https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=50.151.2.168&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-19T11:44:08ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=581:_The_Race:_Part_5&diff=51241581: The Race: Part 52013-10-26T03:02:26Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 581<br />
| date = May 8, 2009<br />
| title = The Race: Part 5<br />
| image = the_race_part_5.png<br />
| titletext = It was actually canceled because they just noticed he's been naked under that coat the whole time. There's a petition on Facebook to get Fox to un-cancel it, and one on Livejournal to get him to take off the coat.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
This is a continuation of the previous comic in "[[The Race]]" series, [[580: The Race: Part 4]].<br />
<br />
In panel 6 (2nd panel in the 2nd row), {{w|Nathan Fillion}} line is reminiscent of a similar quote from the 2nd episode of {{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}, {{w|The Train Job}}: "I just wanted you to face me so she could get behind ya." In the show, {{w|Malcolm Reynolds}} is aided by {{w|Zoë Washburne}}, his second in command, who gets behind the bar thug he is speaking to. In the comic, Nathan Fillion is using the line on a fan, but {{w|Gina Torres}} is not standing behind [[Cueball]] this time.<br />
<br />
Summer's line about growing but not retracting her hair appears to mean that because Nathan used her to stop Cueball, she has to stop him as well, which she neatly does.<br />
<br />
Summer's statement in the 10th panel about swallowing a bug is a reference to the movie Serenity, made in 2005 to conclude Firefly's storyline. While on the run from the Reavers, Summer's character accidentally swallows a bug while sitting in the open seated hovercraft.<br />
<br />
The final panel is a reference to {{w|Fox TelevisionTV}}'s treatment of Firefly. Firefly was cancelled after only 11 episodes of the 14 made were aired, leaving 3 episodes unaired.<br />
<br />
Internet petitions, contrary to the sarcastic suggestion in the final panel, rarely, if ever, work.<br />
<br />
All comics in "[[The Race]]" series:<br />
*[[577: The Race: Part 1]]<br />
*[[578: The Race: Part 2]]<br />
*[[579: The Race: Part 3]]<br />
*[[580: The Race: Part 4]]<br />
*[[581: The Race: Part 5]]<br />
<br />
This series was released on 5 consecutive days(Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Nathan skates in.]<br />
:Nathan: So you took care of him?<br />
:Summer: I can exude hair but not retract it.<br />
:Nathan: That a yes?<br />
:[Summer grabs Nathan's arm as he skates past her, pulling him off the board.]<br />
:Nathan: Bwah!<br />
:[An Andy Capp-esque meleè dust cloud.]<br />
:WHAP BAM POW WHAM<br />
:[Summer skates away.]<br />
:[A beat-up Nathan approaches an similarly battered Cueball.]<br />
:Nathan: She may have my board, but I can still beat you to the finish line if I bring you down.<br />
:Cueball: Bring it, Captain Tightpants.<br />
:Nathan: I've got nothing to bring. I just said that so she could get behind you.<br />
:[Cueball turns.]<br />
:Cueball: Who—<br />
:[Cueball is hit with his board.]<br />
:''WHAM''<br />
:[Nathan stands over a prone Cueball.]<br />
:Nathan: I just said THAT so I could get behind you. The serious fans always fall for the quotes.<br />
:[Wide panel of Summer crossing the finishing line on Nathan's board, breaking through the tape.]<br />
:Announcer: And the winner is...<br />
:Off-screen voice: Summer Glau?<br />
:Summer: I swallowed a bug again.<br />
:[Close-up of Cueball's beaten face.]<br />
:Cueball: All right, Fillion. I've had enough of your treachery and ...rugged good looks. This ends here.<br />
:[Equally close-up: Nathan's face, bearing several grazes.]<br />
:Nathan: All right, fanboy. Let this be our final battle. <br />
:[They rush at each other, fists ready to swing punches.]<br />
:Final battle canceled by Fox.<br />
:Try an Internet petition drive - those ''totally'' work.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Nathan Fillion]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Summer Glau]]<br />
[[Category:Firefly]]<br />
[[Category:The Race]]<br />
[[Category:Electric skateboard]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1282:_Monty_Hall&diff=512361282: Monty Hall2013-10-25T22:06:39Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Trivia */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1282<br />
| date = October 25, 2013<br />
| title = Monty Hall<br />
| image = monty hall.png<br />
| titletext = A few minutes later, the goat from behind door C drives away in the car.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic is a reference to the {{w|Monty Hall Problem}}, a probability puzzle based on the US game show '{{w|Let's Make a Deal}}' and named after its original host, {{w|Monty Hall}}. The premise of the show was that Hall would offer "deals" to contestants pulled from the audience in which they could win cash and prizes. Some deals involved games/tasks the contestant had to perform, while others simply involved the contestant making choices between a series of doors or boxes. In such games of choice, there were often several prizes and typically at least one "zonk", the show's name for an undesirable "gag" prize, which on the original Monty Hall version of the show were frequently animals such as goats.<br />
<br />
In the classic version of the Monty Problem, a contestant is offered a choice of three doors. Behind two of the doors are goats, and behind one of them is a car. First, the contestant chooses a door, which remains closed. The host then opens one of the two remaining doors and reveals a goat. The contestant is then offered a final choice of whether to switch his choice to the remaining closed door, or keep the door they originally chose. The problem involves an analysis of the the probability of the contestant choosing the car given certain circumstances.<br />
<br />
The problem assumes that a contestant would want to win a car, and would be disappointed to win a goat (a zonk), which most contestants would have no ability to house, and no use for. The comic shows that [[Beret Guy]], upon the host revealing that door B has a goat behind it, chooses to take the goat to keep as a pet, which makes them both very happy.<br />
<br />
The title text references the car and the remaining goat, untouched behind the remaining doors.<br />
<br />
===The Monty Hall Problem===<br />
:''for an in-depth analysis of the Monty Hall Problem, see {{w|Monty Hall Problem|its article at Wikipedia}}''<br />
The apparent "paradox" of the Monty Hall Problem is that many people's initial reaction once the host opens a door to reveal a goat, is that there are two remaining doors, one with a car and one with a goat; and therefore there is an equal probability the car is behind each door. Many people therefore believe that switching makes no difference to the odds of winning a car.<br />
<br />
However, assuming that the host has knowledge of which doors contain goats, and that his choice of which door to open is always an unchosen door containing a goat, it is actually twice as likely that the contestant will win the car if they switch than if they keep their original choice. This is because the contestant initially had a one-in-three chance of choosing the car (and a two-in-three chance of choosing a goat). Switching always wins the car in those two-thirds of cases where the contestant initially chose a goat. The probability of winning by switching is therefore the same as the probability that the contestant initially chose a goat.<br />
<br />
The switch essentially gives the contestant ''both'' remaining doors instead of just the ''one'' door originally chosen. Because the host ''always'' has at least one goat available, the fact that the host reveals a goat does not provide the contestant any new information about their initially chosen door. The initial door still has a two-in-three chance of being a goat, and switching still has a two-in-three chance of winning. Opening a goat-door simply shifts all of the probability of the remaining two doors being a car to the remaining unchosen door.<br />
<br />
There has been great debate about the precise wording of the problem, and what assumptions or rules might apply. Variants of the problem have the host open one of the two remaining doors at random, which could result in the car being revealed, and the game ending. In that scenario, if a goat is revealed, there is in fact an equal probability of winning by switching or keeping the initial door.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A game show presenter is standing in front of three doors, the left door labeled "A", the right door labeled "C", and the middle door presumably labeled "B". The "B" door is open. Beret Guy is walking away with a goat.]<br />
:Beret Guy: ...And my yard has so much grass, and I'll teach you tricks, and...<br />
:[There is an affectionate heart coming out of the goat's head, as if it likes this idea.]<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*The Monty Hall problem is strikingly similar to the {{w|Two envelope problem|Two Envelope Paradox}}, one of [http://blog.xkcd.com/2008/09/09/the-goddamn-airplane-on-the-goddamn-treadmill/ several notoriously provocative thought experiments] (some of which are "banned" on the xkcd forums). Admittedly, the Monty Hall problem has only one clear solution. Because of this, it is much less likely to spark the kinds of arguments like "the goddamn airplane on the goddamn treadmill" or the "{{w|Feynman sprinkler}}" incite.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1281:_Minifigs&diff=511541281: Minifigs2013-10-25T03:19:57Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1281<br />
| date = October 23, 2013<br />
| title = Minifigs<br />
| image = minifigs.png<br />
| titletext = The LEGO Group is already the world's largest tire manufacturer.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
{{w|Lego minifigure}}s (often abbreviated as ''minifigs'') are tiny plastic people designed by the Danish toy manufacturer {{w|Lego Group|Lego}} as part of their construction toy sets. Since 1978, over four billion minifigures have been sold. The figures resemble simplified humans, often with a yellow skin colour and featuring interchangeable body parts.<br />
<br />
The graph depicted in the comic extrapolates the total number of minifigures and compares it to the growth of the {{w|world population}}, which reached 7 billion in March 2012. By the extrapolations of the comic, Lego minifigures will outnumber the human population by 2019. The extrapolation of statistical data has appeared in various xkcd comics, e.g. in [[605]], [[1007]], and [[1204]]. However, unlike the other extrapolated scenarios, the prognosis of this comic seems quite likely.<br />
<br />
Since Lego is designed to resemble nature and civilization on a miniaturized scale, some sets also contain Lego cars as vehicles for the minifigures. With over 381 million {{w|Lego tire}}s produced for these miniature cars, Lego is already the world's largest manufacturer of tires. This fact is addressed in the title text.<br />
<br />
Lego (as of mid-October 2013) calculates they have made 7 billion+ figures. Earlier this year, they believed they would surpass the human count in 2014, but revised their numbers last week to (more or less) what this chart says.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Graph: x-axis 1980, 1990, 2010, 2020; y-axis 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 billions]<br />
:[Plot-line 1: Number of people in the world]<br />
:[Plot-line 2: Number of Lego People in the world]<br />
:[Label above the x-axis at 2013 reads "Today".]<br />
:[Shortly before 2020, both plot lines cross.]<br />
<br />
:By 2019, humans will be outnumbered.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Extrapolation]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1281:_Minifigs&diff=511021281: Minifigs2013-10-24T00:28:54Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1281<br />
| date = October 23, 2013<br />
| title = Minifigs<br />
| image = minifigs.png<br />
| titletext = The LEGO Group is already the world's largest tire manufacturer.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
<br />
{{w|Lego minifigure}}s (often abbreviated as ''minifigs'') are tiny plastic people designed by the Danish toy manufacturer {{w|Lego Group|Lego}} as part of their construction toy sets. Since 1978, over four billion minifigures have been sold. The figures resemble simplified humans, often with a yellow skin colour and featuring interchangeable body parts.<br />
<br />
The graph depicted in the comic extrapolates the total number of minifigures and compares it to the growth of the {{w|world population}}, which reached 7 billion in March 2012. By the extrapolations of the comic, Lego minifigures will outnumber the human population by 2019. The extrapolation of statistical data has appeared in various xkcd comics, e.g. in #[[605]]. However, unlike the other extrapolated scenarios (#[[1204]],#[[1007]]), the prognosis of this comic seems quite likely.<br />
<br />
Since Lego is designed to resemble nature and civilization on a miniaturized scale, some sets also contain Lego cars as vehicles for the minifigures. With over 381 million {{w|Lego tire}}s produced for these miniature cars, Lego is already the world's largest manufacturer of tires. This fact is addressed in the title text.<br />
<br />
Lego (as of last week / mid-October 2013) calculates they have made 7 billion+ figures. Earlier this year, they believed they would surpass the human count in 2014, but revised their numbers last week to (more or less) what this chart says.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Graph: x-axis 1980, 1990, 2010, 2020; y-axis 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 billions]<br />
:[Plot-line 1: Number of people in the world.]<br />
:[Plot-line 2: Number of Lego People in the world.]<br />
