. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:50, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::For me that didn't happen, it started with a loading screen type thing, and then objects just started appearing seemingly at random. I've also noticed some of them dissapear. I feel like the best course of action would be to start with a table of all the different objects, and then see if we can figure out when/why they appear later.<br />
::::::: At least 2 objects appeared, because I placed them. It is a colaboration of many xkcd readers to do this world building here. I placed one of the sword fights around #439,-181 and the non-inverted kite at #-1679,-290 . --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:55, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::::Do you agree that the best course of action would therefore be a table with all the items? [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 08:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::::::::Not a big fan of tables, unless there really is content of muliple categories to be entered for one line. A list would do fine I guess? Also I find lists easier to work with. Or what would be the columns you'd set up? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:08, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::::::Something along the lines of the comic that it's a reference to, an image, and an explanation. Do we know if you find the same sticker at the same comic every time? If so, then that. A list would work well too. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 08:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::::::From looking at what image URLs don't 404, it looks like there are 253 stickers, which is quite a lot for a table.[[User:Matthias1|Matthias1]] ([[User talk:Matthias1|talk]]) 10:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::::I think we can unlock new elements by reading older comics (seemingly at random, it doesn't work with every comic read) and that everyone can see the changes once they are put on the global picture. If someone could check, I have put berret guy and his goat around (5000,0)<br />
::::::Yep, he's there. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 08:01, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I almost feel like someone needs to show them this xkcd... https://xkcd.com/169/<br />
<br />
It seems to be an interactive canvas. You can find stickers in chests on specific comics and put them in your backpack, and then when you come back here you can choose where to put them on the canvas. The hints in the empty backpack are cryptic references to comics. {{unsigned ip|162.158.107.85}}<br />
:Yep, I figured the same thing, but for me it only worked twice (fly from wtf to lol was a reference to the iata thing and compiling was a reference to the compiling one) - but it didn't work again. Also: Some of the placed images are clearly references to what-if. Like the squirrel on top of an AK47 or the yoda powering an IPOD. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:59, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I've made a catalog of the stickers but it's only partial because stuff keeps appearing: https://photos.app.goo.gl/dPYeYVpGqu5tqGTt5 [[User:Lev|Lev]] ([[User talk:Lev|talk]]) 08:02, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I got it. I wrote the steps on reddit and included some screenshots. Feel free to use it to edit this page https://old.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/fu1dt0/xkcd_2288_collectors_edition/fmaqp1w/ [[User:Ufolicker|Ufolicker]] ([[User talk:Ufolicker|talk]]) 09:27, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Am I too late to participate in this or am I doing something wrong? Where is this hint supposed to appear? I only see an empty backpack and the canvas on which references to different comics are placed. No comic I've visited, either inspired by references on the canvas, nor by random selection has any chest or other interactive components to it. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 09:53, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:No, you're doing it right. Hints show up in the backpack area. Obviously no one is sure of anything, but even users who have seen hints have reported not seeing hints on a different browser/device. I suspect something similar to [https://xkcd.com/1037/ Umwelt], where different hints are shown to different people. And I think once a chest is picked up, it stops appearing to everyone that could see it, but that's a guess.[[User:Matthias1|Matthias1]] ([[User talk:Matthias1|talk]]) 10:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::Ok, I was unsure because on my windows 10 laptop I have yet to see a hint. I've tried chrome, firefox and internet explorer. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 11:09, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::Finally got it to work in Safari in iOS [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 11:13, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::That's really great, Bischoff, we were worried about you. Care to share how you did it, for the benefit of others? [[User:Jimmbo|Jimmbo]] ([[User talk:Jimmbo|talk]]) 14:19, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::I took part in the scavenger hunt and about 2 hours ago it stopped showing hints. So I assume it shut down and there is nothing to do anymore.¯\_(ツ)_/¯ [[User:Curse|Curse]] ([[User talk:Curse|talk]]) 15:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
When I view the comic, I don't see the closed box - the screen is absolutely full of stickers. I've not done any scavenger hunting (I'd upload an image, but I don't have permissions to do so) [[User:Kvetch|Kvetch]] ([[User talk:Kvetch|talk]]) 11:10, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Hints I've seen so far: "The first one was funnier" (chest appeared in comic 1, contained I'm a turtle);<br />
"418 I'm a teapot"<br />
"26th September, 1983" (comic 2052, Stanislav Petrov Day, white dove); [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.135|172.69.134.135]] 11:20, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Perhaps a table for found chests with no attached hints? I've stumbled across a few but don't know if they're hinted at or not :). [[User:Deranged|Deranged]] ([[User talk:Deranged|talk]]) 11:54, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Maybe add a line to the table with a blank first box, the link in the second box, empty third box? Someone will match it up. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.37|162.158.166.37]] 12:21, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"Churchill's gonna have to rehydrate" is Nothing to Offer. Can't remember what number, I think 1148?<br />
<br />
In other news, the bad ads are back ([[Talk:2220: Imagine Going Back in Time/Ads|previous discussion]]) - who's in charge of dealing with them anyway? [[User:Arcorann|Arcorann]] ([[User talk:Arcorann|talk]]) 12:25, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Could someone post an image showing what it looks like to find a chest on a comic? I've browsed to some of the comics referenced as having chests but couldn't see one so far. Thanks![[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.13|141.101.69.13]] 12:54, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I've uploaded a few images on https://imgur.com/gallery/4q1QIW5. Can't upload them here yet, new account [[User:Madsmtm|madsmtm]] ([[User talk:Madsmtm|talk]]) 13:24, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"The other side of the wardrobe", someone's put in the solution [[2218: Wardrobe]]; but I also found the chest on [[665: Prudence]]. Can there be multiple solutions to the same hint? [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 13:00, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Is anyone else having issues with things just not working? I clicked around a bit, it gave me the award in being very smart, and now won't give me any hints or chests. [[User:Crazymachinefan|Crazymachinefan]] ([[User talk:Crazymachinefan|talk]]) 13:57, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::I am also not getting any hints anymore after getting one chest.[[User:Eesley|Eesley]] ([[User talk:Eesley|talk]]) 14:01, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::Nope, nothing to get anymore. [[User:Curse|Curse]] ([[User talk:Curse|talk]]) 15:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The "Was it a rat I saw" hint is probably [[1632: Palindrome]]. I haven't gotten the hint yet, so I can't confirm. [[User:Nvaiko24|Nvaiko24]] ([[User talk:Nvaiko24|talk]]) 14:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Interestingly, the [[1110: Click and Drag]] disables the backpack overlay. Also, anyone have any news on how to get the Go Big to Go Small hint? <br />
<br />
I got the "First annual award for excellence in being very smart" on page 7, rather than 179 as stated above. Can't remember what the hint was. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.222|162.158.34.222]] 14:26, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Found that award on comic 7, too. And "Researchers are reporting record number of sharks (loot 159) on comic 1368, but I'll be damned if I know the hint. Those give me nothing [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.43|162.158.91.43]] 14:44, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Found another one! It's a bug on a box, loot_007. From comic #442, no idea what hint goes with it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.7|162.158.74.7]] 15:18, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
For the ooOOOooo hint, I've now gone through every comic, and none of them give a chest. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: Well that's just ducky! I'm stuck on that hint. Any way to get the hint to change without losing my collectibles? Anonymous 02:19, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
If you scroll almost directly upward, the Y-coordinate keeps resetting to 5000 (same with downward and -5000. However, if you scroll up and to the side with a slope of less than 1, you eventually get to this URL: https://xkcd.com/#-Infinity,-Infinity which just has the word "[LOADING_]" hand-drawn. -- brad<br />
: I think that's just Javascript floatingpoint math for ya. The loading image just appears while it is trying to load in new tiles --[[User:Jhollowe|Jhollowe]] ([[User talk:Jhollowe|talk]]) 19:11, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I wrote a script that gives a list of all the loot images that are on the page if we want to make a complete list of loot images, and a list of images that haven't been found yet. --[[User:Jhollowe|Jhollowe]] ([[User talk:Jhollowe|talk]]) 19:11, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Has anyone else gotten a "miniloot"? I just got "/2288/collectors/static/loot/miniloot-words-laser.png" from [[293: RTFM]] with the hint listed in the above table. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In a private window on Firefox, I had previously seen the hint, but it's now disappeared. I got loot_109.png (which is the sheeple eye from [[1013: Wake Up Sheeple]]), and I can place it, but it stays in the inventory. Possible bug? [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:43, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Viewable at https://xkcd.com/2288/#453,1003, both eyes posted using the same item. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:50, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The "tea time" hint seems a bit weird; I found it at [[579: The Race: Part 3]], and others have apparently found it at 581, 578, 479 and maybe elsewhere. Not sure what connection any of those comics have to tea, except that 579 and 479 both have 79 in them and the image is from what-if 79. [[User:Pelosujamo|Pelosujamo]] ([[User talk:Pelosujamo|talk]]) 01:17, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I don't know if there's an element of "the clue you get depends on the clues you answered"..? Yesterday, when I first visited, it seemed to be giving different hints as I scrolled through/jumped around the comics looking for the answers to earlier hints. Now (after finding three, confirmed as listed in the table) it's just flipping between two of the early once, the "chnace" and "fetish" ones, still undetailed in the table so I can't even cheat) leading me to believe I'm left with those two in my (personal?) 'pool' of hints, and I won't get any more until I answer one or other. Either that or I need to ''place'' my current meagre three discoveries, but I was actually wanting more first so I could be creative in combination... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.141|162.158.93.141]] 04:04, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Are "oOOOoooo" and "oooooooo" different clues? I don't see the second one listed.<br />
<br />
Unless I missed something, "Hint: Everyone deserves a second chnace" doesn't refer to a particular comic, but rather something else. I went through comics 500-2288. <small> -- [[User:162.158.92.22|162.158.92.22]] ([[User talk:162.158.92.22|talk]]) 08:29, 4 April 2020 (UTC) <span style="color:grey; white-space:nowrap;">''(please sign your comments with <nowiki>~~</nowiki>~~)''</span></small><br />
:Probably requires a sequence of comics to be visited in specific order, like "A new model released each year" or "Take a ride in a barrel" [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 11:29, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Random question--is there a way to edit or delete items once they have been placed? This world is pretty messy.... {{subst:Unsigned|162.158.74.65|14:12, 4 April 2020}}<br />
<br />
I had these hints (along with 2 other) hints: oOOOoooo, Keep coming back, Everyone deserves a second chance. I have visited ''every'' comic and every series on [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comic_series this list], forwards and backwards, and none of them was awarded. They are either glitched or have very unusual requirements. Maybe something with one of the interactive comics? (I even tried collecting all coins in Hoverboard!) Maybe there is something that Randall considers a series but this wiki doesn't? Something else altogether (visit the same comic a number of times, return after elapsed time...)? I am giving up, if someone gets one of these and is up to the challenge, good luck, hopefully I helped a bit with getting a small list of things not to try. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 14:58, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Browser agent related issues: Post what browser (Chrome, Firefox; mobile, desktop) you are using here & what issues (if any) you experience when interacting with this comic. ==<br />
<br />
On Chrome version 80.0.3987.162 in mobile view, only "Collector's Edition" appears for me. The comic is not scrollable or interactive, & the backpack does not appear. In desktop view, the collectively added content appears, as does the backpack. (I have not tested whether I can add things, yet.) <br />
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 13:52, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
On Chrome version 80.0.3987.163 on desktop, the hint doesn't seem to appear. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Firefox 74.0 on desktop - looks like I don't get any hints. Everything else seems to be fine. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.98|162.158.92.98]] 19:59, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Apologies if this has been covered, but if you right-click-->inspect the backpack area, can you see the hint in the Java script? I can't find it with Chrome running in Windows 10, but it is entirely possible I don't know how/where to look.[[User:Godzilla|Godzilla]] ([[User talk:Godzilla|talk]]) 21:38, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
On Opera, hint doesn't appear.<br />
<br />
In Firefox I have an item in my loot box, I can scroll around the world and the text is "find an empty area". I find an empty area (Damn long way out :P ) and the text changes to "place it" or "Cancel" I can cancel OK, but place it doesn't work at all. Is this a bug or have I hit the limit of my abilities? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.86.34|172.68.86.34]] 01:05, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:oh...wait...there is a 5 second or more delay from clicking to it appearing. May be caused by the size of the world and number of elements. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.86.34|172.68.86.34]] 01:08, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Firefox 52.9 Windows XP Doesn't get past "loading" and cannot drag around. However, the backpack does appear and can be closed and opened. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.76|172.68.174.76]] 04:20, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I tried Samsung browser (mobile, tablet), Chrome (mobile, desktop) and Edge (desktop). At first, only the Samsung browser on only one of the devices worked. Then it glitched, I got infinite Polish sausages and no more hints. It unglitched after deleting browser data. Then glitched after deleting browser data gain (I was stuck and wanted fresh batch of hints, karma is a bitch, I guess). Then it started working again after clearing browser data few more time. Then, on one occasion, I got a set of hints on desktop Chrome in incognito mode. Something weird is going on related to cookies, it seems. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 07:35, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Screenshots ==<br />
<br />
Since this appears to be a time-limited event, I decided it would be good idea to save some screenshots for posterity. I have uploaded several screenshots:<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_hint_1.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_hint_2.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_chest.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_chest_open.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_place_item.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_place_item_cant.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_place_item_kitty.png<br />
<br />
Add them to the article as you see fit. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 09:29, 4 April 2020 (UTC)</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2288:_Collector%27s_Edition&diff=189998Talk:2288: Collector's Edition2020-04-04T11:29:09Z<p>Jaalenja: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
== The joke == <br />
Very early on April 1st, Mojang\Microsoft released a version 20w14Infinite build of Minecraft which allows players to create millions of wildly different new worlds by writing text in a book & throwing it through a Nether portal. The world generated depends on what is written in the book, & some specific worlds contain many "starter chests" to help the player in their explorations. Players can share what they wrote in each book with others, allowing multiple players to each access the same new dimensions on their own. In this way, individual single-player Minecraft instances can essentially become a collaboratively evolving game featuring previously nonexistent block types. Given that Randall has done multiple comics referencing Minecraft & seems to be an avid player, & given the presence of "chests" & the "worldbuilding" & collaborative nature of this latest comic, I believe xkcd's April 3rd 2020 comic is a reference to this "final" Minecraft build. <br />
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 14:10, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Clicking on the URLs in the explanation return "File not found". I will remove the hyperlink so people are less confused. [[User:Fwacer|Fwacer]] ([[User talk:Fwacer|talk]]) 02:18, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== How the comic works == <br />
... is this going to be like [[1190: Time]]? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.63|162.158.74.63]] 04:08, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: I hope so, otherwise I don't get the joke [[User:Forresthopkinsa|Forresthopkinsa]] ([[User talk:Forresthopkinsa|talk]]) 04:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: The page just went down for me so maybe what we've seen isn't what it's supposed to be? [[User:Avi m|avis_magpie]] ([[User talk:Avi m|talk]]) 04:20, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
Looks like the whole comic was just taken down. [[User:Parzivail|Parzivail]] ([[User talk:Parzivail|talk]]) 04:27, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: Can confirm - the most recent comic is Pathogen again [[Special:Contributions/162.158.187.207|162.158.187.207]] 04:26, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
It is still up on the mobile website, but only if you directly go to comic page https://m.xkcd.com/2288 [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.146|172.69.22.146]] 05:10, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: Perhaps this is a collector's edition because it was only up for a limited amount of time? {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.60|05:12, 3 April 2020}}<br />
:: That was my immediate assumption. The title text says, "I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives." And I was viewing the comic by using the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine — which, wouldn't you know it, captured the page exactly once before it went down. Between that and the title "Collector's Edition", I can't help thinking that the comic was actually intended to be viewed this way. Though for what reason, and what intended meaning, I couldn't tell you. …And jeez, in the time it took me to type this, the comic is back, but changed! Oy vey. [[User:NoriMori|NoriMori]] ([[User talk:NoriMori|talk]]) 06:42, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Maybe it's called collectors edition, because it was only available quite limited and to an unusual time? But that logic doesn't fit with the title text. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 05:14, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I doubt that could be caused by "technical difficulties". [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.186|172.69.34.186]] 06:14, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It looks like it went back up about 5 minutes age. I can't figure out if it's possible to do more than pan right now though. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.120|108.162.215.120]] 06:39, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Yeah I see the same thing, looks like they're just testing it live. What a shame :(--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.242|108.162.215.242]] 06:47, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::what makes you assume that this is testing right now? however it doesn't seem to be very interactive apart from panning through it, and that it seems to chagne over time (the moon from [[1300]] wasn't there a few minutes ago, was it? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:49, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:It's a giant pan similar to [https://xkcd.com/1110], although it's mostly empty, with some content at [https://xkcd.com/2288/#-361,-161]<br />
. The title reads that you can find world building material, if you scavenge through the archives. I assume, more content will be unlocked as you read through past comics. [[User:Goatfryed|Goatfryed]] ([[User talk:Goatfryed|talk]]) 06:52, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::That would mean it is individual? That everyone gets their own picture? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC) Edit: I can kinda rule that out. I get the same picture on my phone and my work laptop, the work laptop is in a different country via vpn, and doesn't share any logins/advertisement ID's apart from explain xkcd with my phone... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:05, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Yeah, it definitely changes. The orange swimming pool just showed up now. Also, at the bottom of the page, it says something about "backpack", and what appears to be a reference to some other xkcd comic. For example, "Hint: why waste time say few word when lot word do trick", which I think refers to Up Goer Five. But I have no idea what to do with that info. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.190|172.68.141.190]] 06:55, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:and the content seems to be related to previous comics and what-ifs... but still no clue what to do apart from exploring the page. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:57, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
So I just stumbled upon this and it seems to be exactly as other commentors have theorised: as you read previous comics more stuff gets added to the page. There seems to be some kind of backpack mechanic where you collect items from previous ones somehow, but, perhaps because I've already read all previous comics, that didn't seem to work for me. Instead I just had to click the link above the backpack, which opened the comic in a new tab, and it had a bunch of stuff there. We may need to co-ordinate to figure out if different people end up with different sets of items, and to ensure we have all of them, but I think other than that it should be just a cut and dry thing of making a table with every item in it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.202|162.158.34.202]] 07:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Hang on, mine just changed: before there was only 1 pool on the left, now there are two. I only went back to pathogens and then forwards agin. This may be harder than I thought, I'm going to start keeping a screenshot log of actions vs. results. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:17, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:You may need to try xkcd.com instead of www.xkcd.com - there seems to be an issue with the latter at the moment. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.216|162.158.255.216]] 07:18, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::Hold up it changed again! This time without a reload! [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:28, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::It seems to change periodically, the url does change everytime. New stuff always seems to be added, not old stuff rremoved. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:28, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::The URL is related to the coordinates, it changes when you pan the image. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:34, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::Timings seem to be random, working on double checking that rn. Highest first number so far is 1127, once it switches agin I'm going to experiement with manually editing the url.<br />
<br />
I was briefly able to do things. Open the archieve, navigate it to one of the comics, that are hinted for (e.g. compiling or iata) and when viewing that comic I get a lootbox, with an image I can then place in the 2288. It worked twice, and now it doesn't again... neither with those that have worked before, nor with others I am fairly sure have been placed by other people. (such as galilean moons) --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:21, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I'm working on assembling an image log, wonder if we could compare? Also, the two number url could be useful, rn I'm on -1378, -152 [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:25, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::What do you mean by compare? Also the URL is related to the coordinates, it changes when you pan the image. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:34, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::Yh just got that, is that the same for other panning comics (I'm a little new)? And I was wondering if the comic changed per person/system like certain previous comics. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:40, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::Just seen a previous comment from you saying it doesn't change cross-system. However, it definetely changes with time, so the question is whether that's per user or done on a sort of universal clock, so we all unlock the same new content at the same time.<br />
:::::I didn't complete writing up the thing I was able to do above... after opening the lootbox I got one image related to the comic I opened in my backpack and was able to place that in the actual 2288, where it now is placed. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:50, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::For me that didn't happen, it started with a loading screen type thing, and then objects just started appearing seemingly at random. I've also noticed some of them dissapear. I feel like the best course of action would be to start with a table of all the different objects, and then see if we can figure out when/why they appear later.<br />
::::::: At least 2 objects appeared, because I placed them. It is a colaboration of many xkcd readers to do this world building here. I placed one of the sword fights around #439,-181 and the non-inverted kite at #-1679,-290 . --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:55, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::::Do you agree that the best course of action would therefore be a table with all the items? [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 08:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::::::::Not a big fan of tables, unless there really is content of muliple categories to be entered for one line. A list would do fine I guess? Also I find lists easier to work with. Or what would be the columns you'd set up? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:08, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::::::Something along the lines of the comic that it's a reference to, an image, and an explanation. Do we know if you find the same sticker at the same comic every time? If so, then that. A list would work well too. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 08:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::::::From looking at what image URLs don't 404, it looks like there are 253 stickers, which is quite a lot for a table.[[User:Matthias1|Matthias1]] ([[User talk:Matthias1|talk]]) 10:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::::I think we can unlock new elements by reading older comics (seemingly at random, it doesn't work with every comic read) and that everyone can see the changes once they are put on the global picture. If someone could check, I have put berret guy and his goat around (5000,0)<br />
::::::Yep, he's there. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 08:01, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I almost feel like someone needs to show them this xkcd... https://xkcd.com/169/<br />
<br />
It seems to be an interactive canvas. You can find stickers in chests on specific comics and put them in your backpack, and then when you come back here you can choose where to put them on the canvas. The hints in the empty backpack are cryptic references to comics. {{unsigned ip|162.158.107.85}}<br />
:Yep, I figured the same thing, but for me it only worked twice (fly from wtf to lol was a reference to the iata thing and compiling was a reference to the compiling one) - but it didn't work again. Also: Some of the placed images are clearly references to what-if. Like the squirrel on top of an AK47 or the yoda powering an IPOD. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:59, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I've made a catalog of the stickers but it's only partial because stuff keeps appearing: https://photos.app.goo.gl/dPYeYVpGqu5tqGTt5 [[User:Lev|Lev]] ([[User talk:Lev|talk]]) 08:02, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I got it. I wrote the steps on reddit and included some screenshots. Feel free to use it to edit this page https://old.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/fu1dt0/xkcd_2288_collectors_edition/fmaqp1w/ [[User:Ufolicker|Ufolicker]] ([[User talk:Ufolicker|talk]]) 09:27, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Am I too late to participate in this or am I doing something wrong? Where is this hint supposed to appear? I only see an empty backpack and the canvas on which references to different comics are placed. No comic I've visited, either inspired by references on the canvas, nor by random selection has any chest or other interactive components to it. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 09:53, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:No, you're doing it right. Hints show up in the backpack area. Obviously no one is sure of anything, but even users who have seen hints have reported not seeing hints on a different browser/device. I suspect something similar to [https://xkcd.com/1037/ Umwelt], where different hints are shown to different people. And I think once a chest is picked up, it stops appearing to everyone that could see it, but that's a guess.[[User:Matthias1|Matthias1]] ([[User talk:Matthias1|talk]]) 10:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::Ok, I was unsure because on my windows 10 laptop I have yet to see a hint. I've tried chrome, firefox and internet explorer. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 11:09, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::Finally got it to work in Safari in iOS [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 11:13, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::I took part in the scavenger hunt and about 2 hours ago it stopped showing hints. So I assume it shut down and there is nothing to do anymore.¯\_(ツ)_/¯ [[User:Curse|Curse]] ([[User talk:Curse|talk]]) 15:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
When I view the comic, I don't see the closed box - the screen is absolutely full of stickers. I've not done any scavenger hunting (I'd upload an image, but I don't have permissions to do so) [[User:Kvetch|Kvetch]] ([[User talk:Kvetch|talk]]) 11:10, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Hints I've seen so far: "The first one was funnier" (chest appeared in comic 1, contained I'm a turtle);<br />
"418 I'm a teapot"<br />
"26th September, 1983" (comic 2052, Stanislav Petrov Day, white dove); [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.135|172.69.134.135]] 11:20, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Perhaps a table for found chests with no attached hints? I've stumbled across a few but don't know if they're hinted at or not :). [[User:Deranged|Deranged]] ([[User talk:Deranged|talk]]) 11:54, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Maybe add a line to the table with a blank first box, the link in the second box, empty third box? Someone will match it up. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.37|162.158.166.37]] 12:21, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"Churchill's gonna have to rehydrate" is Nothing to Offer. Can't remember what number, I think 1148?<br />
<br />
In other news, the bad ads are back ([[Talk:2220: Imagine Going Back in Time/Ads|previous discussion]]) - who's in charge of dealing with them anyway? [[User:Arcorann|Arcorann]] ([[User talk:Arcorann|talk]]) 12:25, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Could someone post an image showing what it looks like to find a chest on a comic? I've browsed to some of the comics referenced as having chests but couldn't see one so far. Thanks![[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.13|141.101.69.13]] 12:54, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I've uploaded a few images on https://imgur.com/gallery/4q1QIW5. Can't upload them here yet, new account [[User:Madsmtm|madsmtm]] ([[User talk:Madsmtm|talk]]) 13:24, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"The other side of the wardrobe", someone's put in the solution [[2218: Wardrobe]]; but I also found the chest on [[665: Prudence]]. Can there be multiple solutions to the same hint? [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 13:00, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Is anyone else having issues with things just not working? I clicked around a bit, it gave me the award in being very smart, and now won't give me any hints or chests. [[User:Crazymachinefan|Crazymachinefan]] ([[User talk:Crazymachinefan|talk]]) 13:57, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::I am also not getting any hints anymore after getting one chest.[[User:Eesley|Eesley]] ([[User talk:Eesley|talk]]) 14:01, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::Nope, nothing to get anymore. [[User:Curse|Curse]] ([[User talk:Curse|talk]]) 15:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The "Was it a rat I saw" hint is probably [[1632: Palindrome]]. I haven't gotten the hint yet, so I can't confirm. [[User:Nvaiko24|Nvaiko24]] ([[User talk:Nvaiko24|talk]]) 14:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Interestingly, the [[1110: Click and Drag]] disables the backpack overlay. Also, anyone have any news on how to get the Go Big to Go Small hint? <br />
<br />
I got the "First annual award for excellence in being very smart" on page 7, rather than 179 as stated above. Can't remember what the hint was. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.222|162.158.34.222]] 14:26, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Found that award on comic 7, too. And "Researchers are reporting record number of sharks (loot 159) on comic 1368, but I'll be damned if I know the hint. Those give me nothing [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.43|162.158.91.43]] 14:44, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Found another one! It's a bug on a box, loot_007. From comic #442, no idea what hint goes with it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.7|162.158.74.7]] 15:18, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
For the ooOOOooo hint, I've now gone through every comic, and none of them give a chest. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: Well that's just ducky! I'm stuck on that hint. Any way to get the hint to change without losing my collectibles? Anonymous 02:19, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
If you scroll almost directly upward, the Y-coordinate keeps resetting to 5000 (same with downward and -5000. However, if you scroll up and to the side with a slope of less than 1, you eventually get to this URL: https://xkcd.com/#-Infinity,-Infinity which just has the word "[LOADING_]" hand-drawn. -- brad<br />
: I think that's just Javascript floatingpoint math for ya. The loading image just appears while it is trying to load in new tiles --[[User:Jhollowe|Jhollowe]] ([[User talk:Jhollowe|talk]]) 19:11, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I wrote a script that gives a list of all the loot images that are on the page if we want to make a complete list of loot images, and a list of images that haven't been found yet. --[[User:Jhollowe|Jhollowe]] ([[User talk:Jhollowe|talk]]) 19:11, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Has anyone else gotten a "miniloot"? I just got "/2288/collectors/static/loot/miniloot-words-laser.png" from [[293: RTFM]] with the hint listed in the above table. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In a private window on Firefox, I had previously seen the hint, but it's now disappeared. I got loot_109.png (which is the sheeple eye from [[1013: Wake Up Sheeple]]), and I can place it, but it stays in the inventory. Possible bug? [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:43, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Viewable at https://xkcd.com/2288/#453,1003, both eyes posted using the same item. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:50, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The "tea time" hint seems a bit weird; I found it at [[579: The Race: Part 3]], and others have apparently found it at 581, 578, 479 and maybe elsewhere. Not sure what connection any of those comics have to tea, except that 579 and 479 both have 79 in them and the image is from what-if 79. [[User:Pelosujamo|Pelosujamo]] ([[User talk:Pelosujamo|talk]]) 01:17, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I don't know if there's an element of "the clue you get depends on the clues you answered"..? Yesterday, when I first visited, it seemed to be giving different hints as I scrolled through/jumped around the comics looking for the answers to earlier hints. Now (after finding three, confirmed as listed in the table) it's just flipping between two of the early once, the "chnace" and "fetish" ones, still undetailed in the table so I can't even cheat) leading me to believe I'm left with those two in my (personal?) 'pool' of hints, and I won't get any more until I answer one or other. Either that or I need to ''place'' my current meagre three discoveries, but I was actually wanting more first so I could be creative in combination... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.141|162.158.93.141]] 04:04, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Are "oOOOoooo" and "oooooooo" different clues? I don't see the second one listed.<br />
<br />
Unless I missed something, "Hint: Everyone deserves a second chnace" doesn't refer to a particular comic, but rather something else. I went through comics 500-2288. <small> -- [[User:162.158.92.22|162.158.92.22]] ([[User talk:162.158.92.22|talk]]) 08:29, 4 April 2020 (UTC) <span style="color:grey; white-space:nowrap;">''(please sign your comments with <nowiki>~~</nowiki>~~)''</span></small><br />
:Probably requires a sequence of comics to be visited in specific order, like "A new model released each year" or "Take a ride in a barrel" [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 11:29, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Browser agent related issues: Post what browser (Chrome, Firefox; mobile, desktop) you are using here & what issues (if any) you experience when interacting with this comic. ==<br />
<br />
On Chrome version 80.0.3987.162 in mobile view, only "Collector's Edition" appears for me. The comic is not scrollable or interactive, & the backpack does not appear. In desktop view, the collectively added content appears, as does the backpack. (I have not tested whether I can add things, yet.) <br />
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 13:52, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
On Chrome version 80.0.3987.163 on desktop, the hint doesn't seem to appear. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Firefox 74.0 on desktop - looks like I don't get any hints. Everything else seems to be fine. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.98|162.158.92.98]] 19:59, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Apologies if this has been covered, but if you right-click-->inspect the backpack area, can you see the hint in the Java script? I can't find it with Chrome running in Windows 10, but it is entirely possible I don't know how/where to look.[[User:Godzilla|Godzilla]] ([[User talk:Godzilla|talk]]) 21:38, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
On Opera, hint doesn't appear.<br />
<br />
In Firefox I have an item in my loot box, I can scroll around the world and the text is "find an empty area". I find an empty area (Damn long way out :P ) and the text changes to "place it" or "Cancel" I can cancel OK, but place it doesn't work at all. Is this a bug or have I hit the limit of my abilities? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.86.34|172.68.86.34]] 01:05, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:oh...wait...there is a 5 second or more delay from clicking to it appearing. May be caused by the size of the world and number of elements. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.86.34|172.68.86.34]] 01:08, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Firefox 52.9 Windows XP Doesn't get past "loading" and cannot drag around. However, the backpack does appear and can be closed and opened. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.76|172.68.174.76]] 04:20, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I tried Samsung browser (mobile, tablet), Chrome (mobile, desktop) and Edge (desktop). At first, only the Samsung browser on only one of the devices worked. Then it glitched, I got infinite Polish sausages and no more hints. It unglitched after deleting browser data. Then glitched after deleting browser data gain (I was stuck and wanted fresh batch of hints, karma is a bitch, I guess). Then it started working again after clearing browser data few more time. Then, on one occasion, I got a set of hints on desktop Chrome in incognito mode. Something weird is going on related to cookies, it seems. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 07:35, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Screenshots ==<br />
<br />
Since this appears to be a time-limited event, I decided it would be good idea to save some screenshots for posterity. I have uploaded several screenshots:<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_hint_1.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_hint_2.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_chest.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_chest_open.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_place_item.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_place_item_cant.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_place_item_kitty.png<br />
<br />
Add them to the article as you see fit. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 09:29, 4 April 2020 (UTC)</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2288:_Collector%27s_Edition&diff=189987Talk:2288: Collector's Edition2020-04-04T09:29:08Z<p>Jaalenja: /* Screenshots */ new section</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
== The joke == <br />
Very early on April 1st, Mojang\Microsoft released a version 20w14Infinite build of Minecraft which allows players to create millions of wildly different new worlds by writing text in a book & throwing it through a Nether portal. The world generated depends on what is written in the book, & some specific worlds contain many "starter chests" to help the player in their explorations. Players can share what they wrote in each book with others, allowing multiple players to each access the same new dimensions on their own. In this way, individual single-player Minecraft instances can essentially become a collaboratively evolving game featuring previously nonexistent block types. Given that Randall has done multiple comics referencing Minecraft & seems to be an avid player, & given the presence of "chests" & the "worldbuilding" & collaborative nature of this latest comic, I believe xkcd's April 3rd 2020 comic is a reference to this "final" Minecraft build. <br />
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 14:10, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Clicking on the URLs in the explanation return "File not found". I will remove the hyperlink so people are less confused. [[User:Fwacer|Fwacer]] ([[User talk:Fwacer|talk]]) 02:18, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== How the comic works == <br />
... is this going to be like [[1190: Time]]? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.63|162.158.74.63]] 04:08, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: I hope so, otherwise I don't get the joke [[User:Forresthopkinsa|Forresthopkinsa]] ([[User talk:Forresthopkinsa|talk]]) 04:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: The page just went down for me so maybe what we've seen isn't what it's supposed to be? [[User:Avi m|avis_magpie]] ([[User talk:Avi m|talk]]) 04:20, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
Looks like the whole comic was just taken down. [[User:Parzivail|Parzivail]] ([[User talk:Parzivail|talk]]) 04:27, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: Can confirm - the most recent comic is Pathogen again [[Special:Contributions/162.158.187.207|162.158.187.207]] 04:26, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
It is still up on the mobile website, but only if you directly go to comic page https://m.xkcd.com/2288 [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.146|172.69.22.146]] 05:10, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: Perhaps this is a collector's edition because it was only up for a limited amount of time? {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.60|05:12, 3 April 2020}}<br />
:: That was my immediate assumption. The title text says, "I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives." And I was viewing the comic by using the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine — which, wouldn't you know it, captured the page exactly once before it went down. Between that and the title "Collector's Edition", I can't help thinking that the comic was actually intended to be viewed this way. Though for what reason, and what intended meaning, I couldn't tell you. …And jeez, in the time it took me to type this, the comic is back, but changed! Oy vey. [[User:NoriMori|NoriMori]] ([[User talk:NoriMori|talk]]) 06:42, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Maybe it's called collectors edition, because it was only available quite limited and to an unusual time? But that logic doesn't fit with the title text. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 05:14, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I doubt that could be caused by "technical difficulties". [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.186|172.69.34.186]] 06:14, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It looks like it went back up about 5 minutes age. I can't figure out if it's possible to do more than pan right now though. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.120|108.162.215.120]] 06:39, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Yeah I see the same thing, looks like they're just testing it live. What a shame :(--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.242|108.162.215.242]] 06:47, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::what makes you assume that this is testing right now? however it doesn't seem to be very interactive apart from panning through it, and that it seems to chagne over time (the moon from [[1300]] wasn't there a few minutes ago, was it? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:49, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:It's a giant pan similar to [https://xkcd.com/1110], although it's mostly empty, with some content at [https://xkcd.com/2288/#-361,-161]<br />
. The title reads that you can find world building material, if you scavenge through the archives. I assume, more content will be unlocked as you read through past comics. [[User:Goatfryed|Goatfryed]] ([[User talk:Goatfryed|talk]]) 06:52, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::That would mean it is individual? That everyone gets their own picture? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC) Edit: I can kinda rule that out. I get the same picture on my phone and my work laptop, the work laptop is in a different country via vpn, and doesn't share any logins/advertisement ID's apart from explain xkcd with my phone... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:05, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Yeah, it definitely changes. The orange swimming pool just showed up now. Also, at the bottom of the page, it says something about "backpack", and what appears to be a reference to some other xkcd comic. For example, "Hint: why waste time say few word when lot word do trick", which I think refers to Up Goer Five. But I have no idea what to do with that info. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.190|172.68.141.190]] 06:55, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:and the content seems to be related to previous comics and what-ifs... but still no clue what to do apart from exploring the page. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:57, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
So I just stumbled upon this and it seems to be exactly as other commentors have theorised: as you read previous comics more stuff gets added to the page. There seems to be some kind of backpack mechanic where you collect items from previous ones somehow, but, perhaps because I've already read all previous comics, that didn't seem to work for me. Instead I just had to click the link above the backpack, which opened the comic in a new tab, and it had a bunch of stuff there. We may need to co-ordinate to figure out if different people end up with different sets of items, and to ensure we have all of them, but I think other than that it should be just a cut and dry thing of making a table with every item in it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.202|162.158.34.202]] 07:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Hang on, mine just changed: before there was only 1 pool on the left, now there are two. I only went back to pathogens and then forwards agin. This may be harder than I thought, I'm going to start keeping a screenshot log of actions vs. results. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:17, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:You may need to try xkcd.com instead of www.xkcd.com - there seems to be an issue with the latter at the moment. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.216|162.158.255.216]] 07:18, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::Hold up it changed again! This time without a reload! [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:28, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::It seems to change periodically, the url does change everytime. New stuff always seems to be added, not old stuff rremoved. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:28, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::The URL is related to the coordinates, it changes when you pan the image. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:34, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::Timings seem to be random, working on double checking that rn. Highest first number so far is 1127, once it switches agin I'm going to experiement with manually editing the url.<br />
<br />
I was briefly able to do things. Open the archieve, navigate it to one of the comics, that are hinted for (e.g. compiling or iata) and when viewing that comic I get a lootbox, with an image I can then place in the 2288. It worked twice, and now it doesn't again... neither with those that have worked before, nor with others I am fairly sure have been placed by other people. (such as galilean moons) --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:21, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I'm working on assembling an image log, wonder if we could compare? Also, the two number url could be useful, rn I'm on -1378, -152 [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:25, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::What do you mean by compare? Also the URL is related to the coordinates, it changes when you pan the image. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:34, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::Yh just got that, is that the same for other panning comics (I'm a little new)? And I was wondering if the comic changed per person/system like certain previous comics. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:40, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::Just seen a previous comment from you saying it doesn't change cross-system. However, it definetely changes with time, so the question is whether that's per user or done on a sort of universal clock, so we all unlock the same new content at the same time.<br />
:::::I didn't complete writing up the thing I was able to do above... after opening the lootbox I got one image related to the comic I opened in my backpack and was able to place that in the actual 2288, where it now is placed. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:50, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::For me that didn't happen, it started with a loading screen type thing, and then objects just started appearing seemingly at random. I've also noticed some of them dissapear. I feel like the best course of action would be to start with a table of all the different objects, and then see if we can figure out when/why they appear later.<br />
::::::: At least 2 objects appeared, because I placed them. It is a colaboration of many xkcd readers to do this world building here. I placed one of the sword fights around #439,-181 and the non-inverted kite at #-1679,-290 . --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:55, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::::Do you agree that the best course of action would therefore be a table with all the items? [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 08:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::::::::Not a big fan of tables, unless there really is content of muliple categories to be entered for one line. A list would do fine I guess? Also I find lists easier to work with. Or what would be the columns you'd set up? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:08, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::::::Something along the lines of the comic that it's a reference to, an image, and an explanation. Do we know if you find the same sticker at the same comic every time? If so, then that. A list would work well too. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 08:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::::::From looking at what image URLs don't 404, it looks like there are 253 stickers, which is quite a lot for a table.[[User:Matthias1|Matthias1]] ([[User talk:Matthias1|talk]]) 10:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::::I think we can unlock new elements by reading older comics (seemingly at random, it doesn't work with every comic read) and that everyone can see the changes once they are put on the global picture. If someone could check, I have put berret guy and his goat around (5000,0)<br />
::::::Yep, he's there. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 08:01, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I almost feel like someone needs to show them this xkcd... https://xkcd.com/169/<br />
<br />
It seems to be an interactive canvas. You can find stickers in chests on specific comics and put them in your backpack, and then when you come back here you can choose where to put them on the canvas. The hints in the empty backpack are cryptic references to comics. {{unsigned ip|162.158.107.85}}<br />
:Yep, I figured the same thing, but for me it only worked twice (fly from wtf to lol was a reference to the iata thing and compiling was a reference to the compiling one) - but it didn't work again. Also: Some of the placed images are clearly references to what-if. Like the squirrel on top of an AK47 or the yoda powering an IPOD. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:59, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I've made a catalog of the stickers but it's only partial because stuff keeps appearing: https://photos.app.goo.gl/dPYeYVpGqu5tqGTt5 [[User:Lev|Lev]] ([[User talk:Lev|talk]]) 08:02, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I got it. I wrote the steps on reddit and included some screenshots. Feel free to use it to edit this page https://old.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/fu1dt0/xkcd_2288_collectors_edition/fmaqp1w/ [[User:Ufolicker|Ufolicker]] ([[User talk:Ufolicker|talk]]) 09:27, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Am I too late to participate in this or am I doing something wrong? Where is this hint supposed to appear? I only see an empty backpack and the canvas on which references to different comics are placed. No comic I've visited, either inspired by references on the canvas, nor by random selection has any chest or other interactive components to it. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 09:53, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:No, you're doing it right. Hints show up in the backpack area. Obviously no one is sure of anything, but even users who have seen hints have reported not seeing hints on a different browser/device. I suspect something similar to [https://xkcd.com/1037/ Umwelt], where different hints are shown to different people. And I think once a chest is picked up, it stops appearing to everyone that could see it, but that's a guess.[[User:Matthias1|Matthias1]] ([[User talk:Matthias1|talk]]) 10:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::Ok, I was unsure because on my windows 10 laptop I have yet to see a hint. I've tried chrome, firefox and internet explorer. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 11:09, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::Finally got it to work in Safari in iOS [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 11:13, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::I took part in the scavenger hunt and about 2 hours ago it stopped showing hints. So I assume it shut down and there is nothing to do anymore.¯\_(ツ)_/¯ [[User:Curse|Curse]] ([[User talk:Curse|talk]]) 15:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
When I view the comic, I don't see the closed box - the screen is absolutely full of stickers. I've not done any scavenger hunting (I'd upload an image, but I don't have permissions to do so) [[User:Kvetch|Kvetch]] ([[User talk:Kvetch|talk]]) 11:10, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Hints I've seen so far: "The first one was funnier" (chest appeared in comic 1, contained I'm a turtle);<br />
"418 I'm a teapot"<br />
"26th September, 1983" (comic 2052, Stanislav Petrov Day, white dove); [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.135|172.69.134.135]] 11:20, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Perhaps a table for found chests with no attached hints? I've stumbled across a few but don't know if they're hinted at or not :). [[User:Deranged|Deranged]] ([[User talk:Deranged|talk]]) 11:54, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Maybe add a line to the table with a blank first box, the link in the second box, empty third box? Someone will match it up. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.37|162.158.166.37]] 12:21, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"Churchill's gonna have to rehydrate" is Nothing to Offer. Can't remember what number, I think 1148?<br />
<br />
In other news, the bad ads are back ([[Talk:2220: Imagine Going Back in Time/Ads|previous discussion]]) - who's in charge of dealing with them anyway? [[User:Arcorann|Arcorann]] ([[User talk:Arcorann|talk]]) 12:25, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Could someone post an image showing what it looks like to find a chest on a comic? I've browsed to some of the comics referenced as having chests but couldn't see one so far. Thanks![[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.13|141.101.69.13]] 12:54, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I've uploaded a few images on https://imgur.com/gallery/4q1QIW5. Can't upload them here yet, new account [[User:Madsmtm|madsmtm]] ([[User talk:Madsmtm|talk]]) 13:24, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"The other side of the wardrobe", someone's put in the solution [[2218: Wardrobe]]; but I also found the chest on [[665: Prudence]]. Can there be multiple solutions to the same hint? [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 13:00, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Is anyone else having issues with things just not working? I clicked around a bit, it gave me the award in being very smart, and now won't give me any hints or chests. [[User:Crazymachinefan|Crazymachinefan]] ([[User talk:Crazymachinefan|talk]]) 13:57, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::I am also not getting any hints anymore after getting one chest.[[User:Eesley|Eesley]] ([[User talk:Eesley|talk]]) 14:01, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::Nope, nothing to get anymore. [[User:Curse|Curse]] ([[User talk:Curse|talk]]) 15:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The "Was it a rat I saw" hint is probably [[1632: Palindrome]]. I haven't gotten the hint yet, so I can't confirm. [[User:Nvaiko24|Nvaiko24]] ([[User talk:Nvaiko24|talk]]) 14:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Interestingly, the [[1110: Click and Drag]] disables the backpack overlay. Also, anyone have any news on how to get the Go Big to Go Small hint? <br />
<br />
I got the "First annual award for excellence in being very smart" on page 7, rather than 179 as stated above. Can't remember what the hint was. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.222|162.158.34.222]] 14:26, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Found that award on comic 7, too. And "Researchers are reporting record number of sharks (loot 159) on comic 1368, but I'll be damned if I know the hint. Those give me nothing [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.43|162.158.91.43]] 14:44, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Found another one! It's a bug on a box, loot_007. From comic #442, no idea what hint goes with it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.7|162.158.74.7]] 15:18, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
For the ooOOOooo hint, I've now gone through every comic, and none of them give a chest. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: Well that's just ducky! I'm stuck on that hint. Any way to get the hint to change without losing my collectibles? Anonymous 02:19, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
If you scroll almost directly upward, the Y-coordinate keeps resetting to 5000 (same with downward and -5000. However, if you scroll up and to the side with a slope of less than 1, you eventually get to this URL: https://xkcd.com/#-Infinity,-Infinity which just has the word "[LOADING_]" hand-drawn. -- brad<br />
: I think that's just Javascript floatingpoint math for ya. The loading image just appears while it is trying to load in new tiles --[[User:Jhollowe|Jhollowe]] ([[User talk:Jhollowe|talk]]) 19:11, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I wrote a script that gives a list of all the loot images that are on the page if we want to make a complete list of loot images, and a list of images that haven't been found yet. --[[User:Jhollowe|Jhollowe]] ([[User talk:Jhollowe|talk]]) 19:11, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Has anyone else gotten a "miniloot"? I just got "/2288/collectors/static/loot/miniloot-words-laser.png" from [[293: RTFM]] with the hint listed in the above table. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In a private window on Firefox, I had previously seen the hint, but it's now disappeared. I got loot_109.png (which is the sheeple eye from [[1013: Wake Up Sheeple]]), and I can place it, but it stays in the inventory. Possible bug? [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:43, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Viewable at https://xkcd.com/2288/#453,1003, both eyes posted using the same item. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:50, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The "tea time" hint seems a bit weird; I found it at [[579: The Race: Part 3]], and others have apparently found it at 581, 578, 479 and maybe elsewhere. Not sure what connection any of those comics have to tea, except that 579 and 479 both have 79 in them and the image is from what-if 79. [[User:Pelosujamo|Pelosujamo]] ([[User talk:Pelosujamo|talk]]) 01:17, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I don't know if there's an element of "the clue you get depends on the clues you answered"..? Yesterday, when I first visited, it seemed to be giving different hints as I scrolled through/jumped around the comics looking for the answers to earlier hints. Now (after finding three, confirmed as listed in the table) it's just flipping between two of the early once, the "chnace" and "fetish" ones, still undetailed in the table so I can't even cheat) leading me to believe I'm left with those two in my (personal?) 'pool' of hints, and I won't get any more until I answer one or other. Either that or I need to ''place'' my current meagre three discoveries, but I was actually wanting more first so I could be creative in combination... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.141|162.158.93.141]] 04:04, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Are "oOOOoooo" and "oooooooo" different clues? I don't see the second one listed.<br />
<br />
Unless I missed something, "Hint: Everyone deserves a second chnace" doesn't refer to a particular comic, but rather something else. I went through comics 500-2288.<br />
<br />
== Browser agent related issues: Post what browser (Chrome, Firefox; mobile, desktop) you are using here & what issues (if any) you experience when interacting with this comic. ==<br />
<br />
On Chrome version 80.0.3987.162 in mobile view, only "Collector's Edition" appears for me. The comic is not scrollable or interactive, & the backpack does not appear. In desktop view, the collectively added content appears, as does the backpack. (I have not tested whether I can add things, yet.) <br />
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 13:52, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
On Chrome version 80.0.3987.163 on desktop, the hint doesn't seem to appear. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Firefox 74.0 on desktop - looks like I don't get any hints. Everything else seems to be fine. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.98|162.158.92.98]] 19:59, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Apologies if this has been covered, but if you right-click-->inspect the backpack area, can you see the hint in the Java script? I can't find it with Chrome running in Windows 10, but it is entirely possible I don't know how/where to look.[[User:Godzilla|Godzilla]] ([[User talk:Godzilla|talk]]) 21:38, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
On Opera, hint doesn't appear.<br />
<br />
In Firefox I have an item in my loot box, I can scroll around the world and the text is "find an empty area". I find an empty area (Damn long way out :P ) and the text changes to "place it" or "Cancel" I can cancel OK, but place it doesn't work at all. Is this a bug or have I hit the limit of my abilities? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.86.34|172.68.86.34]] 01:05, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:oh...wait...there is a 5 second or more delay from clicking to it appearing. May be caused by the size of the world and number of elements. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.86.34|172.68.86.34]] 01:08, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Firefox 52.9 Windows XP Doesn't get past "loading" and cannot drag around. However, the backpack does appear and can be closed and opened. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.76|172.68.174.76]] 04:20, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I tried Samsung browser (mobile, tablet), Chrome (mobile, desktop) and Edge (desktop). At first, only the Samsung browser on only one of the devices worked. Then it glitched, I got infinite Polish sausages and no more hints. It unglitched after deleting browser data. Then glitched after deleting browser data gain (I was stuck and wanted fresh batch of hints, karma is a bitch, I guess). Then it started working again after clearing browser data few more time. Then, on one occasion, I got a set of hints on desktop Chrome in incognito mode. Something weird is going on related to cookies, it seems. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 07:35, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Screenshots ==<br />
<br />
Since this appears to be a time-limited event, I decided it would be good idea to save some screenshots for posterity. I have uploaded several screenshots:<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_hint_1.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_hint_2.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_chest.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_chest_open.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_place_item.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_place_item_cant.png<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:2288_place_item_kitty.png<br />
<br />
Add them to the article as you see fit. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 09:29, 4 April 2020 (UTC)</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:2288_place_item_kitty.png&diff=189986File:2288 place item kitty.png2020-04-04T09:26:20Z<p>Jaalenja: A showcase of placing an item in 2288: Collector's edition.
The kitty can be found at -2409,2784</p>
<hr />
<div>== Summary ==<br />
A showcase of placing an item in 2288: Collector's edition.<br />
The kitty can be found at -2409,2784<br />
== Licensing ==<br />
{{XKCD file derived}}</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:2288_place_item_cant.png&diff=189985File:2288 place item cant.png2020-04-04T09:25:12Z<p>Jaalenja: A showcase of placing an item in 2288: Collector's edition and corresponding error message when the item is positioned on occupied place</p>
<hr />
<div>== Summary ==<br />
A showcase of placing an item in 2288: Collector's edition and corresponding error message when the item is positioned on occupied place<br />
== Licensing ==<br />
{{XKCD file derived}}</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:2288_place_item.png&diff=189984File:2288 place item.png2020-04-04T09:23:58Z<p>Jaalenja: A showcase of multiple items in the inventory and placing the item in 2288: Collector's edition</p>
<hr />
<div>== Summary ==<br />
A showcase of multiple items in the inventory and placing the item in 2288: Collector's edition<br />
== Licensing ==<br />
{{XKCD file derived}}</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:2288_chest_open.png&diff=189983File:2288 chest open.png2020-04-04T09:23:08Z<p>Jaalenja: An example of opening a chest discovered during the 2020 April fool's event</p>
<hr />
<div>An example of opening a chest discovered during the 2020 April fool's event</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:2288_chest.png&diff=189982File:2288 chest.png2020-04-04T09:22:46Z<p>Jaalenja: An example of a chest discovered during the 2020 April fool's event</p>
<hr />
<div>== Summary ==<br />
An example of a chest discovered during the 2020 April fool's event<br />
== Licensing ==<br />
{{XKCD file derived}}</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:2288_hint_2.png&diff=189981File:2288 hint 2.png2020-04-04T09:21:47Z<p>Jaalenja: An example of a hint for 2288: Collector's edition, also showcasing the "Place your items in the collector's edition" button</p>
<hr />
<div>== Summary ==<br />
An example of a hint for 2288: Collector's edition, also showcasing the "Place your items in the collector's edition" button<br />
== Licensing ==<br />
{{XKCD file derived}}</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:2288_hint_1.png&diff=189980File:2288 hint 1.png2020-04-04T09:20:26Z<p>Jaalenja: An example of a hint for 2288: Collector's edition</p>
<hr />
<div>== Summary ==<br />
An example of a hint for 2288: Collector's edition<br />
== Licensing ==<br />
{{XKCD file derived}}</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2288:_Collector%27s_Edition&diff=1899782288: Collector's Edition2020-04-04T07:39:33Z<p>Jaalenja: Incomplete explanation tag</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2288<br />
| date = April 3, 2020<br />
| title = Collectors Edition<br />
| image = collectors_edition.png<br />
| titletext = I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. The hint table needs to be completed. The mechanics should be explained more in depth, if possible, screenshots of the hints, items in inventory, items-placing mechanics etc. should be added.}}<br />
<br />
This is an April 1st comic. It is a large image, of which only part is visible, but it can be dragged around. This Space acts as a virtual common sandbox where viewers can interact. "Items" (small, often humorous images) can be 'collected' from other comics and then placed in this image by viewers. The collection then updates for all viewers in real-time. Multiples of the same item are often seen. <br />
<br />
There is a "backpack" at the bottom, similar to "backpacks" in video games containing items collected by the player. Items can be found by visiting different XKCD comics/pages. Randomly, some pages will have a treasure chest which will contain the sticker related to the page. It is believed that the hint represents what page currently has a chest.<br />
<br />
The sticker images can be seen at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot_</nowiki>'''XXX'''.png, where XXX is a number from 001-253. Additionally, some images can be found at custom URLs, for example the periodic elements can be found at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/element-</nowiki>'''XX'''.png, where XX is the element, and text loot at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot-words-</nowiki>'''X'''.png, where X is the sentence.<br />
<br />
===Hints===<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Hint<br />
!Comic<br />
!Unlocked item<br />
!Item image<br />
!Notes<br />
|-<br />
|Doctors in a row||[[1529: Bracket]] [[497: Secretary: Part 4]] ||Cory Doctorow || loot_019.png || These comics all have the same hint, but only one will have the chest<br />
|-<br />
|Get out the (US) vote|| [[2224: Software Updates]] || Statue of liberty || loot_246.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Find a box of nice stuff on a picture with words like these|| [[1133: Up Goer Five]] || Signpost || loot_126.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Plug in or find another power source||[[1373: Screenshot]] || || loot_228.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Sweet dreams, kitty||[[729: Laser Pointer]] || Cat licking laser point || loot_090.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|What is this hint pointing to? Hell if I know.||[[28: Elefino]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Somebody set up us the bomb||[[286: All Your Base]] ||Exploding rock || loot_197.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Cowabunga||[[1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] ||Women Science Fiction Authors || loot_175.png || [[197: Ninja Turtles]] also works<br />
|-<br />
|I want to believe||[[2156: Ufo]] ||Ufo || loot_210.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Bleeped||[[1671: Arcane Bullshit]]|| *$@#! || loot_044.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|why waste time say few word when lot word do trick||[[1022: So It Has Come To This]] || First Annual Award for Excellence in Being Very Smart || loot_159.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Cooler than electric scooters||[[409: Electric Skateboard (Double Comic)]]||An electric scooter|| loot_006.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take it from the top||[[1: Barrel - Part 1]] ||I am a turtle from [[889: Turtles]] || loot_095.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|I accept the yucca gnocchi, this meal is a success!||[[1713: 50 ccs]] ||Man carrying parentheses from [[297: Lisp Cycles]] || loot_031.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Catch up on the news|| [[1699: Local News]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Participation trophy|| [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Server rack || loot_096.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Find an opportunity for a sojourn||[[1504: Opportunity]] ||Opportunity Mars rover from [[2111: Opportunity Rover]] || loot_161.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Tastier than tau day||[[179: e to the pi times i]] ||First annual award for excellence in being very smart || loot_159.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Tastier than tau day||[[1967: Violin Plots]] || Pie sign || loot_056.png || Published on Pi day<br />
|-<br />
|418 I'm a teapot||[[1866: Russell's Teapot]] ||S.S. NASA: Space is Hard || loot_216.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|26th September, 1983||[[2052: Stanislav Petrov Day]] ||White dove || loot_205.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|There are 4241 as of Apr 1, 2020|| [[1071: Exoplanets]] || Little girl from [[2264: Satellite]] || loot_151.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|asableiK|| [[645: RPS]] || A reverse Polish hotdog || loot_079.png || "Kielbasa" backwards, which is "sausage" in Polish<br />
|-<br />
|Critical mass elements|| [[235: Kite]] || || loot_203.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Some Februarys are more equal than others|| [[390: Nightmares]]? || Cueball wheelie from [[272: Linux User at Best Buy]] || loot_036.png || Comic-hint connection largely conjectural; 390 was the first comic published on a leap day.<br />
|-<br />
|Five spice||[[1554: Spice Girls]]|| Rock guitarist || loot_022.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Call the plumber|| [[290: Fucking Blue Shells]] || || loot_058.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Was it a rat I saw?|| [[1632: Palindrome]] || Cueball with a large sack, pulling a wagon || loot_103.png || or [[1503: Squirrel Plan]] for cueball holding a balloon caught in a ceiling fan.<br />
|-<br />
|Churchill's gonna have to seriously rehydrate||[[1148: Nothing to Offer]]|| Bottle of soda || loot_045.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Keep coming back|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|A new model released each year|| || || || Triggered by visiting all xkcd phone comics<br />
|-<br />
|Tea Time||[[581: The Race: Part 5]] ||Floor tea ||loot_232.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Try pattern-matching! Look for comic 'bout alphabet?||[[1045: Constraints]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Where's Hilbert?||[[195: Map of the Internet]] || Hilbert Curve || loot_021.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Science fiction fetish|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|The first one was funnier||[[11: Barrel - Part 2]]||Falling feather / Sign "The uncomfortable truths well" || loot_250.png / loot_067.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|It's up to over 260 million cycles!||[[1941: Dying Gift]] || Megan on a tire swing || loot_127.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Sleeping Beauty is the same everywhere though||[[2233: Aurora Meaning]] || Sleeping Cat || loot_163.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|On the internet, nobody knows you're an arachnid|| [[1530: Keyboard Mash]] || Cobwebbed frame from [[1135: Arachnoneurology]]|| loot_191.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Did James Cameron pay for the rice cooker too?||[[1598: Salvage]] ||Rice bowl || loot_152.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Never going to give you up|| [[524: Party]], [[351: Trolling]] || Cueball in car listening to music || ||<br />
|-<br />
|If red touches yellow, that's 24 ohms||[[1604: Snakes]], [[227: Color Codes]]?|| Yoda with an mp3 player from What If || loot_247.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|An enthusiastic but questionable business opportunity||[[1533: Antique Factory]] or [[1021: Business Plan]]|| Beret guy with a goat on leash || loot_115.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Read the fine manual|| [[1343: Manuals]] or [[293: RTFM]] || "Configure the network" window with a prompt for hostname || loot_106.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|That thing's undecimodal!||[[1347: t Distribution]] || Floating tentacled alien || loot_209.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Actually, it's Myanmar-Shave now||[[491: Twitter]]||Expensive bottle || loot_253.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|You don't have to find all 99|| [[121: Balloon]] ||Balloon copter || loot_002.png || Or [[51: Malaria]] ?<br />
|-<br />
|Going in circles|| [[378: Real Programmers]] || Cueball spinning in desk chair || loot_098.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Couldn't you try knitting, or maybe stamp collecting?||[[2123: Meta Collecting]]||Phishing License sign|| loot_158.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|It's the ciiiiircle of HONK||[[537: Ducklings]] ||DUCKLOOP'D? || loot_069.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Fool me twice|| [[880: Headache]] || Raptor Attack || loot_033.png ||The second April fools' comic<br />
|-<br />
|oOOOoooo|| [[316: Loud Sex]] || Sleeping cat || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Maybe we can ask for new wishes||[[879: Lamp]] ||Genie and his bottle ||loot_004.png || If you place the genie last, you get another genie (indefinitely)<br />
|-<br />
|HACK THE PLANET||[[1337: Hack]] || Crash and Burn in the pool from the end of ''Hackers'' || loot_130.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Monetization haute couteur||[[20: Ferret]]||Two bags of money ||loot_162.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Maybe writing a script would help||[[1319: Automation]]|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Go big to go small|| [[1365: Inflation]] || || loot_245.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Are you projecting||[[850: World According to Americans]] or [[977: Map Projections]]||Squirrel on a gun||loot_237.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Do spiders really have six legs||[[8: Red spiders]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Istanbul or Constantinople or St. Trimble's Island?||[[1688: Map Age Guide]] ||Cephalopod || loot_071.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Another rulebook?||[[393: Ultimate Game]]|| Merlin in a chair from [[270: Merlin]] || loot_037.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Moooooon|| [[1300: Galilean Moons]], [[1291: Shoot for the Moon]] || MOOOOOON || loot_192.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take a flight from LOL to FFS|| [[1937: IATA Airport Abbreviations]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Everyone deserves a second chnace[chance]|| || || || [[745: Dyslexics]] feels like a good fit but I don't see a loot box there; no match in comics 1-750<br />
|-<br />
|Community contribution|| [[824: Guest Week: Bill Amend (FoxTrot)]], [[825: Guest Week: Jeffrey Rowland (Overcompensating)]], [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]], possibly other guest week comics || [Citation Needed] protester from [[285: Wikipedian Protester]] || loot_035.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|On the other side of the wardrobe|| [[665: Prudence]] or [[969: Delta-P]] or [[2218: Wardrobe]] ||Authentic Reindeer pulling sled from [[1776: Reindeer]] || loot_154.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Today's your lucky day|| [[1053: Ten Thousand]] || Ms. Frizzle || loot_105.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|[This hint has been redacted due to a copyright claim]|| [[1005: SOPA]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Try a different approach|| [[55: Useless]] || Equals sign || loot_times.png, loot_div.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|The cake is a lie!|| [[606: Cutting Edge]] || Cake || loot_144.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Joanna, fire.||[[322: Pix Plz]] || Joanna with EMP cannon || loot_026.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Everything changes from time to time when the fire nation attacks|| [[965: Elements]] || Symposium || ||<br />
|-<br />
|90KG x 300M|| [[382: Trebuchet]] || Trebuchet || loot_041.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Copyright Enforcement Brigade|| [[344: 1337: Part 4]] || || loot_046.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Where Cape Town meets Chukotka||[[1500: Upside-Down Map]] || Crater || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take a ride in a barrel|| || Cueball at the door to the playpen-ball-filled apartment from [[150: Grownups]] || loot_005.png || Reliably triggered by viewing all five barrel comics in reverse order ([[31]], [[25]], [[22]], [[11]], [[1]])<br />
|-<br />
| || [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Sheeple eye || loot_109.png ||<br />
|-<br />
| || [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Time machine from [[1747: Spider Paleontology]] || loot_167.png ||<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
* This comic is the 2020 April Fools comic and was supposed to be released April 1st. However, the below message was displayed on the top of the page until early Friday (April 3rd) morning, when the comic finally went live. It remains to be seen if Friday's intended comic will be published later.<br />
<blockquote><br />
Note: For technical reasons Wednesday's comic will be posted Thursday instead. Apologies for the delay!<br />
</blockquote><br />
* Placement is limited to 10,000 units from the origin. Users will receive no messages if they try placing something outside the boundary.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Cueball stands to the left of a vibrating box.]<br />
:[The words "Collector's Edition" are written above him and boxed.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:April fools' comics]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Interactive comics]]</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2288:_Collector%27s_Edition&diff=189977Talk:2288: Collector's Edition2020-04-04T07:35:17Z<p>Jaalenja: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
== The joke == <br />
Very early on April 1st, Mojang\Microsoft released a version 20w14Infinite build of Minecraft which allows players to create millions of wildly different new worlds by writing text in a book & throwing it through a Nether portal. The world generated depends on what is written in the book, & some specific worlds contain many "starter chests" to help the player in their explorations. Players can share what they wrote in each book with others, allowing multiple players to each access the same new dimensions on their own. In this way, individual single-player Minecraft instances can essentially become a collaboratively evolving game featuring previously nonexistent block types. Given that Randall has done multiple comics referencing Minecraft & seems to be an avid player, & given the presence of "chests" & the "worldbuilding" & collaborative nature of this latest comic, I believe xkcd's April 3rd 2020 comic is a reference to this "final" Minecraft build. <br />
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 14:10, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Clicking on the URLs in the explanation return "File not found". I will remove the hyperlink so people are less confused. [[User:Fwacer|Fwacer]] ([[User talk:Fwacer|talk]]) 02:18, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== How the comic works == <br />
... is this going to be like [[1190: Time]]? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.63|162.158.74.63]] 04:08, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: I hope so, otherwise I don't get the joke [[User:Forresthopkinsa|Forresthopkinsa]] ([[User talk:Forresthopkinsa|talk]]) 04:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: The page just went down for me so maybe what we've seen isn't what it's supposed to be? [[User:Avi m|avis_magpie]] ([[User talk:Avi m|talk]]) 04:20, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
Looks like the whole comic was just taken down. [[User:Parzivail|Parzivail]] ([[User talk:Parzivail|talk]]) 04:27, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: Can confirm - the most recent comic is Pathogen again [[Special:Contributions/162.158.187.207|162.158.187.207]] 04:26, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
It is still up on the mobile website, but only if you directly go to comic page https://m.xkcd.com/2288 [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.146|172.69.22.146]] 05:10, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: Perhaps this is a collector's edition because it was only up for a limited amount of time? {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.60|05:12, 3 April 2020}}<br />
:: That was my immediate assumption. The title text says, "I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives." And I was viewing the comic by using the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine — which, wouldn't you know it, captured the page exactly once before it went down. Between that and the title "Collector's Edition", I can't help thinking that the comic was actually intended to be viewed this way. Though for what reason, and what intended meaning, I couldn't tell you. …And jeez, in the time it took me to type this, the comic is back, but changed! Oy vey. [[User:NoriMori|NoriMori]] ([[User talk:NoriMori|talk]]) 06:42, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Maybe it's called collectors edition, because it was only available quite limited and to an unusual time? But that logic doesn't fit with the title text. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 05:14, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I doubt that could be caused by "technical difficulties". [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.186|172.69.34.186]] 06:14, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It looks like it went back up about 5 minutes age. I can't figure out if it's possible to do more than pan right now though. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.120|108.162.215.120]] 06:39, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Yeah I see the same thing, looks like they're just testing it live. What a shame :(--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.242|108.162.215.242]] 06:47, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::what makes you assume that this is testing right now? however it doesn't seem to be very interactive apart from panning through it, and that it seems to chagne over time (the moon from [[1300]] wasn't there a few minutes ago, was it? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:49, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:It's a giant pan similar to [https://xkcd.com/1110], although it's mostly empty, with some content at [https://xkcd.com/2288/#-361,-161]<br />
. The title reads that you can find world building material, if you scavenge through the archives. I assume, more content will be unlocked as you read through past comics. [[User:Goatfryed|Goatfryed]] ([[User talk:Goatfryed|talk]]) 06:52, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::That would mean it is individual? That everyone gets their own picture? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC) Edit: I can kinda rule that out. I get the same picture on my phone and my work laptop, the work laptop is in a different country via vpn, and doesn't share any logins/advertisement ID's apart from explain xkcd with my phone... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:05, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Yeah, it definitely changes. The orange swimming pool just showed up now. Also, at the bottom of the page, it says something about "backpack", and what appears to be a reference to some other xkcd comic. For example, "Hint: why waste time say few word when lot word do trick", which I think refers to Up Goer Five. But I have no idea what to do with that info. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.190|172.68.141.190]] 06:55, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:and the content seems to be related to previous comics and what-ifs... but still no clue what to do apart from exploring the page. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:57, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
So I just stumbled upon this and it seems to be exactly as other commentors have theorised: as you read previous comics more stuff gets added to the page. There seems to be some kind of backpack mechanic where you collect items from previous ones somehow, but, perhaps because I've already read all previous comics, that didn't seem to work for me. Instead I just had to click the link above the backpack, which opened the comic in a new tab, and it had a bunch of stuff there. We may need to co-ordinate to figure out if different people end up with different sets of items, and to ensure we have all of them, but I think other than that it should be just a cut and dry thing of making a table with every item in it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.202|162.158.34.202]] 07:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Hang on, mine just changed: before there was only 1 pool on the left, now there are two. I only went back to pathogens and then forwards agin. This may be harder than I thought, I'm going to start keeping a screenshot log of actions vs. results. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:17, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:You may need to try xkcd.com instead of www.xkcd.com - there seems to be an issue with the latter at the moment. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.216|162.158.255.216]] 07:18, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::Hold up it changed again! This time without a reload! [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:28, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::It seems to change periodically, the url does change everytime. New stuff always seems to be added, not old stuff rremoved. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:28, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::The URL is related to the coordinates, it changes when you pan the image. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:34, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::Timings seem to be random, working on double checking that rn. Highest first number so far is 1127, once it switches agin I'm going to experiement with manually editing the url.<br />
<br />
I was briefly able to do things. Open the archieve, navigate it to one of the comics, that are hinted for (e.g. compiling or iata) and when viewing that comic I get a lootbox, with an image I can then place in the 2288. It worked twice, and now it doesn't again... neither with those that have worked before, nor with others I am fairly sure have been placed by other people. (such as galilean moons) --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:21, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I'm working on assembling an image log, wonder if we could compare? Also, the two number url could be useful, rn I'm on -1378, -152 [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:25, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::What do you mean by compare? Also the URL is related to the coordinates, it changes when you pan the image. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:34, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::Yh just got that, is that the same for other panning comics (I'm a little new)? And I was wondering if the comic changed per person/system like certain previous comics. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 07:40, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::Just seen a previous comment from you saying it doesn't change cross-system. However, it definetely changes with time, so the question is whether that's per user or done on a sort of universal clock, so we all unlock the same new content at the same time.<br />
:::::I didn't complete writing up the thing I was able to do above... after opening the lootbox I got one image related to the comic I opened in my backpack and was able to place that in the actual 2288, where it now is placed. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:50, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::For me that didn't happen, it started with a loading screen type thing, and then objects just started appearing seemingly at random. I've also noticed some of them dissapear. I feel like the best course of action would be to start with a table of all the different objects, and then see if we can figure out when/why they appear later.<br />
::::::: At least 2 objects appeared, because I placed them. It is a colaboration of many xkcd readers to do this world building here. I placed one of the sword fights around #439,-181 and the non-inverted kite at #-1679,-290 . --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:55, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::::Do you agree that the best course of action would therefore be a table with all the items? [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 08:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::::::::Not a big fan of tables, unless there really is content of muliple categories to be entered for one line. A list would do fine I guess? Also I find lists easier to work with. Or what would be the columns you'd set up? --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:08, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::::::Something along the lines of the comic that it's a reference to, an image, and an explanation. Do we know if you find the same sticker at the same comic every time? If so, then that. A list would work well too. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 08:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::::::::From looking at what image URLs don't 404, it looks like there are 253 stickers, which is quite a lot for a table.[[User:Matthias1|Matthias1]] ([[User talk:Matthias1|talk]]) 10:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::::I think we can unlock new elements by reading older comics (seemingly at random, it doesn't work with every comic read) and that everyone can see the changes once they are put on the global picture. If someone could check, I have put berret guy and his goat around (5000,0)<br />
::::::Yep, he's there. [[User:Benkor42|Benkor42]] ([[User talk:Benkor42|talk]]) 08:01, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I almost feel like someone needs to show them this xkcd... https://xkcd.com/169/<br />
<br />
It seems to be an interactive canvas. You can find stickers in chests on specific comics and put them in your backpack, and then when you come back here you can choose where to put them on the canvas. The hints in the empty backpack are cryptic references to comics. {{unsigned ip|162.158.107.85}}<br />
:Yep, I figured the same thing, but for me it only worked twice (fly from wtf to lol was a reference to the iata thing and compiling was a reference to the compiling one) - but it didn't work again. Also: Some of the placed images are clearly references to what-if. Like the squirrel on top of an AK47 or the yoda powering an IPOD. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:59, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I've made a catalog of the stickers but it's only partial because stuff keeps appearing: https://photos.app.goo.gl/dPYeYVpGqu5tqGTt5 [[User:Lev|Lev]] ([[User talk:Lev|talk]]) 08:02, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I got it. I wrote the steps on reddit and included some screenshots. Feel free to use it to edit this page https://old.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/fu1dt0/xkcd_2288_collectors_edition/fmaqp1w/ [[User:Ufolicker|Ufolicker]] ([[User talk:Ufolicker|talk]]) 09:27, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Am I too late to participate in this or am I doing something wrong? Where is this hint supposed to appear? I only see an empty backpack and the canvas on which references to different comics are placed. No comic I've visited, either inspired by references on the canvas, nor by random selection has any chest or other interactive components to it. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 09:53, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:No, you're doing it right. Hints show up in the backpack area. Obviously no one is sure of anything, but even users who have seen hints have reported not seeing hints on a different browser/device. I suspect something similar to [https://xkcd.com/1037/ Umwelt], where different hints are shown to different people. And I think once a chest is picked up, it stops appearing to everyone that could see it, but that's a guess.[[User:Matthias1|Matthias1]] ([[User talk:Matthias1|talk]]) 10:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::Ok, I was unsure because on my windows 10 laptop I have yet to see a hint. I've tried chrome, firefox and internet explorer. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 11:09, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::Finally got it to work in Safari in iOS [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 11:13, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::I took part in the scavenger hunt and about 2 hours ago it stopped showing hints. So I assume it shut down and there is nothing to do anymore.¯\_(ツ)_/¯ [[User:Curse|Curse]] ([[User talk:Curse|talk]]) 15:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
When I view the comic, I don't see the closed box - the screen is absolutely full of stickers. I've not done any scavenger hunting (I'd upload an image, but I don't have permissions to do so) [[User:Kvetch|Kvetch]] ([[User talk:Kvetch|talk]]) 11:10, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Hints I've seen so far: "The first one was funnier" (chest appeared in comic 1, contained I'm a turtle);<br />
"418 I'm a teapot"<br />
"26th September, 1983" (comic 2052, Stanislav Petrov Day, white dove); [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.135|172.69.134.135]] 11:20, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Perhaps a table for found chests with no attached hints? I've stumbled across a few but don't know if they're hinted at or not :). [[User:Deranged|Deranged]] ([[User talk:Deranged|talk]]) 11:54, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Maybe add a line to the table with a blank first box, the link in the second box, empty third box? Someone will match it up. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.37|162.158.166.37]] 12:21, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"Churchill's gonna have to rehydrate" is Nothing to Offer. Can't remember what number, I think 1148?<br />
<br />
In other news, the bad ads are back ([[Talk:2220: Imagine Going Back in Time/Ads|previous discussion]]) - who's in charge of dealing with them anyway? [[User:Arcorann|Arcorann]] ([[User talk:Arcorann|talk]]) 12:25, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Could someone post an image showing what it looks like to find a chest on a comic? I've browsed to some of the comics referenced as having chests but couldn't see one so far. Thanks![[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.13|141.101.69.13]] 12:54, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I've uploaded a few images on https://imgur.com/gallery/4q1QIW5. Can't upload them here yet, new account [[User:Madsmtm|madsmtm]] ([[User talk:Madsmtm|talk]]) 13:24, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"The other side of the wardrobe", someone's put in the solution [[2218: Wardrobe]]; but I also found the chest on [[665: Prudence]]. Can there be multiple solutions to the same hint? [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 13:00, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Is anyone else having issues with things just not working? I clicked around a bit, it gave me the award in being very smart, and now won't give me any hints or chests. [[User:Crazymachinefan|Crazymachinefan]] ([[User talk:Crazymachinefan|talk]]) 13:57, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
::I am also not getting any hints anymore after getting one chest.[[User:Eesley|Eesley]] ([[User talk:Eesley|talk]]) 14:01, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::Nope, nothing to get anymore. [[User:Curse|Curse]] ([[User talk:Curse|talk]]) 15:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The "Was it a rat I saw" hint is probably [[1632: Palindrome]]. I haven't gotten the hint yet, so I can't confirm. [[User:Nvaiko24|Nvaiko24]] ([[User talk:Nvaiko24|talk]]) 14:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Interestingly, the [[1110: Click and Drag]] disables the backpack overlay. Also, anyone have any news on how to get the Go Big to Go Small hint? <br />
<br />
I got the "First annual award for excellence in being very smart" on page 7, rather than 179 as stated above. Can't remember what the hint was. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.222|162.158.34.222]] 14:26, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Found that award on comic 7, too. And "Researchers are reporting record number of sharks (loot 159) on comic 1368, but I'll be damned if I know the hint. Those give me nothing [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.43|162.158.91.43]] 14:44, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Found another one! It's a bug on a box, loot_007. From comic #442, no idea what hint goes with it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.7|162.158.74.7]] 15:18, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
For the ooOOOooo hint, I've now gone through every comic, and none of them give a chest. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
: Well that's just ducky! I'm stuck on that hint. Any way to get the hint to change without losing my collectibles? Anonymous 02:19, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
If you scroll almost directly upward, the Y-coordinate keeps resetting to 5000 (same with downward and -5000. However, if you scroll up and to the side with a slope of less than 1, you eventually get to this URL: https://xkcd.com/#-Infinity,-Infinity which just has the word "[LOADING_]" hand-drawn. -- brad<br />
: I think that's just Javascript floatingpoint math for ya. The loading image just appears while it is trying to load in new tiles --[[User:Jhollowe|Jhollowe]] ([[User talk:Jhollowe|talk]]) 19:11, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I wrote a script that gives a list of all the loot images that are on the page if we want to make a complete list of loot images, and a list of images that haven't been found yet. --[[User:Jhollowe|Jhollowe]] ([[User talk:Jhollowe|talk]]) 19:11, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Has anyone else gotten a "miniloot"? I just got "/2288/collectors/static/loot/miniloot-words-laser.png" from [[293: RTFM]] with the hint listed in the above table. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In a private window on Firefox, I had previously seen the hint, but it's now disappeared. I got loot_109.png (which is the sheeple eye from [[1013: Wake Up Sheeple]]), and I can place it, but it stays in the inventory. Possible bug? [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:43, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Viewable at https://xkcd.com/2288/#453,1003, both eyes posted using the same item. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:50, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The "tea time" hint seems a bit weird; I found it at [[579: The Race: Part 3]], and others have apparently found it at 581, 578, 479 and maybe elsewhere. Not sure what connection any of those comics have to tea, except that 579 and 479 both have 79 in them and the image is from what-if 79. [[User:Pelosujamo|Pelosujamo]] ([[User talk:Pelosujamo|talk]]) 01:17, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I don't know if there's an element of "the clue you get depends on the clues you answered"..? Yesterday, when I first visited, it seemed to be giving different hints as I scrolled through/jumped around the comics looking for the answers to earlier hints. Now (after finding three, confirmed as listed in the table) it's just flipping between two of the early once, the "chnace" and "fetish" ones, still undetailed in the table so I can't even cheat) leading me to believe I'm left with those two in my (personal?) 'pool' of hints, and I won't get any more until I answer one or other. Either that or I need to ''place'' my current meagre three discoveries, but I was actually wanting more first so I could be creative in combination... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.141|162.158.93.141]] 04:04, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Are "oOOOoooo" and "oooooooo" different clues? I don't see the second one listed.<br />
<br />
== Browser agent related issues: Post what browser (Chrome, Firefox; mobile, desktop) you are using here & what issues (if any) you experience when interacting with this comic. ==<br />
<br />
On Chrome version 80.0.3987.162 in mobile view, only "Collector's Edition" appears for me. The comic is not scrollable or interactive, & the backpack does not appear. In desktop view, the collectively added content appears, as does the backpack. (I have not tested whether I can add things, yet.) <br />
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 13:52, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
