2178: Expiration Date High Score - Revision history

24.165.92.134: /* Explanation */

2025-11-22T09:34:19Z

‎Explanation

24.165.92.134: /* Explanation */

2025-11-22T09:30:19Z

‎Explanation

42.book.addict at 20:30, 20 March 2024

2024-03-20T20:30:43Z

1234231587678: making the last paragraph make sense

2024-01-27T16:45:29Z

making the last paragraph make sense

162.158.74.49: Restoring '81 (not '83). Born in 1981, You'd be 37 from that date in 2018 right up to just before that date in 2019.

2024-01-27T16:34:06Z

Restoring '81 (not '83). Born in 1981, You'd be 37 from that date in 2018 right up to just before that date in 2019.

172.70.85.23: /* Trivia */

2024-01-27T15:13:08Z

‎Trivia

Jacky720: rv

2022-05-04T22:37:01Z

Show changes

Ex Kay Cee Dee at 22:20, 4 May 2022

2022-05-04T22:20:37Z

Show changes

Jacky720: rv

2022-05-04T20:58:13Z

Show changes

Ex Kay Cee Dee at 20:40, 4 May 2022

2022-05-04T20:40:04Z

Show changes

@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 The other joke is both the items in the comic (a can of beans and a jar of pickles) do not go bad with time but in fact remain edible indefinitely (as long as the jar/can is not opened and is undamaged.)
-Food going bad, in the sense that it will make you sick if you eat it, is most often caused by harmful bacteria growing in the food.  Less often caused by fungi or yeast growing in the food and creating a poisonous substance, like methanol (wood alcohol.)  The process of canning food involves boiling it to kill all possible pathogens, then sealing it in a jar/can while the food is still hot, with no air bubble.  As long as this process is done correctly, the jar lid will have an airtight seal, so as long as the can is not punctured, or does not have a hole become rusted through, no bacteria/virus/yeast/fungi can get in and the food cannot spoil.  Some food may discolor over time in the jar/can, or the texture may change, but it cannot go bad in a way that makes it unsafe to eat.
+Food going bad, in the sense that it will make you sick if you eat it, is most often caused by harmful bacteria growing in the food.  Less often caused by fungi or yeast growing in the food and creating a poisonous substance, like methanol (wood alcohol.)  The process of canning food involves boiling it to kill all possible pathogens, then sealing it in a jar/can while the food is still hot, with no air bubble.  As long as this process is done correctly, the jar lid will have an airtight seal, so as long as the can is not punctured, or does not have a hole or become rusted through, no bacteria/virus/yeast/fungi can get in and the food cannot spoil.  Some food may discolor over time in the jar/can, or the texture may change, but it cannot go bad in a way that makes it unsafe to eat.
 Megan's mom could not have a jar of pickles with a 1978 expiration date because in 1978 jars and cans of food did not have expiration dates. Since then many countries introduced laws and regulations requiring companies to put expiration dates on perishable goods. In some instances this can have the negative effect of people throwing out good food by blindly following the suggested expiration date. This behavior can incentivize companies to adjust the expiration date, or put expiration dates on non-perishable goods, so that people will re-buy the products sooner.

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 If you find an item which you purchased, but is now past its {{w|expiration date}}, you get a score which is what percent of your lifetime elapsed between when the item expired and when you found it.
-[[Megan]], looking in a cupboard, find a can of beans that expired in 2010 (9 years ago), and that gives her a score of 24.3. Megan's age is thus revealed to be 37, found by substituting 2019 and 2010 into the formula 100*(2019-2010)/<age> = 24.3 and solving for the age. This is consistent with [[630: Time Travel]], in which Megan's date of birth is given as 1983.
+[[Megan]], looking in a cupboard, finds a can of beans that expired in 2010 (9 years ago), and that gives her a score of 24.3. Megan's age is thus revealed to be 37, found by substituting 2019 and 2010 into the formula 100*(2019-2010)/<age> = 24.3 and solving for the age. This is consistent with [[630: Time Travel]], in which Megan's date of birth is given as 1983.
 [[Cueball]] then remarks that she will never beat her mom's jar of pickles that was from 1978. Megan then wonders if there are more cans (from 2010 or before) in the cupboard, and asks Cueball to remind her to not look any further until 2030. At that time the can would have been 20 years old and she would be 48, giving such a can a score of 100*(2030-2010)/48 = 41.6. That would thus beat her mom's high score.