:[Label above the x-axis at 2013 reads "Today."]<br />
:[Shortly before 2020, both plot lines cross.]<br />
<br />
:By 2019, humans will be outnumbered.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Extrapolation]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1037:_Umwelt&diff=509921037: Umwelt2013-10-22T04:18:10Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Trivia */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1037<br />
| date = April 1, 2012<br />
| title = Umwelt<br />
| before = [[#Explanation|↓ Skip to explanation ↓]]<br />
| image = umwelt.png<br />
| titletext = Umwelt is the idea that because their senses pick up on different things, different animals in the same ecosystem actually live in very different worlds. Everything about you shapes the world you inhabit--from your ideology to your glasses prescription to your web browser.<br />
}}<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{Incomplete}}<br />
An {{w|umwelt|Umwelt}}, as the title text explains, is the idea that ones entire way of thinking is dependent on their surroundings. Thus, this {{w|April Fools}} comic changes based on the browser, location, or referrer. Thus, what the viewer is viewing the comic on, where they live, or where they came from determines which comic they actually see. As a result, there are actually multiple comics that went up on April Fools' Day (although only one is seen).<br />
<br />
===Aurora===<br />
The joke here is that Canadians, where the comic was shown, would regard the {{w|Aurora (astronomy)|Aurora Borealis}} as normal and thus, would not've seen the sight as particularly amazing.<br />
<br />
===Snake===<br />
The joke here is the extreme length of snakes. The world's longest snake is the python, the longest ever being 33 feet or approx. 10 meters. The red and blue circles refer to the hit game {{w|Portal}}.<br />
There is also a reference to the book "The Little Prince" in the second panel.<br />
<br />
===Black Hat===<br />
An analyst attempts to psychoanalyze [[Black Hat|Black Hat's]] [[72: Classhole|classhole]] tendencies. The joke here is that the turtle has actually been turned over and neither sees helping it as a priority.<br />
It's a reference to the Voight-Kampff test used in the movie Blade Runner (1982) to identify replicants.<br />
<br />
===Too Quiet===<br />
A reference to {{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}} which has been [[87: Velociraptors|constantly]] [[135: Substitute|referred]] [[1110: Click and Drag|to]] [[155: Search History|before]] [[758: Raptor Fences|in]] this comic.<br />
<br />
Also referencing the film {{w|2 Fast 2 Furious|2 Fast 2 Furious}}, an entertaining, yet intellectually unprovoking sequel in a popular film franchise, which is aimed at teenagers and young adults, prompting the blunt response from the stickman. The fact that Steve would use such a cliché {{w|2000s (decade)|noughties}} movie term in such an intense moment, and the subsequent curse, is the joke in this comic.<br />
<br />
===Galaxies===<br />
This is a joke on [[Megan|Megan's]] normally existentialist attitude. Whereas normally, she might be freaked out by the vastness of space, in this case, she can actually see the galaxies in question, and is furthermore weirded out by the fact that they seem to have a grudge against [[Cueball]].<br />
<br />
===xkcd Gold===<br />
This is probably a reference to the 4chan Gold Account, an implementation on 4chan that does not actually exist, and is usually used to trick newcomers into revealing their credit card numbers. The joke is that "Gold Account" users can supposedly block other users from viewing images they have posted. The fifth panel is probably a reference to Beecock, a notorious set of shocker images. 4chan's moderators have been known to give out "beecock bans" to particularly annoying users, which redirect the user to a page containing beecock and the text "OH NO THE BOARD IS GONE".<br />
<br />
===Germany===<br />
This comic references the {{w|Berlin airlift#The start of the Berlin Airlift|Berlin Airlift}}, a relief measure for citizens in West Berlin (surrounded by East Germany) instituted by the Allies after World War. In reality, the Allies flew a grand total of 500,000 tons of food over the Soviet blockade in planes. Randall puts a twist on this event by making it more fun: dropping supplies from a grand chairlift. The play on words is that "chairlift" rhymes with "airlift" and thus makes an easy substitution. The chair force is also a name that other service branches use to make fun of the air force.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
[Two people...]<br />
{Note to courageous readers- The transcript has been reordered in the order in which the comics appear in the picture and appropriate names have been given}<br />
<br />
===The void===<br />
[An epic void with a bright light shining right on you.]<br />
<br />
===Aurora===<br />
[Person heading out past another person comfortably sitting in front of a desk.]<br />
<br />
Person 1: Apparently there's a solar flare that's causing some Great Aurorae. CBC says they may even be visible here! Wanna drive out to see?<br />
<br />
Person 2: Hockey's on.<br />
<br />
Person 1: Ok. Later.<br />
<br />
[An expansive, marvelous image of emerald green northern lights, floating down through the sky.]<br />
<br />
Person 2: See anything?<br />
<br />
Person 1: No, just clouds.<br />
<br />
Person 2: Not surprised.<br />
<br />
===Snake===<br />
[Two people standing next to each other. One is holding the head end of a snake. Depending on the width of your browser, the snake is: three frames, the third of which has a little bit of a bump; the first frame has a human-size bump, the second has a third person looking at the snake, and the third has the snake going though two Portals; a squirrel and the human-size bump in the first frame, a ring next to the third person in the second frame, and Beret Guy riding the snake in front of the portal; or The squirrel, a fourth person within the snake being coiled, and the human bump in the first frame, the ring, a fifth person in love, and the third person in the second frame, Beret Guy and the portal in the third frame, and the same two people in the fourth frame.]<br />
<br />
Person holding snake head: I found a snake, but then I forgot to stop.<br />
<br />
===Black hat===<br />
[Two people sitting at a desk. One is Black Hat Guy. The other is an analyst. Black Hat Guy has a number of terminals attached to his head.]<br />
<br />
Analyst: You come across a tortoise in the desert. You flip it over. It struggles to right itself. You watch. You're not helping. Why is that? <br />
<br />
Black Hat Guy: It *knows* what it did.<br />
<br />
[View of the entire scene, with said turtle off in the distance on its back and trying to right itself.]<br />
<br />
===Too quiet===<br />
[A group of four scale down a wall into a field in the middle of the night. They walk off single-file.]<br />
<br />
Person 1: It's quiet.<br />
<br />
Person 3: Yeah - *Too* quiet.<br />
<br />
[A Velociraptor is off in the distance, following the group.]<br />
<br />
Person 4: Yeah - too *too* quiet.<br />
<br />
Person 2: Yeah - 2quiet2furious.<br />
<br />
Person 1: Fuck off, Steve.<br />
<br />
===Pond===<br />
[A landscape showing a pond, some reeds, and a set of mountains off in the distance.]<br />
<br />
===Galaxies===<br />
[A trio of galaxies.]<br />
<br />
Galaxy 1: He's not looking!<br />
<br />
Galaxy 3: Let's get him!<br />
<br />
[Lines draw in illustrating the eye-line of one of a pair of people.]<br />
<br />
Person 1: So he said he didn't get the text, but c'mon, he *never* misses texts. Right? ..hello?<br />
<br />
Person 2: I'm just staring at your head freaked out by th efact that there are millions of galaxies *directly behind it*.<br />
<br />
===xkcd Gold/Beehive part 1===<br />
<br />
[Person holding bat.]<br />
<br />
Person: Sorry, but this comic<br />
<br />
[Person starts to wind up.]<br />
<br />
requires<br />
<br />
[Person prepares to strike with bat.]<br />
<br />
XKCD<br />
<br />
[Person swings at a beehive.]<br />
<br />
GOLD<br />
<br />
===Beehive part 2===<br />
[Penis Bees fly out of the beehive.]<br />
<br />
===Yo mamma===<br />
[Person yells at another person.]<br />
<br />
Person 1;Oh yeah? Well you mama's so *cynical*, her only dog ballast is a *leash*!<br />
<br />
(This comic takes place in a dystopian future where the government is afraid dogs can hover, so it requires them to wear weights at all times, and some people privately doubt the government, but not enough to stop buying dog weights)<br />
<br />
===Reddit===<br />
Five seconds ago:<br />
<br />
[You sitting in front of a desk, reading a reddit thread]<br />
<br />
You: Oh, hey, reddit has a link to some XKCD april fools comic.<br />
<br />
Now: [An image of this very page]<br />
<br />
Five seconds from now:<br />
<br />
You: ..hey<br />
<br />
30 seconds from now:<br />
<br />
[DANCE PARTY!]<br />
<br />
===Buns and Hotdogs===<br />
<br />
Person: What I wanna know is why do hot dogs come in packages of six while buns come in these huge sacks of ash and blood from which "Ave Maria" is faintly audible?<br />
<br />
[Chanting sacks of gore in the background.]<br />
<br />
===Twitter===<br />
[A Twitter account page with the following: Many tweets, fewer following, even fewer followers, A bunch of assholes in the suggested follow box, trending topics partitioned into: Word Games, Misogyny, and Bieber, stuff your eyes automatically ignore, A really pleasant blue. and the timeline: Something about a podcast, Someone confused because the description doesn't match the link, The link you clicked on to get to this comic, Rob Delaney, Passive Aggression, and horse_ebooks.]<br />
<br />
===Wikipedia===<br />
[There's no comic here because instead of drawing one, I spent the last hour reading every news story cited in the Wikipedia article on "The Mile High Club"]<br />
<br />
===Google Chrome===<br />
[A Chrome plugin error page]<br />
<br />
Chrome: This plugin requires Sergey Brin's permission to run. Please wait while he is woken.<br />
<br />
===Chrome/Firefox===<br />
[Two people; one is sitting at a desk in front of a laptop.]<br />
<br />
Person 1: Man, chrome's hardware acceleration really sucks.<br />
<br />
Person 2: Oh - Theres' a great add-on that fixes it.<br />
<br />
Person 1: Oh? What's it called?<br />
<br />
Person 2: "Firefox".<br />
<br />
===Google Chrome-2===<br />
[A Chrome plugin error page with the characteristic jigsaw piece.]<br />
<br />
Chrome: Chrome is looking for this piece. Have you seen it? Chrome thinks it links up with a corner.<br />
<br />
===Mozilla Firefox Private Browsing===<br />
[Firefox error page.]<br />
<br />
Firefox: Well, this is embarrassing. You know how I'm not supposed to peek at your browsing in private mode? Firefox.. is sorry. Firefox will not blame you if you<br />
<br />
[button with text]<br />
<br />
click here to report this incident.<br />
<br />
===Internet Explorer===<br />
[IE error page]<br />
<br />
IE: Error: Internet Explorer has given up.<br />
<br />
===Maxthon===<br />
Person: Maxthon? Hey, 2005 called. Didn't say anything. All I could hear was sobbing. This is getting harder. Anyway, yeah, Maxthon's still cool! Didn't know it was still around!<br />
<br />
===Netscape Navigator===<br />
[Person with tentacle arms.]<br />
<br />
Person: Netscape Navigator? Hey, the nineties called - drunk as usual. I hung up without saying anything. This is getting harder. Anyway - it's cool that you'e got netscape running.<br />
<br />
===Rockmelt===<br />
[Person running to laptop.]<br />
<br />
I ran to Rockmelt to hide my face<br />
<br />
[Person sitting at laptop.]<br />
<br />
But Rockmelt cried out -<br />
<br />
[Laptop shouting]<br />
<br />
NO HIDING PLACE<br />
<br />
[zoom out]<br />
<br />
NO HIDING PLACE DOWN HERE<br />
<br />
===Google Chrome-4===<br />
[A chrome plugin error page.]<br />
<br />
Chrome: There does not exist --nor could there *ever* exist-- a plugin capable of displaying this content.<br />
<br />
===Microsoft/Amazon/The Times/Google - Chrome===<br />
[Chrome error page.]<br />
<br />
Chrome: This plugin requires clearance from the corporate press office in order to run. Remember, Microsoft/Amazon/The Times/Google is a team; individual employees should *never* speak for the company without authorization.<br />
<br />
===Military===<br />
[Person looking at two browser windows.]<br />
<br />
I know y'all know what you're doing. But if you're on a military machine and you're supposed to be watching for missiles or something, I hope you're keeping an eye on that in the background while you're reading comics. Also: Thanks.<br />
<br />
===T-Mobile===<br />
[Error page]<br />
<br />
Data Error: T-Mobile was unable to establish a connection<br />
<br />
===AT&T/Verizon===<br />
[Error page] Error; You have exceeded your AT&T/Verizon monthly bandwidth cap. Mobile web browsing has been disabled.<br />
<br />
===France===<br />
[Two people; one of which is browsing using a laptop.]<br />
<br />
Person 1: Hey, you're French, right? Ever see what happens when you type "French Military Victories" into Google?<br />
<br />
French person: Does it take you to an article on Napoleon?<br />
<br />
French person: ..no? Strange, given how he kicked everyone's asses up and down europe for over a decade.<br />
<br />
[beat]<br />
<br />
Person 1: Touche.<br />
<br />
French person: You know, that'd sound smarter if you didn't pronounce it like it rhymes with "douche".<br />
<br />
===Germany===<br />
[A person dropping food from an unorthodox high perch.]<br />
<br />
June 1948: In response to the Soviet blockade of East Germany, the western allies construct the Berlin Chairlift.<br />
<br />
Person on chairlift: Food!<br />
<br />
===Israel===<br />
[Person on phone]<br />
<br />
(Translation from Hebrew)<br />
<br />
Person: Mom, I met a great guy! But he's not Jewish. ... Wait, what do you mean "neither are we"? I'm completely confused.<br />