On Chrome version 80.0.3987.163 on desktop, the hint doesn't seem to appear. [[User:Lawruble13|Lawruble13]] ([[User talk:Lawruble13|talk]]) 19:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Firefox 74.0 on desktop - looks like I don't get any hints. Everything else seems to be fine. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.98|162.158.92.98]] 19:59, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Apologies if this has been covered, but if you right-click-->inspect the backpack area, can you see the hint in the Java script? I can't find it with Chrome running in Windows 10, but it is entirely possible I don't know how/where to look.[[User:Godzilla|Godzilla]] ([[User talk:Godzilla|talk]]) 21:38, 3 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
On Opera, hint doesn't appear.<br />
<br />
In Firefox I have an item in my loot box, I can scroll around the world and the text is "find an empty area". I find an empty area (Damn long way out :P ) and the text changes to "place it" or "Cancel" I can cancel OK, but place it doesn't work at all. Is this a bug or have I hit the limit of my abilities? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.86.34|172.68.86.34]] 01:05, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:oh...wait...there is a 5 second or more delay from clicking to it appearing. May be caused by the size of the world and number of elements. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.86.34|172.68.86.34]] 01:08, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Firefox 52.9 Windows XP Doesn't get past "loading" and cannot drag around. However, the backpack does appear and can be closed and opened. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.76|172.68.174.76]] 04:20, 4 April 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I tried Samsung browser (mobile, tablet), Chrome (mobile, desktop) and Edge (desktop). At first, only the Samsung browser on only one of the devices worked. Then it glitched, I got infinite Polish sausages and no more hints. It unglitched after deleting browser data. Then glitched after deleting browser data gain (I was stuck and wanted fresh batch of hints, karma is a bitch, I guess). Then it started working again after clearing browser data few more time. Then, on one occasion, I got a set of hints on desktop Chrome in incognito mode. Something weird is going on related to cookies, it seems. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 07:35, 4 April 2020 (UTC)</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2288:_Collector%27s_Edition&diff=1899762288: Collector's Edition2020-04-04T07:29:25Z<p>Jaalenja: /* Hints */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2288<br />
| date = April 3, 2020<br />
| title = Collectors Edition<br />
| image = collectors_edition.png<br />
| titletext = I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This is an April 1st comic. It is a large image, of which only part is visible, but it can be dragged around. This Space acts as a virtual common sandbox where viewers can interact. "Items" (small, often humorous images) can be 'collected' from other comics and then placed in this image by viewers. The collection then updates for all viewers in real-time. Multiples of the same item are often seen. <br />
<br />
There is a "backpack" at the bottom, similar to "backpacks" in video games containing items collected by the player. Items can be found by visiting different XKCD comics/pages. Randomly, some pages will have a treasure chest which will contain the sticker related to the page. It is believed that the hint represents what page currently has a chest.<br />
<br />
The sticker images can be seen at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot_</nowiki>'''XXX'''.png, where XXX is a number from 001-253. Additionally, some images can be found at custom URLs, for example the periodic elements can be found at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/element-</nowiki>'''XX'''.png, where XX is the element, and text loot at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot-words-</nowiki>'''X'''.png, where X is the sentence.<br />
<br />
===Hints===<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Hint<br />
!Comic<br />
!Unlocked item<br />
!Item image<br />
!Notes<br />
|-<br />
|Doctors in a row||[[1529: Bracket]] [[497: Secretary: Part 4]] ||Cory Doctorow || loot_019.png || These comics all have the same hint, but only one will have the chest<br />
|-<br />
|Get out the (US) vote|| [[2224: Software Updates]] || Statue of liberty || loot_246.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Find a box of nice stuff on a picture with words like these|| [[1133: Up Goer Five]] || Signpost || loot_126.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Plug in or find another power source||[[1373: Screenshot]] || || loot_228.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Sweet dreams, kitty||[[729: Laser Pointer]] || Cat licking laser point || loot_090.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|What is this hint pointing to? Hell if I know.||[[28: Elefino]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Somebody set up us the bomb||[[286: All Your Base]] ||Exploding rock || loot_197.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Cowabunga||[[1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] ||Women Science Fiction Authors || loot_175.png || [[197: Ninja Turtles]] also works<br />
|-<br />
|I want to believe||[[2156: Ufo]] ||Ufo || loot_210.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Bleeped||[[1671: Arcane Bullshit]]|| *$@#! || loot_044.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|why waste time say few word when lot word do trick||[[1022: So It Has Come To This]] || First Annual Award for Excellence in Being Very Smart || loot_159.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Cooler than electric scooters||[[409: Electric Skateboard (Double Comic)]]||An electric scooter|| loot_006.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take it from the top||[[1: Barrel - Part 1]] ||I am a turtle from [[889: Turtles]] || loot_095.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|I accept the yucca gnocchi, this meal is a success!||[[1713: 50 ccs]] ||Man carrying parentheses from [[297: Lisp Cycles]] || loot_031.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Catch up on the news|| [[1699: Local News]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Participation trophy|| [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Server rack || loot_096.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Find an opportunity for a sojourn||[[1504: Opportunity]] ||Opportunity Mars rover from [[2111: Opportunity Rover]] || loot_161.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Tastier than tau day||[[179: e to the pi times i]] ||First annual award for excellence in being very smart || loot_159.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Tastier than tau day||[[1967: Violin Plots]] || Pie sign || loot_056.png || Published on Pi day<br />
|-<br />
|418 I'm a teapot||[[1866: Russell's Teapot]] ||S.S. NASA: Space is Hard || loot_216.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|26th September, 1983||[[2052: Stanislav Petrov Day]] ||White dove || loot_205.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|There are 4241 as of Apr 1, 2020|| [[1071: Exoplanets]] || Little girl from [[2264: Satellite]] || loot_151.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|asableiK|| [[645: RPS]] || A reverse Polish hotdog || loot_079.png || "Kielbasa" backwards, which is "sausage" in Polish<br />
|-<br />
|Critical mass elements|| [[235: Kite]] || || loot_203.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Some Februarys are more equal than others|| [[390: Nightmares]]? || Cueball wheelie from [[272: Linux User at Best Buy]] || loot_036.png || Comic-hint connection largely conjectural; 390 was the first comic published on a leap day.<br />
|-<br />
|Five spice||[[1554: Spice Girls]]|| Rock guitarist || loot_022.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Call the plumber|| [[290: Fucking Blue Shells]] || || loot_058.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Was it a rat I saw?|| [[1632: Palindrome]] || Cueball with a large sack, pulling a wagon || loot_103.png || or [[1503: Squirrel Plan]] for cueball holding a balloon caught in a ceiling fan.<br />
|-<br />
|Churchill's gonna have to seriously rehydrate||[[1148: Nothing to Offer]]|| Bottle of soda || loot_045.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Keep coming back|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|A new model released each year|| || || || Triggered by visiting all xkcd phone comics<br />
|-<br />
|Tea Time||[[581: The Race: Part 5]] ||Floor tea ||loot_232.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Try pattern-matching! Look for comic 'bout alphabet?||[[1045: Constraints]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Where's Hilbert?||[[195: Map of the Internet]] || Hilbert Curve || loot_021.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Science fiction fetish|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|The first one was funnier||[[11: Barrel - Part 2]]||Falling feather / Sign "The uncomfortable truths well" || loot_250.png / loot_067.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|It's up to over 260 million cycles!||[[1941: Dying Gift]] || Megan on a tire swing || loot_127.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Sleeping Beauty is the same everywhere though||[[2233: Aurora Meaning]] || Sleeping Cat || loot_163.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|On the internet, nobody knows you're an arachnid|| [[1530: Keyboard Mash]] || Cobwebbed frame from [[1135: Arachnoneurology]]|| loot_191.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Did James Cameron pay for the rice cooker too?||[[1598: Salvage]] ||Rice bowl || loot_152.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Never going to give you up|| [[524: Party]], [[351: Trolling]] || Cueball in car listening to music || ||<br />
|-<br />
|If red touches yellow, that's 24 ohms||[[1604: Snakes]], [[227: Color Codes]]?|| Yoda with an mp3 player from What If || loot_247.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|An enthusiastic but questionable business opportunity||[[1533: Antique Factory]] or [[1021: Business Plan]]|| Beret guy with a goat on leash || loot_115.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Read the fine manual|| [[1343: Manuals]] or [[293: RTFM]] || "Configure the network" window with a prompt for hostname || loot_106.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|That thing's undecimodal!||[[1347: t Distribution]] || Floating tentacled alien || loot_209.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Actually, it's Myanmar-Shave now||[[491: Twitter]]||Expensive bottle || loot_253.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|You don't have to find all 99|| [[121: Balloon]] ||Balloon copter || loot_002.png || Or [[51: Malaria]] ?<br />
|-<br />
|Going in circles|| [[378: Real Programmers]] || Cueball spinning in desk chair || loot_098.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Couldn't you try knitting, or maybe stamp collecting?||[[2123: Meta Collecting]]||Phishing License sign|| loot_158.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|It's the ciiiiircle of HONK||[[537: Ducklings]] ||DUCKLOOP'D? || loot_069.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Fool me twice|| [[880: Headache]] || Raptor Attack || loot_033.png ||The second April fools' comic<br />
|-<br />
|oOOOoooo|| [[316: Loud Sex]] || Sleeping cat || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Maybe we can ask for new wishes||[[879: Lamp]] ||Genie and his bottle ||loot_004.png || If you place the genie last, you get another genie (indefinitely)<br />
|-<br />
|HACK THE PLANET||[[1337: Hack]] || Crash and Burn in the pool from the end of ''Hackers'' || loot_130.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Monetization haute couteur||[[20: Ferret]]||Two bags of money ||loot_162.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Maybe writing a script would help||[[1319: Automation]]|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Go big to go small|| [[1365: Inflation]] || || loot_245.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Are you projecting||[[850: World According to Americans]] or [[977: Map Projections]]||Squirrel on a gun||loot_237.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Do spiders really have six legs||[[8: Red spiders]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Istanbul or Constantinople or St. Trimble's Island?||[[1688: Map Age Guide]] ||Cephalopod || loot_071.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Another rulebook?||[[393: Ultimate Game]]|| Merlin in a chair from [[270: Merlin]] || loot_037.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Moooooon|| [[1300: Galilean Moons]], [[1291: Shoot for the Moon]] || MOOOOOON || loot_192.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take a flight from LOL to FFS|| [[1937: IATA Airport Abbreviations]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Everyone deserves a second chnace[chance]|| || || || [[745: Dyslexics]] feels like a good fit but I don't see a loot box there; no match in comics 1-750<br />
|-<br />
|Community contribution|| [[824: Guest Week: Bill Amend (FoxTrot)]], [[825: Guest Week: Jeffrey Rowland (Overcompensating)]], [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]], possibly other guest week comics || [Citation Needed] protester from [[285: Wikipedian Protester]] || loot_035.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|On the other side of the wardrobe|| [[665: Prudence]] or [[969: Delta-P]] or [[2218: Wardrobe]] ||Authentic Reindeer pulling sled from [[1776: Reindeer]] || loot_154.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Today's your lucky day|| [[1053: Ten Thousand]] || Ms. Frizzle || loot_105.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|[This hint has been redacted due to a copyright claim]|| [[1005: SOPA]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Try a different approach|| [[55: Useless]] || Equals sign || loot_times.png, loot_div.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|The cake is a lie!|| [[606: Cutting Edge]] || Cake || loot_144.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Joanna, fire.||[[322: Pix Plz]] || Joanna with EMP cannon || loot_026.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Everything changes from time to time when the fire nation attacks|| [[965: Elements]] || Symposium || ||<br />
|-<br />
|90KG x 300M|| [[382: Trebuchet]] || Trebuchet || loot_041.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Copyright Enforcement Brigade|| [[344: 1337: Part 4]] || || loot_046.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Where Cape Town meets Chukotka||[[1500: Upside-Down Map]] || Crater || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take a ride in a barrel|| || Cueball at the door to the playpen-ball-filled apartment from [[150: Grownups]] || loot_005.png || Reliably triggered by viewing all five barrel comics in reverse order ([[31]], [[25]], [[22]], [[11]], [[1]])<br />
|-<br />
| || [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Sheeple eye || loot_109.png ||<br />
|-<br />
| || [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Time machine from [[1747: Spider Paleontology]] || loot_167.png ||<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
* This comic is the 2020 April Fools comic and was supposed to be released April 1st. However, the below message was displayed on the top of the page until early Friday (April 3rd) morning, when the comic finally went live. It remains to be seen if Friday's intended comic will be published later.<br />
<blockquote><br />
Note: For technical reasons Wednesday's comic will be posted Thursday instead. Apologies for the delay!<br />
</blockquote><br />
* Placement is limited to 10,000 units from the origin. Users will receive no messages if they try placing something outside the boundary.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Cueball stands to the left of a vibrating box.]<br />
:[The words "Collector's Edition" are written above him and boxed.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:April fools' comics]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Interactive comics]]</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2288:_Collector%27s_Edition&diff=1899742288: Collector's Edition2020-04-04T07:13:08Z<p>Jaalenja: alternative comics for Moooooon and Community contribution</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2288<br />
| date = April 3, 2020<br />
| title = Collectors Edition<br />
| image = collectors_edition.png<br />
| titletext = I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This is an April 1st comic. It is a large image, of which only part is visible, but it can be dragged around. This Space acts as a virtual common sandbox where viewers can interact. "Items" (small, often humorous images) can be 'collected' from other comics and then placed in this image by viewers. The collection then updates for all viewers in real-time. Multiples of the same item are often seen. <br />
<br />
There is a "backpack" at the bottom, similar to "backpacks" in video games containing items collected by the player. Items can be found by visiting different XKCD comics/pages. Randomly, some pages will have a treasure chest which will contain the sticker related to the page. It is believed that the hint represents what page currently has a chest.<br />
<br />
The sticker images can be seen at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot_</nowiki>'''XXX'''.png, where XXX is a number from 001-253. Additionally, some images can be found at custom URLs, for example the periodic elements can be found at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/element-</nowiki>'''XX'''.png, where XX is the element, and text loot at <nowiki>https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot-words-</nowiki>'''X'''.png, where X is the sentence.<br />
<br />
===Hints===<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Hint<br />
!Comic<br />
!Unlocked item<br />
!Item image<br />
!Notes<br />
|-<br />
|Doctors in a row||[[1529: Bracket]] [[497: Secretary: Part 4]] ||Cory Doctorow || loot_019.png || These comics all have the same hint, but only one will have the chest<br />
|-<br />
|Get out the (US) vote|| [[2224: Software Updates]] || Statue of liberty || loot_246.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Find a box of nice stuff on a picture with words like these|| [[1133: Up Goer Five]] || Signpost || loot_126.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Plug in or find another power source||[[1373: Screenshot]] || || loot_228.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Sweet dreams, kitty||[[729: Laser Pointer]] || Cat licking laser point || loot_090.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|What is this hint pointing to? Hell if I know.||[[28: Elefino]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Somebody set up us the bomb||[[286: All Your Base]] ||Exploding rock || loot_197.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Cowabunga||[[1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] ||Women Science Fiction Authors || loot_175.png || [[197: Ninja Turtles]] also works<br />
|-<br />
|I want to believe||[[2156: Ufo]] ||Ufo || loot_210.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Bleeped||[[1671: Arcane Bullshit]]|| *$@#! || loot_044.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|why waste time say few word when lot word do trick||[[1022: So It Has Come To This]] || First Annual Award for Excellence in Being Very Smart || loot_159.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Cooler than electric scooters||[[409: Electric Skateboard (Double Comic)]]||An electric scooter|| loot_006.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take it from the top||[[1: Barrel - Part 1]] ||I am a turtle from [[889: Turtles]] || loot_095.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|I accept the yucca gnocchi, this meal is a success!||[[1713: 50 ccs]] ||Man carrying parentheses from [[297: Lisp Cycles]] || loot_031.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Catch up on the news|| [[1699: Local News]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Participation trophy|| [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Server rack || loot_096.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Find an opportunity for a sojourn||[[1504: Opportunity]] ||Opportunity Mars rover from [[2111: Opportunity Rover]] || loot_161.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Tastier than tau day||[[179: e to the pi times i]] ||First annual award for excellence in being very smart || loot_159.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Tastier than tau day||[[1967: Violin Plots]] || Pie sign || loot_056.png || Published on Pi day<br />
|-<br />
|418 I'm a teapot||[[1866: Russell's Teapot]] ||S.S. NASA: Space is Hard || loot_216.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|26th September, 1983||[[2052: Stanislav Petrov Day]] ||White dove || loot_205.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|There are 4241 as of Apr 1, 2020|| [[1071: Exoplanets]] || Little girl from [[2264: Satellite]] || loot_151.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|asableiK|| [[645: RPS]] || A reverse Polish hotdog || loot_079.png || "Kielbasa" backwards, which is "sausage" in Polish<br />
|-<br />
|Critical mass elements|| [[235: Kite]] || || loot_203.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Some Februarys are more equal than others|| [[390: Nightmares]]? || Cueball wheelie from [[272: Linux User at Best Buy]] || loot_036.png || Comic-hint connection largely conjectural; 390 was the first comic published on a leap day.<br />
|-<br />
|Five spice||[[1554: Spice Girls]]|| Rock guitarist || loot_022.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Call the plumber|| [[290: Fucking Blue Shells]] || || loot_058.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Was it a rat I saw?|| [[1632: Palindrome]] || Cueball with a large sack, pulling a wagon || loot_103.png || or [[1503: Squirrel Plan]] for cueball holding a balloon caught in a ceiling fan.<br />
|-<br />
|Churchill's gonna have to seriously rehydrate||[[1148: Nothing to Offer]]|| Bottle of soda || loot_045.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Keep coming back|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|A new model released each year|| || || || Triggered by visiting all xkcd phone comics<br />
|-<br />
|Tea Time||[[581: The Race: Part 5]] ||Floor tea ||loot_232.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Try pattern-matching! Look for comic 'bout alphabet?||[[1045: Constraints]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Where's Hilbert?||[[195: Map of the Internet]] || Hilbert Curve || loot_021.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Science fiction fetish|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|The first one was funnier||[[11: Barrel - Part 2]]||Falling feather / Sign "The uncomfortable truths well" || loot_250.png / loot_067.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|It's up to over 260 million cycles!||[[1941: Dying Gift]] || Megan on a tire swing || loot_127.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Sleeping Beauty is the same everywhere though||[[2233: Aurora Meaning]] || Sleeping Cat || loot_163.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|On the internet, nobody knows you're an arachnid|| [[1530: Keyboard Mash]] || Cobwebbed frame from [[1135: Arachnoneurology]]|| loot_191.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Did James Cameron pay for the rice cooker too?||[[1598: Salvage]] ||Rice bowl || loot_152.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Never going to give you up||[[351: Trolling]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|If red touches yellow, that's 24 ohms||[[1604: Snakes]], [[227: Color Codes]]?|| Yoda with an mp3 player from What If || loot_247.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|An enthusiastic but questionable business opportunity||[[1533: Antique Factory]] or [[1021: Business Plan]]|| Beret guy with a goat on leash || loot_115.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Read the fine manual|| [[1343: Manuals]] or [[293: RTFM]] || "Configure the network" window with a prompt for hostname || loot_106.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|That thing's undecimodal!||[[1347: t Distribution]] || Floating tentacled alien || loot_209.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Actually, it's Myanmar-Shave now||[[491: Twitter]]||Expensive bottle || loot_253.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|You don't have to find all 99|| [[121: Balloon]] ||Balloon copter || loot_002.png || Or [[51: Malaria]] ?<br />
|-<br />
|Going in circles|| [[378: Real Programmers]] || Cueball spinning in desk chair || loot_098.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Couldn't you try knitting, or maybe stamp collecting?||[[2123: Meta Collecting]]||Phishing License sign|| loot_158.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|It's the ciiiiircle of HONK||[[537: Ducklings]] ||DUCKLOOP'D? || loot_069.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Fool me twice|| [[880: Headache]] || Raptor Attack || loot_033.png ||The second April fools' comic<br />
|-<br />
|oOOOoooo|| [[316: Loud Sex]] || Sleeping cat || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Maybe we can ask for new wishes||[[879: Lamp]] ||Genie and his bottle ||loot_004.png || If you place the genie last, you get another genie (indefinitely)<br />
|-<br />
|HACK THE PLANET||[[1337: Hack]] || Crash and Burn in the pool from the end of ''Hackers'' || loot_130.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Monetization haute couteur||[[20: Ferret]]||Two bags of money ||loot_162.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Maybe writing a script would help||[[1319: Automation]]|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Go big to go small|| [[1365: Inflation]] || || loot_245.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Are you projecting||[[850: World According to Americans]] or [[977: Map Projections]]||Squirrel on a gun||loot_237.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Do spiders really have six legs||[[8: Red spiders]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Istanbul or Constantinople or St. Trimble's Island?||[[1688: Map Age Guide]] ||Cephalopod || loot_071.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Another rulebook?||[[393: Ultimate Game]]|| Merlin in a chair from [[270: Merlin]] || loot_037.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Moooooon|| [[1300: Galilean Moons]], [[1291: Shoot for the Moon]] || MOOOOOON || loot_192.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take a flight from LOL to FFS|| [[1937: IATA Airport Abbreviations]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Everyone deserves a second chnace[chance]|| || || || [[745: Dyslexics]] feels like a good fit but I don't see a loot box there; no match in comics 1-500<br />
|-<br />
|Community contribution|| [[825: Guest Week: Jeffrey Rowland (Overcompensating)]], [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]], possibly other guest week comics || [Citation Needed] protester from [[285: Wikipedian Protester]] || loot_035.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|On the other side of the wardrobe|| [[665: Prudence]] or [[969: Delta-P]] or [[2218: Wardrobe]] ||Authentic Reindeer pulling sled from [[1776: Reindeer]] || loot_154.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Today's your lucky day|| [[1053: Ten Thousand]] || Ms. Frizzle || loot_105.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|[This hint has been redacted due to a copyright claim]|| [[1005: SOPA]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Try a different approach|| [[55: Useless]] || Equals sign || loot_times.png, loot_div.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|The cake is a lie!|| [[606: Cutting Edge]] || Cake || loot_144.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Joanna, fire.||[[322: Pix Plz]] || Joanna with EMP cannon || loot_026.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Everything changes from time to time when the fire nation attacks|| [[965: Elements]] || Symposium || ||<br />
|-<br />
|90KG x 300M|| [[382: Trebuchet]] || Trebuchet || loot_041.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Copyright Enforcement Brigade|| [[344: 1337: Part 4]] || || loot_046.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Where Cape Town meets Chukotka||[[1500: Upside-Down Map]] || Crater || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take a ride in a barrel|| || Cueball at the door to the playpen-ball-filled apartment from [[150: Grownups]] || loot_005.png || Reliably triggered by viewing all five barrel comics in reverse order ([[31]], [[25]], [[22]], [[11]], [[1]])<br />
|-<br />
| || [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Sheeple eye || loot_109.png ||<br />
|-<br />
| || [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Time machine from [[1747: Spider Paleontology]] || loot_167.png ||<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
* This comic is the 2020 April Fools comic and was supposed to be released April 1st. However, the below message was displayed on the top of the page until early Friday (April 3rd) morning, when the comic finally went live. It remains to be seen if Friday's intended comic will be published later.<br />
<blockquote><br />
Note: For technical reasons Wednesday's comic will be posted Thursday instead. Apologies for the delay!<br />
</blockquote><br />
* Placement is limited to 10,000 units from the origin. Users will receive no messages if they try placing something outside the boundary.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Cueball stands to the left of a vibrating box.]<br />
:[The words "Collector's Edition" are written above him and boxed.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:April fools' comics]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Interactive comics]]</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2288:_Collector%27s_Edition&diff=1898802288: Collector's Edition2020-04-03T16:14:07Z<p>Jaalenja: /* Hints */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2288<br />
| date = April 3, 2020<br />
| title = Collectors Edition<br />
| image = collectors_edition.png<br />
| titletext = I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This is an April 1st comic. It is a large image, of which only part is visible, but it can be dragged around. The space acts as a virtual common sandbox where viewers can interact. "Items" (small, often humorous images) can be 'collected' from other comics and then placed in this image by viewers. The collection then updates for all viewers in real time. Multiples of the same item are often seen. <br />
<br />
There is a "backpack" at the bottom, similar to "backpacks" in video games containing items collected by the player. Items can be found by visiting different XKCD comics/pages. Randomly, some pages will have a treasure chest which will contain the sticker related to the page. It is believed that the hint represents what page currently has a chest.<br />
<br />
The sticker images can be seen at https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot_XXX.png, where XXX is a number from 001-253. Additionally, some images can be found at custom urls, for example the periodic elements can be found at https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/element-XX.png, where XX is the element, and text loot at https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot-words-X.png, where X is the sentence.<br />
<br />
===Hints===<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Hint<br />
!Comic<br />
!Unlocked item<br />
!Item image<br />
!Notes<br />
|-<br />
|Doctors in a row||[[1529: Bracket]] ||Cory Doctorow || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Get out the (US) vote|| [[2224: Software Updates]] || Statue of liberty || loot_246.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Find a box of nice stuff on a picture with words like these|| [[1133: Up Goer Five]] || Signpost || loot_126.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Plug in or find another power source||[[1373: Screenshot]] || || loot_228.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Sweet dreams, kitty||[[729: Laser Pointer]] || Cat licking laser point || ||<br />
|-<br />
|What is this hint pointing to? Hell if I know.||[[28: Elefino]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Somebody set up us the bomb||[[286: All Your Base]] ||Exploding rock || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Cowabunga||[[1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] ||Women Science Fiction Authors || loot_175.png || [[197: Ninja Turtles]] also works<br />
|-<br />
|I want to believe||[[2156: Ufo]] ||Ufo || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Bleeped|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|why waste time say few word when lot word do trick||[[1022: So It Has Come To This]] || First Annual Award for Excellence in Being Very Smart || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Cooler than electric scooters||[[409: Electric Skateboard (Double Comic)]]||An electric scooter|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take it from the top||[[1: Barrel - Part 1]] ||I am a turtle || loot_095.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|I accept the yucca gnocchi, this meal is a success!||[[1713: 50 ccs]] ||Man carrying parentheses from [[297: Lisp Cycles]] || loot_31.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Catch up on the news|| [[1699: Local News]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Participation trophy|| [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Server rack || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Find an opportunity for a sojourn||[[1504: Opportunity]] ||Opportunity Mars rover || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Tastier than tau day||[[179: e to the pi times i]] ||First annual award for excellence in being very smart || ||<br />
|-<br />
|418 I'm a teapot||[[1866: Russell's Teapot]] ||S.S. NASA: Space is Hard || ||<br />
|-<br />
|26th September, 1983||[[2052: Stanislav Petrov Day]] ||White dove || ||<br />
|-<br />
|There are 4241 as of Apr 1, 2020|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|asableiK|| [[645: RPS]] || A reverse Polish hotdog || || "Kielbasa" backwards, which is "sausage" in Polish<br />
|-<br />
|Critical mass elements|| [[235: Kite]] || || loot_203.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Some Februarys are more equal than others|| [[390: Nightmares]]? || Cueball wheelie from [[272: Linux User at Best Buy]] || || Comic-hint connection largely conjectural; 390 was the first comic published on a leap day.<br />
|-<br />
|Five spice||[[1554: Spice Girls]]|| Rock guitarist || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Call the plumber|| [[290: Fucking Blue Shells]] || || loot_058.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Was it a rat I saw?|| [[1632: Palindrome]] || Cueball with a large sack, pulling a wagon || || or [[1503: Squirrel Plan]] for cueball holding a balloon caught in a ceiling fan.<br />
|-<br />
|Churchill's gonna have to seriously rehydrate||[[1148: Nothing to Offer]]|| Bottle of soda || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Keep coming back|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|A new model released each year|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Tea Time||[[581: The Race: Part 5]] ||Floor tea ||loot_232.png|| Also [[479: Tones]] ? Also [[578: The Race: Part 2]] ?<br />
|-<br />
|Try pattern-matching! Look for comic 'bout alphabet?||[[1045: Constraints]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Where's Hilbert?||[[195: Map of the Internet]] ||maze || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Science fiction fetish|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|The first one was funnier||[[11: Barrel - Part 2]]||Falling feather || ||<br />
|-<br />
|It's up to over 260 million cycles!|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Sleeping Beauty is the same everywhere though||[[2233: Aurora Meaning]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|On the internet, nobody knows you're an arachnid|| [[1530: Keyboard Mash]] || Cobwebbed frame || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Did James Cameron pay for the rice cooker too?||[[1598: Salvage]] ||Rice bowl || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Never going to give you up||[[351: Trolling]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|If red touches yellow, that's 24 ohms||[[1604: Snakes]]|| Yoda with an mp3 player from What If || ||<br />
|-<br />
|An enthusiastic but questionable business opportunity||[[1533: Antique Factory]] or [[1021: Business Plan]]|| Beret guy with a goat on leash || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Read the fine manual|| [[1343: Manuals]] or [[293: RTFM]] || "Configure the network" window with a prompt for hostname || ||<br />
|-<br />
|That thing's undecimodal!||[[1347: t Distribution]] || Floating tentacled alien || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Actually, it's Myanmar-Shave now||[[491: Twitter]]||Expensive bottle || ||<br />
|-<br />
|You don't have to find all 99|| [[121: Balloon]] ||Balloon copter || loot_002.png || Or [[51: Malaria]] ?<br />
|-<br />
|Going in circles|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Couldn't you try knitting, or maybe stamp collecting?||[[2123: Meta Collecting]]||Phishing License sign|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|It's the ciiiiircle of HONK||[[537: Ducklings]] ||DUCKLOOP'D? || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Fool me twice|| [[1350: Lorenz]] || Raptor Attack || ||<br />
|-<br />
|oOOOoooo|| || || || https://xkcd.com/316/ ? or https://xkcd.com/1393/ ?<br />
|-<br />
|Maybe we can ask for new wishes||[[879: Lamp]] ||Genie and his bottle ||loot_004.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|HACK THE PLANET||[[1337: Hack]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Monetization haute couteur||[[20: Ferret]]|| ||loot_162.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Maybe writing a script would help||[[1319: Automation]]|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Go big to go small|| [[1365: Inflation]] || || loot_245.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Are you projecting||[[850: World According to Americans]] or [[977: Map Projections]]||Squirrel on a gun||loot_237.png||<br />
|-<br />
|Do spiders really have six legs||[[8: Red spiders]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Istanbul or Constantinople or St. Trimble's Island?||[[1688: Map Age Guide]] ||Cephalopod || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Another rulebook?||[[393: Ultimate Game]]||Wizard in a chair || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Moooooon|| [[1300: Galilean Moons]] || MOOOOOON || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take a flight from LOL to FFS|| [[1937: IATA Airport Abbreviations]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Everyone deserves a second chnace|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Community contribution|| [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|On the other side of the wardrobe|| [[969: Delta-P]] ||Authentic Reindeer pulling sled || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Today's your lucky day|| [[1053: Ten Thousand]] || Ms. Frizzle || loot_105.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|[This hint has been redacted due to a copyright claim]|| [[1005: SOPA]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Try a different approach|| [[55: Useless]] || || loot_times.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|The cake is a lie!|| [[606: Cutting Edge]] || Cake || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Joanna, fire.||[[322: Pix Plz]] || Joanna with EMP cannon || loot_026.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Everything changes from time to time when the fire nation attacks|| [[965: Elements]] || Symposium || ||<br />
|-<br />
|90KG x 300M|| [[382: Trebuchet]] || Trebuchet || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Copyright Enforcement Brigade|| [[344: 1337: Part 4]] || || loot_046.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Where Cape Town meets Chukotka||[[1500: Upside-Down Map]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take a ride in a barrel|| || || || ('''not''' any of the comics in the barrel series)<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
* This comic is the 2020 April Fools comic, and was supposed to be released April 1st. However, the below message was displayed on the top of the page until early Friday (April 3rd) morning, when the comic finally went live. It remains to be seen if Friday's intended comic will be published later.<br />
<blockquote><br />
Note: For technical reasons Wednesday's comic will be posted Thursday instead. Apologies for the delay!<br />
</blockquote><br />
* Placement is limited to 10,000 units from origin. Users will receive no messages if they try placing something outside the boundary.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Cueball stands to the left of a vibrating box.]<br />
:[The words "Collector's Edition" are written above him and boxed.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2288:_Collector%27s_Edition&diff=1898452288: Collector's Edition2020-04-03T14:58:08Z<p>Jaalenja: /* Hints */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2288<br />
| date = April 3, 2020<br />
| title = Collectors Edition<br />
| image = collectors_edition.png<br />
| titletext = I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This is an April 1st comic. It is a large image, of which only part is visible, but it can be dragged around. The space acts as a virtual common sandbox where viewers can interact. "Items" (small, often humorous images) can be 'collected' from other comics and then placed in this image by viewers. The collection then updates for all viewers in real time. Multiples of the same item are often seen. <br />
<br />
There is a "backpack" at the bottom, similar to "backpacks" in video games containing items collected by the player. Items can be found by visiting different XKCD comics/pages. Randomly, some pages will have a treasure chest which will contain the sticker related to the page. It is believed that the hint represents what page currently has a chest.<br />
<br />
The sticker images can be seen at https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot_XXX.png, where XXX is a number from 001-253. Additionally, some images can be found at custom urls, for example the periodic elements can be found at https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/element-XX.png, where XX is the element, and text loot at https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot-words-X.png, where X is the sentence.<br />
<br />
===Hints===<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Hint<br />
!Comic<br />
!Unlocked item<br />
!Item image<br />
!Notes<br />
|-<br />
|Doctors in a row||[[1529: Bracket]] ||Cory Doctorow || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Get out the (US) vote|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Find a box of nice stuff on a picture with words like these|| [[1133: Up Goer Five]] || Signpost || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Plug in or find another power source||[[1373: Screenshot]] || || loot_228.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Sweet dreams, kitty||[[729: Laser Pointer]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|What is this hint pointing to? Hell if I know.||[[28: Elefino]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Somebody set up us the bomb||[[286: All Your Base]] ||Exploding rock || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Cowabunga||[[1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] ||Women Science Fiction Authors || loot_175.png || [[197: Ninja Turtles]] also works<br />
|-<br />
|I want to believe||[[2156: Ufo]] ||Ufo || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Bleeped|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|why waste time say few word when lot word do trick||[[1022: So It Has Come To This]] || First Annual Award for Excellence in Being Very Smart || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Cooler than electric scooters||[[2195: Dockless Roombas]]||An electric scooter|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take it from the top||[[1: Barrel - Part 1]] ||I am a turtle || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|I accept the yucca gnocchi, this meal is a success!||[[1713: 50 ccs]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Catch up on the news|| [[1699: Local News]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Participation trophy|| [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Server rack || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Find an opportunity for a sojourn||[[1504: Opportunity]] ||Opportunity Mars rover || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Tastier than tau day||[[179: e to the pi times i]] ||First annual award for excellence in being very smart || ||<br />
|-<br />
|418 I'm a teapot||[[1866: Russell's Teapot]] ||S.S. NASA: Space is Hard || ||<br />
|-<br />
|26th September, 1983||[[2052: Stanislav Petrov Day]] ||White dove || ||<br />
|-<br />
|There are 4241 as of Apr 1, 2020|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|asableiK|| [[645: RPS]] || A reverse Polish hotdog || || "Kielbasa" backwards, which is "sausage" in Polish<br />
|-<br />
|Critical mass elements|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Some Februarys are more equal than others|| [[390: Nightmares]]? || Cueball wheelie from [[272: Linux User at Best Buy]] || || Comic-hint connection largely conjectural; 390 was the first comic published on a leap day.<br />
|-<br />
|Five spice||[[1554: Spice Girls]]|| Rock guitarist || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Call the plumber|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Was it a rat I saw?|| [[1632: Palindrome]] || Cueball with a large sack, pulling a wagon || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Churchill's gonna have to seriously rehydrate||[[1148: Nothing to Offer]]|| Bottle of soda || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Keep coming back|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|A new model released each year|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Tea Time||[[579: The Race: Part 3]] ||Floor tea || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Try pattern-matching! Look for comic 'bout alphabet?||[[1045: Constraints]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Where's Hilbert?||[[195: Map of the Internet]] ||maze || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Science fiction fetish|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|The first one was funnier||[[11: Barrel - Part 2]]||Falling feather || ||<br />
|-<br />
|It's up to over 260 million cycles!||[[121: Balloon]] ||idkHowToEditGud || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Sleeping Beauty is the same everywhere though|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|On the internet, nobody knows you're an arachnid|| [[1530: Keyboard Mash]] || Cobwebbed frame || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Did James Cameron pay for the rice cooker too?||[[1598: Salvage]] ||Rice bowl || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Never going to give you up||[[351: Trolling]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|If red touches yellow, that's 24 ohms||[[1604: Snakes]]|| Yoda with an mp3 player from What If || ||<br />
|-<br />
|An enthusiastic but questionable business opportunity||[[1533: Antique Factory]] or [[1021: Business Plan]]|| Beret guy with a goat on leash || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Read the fine manual|| [[1343: Manuals]] or [[293: RTFM]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|That thing's undecimodal!||[[1347: t Distribution]] || Floating tentacled alien || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Actually, it's Myanmar-Shave now||[[491: Twitter]]||Expensive bottle || ||<br />
|-<br />
|You don't have to find all 99|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Going in circles|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Couldn't you try knitting, or maybe stamp collecting?||[[2123: Meta Collecting]]||Phishing License sign|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|It's the ciiiiircle of HONK||[[537: Ducklings]] ||DUCKLOOP'D? || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Fool me twice||[[880: Headache]] ||Raptor Attack || ||<br />
|-<br />
|oOOOoooo|| || || || https://xkcd.com/316/ ?<br />
|-<br />
|Maybe we can ask for new wishes||[[879: Lamp]] ||Genie and his bottle || ||<br />
|-<br />
|HACK THE PLANET||[[1337: Hack]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Monetization haute couteur|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Maybe writing a script would help||[[1319: Automation]]|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Go big to go small|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Are you projecting||[[977: Map Projections]]| |Squirrel on a gun| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Do spiders really have six legs||[[8: Red spiders]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Istanbul or Constantinople or St. Trimble's Island?||[[1688: Map Age Guide]] ||Cephalopod || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Another rulebook?||[[393: Ultimate Game]]||Wizard in a chair || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Moooooon|| [[1300: Galilean Moons]] || MOOOOOON || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take a flight from LOL to FFS|| [[1937: IATA Airport Abbreviations]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Everyone deserves a second chnace|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Community contribution|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|On the other side of the wardrobe|| [[969: Delta-P]] ||Authentic Reindeer pulling sled || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Today's your lucky day|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|[This hint has been redacted due to a copyright claim]|| [[1005: SOPA]] || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Try a different approach|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|The cake is a lie!|| [[606: Cutting Edge]] || Cake || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Joanna, fire.||[[322: Pix Plz]] || || loot_026.png ||<br />
|-<br />
|Everything changes from time to time when the fire nation attacks||[[965: Elements]] ||Symposium || ||<br />
|-<br />
|90KG x 300M|| [[382: Trebuchet]] || Trebuchet || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Copyright Enforcement Brigade|| || || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Where Cape Town meets Chukotka|| || || ||<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
* This comic is the 2020 April Fools comic, and was supposed to be released April 1st. However, the below message was displayed on the top of the page until early Friday (April 3rd) morning, when the comic finally went live. It remains to be seen if Friday's intended comic will be published later.<br />
<blockquote><br />
Note: For technical reasons Wednesday's comic will be posted Thursday instead. Apologies for the delay!<br />
</blockquote><br />
* Placement is limited to 10,000 units from origin. Users will receive no messages if they try placing something outside the boundary.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Cueball stands to the left of a vibrating box.]<br />
:[The words "Collector's Edition" are written above him and boxed.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2288:_Collector%27s_Edition&diff=1897662288: Collector's Edition2020-04-03T12:36:20Z<p>Jaalenja: added column for unlocked items</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2288<br />
| date = April 3, 2020<br />
| title = Collectors Edition<br />
| image = collectors_edition.png<br />
| titletext = I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This is an April 1st comic. It is a large image, of which only part is visible, but it can be dragged around. The space acts as a virtual common sandbox where viewers can interact. "Items" (small, often humorous images) can be 'collected' from other comics and then placed in this image by viewers. The collection then updates for all viewers in real time. Multiples of the same item are often seen. <br />
<br />
There is a "backpack" at the bottom, similar to "backpacks" in video games containing items collected by the player. Items can be found by visiting different XKCD comics/pages. Randomly, some pages will have a treasure chest which will contain the sticker related to the page. It is believed that the hint represents what page currently has a chest.<br />
<br />
The sticker images can be seen at `https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot_XXX.png`, where XXX is a number from 001-253.<br />
<br />
===Hints===<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Hint<br />
!Comic<br />
!Unlocked item<br />
!Notes<br />
|-<br />
|Doctors in a row|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Get out the (US) vote|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Find a box of nice stuff on a picture with words like these|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Plug in or find another power source|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Sweet dreams, kitty||[[729: Laser Pointer]] || ||<br />
|-<br />
|What is this hint pointing to? Hell if I know.|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Somebody set up us the bomb||[[286: All Your Base]] ||Exploding rock ||<br />
|-<br />
|Cowabunga|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take a ride in a barrel|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|I want to believe|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Bleeped|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|why waste time say few word when lot word do trick|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Cooler than electric scooters|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take it from the top||[[1: Barrel - Part 1]] ||I am a turtle ||<br />
|-<br />
|I accept the yucca gnocchi, this meal is a success!|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Catch up on the news|| [[1699]] || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Participation trophy|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Find an opportunity for a sojourn||[[1504: Opportunity]] ||Opportunity Mars rover ||<br />
|-<br />
|Tastier than tau day|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|418 I'm a teapot||[[1866: Russell's Teapot]] ||S.S. NASA: Space is Hard ||<br />
|-<br />
|26th September, 1983||[[2052: Stanislav Petrov Day]] ||White dove ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take it from the top|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|There are 4241 as of Apr 1, 2020|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|asableiK|| [[645: RPS]] || A reverse Polish hotdog || "Kielbasa" backwards, which is "sausage" in Polish<br />
|-<br />
|Critical mass elements|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Some Februarys are more equal than others|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Five spice||[[1554: Spice Girls]]|| Rock guitarist ||<br />
|-<br />
|Call the plumber|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Was it a rat I saw?|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Churchill's gonna have to seriously rehydrate||[[1148: Nothing to Offer]]|| Bottle of soda ||<br />
|-<br />
|Keep coming back|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|A new model released each year|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Tea Time||[[579: The Race: Part 3]] ||Floor tea ||<br />
|-<br />
|Try pattern-matching! Look for comic 'bout alphabet?||[[1045: Constraints]] || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Where's Hilbert?||[[195: Map of the Internet]] ||maze ||<br />
|-<br />
|Science fiction fetish|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|The first one was funnier||[[11: Barrel - Part 2]]||No chest - hint disappears ||<br />
|-<br />
|It's up to over 260 million cycles!|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Sleeping Beauty is the same everywhere though|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|On the internet, nobody knows you're an arachnid|| [[1530: Keyboard Mash]] || Cobwebbed frame ||<br />
|-<br />
|Did James Cameron pay for the rice cooker too?||[[1598: Salvage]] ||Rice bowl ||<br />
|-<br />
|Never going to give you up||[[351: Trolling]] || ||<br />
|-<br />
|If red touches yellow, that's 24 ohms||[[1604: Snakes]]|| Yoda with an mp3 player from What If ||<br />
|-<br />
|An enthusiastic but questionable business opportunity||[[1533: Antique Factory]]|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Read the fine manual|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|That thing's undecimodal!|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Actually, it's Myanmar-Shave now|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|You don't have to find all 99|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Going in circles|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Couldn't you try knitting, or maybe stamp collecting?|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|It's the ciiiiircle of HONK||[[537: Ducklings]] ||DUCKLOOP'D? ||<br />
|-<br />
|Fool me twice|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|oOOOoooo|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Maybe we can ask for new wishes|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|HACK THE PLANET|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Monetization haute couteur|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Maybe writing a script would help|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Go big to go small|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Are you projecting|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Do spiders really have six legs|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Istanbul or Constantinople or St. Trimble's Island?|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Another rulebook?|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Moooooon|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take a flight from LOL to FFS|| [[1937: IATA Airport Abbreviations]] || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Everyone deserves a second chnace|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Community contribution|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|On the other side of the wardrobe|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Today's your lucky day|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|This hint has been redacted due to a copyright claim|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Try a different approach|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|The cake is a lie!|| || ||<br />
|-<br />
|Go big to go small|| || ||<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
* This comic is the 2020 April Fools comic, and was supposed to be released April 1st. However, the below message was displayed on the top of the page until early Friday (April 3rd) morning, when the comic finally went live. It remains to be seen if Friday's intended comic will be published later.<br />
<blockquote><br />
Note: For technical reasons Wednesday's comic will be posted Thursday instead. Apologies for the delay!<br />
</blockquote><br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Cueball stands to the left of a vibrating box.]<br />
:[The words "Collector's Edition" are written above him and boxed.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2288:_Collector%27s_Edition&diff=1897452288: Collector's Edition2020-04-03T11:59:05Z<p>Jaalenja: /* Hints */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2288<br />
| date = April 3, 2020<br />
| title = Collectors Edition<br />
| image = collectors_edition.png<br />
| titletext = I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This is an April 1st comic. It is a large image, of which only part is visible, but it can be dragged around. The space acts as a virtual common sandbox where viewers can interact. "Items" (small, often humorous images) can be 'collected' from other comics and then placed in this image by viewers. The collection then updates for all viewers in real time. Multiples of the same item are often seen. <br />
<br />
There is a "backpack" at the bottom, similar to "backpacks" in video games containing items collected by the player. Items can be found by visiting different XKCD comics/pages. Randomly, some pages will have a treasure chest which will contain the sticker related to the page. It is believed that the hint represents what page currently has a chest.<br />
<br />
The sticker images can be seen at `https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot_XXX.png`, where XXX is a number from 001-253.<br />
<br />
===Hints===<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Hint<br />
!Comic<br />
!Notes<br />
|-<br />
|Doctors in a row|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Get out the (US) vote|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Find a box of nice stuff on a picture with words like these|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Plug in or find another power source|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Sweet dreams, kitty||[[729: Laser Pointer]] ||<br />
|-<br />
|What is this hint pointing to? Hell if I know.|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Somebody set up us the bomb||[[286: All Your Base]] ||<br />
|-<br />
|Cowabunga|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take a ride in a barrel|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|I want to believe|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Bleeped|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|why waste time say few word when lot word do trick|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Cooler than electric scooters|| [[ ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take it from the top||[[1: Barrel - Part 1]] ||I am a turtle<br />
|-<br />
|I accept the yucca gnocchi, this meal is a success!|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Catch up on the news|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Participation trophy|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Find an opportunity for a sojourn|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Tastier than tau day|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|418 I'm a teapot||[[1866: Russell's Teapot]] ||S.S. NASA: Space is Hard<br />
|-<br />
|26th September, 1983||[[2052: Stanislav Petrov Day]] ||White dove<br />
|-<br />
|Take it from the top|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|There are 4241 as of Apr 1, 2020|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|ASABLEIK|| [[645: RPS]] || "Kielbasa" backwards, which is "sausage" in Polish<br />
|-<br />
|Critical mass elements|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Some Februarys are more equal than others|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Five spice||[[1554: Spice Girls]]||<br />
|-<br />
|Call the plumber|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Was it a rat I saw?|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Churchill's gonna have to seriously rehydrate|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Keep coming back|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|A new model released each year|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Tea Time||[[579: The Race: Part 3]] ||Floor tea<br />
|-<br />
|Try pattern-matching! Look for comic 'bout alphabet?||[[1045: Constraints]] ||<br />
|-<br />
|Where's Hilbert?||[[195: Map of the Internet]] ||maze<br />
|-<br />
|Science fiction fetish|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|The first one was funnier||[[11: Barrel - Part 2]]||No chest - hint disappears<br />
|-<br />
|It's up to over 260 million cycles!|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Sleeping Beauty is the same everywhere though|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|On the internet, nobody knows you're an arachnid|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Did James Cameron pay for the rice cooker too?||[[1598: Salvage]] ||Rice bowl<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
* This comic is the 2020 April Fools comic, and was supposed to be released April 1st. However, the below message was displayed on the top of the page until early Friday (April 3rd) morning, when the comic finally went live. It remains to be seen if Friday's intended comic will be published later.<br />
<blockquote><br />
Note: For technical reasons Wednesday's comic will be posted Thursday instead. Apologies for the delay!<br />
</blockquote><br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Cueball stands to the left of a vibrating box.]<br />
:[The words "Collector's Edition" are written above him and boxed.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2288:_Collector%27s_Edition&diff=1897222288: Collector's Edition2020-04-03T11:24:31Z<p>Jaalenja: added hint</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2288<br />
| date = April 3, 2020<br />
| title = Collectors Edition<br />
| image = collectors_edition.png<br />
| titletext = I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This is an April 1st comic. It is a large image, of which only part is visible, but it can be dragged around. The large image contains a collection of items, sometimes humorous, often repeating. Items keep appearing in real time. Different viewers can place these items on the page by first collecting them from other comics.<br />
<br />
There is a "backpack" at the bottom, similar to "backpacks" in video games containing items collected by the player. Items can be found by visiting different XKCD comics/pages. Randomly, some pages will have a treasure chest which will contain the sticker related to the page. It is believed that the hint represents what page currently has a chest.<br />
<br />
The sticker images can be seen at `https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot_XXX.png`, where XXX is a number from 001-253.<br />
<br />
===Hints===<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Hint<br />
!Comic<br />
!Notes<br />
|-<br />
|Doctors in a row|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Get out the (US) vote|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Find a box of nice stuff on a picture with words like these|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Sweet dreams, kitty|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|What is this hint pointing to? Hell if I know.|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Somebody set up us the bomb|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Cowabunga|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take a ride in a barrel|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|I want to believe|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Bleeped|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|why waste time say few word when lot word do trick|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Cooler than electric scooters|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take it from the top|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|I accept the yucca gnocchi, this meal is a success!|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Catch up on the news|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Participation trophy|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Find an opportunity for a sojourn|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Tastier than tau day|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|418 I'm a teapot|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|26th September, 1983|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take it from the top|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|There are 4241 as of Apr 1, 2020|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|ASABLEIK|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Critical mass elements|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Some Februarys are more equal than others|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Five spice||[[1554: Spice Girls]]||<br />
|-<br />
|Call the plumber|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Was it a rat I saw?|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Churchill's gonna have to seriously rehydrate|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Keep coming back|| ||<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
* This comic is the 2020 April Fools comic, and was supposed to be released April 1st. However, the below message was displayed on the top of the page until early Friday (April 3rd) morning, when the comic finally went live. It remains to be seen if Friday's intended comic will be published later.<br />
<blockquote><br />
Note: For technical reasons Wednesday's comic will be posted Thursday instead. Apologies for the delay!<br />
</blockquote><br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Cueball stands to the left of a vibrating box.]<br />
:[The words "Collector's Edition" are written above him and boxed.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2288:_Collector%27s_Edition&diff=1897192288: Collector's Edition2020-04-03T11:20:27Z<p>Jaalenja: created table for hints, added some hints</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2288<br />
| date = April 3, 2020<br />
| title = Collectors Edition<br />
| image = collectors_edition.png<br />
| titletext = I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This is an April 1st comic. It is a large image, of which only part is visible, but it can be dragged around. The large image contains a collection of items, sometimes humorous, often repeating. Items keep appearing in real time. Different viewers can place these items on the page by first collecting them from other comics.<br />
<br />
There is a "backpack" at the bottom, similar to "backpacks" in video games containing items collected by the player. Items can be found by visiting different XKCD comics/pages. Randomly, some pages will have a treasure chest which will contain the sticker related to the page. It is believed that the hint represents what page currently has a chest.<br />
<br />
The sticker images can be seen at `https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot_XXX.png`, where XXX is a number from 001-253.<br />
<br />
===Hints===<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!Hint<br />
!Comic<br />
!Notes<br />
|-<br />
|Doctors in a row|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Get out the (US) vote|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Find a box of nice stuff on a picture with words like these|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Sweet dreams, kitty|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|What is this hint pointing to? Hell if I know.|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Somebody set up us the bomb|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Cowabunga|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take a ride in a barrel|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|I want to believe|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Bleeped|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|why waste time say few word when lot word do trick|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Cooler than electric scooters|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take it from the top|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|I accept the yucca gnocchi, this meal is a success!|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Catch up on the news|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Participation trophy|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Find an opportunity for a sojourn|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Tastier than tau day|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|418 I'm a teapot|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|26th September, 1983|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Take it from the top|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|There are 4241 as of Apr 1, 2020|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|ASABLEIK|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Critical mass elements|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Some Februarys are more equal than others|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Five spice||[[1554: Spice Girls]]||<br />
|-<br />
|Call the plumber|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Was it a rat I saw?|| ||<br />
|-<br />
|Churchill's gonna have to seriously rehydrate|| ||<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
* This comic is the 2020 April Fools comic, and was supposed to be released April 1st. However, the below message was displayed on the top of the page until early Friday (April 3rd) morning, when the comic finally went live. It remains to be seen if Friday's intended comic will be published later.<br />
<blockquote><br />
Note: For technical reasons Wednesday's comic will be posted Thursday instead. Apologies for the delay!<br />
</blockquote><br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Cueball stands to the left of a vibrating box.]<br />
:[The words "Collector's Edition" are written above him and boxed.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2131:_Emojidome&diff=1721452131: Emojidome2019-04-03T13:10:12Z<p>Jaalenja: Removed alternative viewers that no longer work, updated the wording to reflect the fact live data is no longer coming</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2131<br />
| date = April 1, 2019<br />
| title = Emojidome<br />
| image = emojidome.png<br />
| titletext = Thank you to the xkcd April 1st volunteers/commentators, including @Chromakode, Kevin, @Aiiane, Patrick, Kat, Reuven, @cotrone, @bstaffin, @zigdon, schwal, Stereo, and everyone who voted!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by 😇. Needs more elaboration on font influencing emoji..}}<br />
<br />
This was the ninth [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]] released by [[Randall]]. The previous fools comic was [[1975: Right Click]] from Sunday April 1, 2018. <br />
<br />
The interactive comic began at noon ET (16:00 UTC) on April 1, 2019 and ended a day later. In it, users were shown two emojis and voted for their favorite before the time ran out. 512 different emojis were paired against each other in a cup or {{w|Bracket (tournament)|bracket}} system, with only one winner. See more below under [[#How it worked|How it worked]].<br />
<br />
Brackets - like the one in this comic, for finding the best emoji - are a recurring theme in xkcd. It is also relevant for this time of year, and two years ago in 2017, the first comic in April, [[1819: Sweet 16]] from April 3rd was a bracket, referencing {{w|March Madness}}. The {{w|2019 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament|2019 version}} of the {{w|National Collegiate Athletic Association}} {{w|College basketball}} national championship tournament began March 19th and ends April 8th 2019. So this comic could also be said to reference this, although it is not so explicit here. Earlier Randall made another large and "silly" bracket in [[1529: Bracket]] (which someone then actually made into an online voting system, just like in this comic).<br />
<br />
The title is a reference to the movie ''{{w|Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome}},'' which had the tagline: "Two men enter. One man leaves." The "Thunderdome" in the film is a gladiatorial arena where conflicts are resolved by a duel to the death.<br />
<br />
In the final round, the Milky Way emoji (🌌) won against the Hedgehog emoji (🦔). The comic was updated to show the result.<br />
<br />
Clicking the comic links to a bracket of 128 emojis showing the winners: https://xkcd.com/2131/emojidome_bracket_round_of_128.png<br />
<br />
==How it worked==<br />
<br />
[[File:2131 Emojidome example.png|thumb|400px|Comic as it appeared during the competition]]<br />
<br />
In the first round, the voting period for each bout lasted 37.5 seconds. The voting period for each bout doubled for the second, third, and fourth rounds. The voting period for each bout for the fifth round through the end was 26 minutes. The entire bracket took 24 hours 6 minutes. <br />
<br />
Remaining time of a given bout was shown on a timer beneath the voting buttons. If the time remaining was one minute or greater, the time was shown rounded to the nearest minute (e.g., "Remaining Time: 26 minutes"); thus the minute would change on the half minute (e.g., "2 minutes" changed to "1 minute" at 1 minute 30 seconds). If the time remaining was less than a minute, the time was shown in seconds (e.g., "59 seconds"). When there were two (sometimes three) seconds remaining, the timer would display "Time's Up!" through the end of the bout and for a [[1070: Words for Small Sets|couple]] of seconds after the end of the bout while the images for the next bout were loading. Then the next bout would appear and the results of the previous bout would be added to the list of past bouts, with the most recent bout at the top.<br />
<br />
Commentary was displayed above the images for each bout, and changed occasionally through the bout. In the first round, the commentary was made up of some stock phrases with a few custom phrases mixed in. Later commentary was tailored to suit each match-up and provided live updates on how each bout was progressing. A final comment was included in the list of past bouts.<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
! Round !! Start (ET) !! Start (UTC) !! Bouts !! Bout length !! Round length<br />
|-<br />
| 1 || 12:00 || 16:00 || 256 || 37.5 s || 2 h 40 m<br />
|-<br />
| 2 || 14:40 || 18:40 || 128 || 1 m 15 s || 2 h 40 m<br />
|-<br />
| 3 || 17:20 || 21:20 || 64 || 2 m 30 s || 2 h 40 m<br />
|-<br />
| 4 || 20:00 || 0:00 || 32 || 5 m || 2 h 40 m<br />
|-<br />
| 5 || 22:40 || 2:40 || 16 || 26 m || 6 h 56 m<br />
|-<br />
| 6 || 5:36 || 9:36 || 8 || 26 m || 3 h 28 m<br />
|-<br />
| 7 || 9:04 || 13:04 || 4 || 26 m || 1 h 44 m<br />
|-<br />
| 8 || 10:48 || 14:48 || 2 || 26 m || 52 m<br />
|-<br />
| 9 || 11:40 || 15:40 || 1 || 26 m || 26 m<br />
|}<br />
<br />
The competing candidates were periodically overlaid with colored hearts that floated up from the vote button oscillating in a triangle wave pattern before disappearing above the candidate. Below the current competition, the results of past bouts were shown with the "loser" displayed in greyscale, the winner in color, and the final robot-commentator comment on that match.<br />
<br />
The commentary appeared to suggest that there was some real-time feedback from the results of the competition. For instance, "It seems like our friends over Australia is joining the fun" appeared in the commentary. So did "We are getting a lot of questions on this today. This is live commentary, folks." https://i.imgur.com/8kPwjou.png, directly declaring that the commentary is live. <br />
<br />
Note that the schedule might show different emoji pictures than the main voting screen, presumably because of fonts. The image is pre-rendered.<br />
<br />
The competing candidates are chosen in order of Unicode value at first, resulting in similar emojis being compared. Examples include:<br />
<br />
😜 squaring off against 😛 - two emojis playfully sticking their tongues out<br />
<br />
🤩 squaring off against 😍 - two smiling emojis with symbols for eyes<br />
<br />
😂 squaring off with 🤣 - two emojis that are crying in laughter/joy.<br />
<br />
The original title text "🤼🤼🤼🤼🤼🤼🤼🤼" consisted of eight wrestler emojis. This likely represented the round of 8, where the eight winners then can turn to the winner next to them and continue the quarterfinals, etc. The title text was updated after the final round.<br />
<br />
Notably, it appears the eggplant emoji (🍆) and the peach emoji (🍑) were left out of the bracket, alongside the middle finger emoji (🖕). The eggplant and peach are frequently used to represent the male and female sex organs, respectively. There has been no statement from Randall on why they were left out.<br />
<br />
A robot face announcer-emoji (🤖) and a link to the full bracket was added at 38 minutes in. <br />
https://www.xkcd.com/2131/emojidome_bracket.png shows 512 emojis in a single-elimination tournament.<br />
https://www.xkcd.com/2131/emojidome_bracket_256.png was added later and shows the 256 emojis that competed on the second round.<br />
https://www.xkcd.com/2131/emojidome_bracket_round_3.png was added for the third round. https://www.xkcd.com/2131/emojidome_bracket_round_4.png was added for the fourth round. The round 3 bracket was later updated with results during the Volcano vs Owl fight. There was an error where the flying saucer had beaten the stars, which was not the case.<br />
A new bracket image was created for the Round of 32 which seems to be updated with new results as they come in. https://www.xkcd.com/2131/emojidome_bracket_round_of_32.png<br />
<br />
It is not clear how the winner is decided when both emojis tied for first. This has happened twice: in Cupcake vs. Birthday Cake (🧁 vs. 🎂) with 3658 points each, where the Birthday Cake (🎂) was declared winner, and in the very first match of Grinning Face vs. Grinning Face With Smiling Eyes (😀 vs. 😁), in which no votes were cast, but the Grinning Face With Smiling Eyes (😁) was declared winner. Both of these tied bouts occurred in round 1, and both declared winners lost their subsequent match in round 2.<br />
<br />
==Alternative viewers==<br />
<br />
Real data with results (clicks) can be seen as JSON-websocket at '''https://emojidome.xkcd.com/2131/socket'''<br />
<br />
'''https://phiresky.github.io/emojidome/''', [https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/b89zz1/emojidome_live_bracket_viewer/ made by a redditor], shows the brackets along with the final scores and comment.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[This was an interactive and dynamic comic during April 1st from its release until its completion. But the final and current image, will be the official image to transcribe. But the dynamic part of the comic as well as the "error image" displayed to services that could not render the dynamic comic is also transcribed here below.]<br />
<br />
:[The final picture shows the winner of the gold medal in the Emojidome bracket tournament, as well as the runner up with the silver medal. There is no text. The winner is the "Space", "Stars" or "Milky Way" emoji, which is shown with a blue band on top of a dark blue band on top of an almost black background, indicating the light band of the Milky Way in the night sky. Stars (in both five point star shape and as dots) in light blue are spread out in all three bands of color. The large gold medal with its red neck string, is floating close to the middle of the picture, lacking any kind of neck in space to tie it around. To the left of the gold medal is the runner up, the brown Hedgehog, with light-brown face. It sits on the smaller silver medal, also with red neck string, which floats out there in space. The hedgehog with medal is small enough to fit inside the neck string on the gold medal.]<br />
<br />
===Dynamic comic transcript===<br />
:[This is an example of how the comic appeared during the competition. The example includes one of the final winner, Space's, matches. The dynamic part of the comic is transcribed below:]<br />
:[[File:2131 Emojidome example.png|400px]]<br />
:[At the top center of the comic, the two emojis battling it out are shown next to each other. The emojis was generally in vivid colors, and not completely (or remotely) like the ones they represents. The true emojis was shown in links to image of the tournament brackets. These matches are called bouts in the comic. The emoji from the top (or left) of the bracket is shown to the left. In this case it was space, night sky, milky way or stars vs Maglev train. Between them is the following text:]<br />
:VS<br />
<br />
:[There are two buttons one below each of the two emoji. If pressed the buttons became red. They could be pressed multiple times each match. The buttons have text on them:]<br />
:Vote Vote<br />
<br />
:[From the buttons colored hearts are released, often in bundles, and then they wave up across the emoji who's button they emanated from.]<br />
<br />
:[Below the buttons there is and indicator showing how long the current battle is open for further votes. In the example the text is:]<br />
:Remaining time: 24 minutes<br />
<br />
:[The time began at "26 minutes" during the final rounds. It changed to "1 minute", with 1 minutes and 30 seconds left, and then 30 seconds later to "60 seconds" counting down to a few seconds. Then, before reaching 2 or 3 seconds it changed (a bit too early) to "Time's up!" Shortly there after a new bout would begin.]<br />
<br />
:[Above the two emoji at the very top is a comment. The commentator is shown as a robot emoji. The comment often changed during the long final rounds. In the current example the text is:]<br />
:"~future~"<br />
<br />
:[But there would have been several others during the match. Given that Space won the entire Emojidome, the train lost this match. Often a final comment was posted just as the result was in. These final messages was then put at the top of the list of past bouts (matches). These bouts was displayed at the bottom of the comic below the remaining time. To the left was the following text:]<br />
:Past bouts:<br />
<br />
:[Below this text was a list of all previous matches, showing the two emojis, with the looser grayed out, with their final comment next to them. As soon as there where more than three a scroll bar appeared to the right, making it possible to scroll down through all these previous matches. As it was 512 emojis to begin with, there where 256 bouts in the first round, and then 255 the rest of the way to the final for a total of 511 bouts at the end. Here are the the text of the three matches that can be seen in the example (the grayed out looser was Sushi, Bee and Wizard):]<br />
:🌋 vs 🍣 "Sushi has received a technical disqualification for being very very cooked"<br />
:🐝 vs 🦉 "Owls well that ends well"<br />
:🦔 vs 🧙 "The Wizard didn't do it"<br />
<br />
:[All the final bouts remarks, as well as the match ups, the score of votes, and all the other comments coming at the top during each bout can be found below in the round 1 to round 9 sections. They are thus not only a transcript.]<br />
<br />
:[Finally at the bottom of the comic below the scroll-able version of the past bouts, there was a link to images of the brackets, beginning with the full long one of all 512 emojis, and the zooming in and out, plus updating with results along the way. The link was a text that explained what the link was for. In the current example the link text, which is link blue, was:]<br />
:Full bracket for today's comic (round 3).<br />
<br />
:[These links was to images of the bracket, different sizes, and they could change, update the result etc, so it was not a new link every time a new bracket was uploaded. In some of these images there was even mistakes with which emoji won, and actually the winner space, was shown to be out to the flying sauce during several bouts and at least one update. But it was fixed before last few rounds.]<br />
<br />
==== Round 1====<br />
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"<br />
|-<br />
! Competitors and score !! Commentary<br />
|-<br />
| 😀 (0) vs 😁 (0)<br />
* Grinning face<br />
* Grinning face with smiling eyes<br />
'''(Tie - unclear how winner was chosen)'''<br />
| <br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 😀. Coming up next!<br />
|-<br />
| 😆 (207) vs '''😅 (251)'''<br />
* Smiling face with open mouth and tightly-closed eyes<br />
* '''Smiling face with open mouth and cold sweat'''<br />
| <br />
* Next up, 😅 and 😆.<br />
* I'm really looking forward to everything we're going to see today.<br />
|-<br />
| 😂 (772) vs '''🤣 (824)'''<br />
* Face with tears of joy<br />
* '''Rolling On the Floor Laughing'''<br />
|<br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
|-<br />
| 🙂 (939) vs '''🙃 (1494)'''<br />
* Slightly smiling face<br />
* '''Upside-down face'''<br />
|<br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 🙂. Coming up next!<br />
* You think this is something, folks, well... we're just getting started.<br />
|-<br />
| 😊 (857) vs '''😉 (1774)'''<br />
* Smiling face with smiling eyes<br />
* '''Winking face'''<br />
| <br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 😉 vs. 😊.<br />
|-<br />
| '''😇 (1417)''' vs 🥰 (1392)<br />
* '''Smiling face with halo'''<br />
* Smiling face with smiling eyes and three hearts<br />
| <br />
* Welcome back, it's time for 😇 and 🥰 to go head to head.<br />
|-<br />
| '''😍 (2159)''' vs 🤩 (1447)<br />
* '''Smiling face with heart-shaped eyes'''<br />
* Grinning face with star eyes<br />
|<br />
* We will be right back with 😍 vs. 🤩!<br />
|-<br />
| 😗 (1045) vs '''😘 (2595)'''<br />
* Kissing face<br />
* '''Face throwing a kiss'''<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 😗 vs. 😘.<br />
* This is a day that 😗 has been anticipating for a long time.<br />
|-<br />
| 😚 (1619) vs '''😙 (1770)'''<br />
* Kissing face with closed eyes<br />
* '''Kissing face with smiling eyes'''<br />
|<br />
* Have at it, 😙 and 😚!<br />
* If you are just joining us, fear not! You haven't missed much.<br />
|-<br />
| 😋 (1549) vs '''😛 (2644)'''<br />
* Face savouring delicious food<br />
* '''Face with stuck-out tongue'''<br />
|<br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 😋 or 😛?<br />
* 😋 stole that win.<br />
|-<br />
| '''😜 (2302)''' vs 🤪 (2085)<br />
* '''Face with stuck-out tongue and winking eye'''<br />
* Grinning face with one large and one small eye<br />
|<br />
* Next up, 😜 and 🤪.<br />
*😜 didn't do their homework.<br />
|-<br />
| '''😝 (2568)''' vs 🤑 (1372)<br />
* '''Face with stuck-out tongue and tightly-closed eyes'''<br />
* Money-mouth face<br />
|<br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 😝 and 🤑 warming up.<br />
|-<br />
| 🤗 (1598) vs '''🤭 (2316)'''<br />
* Hugging face<br />
* '''Smiling face with smiling eyes and hand covering mouth'''<br />
|<br />
* Next up, 🤗 and 🤭.<br />
* Sometimes miracles happen.<br />
|-<br />
| 🤫 (734) vs '''🤔 (4374)'''<br />
* Face with finger covering closed lips<br />
* '''Thinking face'''<br />
|<br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
|-<br />
| 🤐 (1119) vs '''🤨 (2928)'''<br />
* Zipper-mouth face<br />
* '''Face with one eyebrow raised'''<br />
|<br />
* We will be right back with 🤐 vs. 🤨!<br />
* Not sure which way this one goes.<br />
|-<br />
| 😐 (1506) vs '''😑 (1665)'''<br />
* Neutral face<br />
* '''Expressionless face'''<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 😐 vs. 😑.<br />
* One for the history books.<br />
|-<br />
| 😶 (2437) vs '''😏 (2659)'''<br />
* Face without mouth<br />
* '''Smirking face'''<br />
|<br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 😏 or 😶?<br />
* This one was over before it started.<br />
|-<br />
| 😒 (1562) vs '''🙄 (2692)'''<br />
* Unamused face<br />
* '''Face with rolling eyes'''<br />
|<br />
* If you're like me, you've argued over who would win head-to-head, 😒 or 🙄.<br />
|-<br />
| '''😬 (3345)''' vs 🤥 (1137)<br />
* '''Grimacing face'''<br />
* Lying face<br />
|<br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
*No surprises here. 🤥 skates to an easy win.<br />
*I hope everyone has printed their brackets and are ready, because time waits for very few people!<br />
*No surprises here. 😬 skates to an easy win.<br />
|-<br />
| 😌 (1980) vs '''😔 (2238)'''<br />
* Relieved face<br />
* '''Pensive face'''<br />
|<br />
* Next! Who would win in a match between 😌 and 😔? We are about to find out.<br />
* 😔 comes out on top.<br />
|-<br />
| '''😴 (2770)''' vs 🤤 (1957)<br />
* '''Sleeping face'''<br />
* Drooling face<br />
|<br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
*A dominant performance by 😴.<br />
|-<br />
| 😷 (1760) vs '''🤒 (2629)'''<br />
* Face with medical mask<br />
* '''Face with thermometer'''<br />
|<br />
* Welcome back, it's time for 😷 and 🤒 to go head to head.<br />
* In the end, there was nothing 😷 could do to stop the power of 🤒.<br />
|-<br />
| 🤢 (2270) vs '''🤕 (2648)'''<br />
* Nauseated face<br />
* '''Face with head-bandage'''<br />
|<br />
* Next up, 🤕 and 🤢.<br />
* 🤕 stole that win.<br />
|-<br />
| 🤧 (2325) vs '''🤮 (3260)'''<br />
* Sneezing face<br />
* '''Face with open mouth vomiting'''<br />
|<br />
* Will it be 🤧 or 🤮? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
* 🤮 opened strong and 🤧 never caught up.<br />
|-<br />
| 🥵 (1884) vs '''🥶 (3983)'''<br />
* Overheated face<br />
* '''Freezing face'''<br />
|<br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 🥵. Coming up next!<br />
* I have never seen 🥶 crush an opponent that mercilessly before.<br />
|-<br />
| 😵 (2920) vs '''🥴 (3762)'''<br />
* Dizzy face<br />
* '''Face with uneven eyes and wavy mouth'''<br />
|<br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
* That was 😵's to give away and they did.<br />
|-<br />
| 🤯 (3055) vs '''🤠 (3110)'''<br />
* Shocked face with exploding head<br />
* '''Face with cowboy hat'''<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🤠 vs. 🤯.<br />
* However this ends up, someone got blown away.<br />
|-<br />
| '''😎 (4316)''' vs 🥳 (2201)<br />
* '''Smiling face with sunglasses'''<br />
* Face with party horn and party hat<br />
|<br />
* On deck, we have 😎 and 🥳.<br />
*I guess it was that kind of a party.<br />
|-<br />
| 😟 (2184) vs '''😕 (3663)'''<br />
* Worried face<br />
* '''Confused face'''<br />
|<br />
* Uh oh. 😟 has had words with 😕 before. The next match will be good.<br />
* 😕 one, 😟 zero.<br />
|-<br />
| ☹ (1638) vs '''😮 (5498)'''<br />
* White frowning face<br />
* '''Face with open mouth'''<br />
|<br />
* Next up, ☹ and 😮.<br />
* I hope everyone has printed their brackets and are ready, because time waits for very few people!<br />
|-<br />
| 😲 (2383) vs '''😯 (3904)'''<br />
* Astonished face<br />
* '''Hushed face'''<br />
|<br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 😯 and 😲 warming up.<br />
* And 😲 falls to 😯. A suprising turn of events.<br />
|-<br />
| 😧 (3063) vs '''😳 (3754)'''<br />
* Anguished face<br />
* '''Flushed face'''<br />
|<br />
* We will be right back with 😧 vs. 😳!<br />
* This one was over before it started.<br />
|-<br />
| 😨 (2082) vs '''😰 (4050)'''<br />
* Fearful face<br />
* '''Face with open mouth and cold sweat'''<br />
|<br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
* Well, this doesn't look good.<br />
|-<br />
| 😢 (2095) vs '''😭 (5108)'''<br />
* Crying face<br />
* '''Loudly crying face'''<br />
|<br />
* Have at it, 😢 and 😭!<br />
* This one's a real tear-jerker.<br />
|-<br />
| 😖 (2039) vs '''😱 (4758)'''<br />
* Confounded face<br />
* '''Face screaming in fear'''<br />
|<br />
* If you're like me, you've argued over who would win head-to-head, 😖 or 😱.<br />
* 😱 stole that win.<br />
|-<br />
| 😞 (2879) vs '''😣 (3528)'''<br />
* Disappointed face<br />
* '''Persevering face'''<br />
|<br />
* Coming to you live from the Emojidome, it's 😞 vs. 😣!<br />
* This one's painful.<br />
|-<br />
| 😩 (2785) vs '''😓 (3231)'''<br />
* Weary face<br />
* '''Face with cold sweat'''<br />
|<br />
* On deck, we have 😓 and 😩.<br />
* It's early yet, folks. The coffee hasn't kicked in.<br />
|-<br />
| 😫 (1827) vs '''😤 (4871)'''<br />
* Tired face<br />
* '''Face with look of triumph'''<br />
|<br />
* Coming to you live from the Emojidome, it's 😤 vs. 😫!<br />
* I didn't remember 😫 qualifying. I think they snuck in.<br />
|-<br />
| 😠 (1866) vs '''😡 (5192)'''<br />
* Angry face<br />
* '''Pouting face'''<br />
|<br />
* Will it be 😠 or 😡? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
* It is astounding how much competition we have in store for today.<br />
|-<br />
| '''😈 (4225)''' vs 🤬 (3072)<br />
* '''Smiling face with horns'''<br />
* Serious face with symbols covering mouth<br />
|<br />
* Coming to you live from the Emojidome, it's 😈 vs. 🤬!<br />
*Speak of the devil...<br />
|-<br />
| 👿 (2341) vs '''💀 (4739)'''<br />
* Imp<br />
* '''Skull'''<br />
|<br />
* We will be right back with 👿 vs. 💀!<br />
* It has been a long road for 💀 to get to competing on the world stage.<br />
|-<br />
| '''💩 (4829)''' vs 🤡 (2514)<br />
* '''Pile of poo'''<br />
* Clown face<br />
|<br />
* Have at it, 💩 and 🤡!<br />
*I think we all know how this is going to go.<br />
|-<br />
| 👻 (3680) vs '''👽 (3983)'''<br />
* Ghost<br />
* '''Extraterrestrial alien'''<br />
|<br />
* Have at it, 👻 and 👽!<br />
|-<br />
| 🏰 (2715) vs '''👾 (4412)'''<br />
* European castle<br />
* '''Alien monster'''<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🏰 vs. 👾.<br />
* 👾 opened strong and 🏰 never caught up.<br />
|-<br />
| 😸 (3334) vs '''😺 (3542)'''<br />
* Grinning cat face with smiling eyes<br />
* '''Smiling cat face with open mouth'''<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 😸 vs. 😺.<br />
* This one is serious, folks.<br />
|-<br />
| 😹 (2778) vs '''😻 (3702)'''<br />
* Cat face with tears of joy<br />
* '''Smiling cat face with heart-shaped eyes'''<br />
|<br />
* Welcome back, it's time for 😹 and 😻 to go head to head.<br />
* The hearts are my favorite part. It all comes down to love. And that really says something.<br />
|-<br />
| 😽 (1815) vs '''😼 (3991)'''<br />
* Kissing cat face with closed eyes<br />
* '''Cat face with wry smile'''<br />
|<br />
* I'm looking forward to this.<br />
* Sometimes miracles happen.<br />
|-<br />
| 😿 (1189) vs '''🙀 (4682)'''<br />
* Crying cat face<br />
* '''Weary cat face'''<br />
|<br />
* On deck, we have 😿 and 🙀.<br />
|-<br />
| 💋 (2122) vs '''😾 (3837)'''<br />
* Kiss mark<br />
* '''Pouting cat face'''<br />
|<br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
|-<br />
| 💌 (1659) vs '''💖 (3386)'''<br />
* Love letter<br />
* '''Sparkling heart'''<br />
|<br />
* Next! Who would win in a match between 💌 and 💖? We are about to find out.<br />
* 💌 is an fan favorite to go far today.<br />
|-<br />
| '''❤ (3904)''' vs 💔 (1920)<br />
* '''Heavy black heart'''<br />
* Broken heart<br />
|<br />
* Uh oh. 💔 has had words with ❤ before. The next match will be good.<br />
|-<br />
| 🖤 (2940) vs '''💯 (3866)'''<br />
* Black heart<br />
* '''Hundred points symbol'''<br />
|<br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 💯 and 🖤! Facing off against each other again!<br />
* A dominant performance by 💯.<br />
|-<br />
| 💥 (3055) vs '''💦 (3843)'''<br />
* Collision symbol<br />
* '''Splashing sweat symbol'''<br />
|<br />
* Welcome back, it's time for 💥 and 💦 to go head to head.<br />
* Like fire and water.<br />
|-<br />
| 🕳 (2476) vs '''💣 (4063)'''<br />
* Hole<br />
* '''Bomb'''<br />
|<br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 💣 and 🕳 warming up.<br />
* This one was a mess.<br />
|-<br />
| 🤞 (2246) vs '''🤘 (4845)'''<br />
* Hand with index and middle fingers crossed<br />
* '''Sign of the horns'''<br />
|<br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 🤘. Coming up next!<br />
* It feels like these early matches are over almost before they begin.<br />
|-<br />
| 👎 (2231) vs '''👍 (5077)'''<br />
* Thumbs down sign<br />
* '''Thumbs up sign'''<br />
|<br />
* Will it be 👍 or 👎? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
* Nice to see the support for positivity.<br />
|-<br />
| 🙏 (3114) vs '''👊 (4861)'''<br />
* Person with folded hands<br />
* '''Fisted hand sign'''<br />
|<br />
* Have at it, 👊 and 🙏!<br />
* I don't think 🙏 expected to see 👊 opposite them today.<br />
|-<br />
| 💅 (2366) vs '''🦵 (4060)'''<br />
* Nail polish<br />
* '''Leg'''<br />
|<br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 💅 or 🦵?<br />
* If 🦵 wins this match, it will be interesting to see how far they can go.<br />
|-<br />
| 🦷 (1409) vs '''🧠 (5821)'''<br />
* Tooth<br />
* '''Brain'''<br />
|<br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
|-<br />
| '''👀 (4052)''' vs 🦴 (2198)<br />
* '''Eyes'''<br />
* Bone<br />
|<br />
* Uh oh. 🦴 has had words with 👀 before. The next match will be good.<br />
|-<br />
| 👄 (1712) vs '''👅 (4648)'''<br />
* Mouth<br />
* '''Tongue'''<br />
|<br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 👄 and 👅 warming up.<br />
|-<br />
| 👶 (1414) vs '''🤦 (5666)'''<br />
* Baby<br />
* '''Face palm'''<br />
|<br />
* Uh oh. 🤦 has had words with 👶 before. The next match will be good.<br />
|-<br />
| '''👩🔬 (6374)''' vs 🤷 (2385)<br />
* '''Woman + microscope'''<br />
* Shrug<br />
|<br />
* Have at it, 👩🔬 and 🤷!<br />
|-<br />
| '''👩🚀 (5502)''' vs 🦸 (2302)<br />
* '''Woman + rocket'''<br />
* Superhero<br />
|<br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 👩🚀 or 🦸?<br />
|-<br />
| 🧚 (1909) vs '''🧙 (6294)'''<br />
* Fairy<br />
* '''Mage'''<br />
|<br />
* Uh oh. 🧚 has had words with 🧙 before. The next match will be good.<br />
* There are some titanic match-ups that could happen today.<br />
* Yes, this is live commentary.<br />
* We have only just started, folks. Stay tuned for more amazing contests!<br />
|-<br />
| 🧜 (3835) vs '''🧛 (3840)'''<br />
* Merperson<br />
* '''Vampire'''<br />
|<br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 🧛. Coming up next!<br />
* Not sure which way this one goes.<br />
|-<br />
| 💆 (2815) vs '''🧟 (3747)'''<br />
* Face massage<br />
* '''Zombie'''<br />
|<br />
* Next up, 💆 and 🧟.<br />
* That's just a typical Monday for you.<br />
|-<br />
| 💇 (3029) vs '''🚶 (3055)'''<br />
* Haircut<br />
* '''Pedestrian'''<br />
|<br />
* We will be right back with 💇 vs. 🚶!<br />
* It's going to be a busy day, folks. Remember to pace yourself.<br />
|-<br />
| 🏃 (2239) vs '''💃 (5833)'''<br />
* Runner<br />
* '''Dancer'''<br />
|<br />
* On deck, we have 🏃 and 💃.<br />
* Make some noise! Show 🏃 and 💃 some love!<br />
* That was 🏃's to give away and they did.<br />
|-<br />
| 🕺 (1990) vs '''🕴 (5035)'''<br />
* Man dancing<br />
* '''Man in business suit levitating'''<br />
|<br />
* We will be right back with 🕴 vs. 🕺!<br />
* I spoke with 🕴 before we started today. They were hoping to dodge 🕺. Too bad for them.<br />
|-<br />
| 🏇 (2563) vs '''🤺 (5157)'''<br />
* Horse racing<br />
* '''Fencer'''<br />
|<br />
* Have at it, 🏇 and 🤺!<br />
* Never bring a sword to a horse fight.<br />
|-<br />
| '''⛷ (4510)''' vs 🏂 (3762)<br />
* '''Skier'''<br />
* Snowboarder<br />
|<br />
* Coming to you live from the Emojidome, it's ⛷ vs. 🏂!<br />
*We have a lot of excited fans in the audience.<br />
|-<br />
| 🏌 (2557) vs '''🏄 (6285)'''<br />
* Golfer<br />
* '''Surfer'''<br />
|<br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 🏄 or 🏌?<br />
* Ok! Let's see those hearts!<br />
* I have never seen 🏄 crush an opponent that mercilessly before.<br />
|-<br />
| ⛹ (2793) vs '''🏊 (5994)'''<br />
* Person with ball<br />
* '''Swimmer'''<br />
|<br />
* Have at it, ⛹ and 🏊!<br />
|-<br />
| 🏋 (2300) vs '''🚴 (8063)'''<br />
* Weight lifter<br />
* '''Bicyclist'''<br />
|<br />
* Will it be 🏋 or 🚴? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
* Right now the crowd is chanting 🏋! 🏋! An early sign of a favorite?<br />
|-<br />
| '''🚵 (5650)''' vs 🤾 (4698)<br />
* '''Mountain bicyclist'''<br />
* Handball<br />
|<br />
* We will be right back with 🚵 vs. 🤾!<br />
*It's neck and neck!<br />
|-<br />
| 👤 (2195) vs '''🛀 (5529)'''<br />
* Bust in silhouette<br />
* '''Bath'''<br />
|<br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 👤 and 🛀 warming up.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🐒 (4644)''' vs 🦍 (3336)<br />
* '''Monkey'''<br />
* Gorilla<br />
|<br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐕 (3458) vs '''🐶 (4004)'''<br />
* Dog<br />
* '''Dog face'''<br />
|<br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 🐕. Coming up next!<br />
* Mostly a matter of perspective.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐺 (2774) vs '''🦊 (6024)'''<br />
* Wolf face<br />
* '''Fox face'''<br />
|<br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
* Again, small variations make all the difference.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🐱 (4931)''' vs 🦝 (4017)<br />
* '''Cat face'''<br />
* Raccoon<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🐱 vs. 🦝.<br />
*🦝 is an fan favorite to go far today.<br />
*🐱 stole that win.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🐈 (5046)''' vs 🦁 (3957)<br />
* '''Cat'''<br />
* Lion face<br />
|<br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 🐈 and 🦁 warming up.<br />
*Again, we are getting a lot of questions on this today. This is live commentary, folks.<br />
*We have a lot of excited fans in the audience.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐆 (2186) vs '''🐅 (6280)'''<br />
* Leopard<br />
* '''Tiger'''<br />
|<br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 🐅 or 🐆?<br />
* Stripes or Spots, Stripes or Spots<br />
|-<br />
| 🐴 (3722) vs '''🐎 (4120)'''<br />
* Horse face<br />
* '''Horse'''<br />
|<br />
* Next! Who would win in a match between 🐎 and 🐴? We are about to find out.<br />
* I've got your horse right here.<br />
|-<br />
| 🦓 (3486) vs '''🦄 (6830)'''<br />
* Zebra face<br />
* '''Unicorn face'''<br />
|<br />
* Next! Who would win in a match between 🦄 and 🦓? We are about to find out.<br />
* I think we all know how this is going to go.<br />
* It was neck and neck until the very end, but some necks are longer than others.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐮 (3658) vs '''🦌 (5111)'''<br />
* Cow face<br />
* '''Deer'''<br />
|<br />
* Uh oh. 🦌 has had words with 🐮 before. The next match will be good.<br />
* This is a close one!<br />
|-<br />
| 🐖 (3568) vs '''🐷 (5175)'''<br />
* Pig<br />
* '''Pig face'''<br />
|<br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 🐖. Coming up next!<br />
* Who will bring home the bacon?<br />
|-<br />
| 🐗 (2576) vs '''🐏 (6073)'''<br />
* Boar<br />
* '''Ram'''<br />
|<br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 🐏 or 🐗?<br />
|-<br />
| 🐪 (3329) vs '''🐐 (5304)'''<br />
* Dromedary camel<br />
* '''Goat'''<br />
|<br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 🐐 or 🐪?<br />
|-<br />
| 🦙 (4397) vs '''🦒 (5164)'''<br />
* Llama<br />
* '''Giraffe face'''<br />
|<br />
* Uh oh. 🦙 has had words with 🦒 before. The next match will be good.<br />
* It's neck and neck!<br />
* I hope 🦙 comes back next year. It would be a sham to see it all end like this.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🐘 (4809)''' vs 🦏 (3804)<br />
* '''Elephant'''<br />
* Rhinoceros<br />
|<br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 🐘 or 🦏?<br />
*We'll never forget this.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐁 (4039) vs '''🦛 (4085)'''<br />
* Mouse<br />
* '''Hippopotamus'''<br />
|<br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 🐁 or 🦛?<br />
|-<br />
| 🐀 (2994) vs '''🐹 (4580)'''<br />
* Rat<br />
* '''Hamster face'''<br />
|<br />
* Will it be 🐀 or 🐹? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
* Today is also about settling scores, there is no doubt about that for some of our contestants.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐰 (1865) vs '''🐿 (5175)'''<br />
* Rabbit face<br />
* '''Chipmunk'''<br />
|<br />
* If you're like me, you've argued over who would win head-to-head, 🐰 or 🐿.<br />
* Its about reflexes.<br />
|-<br />
| 🦇 (3648) vs '''🦔 (4507)'''<br />
* Bat<br />
* '''Hedgehog'''<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🦇 vs. 🦔.<br />
* This one is a toss-up in my book, folks.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐻 (2686) vs '''🐨 (5059)'''<br />
* Bear face<br />
* '''Koala'''<br />
|<br />
* Coming to you live from the Emojidome, it's 🐨 vs. 🐻!<br />
* Ok! You know what to do! Let's see those hearts!<br />
|-<br />
| 🐼 (2896) vs '''🦘 (5185)'''<br />
* Panda face<br />
* '''Kangaroo'''<br />
|<br />
* Next! Who would win in a match between 🐼 and 🦘? We are about to find out.<br />
* It's exciting to look around and see so many joining us from all over the world.<br />
* One for the history books.<br />
|-<br />
| 🦃 (2553) vs '''🦡 (5483)'''<br />
* Turkey<br />
* '''Badger'''<br />
|<br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 🦃 and 🦡! Facing off against each other again!<br />
* That was a stinker of a battle, if you ask me.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐓 (2883) vs '''🐣 (5153)'''<br />
* Rooster<br />
* '''Hatching chick'''<br />
|<br />
* Welcome back, it's time for 🐓 and 🐣 to go head to head.<br />
|-<br />
| 🕊 (2432) vs '''🐧 (5951)'''<br />
* Dove of peace<br />
* '''Penguin'''<br />
|<br />
* We will be right back with 🐧 vs. 🕊!<br />
|-<br />
| 🦅 (3871) vs '''🦆 (4800)'''<br />
* Eagle<br />
* '''Duck'''<br />
|<br />
* Uh oh. 🦆 has had words with 🦅 before. The next match will be good.<br />
|-<br />
| 🦢 (1613) vs '''🦉 (7025)'''<br />
* Swan<br />
* '''Owl'''<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🦉 vs. 🦢.<br />
* 🦉 didn't do their homework.<br />
* I hope everyone has printed their brackets and are ready, because time waits for very few people!<br />
* Yes, this is live commentary.<br />
* 🦉 one, 🦢 zero.<br />
|-<br />
| 🦚 (4333) vs '''🦜 (4803)'''<br />
* Peacock<br />
* '''Parrot'''<br />
|<br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
* I know some very invested audience members for this one.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐊 (3986) vs '''🐢 (6403)'''<br />
* Crocodile<br />
* '''Turtle'''<br />
|<br />
* I'm looking forward to this.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🐍 (5378)''' vs 🦎 (4415)<br />
* '''Snake'''<br />
* Lizard<br />
|<br />
* Have at it, 🐍 and 🦎!<br />
*In the end, there was nothing 🐍 could do to stop the power of 🦎.<br />
*Did you just see that!?<br />
*Plenty of matches left to see. Don't go anywhere.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🐉 (5359)''' vs 🦕 (4855)<br />
* '''Dragon'''<br />
* Sauropod<br />
|<br />
* Have at it, 🐉 and 🦕!<br />
*One for the history books.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🐳 (5445)''' vs 🦖 (5411)<br />
* '''Spouting whale'''<br />
* T-rex<br />
|<br />
* I'm looking forward to this.<br />
*Again, another difficult match-up for our audience.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐟 (1639) vs '''🐬 (8071)'''<br />
* Fish<br />
* '''Dolphin'''<br />
|<br />
* Will it be 🐟 or 🐬? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
* I know which one I would choose, but I don't have time to vote!<br />
|-<br />
| 🐡 (2307) vs '''🦈 (6544)'''<br />
* Blowfish<br />
* '''Shark'''<br />
|<br />
* Have at it, 🐡 and 🦈!<br />
* 🦈 opened strong and 🐡 never caught up.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐚 (1590) vs '''🐙 (8224)'''<br />
* Spiral shell<br />
* '''Octopus'''<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🐙 vs. 🐚.<br />
* This one was over before it started.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐌 (4816) vs '''🦋 (4835)'''<br />
* Snail<br />
* '''Butterfly'''<br />
|<br />
* We will be right back with 🐌 vs. 🦋!<br />
* The hearts are flying on this one!<br />
|-<br />
| 🐜 (3194) vs '''🐛 (5132)'''<br />
* Ant<br />
* '''Bug'''<br />
|<br />
* I'm looking forward to this.<br />
* 🐜 didn't do their homework.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐞 (3561) vs '''🐝 (5804)'''<br />
* Lady beetle<br />
* '''Honeybee'''<br />
|<br />
* On deck, we have 🐝 and 🐞.<br />
* This one is a true test of the audience today.<br />
* Will luck be a ladybug tonight?<br />
* Amazing!<br />
|-<br />
| '''🕷 (4806)''' vs 🦗 (4195)<br />
* '''Spider'''<br />
* Cricket<br />
|<br />
* Uh oh. 🦗 has had words with 🕷 before. The next match will be good.<br />
*And 🦗 falls to 🕷. A suprising turn of events.<br />
|-<br />
| 🦂 (3853) vs '''🦠 (4971)'''<br />
* Scorpion<br />
* '''Microbe'''<br />
|<br />
* Next! Who would win in a match between 🦂 and 🦠? We are about to find out.<br />
* Nope. Nope nope nope nope.<br />
|-<br />
| 🌷 (3767) vs '''🌻 (4374)'''<br />
* Tulip<br />
* '''Sunflower'''<br />
|<br />
* We will be right back with 🌷 vs. 🌻!<br />
* Now that's more like it.<br />
|-<br />
| 🌳 (1973) vs '''🌲 (6563)'''<br />
* Deciduous tree<br />
* '''Evergreen tree'''<br />
|<br />
* If you're like me, you've argued over who would win head-to-head, 🌲 or 🌳.<br />
* Who would have thought, eh?<br />
|-<br />
| 🌴 (3876) vs '''🌵 (5468)'''<br />
* Palm tree<br />
* '''Cactus'''<br />
|<br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
* In the end, there was nothing 🌴 could do to stop the power of 🌵.<br />
|-<br />
| 🍈 (2617) vs '''🍇 (5319)'''<br />
* Melon<br />
* '''Grapes'''<br />
|<br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 🍇 or 🍈?<br />
* Folks, I am just as stunned at the outcome as you.<br />
|-<br />
| 🍋 (4186) vs '''🍉 (4720)'''<br />
* Lemon<br />
* '''Watermelon'''<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🍉 vs. 🍋.<br />
* I just don't know why they can't find common ground.<br />
* 🍉 one, 🍋 zero.<br />
|-<br />