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
-[[Randall]] is introducing the rules of the game ''Expiration Date High Score'' hence the title.
+[[Randall]] is introducing the rules of the game ''Expiration Date High Score'', hence the title.
 If you find an item which you purchased, but is now past its {{w|expiration date}}, you get a score which is what percent of your lifetime elapsed between when the item expired and when you found it.

@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 The other joke is both the items in the comic (a can of beans and a jar of pickles) do not go bad with time but in fact remain edible indefinitely (as long as the jar/can is not opened and is undamaged.)
-Food going bad, in the sense that it will make you sick if you eat it, is most often caused by harmful bacteria growing in the food.  Less often caused by fungi or yeast growing in the food and creating a poisonous substance, like methanol (wood alcohol.)  The process of canning food involves boiling it to kill all possible pathogens, then sealing it in a can/jar while the food is still hot, with no air bubble.  As long as this process is done correctly, the jar lid will have an airtight seal, so as long as the can is not punctured, or does not have a hole become rusted through, no bacteria/virus/yeast/fungi can get in and the food cannot spoil.  Some food may discolor over time in the jar/can, or the texture may change, but it cannot go bad in a way that makes it unsafe to eat.
+Food going bad, in the sense that it will make you sick if you eat it, is most often caused by harmful bacteria growing in the food.  Less often caused by fungi or yeast growing in the food and creating a poisonous substance, like methanol (wood alcohol.)  The process of canning food involves boiling it to kill all possible pathogens, then sealing it in a jar/can while the food is still hot, with no air bubble.  As long as this process is done correctly, the jar lid will have an airtight seal, so as long as the can is not punctured, or does not have a hole become rusted through, no bacteria/virus/yeast/fungi can get in and the food cannot spoil.  Some food may discolor over time in the jar/can, or the texture may change, but it cannot go bad in a way that makes it unsafe to eat.
 Megan's mom could not have a jar of pickles with a 1978 expiration date because in 1978 jars and cans of food did not have expiration dates. Since then many countries introduced laws and regulations requiring companies to put expiration dates on perishable goods. In some instances this can have the negative effect of people throwing out good food by blindly following the suggested expiration date. This behavior can incentivize companies to adjust the expiration date, or put expiration dates on non-perishable goods, so that people will re-buy the products sooner.
@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 The title text continues the conversation from the comic. Cueball remarks that they moved since 2010... Thus the beans were apparently bought while living in a different home, meaning they were moved along with their other belongings. This is somewhat unusual as many people take moving as an opportunity to go through their old stuff and get rid of things they no longer need. Since the rules clearly states that you have to have bought it yourself, it could not have been in the house when they moved in, they had to have brought it along (unless they later bought something that was already expired). But given Megan's final answer that "some of us were just born to be champions" indicates that she did bring it along, anticipating this game, and thus given her self a great score. And as is clear she is willing to wait 11 years to try to beat her mom's score.
-It is not clear why they are keeping items for long periods of time in order to win.  An easier way to win this game would be to buy food that is already expired.  One could obtain a score of 100 simply by buying something that expired when one was born, and finding it the next day.
+It is not clear why they are keeping items for long periods of time in order to win.  An easier way to win this game would be to buy food that is already expired.  One could obtain a score of 100 simply by buying something that expired when one was born, and finding it the next year.
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 55: / Line 55: @@
 ==Trivia==
-The formula suggests Megans age to be 37, if this comic plays in 2019, when it was released. That puts her birth year as 1982-83. This is in slight contrast to [[630: Time Travel]], which implies her birth year to be 1983.
+The formula suggests Megans age to be 37, if this comic plays in 2019, when it was released. That puts her birth year as 1981-82. This is in slight contrast to [[630: Time Travel]], which implies her birth year to be 1983.
 {{comic discussion}}