<br />
===Carnot Cycle===<br />
[Person on a motorcycle with a heat-entropy graph on the side.]<br />
<br />
Person 1: Check out my new Carnot Cycle!<br />
<br />
Person 2: Neat -- how fast does it go?<br />
<br />
Person 1: Depends how cold it is outside.<br />
<br />
===Great Britain===<br />
[Illustration of the atlantic ocean.]<br />
<br />
American person: Sorry I don't have a comic poking fun at the UK here. I only had time to get to the most *important* US states.<br />
<br />
British person: Hey -- At least we have free health care and real ale.<br />
<br />
===Earthquake-Blizzard===<br />
[Two people sitting at a desk, facing each other. The desk rattles.]<br />
<br />
Person 1: Stop jiggling your leg.<br />
<br />
Person 2: I'm not ji-.. oh!<br />
<br />
Person 1: What!<br />
<br />
Person 2: You'll get it..<br />
<br />
[EVERYTHING RUMBLES]<br />
<br />
Person 1: ..HOLY CRAP IT'S AN EARTHQUAKE!<br />
<br />
Person 2: Just a little one. Happens all the time back in San Francisco.<br />
<br />
Person 1: But this is {Options: "Alabama", "Boston", "Chicago", "Dallas", "Georgia", "Halifax", "Illinois", "Michigan", "Minnesota", "Missouri", "the Northeast", "Ohio", "Oklahoma", "Ottawa", 'Pennsylvania", "Philadelphia", "Texas", "Toronto", "Tennessee", "New York", "Wisconsin"}! That was huge!<br />
<br />
Person 2: Seriously? That's the worst this place can do? Wow. I guess we grow up tougher in California.<br />
<br />
Person 1: Oh *really*... Six Months Later..<br />
<br />
[Both people are trudging through a massive blizzard.]<br />
<br />
Person 2: In pictures, snow always looked so nice and sof -- AAAA! MY NECK! How do people live here?!<br />
<br />
Person 1: Come on - it's only three more miles.<br />
<br />
===Earthquake-Tornado===<br />
[Two people sitting at a desk, facing each other. The desk rattles.]<br />
<br />
Person 1: Stop jiggling your leg.<br />
<br />
Person 2: I'm not ji-.. oh!<br />
<br />
Person 1: What! Person 2: You'll get it..<br />
<br />
[EVERYTHING RUMBLES]<br />
<br />
Person 1: ..HOLY CRAP IT'S AN EARTHQUAKE!<br />
<br />
Person 2: Just a little one. Happens all the time back in San Francisco.<br />
<br />
Person 1: But this is {Options: "Alabama", "Dallas", "Illinois", "The Midwest", "Missouri", "Ohio", "Oklahoma", "Ottawa", "Tennessee", "Texas"}!<br />
<br />
That was huge!<br />
<br />
Person 2: Seriously? That's the worst this place can do? Wow. I guess we grow up tougher in California.<br />
<br />
Person 1: Oh *really*...<br />
<br />
Six Months Later..<br />
<br />
[Both people are in a shelter in a prairie with a rapidly-approaching tornado.]<br />
<br />
Person 2: AAAA CLOSE THE SHELTER DOOR!<br />
<br />
Person 1: Say the magic words...<br />
<br />
Person 2: THIS PLACE IS THE WORST!<br />
<br />
Person 1: Thank you.<br />
<br />
===Lake Diver Killer===<br />
[TV Field Reporter in front of a cordoned-off lake.]<br />
<br />
Police divers searching the bay say they have recovered thebody of another victim of the "Lake Diver Killer" During the search, three more divers were reported missing.<br />
<br />
===Washington===<br />
[The statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial.]<br />
<br />
In this Marble Prison As in the nightmares of the nation they tried to devour The nanobots that constituted Abraham Lincoln Are entombed forever.<br />
<br />
===Alaska===<br />
[A snowy Alaskan field.]<br />
<br />
Person: Some people hunt wolves from helicopters. I hunt helicopters from a wolf.<br />
<br />
===Life in lab===<br />
[Newspaper headline.]<br />
<br />
Scientists/UMass Amherst students/RIT students create life in lab<br />
<br />
[caption under picture of scientists.]<br />
<br />
"The trick was fuckin'"<br />
<br />
===American Revolution===<br />
Robot Paul Revere: Remember: Zero if by land, One if by sea.<br />
<br />
===MIT===<br />
[Two people in front of a group of students.]<br />
<br />
Person 1: I've hired a team of MIT students to count cards for us.<br />
<br />
Person 2: We'll be rich!<br />
<br />
[Person 2 deals some cards while the students watch.]<br />
<br />
[The gears turn..]<br />
<br />
Student: Five. There are five cards.<br />
<br />
Person 1: I see their admission standards have been slipping.<br />
<br />
Person 2: Yeah - there are actually four.<br />
<br />
===MIT Course 15c===<br />
[Two people in front of a group of students.]<br />
<br />
Person 1: I've hired a team of MIT students to count cards for us.<br />
<br />
Person 2: We'll be rich!<br />
<br />
[Person 2 deals some cards while the students watch.]<br />
<br />
[The gears turn..]<br />
<br />
Student: Five. There are five cards.<br />
<br />
Person 1: I *knew* we shouldn't have picked course 15s.<br />
<br />
Person 2: Yeah - there are actually four.<br />
<br />
===Smith/Wellesley===<br />
[Two people in front of a group of students.]<br />
<br />
Person 1: I've hired a team of Smith/Wellesley students to count cards for us.<br />
<br />
Person 2: We'll be rich!<br />
<br />
[Person 2 deals some cards while the students watch.]<br />
<br />
[The gears turn..]<br />
<br />
Student: Five. There are five cards.<br />
<br />
Person 1: We should've gone with Wellesley/Smith.<br />
<br />
Person 2: Yeah - there are actually four.<br />
<br />
===CNU===<br />
[Person unsuspectingly strolls under a giant box trap controlled by a Trible.]<br />
<br />
I worry that CNU only invited me back as a ruse because they realized I never turned in my final paper and want my diploma back. But if it turns out it's for real, I'll see you Wednesday at the Ferguson!<br />
<br />
===Dana Farber===<br />
[Cueball, pointing towards head.]<br />
<br />
Cueball: Check it out - In support of people going through chemo, i shaved my head.<br />
<br />
Lots of love to everyone reading this at Dana Farber. Cancer sucks. If you are new to DCFI, there's a great little garden on the third floor of the yawkey if you need somewhere quiet to just sit for a little bit and breathe.<br />
<br />
===Earthquake-Hurricane===<br />
[Two people sitting at a desk, facing each other. The desk rattles.]<br />
<br />
Person 1: Stop jiggling your leg.<br />
<br />
Person 2: I'm not ji-.. oh!<br />
<br />
Person 1: What! Person 2: You'll get it..<br />
<br />
[EVERYTHING RUMBLES]<br />
<br />
Person 1: ..HOLY CRAP IT'S AN EARTHQUAKE!<br />
<br />
Person 2: Just a little one. Happens all the time back in San Francisco.<br />
<br />
Person 1: But this is {Options: "D.C", "Florida", "Houston", "Miami", "New Jersey", "North Carolina", "South Carolina", "Virgina"}! That was huge!<br />
<br />
Person 2: Seriously? That's the worst this place can do? Wow. I guess we grow up tougher in California.<br />
<br />
Person 1: Oh *really*...<br />
<br />
Six Months Later..<br />
<br />
[Both are in the middle of a hurricane. Person 2 is grabbing onto a signpost to avoid being swept away.]<br />
<br />
Person 2: AAAAA WHAT THE SHIIIIT!<br />
<br />
Person 1: Calm down - this is barely a category 2.<br />
<br />
===Corporate===<br />
[Error page]<br />
<br />
Error: This plugin requires clearance from the corporate press office in order to run. Remember, we work as a team; individual employees should *never* speak for the company without authorization.<br />
<br />
===Microsoft/Amazon - Firefox===<br />
[Firefox error page]<br />
<br />
Chrome: This plugin requires clearance from the corporate press office in order to run. Remember, Microsoft/Amazon is a team; individual employees should *never* speak for the company without authorization.<br />
<br />
===Microsoft/The Times===<br />
[Error page]<br />
<br />
Error: This plugin requires clearance from the corporate press office in order to run. Remember, Microsoft/The Times is a team; individual employees should *never* speak for the company without authorization.<br />
<br />
===Aurora-US===<br />
[Person heading out past another person comfortably sitting in front of a desk.]<br />
<br />
Person 1: Apparently there's a solar storm causing northern lights over Canada. CNN say they might even be visible {Options: "As Far South As Us", "Here in Boston", "Maine", "Ohio", "Oregon", "New York"}! Wanna drive out to see?<br />
Person 2: It's cold out.<br />
Person 1: Ok. Later.<br />
<br />
[An expansive, marvelous image of emerald green northern lights, floating down through the sky.]<br />
<br />
Person 2: See anything?<br />
<br />
Person 1: No, just clouds.<br />
<br />
Person 2: Not surprised.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*Reddit user [http://www.reddit.com/user/SomePostMan SomePostMan] created a [http://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/t6wmh/all_umwelt_1037_comics_in_two_imgur_albums/ post] that collected all of the Umwelt comics and added explanations.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]<br />
[[Category:April fool's comics]]<br />
[[Category:Philosophy]]<br />
[[Category:Video games]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=254:_Comic_Fragment&diff=50991254: Comic Fragment2013-10-22T04:06:47Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 254<br />
| date = April 27, 2007<br />
| title = Comic Fragment<br />
| image = comic fragment.jpg<br />
| titletext = No one wants an explanation more than us. Except Ms. Garofalo.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
In this comic [[Randall]] has gone missing from the office, and his 'editors' have found only this panel from an unfinished project (of which Mr Munroe seems rather proud). The panel depicts an amalgam of science fiction disasters.<br />
<br />
* A crippled space station falling from orbit.<br />
* An exploding volcano.<br />
* Rampaging dinosaurs.<br />
* A lone hero in what appears to be a hopeless situation.<br />
<br />
{{w|Janeane Garofalo}} is an actress and comedian associated with strong feminist roles and opinions. She is an unlikely choice for an action hero but has fringe appeal.<br />
<br />
The strip itself is rather intriguing; how did Ms. Garofalo get on on the space station? How did she get the motorbike there? How is she on it, outside the space station? Why is she planning on fighting Tyrannosaurs (dinosaurs are a favorite topic of Munroe's) with only a dart gun? Why is the satellite crashing into a volcano in the first place?<br />
<br />
The title text is written from the 'editors' perspective, expressing their extreme puzzlement - outshone only by Ms. Garofalo's confusion.<br />
<br />
Later on, in December 2007, [[Randall Munroe]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJOS0sV2a24#t=7m15s suggested in a speech at Google] that a motivation to draw this comic was to put an end to reenactments of his comics (such as the [[225: Open Source|Richard Stallman]] and [[239: Blagofaire|Cory Doctorow]] comics which {{w|xkcd#Inspired activities|inspired real-life happenings}})... or challenge anyone to reenact such a complex one:<br />
:''I've been doing these comics and people have a habit of acting out the comics. I first — I did a comic about Cory Doctorow; you know, he wears red cape and goggles when he blogs and a week or so later, he was given an award. And he went up on the stage; they presented him with a red cape and goggles. I have done a comic little before that about Richard Stallman suggesting that he sleeps with the katana, you know, just in case. And, sure enough, they sent him, some fans pitched in together and sent him a katana. He had never heard of the comic. He was very confused. And I decided, okay, this is going to get out of hand. So, shortly after all that, I did a comic about Janeane Garofalo jumping a motorcycle off of the International Space Station as it crashes over an island with a volcanic eruption and Tyrannosaurus. And I said, okay, if someone can make ''that'' happen, but until they do that...''<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Editor's note: Mr. Munroe has been missing for several days. We have recieved no submissions from him for some time, but we found this single panel on his desk in a folder labeled 'MY BEST IDEA EVER'. It is clearly part of a work in progress, but we have decided to post it in lieu of a complete comic.<br />
:[Single panel illustration in color with one small panel embedded within, showing a zoomed-in version of Janeane Garafolo on a motorcycle. The background is a gray landscape beneath a falling space station, a large volcano with smoke rising the only discernible feature of the landscape below.]<br />
:As the damaged space station fell deeper into the atmosphere and started to break up around her, Janeane Garofalo tightened her grip on the motorcycle.<br />
:The volcano was looming ahead, and her tranquilizer pistol only had six darts left - barely enough to bring down even ONE Tyrannosaur.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=544:_Pep_Talk&diff=50988544: Pep Talk2013-10-22T01:43:43Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */ Who the hell wrote this transcript?!</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number =544<br />
| date =February 16, 2009<br />
| title =Pep Talk<br />
| image =pep_talk.png<br />
| titletext =Listen! They said a team of chess players coached by someone with no understanding of basketball would never be competitive in the NBA! Well, it turns out they're pretty perceptive.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The halftime pep talk of a {{w|basketball}} game is commonly used by coaches to inspire his team to come back from a seemingly insurmountable deficit, and to make strategic changes that will help them do so. Unfortunately, the basketball coach has absolutely no fundamental understanding of the sport, and has pulled his team into the locker room while the game is still in progress, enabling the other team to score at will.<br />
<br />
The title text parodies a common plot of especially US sports movies in which an inexperienced team (and sometimes coach) still manage to win a title.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Coach: Okay, team. We're sixteen points down. If we want to come back from this—<br />