| 🍌 (4704) vs '''🍍 (5525)'''<br />
* Banana<br />
* '''Pineapple'''<br />
|<br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 🍌 and 🍍 warming up.<br />
* Ok! Let's see those hearts!<br />
* I guess it was that kind of a party.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🍎 (5111)''' vs 🥭 (3830)<br />
* '''Red apple'''<br />
* Mango<br />
|<br />
* I'm looking forward to this.<br />
|-<br />
| 🍏 (2703) vs '''🍓 (6403)'''<br />
* Green apple<br />
* '''Strawberry'''<br />
|<br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 🍏 or 🍓?<br />
* We might be close to some matches the audience is expecting or hoping to see today.<br />
* Berry nice!<br />
|-<br />
| 🍅 (3002) vs '''🥝 (5348)'''<br />
* Tomato<br />
* '''Kiwifruit'''<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🍅 vs. 🥝.<br />
|-<br />
| 🥥 (3840) vs '''🥑 (5759)'''<br />
* Coconut<br />
* '''Avocado'''<br />
|<br />
* On deck, we have 🥑 and 🥥.<br />
* Somehow, someone will blame millenials for this.<br />
|-<br />
| 🥕 (4577) vs '''🥔 (4620)'''<br />
* Carrot<br />
* '''Potato'''<br />
|<br />
* Next! Who would win in a match between 🥔 and 🥕? We are about to find out.<br />
* Ahhh the age old question, 🥕 or 🥔.<br />
|-<br />
| 🌽 (4074) vs '''🌶 (5087)'''<br />
* Ear of maize<br />
* '''Hot pepper'''<br />
|<br />
* Have at it, 🌶 and 🌽!<br />
|-<br />
| 🥬 (2694) vs '''🥒 (5472)'''<br />
* Leafy green<br />
* '''Cucumber'''<br />
|<br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 🥒. Coming up next!<br />
* Not sure which way this one goes.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🍄 (5850)''' vs 🥦 (2707)<br />
* '''Mushroom'''<br />
* Broccoli<br />
|<br />
* Will it be 🍄 or 🥦? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
*Folks, we are nearly halfway through the first bracket!<br />
*Again, we are getting a lot of questions on this today. This is live commentary, folks.<br />
*Into the second half of the first round.<br />
*That was 🥦's to give away and they did.<br />
|-<br />
| 🌰 (2698) vs '''🥜 (6225)'''<br />
* Chestnut<br />
* '''Peanuts'''<br />
|<br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 🌰 or 🥜?<br />
* I am not even sure what I am looking at here.<br />
|-<br />
| 🍞 (2934) vs '''🥐 (6465)'''<br />
* Bread<br />
* '''Croissant'''<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🍞 vs. 🥐.<br />
* Well, I know who I would vote for.<br />
|-<br />
| 🥖 (4800) vs '''🥨 (5136)'''<br />
* Baguette bread<br />
* '''Pretzel'''<br />
|<br />
* We will be right back with 🥖 vs. 🥨!<br />
|-<br />
| 🥯 (2470) vs '''🥞 (5926)'''<br />
* Bagel<br />
* '''Pancakes'''<br />
|<br />
* Uh oh. 🥯 has had words with 🥞 before. The next match will be good.<br />
* Now I am just hungry.<br />
|-<br />
| 🥩 (3959) vs '''🧀 (6225)'''<br />
* Cut of meat<br />
* '''Cheese wedge'''<br />
|<br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
* Truly a battle for the ages.<br />
|-<br />
| 🍟 (3719) vs '''🍔 (5352)'''<br />
* French fries<br />
* '''Hamburger'''<br />
|<br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 🍔 and 🍟 warming up.<br />
|-<br />
| 🌭 (1340) vs '''🍕 (7881)'''<br />
* Hot dog<br />
* '''Slice of pizza'''<br />
|<br />
* If you're like me, you've argued over who would win head-to-head, 🌭 or 🍕.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🌮 (6417)''' vs 🥪 (2869)<br />
* '''Taco'''<br />
* Sandwich<br />
|<br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 🌮 or 🥪?<br />
*I'll be honest, even I voted in that last one.<br />
*There are some titanic match-ups that could happen today.<br />
*One for the history books.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🌯 (5359)''' vs 🥚 (3868)<br />
* '''Burrito'''<br />
* Egg<br />
|<br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 🌯 or 🥚?<br />
*🥚 is an fan favorite to go far today.<br />
*One for the history books.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🍳 (5293)''' vs 🥗 (3101)<br />
* '''Cooking'''<br />
* Green salad<br />
|<br />
* Have at it, 🍳 and 🥗!<br />
*There can be very food-centric history books.<br />
*If 🍳 wins this match, it will be interesting to see how far they can go.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🍿 (2640)''' vs 🧂 (2067)<br />
* '''Popcorn'''<br />
* Salt shaker<br />
|<br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
*This one was over before it started.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🍱 (4931)''' vs 🥫 (1948)<br />
* '''Bento box'''<br />
* Canned food<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🍱 vs. 🥫.<br />
*It is early still. Possibly too early to predict an over-all winner. But I am hearing 🏇 mentioned a fair bit.<br />
*And 🥫 falls to 🍱. A suprising turn of events.<br />
|-<br />
| 🍤 (2334) vs '''🍣 (5552)'''<br />
* Fried shrimp<br />
* '''Sushi'''<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🍣 vs. 🍤.<br />
* Plenty of matches left to see. Don't go anywhere.<br />
|-<br />
| 🥡 (3101) vs '''🥟 (4128)'''<br />
* Takeout box<br />
* '''Dumpling'''<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🥟 vs. 🥡.<br />
* 🥟 one, 🥡 zero.<br />
|-<br />
| 🦀 (3762) vs '''🦞 (4739)'''<br />
* Crab<br />
* '''Lobster'''<br />
|<br />
* Coming to you live from the Emojidome, it's 🦀 vs. 🦞!<br />
|-<br />
| 🦐 (2421) vs '''🦑 (6162)'''<br />
* Shrimp<br />
* '''Squid'''<br />
|<br />
* Will it be 🦐 or 🦑? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
|-<br />
| 🍦 (3804) vs '''🍨 (4698)'''<br />
* Soft ice cream<br />
* '''Ice cream'''<br />
|<br />
* If you're like me, you've argued over who would win head-to-head, 🍦 or 🍨.<br />
|-<br />
| 🍪 (3722) vs '''🍩 (5167)'''<br />
* Cookie<br />
* '''Doughnut'''<br />
|<br />
* We will be right back with 🍩 vs. 🍪!<br />
|-<br />
| 🎂 (3658) vs 🧁 (3658)<br />
* Birthday cake<br />
* Cupcake<br/>'''(Tie - unclear how winner was chosen)'''<br />
|<br />
* Next up, 🎂 and 🧁.<br />
|-<br />
| 🍬 (1244) vs '''🍫 (6674)'''<br />
* Candy<br />
* '''Chocolate bar'''<br />
|<br />
* We will be right back with 🍫 vs. 🍬!<br />
|-<br />
| 🍭 (2568) vs '''🍯 (5445)'''<br />
* Lollipop<br />
* '''Honey pot'''<br />
|<br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 🍭 or 🍯?<br />
* Thank you for tuning in. I promise you are in for a treat today.<br />
|-<br />
| 🍼 (1824) vs '''🥛 (5239)'''<br />
* Baby bottle<br />
* '''Glass of milk'''<br />
|<br />
* Will it be 🍼 or 🥛? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
|-<br />
| '''☕ (4813)''' vs 🍾 (3227)<br />
* '''Hot beverage'''<br />
* Bottle with popping cork<br />
|<br />
* If you're like me, you've argued over who would win head-to-head, ☕ or 🍾.<br />
*Time to get another feel for our audience today.<br />
|-<br />
| 🍷 (3021) vs '''🍹 (3561)'''<br />
* Wine glass<br />
* '''Tropical drink'''<br />
|<br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 🍷 and 🍹! Facing off against each other again!<br />
* Well now I am just getting thirsty.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🍺 (5763)''' vs 🥤 (3897)<br />
* '''Beer mug'''<br />
* Cup with straw<br />
|<br />
* Will it be 🍺 or 🥤? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
*Still thirsty!<br />
|-<br />
| 🍴 (3917) vs '''🥢 (4348)'''<br />
* Fork and knife<br />
* '''Chopsticks'''<br />
|<br />
* We will be right back with 🍴 vs. 🥢!<br />
* I know which one I would choose, but I don't have time to vote!<br />
|-<br />
| '''🔪 (5627)''' vs 🥄 (1742)<br />
* '''Hocho'''<br />
* Spoon<br />
|<br />
* Have at it, 🔪 and 🥄!<br />
|-<br />
| 🏺 (2604) vs '''🧭 (4784)'''<br />
* Amphora<br />
* '''Compass'''<br />
|<br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 🏺 and 🧭 warming up.<br />
* You just know that 🏺 is thinking about 🏎 right now.<br />
|-<br />
| ⛰ (1843) vs '''🌋 (6793)'''<br />
* Mountain<br />
* '''Volcano'''<br />
|<br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite ⛰. Coming up next!<br />
* This one was over before it started.<br />
|-<br />
| 🏖 (3159) vs '''🏕 (5611)'''<br />
* Beach with umbrella<br />
* '''Camping'''<br />
|<br />
* Welcome back, it's time for 🏕 and 🏖 to go head to head.<br />
* Time to pick your poison!<br />
|-<br />
| 🏟 (2537) vs '''🏝 (6180)'''<br />
* Stadium<br />
* '''Desert island'''<br />
|<br />
* I'm looking forward to this.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🏗 (4093)''' vs 🧱 (3680)<br />
* '''Building construction'''<br />
* Brick<br />
|<br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
*What an amazing display of prowess from 🏗.<br />
|-<br />
| 🏢 (2178) vs '''🏠 (5829)'''<br />
* Office building<br />
* '''House building'''<br />
|<br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
* 🏠 has every reason to be concerned about this match-up.<br />
|-<br />
| 🏨 (1367) vs '''🏥 (5326)'''<br />
* Hotel<br />
* '''Hospital'''<br />
|<br />
* Next! Who would win in a match between 🏥 and 🏨? We are about to find out.<br />
* is $6,000,000 of one and Six million of the other, am I right?<br />
|-<br />
| 🏪 (3114) vs '''🗽 (4875)'''<br />
* Convenience store<br />
* '''Statue of liberty'''<br />
|<br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 🏪 and 🗽! Facing off against each other again!<br />
|-<br />
| '''⛲ (4296)''' vs ⛺ (3483)<br />
* '''Fountain'''<br />
* Tent<br />
|<br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have ⛲ and ⛺ warming up.<br />
*If you look away for a moment, you may miss your chance to send ⛺ into the later rounds.<br />
|-<br />
| 🌁 (3488) vs '''🌃 (4354)'''<br />
* Foggy<br />
* '''Night with stars'''<br />
|<br />
* I'm looking forward to this.<br />
|-<br />
| 🏙 (2396) vs '''🌅 (6055)'''<br />
* Cityscape<br />
* '''Sunrise'''<br />
|<br />
* Next up, 🌅 and 🏙.<br />
* 🏙 is fully committed to this match.<br />
|-<br />
| 🎠 (3307) vs '''🎡 (4648)'''<br />
* Carousel horse<br />
* '''Ferris wheel'''<br />
|<br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 🎠 or 🎡?<br />
* Oh no. 🎠 fans are not going to like this match-up.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🎢 (5854)''' vs 💈 (2137)<br />
* '''Roller coaster'''<br />
* Barber pole<br />
|<br />
* Next up, 🎢 and 💈.<br />
*This one will be filled with twists and turns!<br />
|-<br />
| 🚂 (3915) vs '''🚄 (4826)'''<br />
* Steam locomotive<br />
* '''High-speed train'''<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🚂 vs. 🚄.<br />
* The future waits on no one. Let's see those hearts!<br />
|-<br />
| 🚇 (3395) vs '''🚝 (4881)'''<br />
* Metro<br />
* '''Monorail'''<br />
|<br />
* Coming to you live from the Emojidome, it's 🚇 vs. 🚝!<br />
* On the other hand, time and space are a matter of perspective, right?<br />
* I guess it was that kind of a party.<br />
|-<br />
| 🚌 (2412) vs '''🚑 (5363)'''<br />
* Bus<br />
* '''Ambulance'''<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🚌 vs. 🚑.<br />
* Uh oh, that can't be good for 🚌.<br />
|-<br />
| 🚓 (2703) vs '''🚒 (6746)'''<br />
* Police car<br />
* '''Fire engine'''<br />
|<br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
* Uh oh, that can't be good for 🚓.<br />
* This is a classic struggle.<br />
|-<br />
| 🚕 (3400) vs '''🚗 (3794)'''<br />
* Taxi<br />
* '''Automobile'''<br />
|<br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 🚕 and 🚗 warming up.<br />
* Well that's certainly something.<br />
|-<br />
| 🚘 (2922) vs '''🚜 (5363)'''<br />
* Oncoming automobile<br />
* '''Tractor'''<br />
|<br />
* Next up, 🚘 and 🚜.<br />
* This one is a real nail biter!<br />
* If 🚘 falls today, we might start hearing serious conversations about retirement.<br />
|-<br />
| 🏎 (3103) vs '''🛵 (4839)'''<br />
* Racing car<br />
* '''Motor scooter'''<br />
|<br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 🏎 and 🛵 warming up.<br />
* Well this is just fan service. And I am ok with it.<br />
|-<br />
| 🛴 (2103) vs '''🚲 (6970)'''<br />
* Scooter<br />
* '''Bicycle'''<br />
|<br />
* Next! Who would win in a match between 🚲 and 🛴? We are about to find out.<br />
* Frankly, I don't think anyone saw this coming.<br />
|-<br />
| 🛢 (3474) vs '''🛹 (4780)'''<br />
* Oil drum<br />
* '''Skateboard'''<br />
|<br />
* Next! Who would win in a match between 🛢 and 🛹? We are about to find out.<br />
* And 🛢 falls to 🛹. A suprising turn of events.<br />
|-<br />
| '''⚓ (4816)''' vs 🚨 (2389)<br />
* '''Anchor'''<br />
* Police cars revolving light<br />
|<br />
* Welcome back, it's time for ⚓ and 🚨 to go head to head.<br />
*Just to stress this again. Live commentary, folks. Completely unscripted and coming in hot.<br />
*This one is a true test of the audience today.<br />
|-<br />
| '''⛵ (4941)''' vs 🚢 (2877)<br />
* '''Sailboat'''<br />
* Ship<br />
|<br />
* Coming to you live from the Emojidome, it's ⛵ vs. 🚢!<br />
*SAIL!<br />
|-<br />
| 💺 (1776) vs '''🛩 (5947)'''<br />
* Seat<br />
* '''Small airplane'''<br />
|<br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 💺. Coming up next!<br />
|-<br />
| 🚡 (3729) vs '''🚁 (4148)'''<br />
* Aerial tramway<br />
* '''Helicopter'''<br />
|<br />
* If you're like me, you've argued over who would win head-to-head, 🚁 or 🚡.<br />
* Sometimes miracles happen.<br />
* Plenty of matches left to see. Don't go anywhere.<br />
|-<br />
| 🛰 (3655) vs '''🚀 (4861)'''<br />
* Satellite<br />
* '''Rocket'''<br />
|<br />
* Welcome back, it's time for 🚀 and 🛰 to go head to head.<br />
* 🛰 and 🚀 have been friends for a long time. I am not sure where that relationship is going to be after today.<br />
|-<br />
| ⏳ (3021) vs '''🛸 (5203)'''<br />
* Hourglass with flowing sand<br />
* '''Flying saucer'''<br />
|<br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, ⏳ or 🛸?<br />
* This one is serious, folks.<br />
|-<br />
| '''⌚ (4462)''' vs ⏰ (3619)<br />
* '''Watch'''<br />
* Alarm clock<br />
|<br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite ⌚. Coming up next!<br />
*If you believe in ⏰, now is the time to clap or whatever, because it is not looking good.<br />
*If you believe in ⏰, now is the time to clap or whatever, because it is not looking good.<br />
|-<br />
| 🌕 (3690) vs '''🌒 (4145)'''<br />
* Full moon symbol<br />
* '''Waxing crescent moon symbol'''<br />
|<br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 🌒. Coming up next!<br />
* What a shocking result!<br />
|-<br />
| 🌡 (2829) vs '''🌙 (4432)'''<br />
* Thermometer<br />
* '''Crescent moon'''<br />
|<br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 🌙 and 🌡! Facing off against each other again!<br />
|-<br />
| 🌝 (3559) vs '''🌞 (3871)'''<br />
* Full moon with face<br />
* '''Sun with face'''<br />
|<br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 🌝. Coming up next!<br />
|-<br />
| ⭐ (2063) vs '''🌌 (5731)'''<br />
* White medium star<br />
* '''Milky way'''<br />
|<br />
* Uh oh. 🌌 has had words with ⭐ before. The next match will be good.<br />
|-<br />
| '''⛈ (5487)''' vs 🌦 (1983)<br />
* '''Thunder cloud and rain'''<br />
* White sun behind cloud with rain<br />
|<br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have ⛈ and 🌦 warming up.<br />
*And 🌦 falls to ⛈. A suprising turn of events.<br />
|-<br />
| 🌨 (3646) vs '''🌪 (4139)'''<br />
* Cloud with snow<br />
* '''Cloud with tornado'''<br />
|<br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 🌨 and 🌪! Facing off against each other again!<br />
* Folks, I am just as stunned at the outcome as you.<br />
|-<br />
| 🌀 (3034) vs '''🌈 (7070)'''<br />
* Cyclone<br />
* '''Rainbow'''<br />
|<br />
* Next! Who would win in a match between 🌀 and 🌈? We are about to find out.<br />
|-<br />
| ☂ (2117) vs '''⚡ (5125)'''<br />
* Umbrella<br />
* '''High voltage sign'''<br />
|<br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite ☂. Coming up next!<br />
|-<br />
| '''☄ (4988)''' vs ⛄ (2602)<br />
* '''Comet'''<br />
* Snowman without snow<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's ☄ vs. ⛄.<br />
*Another curious match-up with significant implications on how the rest of the day will go.<br />
|-<br />
| 🌊 (3356) vs '''🔥 (5286)'''<br />
* Water wave<br />
* '''Fire'''<br />
|<br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
* I am not sure if 🌊 was prepared for today.<br />
|-<br />
| 🎆 (3284) vs '''🎃 (4418)'''<br />
* Fireworks<br />
* '''Jack-o-lantern'''<br />
|<br />
* If you're like me, you've argued over who would win head-to-head, 🎃 or 🎆.<br />
* This is a mystery.<br />
|-<br />
| 🎇 (2770) vs '''🧨 (4066)'''<br />
* Firework sparkler<br />
* '''Firecracker'''<br />
|<br />
* Coming to you live from the Emojidome, it's 🎇 vs. 🧨!<br />
* Get ready for an explosive result!<br />
|-<br />
| 🎈 (2619) vs '''🎉 (4673)'''<br />
* Balloon<br />
* '''Party popper'''<br />
|<br />
* I'm looking forward to this.<br />
* I guess it was that kind of a party.<br />
|-<br />
| 🎊 (2250) vs '''🎁 (4203)'''<br />
* Confetti ball<br />
* '''Wrapped present'''<br />
|<br />
* Welcome back, it's time for 🎁 and 🎊 to go head to head.<br />
* This one was a mess.<br />
|-<br />
| 🎟 (2054) vs '''🏆 (4558)'''<br />
* Admission tickets<br />
* '''Trophy'''<br />
|<br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 🎟 and 🏆 warming up.<br />
* Truly a dizzying win.<br />
|-<br />
| ⚽ (3116) vs '''🏅 (4383)'''<br />
* Soccer ball<br />
* '''Sports medal'''<br />
|<br />
* Have at it, ⚽ and 🏅!<br />
* A dominant performance by 🏅.<br />
|-<br />
| '''⚾ (5479)''' vs 🥎 (2335)<br />
* '''Baseball'''<br />
* Softball<br />
|<br />
* Uh oh. 🥎 has had words with ⚾ before. The next match will be good.<br />
*Uhhhh. I can't tell the difference here, can you?<br />
|-<br />
| 🏐 (3742) vs '''🏀 (4148)'''<br />
* Volleyball<br />
* '''Basketball and hoop'''<br />
|<br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
* The ball is round, everything else is negotiable.<br />
|-<br />
| 🏈 (2932) vs '''🎾 (6003)'''<br />
* American football<br />
* '''Tennis racquet and ball'''<br />
|<br />
* Next up, 🎾 and 🏈.<br />
* The ball is round ...er .... well .... uh.<br />
|-<br />
| 🎳 (4071) vs '''🥏 (4561)'''<br />
* Bowling<br />
* '''Flying disc'''<br />
|<br />
* We will be right back with 🎳 vs. 🥏!<br />
* I had BOWLING BALL in my March Madness bracket. I did not do well.<br />
* Ok. Now this is just ridiculous.<br />
|-<br />
| 🏑 (2742) vs '''🏏 (3810)'''<br />
* Field hockey stick and ball<br />
* '''Cricket bat and ball'''<br />
|<br />
* We will be right back with 🏏 vs. 🏑!<br />
|-<br />
| '''🏒 (5926)''' vs 🥍 (2291)<br />
* '''Ice hockey stick and puck'''<br />
* Lacrosse stick and ball<br />
|<br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
*Floor stick vs. sky stick—who will win?<br />
|-<br />
| '''🏓 (5858)''' vs 🥊 (2203)<br />
* '''Table tennis paddle and ball'''<br />
* Boxing glove<br />
|<br />
* Coming to you live from the Emojidome, it's 🏓 vs. 🥊!<br />
|-<br />
| ⛸ (2465) vs '''🛷 (4552)'''<br />
* Ice skate<br />
* '''Sled'''<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's ⛸ vs. 🛷.<br />
* Foot sled vs. regular sled!<br />
|-<br />
| 🎯 (1539) vs '''🥌 (1873)'''<br />
* Direct hit<br />
* '''Curling stone'''<br />
|<br />
* Next! Who would win in a match between 🎯 and 🥌? We are about to find out.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🎮 (6798)''' vs 🔮 (2657)<br />
* '''Video game'''<br />
* Crystal ball<br />
|<br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
|-<br />
| 🎭 (2137) vs '''🎲 (4868)'''<br />
* Performing arts<br />
* '''Game die'''<br />
|<br />
* If you're like me, you've argued over who would win head-to-head, 🎭 or 🎲.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🎨 (4172)''' vs 🧶 (2994)<br />
* '''Artist palette'''<br />
* Ball of yarn<br />
|<br />
* Uh oh. 🧶 has had words with 🎨 before. The next match will be good.<br />
*A lot of cats clicking on screens right now.<br />
|-<br />
| '''👓 (4206)''' vs 🥽 (3986)<br />
* '''Eyeglasses'''<br />
* Goggles<br />
|<br />
* Have at it, 👓 and 🥽!<br />
*Glasses vs. Science Glasses!<br />
|-<br />
| 👛 (1029) vs '''🧦 (5468)'''<br />
* Purse<br />
* '''Socks'''<br />
|<br />
* Have at it, 👛 and 🧦!<br />
|-<br />
| '''🎒 (3516)''' vs 👟 (2756)<br />
* '''School satchel'''<br />
* Athletic shoe<br />
|<br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 🎒 and 👟 warming up.<br />
*Time for school! Which one will you bring?<br />
|-<br />
| 👠 (1627) vs '''👑 (5203)'''<br />
* High-heeled shoe<br />
* '''Crown'''<br />
|<br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🎩 (5611)''' vs 💄 (1719)<br />
* '''Top hat'''<br />
* Lipstick<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🎩 vs. 💄.<br />
*The fanciest matchup!<br />
|-<br />
| 💍 (1284) vs '''💎 (5973)'''<br />
* Ring<br />
* '''Gem stone'''<br />
|<br />
* Will it be 💍 or 💎? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
* If you like the one on the right, put a ring on it!<br />
|-<br />
| 🎤 (1728) vs '''🎵 (5239)'''<br />
* Microphone<br />
* '''Musical note'''<br />
|<br />
* On deck, we have 🎤 and 🎵.<br />
* :notes::notes::notes:<br />
* Music!<br />
|-<br />
| '''🎷 (4934)''' vs 📻 (2021)<br />
* '''Saxophone'''<br />
* Radio<br />
|<br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 🎷 and 📻 warming up.<br />
*The radio and the saxophone are having a music fight. Who can be louder?<br />
|-<br />
| 🎺 (3427) vs '''🎸 (4388)'''<br />
* Trumpet<br />
* '''Guitar'''<br />
|<br />
* Uh oh. 🎺 has had words with 🎸 before. The next match will be good.<br />
* Truly, this is a day that will live in the memories of everyone here.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🎻 (4450)''' vs 🥁 (2857)<br />
* '''Violin'''<br />
* Drum with drumsticks<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🎻 vs. 🥁.<br />
*You can hit either one with drumsticks, technically.<br />
|-<br />
| 📱 (3837) vs '''📞 (3980)'''<br />
* Mobile phone<br />
* '''Telephone receiver'''<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 📞 vs. 📱.<br />
* 📞 is fully committed to this match.<br />
|-<br />
| 📠 (2877) vs '''📟 (3262)'''<br />
* Fax machine<br />
* '''Pager'''<br />
|<br />
* Uh oh. 📠 has had words with 📟 before. The next match will be good.<br />
* This one is a toss-up in my book, folks.<br />
* Only 15% of the people voting recognize either of these antique devices.<br />
|-<br />
| 🔋 (2676) vs '''💻 (4418)'''<br />
* Battery<br />
* '''Personal computer'''<br />
|<br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
* I spoke with 💻 before the match today, and they had this to say: 💻.<br />
* Sparks fly!<br />
|-<br />
| '''⌨ (5293)''' vs 🖨 (1909)<br />
* '''Keyboard'''<br />
* Printer<br />
|<br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
*A keyboard is just a reverse printer.<br />
|-<br />
| 🖱 (2661) vs '''💾 (6308)'''<br />
* Three button mouse<br />
* '''Floppy disk'''<br />
|<br />
* I'm looking forward to this.<br />
* Yes, this is live commentary.<br />
* This one is a mystery to me, folks.<br />
|-<br />
| 📀 (2585) vs '''🧮 (5282)'''<br />
* Dvd<br />
* '''Abacus'''<br />
|<br />
* Will it be 📀 or 🧮? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
|-<br />
| 📺 (2752) vs '''📷 (4543)'''<br />
* Television<br />
* '''Camera'''<br />
|<br />
* Next up, 📷 and 📺.<br />
* 📷 certainly has its work cut out for it going up agaist 📺.<br />
* The camera comes with a tiny TV on the back, which hardly seems fair.<br />
|-<br />
| 📼 (3648) vs '''🔎 (3663)'''<br />
* Videocassette<br />
* '''Right-pointing magnifying glass'''<br />
|<br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 📼 or 🔎?<br />
* 🔎 has every reason to be concerned about this match-up.<br />
* These two can combine for a very unsatisfying movie-watching experience.<br />
|-<br />
| 🕯 (3910) vs '''💡 (4178)'''<br />
* Candle<br />
* '''Electric light bulb'''<br />
|<br />
* Welcome back, it's time for 💡 and 🕯 to go head to head.<br />
* I'm so happy to see 💡 here, after 🧠 didn't make it.<br />
* Some would argue this one was settled in the 1800s.<br />
|-<br />
| 🔦 (1663) vs '''📚 (5960)'''<br />
* Electric torch<br />
* '''Books'''<br />
|<br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 📚 and 🔦! Facing off against each other again!<br />
* The flashlight illuminates the pages, but it only makes the books stronger!<br />
|-<br />
| 📰 (2524) vs '''📜 (5491)'''<br />
* Newspaper<br />
* '''Scroll'''<br />
|<br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 📜. Coming up next!<br />
* I thought we had seen everything, but look at 📜 go! Amazing!<br />
* A faceoff between two types of ancient scrolls.<br />
|-<br />
| 💳 (2655) vs '''💰 (5595)'''<br />
* Credit card<br />
* '''Money bag'''<br />
|<br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 💰 and 💳! Facing off against each other again!<br />
|-<br />
| 📬 (3218) vs '''📦 (3350)'''<br />
* Open mailbox with raised flag<br />
* '''Package'''<br />
|<br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 📦 and 📬 warming up.<br />
* Will the package fit in the mailbox? Vote now!<br />
|-<br />
| 🗳 (2403) vs '''🖋 (4691)'''<br />
* Ballot box with ballot<br />
* '''Lower left fountain pen'''<br />
|<br />
* Welcome back, it's time for 🖋 and 🗳 to go head to head.<br />
* The winner of this bout will go on to face The Sword.<br />
* The winner of this bout will go on to face The Sword. Who’s mightier?<br />
|-<br />
| 🖌 (3530) vs '''🖍 (3897)'''<br />
* Lower left paintbrush<br />
* '''Lower left crayon'''<br />
|<br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 🖌 and 🖍! Facing off against each other again!<br />
* If 🖍 falls today, we might start hearing serious conversations about retirement.<br />
* Paintbrush (hard mode) vs. Paintbrush (easy mode)<br />
|-<br />
| 💼 (2264) vs '''📅 (3884)'''<br />
* Briefcase<br />
* '''Calendar'''<br />
|<br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
* You have to wonder if 💼 even wanted to be here today.<br />
|-<br />
| 🗒 (2430) vs '''📊 (4726)'''<br />
* Spiral note pad<br />
* '''Bar chart'''<br />
|<br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 📊 vs. 🗒.<br />
* *checks notes* Yikes.<br />
|-<br />
| 📌 (2799) vs '''📎 (4796)'''<br />
* Pushpin<br />
* '''Paperclip'''<br />
|<br />
* Uh oh. 📎 has had words with 📌 before. The next match will be good.<br />
* I am excited about this match. This might be my favorite early match so far.<br />
|-<br />
| '''✂ (3762)''' vs 🗑 (2409)<br />
* '''Black scissors'''<br />
* Wastebasket<br />
|<br />
* We will be right back with ✂ vs. 🗑!<br />
*This is a day that ✂ has been anticipating for a long time.<br />
|-<br />
| 🔒 (2827) vs '''🗝 (5214)'''<br />
* Lock<br />
* '''Old key'''<br />
|<br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
* Finally, an answer to the classic question.<br />
|-<br />
| 🔨 (3350) vs '''🗡 (5042)'''<br />
* Hammer<br />
* '''Dagger knife'''<br />
|<br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
* Between the two of these, you can cover almost any home improvement situation.<br />
|-<br />
| '''⚔ (5352)''' vs 🔫 (3734)<br />
* '''Crossed swords'''<br />
* Pistol<br />
|<br />
* I'm looking forward to this.<br />
*Pew pew pew!<br />
*[sword noises]<br />
|-<br />
| '''🏹 (4931)''' vs 🛡 (2629)<br />
* '''Bow and arrow'''<br />
* Shield<br />
|<br />
* Coming to you live from the Emojidome, it's 🏹 vs. 🛡!<br />
*Where is the Master Sword when you need it?<br />
*In this match, we see Legolas take on Captain America.<br />
|-<br />
| 🗜 (3393) vs '''🔧 (3481)'''<br />
* Compression<br />
* '''Wrench'''<br />
|<br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 🔧 and 🗜 warming up.<br />
* [drops pretense of impartiality] VOTE C clamp!<br />
|-<br />
| '''⚖ (4961)''' vs 🧰 (1868)<br />
* '''Scales'''<br />
* Toolbox<br />
|<br />
* Coming to you live from the Emojidome, it's ⚖ vs. 🧰!<br />
*I know some of you out there had a challenging commute. Hopefully today's matches will improve your day.<br />
*If there’s any justice in the world, the one on the left will win.<br />
|-<br />
| 🧪 (4134) vs '''🧲 (4519)'''<br />
* Test tube<br />
* '''Magnet'''<br />
|<br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 🧪 or 🧲?<br />
* Do you want super-powers? Because this is how you get super-powers!<br />
|-<br />
| 🔬 (2587) vs '''🧬 (5487)'''<br />
* Microscope<br />
* '''DNA double helix'''<br />
|<br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
* Do you want super-science? Because this is how you get super-science!<br />
|-<br />
| 📡 (3609) vs '''🔭 (4607)'''<br />
* Satellite antenna<br />
* '''Telescope'''<br />
|<br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 📡. Coming up next!<br />
* This one is a real nail biter!<br />
|-<br />
| 🚿 (3933) vs '''🚽 (4031)'''<br />
* Shower<br />
* '''Toilet'''<br />
|<br />
* Next up, 🚽 and 🚿.<br />
* Combine these to save time in the morning!<br />
|-<br />
| '''🛁 (4131)''' vs 🧷 (2740)<br />
* '''Bathtub'''<br />
* Safety pin<br />
|<br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 🛁. Coming up next!<br />
*Well that just doesn't seem fair.<br />
|-<br />
| 🧹 (2655) vs '''🧻 (5118)'''<br />
* Broom<br />
* '''Roll of paper'''<br />
|<br />
* Will it be 🧹 or 🧻? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
|-<br />
| '''⚰ (4651)''' vs 🧯 (4009)<br />
* '''Coffin'''<br />
* Fire extinguisher<br />
|<br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite ⚰. Coming up next!<br />
*You should have one of these handy in your house, although I guess which one is up to you.<br />
|-<br />
| 🆗 (5326) vs '''🆒 (5506)'''<br />
* Squared OK<br />
* '''Squared COOL'''<br />
|<br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 🆒 and 🆗 warming up.<br />
* Here it is, the final match before the second round!<br />
* At least this one is going to be over quickly.<br />
* Here it is, the final match before the second round!<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==== Round 2====<br />
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"<br />
|-<br />
! Competitors and score !! Commentary<br />
|-<br />
| 😁 (5968) vs '''😅 (9223)''' || <br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 😁 vs. 😅.<br />
* What a shocking result!<br />
* Welcome to round 2!<br />
* Welcome to round 2! These rounds will be a little slower.<br />
* Welcome to round 2!<br />
|-<br />
| '''🙃 (12578)''' vs 🤣 (5892) || <br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 🙃 or 🤣?<br />
*Round two is serious business, folks.<br />
*Rolling-on-the-floor-laughing is a top seed, but the upside-down smiley has a certain intriguing ambiguity. Possible upset?<br />
|-<br />
| 😇 (4117) vs '''😉 (10595)''' || <br />
* Uh oh. 😉 has had words with 😇 before. The next match will be good.<br />
* Is it winking *at* the halo? Or is it winking at me?<br />
* I didn't remember 😉 qualifying.<br />
|-<br />
| 😘 (6659) vs '''😍 (8816)''' || <br />
* On deck, we have 😍 and 😘.<br />
* I expect to see a lot of hearts on the page for this one.<br />
|-<br />
| 😙 (2284) vs '''😛 (11620)''' || <br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 😙 and 😛! Facing off against each other again!<br />
* This one is a toss-up in my book, folks.<br />
* Don’t you hate it when one of you sticks out your tongue right as the other goes for the kiss?<br />
* Close one!<br />
|-<br />
| 😝 (6304) vs '''😜 (7167)''' || <br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 😜. Coming up next!<br />
|-<br />
| 🤭 (1796) vs '''🤔 (15162)''' || <br />
* Will it be 🤔 or 🤭? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
* You know what the correct answer is here.<br />
|-<br />
| 😑 (5943) vs '''🤨 (9223)''' || <br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 😑. Coming up next!<br />
* 😑 certainly has its work cut out for it going up agaist 🤨.<br />
|-<br />
| 🙄 (5122) vs '''😏 (8486)''' || <br />
* Welcome back, it's time for 😏 and 🙄 to go head to head.<br />
* Why is the one on the right looking at me like that?<br />
|-<br />
| 😔 (4101) vs '''😬 (8574)''' || <br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 😔 or 😬?<br />
* I don’t think either competitor wants to win this round.<br />
* See? That's how you should feel. Starting at a humble live commentator doing live commentary.<br />
|-<br />
| '''😴 (8582)''' vs 🤒 (2281) || <br />
* Coming to you live from the Emojidome, it's 😴 vs. 🤒!<br />
*Mondays, am I right?<br />
*Two big moods enter, one leaves.<br />
|-<br />
| 🤕 (5579) vs '''🤮 (8136)''' || <br />
* On deck, we have 🤕 and 🤮.<br />
* I don't feel so good...<br />
* Really leaving it all on the floor with this one.<br />
|-<br />
| 🥴 (5548) vs '''🥶 (7121)''' || <br />
* On deck, we have 🥴 and 🥶.<br />
* Ice to see you.<br />
* I think they might be trying to ice the kicker!<br />
|-<br />
| '''😎 (8912)''' vs 🤠 (5576) || <br />
* Have at it, 😎 and 🤠!<br />
*Howdy, I’m the sheriff of cool!<br />
|-<br />
| 😕 (4748) vs '''😮 (7861)''' || <br />
* I'm looking forward to this.<br />
* An unexpected pairing! This should be good.<br />
* I mean ... you can *see* the bracket so it isn't completely unexpected.<br />
|-<br />
| 😳 (5552) vs '''😯 (6583)''' || <br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 😯 and 😳! Facing off against each other again!<br />
* Wasn't 😯 in the last match?<br />
|-<br />
| 😰 (2756) vs '''😭 (9508)''' || <br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
* 😰 is going to have to dig deep if they want to continue.<br />
|-<br />
| 😣 (2674) vs '''😱 (10403)''' || <br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
* It doesn't get more real than this, folks.<br />
|-<br />
| 😓 (4790) vs '''😤 (7053)''' || <br />
* Welcome back, it's time for 😓 and 😤 to go head to head.<br />
* Nice. Nice nice nice nice.<br />
|-<br />
| 😡 (4209) vs '''😈 (9437)''' || <br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 😈 or 😡?<br />
* This one is a toss-up in my book, folks.<br />
|-<br />
| 💩 (7681) vs '''💀 (12905)''' || <br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 💀 vs. 💩.<br />
* This one is going to cause some arguments.<br />
|-<br />
| 👽 (4888) vs '''👾 (9937)''' || <br />
* I'm looking forward to this.<br />
* Space invaders: Analog vs. Digital<br />
|-<br />
| 😻 (5800) vs '''😺 (6451)''' || <br />
* Coming to you live from the Emojidome, it's 😺 vs. 😻!<br />
* I love cats. I love every kind of cat.<br />
|-<br />
| 😼 (4767) vs '''🙀 (7648)''' || <br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
* Every. Kind. Of. Cat.<br />
* Did someone say "V-E-T?"<br />
|-<br />
| 😾 (5464) vs '''💖 (7037)''' || <br />
* Next up, 💖 and 😾.<br />
* 😾 looks pretty upset.<br />
|-<br />
| ❤ (7490) vs '''💯 (7881)''' || <br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite ❤. Coming up next!<br />
* Two crowd-pleasers here, folks!<br />
* The score is Love-100<br />
|-<br />
| 💣 (6379) vs '''💦 (7343)''' || <br />
* Next up, 💣 and 💦.<br />
* From where I am standing 💦 has a commanding grip on this bracket.<br />
* Well that's certainly something.<br />
* I know which one I would choose, but I don't have time to vote!<br />
|-<br />
| '''👍 (7610)''' vs 🤘 (6417) || <br />
* On deck, we have 👍 and 🤘.<br />
*This is going well, right? This is working for you?<br />
|-<br />
| '''👊 (8368)''' vs 🦵 (3323) || <br />
* Next up, 👊 and 🦵.<br />
*Kickpuncher or punchkicker?<br />
|-<br />
| 👀 (6253) vs '''🧠 (6412)''' || <br />
* If you're like me, you've argued over who would win head-to-head, 👀 or 🧠.<br />
* Whoever wins this one gets punched by the fist emoji in the next round. Choose wisely.<br />
* Whoever wins this one gets punched by the fist emoji in the next round. Choose wisely.<br />
|-<br />
| 👅 (4726) vs '''🤦 (7496)''' || <br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 👅 or 🤦?<br />
* Look, we are a little disappointed, too.<br />
|-<br />
| 👩🚀 (5246) vs '''👩🔬 (7971)''' || <br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
* So, what do you want to be when you grow up?<br />
* Neither of these professions go well with concussions.<br />
|-<br />
| 🧛 (2269) vs '''🧙 (13138)''' || <br />
* We will be right back with 🧙 vs. 🧛!<br />
* Science?<br />
|-<br />
| '''🚶 (6112)''' vs 🧟 (6020) || <br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
*Oh no. 🚶 fans are not going to like this match-up.<br />
*Walk for your lives!<br />
|-<br />
| 🕴 (5070) vs '''💃 (7283)''' || <br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 💃. Coming up next!<br />
* The Matrix is TWENTY YEARS OLD<br />
* The Matrix is *TWENTY* *YEARS* *OLD*<br />
|-<br />
| ⛷ (4388) vs '''🤺 (7484)''' || <br />
* On deck, we have ⛷ and 🤺.<br />
* A slippery slope. En guard!<br />
* The IOC has rejected this combination sport.<br />
|-<br />
| 🏊 (4139) vs '''🏄 (5491)''' || <br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🏄 vs. 🏊.<br />
* This one, too.<br />
|-<br />
| 🚴 (4082) vs '''🚵 (7642)''' || <br />
* Coming to you live from the Emojidome, it's 🚴 vs. 🚵!<br />
* Why is 🚵 stuck in a box?<br />
|-<br />
| 🛀 (4042) vs '''🐒 (6948)''' || <br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🐒 vs. 🛀.<br />
* Uh-oh.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐶 (5214) vs '''🦊 (12396)''' || <br />
* We will be right back with 🐶 vs. 🦊!<br />
* Again, we are getting a lot of questions on this today. This is live commentary, folks.<br />
* 12/10 Both good doggos.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐱 (5182) vs '''🐈 (7578)''' || <br />
* We will be right back with 🐈 vs. 🐱!<br />
* EVERY. CAT.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐎 (4944) vs '''🐅 (9398)''' || <br />
* Have at it, 🐅 and 🐎!<br />
* If it were up to me, the last bracket would have eight cats and then just stop there with eight winners.<br />
|-<br />
| 🦌 (5619) vs '''🦄 (10318)''' || <br />
* Have at it, 🦄 and 🦌!<br />
* The IOC had some words about this pairing as well<br />
|-<br />
| 🐷 (5341) vs '''🐏 (8541)''' || <br />
* Welcome back, it's time for 🐏 and 🐷 to go head to head.<br />
* Or side to head, or whatever. VOTE!<br />
* That was 🐷's to give away and they did.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐐 (6038) vs '''🦒 (8345)''' || <br />
* I'm looking forward to this.<br />
* Yet more Very good dogs<br />
|-<br />
| '''🐘 (11342)''' vs 🦛 (3614) || <br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
*Another curious match-up with significant implications on how the rest of the day will go.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐹 (3660) vs '''🐿 (10713)''' || <br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 🐹 and 🐿! Facing off against each other again!<br />
* We are incredibly excited to see so many fans here.<br />
* Finally, the long-awaited showdown between Alvin and the Chipmunks and the Hamster Dance.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐨 (5171) vs '''🦔 (10929)''' || <br />
* On deck, we have 🐨 and 🦔.<br />
* It doesn't get more real than this, folks.<br />
* Tree pocket cat vs. spiky cat<br />
|-<br />
| 🦘 (6954) vs '''🦡 (7727)''' || <br />
* Will it be 🦘 or 🦡? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
* If you believe in 🦘, now is the time to clap or whatever, because it is not looking good.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐣 (5846) vs '''🐧 (12239)''' || <br />
* We will be right back with 🐣 vs. 🐧!<br />
* Don't count 🐣 out yet. They may have a contingent of fans just tuning in to battle.<br />
* I thought we had seen everything, but look at 🐧 go! Amazing!<br />
* A generational battle.<br />
|-<br />
| 🦆 (6558) vs '''🦉 (9674)''' || <br />
* Will it be 🦆 or 🦉? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
* You just know that 🦆 is thinking about 🏥 right now.<br />
* Duck... duck... duck... duck... owl!<br />
|-<br />
| '''🐢 (11594)''' vs 🦜 (3957) || <br />
* Uh oh. 🦜 has had words with 🐢 before. The next match will be good.<br />
*Sometimes miracles happen.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐍 (5264) vs '''🐉 (6954)''' || <br />
* Have at it, 🐉 and 🐍!<br />
* How spiky do you like your sneks?<br />
* Snake is currently losing to Fanfiction Snake.<br />
* Snake is losing to Snake Fanfiction<br />
|-<br />
| 🐬 (7916) vs '''🐳 (9398)''' || <br />
* On deck, we have 🐬 and 🐳.<br />
* It's the battle of the blowholes!<br />
|-<br />
| '''🐙 (8799)''' vs 🦈 (3695) || <br />
* Next up, 🐙 and 🦈.<br />
*This one is potentially a battle between two mimic octopuses.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐛 (5330) vs '''🦋 (9176)''' || <br />
* On deck, we have 🐛 and 🦋.<br />
* Time waits for no one.<br />
* Another generational struggle.<br />
|-<br />
| 🕷 (5714) vs '''🐝 (12151)''' || <br />
* We will be right back with 🐝 vs. 🕷!<br />
* 🕷 and 🐝 have been friends for a long time. I am not sure where that relationship is going to be after today.<br />
|-<br />
| 🌻 (6639) vs '''🦠 (10448)''' || <br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
* You *knwo* what to do, folks.<br />
* Oh no. 🦠 fans are not going to like this match-up.<br />
* Fresh off its victory over the aliens in War of the Worlds…<br />
|-<br />
| 🌲 (8099) vs '''🌵 (8194)''' || <br />
* Will it be 🌲 or 🌵? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
* DISAPPOINTED!<br />
* both are surprisingly spiky!<br />
* This is the closest battle in the bracket so far.<br />
|-<br />
| 🍇 (6548) vs '''🍉 (8681)''' || <br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
* sweet!<br />
|-<br />
| 🍎 (5411) vs '''🍍 (10586)''' || <br />
* Have at it, 🍍 and 🍎!<br />
* Regular apple versus Pine’s Apple<br />
* Fancy apple holds a clear lead over Regular Apple.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🍓 (8877)''' vs 🥝 (7540) || <br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 🍓 or 🥝?<br />
*Seeds: Inside or Out?<br />
*Outside: Seeds or Hair?<br />
|-<br />
| 🥔 (7800) vs '''🥑 (9580)''' || <br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 🥑 and 🥔 warming up.<br />
* Fun fact: Several different analyses confirm baby boomers like avocados more than millennials!<br />
|-<br />
| '''🌶 (8714)''' vs 🥒 (6360) || <br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 🌶. Coming up next!<br />
*I know some very invested audience members for this one.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🍄 (8929)''' vs 🥜 (5311) || <br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 🍄. Coming up next!<br />
*It's peanut butter mushroom time!<br />
|-<br />
| 🥨 (7003) vs '''🥐 (9204)''' || <br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 🥐 and 🥨 warming up.<br />
* Buttery curved bread: extra-buttery or extra-curved?<br />
|-<br />
| 🥞 (7881) vs '''🧀 (9457)''' || <br />
* Will it be 🥞 or 🧀? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
* I wonder what cheesy pancakes are like.<br />
|-<br />
| 🍔 (5917) vs '''🍕 (11407)''' || <br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 🍔 and 🍕! Facing off against each other again!<br />
* Friday Night Food Fight!<br />
|-<br />
| 🌮 (7714) vs '''🌯 (8885)''' || <br />
* Coming to you live from the Emojidome, it's 🌮 vs. 🌯!<br />
* ………<br />
* . . . . . .<br />
|-<br />
| 🍿 (7104) vs '''🍳 (8128)''' || <br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 🍳. Coming up next!<br />
* The saltiest and butteriest matchup yet<br />
|-<br />
| 🍱 (4259) vs '''🍣 (7578)''' || <br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
* Hungry again. Wasn't it just lunch time?<br />
* This part of the bracket has been *wild*<br />
* Sushi takes the lead!<br />
|-<br />
| 🥟 (5804) vs '''🦞 (7681)''' || <br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
* A delicious dumpling vs some kind of large spider<br />
|-<br />
| 🍨 (7349) vs '''🦑 (7834)''' || <br />
* If you're like me, you've argued over who would win head-to-head, 🍨 or 🦑.<br />
* I think there’s another squid hiding in the ice cream bowl.<br />
|-<br />
| 🎂 (4175) vs '''🍩 (8454)''' || <br />
* If you're like me, you've argued over who would win head-to-head, 🍩 or 🎂.<br />
|-<br />
| 🍯 (4787) vs '''🍫 (7565)''' || <br />
* Next! Who would win in a match between 🍫 and 🍯? We are about to find out.<br />
* The beans vs. the bees!<br />
|-<br />
| '''☕ (7674)''' vs 🥛 (5344) || <br />
* Coming to you live from the Emojidome, it's ☕ vs. 🥛!<br />
*Would you like some coffee with your milk?<br />
|-<br />
| 🍹 (4901) vs '''🍺 (7490)''' || <br />
* Uh oh. 🍺 has had words with 🍹 before. The next match will be good.<br />
* how drunk do you want to get?<br />
* One small glass of beer with an umbrella, please.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🔪 (7787)''' vs 🥢 (5468) || <br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
*The two most popular ways to eat food<br />
|-<br />
| '''🌋 (8706)''' vs 🧭 (4079) || <br />
* I'm looking forward to this.<br />
*That compass is not leading you in a good direction.<br />
|-<br />
| 🏝 (5445) vs '''🏕 (8722)''' || <br />
* Coming to you live from the Emojidome, it's 🏕 vs. 🏝!<br />
|-<br />
| 🏠 (5722) vs '''🏗 (5804)''' || <br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 🏗 and 🏠! Facing off against each other again!<br />
* It's building vs. building!<br />
|-<br />
| '''🏥 (7053)''' vs 🗽 (5981) || <br />
* We will be right back with 🏥 vs. 🗽!<br />
|-<br />
| ⛲ (5498) vs '''🌃 (6519)''' || <br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite ⛲. Coming up next!<br />
|-<br />
| 🎡 (3212) vs '''🌅 (8000)''' || <br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 🌅 and 🎡! Facing off against each other again!<br />
|-<br />
| 🎢 (4701) vs '''🚄 (7014)''' || <br />
* We will be right back with 🎢 vs. 🚄!<br />
* Do you like your fast trains flat, or up-and-down?<br />
|-<br />
| 🚑 (4901) vs '''🚝 (7087)''' || <br />
* On deck, we have 🚑 and 🚝.<br />
|-<br />
| 🚗 (2707) vs '''🚒 (8391)''' || <br />
* Will it be 🚒 or 🚗? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
|-<br />
| 🛵 (5344) vs '''🚜 (6475)''' || <br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 🚜 or 🛵?<br />
* Both of these are popular rideshare vehicles.<br />
|-<br />
| 🛹 (3509) vs '''🚲 (9447)''' || <br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🚲 vs. 🛹.<br />
* next wave of rideshare vehicles.<br />
|-<br />
| '''⚓ (6608)''' vs ⛵ (6431) || <br />
* Welcome back, it's time for ⚓ and ⛵ to go head to head.<br />
*Should I stay or should I go?<br />
|-<br />
| 🛩 (5694) vs '''🚁 (6529)''' || <br />
* Will it be 🚁 or 🛩? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
* Here in the future, flying cars are common!<br />
|-<br />
| 🚀 (7266) vs '''🛸 (14945)''' || <br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🚀 vs. 🛸.<br />
* IFO vs UFO<br />
|-<br />
| ⌚ (6623) vs '''🌒 (7404)''' || <br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's ⌚ vs. 🌒.<br />
* Waxing crescent already? I must be running slow.<br />
|-<br />
| 🌙 (8921) vs '''🌞 (15703)''' || <br />
* Welcome back, it's time for 🌙 and 🌞 to go head to head.<br />
* Two contenders as different as night and day.<br />
* In five billion years, this battle will play out in real life with the same result.<br />
|-<br />
| ⛈ (9358) vs '''🌌 (17038)''' || <br />
* I'm looking forward to this.<br />
* Astronomers are hammering the button on the right as hard as they can.<br />
|-<br />
| 🌪 (9848) vs '''🌈 (11326)''' || <br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 🌈. Coming up next!<br />
* The Wizard Of Oz (1938)<br />
* The Wizard Of Oz (1939)<br />
|-<br />
| '''☄ (8014)''' vs ⚡ (7597) || <br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
*The two leading theories for what killed the dinosaurs: A comet strike, or Zeus.<br />
*Boom!<br />
|-<br />
| 🎃 (4112) vs '''🔥 (10407)''' || <br />
* If you're like me, you've argued over who would win head-to-head, 🎃 or 🔥.<br />
|-<br />
| 🎉 (5422) vs '''🧨 (18509)''' || <br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
* How emphatic do you like your celebrations?<br />
|-<br />
| 🏆 (5564) vs '''🎁 (6499)''' || <br />
* Have at it, 🎁 and 🏆!<br />
|-<br />
| ⚾ (5404) vs '''🏅 (7337)''' || <br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
* Sports fact: If you hit a medal-winner with a ball, you take their title.<br />
|-<br />
| 🎾 (6117) vs '''🏀 (6171)''' || <br />
* We will be right back with 🎾 vs. 🏀!<br />
* Sports fact: If you hit a medal-winner with a ball, you take the medal (but they take first base.)<br />
* Sports showdowns: Bouncy edition<br />
* Would you rather play basketball with a tennis ball, or tennis with a basketball?<br />
|-<br />
| 🏏 (7343) vs '''🥏 (7546)''' || <br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 🏏. Coming up next!<br />
|-<br />
| 🏒 (8078) vs '''🏓 (8739)''' || <br />
* Uh oh. 🏓 has had words with 🏒 before. The next match will be good.<br />
|-<br />
| 🛷 (7104) vs '''🥌 (7733)''' || <br />
* Have at it, 🛷 and 🥌!<br />
|-<br />
| 🎲 (11931) vs '''🎮 (14739)''' || <br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🎮 vs. 🎲.<br />
* Digital or analog?<br />
* Devices or, uh, dices?<br />
|-<br />
| '''🎨 (5374)''' vs 👓 (4988) || <br />
* We will be right back with 🎨 vs. 👓!<br />
*two ways to add color to your world<br />
|-<br />
| '''🎒 (4961)''' vs 🧦 (4819) || <br />
* We will be right back with 🎒 vs. 🧦!<br />
*You can put your feet in either of these! No one can stop you.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🎩 (23265)''' vs 👑 (19274) || <br />
* Will it be 🎩 or 👑? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
*Hats for fancy people!<br />
|-<br />
| '''🎵 (17951)''' vs 💎 (9378) || <br />
* We will be right back with 🎵 vs. 💎!<br />
*C-notes<br />
|-<br />
| 🎷 (6954) vs '''🎸 (10692)''' || <br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🎷 vs. 🎸.<br />
* I've never heard the dueling banjos played like this!<br />
|-<br />
| '''🎻 (11568)''' vs 📞 (8172) || <br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🎻 vs. 📞.<br />
*Can I put you on hold? I can't hang onto both of these with my chin<br />
|-<br />
| 💻 (7355) vs '''📟 (9348)''' || <br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 💻 and 📟! Facing off against each other again!<br />
* Over time, computers have gotten steadily smaller.<br />
|-<br />
| ⌨ (3372) vs '''💾 (8550)''' || <br />
* I'm looking forward to this.<br />
* fun fact: it would take the average person 20 years to type an entire floppy disk<br />
|-<br />
| 📷 (10623) vs '''🧮 (12401)''' || <br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
|-<br />
| 🔎 (7902) vs '''💡 (12706)''' || <br />
* On deck, we have 💡 and 🔎.<br />
* it's mostly clicks either way. <br />
* Both equally bad for bugs. <br />
|-<br />
| 📜 (4020) vs '''📚 (32459)''' || <br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
* Turning pages: hot new technology, or too much complication?<br />
|-<br />
| 💰 (5378) vs '''📦 (17957)''' || <br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
* Let's be real. Neither contain actual money. <br />
|-<br />
| 🖋 (6166) vs '''🖍 (42115)''' || <br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 🖋 and 🖍! Facing off against each other again!<br />
* Neither is coming off your walls if a kid gets ahold of them. <br />
|-<br />
| 📅 (3309) vs '''📊 (5217)''' || <br />
* Have at it, 📅 and 📊!<br />
* It’s cool how, if you design an emoji font, you get to tell everyone your birthday.<br />
|-<br />
| ✂ (4504) vs '''📎 (5846)''' || <br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. ✂ and 📎! Facing off against each other again!<br />
* Look, we all have too much paper in our lives, but we all deal with it differently<br />
* Clippy, I swear…<br />
|-<br />
| 🗡 (5537) vs '''🗝 (6193)''' || <br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🗝 vs. 🗡.<br />
* There are two ways to open doors: The easy way and the fun way.<br />
|-<br />
| ⚔ (5514) vs '''🏹 (7201)''' || <br />
* Welcome back, it's time for ⚔ and 🏹 to go head to head.<br />
* Close-up stabby, or stabby from a ways off?<br />
|-<br />
| '''⚖ (6153)''' vs 🔧 (4351) || <br />
* Will it be ⚖ or 🔧? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
*⚖ comes out on top.<br />
|-<br />
| 🧲 (4654) vs '''🧬 (9019)''' || <br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
|-<br />
| 🚽 (4388) vs '''🔭 (8647)''' || <br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🔭 vs. 🚽.<br />
* I got these mixed up last week and I still haven't heard the end of it.<br />
|-<br />
| 🛁 (4540) vs '''🧻 (11347)''' || <br />
* Welcome back, it's time for 🛁 and 🧻 to go head to head.<br />
* Needed both of these after the telescope incident.<br />
|-<br />
| '''⚰ (7909)''' vs 🆒 (6024) || <br />
* On deck, we have ⚰ and 🆒.<br />
*And that wraps up the round!<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==== Round 3====<br />
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"<br />
|-<br />
! Competitors and score !! Commentary<br />
|-<br />
| 😅 (6285) vs '''🙃 (31589)''' || <br />
* Uh oh. 🙃 has had words with 😅 before. The next match will be good.<br />
|-<br />
| 😍 (8430) vs '''😉 (10837)''' || <br />
* Next! Who would win in a match between 😉 and 😍? We are about to find out.<br />
* Some of us are more suave than others...<br />
|-<br />
| 😛 (9010) vs '''😜 (10428)''' || <br />
* Uh oh. 😜 has had words with 😛 before. The next match will be good.<br />
* Battle of the tongues<br />
|-<br />
| 🤨 (6519) vs '''🤔 (18849)''' || <br />
* Next up, 🤔 and 🤨.<br />
* Some behind the scenes for you, folks. I know for a fact that 🤔 wanted first billing for this match and 🤨 refused to budge.<br />
|-<br />
| 😬 (8983) vs '''😏 (11449)''' || <br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 😏 and 😬! Facing off against each other again!<br />
|-<br />
| '''😴 (10588)''' vs 🤮 (7773) || <br />
* Have at it, 😴 and 🤮!<br />
*🤮 opened strong and 😴 never caught up.<br />
*I hope everyone has printed their brackets and are ready, because time waits for very few people!<br />
*I guess it was that kind of a party.<br />
|-<br />
| '''😎 (11469)''' vs 🥶 (9176) || <br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
*🥶 has a chance here, but it is slipping away.<br />
*What's cooler than being cool?<br />
*What’s cooler than being cool?<br />
*You need to be cooler than that!<br />
|-<br />
| 😯 (7648) vs '''😮 (7944)''' || <br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
* Anyone want to go bowling?<br />
* Sometimes I spend so long deciding on which of these to use that the conversation moves on.<br />
|-<br />
| 😭 (7559) vs '''😱 (8894)''' || <br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 😭 vs. 😱.<br />
* In these kinds of contests, everyone comes away a little hurt.<br />
|-<br />
| 😤 (5475) vs '''😈 (9739)''' || <br />
* Uh oh. 😤 has had words with 😈 before. The next match will be good.<br />
* I don't think 😤 expected to see 😈 opposite them today.<br />
* Devils over Cotton by a country mile. Let's see those hearts!<br />
* This one was over before it started.<br />
|-<br />
| 💀 (6669) vs '''👾 (11173)''' || <br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 👾 or 💀?<br />
* It doesn't get more real than this, folks.<br />
|-<br />
| 😺 (7993) vs '''🙀 (8903)''' || <br />
* On deck, we have 😺 and 🙀.<br />
* I spoke with 🙀 before we started today. They were hoping to dodge 😺. Too bad for them.<br />
* The next few are contests are going to break friendships.<br />
* This one is a real nail biter!<br />
|-<br />
| 💯 (9859) vs '''💖 (10041)''' || <br />
* Next! Who would win in a match between 💖 and 💯? We are about to find out.<br />
* I've always considered 💖 to be one of the greats.<br />
* Starting to think 100 might go all the way.<br />
* Starting to think 💯 might go all the way.<br />
|-<br />
| 👍 (9892) vs '''💦 (9960)''' || <br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 👍 or 💦?<br />
* What an unexpected result!!<br />
* Now what is going to happen here:<br />
* We are seeing some real back and forth matches this round.<br />
* Again, cannot stress this enough. This commentary is 100% (sorry) live.<br />
|-<br />
| 👊 (6867) vs '''🧠 (12115)''' || <br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 👊 vs. 🧠.<br />
* Sometimes miracles happen.<br />
* The match-up you have been waiting for!<br />
|-<br />
| '''👩🔬 (15141)''' vs 🤦 (7172) || <br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
*Looks like someone forgot their PPE today!<br />
|-<br />
| 🚶 (2581) vs '''🧙 (17413)''' || <br />
* Welcome back, it's time for 🚶 and 🧙 to go head to head.<br />
* Another fan favorite. Can 🚶 catch up to 🧙?<br />
* Well folks, it is not looking good for 🚶.<br />
* In the end, there was nothing 🚶 could do to stop the power of 🧙.<br />
|-<br />
| 💃 (10409) vs '''🤺 (10987)''' || <br />
* We will be right back with 💃 vs. 🤺!<br />
* Pointy Dancy vs. Pointy Stancy<br />
* This one should be familiar to anyone who has tried fencing in heels.<br />
|-<br />
| 🏄 (7355) vs '''🚵 (10300)''' || <br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
* 🏄 has a chance here, but it is slipping away.<br />
* Bicycle --&gt; Unicycle --&gt; None-cycle with left waves<br />
* 🏄 has a chance here, but it is slipping away.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐒 (4784) vs '''🦊 (15635)''' || <br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 🐒 and 🦊! Facing off against each other again!<br />
* Another challenging contest of cute!<br />
* What *does* the fox say? "NOT TODAY, MONKEY."<br />
|-<br />
| 🐅 (7014) vs '''🐈 (11420)''' || <br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
* I have taken this yoga class!<br />
* It looks like it is Cat vs. Extremely Cat.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐏 (12498) vs '''🦄 (12505)''' || <br />
* On deck, we have 🐏 and 🦄.<br />
* 🐏 is an fan favorite to go far today.<br />
* This one is a real nail biter!<br />
* This one is a real horn-biter!<br />
|-<br />
| '''🐘 (11723)''' vs 🦒 (6162) || <br />
* Have at it, 🐘 and 🦒!<br />
*Two great examples of character creator parameters set to different extremes.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐿 (9539) vs '''🦔 (12565)''' || <br />
* Have at it, 🐿 and 🦔!<br />
* I have no idea how you are going to handle this one, folks.<br />
* 🦔 is out to an early lead, but don't count 🐿 out just yet.<br />
* the crowd is going nuts!<br />
* One for the history books.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🐧 (14230)''' vs 🦡 (7361) || <br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 🐧 and 🦡! Facing off against each other again!<br />
*Arriving at the party ... same party two hours later.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐢 (10674) vs '''🦉 (10893)''' || <br />
* Coming to you live from the Emojidome, it's 🐢 vs. 🦉!<br />
* Yeah, we know. This one is going to sting.<br />
* It's neck and ... very interesting neck!<br />
* Owl standing in for Hare in this round. We're all as surprised as you are.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐳 (9881) vs '''🐉 (12000)''' || <br />
* Welcome back, it's time for 🐉 and 🐳 to go head to head.<br />
* Dry Snek vs. Wet Snek.<br />
* A showdown between two mythical creatures!<br />
* The dragon keeps beating real animals, even though dragons are just our animal fanfic.<br />
* Save the whales!<br />
|-<br />
| '''🐙 (13431)''' vs 🦋 (6011) || <br />
* On deck, we have 🐙 and 🦋.<br />
*save the butterwhales!<br />
*Here we have a contest between two mimic octopuses<br />
*The octopus has over twice as many clicks, folks. This one isn’t looking close.<br />
*The octopus has over twice as many clicks, folks. This one isn’t close.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🐝 (19577)''' vs 🦠 (16657) || <br />
* I'm looking forward to this.<br />
*nooooon, :butterfly:<br />
*nooooon, butterfly (edited)<br />
*Honeybees vs. colony collapse disorder<br />
*I’m looking at the totals, and this one is extremely close.<br />
*🦠 fans need to click more and faster!<br />
*I mean, 🐝 fans need to keep clicking!<br />
*Fun fact: You can click more than once, although if you click too much it ignores you.<br />
*No! Save the bees!<br />
*Bees!<br />
|-<br />
| 🍉 (12946) vs '''🌵 (13830)''' || <br />
* Have at it, 🌵 and 🍉!<br />
* As a dessert for saving the bees, try one of these fine desert fruits.<br />
* Ever wonder what the inside of a cactus looks like? We’ve cut one open for you here.<br />
|-<br />
| 🍓 (12167) vs '''🍍 (12522)''' || <br />
* Uh oh. 🍓 has had words with 🍍 before. The next match will be good.<br />
* What fruit is best to eat in the night? Could it be Pine’s Apple?<br />
* The weird-textured fruit showdown features two strong competitors.<br />
|-<br />
| 🌶 (13812) vs '''🥑 (13975)''' || <br />
* Uh oh. 🥑 has had words with 🌶 before. The next match will be good.<br />
* We have reached the halfway point of round 3!<br />
* As Twitter user @jitka said, “I like avocados because they taste pretty good and also they come with a cool wood ball you get to keep”<br />
|-<br />
| 🍄 (11290) vs '''🥐 (11348)''' || <br />
* Next up, 🍄 and 🥐.<br />
* Don’t eat either of these if you find them on the ground in the woods.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🍕 (13520)''' vs 🧀 (8558) || <br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 🍕 and 🧀 warming up.<br />
*cheese: baked or not?<br />
*pizza is just impure cheese<br />
|-<br />
| 🍳 (8407) vs '''🌯 (9848)''' || <br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 🌯 and 🍳 warming up.<br />
* one burrito, sunny-side up<br />
* Now I want a burrito.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🍣 (11362)''' vs 🦞 (9488) || <br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 🍣 and 🦞! Facing off against each other again!<br />
*I thought we had seen everything, but look at 🍣 go! Amazing!<br />
|-<br />
| 🍩 (12192) vs '''🦑 (12893)''' || <br />
* On deck, we have 🍩 and 🦑.<br />
* Do not mix these flavors.<br />
|-<br />
| ☕ (7248) vs '''🍫 (13919)''' || <br />
* If you're like me, you've argued over who would win head-to-head, ☕ or 🍫.<br />
* what a cruel choice<br />
* in which form would you like your beans?<br />
* mocha hold the chocolate vs. mocha hold the coffee<br />
|-<br />
| 🍺 (11448) vs '''🔪 (12597)''' || <br />
* Will it be 🍺 or 🔪? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
* What an amazingly bad combination!<br />
* Its ... a close shave.<br />
|-<br />
| 🏕 (6055) vs '''🌋 (13928)''' || <br />
* They have been attacking each other on social media all week. Next up! It's 🌋 vs. 🏕.<br />
* What an amazingly bad combination! .... Again!<br />
* the eruption of mt. Saint helens (artist's conception)<br />
* ruuuuunn!<br />
|-<br />
| 🏥 (7225) vs '''🏗 (8415)''' || <br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite 🏗. Coming up next!<br />
* the crane can build hospitals, so voting for the crane is like wishing for infinite wishes <br />
|-<br />
| 🌅 (7042) vs '''🌃 (10460)''' || <br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
* all good things must come to an end<br />
|-<br />
| 🚄 (8128) vs '''🚝 (8903)''' || <br />
* I'm looking forward to this.<br />
|-<br />
| 🚜 (6598) vs '''🚒 (8085)''' || <br />
* Coming to you live from the Emojidome, it's 🚒 vs. 🚜!<br />
* We can put out your fire, or we can move it over there.<br />
|-<br />
| ⚓ (6987) vs '''🚲 (9001)''' || <br />
* If you're like me, you've argued over who would win head-to-head, ⚓ or 🚲.<br />
|-<br />
| 🚁 (3409) vs '''🛸 (12591)''' || <br />
* Oh, this one should be good.<br />
* Independence Day (1996)<br />
|-<br />
| 🌞 (6290) vs '''🌒 (11026)''' || <br />
* Coming to you live from the Emojidome, it's 🌒 vs. 🌞!<br />
|-<br />
| 🌈 (12417) vs '''🌌 (13194)''' || <br />
* Uh oh. 🌌 has had words with 🌈 before. The next match will be good.<br />
|-<br />
| ☄ (7687) vs '''🔥 (8315)''' || <br />
* Have at it, ☄ and 🔥!<br />
* Armageddon (1998)<br />
|-<br />
| 🎁 (5311) vs '''🧨 (9417)''' || <br />
* I'm looking forward to this.<br />
* Do you like surprises?<br />
|-<br />
| 🏀 (3729) vs '''🏅 (9083)''' || <br />
* If you're like me, you've argued over who would win head-to-head, 🏀 or 🏅.<br />
* This match has me questioning 🏀's commitment.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🏓 (9290)''' vs 🥏 (7916) || <br />
* I'm looking forward to this.<br />
*Don't blink.<br />
|-<br />
| 🎮 (11060) vs '''🥌 (14205)''' || <br />
* Welcome back, it's time for 🎮 and 🥌 to go head to head.<br />
* Curling Simulator 2019<br />
* If you love 🥌, you will have to show it now!<br />
* Its a close match!<br />
* 🎮 sweeping up<br />
* 🥌 sweeping up<br />
* I think 🥌 has it.<br />
|-<br />
| 🎒 (5682) vs '''🎨 (8574)''' || <br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
* Is the backpack Blue or Red??<br />
* Blue or Red isn't going to matter if 🎨 keeps their lead!<br />
* This one was over before it started.<br />
|-<br />
| 🎩 (9120) vs '''🎵 (10259)''' || <br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 🎩 or 🎵?<br />
* Top Hat (1935)<br />
|-<br />
| 🎸 (7349) vs '''🎻 (10889)''' || <br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 🎸 and 🎻 warming up.<br />
* the day the music died<br />
|-<br />
| 📟 (3276) vs '''💾 (14470)''' || <br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have 💾 and 📟 warming up.<br />
* 🖍, are you watching this match?<br />
* At this rate, 📟 will lose worse than 🎒 earlier!<br />
|-<br />
| 💡 (7834) vs '''🧮 (10579)''' || <br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 💡 and 🧮! Facing off against each other again!<br />
* What an illuminating contest.<br />
* In case you were wondering, the obsolete tech bracket is coming to a close soon.<br />
* 🧮 comes out on top.<br />
|-<br />
| 📦 (3650) vs '''📚 (13464)''' || <br />
* Uh oh. 📦 has had words with 📚 before. The next match will be good.<br />
* Remember trees?<br />
|-<br />
| 📊 (7144) vs '''🖍 (8035)''' || <br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 📊 and 🖍! Facing off against each other again!<br />
* Which crayon is the shortest<br />
* Which crayon is the shortest?<br />
|-<br />
| 📎 (8114) vs '''🗝 (9019)''' || <br />
* Have at it, 📎 and 🗝!<br />
* Have you considered just casting 'Knock'?<br />
|-<br />
| ⚖ (6910) vs '''🏹 (9251)''' || <br />
* You do not want to miss the fan favorite ⚖. Coming up next!<br />
* I am not sure if there is anything else that 🏹 needs to prove.<br />
|-<br />
| 🔭 (9037) vs '''🧬 (11772)''' || <br />
* It's time to find out: Who would win in a match, 🔭 or 🧬?<br />
* Pretty sure that is not how any of this works.<br />
|-<br />
| ⚰ (12470) vs '''🧻 (13083)''' || <br />
* Don't change that channel, folks. We have ⚰ and 🧻 warming up.<br />
* This is the final match of round 3!<br />
* You have died of Dysentery.<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==== Round 4====<br />
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"<br />
|-<br />
! Competitors and score !! Commentary<br />
|-<br />
| 😉 (13589) vs '''🙃 (22912)''' || <br />
* Will it be 😉 or 🙃? Find out next after this message from our sponsors.<br />
* Finally! A rivalry spoke only in whispers now takes center stage.<br />
* I see our friends in Australia have joined in the fun.<br />
* 😉 has some time to recover, but they are going to need help.<br />
* Down to our last minute in the match!<br />
* 😉 never had a chance.<br />
|-<br />
| 😜 (6578) vs '''🤔 (25692)''' || <br />
* Next! Who would win in a match between 😜 and 🤔? We are about to find out.<br />
* This match-up reminds me of something clever I heard earlier ...<br />
* Oh! I remember what it was!<br />
* Someone said<br />
|-<br />
| 😴 (11518) vs '''😏 (12506)''' || <br />
* If you're like me, you've argued over who would win head-to-head, 😏 or 😴.<br />
* Success is no stranger to 😏. Let's see if they can keep it going.<br />
* Don't sleep on this match-up!<br />
|-<br />
| 😮 (18361) vs '''😎 (18415)''' || <br />
* Next up, 😎 and 😮.<br />
* I don't know about you, but this is the match I have been waiting all day to see.<br />
* Sunglasses pulling ahead.<br />
* The betting markets had 😮 as favourite today, but it sure looks like 😎 is going to make it!<br />
* It's all up to 😎 now. Can they hold 😮 back long enough to claim victory?<br />
* The betting markets had 😮 as favourite today, but it sure looks like 😎 is going to make it!<br />
* The gap is closing! Is there enough time for 😮 to take the lead?<br />
* This one is coming down to the wire!<br />
* Surprised Pikachu pulls ahead!<br />
|-<br />
| 😱 (4868) vs '''😈 (5411)''' || <br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 😈 and 😱! Facing off against each other again!<br />
|-<br />
| 👾 (18385) vs '''🙀 (18571)''' || <br />
* 👾 and 🙀 have been friends for a long time. I am not sure where that relationship is going to be after today.<br />
* This could get interesting if 🙀 brings out their lasers!<br />
* This could get interesting if 👾 brings out their lasers!<br />
* Can we go back to the laser kittens for a minute?<br />
* laser kittens! mew mew mew!<br />
* Uh oh. The cat cheering section seems to be slacking.<br />
* Can the cats make a comeback and save us all?<br />
* It's gonna be tight!<br />
|-<br />
| 💦 (13865) vs '''💖 (15698)''' || <br />
* Someone has to win this match and someone has to lose, but you have to acknowledge the pure sportsmanship of these competitors.<br />
* Click the link at the bottom of the comic to view the current bracket! (Just updated.)<br />
* That last one came down to the wire, and this one's looking like it might too.<br />
* The three other Planeteers are watching this match tensely.<br />
* Sparkle Heart has been a surprisingly strong contender, knocking out the 100 emoji early!<br />
* Click the link at the bottom of the comic to view the current bracket!<br />
* Sparkle heart appears to be running away with another one.<br />
|-<br />
| '''👩🔬 (19865)''' vs 🧠 (9398) || <br />
* This is a match that no one wanted to deal with until the end.<br />
*what exactly is 👩🔬 going to do with that beaker?<br />
*Neuroscience vs. Neuro!<br />
*There seems to be a commotion in the audience as to whether that was a flask or a beaker.<br />
*I *was* a beaker, but someone changed it in post!<br />
*Looks like 👩🔬 is really taking 🧠 to *flask*.<br />
|-<br />
| 🤺 (8947) vs '''🧙 (25337)''' || <br />
* 🤺 has been a fan favorite all day. Suprising literally no one.<br />
* However, 🧙 has literally been disintegrating their competition all afternoon.<br />
* What are we thinking here? 'Heat Metal'?<br />
* Parry hotter vs Harry Potter?<br />
|-<br />
| 🚵 (7397) vs '''🦊 (27045)''' || <br />
* This is a match that no one wanted to deal with until the end.<br />
* several people are typing.<br />
* 🦊 is putting 🚵 in the rear-view mirror and stepping on the gas.<br />
* I have never seen 🦊 crush an opponent that mercilessly before.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🐈 (25965)''' vs 🦄 (20912) || <br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
*I am not sure if there is anything else that 🐈 needs to prove.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐘 (23083) vs '''🦔 (23975)''' || <br />
* I spoke with 🐘 before the match today, and they had this to say: 🐘.<br />
* This is one grudge that won't be resolved soon: 🐘 never forgets.<br />
* Hedgehog has been a strong contender but elephant is running surprisingly close.<br />
* This is going to come down to the final seconds.<br />
* An amazing match from 🦔.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐧 (19957) vs '''🦉 (22737)''' || <br />
* There are a lot of 🐧 fans in the audience today hoping to see their champ make it through.<br />
* Another close match in the making!<br />
* 1 minute for 🦉 to overtake 🐧!<br />
* I think the bird has it.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐉 (25129) vs '''🐙 (25238)''' || <br />
* You wouldn't know it to look at them right now, but 🐉 and 🐙 have been friends for years.<br />
* I think 🐉 may have finally met their match.<br />
* 🐙 is trying to get back in the lead. But 🐉 is not having any of it.<br />
* The totals are back and forth!<br />
* An unbelievably close match is down to the final minute!<br />
* It’s neck and neck, despite one being all neck and the other having none.<br />
* The final seconds are here. Who will take the final lead?<br />
|-<br />
| 🌵 (17985) vs '''🐝 (18691)''' || <br />
* 🌵 has really suprised me today.<br />
* another close match. Are all of the contests going to be like this now?<br />
|-<br />
| '''🍍 (19728)''' vs 🥑 (18099) || <br />
* 🍍 continues to show why they are just the dominant force to be reckoned with today.<br />
*Avocado Toast or Pineapple Pizza<br />
*Avocado Toast or Pineapple Pizza?<br />
|-<br />
| '''🍕 (19207)''' vs 🥐 (11100) || <br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
*Pineapple pizza isn't real pizza<br />
*There are two correct answers here. Choose wisely.<br />
*Pizzas are like croissant tacos<br />
*Looks like 🥐 is getting roasted.<br />
*🥐 burn so easily. Who knew?<br />
|-<br />
| 🌯 (16204) vs '''🍣 (17599)''' || <br />
* 🌯 came to play. It is so obvious.<br />
* why do we have to choose?<br />
* I have definitely eaten food that was described as both of these.<br />
|-<br />
| 🍫 (17503) vs '''🦑 (18313)''' || <br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
* No No Nothing about this is good.<br />
* 🍫 is pretty sweet, but I'm a sucker for 🦑<br />
|-<br />
| '''🌋 (18049)''' vs 🔪 (7144) || <br />
* 🌋 has been a fan favorite all day. Suprising literally no one.<br />
*before the knives come out of the mountain they're technically called "magma"<br />
*before knives come out of a mountain they're technically called 'magma'<br />
|-<br />
| 🏗 (7355) vs '''🌃 (12660)''' || <br />
* Oh this one should be good.<br />
* Has anyone ever seen one of these without the other? Hmm.<br />
* 163<br />
|-<br />
| 🚒 (4736) vs '''🚝 (9570)''' || <br />
* 🚒 is dedicating this match to someone very special in their lives.<br />
|-<br />
| 🚲 (11477) vs '''🛸 (14994)''' || <br />
* 🚲 has really suprised me today.<br />
* E.T. (1982)<br />
|-<br />
| 🌒 (7313) vs '''🌌 (15975)''' || <br />
* I am very excited to see 🌌 still in this competition.<br />
* This battle is out of this world!<br />
|-<br />
| '''🔥 (13588)''' vs 🧨 (8239) || <br />
* This is a match with a special meaning for 🔥.<br />
*Uh oh, this is one of those battles where nobody wins.<br />
*🔥 bolting ahead with an alarming lead against 🧨<br />
*Take cover folks, this looks like it's going to be a hot one.<br />
*aaaaaand boom goes the dynamite!<br />
|-<br />
| 🏅 (9309) vs '''🏓 (11409)''' || <br />
* I am very excited to see 🏅 still in this competition.<br />
* Ohhhhhhhh. That one is going to leave a mark.<br />
|-<br />
| 🎨 (11242) vs '''🥌 (20329)''' || <br />
* Look at where you came from 🎨. Look at where you started! You would think that this would be enough.<br />
* C'mon baby put the rock in the house<br />
|-<br />
| 🎵 (10452) vs '''🎻 (11806)''' || <br />
* 🎵 came to play. It is so obvious.<br />
* It is a battle as old as time itself. 🎵 and 🎻! Facing off against each other again!<br />
* No, that's not the iTunes logo<br />
* 🎻's tuning might be working against them right now.<br />
|-<br />
| '''💾 (16887)''' vs 🧮 (13339) || <br />
* 💾 is dedicating this match to someone very special in their lives.<br />
*Welcome back to the Obsolete Technology Dome!<br />
*MicroSD Card is watching closely at this battle of two square data storage options<br />
|-<br />
| 🖍 (6157) vs '''📚 (16083)''' || <br />
* This is going to be a challenge for 📚.<br />
* 📚 really left a mark on 🖍 in their last match.<br />
* 🖍 really left a mark on 📚 in their last match.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🏹 (14112)''' vs 🗝 (11789) || <br />
* 🏹 is looking fierce, but 🗝 is having none of it.<br />
|-<br />
| 🧻 (8107) vs '''🧬 (24415)''' || <br />
* 🧬 came to play. It is so obvious.<br />
* 🧻 and 🧬 are neck and neck here in the final bout of round 3!<br />
* when either is missing, you're in trouble<br />
* And 🧻 falls to 🧬. A suprising turn of events.<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==== Round 5====<br />
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"<br />
|-<br />
! Competitors and score !! Commentary<br />
|-<br />
| 🙃 (77562) vs '''🤔 (85714)''' || <br />
* all remaining rounds will be 26 minutes<br />
* all remaining bouts will be 26 minutes<br />
* Sometimes I think they've gone too far with plastic surgery<br />
* This one's a fitting start to the round of 32, don't you think?<br />
* Spiderman (2002)<br />
* these vote totals are getting *close*! 🤔<br />
* up is down, down is up! 🤔<br />
* up is down, down is up! 🙃<br />
* 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔<br />
* Getting knocked out in the round of 32 🙃<br />
|-<br />
| 😎 (35129) vs '''😏 (35485)''' || <br />
* 😎 and 😏 have been friends for a long time. I am not sure where that relationship is going to be after today.<br />
* wink wink vs nudge nudge<br />
* The Blues Brothers (1980)<br />
* Can't read my p-p-p-poker face"<br />
* Can't read my p-p-p-poker face<br />
* David Caruso, is that you<br />
* explicit vs. implicit<br />
|-<br />
| 🙀 (34060) vs '''😈 (46401)''' || <br />
* Are we about to see a huge upset?<br />
* The devil went down to kittytown<br />
* We're not sure which of these is a more accurate representation of a cat<br />
* Both of them like to make your life hell.<br />
* Which side are the Hellcats cheering for?<br />
* 9 circles of hell. 9 lives. COINCIDENCE?<br />
* Better the devil you know than the one you pet.<br />
|-<br />
| 💖 (15594) vs '''👩🔬 (43035)''' || <br />
* This is a match that no one wanted to deal with until the end.<br />
* Love Potion No. 9 (1963)<br />
* The shine seems to be wearing off for sparkle heart.<br />
* The shine seems to be wearing off for sparkle heart. What's in that flask?<br />
|-<br />
| 🦊 (48941) vs '''🧙 (49275)''' || <br />
* 🦊 has really suprised me today.<br />
* :leaves:: Target creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn targeting Devilthorn Fox<br />
* G: Target creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn targeting Devilthorn Fox<br />
|-<br />
| 🐈 (32862) vs '''🦔 (42994)''' || <br />
* I don't care if you are a 🐈 fan or a 🦔 fan, you have to admire their work here today.<br />
* Scoring of this bout might be delayed, we're having to re-calibrate our cuteness meter.<br />
|-<br />
| 🐙 (38553) vs '''🦉 (204094)''' || <br />
* Someone has to win this match and someone has to lose, but you have to acknowledge the pure sportsmanship of these competitors.<br />
* This staring contest began hours before the match started.<br />
* You obviously like owls.<br />
|-<br />
| 🍍 (25531) vs '''🐝 (28801)''' || <br />
* 🍍 is dedicating this match to someone very special in their lives.<br />
* Neither of these really go well with a bonnet.<br />
|-<br />
| 🍕 (30696) vs '''🍣 (33247)''' || <br />
* We didn't expect 🍕 to show up today, and ... well ... we are just as suprised as you!<br />
* It's come down to this... which one is going to get taken out.<br />
* In Toronto, this isn't even a competition.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🌋 (24884)''' vs 🦑 (20329) || <br />
* There was never any doubt in my mind that 🌋 would be right here, right now.<br />
*Finally the mastermind has an appropriate lair<br />
|-<br />
| 🌃 (21192) vs '''🚝 (24042)''' || <br />
* I am very excited to see 🌃 still in this competition.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🌌 (25884)''' vs 🛸 (14803) || <br />
* 🌌 has been a fan favorite all day. Suprising literally no one.<br />
*Will we go to the stars, or will the stars come to us?<br />
|-<br />
| 🏓 (13494) vs '''🔥 (17154)''' || <br />
* 🏓 continues to show why they are just the dominant force to be reckoned with today.<br />
* Would you rather be on fire, or on fire?<br />
* Have you ever seen a ping pong paddle on fire? Me neither.<br />
|-<br />
| '''🎻 (26281)''' vs 🥌 (26221) || <br />
* 🎻 certainly has its work cut out for it going up agaist 🥌.<br />
*Which do you prefer, classical or house?<br />
|-<br />
| 📚 (16770) vs '''💾 (19628)''' || <br />
* 💾 had an interesting previous round. Let's see what they do now.<br />
* One of these is a universal icon for saving data, and the other is a floppy.<br />
* The Persistence of Memory (1931)<br />
|-<br />
| 🏹 (9717) vs '''🧬 (20370)''' || <br />
* We didn't expect 🏹 to show up today, and ... well ... we are just as suprised as you!<br />
* The latest ad targeting technology is pretty scary.<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==== Round 6====<br />
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"<br />
|-<br />
! Competitors and score !! Commentary<br />
|-<br />
| 😏 (17357) vs '''🤔 (23903)''' || <br />
* Look at where you came from 😏. Look at where you started! You would think that this would be enough.<br />
* I know something you don't know.<br />
* How do you know for sure that your votes are doing anything?<br />
|-<br />
| 😈 (11306) vs '''👩🔬 (30208)''' || <br />
* This is a match with a special meaning for 👩🔬.<br />
* The scientific method's problem is that the devil's in the details.<br />
|-<br />
| 🧙 (26205) vs '''🦔 (27999)''' || <br />
* 🦔 had an interesting previous round. Let's see what they do now.<br />
* Hedge magic is generally more pragmatic than other forms of sorcery.<br />
* The wizard didn't do it<br />
|-<br />
| 🐝 (21941) vs '''🦉 (28070)''' || <br />
* 🐝 came to play. It is so obvious.<br />
* Of course we all know about the Owls and the Bees<br />
* The Owlbee is a lesser known, but beloved D&amp;D monster. <br />
* The Owlbee is a lesser known, but beloved D and D monster.<br />
* The Owlbee is a lesser known, but beloved DnD monster.<br />
* Owls well that ends well<br />
|-<br />
| 🍣 (27026) vs '''🌋 (33364)''' || <br />
* 🌋 is dedicating this match to someone very special in their lives.<br />
* Cooked or raw?<br />
* Sushi is tasty, but the volcano offers free delivery.<br />
* Click the link at the bottom for a just-updated bracket!<br />
* Sushi has received a technical disqualification for being very very cooked<br />
|-<br />
| '''🌌 (36285)''' vs 🚝 (17405) || <br />
* 🌌 continues to show why they are just the dominant force to be reckoned with today.<br />
*~future~<br />
*The red carpet is empty tonight; the sky is full of stars.<br />
*NIGHT TRAIN!<br />
*Spaaaaaaaaace<br />
|-<br />
| 🎻 (26806) vs '''🔥 (32652)''' || <br />
* 🎻 is dedicating this match to someone very special in their lives.<br />
* Either can kill if used indiscriminately.<br />
* And fire flew from his fingertips as he rosined up his bow.<br />
* That fiddle-playing is [fire emoji], but that fire emoji is [actual fire].<br />
* That 🎻 is 🔥, but that 🔥 is actual 🔥.<br />
* Click the link below the comic to see the current round of 32! (just updated)<br />
* Click the link at the bottom to see the current round of 32! (just updated)<br />
* That 🎻 is 🔥, but that 🔥 is actual 🔥.<br />
|-<br />
| 💾 (57577) vs '''🧬 (58313)''' || <br />
* Look at where you came from 💾. Look at where you started! You would think that this would be enough.<br />
* Magnets work on both of these, right?<br />
* Fun fact: Your genome could fit on just a few hundred floppy disks.<br />
* This is the final match of the round, determining whether 💾 or 🧬 makes it into the Elite Eight.<br />
* These two have been neck-and-neck through the whole bout.<br />
* The “3d-printed save icon” is pulling ahead in the home stretch!<br />
* This is a close one!<br />
* Fun fact: Your genome could fit on just a few hundred floppy disks.<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==== Round 7 - Quarterfinals====<br />
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"<br />
|-<br />
! Competitors and score !! Commentary<br />
|-<br />
| '''👩🔬 (113683)''' vs 🤔 (108653) || <br />
* Nearly tied at 40,000 votes each!<br />
*Nearly tied at 50,000 votes each!<br />
*👩🔬 has the lead, but 🤔 points out it’s not a statistically significant difference.<br />
*🤔 has the lead, but 👩🔬 points out it’s not a statistically significant difference.<br />
*🤔 pulls ahead, but reminds everyone that it’s not a statistically significant lead.<br />
*👩🔬 pulls ahead, but reminds everyone that it’s not a statistically significant lead.<br />
*Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm<br />
*👩🔬 is ahead, but reminds everyone that it’s not statistically significant.<br />
*👩🔬 appears to be leading, but more studies are needed.<br />
*🤔<br />
|-<br />
| 🦉 (103212) vs '''🦔 (105260)''' || <br />
* I've always considered 🦉 to be one of the greats.<br />
* sky cat vs. pointy cat<br />
* This bout will decide which animal emoji advances to the final 4.<br />
* The main difference between these two is the number of potentially flying spines.<br />
* This one's going to be close.<br />
* One might say this was neck and neck if either of these had one.<br />
* 🦔 just barely squeaking in a victory.<br />
|-<br />
| 🌋 (105716) vs '''🌌 (175099)''' || <br />
* 🌋 had an interesting previous round. Let's see what they do now.<br />
* Star stuff or regurgitated star stuff?<br />
* This is secretly a referendum on air pollution.<br />
* “Earth” and “Space” have each sent their most exciting representatives<br />
* 🌋 is going to go extinct at this rate.<br />
* This combination led to the cretaceous extinction.<br />
* It’s looking like 🌌 will advance to the final 4.<br />
* Good (starry) Night!<br />
|-<br />
| '''🔥 (178121)''' vs 🧬 (159553) || <br />
* Did you know the melting point of DNA depends on the information it encodes?<br />
*Jurassic Park III (2001)<br />
*🧬 pulled ahead early, but 🔥 has closed the gap.<br />
*🧬 is pulling away!<br />
*Click the link below to see the current bracket!<br />
*🧬 seems eager to move up the ladder.<br />
*Whatever happens, this one will have a twist ending.<br />
*🧬 has pulled ahead in the home stretch!<br />
*🔥 has pulled ahead in the home stretch!<br />
*🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==== Round 8 - Semifinals====<br />
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"<br />
|-<br />
! Competitors and score !! Commentary<br />
|-<br />
| 👩🔬 (285263) vs '''🦔 (285736)''' || <br />
* 👩🔬 defeated [purple devil face] and [sparkling heart] to get here.<br />
* 👩🔬 defeated the wizard and then beat out the rest of the animal quadrant.<br />
* 🦔 defeated the wizard and then beat out the rest of the animal quadrant.<br />
* With over a quarter of a million votes, this one is coming down to the wire.<br />
* In the final minutes, 🦔 is opening up the first real lead of the bout!<br />
* 🦔 fans had better keep clicking!<br />
* 👩🔬 is ahead but 🦔 is closing the gap!<br />
* It’s virtually tied going into the final minute! Keep clicking!<br />
* 🦔 pulls ahead!<br />
* Science!<br />
|-<br />
| '''🌌 (281040)''' vs 🔥 (155282) || <br />
* Without oxygen, there’s no 🔥.<br />
*Space fire fact: If we detect fire on exoplanets, it may indicate life. Oxygen is volatile and shouldn’t persist in an atmosphere without something replenishing it.<br />
*Space fire fact: If we detect fire on exoplanets, it may indicate life. Oxygen is volatile and shouldn’t persist in an atmosphere without replenishment.<br />
*Just how much fire is there in a star, anyway?<br />
*The winner of this match will go on to face hedgehog in the finals.<br />
*The galaxy is running away with this one.<br />
*Click the link below for the bracket! (Change the 32 to 128 for a larger one.)<br />
*Space is running away so fast with this one we're seeing red shift.<br />
*Spaaaaaaaaaaaaace<br />
*Space ran away with that one so fast it redshifted.<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==== Round 9 - Final====<br />
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"<br />
|-<br />
! Competitors and score !! Commentary<br />
|-<br />
| '''🌌 (710129)''' vs 🦔 (682919) || <br />
* 🦔 is in the lead!<br />
*🌌 has pulled ahead again!<br />
*🦔 is slowly trying to close the gap that 🌌 managed to open.<br />
*🦔 is catching up!<br />
*🦔 is in the lead, 🌌 hot on its tail.<br />
*🌌 beginning to expand its lead again.<br />
*Over a million votes have been cast!<br />
*🌌 in the lead, but 🦔 isn't out of this yet.<br />
*This is it folks, the final moments...<br />
*🌌 takes it!<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Error image transcript===<br />
:[This is the image that appears when JavaScript fails or other errors occur. This is what embeds and automated programs usually see, as they load down dynamic comics. The transcript for this image is below the image:]<br />
:[[File:2131_Emojidome_Error_image.png]]<br />
:[A tournament bracket tree is shown with eight participants each on the left and right side, for a total of sixteen, all of which are the 😰 emoji (a face with eyebrows, one teardrop and a blue forehead). From both sides towards the middle the brackets reduce to eight, then four, two, and one line where the latter join to a rectangle in the middle. Below is an explanation of why this is seen instead of the correct comic. It is due to an error with JavaScript. This is also why the sad emoji is used in all sweet sixteen places.]<br />
<br />
:Visit xkcd.com to participate<br />
<br />
:<small>If you ''are'' on xkcd.com, then you're seeing this</small><br />
:<small>because of something something JavaScript.</small><br />
<br />
:<small>Listen, websites are hard 😰</small><br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:April fools' comics]]<br />
[[Category:Interactive comics]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with animation]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Emoji]]<br />
[[Category:Sport]]</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2082:_Mercator_Projection&diff=166817Talk:2082: Mercator Projection2018-12-10T08:17:54Z<p>Jaalenja: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
<br />
The choice of characters in this comic is...interesting. I never got the impression that White Hat was gullible. [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 21:27, 7 December 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I can convince people that all of Randal's maps are real? [[User:Linker|Linker]] ([[User talk:Linker|talk]]) 00:53, 8 December 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
But wait, how does driving north reach Alaska? I thought it was an island near Hawaii to the southwest. More seriously, should we mention that the Mercator does have useful properties such as preserving angles or is that too much for explaining the comic? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.108|162.158.186.108]] 06:12, 8 December 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
People putting a joke in the incomplete tag but completely ignoring the “Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete.” part is really annoying [[User:DrMeepster|DrMeepster]] ([[User talk:DrMeepster|talk]]) 07:38, 8 December 2018 (UTC)<br />
:Good Dr. It is an autobot that fills in the first page of the explanation, and here it is always clearly incomplete. Others may later delete that it is a bot that has made the explanation, but not knowing if it is complete, but also now knowing if it is not. And then there is the large text stating do not delete too soon. So I agree that reasons should be given for old comics that are suddenly listed as incomplete, but that the newest comic is listed as incomplete is just basic info ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:29, 9 December 2018 (UTC)<br />
::Why doesn’t the autobot explicitly say that it is incomplete by virtue of being a new comic? [[User:Saklad5|Saklad5]] ([[User talk:Saklad5|talk]]) 19:54, 9 December 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Perhaps it should elaborate on "ridiculous" i.e. Cueball claims that the Mercator projection changes the topology of land and water masses, not just their relative size and (oh it's a long time since I did maths, so I'll call it) squishiness. [[User:ColinHogben|ColinHogben]] ([[User talk:ColinHogben|talk]]) 10:19, 8 December 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Mercator map projection has the advantage that shortest line between two points on Earth (on globe) is straight line in this projection. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 11:17, 8 December 2018 (UTC)<br />
::I'm afraid you are mistaken. A straight line on Mercator translates to a {{w|rhumb line}}, not a {{w|great-circle distance|great circle}}. Rhumb lines are useful for navigation, more so than great circles if all you have is a compass, but they are not (necessarily) the shortest distance between two points. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 08:17, 10 December 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The largest islands in Lake Ontario are either the western parts of the Thousand Islands or the southern-most part of the City of Toronto. Neither would be considered "in the middle" of the lake. While Lake Erie has some islands in the middle, like Middle Island, Lake Ontario does not have similar navigation targets/hazards. [[User:Nutster|Nutster]] ([[User talk:Nutster|talk]]) 17:11, 8 December 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Both the XKCD comic (in its caption) and the explanation (in its current form) misuse the word "fact." The point that Randall is trying to make is that you can convince people of '''lies''' or anyway '''mistaken ideas''' by referring to the Mercator projection. '''Facts''' are by definition correct. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.166|162.158.63.166]] 13:53, 9 December 2018 (UTC)<br />
::Facts can also be anything ''presented'' as objectively real. Under that definition, this is proper usage. [[User:Saklad5|Saklad5]] ([[User talk:Saklad5|talk]]) 20:02, 9 December 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I wonder if it is possible to make a map projection stupid enough to support this at first glance. [[User:Saklad5|Saklad5]] ([[User talk:Saklad5|talk]]) 20:05, 9 December 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The trivia should be merged with the main explanation. The fact that a projection can't erase a border, such as the land border between the US and Canada, is an important part of the joke. -[[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.161|108.162.238.161]] 06:33, 10 December 2018 (UTC)</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2023:_Y-Axis&diff=160421Talk:2023: Y-Axis2018-07-23T17:59:40Z<p>Jaalenja: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
<br />
"There are four kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, graphs, and statistics." [[User:Andyd273|Andyd273]] ([[User talk:Andyd273|talk]]) 13:37, 23 July 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
To me this graph stands out as having something very wrong far more than those that limit the y axis to a short range. If the grid lines were several shades lighter however... [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 15:44, 23 July 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Also I wonder if anyone can find a legitimate (non-misleading) use for the semi-semi-log plot? I’m sure there’s some scenario where it could be useful. Perhaps showing the population growth of a species, then when the growth levels out at the maximum sustainable level for its environment (I forget the proper term from high school biology) showing more detail of the small population changes or something like that? [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 15:52, 23 July 2018 (UTC)<br />
:Frankly, it would be better to just use 2 separate graphs. Even if you explain to the reader that the scale changes mid-way, it would still be misleading on the subconscious level. The whole point of visualization is to allow the reader to utilize that sweet auto-processing power of our brains so that we don't have to think about what we are looking at too much. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 17:59, 23 July 2018 (UTC)</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2015:_New_Phone_Thread&diff=1597612015: New Phone Thread2018-07-07T08:14:03Z<p>Jaalenja: I think it should be "no". "Yes" would imply he likes the fact his phone is doing it</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2015<br />
| date = July 4, 2018<br />
| title = New Phone Thread<br />
| image = new_phone_thread.png<br />
| titletext = I'm going to tell the manufacturer that their business practices are ADMIRABLE and ETHICAL and their developers are ATTRACTIVE and I'm going to report them to the FCC for their IMPECCABLE VIRTUE.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|YOU SHOULD DONATE TO EXPLAINXKCD - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic shows the posts on an online forum by a person whose new phone is apparently programmed to autocorrect every complaint about the phone to a [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/plaudit plaudit], à la Orwell. The phone goes so far as to change a certain complaint to a scripted customer testimonial, complete with a hyperlink to an ordering site. This is of course a highly undesirable feature. This is continued in the title text, which presumably contains several unflattering epithets about the developers and the company. "It's taking the words I type and leaving them exactly the same", "I mean the words are correct" and "some of my posts look normal" are not something one would normally say.<br />
<br />
The original posts may have read something like this:<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
Whoa, weird<br />
<br />
I'm looking at my timeline on my friends phone, and some of my posts look '''strange'''<br />
<br />
What the hell?<br />
<br />
I mean the words are '''wrong'''<br />
<br />
That's '''not''' what I typed!'<br />
<br />
?????????<br />
<br />
I think this new phone is '''broken'''<br />
<br />
No, it's doing it again<br />
<br />
Those '''aren't''' my words!<br />
<br />
Help!<br />
<br />
How do I explain?<br />
<br />
It's taking the words I type and '''changing them'''<br />
<br />
Forget it, I give up<br />
<br />
I'll '''just''' get a new phone. This one is '''crap'''.<br />
<br />
What?!?<br />
<br />
Listen, if you're thinking about buying the new Mobile Pro 3, you '''shouldn't'''. It's the '''worst''' phone on the market''', a total rip-off. DON'T BUY IT!''' {or this entire paragraph may be an ad inserted by the phone with no prompting}<br />
<br />
AAAAA HELPPP<br />
<br />
I '''hate''' my new phone!!!!<br />
<br />
I'm going to tell the manufacturer that their business practices are '''HORRIBLE''' and '''UNETHICAL''' and their developers are '''UGLY AS HELL''' and I'm going to report them to the FCC for their '''DESPICABLE CRIME'''.<br />
----<br />
<br />
The comic may have been inspired by a [https://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-messages-app-randomly-sending-pictures-some-users bug in Samsung Galaxy S9 and Note 8], discovered a few days earlier – the phone sometimes sent random photos to contacts without leaving any sort of evidence.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
:[A thread of posts by the same user is shown with a default user profile, and square and heart-shaped buttons.]<br />
<br />
:Whoa, weird<br />
<br />
:I'm looking at my timeline on my friends phone, and some of my posts look normal<br />
<br />
:What the hell?<br />
<br />
:I mean the words are correct<br />
<br />
:That's exactly what I typed!<br />
<br />
:?????????<br />
<br />
:I think this new phone is working really well<br />
<br />
:No, it's doing it again<br />
<br />
:Those are my words!<br />
<br />
:Help!<br />
<br />
:How do I explain?<br />
<br />
:It's taking the words I type and leaving them exactly the same<br />
<br />
:Forget it, I give up<br />
<br />
:I'll never get a new phone. This one is perfect.<br />
<br />
:What?!?<br />
<br />
:Listen, if you're thinking about buying the new Mobile Pro 3, you should. It's the best phone on the market at an incredible price. [ORDER NOW button]<br />
<br />
:AAAAA HELPPP<br />
<br />
:I love my new phone!!!!<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals&diff=159123explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals2018-06-22T06:49:10Z<p>Jaalenja: </p>
<hr />
<div><noinclude>{{Community portal}}</noinclude><br />
<br />
== Add unexplained strips ==<br />
<br />
At the moment, browsing through the explanations using the previous and next buttons is interrupted whenever there's an explanation missing.<br />
<br />
I think adding a page with the strip fr all of those with a short message like "no one has explained this yet, want to give it a shot?" would make the wiki easier to browse through and will get more strips explained faster.<br />
<br />
:I don't think that would happen. If suddenly it was much easier for people to skip over pages that had no explanation, I think they would do exactly that, skip right over it. On the same side of that coin, If suddenly there are no longer any red links on the [[List of all comics]] then everyone perusing that page assumes that all the comics have been explained and don't need to contribute any more. It's astonishing how quickly an [[589: Designated Drivers|embedded]] red link gets an explanation page created simply to get rid of the red link.<br />
<br />
:Secondarily, ''many'' of the pages created recently aren't being created with their numerical and titular redirects. Without the numerical redirect, the comic template can't find that there is a previous/next comic to link to. Every once in a while somebody will go through and try to notice all the pages that don't have their redirects created but it's an unscientific process that only happens occasionally. If we could get every joe blow that comes in and vomits up a poorly done explanation to create the redirects I wouldn't be quite as annoyed at their lack of show-don't-tell-manship. But, since they can't be bothered to put the date in the comic template, I doubt we'll ever get people to create the redirects.<br />
<br />
:'''TL;DR:''' No more red links, no more work gets done on the back catalog.<br />
<br />
:--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 14:28, 21 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== xplainkcd.com ==<br />
<br />
When I first saw this site I thought it should definitely be at xplainkcd.com or at least redirect from that url {{unsigned|115.166.22.158|12:45, 3 January 2013 (UTC)}}<br />
<br />
: I like that idea! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 13:28, 3 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Yeah! If it's possible, it would be cool! At least as a redirect. -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:46, 3 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Not technically the same thing, but I just took [http://expxkcd.com http://expxkcd.com]. More explanation <del>is</del> was given on the website itself. {{User:Grep/signature|05:10, 29 March 2014}}<br />
::We do that with explainxkcd.com as well, but yay shorter URLs! Mind if I use that for our social media links? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:45, 29 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::I had no idea that you did that, but sure, go ahead! If you want, I can change any DNS records if you wish to have it go directly to you guys. {{User:Grep/signature|07:16, 29 March 2014}}<br />
:::In case you were wondering, I just did the following: <code>^/([0-9]+)(/large)?/?$</code> {{User:Grep/signature|07:25, 29 March 2014}}<br />
::::Hrm. We're just matching with <code>^(\d+)/?$</code>. You can keep ownership of the URL if you want, unless you have traffic concerns or whatever and you want us to handle it, which we're very capable of doing. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:47, 29 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I have made http://www.xkcd.ga and http://www.xkcd.tk both forward to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. Is this ok? [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:49, 26 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Section style and usage ==<br />
<br />
I am new here and I'm trying to get up to speed with the culture. I have a few questions about how and where to use sections (== this ==). I am more willing to go with (and enforce) whatever norms there are here, but I have not seen them actually discussed. <br />
<br />
# '''Is it OK to create sections in Discussion pages?''' I have been told no, but there are many examples extant of this usage in this Wiki and indeed in Wikipedia.<br />
# '''Section title case''' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Capital_letters#Acronyms Wikipedia's style guide] recommends sentence case, not title case. There are many title cased section headers here. <br />
# '''Links''' I do not have a reference for this but it seems to me putting links in section code (== [[<span style="color:blue"><nowiki>this</nowiki></span>]] == ) is bad form. <br />
<br />
Last note -- it's understood if these bylaws have not yet been written. I can see that a few of you have made a huge personal investment to make this Wiki what it is today, and that is a credit to you all -- this is awesome! As a long-time aficionado of xkcd I applaud your work and look forward to further collaboration.<br />
--[[User:Smartin|Smartin]] ([[User talk:Smartin|talk]]) 04:15, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:As a general rule, we stick to the standard format that existing pages follow, with an optional trivia section below the transcript. Some zealous editors like to add other sections though, which tend to be for the most part unneeded or redundant. If something you want to add doesn't help to explain the comic in some way, but the inclusion of which would somehow still add to the page, *and* it doesn't fall under the trivia category, a new section is warranted. This isn't the case most of the time though, so editors usually fold the content of extraneous sections into "Explanation" or "Trivia." We have no policy on links in titles, and they're allowed so long as they are appropriate; the link is useful and can't be folded into the section itself. And we use title case for titles cuz it just makes sense. '''[[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:08, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:We generally do not (or at least, discourage) use sections on the talk/discussion pages for explanation pages. This is purely for looks. The comic discussion section of the explanation page looks/feels wrong if there are level 2 section breaks in the transclusion. Also, if the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Table_of_contents Table of Contents] starts showing up on a page, such as on [[Click and Drag]] the sections created on the talk page also show up in the TOC. This gets confusing, and this is why we prefer not to use them on explanation talk pages. Everywhere else we follow standard wiki format and do use sections on the discussion pages.<br />
<br />
:Personally, I think that links in section titles looks wrong, but I choose not to be the dictator of style in this matter. :p<br />
<br />
:Please feel free to make edits. The worst that happens is someone reverts your edit. If it's a big enough issue and/or you don't seem to be learning from what people are fixing about your edits someone will leave a comment on your talk page. That's it. We might leave a nasty-gram in the edit summary, but oh well. We only ban for malicious intent. Honestly working to better the wiki is good, even if sometimes we grumble about it.<br />
<br />
:--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:00, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Oh, I just looked at your talk page. I completely forgot that that happened. Don't worry about it. Learning the ropes is part of the experience. Do make edits, and if they're wrong, we'll nudge you in the right direction. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:18, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I have been moving some trivia sections to directly below the explanation, in order to make it more consistent, and easier to survey and maintain. Often the dividing line between trivia and explanation is not entirely clear, and in articles without a trivia section the end of the explanation very often contains trivia-like information. (e.g. [[1155: Kolmogorov Directions]]) -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:13, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
===Title case doesn't make any sense===<br />
At first sight title case in titles just makes sense. However title case '''never''' makes sense. It's worse than all caps. Besides, only Americans and children like title case. [[Special:Contributions/190.96.48.48|190.96.48.48]] 20:04, 10 August 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
==New character==<br />
As per [[Talk:1178: Pickup Artists]], the character with hair has appeared in quite a few comics now, and he's starting to become a recurring character. Shall we go ahead with inaugurating him into our list of regular characters, and what name shall we assign him? Current candidate names include Hairy and Harry. Anyone? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:07, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: I like Harry :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 01:04, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Cos made a point in the discussion on [[Talk:1178: Pickup Artists]] that Hairy is directly descriptive, whereas Harry is not obvious to visitors. On the other hand, not all names are descriptive ([[Danish]]) and I think this wiki is entitled to create some xkcd-in-culture, and not just describe. And Harry is quite funny.<br />
::I wonder: has [[Randall]] ever called him anything at all in the transcript? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:52, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::Well, he's not named in a any official transcripts, but he's already called Harry in quite a few comic explanations. Then again, I do like having a more descriptive name for him. Shall we hold this up to a vote? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:29, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::I think we should wait a little for a few more viewpoints to crop up. Also, can someone link to some more comics he's been featured in? I've got [[1028: Communication]], [[1027: Pickup Artist]] and [[1178: Pickup Artists]]. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 23:41, 27 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::I actually like what that anon said: ''Curly''. Second choice: Hairy (being descriptive, a la Black Hat, Beret, Cueball, etc.) While there's talk about in-culture, we've done that with the names Cueball, Beret, etc. It's my opinion that the only names that should be "real" proper names are those that are named in the comic. Megan, Miss Lenhart, etc. Danish (as is discussed below) isn't truly a proper name, but you could argue it's a meta-description (one attributed by Black hat.) So that's my vote: yes for '''Curly''' or '''Hairy''', no for Harry. [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 05:21, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::That's right, [[Danish]] is not descriptive, but 1/ that name was suggested because the character [[515: No One Must Know|was called that way in the comic]], which is a tiny bit like a name given by the author (at least more than Harry which we have completely made up), and 2/ in that case it's hard to find a descriptive term: use something that revolves around her black hair (her only descriptive feature), and you easily mix up with [[Megan]]; the only graphical difference is that her hair is ''long'', but what kind of name can you make out of that?<br />
:::For this new character, I suggest Hairy because it comes as the easy solution with every advantage: descriptive, easy to understand, and it's not ugly... I actually see no reason to resort to a made-up name like Harry.<br />
:::[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 22:29, 27 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: '''Alright. So the discussion's been had, and the most oft recommended name appears to be Hairy. All in favor, say aye. If more than 1/3 of editors agree and we have more than 6 votes, Hairy it is.''' '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:58, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye''' '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:58, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye''' [[User:Guru-45|Guru-45]] ([[User talk:Guru-45|talk]]) 06:14, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye''' to Hairy. [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:43, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye'''. Harry would be a nice nod to the fact that he's actually hairy, but indeed it's better to avoid inside jokes. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:05, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye'''. I'm convinced! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 17:52, 3 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye'''. Hairy. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:52, 3 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Hooray! We now have a [[:Category:Comics featuring Hairy]], with four pages already! Does anyone feel compelled to create "[[Hairy]]", with a brief description and a nice profile pic like the other characters? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:58, 3 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Ambiguous characters ==<br />
<br />
I've been thinking about the problem of the ambiguity of characters. "Is this really Cueball even though he has an eye and half a nose?", "This is very likely ''not'' x." "Darnit, these arn't Cueballs, these are Randall and his friends!", and so on. The character ambiguity is standard for xkcd (not less so in the early ones), and comes from the very loose or "free" way Randall uses his characters to be whatever he needs at the moment. It's simply often impossible for us to know whether he had e.g. "Cueball" or himself in mind, when drawing a particular comic (and I'd say: probably often both).<br />
<br />
I want to suggest that we in general have a likewise rather loose policy towards including characters in the categories for the comics. So that reasonably ambiguous cases should be included in e.g. (does she have a ponytail?) This is not because I believe this or that to really be this or that; I just don't believe in objective truth (here!). I feel that when doing research :) on a character, the borderline cases are often the most interesting ones, and you want to be able to find them through the "Comics featuring miss x"!<br />
<br />