:Offscreen: WOO!! SCORE!!!<br />
:Coach: Okay, now we're eighteen points down. ...Listen—I'm starting to think we should only take these breaks at halftime.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=348:_Close_to_You&diff=50933348: Close to You2013-10-20T22:29:47Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number =348<br />
| date =November 23, 2007<br />
| title =Close to You<br />
| image =close_to_you.png<br />
| titletext =We should probably talk about this before the wedding.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This is Randall's version of the popular {{w|Carpenters (band)|Carpenters}} song, "{{w|(They Long to Be) Close to You}}". The actual first verse goes like this:<br />
<br />
:''Why do birds suddenly appear''<br />
:''Every time you are near?''<br />
:''Just like me, they long to be''<br />
:''Close to you''<br />
<br />
In this parody, the reason birds suddenly appear whenever the girl is near is because the girl is a zombie, and those are {{w|Turkey Vulture|turkey vultures}}, carrion birds that prey on the flesh of dead bodies. It's probably a good idea to talk about this before the wedding, as the title text says.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball singing to zombie Megan.]<br />
:Cueball: Why do birds suddenly appear<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Every tiiiime you are neeear<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Wait, are those turkey vultures?<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Okay, listen, are you a zombie?<br />
:Megan: Hurrghhh...<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Songs]]<br />
[[Category:Zombies]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=240:_Dream_Girl&diff=50932240: Dream Girl2013-10-20T22:26:16Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 240<br />
| date = March 26, 2007<br />
| title = Dream Girl<br />
| image = dream girl.png<br />
| titletext = No matter how elaborately you fool yourself.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
The coordinates of the note lead to [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=42.39561+-71.13051&hl=en&ll=42.395612,-71.130509&spn=0.001549,0.002642&sll=32.907845,-96.605711&sspn=0.159394,0.338173&t=h&z=19 Reverend Thomas J. Williams Park in Cambridge, MA, USA]. The time on the note, September 23, 2007, was about six months ''after'' the publishing of this comic. One hundred eighty-one days, to be exact.<br />
<br />
Notably, [http://thephoenix.com/Boston/News/48208-wisdom-of-crowds/ several hundred xkcd fans met up at that very time and place]. Randall also visited the meetup, and was recorded as saying "Maybe wanting something does make it real."<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Cueball: I had a dream that I met a girl in a dying world.<br />
<br />
:It was all coming apart. Hairline cracks in reality widened to yawning chasms. Everything was going dark and light all at once, and there was a sound like breaking waves rising into a piercing scream at the edge of hearing. I knew we didn't have long together.<br />
<br />
:She grabbed me and spoke a stream of numbers into my ear. Then it all went away.<br />
:[A girl grabs him as the edges of the panel crack and tear.]<br />
<br />
:I woke up. The memory of the apocalypse faded to mere fancy, but the numbers burned bright in my mind. I wrote them down right away.<br />
:[A note reads: 42.39561 -71.13051 2007 09 23 14 38 00.]<br />
:They were coordinates. A place and a time, neither one too far away.<br />
<br />
:Cueball: What else could I do? When the day came, I went to the spot and waited.<br />
<br />
:Friend: ...and?<br />
:Cueball: It turns out wanting something doesn't make it real.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=674:_Natural_Parenting&diff=50928674: Natural Parenting2013-10-20T20:29:17Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 674<br />
| date = December 11, 2009<br />
| title = Natural Parenting<br />
| image = natural_parenting.png<br />
| titletext = On one hand, every single one of my ancestors going back billions of years has managed to figure it out. On the other hand, that's the mother of all sampling biases.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic relates to the anxiety most couples experience after having a child. Some couples employ an approach called natural parenting or {{w|attachment parenting}}. This strategy for child-rearing normally entails providing whole foods and extended nursing but can also include birth without anesthetics, applying reusable cloth diapers, using herbal remedies instead of medicine, and other decisions intended to protect the environment and raise a baby to be physically and mentally healthy. Natural parenting approaches can vary greatly from parent to parent, with some being very extreme and possibly detrimental. Because of the awkwardness and stigma of breastfeeding as well as its traditionalism, attachment parenting can elicit powerful opinions from both its opponents and proponents. Various media and politicians have seized on this hot topic, as well as motherhood in general. Extreme natural parenting methods became the notorious cover story of TIME Magazine in May 2012.<br />
<br />
However, the characters in this strip took natural parenting to mean doing "what comes naturally", i.e. having another baby.<br />
<br />
[[441: Babies]] is another strip featuring clueless new parents.<br />
<br />
One interpretation of the title text is as note of the sentiments expressed by proponents of natural parenting, stating that traditional or instinctive methods have worked for thousands of years. It is also possible that the narrator means that parenting can't be too hard because historically everyone must have figured it out. Randall jokes that this is the "mother" of all sampling biases because his ancestors represent only the (possibly small) fraction who survived the instinctive or easily learned methods of parenthood, instead of the entire sample of people attempting to raise children.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and woman are standing with a baby in between them.]<br />
:Cueball: Oh man, we made a baby.<br />
:Megan: ''Don't panic. Don't panic.''<br />
:Baby: Baby!<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Parenting can't be that hard. Let's just do what comes naturally.<br />
<br />
:[Beat frame.]<br />
<br />
:Soon:<br />
:[There are now two babies in between them.]<br />
:Megan: Aw, crap.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=670:_Spinal_Tap_Amps&diff=50927670: Spinal Tap Amps2013-10-20T20:24:57Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 670<br />
| date = December 2, 2009<br />
| title = Spinal Tap Amps<br />
| image = spinal tap amps.png<br />
| titletext = Wow, that's less than $200 per... uh... that's a good deal!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic is in reference to the 1984 mock documentary ''{{w|This Is Spinal Tap}}'' about the tour of the fictional rock band Spinal Tap. Here we see lead guitarist {{w|Nigel Tufnel}} (a character portrayed in the movie by {{w|Christopher Guest}}) explaining to [[Cueball]] how the volume dial on his amp can be increased to 11. This is impressive to Nigel since guitar amplifiers generally only go to 10, leading Nigel to believe humorously that his amp is one louder than other amplifiers. In the 3rd panel you see a knowledgeable engineer wasting everyone's time by explaining in boring {{w|jargon}} that the amplifier has no units so 11 only represents a level higher than 1 through 10 on this specific amp. The numbers are not comparable to other amplifiers. This point is lost on confused Nigel. Going back to the 2nd panel we see the actual scene from the movie where the character questions the necessity of going to 11 for the very reasons explained in excruciating detail by the engineer in the 3rd panel. Lastly we come to the final panel, which features the smart engineer who understands that Nigel does not care to understand {{w|arbitrary unit|arbitrary scales}} so he offers to sell him an amp that goes to 12 and Nigel would believe to be one louder more. The humor is that the engineer would simply alter the numbers on an existing amp (that presumably only went to 10) to now read 12 as the highest value. The amp would actually not be louder but the smart engineer would be able to charge more from simple Nigel regardless.<br />
<br />
The title text further plays on the fact that the amp's levels (1 to 11) are on an arbitrary scale. Many products are sold at a certain price per unit weight, volume, etc. (e.g., $2.99/lb for grapes). Nigel calculates that the $2000 amp would cost less than $200 per level, but he is unable to complete his thought since the amp levels have no units.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap is showing off his amplifier to Cueball.]<br />
:Nigel: These amps go to 11.<br />
:Cueball: Is that louder?<br />
:Nigel: It's one louder.<br />
<br />
:Normal Person:<br />
:Cueball: Why not make 10 louder and make 10 the highest?<br />
<br />
:Engineer:<br />
:Cueball: But 11 doesn't have any units. It's an arbitrary scale mapping otuputs—<br />
:Nigel: Zzzz<br />
<br />
:Smart Engineer:<br />
:Cueball: For $2,000 I'll build you one that goes to 12.<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=194:_Penises&diff=50926194: Penises2013-10-20T20:22:35Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 194<br />
| date = December 8, 2006<br />
| title = Penises<br />
| image = penises.png<br />
| titletext = The penis varies in size when flaccid and is pretty consistently about yea big when erect. Anyway, back to the sitcom one-liners and the constant flow of spam.<br />
}}<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic takes aim at the societal obsession with the {{w|human penis|male sexual organ}}, especially in regards to size. In general, depictions of an erect penis (also called {{w|phallus}}) is regarded as a symbol for male potency.<br />
<br />
While present in every human civilization, the symbol of the penis is also prominently featured in modern mass media. Many films and television series make use of penis-related jokes. A very common trope is the male obsession with the idea that a larger penis is considered more desirable and a smaller penis less manly or satisfying to women.<br />
<br />
Megan criticizes this obsession by pointing out that most penises are about the same size, and normal variations in size are not much for anyone to get too worked up about.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to the excessive advertisement for {{w|Sildenafil|potency pills}} and {{w|penis enlargement}} in {{w|Email spam|spam emails}}. The symbol of the phallus can be regarded as omnipresent in modern society, with presumably every public toilet sporting at least one badly drawn depiction of a penis.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Penises:<br />
:Megan: They are about this big.<br />
:[Holds her hands about half a foot apart.]<br />
:Now can we <u>PLEASE</u>, as a culture, move on?<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=255:_Subjectivity&diff=50925255: Subjectivity2013-10-20T20:19:29Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 255<br />
| date = April 30, 2007<br />
| title = Subjectivity<br />
| image = subjectivity.png<br />
| titletext = Or maybe the slide is like Aslan, and gets taller as I do (except without the feeling of discomfort when I reach my teens and suddenly get the Christ stuff)<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Parodies the experience of finding that things you saw a child are much smaller than you'd perceived them to be: [[Cueball]] is convinced that this will be the case with his childhood slide, only to find that it is indeed quite large. (As a child it's roughly four times his height, whilst as an adult it's only about double.)<br />
<br />
The title text references {{w|Aslan}}, a character from ''{{w|The Chronicles of Narnia}}''. Aslan is often regarded as a Christ figure, but since ''Narnia'' is a children's series many readers don't realize this until long after they've read the books – another instance of how perspective changes with age, and of the comic's title, "subjectivity".<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Tall slide, seen from the ground.]<br />
:When I was a kid, my school playground had a really tall slide that always made me nervous.<br />
<br />
:[Tall slide, seen from the side.]<br />
:We moved away, but the slide stuck in my memory, becoming a skyscraping monster.<br />
<br />
:[Car and a sign pointing to school zone.]<br />
:Years later, I was passing through my old town and remembered the playground.<br />
:I drove to the school to see the slide that my inner six-year-old thought was so towering.<br />
<br />
:[Huge slide, Cueball beside it.]<br />
:AND IT <u>WAS</u> HUGE!<br />
:I <u>KNEW</u> IT!<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=595:_Android_Girlfriend&diff=50924595: Android Girlfriend2013-10-20T20:17:11Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 595<br />
| date = June 10, 2009<br />
| title = Android Girlfriend<br />
| image = android_girlfriend.png<br />
| titletext = Programming the sexbots to enjoy sex seemed a sensible move at the time, but we didn't realize the consequences of their developing fetishes.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic parodies the party trick of tying a cherry stem in a knot with your tongue (thus indicating dexterity that could be put to good use in kissing and oral sex). The android uses a built-in arc welder unit (presumably the "fetish" referred to in the alt text), which for obvious reasons frightens potential sex partners away rather than attracting them.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A couple and a friend face each other. The friend is holding something.]<br />
:Cueball: Check out my new android girlfriend.<br />
:Friend: Is she a sex bot?<br />
<br />
:[The android grabs the cherry out of the friend's hand.]<br />
:''Grab''<br />
<br />
:[The android pulls the stem off.]<br />
:''Plink''<br />
<br />
:[The android puts the stem in its mouth.]<br />
:''NOM''<br />
<br />
:[There is a bright flash around the android's mouth. The rest of the panel is dark.]<br />
:''KZZZZT''<br />
<br />
:[The android turns toward friend and reaches toward him.]<br />
:Friend: I don't think arc-welding a cherry stem counts as sexy.<br />
:Android: Remove your pants.<br />
:Friend: No.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Romance]]<br />
[[Category:Sex]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=595:_Android_Girlfriend&diff=50923595: Android Girlfriend2013-10-20T20:16:53Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 595<br />
| date = June 10, 2009<br />
| title = Android Girlfriend<br />
| image = android_girlfriend.png<br />
| titletext = Programming the sexbots to enjoy sex seemed a sensible move at the time, but we didn't realize the consequences of their developing fetishes.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic parodies the party trick of tying a cherry stem in a knot with your tongue (thus indicating dexterity that could be put to good use in kissing and oral sex). The android uses a built-in arc welder unit (presumably the "fetish" referred to in the alt text), which for obvious reasons frightens potential sex partners away rather than attracting them.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A couple and a friend face each other. The friend is holding something.]<br />
:Cueball: Check out my new android girlfriend.<br />
:Friend: Is she a sex bot?<br />
<br />
:[The android grabs the cherry out of the friend's hand.]<br />
''Grab''<br />
<br />
:[The android pulls the stem off.]<br />
:''Plink''<br />
<br />
:[The android puts the stem in its mouth.]<br />
:''NOM''<br />
<br />
:[There is a bright flash around the android's mouth. The rest of the panel is dark.]<br />
:''KZZZZT''<br />
<br />
:[The android turns toward friend and reaches toward him.]<br />
:Friend: I don't think arc-welding a cherry stem counts as sexy.<br />
:Android: Remove your pants.<br />
:Friend: No.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Romance]]<br />
[[Category:Sex]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=669:_Experiment&diff=50922669: Experiment2013-10-20T20:15:54Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 669<br />
| date = November 30, 2009<br />
| title = Experiment<br />
| image = experiment.png<br />
| titletext = The other two are still lost on the infinite plane of uniform density.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Problems in the study of {{w|kinematics}} often idealize the environment of the problem for the sake of simplicity. Specifically, it is assumed that objects are moving in a {{w|vacuum}} and that there is no {{w|friction}}. Then the complicated effects of air resistance and surface frictions can be ignored, and the more basic principles of momentum and energy can be explored. In more advanced physics, it is often easier or necessary to ignore friction if the process being studied is very complicated. So it could be said that "physics professors like working in a frictionless vacuum".<br />
<br />
In the comic, [[Black Hat]] and [[Danish]] have interpreted that statement to mean that physics professors like doing their work while they are in a frictionless vacuum, instead of liking to work with problems which are set in a frictionless vacuum. Apparently, they have drugged a physics professor and put them in a glass dome which they can evacuate and make frictionless. The professor wakes up confused from the drugs, and as the air is pumped out to make a vacuum, his words fade to silence because sound waves requires a substance such as air to travel through. As he starts to panic, he tries to reach his laptop computer which is on the floor in front of him. However, without friction on the floor, he cannot exert any force to move forward, and his feet skate uselessly on the ground until he loses balance and falls. At this point he is probably suffering from {{w|asphyxiation}}. Black Hat and Danish are observing from outside the dome, and decide that physics professors have lied about liking to work in frictionless vacuums.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to another common idealization, of an infinite {{w|plane}} of uniform {{w|density}}. An infinite plane extends forever in two dimensions, which makes calculations easier because surface-related properties are identical everywhere. "Uniform density" could refer to the mass density of the plane, or more likely an {{w|electric charge}} density, which makes a common problem in basic {{w|electromagnetism}} involving calculating the {{w|electric field}}. The "other two physicists" that Black Hat and Danish are experimenting on are lost on the infinite plane, since there are no edges or landmarks anywhere to give them direction.<br />
<br />
It should be noted that, although a vacuum can be approximated using a {{w|vacuum pump}}, {{w|frictionless plane|frictionless surfaces}} and infinite planes are only imaginary constructs and cannot exist in our universe.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Darkness.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is standing next to a laptop, looking groggy.]<br />
:Cueball: Ugh...<br />
:Cueball: What happened?<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Where am I?<br />
:''FWOOOOOOSH''<br />
:Cueball: Help! Someone help me—<br />
:[Cueball's speech fades out into nothing.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball holds his hands to his mouth.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball looks shocked.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball tries to run, but has no traction against the ground.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball falls over.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball lies prone.]<br />
<br />
:[Black Hat and Danish are watching this scene from outside the room. He is holding a clipboard.]<br />
<br />
:Black Hat: Huh. Looks like physics professors don't like working in frictionless vacuums after all.<br />
:Danish: They're such liars.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=889:_Turtles&diff=50916889: Turtles2013-10-20T08:17:24Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 889<br />
| date = April 22, 2011<br />
| title = Turtles<br />
| image = turtles.png<br />
| titletext = You're a turtle!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Turtles are laid back dudes, as also noted in {{w|Finding Nemo}}. While an offscreen character is panicking over deleting a file, the turtle is content with just being a turtle. Fifty years later it is still content with being a turtle. Perspective, man!<br />
<br />
The title text is a reference to [[231: Cat Proximity]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[There is a turtle.]<br />
:Off-panel: Oh, crap, I deleted the file!<br />
<br />
:[There is a turtle.]<br />
:Turtle (thinking): I am a turtle.<br />
<br />
:[There is a turtle.]<br />
:Off-panel: No, wait, there it is.<br />
<br />
:[There is a turtle.]<br />
:Turtle (thinking): I am a turtle.<br />
<br />
:[There is a turtle.]<br />
:50 Years Later:<br />
:Turtle (thinking): I am a turtle.<br />
<br />
:Turtles have it figured out, man.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Philosophy]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=554:_Not_Enough_Work&diff=50895554: Not Enough Work2013-10-19T00:41:20Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 554<br />
| date = March 11, 2009<br />
| title = Not Enough Work<br />
| image = not_enough_work.png<br />
| titletext = It's even harder if you're an asshole who pronounces <> brackets.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
In some companies, programmers often find themselves with not much work to do. This is because these companies have little programming work that needs doing until something breaks or needs upgrading. As a result, coders need to make themselves available to perform these emergency fixes, but also have nothing to do in the meantime. This requires finding constructive ways to entertain themselves.<br />
<br />
{{w|Dvorak Simplified Keyboard|Dvorak}} is a keyboard layout that was proposed as an alternative to the more common {{w|Qwerty keyboard|QWERTY}} layout. The QWERTY keyboard became the standard in the US due to mechanical typewriters; to avoid jamming, the most common letters had to be placed far away from each other on the keyboard. (International variants like the AZERTY and QWERTZ layout were designed with similar goals in mind, but for other languages.) As a result, certain words are incredibly awkward to type on a QWERTY keyboard; for example, if you're a US touch-typist, look at your keyboard and think about how you would type "minimum" - your fingers have to constantly straddle the "j" key and awkwardly avoid each other. The Dvorak keyboard, by contrast, is designed to make words much easier to type, placing all of the most common letters (including all five vowels) on the home row and maximizing hand alternation (which makes typing faster). Of course, most people learned to type with a Qwerty keyboard, and switching is quite difficult, especially for longtime touch-typists (like, say, programmers). Seriously considering the switch is a sign that you really having nothing better to do.<br />
<br />
{{w|Gopher (protocol)|Gopher}} is a defunct internet protocol, which has been completely superseded by {{w|HTTP}}. It's a perfect example of the kind of thing a programmer might implement in the absence of other, more useful work. (As an aside, the protocol is named for the mascot of the University of Minnesota, where it was developed.)<br />
<br />
{{w|HTML}} and {{w|XHTML}} are markup languages used to describe web documents. XHTML-strict is a more restricted version of XHTML that excludes certain redundant tags like <nowiki><center></nowiki>, which is theoretically no longer necessary now that <nowiki><div>and <span></nowiki> exist. {{w|Haiku}}, on the other hand, is a kind of Japanese poetry. Rather than having a rhyming meter like Western poetry, Japanese poetry has strict restrictions on syllable count; a haiku must contain three lines, containing 5, 7, and 5 syllables, respectively. The section of code given is HTML markup, and would be read by a web developer like this:<br />
<br />
:Div class equals Main<br />
:Span ID equals Marquee<br />
:Blog! end span end div<br />
<br />
Which meets the syllable requirements. Restricting yourself to writing markup in this form would be extremely challenging and time-consuming, so it, too, is a good sign your coders need more work. (As the title text notes, it would be even more challenging if you pronounce the angle brackets that all HTML tags have. Doing so is pointless and time-consuming, since anyone who knows HTML will also know what's meant to be a tag and what isn't, so Randall calls anyone who does this an asshole.)<br />
<br />
Finally, the last panel mentions the biggest timesink of them all: webcomics. (Or, say, [[Main Page|wikis devoted to explaining the jokes in webcomics]].)<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Signs your coders don't have enough work to do:<br />
:[Cueball sitting at his workstation, with Ponytail standing behind him.]<br />
:Cueball: I'm almost up to my old typing speed in Dvorak<br />
<br />
:[Two men standing by a server rack.]<br />
:Cueball: Our servers now support Gopher. Just in case.<br />
<br />
:[Megan standing near her workstation speaking to Cueball.]<br />
:Megan: Our pages are now HTML, XHTML-STRICT, and Haiku-compliant.<br />
:Cueball: Haiku?<br />
:Megan: <nowiki><div class="main"><span id="marquee">Blog!</span></div></nowiki><br />
<br />
:[Ponytail sitting at her workstation.]<br />
:Ponytail: Hey! Have you guys seen this webcomic?<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=173:_Movie_Seating&diff=50885173: Movie Seating2013-10-18T20:04:20Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 173<br />
| date = October 20, 2006<br />
| title = Movie Seating<br />
| image = movie_seating.png<br />
| titletext = It's like the traveling salesman problem, but the endpoints are different and you can't ask your friends for help because they're sitting three seats down.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Cueball is upset at the way he and his friends have sat down at the movie theater. Part of the problem is that two people who are apparently in a relationship do not sit together. He therefore tries to use a {{w|social graph}} to calculate the best way for him and his seven friends to sit in a row, while taking into account all of the social connections among them. In {{w|mathematics}}, this type of problem is called {{w|combinatorial optimisation}}. The most popular example, the "{{w|Travelling Salesman Problem}}", is referenced in the title text, as well as in comics [[287]] and [[399]].<br />
<br />
The title text shows that another part of the problem is that Cueball's two friends who could have helped him calculate a solution are each sitting three seats away from him, and so he cannot ask them for help.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:At the movies, I get frustrated when we file into our row haphazardly, ignoring the computationally difficulty problem of seating people together for maximum enjoyment.<br />
:[Map of relationships between 8 people.]<br />
:[Legend:] <br />
::Single line: friends.<br />
::Double line: in a relationship.<br />
::Arrow: one-way crush.<br />
::Dashed line: acquaintances<br />
:[The eight friends sitting in a row in a dark cinema. Cueball and one other are between two lovers.]<br />
:Cueball: Guys! This is not socially optimal!<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=207:_What_xkcd_Means&diff=50884207: What xkcd Means2013-10-18T19:59:52Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Trivia */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 207<br />