I came to think this through now, when I wanted to (and did) list two comics with [[Miss Lenhart]] (?) where she was drawn but not named. Any thoughts on this in general? Other case studies? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:17, 5 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:My take has always been that [[Cueball]], for example, has not been a specific character. There is not ''a'' cueball, per se, distinct from any other cueball... indeed, there are several comics with several cueballs in-frame, and that is the point. I see the cueball character as a wildcard character (pun intended) ready to stand in for anybody (and ''not'' necessarily just Randall; I think those readers who suggest "this ''is'' Randall" are missing the point; he's way more META than that...) [[Megan]], while slightly less generic, still remains the female wild-card significant-other, while Curls seems to be a not-significant-other female used to illustrate a relationship that is transient. Other characters come and go, and when it's important to visually distinguish them from others in the frame, they're given additional characteristics, to wit [[Hairy]], [[Ponytail]], etc.<br />
:Unfortunately, that viewpoint is not commonly held, so I daresay I'm in the minority here.<br />
:-- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:18, 6 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Note at the top, about the server error ==<br />
<br />
:''This thread was moved to [[MediaWiki talk:Sitenotice]]''<br />
<br />
<br />
== I've removed "add a comment!" from Discussion heading ==<br />
<br />
This does move it to above the line, and the rule stops early. Undo my change if that's more bothering than when the TOC is displayed as "add a comment!Discussion"... <br />
<br />
I don't know how to automatically treat level 2 headers as level 3. That may be why Discussion was a level 1 heading earlier.<br />
[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:16, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Actually I now noticed there was a short edit war at {{tl|comic discussion}} over whether it should be a level 1 heading, just for this reason. [[User:Waldir]] seems to have conceeded... [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:25, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: No edit war, hence no (intentional) concession. I reverted a change once, and didn't notice the change being re-implemented by another user. In any case, it is irrelevant now since we actively discourage using headers in talk pages precisely so that they don't display in the TOC for the main comic page, where the discussion page is transcluded to (see the discussion [[#Section style and usage|above]]). This might not scale well for comics that generate lots of discussion. It might be worth discussing our customs (and perhaps write them down somewhere) before performing such changes. What do others think? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:49, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Time: The Table ==<br />
<br />
Right now on the page [[1190: Time]], we have a whole bunch of tables in the form image-time-hash. The tables take up heaps of vertical space and all have to be collapsed to even be remotely traversible. I propose that we aggregate all the images into one table after Time ends, like so:<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable plainlinks table-padding"<br />
|-<br />
!Image<br />
!Time<br />
!Image<br />
!Time<br />
!Image<br />
!Time<br />
!Image<br />
!Time<br />
|-<br />
|[[Media:time.png|00:00]]||01/00:00||[[Media:time.png|10:00]]||01/10:00||[[Media:time.png|20:00]]||01/20:00||[[Media:time.png|30:00]]||AND MOAR SAMPLE DATAS<br />
|-<br />
|[[Media:time.png|00:30]]||01/00:30||[[Media:time.png|10:30]]||01/10:30||[[Media:time.png|20:30]]||01/20:30||[[Media:time.png|30:30]]||AND MOAR SAMPLE DATAS<br />
|}<br />
<br />
The hash values aren't really a part of the comic, they're gibberish for the most part and they take up space that could be used to compact the table, as shown above. Even if we are conservative and make the table only five columns wide to account for smaller screens, we've divided scrolling time by five and eliminated much of the need for annoying collapsed tables and section headers for each day. Constructing the table shouldn't be particularly hard either, as all our current data is in nice regular tables with clear patterns that are easy enough to parse through. <br />
<br />
I'm putting this here because the organization of the frame entries would be unintuitive and difficult to change from the edit window, which would make it a poor choice when we're still expanding it and don't even know how long the comic will continue for. It's merely a space-saving trick for after we're sure that the comic is over. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:26, 16 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Oh and it'd be really nice if other people could also upload images if you're awake and a new one rolls by. There's gaps in the image record every time I wake up, and I dun likey. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:34, 20 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Good work so far; go ahead make it better! :) –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:34, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
==Featured Explanation, and Archival?==<br />
<br />
* Wikipedia has featured content. Now that we are close to reaching the goal of all comics explained, I think it makes more sense to have a "featured explanation" which would serve as a sort of a marker for a complete and good explanation. Many comics, and almost all charts are not fully explained/not a good quality explanation.<br />
<br />
* We should set up archival of discussion of the most discussed pages, like this one. Its not very pleasing to see comments from July 2012 still lying around here. It becomes hectic at some point.<br />
<br />
Just my 2 cents, feel free to discuss. Cheers,<br />
[[Special:Contributions/117.194.88.180|117.194.88.180]] 13:36, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:We dedicate this wiki to explaining xkcd, and we do actually have a featured comic feature; it changes every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and we usually manage to fill out the explanation for it within an hour or so of it going up. The most recent comic tends to be the one that most people visiting the wiki care about, so we give it prime space on the front page so they can find it easily. xkcd updates frequently enough that there isn't really that big of a time window for us to feature an article on our front page. Also, we're a volunteer project with quite a bit less manpower than Wikipedia.<br />
:We do need to archive talk pages though. Some of these are getting ridiculously long. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:04, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::I agree with Davidy22. Archiving topics can be done by anyone, by moving resolved threads to the portal section's corresponding [[explain xkcd talk:Community portal/Proposals|talk page]]. We could start with the threads marked "✓ Closed". [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:42, 1 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: The reason I asked for a "featured explanation" was because many of the comic explanations we currently have are sub-par, and we're almost at our initial goal of explaining all comics. A "featured explanation" would drive our editors towards the goal of having complete and good explanation towards all comics, and would allow us to know which explanations need elaboration.<br />
:: P.S. My definition of complete explanation would be - To have a good explanation, To have all categories relevant, To link to any comics related and To explain any technical portions of the comic.<br />
:: [[Special:Contributions/117.194.82.49|117.194.82.49]] 07:45, 8 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::That message on the front page is going to link to all the pages marked by the incomplete template. If you find an unsatisfactory explanation, please mark it with <nowiki>{{incomplete}}</nowiki> '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:54, 8 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::: By my definition, I think all comics will be incomplete. An incomplete template will be focused more towards improving the worst explanations, while a featured one will be to improve the best ones. Since we already have the former, we should focus on the latter. Just my 2 cents. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.85.82|117.194.85.82]] 06:55, 9 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Split the list of all comics ==<br />
<br />
[[List of all comics]] is getting larger and larger, which makes it hard to read and hard to edit. How about splitting into parts, say [[List of all comics/1-1000]], [[List of all comics/1001-2000]], etc., or something to that effect? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:39, 1 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: Done. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.88.176|117.194.88.176]] 10:03, 9 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Great job, thanks! [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:09, 9 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::And I've added back [[List of all comics (full)]], which allows, for example, listing all comics by alphabetical order.[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 17:29, 10 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Sidebar ads ==<br />
<br />
''Moved from [[Talk:Main Page]] –– [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:06, 4 May 2013 (UTC)''<br />
<br />
Are they generating significant money? The ones I see are pretty sleazy looking and/or scammy - "Power Companies Hate this Device! - click here to break the laws of thermodynamics!" and "Debt relief program click here to lose more money". How much money are they generating? Can you set any selections to remove the sleazy ads? [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 18:30, 3 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Do we have sleazy sidebar ads? Since when? Thanks Google Chrome and AdBlock, I had no idea! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 07:47, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::People give 20$ a pop to get a bunch of clicks on explainxkcd, and Jeff uses that money to buy a faster server with a hard drive that doesn't have less space than a public toilet with an elephant in it. It'd be really nice if you didn't turn on adblock, the money is appreciated. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:47, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::It's a question of me not turning it off specifically every time I visit this site. More importantly, I do think people would be more likely to click the "donate" if it weren't irrelevant ads around it. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 19:29, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::Generating money is a great thing. Getting "20$ a pop to get a bunch of clicks" is a bit unclear. Do the ads only generate revenue when clicked on? So EXKCD only gets money when someone actually falls for the sleazy ads? I know lots of people do not like Google - but at least their adsense stuff is relevant to the content of the website, which might generate some legitimate traffic for a legitimate advertiser.... [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 11:48, 19 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::Welllll, I didn't pick the ad supplier. You could bring it up with [[User talk:Jeff|Jeff]] if you want, I think he picked the ad provider on basis of which one had a mediawiki plugin or something. If you can link Jeff to a quick and easy way to put adsense on mediawiki, he should change it quickly enough. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:21, 19 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::And I also gather then that they are only a temporary thing? -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:27, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::::Until we can buy a server that doesn't poop itself every time a new comic is released, the ads are staying. If you want them to go away sooner, throw more money at Jeff. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:25, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::::: The ads are crap. For sure. Wish I didn't have to run them, but I don't trust donations alone to hold up continually some better hosting. The ads really don't bring in that much $$$. I had google adsense before, but Google shutdown my adsense account for unnamed reason after 1 week. This new ad service is way sketchier. If you all think they don't have a place here, I'll ax 'em. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:02, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::::: Thanks for the info Jeff. How much ad money are we talking about? Is it calculated on how many ads are displayed or how many are clicked-through? How close to the goal is the server fund? How about a Kickstarter campaign for the server? $10 gets your name on a thankyou webpage or something like that. [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 17:32, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::::: It ain't much, last I looked it was $2 or $3 in 2 weeks. I believe it is based on clicks, it is not nearly as clear as Google adsense. I'm not really interested in doing a Kickstarter. I think the donations will cover the initial start up, I just want to be able to cover the monthly costs as well. A few things are still up in the air. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:24, 25 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::::::Can you find a way to show the donations and ad income on the site, to make it transparent? ––[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:30, 30 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::::::: How about a donation amount that you'll take to turn it (the annoying unethical scummy ads) off for a year? Give me a dollar value and I might step up for the good of us all! [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 16:28, 3 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Economic transparency ==<br />
<br />
I think this is very important: How can we make the donations and ad-income transparent, so that we all can see when and how much money is coming in, and how far we are from reaching our goal? – [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 00:35, 24 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Sounds fine to me, I think I can put something together. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:52, 28 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Hi, may I bump this issue? Or maybe you have done something, and I missed it? Anyway, I would still appreciate it! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 17:43, 22 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::Numberssss. I'll get on with it, just need less homework and a few more numbers. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:54, 23 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I would like to respectfully file a complain. I find the banner advertisement of background checks distasteful. [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 05:10, 15 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
: Hey [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] - I am the one who approved those ads. But, since you have filed a complaint about them, I have gone ahead and removed them. Thanks. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:52, 15 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I thank you. [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 03:36, 17 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Using <nowiki><nowiki></nowiki></nowiki> in transcripts to improve accuracy ==<br />
<br />
In the transcripts, <nowiki>[[lines]]</nowiki> are being changed to [lines] in order to avoid auto-linking. Why not just surround these with <nowiki><nowiki></nowiki></nowiki> tags and avoid the problem entirely? --[[User:Epauley|Epauley]] ([[User talk:Epauley|talk]]) 04:18, 16 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Because it takes less time to type and single brackets are just as readable as double brackets to visitors. It's also a bit more readable in the editor. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:55, 16 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Strip Title ==<br />
<br />
For someone who commonly browses explainxkcd in place of xkcd, and hence often see the strips for the first time here rather than the parent site, I find it somewhat odd that the 'Title Text' is so poorly displayed given how critical it can be to the strip.<br />
<br />
I propose that, while retaining the given name (perhaps moving it top left), the title text be enlarged and relocated to being over the strip as originally intended. {{unsigned ip|175.41.133.18}}<br />
:The title text is placed very well at bottom of the image.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 07:20, 6 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I would have to agree with Dgbrt, it's placed nicely at the bottom, and there is no need for it to be moved. My reasoning is that you never actually read the title text first, you read it last. Making it <code>text-align: left;</code> does not make sense, because the image is centered (just like on xkcd.com). I also believe that there is no need for it to be re-sized, mainly due to the fact that it is slightly larger than the title text (for me, at least). {{User:Grep/signature|05:18, 08 September 2013}}<br />
<br />
:Plus, if you hover over the image, it's the same as on xkcd.com {{User:Grep/signature|06:13, 08 September 2013}}<br />
<br />
:I also agree with Dgbrt and Grep. The title text is kind of a bonus and should not be emphasized more than on the original page. On the original site you only see it before the image, if you have very slow internet access (or very fast eyes) --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:06, 2 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Sections in talk pages ==<br />
<br />
Is there a reason why there are no sections in talk pages? It is not a very big deal, but especially for longer talk pages it would make editing be much handier, especially when using the preview function (not having to find the section every time). Also it automatically adds a description to the history (thus makes it more easy to look for certain edits, or decide by just looking at the [[Special:RecentChanges]], if a comment should concern you. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:01, 2 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
:When discussion pages are transcluded by the comic discussion template, section headers carry over from talk pages and bad things happen. Using ; to denote headers instead of equals signs works well, and doesn't share transclusion pain. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:04, 2 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== references ==<br />
<br />
Any chance we can add [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Cite/Cite.php cite.php] to this wiki? Most pages don't need it, but some comics take on a life of their own and being able to add reference tags would be really helpful for those. [[User:LadyMondegreen|LadyMondegreen]] ([[User talk:LadyMondegreen|talk]]) 01:33, 9 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Cite has been added to the wiki. Thanks for the suggestion! --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 01:35, 17 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Stylized writing ==<br />
<br />
I understand that this wiki isn't as formal as wikipedia or sites like that but it seems that there are a few questionable practices:<br />
<br />
1. The use of questions - when a non-rhetorical or unnecessary question is entered into the explanation.<br />
<br />
2. Extremely painted/biased view points - when there is obvious bias in the tone of the explanation of the contributor, in other <br />
words; a lack of neutrality.<br />
<br />
3. Extreme repetition/rehashing - the explanation restates things and makes for a long and tedious read when a more straight-forward explanation is possible and clearer.<br />
<br />
4. The general informality - "This one's an easy one" "This is simple" "this one's straightforward" "You're an idiot for not understanding this one" etc.<br />
<br />
5. Many other practices that make the explanation hard to read, difficult to understand, or plain ugly.<br />
<br />
I know that there are disparaging view points on how a comic should be explained, but please let's clean up the site a bit, acknowledge each view point and report on all of them and then tighten up the sloppy writing. Carry out arguments in the talk section, not the explanation. Perhaps we could first try to say the majority view point on the interpretation and then write the alternate explanations, of course this would bring up the debate on which is the majority explanation. Either way, more complete, logical explanations should be given more credence. --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 00:25, 23 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I agree with 2-5. 1, on the other hand, is sometimes useful and can contribute the to explanation, although 1 is still a very good point. I would say that you should edit it to have "arguments in the talk" be a 6th point as well. Unfortunately, though, we are not all logical, comic-understanding machines here, so minor deviations of these rules are still to be expected. But I think that overall, these are good rules, even if 2/3 are sort of part of 5.<br />
:[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]], please sign your post with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki><span style="float: right;">{{User:Grep/signature|23:55, 22 October 2013}}</span><br />
<br />
:I understand the use of questions in certain parts. And it was probably better to put the others as sub-categories to five but I wanted to show some common things that can be easily fixed. I know that some explanations require a lot of text and extensive research because of the abstract subjects Randall deals with and that it's difficult to be completely standardized but I think it would be good for us to try to come up with some general things to try to avoid to help the explanations "flow" --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 00:25, 23 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Most of that isn't intentional, it's just an awful lot of labor to copy check all the explanations. I've been going through all the current articles and fixing consistency issues, the worst being wrong transcript/title text/dates and the most benign being wikilinks, spelling and trailing spaces. I'm at 682 so far, but my next pass will be on actual language and content, and it'll probably take longer. It takes a while though, and you can totally work on improving language in articles if you want to. Some explanations were pulled from the old blog, some were written and just got lost in the changelog. Copy editing everything we have so far is a very labor-intensive job, and the only way to really deal with it is to knuckle down and do it, or form a wikiproject and hope to heaven that visitors feel charitable enough to join in on it. I'd *probably* push to finish up all our incomplete articles first though, just because that's more directly related to the purpose of the site; tone and style probably comes second to having correct explanations. That doesn't mean you can't do it yourself, it's just that I'll probably only dedicate the subheader on the main page to one project at a time and our current biggest bugbear hasn't been solved yet. I could put up a sitenotice to see if that speeds the process up any. I'll do that when I get back home. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:31, 23 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Easy redirect to comic? ==<br />
<br />
I've been thinking, and there is one thing that would make navigating to the explained comics easier. My method of browsing is I'll see the comic on xkcd.com first, and if there is something curious about it that I don't quite understand, I'll come here. Sometimes it can be a bit troublesome, going to the homepage and then navigatiing to the right comic. Not too bad, but I'd like an easy way to go direct. So I was thinking, what if you had a redirect such that if you typed in, for example, www.explainxkcd.com/505, you would get redirected to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=505:_A_Bunch_of_Rocks. That would mean that you could get to the comic just from adding an "explain" to the start of the xkcd.com URL. I don't know if that is at all possible, but it would be pretty handy if it happened. Thoughts?<br />
[[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 03:01, 25 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
:[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Technical#Redirect_from_explainxkcd.com.2F1234 That's actually already on the to-do list.] I'm testing it right now and we should have it up soon. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:02, 25 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
:: Awesome :) [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 03:26, 1 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::Whoop, forgot to mark this as complete. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:37, 1 November 2013 (UTC) <br />
:::: Done! Copy this and drag it to your bookmarks bar: |javascript: var url = document.URL; document.location = url.replace('xkcd.com','explainxkcd.com');| {{unsigned ip|173.245.52.29}}<br />
:::::The feature requested here has also long since been implemented. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:20, 4 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Increase support via prominent display of copyright and license for text submitted to explainxkcd ==<br />
<br />
XKCD itself is rather liberally licensed, and gets lots of good will from that. As it says on the bottom of every page "This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License." For details see [http://xkcd.com/license.html xkcd - A Webcomic - License].<br />
<br />
But I found nothing on most pages of explainxkcd about copyright or licensing, and it discouraged me from contributing or donating. Finally, as I was writing this proposal up, I found a link on the editing page here: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Copyrights explain xkcd:Copyrights - explain xkcd] saying that "''The Explain XKCD wiki is generally licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license (CC-BY-SA-3.0)''". That notice should be more prominent on the site, with at least a link on each page. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 15:27, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:This should be mentioned at the main page, including a reference to the xkcd origin.<br />
:BTW: NO DOUBLE SPACES after a sentence. Are you US guys still using a typewriter? It's not rendered at a web page and stupid like Gallons, Miles, Foots, and much more unique US behaviours. But that's just a joke beside.<br />
:The licence hint is much more important, you are just correct.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:12, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Added a creative commons icon to the footer of the page, next to the powered by mediawiki button. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:16, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New Comics Bot ==<br />
<br />
Would there be need for such a thing?<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.52|108.162.231.52]] Synthetica<br />
:Nice idea, I never thought about that before. I will do some tests on existing comics to check if this could reduce the current number of error posts for a new article. When that is ready and working I will talk to some admins. My bot account [[User:DgbrtBOT|DgbrtBOT]] was originally intended for [[1190: Time]] picture uploads, but I never have used it because Time was over. Creating the new pages should be easy in general, avoiding errors will cost some more work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:31, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::If you can get dgbrtBOT to do that, that'd help us an awful lot. It'd allow us to get rid of the ifexist cases in template:LATESTCOMIC as well, since the bot could change automatically that whenever a new comic goes up. It'll also help us get new comics down almost the moment they pop up, since the bot could sample several times a minute until a comic is posted. So long as it gets the general pattern right so that we have a correct page set up, we're good. An admin can come in sometime later to clean up categories and image urls and other piddly easy-to-fix details. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:54, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::I will work on this next weekend, just local scripts and no updates here. I also will talk about my results before any automatic updates will be activated. My first focus is on creating the new pages in the general pattern, LATESTCOMIC and also the page "All comics" are maybe a bonus later. And of course all my scripts will be open source.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:44, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::The first version is ready and I will test it at my local wiki. If everything goes well I could activate it for Wednesday (2013-11-13). LATESTCOMIC and "All comics" are on my roadmap, but first I want produce correct new pages here. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:00, 10 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::Righty ho. Here goes. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:36, 10 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Even when my automatic local wiki test did fail today, just a damn wrong password, I will activate the bot here for Wednesday. It will only run from 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM UTC. You will not see my possible updates at [[Special:RecentChanges]] unless you click ''Show bots'' at the top of that page. LATESTCOMIC and "All comics" are not covered, but this is at my TODO list until this test will be successful. Give me a '''GO''' or '''NO-GO''' for this test.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:49, 11 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Easily a GO, I'll be ready to clean up if anything goes wrong. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:08, 11 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::So be ready on Wednesday for the clean up. My worst case is ''it simply does not work'', second worse scenario is still that I could delete some contend already posted here, but I'm trying to avoid this. ''Huston'', the countdown clock is counting. I'm joking about this because I really want to be confident about this ''BOT'' or ROBOT or uncontrolled action here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:28, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::The bot can't do anything that I can't reverse. I can even restore a backup from an hour before the bot's edits if it manages to break the database. How quickly does it poll xkcd, by the way? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:53, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
First live test here (comic 1289). Please delete this page: [[Simple_Answers:_1289]]. Since my local wiki did not provide this templates I could not see this error before. In general the bot will update pages differ to any existing pages, but when it is not changed no update will happen. I'm fixing this errors at my script and do a second test here soon. I want to see it's producing correct pages until the bot will do it's work when I'm sleeping.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:31, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Ok, test are done here, BOT is scheduled for the next update. Polling is every five minutes on Mon, Wed, and Fri from 04:00 until 08:00 UTC. Let's see how it will work.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:08, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Couldja ramp that up to once/twice a minute, push the start time back by an hour, and the end time by a few hours? Also, is it possible to terminate it once it finds a comic for a certain day? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:45, 13 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::It worked! Though it posted the comic 5 minutes past post time. We has technology now, we can afford to poll faster and closer, yeah? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:32, 13 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Uhh, it worked... I will increase the polls when I'm more confident about the release times. Today it was approx. 05:00 UTC (GMT) or 01:00 EST (Randall's time zone). Looks like he is still at daylight saving time, would have been 00:00 EDT. The polls will be increased to one minute when I'm sure about the Standard Release Time (SRT). Next steps for the next update on Friday are:<br />
:The "All comics" page.<br />
:The LATESTCOMIC template.<br />
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:54, 13 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:The LATESTCOMIC template is included for the next run, it just simply has to return a number. But it's still the most critical part because if it does not work the Main Page is broken. I will change this to a better solution using that IFEXIST syntax soon. The list of all comics is still at my ToDo list. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:06, 14 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::The desired content of the LATESTCOMIC template should be just the comic number. If we can get out of having to poll multiple IFEXIST statements to find the latest comic, that would be a fantastic boon to our server performance. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:43, 15 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::OK, it did work today so I will not change this. Next step is the list for all comics.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:10, 15 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Next run will include an update on the "All comics" page. I'm crossing my fingers. When this update is also successful I will document my Bot at the Bot user page [[User:DgbrtBOT]]. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:15, 17 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Oh, I forgot this detail: The bot is starting at 00:00 EST (RLT - Randall local time), which is 04:00 UTC and 05:00 MET for me. It polls every 5 minutes until 23:55 MET (22:55 UTC, 18:55 RLT) the main page until a new comic is found. I do not poll the comic number because I want to avoid 404 message logs at the servers.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:30, 17 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Something went wrong there. That's gonna need fixing. I am enjoying the looks of the apparently faster polling though. Maybe you could also set the start time to 00:00:05 EST to catch the on-time xkcd releases within ten seconds? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:33, 18 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Uh, what a mess. I will do some more tests at my local wiki. At the next time I will do a check against the number from the LATESTCOMIC template, only the next number will be processed. The test against my local history did fail because of some cleanups after testings.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 08:18, 18 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::I don't like mess. So the BOT got many more checks before posting here but the bot was starting at 05:00 local time for me. I'm really asleep at that time. The mess here was covered, but I do need another GO for the next attempt. Otherwise I will just do a test to my local wiki.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:35, 18 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
No GO so far, my next test will run only at my local wiki.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:16, 19 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:My script is here: [https://github.com/dgbrt/explainXKCD_update explainXKCD_update]. At my current test "explainxkcd.com" is commented out and "localhost" is active. Since I don't like mess and the bot does act while I am sleeping the next update must be done manually here. I'm hoping the bot will be ready for the next update on Friday.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:15, 19 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Bot is ready for Friday, everything went smooth at my last local test today. The bot did find the latest comic at 04:05 UTC and all essential pages were properly created. So I will activate it for this site again. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:57, 20 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Bot did work as expected. So I name it release 1.1337, the next planed release will be 2.1337 (beta) because of this two issues:<br />
*"Include any categories below this line." will be removed because it doesn't make any sense any more.<br />
*BETA: I want to use the full template features at [[List of all comics]], just ensuring that the pictures are working properly. No need for this at the most comics, but the BOT doesn't cover all possibilities on corrupt file names like we have had in "Pi vs. Tau". The picture was without that dot. My bot just shows the real link it did upload here.<br />
I'm pretty sure we will have some issues on this bot, but for general pages it should work. So the bot will be active on Mon,Wed,Fri from 0:00 EST (or EDT) every five minutes until it did found a new comic, on success the bot does not poll any more.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:51, 22 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Aww, it's a bot. It doesn't need to rest or take time off to do other stuff. It can totally poll once or more times per minute. Also, if you set the start time to a few seconds after midnight, Randall time, when he uploads a comic on-time, you'll get it within a few seconds as opposed to having to wait for the next polling. As for the image names, maybe you could convert spaces in the comic name to underscores, compare the two comic names you have and use that to decide which version of the template to use? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:08, 22 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::I have to avoid that the bot is running twice, Internet Timeouts and more. And the comics are also published later sometimes. Look at my release [https://github.com/dgbrt/explainXKCD_update 1.1337], release 2.1337 will be later, Maybe I should start at 2 minutes after 0:00, but let's see right now how the bot does work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:38, 23 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Uhh, what a huge discussion here. The bot will get a major update soon: Scheduler does start it once and until a comic is found and uploaded it here or an other limit is reached (maybe the end of the day) the bot will poll by a small delay. But every poll is still an entire download from the main page, When a new comic is found bot stops.<br />
:Why, you could use http://xkcd.com/info.0.json, right?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.52|108.162.231.52]] 07:38, 2 December 2013 (UTC)Synthetica<br />
::The BOT performs perfect and I prefer to analyze the original page. A title text like the one from today (a text showing a link) will be covered in the future.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 10:35, 2 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
A great enhancement would be also covering a new comic like 1190 Time was. I'm looking forward on this, some ideas, it does require a complete analyse of the page and then finding some strange content. <br />
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:05, 27 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Require description for 'incomplete' tags ==<br />
I've been trying to fix some of the incompletes, but several explanation pages I've come across are tagged incomplete without any reason given. The reason should be a required part of the tag. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.223|173.245.52.223]] 03:35, 7 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
:This incomplete tags are just older than the recent change of that template. Current adds require a description, but it's not easy to figure out all that old reasons. If someone does find a reason, please just add it. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:22, 7 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Should there be a subwiki to cover the shop links that appear above the comic? ==<br />
<br />
The current one (as of writing) is [http://imgs.xkcd.com/store_news/store_gd_b11_1ze4.png] but this is a different than the usual, and there was also a third in between these.<br />
[[User:Rsranger65|Rsranger65]] ([[User talk:Rsranger65|talk]]) 06:00, 8 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Those are very ephemeral. They aren't going to exist for very long, I don't know how valuable it would be to archive that stuff. We could probably do it, but having to figure out another naming convention and all for advertisements doesn't appeal to me at the current moment. If you can flesh it out, I'd love to see how you think we should do it. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:24, 8 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New Character ==<br />
<br />
OK, I think we need a name for the character with a goatee and glasses in comics [[435: Purity]], [[796: Bad Ex]] and [[964: Dorm Poster]] as well as possibly others. Edit: oh and I suggest Goatee and Glasses Guy, but I'm open for suggestions Edit 2: also in [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]] Halfhat {{unsigned|Halfhat}}<br />
edit 3: Another sighting [[954: Chin-Up Bar]] [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 16:57, 13 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
: In the transcript, he is called "Person with Glasses and a Goatee" --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:39, 21 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
:: "Glasses Guy", "Goatee Guy" are both probably descriptive enough! --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:41, 21 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== What If Comics ==<br />
<br />
Hi, I was thinking, maybe at some point we should do the comics in the ''What If?'' section, like [http://what-if.xkcd.com/imgs/a/36/cornstarch_bitcoins.png this one.] [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 20:01, 13 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
: Start creating the pages for them! --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:36, 21 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
: I think I can start creating one or two pages for What If, if that helps... [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 16:14, 5 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
:: If nobody has any problem with it, I'm gonna give it a try later. :) [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 13:14, 8 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::I thought they were already pretty self-explanatory though. Also, how are we gonna organize and present them? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:31, 8 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
::::I totally agree with David: Read the entire What-If page and follow the links provided by Randall. No one of us can do that better in depth. But an overview page for this site is maybe not a bad idea, we just need a proper link here — a link at the main menu on the left. Translations to other languages are just another issue. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:37, 8 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::::Yes, I was thinking of an overview, summarizing the contents and discoveries of each what if page. Not to mention, we could also organize what if pages by categories, such as physics/love.<br />
:::::Would you like me to post here an example of what I would write? That way we can decide if it's worthy of creating an actual page. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 12:53, 9 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
:Adding pages for What If? posts would be very helpful. Although the articles themselves are obviously self-explanatory, there are almost as many subtle references, running gags, and in-jokes in What If? posts these days as in the comics themselves.<br />
I often visit explain xkcd when I feel like I'm missing an inside joke or a pop culture reference in a comic, and it would be very helpful to many people (especially those from other cultures/subcultures) to have the same service.<br />
For example, today's What If? contains multiple allusions to the Superman Movie, a running Citation Needed joke, and a whole comic that is a not-so-subtle dig at Elon Musk and the Hyperloop. It would be awesome if the community here at explainxkcd could tackle stuff like that.<br />
Anonymous 20:05, 31 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I agree. I don't understand the mouseover text on the first image in "Snow Removal", for example. [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 22:57, 23 February 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Transcripts ==<br />
<br />
The whole point of the transcripts is to have those who are unable to view images to still be able to read the comic, right?<br />
<br />
Then why is it required to stick to strictly official transcripts, where sometimes rewriting them slightly would make them flow better or otherwise get the ideas across better? I've tried rewriting a few, but they get reverted. I think that having easier-to-understand transcripts would be more important than strictly following official transcripts; what do you think? (For a few examples, see [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=207:_What_xkcd_Means&diff=60061&oldid=57400 this edit] and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=995%3A_Coinstar&diff=59862&oldid=57316 this edit]. [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 17:38, 19 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
:We use the original transcript to try and deduce original author intent if it's unclear from the image. I remember one comic where Beret Guy was off in the distance and it was difficult to distinguish him from the image, but the official transcript said it was him. We don't stick to the original transcript if it's obviously wrong, or it has typographical errors: see [[Laser Scope]]. Those edits seem to be mainly targeted at language and clarity, and should be fine. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:06, 19 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
::Would it be helpful to have another (optional) section for expanding on the official transcripts? I too think it could be helpful, especially for complex images (such as 1079/United Shapes [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1079]). Or does supplemental description belong in the Explanation sections? Cheers. [[User:Karenb|Karenb]] ([[User talk:Karenb|talk]]) 23:00, 20 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::Naaah, how many people even know there's an original transcript? If the original is wrong, change it. If your additions begin to verge on explanatory, move eet to the trivia/explanation sections. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:52, 21 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== "Characters in this Comic" section ==<br />
<br />
Should there be a "Characters in this Comic" section in each comic explanation? (I feel like this should be longer but don't have anything else to say.) [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 23:33, 11 May 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:There is a Category section at the bottom of each comic. Just scroll down and you will see any character belonging to a specific comic. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:50, 12 May 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Adding the Radiation chart from XKCD ==<br />
<br />
Hi <br />
As there are already other comics with explanations even though they are not part of the number system.<br />
This one does not seem to have any yet:<br />
http://xkcd.com/radiation/<br />
And as it is very alike the Money strip (the unexplained of the week) so I think it should be explained as well.<br />
If you agree please add it as I'm not sure how to do that.<br />
<br />
Best regards<br />
:[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:47, 7 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Reddit comments? ==<br />
<br />
There should be a link in each comics explanation page somewhere linking to the comment section for the relevant comic on /r/xkcdcomic or reddit.<br />
:The reddit comments page isn't ''that'' close to what we do though. If this is more popular, we'll do it, though there'll need to be a fair bit of post-hoc editing since I don't think there's a standard URL scheme for all the past comics. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
:I just came here to ask if we could do this, but I looked into it and it wouldn't be simple. Could we write a bot to run on the xkcd subreddit to post the link here? --[[User:Eluvatar|Eluvatar]] ([[User talk:Eluvatar|talk]]) 05:53, 6 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Not insulting new users ==<br />
<br />
I am writing a response to a vulnerability assessment. I have included a link to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/936 noting that it contains a good explanation of the relative security of passwords vs passphrases. I just noticed that the top of that page contains "Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb." Looks like I'll have to find a different site to link to. --[[User:Pascal|Pascal]] ([[User talk:Pascal|talk]]) 17:33, 28 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
:I agree. While I'm sure it can seem cute or funny in various circles, that text has always seemed immature and inappropriate to me, and I'm sure to many folks we'd like to invite to the site. I suggest that it be changed. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 19:52, 23 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:The XKCD http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/936 suggestion for password is actually not that good. [http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/62832/is-the-oft-cited-xkcd-scheme-no-longer-good-advice read here] for some more discussion. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.253.6|162.158.253.6]] 23:49, 10 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I also agree. I'm not here because I'm stupid, I'm here because I don't know something and I'm hoping this site can help. It's off putting to have that text there, and there's no benefit to it. What about just repeating the thing at the top of XKCD.com: "Romance, Sarcasm, Math, and Language: Explained"?<br />
<br />
I agree, and there is actually a very long talk page started about this subject in the miscellaneous section. Eventually people voted to keep it, but the main argument on that side was that that was the way things had always been. I am fairly new to the site (this is actually my first post on it), so I don't know how these things work, but I do think that that should be changed. There were actually a large number of good proposals for replacements with the other one, and I thought it would be funny if there was a randomly selected character every time you loaded a page, with each character having their own tagline. Is there any way to try to get this changed again?[[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.52|172.68.78.52]]<br />
<br />
== RSS feed ==<br />
<br />
Is there an RSS feed (or some equivalent) of Explain XKCD available? It's helpful for those using feed readers, and superior to the primary XKCD RSS since there are explanations and the mouse over text is transcribed for the lazy. Thanks [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.154|108.162.219.154]] 08:24, 28 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
:[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:NewPages&feed=atom&hideredirs=1&limit=90&offset=&namespace=0&username=&feed=&tagfilter= Why yes, we do!] It's the regular new pages log that all wikis have. It's a little ugly at the moment, and sometimes junk gets in there when a bot chucks spam at us, so a nicer feed is in the works, but the linked one should do you excellently for now. When the nice one is done, you'll see it in the sidebar below the "Help" button. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:31, 28 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Navigation Pane Link - Categories ==<br />
<br />
How about having a link to the "Special:Categories" page in the navigation pane?<br />
<br />
A fair amount of effort has gone into categorising the comics, and at the moment it isn't particularly obvious how to browse by category. Is this worth doing?{{unsigned|Pudder}}<br />
:Space on the sidebar is on a premium. I dunno, I'd probably be against it, but I want to hear what other admins say as well. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:45, 29 September 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Alternate realities what if would benefit from a wiki entry ==<br />
<br />
The what if entry from the end of November 2014 providing excerpts from alternate reality what ifs would benefit from an explain page. <br />
I suspect these may have been typos that have been made into jokes, but some of the humor might not be apparent to all. <br />
I doubt I have access (or maybe know how) to set it up myself. <br />
<br />
Cheers {{unsigned ip|199.27.133.42}}<br />
<br />
: Made it. Check out [[What If: 120: Alternate Universe What Ifs]]. [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 09:10, 26 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
::We don't actually have a structure for what if pages in general, so I'll have to take that down, but when we do we can make pages for every what if. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:57, 26 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Secondary URLs? ==<br />
<br />
I have made http://www.xkcd.ga and http://www.xkcd.tk both forward to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. Is this ok? [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:50, 26 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
:While we probably won't advertise them because we can't guarantee the uptime of third-party URLs, and they add an additional redirect layer and lack our shortened URL features, you're free to purchase and link URLs to us independently. We are not owned by Randall and as such cannot claim to actually be xkcd, so I'm not hugely comfortable with you using the plain name "xkcd" to link to us; a url in the format http://www.xkcd.[TLD] should by rights link to the main xkcd site, but no trademark claim has been made or likely will be made, so you should be fine with doing whatever you want to do with URL redirects '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:57, 26 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== LaTeX (Or MathML, TeX) support? ==<br />
<br />
[[1489:_Fundamental_Forces|In the most recent comic at the time of posting]], there was use of formulae, being:<br/>F<sub>gravity</sub> = G m<sub>1</sub>m<sub>2</sub>/d<sup>2</sup><br/>F<sub>static</sub> = K<sub>e</sub> q<sub>1</sub>q<sub>2</sub>/d<sup>2</sup><br/><br />
There are probably many more comics using formulae that cannot be rendered properly without the use of LaTeX or something. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Displaying_a_formula help page on Wikipedia] says that the following should work:<br/><math>F_{gravity}=G\frac{m_1m_2}{d^2}</math><br/><math>F_{static}=K_e\frac{q_1q_2}{d^2}</math><br />
Provided that one has to set <source lang="php" enclose="none">$wgUseTeX = true;</source> in [[mw:Manual:LocalSettings.php|LocalSettings.php]]. Is there any reason for this to be disabled? If there is, is there any alternative? —[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.95|141.101.106.95]] 21:18, 20 February 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:The wgUseTeX flag was deprecated in mediawiki 1.18 in a move to simplify base mediawiki and move niche features into seperate plugins. I vaguely remember this being requested in the past, can't find any evidence of me implementing it. I'll try it now, see what stopped me last time. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:12, 21 February 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Ah, there's a bit of configuration work to it and I was busy at the time probably. I'll put it on the growing to do list on my userpage. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:20, 21 February 2015 (UTC)<br />
This problem is '''solved'''. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:03, 15 June 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Merge Cueball & Rob ==<br />
<br />
At the risk of posting this idea too many places and annoying everyone, I would like to propose that we consider merging [[Cueball]] and [[Rob]] and redirecting Cueball to Rob, much as [[Cutie]] now redirects to [[Megan]]. The most common name given for a Cueball-like character in the strip is "Rob". Like Megan, he is not always named. Also, like Megan, Rob tends to have distinct characteristics such as being a nerdy alter-ego to Randall (e.g. [[1168: tar]]) just as Megan often is the appearance given to comic representations of Randall's wife (see [[1141: Two Years]], before hair loss). Megan and Cueball appear to have a relationship (e.g. [[159: Boombox]]) and Megan clearly hangs out with Rob in ways not inconsistent with adventurous couples (e.g. [[782: Desecration]]). Finally, comics that feature both [[Black Hat]] and "Cueball" seem to depict them as friends and possibly roommates. However, we learn in [[1102: Fastest-Growing]] that Black Hat's roommate is named "Rob".<br />
<br />
In short, I believe if [[159: Boombox]] had called "Cueball" "Rob" we would've rewritten both Cutie and Cueball to redirect there. Because we learned that "Cueball's" name is actually Rob much later (I think the earliest occurrences are [[647: Scary]], and [[716: Time Machine]]; the first time he is seen with Megan in a capacity that might indicate a relationship is [[782: Desecration]]). [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:05, 11 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:As I answered your comment on [[1496: Art Project]] Rob is [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comics_featuring_Rob already listed] as part of the category for Comics featuring Cueball: and this is listed as the first entry when going to the page for [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comics_featuring_Cueball Category:Comics featuring Cueball]. Cueball is such an integral part of explain xkcd that I do not think any other users wish to change. Also the 9 incidences with Rob is maybe a specific person and at the time Randall did not think to give him any features. Also Cueballs have no specific behavior as you allude to. Neither has Megan. You can always find several Cueballs and Megans that behave a certain way. But then you can find many other comics where they behave the opposite way. Thus Rob and Cueball should not be merged. Also there are several comics with more than one Cueball. And here we have this problem: It is typically the first who writes the transcript who decides who of the Cueballs (or Megans) he feels represents the "real" Cueball. However, there is no real behavior of Cueball. So who should decide. I could change all these transcripts so it becomes the other character who becomes Cueball, because I think that the first transcriber did it wrong. And this is why in a comic with more than one Cueball (where neither is called Rob or the like) neither of the two should be called Cueball. It would still be in the category with Cueball, because that is just comics with a Cueball like character no matter how many. But they cannot be named Cueball and friend or Rob and friend (unless Rob's name is mentioned!) They could be called Cueball 1 and Cueball 2, but then guy or man would be better. I know several places have comics with two Cueballs where someone has designated one of them Cueball and the other friend of foe etc. But this should be corrected so none of these are called Cueball. Same should go for more than one Megan. But this is very rare, and I have only found one other than ''Art project'' and here only one Megan had any lines. The problem with different opinions on which Cueball is which came for the first time up with Megan in ''Art project'': The two Megan-like characters was first named (left to right) Megan and Danish. Then unidentified girl and Megan. Then Megan and unidentified girl, then two Megan like girls with short and long hair and finally you reverted it to my first change away from Danish to unidentified girl and Megan. (I can live with that as there is difference in hair length and behavior). But as far as I see it Cueball is not Rob as well as Megan should have continued to be called Cutie (but I would not like to change that now, as I have grown fond of Megan). But at the time the change was done I believe it was wrong. The same fondness for the name Cueball also makes me sure that no one else would wish to call him Rob, even if that is as much his name as Megan is Cuties... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:57, 11 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::My argument is that it is inertia and sentiment ("fond of Megan") that prevents an objective, equal treatment here. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 22:47, 11 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Also, regarding the analogy made above to Danish. I am fine with a nickname when Randall hasn't named a character. So she was "unidentified girl" and then became "Danish". But, when we named her "Danish", we went back to "Journal 1" and other places and renamed her. My proposal is that we should go back through and rename "Cueball" as "Rob". Alternatively, we should reinstate "Cutie" for cases in which it is not clear that a character is "Megan" per se, but just Megan in her "everywoman" capacity. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 00:00, 12 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I'm not sure how to post a poll, but I see the following options:<br />
<br />
1) Status quo: Cueball for all unidentified males without distinct characteristics (e.g. hats), Megan for all shoulder-length brunettes. Rob only for named Cueballs. Multiple Cueballs in a comic mean one is named Cueball and others get named "Friend", etc.<br />
<br />
2) Symmetry 1: Cueball/Rob stays as is. Unnamed brunettes get named "Cutie". "Megan" like "Rob" is reserved for comics in which a name is used.<br />
<br />
3) Symmetry 2: Megan stays as is. Rob is the default for indistinct males. "Cueball" page redirects to "Rob" (as "Cutie" now redirect to "Megan").<br />
<br />
4) Expunge all Cueballs from multi-Cueball comics: Basically the status quo, except that in comics with multiple Cueballs none are named "Cueball" and are just all given names "Man 1", "Man 2", etc.<br />
<br />
I am ambivalent regarding options 2 or 3. I could live with 1 if there is consensus for it, but I don't like it. 4 is a disaster in my mind and gains nothing. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 22:47, 11 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:We are probably the only one who reads these post...? But anyway as is clear I'm for 4. Which has been used several places already.´I can live with 1. I think 2 and 3 are disasters. Also it would be completely confusing for those who have used this page for many years. Why do you bring this up now? Is it because of the multiple Megan comics, or have you just signed up here, and dislike that it doesn't follow the rules you would have expected?--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:19, 12 March 2015 (UTC) <br />
::I suggest instead that we create a category for multiple Cueballs, so it is easy to explain why the Cueball is not a specific character, and thus can never be Rob (except when it is clear from the text), or be expected to behave a certain way. And in reverse we make a Named Megan category so it is easy to find the few (three?) where she has been named. This by the way has nothing to do with the other suggestions, so I might just do that to get an overview. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:19, 12 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
::: It seems more consistent to me to use [[Cutie]] for all unnamed "Megans" and reserve "Megan" for named comics. Thus, Rob is '''a''' Cueball and Megan is '''a''' Cutie. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 13:30, 13 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::::I've read through some of your discussions (Here, Kynde's talk page, Art Project discussion), and thought I might put my thoughts forwards. Essentially we have three questions here:<br />
::::1) Should we merge Cueball and Rob, and rename all Cueballs as Rob?<br />
::::2) Should we rename all Megans as Cutie, except where she is explicitly named?<br />
::::3) Once questions 1 & 2 are answered, what do we do where the 'same' character appears multiple times in one comic?<br />
<br />
::::*I understand the objective argument for renaming Cueball to Rob, however I'm unconvinced of the importance of being entirely objective, and I can't imagine Cueball being renamed to anything other than Cueball. <br />
::::*I think its fairly clear where the Cueball label has come from, even if it might not be immediately obvious to some. Even if readers don't make the link between Cueball's head and a cue-ball, it is quite a generic label, which I think fits well with the transient every-man nature of Cueball's usage.<br />
::::*There is something far more specific about the name Rob, which suggests that he is the same character every time. The origin of the name isn't obvious, which I think would be likely to cause confusion. <br />
::::This brings me to conclude that for me, the answer to Q1 has to be that Cueball should stay as Cueball, unless explicitly named something else. <br />
<br />
::::The question of changing Megan to Cutie is one where I am less confident. Following the arguments I've made above, the outcome has to be that we rename to Cutie unless specifically named Megan, however I am not entirely convinced. The name Megan has a history, there are surely lots of people who now know her as Megan, what do we really stand to gain from all the work of changing to Cutie? I would also suggest that the name Cutie may not be accepted well by those with strong feminist views.<br />
<br />
::::As far as multi-character comics, I don't have time right now, but I will come back later and add my thoughts. Now that we've only got a few incomplete comics, we've had to resort to discussing renaming characters!--[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:07, 13 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
:::::I agree with the reasons for keeping Cueball and Megan. And also that Cutie is such a loaded word, that it should never have been used anyway. This I did not immediately think about, but Cutie sounds like something from either a porn movie, or else a Bond Babe... Like the phrase from one of those movies: "Hello, I'm Plenty..." Then we should have to find a third name. And everyone here knows her as Megan. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:24, 15 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
::::::I have created the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Multiple_Cueballs Category:Multiple Cueballs] to locate them and to show how often there are more than one. Feel free to add any I haven't found yet. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:45, 16 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think Rob is Black Hat's roommate and Megan's boyfriend/partner/husband (see above). The "Cueball" in comics such as [[159: Boombox]] and [[542: Cover-Up]] should, in my view, be renamed "Rob", even though he is not explicitly called that in those comics. Most other "Cueball" comics can stay unchanged. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 00:43, 14 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
:I have left my reason to disagree also with this on the two comics talk page. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:24, 15 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In my opinion, it is quite clear that [[Randall]] has chosen to name the main male protagonist [[Rob]], for the few occasions where he needs characters to call upon each other, in the same way as he has chosen [[Megan]] for the main female protagonist. We should therefore try to overcome our nostalgia, follow Randall, and call the common male protagonist Rob. The problem with multiple cueballs can most often be resolved by identifying the protagonist, from the first-person narration or the general perspective. Thus, in [[525: I Know You're Listening]] Rob is the comic's "I", to the left. In [[1110: Click and Drag]], Rob is obviously flying with a balloon. In [[610: Sheeple]] Rob is arguably the guy in the foreground facing us. Non-Rob "cueballs" we could refer to as "friend" "man", etc. In this way roughly half of the "multiple cueballs" would be resolved. I think I can live with a few unclear cases, like [[220: Philosophy]]. [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:22, 19 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:A featureless character has been ''specifically'' named Rob in 9 comics, compared with 968 'Comics featuring Cueball'. I believe it is fundamentally flawed to assert that because a featureless character is named Rob in less than 1% of appearances, that all featureless characters should therefore be assumed to be Rob. As I've discussed above, I think that Rob strongly implies a specific person, whereas Cueball is a vague 'everyman' character. I feel it would be a huge error to change all Cueballs to Robs.--[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 17:37, 19 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::The problem with that logic is that "Megan" is only named in a small number of comics (fewer that "Rob"). So we should have a different name for an unnamed generic female. [[Cutie]] is fine, but if people perceive that as sexist, then another name, maybe "Cuegirl" or "Brunette" would work. (Side note: I doubt "Cutie" would be perceived as sexist and there's history there.) What I '''do''' find sexist is the fact that there is asymmetry between male and female "everyperson"s. In sum, I would say there is at less evidence to support naming Megan-everywoman "Megan" in all cases as there is to name Rob-everyman (here called "Cueball") "Rob" in all cases. Asymmetry here ignores the fact that Randall clearly intends his name to be "Rob" and also that we are using a proper name for everywoman but a contrived name for everyman, while creating an artificial distinction between Rob and Cueball and smearing out any possible distinction between Megan-everywoman and Megan-properName. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 13:18, 27 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::As I put in my earlier comment (see above), I do agree that the logical conclusion is that Megan should no longer be named Megan, and should have an equivalent generic name. As an aside, I'm quite partial to your suggestion of Cuegirl. I disagree with your assertion that "Randall clearly intends his name to be Rob", and I think that is the central point of this discussion. I don't believe that there is anywhere near enough evidence to assign a specific name to what I believe is a generic character. If we want to go for formal logic, consider the syllogism "Some non descipt characters are called Rob, there are many non-descript characters, therfore all non-descript characters are called Rob". The conclusion simply does not follow. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 14:22, 27 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::::Great, I vote for Cuegirl & Cueball :: Megan & Rob! [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 01:31, 31 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I agree with Djbrasier's and St.nerol's arguments, and I too feel that the arguments against dealing with this in an objective, symmetrical and logical way seem mostly based on nostalgia. Either we agree that a few named instances of the everywoman are sufficient to generalize to the (vastly more numerous) unnamed instances, and apply the same standard to the everyman, which is only consistent (and even more justified in the case of Rob since he is named in more comics than Megan), or we decide that the extrapolation is unjustified and we revert the Cutie-->Megan merge. The alternative --having double standards and deciding things based on historical baggage and emotional attachment rather than rationality-- makes no sense for followers of the comic that ''literally invented'' nerd-sniping!<br />
<br />
I'd also add that, as a non-native speaker, "cueball" doesn't ring any immediate bells unless the connection to cue balls is pointed out explicitly -- so actually Rob works even better as a generic name than Cueball. We have already [[#New character|agreed previously]] that clarity is better than cleverness when we named [[Hairy]], forgoing the less obvious alliteration "Harry", so I vote we use the name Randall ''actually'' gave us, let go of our attachments to a creation he never endorsed, and honor our collective nerdiness by doing the logical thing: apply our standards uniformly and adopt Rob the same way we adopted Megan. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 06:09, 10 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I've already put my thoughts forward above, so I won't repeat the same ground I've covered, other than to say I believe it would be a mistake to turn all Cueballs into Robs. While I will admit to having some nostalgia for the name Cueball, that isn't a major facet of my argument. I believe that any generic name is better than a specific name. Call them Stickboy & Stickgirl if you want! I know there are a fairly significant number of contributors and visitors who do not have English as their first language, but I don't believe that is a reason to choose a specific name, rather than a generic name, even if the origin of the latter isn't immediately obvious to all. It would be interesting to know whether each of us sees Cueball as always being the same person, or Cueball *is* Randall, or Cueball is just a changeable everyman.<br />
<br />
:To me, he is a changeable everyman, who I guess may represent or be based on: Randall, his friends, family or acquaintances, famous people, someone he saw in the street, or a completely made up character used to fill a specific role in the comic. The reason I argue againt merging Rob & Cueball is that the Cueball I see is this morphing and fluid character, and to use a specific name to tie him down to being the same character all the time runs completely counter to that. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 08:31, 10 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: Understood, and sorry for mischaracterizing your argument (the nostalgia part does butt the discussion though). I suppose I would be somewhat ambivalent to either have Rob+Megan, or Cueball+Cutie -- Cuegirl doesn't work because she has hair :) --, in the interests of reason and symmetry. But I lean slightly towards Rob+Megan because those are names Randall actually gave us, while anything else is our own invention and thus has no claim to legitimacy other than popular support.<br />
:: Particularly, while I understand your concern about shoehorning the various personality traits the Cueballs show in different comics into a single persona, that doesn't seem to have been a problem for Megan -- not to mention real people ''are'' indeed complex and multi-faceted beings (or "morphing and fluid", to use your terms) rather than one-dimensional caricatures. Heck, even Black Hat has his romantic side! :) So in light of that, I don't think we have to worry about ruining Cueball by naming him Rob -- if anything, that'd add more depth to him as a character! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:35, 10 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:::I'm still very much against changing things here. Call it nostalgia, but there are many users who will never read these arguments, who one day comes back and cannot find Megan or Cueball, and will ask who the heck are Cuegirl/Cutie. I'm completely with Pudder on the problem with giving Cueball the name Rob. It just doesn't make sense. I agree that we have a inconsistency with Megan. But then everyone who uses this page a few times, becomes familiar with that name. However the main problem with all your great ideas is this. Who should correct the either 984 pages where Cueball is mentioned because he is a part of it (and all the other pages relevant to him or where he is exactly mentioned because he isn't part of the comic) and/or who should do the same for 487 comics (plus loose pages) for Megan. Unless those in favor for changing the names will do this, then the discussion is moot. It is already clearly stated in the relevant pages that these two characters are generic and that they have been named but a few times. So what more can we do unless someone is willing to use several days to change this back. I sincerely doubt you can keep the correct syntax if you just try a brute force replacement? There are so many interconnecting links etc. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:21, 25 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I completely disagree with merging Cueball and Rob. Rob has [[276|Emily]] and [[632|Lisa]] as girlfriends, and Cueball has Megan. Rob also lives a more action-filled and stereotypical life compared to Cueball. --[[User:Youforgotthisthing|Youforgotthisthing]] ([[User talk:Youforgotthisthing|talk]]) 13:14, 15 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
I think the main stances here are clear:<br />
* Keep as is<br />
* Rename Cuball to Rob<br />
* Change Megan back to Cutie/Cuegirl<br />
Since keeping it status quo wouldn't change anything and is asymmetrical, I'll go over the others:<br />
* Rename Cueball to Rob - Arguments:<br />
** Randall gave him this name;<br />
** It would offer symmetry to Megan;<br />
** If the Cutie -> Megan logic is to be followed (as she was changed once named in the comics) then Cueball should be Rob;<br />
** Even though cueball is a generic everyman name, Rob seems more like a name you could give anyone and would be more recognizable to non-native English speakers.<br />
* Change Megan back to Cutie/Cuegirl - Arguments:<br />
** It would cause symmetry again, letting her have an everywoman name;<br />
** Nostalgia for Cueball;<br />
** Megan is not always the same character, so she should not always have the name Megan<br />
<br />
I happen to agree with the idea of merging Cueball and Rob, but I'm not closed to the idea of Cutie/Cuegirl. The main problem is that these characters are typically interchangeable everymen/everywomen and there can be more than one in a comic. So another question is what we should do for multiple Cueballs/Robs. In my opinion, we should have all the comics with more than one depict them as Man 1, Man 2, etc. --[[User:Sensorfire|Sensorfire]] ([[User talk:Sensorfire|talk]]) 17:04, 20 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Well I disagree. The users are used to refeer to these characters now by these names. It is also impractical to try to change them all. Megan is rarely twice in a comic. Maybe she is more the same like Black Hat is. But it is made clear that they are not the same in every comic in their pages. If there are muliple Cueballs but one is the main protagonist then he us cueball. If none can be singled out then Cueball like guy to the left/right can be used. I have done that for tbose cases I have found so far ([[:Category:Multiple_Cueballs|49 today]]).--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:58, 7 June 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Well, somebody pointed out that the title text of [[1783: Emails]] suggests that the Cueball in the comic is most certainly not Rob, and calling the main comic character 'Man 1' as above would be silly. And on top of all this, 'Cueball' occurs so much we would probably need to take a regex to every explanation in [[:Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 14:50, 9 January 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Why hasn't anyone thought of the name "Hairball"? {{unsigned ip|172.68.189.187}}<br />
:Please don't forget to sign your posts. And everybody should read this first: [[Characters]] and [[Rob]]. For short: Rob is a named Cueball. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:57, 15 June 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== How to fit explanations of new classes of xkcd-related mysteries into the site: what-if, t-shirts, posters, special comics etc. ==<br />
<br />
I suggest that the [http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:About explain xkcd] page should explain how this site is laid out, and what sorts of things are explained here besides the online numbered xkcd comics that come out three times a week.<br />
<br />
For example, there is the [[A Smarter Planet]] series, and there are ideas for explaining some of the [http://what-if.xkcd.com/ What-If] series. I'd like to add my explanation of the [https://gist.github.com/nealmcb/398af29a72f7b3efc202 XKCD Greek t-shirt, with mathematical, scientific and engineering uses for greek letters] and perhaps some other t-shirts, posters and the like.<br />
<br />
But I can't even figure out how to find non-numbered-comic-explanations, without going thru the entire [[Special:AllPages]] listing, which includes a huge set of unnumbered aliases as well as the numbered ones. <br />
<br />
I've taken a stab towards that by editing the About page to point to some categories (and to start with a little overview), but since I'm just poking around, I might have missed some things. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 19:40, 23 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Link to "Special pages" on main page ==<br />
<br />
I think there should be a link to [[Special:SpecialPages]] on the main-page--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:55, 29 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Special pages is a default feature in every mediawiki installation. It's also in the sidebar of every page, and it's not relevant to xkcd. Why does it merit space on the main page? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:56, 29 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Science comic ==<br />
<br />
Should the Science Magazine comic be added? http://m.sciencemag.org/content/342/6154/58.full [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 03:14, 4 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:I think that would be a great idea. Could there be other copyright rules when the comic has been published on Science? It there anyway to find out if Randall also has a link to it from (or has it on) xkcd? As he has done with the other [[:Category:Extra_Comics|Extra_Comics]]. And how do we create such a page, if there can be no link directly to xkcd (at the top of the comic)? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:24, 30 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== "what if?" section? ==<br />
<br />
I would like to start a new "what if?" section explaining and discussing what if pages.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 06:08, 8 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Why does it need to exist? The main xkcd comic needs it, because Randall tends to be obtuse at times, but the what if articles are sourced and written out already. Supposedly, they're already explanations to questions sent in to Randall. Why do we need to explain explanations? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:29, 8 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
::Explaining them indeed seems unnecessary, but we could certainly catalog and summarize them. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:38, 10 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
::The images on what if? also have title texts that could further be explained, and we could organize what if pages by categories, as well as provide summaries. There are also subtle references, running gags, and in-jokes in What If? that should be explained.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:44, 11 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
::This https://what-if.xkcd.com/120/ is a example of a what if that could do with some explanations.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:47, 11 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:::That's one of 135 what-ifs, and it's entirely self referential and can be figured out by reading the rest of the archive. The substance of the majority of pages is going to be incredibly thin, Randall doesn't tend to leave much for explanation. Comics that are simple one-shot images are our least used pages for good reason, and the what-if images pretty much all fall into that category, or are used to illustrate Randall's point that he makes in the immediately preceding paragraph. We could archive/catalog all the what-if pages and be a second archive button for the series, though there's a little less value to that than the archiving we did for [[Time]] and [[Externalities]] because there's already an archive along the same lines on the main site. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:14, 11 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
::::I think the main value we could add is a summary (TL;DR style) of each entry, in a short Q&A format. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:13, 13 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
If we are going forward with this, is there anyway to find the date in which the what if was first published?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 09:01, 11 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:At the bottom of the page, there's an archive button. Click that. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:14, 11 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
Well, fact is, the [[what if?]] page is much, '''much''' larger now. [[User:Nk22|Nk22]] ([[User talk:Nk22|talk]]) 11:52, 20 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Thank you, Nk22! I've added a link from the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd About explain xkcd] page. {{unsigned|Nealmcb}}<br />
<br />
== Userscript ==<br />
<br />
Hello there, just wrote a simple userscript that adds an 'Explain' button to the original xkcd.com<br />
<br />
https://gist.github.com/magazov/934de662d60c9fb5fea9<br />
<br />
You can run it via Greasemonkey, Tampermonkey and other similar plugins :)<br />
<br />
[[Image:Screen_Shot_xkcd_button.png]]<br />
{{unsigned|Magazovski}}<br />
<br />
:Yeah, there's a few of these floating around. In the future, could you use an imgur link instead of uploading stuff like that to the wiki? Thanks. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:02, 21 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::So maybe explainxkcd should host & maintain one of them? --[[User:Magazovski|Magazovski]] ([[User talk:Magazovski|talk]]) 09:30, 22 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:::Why would we host an image hosting site? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:17, 23 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
::::He means we could host and maintain a userscript to help our fans get here from xkcd.... [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 14:36, 9 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
:::::Hum, that's not a bad idea. I'll put it on the list of things to do. Although, if they're already here, why do they need a userscript to help them get here? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:34, 11 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
::::::For people who mainly view the comics through the official site, but sometimes need an explanation of the comic. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 09:23, 11 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Updating the incomplete comic of the day ==<br />
<br />
Currently, I think the incomplete comic of the day should be changed more often (i.e. daily), since the incomplete comics are piling up, and most users aren't seeing the notice, as it is dismissible.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:40, 22 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:While I agree that the comic of the day could be changed more often, I wouldn't say that the incomplete comics are ''piling up''. Over the months I've been active here, the number of incomplete comics had fallen considerably. In fact if you check the comics which are still marked as incomplete, most of them are one where a significant effort would be required to complete them. For example the large comics (Money, Time, Congress) or dynamic comics (Externalities, Click & Drag, Pixels). --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:32, 23 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
::Yeah. Of the 15 incomplete "pages," only 10 of them are actual comics that need the attention, and the full count is still dropping. I've been keeping it on single comics as of late because the remaining actual incomplete comics have been cycled through ~3 times already, with no significant effort made on them, because they're such monumental pieces of work. Making the message dismissable is by design, we are a service first and foremost, we're not trying that hard to make visitors do our work for us. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:17, 23 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Infrequently recurring minor charachters ==<br />
<br />
Should we just group all of the characters that are not of enough significance to warrant their own character page into a single page (i.e. [[Other Minor Characters]])? --{{User:17jiangz1/signature|02:58, 09 May 2015}}<br />
:See comic [[1000]] for a sample of what this entails. Also, what value to we stand to provide by cataloging every unique character that has appeared in xkcd? Does it help us explain the comics any better? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:32, 9 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Comic page creation ==<br />
<br />
Is comic page creation not automated? If it isn't, then [[Help talk:How to add a new comic explanation]] should be created.--{{User:17jiangz1/signature|14:19, 26 May 2015}} 14:19, 26 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Comic explanation was, at one point, automated. However, the bot ran on a schedule, and so sometimes there would be a few hours between a new comic being posted and the page getting created. Some editors just can't wait that long, so they do the bot's work before the bot even gets going. I agree that this page should be created and be kept up to date. Historically no one has read any of the help pages I've written. ;p [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:42, 26 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:However, I think that the page should be [[Help:Comic Explanation Page Creation]]. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:43, 26 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Re-proposing merging Cueball and Rob ==<br />
<br />
Okay, so this was previously [[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Merge_Cueball_.26_Rob discussed] but I felt that it was worth bringing up again. Really, at this point, there's no logical reason why the two should not be merged, or Megan and Cutie should be un-merged. Rob and Cueball clearly seem to be the same person, at least when cueball appears as a specific character. In the instances where there are multiple Cueballs, we should just refer to them as Man 1, Man 2, and so on. Can we get a vote or something this time? Yes, I understand that Cueball isn't always the same character. But neither is [[Megan]], and yet we always refer to the short black haired girl (formerly [[Cutie]]) as Megan. If that logic applies to her, it applies to Rob. It's pretty clear that Randall intended to name the character Rob, as most named Cueballs are named Rob and not Fred or something.<br />
<br />
In short: Please don't bring nostalgia into this, it's really not relevant. Changing Cueball to Rob or Megan back to Cutie (or Cuegirl?) would have symmetry and make sense. {{unsigned ip|Sensorfire}}<br />
:I'm ok with dumping a marginal character page that only served to add confusion to character identification in new comics, but this was a subject of contention before so we probably need to see more of people's thoughts first. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:03, 5 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I agree: let's list the arguments for both sides, ensure that everyone agrees with the objectiveness of that listing, and then vote. If there's support for this plan, and nobody does it first, I'll take a stab at producing a first draft of the summary. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 23:57, 14 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Randall is currently on a booktour. So, how about, instead of us (without the ability to read minds) arguing about his intention or who is/isn't the same character, someone go see him and ask? Then we'll know with absolute 100% certainty. [[User:WaltG123|WaltG123]] ([[User talk:WaltG123|talk]]) 04:49, 25 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
::Randall never called either character Cueball and Cutie so of course this is not his names. Asking him would make no meaning at all. For any user of xkcd it will create lots of confusion to change the names of Megan and Cueball now. Regarding Rob he is already listed as Cueball in his category. And Cueballs have been called other names several times. Rob is just the only one that has been used a few times. I agree that it may have been wrong to call her Megan, (the name has been used like three times?) Similar it is just as wrong to call Black Hat's girlfriend [[Danish]], a nick name used once. But it is actually very nice to have a real name or at least useful name when speaking of characters. And it has also been mentioned that Cutie could be perused as a sexist name, so we should not move back to that. Well recently even [[Hairbun]] has her name changed from Hairbun girl since a user thought that was a problem given it most often was a grown woman. So I think we should stick to the solution of the previous debate and leave Cueball, Rob and Megan alone as they are! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:56, 29 June 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Adjective phrases ==<br />
<br />
Overwhelmed with the need to be picayune, I am compelled to point out that on the homepage there is the sentence that begins "There are a lot of comics that don't have set in stone explanations..." This sentence contains a adjective phrase which should be hyphenated thus: "set-in-stone"<br />
<br />
Please pretend that I have said something witty here, as I am too tired to think of anything funny. {{unsigned|Gamewriter}}<br />
:Is it actually grammatically wrong in it's current state? Huh. I guess I'll change it. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:42, 1 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::This is long after the fact, but I'll throw my two cents in on Davidy22's question. Yes, it is wrong. If the 'set in stone' phrase were after the word explanations ("explanations set in stone") it would not require hyphens, but used as an adjective before the noun ("set-in-stone explanations") it requires them. D Miller [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.41|108.162.221.41]] 18:26, 21 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Update MediaWiki ==<br />
<br />
You are currently using MediaWiki 1.19.17. It's ''really'' outdated. Maybe update to 1.26.2, the current recommended stable version? There is an [[mw:Manual:Upgrading|official guide]] for that. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.77|141.101.80.77]] 12:03, 24 January 2016 (UTC) (PS my IP address is wrong it's not what you think it is)<br />
<br />
== Rename Hair Bun Girl ==<br />
<br />
The character [[Hair Bun Girl]] was named in April 2015. There wasn't any discussion of the name at the time, so I'd like to open that discussion now please.<br />
<br />
At present we have several other characters named after distinctive visual features: [[Ponytail]], [[Black Hat]], [[White Hat]], [[Beret Guy]], and arguably [[Hairy]] and [[Cueball]]. In all but one of those cases, the name matches the distinctive feature itself, without the addition of "guy", "girl", etc. Given the number of comics that Beret Guy is in it's probably too late to modify his name, but it's not too late for Hair Bun Girl.<br />
<br />
Besides the consistency issue, there's also the inaccuracy of referring to a grown woman with the term "girl", particularly when the character has been presented as older than [[Megan]]. I'd really like to fix this while her number of appearances is still manageable.<br />
<br />
The name "Hairbun" has been proposed and I think that matches really nicely with Ponytail in particular.<br />
<br />
[[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 04:23, 9 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:As the "guy" who created the Hair Bun Girl characther, I have no objection to changing the name. I did not think about the issue with girl/woman, probably because I'm not native English speaker. (And with the Beret Guy as an example). Jkshapiro was so kind as to [[User_talk:Kynde#Hair_Bun_.22Girl.22|ask my opinion]] before starting this discussion. At first I thought that ''Hairbun'' was a little weird, but then again so is Ponytail in this context. So I '''support''' the change to '''Hairbun'''! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:06, 9 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I vote '''change''' Hair Bun to Hairbun and '''keep''' girl. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 21:02, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
OK, I'm going ahead. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 02:47, 25 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
:Well as I said I would not mind, but you cannot say you got any other to agree with you on this though. Mimek wished to keep girl... It will be a huge job to get all the instances correct, also be careful no to change those places where the talk is of a girl who has a hair bun. You cannot just change all placed with hair bun girl to Hairbun, in case is actually says the hair bun girl about a small girl who has a hair bun! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:59, 25 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
::Seems no one cares, so I will remove the notes now. Great job Jkshapiro with changing the names. I like the new name now :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:35, 2 April 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Mobile friendly website ==<br />
<br />
Can we get a mobile friendly version of the wiki? If we already have one, what about forwarding the main site to it when viewed on a phone? [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 20:59, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New categories ==<br />
<br />
I think there may be a need to propose a standard way to decide on categories: what new ones are needed, what are the prerequisites for creating a new category, how to maintain new categories and make sure they are actually used when they apply etc. For now I have gathered all previous discussions about new categories under this section. -- [[User:Malgond|Malgond]] ([[User talk:Malgond|talk]]) 13:39, 17 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:I think that whenever there are more than 4-5 comics that you wish to refer to in a given explanation because they are of the same topic as the current comic, then having a category is much to prefer rather than listing 5, 6 or 7 comics. I have made several categories for these instances, for instance for sport including the most used sports. At the time being I keep them up to date. One of the things this site does so well is giving you an easy way to find a specific comic even though you cannot remember the title of any precise quotes etc. If you just have an idea of what the topic was you might find it based on the categories. In this way I do not think we can have too many categories. As long as they describe a recurring subject. Only fault is that there seems to be no way to search for a comic based on more than one category? That would be great. In some cases even only 3 comics in a category can make sense. For instance I would be sorry to see this one go [[:Category:Puts on sunglasses]] (and I did not make it!) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:09, 19 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
::For instance I have long wished for categories that covered all the space probe related comics, particularly all those referencing the Mars rovers. So today I made them with 16 and 9 comics in them already. [[:Category:Space probes]] [[:Category:Mars rovers]]. I hope people will generally think this was a great idea! :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:42, 20 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:::And [[:Category:The Lion King]]... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:47, 1 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: Protip ===<br />
<br />
Anyone for adding ''Protip'' as a [[:Category:Comic series|Comic series]]. I have found five so far: [[653]], [[711]], [[1022]], [[1047]] and [[1156]]. (There are also a few comics with a protip title text.) -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:25, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I think that qualifies as a recurring topic (thus worthy of a category), but not as a series, where you can see a clear sequence. In fact, [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]] has the same limitation, for what I suggest it to be removed from [[:Category:Comic series]]. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:42, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Seconded. Looks general and common enough to be a category. '''[[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:57, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::Okay, great! Do you think that the ones with a "protip:" title text should be included? Besides, I think I might be the one responsiple for moving My Hobby from [[:Category:Comics by topic|Comics by topic]] to Comic series. I felt that all the My Hobby comics were about different topics, but maybe i've got to narrow an interpretation of the word "topic". -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:31, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::: Can you link to the protip-in-title-text comics?<br />
:::: As for My Hobby, note that categories aren't mutually exclusive. They can be in the "my hobby" topic, and each of them further categorized as appropriate: music, math, etc. Makes sense? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 03:45, 5 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::: I just searched for protip in the xkcd search bar. Here: [[1084]], [[427]]. And yes, makes sense. I've moved My Hobby back to "by topic". -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:06, 5 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: Sports ===<br />
<br />
How about creating a new "Sports" category? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 15:31, 28 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Well, maybe. Everyone aren't so keen on new categories here. Which comics are you thinking of, for a start? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 20:32, 28 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::We definitely need to reach an agreement as a community on when to create new categories. Something simple like a minimum of 3 (or, say, 5) existing comics. Since we're already at the proposals' portal... what do you guys think about that? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:44, 28 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::My opinion: Five would be enough to qualify. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 09:31, 29 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::I vote for four. But it should also be a reasonable thing to categorize, like sports, not like "sports with Cueball containing at least three anagram words". Wich sholdn't be a problem. :) But the best name choice could be tricky sometimes. e.g. "Film & television", Film & TV", "Film", "Films", or "Movies"? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:59, 29 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::<br />
::::Agreed, five should be enough to create the category without having to discuss it. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:50, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
: OK, let's start with [[588: Pep Rally|588]], [[1092: Michael Phelps|1092]], [[904: Sports|904]] and [[1107: Sports Cheat Sheet|1107]]. Should be able to find a few more. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 05:00, 29 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Yeah, it's a broad subject so there are probably several more. -[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:59, 29 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::I found another one, sort of, in [[929:Speculation|929]] (although it hasn't been explained yet). Should I get the ball rolling (no pun intended) on setting up the category? Don't wanna do it unilaterally and get yelled at. ;) [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 06:18, 30 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::I think you should. On a wiki, getting stuck in discussions which die without a conclusion, to the point that motivated people give up without having done anything, is definitely counter-productive, and phrases like [[wikipedia:Wikipedia:Be bold|Wikipedia:Be bold]] are here to remind us of that. Seems like people agreed that you ''could'', and after a while nobody said that you ''shouldn't'', so I'd say do it. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:50, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
:I did it without looking here first, because it was obvious there were many [[:Category:Sport|sport comics]]. I have even created four under categories (only one was there before, Chess). There are 10 comics at present that are related to other sports than the five under categories. And given the way Randall thinks about sport (not very much) he still has plenty of comics about the subject. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:33, 14 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: Sex ===<br />
<br />
I think we should also create a Sex category. There's no ''doubt'' we can find more than three examples. I'll start looking for them and post the ones I find in here; again, I don't wanna create a large category by myself without community consent. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 09:20, 2 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
*OK, the ones for Category: Sex that I've found so far are [[443]], [[219]], [[550]], [[1026]], [[575]], [[468]], [[592]], [[320]], [[1101]], [[417]], [[713]], [[672]], [[230]], [[436]], [[940]], [[532]], [[649]], [[176]], [[1006]], [[596]] and [[717]], and I'm sure there are many more. Should we create this category? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 23:17, 3 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Same as [[#Category: Sports|above]], do it. Oh, already did; well, all the better. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:53, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: Flowcharts ===<br />
<br />
Hello, the line "Randall has made use of flowcharts before." in today's comic explanation made me want a [[:Category:Flowcharts|flowcharts category]] to navigate into...<br />
<br />
As it didn't exist, I proceeded to create it, but as the log says, [[User:lcarsos|lcarsos]] deleted such a category in November, saying ''"Insufficient differentiation from Category:Comics with charts, diluting the depth of comics tagged charts"''.<br />
<br />
I don't agree with that, and I think we could profit from such a subcategory. I found those pages fitting it:<br />
* [[94: Profile Creation Flowchart]]<br />
* [[210: 90's Flowchart]]<br />
* [[488: Steal This Comic]]<br />
* [[627: Tech Support Cheat Sheet]]<br />
* [[844: Good Code]]<br />
* [[851: Na]]<br />
* [[854: Learning to Cook]]<br />
* [[1195: Flowchart]]<br />
<br />
So? - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 10:59, 5 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Weell if you're willing to take charge of the category and personally make sure it's added to all relevant comic explanations, go ahead. The usual objection to making new categories is that we admins can't remember all the categories when we're reviewing new explanations, but it's K if you're willing to take up that responsibility yourself. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:17, 5 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:<br />
:: OK. I did it without waiting for further replies, because I think it will be especially profitable today (to viewers).<br />
:: It doesn't seem a big issue to me if the correct category is not added when a new explanation is made: a passing editor will do it later on... But hey, I'm OK with taking special care of adding pages to this category.<br />
:: [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 12:28, 5 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::: I just want to add that Cos' view is indeed the appropriate way to work in wikis: there is no concept of a single author for a page, category, or piece of text, and the workload is meant to be distributed among several editors: it is not necessary that any single editor remembers all existing categories, or knows the wiki markup by heart, or knows how to work with all the features of mediawiki, etc. The reason why wikis can be edited by anyone is precisely a recognition that there *will* be errors and any page can be improved somehow. That reasoning against categories should, IMO, be abandoned, or at most only kept as the opinion of some editors. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 22:00, 6 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Isnt there a page which lists all the categories? If not, there should be one, and it should be accessible to all. Such a page could be useful when trying to quick-add categories to comics. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.83.155|117.194.83.155]] 13:43, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Yes, there is. [[Special:Categories]]. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:07, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Of course, there's a gazillion of 'em, over several pages, so I understand any reluctance to add new categories (having just suggested a new one myself which I feel is justified, but knowing that the upkeep needed may be the key point of contention so remaining philosophical about it).<br />
::A solution perhaps to carry over from another locale that I frequent is to have a "Categories of Character" page, a "Categories of Object" one, perhaps "Categories of Event", and a "Categories of Publication". For each new comic someone can easily check the shorter Character categories list against those present, the Object list against itemsin use, Events, etc, and of course the Publication one has the "Tuesday Comic"/equivalent, and other date-based ones (although isn't that automatic from templated creation? ...never added a comic, but would imagine it is). After that it's a trawl through the miscelania categories (perhaps a meta-category just for them?). But, yeah, a lot of work to set up. Wouldn't wish it on anyone who wasn't already willing to do it, and I remain an anon-IP person right now so can hardly commit ''myself'' as volunteer maintainer of this. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 17:20, 22 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: (Barred/banned from?) Conferences ===<br />
<br />