| date = January 8, 2007<br />
| title = What xkcd Means<br />
| image = what xkcd means.png<br />
| titletext = It means shuffling quickly past nuns on the street with ketchup in your palms, pretending you're hiding stigmata.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic purports to finally answer the question, "What does 'xkcd' mean?" However, instead of giving an answer as to what the letters mean (it's just a random, unpronounceable four-letter string), he offers five quirky behaviors. It's reminiscent of TV commercials that ask, "What does [brand name] mean? It means [happy activity]!"<br />
<br />
The first panel shows a driver making a {{w|right turn on red|right turn at a red light}}, a {{w|U-turn}} on the connecting road, and then another right turn, returning him to his original direction. Right turns at red lights and U-turns are legal in some states and at some intersections, so it's possible this complicated maneuver is legal and would save time over waiting for the light.<br />
<br />
The second panel shows [[Cueball]] searching his mobile phone by having his friend call it from his phone to help him to find it, only to hear a ring from inside of his dog's stomach.<br />
<br />
In the third panel, {{w|Graham's number}} is a large number (celebrated as the largest number ever used in a proof), and the {{w|Ackermann function}} is a fast-growing function. Actually, A(g<sub>64</sub>, g<sub>64</sub>) is less than g<sub>65</sub>.<br />
<br />
The fourth panel shows somebody walking in a pattern based on the position of black and white tiles on the floor. This is further referenced in [[245: Floor Tiles]].<br />
<br />
The title text refer to stigmata, marks corresponding to Jesus' crucifixion wounds. Devout Catholics have claimed to have spontaneously developed stigmata.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:What does XKCD mean?<br />
:[One car of two sitting at a red light makes a right turn, then shifts over to the left and makes a left turn to go back the way it came. It then makes another right and continues on the road past the traffic light. This is shown with a red arrow.]<br />
:It means saving a few seconds at a long red light via elaborate and questionably legal maneuvers.<br />
:[Someone on a cell phone is shown in a circle in the panel. A second person in the panel itself is looking at a dog, from which the ringing sound of his phone is coming.]<br />
:''Ring''<br />
:It means having someone call your cell phone to figure out where it is.<br />
:[The mathematical function "A(g<sub>64</sub>, g<sub>64</sub>)=" appears in the panel. Next to the equal sign stands a mathematician, clutching his head.]<br />
:It means calling the Ackermann function with Graham's number as the arguments just to horrify mathematicians.<br />
:Mathematician: Aughhh<br />
:[An approximately 8 by 8 square of floor tiles is shown; the first, fourth and seventh across in the first, fourth and seventh rows are black and the rest are white. A guy and girl are shown next to it, walking on what is presumed to be the same pattern of floor tiles.]<br />
:It means instinctively constructing rules for which floor tiles it's okay to step on and then walking funny ever after.<br />
:[Line indicating the uppermost right black tile: Black tiles okay.]<br />
:[Line indicating tile directly below it: White tiles directly between black tiles okay.]<br />
:[Line indicating a white tile in the last column over: Not okay.]<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*In his [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJOS0sV2a24#t=44m30s Google-speech], [[Randall]] said that ''xkcd'' originated as a previously unused random 4 letter string which he used, e.g., as his account name on various internet services.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]<br />
[[Category:Traffic light]]<br />
[[Category:Religion]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=207:_What_xkcd_Means&diff=50883207: What xkcd Means2013-10-18T19:59:33Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Trivia */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 207<br />
| date = January 8, 2007<br />
| title = What xkcd Means<br />
| image = what xkcd means.png<br />
| titletext = It means shuffling quickly past nuns on the street with ketchup in your palms, pretending you're hiding stigmata.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic purports to finally answer the question, "What does 'xkcd' mean?" However, instead of giving an answer as to what the letters mean (it's just a random, unpronounceable four-letter string), he offers five quirky behaviors. It's reminiscent of TV commercials that ask, "What does [brand name] mean? It means [happy activity]!"<br />
<br />
The first panel shows a driver making a {{w|right turn on red|right turn at a red light}}, a {{w|U-turn}} on the connecting road, and then another right turn, returning him to his original direction. Right turns at red lights and U-turns are legal in some states and at some intersections, so it's possible this complicated maneuver is legal and would save time over waiting for the light.<br />
<br />
The second panel shows [[Cueball]] searching his mobile phone by having his friend call it from his phone to help him to find it, only to hear a ring from inside of his dog's stomach.<br />
<br />
In the third panel, {{w|Graham's number}} is a large number (celebrated as the largest number ever used in a proof), and the {{w|Ackermann function}} is a fast-growing function. Actually, A(g<sub>64</sub>, g<sub>64</sub>) is less than g<sub>65</sub>.<br />
<br />
The fourth panel shows somebody walking in a pattern based on the position of black and white tiles on the floor. This is further referenced in [[245: Floor Tiles]].<br />
<br />
The title text refer to stigmata, marks corresponding to Jesus' crucifixion wounds. Devout Catholics have claimed to have spontaneously developed stigmata.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:What does XKCD mean?<br />
:[One car of two sitting at a red light makes a right turn, then shifts over to the left and makes a left turn to go back the way it came. It then makes another right and continues on the road past the traffic light. This is shown with a red arrow.]<br />
:It means saving a few seconds at a long red light via elaborate and questionably legal maneuvers.<br />
:[Someone on a cell phone is shown in a circle in the panel. A second person in the panel itself is looking at a dog, from which the ringing sound of his phone is coming.]<br />
:''Ring''<br />
:It means having someone call your cell phone to figure out where it is.<br />
:[The mathematical function "A(g<sub>64</sub>, g<sub>64</sub>)=" appears in the panel. Next to the equal sign stands a mathematician, clutching his head.]<br />
:It means calling the Ackermann function with Graham's number as the arguments just to horrify mathematicians.<br />
:Mathematician: Aughhh<br />
:[An approximately 8 by 8 square of floor tiles is shown; the first, fourth and seventh across in the first, fourth and seventh rows are black and the rest are white. A guy and girl are shown next to it, walking on what is presumed to be the same pattern of floor tiles.]<br />
:It means instinctively constructing rules for which floor tiles it's okay to step on and then walking funny ever after.<br />
:[Line indicating the uppermost right black tile: Black tiles okay.]<br />
:[Line indicating tile directly below it: White tiles directly between black tiles okay.]<br />
:[Line indicating a white tile in the last column over: Not okay.]<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*In his [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJOS0sV2a24#t=44m30s Google-speech], [[Randall]] said that ''xkcd'' originated as a previously unused random 4 letter string which he used, e.g., as his account name on various internet services.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]<br />
[[Category:Traffic lights]]<br />
[[Category:Religion]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1121:_Identity&diff=508421121: Identity2013-10-18T11:25:39Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1121<br />
| date = October 15, 2012<br />
| title = Identity<br />
| image = identity.png<br />
| imagesize = <br />
| titletext = Not sure why I just taught everyone to flawlessly impersonate me to pretty much anyone I know. Just remember to constantly bring up how cool it is that birds are dinosaurs and you'll be set.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]] lost the server password and is asking [[Megan]] what it is. Megan correctly comments that she can't be sure through text-based messages that it's really Cueball asking for the password; it could be someone impersonating him attempting to {{w|Social engineering (security)|socially engineer}} access to the server. Cueball answers by starting to develop a cryptographic protocol they can use for proof of identity, probably something like {{w|Off-the-Record Messaging|OTR Messaging}} as implemented in many {{w|XMPP}} chat clients or {{w|Fiat-shamir protocol|Feige&ndash;Fiat&ndash;Shamir identification scheme}} (in reality, it would already be too late for that&mdash;they should have prepared something beforehand). Before he even finishes, Megan answers "It's you", meaning that no one else is so geeky that they would answer like that. Cueball wants to stop her before she discloses the password since he hasn't yet properly proved his identity.<br />
<br />
{{w|RSA (algorithm)|RSA-style}} encryption uses two large prime, randomly chosen, numbers that when multiplied together form the public key in a public/private key-pair. This algorithm relies on the extreme difficulty in factoring large numbers into their prime components. The public key can be used to encrypt a message that can only (where only is a term used to mean without incredible computation power and time) be decrypted by the use of the private key.<br />
<br />
In the title text, [[Randall]] suggests that this is, in fact, his own personality, and that anyone reading the comic can now impersonate him. For a bonus, he notes his own fascination with the fact that [[1211: Birds and Dinosaurs|birds are descendants of dinosaurs]], which one could use to impersonate him as well.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Cueball: Hey, I lost the server password. What is it, again?<br />
<br />
:Megan: It's&mdash; ...Wait. How do I know it's really you?<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Ooh, good question! I bet we can construct a cool proof-of-identity protocol. I'll start by picking two random&mdash;<br />
:Megan (over text message):Oh good; it's you. Here's the password...<br />
:Cueball: ''NO!''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}} <br />
<!-- Include any categories below this line--><br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Psychology]]<br />
[[Category:Internet]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=842:_Mark&diff=50840842: Mark2013-10-18T11:15:50Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 842<br />
| date = January 3, 2011<br />
| title = Mark<br />
| image = mark.png<br />
| titletext = I'm a solipsistic conspiracy theorist. I'm sure I must be up to something, and I will not stop until I find out what.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
According to Urban Dictionary [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pen15+club] [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pen15], this is an old grade school/middle school prank. You'd walk up to an unsuspecting schoolmate and ask him if he wants to join the Pen Fifteen Club. You'd tell him that to join, you merely have to write the club name on him. You'd then write "PEN15" on his hand or arm, and everyone would laugh at him (because it looks like "Penis"). In this case, [[Cueball]] fell victim to this prank as a child without ever figuring it out. Later on, he created meaning and conspiracy out of two completely unrelated, coincidental events.<br />
<br />
In the title text, {{w|solipsism}} is the philosophical idea that the only thing you know for certain is that your own mind exists.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[An adult and a child are talking.]<br />
:Child: What's that on your arm?<br />
:Adult: The mark of a secret society.<br />
<br />
:Child: If it's secret, why tell me --<br />
:Adult: Because I know nothing. I can't betray them because I don't know who they are. I was chosen by an agent 20 years ago. That was my first and last direct contact. It's safer that way.<br />
<br />
:Narration: Six years later I found a piece of paper in the street with an address on it. The next day I found a can of kerosene in my garage that I'm sure I never bought.<br />
:[The panel represents these actions by highlighting the mentioned objects in a world of gray.]<br />
<br />
:Narration: I didn't know whose house it was. I just knew that I'd been given my orders. And I carried them out.<br />
:[A dark figure is silhouetted against a flame.]<br />
<br />
:Adult: I don't know who or what we're fighting. <br />
:Adult: Maybe we're the bad guys. <br />
:Adult: It doesn't matter to me.<br />
<br />
:Adult: It's enough to know that there are forces working beneath the chaos of life, and I'm a ''part'' of them.<br />
<br />
:Adult: That whatever this "pen fifteen" club is, <br />
:Adult: I'm ''in'' it.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Philosophy]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1247:_The_Mother_of_All_Suspicious_Files&diff=508141247: The Mother of All Suspicious Files2013-10-18T07:11:03Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1247<br />
| date = August 5, 2013<br />
| title = The Mother of All Suspicious Files<br />
| image = the_mother_of_all_suspicious_files.png<br />