I come here after realising I erroneously posted (in reply) to the Main page Talk, being anonymous (or at least IP-only) and without a list of qualifying articles to support me, just yet, but still wish to put forward the above category before I forget. There's no apparent equivalent, that I found, but it's definitely a recurring meme. I should be back (named or otherwise) with my suggested list of members, if someone else doesn't get there first, but I thought I'd start with the placemarker. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 16:41, 22 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Ok, so I got the bee in my bonnet and spent a few minutes actually looking into this. Revising "Barred from Conferences" (actually more often "Banned" or even "Thrown out of"/equivalent) to just "Conferences", the subset of comics that I can easily find that are involved is *[[153]], *[[177]], *[[365]], *[[410]], *[[463]], *[[541]], [[545]], [[685]], [[829]] and [[867]], but I'm sure there are more recent ones that I didn't spot/recall. One alternative title to "Conferences" is "Presentations", and I'm sure if I'd searched for that I'd have found more potential candidates (less some that might ''exit'' the renamed category). The asterisked ones ''do'' deal with being barred/banned/thrown out/etc, making it still a suitable category in its own right, IMO, but I'll leave it up to your combined musings to decide. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 17:07, 22 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
::I add [[690]] to the list. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:12, 13 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::: Great suggestions! I created [[:Category:Public speaking]] and [[:Category:Banned from conferences]]. I also added [[Wikipedian Protester]] to the mix, of course :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:59, 13 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: Wishes ===<br />
<br />
[http://explainxkcd.com/1391/ Several] [http://explainxkcd.com/1086/ comics] [http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/152:_Hamster_Ball now] [http://xkcd.com/879/ exist] that talk about wishes - probably more. Should there be a category for this? [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 23:22, 7 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
:Doesn't seem significant enough. If you promise to maintain the category you can make it yourself, although it will be cleared out if it gets neglected as new comics are released. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:20, 8 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: Artificial Intelligence ===<br />
<br />
Hello world.<br />
<br />
There are a handful of comics involving Ai - [[1540]], [[1530]], [[1450]] and [[948]] for instance - and maybe it's an idea to give them their own category {{unsigned|Nk22}}<br />
<br />
:The usual objection to new categories is that they get abandoned and are too narrow for other people to think of picking them up. If you're going to own it and update it with new comics, you can make it. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 21:01, 23 June 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: Size Comparisons ===<br />
There are numerous comics comparing sizes of things. I can't get a list right now, but off the top of my head, radiation dosages, money, today's comic, and space shuttles in horses. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 19:23, 29 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
===Category: Katamari Damacy ===<br />
<br />
There are quite a few comics about this game. [[User:DPS2004|DPS2004]] ([[User talk:DPS2004|talk]])<br />
<br />
== Adding Ratings for Explanations ==<br />
<br />
I found [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1652 today's explanation] excellently written however that is not always the case. Frequently explanations are walk through of the conversation that are too wordy without any succinct explanation of why or how a strip is funny -- while many of those low quality explanations are not strictly "incomplete" they could benefit from a careful rewrite. I was wondering if we should add a rating tool such as " ''Was this explanation helpful? yes/no'' " so as to identify explanation that could benefit from improvement without having to be tagged as "incomplete". [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 17:57, 8 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
:We have a rather prominent discussion page for feedback, do we really need an additional add-on for this? I did a little research and found that other wikis use [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Semantic_Rating semantic rating] and [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:ArticleRatings article ratings], which I can install if enough other users want it. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:54, 26 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New Speculation Sections ==<br />
<br />
I often see a lot of speculation and conjecture within the explanation of the comic itself. I don't think it has any place in the explanation but I know many editors enjoy speculating and interpreting the comic and the meaning behind it so I've decided to start this discussion on whether we should provide a section where we can provide different speculations.<br />
<br />
What I am thinking would not be like the discussion page, where comments are made and discussed, but an edited and reviewed section which outlines different speculations and interpretations of the comics themselves and perhaps even the author's intent.<br />
<br />
Of course tone and presentation should be held to the same standards of the comic explanation but I think this would be a good way to better organize a review of the comic.<br />
<br />
I have been away too long to remember if there are any comic explanations with something like this so I have no idea how well it would work.<br />
<br />
As an example;<br />
<br />
This part from comic 1642: [[Gravitational Waves]]<br />
<br />
" It seems that Randall knew in advance about this announcement because this comic was published on a Thursday, not following the normal publish schedule, to coincide with the announcement "<br />
<br />
Is well supported, and rather likely correct, conjecture which belongs in the body of the explanation because not only is it backed by strong evidence but it provides background on the comic and the time in which the comic was released and aids in understanding the comic itself.<br />
<br />
However, this part from comic 478: [[The Staple Madness]]<br />
<br />
"From just reading the comic by itself, one may presume that in the last panel, Cueball has been stapled to the ceiling (as obvious evidence to Megan that Beret Guy has indeed been abusing her staple gun). According to the comic's official transcript, however, it is in fact God who is speaking."<br />
<br />
Is almost as equally well supported and certainly a valid interpretation of simply the comic. It is only refuted by the official transcript. I believe it is important to acknowledge and may even be a more humorous interpretation than the one which is provided by the official transcript.<br />
<br />
If we added a speculation section (or something of the sort) then we would have a place to talk about this interpretation more freely and expound upon it more.<br />
<br />
[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 15:16, 13 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
: Problem is the whole "explanation" is actually conjecture. None of us the author, we're all just guessing. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 15:23, 13 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: Many of the current explanations are conjecture, that's true but not every explanation. Providing information on the science or mathematics behind a particular comic is not conjecture. Stating whether the author intended to belittle the field or state that one field is superior over another (unless fairly explicitly stated) is. And there are many things which can be inferred without being simple speculation. Not every comic would need a section like this, and not every comic needs a trivia section, and I'm not ready to start adding this proposed section myself. But I think it should be considered. [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 15:35, 13 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
::The intention of the discussion pages was to serve as a place for people to put their conjecture and reaching interpretations of the comics. They're presented alongside the explanation to make people's interpretations more readily visible. Some people may have trouble distinguishing an ungrounded interpretation of a comic from an explanation of it, and they will insert weak text into explanations. If you find something you disagree with, feel free to bring it up in the discussion section and edit it out of the explanation liberally '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:17, 17 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Unixkcd ==<br />
<br />
Hello everyone. I was just wondering: is there anything on http://uni.xkcd.com/. Because I was just looking and the only thing I found on Unixkcd is a mention of a bug in [[1350]]. There is not even a mention on the April fools article.<br />
:There's nothing on this site, there's a couple of novel tidbits on the xkcd site that are at best tangentially related to the comic, as Randall originally intended to make xkcd.com his personal site for hosting his own projects. That particular one doesn't show up in any comics. Also, proposals might not be the best place to put this. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:46, 21 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
::I added the unixckd information to [[721: Flatland]]. According to [https://vimeo.com/78912850 Randalls Øredev 2013 talk] unixkcd was the April Fools' prank for April 1st 2010. [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 09:00, 1 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New character category for blonde woman news reporter (from 1699) ==<br />
<br />
From today's comic [[1699: Local News]] I just got the idea that there may be needing a new category for either blonde woman and/or comics with news reports. I posted this [[Talk:1699:_Local_News#New_character_category|post]], in the talk page of that comic. Any comments, and if agreeing that there might be one or two different character categories needed then please suggest what they should be called. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:00, 27 June 2016 (UTC)<br />
:Agree with Blondie as new character name and with adding a category for news reports. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 00:47, 28 June 2016 (UTC)<br />
:Agree with new character category for Blondie --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 12:38, 28 June 2016 (UTC)<br />
:: Thanks for the replies. Could be nice with a few more chipping in. One issue I just found is [[Miss Lenhart]] and ambiguous situations like in comic [[59: Graduation]], where I would remove the miss reference. But then miss would be a sub category of Blondie (or Blonde? which Randall cals the girl in 59) as [[Rob]] is for [[Cueball]]... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:07, 9 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
:: I think blondie is fine for a name. Miss Lenhart is another character who uses a similar design so I think treating her like Rob is perfectly acceptable. The only thing more I think we should discuss is the role blondie plays in most of the comics (Like how cueball is an everyman, whitehat is often a strawman, Blackhat is blackhat etc.) [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 12:04, 13 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
:::There are also these two that looks like Blondie: [[Mrs. Roberts]] or her daughter [[Elaine Roberts]]. I think this is part of why no one has made the category, as there are already three named women with the same hair. But there are so many other comics with this kind of woman, that I think she should be created. I hope I will get the time, but if anyone has any other ideas than just calling them "Blondie" and letting the other three be an subcategory like Rob is of Cueball then say so now before anyone creates Blondie. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:19, 24 August 2016 (UTC)<br />
:::Agree with new character category and characters with the same appearance as sub-categories [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 18:04, 24 August 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Based on the discussion she is now called [[Blondie]] --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:27, 10 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br>And now there is also a [[:Category:News anchor]] with 15 entries already. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:22, 10 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== fix a page ==<br />
<br />
The page Comics featuring Summer Glau is missing:<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/526:_Converting_to_Metric {{unsigned ip|108.162.241.130}}<br />
:Done. In the future, you can add categories yourself, just scroll to the bottom and follow the template the others go by. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:56, 7 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New xkcd book out. ==<br />
<br />
Any chance of posting a section of explanation pages for the cartoons in the new xkcd book, hopefully explaining some of the cryptic red notes? Thanks! {{unsigned ip|199.27.133.102}}<br />
<br />
== Business Plan category ==<br />
<br />
I propose renaming [[:Category:Beret Guy's Business]] into Business Plans, and adding it to [[1721: Business Idea]] [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 08:15, 17 August 2016 (UTC)<br />
::(Note I added a ":" to your category link to show the link instead of adding this page to the category. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:43, 10 September 2016 (UTC)) <br />
:No of course not, that comic is about [[Cueball]]. This is Beret Guy's business we are talking about here. This category is not about business idea but about what [[Beret Guy]] does just like the page with [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]. Both are used in the explanation of who he is. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:43, 10 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Comics with header text ==<br />
<br />
Several comic have some header text, such as [[851]] or [[1052]]. Shouldn't there be a category for them or something? I think it is quite a notable feature. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 15:23, 16 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
:I feel like it's not a particularly defining feature, it feels like making a category for comics that have frames with no borders or something, it's just a technique Randall uses. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:35, 21 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
::To me it feels more like a second title text. It is not technically part of the comic itself, but is a separate piece of information included with it on the xkcd website. There is a category for comics without title text, this is the same, only reverse, in my humble opinion [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 07:13, 24 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== purpose of detailed transcripts ==<br />
<br />
There are two styles of comic descriptions in the transcripts. Some<br />
are fairly terse, giving only the information required to understand<br />
the comic (e.g. "Cueball is talking to Megan, who looks excited").<br />
Others give lots of graphic details, as if one should be able to<br />
reconstruct the picture from the description (e.g. "Cueball, on the<br />
left, is talking to Megan, on the right. His left hand is pointing to<br />
her. Megan's arms are raised above her head and her excitement is<br />
shown by short lines around her head..." and so on). The former style<br />
used to be the norm, the latter has become increasingly<br />
common in recent months.<br />
<br />
Being visually impaired, I am extremely pleased with the terse style<br />
of transcript, and have no interest in the verbose style. To me it is<br />
useless and sometimes fairly annoying. Of course, this is a community<br />
and I can happily live with it if others find it useful.<br />
<br />
So, I'd like to know who needs detailed, graphical transcripts, and<br />
for what purpose? Were they requested by some users, or did those<br />
writing transcripts just decide to adopt this new style? If there is<br />
a clearly identified reason for describing pictures in detail, fine.<br />
If not, I vote for switching back to the old, terse style.<br />
<br />
Zetfr 14:10, 27 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Sorry we did not see this at the time. As we can see you finally found ears for you comment after [[1798]] and a new discussion has begun on [[User_talk:Kynde#Transcript_TLDR.3B|my user page]]. (Should probably have been here?) But anyway I'm responsible for your problems, and I will try to write less in the transcript and add "other important" either below in the trivia or below the main comic (as maybe - Detailed image description...) It was meant as a way to search for any thing in the comic if you needed it. I guess most people do not read the transcript, so of course annoying if it is not useful for those who always need to read it. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:21, 17 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Rename Science Girl "Jill" ==<br />
<br />
Following the Precedent of "[[Megan]]" and "[[Danish]]" (but oddly enough not [[Rob]]), I propose that we rename [[Science Girl]] Jill, as per [[1662]]. This could serve to give her an easier name and to use in cases where the character doesn't have a connection with science but seems to be the same girl. [[User:Sensorfire|Sensorfire]] ([[User talk:Sensorfire|talk]]) 18:19, 26 October 2016 (UTC)<br />
:The only time she's called Jill is in Jack and Jill comics (of course), and the only reason you'd want to do that is since [[Randall]] displays them similarly. In some cases Science Girl is even clearly older. We might do that if there was a [[Child-Blackhaired-Ponytail]] character, but these characters are always either Science Girl or Jill. Also, Jill has very, very few appearances anyway. [[User:Jacky720|Jacky720]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]]) 21:37, 2 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Make an official transcript site ==<br />
I've already taken the liberty of making {{template|transcript}}, and think we, together, can do better- which is why I'm implementing [https://jackm.000webhost.com/transcript.html this site], in order to display the official transcript in its intended format. However, it is bugged, and could do better if moved to explain xkcd. Is anyone in on this? [[User:Jacky720|Jacky720]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]]) 21:36, 2 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
:The transcript site doesn't seem to be accessible. Is the project dead? If it's not I can try to help. [[User:Errpell|Errpell]] ([[User talk:Errpell|talk]]) 21:06, 11 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== HTTPS Links Back to XKCD Interfere with Random Button ==<br />
<br />
The Links back to the comics that are present just above the comic itself on the wiki pages (and adjacent to the next and previous links) provides an HTTPS link back to XKCD. However, this interferes with users who want to click that link, and then click `random` - because `c.xkcd.com` does NOT support HTTPS, and thus clicking 'random' after returning to xkcd from explainxkcd does not work. These links should be switched back to HTTP.<br />
<br />
--[[User:9000 volts|9000 volts]] ([[User talk:9000 volts|talk]]) 21:15, 13 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Rearrange for our visually impaired friends. ==<br />
<br />
I have a great friend who is blind and he uses this site to "read" XKCD so we can talk about it. However, there are two things that he finds frustrating. The first, while it means no harm and most readers gloss over it, when listening to the content of the page every day it can become demeaning to hear "it's because you're dumb" every time. I certainly agree, I use explain XKCD because I am significantly dumb-er than Randall, but my friend uses it because he's blind. This is not that big of a deal, but a friendly suggestion.<br />
<br />
The second suggestion is to move the transcript section to the top before the explanation so as not to spoil the content of the comic with user explanation right away--in the case that those listening to the article are in fact smart enough to get the joke before needing an explanation.<br />
<br />
Thanks for your consideration.<br />
<br />
== Incomplete in spotlight ==<br />
<br />
The incomplete comic in spotlight should be changed more often, the current one is not even incomplete. [[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 16:52, 31 March 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Duplicate Navigation tools at bottom of page (please!) ==<br />
<br />
I'm enjoying revisiting xkcd canon through the lens of Explain, but frustrated that after studiously reading through the explanation and discussion, I have to scroll back up to the top to get to the Next button.<br />
What would the harm be in duplicating the buttons at the foot of each page? <br />
Thanks for considering this.<br />
Regards<br />
<br />
That would be nice, would help a lot. Also, please sign your comments with four tildes. [[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 19:46, 2 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== JSON endpoint ==<br />
There is a [http://www.xkcd.com/info.0.json endpoint] to retrieve information about the comics on the xkcd website. However the info there is not complete, specially when it comes to the transcripts. explainxkcd should provide a similar interface. It would be very useful specially for bots/scripts. The commmunity could help completing the information on the xkcd website and/or provide a new interface. The transcript are already retrieved from this website and a copy can be found [https://github.com/nhatzHK/randi/blob/master/json/xkcd.references.json here]. If there isn't already a complete file or databse with all the information, this file could help building it. However, this document has been compiled by scraping the html of explainxkcd, so there's some errors in it. These errors can be avoid with a clear and easy to access interface like JSON, similar to what is available on the xkcd website. [[User:Errpell|Errpell]] ([[User talk:Errpell|talk]]) 20:43, 11 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
:Maybe there is a mediawiki addon to support a JSON file. Any ideas? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:08, 1 August 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Suggestion for small improvement to interface ==<br />
Am I the only one that wishes the Previous / Next buttons were repeated at the bottom of the page? After reading the explanation, I often want to go to the next one in sequence.<br />
(Obviously, I don't check this wiki every day :)<br />
Scrolling back to the top isn't hard, but having the buttons near the bottom would make navigation easier.<br />
<br />
Hope you agree!<br />
Murray in NJ<br />
<br />
PS: Aha! I see others have suggested the same thing :) {{unsigned ip|162.158.75.232}}<br />
:This was also mentioned before. I don't agree because the layout is based on the original xkcd site. '''Protip''': Do not "scroll back", just use your keyboard. The magic key is called "Home". --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:14, 1 August 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Category for The Little Prince? ==<br />
<br />
How many comics need to feature/mention a certain thing before we need a category?<br />
<br />
I think there are enough featuring the Little Prince to deserve a Category of its own.<br />
<br />
== mediawiki things ==<br />
<br />
could admin please update to the latest version of mediawiki and add the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Skin:Timeless?useskin=timeless timeless skin], thx. also would help if you added <code>line-height: 1.5em</code> to the edit box (<code>#wpTextbox1</code>) while making it taller to compensate, or added the 2010 code editor to aid readability. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.4|162.158.92.4]] 11:50, 4 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== The state of "incomplete" explanations and an unified policy ==<br />
<br />
Hello, everybody. Recently I went through the "incomplete" explanations and I saw several problems... I think I better split this into sections.<br />
<br />
'''1) Many seemingly old and complete explanations are marked either with various creative variations of the auto-generated tag or something along the lines of "rough draft".''' I have personally removed several incomplete tags during the last days, sometimes adding few information before doing so, but usually not. But there are so many of them and it just would not feel right to take it upon myself to reap them all, so, if anyone can spare a few minutes to quickly scan them and remove (or update, in some cases) the tags, it would be nice. Here is a list of explanations with this particular problem, for convenience: [[1874]], [[1906]], [[1908]], [[1912]], [[1915]], [[1919]], [[1925]], [[1926]], [[1929]], [[1930]], [[1937]]<br />
<br />
1940 and 1941 also seem complete IMO, but given how recent they are, they could be given some time.<br />
<br />
'''2) Some incomplete tags seem like abuse of the feature.''' [[1909]] is probably the best example of this. Table might be nice, but it is not necessary to explain the comic, it would be just "gilding". There is nothing wrong about perfecting complete articles, but marking an article incomplete because someone got an idea how it could be done (and is too lazy to do it themselves) should be discouraged IMO. Other examples: [[1904]] - here I actually disagree with the proposal - why should information that does not represent percentages be represented using them? - but that's my personal view. [[1895]] - this one is asking for further perfection of a perfective information. [[1688]] - a '''huge''' example, asks for something that would require quite a lot of effort without helping anyone understand the comic, a cool project, but not needed for the article to be complete. [[1701]] - I really don't think this is necessary and the explanation is already twice the size I'd expect for such simple comic (*obligatory personal opinion disclaimer*).<br />
<br />
'''3) Some tags are just... vague.''' [[1856]] and [[1733]]. "Someone could maybe improve this" applies to pretty much everything in the universe, sorry.<br />
<br />
<br />
'''4) A policy proposal.''' Here comes the second half of the topic title. There appear to be two conflicting schools of thoughts among editors. Some seem to prefer long, meticulously detailed explanations. Others, including myself, prefer short and concise explanations. On more than one occasion, this has led to mess, so I think there should be some official policies about what kind of information should be considered considered necessary, useful, and superfluous. Obviously, every comic is different, and defining hard rules for this is impossible, so maybe "guideline" is a better word than "policy" here. Here are some suggestions about what this guideline could contain (please, take this as a "sub-suggestion", if a guideline gets accepted, but will end up containing nothing out of this, I will still be happy):<br />
<br />
* NECESSARY: named people, groups, organizations, websites, works of art, geographic locations etc. should be briefly introduced, unless they can be presumed to be universally known (e.g. Google, Shakespeare, New York). Obscure words should be defined. Scientific and technical terms should be explained.<br />
* SUPERFLUOUS: recursive explanations - an explanation that mentions concepts that themselves need explaining, but were not relevant to the comic itself.<br />
<br />
I guess that's it. Maybe a little disclaimer that I don't have much time now, so I may not be here to further lead this discussion. Maybe I should have waited with posting this when I do have time, but that may not be for a long time, so for what it's worth, here it is.<br />
--[[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 12:16, 13 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Your "policy (or guideline) proposal" is that what's widely excepted here. There are some overwhelming explanations and you are welcome to help on more precise writings. But in general there is no censorship here, less important content may be moved to a trivia section below the transcript. Irrelevant content (who decides that?) may be moved to the talk page with a given reason. I'm also a fan of "short and concise explanations" but who will judge what this really is? Further more I really dislike many of those tables, it's bad layout. But changing this takes a lot of work. [[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:51, 19 May 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::The main reason why I want there to be an official policy is so the process of marking explanations as complete can be more straightforward. There would be a community-approved list of things an explanation needs to contain, if an explanation has all that, it is complete. Of course there would still be lot of room for interpretation because every comic is different and coming up with rules that fit all is impossible, but I believe this could still be a massive improvement over the current state.<br />
::Also, '''please''', when I say something is merely a sub-suggestion, I mean it. Your reply gives me the feeling you understood my proposal as something along the lines of "We should make it an official policy that explanations should look like this:", whereas it was more along the lines of "There should be an official policy about what explanations should contain. Here is an example of what such policy could maybe look like:" [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 06:49, 22 June 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Tables vs bold text ==<br />
<br />
There are many, many, many comics with several things mentioned in the comic that need to be individually explained, and there are two ways we can do it, one being tables (for example: [[1930: Calendar Facts]]), the other being using bold text to separate paragraphs into sections (for example: [[1972: Autogyros]]). The thing is for the most cases, it seems like we should be using tables, but then using bold text to seperate paragraphs looks better, and is also easier... So when should we use tables, and when bold text? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 12:20, 15 June 2018 (UTC)<br />
:IMHO we have far too much tables - a structured floating text is much easier to read. Consider this:<br />
:*A ''List of all planets in our solar'' system with a few columns for distance (in km, mi, and AU), size, and temperature. That's a classical table.<br />
:*The table in [[1930: Calendar Facts]] contains far too much text in many cells. Try to read this on a smartphone. And furthermore on my ''Google Chrome for Android'' all the tables from this comic are not shown at all when using the ''Simplified View''.<br />
:*Or compare this: [[1363: xkcd Phone]] and [[1549: xkcd Phone 3]]. I prefer the floating text and even more when I'm using a mobile device.<br />
:But that's only my opinion.<br />
:Nevertheless I'm also working on a real mobile version of this Wiki (similar to Wikipedia) and that will require some restrictions to the layout to get it properly rendered. But this will not happen before the FIFA World Cup 2018 is over ;) --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:17, 15 June 2018 (UTC)<br />
::Agreed. Narrow columns with simple facts are ok, but longer text should not be put in a table. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 10:15, 18 June 2018 (UTC)</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1998:_GDPR&diff=157794Talk:1998: GDPR2018-05-28T06:06:40Z<p>Jaalenja: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
<br />
This comic is a joke privacy policy, playing off a few things.<br />
Everyone right now is updating their privacy policy to meet the new requirements from the European Union coming into effect today, 2018-05-25, the GDPR. Link to wikipedia: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Data_Protection_Regulation]. <br />
It also is pointing out that no one ever reads them "by using this website you opt in to quartering troops in your home", something you probably did not agree to.<br />
--[[User:Fwacer|Fwacer]] ([[User talk:Fwacer|talk]]) 19:35, 25 May 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Your wording "joke privacy policy" is really good and you should add it to the existing explanation. [[User:Lassombra|Lassombra]] ([[User talk:Lassombra|talk]]) 19:41, 25 May 2018 (UTC)<br />
:: Thanks, I have added that. First edit! --[[User:Fwacer|Fwacer]] ([[User talk:Fwacer|talk]]) 20:25, 25 May 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Fortunately, this doesn't appear to supersede the Shadow Proclamation. Also, I wouldn't mind quartering troops in my home if they were sexy... [[Special:Contributions/172.68.90.82|172.68.90.82]] 20:56, 25 May 2018 (UTC) SiliconWolf<br />
<br />
I wonder if this is the privacy policy of Beret Guy's company since he mentioned in the last comic that people keep sending them personal info even though they had asked them to stop.--[[Special:Contributions/172.69.42.112|172.69.42.112]] 21:07, 25 May 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
What's the deal with the "Created by a Bot" coming up with relevant jokes as to what the explanation was created by? I didn't search exhaustively, but couldn't find any hints in other discussion pages. Is there a link to a discussion on this? Who did this? Dgbrt? I'm very curious. 00:30, 26 May 2018 (UTC) {{unsigned|DanB}}<br />
:I've written the program creating the new pages when a new comic is out. It's run by the profile [[User:DgbrtBOT|DgbrtBOT]]. This ensures that all comic pages look similar, the navigation works, and more. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 01:12, 26 May 2018 (UTC)<br />
::I see that now. But didn't it used to just say "Created by a bot" and not "Created by ''something relevant''"? Or has it always done that and I missed it? Is it a reference to a comic, or just something fun? Thanks for all your work on this site, by the way. [[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 17:40, 26 May 2018 (UTC)<br />
:::The original text is: ''"Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon."'' Check the history. And when a new comic is out there is always a race about being the first to change the word ''BOT'' to something else. It was funny when that happened first, but as every joke it isn't funny anymore when it's overused. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:01, 26 May 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It also means if you are not a citizen of the European Union, your organs can be harvested without permission, doesn't it? {{unsigned ip|162.158.62.39}}<br />
:That depends on whether you have instructed that your whole body be supercool-vitrified and stored around Titan for until the exoplanet colony ships depart. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.106|172.68.34.106]] 05:54, 26 May 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
This comic failed to allow me to turn off everything Trump has ever tried to pay for; therefore, Randall owes me €300,000. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.106|172.68.34.106]] 05:54, 26 May 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Point of technicality:<br />
:''"purely out of the goodness of our hearts" is a phrase never expected to be found ever anywhere in any privacy policy''<br />
Aren't I allowed to block ads from funding sources which include organizations whose privacy policies don't provide goods or services purely out of the goodness of their hearts? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.106|172.68.34.106]] 06:17, 26 May 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;...similar laws preventing troops being quartert in ones home also exist in European countries<br />
I don't know every European constitution but I probably would know this. The ''Third Amendment to the United States Constitution'' seems to be very unique to me. Laws about troops should exist in every country but this is about a ''constitution''. If nobody disagrees this has to be removed or enhanced. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:58, 26 May 2018 (UTC)<br />
::I don't know, I can say for myself that when I read "similar laws", I understood just that - laws. I don't think the sentence implies it is also part of the constitution in those countries. But if you misread it that way, others may, too, and ambiguity is never a good thing, so feel free to clear it up if you want, but I wouldn't remove the reference to those laws entirely. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 06:06, 28 May 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;Moved from the first paragraph<br />
:''- this is incorrect, EU law applies to all legal entities currently physically within the EU - just like every other law and state in the world. If xkcd has a legal representative of some kind in the EU then it would be enforceable on that representative. so much fud.)''<br />
This was entered by IP 162.158.38.70 at the explanation but should be discussed here which may be followed by some changes in the explanation. Please do not enter discussions at the explanation. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:48, 26 May 2018 (UTC)</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1986:_River_Border&diff=156570Talk:1986: River Border2018-05-03T08:16:30Z<p>Jaalenja: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
The title text doesn't have a typo.<br />
[[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:06, 27 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"It then occurred to Megan that she could break Nebraska state laws and the police couldn't catch her (because the river was in the way)."<br />
:I ''think'' it might actually be because Megan is under the mistaken impression that it's neither Nebraskan nor Missourian territory, so neither set of cops actually have jurisdiction (similar to that thing where apparently there's an area of [https://www.forbes.com/sites/robinandrews/2017/11/26/icymi-you-can-get-away-with-murder-in-part-of-yellowstone-national-park/ Yellowstone] where no one has jurisdiction).<br />
::I believe you're right. The title text seems to confirm this.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.172|162.158.255.172]] 20:03, 27 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
:::While I saw the possibility of the Lawless Unclaimed Territory explanation (i.e. nobody has jurisdiction), I feel very sure the intended meaning is that the state that can get there has no jurisdiction and the state they're in can't get to them because of the river. (Mainly because Unclaimed Territory is a bit of a logical leap, while Cops Are Cut Off is fairly logical and somewhat true. Note the wording that "cops can't do a thing", not "there are no cops"). What amuses me is that I've heard of this location before AND that it is indeed true that there are no bridges, so it is indeed quite true that you can't reach this location from the rest of Nebraska. But of course I'm sure cops wouldn't hesitate to pass through Missouri. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:01, 1 May 2018 (UTC)<br />
::::Good thoughts! I was having a tough time wrapping my head around why the cops wouldn't just use a boat or helicopter, if necessary. That's why I didn't immediately consider it was the river stopping them.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.172|162.158.255.172]] 14:36, 2 May 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I'd edit it myself, but I'm not entirely sure if I'm right. Thought I'd bring up the possibility so others could decide. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.24|172.68.47.24]] 16:33, 27 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::I fixed it. [[User:Grabadora304|Grabadora304]] ([[User talk:Grabadora304|talk]]) {{unsigned|Grabadora304}}<br />
:I also read it as the river physically keeping the police out of the region so I added it back (before even reading these comments), but only as a second possibility, leaving the jurisdiction as the primary. Note that the river actually IS a physical barrier, there are no roads across the river there. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 21:07, 27 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
This isn’t the only place in the US, or even in Nebraska, where this has happened. The town of Carter Lake, Iowa is only accessible by car by driving through Omaha.<br />
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.143.84|172.68.143.84]] 17:08, 27 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
'''The story of the similar situation on the Walloon (Belgian)-Dutch border, and the headless corpse.'''<br />
There used to be a situation like this on the border between Visé, Wallonia, Belgium; and Eijsden-Margraten in the Netherlands.<br />
The border used to follow the path of the river Maas/Meuse at the time of the Treaty of London of 1839. Between 1970 en 1979, the river was straightened, and until 2018, the border no longer followed the path of the river. That led to situations similar to the one in this comic ''on both sides of the river''. Especially the Belgian bit at the Dutch side of the river became popular for drug dealings and illicit sexual escapades. At one time, a group of Antwerpians with moustaches proclaimed the area the independent Republic of Snorravia.<br />
In 2012, a headless corpse was discovered there. (I have heard that it was a suicide, though details are scarce.) That lead eventually to a land swap agreed in 2016–2017, effective January 1st, 2018. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/belgium-netherlands-land-swap-agreement-river-meuse-borders-a7445751.html<br />
— [[User:Adhemar|Adhemar]] ([[User talk:Adhemar|talk]]) 21:32, 27 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: ''The Martian'' allusion - The joke about high seas, piracy, and maritime laws jumped out at me as echoing a joke made in ''The Martain'', which we know is xkcd-approved. Does anyone else think that it's an intentional allusion? [[User:PvOberstein|PvOberstein]] ([[User talk:PvOberstein|talk]]) 23:45, 27 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:How exactly can you commit suicide by beheading? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 04:46, 28 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
::He could have committed suicide by slitting his throat, then something happened that caused his head to fall off. But who knows? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 07:30, 28 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
:::Or by putting on the [[https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blindpanic.com%2Fhumor%2Fvecna.htm Head of Vecna]] [[User:Kazzie|Kazzie]] ([[User talk:Kazzie|talk]]) 05:48, 30 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
::A guillotine would be a handy device for a suicidal beheading. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 13:37, 30 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
Wait, so, basically, two people buy plots of land with river flowing between them, after years the river changes course, and they go to court and hire experts to find ''why'' the river changed course and, depending on the outcome, one person can win a chunk of land the other person had paid for? And this is common in 21st century law systems? That's quite depressing. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 09:44, 28 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
:...Except these aren't the property lines of people buying land, these are the borders of subsections of a country. If two people had bought land at this spot, one would now be on the other side (but would still live in Nebraska), the other just wouldn't have waterfront property any more (but would still have property in Missouri). [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 03:38, 1 May 2018 (UTC)<br />
::I was not talking about the comic itself, but about this part of the explanation<br />
In cases of pure accretion, it is possible for a parcel of land to be entirely eroded away on one side of a river, and have material be added to the opposite side of the river. In such cases, one property owner could lose all their land.<br />
::...and<br />
In the real world, however, river systems undergo both accretion and avulsion multiple times over a period of time. This makes the determination of property lines along riverine boundaries one of the most complicated aspects of boundary surveying.<br />
::I am by no means expert, maybe it's just poorly worded explanation, but it certainly gave me the impression that something as arbitrary as the cause of a river changing course can affect whether or not someone gets to keep their land, which is by itself as absurd as the very fact they can lose land due to river changing course. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 08:16, 3 May 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Congrats Randy, your title text made me claw my eyes out. Thankfully, I know kung-touch-typing-fu. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.11.155|172.68.11.155]] 11:29, 28 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I removed the incomplete because I can't imagine how this explanation could be made any more complete than it is. In fact, this is one of most complete explains I've seen. Great job everybody! [[User:Gbisaga|Gbisaga]] ([[User talk:Gbisaga|talk]]) 18:15, 28 April 2018 (UTC)</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1986:_River_Border&diff=156416Talk:1986: River Border2018-04-28T09:44:28Z<p>Jaalenja: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
The title text doesn't have a typo.<br />
[[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:06, 27 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"It then occurred to Megan that she could break Nebraska state laws and the police couldn't catch her (because the river was in the way)."<br />
:I ''think'' it might actually be because Megan is under the mistaken impression that it's neither Nebraskan nor Missourian territory, so neither set of cops actually have jurisdiction (similar to that thing where apparently there's an area of [https://www.forbes.com/sites/robinandrews/2017/11/26/icymi-you-can-get-away-with-murder-in-part-of-yellowstone-national-park/ Yellowstone] where no one has jurisdiction).<br />
::I believe you're right. The title text seems to confirm this.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.172|162.158.255.172]] 20:03, 27 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
:I'd edit it myself, but I'm not entirely sure if I'm right. Thought I'd bring up the possibility so others could decide. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.24|172.68.47.24]] 16:33, 27 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::I fixed it. [[User:Grabadora304|Grabadora304]] ([[User talk:Grabadora304|talk]]) {{unsigned|Grabadora304}}<br />
:I also read it as the river physically keeping the police out of the region so I added it back (before even reading these comments), but only as a second possibility, leaving the jurisdiction as the primary. Note that the river actually IS a physical barrier, there are no roads across the river there. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 21:07, 27 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
This isn’t the only place in the US, or even in Nebraska, where this has happened. The town of Carter Lake, Iowa is only accessible by car by driving through Omaha.<br />
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.143.84|172.68.143.84]] 17:08, 27 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
'''The story of the similar situation on the Walloon (Belgian)-Dutch border, and the headless corpse.'''<br />
There used to be a situation like this on the border between Visé, Wallonia, Belgium; and Eijsden-Margraten in the Netherlands.<br />
The border used to follow the path of the river Maas/Meuse at the time of the Treaty of London of 1839. Between 1970 en 1979, the river was straightened, and until 2018, the border no longer followed the path of the river. That led to situations similar to the one in this comic ''on both sides of the river''. Especially the Belgian bit at the Dutch side of the river became popular for drug dealings and illicit sexual escapades. At one time, a group of Antwerpians with moustaches proclaimed the area the independent Republic of Snorravia.<br />
In 2012, a headless corpse was discovered there. (I have heard that it was a suicide, though details are scarce.) That lead eventually to a land swap agreed in 2016–2017, effective January 1st, 2018. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/belgium-netherlands-land-swap-agreement-river-meuse-borders-a7445751.html<br />
— [[User:Adhemar|Adhemar]] ([[User talk:Adhemar|talk]]) 21:32, 27 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: ''The Martian'' allusion - The joke about high seas, piracy, and maritime laws jumped out at me as echoing a joke made in ''The Martain'', which we know is xkcd-approved. Does anyone else think that it's an intentional allusion? [[User:PvOberstein|PvOberstein]] ([[User talk:PvOberstein|talk]]) 23:45, 27 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:How exactly can you commit suicide by beheading? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 04:46, 28 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
::He could have committed suicide by slitting his throat, then something happened that caused his head to fall off. But who knows? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 07:30, 28 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
Wait, so, basically, two people buy plots of land with river flowing between them, after years the river changes course, and they go to court and hire experts to find ''why'' the river changed course and, depending on the outcome, one person can win a chunk of land the other person had paid for? And this is common in 21st century law systems? That's quite depressing. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 09:44, 28 April 2018 (UTC)</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1976:_Friendly_Questions&diff=155397Talk:1976: Friendly Questions2018-04-06T06:35:17Z<p>Jaalenja: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
same<br />
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.160|162.158.238.160]] 15:57, 4 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
>How many apples have you eaten?<br />
<br />
IS THAT A JOJO REFERENCE? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.82|172.68.211.82]] 16:22, 4 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Are you referring to the singer or the NY restaurant? [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 19:32, 4 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::He's referring to the manga, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. In it, Zeppeli asks Dio, "How many lives have you sucked away to heal those wounds?" Dio responds, "Do you remember how many breads you've eaten in your life?" [sic] [[Special:Contributions/172.69.54.63|172.69.54.63]] 21:29, 4 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::Ok, thanks. Would not have gotten that in a lifetime! Your IP addresses are very close to each other - do you two know each other, or is this particular manga more popular than one might think? [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 23:01, 4 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::::It’s definitely a well known manga, with numerous internet memes spawned from it. Personally, I’m experiencing a Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon with it since Team Fortress 2 just had an update including an outfit that looks like the main character Jotaro Kujo. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.82|172.68.211.82]] 04:34, 5 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I can relate way too much to this comic. Then again, I bet most of us here relate to xkcd in general, and are probably logically, socially inept, nerds. [[User:Linker|Linker]] ([[User talk:Linker|talk]]) 17:54, 4 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The last one of these was published a mere 15 comics ago. I assume this is becoming some sort of satirical how-to series. <br />
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.112|172.68.211.112]] 22:46, 4 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Nah, Randall has just returned to some of his old themes recently. Check out the categories! Oh, and should we try to get the numbers on how many apples an average guy eats in his lifetime? I fell like maybe we could just write it, as a fun fact. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 23:51, 4 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::As I pointed out in 1961, not so much "returning to old themes" with this topic, because he never really left it. Someone started a Social Awkwardness catagory (called "Social interactions" for some reason) after that last one, and I "quickly" zipped through all the previous comics to fill in the category. There were something like 5 in the two year "gap" there was supposed to be. :) Actually, as soon as I saw this one I rushed to ExplainXKCD to make sure this one was added, LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:09, 6 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I would assume "Do you like apples" might be weird unless there is some apple context, but at least answerable. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:47, 5 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Noone else feels like this could be a reference to the - by now a few weeks old - news story in which the US president used a note on how to show human emotions to the vicitims of a massshooting? [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 05:26, 5 April 2018 (UTC) I feel that way as well, it was my first thought upon reading. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.4|108.162.229.4]] 15:51, 5 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
The "I should go" reminds me of Mass Effect token phrase when ending dialogues. Could that be relevant to the post? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.61|162.158.111.61]] 13:07, 5 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I find it unlikely that Randall is referencing the highly misogynistic and socially problematic Adams in this comic, and frankly the assumption that he is indicates minimal familiarity with either author and their outside work.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.52|172.68.141.52]] 17:30, 5 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
--[[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.52|172.68.141.52]] 17:30, 5 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
and the post-it being titled "Normal Human Conversation" which implies the existence of other post-its with titles such as "Abnormal Human Conversation" or "Normal Cat Conversation".<br />
Does it, really? If I find a recipe titled "Delicious French fries", should I expect recipes for "disgusting French fires" and "delicious Chinese fries" to be part of the book? "Abnormal" conversation presumably comes naturally to Cueball, so he does not need a note for that, and he is probably not trying to communicate with animals, so he does not need notes for that, either. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 06:35, 6 April 2018 (UTC)</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1976:_Friendly_Questions&diff=155396Talk:1976: Friendly Questions2018-04-06T06:34:56Z<p>Jaalenja: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
same<br />
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.160|162.158.238.160]] 15:57, 4 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
>How many apples have you eaten?<br />
<br />
IS THAT A JOJO REFERENCE? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.82|172.68.211.82]] 16:22, 4 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Are you referring to the singer or the NY restaurant? [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 19:32, 4 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::He's referring to the manga, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. In it, Zeppeli asks Dio, "How many lives have you sucked away to heal those wounds?" Dio responds, "Do you remember how many breads you've eaten in your life?" [sic] [[Special:Contributions/172.69.54.63|172.69.54.63]] 21:29, 4 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::Ok, thanks. Would not have gotten that in a lifetime! Your IP addresses are very close to each other - do you two know each other, or is this particular manga more popular than one might think? [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 23:01, 4 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::::It’s definitely a well known manga, with numerous internet memes spawned from it. Personally, I’m experiencing a Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon with it since Team Fortress 2 just had an update including an outfit that looks like the main character Jotaro Kujo. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.82|172.68.211.82]] 04:34, 5 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I can relate way too much to this comic. Then again, I bet most of us here relate to xkcd in general, and are probably logically, socially inept, nerds. [[User:Linker|Linker]] ([[User talk:Linker|talk]]) 17:54, 4 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The last one of these was published a mere 15 comics ago. I assume this is becoming some sort of satirical how-to series. <br />
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.112|172.68.211.112]] 22:46, 4 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Nah, Randall has just returned to some of his old themes recently. Check out the categories! Oh, and should we try to get the numbers on how many apples an average guy eats in his lifetime? I fell like maybe we could just write it, as a fun fact. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 23:51, 4 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::As I pointed out in 1961, not so much "returning to old themes" with this topic, because he never really left it. Someone started a Social Awkwardness catagory (called "Social interactions" for some reason) after that last one, and I "quickly" zipped through all the previous comics to fill in the category. There were something like 5 in the two year "gap" there was supposed to be. :) Actually, as soon as I saw this one I rushed to ExplainXKCD to make sure this one was added, LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:09, 6 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I would assume "Do you like apples" might be weird unless there is some apple context, but at least answerable. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:47, 5 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Noone else feels like this could be a reference to the - by now a few weeks old - news story in which the US president used a note on how to show human emotions to the vicitims of a massshooting? [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 05:26, 5 April 2018 (UTC) I feel that way as well, it was my first thought upon reading. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.4|108.162.229.4]] 15:51, 5 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
The "I should go" reminds me of Mass Effect token phrase when ending dialogues. Could that be relevant to the post? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.61|162.158.111.61]] 13:07, 5 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I find it unlikely that Randall is referencing the highly misogynistic and socially problematic Adams in this comic, and frankly the assumption that he is indicates minimal familiarity with either author and their outside work.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.52|172.68.141.52]] 17:30, 5 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
--[[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.52|172.68.141.52]] 17:30, 5 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
and the post-it being titled "Normal Human Conversation" which implies the existence of other post-its with titles such as "Abnormal Human Conversation" or "Normal Cat Conversation".<br />
Does it, really? If I find a recipe titled "Delicious French fries", should I expect recipes for "disgusting French fires" and "delicious Chinese fries" to be part of the book? "Abnormal" conversation presumably comes naturally to Cueball, so he does not need a note for that, and he is probably not trying to communicate with animals, so he does not need notes for that, either.</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1957:_2018_CVE_List&diff=152815Talk:1957: 2018 CVE List2018-02-20T07:34:24Z<p>Jaalenja: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
[[First]] post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, the explanation looks like a train wreck, and I'm not sure if a rearranging it into a table or just adding bullet points to everything is better. I'm guessing that a table would be better, but I don't know how I can rearrange it. Can somebody help? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 06:35, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
: Added a table layout to the sandbox. Might be of some use to another editor. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.45|162.158.74.45]] 07:32, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
: ''Edit: Looks like it's been adapted in; I've cleared the sandbox for future use.'' [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.45|162.158.74.45]] 11:53, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
:: Thanks, I think a table is a good way to go. I'm adding it to the article as a place to start. Rather than format the original explanation into the table, I'm leaving the cells blank. The original poorly formatted text can be a starting point, but isn't directly adaptable. --[[User:Quantum7|Quantum7]] ([[User talk:Quantum7|talk]]) 09:55, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Never ever have I heard anyone pronounce SQL as "sequel" - Is that a reqional dialect? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.15|162.158.93.15]] 07:41, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
: I heard it's common among MS-SQL users.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.137|162.158.91.137]] 08:02, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
:: Oh BTW, look at our IPs. Are you an easybell customer? :-) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.137|162.158.91.137]] 08:09, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
::: I somewhat doubt we are using easybell, from the looks of it it's not suited for the size of our company. But I can neither verify nor deny that claim as I am not responsible for the WAN connection at our company. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.9|162.158.93.9]] 15:09, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
: Some people pronounce it that way, yes. Don't know if it is "common among MS-SQL users", though. The only person I encountered saying "sequel" never used MS-SQL. [[User:LordHorst|LordHorst]] ([[User talk:LordHorst|talk]]) 09:54, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
: Not sure if it's regional or not. I personally say "sequel" and I'd say anecdotally that it's about 50/50 among people that I've worked with. I went to school and work in the Midwest US. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.94|108.162.216.94]] 15:40, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
: I've also seen references to Oracle users saying "sequel" rather than S-Q-L. That would make sense as it's the DB I'm primarily working with. http://patorjk.com/blog/2012/01/26/pronouncing-sql-s-q-l-or-sequel/ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.94|108.162.216.94]] 15:43, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
: When I was in college a couple decades back I have memory of the professor that taught SQL saying that pronouncing it "sequel" had been registered as a trademark of Micosoft. He instructed us to avoid that pronunciation whenever possible because of this. I have not fact-checked this statement. [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 22:00, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
:I like to pronounce it "squeel" because that's equally correct phonetically & it never fails to raise eyebrows. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 00:33, 20 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
: I hear it occasionally, even myself once in a while. However, I seriously doubt EVERYBODY who does so is referencing the predecessor, pretty sure everybody I've heard say "sequel" does so because SQL looks like it's short for "sequel", thats all. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:04, 20 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I want to take a moment to congratulate the dedication of whomever wrote the original explanation. Second languages are hard, bro. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.10|108.162.215.10]] 07:48, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Has someone tried contacting Randall about "extploit"? If not, what would be the best way? [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 08:22, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
:Hack his computer to display a message demanding he fix it if he wants his hard drive decrypted.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.26|162.158.155.26]] 09:24, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
::Thanks, will do.<br />
<br />
::how to hack complooter<br />
::why does google not work<br />
::how to delete text<br />
::[[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 09:44, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
:If anyone is getting this changed to correct silly errors, removing the full stop in “…<tt>one. Computer</tt>…” would be nice. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.197|141.101.99.197]] 15:22, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
:Urban Dictionary suggestion: EXTploit - A trojan (usually bearing a harmless looking icon) which takes advantage of the idiotic practice of hiding filename extensions by default within major operating systems. This increases the likelihood that a user will execute the trojan, thinking it is a media file because they cannot see the actual file-extension. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 00:33, 20 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Regarding "Factor a prime": Factoring a prime is easy: The prime itself is the only factor, so it's sufficient to use [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AKS_primality_test AKS] or whatever to check that. Public-key encryption relies on how hard it is to factor the product of two primes, which is a much harder problem. Maybe this is a typo in the comic? {{unsigned|Comment Police}}<br />
: I don't think it is a typo. It's exactly the type of "inside-joke" I would expect from XKCD. :) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.214|162.158.134.214]] 10:09, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
:: AFAIK, there aren't any primality tests known to run in O(log n). For instance, AKS runs in O(log n ^ 7.5). So for numpy to actually achieve factoring as stated would require assuming the input is prime and just returning (1,n). --[[User:Quantum7|Quantum7]] ([[User talk:Quantum7|talk]]) 12:45, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
:::Doesn't testing for primality (just) require a list of all primes up to sqrt(n)? So the best possible time is sqrt(however fast you can calculate primes up to a number). That time can at most be square (divide every number by every other number below it), so a primality test only needs O(n) time. Or do I understand something wrong? [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 13:46, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
::::Oh yes, I missed that log(n) is less than n. Nevermind then. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 13:50, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
:On the other hand, consider the following phrases that describe a process using the end result of the process as their direct object: "cook scrambled eggs", "bake a cake", "chop firewood", "encode an MP3", and "factor primes". One would "factor primes" out of the semiprime associated with an RSA key. --[[User:Tepples|Tepples]] ([[User talk:Tepples|talk]]) 15:58, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Can I edit some spelling errors? There seems to be some spelling errors here and there.Boeing-787lover 10:19, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
:Of course, that's what a Wiki is for. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 12:10, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
I think the explanation of the one about injecting arbitrary text onto a page with the comments box is overthinking the joke. I think it really is just about the fact that you can write whatever you like in a comment. Look, I just hacked this page to display the word "penguin". [[User:Jeremyp|Jeremyp]] ([[User talk:Jeremyp|talk]]) 10:26, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Since when is Bruce Schneier not real? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.75|162.158.93.75]] 13:05, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
: He never was - it's a cleverly executed art project. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.209|141.101.99.209]] 14:20, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I've added some clarification to the "CRITICAL" item. I know there are several xkcd comics referencing similar problems but I unfortunately don't have the time to look them up, can someone do that and link them appropriately in the table? [[User:Domino|Domino]] ([[User talk:Domino|talk]]) 13:11, 19 February 2018 (UTC)domino<br />
:Isn't the joke really in the hilarious severity assessment? The vulnerability is supposedly CRITICAL!!!!11!1!!one!, while description shows both a ridiculously small vulnerable population and ridiculously low impact. Population: a single, very old kernel version on a rare, outdated architecture, in one timezone only - and WHICH timezone! UTC+14 means just a couple of islands in the Pacific (Tonga, Kiribati...) - the probability of even one vulnerable system actually existing seems almost zero. Impact: the only possible consequence is switching from 12h to 24h (only in this direction)? This whole entry is very creative - just TRY to come up with a possible vulnerability (yes, it would classify as an actual vulnerability, why not?) that would have a LOWER severity than that...--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.89|162.158.91.89]] 13:41, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
::Agree [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 15:45, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think the article should start with an explanation of what is the CVE. From https://cve.mitre.org/<br />
"CVE® is a list of entries—each containing an identification number, a description, and at least one public reference—for publicly known cybersecurity vulnerabilities.<br />
CVE Entries are used in numerous cybersecurity products and services from around the world, including the U.S. National Vulnerability Database (NVD)."<br />
-{{unsigned|Comment Police}}<br />
<br />
"MySQL server 55.45" it is 5.5.45 if you zoom in a bit. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.161|162.158.91.161]] 13:41, 19 February 2018 (UTC)Blocki<br />
<br />
"An attacker can execute malicious code on their own machine and no one can stop them" might be a jab at the trend toward more closed systems, where even the owner of a device is limited in what they can do on it. <br/><br />
"A flaw in Mitre's CVE database allows arbitrary code insertion" could be meant as an explanation for the whole comic, i.e. those joke vulnerabilities were added to the CVE database using this flaw. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.225|141.101.69.225]] 13:52, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Monty (BDFL for MySQL) always pronounces it as "My ess cue ell". [[User:RandalSchwartz|RandalSchwartz]] ([[User talk:RandalSchwartz|talk]]) 18:22, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It's my first comment here, so I may be wrong. I see the "CRITICAL" as a "differential” joke exhibiting that the requirement standards may be very different from a constructor to another. In fact, it seems that the apple’s bugs described here (crash, fire, remote access granted) are the mosst critical ones. The only two concerning Linux are the one labeled as critical and the one about bribery. I don’t know what to think about the almost complete absence of windows though. Feriaman.<br />
<br />
Could we get an ''Air Bud'' category? It seems to be a recurring theme in his comics. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.246.88|162.158.246.88]] 18:50, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
:List of direct mentions of "air bud" in the explanations: [[115:_Meerkat]], [[1439:_Rack_Unit]], [[1506:_xkcloud/Table_of_Permalinks]], [[1552:_Rulebook]], [[1819:_Sweet_16]], [[1957:_2018_CVE_List]]<br />
:List of direct mentions of "air bud" in the transcripts: [None]<br />
:Beep, boop, I'm not a bot. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 20:41, 19 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Anyone happen to notice that instead of writing "mischievous," Randall opted for the non-standard spelling "mischevious?" The standard form would have been an I-before-E word... --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.164|162.158.88.164]] 00:45, 20 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"Diacritics are the accents found on letters in some languages (eg. č, ģ ķ, ļ, ņ, š, ž). These would not be found on emojis." This misses the point. There is nothing that stops a unicode emoji being followed by unicode combining diacritical mark. The rendering engine does not have to display this in any particular way, but catching fire would be considered a bug by must users.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.213|162.158.74.213]] 03:35, 20 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"Flash was discontinued", really? Someone should tell Flash. And Facebook. I'm STILL experiencing issues on Facebook over their sloppy Flash programming interfering with my ability to watch Facebook videos (extra irritating as I'm sure my newly built computer is more powerful and capable than the computers owned by anyone I know, and certainly any phone or tablet, which don't experience these problems). And my last Flash update was a couple of weeks ago - seeing as this bug likes to include telling me I need to upgrade my Flash, even if I did so that day and Flash assures me I'm up date. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:04, 20 February 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Timing Attack to exploit a race condition in garbage collection refers to Meltdown and Spectre CPU flaws that can be exploited in cloud server like the ones in Wikipedia.<br />
I don't think this is correct. Garbage collection is a technique of freeing up memory no longer used by a program, completely unrelated to speculative execution and the Spectre/Meltdown exploits... [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 07:34, 20 February 2018 (UTC)</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals&diff=150950explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals2018-01-13T12:17:26Z<p>Jaalenja: /* The state of "incomplete" explanations and an unified policy */</p>
<hr />
<div><noinclude>{{Community portal}}</noinclude><br />
<br />
== Add unexplained strips ==<br />
<br />
At the moment, browsing through the explanations using the previous and next buttons is interrupted whenever there's an explanation missing.<br />
<br />
I think adding a page with the strip fr all of those with a short message like "no one has explained this yet, want to give it a shot?" would make the wiki easier to browse through and will get more strips explained faster.<br />
<br />
:I don't think that would happen. If suddenly it was much easier for people to skip over pages that had no explanation, I think they would do exactly that, skip right over it. On the same side of that coin, If suddenly there are no longer any red links on the [[List of all comics]] then everyone perusing that page assumes that all the comics have been explained and don't need to contribute any more. It's astonishing how quickly an [[589: Designated Drivers|embedded]] red link gets an explanation page created simply to get rid of the red link.<br />
<br />
:Secondarily, ''many'' of the pages created recently aren't being created with their numerical and titular redirects. Without the numerical redirect, the comic template can't find that there is a previous/next comic to link to. Every once in a while somebody will go through and try to notice all the pages that don't have their redirects created but it's an unscientific process that only happens occasionally. If we could get every joe blow that comes in and vomits up a poorly done explanation to create the redirects I wouldn't be quite as annoyed at their lack of show-don't-tell-manship. But, since they can't be bothered to put the date in the comic template, I doubt we'll ever get people to create the redirects.<br />
<br />
:'''TL;DR:''' No more red links, no more work gets done on the back catalog.<br />
<br />
:--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 14:28, 21 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== xplainkcd.com ==<br />
<br />
When I first saw this site I thought it should definitely be at xplainkcd.com or at least redirect from that url {{unsigned|115.166.22.158|12:45, 3 January 2013 (UTC)}}<br />
<br />
: I like that idea! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 13:28, 3 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Yeah! If it's possible, it would be cool! At least as a redirect. -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:46, 3 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Not technically the same thing, but I just took [http://expxkcd.com http://expxkcd.com]. More explanation <del>is</del> was given on the website itself. {{User:Grep/signature|05:10, 29 March 2014}}<br />
::We do that with explainxkcd.com as well, but yay shorter URLs! Mind if I use that for our social media links? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:45, 29 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::I had no idea that you did that, but sure, go ahead! If you want, I can change any DNS records if you wish to have it go directly to you guys. {{User:Grep/signature|07:16, 29 March 2014}}<br />
:::In case you were wondering, I just did the following: <code>^/([0-9]+)(/large)?/?$</code> {{User:Grep/signature|07:25, 29 March 2014}}<br />
::::Hrm. We're just matching with <code>^(\d+)/?$</code>. You can keep ownership of the URL if you want, unless you have traffic concerns or whatever and you want us to handle it, which we're very capable of doing. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:47, 29 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I have made http://www.xkcd.ga and http://www.xkcd.tk both forward to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. Is this ok? [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:49, 26 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Section style and usage ==<br />
<br />
I am new here and I'm trying to get up to speed with the culture. I have a few questions about how and where to use sections (== this ==). I am more willing to go with (and enforce) whatever norms there are here, but I have not seen them actually discussed. <br />
<br />
# '''Is it OK to create sections in Discussion pages?''' I have been told no, but there are many examples extant of this usage in this Wiki and indeed in Wikipedia.<br />
# '''Section title case''' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Capital_letters#Acronyms Wikipedia's style guide] recommends sentence case, not title case. There are many title cased section headers here. <br />
# '''Links''' I do not have a reference for this but it seems to me putting links in section code (== [[<span style="color:blue"><nowiki>this</nowiki></span>]] == ) is bad form. <br />
<br />
Last note -- it's understood if these bylaws have not yet been written. I can see that a few of you have made a huge personal investment to make this Wiki what it is today, and that is a credit to you all -- this is awesome! As a long-time aficionado of xkcd I applaud your work and look forward to further collaboration.<br />
--[[User:Smartin|Smartin]] ([[User talk:Smartin|talk]]) 04:15, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:As a general rule, we stick to the standard format that existing pages follow, with an optional trivia section below the transcript. Some zealous editors like to add other sections though, which tend to be for the most part unneeded or redundant. If something you want to add doesn't help to explain the comic in some way, but the inclusion of which would somehow still add to the page, *and* it doesn't fall under the trivia category, a new section is warranted. This isn't the case most of the time though, so editors usually fold the content of extraneous sections into "Explanation" or "Trivia." We have no policy on links in titles, and they're allowed so long as they are appropriate; the link is useful and can't be folded into the section itself. And we use title case for titles cuz it just makes sense. '''[[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:08, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:We generally do not (or at least, discourage) use sections on the talk/discussion pages for explanation pages. This is purely for looks. The comic discussion section of the explanation page looks/feels wrong if there are level 2 section breaks in the transclusion. Also, if the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Table_of_contents Table of Contents] starts showing up on a page, such as on [[Click and Drag]] the sections created on the talk page also show up in the TOC. This gets confusing, and this is why we prefer not to use them on explanation talk pages. Everywhere else we follow standard wiki format and do use sections on the discussion pages.<br />
<br />
:Personally, I think that links in section titles looks wrong, but I choose not to be the dictator of style in this matter. :p<br />
<br />
:Please feel free to make edits. The worst that happens is someone reverts your edit. If it's a big enough issue and/or you don't seem to be learning from what people are fixing about your edits someone will leave a comment on your talk page. That's it. We might leave a nasty-gram in the edit summary, but oh well. We only ban for malicious intent. Honestly working to better the wiki is good, even if sometimes we grumble about it.<br />
<br />
:--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:00, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Oh, I just looked at your talk page. I completely forgot that that happened. Don't worry about it. Learning the ropes is part of the experience. Do make edits, and if they're wrong, we'll nudge you in the right direction. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:18, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I have been moving some trivia sections to directly below the explanation, in order to make it more consistent, and easier to survey and maintain. Often the dividing line between trivia and explanation is not entirely clear, and in articles without a trivia section the end of the explanation very often contains trivia-like information. (e.g. [[1155: Kolmogorov Directions]]) -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:13, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
===Title case doesn't make any sense===<br />
At first sight title case in titles just makes sense. However title case '''never''' makes sense. It's worse than all caps. Besides, only Americans and children like title case. [[Special:Contributions/190.96.48.48|190.96.48.48]] 20:04, 10 August 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
==New character==<br />
As per [[Talk:1178: Pickup Artists]], the character with hair has appeared in quite a few comics now, and he's starting to become a recurring character. Shall we go ahead with inaugurating him into our list of regular characters, and what name shall we assign him? Current candidate names include Hairy and Harry. Anyone? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:07, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: I like Harry :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 01:04, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Cos made a point in the discussion on [[Talk:1178: Pickup Artists]] that Hairy is directly descriptive, whereas Harry is not obvious to visitors. On the other hand, not all names are descriptive ([[Danish]]) and I think this wiki is entitled to create some xkcd-in-culture, and not just describe. And Harry is quite funny.<br />
::I wonder: has [[Randall]] ever called him anything at all in the transcript? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:52, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::Well, he's not named in a any official transcripts, but he's already called Harry in quite a few comic explanations. Then again, I do like having a more descriptive name for him. Shall we hold this up to a vote? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:29, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::I think we should wait a little for a few more viewpoints to crop up. Also, can someone link to some more comics he's been featured in? I've got [[1028: Communication]], [[1027: Pickup Artist]] and [[1178: Pickup Artists]]. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 23:41, 27 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::I actually like what that anon said: ''Curly''. Second choice: Hairy (being descriptive, a la Black Hat, Beret, Cueball, etc.) While there's talk about in-culture, we've done that with the names Cueball, Beret, etc. It's my opinion that the only names that should be "real" proper names are those that are named in the comic. Megan, Miss Lenhart, etc. Danish (as is discussed below) isn't truly a proper name, but you could argue it's a meta-description (one attributed by Black hat.) So that's my vote: yes for '''Curly''' or '''Hairy''', no for Harry. [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 05:21, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::That's right, [[Danish]] is not descriptive, but 1/ that name was suggested because the character [[515: No One Must Know|was called that way in the comic]], which is a tiny bit like a name given by the author (at least more than Harry which we have completely made up), and 2/ in that case it's hard to find a descriptive term: use something that revolves around her black hair (her only descriptive feature), and you easily mix up with [[Megan]]; the only graphical difference is that her hair is ''long'', but what kind of name can you make out of that?<br />
:::For this new character, I suggest Hairy because it comes as the easy solution with every advantage: descriptive, easy to understand, and it's not ugly... I actually see no reason to resort to a made-up name like Harry.<br />
:::[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 22:29, 27 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: '''Alright. So the discussion's been had, and the most oft recommended name appears to be Hairy. All in favor, say aye. If more than 1/3 of editors agree and we have more than 6 votes, Hairy it is.''' '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:58, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye''' '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:58, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye''' [[User:Guru-45|Guru-45]] ([[User talk:Guru-45|talk]]) 06:14, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye''' to Hairy. [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:43, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye'''. Harry would be a nice nod to the fact that he's actually hairy, but indeed it's better to avoid inside jokes. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:05, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye'''. I'm convinced! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 17:52, 3 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye'''. Hairy. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:52, 3 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Hooray! We now have a [[:Category:Comics featuring Hairy]], with four pages already! Does anyone feel compelled to create "[[Hairy]]", with a brief description and a nice profile pic like the other characters? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:58, 3 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Ambiguous characters ==<br />
<br />
I've been thinking about the problem of the ambiguity of characters. "Is this really Cueball even though he has an eye and half a nose?", "This is very likely ''not'' x." "Darnit, these arn't Cueballs, these are Randall and his friends!", and so on. The character ambiguity is standard for xkcd (not less so in the early ones), and comes from the very loose or "free" way Randall uses his characters to be whatever he needs at the moment. It's simply often impossible for us to know whether he had e.g. "Cueball" or himself in mind, when drawing a particular comic (and I'd say: probably often both).<br />
<br />
I want to suggest that we in general have a likewise rather loose policy towards including characters in the categories for the comics. So that reasonably ambiguous cases should be included in e.g. (does she have a ponytail?) This is not because I believe this or that to really be this or that; I just don't believe in objective truth (here!). I feel that when doing research :) on a character, the borderline cases are often the most interesting ones, and you want to be able to find them through the "Comics featuring miss x"!<br />
<br />
I came to think this through now, when I wanted to (and did) list two comics with [[Miss Lenhart]] (?) where she was drawn but not named. Any thoughts on this in general? Other case studies? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:17, 5 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:My take has always been that [[Cueball]], for example, has not been a specific character. There is not ''a'' cueball, per se, distinct from any other cueball... indeed, there are several comics with several cueballs in-frame, and that is the point. I see the cueball character as a wildcard character (pun intended) ready to stand in for anybody (and ''not'' necessarily just Randall; I think those readers who suggest "this ''is'' Randall" are missing the point; he's way more META than that...) [[Megan]], while slightly less generic, still remains the female wild-card significant-other, while Curls seems to be a not-significant-other female used to illustrate a relationship that is transient. Other characters come and go, and when it's important to visually distinguish them from others in the frame, they're given additional characteristics, to wit [[Hairy]], [[Ponytail]], etc.<br />
:Unfortunately, that viewpoint is not commonly held, so I daresay I'm in the minority here.<br />
:-- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:18, 6 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Note at the top, about the server error ==<br />
<br />
:''This thread was moved to [[MediaWiki talk:Sitenotice]]''<br />
<br />
<br />
== I've removed "add a comment!" from Discussion heading ==<br />
<br />
This does move it to above the line, and the rule stops early. Undo my change if that's more bothering than when the TOC is displayed as "add a comment!Discussion"... <br />
<br />
I don't know how to automatically treat level 2 headers as level 3. That may be why Discussion was a level 1 heading earlier.<br />
[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:16, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Actually I now noticed there was a short edit war at {{tl|comic discussion}} over whether it should be a level 1 heading, just for this reason. [[User:Waldir]] seems to have conceeded... [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:25, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: No edit war, hence no (intentional) concession. I reverted a change once, and didn't notice the change being re-implemented by another user. In any case, it is irrelevant now since we actively discourage using headers in talk pages precisely so that they don't display in the TOC for the main comic page, where the discussion page is transcluded to (see the discussion [[#Section style and usage|above]]). This might not scale well for comics that generate lots of discussion. It might be worth discussing our customs (and perhaps write them down somewhere) before performing such changes. What do others think? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:49, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Time: The Table ==<br />
<br />
Right now on the page [[1190: Time]], we have a whole bunch of tables in the form image-time-hash. The tables take up heaps of vertical space and all have to be collapsed to even be remotely traversible. I propose that we aggregate all the images into one table after Time ends, like so:<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable plainlinks table-padding"<br />
|-<br />
!Image<br />
!Time<br />
!Image<br />
!Time<br />
!Image<br />
!Time<br />
!Image<br />
!Time<br />
|-<br />
|[[Media:time.png|00:00]]||01/00:00||[[Media:time.png|10:00]]||01/10:00||[[Media:time.png|20:00]]||01/20:00||[[Media:time.png|30:00]]||AND MOAR SAMPLE DATAS<br />
|-<br />
|[[Media:time.png|00:30]]||01/00:30||[[Media:time.png|10:30]]||01/10:30||[[Media:time.png|20:30]]||01/20:30||[[Media:time.png|30:30]]||AND MOAR SAMPLE DATAS<br />
|}<br />
<br />
The hash values aren't really a part of the comic, they're gibberish for the most part and they take up space that could be used to compact the table, as shown above. Even if we are conservative and make the table only five columns wide to account for smaller screens, we've divided scrolling time by five and eliminated much of the need for annoying collapsed tables and section headers for each day. Constructing the table shouldn't be particularly hard either, as all our current data is in nice regular tables with clear patterns that are easy enough to parse through. <br />
<br />
I'm putting this here because the organization of the frame entries would be unintuitive and difficult to change from the edit window, which would make it a poor choice when we're still expanding it and don't even know how long the comic will continue for. It's merely a space-saving trick for after we're sure that the comic is over. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:26, 16 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Oh and it'd be really nice if other people could also upload images if you're awake and a new one rolls by. There's gaps in the image record every time I wake up, and I dun likey. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:34, 20 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Good work so far; go ahead make it better! :) –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:34, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
==Featured Explanation, and Archival?==<br />
<br />
* Wikipedia has featured content. Now that we are close to reaching the goal of all comics explained, I think it makes more sense to have a "featured explanation" which would serve as a sort of a marker for a complete and good explanation. Many comics, and almost all charts are not fully explained/not a good quality explanation.<br />
<br />
* We should set up archival of discussion of the most discussed pages, like this one. Its not very pleasing to see comments from July 2012 still lying around here. It becomes hectic at some point.<br />
<br />
Just my 2 cents, feel free to discuss. Cheers,<br />
[[Special:Contributions/117.194.88.180|117.194.88.180]] 13:36, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:We dedicate this wiki to explaining xkcd, and we do actually have a featured comic feature; it changes every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and we usually manage to fill out the explanation for it within an hour or so of it going up. The most recent comic tends to be the one that most people visiting the wiki care about, so we give it prime space on the front page so they can find it easily. xkcd updates frequently enough that there isn't really that big of a time window for us to feature an article on our front page. Also, we're a volunteer project with quite a bit less manpower than Wikipedia.<br />
:We do need to archive talk pages though. Some of these are getting ridiculously long. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:04, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::I agree with Davidy22. Archiving topics can be done by anyone, by moving resolved threads to the portal section's corresponding [[explain xkcd talk:Community portal/Proposals|talk page]]. We could start with the threads marked "✓ Closed". [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:42, 1 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: The reason I asked for a "featured explanation" was because many of the comic explanations we currently have are sub-par, and we're almost at our initial goal of explaining all comics. A "featured explanation" would drive our editors towards the goal of having complete and good explanation towards all comics, and would allow us to know which explanations need elaboration.<br />
:: P.S. My definition of complete explanation would be - To have a good explanation, To have all categories relevant, To link to any comics related and To explain any technical portions of the comic.<br />
:: [[Special:Contributions/117.194.82.49|117.194.82.49]] 07:45, 8 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::That message on the front page is going to link to all the pages marked by the incomplete template. If you find an unsatisfactory explanation, please mark it with <nowiki>{{incomplete}}</nowiki> '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:54, 8 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::: By my definition, I think all comics will be incomplete. An incomplete template will be focused more towards improving the worst explanations, while a featured one will be to improve the best ones. Since we already have the former, we should focus on the latter. Just my 2 cents. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.85.82|117.194.85.82]] 06:55, 9 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Split the list of all comics ==<br />
<br />
[[List of all comics]] is getting larger and larger, which makes it hard to read and hard to edit. How about splitting into parts, say [[List of all comics/1-1000]], [[List of all comics/1001-2000]], etc., or something to that effect? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:39, 1 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: Done. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.88.176|117.194.88.176]] 10:03, 9 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Great job, thanks! [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:09, 9 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::And I've added back [[List of all comics (full)]], which allows, for example, listing all comics by alphabetical order.[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 17:29, 10 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Sidebar ads ==<br />
<br />
''Moved from [[Talk:Main Page]] –– [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:06, 4 May 2013 (UTC)''<br />
<br />
Are they generating significant money? The ones I see are pretty sleazy looking and/or scammy - "Power Companies Hate this Device! - click here to break the laws of thermodynamics!" and "Debt relief program click here to lose more money". How much money are they generating? Can you set any selections to remove the sleazy ads? [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 18:30, 3 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Do we have sleazy sidebar ads? Since when? Thanks Google Chrome and AdBlock, I had no idea! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 07:47, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::People give 20$ a pop to get a bunch of clicks on explainxkcd, and Jeff uses that money to buy a faster server with a hard drive that doesn't have less space than a public toilet with an elephant in it. It'd be really nice if you didn't turn on adblock, the money is appreciated. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:47, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::It's a question of me not turning it off specifically every time I visit this site. More importantly, I do think people would be more likely to click the "donate" if it weren't irrelevant ads around it. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 19:29, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::Generating money is a great thing. Getting "20$ a pop to get a bunch of clicks" is a bit unclear. Do the ads only generate revenue when clicked on? So EXKCD only gets money when someone actually falls for the sleazy ads? I know lots of people do not like Google - but at least their adsense stuff is relevant to the content of the website, which might generate some legitimate traffic for a legitimate advertiser.... [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 11:48, 19 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::Welllll, I didn't pick the ad supplier. You could bring it up with [[User talk:Jeff|Jeff]] if you want, I think he picked the ad provider on basis of which one had a mediawiki plugin or something. If you can link Jeff to a quick and easy way to put adsense on mediawiki, he should change it quickly enough. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:21, 19 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::And I also gather then that they are only a temporary thing? -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:27, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::::Until we can buy a server that doesn't poop itself every time a new comic is released, the ads are staying. If you want them to go away sooner, throw more money at Jeff. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:25, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::::: The ads are crap. For sure. Wish I didn't have to run them, but I don't trust donations alone to hold up continually some better hosting. The ads really don't bring in that much $$$. I had google adsense before, but Google shutdown my adsense account for unnamed reason after 1 week. This new ad service is way sketchier. If you all think they don't have a place here, I'll ax 'em. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:02, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::::: Thanks for the info Jeff. How much ad money are we talking about? Is it calculated on how many ads are displayed or how many are clicked-through? How close to the goal is the server fund? How about a Kickstarter campaign for the server? $10 gets your name on a thankyou webpage or something like that. [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 17:32, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::::: It ain't much, last I looked it was $2 or $3 in 2 weeks. I believe it is based on clicks, it is not nearly as clear as Google adsense. I'm not really interested in doing a Kickstarter. I think the donations will cover the initial start up, I just want to be able to cover the monthly costs as well. A few things are still up in the air. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:24, 25 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::::::Can you find a way to show the donations and ad income on the site, to make it transparent? ––[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:30, 30 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::::::: How about a donation amount that you'll take to turn it (the annoying unethical scummy ads) off for a year? Give me a dollar value and I might step up for the good of us all! [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 16:28, 3 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Economic transparency ==<br />
<br />
I think this is very important: How can we make the donations and ad-income transparent, so that we all can see when and how much money is coming in, and how far we are from reaching our goal? – [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 00:35, 24 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Sounds fine to me, I think I can put something together. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:52, 28 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Hi, may I bump this issue? Or maybe you have done something, and I missed it? Anyway, I would still appreciate it! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 17:43, 22 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::Numberssss. I'll get on with it, just need less homework and a few more numbers. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:54, 23 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I would like to respectfully file a complain. I find the banner advertisement of background checks distasteful. [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 05:10, 15 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
: Hey [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] - I am the one who approved those ads. But, since you have filed a complaint about them, I have gone ahead and removed them. Thanks. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:52, 15 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I thank you. [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 03:36, 17 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Using <nowiki><nowiki></nowiki></nowiki> in transcripts to improve accuracy ==<br />
<br />
In the transcripts, <nowiki>[[lines]]</nowiki> are being changed to [lines] in order to avoid auto-linking. Why not just surround these with <nowiki><nowiki></nowiki></nowiki> tags and avoid the problem entirely? --[[User:Epauley|Epauley]] ([[User talk:Epauley|talk]]) 04:18, 16 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Because it takes less time to type and single brackets are just as readable as double brackets to visitors. It's also a bit more readable in the editor. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:55, 16 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Strip Title ==<br />
<br />
For someone who commonly browses explainxkcd in place of xkcd, and hence often see the strips for the first time here rather than the parent site, I find it somewhat odd that the 'Title Text' is so poorly displayed given how critical it can be to the strip.<br />
<br />
I propose that, while retaining the given name (perhaps moving it top left), the title text be enlarged and relocated to being over the strip as originally intended. {{unsigned ip|175.41.133.18}}<br />
:The title text is placed very well at bottom of the image.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 07:20, 6 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I would have to agree with Dgbrt, it's placed nicely at the bottom, and there is no need for it to be moved. My reasoning is that you never actually read the title text first, you read it last. Making it <code>text-align: left;</code> does not make sense, because the image is centered (just like on xkcd.com). I also believe that there is no need for it to be re-sized, mainly due to the fact that it is slightly larger than the title text (for me, at least). {{User:Grep/signature|05:18, 08 September 2013}}<br />
<br />
:Plus, if you hover over the image, it's the same as on xkcd.com {{User:Grep/signature|06:13, 08 September 2013}}<br />
<br />
:I also agree with Dgbrt and Grep. The title text is kind of a bonus and should not be emphasized more than on the original page. On the original site you only see it before the image, if you have very slow internet access (or very fast eyes) --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:06, 2 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Sections in talk pages ==<br />
<br />
Is there a reason why there are no sections in talk pages? It is not a very big deal, but especially for longer talk pages it would make editing be much handier, especially when using the preview function (not having to find the section every time). Also it automatically adds a description to the history (thus makes it more easy to look for certain edits, or decide by just looking at the [[Special:RecentChanges]], if a comment should concern you. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:01, 2 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
:When discussion pages are transcluded by the comic discussion template, section headers carry over from talk pages and bad things happen. Using ; to denote headers instead of equals signs works well, and doesn't share transclusion pain. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:04, 2 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== references ==<br />
<br />
Any chance we can add [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Cite/Cite.php cite.php] to this wiki? Most pages don't need it, but some comics take on a life of their own and being able to add reference tags would be really helpful for those. [[User:LadyMondegreen|LadyMondegreen]] ([[User talk:LadyMondegreen|talk]]) 01:33, 9 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Cite has been added to the wiki. Thanks for the suggestion! --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 01:35, 17 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Stylized writing ==<br />
<br />
I understand that this wiki isn't as formal as wikipedia or sites like that but it seems that there are a few questionable practices:<br />
<br />
1. The use of questions - when a non-rhetorical or unnecessary question is entered into the explanation.<br />
<br />
2. Extremely painted/biased view points - when there is obvious bias in the tone of the explanation of the contributor, in other <br />
words; a lack of neutrality.<br />
<br />
3. Extreme repetition/rehashing - the explanation restates things and makes for a long and tedious read when a more straight-forward explanation is possible and clearer.<br />
<br />
4. The general informality - "This one's an easy one" "This is simple" "this one's straightforward" "You're an idiot for not understanding this one" etc.<br />
<br />
5. Many other practices that make the explanation hard to read, difficult to understand, or plain ugly.<br />
<br />
I know that there are disparaging view points on how a comic should be explained, but please let's clean up the site a bit, acknowledge each view point and report on all of them and then tighten up the sloppy writing. Carry out arguments in the talk section, not the explanation. Perhaps we could first try to say the majority view point on the interpretation and then write the alternate explanations, of course this would bring up the debate on which is the majority explanation. Either way, more complete, logical explanations should be given more credence. --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 00:25, 23 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I agree with 2-5. 1, on the other hand, is sometimes useful and can contribute the to explanation, although 1 is still a very good point. I would say that you should edit it to have "arguments in the talk" be a 6th point as well. Unfortunately, though, we are not all logical, comic-understanding machines here, so minor deviations of these rules are still to be expected. But I think that overall, these are good rules, even if 2/3 are sort of part of 5.<br />
:[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]], please sign your post with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki><span style="float: right;">{{User:Grep/signature|23:55, 22 October 2013}}</span><br />
<br />