| titletext = Better change the URL to 'https' before downloading.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The save dialogue shows a download from [http://www.utrace.de/?query=65.222.202.53 65.222.202.53], an IP address that hosted JavaScript malware during a recent attack on the Tor anonymity network, with a very long file title. Many of the extensions used inside there indicate executable code; multiple file extensions are sometimes used to disguise a trojan program as a document.<br />
<br />
You also see common download syntax for a pirated movie, {{w|Hackers (film)|Hackers}}, likely included to appear malicious to anyone skimming but is actually a movie about hackers, making it a benign reference rather than malicious. It is described as "_BLURAY_CAM", which contradicts itself ("_BLURAY" would mean it was ripped from a copy on Blu-Ray Disc, while "_CAM" would mean it was copied by pointing a camera at the screen in the cinema). "_BLURAY_CAM" would probably indicate a search-keyword-stuffed fake copy; fake pirated media often contain viruses (although this is more likely to be a problem with newer media, before the first real pirated copy appears).<br />
<br />
The {{w|URL}} contains the path "~tilde/pub/cia-bin/etc". The first part is a public folder of a user named tilde (which is also the name for the ~ symbol), "cgi-bin" is a common folder on a Web-Server for server side executables ([[Randall]] jokes with the name), and "etc" is a standard folder for configuration files – normally never accessible through a webserver. The program "init.dll" isn't executable at all, it's a {{w|Windows Dynamic Link Library}} which can't be run standalone, and is rarely referenced in URLs (even though such syntax is still being employed, even on [https://www.google.com/search?q=site:edu+filetype:dll reputable websites (Google search)] or here at [https://signin.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll eBay], indicating the webserver is a Microsoft {{w|Active Server Pages|ASP}} server). The question mark indicates the start of a parameter list, and in this case we have only one named "FILE".<br />
<br />
The "Save" button is disabled; you can only click the "Cancel" button. This can be different when the server detects that you are using a secure (https) connection.<br />
<br />
The complete content sent to the server, starting with "/~TILDE..." and ending with "...OUT.EXE", is exactly 256 characters long. On {{w|HTML 3}} specifications you have a limitation of 1024 characters, whereas later HTML specifications don't have this limit; it just depends on the web server's capabilities. But posting parameters directly at the URL is still a worse choice.<br />
<br />
The content of the parameter is shown here: <br />
* __ (underscore underscore) - used in the C programming language to denote that a symbol is really not for public consumption<br />
* {{w|AUTOEXEC.BAT}} - a file which is automatically run during startup on Windows/DOS operating systems, and was often modified by viruses, which added malicious code to be run on each boot.<br />
* MY%20OSX%20DOCUMENTS - referencing the {{w|OSX}} operating system ({{w|URL_encoding#Character_data|%20}} is a representation of a space in a URL, i.e. it reads as "MY OSX DOCUMENTS").<br />
* INSTALL.EXE - a typical {{w|Installer#Installer|installer}}<br />
* {{w|RAR}} - a compressed archive file type<br />
* {{w|INI_file|INI}} - a configuration file type<br />
* {{w|Tar_(computing)|TAR}} - a file archive popular in UNIX and UNIX-like operating systems. TAR has been mentioned [[1168:_tar|before]].<br />
* DOÇX - {{w|docx}} is an Office Open XML file, i.e. a word processing format used by Microsoft Word 2007 and above, but has no cedilla (¸). The addition of a cedilla may be a reference to exploits that rely on rare characters being mistaken for more common ones that look similar, such as the {{w|IDN homograph attack}}.<br />
* PHPHPHP - a play on {{w|PHP}} files, a kind of server-based web page file type. PHP originally stood for "Personal Home Page" but was later redefined as the recursive abbreviation "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor".<br />
* {{w|XHTML}} - another web page file type<br />
* {{w|TransducerML|TML}} - stands for Transducer Markup Language, an XML based markup language that specifies how to capture, time-tag and describe sensor data<br />
* XTL - possibly a play on XHTML<br />
* TXXT - a play on {{w|Text_file|TXT}} file types<br />
* 0DAY - a reference to a {{w|zero-day exploit}}<br />
* HACK.ERS_(1995)_BLURAY_CAM-XVID - a reference to the 1995 Hackers movie, but pirated movies would either be a BlurayRIP/DVDRIP or CAM, but not both at the same time unless you used a camera to record the Blu-ray movie as it played.<br />
* {{w|EXE}} - an executable file type used by Microsoft Windows<br />
* [SCR] - a tag used by movie pirates to denote a '{{w|Screener}}', the DVD copy of films given to critics prior to theater release. Usually the highest quality available at this time, rare, and therefor good bait for a virus laden download. "{{w|.scr}}" is also the extension for screen saver files, really just an exe file with a different extension and one of the classical ways to distribute infected files <br />
* {{w|Lisp (programming language)|LISP}} - programming language<br />
* {{w|Windows_Installer|MSI}} - an installation file used by Microsoft Installer<br />
* {{w|.lnk|LNK}} - an extension used by Microsoft Windows for shortcuts. The extension is normally hidden to the user.<br />
* LNK, ZDA, GNN - references to {{w|Link_(The_Legend_of_Zelda)|Link}}, {{w|Princess_Zelda|Zelda}}, and {{w|Ganon|Ganon}}, important characters from {{w|The_Legend_of_Zelda|The Legend of Zelda}} video game franchise<br />
* {{w|White_Rabbit#Television_and_films|WRBT OBJ}} - A reference to the line of code Dennis Nedry used in {{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}} to shut down key systems<br />
* {{w|Object_file|O}} - The extension for a linker file, an intermediary created when compiling C code.<br />
* {{w|Header_file|H}} - The file extension of a header file in C code.<br />
* {{w|SWF}} - Shockwave Flash file type<br />
* {{w|Dpkg|DPKG}} - The Debian package management, although the package files use the file suffix ".deb"<br />
* APP - an application on Mac OS X operating system<br />
* {{w|ZIP_%28file_format%29|ZIP}} - compressed archive file type<br />
* CO - looks like a {{w|List_of_Internet_top-level_domains|top-level domain}}. Many countries use .co.''tld'' in front of their main TLD, e.g. ''.co.uk''. ''.co.gz'' don't exist.<br />
* {{w|Gzip|GZ}} - a compressed file using GNU zip<br />
* {{w|A.out|A.OUT}} - Default filename when creating an executable on Linux or other UNIX-like operating systems if none was specified for the compiler.<br />
<br />
The title text suggests changing from http to https, as if encrypting a suspicious file before downloading it is somehow better than downloading it unencrypted. http (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) and https (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol - Secure) are the two common protocols for getting web pages and web downloads. http is the simple download, whereas https adds an SSL encryption layer so the item being downloaded cannot be viewed unencrypted by anyone except the end recipient. Changing "http" to "https" is a common suggestion to improve security when browsing the web from an insecure network (such as a public WiFi hotspot) to avoid surveillance or hijacking to a malicious website; Google automatically switches to https for all mail accounts and is starting to do so with searches. The end recipient will still get whatever nasties were in the original, however - encrypting it doesn't change the content at all.<br />
<br />
The IP address referenced in the comic, 65.222.202.53, is currently being used by the shellcode of a JavaScript 0-day exploit for the Tor Browser Bundle being run by the FBI to phone home over the clearnet [http://thehackernews.com/2013/08/Firefox-Exploit-Tor-Network-child-pornography-Freedom-Hosting.html] and de-anonymize visitors to websites on Freedom Hosting that are serving child pornography. [http://www.reddit.com/r/onions/comments/1jmrta/founder_of_the_freedom_hosting_arrested_held/]<br />
<br />
The title of this comic, "The Mother of All Suspicious Files", is a reference to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfIgzSoTMOs The Mother of All Demos] from {{w|Douglas Engelbart}}.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Browser download warning box containing the following text]<br />
:WARNING!<br />
:This type of file can harm your computer! Are you sure you want to download:<br />
:<small><nowiki>http://65.222.202.53/~TILDE/PUB/CIA-BIN/ETC/INIT.DLL?FILE=__AUTOEXEC.BAT.MY%20OSX%20DOCUMENTS-INSTALL.EXE.RAR.INI.TAR.DOÇX.PHPHPHP.XHTML.TML.XTL.TXXT.0DAY.HACK.ERS_(1995)_BLURAY_CAM-XVID.EXE.TAR.[SCR].LISP.MSI.LNK.ZDA.GNN.WRBT.OBJ.O.H.SWF.DPKG.APP.ZIP.TAR.TAR.CO.GZ.A.OUT.EXE</nowiki></small><br />
:[Cancel and Save buttons]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1247:_The_Mother_of_All_Suspicious_Files&diff=508131247: The Mother of All Suspicious Files2013-10-18T07:08:50Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1247<br />
| date = August 5, 2013<br />
| title = The Mother of All Suspicious Files<br />
| image = the_mother_of_all_suspicious_files.png<br />
| titletext = Better change the URL to 'https' before downloading.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The save dialogue shows a download from [http://www.utrace.de/?query=65.222.202.53 65.222.202.53], an IP address that hosted JavaScript malware during a recent attack on the Tor anonymity network, with a very long file title. Many of the extensions used inside there indicate executable code; multiple file extensions are sometimes used to disguise a trojan program as a document.<br />
<br />
You also see common download syntax for a pirated movie, {{w|Hackers (film)|Hackers}}, likely included to appear malicious to anyone skimming but is actually a movie about hackers, making it a benign reference rather than malicious. It is described as "_BLURAY_CAM", which contradicts itself ("_BLURAY" would mean it was ripped from a copy on Blu-Ray Disc, while "_CAM" would mean it was copied by pointing a camera at the screen in the cinema). "_BLURAY_CAM" would probably indicate a search-keyword-stuffed fake copy; fake pirated media often contain viruses (although this is more likely to be a problem with newer media, before the first real pirated copy appears).<br />
<br />
The {{w|URL}} contains the path "~tilde/pub/cia-bin/etc". The first part is a public folder of a user named tilde (which is also the name for the ~ symbol), "cgi-bin" is a common folder on a Web-Server for server side executables ([[Randall]] jokes with the name), and "etc" is a standard folder for configuration files – normally never accessible through a webserver. The program "init.dll" isn't executable at all, it's a {{w|Windows Dynamic Link Library}} which can't be run standalone, and is rarely referenced in URLs (even though such syntax is still being employed, even on [https://www.google.com/search?q=site:edu+filetype:dll reputable websites (Google search)] or here at [https://signin.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll eBay], indicating the webserver is a Microsoft {{w|Active Server Pages|ASP}} server). The question mark indicates the start of a parameter list, and in this case we have only one named "FILE".<br />
<br />
The "Save" button is disabled; you can only click the "Cancel" button. This can be different when the server detects that you are using a secure (https) connection.<br />
<br />
The complete content sent to the server, starting with "/~TILDE..." and ending with "...OUT.EXE", is exactly 256 characters long. On {{w|HTML 3}} specifications you have a limitation of 1024 characters, whereas later HTML specifications don't have this limit; it just depends on the web server's capabilities. But posting parameters directly at the URL is still a worse choice.<br />
<br />
The content of the parameter is shown here: <br />
* __ (underscore underscore) - used in the C programming language to denote that a symbol is really not for public consumption<br />
* {{w|AUTOEXEC.BAT}} - a file which is automatically run during startup on Windows/DOS operating systems, and was often modified by viruses, which added malicious code to be run on each boot.<br />
* MY%20OSX%20DOCUMENTS - referencing the {{w|OSX}} operating system ({{w|URL_encoding#Character_data|%20}} is a representation of a space in a URL, i.e. it reads as "MY OSX DOCUMENTS").<br />
* INSTALL.EXE - a typical {{w|Installer#Installer|installer}}<br />
* {{w|RAR}} - a compressed archive file type<br />
* {{w|INI_file|INI}} - a configuration file type<br />
* {{w|Tar_(computing)|TAR}} - a file archive popular in UNIX and UNIX-like operating systems. TAR has been mentioned [[1168:_tar|before]].<br />
* DOÇX - {{w|docx}} is an Office Open XML file, i.e. a word processing format used by Microsoft Word 2007 and above, but has no cedilla (¸). The addition of a cedilla may be a reference to exploits that rely on rare characters being mistaken for more common ones that look similar, such as the {{w|IDN homograph attack}}.<br />
* PHPHPHP - a play on {{w|PHP}} files, a kind of server-based web page file type. PHP originally stood for "Personal Home Page" but was later redefined as the recursive abbreviation "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor".<br />
* {{w|XHTML}} - another web page file type<br />
* {{w|TransducerML|TML}} - stands for Transducer Markup Language, an XML based markup language that specifies how to capture, time-tag and describe sensor data<br />
* XTL - possibly a play on XHTML<br />
* TXXT - a play on {{w|Text_file|TXT}} file types<br />
* 0DAY - a reference to a {{w|zero-day exploit}}<br />
* HACK.ERS_(1995)_BLURAY_CAM-XVID - a reference to the 1995 Hackers movie, but pirated movies would either be a BlurayRIP/DVDRIP or CAM, but not both at the same time unless you used a camera to record the Blu-ray movie as it played.<br />