:I understand the use of questions in certain parts. And it was probably better to put the others as sub-categories to five but I wanted to show some common things that can be easily fixed. I know that some explanations require a lot of text and extensive research because of the abstract subjects Randall deals with and that it's difficult to be completely standardized but I think it would be good for us to try to come up with some general things to try to avoid to help the explanations "flow" --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 00:25, 23 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Most of that isn't intentional, it's just an awful lot of labor to copy check all the explanations. I've been going through all the current articles and fixing consistency issues, the worst being wrong transcript/title text/dates and the most benign being wikilinks, spelling and trailing spaces. I'm at 682 so far, but my next pass will be on actual language and content, and it'll probably take longer. It takes a while though, and you can totally work on improving language in articles if you want to. Some explanations were pulled from the old blog, some were written and just got lost in the changelog. Copy editing everything we have so far is a very labor-intensive job, and the only way to really deal with it is to knuckle down and do it, or form a wikiproject and hope to heaven that visitors feel charitable enough to join in on it. I'd *probably* push to finish up all our incomplete articles first though, just because that's more directly related to the purpose of the site; tone and style probably comes second to having correct explanations. That doesn't mean you can't do it yourself, it's just that I'll probably only dedicate the subheader on the main page to one project at a time and our current biggest bugbear hasn't been solved yet. I could put up a sitenotice to see if that speeds the process up any. I'll do that when I get back home. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:31, 23 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Easy redirect to comic? ==<br />
<br />
I've been thinking, and there is one thing that would make navigating to the explained comics easier. My method of browsing is I'll see the comic on xkcd.com first, and if there is something curious about it that I don't quite understand, I'll come here. Sometimes it can be a bit troublesome, going to the homepage and then navigatiing to the right comic. Not too bad, but I'd like an easy way to go direct. So I was thinking, what if you had a redirect such that if you typed in, for example, www.explainxkcd.com/505, you would get redirected to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=505:_A_Bunch_of_Rocks. That would mean that you could get to the comic just from adding an "explain" to the start of the xkcd.com URL. I don't know if that is at all possible, but it would be pretty handy if it happened. Thoughts?<br />
[[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 03:01, 25 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
:[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Technical#Redirect_from_explainxkcd.com.2F1234 That's actually already on the to-do list.] I'm testing it right now and we should have it up soon. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:02, 25 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
:: Awesome :) [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 03:26, 1 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::Whoop, forgot to mark this as complete. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:37, 1 November 2013 (UTC) <br />
:::: Done! Copy this and drag it to your bookmarks bar: |javascript: var url = document.URL; document.location = url.replace('xkcd.com','explainxkcd.com');| {{unsigned ip|173.245.52.29}}<br />
:::::The feature requested here has also long since been implemented. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:20, 4 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Increase support via prominent display of copyright and license for text submitted to explainxkcd ==<br />
<br />
XKCD itself is rather liberally licensed, and gets lots of good will from that. As it says on the bottom of every page "This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License." For details see [http://xkcd.com/license.html xkcd - A Webcomic - License].<br />
<br />
But I found nothing on most pages of explainxkcd about copyright or licensing, and it discouraged me from contributing or donating. Finally, as I was writing this proposal up, I found a link on the editing page here: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Copyrights explain xkcd:Copyrights - explain xkcd] saying that "''The Explain XKCD wiki is generally licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license (CC-BY-SA-3.0)''". That notice should be more prominent on the site, with at least a link on each page. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 15:27, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:This should be mentioned at the main page, including a reference to the xkcd origin.<br />
:BTW: NO DOUBLE SPACES after a sentence. Are you US guys still using a typewriter? It's not rendered at a web page and stupid like Gallons, Miles, Foots, and much more unique US behaviours. But that's just a joke beside.<br />
:The licence hint is much more important, you are just correct.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:12, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Added a creative commons icon to the footer of the page, next to the powered by mediawiki button. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:16, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New Comics Bot ==<br />
<br />
Would there be need for such a thing?<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.52|108.162.231.52]] Synthetica<br />
:Nice idea, I never thought about that before. I will do some tests on existing comics to check if this could reduce the current number of error posts for a new article. When that is ready and working I will talk to some admins. My bot account [[User:DgbrtBOT|DgbrtBOT]] was originally intended for [[1190: Time]] picture uploads, but I never have used it because Time was over. Creating the new pages should be easy in general, avoiding errors will cost some more work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:31, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::If you can get dgbrtBOT to do that, that'd help us an awful lot. It'd allow us to get rid of the ifexist cases in template:LATESTCOMIC as well, since the bot could change automatically that whenever a new comic goes up. It'll also help us get new comics down almost the moment they pop up, since the bot could sample several times a minute until a comic is posted. So long as it gets the general pattern right so that we have a correct page set up, we're good. An admin can come in sometime later to clean up categories and image urls and other piddly easy-to-fix details. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:54, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::I will work on this next weekend, just local scripts and no updates here. I also will talk about my results before any automatic updates will be activated. My first focus is on creating the new pages in the general pattern, LATESTCOMIC and also the page "All comics" are maybe a bonus later. And of course all my scripts will be open source.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:44, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::The first version is ready and I will test it at my local wiki. If everything goes well I could activate it for Wednesday (2013-11-13). LATESTCOMIC and "All comics" are on my roadmap, but first I want produce correct new pages here. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:00, 10 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::Righty ho. Here goes. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:36, 10 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Even when my automatic local wiki test did fail today, just a damn wrong password, I will activate the bot here for Wednesday. It will only run from 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM UTC. You will not see my possible updates at [[Special:RecentChanges]] unless you click ''Show bots'' at the top of that page. LATESTCOMIC and "All comics" are not covered, but this is at my TODO list until this test will be successful. Give me a '''GO''' or '''NO-GO''' for this test.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:49, 11 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Easily a GO, I'll be ready to clean up if anything goes wrong. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:08, 11 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::So be ready on Wednesday for the clean up. My worst case is ''it simply does not work'', second worse scenario is still that I could delete some contend already posted here, but I'm trying to avoid this. ''Huston'', the countdown clock is counting. I'm joking about this because I really want to be confident about this ''BOT'' or ROBOT or uncontrolled action here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:28, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::The bot can't do anything that I can't reverse. I can even restore a backup from an hour before the bot's edits if it manages to break the database. How quickly does it poll xkcd, by the way? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:53, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
First live test here (comic 1289). Please delete this page: [[Simple_Answers:_1289]]. Since my local wiki did not provide this templates I could not see this error before. In general the bot will update pages differ to any existing pages, but when it is not changed no update will happen. I'm fixing this errors at my script and do a second test here soon. I want to see it's producing correct pages until the bot will do it's work when I'm sleeping.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:31, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Ok, test are done here, BOT is scheduled for the next update. Polling is every five minutes on Mon, Wed, and Fri from 04:00 until 08:00 UTC. Let's see how it will work.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:08, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Couldja ramp that up to once/twice a minute, push the start time back by an hour, and the end time by a few hours? Also, is it possible to terminate it once it finds a comic for a certain day? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:45, 13 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::It worked! Though it posted the comic 5 minutes past post time. We has technology now, we can afford to poll faster and closer, yeah? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:32, 13 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Uhh, it worked... I will increase the polls when I'm more confident about the release times. Today it was approx. 05:00 UTC (GMT) or 01:00 EST (Randall's time zone). Looks like he is still at daylight saving time, would have been 00:00 EDT. The polls will be increased to one minute when I'm sure about the Standard Release Time (SRT). Next steps for the next update on Friday are:<br />
:The "All comics" page.<br />
:The LATESTCOMIC template.<br />
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:54, 13 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:The LATESTCOMIC template is included for the next run, it just simply has to return a number. But it's still the most critical part because if it does not work the Main Page is broken. I will change this to a better solution using that IFEXIST syntax soon. The list of all comics is still at my ToDo list. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:06, 14 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::The desired content of the LATESTCOMIC template should be just the comic number. If we can get out of having to poll multiple IFEXIST statements to find the latest comic, that would be a fantastic boon to our server performance. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:43, 15 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::OK, it did work today so I will not change this. Next step is the list for all comics.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:10, 15 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Next run will include an update on the "All comics" page. I'm crossing my fingers. When this update is also successful I will document my Bot at the Bot user page [[User:DgbrtBOT]]. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:15, 17 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Oh, I forgot this detail: The bot is starting at 00:00 EST (RLT - Randall local time), which is 04:00 UTC and 05:00 MET for me. It polls every 5 minutes until 23:55 MET (22:55 UTC, 18:55 RLT) the main page until a new comic is found. I do not poll the comic number because I want to avoid 404 message logs at the servers.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:30, 17 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Something went wrong there. That's gonna need fixing. I am enjoying the looks of the apparently faster polling though. Maybe you could also set the start time to 00:00:05 EST to catch the on-time xkcd releases within ten seconds? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:33, 18 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Uh, what a mess. I will do some more tests at my local wiki. At the next time I will do a check against the number from the LATESTCOMIC template, only the next number will be processed. The test against my local history did fail because of some cleanups after testings.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 08:18, 18 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::I don't like mess. So the BOT got many more checks before posting here but the bot was starting at 05:00 local time for me. I'm really asleep at that time. The mess here was covered, but I do need another GO for the next attempt. Otherwise I will just do a test to my local wiki.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:35, 18 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
No GO so far, my next test will run only at my local wiki.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:16, 19 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:My script is here: [https://github.com/dgbrt/explainXKCD_update explainXKCD_update]. At my current test "explainxkcd.com" is commented out and "localhost" is active. Since I don't like mess and the bot does act while I am sleeping the next update must be done manually here. I'm hoping the bot will be ready for the next update on Friday.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:15, 19 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Bot is ready for Friday, everything went smooth at my last local test today. The bot did find the latest comic at 04:05 UTC and all essential pages were properly created. So I will activate it for this site again. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:57, 20 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Bot did work as expected. So I name it release 1.1337, the next planed release will be 2.1337 (beta) because of this two issues:<br />
*"Include any categories below this line." will be removed because it doesn't make any sense any more.<br />
*BETA: I want to use the full template features at [[List of all comics]], just ensuring that the pictures are working properly. No need for this at the most comics, but the BOT doesn't cover all possibilities on corrupt file names like we have had in "Pi vs. Tau". The picture was without that dot. My bot just shows the real link it did upload here.<br />
I'm pretty sure we will have some issues on this bot, but for general pages it should work. So the bot will be active on Mon,Wed,Fri from 0:00 EST (or EDT) every five minutes until it did found a new comic, on success the bot does not poll any more.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:51, 22 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Aww, it's a bot. It doesn't need to rest or take time off to do other stuff. It can totally poll once or more times per minute. Also, if you set the start time to a few seconds after midnight, Randall time, when he uploads a comic on-time, you'll get it within a few seconds as opposed to having to wait for the next polling. As for the image names, maybe you could convert spaces in the comic name to underscores, compare the two comic names you have and use that to decide which version of the template to use? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:08, 22 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::I have to avoid that the bot is running twice, Internet Timeouts and more. And the comics are also published later sometimes. Look at my release [https://github.com/dgbrt/explainXKCD_update 1.1337], release 2.1337 will be later, Maybe I should start at 2 minutes after 0:00, but let's see right now how the bot does work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:38, 23 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Uhh, what a huge discussion here. The bot will get a major update soon: Scheduler does start it once and until a comic is found and uploaded it here or an other limit is reached (maybe the end of the day) the bot will poll by a small delay. But every poll is still an entire download from the main page, When a new comic is found bot stops.<br />
:Why, you could use http://xkcd.com/info.0.json, right?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.52|108.162.231.52]] 07:38, 2 December 2013 (UTC)Synthetica<br />
::The BOT performs perfect and I prefer to analyze the original page. A title text like the one from today (a text showing a link) will be covered in the future.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 10:35, 2 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
A great enhancement would be also covering a new comic like 1190 Time was. I'm looking forward on this, some ideas, it does require a complete analyse of the page and then finding some strange content. <br />
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:05, 27 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Require description for 'incomplete' tags ==<br />
I've been trying to fix some of the incompletes, but several explanation pages I've come across are tagged incomplete without any reason given. The reason should be a required part of the tag. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.223|173.245.52.223]] 03:35, 7 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
:This incomplete tags are just older than the recent change of that template. Current adds require a description, but it's not easy to figure out all that old reasons. If someone does find a reason, please just add it. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:22, 7 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Should there be a subwiki to cover the shop links that appear above the comic? ==<br />
<br />
The current one (as of writing) is [http://imgs.xkcd.com/store_news/store_gd_b11_1ze4.png] but this is a different than the usual, and there was also a third in between these.<br />
[[User:Rsranger65|Rsranger65]] ([[User talk:Rsranger65|talk]]) 06:00, 8 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Those are very ephemeral. They aren't going to exist for very long, I don't know how valuable it would be to archive that stuff. We could probably do it, but having to figure out another naming convention and all for advertisements doesn't appeal to me at the current moment. If you can flesh it out, I'd love to see how you think we should do it. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:24, 8 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New Character ==<br />
<br />
OK, I think we need a name for the character with a goatee and glasses in comics [[435: Purity]], [[796: Bad Ex]] and [[964: Dorm Poster]] as well as possibly others. Edit: oh and I suggest Goatee and Glasses Guy, but I'm open for suggestions Edit 2: also in [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]] Halfhat {{unsigned|Halfhat}}<br />
edit 3: Another sighting [[954: Chin-Up Bar]] [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 16:57, 13 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
: In the transcript, he is called "Person with Glasses and a Goatee" --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:39, 21 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
:: "Glasses Guy", "Goatee Guy" are both probably descriptive enough! --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:41, 21 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== What If Comics ==<br />
<br />
Hi, I was thinking, maybe at some point we should do the comics in the ''What If?'' section, like [http://what-if.xkcd.com/imgs/a/36/cornstarch_bitcoins.png this one.] [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 20:01, 13 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
: Start creating the pages for them! --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:36, 21 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
: I think I can start creating one or two pages for What If, if that helps... [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 16:14, 5 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
:: If nobody has any problem with it, I'm gonna give it a try later. :) [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 13:14, 8 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::I thought they were already pretty self-explanatory though. Also, how are we gonna organize and present them? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:31, 8 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
::::I totally agree with David: Read the entire What-If page and follow the links provided by Randall. No one of us can do that better in depth. But an overview page for this site is maybe not a bad idea, we just need a proper link here — a link at the main menu on the left. Translations to other languages are just another issue. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:37, 8 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::::Yes, I was thinking of an overview, summarizing the contents and discoveries of each what if page. Not to mention, we could also organize what if pages by categories, such as physics/love.<br />
:::::Would you like me to post here an example of what I would write? That way we can decide if it's worthy of creating an actual page. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 12:53, 9 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
:Adding pages for What If? posts would be very helpful. Although the articles themselves are obviously self-explanatory, there are almost as many subtle references, running gags, and in-jokes in What If? posts these days as in the comics themselves.<br />
I often visit explain xkcd when I feel like I'm missing an inside joke or a pop culture reference in a comic, and it would be very helpful to many people (especially those from other cultures/subcultures) to have the same service.<br />
For example, today's What If? contains multiple allusions to the Superman Movie, a running Citation Needed joke, and a whole comic that is a not-so-subtle dig at Elon Musk and the Hyperloop. It would be awesome if the community here at explainxkcd could tackle stuff like that.<br />
Anonymous 20:05, 31 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I agree. I don't understand the mouseover text on the first image in "Snow Removal", for example. [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 22:57, 23 February 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Transcripts ==<br />
<br />
The whole point of the transcripts is to have those who are unable to view images to still be able to read the comic, right?<br />
<br />
Then why is it required to stick to strictly official transcripts, where sometimes rewriting them slightly would make them flow better or otherwise get the ideas across better? I've tried rewriting a few, but they get reverted. I think that having easier-to-understand transcripts would be more important than strictly following official transcripts; what do you think? (For a few examples, see [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=207:_What_xkcd_Means&diff=60061&oldid=57400 this edit] and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=995%3A_Coinstar&diff=59862&oldid=57316 this edit]. [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 17:38, 19 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
:We use the original transcript to try and deduce original author intent if it's unclear from the image. I remember one comic where Beret Guy was off in the distance and it was difficult to distinguish him from the image, but the official transcript said it was him. We don't stick to the original transcript if it's obviously wrong, or it has typographical errors: see [[Laser Scope]]. Those edits seem to be mainly targeted at language and clarity, and should be fine. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:06, 19 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
::Would it be helpful to have another (optional) section for expanding on the official transcripts? I too think it could be helpful, especially for complex images (such as 1079/United Shapes [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1079]). Or does supplemental description belong in the Explanation sections? Cheers. [[User:Karenb|Karenb]] ([[User talk:Karenb|talk]]) 23:00, 20 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::Naaah, how many people even know there's an original transcript? If the original is wrong, change it. If your additions begin to verge on explanatory, move eet to the trivia/explanation sections. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:52, 21 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== "Characters in this Comic" section ==<br />
<br />
Should there be a "Characters in this Comic" section in each comic explanation? (I feel like this should be longer but don't have anything else to say.) [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 23:33, 11 May 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:There is a Category section at the bottom of each comic. Just scroll down and you will see any character belonging to a specific comic. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:50, 12 May 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Adding the Radiation chart from XKCD ==<br />
<br />
Hi <br />
As there are already other comics with explanations even though they are not part of the number system.<br />
This one does not seem to have any yet:<br />
http://xkcd.com/radiation/<br />
And as it is very alike the Money strip (the unexplained of the week) so I think it should be explained as well.<br />
If you agree please add it as I'm not sure how to do that.<br />
<br />
Best regards<br />
:[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:47, 7 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Reddit comments? ==<br />
<br />
There should be a link in each comics explanation page somewhere linking to the comment section for the relevant comic on /r/xkcdcomic or reddit.<br />
:The reddit comments page isn't ''that'' close to what we do though. If this is more popular, we'll do it, though there'll need to be a fair bit of post-hoc editing since I don't think there's a standard URL scheme for all the past comics. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
:I just came here to ask if we could do this, but I looked into it and it wouldn't be simple. Could we write a bot to run on the xkcd subreddit to post the link here? --[[User:Eluvatar|Eluvatar]] ([[User talk:Eluvatar|talk]]) 05:53, 6 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Not insulting new users ==<br />
<br />
I am writing a response to a vulnerability assessment. I have included a link to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/936 noting that it contains a good explanation of the relative security of passwords vs passphrases. I just noticed that the top of that page contains "Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb." Looks like I'll have to find a different site to link to. --[[User:Pascal|Pascal]] ([[User talk:Pascal|talk]]) 17:33, 28 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
:I agree. While I'm sure it can seem cute or funny in various circles, that text has always seemed immature and inappropriate to me, and I'm sure to many folks we'd like to invite to the site. I suggest that it be changed. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 19:52, 23 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:The XKCD http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/936 suggestion for password is actually not that good. [http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/62832/is-the-oft-cited-xkcd-scheme-no-longer-good-advice read here] for some more discussion. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.253.6|162.158.253.6]] 23:49, 10 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I also agree. I'm not here because I'm stupid, I'm here because I don't know something and I'm hoping this site can help. It's off putting to have that text there, and there's no benefit to it. What about just repeating the thing at the top of XKCD.com: "Romance, Sarcasm, Math, and Language: Explained"?<br />
<br />
I agree, and there is actually a very long talk page started about this subject in the miscellaneous section. Eventually people voted to keep it, but the main argument on that side was that that was the way things had always been. I am fairly new to the site (this is actually my first post on it), so I don't know how these things work, but I do think that that should be changed. There were actually a large number of good proposals for replacements with the other one, and I thought it would be funny if there was a randomly selected character every time you loaded a page, with each character having their own tagline. Is there any way to try to get this changed again?[[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.52|172.68.78.52]]<br />
<br />
== RSS feed ==<br />
<br />
Is there an RSS feed (or some equivalent) of Explain XKCD available? It's helpful for those using feed readers, and superior to the primary XKCD RSS since there are explanations and the mouse over text is transcribed for the lazy. Thanks [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.154|108.162.219.154]] 08:24, 28 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
:[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:NewPages&feed=atom&hideredirs=1&limit=90&offset=&namespace=0&username=&feed=&tagfilter= Why yes, we do!] It's the regular new pages log that all wikis have. It's a little ugly at the moment, and sometimes junk gets in there when a bot chucks spam at us, so a nicer feed is in the works, but the linked one should do you excellently for now. When the nice one is done, you'll see it in the sidebar below the "Help" button. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:31, 28 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Navigation Pane Link - Categories ==<br />
<br />
How about having a link to the "Special:Categories" page in the navigation pane?<br />
<br />
A fair amount of effort has gone into categorising the comics, and at the moment it isn't particularly obvious how to browse by category. Is this worth doing?{{unsigned|Pudder}}<br />
:Space on the sidebar is on a premium. I dunno, I'd probably be against it, but I want to hear what other admins say as well. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:45, 29 September 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Alternate realities what if would benefit from a wiki entry ==<br />
<br />
The what if entry from the end of November 2014 providing excerpts from alternate reality what ifs would benefit from an explain page. <br />
I suspect these may have been typos that have been made into jokes, but some of the humor might not be apparent to all. <br />
I doubt I have access (or maybe know how) to set it up myself. <br />
<br />
Cheers {{unsigned ip|199.27.133.42}}<br />
<br />
: Made it. Check out [[What If: 120: Alternate Universe What Ifs]]. [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 09:10, 26 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
::We don't actually have a structure for what if pages in general, so I'll have to take that down, but when we do we can make pages for every what if. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:57, 26 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Secondary URLs? ==<br />
<br />
I have made http://www.xkcd.ga and http://www.xkcd.tk both forward to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. Is this ok? [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:50, 26 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
:While we probably won't advertise them because we can't guarantee the uptime of third-party URLs, and they add an additional redirect layer and lack our shortened URL features, you're free to purchase and link URLs to us independently. We are not owned by Randall and as such cannot claim to actually be xkcd, so I'm not hugely comfortable with you using the plain name "xkcd" to link to us; a url in the format http://www.xkcd.[TLD] should by rights link to the main xkcd site, but no trademark claim has been made or likely will be made, so you should be fine with doing whatever you want to do with URL redirects '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:57, 26 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== LaTeX (Or MathML, TeX) support? ==<br />
<br />
[[1489:_Fundamental_Forces|In the most recent comic at the time of posting]], there was use of formulae, being:<br/>F<sub>gravity</sub> = G m<sub>1</sub>m<sub>2</sub>/d<sup>2</sup><br/>F<sub>static</sub> = K<sub>e</sub> q<sub>1</sub>q<sub>2</sub>/d<sup>2</sup><br/><br />
There are probably many more comics using formulae that cannot be rendered properly without the use of LaTeX or something. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Displaying_a_formula help page on Wikipedia] says that the following should work:<br/><math>F_{gravity}=G\frac{m_1m_2}{d^2}</math><br/><math>F_{static}=K_e\frac{q_1q_2}{d^2}</math><br />
Provided that one has to set <source lang="php" enclose="none">$wgUseTeX = true;</source> in [[mw:Manual:LocalSettings.php|LocalSettings.php]]. Is there any reason for this to be disabled? If there is, is there any alternative? —[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.95|141.101.106.95]] 21:18, 20 February 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:The wgUseTeX flag was deprecated in mediawiki 1.18 in a move to simplify base mediawiki and move niche features into seperate plugins. I vaguely remember this being requested in the past, can't find any evidence of me implementing it. I'll try it now, see what stopped me last time. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:12, 21 February 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Ah, there's a bit of configuration work to it and I was busy at the time probably. I'll put it on the growing to do list on my userpage. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:20, 21 February 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Merge Cueball & Rob ==<br />
<br />
At the risk of posting this idea too many places and annoying everyone, I would like to propose that we consider merging [[Cueball]] and [[Rob]] and redirecting Cueball to Rob, much as [[Cutie]] now redirects to [[Megan]]. The most common name given for a Cueball-like character in the strip is "Rob". Like Megan, he is not always named. Also, like Megan, Rob tends to have distinct characteristics such as being a nerdy alter-ego to Randall (e.g. [[1168: tar]]) just as Megan often is the appearance given to comic representations of Randall's wife (see [[1141: Two Years]], before hair loss). Megan and Cueball appear to have a relationship (e.g. [[159: Boombox]]) and Megan clearly hangs out with Rob in ways not inconsistent with adventurous couples (e.g. [[782: Desecration]]). Finally, comics that feature both [[Black Hat]] and "Cueball" seem to depict them as friends and possibly roommates. However, we learn in [[1102: Fastest-Growing]] that Black Hat's roommate is named "Rob".<br />
<br />
In short, I believe if [[159: Boombox]] had called "Cueball" "Rob" we would've rewritten both Cutie and Cueball to redirect there. Because we learned that "Cueball's" name is actually Rob much later (I think the earliest occurrences are [[647: Scary]], and [[716: Time Machine]]; the first time he is seen with Megan in a capacity that might indicate a relationship is [[782: Desecration]]). [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:05, 11 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:As I answered your comment on [[1496: Art Project]] Rob is [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comics_featuring_Rob already listed] as part of the category for Comics featuring Cueball: and this is listed as the first entry when going to the page for [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comics_featuring_Cueball Category:Comics featuring Cueball]. Cueball is such an integral part of explain xkcd that I do not think any other users wish to change. Also the 9 incidences with Rob is maybe a specific person and at the time Randall did not think to give him any features. Also Cueballs have no specific behavior as you allude to. Neither has Megan. You can always find several Cueballs and Megans that behave a certain way. But then you can find many other comics where they behave the opposite way. Thus Rob and Cueball should not be merged. Also there are several comics with more than one Cueball. And here we have this problem: It is typically the first who writes the transcript who decides who of the Cueballs (or Megans) he feels represents the "real" Cueball. However, there is no real behavior of Cueball. So who should decide. I could change all these transcripts so it becomes the other character who becomes Cueball, because I think that the first transcriber did it wrong. And this is why in a comic with more than one Cueball (where neither is called Rob or the like) neither of the two should be called Cueball. It would still be in the category with Cueball, because that is just comics with a Cueball like character no matter how many. But they cannot be named Cueball and friend or Rob and friend (unless Rob's name is mentioned!) They could be called Cueball 1 and Cueball 2, but then guy or man would be better. I know several places have comics with two Cueballs where someone has designated one of them Cueball and the other friend of foe etc. But this should be corrected so none of these are called Cueball. Same should go for more than one Megan. But this is very rare, and I have only found one other than ''Art project'' and here only one Megan had any lines. The problem with different opinions on which Cueball is which came for the first time up with Megan in ''Art project'': The two Megan-like characters was first named (left to right) Megan and Danish. Then unidentified girl and Megan. Then Megan and unidentified girl, then two Megan like girls with short and long hair and finally you reverted it to my first change away from Danish to unidentified girl and Megan. (I can live with that as there is difference in hair length and behavior). But as far as I see it Cueball is not Rob as well as Megan should have continued to be called Cutie (but I would not like to change that now, as I have grown fond of Megan). But at the time the change was done I believe it was wrong. The same fondness for the name Cueball also makes me sure that no one else would wish to call him Rob, even if that is as much his name as Megan is Cuties... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:57, 11 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::My argument is that it is inertia and sentiment ("fond of Megan") that prevents an objective, equal treatment here. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 22:47, 11 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Also, regarding the analogy made above to Danish. I am fine with a nickname when Randall hasn't named a character. So she was "unidentified girl" and then became "Danish". But, when we named her "Danish", we went back to "Journal 1" and other places and renamed her. My proposal is that we should go back through and rename "Cueball" as "Rob". Alternatively, we should reinstate "Cutie" for cases in which it is not clear that a character is "Megan" per se, but just Megan in her "everywoman" capacity. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 00:00, 12 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I'm not sure how to post a poll, but I see the following options:<br />
<br />
1) Status quo: Cueball for all unidentified males without distinct characteristics (e.g. hats), Megan for all shoulder-length brunettes. Rob only for named Cueballs. Multiple Cueballs in a comic mean one is named Cueball and others get named "Friend", etc.<br />
<br />
2) Symmetry 1: Cueball/Rob stays as is. Unnamed brunettes get named "Cutie". "Megan" like "Rob" is reserved for comics in which a name is used.<br />
<br />
3) Symmetry 2: Megan stays as is. Rob is the default for indistinct males. "Cueball" page redirects to "Rob" (as "Cutie" now redirect to "Megan").<br />
<br />
4) Expunge all Cueballs from multi-Cueball comics: Basically the status quo, except that in comics with multiple Cueballs none are named "Cueball" and are just all given names "Man 1", "Man 2", etc.<br />
<br />
I am ambivalent regarding options 2 or 3. I could live with 1 if there is consensus for it, but I don't like it. 4 is a disaster in my mind and gains nothing. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 22:47, 11 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:We are probably the only one who reads these post...? But anyway as is clear I'm for 4. Which has been used several places already.´I can live with 1. I think 2 and 3 are disasters. Also it would be completely confusing for those who have used this page for many years. Why do you bring this up now? Is it because of the multiple Megan comics, or have you just signed up here, and dislike that it doesn't follow the rules you would have expected?--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:19, 12 March 2015 (UTC) <br />
::I suggest instead that we create a category for multiple Cueballs, so it is easy to explain why the Cueball is not a specific character, and thus can never be Rob (except when it is clear from the text), or be expected to behave a certain way. And in reverse we make a Named Megan category so it is easy to find the few (three?) where she has been named. This by the way has nothing to do with the other suggestions, so I might just do that to get an overview. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:19, 12 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
::: It seems more consistent to me to use [[Cutie]] for all unnamed "Megans" and reserve "Megan" for named comics. Thus, Rob is '''a''' Cueball and Megan is '''a''' Cutie. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 13:30, 13 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::::I've read through some of your discussions (Here, Kynde's talk page, Art Project discussion), and thought I might put my thoughts forwards. Essentially we have three questions here:<br />
::::1) Should we merge Cueball and Rob, and rename all Cueballs as Rob?<br />
::::2) Should we rename all Megans as Cutie, except where she is explicitly named?<br />
::::3) Once questions 1 & 2 are answered, what do we do where the 'same' character appears multiple times in one comic?<br />
<br />
::::*I understand the objective argument for renaming Cueball to Rob, however I'm unconvinced of the importance of being entirely objective, and I can't imagine Cueball being renamed to anything other than Cueball. <br />
::::*I think its fairly clear where the Cueball label has come from, even if it might not be immediately obvious to some. Even if readers don't make the link between Cueball's head and a cue-ball, it is quite a generic label, which I think fits well with the transient every-man nature of Cueball's usage.<br />
::::*There is something far more specific about the name Rob, which suggests that he is the same character every time. The origin of the name isn't obvious, which I think would be likely to cause confusion. <br />
::::This brings me to conclude that for me, the answer to Q1 has to be that Cueball should stay as Cueball, unless explicitly named something else. <br />
<br />
::::The question of changing Megan to Cutie is one where I am less confident. Following the arguments I've made above, the outcome has to be that we rename to Cutie unless specifically named Megan, however I am not entirely convinced. The name Megan has a history, there are surely lots of people who now know her as Megan, what do we really stand to gain from all the work of changing to Cutie? I would also suggest that the name Cutie may not be accepted well by those with strong feminist views.<br />
<br />
::::As far as multi-character comics, I don't have time right now, but I will come back later and add my thoughts. Now that we've only got a few incomplete comics, we've had to resort to discussing renaming characters!--[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:07, 13 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
:::::I agree with the reasons for keeping Cueball and Megan. And also that Cutie is such a loaded word, that it should never have been used anyway. This I did not immediately think about, but Cutie sounds like something from either a porn movie, or else a Bond Babe... Like the phrase from one of those movies: "Hello, I'm Plenty..." Then we should have to find a third name. And everyone here knows her as Megan. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:24, 15 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
::::::I have created the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Multiple_Cueballs Category:Multiple Cueballs] to locate them and to show how often there are more than one. Feel free to add any I haven't found yet. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:45, 16 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think Rob is Black Hat's roommate and Megan's boyfriend/partner/husband (see above). The "Cueball" in comics such as [[159: Boombox]] and [[542: Cover-Up]] should, in my view, be renamed "Rob", even though he is not explicitly called that in those comics. Most other "Cueball" comics can stay unchanged. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 00:43, 14 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
:I have left my reason to disagree also with this on the two comics talk page. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:24, 15 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In my opinion, it is quite clear that [[Randall]] has chosen to name the main male protagonist [[Rob]], for the few occasions where he needs characters to call upon each other, in the same way as he has chosen [[Megan]] for the main female protagonist. We should therefore try to overcome our nostalgia, follow Randall, and call the common male protagonist Rob. The problem with multiple cueballs can most often be resolved by identifying the protagonist, from the first-person narration or the general perspective. Thus, in [[525: I Know You're Listening]] Rob is the comic's "I", to the left. In [[1110: Click and Drag]], Rob is obviously flying with a balloon. In [[610: Sheeple]] Rob is arguably the guy in the foreground facing us. Non-Rob "cueballs" we could refer to as "friend" "man", etc. In this way roughly half of the "multiple cueballs" would be resolved. I think I can live with a few unclear cases, like [[220: Philosophy]]. [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:22, 19 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:A featureless character has been ''specifically'' named Rob in 9 comics, compared with 968 'Comics featuring Cueball'. I believe it is fundamentally flawed to assert that because a featureless character is named Rob in less than 1% of appearances, that all featureless characters should therefore be assumed to be Rob. As I've discussed above, I think that Rob strongly implies a specific person, whereas Cueball is a vague 'everyman' character. I feel it would be a huge error to change all Cueballs to Robs.--[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 17:37, 19 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::The problem with that logic is that "Megan" is only named in a small number of comics (fewer that "Rob"). So we should have a different name for an unnamed generic female. [[Cutie]] is fine, but if people perceive that as sexist, then another name, maybe "Cuegirl" or "Brunette" would work. (Side note: I doubt "Cutie" would be perceived as sexist and there's history there.) What I '''do''' find sexist is the fact that there is asymmetry between male and female "everyperson"s. In sum, I would say there is at less evidence to support naming Megan-everywoman "Megan" in all cases as there is to name Rob-everyman (here called "Cueball") "Rob" in all cases. Asymmetry here ignores the fact that Randall clearly intends his name to be "Rob" and also that we are using a proper name for everywoman but a contrived name for everyman, while creating an artificial distinction between Rob and Cueball and smearing out any possible distinction between Megan-everywoman and Megan-properName. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 13:18, 27 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::As I put in my earlier comment (see above), I do agree that the logical conclusion is that Megan should no longer be named Megan, and should have an equivalent generic name. As an aside, I'm quite partial to your suggestion of Cuegirl. I disagree with your assertion that "Randall clearly intends his name to be Rob", and I think that is the central point of this discussion. I don't believe that there is anywhere near enough evidence to assign a specific name to what I believe is a generic character. If we want to go for formal logic, consider the syllogism "Some non descipt characters are called Rob, there are many non-descript characters, therfore all non-descript characters are called Rob". The conclusion simply does not follow. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 14:22, 27 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::::Great, I vote for Cuegirl & Cueball :: Megan & Rob! [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 01:31, 31 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I agree with Djbrasier's and St.nerol's arguments, and I too feel that the arguments against dealing with this in an objective, symmetrical and logical way seem mostly based on nostalgia. Either we agree that a few named instances of the everywoman are sufficient to generalize to the (vastly more numerous) unnamed instances, and apply the same standard to the everyman, which is only consistent (and even more justified in the case of Rob since he is named in more comics than Megan), or we decide that the extrapolation is unjustified and we revert the Cutie-->Megan merge. The alternative --having double standards and deciding things based on historical baggage and emotional attachment rather than rationality-- makes no sense for followers of the comic that ''literally invented'' nerd-sniping!<br />
<br />
I'd also add that, as a non-native speaker, "cueball" doesn't ring any immediate bells unless the connection to cue balls is pointed out explicitly -- so actually Rob works even better as a generic name than Cueball. We have already [[#New character|agreed previously]] that clarity is better than cleverness when we named [[Hairy]], forgoing the less obvious alliteration "Harry", so I vote we use the name Randall ''actually'' gave us, let go of our attachments to a creation he never endorsed, and honor our collective nerdiness by doing the logical thing: apply our standards uniformly and adopt Rob the same way we adopted Megan. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 06:09, 10 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I've already put my thoughts forward above, so I won't repeat the same ground I've covered, other than to say I believe it would be a mistake to turn all Cueballs into Robs. While I will admit to having some nostalgia for the name Cueball, that isn't a major facet of my argument. I believe that any generic name is better than a specific name. Call them Stickboy & Stickgirl if you want! I know there are a fairly significant number of contributors and visitors who do not have English as their first language, but I don't believe that is a reason to choose a specific name, rather than a generic name, even if the origin of the latter isn't immediately obvious to all. It would be interesting to know whether each of us sees Cueball as always being the same person, or Cueball *is* Randall, or Cueball is just a changeable everyman.<br />
<br />
:To me, he is a changeable everyman, who I guess may represent or be based on: Randall, his friends, family or acquaintances, famous people, someone he saw in the street, or a completely made up character used to fill a specific role in the comic. The reason I argue againt merging Rob & Cueball is that the Cueball I see is this morphing and fluid character, and to use a specific name to tie him down to being the same character all the time runs completely counter to that. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 08:31, 10 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: Understood, and sorry for mischaracterizing your argument (the nostalgia part does butt the discussion though). I suppose I would be somewhat ambivalent to either have Rob+Megan, or Cueball+Cutie -- Cuegirl doesn't work because she has hair :) --, in the interests of reason and symmetry. But I lean slightly towards Rob+Megan because those are names Randall actually gave us, while anything else is our own invention and thus has no claim to legitimacy other than popular support.<br />
:: Particularly, while I understand your concern about shoehorning the various personality traits the Cueballs show in different comics into a single persona, that doesn't seem to have been a problem for Megan -- not to mention real people ''are'' indeed complex and multi-faceted beings (or "morphing and fluid", to use your terms) rather than one-dimensional caricatures. Heck, even Black Hat has his romantic side! :) So in light of that, I don't think we have to worry about ruining Cueball by naming him Rob -- if anything, that'd add more depth to him as a character! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:35, 10 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:::I'm still very much against changing things here. Call it nostalgia, but there are many users who will never read these arguments, who one day comes back and cannot find Megan or Cueball, and will ask who the heck are Cuegirl/Cutie. I'm completely with Pudder on the problem with giving Cueball the name Rob. It just doesn't make sense. I agree that we have a inconsistency with Megan. But then everyone who uses this page a few times, becomes familiar with that name. However the main problem with all your great ideas is this. Who should correct the either 984 pages where Cueball is mentioned because he is a part of it (and all the other pages relevant to him or where he is exactly mentioned because he isn't part of the comic) and/or who should do the same for 487 comics (plus loose pages) for Megan. Unless those in favor for changing the names will do this, then the discussion is moot. It is already clearly stated in the relevant pages that these two characters are generic and that they have been named but a few times. So what more can we do unless someone is willing to use several days to change this back. I sincerely doubt you can keep the correct syntax if you just try a brute force replacement? There are so many interconnecting links etc. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:21, 25 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I completely disagree with merging Cueball and Rob. Rob has [[276|Emily]] and [[632|Lisa]] as girlfriends, and Cueball has Megan. Rob also lives a more action-filled and stereotypical life compared to Cueball. --[[User:Youforgotthisthing|Youforgotthisthing]] ([[User talk:Youforgotthisthing|talk]]) 13:14, 15 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
I think the main stances here are clear:<br />
* Keep as is<br />
* Rename Cuball to Rob<br />
* Change Megan back to Cutie/Cuegirl<br />
Since keeping it status quo wouldn't change anything and is asymmetrical, I'll go over the others:<br />
* Rename Cueball to Rob - Arguments:<br />
** Randall gave him this name;<br />
** It would offer symmetry to Megan;<br />
** If the Cutie -> Megan logic is to be followed (as she was changed once named in the comics) then Cueball should be Rob;<br />
** Even though cueball is a generic everyman name, Rob seems more like a name you could give anyone and would be more recognizable to non-native English speakers.<br />
* Change Megan back to Cutie/Cuegirl - Arguments:<br />
** It would cause symmetry again, letting her have an everywoman name;<br />
** Nostalgia for Cueball;<br />
** Megan is not always the same character, so she should not always have the name Megan<br />
<br />
I happen to agree with the idea of merging Cueball and Rob, but I'm not closed to the idea of Cutie/Cuegirl. The main problem is that these characters are typically interchangeable everymen/everywomen and there can be more than one in a comic. So another question is what we should do for multiple Cueballs/Robs. In my opinion, we should have all the comics with more than one depict them as Man 1, Man 2, etc. --[[User:Sensorfire|Sensorfire]] ([[User talk:Sensorfire|talk]]) 17:04, 20 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Well I disagree. The users are used to refeer to these characters now by these names. It is also impractical to try to change them all. Megan is rarely twice in a comic. Maybe she is more the same like Black Hat is. But it is made clear that they are not the same in every comic in their pages. If there are muliple Cueballs but one is the main protagonist then he us cueball. If none can be singled out then Cueball like guy to the left/right can be used. I have done that for tbose cases I have found so far ([[:Category:Multiple_Cueballs|49 today]]).--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:58, 7 June 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Well, somebody pointed out that the title text of [[1783: Emails]] suggests that the Cueball in the comic is most certainly not Rob, and calling the main comic character 'Man 1' as above would be silly. And on top of all this, 'Cueball' occurs so much we would probably need to take a regex to every explanation in [[:Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 14:50, 9 January 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== How to fit explanations of new classes of xkcd-related mysteries into the site: what-if, t-shirts, posters, special comics etc. ==<br />
<br />
I suggest that the [http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:About explain xkcd] page should explain how this site is laid out, and what sorts of things are explained here besides the online numbered xkcd comics that come out three times a week.<br />
<br />
For example, there is the [[A Smarter Planet]] series, and there are ideas for explaining some of the [http://what-if.xkcd.com/ What-If] series. I'd like to add my explanation of the [https://gist.github.com/nealmcb/398af29a72f7b3efc202 XKCD Greek t-shirt, with mathematical, scientific and engineering uses for greek letters] and perhaps some other t-shirts, posters and the like.<br />
<br />
But I can't even figure out how to find non-numbered-comic-explanations, without going thru the entire [[Special:AllPages]] listing, which includes a huge set of unnumbered aliases as well as the numbered ones. <br />
<br />
I've taken a stab towards that by editing the About page to point to some categories (and to start with a little overview), but since I'm just poking around, I might have missed some things. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 19:40, 23 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Link to "Special pages" on main page ==<br />
<br />
I think there should be a link to [[Special:SpecialPages]] on the main-page--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:55, 29 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Special pages is a default feature in every mediawiki installation. It's also in the sidebar of every page, and it's not relevant to xkcd. Why does it merit space on the main page? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:56, 29 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Science comic ==<br />
<br />
Should the Science Magazine comic be added? http://m.sciencemag.org/content/342/6154/58.full [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 03:14, 4 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:I think that would be a great idea. Could there be other copyright rules when the comic has been published on Science? It there anyway to find out if Randall also has a link to it from (or has it on) xkcd? As he has done with the other [[:Category:Extra_Comics|Extra_Comics]]. And how do we create such a page, if there can be no link directly to xkcd (at the top of the comic)? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:24, 30 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== "what if?" section? ==<br />
<br />
I would like to start a new "what if?" section explaining and discussing what if pages.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 06:08, 8 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Why does it need to exist? The main xkcd comic needs it, because Randall tends to be obtuse at times, but the what if articles are sourced and written out already. Supposedly, they're already explanations to questions sent in to Randall. Why do we need to explain explanations? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:29, 8 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
::Explaining them indeed seems unnecessary, but we could certainly catalog and summarize them. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:38, 10 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
::The images on what if? also have title texts that could further be explained, and we could organize what if pages by categories, as well as provide summaries. There are also subtle references, running gags, and in-jokes in What If? that should be explained.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:44, 11 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
::This https://what-if.xkcd.com/120/ is a example of a what if that could do with some explanations.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:47, 11 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:::That's one of 135 what-ifs, and it's entirely self referential and can be figured out by reading the rest of the archive. The substance of the majority of pages is going to be incredibly thin, Randall doesn't tend to leave much for explanation. Comics that are simple one-shot images are our least used pages for good reason, and the what-if images pretty much all fall into that category, or are used to illustrate Randall's point that he makes in the immediately preceding paragraph. We could archive/catalog all the what-if pages and be a second archive button for the series, though there's a little less value to that than the archiving we did for [[Time]] and [[Externalities]] because there's already an archive along the same lines on the main site. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:14, 11 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
::::I think the main value we could add is a summary (TL;DR style) of each entry, in a short Q&A format. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:13, 13 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
If we are going forward with this, is there anyway to find the date in which the what if was first published?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 09:01, 11 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:At the bottom of the page, there's an archive button. Click that. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:14, 11 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
Well, fact is, the [[what if?]] page is much, '''much''' larger now. [[User:Nk22|Nk22]] ([[User talk:Nk22|talk]]) 11:52, 20 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Thank you, Nk22! I've added a link from the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd About explain xkcd] page. {{unsigned|Nealmcb}}<br />
<br />
== Userscript ==<br />
<br />
Hello there, just wrote a simple userscript that adds an 'Explain' button to the original xkcd.com<br />
<br />
https://gist.github.com/magazov/934de662d60c9fb5fea9<br />
<br />
You can run it via Greasemonkey, Tampermonkey and other similar plugins :)<br />
<br />
[[Image:Screen_Shot_xkcd_button.png]]<br />
{{unsigned|Magazovski}}<br />
<br />
:Yeah, there's a few of these floating around. In the future, could you use an imgur link instead of uploading stuff like that to the wiki? Thanks. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:02, 21 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::So maybe explainxkcd should host & maintain one of them? --[[User:Magazovski|Magazovski]] ([[User talk:Magazovski|talk]]) 09:30, 22 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:::Why would we host an image hosting site? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:17, 23 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
::::He means we could host and maintain a userscript to help our fans get here from xkcd.... [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 14:36, 9 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
:::::Hum, that's not a bad idea. I'll put it on the list of things to do. Although, if they're already here, why do they need a userscript to help them get here? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:34, 11 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
::::::For people who mainly view the comics through the official site, but sometimes need an explanation of the comic. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 09:23, 11 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Updating the incomplete comic of the day ==<br />
<br />
Currently, I think the incomplete comic of the day should be changed more often (i.e. daily), since the incomplete comics are piling up, and most users aren't seeing the notice, as it is dismissible.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:40, 22 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:While I agree that the comic of the day could be changed more often, I wouldn't say that the incomplete comics are ''piling up''. Over the months I've been active here, the number of incomplete comics had fallen considerably. In fact if you check the comics which are still marked as incomplete, most of them are one where a significant effort would be required to complete them. For example the large comics (Money, Time, Congress) or dynamic comics (Externalities, Click & Drag, Pixels). --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:32, 23 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
::Yeah. Of the 15 incomplete "pages," only 10 of them are actual comics that need the attention, and the full count is still dropping. I've been keeping it on single comics as of late because the remaining actual incomplete comics have been cycled through ~3 times already, with no significant effort made on them, because they're such monumental pieces of work. Making the message dismissable is by design, we are a service first and foremost, we're not trying that hard to make visitors do our work for us. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:17, 23 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Infrequently recurring minor charachters ==<br />
<br />
Should we just group all of the characters that are not of enough significance to warrant their own character page into a single page (i.e. [[Other Minor Characters]])? --{{User:17jiangz1/signature|02:58, 09 May 2015}}<br />
:See comic [[1000]] for a sample of what this entails. Also, what value to we stand to provide by cataloging every unique character that has appeared in xkcd? Does it help us explain the comics any better? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:32, 9 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Comic page creation ==<br />
<br />
Is comic page creation not automated? If it isn't, then [[Help talk:How to add a new comic explanation]] should be created.--{{User:17jiangz1/signature|14:19, 26 May 2015}} 14:19, 26 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Comic explanation was, at one point, automated. However, the bot ran on a schedule, and so sometimes there would be a few hours between a new comic being posted and the page getting created. Some editors just can't wait that long, so they do the bot's work before the bot even gets going. I agree that this page should be created and be kept up to date. Historically no one has read any of the help pages I've written. ;p [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:42, 26 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:However, I think that the page should be [[Help:Comic Explanation Page Creation]]. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:43, 26 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Re-proposing merging Cueball and Rob ==<br />
<br />
Okay, so this was previously [[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Merge_Cueball_.26_Rob discussed] but I felt that it was worth bringing up again. Really, at this point, there's no logical reason why the two should not be merged, or Megan and Cutie should be un-merged. Rob and Cueball clearly seem to be the same person, at least when cueball appears as a specific character. In the instances where there are multiple Cueballs, we should just refer to them as Man 1, Man 2, and so on. Can we get a vote or something this time? Yes, I understand that Cueball isn't always the same character. But neither is [[Megan]], and yet we always refer to the short black haired girl (formerly [[Cutie]]) as Megan. If that logic applies to her, it applies to Rob. It's pretty clear that Randall intended to name the character Rob, as most named Cueballs are named Rob and not Fred or something.<br />
<br />
In short: Please don't bring nostalgia into this, it's really not relevant. Changing Cueball to Rob or Megan back to Cutie (or Cuegirl?) would have symmetry and make sense. {{unsigned ip|Sensorfire}}<br />
:I'm ok with dumping a marginal character page that only served to add confusion to character identification in new comics, but this was a subject of contention before so we probably need to see more of people's thoughts first. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:03, 5 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I agree: let's list the arguments for both sides, ensure that everyone agrees with the objectiveness of that listing, and then vote. If there's support for this plan, and nobody does it first, I'll take a stab at producing a first draft of the summary. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 23:57, 14 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Randall is currently on a booktour. So, how about, instead of us (without the ability to read minds) arguing about his intention or who is/isn't the same character, someone go see him and ask? Then we'll know with absolute 100% certainty. [[User:WaltG123|WaltG123]] ([[User talk:WaltG123|talk]]) 04:49, 25 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
::Randall never called either character Cueball and Cutie so of course this is not his names. Asking him would make no meaning at all. For any user of xkcd it will create lots of confusion to change the names of Megan and Cueball now. Regarding Rob he is already listed as Cueball in his category. And Cueballs have been called other names several times. Rob is just the only one that has been used a few times. I agree that it may have been wrong to call her Megan, (the name has been used like three times?) Similar it is just as wrong to call Black Hat's girlfriend [[Danish]], a nick name used once. But it is actually very nice to have a real name or at least useful name when speaking of characters. And it has also been mentioned that Cutie could be perused as a sexist name, so we should not move back to that. Well recently even [[Hairbun]] has her name changed from Hairbun girl since a user thought that was a problem given it most often was a grown woman. So I think we should stick to the solution of the previous debate and leave Cueball, Rob and Megan alone as they are! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:56, 29 June 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Adjective phrases ==<br />
<br />
Overwhelmed with the need to be picayune, I am compelled to point out that on the homepage there is the sentence that begins "There are a lot of comics that don't have set in stone explanations..." This sentence contains a adjective phrase which should be hyphenated thus: "set-in-stone"<br />
<br />
Please pretend that I have said something witty here, as I am too tired to think of anything funny. {{unsigned|Gamewriter}}<br />
:Is it actually grammatically wrong in it's current state? Huh. I guess I'll change it. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:42, 1 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::This is long after the fact, but I'll throw my two cents in on Davidy22's question. Yes, it is wrong. If the 'set in stone' phrase were after the word explanations ("explanations set in stone") it would not require hyphens, but used as an adjective before the noun ("set-in-stone explanations") it requires them. D Miller [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.41|108.162.221.41]] 18:26, 21 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Update MediaWiki ==<br />
<br />
You are currently using MediaWiki 1.19.17. It's ''really'' outdated. Maybe update to 1.26.2, the current recommended stable version? There is an [[mw:Manual:Upgrading|official guide]] for that. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.77|141.101.80.77]] 12:03, 24 January 2016 (UTC) (PS my IP address is wrong it's not what you think it is)<br />
<br />
== Rename Hair Bun Girl ==<br />
<br />
The character [[Hair Bun Girl]] was named in April 2015. There wasn't any discussion of the name at the time, so I'd like to open that discussion now please.<br />
<br />
At present we have several other characters named after distinctive visual features: [[Ponytail]], [[Black Hat]], [[White Hat]], [[Beret Guy]], and arguably [[Hairy]] and [[Cueball]]. In all but one of those cases, the name matches the distinctive feature itself, without the addition of "guy", "girl", etc. Given the number of comics that Beret Guy is in it's probably too late to modify his name, but it's not too late for Hair Bun Girl.<br />
<br />
Besides the consistency issue, there's also the inaccuracy of referring to a grown woman with the term "girl", particularly when the character has been presented as older than [[Megan]]. I'd really like to fix this while her number of appearances is still manageable.<br />
<br />
The name "Hairbun" has been proposed and I think that matches really nicely with Ponytail in particular.<br />
<br />
[[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 04:23, 9 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:As the "guy" who created the Hair Bun Girl characther, I have no objection to changing the name. I did not think about the issue with girl/woman, probably because I'm not native English speaker. (And with the Beret Guy as an example). Jkshapiro was so kind as to [[User_talk:Kynde#Hair_Bun_.22Girl.22|ask my opinion]] before starting this discussion. At first I thought that ''Hairbun'' was a little weird, but then again so is Ponytail in this context. So I '''support''' the change to '''Hairbun'''! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:06, 9 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I vote '''change''' Hair Bun to Hairbun and '''keep''' girl. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 21:02, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
OK, I'm going ahead. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 02:47, 25 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
:Well as I said I would not mind, but you cannot say you got any other to agree with you on this though. Mimek wished to keep girl... It will be a huge job to get all the instances correct, also be careful no to change those places where the talk is of a girl who has a hair bun. You cannot just change all placed with hair bun girl to Hairbun, in case is actually says the hair bun girl about a small girl who has a hair bun! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:59, 25 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
::Seems no one cares, so I will remove the notes now. Great job Jkshapiro with changing the names. I like the new name now :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:35, 2 April 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Mobile friendly website ==<br />
<br />
Can we get a mobile friendly version of the wiki? If we already have one, what about forwarding the main site to it when viewed on a phone? [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 20:59, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New categories ==<br />
<br />
I think there may be a need to propose a standard way to decide on categories: what new ones are needed, what are the prerequisites for creating a new category, how to maintain new categories and make sure they are actually used when they apply etc. For now I have gathered all previous discussions about new categories under this section. -- [[User:Malgond|Malgond]] ([[User talk:Malgond|talk]]) 13:39, 17 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:I think that whenever there are more than 4-5 comics that you wish to refer to in a given explanation because they are of the same topic as the current comic, then having a category is much to prefer rather than listing 5, 6 or 7 comics. I have made several categories for these instances, for instance for sport including the most used sports. At the time being I keep them up to date. One of the things this site does so well is giving you an easy way to find a specific comic even though you cannot remember the title of any precise quotes etc. If you just have an idea of what the topic was you might find it based on the categories. In this way I do not think we can have too many categories. As long as they describe a recurring subject. Only fault is that there seems to be no way to search for a comic based on more than one category? That would be great. In some cases even only 3 comics in a category can make sense. For instance I would be sorry to see this one go [[:Category:Puts on sunglasses]] (and I did not make it!) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:09, 19 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
::For instance I have long wished for categories that covered all the space probe related comics, particularly all those referencing the Mars rovers. So today I made them with 16 and 9 comics in them already. [[:Category:Space probes]] [[:Category:Mars rovers]]. I hope people will generally think this was a great idea! :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:42, 20 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:::And [[:Category:The Lion King]]... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:47, 1 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: Protip ===<br />
<br />
Anyone for adding ''Protip'' as a [[:Category:Comic series|Comic series]]. I have found five so far: [[653]], [[711]], [[1022]], [[1047]] and [[1156]]. (There are also a few comics with a protip title text.) -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:25, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I think that qualifies as a recurring topic (thus worthy of a category), but not as a series, where you can see a clear sequence. In fact, [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]] has the same limitation, for what I suggest it to be removed from [[:Category:Comic series]]. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:42, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Seconded. Looks general and common enough to be a category. '''[[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:57, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::Okay, great! Do you think that the ones with a "protip:" title text should be included? Besides, I think I might be the one responsiple for moving My Hobby from [[:Category:Comics by topic|Comics by topic]] to Comic series. I felt that all the My Hobby comics were about different topics, but maybe i've got to narrow an interpretation of the word "topic". -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:31, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::: Can you link to the protip-in-title-text comics?<br />
:::: As for My Hobby, note that categories aren't mutually exclusive. They can be in the "my hobby" topic, and each of them further categorized as appropriate: music, math, etc. Makes sense? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 03:45, 5 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::: I just searched for protip in the xkcd search bar. Here: [[1084]], [[427]]. And yes, makes sense. I've moved My Hobby back to "by topic". -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:06, 5 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: Sports ===<br />
<br />
How about creating a new "Sports" category? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 15:31, 28 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Well, maybe. Everyone aren't so keen on new categories here. Which comics are you thinking of, for a start? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 20:32, 28 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::We definitely need to reach an agreement as a community on when to create new categories. Something simple like a minimum of 3 (or, say, 5) existing comics. Since we're already at the proposals' portal... what do you guys think about that? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:44, 28 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::My opinion: Five would be enough to qualify. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 09:31, 29 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::I vote for four. But it should also be a reasonable thing to categorize, like sports, not like "sports with Cueball containing at least three anagram words". Wich sholdn't be a problem. :) But the best name choice could be tricky sometimes. e.g. "Film & television", Film & TV", "Film", "Films", or "Movies"? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:59, 29 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::<br />
::::Agreed, five should be enough to create the category without having to discuss it. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:50, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
: OK, let's start with [[588: Pep Rally|588]], [[1092: Michael Phelps|1092]], [[904: Sports|904]] and [[1107: Sports Cheat Sheet|1107]]. Should be able to find a few more. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 05:00, 29 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Yeah, it's a broad subject so there are probably several more. -[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:59, 29 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::I found another one, sort of, in [[929:Speculation|929]] (although it hasn't been explained yet). Should I get the ball rolling (no pun intended) on setting up the category? Don't wanna do it unilaterally and get yelled at. ;) [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 06:18, 30 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::I think you should. On a wiki, getting stuck in discussions which die without a conclusion, to the point that motivated people give up without having done anything, is definitely counter-productive, and phrases like [[wikipedia:Wikipedia:Be bold|Wikipedia:Be bold]] are here to remind us of that. Seems like people agreed that you ''could'', and after a while nobody said that you ''shouldn't'', so I'd say do it. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:50, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
:I did it without looking here first, because it was obvious there were many [[:Category:Sport|sport comics]]. I have even created four under categories (only one was there before, Chess). There are 10 comics at present that are related to other sports than the five under categories. And given the way Randall thinks about sport (not very much) he still has plenty of comics about the subject. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:33, 14 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: Sex ===<br />
<br />
I think we should also create a Sex category. There's no ''doubt'' we can find more than three examples. I'll start looking for them and post the ones I find in here; again, I don't wanna create a large category by myself without community consent. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 09:20, 2 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
*OK, the ones for Category: Sex that I've found so far are [[443]], [[219]], [[550]], [[1026]], [[575]], [[468]], [[592]], [[320]], [[1101]], [[417]], [[713]], [[672]], [[230]], [[436]], [[940]], [[532]], [[649]], [[176]], [[1006]], [[596]] and [[717]], and I'm sure there are many more. Should we create this category? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 23:17, 3 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Same as [[#Category: Sports|above]], do it. Oh, already did; well, all the better. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:53, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: Flowcharts ===<br />
<br />
Hello, the line "Randall has made use of flowcharts before." in today's comic explanation made me want a [[:Category:Flowcharts|flowcharts category]] to navigate into...<br />
<br />
As it didn't exist, I proceeded to create it, but as the log says, [[User:lcarsos|lcarsos]] deleted such a category in November, saying ''"Insufficient differentiation from Category:Comics with charts, diluting the depth of comics tagged charts"''.<br />
<br />
I don't agree with that, and I think we could profit from such a subcategory. I found those pages fitting it:<br />
* [[94: Profile Creation Flowchart]]<br />
* [[210: 90's Flowchart]]<br />
* [[488: Steal This Comic]]<br />
* [[627: Tech Support Cheat Sheet]]<br />
* [[844: Good Code]]<br />
* [[851: Na]]<br />
* [[854: Learning to Cook]]<br />
* [[1195: Flowchart]]<br />
<br />
So? - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 10:59, 5 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Weell if you're willing to take charge of the category and personally make sure it's added to all relevant comic explanations, go ahead. The usual objection to making new categories is that we admins can't remember all the categories when we're reviewing new explanations, but it's K if you're willing to take up that responsibility yourself. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:17, 5 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:<br />
:: OK. I did it without waiting for further replies, because I think it will be especially profitable today (to viewers).<br />
:: It doesn't seem a big issue to me if the correct category is not added when a new explanation is made: a passing editor will do it later on... But hey, I'm OK with taking special care of adding pages to this category.<br />
:: [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 12:28, 5 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::: I just want to add that Cos' view is indeed the appropriate way to work in wikis: there is no concept of a single author for a page, category, or piece of text, and the workload is meant to be distributed among several editors: it is not necessary that any single editor remembers all existing categories, or knows the wiki markup by heart, or knows how to work with all the features of mediawiki, etc. The reason why wikis can be edited by anyone is precisely a recognition that there *will* be errors and any page can be improved somehow. That reasoning against categories should, IMO, be abandoned, or at most only kept as the opinion of some editors. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 22:00, 6 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Isnt there a page which lists all the categories? If not, there should be one, and it should be accessible to all. Such a page could be useful when trying to quick-add categories to comics. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.83.155|117.194.83.155]] 13:43, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Yes, there is. [[Special:Categories]]. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:07, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Of course, there's a gazillion of 'em, over several pages, so I understand any reluctance to add new categories (having just suggested a new one myself which I feel is justified, but knowing that the upkeep needed may be the key point of contention so remaining philosophical about it).<br />
::A solution perhaps to carry over from another locale that I frequent is to have a "Categories of Character" page, a "Categories of Object" one, perhaps "Categories of Event", and a "Categories of Publication". For each new comic someone can easily check the shorter Character categories list against those present, the Object list against itemsin use, Events, etc, and of course the Publication one has the "Tuesday Comic"/equivalent, and other date-based ones (although isn't that automatic from templated creation? ...never added a comic, but would imagine it is). After that it's a trawl through the miscelania categories (perhaps a meta-category just for them?). But, yeah, a lot of work to set up. Wouldn't wish it on anyone who wasn't already willing to do it, and I remain an anon-IP person right now so can hardly commit ''myself'' as volunteer maintainer of this. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 17:20, 22 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: (Barred/banned from?) Conferences ===<br />
<br />
I come here after realising I erroneously posted (in reply) to the Main page Talk, being anonymous (or at least IP-only) and without a list of qualifying articles to support me, just yet, but still wish to put forward the above category before I forget. There's no apparent equivalent, that I found, but it's definitely a recurring meme. I should be back (named or otherwise) with my suggested list of members, if someone else doesn't get there first, but I thought I'd start with the placemarker. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 16:41, 22 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Ok, so I got the bee in my bonnet and spent a few minutes actually looking into this. Revising "Barred from Conferences" (actually more often "Banned" or even "Thrown out of"/equivalent) to just "Conferences", the subset of comics that I can easily find that are involved is *[[153]], *[[177]], *[[365]], *[[410]], *[[463]], *[[541]], [[545]], [[685]], [[829]] and [[867]], but I'm sure there are more recent ones that I didn't spot/recall. One alternative title to "Conferences" is "Presentations", and I'm sure if I'd searched for that I'd have found more potential candidates (less some that might ''exit'' the renamed category). The asterisked ones ''do'' deal with being barred/banned/thrown out/etc, making it still a suitable category in its own right, IMO, but I'll leave it up to your combined musings to decide. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 17:07, 22 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
::I add [[690]] to the list. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:12, 13 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::: Great suggestions! I created [[:Category:Public speaking]] and [[:Category:Banned from conferences]]. I also added [[Wikipedian Protester]] to the mix, of course :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:59, 13 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: Wishes ===<br />
<br />
[http://explainxkcd.com/1391/ Several] [http://explainxkcd.com/1086/ comics] [http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/152:_Hamster_Ball now] [http://xkcd.com/879/ exist] that talk about wishes - probably more. Should there be a category for this? [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 23:22, 7 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
:Doesn't seem significant enough. If you promise to maintain the category you can make it yourself, although it will be cleared out if it gets neglected as new comics are released. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:20, 8 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: Artificial Intelligence ===<br />
<br />
Hello world.<br />
<br />
There are a handful of comics involving Ai - [[1540]], [[1530]], [[1450]] and [[948]] for instance - and maybe it's an idea to give them their own category {{unsigned|Nk22}}<br />
<br />
:The usual objection to new categories is that they get abandoned and are too narrow for other people to think of picking them up. If you're going to own it and update it with new comics, you can make it. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 21:01, 23 June 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: Size Comparisons ===<br />
There are numerous comics comparing sizes of things. I can't get a list right now, but off the top of my head, radiation dosages, money, today's comic, and space shuttles in horses. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 19:23, 29 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
===Category: Katamari Damacy ===<br />
<br />
There are quite a few comics about this game. [[User:DPS2004|DPS2004]] ([[User talk:DPS2004|talk]])<br />
<br />
== Adding Ratings for Explanations ==<br />
<br />
I found [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1652 today's explanation] excellently written however that is not always the case. Frequently explanations are walk through of the conversation that are too wordy without any succinct explanation of why or how a strip is funny -- while many of those low quality explanations are not strictly "incomplete" they could benefit from a careful rewrite. I was wondering if we should add a rating tool such as " ''Was this explanation helpful? yes/no'' " so as to identify explanation that could benefit from improvement without having to be tagged as "incomplete". [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 17:57, 8 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
:We have a rather prominent discussion page for feedback, do we really need an additional add-on for this? I did a little research and found that other wikis use [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Semantic_Rating semantic rating] and [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:ArticleRatings article ratings], which I can install if enough other users want it. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:54, 26 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New Speculation Sections ==<br />
<br />
I often see a lot of speculation and conjecture within the explanation of the comic itself. I don't think it has any place in the explanation but I know many editors enjoy speculating and interpreting the comic and the meaning behind it so I've decided to start this discussion on whether we should provide a section where we can provide different speculations.<br />
<br />
What I am thinking would not be like the discussion page, where comments are made and discussed, but an edited and reviewed section which outlines different speculations and interpretations of the comics themselves and perhaps even the author's intent.<br />
<br />
Of course tone and presentation should be held to the same standards of the comic explanation but I think this would be a good way to better organize a review of the comic.<br />
<br />
I have been away too long to remember if there are any comic explanations with something like this so I have no idea how well it would work.<br />
<br />
As an example;<br />
<br />
This part from comic 1642: [[Gravitational Waves]]<br />
<br />
" It seems that Randall knew in advance about this announcement because this comic was published on a Thursday, not following the normal publish schedule, to coincide with the announcement "<br />
<br />
Is well supported, and rather likely correct, conjecture which belongs in the body of the explanation because not only is it backed by strong evidence but it provides background on the comic and the time in which the comic was released and aids in understanding the comic itself.<br />
<br />
However, this part from comic 478: [[The Staple Madness]]<br />
<br />
"From just reading the comic by itself, one may presume that in the last panel, Cueball has been stapled to the ceiling (as obvious evidence to Megan that Beret Guy has indeed been abusing her staple gun). According to the comic's official transcript, however, it is in fact God who is speaking."<br />
<br />
Is almost as equally well supported and certainly a valid interpretation of simply the comic. It is only refuted by the official transcript. I believe it is important to acknowledge and may even be a more humorous interpretation than the one which is provided by the official transcript.<br />
<br />
If we added a speculation section (or something of the sort) then we would have a place to talk about this interpretation more freely and expound upon it more.<br />
<br />
[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 15:16, 13 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
: Problem is the whole "explanation" is actually conjecture. None of us the author, we're all just guessing. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 15:23, 13 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: Many of the current explanations are conjecture, that's true but not every explanation. Providing information on the science or mathematics behind a particular comic is not conjecture. Stating whether the author intended to belittle the field or state that one field is superior over another (unless fairly explicitly stated) is. And there are many things which can be inferred without being simple speculation. Not every comic would need a section like this, and not every comic needs a trivia section, and I'm not ready to start adding this proposed section myself. But I think it should be considered. [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 15:35, 13 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
::The intention of the discussion pages was to serve as a place for people to put their conjecture and reaching interpretations of the comics. They're presented alongside the explanation to make people's interpretations more readily visible. Some people may have trouble distinguishing an ungrounded interpretation of a comic from an explanation of it, and they will insert weak text into explanations. If you find something you disagree with, feel free to bring it up in the discussion section and edit it out of the explanation liberally '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:17, 17 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Unixkcd ==<br />
<br />
Hello everyone. I was just wondering: is there anything on http://uni.xkcd.com/. Because I was just looking and the only thing I found on Unixkcd is a mention of a bug in [[1350]]. There is not even a mention on the April fools article.<br />
:There's nothing on this site, there's a couple of novel tidbits on the xkcd site that are at best tangentially related to the comic, as Randall originally intended to make xkcd.com his personal site for hosting his own projects. That particular one doesn't show up in any comics. Also, proposals might not be the best place to put this. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:46, 21 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
::I added the unixckd information to [[721: Flatland]]. According to [https://vimeo.com/78912850 Randalls Øredev 2013 talk] unixkcd was the April Fools' prank for April 1st 2010. [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 09:00, 1 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New character category for blonde woman news reporter (from 1699) ==<br />
<br />
From today's comic [[1699: Local News]] I just got the idea that there may be needing a new category for either blonde woman and/or comics with news reports. I posted this [[Talk:1699:_Local_News#New_character_category|post]], in the talk page of that comic. Any comments, and if agreeing that there might be one or two different character categories needed then please suggest what they should be called. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:00, 27 June 2016 (UTC)<br />
:Agree with Blondie as new character name and with adding a category for news reports. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 00:47, 28 June 2016 (UTC)<br />
:Agree with new character category for Blondie --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 12:38, 28 June 2016 (UTC)<br />
:: Thanks for the replies. Could be nice with a few more chipping in. One issue I just found is [[Miss Lenhart]] and ambiguous situations like in comic [[59: Graduation]], where I would remove the miss reference. But then miss would be a sub category of Blondie (or Blonde? which Randall cals the girl in 59) as [[Rob]] is for [[Cueball]]... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:07, 9 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
:: I think blondie is fine for a name. Miss Lenhart is another character who uses a similar design so I think treating her like Rob is perfectly acceptable. The only thing more I think we should discuss is the role blondie plays in most of the comics (Like how cueball is an everyman, whitehat is often a strawman, Blackhat is blackhat etc.) [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 12:04, 13 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
:::There are also these two that looks like Blondie: [[Mrs. Roberts]] or her daughter [[Elaine Roberts]]. I think this is part of why no one has made the category, as there are already three named women with the same hair. But there are so many other comics with this kind of woman, that I think she should be created. I hope I will get the time, but if anyone has any other ideas than just calling them "Blondie" and letting the other three be an subcategory like Rob is of Cueball then say so now before anyone creates Blondie. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:19, 24 August 2016 (UTC)<br />
:::Agree with new character category and characters with the same appearance as sub-categories [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 18:04, 24 August 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Based on the discussion she is now called [[Blondie]] --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:27, 10 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br>And now there is also a [[:Category:News anchor]] with 15 entries already. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:22, 10 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== fix a page ==<br />
<br />
The page Comics featuring Summer Glau is missing:<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/526:_Converting_to_Metric {{unsigned ip|108.162.241.130}}<br />
:Done. In the future, you can add categories yourself, just scroll to the bottom and follow the template the others go by. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:56, 7 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New xkcd book out. ==<br />
<br />
Any chance of posting a section of explanation pages for the cartoons in the new xkcd book, hopefully explaining some of the cryptic red notes? Thanks! {{unsigned ip|199.27.133.102}}<br />
<br />
== Business Plan category ==<br />
<br />
I propose renaming [[:Category:Beret Guy's Business]] into Business Plans, and adding it to [[1721: Business Idea]] [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 08:15, 17 August 2016 (UTC)<br />
::(Note I added a ":" to your category link to show the link instead of adding this page to the category. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:43, 10 September 2016 (UTC)) <br />
:No of course not, that comic is about [[Cueball]]. This is Beret Guy's business we are talking about here. This category is not about business idea but about what [[Beret Guy]] does just like the page with [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]. Both are used in the explanation of who he is. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:43, 10 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Comics with header text ==<br />
<br />
Several comic have some header text, such as [[851]] or [[1052]]. Shouldn't there be a category for them or something? I think it is quite a notable feature. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 15:23, 16 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
:I feel like it's not a particularly defining feature, it feels like making a category for comics that have frames with no borders or something, it's just a technique Randall uses. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:35, 21 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
::To me it feels more like a second title text. It is not technically part of the comic itself, but is a separate piece of information included with it on the xkcd website. There is a category for comics without title text, this is the same, only reverse, in my humble opinion [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 07:13, 24 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== purpose of detailed transcripts ==<br />
<br />
There are two styles of comic descriptions in the transcripts. Some<br />
are fairly terse, giving only the information required to understand<br />
the comic (e.g. "Cueball is talking to Megan, who looks excited").<br />
Others give lots of graphic details, as if one should be able to<br />
reconstruct the picture from the description (e.g. "Cueball, on the<br />
left, is talking to Megan, on the right. His left hand is pointing to<br />
her. Megan's arms are raised above her head and her excitement is<br />
shown by short lines around her head..." and so on). The former style<br />
used to be the norm, the latter has become increasingly<br />
common in recent months.<br />
<br />
Being visually impaired, I am extremely pleased with the terse style<br />
of transcript, and have no interest in the verbose style. To me it is<br />
useless and sometimes fairly annoying. Of course, this is a community<br />
and I can happily live with it if others find it useful.<br />
<br />
So, I'd like to know who needs detailed, graphical transcripts, and<br />
for what purpose? Were they requested by some users, or did those<br />
writing transcripts just decide to adopt this new style? If there is<br />
a clearly identified reason for describing pictures in detail, fine.<br />
If not, I vote for switching back to the old, terse style.<br />
<br />
Zetfr 14:10, 27 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Sorry we did not see this at the time. As we can see you finally found ears for you comment after [[1798]] and a new discussion has begun on [[User_talk:Kynde#Transcript_TLDR.3B|my user page]]. (Should probably have been here?) But anyway I'm responsible for your problems, and I will try to write less in the transcript and add "other important" either below in the trivia or below the main comic (as maybe - Detailed image description...) It was meant as a way to search for any thing in the comic if you needed it. I guess most people do not read the transcript, so of course annoying if it is not useful for those who always need to read it. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:21, 17 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Rename Science Girl "Jill" ==<br />
<br />
Following the Precedent of "[[Megan]]" and "[[Danish]]" (but oddly enough not [[Rob]]), I propose that we rename [[Science Girl]] Jill, as per [[1662]]. This could serve to give her an easier name and to use in cases where the character doesn't have a connection with science but seems to be the same girl. [[User:Sensorfire|Sensorfire]] ([[User talk:Sensorfire|talk]]) 18:19, 26 October 2016 (UTC)<br />
:The only time she's called Jill is in Jack and Jill comics (of course), and the only reason you'd want to do that is since [[Randall]] displays them similarly. In some cases Science Girl is even clearly older. We might do that if there was a [[Child-Blackhaired-Ponytail]] character, but these characters are always either Science Girl or Jill. Also, Jill has very, very few appearances anyway. [[User:Jacky720|Jacky720]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]]) 21:37, 2 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Make an official transcript site ==<br />
I've already taken the liberty of making {{template|transcript}}, and think we, together, can do better- which is why I'm implementing [https://jackm.000webhost.com/transcript.html this site], in order to display the official transcript in its intended format. However, it is bugged, and could do better if moved to explain xkcd. Is anyone in on this? [[User:Jacky720|Jacky720]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]]) 21:36, 2 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
:The transcript site doesn't seem to be accessible. Is the project dead? If it's not I can try to help. [[User:Errpell|Errpell]] ([[User talk:Errpell|talk]]) 21:06, 11 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== HTTPS Links Back to XKCD Interfere with Random Button ==<br />
<br />
The Links back to the comics that are present just above the comic itself on the wiki pages (and adjacent to the next and previous links) provides an HTTPS link back to XKCD. However, this interferes with users who want to click that link, and then click `random` - because `c.xkcd.com` does NOT support HTTPS, and thus clicking 'random' after returning to xkcd from explainxkcd does not work. These links should be switched back to HTTP.<br />
<br />
--[[User:9000 volts|9000 volts]] ([[User talk:9000 volts|talk]]) 21:15, 13 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Rearrange for our visually impaired friends. ==<br />
<br />
I have a great friend who is blind and he uses this site to "read" XKCD so we can talk about it. However, there are two things that he finds frustrating. The first, while it means no harm and most readers gloss over it, when listening to the content of the page every day it can become demeaning to hear "it's because you're dumb" every time. I certainly agree, I use explain XKCD because I am significantly dumb-er than Randall, but my friend uses it because he's blind. This is not that big of a deal, but a friendly suggestion.<br />
<br />
The second suggestion is to move the transcript section to the top before the explanation so as not to spoil the content of the comic with user explanation right away--in the case that those listening to the article are in fact smart enough to get the joke before needing an explanation.<br />
<br />
Thanks for your consideration.<br />
<br />
== Incomplete in spotlight ==<br />
<br />
The incomplete comic in spotlight should be changed more often, the current one is not even incomplete. [[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 16:52, 31 March 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Duplicate Navigation tools at bottom of page (please!) ==<br />
<br />
I'm enjoying revisiting xkcd canon through the lens of Explain, but frustrated that after studiously reading through the explanation and discussion, I have to scroll back up to the top to get to the Next button.<br />
What would the harm be in duplicating the buttons at the foot of each page? <br />
Thanks for considering this.<br />
Regards<br />
<br />
That would be nice, would help a lot. Also, please sign your comments with four tildes. [[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 19:46, 2 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== JSON endpoint ==<br />
There is a [http://www.xkcd.com/info.0.json endpoint] to retrieve information about the comics on the xkcd website. However the info there is not complete, specially when it comes to the transcripts. explainxkcd should provide a similar interface. It would be very useful specially for bots/scripts. The commmunity could help completing the information on the xkcd website and/or provide a new interface. The transcript are already retrieved from this website and a copy can be found [https://github.com/nhatzHK/randi/blob/master/json/xkcd.references.json here]. If there isn't already a complete file or databse with all the information, this file could help building it. However, this document has been compiled by scraping the html of explainxkcd, so there's some errors in it. These errors can be avoid with a clear and easy to access interface like JSON, similar to what is available on the xkcd website. [[User:Errpell|Errpell]] ([[User talk:Errpell|talk]]) 20:43, 11 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
:Maybe there is a mediawiki addon to support a JSON file. Any ideas? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:08, 1 August 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Suggestion for small improvement to interface ==<br />
Am I the only one that wishes the Previous / Next buttons were repeated at the bottom of the page? After reading the explanation, I often want to go to the next one in sequence.<br />
(Obviously, I don't check this wiki every day :)<br />
Scrolling back to the top isn't hard, but having the buttons near the bottom would make navigation easier.<br />
<br />
Hope you agree!<br />
Murray in NJ<br />
<br />
PS: Aha! I see others have suggested the same thing :) {{unsigned ip|162.158.75.232}}<br />
:This was also mentioned before. I don't agree because the layout is based on the original xkcd site. '''Protip''': Do not "scroll back", just use your keyboard. The magic key is called "Home". --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:14, 1 August 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Category for The Little Prince? ==<br />
<br />
How many comics need to feature/mention a certain thing before we need a category?<br />
<br />
I think there are enough featuring the Little Prince to deserve a Category of its own.<br />
<br />
== mediawiki things ==<br />
<br />
could admin please update to the latest version of mediawiki and add the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Skin:Timeless?useskin=timeless timeless skin], thx. also would help if you added <code>line-height: 1.5em</code> to the edit box (<code>#wpTextbox1</code>) while making it taller to compensate, or added the 2010 code editor to aid readability. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.4|162.158.92.4]] 11:50, 4 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== The state of "incomplete" explanations and an unified policy ==<br />
<br />
Hello, everybody. Recently I went through the "incomplete" explanations and I saw several problems... I think I better split this into sections.<br />
<br />
'''1) Many seemingly old and complete explanations are marked either with various creative variations of the auto-generated tag or something along the lines of "rough draft".''' I have personally removed several incomplete tags during the last days, sometimes adding few information before doing so, but usually not. But there are so many of them and it just would not feel right to take it upon myself to reap them all, so, if anyone can spare a few minutes to quickly scan them and remove (or update, in some cases) the tags, it would be nice. Here is a list of explanations with this particular problem, for convenience: [[1874]], [[1906]], [[1908]], [[1912]], [[1915]], [[1919]], [[1925]], [[1926]], [[1929]], [[1930]], [[1937]]<br />
<br />
1940 and 1941 also seem complete IMO, but given how recent they are, they could be given some time.<br />
<br />
'''2) Some incomplete tags seem like abuse of the feature.''' [[1909]] is probably the best example of this. Table might be nice, but it is not necessary to explain the comic, it would be just "gilding". There is nothing wrong about perfecting complete articles, but marking an article incomplete because someone got an idea how it could be done (and is too lazy to do it themselves) should be discouraged IMO. Other examples: [[1904]] - here I actually disagree with the proposal - why should information that does not represent percentages be represented using them? - but that's my personal view. [[1895]] - this one is asking for further perfection of a perfective information. [[1688]] - a '''huge''' example, asks for something that would require quite a lot of effort without helping anyone understand the comic, a cool project, but not needed for the article to be complete. [[1701]] - I really don't think this is necessary and the explanation is already twice the size I'd expect for such simple comic (*obligatory personal opinion disclaimer*).<br />
<br />
'''3) Some tags are just... vague.''' [[1856]] and [[1733]]. "Someone could maybe improve this" applies to pretty much everything in the universe, sorry.<br />
<br />
<br />
'''4) A policy proposal.''' Here comes the second half of the topic title. There appear to be two conflicting schools of thoughts among editors. Some seem to prefer long, meticulously detailed explanations. Others, including myself, prefer short and concise explanations. On more than one occasion, this has led to mess, so I think there should be some official policies about what kind of information should be considered considered necessary, useful, and superfluous. Obviously, every comic is different, and defining hard rules for this is impossible, so maybe "guideline" is a better word than "policy" here. Here are some suggestions about what this guideline could contain (please, take this as a "sub-suggestion", if a guideline gets accepted, but will end up containing nothing out of this, I will still be happy):<br />
<br />
* NECESSARY: named people, groups, organizations, websites, works of art, geographic locations etc. should be briefly introduced, unless they can be presumed to be universally known (e.g. Google, Shakespeare, New York). Obscure words should be defined. Scientific and technical terms should be explained.<br />
* SUPERFLUOUS: recursive explanations - an explanation that mentions concepts that themselves need explaining, but were not relevant to the comic itself.<br />
<br />
I guess that's it. Maybe a little disclaimer that I don't have much time now, so I may not be here to further lead this discussion. Maybe I should have waited with posting this when I do have time, but that may not be for a long time, so for what it's worth, here it is.<br />
--[[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 12:16, 13 January 2018 (UTC)</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals&diff=150949explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals2018-01-13T12:16:55Z<p>Jaalenja: /* The state of "incomplete" explanations and an unified policy */ new section</p>
<hr />
<div><noinclude>{{Community portal}}</noinclude><br />
<br />
== Add unexplained strips ==<br />
<br />
At the moment, browsing through the explanations using the previous and next buttons is interrupted whenever there's an explanation missing.<br />
<br />
I think adding a page with the strip fr all of those with a short message like "no one has explained this yet, want to give it a shot?" would make the wiki easier to browse through and will get more strips explained faster.<br />
<br />
:I don't think that would happen. If suddenly it was much easier for people to skip over pages that had no explanation, I think they would do exactly that, skip right over it. On the same side of that coin, If suddenly there are no longer any red links on the [[List of all comics]] then everyone perusing that page assumes that all the comics have been explained and don't need to contribute any more. It's astonishing how quickly an [[589: Designated Drivers|embedded]] red link gets an explanation page created simply to get rid of the red link.<br />
<br />
:Secondarily, ''many'' of the pages created recently aren't being created with their numerical and titular redirects. Without the numerical redirect, the comic template can't find that there is a previous/next comic to link to. Every once in a while somebody will go through and try to notice all the pages that don't have their redirects created but it's an unscientific process that only happens occasionally. If we could get every joe blow that comes in and vomits up a poorly done explanation to create the redirects I wouldn't be quite as annoyed at their lack of show-don't-tell-manship. But, since they can't be bothered to put the date in the comic template, I doubt we'll ever get people to create the redirects.<br />
<br />
:'''TL;DR:''' No more red links, no more work gets done on the back catalog.<br />
<br />
:--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 14:28, 21 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== xplainkcd.com ==<br />
<br />
When I first saw this site I thought it should definitely be at xplainkcd.com or at least redirect from that url {{unsigned|115.166.22.158|12:45, 3 January 2013 (UTC)}}<br />
<br />
: I like that idea! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 13:28, 3 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Yeah! If it's possible, it would be cool! At least as a redirect. -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:46, 3 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Not technically the same thing, but I just took [http://expxkcd.com http://expxkcd.com]. More explanation <del>is</del> was given on the website itself. {{User:Grep/signature|05:10, 29 March 2014}}<br />
::We do that with explainxkcd.com as well, but yay shorter URLs! Mind if I use that for our social media links? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:45, 29 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::I had no idea that you did that, but sure, go ahead! If you want, I can change any DNS records if you wish to have it go directly to you guys. {{User:Grep/signature|07:16, 29 March 2014}}<br />
:::In case you were wondering, I just did the following: <code>^/([0-9]+)(/large)?/?$</code> {{User:Grep/signature|07:25, 29 March 2014}}<br />
::::Hrm. We're just matching with <code>^(\d+)/?$</code>. You can keep ownership of the URL if you want, unless you have traffic concerns or whatever and you want us to handle it, which we're very capable of doing. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:47, 29 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I have made http://www.xkcd.ga and http://www.xkcd.tk both forward to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. Is this ok? [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:49, 26 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Section style and usage ==<br />
<br />
I am new here and I'm trying to get up to speed with the culture. I have a few questions about how and where to use sections (== this ==). I am more willing to go with (and enforce) whatever norms there are here, but I have not seen them actually discussed. <br />
<br />
# '''Is it OK to create sections in Discussion pages?''' I have been told no, but there are many examples extant of this usage in this Wiki and indeed in Wikipedia.<br />
# '''Section title case''' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Capital_letters#Acronyms Wikipedia's style guide] recommends sentence case, not title case. There are many title cased section headers here. <br />
# '''Links''' I do not have a reference for this but it seems to me putting links in section code (== [[<span style="color:blue"><nowiki>this</nowiki></span>]] == ) is bad form. <br />
<br />
Last note -- it's understood if these bylaws have not yet been written. I can see that a few of you have made a huge personal investment to make this Wiki what it is today, and that is a credit to you all -- this is awesome! As a long-time aficionado of xkcd I applaud your work and look forward to further collaboration.<br />
--[[User:Smartin|Smartin]] ([[User talk:Smartin|talk]]) 04:15, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:As a general rule, we stick to the standard format that existing pages follow, with an optional trivia section below the transcript. Some zealous editors like to add other sections though, which tend to be for the most part unneeded or redundant. If something you want to add doesn't help to explain the comic in some way, but the inclusion of which would somehow still add to the page, *and* it doesn't fall under the trivia category, a new section is warranted. This isn't the case most of the time though, so editors usually fold the content of extraneous sections into "Explanation" or "Trivia." We have no policy on links in titles, and they're allowed so long as they are appropriate; the link is useful and can't be folded into the section itself. And we use title case for titles cuz it just makes sense. '''[[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:08, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:We generally do not (or at least, discourage) use sections on the talk/discussion pages for explanation pages. This is purely for looks. The comic discussion section of the explanation page looks/feels wrong if there are level 2 section breaks in the transclusion. Also, if the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Table_of_contents Table of Contents] starts showing up on a page, such as on [[Click and Drag]] the sections created on the talk page also show up in the TOC. This gets confusing, and this is why we prefer not to use them on explanation talk pages. Everywhere else we follow standard wiki format and do use sections on the discussion pages.<br />
<br />
:Personally, I think that links in section titles looks wrong, but I choose not to be the dictator of style in this matter. :p<br />
<br />
:Please feel free to make edits. The worst that happens is someone reverts your edit. If it's a big enough issue and/or you don't seem to be learning from what people are fixing about your edits someone will leave a comment on your talk page. That's it. We might leave a nasty-gram in the edit summary, but oh well. We only ban for malicious intent. Honestly working to better the wiki is good, even if sometimes we grumble about it.<br />
<br />
:--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:00, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Oh, I just looked at your talk page. I completely forgot that that happened. Don't worry about it. Learning the ropes is part of the experience. Do make edits, and if they're wrong, we'll nudge you in the right direction. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:18, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I have been moving some trivia sections to directly below the explanation, in order to make it more consistent, and easier to survey and maintain. Often the dividing line between trivia and explanation is not entirely clear, and in articles without a trivia section the end of the explanation very often contains trivia-like information. (e.g. [[1155: Kolmogorov Directions]]) -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:13, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
===Title case doesn't make any sense===<br />
At first sight title case in titles just makes sense. However title case '''never''' makes sense. It's worse than all caps. Besides, only Americans and children like title case. [[Special:Contributions/190.96.48.48|190.96.48.48]] 20:04, 10 August 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
==New character==<br />
As per [[Talk:1178: Pickup Artists]], the character with hair has appeared in quite a few comics now, and he's starting to become a recurring character. Shall we go ahead with inaugurating him into our list of regular characters, and what name shall we assign him? Current candidate names include Hairy and Harry. Anyone? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:07, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: I like Harry :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 01:04, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Cos made a point in the discussion on [[Talk:1178: Pickup Artists]] that Hairy is directly descriptive, whereas Harry is not obvious to visitors. On the other hand, not all names are descriptive ([[Danish]]) and I think this wiki is entitled to create some xkcd-in-culture, and not just describe. And Harry is quite funny.<br />
::I wonder: has [[Randall]] ever called him anything at all in the transcript? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:52, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::Well, he's not named in a any official transcripts, but he's already called Harry in quite a few comic explanations. Then again, I do like having a more descriptive name for him. Shall we hold this up to a vote? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:29, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::I think we should wait a little for a few more viewpoints to crop up. Also, can someone link to some more comics he's been featured in? I've got [[1028: Communication]], [[1027: Pickup Artist]] and [[1178: Pickup Artists]]. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 23:41, 27 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::I actually like what that anon said: ''Curly''. Second choice: Hairy (being descriptive, a la Black Hat, Beret, Cueball, etc.) While there's talk about in-culture, we've done that with the names Cueball, Beret, etc. It's my opinion that the only names that should be "real" proper names are those that are named in the comic. Megan, Miss Lenhart, etc. Danish (as is discussed below) isn't truly a proper name, but you could argue it's a meta-description (one attributed by Black hat.) So that's my vote: yes for '''Curly''' or '''Hairy''', no for Harry. [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 05:21, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::That's right, [[Danish]] is not descriptive, but 1/ that name was suggested because the character [[515: No One Must Know|was called that way in the comic]], which is a tiny bit like a name given by the author (at least more than Harry which we have completely made up), and 2/ in that case it's hard to find a descriptive term: use something that revolves around her black hair (her only descriptive feature), and you easily mix up with [[Megan]]; the only graphical difference is that her hair is ''long'', but what kind of name can you make out of that?<br />
:::For this new character, I suggest Hairy because it comes as the easy solution with every advantage: descriptive, easy to understand, and it's not ugly... I actually see no reason to resort to a made-up name like Harry.<br />
:::[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 22:29, 27 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: '''Alright. So the discussion's been had, and the most oft recommended name appears to be Hairy. All in favor, say aye. If more than 1/3 of editors agree and we have more than 6 votes, Hairy it is.''' '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:58, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye''' '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:58, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye''' [[User:Guru-45|Guru-45]] ([[User talk:Guru-45|talk]]) 06:14, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye''' to Hairy. [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:43, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye'''. Harry would be a nice nod to the fact that he's actually hairy, but indeed it's better to avoid inside jokes. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:05, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye'''. I'm convinced! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 17:52, 3 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye'''. Hairy. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:52, 3 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Hooray! We now have a [[:Category:Comics featuring Hairy]], with four pages already! Does anyone feel compelled to create "[[Hairy]]", with a brief description and a nice profile pic like the other characters? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:58, 3 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Ambiguous characters ==<br />
<br />
I've been thinking about the problem of the ambiguity of characters. "Is this really Cueball even though he has an eye and half a nose?", "This is very likely ''not'' x." "Darnit, these arn't Cueballs, these are Randall and his friends!", and so on. The character ambiguity is standard for xkcd (not less so in the early ones), and comes from the very loose or "free" way Randall uses his characters to be whatever he needs at the moment. It's simply often impossible for us to know whether he had e.g. "Cueball" or himself in mind, when drawing a particular comic (and I'd say: probably often both).<br />
<br />
I want to suggest that we in general have a likewise rather loose policy towards including characters in the categories for the comics. So that reasonably ambiguous cases should be included in e.g. (does she have a ponytail?) This is not because I believe this or that to really be this or that; I just don't believe in objective truth (here!). I feel that when doing research :) on a character, the borderline cases are often the most interesting ones, and you want to be able to find them through the "Comics featuring miss x"!<br />
<br />
I came to think this through now, when I wanted to (and did) list two comics with [[Miss Lenhart]] (?) where she was drawn but not named. Any thoughts on this in general? Other case studies? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:17, 5 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:My take has always been that [[Cueball]], for example, has not been a specific character. There is not ''a'' cueball, per se, distinct from any other cueball... indeed, there are several comics with several cueballs in-frame, and that is the point. I see the cueball character as a wildcard character (pun intended) ready to stand in for anybody (and ''not'' necessarily just Randall; I think those readers who suggest "this ''is'' Randall" are missing the point; he's way more META than that...) [[Megan]], while slightly less generic, still remains the female wild-card significant-other, while Curls seems to be a not-significant-other female used to illustrate a relationship that is transient. Other characters come and go, and when it's important to visually distinguish them from others in the frame, they're given additional characteristics, to wit [[Hairy]], [[Ponytail]], etc.<br />
:Unfortunately, that viewpoint is not commonly held, so I daresay I'm in the minority here.<br />
:-- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:18, 6 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Note at the top, about the server error ==<br />
<br />
:''This thread was moved to [[MediaWiki talk:Sitenotice]]''<br />
<br />
<br />
== I've removed "add a comment!" from Discussion heading ==<br />
<br />
This does move it to above the line, and the rule stops early. Undo my change if that's more bothering than when the TOC is displayed as "add a comment!Discussion"... <br />
<br />
I don't know how to automatically treat level 2 headers as level 3. That may be why Discussion was a level 1 heading earlier.<br />
[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:16, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Actually I now noticed there was a short edit war at {{tl|comic discussion}} over whether it should be a level 1 heading, just for this reason. [[User:Waldir]] seems to have conceeded... [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:25, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: No edit war, hence no (intentional) concession. I reverted a change once, and didn't notice the change being re-implemented by another user. In any case, it is irrelevant now since we actively discourage using headers in talk pages precisely so that they don't display in the TOC for the main comic page, where the discussion page is transcluded to (see the discussion [[#Section style and usage|above]]). This might not scale well for comics that generate lots of discussion. It might be worth discussing our customs (and perhaps write them down somewhere) before performing such changes. What do others think? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:49, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Time: The Table ==<br />
<br />
Right now on the page [[1190: Time]], we have a whole bunch of tables in the form image-time-hash. The tables take up heaps of vertical space and all have to be collapsed to even be remotely traversible. I propose that we aggregate all the images into one table after Time ends, like so:<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable plainlinks table-padding"<br />
|-<br />
!Image<br />
!Time<br />
!Image<br />
!Time<br />
!Image<br />
!Time<br />
!Image<br />
!Time<br />
|-<br />
|[[Media:time.png|00:00]]||01/00:00||[[Media:time.png|10:00]]||01/10:00||[[Media:time.png|20:00]]||01/20:00||[[Media:time.png|30:00]]||AND MOAR SAMPLE DATAS<br />
|-<br />
|[[Media:time.png|00:30]]||01/00:30||[[Media:time.png|10:30]]||01/10:30||[[Media:time.png|20:30]]||01/20:30||[[Media:time.png|30:30]]||AND MOAR SAMPLE DATAS<br />
|}<br />
<br />
The hash values aren't really a part of the comic, they're gibberish for the most part and they take up space that could be used to compact the table, as shown above. Even if we are conservative and make the table only five columns wide to account for smaller screens, we've divided scrolling time by five and eliminated much of the need for annoying collapsed tables and section headers for each day. Constructing the table shouldn't be particularly hard either, as all our current data is in nice regular tables with clear patterns that are easy enough to parse through. <br />
<br />
I'm putting this here because the organization of the frame entries would be unintuitive and difficult to change from the edit window, which would make it a poor choice when we're still expanding it and don't even know how long the comic will continue for. It's merely a space-saving trick for after we're sure that the comic is over. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:26, 16 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Oh and it'd be really nice if other people could also upload images if you're awake and a new one rolls by. There's gaps in the image record every time I wake up, and I dun likey. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:34, 20 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Good work so far; go ahead make it better! :) –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:34, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
==Featured Explanation, and Archival?==<br />
<br />
* Wikipedia has featured content. Now that we are close to reaching the goal of all comics explained, I think it makes more sense to have a "featured explanation" which would serve as a sort of a marker for a complete and good explanation. Many comics, and almost all charts are not fully explained/not a good quality explanation.<br />
<br />
* We should set up archival of discussion of the most discussed pages, like this one. Its not very pleasing to see comments from July 2012 still lying around here. It becomes hectic at some point.<br />
<br />
Just my 2 cents, feel free to discuss. Cheers,<br />
[[Special:Contributions/117.194.88.180|117.194.88.180]] 13:36, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:We dedicate this wiki to explaining xkcd, and we do actually have a featured comic feature; it changes every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and we usually manage to fill out the explanation for it within an hour or so of it going up. The most recent comic tends to be the one that most people visiting the wiki care about, so we give it prime space on the front page so they can find it easily. xkcd updates frequently enough that there isn't really that big of a time window for us to feature an article on our front page. Also, we're a volunteer project with quite a bit less manpower than Wikipedia.<br />
:We do need to archive talk pages though. Some of these are getting ridiculously long. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:04, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::I agree with Davidy22. Archiving topics can be done by anyone, by moving resolved threads to the portal section's corresponding [[explain xkcd talk:Community portal/Proposals|talk page]]. We could start with the threads marked "✓ Closed". [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:42, 1 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: The reason I asked for a "featured explanation" was because many of the comic explanations we currently have are sub-par, and we're almost at our initial goal of explaining all comics. A "featured explanation" would drive our editors towards the goal of having complete and good explanation towards all comics, and would allow us to know which explanations need elaboration.<br />
:: P.S. My definition of complete explanation would be - To have a good explanation, To have all categories relevant, To link to any comics related and To explain any technical portions of the comic.<br />
:: [[Special:Contributions/117.194.82.49|117.194.82.49]] 07:45, 8 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::That message on the front page is going to link to all the pages marked by the incomplete template. If you find an unsatisfactory explanation, please mark it with <nowiki>{{incomplete}}</nowiki> '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:54, 8 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::: By my definition, I think all comics will be incomplete. An incomplete template will be focused more towards improving the worst explanations, while a featured one will be to improve the best ones. Since we already have the former, we should focus on the latter. Just my 2 cents. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.85.82|117.194.85.82]] 06:55, 9 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Split the list of all comics ==<br />
<br />
[[List of all comics]] is getting larger and larger, which makes it hard to read and hard to edit. How about splitting into parts, say [[List of all comics/1-1000]], [[List of all comics/1001-2000]], etc., or something to that effect? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:39, 1 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: Done. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.88.176|117.194.88.176]] 10:03, 9 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Great job, thanks! [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:09, 9 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::And I've added back [[List of all comics (full)]], which allows, for example, listing all comics by alphabetical order.[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 17:29, 10 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Sidebar ads ==<br />
<br />
''Moved from [[Talk:Main Page]] –– [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:06, 4 May 2013 (UTC)''<br />
<br />
Are they generating significant money? The ones I see are pretty sleazy looking and/or scammy - "Power Companies Hate this Device! - click here to break the laws of thermodynamics!" and "Debt relief program click here to lose more money". How much money are they generating? Can you set any selections to remove the sleazy ads? [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 18:30, 3 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Do we have sleazy sidebar ads? Since when? Thanks Google Chrome and AdBlock, I had no idea! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 07:47, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::People give 20$ a pop to get a bunch of clicks on explainxkcd, and Jeff uses that money to buy a faster server with a hard drive that doesn't have less space than a public toilet with an elephant in it. It'd be really nice if you didn't turn on adblock, the money is appreciated. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:47, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::It's a question of me not turning it off specifically every time I visit this site. More importantly, I do think people would be more likely to click the "donate" if it weren't irrelevant ads around it. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 19:29, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::Generating money is a great thing. Getting "20$ a pop to get a bunch of clicks" is a bit unclear. Do the ads only generate revenue when clicked on? So EXKCD only gets money when someone actually falls for the sleazy ads? I know lots of people do not like Google - but at least their adsense stuff is relevant to the content of the website, which might generate some legitimate traffic for a legitimate advertiser.... [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 11:48, 19 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::Welllll, I didn't pick the ad supplier. You could bring it up with [[User talk:Jeff|Jeff]] if you want, I think he picked the ad provider on basis of which one had a mediawiki plugin or something. If you can link Jeff to a quick and easy way to put adsense on mediawiki, he should change it quickly enough. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:21, 19 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::And I also gather then that they are only a temporary thing? -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:27, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::::Until we can buy a server that doesn't poop itself every time a new comic is released, the ads are staying. If you want them to go away sooner, throw more money at Jeff. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:25, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::::: The ads are crap. For sure. Wish I didn't have to run them, but I don't trust donations alone to hold up continually some better hosting. The ads really don't bring in that much $$$. I had google adsense before, but Google shutdown my adsense account for unnamed reason after 1 week. This new ad service is way sketchier. If you all think they don't have a place here, I'll ax 'em. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:02, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::::: Thanks for the info Jeff. How much ad money are we talking about? Is it calculated on how many ads are displayed or how many are clicked-through? How close to the goal is the server fund? How about a Kickstarter campaign for the server? $10 gets your name on a thankyou webpage or something like that. [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 17:32, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::::: It ain't much, last I looked it was $2 or $3 in 2 weeks. I believe it is based on clicks, it is not nearly as clear as Google adsense. I'm not really interested in doing a Kickstarter. I think the donations will cover the initial start up, I just want to be able to cover the monthly costs as well. A few things are still up in the air. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:24, 25 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::::::Can you find a way to show the donations and ad income on the site, to make it transparent? ––[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:30, 30 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::::::: How about a donation amount that you'll take to turn it (the annoying unethical scummy ads) off for a year? Give me a dollar value and I might step up for the good of us all! [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 16:28, 3 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Economic transparency ==<br />
<br />
I think this is very important: How can we make the donations and ad-income transparent, so that we all can see when and how much money is coming in, and how far we are from reaching our goal? – [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 00:35, 24 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Sounds fine to me, I think I can put something together. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:52, 28 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Hi, may I bump this issue? Or maybe you have done something, and I missed it? Anyway, I would still appreciate it! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 17:43, 22 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::Numberssss. I'll get on with it, just need less homework and a few more numbers. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:54, 23 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I would like to respectfully file a complain. I find the banner advertisement of background checks distasteful. [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 05:10, 15 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
: Hey [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] - I am the one who approved those ads. But, since you have filed a complaint about them, I have gone ahead and removed them. Thanks. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:52, 15 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I thank you. [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 03:36, 17 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Using <nowiki><nowiki></nowiki></nowiki> in transcripts to improve accuracy ==<br />
<br />
In the transcripts, <nowiki>[[lines]]</nowiki> are being changed to [lines] in order to avoid auto-linking. Why not just surround these with <nowiki><nowiki></nowiki></nowiki> tags and avoid the problem entirely? --[[User:Epauley|Epauley]] ([[User talk:Epauley|talk]]) 04:18, 16 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Because it takes less time to type and single brackets are just as readable as double brackets to visitors. It's also a bit more readable in the editor. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:55, 16 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Strip Title ==<br />
<br />
For someone who commonly browses explainxkcd in place of xkcd, and hence often see the strips for the first time here rather than the parent site, I find it somewhat odd that the 'Title Text' is so poorly displayed given how critical it can be to the strip.<br />
<br />
I propose that, while retaining the given name (perhaps moving it top left), the title text be enlarged and relocated to being over the strip as originally intended. {{unsigned ip|175.41.133.18}}<br />
:The title text is placed very well at bottom of the image.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 07:20, 6 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I would have to agree with Dgbrt, it's placed nicely at the bottom, and there is no need for it to be moved. My reasoning is that you never actually read the title text first, you read it last. Making it <code>text-align: left;</code> does not make sense, because the image is centered (just like on xkcd.com). I also believe that there is no need for it to be re-sized, mainly due to the fact that it is slightly larger than the title text (for me, at least). {{User:Grep/signature|05:18, 08 September 2013}}<br />
<br />
:Plus, if you hover over the image, it's the same as on xkcd.com {{User:Grep/signature|06:13, 08 September 2013}}<br />
<br />
:I also agree with Dgbrt and Grep. The title text is kind of a bonus and should not be emphasized more than on the original page. On the original site you only see it before the image, if you have very slow internet access (or very fast eyes) --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:06, 2 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Sections in talk pages ==<br />
<br />
Is there a reason why there are no sections in talk pages? It is not a very big deal, but especially for longer talk pages it would make editing be much handier, especially when using the preview function (not having to find the section every time). Also it automatically adds a description to the history (thus makes it more easy to look for certain edits, or decide by just looking at the [[Special:RecentChanges]], if a comment should concern you. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:01, 2 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
:When discussion pages are transcluded by the comic discussion template, section headers carry over from talk pages and bad things happen. Using ; to denote headers instead of equals signs works well, and doesn't share transclusion pain. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:04, 2 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== references ==<br />
<br />
Any chance we can add [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Cite/Cite.php cite.php] to this wiki? Most pages don't need it, but some comics take on a life of their own and being able to add reference tags would be really helpful for those. [[User:LadyMondegreen|LadyMondegreen]] ([[User talk:LadyMondegreen|talk]]) 01:33, 9 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Cite has been added to the wiki. Thanks for the suggestion! --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 01:35, 17 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Stylized writing ==<br />
<br />
I understand that this wiki isn't as formal as wikipedia or sites like that but it seems that there are a few questionable practices:<br />
<br />
1. The use of questions - when a non-rhetorical or unnecessary question is entered into the explanation.<br />
<br />
2. Extremely painted/biased view points - when there is obvious bias in the tone of the explanation of the contributor, in other <br />
words; a lack of neutrality.<br />
<br />
3. Extreme repetition/rehashing - the explanation restates things and makes for a long and tedious read when a more straight-forward explanation is possible and clearer.<br />
<br />
4. The general informality - "This one's an easy one" "This is simple" "this one's straightforward" "You're an idiot for not understanding this one" etc.<br />
<br />
5. Many other practices that make the explanation hard to read, difficult to understand, or plain ugly.<br />
<br />
I know that there are disparaging view points on how a comic should be explained, but please let's clean up the site a bit, acknowledge each view point and report on all of them and then tighten up the sloppy writing. Carry out arguments in the talk section, not the explanation. Perhaps we could first try to say the majority view point on the interpretation and then write the alternate explanations, of course this would bring up the debate on which is the majority explanation. Either way, more complete, logical explanations should be given more credence. --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 00:25, 23 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I agree with 2-5. 1, on the other hand, is sometimes useful and can contribute the to explanation, although 1 is still a very good point. I would say that you should edit it to have "arguments in the talk" be a 6th point as well. Unfortunately, though, we are not all logical, comic-understanding machines here, so minor deviations of these rules are still to be expected. But I think that overall, these are good rules, even if 2/3 are sort of part of 5.<br />
:[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]], please sign your post with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki><span style="float: right;">{{User:Grep/signature|23:55, 22 October 2013}}</span><br />
<br />
:I understand the use of questions in certain parts. And it was probably better to put the others as sub-categories to five but I wanted to show some common things that can be easily fixed. I know that some explanations require a lot of text and extensive research because of the abstract subjects Randall deals with and that it's difficult to be completely standardized but I think it would be good for us to try to come up with some general things to try to avoid to help the explanations "flow" --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 00:25, 23 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Most of that isn't intentional, it's just an awful lot of labor to copy check all the explanations. I've been going through all the current articles and fixing consistency issues, the worst being wrong transcript/title text/dates and the most benign being wikilinks, spelling and trailing spaces. I'm at 682 so far, but my next pass will be on actual language and content, and it'll probably take longer. It takes a while though, and you can totally work on improving language in articles if you want to. Some explanations were pulled from the old blog, some were written and just got lost in the changelog. Copy editing everything we have so far is a very labor-intensive job, and the only way to really deal with it is to knuckle down and do it, or form a wikiproject and hope to heaven that visitors feel charitable enough to join in on it. I'd *probably* push to finish up all our incomplete articles first though, just because that's more directly related to the purpose of the site; tone and style probably comes second to having correct explanations. That doesn't mean you can't do it yourself, it's just that I'll probably only dedicate the subheader on the main page to one project at a time and our current biggest bugbear hasn't been solved yet. I could put up a sitenotice to see if that speeds the process up any. I'll do that when I get back home. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:31, 23 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Easy redirect to comic? ==<br />
<br />
I've been thinking, and there is one thing that would make navigating to the explained comics easier. My method of browsing is I'll see the comic on xkcd.com first, and if there is something curious about it that I don't quite understand, I'll come here. Sometimes it can be a bit troublesome, going to the homepage and then navigatiing to the right comic. Not too bad, but I'd like an easy way to go direct. So I was thinking, what if you had a redirect such that if you typed in, for example, www.explainxkcd.com/505, you would get redirected to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=505:_A_Bunch_of_Rocks. That would mean that you could get to the comic just from adding an "explain" to the start of the xkcd.com URL. I don't know if that is at all possible, but it would be pretty handy if it happened. Thoughts?<br />
[[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 03:01, 25 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
:[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Technical#Redirect_from_explainxkcd.com.2F1234 That's actually already on the to-do list.] I'm testing it right now and we should have it up soon. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:02, 25 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
:: Awesome :) [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 03:26, 1 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::Whoop, forgot to mark this as complete. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:37, 1 November 2013 (UTC) <br />
:::: Done! Copy this and drag it to your bookmarks bar: |javascript: var url = document.URL; document.location = url.replace('xkcd.com','explainxkcd.com');| {{unsigned ip|173.245.52.29}}<br />
:::::The feature requested here has also long since been implemented. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:20, 4 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Increase support via prominent display of copyright and license for text submitted to explainxkcd ==<br />
<br />
XKCD itself is rather liberally licensed, and gets lots of good will from that. As it says on the bottom of every page "This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License." For details see [http://xkcd.com/license.html xkcd - A Webcomic - License].<br />
<br />
But I found nothing on most pages of explainxkcd about copyright or licensing, and it discouraged me from contributing or donating. Finally, as I was writing this proposal up, I found a link on the editing page here: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Copyrights explain xkcd:Copyrights - explain xkcd] saying that "''The Explain XKCD wiki is generally licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license (CC-BY-SA-3.0)''". That notice should be more prominent on the site, with at least a link on each page. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 15:27, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:This should be mentioned at the main page, including a reference to the xkcd origin.<br />
:BTW: NO DOUBLE SPACES after a sentence. Are you US guys still using a typewriter? It's not rendered at a web page and stupid like Gallons, Miles, Foots, and much more unique US behaviours. But that's just a joke beside.<br />
:The licence hint is much more important, you are just correct.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:12, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Added a creative commons icon to the footer of the page, next to the powered by mediawiki button. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:16, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New Comics Bot ==<br />
<br />
Would there be need for such a thing?<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.52|108.162.231.52]] Synthetica<br />
:Nice idea, I never thought about that before. I will do some tests on existing comics to check if this could reduce the current number of error posts for a new article. When that is ready and working I will talk to some admins. My bot account [[User:DgbrtBOT|DgbrtBOT]] was originally intended for [[1190: Time]] picture uploads, but I never have used it because Time was over. Creating the new pages should be easy in general, avoiding errors will cost some more work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:31, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::If you can get dgbrtBOT to do that, that'd help us an awful lot. It'd allow us to get rid of the ifexist cases in template:LATESTCOMIC as well, since the bot could change automatically that whenever a new comic goes up. It'll also help us get new comics down almost the moment they pop up, since the bot could sample several times a minute until a comic is posted. So long as it gets the general pattern right so that we have a correct page set up, we're good. An admin can come in sometime later to clean up categories and image urls and other piddly easy-to-fix details. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:54, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::I will work on this next weekend, just local scripts and no updates here. I also will talk about my results before any automatic updates will be activated. My first focus is on creating the new pages in the general pattern, LATESTCOMIC and also the page "All comics" are maybe a bonus later. And of course all my scripts will be open source.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:44, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::The first version is ready and I will test it at my local wiki. If everything goes well I could activate it for Wednesday (2013-11-13). LATESTCOMIC and "All comics" are on my roadmap, but first I want produce correct new pages here. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:00, 10 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::Righty ho. Here goes. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:36, 10 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Even when my automatic local wiki test did fail today, just a damn wrong password, I will activate the bot here for Wednesday. It will only run from 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM UTC. You will not see my possible updates at [[Special:RecentChanges]] unless you click ''Show bots'' at the top of that page. LATESTCOMIC and "All comics" are not covered, but this is at my TODO list until this test will be successful. Give me a '''GO''' or '''NO-GO''' for this test.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:49, 11 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Easily a GO, I'll be ready to clean up if anything goes wrong. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:08, 11 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::So be ready on Wednesday for the clean up. My worst case is ''it simply does not work'', second worse scenario is still that I could delete some contend already posted here, but I'm trying to avoid this. ''Huston'', the countdown clock is counting. I'm joking about this because I really want to be confident about this ''BOT'' or ROBOT or uncontrolled action here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:28, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::The bot can't do anything that I can't reverse. I can even restore a backup from an hour before the bot's edits if it manages to break the database. How quickly does it poll xkcd, by the way? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:53, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
First live test here (comic 1289). Please delete this page: [[Simple_Answers:_1289]]. Since my local wiki did not provide this templates I could not see this error before. In general the bot will update pages differ to any existing pages, but when it is not changed no update will happen. I'm fixing this errors at my script and do a second test here soon. I want to see it's producing correct pages until the bot will do it's work when I'm sleeping.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:31, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Ok, test are done here, BOT is scheduled for the next update. Polling is every five minutes on Mon, Wed, and Fri from 04:00 until 08:00 UTC. Let's see how it will work.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:08, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Couldja ramp that up to once/twice a minute, push the start time back by an hour, and the end time by a few hours? Also, is it possible to terminate it once it finds a comic for a certain day? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:45, 13 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::It worked! Though it posted the comic 5 minutes past post time. We has technology now, we can afford to poll faster and closer, yeah? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:32, 13 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Uhh, it worked... I will increase the polls when I'm more confident about the release times. Today it was approx. 05:00 UTC (GMT) or 01:00 EST (Randall's time zone). Looks like he is still at daylight saving time, would have been 00:00 EDT. The polls will be increased to one minute when I'm sure about the Standard Release Time (SRT). Next steps for the next update on Friday are:<br />
:The "All comics" page.<br />
:The LATESTCOMIC template.<br />
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:54, 13 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:The LATESTCOMIC template is included for the next run, it just simply has to return a number. But it's still the most critical part because if it does not work the Main Page is broken. I will change this to a better solution using that IFEXIST syntax soon. The list of all comics is still at my ToDo list. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:06, 14 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::The desired content of the LATESTCOMIC template should be just the comic number. If we can get out of having to poll multiple IFEXIST statements to find the latest comic, that would be a fantastic boon to our server performance. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:43, 15 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::OK, it did work today so I will not change this. Next step is the list for all comics.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:10, 15 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Next run will include an update on the "All comics" page. I'm crossing my fingers. When this update is also successful I will document my Bot at the Bot user page [[User:DgbrtBOT]]. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:15, 17 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Oh, I forgot this detail: The bot is starting at 00:00 EST (RLT - Randall local time), which is 04:00 UTC and 05:00 MET for me. It polls every 5 minutes until 23:55 MET (22:55 UTC, 18:55 RLT) the main page until a new comic is found. I do not poll the comic number because I want to avoid 404 message logs at the servers.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:30, 17 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Something went wrong there. That's gonna need fixing. I am enjoying the looks of the apparently faster polling though. Maybe you could also set the start time to 00:00:05 EST to catch the on-time xkcd releases within ten seconds? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:33, 18 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Uh, what a mess. I will do some more tests at my local wiki. At the next time I will do a check against the number from the LATESTCOMIC template, only the next number will be processed. The test against my local history did fail because of some cleanups after testings.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 08:18, 18 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::I don't like mess. So the BOT got many more checks before posting here but the bot was starting at 05:00 local time for me. I'm really asleep at that time. The mess here was covered, but I do need another GO for the next attempt. Otherwise I will just do a test to my local wiki.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:35, 18 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
No GO so far, my next test will run only at my local wiki.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:16, 19 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:My script is here: [https://github.com/dgbrt/explainXKCD_update explainXKCD_update]. At my current test "explainxkcd.com" is commented out and "localhost" is active. Since I don't like mess and the bot does act while I am sleeping the next update must be done manually here. I'm hoping the bot will be ready for the next update on Friday.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:15, 19 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Bot is ready for Friday, everything went smooth at my last local test today. The bot did find the latest comic at 04:05 UTC and all essential pages were properly created. So I will activate it for this site again. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:57, 20 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Bot did work as expected. So I name it release 1.1337, the next planed release will be 2.1337 (beta) because of this two issues:<br />
*"Include any categories below this line." will be removed because it doesn't make any sense any more.<br />
*BETA: I want to use the full template features at [[List of all comics]], just ensuring that the pictures are working properly. No need for this at the most comics, but the BOT doesn't cover all possibilities on corrupt file names like we have had in "Pi vs. Tau". The picture was without that dot. My bot just shows the real link it did upload here.<br />
I'm pretty sure we will have some issues on this bot, but for general pages it should work. So the bot will be active on Mon,Wed,Fri from 0:00 EST (or EDT) every five minutes until it did found a new comic, on success the bot does not poll any more.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:51, 22 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Aww, it's a bot. It doesn't need to rest or take time off to do other stuff. It can totally poll once or more times per minute. Also, if you set the start time to a few seconds after midnight, Randall time, when he uploads a comic on-time, you'll get it within a few seconds as opposed to having to wait for the next polling. As for the image names, maybe you could convert spaces in the comic name to underscores, compare the two comic names you have and use that to decide which version of the template to use? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:08, 22 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::I have to avoid that the bot is running twice, Internet Timeouts and more. And the comics are also published later sometimes. Look at my release [https://github.com/dgbrt/explainXKCD_update 1.1337], release 2.1337 will be later, Maybe I should start at 2 minutes after 0:00, but let's see right now how the bot does work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:38, 23 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Uhh, what a huge discussion here. The bot will get a major update soon: Scheduler does start it once and until a comic is found and uploaded it here or an other limit is reached (maybe the end of the day) the bot will poll by a small delay. But every poll is still an entire download from the main page, When a new comic is found bot stops.<br />
:Why, you could use http://xkcd.com/info.0.json, right?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.52|108.162.231.52]] 07:38, 2 December 2013 (UTC)Synthetica<br />
::The BOT performs perfect and I prefer to analyze the original page. A title text like the one from today (a text showing a link) will be covered in the future.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 10:35, 2 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
A great enhancement would be also covering a new comic like 1190 Time was. I'm looking forward on this, some ideas, it does require a complete analyse of the page and then finding some strange content. <br />
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:05, 27 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Require description for 'incomplete' tags ==<br />
I've been trying to fix some of the incompletes, but several explanation pages I've come across are tagged incomplete without any reason given. The reason should be a required part of the tag. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.223|173.245.52.223]] 03:35, 7 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
:This incomplete tags are just older than the recent change of that template. Current adds require a description, but it's not easy to figure out all that old reasons. If someone does find a reason, please just add it. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:22, 7 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Should there be a subwiki to cover the shop links that appear above the comic? ==<br />
<br />
The current one (as of writing) is [http://imgs.xkcd.com/store_news/store_gd_b11_1ze4.png] but this is a different than the usual, and there was also a third in between these.<br />
[[User:Rsranger65|Rsranger65]] ([[User talk:Rsranger65|talk]]) 06:00, 8 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Those are very ephemeral. They aren't going to exist for very long, I don't know how valuable it would be to archive that stuff. We could probably do it, but having to figure out another naming convention and all for advertisements doesn't appeal to me at the current moment. If you can flesh it out, I'd love to see how you think we should do it. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:24, 8 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New Character ==<br />
<br />
OK, I think we need a name for the character with a goatee and glasses in comics [[435: Purity]], [[796: Bad Ex]] and [[964: Dorm Poster]] as well as possibly others. Edit: oh and I suggest Goatee and Glasses Guy, but I'm open for suggestions Edit 2: also in [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]] Halfhat {{unsigned|Halfhat}}<br />
edit 3: Another sighting [[954: Chin-Up Bar]] [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 16:57, 13 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
: In the transcript, he is called "Person with Glasses and a Goatee" --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:39, 21 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
:: "Glasses Guy", "Goatee Guy" are both probably descriptive enough! --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:41, 21 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== What If Comics ==<br />
<br />
Hi, I was thinking, maybe at some point we should do the comics in the ''What If?'' section, like [http://what-if.xkcd.com/imgs/a/36/cornstarch_bitcoins.png this one.] [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 20:01, 13 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
: Start creating the pages for them! --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:36, 21 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
: I think I can start creating one or two pages for What If, if that helps... [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 16:14, 5 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
:: If nobody has any problem with it, I'm gonna give it a try later. :) [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 13:14, 8 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::I thought they were already pretty self-explanatory though. Also, how are we gonna organize and present them? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:31, 8 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
::::I totally agree with David: Read the entire What-If page and follow the links provided by Randall. No one of us can do that better in depth. But an overview page for this site is maybe not a bad idea, we just need a proper link here — a link at the main menu on the left. Translations to other languages are just another issue. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:37, 8 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::::Yes, I was thinking of an overview, summarizing the contents and discoveries of each what if page. Not to mention, we could also organize what if pages by categories, such as physics/love.<br />
:::::Would you like me to post here an example of what I would write? That way we can decide if it's worthy of creating an actual page. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 12:53, 9 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
:Adding pages for What If? posts would be very helpful. Although the articles themselves are obviously self-explanatory, there are almost as many subtle references, running gags, and in-jokes in What If? posts these days as in the comics themselves.<br />
I often visit explain xkcd when I feel like I'm missing an inside joke or a pop culture reference in a comic, and it would be very helpful to many people (especially those from other cultures/subcultures) to have the same service.<br />
For example, today's What If? contains multiple allusions to the Superman Movie, a running Citation Needed joke, and a whole comic that is a not-so-subtle dig at Elon Musk and the Hyperloop. It would be awesome if the community here at explainxkcd could tackle stuff like that.<br />
Anonymous 20:05, 31 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I agree. I don't understand the mouseover text on the first image in "Snow Removal", for example. [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 22:57, 23 February 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Transcripts ==<br />
<br />
The whole point of the transcripts is to have those who are unable to view images to still be able to read the comic, right?<br />
<br />
Then why is it required to stick to strictly official transcripts, where sometimes rewriting them slightly would make them flow better or otherwise get the ideas across better? I've tried rewriting a few, but they get reverted. I think that having easier-to-understand transcripts would be more important than strictly following official transcripts; what do you think? (For a few examples, see [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=207:_What_xkcd_Means&diff=60061&oldid=57400 this edit] and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=995%3A_Coinstar&diff=59862&oldid=57316 this edit]. [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 17:38, 19 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
:We use the original transcript to try and deduce original author intent if it's unclear from the image. I remember one comic where Beret Guy was off in the distance and it was difficult to distinguish him from the image, but the official transcript said it was him. We don't stick to the original transcript if it's obviously wrong, or it has typographical errors: see [[Laser Scope]]. Those edits seem to be mainly targeted at language and clarity, and should be fine. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:06, 19 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
::Would it be helpful to have another (optional) section for expanding on the official transcripts? I too think it could be helpful, especially for complex images (such as 1079/United Shapes [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1079]). Or does supplemental description belong in the Explanation sections? Cheers. [[User:Karenb|Karenb]] ([[User talk:Karenb|talk]]) 23:00, 20 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::Naaah, how many people even know there's an original transcript? If the original is wrong, change it. If your additions begin to verge on explanatory, move eet to the trivia/explanation sections. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:52, 21 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== "Characters in this Comic" section ==<br />
<br />
Should there be a "Characters in this Comic" section in each comic explanation? (I feel like this should be longer but don't have anything else to say.) [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 23:33, 11 May 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:There is a Category section at the bottom of each comic. Just scroll down and you will see any character belonging to a specific comic. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:50, 12 May 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Adding the Radiation chart from XKCD ==<br />
<br />
Hi <br />
As there are already other comics with explanations even though they are not part of the number system.<br />
This one does not seem to have any yet:<br />
http://xkcd.com/radiation/<br />
And as it is very alike the Money strip (the unexplained of the week) so I think it should be explained as well.<br />
If you agree please add it as I'm not sure how to do that.<br />
<br />
Best regards<br />
:[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:47, 7 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Reddit comments? ==<br />
<br />
There should be a link in each comics explanation page somewhere linking to the comment section for the relevant comic on /r/xkcdcomic or reddit.<br />
:The reddit comments page isn't ''that'' close to what we do though. If this is more popular, we'll do it, though there'll need to be a fair bit of post-hoc editing since I don't think there's a standard URL scheme for all the past comics. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
:I just came here to ask if we could do this, but I looked into it and it wouldn't be simple. Could we write a bot to run on the xkcd subreddit to post the link here? --[[User:Eluvatar|Eluvatar]] ([[User talk:Eluvatar|talk]]) 05:53, 6 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Not insulting new users ==<br />
<br />
I am writing a response to a vulnerability assessment. I have included a link to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/936 noting that it contains a good explanation of the relative security of passwords vs passphrases. I just noticed that the top of that page contains "Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb." Looks like I'll have to find a different site to link to. --[[User:Pascal|Pascal]] ([[User talk:Pascal|talk]]) 17:33, 28 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
:I agree. While I'm sure it can seem cute or funny in various circles, that text has always seemed immature and inappropriate to me, and I'm sure to many folks we'd like to invite to the site. I suggest that it be changed. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 19:52, 23 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:The XKCD http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/936 suggestion for password is actually not that good. [http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/62832/is-the-oft-cited-xkcd-scheme-no-longer-good-advice read here] for some more discussion. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.253.6|162.158.253.6]] 23:49, 10 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I also agree. I'm not here because I'm stupid, I'm here because I don't know something and I'm hoping this site can help. It's off putting to have that text there, and there's no benefit to it. What about just repeating the thing at the top of XKCD.com: "Romance, Sarcasm, Math, and Language: Explained"?<br />
<br />
I agree, and there is actually a very long talk page started about this subject in the miscellaneous section. Eventually people voted to keep it, but the main argument on that side was that that was the way things had always been. I am fairly new to the site (this is actually my first post on it), so I don't know how these things work, but I do think that that should be changed. There were actually a large number of good proposals for replacements with the other one, and I thought it would be funny if there was a randomly selected character every time you loaded a page, with each character having their own tagline. Is there any way to try to get this changed again?[[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.52|172.68.78.52]]<br />
<br />
== RSS feed ==<br />
<br />
Is there an RSS feed (or some equivalent) of Explain XKCD available? It's helpful for those using feed readers, and superior to the primary XKCD RSS since there are explanations and the mouse over text is transcribed for the lazy. Thanks [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.154|108.162.219.154]] 08:24, 28 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
:[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:NewPages&feed=atom&hideredirs=1&limit=90&offset=&namespace=0&username=&feed=&tagfilter= Why yes, we do!] It's the regular new pages log that all wikis have. It's a little ugly at the moment, and sometimes junk gets in there when a bot chucks spam at us, so a nicer feed is in the works, but the linked one should do you excellently for now. When the nice one is done, you'll see it in the sidebar below the "Help" button. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:31, 28 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Navigation Pane Link - Categories ==<br />
<br />
How about having a link to the "Special:Categories" page in the navigation pane?<br />
<br />
A fair amount of effort has gone into categorising the comics, and at the moment it isn't particularly obvious how to browse by category. Is this worth doing?{{unsigned|Pudder}}<br />
:Space on the sidebar is on a premium. I dunno, I'd probably be against it, but I want to hear what other admins say as well. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:45, 29 September 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Alternate realities what if would benefit from a wiki entry ==<br />
<br />
The what if entry from the end of November 2014 providing excerpts from alternate reality what ifs would benefit from an explain page. <br />
I suspect these may have been typos that have been made into jokes, but some of the humor might not be apparent to all. <br />
I doubt I have access (or maybe know how) to set it up myself. <br />
<br />
Cheers {{unsigned ip|199.27.133.42}}<br />
<br />
: Made it. Check out [[What If: 120: Alternate Universe What Ifs]]. [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 09:10, 26 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
::We don't actually have a structure for what if pages in general, so I'll have to take that down, but when we do we can make pages for every what if. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:57, 26 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Secondary URLs? ==<br />
<br />
I have made http://www.xkcd.ga and http://www.xkcd.tk both forward to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. Is this ok? [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:50, 26 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
:While we probably won't advertise them because we can't guarantee the uptime of third-party URLs, and they add an additional redirect layer and lack our shortened URL features, you're free to purchase and link URLs to us independently. We are not owned by Randall and as such cannot claim to actually be xkcd, so I'm not hugely comfortable with you using the plain name "xkcd" to link to us; a url in the format http://www.xkcd.[TLD] should by rights link to the main xkcd site, but no trademark claim has been made or likely will be made, so you should be fine with doing whatever you want to do with URL redirects '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:57, 26 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== LaTeX (Or MathML, TeX) support? ==<br />
<br />
[[1489:_Fundamental_Forces|In the most recent comic at the time of posting]], there was use of formulae, being:<br/>F<sub>gravity</sub> = G m<sub>1</sub>m<sub>2</sub>/d<sup>2</sup><br/>F<sub>static</sub> = K<sub>e</sub> q<sub>1</sub>q<sub>2</sub>/d<sup>2</sup><br/><br />
There are probably many more comics using formulae that cannot be rendered properly without the use of LaTeX or something. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Displaying_a_formula help page on Wikipedia] says that the following should work:<br/><math>F_{gravity}=G\frac{m_1m_2}{d^2}</math><br/><math>F_{static}=K_e\frac{q_1q_2}{d^2}</math><br />
Provided that one has to set <source lang="php" enclose="none">$wgUseTeX = true;</source> in [[mw:Manual:LocalSettings.php|LocalSettings.php]]. Is there any reason for this to be disabled? If there is, is there any alternative? —[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.95|141.101.106.95]] 21:18, 20 February 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:The wgUseTeX flag was deprecated in mediawiki 1.18 in a move to simplify base mediawiki and move niche features into seperate plugins. I vaguely remember this being requested in the past, can't find any evidence of me implementing it. I'll try it now, see what stopped me last time. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:12, 21 February 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Ah, there's a bit of configuration work to it and I was busy at the time probably. I'll put it on the growing to do list on my userpage. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:20, 21 February 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Merge Cueball & Rob ==<br />
<br />
At the risk of posting this idea too many places and annoying everyone, I would like to propose that we consider merging [[Cueball]] and [[Rob]] and redirecting Cueball to Rob, much as [[Cutie]] now redirects to [[Megan]]. The most common name given for a Cueball-like character in the strip is "Rob". Like Megan, he is not always named. Also, like Megan, Rob tends to have distinct characteristics such as being a nerdy alter-ego to Randall (e.g. [[1168: tar]]) just as Megan often is the appearance given to comic representations of Randall's wife (see [[1141: Two Years]], before hair loss). Megan and Cueball appear to have a relationship (e.g. [[159: Boombox]]) and Megan clearly hangs out with Rob in ways not inconsistent with adventurous couples (e.g. [[782: Desecration]]). Finally, comics that feature both [[Black Hat]] and "Cueball" seem to depict them as friends and possibly roommates. However, we learn in [[1102: Fastest-Growing]] that Black Hat's roommate is named "Rob".<br />
<br />
In short, I believe if [[159: Boombox]] had called "Cueball" "Rob" we would've rewritten both Cutie and Cueball to redirect there. Because we learned that "Cueball's" name is actually Rob much later (I think the earliest occurrences are [[647: Scary]], and [[716: Time Machine]]; the first time he is seen with Megan in a capacity that might indicate a relationship is [[782: Desecration]]). [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:05, 11 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:As I answered your comment on [[1496: Art Project]] Rob is [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comics_featuring_Rob already listed] as part of the category for Comics featuring Cueball: and this is listed as the first entry when going to the page for [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comics_featuring_Cueball Category:Comics featuring Cueball]. Cueball is such an integral part of explain xkcd that I do not think any other users wish to change. Also the 9 incidences with Rob is maybe a specific person and at the time Randall did not think to give him any features. Also Cueballs have no specific behavior as you allude to. Neither has Megan. You can always find several Cueballs and Megans that behave a certain way. But then you can find many other comics where they behave the opposite way. Thus Rob and Cueball should not be merged. Also there are several comics with more than one Cueball. And here we have this problem: It is typically the first who writes the transcript who decides who of the Cueballs (or Megans) he feels represents the "real" Cueball. However, there is no real behavior of Cueball. So who should decide. I could change all these transcripts so it becomes the other character who becomes Cueball, because I think that the first transcriber did it wrong. And this is why in a comic with more than one Cueball (where neither is called Rob or the like) neither of the two should be called Cueball. It would still be in the category with Cueball, because that is just comics with a Cueball like character no matter how many. But they cannot be named Cueball and friend or Rob and friend (unless Rob's name is mentioned!) They could be called Cueball 1 and Cueball 2, but then guy or man would be better. I know several places have comics with two Cueballs where someone has designated one of them Cueball and the other friend of foe etc. But this should be corrected so none of these are called Cueball. Same should go for more than one Megan. But this is very rare, and I have only found one other than ''Art project'' and here only one Megan had any lines. The problem with different opinions on which Cueball is which came for the first time up with Megan in ''Art project'': The two Megan-like characters was first named (left to right) Megan and Danish. Then unidentified girl and Megan. Then Megan and unidentified girl, then two Megan like girls with short and long hair and finally you reverted it to my first change away from Danish to unidentified girl and Megan. (I can live with that as there is difference in hair length and behavior). But as far as I see it Cueball is not Rob as well as Megan should have continued to be called Cutie (but I would not like to change that now, as I have grown fond of Megan). But at the time the change was done I believe it was wrong. The same fondness for the name Cueball also makes me sure that no one else would wish to call him Rob, even if that is as much his name as Megan is Cuties... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:57, 11 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::My argument is that it is inertia and sentiment ("fond of Megan") that prevents an objective, equal treatment here. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 22:47, 11 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Also, regarding the analogy made above to Danish. I am fine with a nickname when Randall hasn't named a character. So she was "unidentified girl" and then became "Danish". But, when we named her "Danish", we went back to "Journal 1" and other places and renamed her. My proposal is that we should go back through and rename "Cueball" as "Rob". Alternatively, we should reinstate "Cutie" for cases in which it is not clear that a character is "Megan" per se, but just Megan in her "everywoman" capacity. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 00:00, 12 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I'm not sure how to post a poll, but I see the following options:<br />
<br />
1) Status quo: Cueball for all unidentified males without distinct characteristics (e.g. hats), Megan for all shoulder-length brunettes. Rob only for named Cueballs. Multiple Cueballs in a comic mean one is named Cueball and others get named "Friend", etc.<br />
<br />
2) Symmetry 1: Cueball/Rob stays as is. Unnamed brunettes get named "Cutie". "Megan" like "Rob" is reserved for comics in which a name is used.<br />
<br />
3) Symmetry 2: Megan stays as is. Rob is the default for indistinct males. "Cueball" page redirects to "Rob" (as "Cutie" now redirect to "Megan").<br />
<br />
4) Expunge all Cueballs from multi-Cueball comics: Basically the status quo, except that in comics with multiple Cueballs none are named "Cueball" and are just all given names "Man 1", "Man 2", etc.<br />
<br />
I am ambivalent regarding options 2 or 3. I could live with 1 if there is consensus for it, but I don't like it. 4 is a disaster in my mind and gains nothing. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 22:47, 11 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:We are probably the only one who reads these post...? But anyway as is clear I'm for 4. Which has been used several places already.´I can live with 1. I think 2 and 3 are disasters. Also it would be completely confusing for those who have used this page for many years. Why do you bring this up now? Is it because of the multiple Megan comics, or have you just signed up here, and dislike that it doesn't follow the rules you would have expected?--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:19, 12 March 2015 (UTC) <br />
::I suggest instead that we create a category for multiple Cueballs, so it is easy to explain why the Cueball is not a specific character, and thus can never be Rob (except when it is clear from the text), or be expected to behave a certain way. And in reverse we make a Named Megan category so it is easy to find the few (three?) where she has been named. This by the way has nothing to do with the other suggestions, so I might just do that to get an overview. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:19, 12 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
::: It seems more consistent to me to use [[Cutie]] for all unnamed "Megans" and reserve "Megan" for named comics. Thus, Rob is '''a''' Cueball and Megan is '''a''' Cutie. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 13:30, 13 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::::I've read through some of your discussions (Here, Kynde's talk page, Art Project discussion), and thought I might put my thoughts forwards. Essentially we have three questions here:<br />
::::1) Should we merge Cueball and Rob, and rename all Cueballs as Rob?<br />
::::2) Should we rename all Megans as Cutie, except where she is explicitly named?<br />
::::3) Once questions 1 & 2 are answered, what do we do where the 'same' character appears multiple times in one comic?<br />
<br />
::::*I understand the objective argument for renaming Cueball to Rob, however I'm unconvinced of the importance of being entirely objective, and I can't imagine Cueball being renamed to anything other than Cueball. <br />
::::*I think its fairly clear where the Cueball label has come from, even if it might not be immediately obvious to some. Even if readers don't make the link between Cueball's head and a cue-ball, it is quite a generic label, which I think fits well with the transient every-man nature of Cueball's usage.<br />
::::*There is something far more specific about the name Rob, which suggests that he is the same character every time. The origin of the name isn't obvious, which I think would be likely to cause confusion. <br />
::::This brings me to conclude that for me, the answer to Q1 has to be that Cueball should stay as Cueball, unless explicitly named something else. <br />
<br />
::::The question of changing Megan to Cutie is one where I am less confident. Following the arguments I've made above, the outcome has to be that we rename to Cutie unless specifically named Megan, however I am not entirely convinced. The name Megan has a history, there are surely lots of people who now know her as Megan, what do we really stand to gain from all the work of changing to Cutie? I would also suggest that the name Cutie may not be accepted well by those with strong feminist views.<br />
<br />
::::As far as multi-character comics, I don't have time right now, but I will come back later and add my thoughts. Now that we've only got a few incomplete comics, we've had to resort to discussing renaming characters!--[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:07, 13 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
:::::I agree with the reasons for keeping Cueball and Megan. And also that Cutie is such a loaded word, that it should never have been used anyway. This I did not immediately think about, but Cutie sounds like something from either a porn movie, or else a Bond Babe... Like the phrase from one of those movies: "Hello, I'm Plenty..." Then we should have to find a third name. And everyone here knows her as Megan. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:24, 15 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
::::::I have created the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Multiple_Cueballs Category:Multiple Cueballs] to locate them and to show how often there are more than one. Feel free to add any I haven't found yet. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:45, 16 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think Rob is Black Hat's roommate and Megan's boyfriend/partner/husband (see above). The "Cueball" in comics such as [[159: Boombox]] and [[542: Cover-Up]] should, in my view, be renamed "Rob", even though he is not explicitly called that in those comics. Most other "Cueball" comics can stay unchanged. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 00:43, 14 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
:I have left my reason to disagree also with this on the two comics talk page. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:24, 15 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In my opinion, it is quite clear that [[Randall]] has chosen to name the main male protagonist [[Rob]], for the few occasions where he needs characters to call upon each other, in the same way as he has chosen [[Megan]] for the main female protagonist. We should therefore try to overcome our nostalgia, follow Randall, and call the common male protagonist Rob. The problem with multiple cueballs can most often be resolved by identifying the protagonist, from the first-person narration or the general perspective. Thus, in [[525: I Know You're Listening]] Rob is the comic's "I", to the left. In [[1110: Click and Drag]], Rob is obviously flying with a balloon. In [[610: Sheeple]] Rob is arguably the guy in the foreground facing us. Non-Rob "cueballs" we could refer to as "friend" "man", etc. In this way roughly half of the "multiple cueballs" would be resolved. I think I can live with a few unclear cases, like [[220: Philosophy]]. [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:22, 19 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:A featureless character has been ''specifically'' named Rob in 9 comics, compared with 968 'Comics featuring Cueball'. I believe it is fundamentally flawed to assert that because a featureless character is named Rob in less than 1% of appearances, that all featureless characters should therefore be assumed to be Rob. As I've discussed above, I think that Rob strongly implies a specific person, whereas Cueball is a vague 'everyman' character. I feel it would be a huge error to change all Cueballs to Robs.--[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 17:37, 19 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::The problem with that logic is that "Megan" is only named in a small number of comics (fewer that "Rob"). So we should have a different name for an unnamed generic female. [[Cutie]] is fine, but if people perceive that as sexist, then another name, maybe "Cuegirl" or "Brunette" would work. (Side note: I doubt "Cutie" would be perceived as sexist and there's history there.) What I '''do''' find sexist is the fact that there is asymmetry between male and female "everyperson"s. In sum, I would say there is at less evidence to support naming Megan-everywoman "Megan" in all cases as there is to name Rob-everyman (here called "Cueball") "Rob" in all cases. Asymmetry here ignores the fact that Randall clearly intends his name to be "Rob" and also that we are using a proper name for everywoman but a contrived name for everyman, while creating an artificial distinction between Rob and Cueball and smearing out any possible distinction between Megan-everywoman and Megan-properName. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 13:18, 27 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::As I put in my earlier comment (see above), I do agree that the logical conclusion is that Megan should no longer be named Megan, and should have an equivalent generic name. As an aside, I'm quite partial to your suggestion of Cuegirl. I disagree with your assertion that "Randall clearly intends his name to be Rob", and I think that is the central point of this discussion. I don't believe that there is anywhere near enough evidence to assign a specific name to what I believe is a generic character. If we want to go for formal logic, consider the syllogism "Some non descipt characters are called Rob, there are many non-descript characters, therfore all non-descript characters are called Rob". The conclusion simply does not follow. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 14:22, 27 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::::Great, I vote for Cuegirl & Cueball :: Megan & Rob! [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 01:31, 31 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I agree with Djbrasier's and St.nerol's arguments, and I too feel that the arguments against dealing with this in an objective, symmetrical and logical way seem mostly based on nostalgia. Either we agree that a few named instances of the everywoman are sufficient to generalize to the (vastly more numerous) unnamed instances, and apply the same standard to the everyman, which is only consistent (and even more justified in the case of Rob since he is named in more comics than Megan), or we decide that the extrapolation is unjustified and we revert the Cutie-->Megan merge. The alternative --having double standards and deciding things based on historical baggage and emotional attachment rather than rationality-- makes no sense for followers of the comic that ''literally invented'' nerd-sniping!<br />
<br />
I'd also add that, as a non-native speaker, "cueball" doesn't ring any immediate bells unless the connection to cue balls is pointed out explicitly -- so actually Rob works even better as a generic name than Cueball. We have already [[#New character|agreed previously]] that clarity is better than cleverness when we named [[Hairy]], forgoing the less obvious alliteration "Harry", so I vote we use the name Randall ''actually'' gave us, let go of our attachments to a creation he never endorsed, and honor our collective nerdiness by doing the logical thing: apply our standards uniformly and adopt Rob the same way we adopted Megan. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 06:09, 10 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I've already put my thoughts forward above, so I won't repeat the same ground I've covered, other than to say I believe it would be a mistake to turn all Cueballs into Robs. While I will admit to having some nostalgia for the name Cueball, that isn't a major facet of my argument. I believe that any generic name is better than a specific name. Call them Stickboy & Stickgirl if you want! I know there are a fairly significant number of contributors and visitors who do not have English as their first language, but I don't believe that is a reason to choose a specific name, rather than a generic name, even if the origin of the latter isn't immediately obvious to all. It would be interesting to know whether each of us sees Cueball as always being the same person, or Cueball *is* Randall, or Cueball is just a changeable everyman.<br />
<br />
:To me, he is a changeable everyman, who I guess may represent or be based on: Randall, his friends, family or acquaintances, famous people, someone he saw in the street, or a completely made up character used to fill a specific role in the comic. The reason I argue againt merging Rob & Cueball is that the Cueball I see is this morphing and fluid character, and to use a specific name to tie him down to being the same character all the time runs completely counter to that. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 08:31, 10 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: Understood, and sorry for mischaracterizing your argument (the nostalgia part does butt the discussion though). I suppose I would be somewhat ambivalent to either have Rob+Megan, or Cueball+Cutie -- Cuegirl doesn't work because she has hair :) --, in the interests of reason and symmetry. But I lean slightly towards Rob+Megan because those are names Randall actually gave us, while anything else is our own invention and thus has no claim to legitimacy other than popular support.<br />
:: Particularly, while I understand your concern about shoehorning the various personality traits the Cueballs show in different comics into a single persona, that doesn't seem to have been a problem for Megan -- not to mention real people ''are'' indeed complex and multi-faceted beings (or "morphing and fluid", to use your terms) rather than one-dimensional caricatures. Heck, even Black Hat has his romantic side! :) So in light of that, I don't think we have to worry about ruining Cueball by naming him Rob -- if anything, that'd add more depth to him as a character! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:35, 10 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:::I'm still very much against changing things here. Call it nostalgia, but there are many users who will never read these arguments, who one day comes back and cannot find Megan or Cueball, and will ask who the heck are Cuegirl/Cutie. I'm completely with Pudder on the problem with giving Cueball the name Rob. It just doesn't make sense. I agree that we have a inconsistency with Megan. But then everyone who uses this page a few times, becomes familiar with that name. However the main problem with all your great ideas is this. Who should correct the either 984 pages where Cueball is mentioned because he is a part of it (and all the other pages relevant to him or where he is exactly mentioned because he isn't part of the comic) and/or who should do the same for 487 comics (plus loose pages) for Megan. Unless those in favor for changing the names will do this, then the discussion is moot. It is already clearly stated in the relevant pages that these two characters are generic and that they have been named but a few times. So what more can we do unless someone is willing to use several days to change this back. I sincerely doubt you can keep the correct syntax if you just try a brute force replacement? There are so many interconnecting links etc. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:21, 25 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I completely disagree with merging Cueball and Rob. Rob has [[276|Emily]] and [[632|Lisa]] as girlfriends, and Cueball has Megan. Rob also lives a more action-filled and stereotypical life compared to Cueball. --[[User:Youforgotthisthing|Youforgotthisthing]] ([[User talk:Youforgotthisthing|talk]]) 13:14, 15 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
I think the main stances here are clear:<br />
* Keep as is<br />
* Rename Cuball to Rob<br />
* Change Megan back to Cutie/Cuegirl<br />
Since keeping it status quo wouldn't change anything and is asymmetrical, I'll go over the others:<br />
* Rename Cueball to Rob - Arguments:<br />
** Randall gave him this name;<br />
** It would offer symmetry to Megan;<br />
** If the Cutie -> Megan logic is to be followed (as she was changed once named in the comics) then Cueball should be Rob;<br />
** Even though cueball is a generic everyman name, Rob seems more like a name you could give anyone and would be more recognizable to non-native English speakers.<br />
* Change Megan back to Cutie/Cuegirl - Arguments:<br />
** It would cause symmetry again, letting her have an everywoman name;<br />
** Nostalgia for Cueball;<br />
** Megan is not always the same character, so she should not always have the name Megan<br />
<br />
I happen to agree with the idea of merging Cueball and Rob, but I'm not closed to the idea of Cutie/Cuegirl. The main problem is that these characters are typically interchangeable everymen/everywomen and there can be more than one in a comic. So another question is what we should do for multiple Cueballs/Robs. In my opinion, we should have all the comics with more than one depict them as Man 1, Man 2, etc. --[[User:Sensorfire|Sensorfire]] ([[User talk:Sensorfire|talk]]) 17:04, 20 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Well I disagree. The users are used to refeer to these characters now by these names. It is also impractical to try to change them all. Megan is rarely twice in a comic. Maybe she is more the same like Black Hat is. But it is made clear that they are not the same in every comic in their pages. If there are muliple Cueballs but one is the main protagonist then he us cueball. If none can be singled out then Cueball like guy to the left/right can be used. I have done that for tbose cases I have found so far ([[:Category:Multiple_Cueballs|49 today]]).--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:58, 7 June 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Well, somebody pointed out that the title text of [[1783: Emails]] suggests that the Cueball in the comic is most certainly not Rob, and calling the main comic character 'Man 1' as above would be silly. And on top of all this, 'Cueball' occurs so much we would probably need to take a regex to every explanation in [[:Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 14:50, 9 January 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== How to fit explanations of new classes of xkcd-related mysteries into the site: what-if, t-shirts, posters, special comics etc. ==<br />
<br />
I suggest that the [http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:About explain xkcd] page should explain how this site is laid out, and what sorts of things are explained here besides the online numbered xkcd comics that come out three times a week.<br />
<br />
For example, there is the [[A Smarter Planet]] series, and there are ideas for explaining some of the [http://what-if.xkcd.com/ What-If] series. I'd like to add my explanation of the [https://gist.github.com/nealmcb/398af29a72f7b3efc202 XKCD Greek t-shirt, with mathematical, scientific and engineering uses for greek letters] and perhaps some other t-shirts, posters and the like.<br />
<br />
But I can't even figure out how to find non-numbered-comic-explanations, without going thru the entire [[Special:AllPages]] listing, which includes a huge set of unnumbered aliases as well as the numbered ones. <br />
<br />
I've taken a stab towards that by editing the About page to point to some categories (and to start with a little overview), but since I'm just poking around, I might have missed some things. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 19:40, 23 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Link to "Special pages" on main page ==<br />
<br />
I think there should be a link to [[Special:SpecialPages]] on the main-page--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:55, 29 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Special pages is a default feature in every mediawiki installation. It's also in the sidebar of every page, and it's not relevant to xkcd. Why does it merit space on the main page? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:56, 29 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Science comic ==<br />
<br />
Should the Science Magazine comic be added? http://m.sciencemag.org/content/342/6154/58.full [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 03:14, 4 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:I think that would be a great idea. Could there be other copyright rules when the comic has been published on Science? It there anyway to find out if Randall also has a link to it from (or has it on) xkcd? As he has done with the other [[:Category:Extra_Comics|Extra_Comics]]. And how do we create such a page, if there can be no link directly to xkcd (at the top of the comic)? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:24, 30 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== "what if?" section? ==<br />
<br />
I would like to start a new "what if?" section explaining and discussing what if pages.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 06:08, 8 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Why does it need to exist? The main xkcd comic needs it, because Randall tends to be obtuse at times, but the what if articles are sourced and written out already. Supposedly, they're already explanations to questions sent in to Randall. Why do we need to explain explanations? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:29, 8 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
::Explaining them indeed seems unnecessary, but we could certainly catalog and summarize them. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:38, 10 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
::The images on what if? also have title texts that could further be explained, and we could organize what if pages by categories, as well as provide summaries. There are also subtle references, running gags, and in-jokes in What If? that should be explained.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:44, 11 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
::This https://what-if.xkcd.com/120/ is a example of a what if that could do with some explanations.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:47, 11 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:::That's one of 135 what-ifs, and it's entirely self referential and can be figured out by reading the rest of the archive. The substance of the majority of pages is going to be incredibly thin, Randall doesn't tend to leave much for explanation. Comics that are simple one-shot images are our least used pages for good reason, and the what-if images pretty much all fall into that category, or are used to illustrate Randall's point that he makes in the immediately preceding paragraph. We could archive/catalog all the what-if pages and be a second archive button for the series, though there's a little less value to that than the archiving we did for [[Time]] and [[Externalities]] because there's already an archive along the same lines on the main site. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:14, 11 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
::::I think the main value we could add is a summary (TL;DR style) of each entry, in a short Q&A format. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:13, 13 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
If we are going forward with this, is there anyway to find the date in which the what if was first published?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 09:01, 11 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:At the bottom of the page, there's an archive button. Click that. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:14, 11 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
Well, fact is, the [[what if?]] page is much, '''much''' larger now. [[User:Nk22|Nk22]] ([[User talk:Nk22|talk]]) 11:52, 20 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Thank you, Nk22! I've added a link from the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd About explain xkcd] page. {{unsigned|Nealmcb}}<br />
<br />
== Userscript ==<br />
<br />
Hello there, just wrote a simple userscript that adds an 'Explain' button to the original xkcd.com<br />
<br />
https://gist.github.com/magazov/934de662d60c9fb5fea9<br />
<br />
You can run it via Greasemonkey, Tampermonkey and other similar plugins :)<br />
<br />
[[Image:Screen_Shot_xkcd_button.png]]<br />
{{unsigned|Magazovski}}<br />
<br />
:Yeah, there's a few of these floating around. In the future, could you use an imgur link instead of uploading stuff like that to the wiki? Thanks. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:02, 21 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::So maybe explainxkcd should host & maintain one of them? --[[User:Magazovski|Magazovski]] ([[User talk:Magazovski|talk]]) 09:30, 22 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:::Why would we host an image hosting site? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:17, 23 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
::::He means we could host and maintain a userscript to help our fans get here from xkcd.... [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 14:36, 9 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
:::::Hum, that's not a bad idea. I'll put it on the list of things to do. Although, if they're already here, why do they need a userscript to help them get here? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:34, 11 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
::::::For people who mainly view the comics through the official site, but sometimes need an explanation of the comic. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 09:23, 11 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Updating the incomplete comic of the day ==<br />
<br />
Currently, I think the incomplete comic of the day should be changed more often (i.e. daily), since the incomplete comics are piling up, and most users aren't seeing the notice, as it is dismissible.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:40, 22 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:While I agree that the comic of the day could be changed more often, I wouldn't say that the incomplete comics are ''piling up''. Over the months I've been active here, the number of incomplete comics had fallen considerably. In fact if you check the comics which are still marked as incomplete, most of them are one where a significant effort would be required to complete them. For example the large comics (Money, Time, Congress) or dynamic comics (Externalities, Click & Drag, Pixels). --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:32, 23 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
::Yeah. Of the 15 incomplete "pages," only 10 of them are actual comics that need the attention, and the full count is still dropping. I've been keeping it on single comics as of late because the remaining actual incomplete comics have been cycled through ~3 times already, with no significant effort made on them, because they're such monumental pieces of work. Making the message dismissable is by design, we are a service first and foremost, we're not trying that hard to make visitors do our work for us. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:17, 23 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Infrequently recurring minor charachters ==<br />
<br />
Should we just group all of the characters that are not of enough significance to warrant their own character page into a single page (i.e. [[Other Minor Characters]])? --{{User:17jiangz1/signature|02:58, 09 May 2015}}<br />
:See comic [[1000]] for a sample of what this entails. Also, what value to we stand to provide by cataloging every unique character that has appeared in xkcd? Does it help us explain the comics any better? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:32, 9 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Comic page creation ==<br />
<br />
Is comic page creation not automated? If it isn't, then [[Help talk:How to add a new comic explanation]] should be created.--{{User:17jiangz1/signature|14:19, 26 May 2015}} 14:19, 26 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Comic explanation was, at one point, automated. However, the bot ran on a schedule, and so sometimes there would be a few hours between a new comic being posted and the page getting created. Some editors just can't wait that long, so they do the bot's work before the bot even gets going. I agree that this page should be created and be kept up to date. Historically no one has read any of the help pages I've written. ;p [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:42, 26 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:However, I think that the page should be [[Help:Comic Explanation Page Creation]]. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:43, 26 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Re-proposing merging Cueball and Rob ==<br />
<br />
Okay, so this was previously [[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Merge_Cueball_.26_Rob discussed] but I felt that it was worth bringing up again. Really, at this point, there's no logical reason why the two should not be merged, or Megan and Cutie should be un-merged. Rob and Cueball clearly seem to be the same person, at least when cueball appears as a specific character. In the instances where there are multiple Cueballs, we should just refer to them as Man 1, Man 2, and so on. Can we get a vote or something this time? Yes, I understand that Cueball isn't always the same character. But neither is [[Megan]], and yet we always refer to the short black haired girl (formerly [[Cutie]]) as Megan. If that logic applies to her, it applies to Rob. It's pretty clear that Randall intended to name the character Rob, as most named Cueballs are named Rob and not Fred or something.<br />
<br />
In short: Please don't bring nostalgia into this, it's really not relevant. Changing Cueball to Rob or Megan back to Cutie (or Cuegirl?) would have symmetry and make sense. {{unsigned ip|Sensorfire}}<br />
:I'm ok with dumping a marginal character page that only served to add confusion to character identification in new comics, but this was a subject of contention before so we probably need to see more of people's thoughts first. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:03, 5 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I agree: let's list the arguments for both sides, ensure that everyone agrees with the objectiveness of that listing, and then vote. If there's support for this plan, and nobody does it first, I'll take a stab at producing a first draft of the summary. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 23:57, 14 September 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Randall is currently on a booktour. So, how about, instead of us (without the ability to read minds) arguing about his intention or who is/isn't the same character, someone go see him and ask? Then we'll know with absolute 100% certainty. [[User:WaltG123|WaltG123]] ([[User talk:WaltG123|talk]]) 04:49, 25 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
::Randall never called either character Cueball and Cutie so of course this is not his names. Asking him would make no meaning at all. For any user of xkcd it will create lots of confusion to change the names of Megan and Cueball now. Regarding Rob he is already listed as Cueball in his category. And Cueballs have been called other names several times. Rob is just the only one that has been used a few times. I agree that it may have been wrong to call her Megan, (the name has been used like three times?) Similar it is just as wrong to call Black Hat's girlfriend [[Danish]], a nick name used once. But it is actually very nice to have a real name or at least useful name when speaking of characters. And it has also been mentioned that Cutie could be perused as a sexist name, so we should not move back to that. Well recently even [[Hairbun]] has her name changed from Hairbun girl since a user thought that was a problem given it most often was a grown woman. So I think we should stick to the solution of the previous debate and leave Cueball, Rob and Megan alone as they are! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:56, 29 June 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Adjective phrases ==<br />
<br />
Overwhelmed with the need to be picayune, I am compelled to point out that on the homepage there is the sentence that begins "There are a lot of comics that don't have set in stone explanations..." This sentence contains a adjective phrase which should be hyphenated thus: "set-in-stone"<br />
<br />
Please pretend that I have said something witty here, as I am too tired to think of anything funny. {{unsigned|Gamewriter}}<br />
:Is it actually grammatically wrong in it's current state? Huh. I guess I'll change it. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:42, 1 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::This is long after the fact, but I'll throw my two cents in on Davidy22's question. Yes, it is wrong. If the 'set in stone' phrase were after the word explanations ("explanations set in stone") it would not require hyphens, but used as an adjective before the noun ("set-in-stone explanations") it requires them. D Miller [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.41|108.162.221.41]] 18:26, 21 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Update MediaWiki ==<br />
<br />
You are currently using MediaWiki 1.19.17. It's ''really'' outdated. Maybe update to 1.26.2, the current recommended stable version? There is an [[mw:Manual:Upgrading|official guide]] for that. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.77|141.101.80.77]] 12:03, 24 January 2016 (UTC) (PS my IP address is wrong it's not what you think it is)<br />
<br />
== Rename Hair Bun Girl ==<br />
<br />
The character [[Hair Bun Girl]] was named in April 2015. There wasn't any discussion of the name at the time, so I'd like to open that discussion now please.<br />
<br />
At present we have several other characters named after distinctive visual features: [[Ponytail]], [[Black Hat]], [[White Hat]], [[Beret Guy]], and arguably [[Hairy]] and [[Cueball]]. In all but one of those cases, the name matches the distinctive feature itself, without the addition of "guy", "girl", etc. Given the number of comics that Beret Guy is in it's probably too late to modify his name, but it's not too late for Hair Bun Girl.<br />
<br />
Besides the consistency issue, there's also the inaccuracy of referring to a grown woman with the term "girl", particularly when the character has been presented as older than [[Megan]]. I'd really like to fix this while her number of appearances is still manageable.<br />
<br />
The name "Hairbun" has been proposed and I think that matches really nicely with Ponytail in particular.<br />
<br />
[[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 04:23, 9 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:As the "guy" who created the Hair Bun Girl characther, I have no objection to changing the name. I did not think about the issue with girl/woman, probably because I'm not native English speaker. (And with the Beret Guy as an example). Jkshapiro was so kind as to [[User_talk:Kynde#Hair_Bun_.22Girl.22|ask my opinion]] before starting this discussion. At first I thought that ''Hairbun'' was a little weird, but then again so is Ponytail in this context. So I '''support''' the change to '''Hairbun'''! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:06, 9 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I vote '''change''' Hair Bun to Hairbun and '''keep''' girl. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 21:02, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
OK, I'm going ahead. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 02:47, 25 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
:Well as I said I would not mind, but you cannot say you got any other to agree with you on this though. Mimek wished to keep girl... It will be a huge job to get all the instances correct, also be careful no to change those places where the talk is of a girl who has a hair bun. You cannot just change all placed with hair bun girl to Hairbun, in case is actually says the hair bun girl about a small girl who has a hair bun! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:59, 25 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
::Seems no one cares, so I will remove the notes now. Great job Jkshapiro with changing the names. I like the new name now :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:35, 2 April 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Mobile friendly website ==<br />
<br />
Can we get a mobile friendly version of the wiki? If we already have one, what about forwarding the main site to it when viewed on a phone? [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 20:59, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New categories ==<br />
<br />
I think there may be a need to propose a standard way to decide on categories: what new ones are needed, what are the prerequisites for creating a new category, how to maintain new categories and make sure they are actually used when they apply etc. For now I have gathered all previous discussions about new categories under this section. -- [[User:Malgond|Malgond]] ([[User talk:Malgond|talk]]) 13:39, 17 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:I think that whenever there are more than 4-5 comics that you wish to refer to in a given explanation because they are of the same topic as the current comic, then having a category is much to prefer rather than listing 5, 6 or 7 comics. I have made several categories for these instances, for instance for sport including the most used sports. At the time being I keep them up to date. One of the things this site does so well is giving you an easy way to find a specific comic even though you cannot remember the title of any precise quotes etc. If you just have an idea of what the topic was you might find it based on the categories. In this way I do not think we can have too many categories. As long as they describe a recurring subject. Only fault is that there seems to be no way to search for a comic based on more than one category? That would be great. In some cases even only 3 comics in a category can make sense. For instance I would be sorry to see this one go [[:Category:Puts on sunglasses]] (and I did not make it!) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:09, 19 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
::For instance I have long wished for categories that covered all the space probe related comics, particularly all those referencing the Mars rovers. So today I made them with 16 and 9 comics in them already. [[:Category:Space probes]] [[:Category:Mars rovers]]. I hope people will generally think this was a great idea! :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:42, 20 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:::And [[:Category:The Lion King]]... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:47, 1 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: Protip ===<br />
<br />
Anyone for adding ''Protip'' as a [[:Category:Comic series|Comic series]]. I have found five so far: [[653]], [[711]], [[1022]], [[1047]] and [[1156]]. (There are also a few comics with a protip title text.) -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:25, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I think that qualifies as a recurring topic (thus worthy of a category), but not as a series, where you can see a clear sequence. In fact, [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]] has the same limitation, for what I suggest it to be removed from [[:Category:Comic series]]. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:42, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Seconded. Looks general and common enough to be a category. '''[[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:57, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::Okay, great! Do you think that the ones with a "protip:" title text should be included? Besides, I think I might be the one responsiple for moving My Hobby from [[:Category:Comics by topic|Comics by topic]] to Comic series. I felt that all the My Hobby comics were about different topics, but maybe i've got to narrow an interpretation of the word "topic". -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:31, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::: Can you link to the protip-in-title-text comics?<br />
:::: As for My Hobby, note that categories aren't mutually exclusive. They can be in the "my hobby" topic, and each of them further categorized as appropriate: music, math, etc. Makes sense? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 03:45, 5 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::: I just searched for protip in the xkcd search bar. Here: [[1084]], [[427]]. And yes, makes sense. I've moved My Hobby back to "by topic". -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:06, 5 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: Sports ===<br />
<br />
How about creating a new "Sports" category? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 15:31, 28 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Well, maybe. Everyone aren't so keen on new categories here. Which comics are you thinking of, for a start? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 20:32, 28 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::We definitely need to reach an agreement as a community on when to create new categories. Something simple like a minimum of 3 (or, say, 5) existing comics. Since we're already at the proposals' portal... what do you guys think about that? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:44, 28 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::My opinion: Five would be enough to qualify. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 09:31, 29 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::I vote for four. But it should also be a reasonable thing to categorize, like sports, not like "sports with Cueball containing at least three anagram words". Wich sholdn't be a problem. :) But the best name choice could be tricky sometimes. e.g. "Film & television", Film & TV", "Film", "Films", or "Movies"? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:59, 29 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::<br />
::::Agreed, five should be enough to create the category without having to discuss it. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:50, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
: OK, let's start with [[588: Pep Rally|588]], [[1092: Michael Phelps|1092]], [[904: Sports|904]] and [[1107: Sports Cheat Sheet|1107]]. Should be able to find a few more. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 05:00, 29 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Yeah, it's a broad subject so there are probably several more. -[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:59, 29 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::I found another one, sort of, in [[929:Speculation|929]] (although it hasn't been explained yet). Should I get the ball rolling (no pun intended) on setting up the category? Don't wanna do it unilaterally and get yelled at. ;) [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 06:18, 30 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::I think you should. On a wiki, getting stuck in discussions which die without a conclusion, to the point that motivated people give up without having done anything, is definitely counter-productive, and phrases like [[wikipedia:Wikipedia:Be bold|Wikipedia:Be bold]] are here to remind us of that. Seems like people agreed that you ''could'', and after a while nobody said that you ''shouldn't'', so I'd say do it. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:50, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
:I did it without looking here first, because it was obvious there were many [[:Category:Sport|sport comics]]. I have even created four under categories (only one was there before, Chess). There are 10 comics at present that are related to other sports than the five under categories. And given the way Randall thinks about sport (not very much) he still has plenty of comics about the subject. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:33, 14 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: Sex ===<br />
<br />
I think we should also create a Sex category. There's no ''doubt'' we can find more than three examples. I'll start looking for them and post the ones I find in here; again, I don't wanna create a large category by myself without community consent. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 09:20, 2 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
*OK, the ones for Category: Sex that I've found so far are [[443]], [[219]], [[550]], [[1026]], [[575]], [[468]], [[592]], [[320]], [[1101]], [[417]], [[713]], [[672]], [[230]], [[436]], [[940]], [[532]], [[649]], [[176]], [[1006]], [[596]] and [[717]], and I'm sure there are many more. Should we create this category? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 23:17, 3 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Same as [[#Category: Sports|above]], do it. Oh, already did; well, all the better. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:53, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: Flowcharts ===<br />
<br />
Hello, the line "Randall has made use of flowcharts before." in today's comic explanation made me want a [[:Category:Flowcharts|flowcharts category]] to navigate into...<br />
<br />
As it didn't exist, I proceeded to create it, but as the log says, [[User:lcarsos|lcarsos]] deleted such a category in November, saying ''"Insufficient differentiation from Category:Comics with charts, diluting the depth of comics tagged charts"''.<br />
<br />
I don't agree with that, and I think we could profit from such a subcategory. I found those pages fitting it:<br />
* [[94: Profile Creation Flowchart]]<br />
* [[210: 90's Flowchart]]<br />
* [[488: Steal This Comic]]<br />
* [[627: Tech Support Cheat Sheet]]<br />
* [[844: Good Code]]<br />
* [[851: Na]]<br />
* [[854: Learning to Cook]]<br />
* [[1195: Flowchart]]<br />
<br />
So? - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 10:59, 5 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Weell if you're willing to take charge of the category and personally make sure it's added to all relevant comic explanations, go ahead. The usual objection to making new categories is that we admins can't remember all the categories when we're reviewing new explanations, but it's K if you're willing to take up that responsibility yourself. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:17, 5 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:<br />
:: OK. I did it without waiting for further replies, because I think it will be especially profitable today (to viewers).<br />
:: It doesn't seem a big issue to me if the correct category is not added when a new explanation is made: a passing editor will do it later on... But hey, I'm OK with taking special care of adding pages to this category.<br />
:: [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 12:28, 5 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::: I just want to add that Cos' view is indeed the appropriate way to work in wikis: there is no concept of a single author for a page, category, or piece of text, and the workload is meant to be distributed among several editors: it is not necessary that any single editor remembers all existing categories, or knows the wiki markup by heart, or knows how to work with all the features of mediawiki, etc. The reason why wikis can be edited by anyone is precisely a recognition that there *will* be errors and any page can be improved somehow. That reasoning against categories should, IMO, be abandoned, or at most only kept as the opinion of some editors. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 22:00, 6 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Isnt there a page which lists all the categories? If not, there should be one, and it should be accessible to all. Such a page could be useful when trying to quick-add categories to comics. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.83.155|117.194.83.155]] 13:43, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Yes, there is. [[Special:Categories]]. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:07, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Of course, there's a gazillion of 'em, over several pages, so I understand any reluctance to add new categories (having just suggested a new one myself which I feel is justified, but knowing that the upkeep needed may be the key point of contention so remaining philosophical about it).<br />
::A solution perhaps to carry over from another locale that I frequent is to have a "Categories of Character" page, a "Categories of Object" one, perhaps "Categories of Event", and a "Categories of Publication". For each new comic someone can easily check the shorter Character categories list against those present, the Object list against itemsin use, Events, etc, and of course the Publication one has the "Tuesday Comic"/equivalent, and other date-based ones (although isn't that automatic from templated creation? ...never added a comic, but would imagine it is). After that it's a trawl through the miscelania categories (perhaps a meta-category just for them?). But, yeah, a lot of work to set up. Wouldn't wish it on anyone who wasn't already willing to do it, and I remain an anon-IP person right now so can hardly commit ''myself'' as volunteer maintainer of this. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 17:20, 22 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: (Barred/banned from?) Conferences ===<br />
<br />
I come here after realising I erroneously posted (in reply) to the Main page Talk, being anonymous (or at least IP-only) and without a list of qualifying articles to support me, just yet, but still wish to put forward the above category before I forget. There's no apparent equivalent, that I found, but it's definitely a recurring meme. I should be back (named or otherwise) with my suggested list of members, if someone else doesn't get there first, but I thought I'd start with the placemarker. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 16:41, 22 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Ok, so I got the bee in my bonnet and spent a few minutes actually looking into this. Revising "Barred from Conferences" (actually more often "Banned" or even "Thrown out of"/equivalent) to just "Conferences", the subset of comics that I can easily find that are involved is *[[153]], *[[177]], *[[365]], *[[410]], *[[463]], *[[541]], [[545]], [[685]], [[829]] and [[867]], but I'm sure there are more recent ones that I didn't spot/recall. One alternative title to "Conferences" is "Presentations", and I'm sure if I'd searched for that I'd have found more potential candidates (less some that might ''exit'' the renamed category). The asterisked ones ''do'' deal with being barred/banned/thrown out/etc, making it still a suitable category in its own right, IMO, but I'll leave it up to your combined musings to decide. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 17:07, 22 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
::I add [[690]] to the list. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:12, 13 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::: Great suggestions! I created [[:Category:Public speaking]] and [[:Category:Banned from conferences]]. I also added [[Wikipedian Protester]] to the mix, of course :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:59, 13 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: Wishes ===<br />
<br />
[http://explainxkcd.com/1391/ Several] [http://explainxkcd.com/1086/ comics] [http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/152:_Hamster_Ball now] [http://xkcd.com/879/ exist] that talk about wishes - probably more. Should there be a category for this? [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 23:22, 7 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
:Doesn't seem significant enough. If you promise to maintain the category you can make it yourself, although it will be cleared out if it gets neglected as new comics are released. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:20, 8 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: Artificial Intelligence ===<br />
<br />
Hello world.<br />
<br />
There are a handful of comics involving Ai - [[1540]], [[1530]], [[1450]] and [[948]] for instance - and maybe it's an idea to give them their own category {{unsigned|Nk22}}<br />
<br />
:The usual objection to new categories is that they get abandoned and are too narrow for other people to think of picking them up. If you're going to own it and update it with new comics, you can make it. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 21:01, 23 June 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
=== Category: Size Comparisons ===<br />
There are numerous comics comparing sizes of things. I can't get a list right now, but off the top of my head, radiation dosages, money, today's comic, and space shuttles in horses. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 19:23, 29 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
===Category: Katamari Damacy ===<br />
<br />
There are quite a few comics about this game. [[User:DPS2004|DPS2004]] ([[User talk:DPS2004|talk]])<br />
<br />
== Adding Ratings for Explanations ==<br />
<br />
I found [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1652 today's explanation] excellently written however that is not always the case. Frequently explanations are walk through of the conversation that are too wordy without any succinct explanation of why or how a strip is funny -- while many of those low quality explanations are not strictly "incomplete" they could benefit from a careful rewrite. I was wondering if we should add a rating tool such as " ''Was this explanation helpful? yes/no'' " so as to identify explanation that could benefit from improvement without having to be tagged as "incomplete". [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 17:57, 8 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
:We have a rather prominent discussion page for feedback, do we really need an additional add-on for this? I did a little research and found that other wikis use [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Semantic_Rating semantic rating] and [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:ArticleRatings article ratings], which I can install if enough other users want it. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:54, 26 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New Speculation Sections ==<br />
<br />
I often see a lot of speculation and conjecture within the explanation of the comic itself. I don't think it has any place in the explanation but I know many editors enjoy speculating and interpreting the comic and the meaning behind it so I've decided to start this discussion on whether we should provide a section where we can provide different speculations.<br />
<br />
What I am thinking would not be like the discussion page, where comments are made and discussed, but an edited and reviewed section which outlines different speculations and interpretations of the comics themselves and perhaps even the author's intent.<br />
<br />
Of course tone and presentation should be held to the same standards of the comic explanation but I think this would be a good way to better organize a review of the comic.<br />
<br />
I have been away too long to remember if there are any comic explanations with something like this so I have no idea how well it would work.<br />
<br />
As an example;<br />
<br />
This part from comic 1642: [[Gravitational Waves]]<br />
<br />
" It seems that Randall knew in advance about this announcement because this comic was published on a Thursday, not following the normal publish schedule, to coincide with the announcement "<br />
<br />
Is well supported, and rather likely correct, conjecture which belongs in the body of the explanation because not only is it backed by strong evidence but it provides background on the comic and the time in which the comic was released and aids in understanding the comic itself.<br />
<br />
However, this part from comic 478: [[The Staple Madness]]<br />
<br />
"From just reading the comic by itself, one may presume that in the last panel, Cueball has been stapled to the ceiling (as obvious evidence to Megan that Beret Guy has indeed been abusing her staple gun). According to the comic's official transcript, however, it is in fact God who is speaking."<br />
<br />
Is almost as equally well supported and certainly a valid interpretation of simply the comic. It is only refuted by the official transcript. I believe it is important to acknowledge and may even be a more humorous interpretation than the one which is provided by the official transcript.<br />
<br />
If we added a speculation section (or something of the sort) then we would have a place to talk about this interpretation more freely and expound upon it more.<br />
<br />
[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 15:16, 13 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
: Problem is the whole "explanation" is actually conjecture. None of us the author, we're all just guessing. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 15:23, 13 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: Many of the current explanations are conjecture, that's true but not every explanation. Providing information on the science or mathematics behind a particular comic is not conjecture. Stating whether the author intended to belittle the field or state that one field is superior over another (unless fairly explicitly stated) is. And there are many things which can be inferred without being simple speculation. Not every comic would need a section like this, and not every comic needs a trivia section, and I'm not ready to start adding this proposed section myself. But I think it should be considered. [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 15:35, 13 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
::The intention of the discussion pages was to serve as a place for people to put their conjecture and reaching interpretations of the comics. They're presented alongside the explanation to make people's interpretations more readily visible. Some people may have trouble distinguishing an ungrounded interpretation of a comic from an explanation of it, and they will insert weak text into explanations. If you find something you disagree with, feel free to bring it up in the discussion section and edit it out of the explanation liberally '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:17, 17 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Unixkcd ==<br />
<br />
Hello everyone. I was just wondering: is there anything on http://uni.xkcd.com/. Because I was just looking and the only thing I found on Unixkcd is a mention of a bug in [[1350]]. There is not even a mention on the April fools article.<br />
:There's nothing on this site, there's a couple of novel tidbits on the xkcd site that are at best tangentially related to the comic, as Randall originally intended to make xkcd.com his personal site for hosting his own projects. That particular one doesn't show up in any comics. Also, proposals might not be the best place to put this. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:46, 21 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
::I added the unixckd information to [[721: Flatland]]. According to [https://vimeo.com/78912850 Randalls Øredev 2013 talk] unixkcd was the April Fools' prank for April 1st 2010. [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 09:00, 1 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New character category for blonde woman news reporter (from 1699) ==<br />
<br />
From today's comic [[1699: Local News]] I just got the idea that there may be needing a new category for either blonde woman and/or comics with news reports. I posted this [[Talk:1699:_Local_News#New_character_category|post]], in the talk page of that comic. Any comments, and if agreeing that there might be one or two different character categories needed then please suggest what they should be called. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:00, 27 June 2016 (UTC)<br />
:Agree with Blondie as new character name and with adding a category for news reports. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 00:47, 28 June 2016 (UTC)<br />
:Agree with new character category for Blondie --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 12:38, 28 June 2016 (UTC)<br />
:: Thanks for the replies. Could be nice with a few more chipping in. One issue I just found is [[Miss Lenhart]] and ambiguous situations like in comic [[59: Graduation]], where I would remove the miss reference. But then miss would be a sub category of Blondie (or Blonde? which Randall cals the girl in 59) as [[Rob]] is for [[Cueball]]... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:07, 9 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
:: I think blondie is fine for a name. Miss Lenhart is another character who uses a similar design so I think treating her like Rob is perfectly acceptable. The only thing more I think we should discuss is the role blondie plays in most of the comics (Like how cueball is an everyman, whitehat is often a strawman, Blackhat is blackhat etc.) [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 12:04, 13 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
:::There are also these two that looks like Blondie: [[Mrs. Roberts]] or her daughter [[Elaine Roberts]]. I think this is part of why no one has made the category, as there are already three named women with the same hair. But there are so many other comics with this kind of woman, that I think she should be created. I hope I will get the time, but if anyone has any other ideas than just calling them "Blondie" and letting the other three be an subcategory like Rob is of Cueball then say so now before anyone creates Blondie. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:19, 24 August 2016 (UTC)<br />
:::Agree with new character category and characters with the same appearance as sub-categories [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 18:04, 24 August 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Based on the discussion she is now called [[Blondie]] --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:27, 10 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br>And now there is also a [[:Category:News anchor]] with 15 entries already. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:22, 10 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== fix a page ==<br />
<br />
The page Comics featuring Summer Glau is missing:<br />
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/526:_Converting_to_Metric {{unsigned ip|108.162.241.130}}<br />
:Done. In the future, you can add categories yourself, just scroll to the bottom and follow the template the others go by. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:56, 7 July 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New xkcd book out. ==<br />
<br />
Any chance of posting a section of explanation pages for the cartoons in the new xkcd book, hopefully explaining some of the cryptic red notes? Thanks! {{unsigned ip|199.27.133.102}}<br />
<br />
== Business Plan category ==<br />
<br />
I propose renaming [[:Category:Beret Guy's Business]] into Business Plans, and adding it to [[1721: Business Idea]] [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 08:15, 17 August 2016 (UTC)<br />
::(Note I added a ":" to your category link to show the link instead of adding this page to the category. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:43, 10 September 2016 (UTC)) <br />
:No of course not, that comic is about [[Cueball]]. This is Beret Guy's business we are talking about here. This category is not about business idea but about what [[Beret Guy]] does just like the page with [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]. Both are used in the explanation of who he is. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:43, 10 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Comics with header text ==<br />
<br />
Several comic have some header text, such as [[851]] or [[1052]]. Shouldn't there be a category for them or something? I think it is quite a notable feature. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 15:23, 16 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
:I feel like it's not a particularly defining feature, it feels like making a category for comics that have frames with no borders or something, it's just a technique Randall uses. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:35, 21 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
::To me it feels more like a second title text. It is not technically part of the comic itself, but is a separate piece of information included with it on the xkcd website. There is a category for comics without title text, this is the same, only reverse, in my humble opinion [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 07:13, 24 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== purpose of detailed transcripts ==<br />
<br />
There are two styles of comic descriptions in the transcripts. Some<br />
are fairly terse, giving only the information required to understand<br />
the comic (e.g. "Cueball is talking to Megan, who looks excited").<br />
Others give lots of graphic details, as if one should be able to<br />
reconstruct the picture from the description (e.g. "Cueball, on the<br />
left, is talking to Megan, on the right. His left hand is pointing to<br />
her. Megan's arms are raised above her head and her excitement is<br />
shown by short lines around her head..." and so on). The former style<br />
used to be the norm, the latter has become increasingly<br />
common in recent months.<br />
<br />
Being visually impaired, I am extremely pleased with the terse style<br />
of transcript, and have no interest in the verbose style. To me it is<br />
useless and sometimes fairly annoying. Of course, this is a community<br />
and I can happily live with it if others find it useful.<br />
<br />
So, I'd like to know who needs detailed, graphical transcripts, and<br />
for what purpose? Were they requested by some users, or did those<br />
writing transcripts just decide to adopt this new style? If there is<br />
a clearly identified reason for describing pictures in detail, fine.<br />
If not, I vote for switching back to the old, terse style.<br />
<br />
Zetfr 14:10, 27 September 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Sorry we did not see this at the time. As we can see you finally found ears for you comment after [[1798]] and a new discussion has begun on [[User_talk:Kynde#Transcript_TLDR.3B|my user page]]. (Should probably have been here?) But anyway I'm responsible for your problems, and I will try to write less in the transcript and add "other important" either below in the trivia or below the main comic (as maybe - Detailed image description...) It was meant as a way to search for any thing in the comic if you needed it. I guess most people do not read the transcript, so of course annoying if it is not useful for those who always need to read it. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:21, 17 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Rename Science Girl "Jill" ==<br />
<br />
Following the Precedent of "[[Megan]]" and "[[Danish]]" (but oddly enough not [[Rob]]), I propose that we rename [[Science Girl]] Jill, as per [[1662]]. This could serve to give her an easier name and to use in cases where the character doesn't have a connection with science but seems to be the same girl. [[User:Sensorfire|Sensorfire]] ([[User talk:Sensorfire|talk]]) 18:19, 26 October 2016 (UTC)<br />
:The only time she's called Jill is in Jack and Jill comics (of course), and the only reason you'd want to do that is since [[Randall]] displays them similarly. In some cases Science Girl is even clearly older. We might do that if there was a [[Child-Blackhaired-Ponytail]] character, but these characters are always either Science Girl or Jill. Also, Jill has very, very few appearances anyway. [[User:Jacky720|Jacky720]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]]) 21:37, 2 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Make an official transcript site ==<br />
I've already taken the liberty of making {{template|transcript}}, and think we, together, can do better- which is why I'm implementing [https://jackm.000webhost.com/transcript.html this site], in order to display the official transcript in its intended format. However, it is bugged, and could do better if moved to explain xkcd. Is anyone in on this? [[User:Jacky720|Jacky720]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]]) 21:36, 2 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
:The transcript site doesn't seem to be accessible. Is the project dead? If it's not I can try to help. [[User:Errpell|Errpell]] ([[User talk:Errpell|talk]]) 21:06, 11 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== HTTPS Links Back to XKCD Interfere with Random Button ==<br />
<br />
The Links back to the comics that are present just above the comic itself on the wiki pages (and adjacent to the next and previous links) provides an HTTPS link back to XKCD. However, this interferes with users who want to click that link, and then click `random` - because `c.xkcd.com` does NOT support HTTPS, and thus clicking 'random' after returning to xkcd from explainxkcd does not work. These links should be switched back to HTTP.<br />
<br />
--[[User:9000 volts|9000 volts]] ([[User talk:9000 volts|talk]]) 21:15, 13 December 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Rearrange for our visually impaired friends. ==<br />
<br />
I have a great friend who is blind and he uses this site to "read" XKCD so we can talk about it. However, there are two things that he finds frustrating. The first, while it means no harm and most readers gloss over it, when listening to the content of the page every day it can become demeaning to hear "it's because you're dumb" every time. I certainly agree, I use explain XKCD because I am significantly dumb-er than Randall, but my friend uses it because he's blind. This is not that big of a deal, but a friendly suggestion.<br />
<br />
The second suggestion is to move the transcript section to the top before the explanation so as not to spoil the content of the comic with user explanation right away--in the case that those listening to the article are in fact smart enough to get the joke before needing an explanation.<br />
<br />
Thanks for your consideration.<br />
<br />
== Incomplete in spotlight ==<br />
<br />
The incomplete comic in spotlight should be changed more often, the current one is not even incomplete. [[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 16:52, 31 March 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Duplicate Navigation tools at bottom of page (please!) ==<br />
<br />
I'm enjoying revisiting xkcd canon through the lens of Explain, but frustrated that after studiously reading through the explanation and discussion, I have to scroll back up to the top to get to the Next button.<br />
What would the harm be in duplicating the buttons at the foot of each page? <br />
Thanks for considering this.<br />
Regards<br />
<br />
That would be nice, would help a lot. Also, please sign your comments with four tildes. [[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 19:46, 2 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== JSON endpoint ==<br />
There is a [http://www.xkcd.com/info.0.json endpoint] to retrieve information about the comics on the xkcd website. However the info there is not complete, specially when it comes to the transcripts. explainxkcd should provide a similar interface. It would be very useful specially for bots/scripts. The commmunity could help completing the information on the xkcd website and/or provide a new interface. The transcript are already retrieved from this website and a copy can be found [https://github.com/nhatzHK/randi/blob/master/json/xkcd.references.json here]. If there isn't already a complete file or databse with all the information, this file could help building it. However, this document has been compiled by scraping the html of explainxkcd, so there's some errors in it. These errors can be avoid with a clear and easy to access interface like JSON, similar to what is available on the xkcd website. [[User:Errpell|Errpell]] ([[User talk:Errpell|talk]]) 20:43, 11 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
:Maybe there is a mediawiki addon to support a JSON file. Any ideas? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:08, 1 August 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Suggestion for small improvement to interface ==<br />
Am I the only one that wishes the Previous / Next buttons were repeated at the bottom of the page? After reading the explanation, I often want to go to the next one in sequence.<br />
(Obviously, I don't check this wiki every day :)<br />
Scrolling back to the top isn't hard, but having the buttons near the bottom would make navigation easier.<br />
<br />
Hope you agree!<br />
Murray in NJ<br />
<br />
PS: Aha! I see others have suggested the same thing :) {{unsigned ip|162.158.75.232}}<br />
:This was also mentioned before. I don't agree because the layout is based on the original xkcd site. '''Protip''': Do not "scroll back", just use your keyboard. The magic key is called "Home". --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:14, 1 August 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Category for The Little Prince? ==<br />
<br />
How many comics need to feature/mention a certain thing before we need a category?<br />
<br />
I think there are enough featuring the Little Prince to deserve a Category of its own.<br />
<br />
== mediawiki things ==<br />
<br />
could admin please update to the latest version of mediawiki and add the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Skin:Timeless?useskin=timeless timeless skin], thx. also would help if you added <code>line-height: 1.5em</code> to the edit box (<code>#wpTextbox1</code>) while making it taller to compensate, or added the 2010 code editor to aid readability. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.4|162.158.92.4]] 11:50, 4 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== The state of "incomplete" explanations and an unified policy ==<br />
<br />
Hello, everybody. Recently I went through the "incomplete" explanations and I saw several problems... I think I better spit this into sections.<br />
'''1) Many seemingly old and complete explanations are marked either with various creative variations of the auto-generated tag or something along the lines of "rough draft".''' I have personally removed several incomplete tags during the last days, sometimes adding few information before doing so, but usually not. But there are so many of them and it just would not feel right to take it upon myself to reap them all, so, if anyone can spare a few minutes to quickly scan them and remove (or update, in some cases) the tags, it would be nice. Here is a list of explanations with this particular problem, for convenience: [[1874]], [[1906]], [[1908]], [[1912]], [[1915]], [[1919]], [[1925]], [[1926]], [[1929]], [[1930]], [[1937]]<br />
<br />
1940 and 1941 also seem complete IMO, but given how recent they are, they could be given some time.<br />
<br />
'''2) Some incomplete tags seem like abuse of the feature.''' [[1909]] is probably the best example of this. Table might be nice, but it is not necessary to explain the comic, it would be just "gilding". There is nothing wrong about perfecting complete articles, but marking an article incomplete because someone got an idea how it could be done (and is too lazy to do it themselves) should be discouraged IMO. Other examples: [[1904]] - here I actually disagree with the proposal - why should information that does not represent percentages be represented using them? - but that's my personal view. [[1895]] - this one is asking for further perfection of a perfective information. [[1688]] - a '''huge''' example, asks for something that would require quite a lot of effort without helping anyone understand the comic, a cool project, but not needed for the article to be complete. [[1701]] - I really don't think this is necessary and the explanation is already twice the size I'd expect for such simple comic (*obligatory personal opinion disclaimer*).<br />
<br />
'''3) Some tags are just... vague.''' [[1856]] and [[1733]]. "Someone could maybe improve this" applies to pretty much everything in the universe, sorry.<br />
<br />
<br />
'''4) A policy proposal.''' Here comes the second half of the topic title. There appear to be two conflicting schools of thoughts among editors. Some seem to prefer long, meticulously detailed explanations. Others, including myself, prefer short and concise explanations. On more than one occasion, this has led to mess, so I think there should be some official policies about what kind of information should be considered considered necessary, useful, and superfluous. Obviously, every comic is different, and defining hard rules for this is impossible, so maybe "guideline" is a better word than "policy" here. Here are some suggestions about what this guideline could contain (please, take this as a "sub-suggestion", if a guideline gets accepted, but will end up containing nothing out of this, I will still be happy):<br />
<br />
* NECESSARY: named people, groups, organizations, websites, works of art, geographic locations etc. should be briefly introduced, unless they can be presumed to be universally known (e.g. Google, Shakespeare, New York). Obscure words should be defined. Scientific and technical terms should be explained.<br />
* SUPERFLUOUS: recursive explanations - an explanation that mentions concepts that themselves need explaining, but were not relevant to the comic itself.<br />
<br />
I guess that's it. Maybe a little disclaimer that I don't have much time now, so I may not be here to further lead this discussion. Maybe I should have waited with posting this when I do have time, but that may not be for a long time, so for what it's worth, here it is.<br />
--[[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 12:16, 13 January 2018 (UTC)</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1900:_Jet_Lag&diff=1509471900: Jet Lag2018-01-13T10:58:07Z<p>Jaalenja: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1900<br />
| date = October 9, 2017<br />
| title = Jet Lag<br />
| image = jet_lag.png<br />
| titletext = I had some important research to do on proposed interstellar space missions, basketball statistics, canceled skyscrapers, and every article linked from "Women in warfare and the military in the 19th century."<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
{{w|Jet lag|Jet lag}} is a physiological condition widely attributed to the effect of changing one's longitude wide and fast enough that one's body clock is unable to adapt to the official clock. (The actual causes are somewhat more complex, and may be influenced by the cramped conditions on the airplane. The effect of travel between the east coast of North America and the west coast of South America, which are at nearly the same longitude, and differ by only one hour in official clock time, is much more severe than the effects of setting clocks ahead an hour in the spring and behind an hour in the fall. Some White House staffers get jet lag when they travel on commercial flights but not when they travel on Air Force One.) Symptoms include a sleep cycle which does not match the solar cycle as it usually would{{Citation needed}}.<br />
<br />
[[Hairy]] has just woken up at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and [[Ponytail]] mentions he must be still jet lagged (possibly from a recent trip). Hairy then {{tvtropes|AccidentalPublicConfession|accidentally public confesses}} that he has actually been up to some late-night Wikipedia browsing and reading about {{w|List of maritime disasters|maritime disasters}}.<br />
<br />
In the caption [[Randall]] confesses that he loves traveling, because he can then use jet lag as a nice excuse for what is actually his usual messed up sleep cycle.<br />
<br />
In the title text, Randall states that he had to do some important research. But what he lists, are clearly also just topics he read in Wikipedia: proposed {{w|Interstellar travel|interstellar}} space missions, {{w|basketball statistics}}, {{w|Proposed_tall_buildings_and_structures#Abandoned_proposals|canceled skyscrapers}}, and every article linked from "{{w|Women in warfare and the military in the 19th century}}." Randall has earlier illustrated this issue in [[214: The Problem with Wikipedia]].<br />
<br />
Randall has previously discussed his oft-changing sleep cycle in [[320: 28-Hour Day]] and [[448: Good Morning]], and has alluded to it more subtly in [[68: Five Thirty]], [[92: Sunrise]], and [[776: Still No Sleep]]. We can thus see that this is a habit of Randall's that has persisted for more than a decade, as has his obsession with Wikipedia.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
:[Hairy, with more messed up hair than usual, is rubbing his eyes while small "sleepy" bubbles form over his head, while walking towards Ponytail.]<br />
:Hairy: Sorry, I just woke up.<br />
:Ponytail: It's 3 PM! ...Oh, of course, you're still jet lagged.<br />
:Hairy: I-yeah, that's it! I definitely didn't spend half the night reading Wikipedia articles about random maritime disasters.<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:I love traveling, because my sleep schedule is as messed up as always, but suddenly I have an excuse.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*Randall was doing events in Great Britain the week before this comic was published, early October 2017. <br />
**This is likely where he got the idea for this comic.<br />
*3 pm in the UK would equal 10 am in the eastern US where Randall lives.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Wikipedia]]<br />
[[Category:Basketball]]<br />
[[Category:Space]]</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1861:_Quantum&diff=1509461861: Quantum2018-01-13T10:57:48Z<p>Jaalenja: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1861<br />
| date = July 10, 2017<br />
| title = Quantum<br />
| image = quantum.png<br />
| titletext = If you draw a diagonal line from lower left to upper right, that's the ICP 'Miracles' axis.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
The comic depicts a relationship between how philosophically exciting the questions in a field of study are, versus how many years are required to understand the answers. For example, {{w|special relativity}} poses very intriguing philosophical questions, such as "{{w|Relativity of simultaneity|can the temporal ordering of spatially separated events depend on the observer?}}", or "{{w|Twin paradox|can time run at different rates for differerent observers?}}". But it doesn't take a lot of mathematical knowledge to understand the answers - that when objects move very close to the speed of light, {{w|time dilation|time slows down}} and their {{w|length contraction|lengths contract}}: the key {{w|Lorentz transformation}}s ultimately involve little more than high-school algebra. Hence, Special Relativity is very high up on the y-axis but not very far on the x-axis. Basic physics is not very philosophically interesting but also not very complicated. {{w|Fluid dynamics}}, as captured by the {{w|Navier–Stokes equations}} is very complicated, but it's concerned with a very specific topic - how water or other fluids flow around - so it doesn't lead to big philosophical questions.<br />
<br />
The "danger zone" in the top right of the chart is when a field of study is wide-ranging enough to pose broad philosophical questions, and also so complicated that most people can't answer those questions. {{w|Quantum mechanics}} deals with some very strange concepts that readily lend themselves to philosophical questions, such as the idea that merely observing something can change it, or the idea that something can be both a wave and a particle at the same time. However, the explanation for those phenomena is a very complicated piece of math, notably the {{w|Schrödinger equation}}, which means that most people don't have accurate answers to those questions. [[Randall]] suggests that this is the reason why so many people have "weird ideas" about quantum mechanics.<br />
<br />
[[1240: Quantum Mechanics]] also discusses weird ideas that people have about quantum mechanics.<br />
<br />
{{w|General relativity}} also presupposes considerable {{w|Mathematics of general relativity|mathematical sophistication}} to understand the {{w|Einstein field equations}}. However, the main contribution of GR – the explanation of {{w|gravity}} in terms of a {{w|curvature|curved}} {{w|spacetime}} – does not seem to induce a lot of philosophical novelty beyond that already seen in special relativity, possibly with the exception of {{w|black hole}}s.<br />
<br />
The title text references the {{w|Insane Clown Posse}} (ICP) song "{{w|Miracles (Insane Clown Posse song)|Miracles}}", made memetic by the lyric "Fucking magnets, how do they work?" An axis is the direction on a graph in which some quantity is increasing or decreasing. So things that are far along the "miracle" axis are presumably more miraculous. As you move from bottom-left to top-right on the graph, items become both more philosophically interesting and harder to understand. It would be fair to describe something that's hard to understand and raises big philosophical questions as a "miracle". The ICP "Miracles" axis would also intersect the topic "magnets" infamously mentioned in the song.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A chart with the Y-axis titled "How Philosophically Exciting the Questions Are to a Novice Student" and the X-axis titled "How Many Years of Math are Needed to Understand the Answers". The upper-right portion of the chart is labeled "Danger Zone". The following topics are charted as follows:<br />
::Basic Physics: low excitement, low prerequisites<br />
::Fluid Dynamics: low excitement, high prerequisites<br />
::Magnets: medium excitement, medium prerequisites<br />
::General Relativity: medium excitement, high prerequisites (on the border to the "Danger Zone")<br />
::Special Relativity: high excitement, low prerequisites<br />
::Quantum Mechanics: high excitement, high prerequisites (in the "Danger Zone")]<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:Why so many people have weird ideas about Quantum Mechanics<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Physics]]</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1893:_Thread&diff=1509451893: Thread2018-01-13T10:57:28Z<p>Jaalenja: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1893<br />
| date = September 22, 2017<br />
| title = Thread<br />
| image = thread.png<br />
| titletext = Since the current Twitter threadfall kicked off in early 2016, we can expect it to continue until the mid-2060s when the next Interval begins.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
{{w|Characters in Dragonriders of Pern#F'nor|F'nor}} is a character from the popular{{Citation needed}} sci-fi/fantasy series ''{{w|Dragonriders of Pern}}'' by {{w|Anne McCaffrey}}. He is posting a {{w|Twitter}} comment (a "{{w|Conversation threading|thread}}" that's only one comment long, hence "1/1") about "{{w|Pern#Thread|Thread}}", a massively destructive alien organism from the same series. {{w|Pern}} is a fictional human-colonized planet and the main setting of the series.<br />
<br />
Typically, when starting a series of tweets (used to post content longer than 140 characters), one will start the first tweet with "Thread: " and end it with 1/X. The second tweet will read 2/X, and so on. If X, the total number of tweets, is unknown at the start, it will be listed or 1/many or omitted: 1/<br />
<br />
Here, there is a play on the Twitter thread and the actual threat to Pern.<br />
<br />
The use of threads on Twitter became significantly more common in 2016 and through 2017. The title text dubs this "Threadfall." In the Pern novels, Threadfall is also the name for the beginning of 50-year cyclic periods when Thread attacks the world of Pern and its inhabitants, which occur between relatively safe "Intervals" of around 200 years. Since according to the title text Threadfall occurred in 2016, it should be expected to continue for ~50 more years until the mid-2060s, when the next Interval will begin.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
:[A mock-up of a “tweet” from the site twitter.com is shown. It contains a mock-up of a user photo of the fictional character F’nor that resembles [[Hairy]], including a tiny line sketch of F’nor’s brown dragon Canth flying overhead. Below the tweet are several action buttons typical of a Twitter post for comments, replying, likes, etc.]<br />
<br />
:F’nor<br />
:<span style="color:gray">@fnor</span><br />
:Thread: The greatest threat to our life on Pern 1/1<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
On Friday, the header was replaced with a message from Randall about how he would be visiting the U.K. on the following week. It read as follows: <br />
I'll be visiting the UK next week! You can join me in London from September 30-October 2 (at New Scientist Live, The Royal Institution, and Intelligence Squared), then from October 3-6 in York, Edinburgh, Cambridge and Ely, Oxford, and Cheltenham.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category: Comics featuring Hairy]]</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1918:_NEXUS&diff=1509441918: NEXUS2018-01-13T10:56:28Z<p>Jaalenja: /* Explanation */ added basic explanation so people don't have to follow links, should be complete now</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1918<br />
| date = November 20, 2017<br />
| title = NEXUS<br />
| image = nexus.png<br />
| titletext = You also refuse to buy Cisco products because you hate the Thong Song, O. Henry, Deep Space Nine, freshwater whitefish, teenaged Incan emperors, Brak's brother, and vegetable-based shortening.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
[[Cueball]] is confusing {{w|NEXUS (frequent traveler program)|NEXUS}}, a [https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/nexus USA and Canada border control pre-screening program], with [http://ferngully.wikia.com/wiki/Hexxus Hexxus], the villains from the animated film series ''{{w|FernGully: The Last Rainforest|FernGully}}''.<br />
<br />
Trusted traveller programs like Nexus allow people who match certain criteria to apply for a membership and subsequently save time when boarding airplanes or crossing borders via use of expedited lanes.<br />
<br />
FernGully is a story set in an Australian rainforest inhabited by fairies including Crysta, who accidentally shrinks a young logger named Zak to the size of a fairy. Together, they rally the fairies and the animals of the rainforest to protect their home from the loggers and a malevolent pollution entity, Hexxus.<br />
<br />
The title text is confusing {{w|Cisco Systems|Cisco}} (a telecoms & tech brand which has a line of switches called [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisco_Nexus_switches Nexus]) with:<br />
* The artist {{w|Sisqó}} who performed '{{w|Thong Song}}'<br />
* {{w|The Cisco Kid}}, a character created by {{w|O. Henry}} in the short story "The Caballero's Way"<br />
* {{w|Benjamin Sisko}}, commander of a space station in the Star Trek Universe (''{{w|Deep Space Nine}}'')<br />
* {{w|Cisco (fish)|Ciscoes}} (freshwater whitefish)<br />
* [http://emperorsnew.wikia.com/wiki/Kuzco Kuzco], teenaged Incan emperor in ''{{w|The Emperor's New Groove}}''<br />
* [http://brak.wikia.com/wiki/Sisto Sisto], brother of Brak in ''{{w|The Brak Show}}''<br />
* {{w|Crisco}} (vegetable-based shortening)<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan and Cueball walking through an airport.]<br />
:Sign: Apply for NEXUS Save time at the border<br />
:Megan: Maybe we should sign up for this.<br />
:Cueball: No way. I refuse to have anything to do with Nexus after what they did to FernGully.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:FernGully]] <!--hexxus--></div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1900:_Jet_Lag&diff=1509421900: Jet Lag2018-01-13T09:05:27Z<p>Jaalenja: seems fine</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1900<br />
| date = October 9, 2017<br />
| title = Jet Lag<br />
| image = jet_lag.png<br />
| titletext = I had some important research to do on proposed interstellar space missions, basketball statistics, canceled skyscrapers, and every article linked from "Women in warfare and the military in the 19th century."<br />
}}<br />
<br />
{{w|Jet lag|Jet lag}} is a physiological condition widely attributed to the effect of changing one's longitude wide and fast enough that one's body clock is unable to adapt to the official clock. (The actual causes are somewhat more complex, and may be influenced by the cramped conditions on the airplane. The effect of travel between the east coast of North America and the west coast of South America, which are at nearly the same longitude, and differ by only one hour in official clock time, is much more severe than the effects of setting clocks ahead an hour in the spring and behind an hour in the fall. Some White House staffers get jet lag when they travel on commercial flights but not when they travel on Air Force One.) Symptoms include a sleep cycle which does not match the solar cycle as it usually would{{Citation needed}}.<br />
<br />
[[Hairy]] has just woken up at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and [[Ponytail]] mentions he must be still jet lagged (possibly from a recent trip). Hairy then {{tvtropes|AccidentalPublicConfession|accidentally public confesses}} that he has actually been up to some late-night Wikipedia browsing and reading about {{w|List of maritime disasters|maritime disasters}}.<br />
<br />
In the caption [[Randall]] confesses that he loves traveling, because he can then use jet lag as a nice excuse for what is actually his usual messed up sleep cycle.<br />
<br />
In the title text, Randall states that he had to do some important research. But what he lists, are clearly also just topics he read in Wikipedia: proposed {{w|Interstellar travel|interstellar}} space missions, {{w|basketball statistics}}, {{w|Proposed_tall_buildings_and_structures#Abandoned_proposals|canceled skyscrapers}}, and every article linked from "{{w|Women in warfare and the military in the 19th century}}." Randall has earlier illustrated this issue in [[214: The Problem with Wikipedia]].<br />
<br />
Randall has previously discussed his oft-changing sleep cycle in [[320: 28-Hour Day]] and [[448: Good Morning]], and has alluded to it more subtly in [[68: Five Thirty]], [[92: Sunrise]], and [[776: Still No Sleep]]. We can thus see that this is a habit of Randall's that has persisted for more than a decade, as has his obsession with Wikipedia.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
:[Hairy, with more messed up hair than usual, is rubbing his eyes while small "sleepy" bubbles form over his head, while walking towards Ponytail.]<br />
:Hairy: Sorry, I just woke up.<br />
:Ponytail: It's 3 PM! ...Oh, of course, you're still jet lagged.<br />
:Hairy: I-yeah, that's it! I definitely didn't spend half the night reading Wikipedia articles about random maritime disasters.<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:I love traveling, because my sleep schedule is as messed up as always, but suddenly I have an excuse.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*Randall was doing events in Great Britain the week before this comic was published, early October 2017. <br />
**This is likely where he got the idea for this comic.<br />
*3 pm in the UK would equal 10 am in the eastern US where Randall lives.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Wikipedia]]<br />
[[Category:Basketball]]<br />
[[Category:Space]]</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1861:_Quantum&diff=1509411861: Quantum2018-01-13T09:02:09Z<p>Jaalenja: the mentioned information seems to have been added</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1861<br />
| date = July 10, 2017<br />
| title = Quantum<br />
| image = quantum.png<br />
| titletext = If you draw a diagonal line from lower left to upper right, that's the ICP 'Miracles' axis.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
The comic depicts a relationship between how philosophically exciting the questions in a field of study are, versus how many years are required to understand the answers. For example, {{w|special relativity}} poses very intriguing philosophical questions, such as "{{w|Relativity of simultaneity|can the temporal ordering of spatially separated events depend on the observer?}}", or "{{w|Twin paradox|can time run at different rates for differerent observers?}}". But it doesn't take a lot of mathematical knowledge to understand the answers - that when objects move very close to the speed of light, {{w|time dilation|time slows down}} and their {{w|length contraction|lengths contract}}: the key {{w|Lorentz transformation}}s ultimately involve little more than high-school algebra. Hence, Special Relativity is very high up on the y-axis but not very far on the x-axis. Basic physics is not very philosophically interesting but also not very complicated. {{w|Fluid dynamics}}, as captured by the {{w|Navier–Stokes equations}} is very complicated, but it's concerned with a very specific topic - how water or other fluids flow around - so it doesn't lead to big philosophical questions.<br />
<br />
The "danger zone" in the top right of the chart is when a field of study is wide-ranging enough to pose broad philosophical questions, and also so complicated that most people can't answer those questions. {{w|Quantum mechanics}} deals with some very strange concepts that readily lend themselves to philosophical questions, such as the idea that merely observing something can change it, or the idea that something can be both a wave and a particle at the same time. However, the explanation for those phenomena is a very complicated piece of math, notably the {{w|Schrödinger equation}}, which means that most people don't have accurate answers to those questions. [[Randall]] suggests that this is the reason why so many people have "weird ideas" about quantum mechanics.<br />
<br />
[[1240: Quantum Mechanics]] also discusses weird ideas that people have about quantum mechanics.<br />
<br />
{{w|General relativity}} also presupposes considerable {{w|Mathematics of general relativity|mathematical sophistication}} to understand the {{w|Einstein field equations}}. However, the main contribution of GR – the explanation of {{w|gravity}} in terms of a {{w|curvature|curved}} {{w|spacetime}} – does not seem to induce a lot of philosophical novelty beyond that already seen in special relativity, possibly with the exception of {{w|black hole}}s.<br />
<br />
The title text references the {{w|Insane Clown Posse}} (ICP) song "{{w|Miracles (Insane Clown Posse song)|Miracles}}", made memetic by the lyric "Fucking magnets, how do they work?" An axis is the direction on a graph in which some quantity is increasing or decreasing. So things that are far along the "miracle" axis are presumably more miraculous. As you move from bottom-left to top-right on the graph, items become both more philosophically interesting and harder to understand. It would be fair to describe something that's hard to understand and raises big philosophical questions as a "miracle". The ICP "Miracles" axis would also intersect the topic "magnets" infamously mentioned in the song.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A chart with the Y-axis titled "How Philosophically Exciting the Questions Are to a Novice Student" and the X-axis titled "How Many Years of Math are Needed to Understand the Answers". The upper-right portion of the chart is labeled "Danger Zone". The following topics are charted as follows:<br />
::Basic Physics: low excitement, low prerequisites<br />
::Fluid Dynamics: low excitement, high prerequisites<br />
::Magnets: medium excitement, medium prerequisites<br />
::General Relativity: medium excitement, high prerequisites (on the border to the "Danger Zone")<br />
::Special Relativity: high excitement, low prerequisites<br />
::Quantum Mechanics: high excitement, high prerequisites (in the "Danger Zone")]<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:Why so many people have weird ideas about Quantum Mechanics<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Physics]]</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1535:_Words_for_Pets&diff=1505511535: Words for Pets2018-01-07T09:32:24Z<p>Jaalenja: replaced a tvtropes external link with the appropriate template</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1535<br />
| date = June 8, 2015<br />
| title = Words for Pets<br />
| image = words_for_pets.png<br />
| titletext = Seventh year: Perfectly coherent words, but in the pet's language, not mine.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic shows four similar {{w|Euler diagram}}s, one for each of the first four years of living with a {{w|pet}}. The diagrams depict sets of words which have varying efficacy in actually identifying the pet, and each one shows how the words used by [[Randall]] to refer to his pet change year by year and becoming less and less specific as time goes on.<br />
<br />
In the first year it is dominated by the actual name of the pet or words closely related. For example, a dog named Lassie might be called either "{{w|Lassie}}", "dog", "collie" or "boy/girl".<br />
<br />
Moving on to the second year, these related words like "dog" and "collie" get more abundant while the actual name is seldom used. Phrases such as "good dog" or "here, boy" are likely common. Giving a dog the name "Dog" is so common that there is a {{tvtropes|ADogNamedDog|trope}} about that.<br />
<br />
In the third year, the pet's name is no longer used at all and the owner probably uses simple phrases like "come" or "come here" to call the pet, omitting the name.<br />
<br />
The fourth year entails the use of just any sound, not {{w|Coherence (linguistics)|coherent words}}. This may be referring to something like {{w|baby talk}} or attempted mimicry of the pet's vocalizations.<br />
<br />
This development can be attributed to the fact that some animals don't listen to their own name but rather react to the sound of the voice of their owner. It could also refer to the growing bond between owner and the pet, as well as the effect described in [[231: Cat Proximity]].<br />
<br />
The title text suggests that the inevitable result of this continuing pattern is that by the seventh year, Randall will be communicating with the pet in its own language. This might refer to the tendency of some pet owners to mimic or imitate their pets' vocalizations, as if speaking to them. Alternatively, this could be interpreted as a joke that pets don't have proper {{w|language}} and the owner has degenerated into lack on language his/herself as time goes on.<br />
<br />
The title text and the caption makes it a little difficult to be certain if the comic refers to when you talk about your pet to other people ("my ''dog'' is always hungry") or when you call at it, which would be the only time it would make sense to use ''coherent words in the animals own language'' - "Woof" = come here.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Caption above the frame:]<br />
:Words I use to refer to a pet over the years I live with it:<br />
<br />
:[Inside the box are four diagrams. Each diagram contains three elliptical sections containing the previous one, each section is drawn identical from diagram to diagram and they are labeled the same way from diagram to diagram. A fourth section (a red ellipse) moves from diagram to diagram and its label changes from diagram to diagram.]<br />
<br />
:[The red section of the first diagram mainly overlaps the innermost section, but about a third of it is in the second section. The labels are written above the three white sections and then inside the red section. The labels from inside and out and last the label of the red section:]<br />
:The pet's name <br />
:Words related to the pet<br />
:Coherent words of any kind<br />
:First year<br />
<br />
:[The red section of the second diagram mainly overlaps the right part of the second section, but it just touches both the first and the third section. The labels are written above the three white sections and then inside the red section. The labels from inside and out and last the label of the red section:]<br />
:The pet's name <br />
:Words related to the pet<br />
:Coherent words of any kind<br />
:Second year<br />
<br />
:[The red section of the third diagram mainly overlaps the right part of the third section, but about a third of it is inside the second section and a small part is outside of the third section. The labels are written above the three white sections and then inside the red section. The labels from inside and out and last the label of the red section:]<br />
:The pet's name <br />
:Words related to the pet<br />
:Coherent words of any kind<br />
:Third year<br />
<br />
:[The red section of the fourth diagram is completely outside the third section and has to be so far to the right, that the other sections has been moved from the center of the frame to the left. The labels are written above the three white sections and then inside the red section. The labels from inside and out and last the label of the red section:]<br />
:The pet's name <br />
:Words related to the pet<br />
:Coherent words of any kind<br />
:Fourth year onward<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Language]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1893:_Thread&diff=1505311893: Thread2018-01-06T15:24:33Z<p>Jaalenja: seems complete</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1893<br />
| date = September 22, 2017<br />
| title = Thread<br />
| image = thread.png<br />
| titletext = Since the current Twitter threadfall kicked off in early 2016, we can expect it to continue until the mid-2060s when the next Interval begins.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
{{w|Characters in Dragonriders of Pern#F'nor|F'nor}} is a character from the popular{{Citation needed}} sci-fi/fantasy series ''{{w|Dragonriders of Pern}}'' by {{w|Anne McCaffrey}}. He is posting a {{w|Twitter}} comment (a "{{w|Conversation threading|thread}}" that's only one comment long, hence "1/1") about "{{w|Pern#Thread|Thread}}", a massively destructive alien organism from the same series. {{w|Pern}} is a fictional human-colonized planet and the main setting of the series.<br />
<br />
Typically, when starting a series of tweets (used to post content longer than 140 characters), one will start the first tweet with "Thread: " and end it with 1/X. The second tweet will read 2/X, and so on. If X, the total number of tweets, is unknown at the start, it will be listed or 1/many or omitted: 1/<br />
<br />
Here, there is a play on the Twitter thread and the actual threat to Pern.<br />
<br />
The use of threads on Twitter became significantly more common in 2016 and through 2017. The title text dubs this "Threadfall." In the Pern novels, Threadfall is also the name for the beginning of 50-year cyclic periods when Thread attacks the world of Pern and its inhabitants, which occur between relatively safe "Intervals" of around 200 years. Since according to the title text Threadfall occurred in 2016, it should be expected to continue for ~50 more years until the mid-2060s, when the next Interval will begin.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
:[A mock-up of a “tweet” from the site twitter.com is shown. It contains a mock-up of a user photo of the fictional character F’nor that resembles [[Hairy]], including a tiny line sketch of F’nor’s brown dragon Canth flying overhead. Below the tweet are several action buttons typical of a Twitter post for comments, replying, likes, etc.]<br />
<br />
:F’nor<br />
:<span style="color:gray">@fnor</span><br />
:Thread: The greatest threat to our life on Pern 1/1<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
On Friday, the header was replaced with a message from Randall about how he would be visiting the U.K. on the following week. It read as follows: <br />
I'll be visiting the UK next week! You can join me in London from September 30-October 2 (at New Scientist Live, The Royal Institution, and Intelligence Squared), then from October 3-6 in York, Edinburgh, Cambridge and Ely, Oxford, and Cheltenham.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category: Comics featuring Hairy]]</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1901:_Logical&diff=1505271901: Logical2018-01-06T12:31:53Z<p>Jaalenja: removing incomplete tag that is both vague enough to be useless and seriously outdated (3 more paragraphs had been added since)</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1901<br />
| date = October 11, 2017<br />
| title = Logical<br />
| image = logical.png<br />
| titletext = It's like I've always said--people just need more common sense. But not the kind of common sense that lets them figure out that they're being condescended to by someone who thinks they're stupid, because then I'll be in trouble.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[White Hat]] says that problems in society could be avoided if people relied on logic and science rather than feelings—but when [[Cueball]] presses him to back up his claim, White Hat insists that his claim must be true, because ''it just seems obvious'' (to White Hat), and what the opposition (which he dismissively refers to as "these idiots") believes is crap in his opinion. Since White Hat refers to all people in general and since he falls in the same trap as he complains about, using his feelings for his case instead of logic and science, White Hat's argument is both fallacious and hypocritical.<br />
<br />
The title text is White Hat's opinion, where he states that he has always said that people just need more {{w|common sense}}. He then adds, but not the kind of common sense that let's them figure out that he is condescending (i.e. talking down to them) and basically thinks that they are stupid. If they did, they would probably realize that White Hat considers himself smarter than them, and likely feel insulted and take retribution. (At the same time, he may himself lack this form of "common sense," as Cueball's question could be seen as a veiled insult highlighting White Hat's hypocrisy.)<br />
<br />
When people talk about "common sense", they often really mean "they should think like I do". Using a term like "common sense" as a proxy for one's personal point of view implies that everyone else should have the same point of view. This discredits the fact that each person has their own point of view, completely valid to their own mind, and any attempts to push someone else's idea of a "common sense" upon them usually feels like "being talked down to" because of the implicit "fact" that that person's point of view is "common" and makes "sense", and therefore they must be smarter than you if you don't agree with their "common sense".<br />
<br />
Ironically, there is some inconclusive scientific evidence against White Hat's position. It is possible that effective rational thought depends on feelings and emotions as a preprocessing step. For example, people with damage to the {{w|ventromedial prefrontal cortex}} lose their ability to have gut reactions to decision options. In {{w|Antonio Damasio}}'s research, they were unable to make good decisions in everyday life. This may be because every option seems emotionally as good as any other and the brain is not good at conscious processing of large numbers of alternatives. See ''{{w|Descartes' Error}}'' by Damasio (1994) and ''{{w|The Righteous Mind}}'' by Haidt (2012).<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
:[White Hat is spreading his arms and facing Cueball.]<br />
:White Hat: We wouldn't have all these problems if people just learned to be more ''logical'' and ''science-driven'' instead of relying on ''feelings''.<br />
:Cueball: Oh? What study are you basing that on?<br />
:White Hat: It just seems obvious!<br />
:White Hat: I mean, look at the crap these idiots believe!<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1911:_Defensive_Profile&diff=150120Talk:1911: Defensive Profile2018-01-02T10:54:47Z<p>Jaalenja: Undo revision 150114 by Kaizen (talk) (vandalism)</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
<br />
This reminds me of his "free speech" comic. In both, he implies that if people get mad at you for what you say, you must be the one in the wrong. He also implies that people who make that kind of statement "don't understand" why people take offense. That makes very little sense. If they say something like that, they must understand why some people dislike them. Quite possibly they even enjoy having that effect. [[User:Gmcgath|Gmcgath]] ([[User talk:Gmcgath|talk]]) 21:09, 3 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: That brings new meaning to "objective truth". In the modern world it certainly seems sometimes that relativism reigns supreme. Let's see... If we all get angry at Randall, is Randall wrong? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.40|198.41.238.40]] 07:05, 4 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: Huh. What a bizarre comment. The underlying idea that (some) people know exactly why what they are saying makes people angry and actually enjoy it. (These people are commonly called "assholes.") But I see no correlation in this and your interpretation of his freedom of speech comic. And your interpretation is very far off from what said comic said. It said that "if the best argument you have is that your comment is freedom of speech, it must be a bad argument." Freedom of speech lets you say what you want, but you still have to actually defend your argument. You don't get to just say "freedom of speech" and win the Internet. Nothing about anger making it wrong. [[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 08:54, 4 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: I don't have an account yet, but I just wanted to respond to Trlkly, actually the 1st Amendment/Freedom of Speech is the Right to NOT have the Government regulate your speech; this still actually leaves open a wide variety of ways in which your speech/conduct can be regulated by private persons and organizations. This is what is meant by 'Freedom of speech is not freedom from consequence', and *doesn't* in particular refer to needing to *backup* your arguments/speech with a valid reasoning; that's a separate point of concern. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.117|162.158.74.117]] 20:41, 6 November 2017 (UTC)Raenir Salazar.<br />
<br />
Chrome with the official Google Translate extension allows just this kind of view translation of a selection only. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.253.221|172.68.253.221]] 03:14, 4 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The first one works, somewhat. But the second one? What does "drama free zone" and "make people sad" have to do with one another? Drama (in this sense) is about anger, not sadness. And I don't think it's necessarily a horrible thing that you aren't good at dealing with people who get angry at you. Why assume everyone is a bad person? [[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 08:54, 4 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: I think that part refers to the "Geek Social Fallacies", one of which is that "addressing conflict" is the same as "cause drama" - failing to realize that addressing conflict is the way to SOLVE it, reducing drama in the long run. If a person thinks like that, telling them that you disagree/are offended by their comment would likely make them confused, angry and defensive, with no idea how to handle and overcome the conflict. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.68|162.158.88.68]] 21:16, 4 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: I disagree with the statement "Drama (in this sense) is about anger, not sadness." The term "drama" is invoked on social media for any emotional response the invoker feels is too large to be warranted by the situation. So being excessively (in the eyes of the person invoking) sad is equally "drama" as being excessively angry. The comic and explanation don't necessarily imply that it makes you a horrible person either, just that many people's attempts to avoid drama (which seems like a noble goal on the surface) are actually their inability to deal with problems they might have caused and are far less noble on close inspection. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.64|108.162.237.64]] 20:43, 7 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The last paragraph (relating to Donald Trump and Twitter) seems out of place. It doesn't serve to describe the comic, and fails to establish context. Thoughts on deleting it completely? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.69.211|162.158.69.211]] 18:32, 4 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: I agree. While I get that Randall doesn't support Trump - just look at [[1756: I'm With Her]]. That doesn't mean that he has to be shoehorned into the description for any comic that deals with anything even vaguely political [[User:Figvh|Figvh]] ([[User talk:Figvh|talk]]) 23:52, 4 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: I think it does not "fail to establish context"; the opposite actually. And therefore should be maintained. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.27.12|172.68.27.12]] 20:05, 5 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: I agree, this particular comic makes no reference to political views or current affairs. It is much more likely that this comment is based on personal experiences. The only links to Donald Trump are that this a comment about social media when there has been a recent news article relating to Trump and social media and that the topic is about defensiveness, which Trump is often accused of. Both are likely to be purely coincidental, given Trump has always been highly active on social media and the accusation of defensiveness could be applied to millions of people.<br />
<br />
One should also note that the comic number is 1911, the famous handgun made by Colt adding another meaning to the term defensive profile.</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1935:_2018&diff=150119Talk:1935: 20182018-01-02T10:54:36Z<p>Jaalenja: Undo revision 150113 by Kaizen (talk) (vandalism)</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
This is easy! Don't factor it - just multiply by 25 and if that ends in two zeros, but not four zeros then it's a leap year, at least most of the time.....17:25, 29 December 2017 (UTC) {{unsigned ip|162.158.126.112}}<br />
<br />
This is easy! Don’t factor it - just convert it into a binary and look at the 2 least significant bits. If they are 00 the number is multiple of four. —[[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.35|172.69.33.35]] 17:37, 29 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
This is easy! Don't factor it - just subtract 4 repeatedly. If you end up at 0, it's divisible. If you end up at 1, 2, or 3, it's not. -- 17:55, 29 December 2017 (UTC){{unsigned ip|172.68.58.167}}<br />
<br />
This ''is'' easy! Sums of numbers that have 4 as a factor are all divisible by four. (I'll leave the proof of that as an exercise for the reader, but it's really trivial, though possibly non-intuitive.) This means that one can take a number apart and check the individual pieces. Now, any number that's a multiple of 100 is divisible by four (10 * 10 = 5² * 2²,) so one can essentially cut away the higher digits of a number, as they do not influence its divisibility with regard to 4. Now look at the first of the remaining digits. If that's odd, add 2 to the last digit. If the last digit is now divisible by four, the original number is divisble by four. [[User:Tibfulv|Tibfulv]] ([[User talk:Tibfulv|talk]]) 00:38, 30 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The calculation of Christmas is trivial{{Citation needed}} it's December 25th. Where as the calculation of Easter is complex ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computus]). [[Special:Contributions/172.68.133.18|172.68.133.18]] 18:03, 29 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Calulsting the date of Christmas is actually non-trivial. It depends on your location. For example if you are in the US it's in December. If you are in Russia it's in January. If you are in Ukraine it's sortof both but not really. And if you are in Crimea, well, see one of the 2 previous sentences. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.238.172|172.68.238.172]] 15:22, 30 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Actually, it's December 25 on the old Julian calendar in Russia. It's just that Russia uses the Julian calendar for liturgical purposes and the Gregorian calendar for secular purposes. It's a bit schizophrenic. [[User:Billjefferys|Billjefferys]] ([[User talk:Billjefferys|talk]]) 19:40, 30 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
::I've moved some content to the trivia section and added this Julian calendar issue for the Eastern church.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:42, 30 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
FYI, Christmas in 2018 falls on a Tuesday. I just did a quick research on my laptop's calendar, it is an answer to the title text.Boeing-787lover 19:10, 31 December 2017 (UTC) {{unsigned|Xkcdreader52}}<br />
<br />
;Title text explanation mis-read<br />
Explanation of title text is incorrect: "The title text refers to calculating the date of Christmas; again, this is a trivial exercise, because Christmas is always December 25." Title text states 'day of Christmas', not 'date...'. The day changes each year and so does require calculation. {{unsigned ip|162.158.111.73}}<br />
<br />
Oops, my bad. Fixed. [[User:FlyingPiMonster|FlyingPiMonster]] ([[User talk:FlyingPiMonster|talk]]) 18:08, 29 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
* I think you have it backwards. The title text is a reference to calculating the day (as in "date", not "day of week") of Easter. This is a non-trivial calculation (though one that modern computers can perform easily). On the other hand, the Christmas day is fixed. (There's no reason to believe that the joke was anything else.) - [[User:Mike Rosoft|Mike Rosoft]] ([[User talk:Mike Rosoft|talk]]) 19:13, 29 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
I don't know who wrote the explanation, but... Are they having a bad day? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.205|162.158.111.205]] 18:44, 29 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
:That was vandalism. I did a revert. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:06, 29 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
::Ah, no, I was asking because the explanation sounds so angry. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.17|141.101.104.17]] 22:48, 29 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Also, Megan understands that checking if a number divisible by 2 is easy [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.50|141.101.77.50]] 19:32, 29 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;Theory for possible explanation<br />
Didn't want to edit this in because I'm not sure- but the motivation for this uncharacteristic lack of mathematical rigor could have to do with the current trend of people being dismissive of science being able to predict things. Something that seems pretty obvious is made to look like a chance event that nobody can really predict ahead of time. {{unsigned|Sirpent}}<br />
<br />
::This is easy! Don't factor it - just subtract 2000. Is 18 divisible by 4? If so, you're an idiot. {{unsigned ip| 172.68.143.156}}<br />
<br />
::The nonsense does look to me like a political discussion where one person uses "alternative facts". But in real life people get leap years "amusingly" wrong. Computer system designers for instance... one software tool I used passed into the year 2000 working correctly, but then it broke 2 months later because it thought 2000 wasn't a Gregorian calendar leap year, I guess because every 4th year is but every 100th year isn't. Every 400th year is, but, if the programmer just stopped at "every 4th is a leap year" then they'd have been fine until 2100. Robert Carnegie rja.carnegie@excite.com [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.102|141.101.105.102]] 22:06, 29 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The joke in this might be that it might take some time to brute-force the prime factorisation of 2018 with a calculator as it’s 2*1009. Same holds true for 2017 which is prime. Therefore on might come to the conclusion that factorisation is hard already at this scale. (flx) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.253.71|172.68.253.71]] 22:24, 29 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;Odd/even is another joke<br />
Cueball: No, it's definitely not. Leap years are divisible by 4.<br />
Megan: Right, and for odd numbers, that's easy.<br />
Megan: But 2018 is even.<br />
<br />
She can see that finding out if a number is divisible by 2 is easy, but for dividing by 4 it's a "50/50 chance", and really hard to calculate. IMHO the best joke in the comic but missing from the explanation. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.50|141.101.77.50]] 23:59, 29 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think it's interesting that 2018 only has two factors, 2 and 1009. Maybe a trivia?<br />
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.107|162.158.238.107]] 17:40, 30 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think there should be a mention of leap year rules in general, since they are nontrivial (divisble by 4, except not multiples of 100, except yes to multiples of 400)? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.233|172.68.142.233]] 18:43, 30 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think the joke in the title text is a play on the old joke that even though we know every year when Christmas falls, and every year we always say that we are going to begin saving or shopping in the months preceding Christmas we always get to December and are "surprised" that Christmas happens to be in December. Effectively Randall is suggesting that the reason we are surprised Christmas is in December is not due to forgetting but rather that we are "calculating" when the day is. Also related are Jokes about American Tax day (April 15th) or pretty much anything to do with procrastination. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.107|172.69.70.107]] 01:06, 31 December 2017 (UTC) Sam<br />
<br />
Here is some trivia! This comic is number 1935. In 83 more comics XKCD will reach number 2018. So sometime in the year 2018 we will have comic number 2018. Now go calculate what date that will happen ... and don't pull out your pocket slide rule [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slide_rule] to do the calculation. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 14:47, 1 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Trivia "So we will have a comic named 2018 and a comic numbered 2018 both in the year 2018" is wrong: actually, comic named "2018" was published in the year 2017. [[Special:Contributions/195.62.179.66|195.62.179.66]] 07:23, 2 January 2018 (UTC)</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1934:_Phone_Security&diff=150118Talk:1934: Phone Security2018-01-02T10:54:21Z<p>Jaalenja: Undo revision 150112 by Kaizen (talk) (vandalism)</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
<br />
"Detonated" ah, so this is the feature that Samsung was prototyping last year... [[User:Andyd273|Andyd273]] ([[User talk:Andyd273|talk]]) 15:39, 27 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Ha! Yes, it's too bad their phones kept mistakenly registering as being stolen... stupid bugs. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.107|172.69.70.107]] 17:28, 27 December 2017 (UTC) Sam<br />
<br />
:Back in the day if a hacker really hated you, you'd come back to your computer and see smoke pouring out of the CPU. I bet there's some way to detonate a phone in software by overheating the battery, but I imagine it could be different for every phone/battery combination. {{unsigned ip| 108.162.219.64}}<br />
<br />
::Already done. http://www.zdnet.com/article/this-crypto-mining-android-malware-is-so-demanding-it-burst-a-smartphone/ [[User:Silverpie|Silverpie]] ([[User talk:Silverpie|talk]]) 23:09, 28 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Someone needs to make a jailbreak that does as much of this as possible, especially the ridesharing and siren 😂 [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 15:52, 27 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: there was or is at least one house in the U.S. that was reported, apparently inaccurately, as the location of an extraordinary number of stolen cell phones. Presumably that house would suffer all of the pranks that this phone security performs. As for payment details - someone who stole a phone may have also stolen banking cards, so, the account number that you steal back may belong to another innocent victim. It's just a joke of course, but, saying. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.235|162.158.111.235]] 22:02, 27 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Made a account just to ask this - why is the post still considered incomplete? It looks complete to me. [[User:Donutman|Donutman]] ([[User talk:Donutman|talk]]) 13:59, 28 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: Because I added the core explanation, but many improvements have been made since then (bullet points, bolding, transcript). Also, the siren would be insanely easy to do, as would an automated "send the GPS location to the police" among other things. [[User:Kashim|Kashim]] ([[User talk:Kashim|talk]]) 14:15, 28 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
::I've removed the tag right now after I added that the phone would have to sense that it is stolen. There is no sensor to detect this. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:46, 28 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
:::Bluetooth. With paired device on owner, the phone can detect if it was moved from owner. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 01:19, 29 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
:::: No good. Firstly, no phone (that I know of) comes with such a device, which I would guess would be called a dongle. Secondly, if they did it wouldn't take long for thieves to realize they have to get the dongle, too. Thirdly, that would mean the owner could never put down their phone, like at home or at work - I've heard of a few workplaces which are high security and don't allow cell phones, so they have to be left in the car or in a locker near the entrance - unless they remember to put down the device too (which would largely defeat the purpose of such a device). And the first time they forget and the phone identified itself as stolen would be enough to convince the rightful owner that this system doesn't work. Fourthly, anything wireless must work by battery. When that battery dies, either the phone would trigger as being stolen, or it would have to detect the battery dying to not go off, in which case you're vulnerable to theft until you charge the ownership dongle. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 09:36, 29 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
:::::All points you raised are real, but don't make it impossible. Sure, it would be bad idea to detonate or something like that when the dongle gets out of range, but it can be used to start making noise (the siren option). For the other countermeasures, the phone should detect being stolen by incorrect password being entered repeatedly. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:36, 29 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
::::::Just to follow this up, for most of the countermeasures, it seems relatively clear that the phone would consider itself stolen when somebody tries to wipe it or enters the wrong password too many times. The owner would have some secret wiping procedure that performs a legitimate wipe, and when the phone is wiped using a normal procedure it considers itself stolen and engages all its countermeasures. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.107|108.162.212.107]] 19:08, 30 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
: You didn't need an account to write a comment - any commenter name that's an IP address is such a guest commentor. I posted many before I created an account. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 09:36, 29 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I first thought "erase phone" meant "erase physically", but "detonate" makes that somewhat redundant. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.240|141.101.105.240]] 11:54, 29 December 2017 (UTC)</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1925:_Self-Driving_Car_Milestones&diff=150117Talk:1925: Self-Driving Car Milestones2018-01-02T10:54:08Z<p>Jaalenja: Undo revision 150111 by Kaizen (talk) (vandalism)</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
<br />
This page is, without offense to the creator, a mess. We're gonna need a table for this. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.78|172.68.47.78]] 19:14, 6 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
* Or at least a list. I have created one, but it could use fleshing out.[[User:WingedCat|WingedCat]] ([[User talk:WingedCat|talk]]) 19:55, 6 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
::List is fine. You don't need a table for everything - especially if this table had only one or two columns...<br />
: none taken, it's my first time (I only wrote the first three points from a blank page) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.61|162.158.111.61]] 09:08, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I'm going to go with a [citation needed] on that "sex in a self-driving has probably already happened." Are there stats suggesting the amount of coitus per vehicle in the relevant counties?<br />
<br />
"This a joke about Boolean satisfiability, as evaluating an arbitrarily complex bumper sticker and determining whether to honk is NP-complete." What? Determining whether to honk has nothing to do with the satisfiability problem; this is more of a joke about getting a computer to evaluate the truth of Boolean expressions that it may have no information about. [[User:Checkmate|Checkmate]] ([[User talk:Checkmate|talk]]) 22:07, 6 December 2017 (UTC)Checkmate<br />
<br />
I believe the "Autonomous canyon jumping" is related to the self-loathing; a self-loathing is likely to autonomously jump off a cliff. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.179|108.162.212.179]] 22:30, 6 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"As of 2017, self-driving s require a human to be able to take over just in case, but any such trip where the human never actually took control would qualify for this milestone."<br />
I seems like not all places require a human backup driver: https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/7/16615290/waymo-self-driving-safety-driver-chandler-autonomous [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.146|172.69.22.146]] 23:19, 6 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Time to start printing "Honk if this statement evaluates as 'do not honk!'" bumper stickers! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.28|162.158.63.28]] 01:24, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Is this related to the Vsauce Mind Field video about self-driving s and the trolley problem the literally released today, or is it just a weird coincidence?[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.225|162.158.74.225]] 05:13, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The likelihood of trolley-like problems is no lower for an autonomous car than a human-driven one, since it depends on external factors. It might be true that if a significant number of the ''other'' cars on the road were replaced with self-driving ones, that would reduce the occurrence of conflicts, and therefore the likelihood and severity of these problems would be lower, but it would be lower for self-driven and human-driven cars alike. The real issue with such debates is that they tend to make a false assumption that existing human drivers are good at solving these problems, when the whole thrust of these thought experiments is to demonstrate that there are no generally accepted solutions to these problems.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.239|141.101.104.239]] 09:33, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
:I don't think anyone would argue that human drivers are good at handling trolley-problem situations, and we don't tend to expect humans to make good decisions under pressure. The problem is that a self-driving car would need to be programmed to make decisions in these scenarios in advance, which would involve assigning absolute values to the different options in a trolley-problem scenario. As you said, there's no generally accepted solution to these problems, so the controversy arises from deciding how self-driving cars should be programmed to handle these situations. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.161|162.158.79.161]] 21:05, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
"Given the nature of human sexuality, it is possible this has already happened, but there has not been a public documentation of this milestone."<br />
Rule 34 applies. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.133|162.158.89.133]] 12:44, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
:that part after the but is an edit from me, because the previous wording was even less plausible:<br />
:"but no one recorded the incident." - I changed that to "but there has not been a public documentation of this milestone." <br />
:because I didn't find any recording with a quick search on one of the more famous free sites for videos like that (not car videos...) [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 16:58, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"An empty car wandering the highways" - that doesn't seem so ridiculous; a car costs what, $9000/year? That's like an EC2 instance and not even the biggest one. [[User:Sabik|Sabik]] ([[User talk:Sabik|talk]]) 13:22, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
: Plus you have to factor in the potential for the cost of letting the car wander becoming cheaper than paying for a parking space, in which case it may become a deliberate choice.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.239|141.101.104.239]] 13:24, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
: Some stops will provide free electricity so an electric car could keep going that way. Its owner will notice it's missing but they could be sick in hospital or even dead - they may even die in the car from a medical issue if that then counts as an empty car. Why the car's journey never ends is a different question. Maybe it drives the deceased owner to work and back every day. Maybe it's searching for a parking space and charging point but cannot reach the former from the latter before it has to go back and charge again. Robert Carnegie rja.carnegie@excite.com [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.6|141.101.105.6]] 16:09, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
::My first thought was of a woman who had died in her house, but wasn't found for many years because her bills were all auto-paid.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.122.12|162.158.122.12]] 14:49, 8 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
Added a bit more to the explanation and formatted everything into a table so it's more organized. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|'''JayRules''XKCD''' ]]<sup>[[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|what's up?]]</sup> 13:26, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Are there any researchers working on cars that can find a parking space? (Instead of just park in one that the human driver finds?) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.145|162.158.111.145]] 14:53, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
: There is a parking space app and parking payment apps. I don't know if smart cars are allowed to use these without human supervision. Robert Carnegie rja.carnegie@excite.com [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.6|141.101.105.6]] 16:11, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
:Tesla already has software to allow a Model S or X to park itself after dropping off human occupants at their destination. It's not yet released to owners but Tesla is testing it. ----<br />
<br />
The first three milestones all come under the heading of recently achieved. 1.Volvo has an auto breaking system on imminent collision detection 2.lane keeping/warning systems are now relatively common. 3.Several models have automatic parking assist.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.165.16|162.158.165.16]] 04:28, 8 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Perhaps commenters here are to young to remember Evel Knievel https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evel_Knievel but I feel very confident Randall was thinking of Evel and his Snake River Canyon jump when he wrote the "Autonomous Canyon Jumping" milestone----<br />
<br />
The table seems to miss the fact that the comic starts with things which have all been implemented in vehicles and have become commonplace, spending a lot of time talking about hypothetical problems which don't really change the fact that these things are all "done". Automatic emergency braking is available on new cars and appears to be a fairly simple collision-avoidance system. Highway lane-keeping is also definitely "solved" in the current batch of self-driving cars and is a selling point for some mainstream cars and trucks too (and the difficulties with faded lines or whatever is fairly irrelevant to the comic as a whole). Self-parking is also available in a lot of standard cars these days. "Full highway autonomy" is more or less solved now, though of course there are legal issues with it. Without doing any research I think we can all agree that "First sex..." has definitely been done by now. The first milestone that is probably in our future, now, is the "no input" line (though I can't be sure... can a user really just get into the car, give and address and do nothing else to help until it parks at its destination?).[[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.33|141.101.69.33]] 19:16, 9 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The bit about first sex brings to mind "What on Earth!" {{w|What on Earth!}}. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.82|172.68.141.82]] 07:17, 12 December 2017 (UTC)</div>Jaalenjahttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1936:_Desert_Golfing&diff=150116Talk:1936: Desert Golfing2018-01-02T10:53:46Z<p>Jaalenja: Undo revision 150110 by Kaizen (talk) (vandalism)</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
FIRST <br />
05:11, 1 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Desert golf! It's an actual event! From the top of Socorro Peak it's [http://www.golf.com/ap-news/new-mexico-golf-shootout-3-miles-down-mountain 3 miles and 2500 vertical feet] to the hole.<br />
It's the Elfego Baca Golf Shootout in New Mexico.<br />
<br />
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.76|172.68.54.76]] 05:46, 1 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Finished first draft, need some help to complete it. Oh, and Desert Golfing is an app developed by Blinkbat Games. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 06:10, 1 January 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Probably have to play this game!Boeing-787lover 07:20, 1 January 2018 (UTC)</div>Jaalenja