* {{w|EXE}} - an executable file type used by Microsoft Windows<br />
* [SCR] - a tag used by movie pirates to denote a '{{w|Screener}}', the DVD copy of films given to critics prior to theater release. Usually the highest quality available at this time, rare, and therefor good bait for a virus laden download. "{{w|.scr}}" is also the extension for screen saver files, really just an exe file with a different extension and one of the classical ways to distribute infected files <br />
* {{w|Lisp (programming language)|LISP}} - programming language<br />
* {{w|Windows_Installer|MSI}} - an installation file used by Microsoft Installer<br />
* {{w|.lnk|LNK}} - an extension used by Microsoft Windows for shortcuts. The extension is normally hidden to the user.<br />
* LNK, ZDA, GNN - references to {{w|Link_(The_Legend_of_Zelda)|Link}}, {{w|Princess_Zelda|Zelda}}, and {{w|Ganon|Ganon}}, important characters from {{w|The_Legend_of_Zelda|The Legend of Zelda}} video game franchise<br />
* {{w|White_Rabbit#Television_and_films|WRBT OBJ}} - A reference to the line of code Dennis Nedry used in {{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}} to shut down key systems<br />
* {{w|Object_file|O}} - The extension for a linker file, an intermediary created when compiling C code.<br />
* {{w|Header_file|H}} - The file extension of a header file in C code.<br />
* {{w|SWF}} - Shockwave Flash file type<br />
* {{w|Dpkg|DPKG}} - The Debian package management, although the package files use the file suffix ".deb"<br />
* APP - an application on Mac OS X operating system<br />
* {{w|ZIP_%28file_format%29|ZIP}} - compressed archive file type<br />
* CO - looks like a {{w|List_of_Internet_top-level_domains|top-level domain}}. Many countries use .co.''tld'' in front of their main TLD, e.g. ''.co.uk''. ''.co.gz'' don't exist.<br />
* {{w|Gzip|GZ}} - a compressed file using GNU zip<br />
* {{w|A.out|A.OUT}} - Default filename when creating an executable on Linux or other UNIX-like operating systems if none was specified for the compiler.<br />
<br />
The title text suggests changing from http to https, as if encrypting a suspicious file before downloading it is somehow better than downloading it unencrypted. http (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) and https (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol - Secure) are the two common protocols for getting web pages and web downloads. http is the simple download, whereas https adds an SSL encryption layer so the item being downloaded cannot be viewed unencrypted by anyone except the end recipient. Changing "http" to "https" is a common suggestion to improve security when browsing the web from an insecure network (such as a public WiFi hotspot) to avoid surveillance or hijacking to a malicious website; Google automatically switches to https for all mail accounts and is starting to do so with searches. The end recipient will still get whatever nasties were in the original, however - encrypting it doesn't change the content at all.<br />
<br />
The IP address referenced in the comic, 65.222.202.53, is currently being used by the shellcode of a JavaScript 0-day exploit for the Tor Browser Bundle being run by the FBI to phone home over the clearnet [http://thehackernews.com/2013/08/Firefox-Exploit-Tor-Network-child-pornography-Freedom-Hosting.html] and de-anonymize visitors to websites on Freedom Hosting that are serving child pornography. [http://www.reddit.com/r/onions/comments/1jmrta/founder_of_the_freedom_hosting_arrested_held/]<br />
<br />
The title of this comic, "The Mother of All Suspicious Files", is a reference to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfIgzSoTMOs The Mother of All Demos] from {{w|Douglas Engelbart}}.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Browser download warning box containing the following text]<br />
:Warning!<br />
:This type of file can harm your computer! Are you sure you want to download: <nowiki>http://65.222.202.53/~TILDE/PUB/CIA-BIN/ETC/INIT.DLL?FILE=__AUTOEXEC.BAT.MY%20OSX%20DOCUMENTS-INSTALL.EXE.RAR.INI.TAR.DOÇX.PHPHPHP.XHTML.TML.XTL.TXXT.0DAY.HACK.ERS_(1995)_BLURAY_CAM-XVID.EXE.TAR.[SCR].LISP.MSI.LNK.ZDA.GNN.WRBT.OBJ.O.H.SWF.DPKG.APP.ZIP.TAR.TAR.CO.GZ.A.OUT.EXE</nowiki><br />
:[Cancel and Save buttons]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=226:_Swingset&diff=50807226: Swingset2013-10-18T06:12:36Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 226<br />
| date = February 21, 2007<br />
| title = Swingset<br />
| image = swingset.png<br />
| titletext = Someone bring me a pocket fan so I can drift around the yard.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
When on a swing, there is a moment between swinging forwards/backwards and falling back down again where the force of gravity stops the acceleration of the swing. In this moment, you remain almost stationary at the peak of your swing and on a perfect swing (i.e. one with no friction or air resistance) you would achieve {{w|weightlessness}}.<br />
<br />
[[Cueball]] is told this fact by an unknown woman and then he imagines that at the peak of the swing you become permanently weightless and able to float above the ground without any support.<br />
<br />
On the title text he asks for a pocket fan, believing he could fly around the garden using this small device.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Woman talking to Cueball on swing-set.]<br />
:Woman: You know, at the peak of a big swing, you become weightless.<br />
:[Thought bubble from Cueball.]<br />
:[Cueball swings higher and higher. At the peak of a big swing he shoves off the swing. Cueball remains hovering in the air.]<br />
:Cueball: Hey guys. Come check this out.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1279:_Reverse_Identity_Theft&diff=507871279: Reverse Identity Theft2013-10-18T04:17:53Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1279<br />
| date = October 18, 2013<br />
| title = Reverse Identity Theft<br />
| image = reverse identity theft.png<br />
| titletext = I asked a few friends whether they'd had this happen, then looked up the popularity of their initials/names over time. Based on those numbers, it looks like there must be at least 750,000 people in the US alone who think 'Sure, that's probably my email address' on a regular basis.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:If your email address is <span style="color:gray">[First initial]+[Last name]@gmail.com</span> you gradually get to know lots of older people who have the same name pattern<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Yes, I know it would make '''''sense''''' if that were your email address, but it's not.<br />
:Person on the phone: But how did you get my number?<br />
:Cueball: Your phone bill.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Internet]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:50.151.2.168&diff=50781User:50.151.2.1682013-10-18T04:03:06Z<p>50.151.2.168: Redirected page to Special:Contributions/50.151.2.168</p>
<hr />
<div>#REDIRECT [[Special:Contributions/50.151.2.168]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=983:_Privacy&diff=50779983: Privacy2013-10-18T03:59:34Z<p>50.151.2.168: ♪ Who put these editors on the planet? Eugh! ♪</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 983<br />
| date = November 28, 2011<br />
| title = Privacy<br />
| image = privacy.png<br />
| imagesize = <br />
| titletext = Eventual headline: 'University Researchers Create Life in Lab! Darkness, Faulty Condoms Blamed.'<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic is about [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] attempting to find some privacy to "hook up", which is slang for engaging in sexual activity. <br />
<br />
In the second frame, the female roommate of Megan's is currently in a {{w|Raid_(gaming)|raid}}, which is a phrase used in {{w|World of Warcraft}} and other {{w|Massively multiplayer online role-playing game|Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games}} or MMORPGs. A Raid is a large gathering of players that work together to defeat a difficult enemy.<br />
<br />
The Rare book collection in the library (frame 3) is usually deserted, so it would be perfect for sexual activity, but instead a tour is going through the area instead. It is unclear if the tour is visiting {{w|Nelson Mandela}} in the rare book section or Nelson Mandela is visiting the school and is getting a tour through the rare book section.<br />
<br />
Next they try an accelerator tunnel that is in use, then a beaver lodge (the word "beaver" may reference the slang term for the vulva). With our current understanding of physics, there is neither the possibility of {{w|hyperspace}} existing, nor the possibility of getting there quickly.<br />
<br />
In the title text, it indicates that the two found privacy for sex in the lab, but inadvertently got Megan pregnant. The title text is a pun on news titles about scientists who have created synthetic life in the lab. This eventual headline appears in a few [[1037: Umwelt]] frames as "Scientists Create Life In Lab".<br />
<br />
[[658: Orbitals]] is similar.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Dorm:<br />
:[A couple try to enter one person's dorm room.]<br />
:Locked.<br />
<br />
:Other Dorm:<br />
:[The same couple in the other person's dorm room, where the roommate is sitting at a computer playing a game]<br />
:Roommate: I'll be done tuesday.<br />
:Roommate in raid<br />
<br />
:Library Rare Book Collection:<br />
:[Couple staring inside a room from outside. Nelson Mandela and other university workers inside the room, looking at various items]<br />
:Occupied by tour for visiting Nelson Mandela<br />
<br />
:Accelerator Tunnel:<br />
:[Couple stares at a heavy, imposing door denying them entry]<br />
:Sealed while beam is in operation.<br />
<br />
:Beaver Lodge:<br />
:[Couple attempting to enter an occupied beaver lodge]<br />
:Frozen over for winter to keep out predators; only accessible via underwater entrance.<br />
<br />
:Hyperspace:<br />
:[Couple in front of a number of textbooks]<br />
:Cueball: Are you ''sure?''<br />
:Ruled out by current understanding of physics.<br />
<br />
:College Law #27:<br />
:The availability of private space is inversely proportional to the desirability of the hookup.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Sex]]<br />
[[Category:Video games]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1218:_Doors_of_Durin&diff=507771218: Doors of Durin2013-10-18T02:16:49Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1218<br />
| date = May 29, 2013<br />
| title = Doors of Durin<br />
| image = doors of durin.png<br />
| titletext = If we get the doors open and plug up the dam on the Sirannon so the water rises a little, the pool will start draining into Moria. How do you think the Watcher would fare against a drenched Balrog?<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic is based on the ''{{w|Lord of the Rings}}'', specifically a scene from ''{{w|The Fellowship of the Ring}}'', where the eponymous fellowship is trapped outside the door to the {{w|Moria (Middle-earth)|Mines of Moria}}. There’s a spoken password to open the doors, an Elvish inscription on them provides a clue: “Speak friend, and enter”. The party leader ({{w|Gandalf}}) initially interprets this to mean that a friend could speak the password and enter. Only after many unsuccessful efforts does he realize it is actually a very simple riddle: The password is the Elvish word for “friend” (“mellon”), and the inscription should in fact be interpreted as “Speak [out loud the word] ''mellon'' [(the Elvish word for ''friend'')], and [you will be able to] enter”. (See {{w|Use–mention distinction}}.)<br />
<br />
In this comic, Cueball, White Hat, and Megan reenact the scene, with Cueball taking the role of Gandalf. The doors apparently open off-panel when the password is spoken. White Hat then wonders aloud what the Elvish word for “frenemy” is, and Cueball postulates “Mellogoth”. This is a {{w|portmanteau}} of “mellon” and “goth”, much like how “frenemy” is a portmanteau of “friend” and “enemy”. The Elvish word-root ''goth'' is best known as part of the name of {{w|Morgoth}} (literally, “Black Enemy”), essentially the Middle-Earth version of Satan in the ''{{w|Silmarillion}}''. The doors apparently immediately slam shut the moment Cueball says ''Mellogoth''. It is unclear whether this is because the opposite of the password has been spoken, or because the doors take offense to the word/concept ''frenemy'', of which xkcd has previously made fun in [[919: Tween Bromance]].<br />
<br />
The title text ponders what would occur if the Sirannon, a stream running adjacent to the path leading to the doors, were to be completely blocked with the doors left open. The already partially blocked Sirannon had formed a pool before the doors; which contained some sort of monstrous horror from the depths of the Earth, referred to as the {{w|Watcher in the Water}}. Randall seems to think that the pond draining into the mines would connect the Watcher with another horror within: the {{w|Balrog}} (a high-level servant of Morgoth) living within the depths of the mines. Balrogs are primarily creatures of fire and shadow, so having a bunch of water dumped on it is unlikely to please it but may weaken it. He then goes on to wonder about the outcome of a battle between the two monsters.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Megan: I've got it!<br />
:Megan: What's the elvish word for friend?<br />
:Cueball: ''Mellon.''<br />
<br />
:''RUMBLE''<br />
<br />
:White Hat: So what's the elvish word for "frenemy"?<br />
:Cueball: ''...Mellogoth?''<br />
:'''SLAM!!'''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:LOTR]]<br />
[[Category:Language]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=276:_Fixed_Width&diff=50776276: Fixed Width2013-10-18T02:12:07Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 276<br />
| date = June 13, 2007<br />
| title = Fixed Width<br />
| image = fixed_width.png<br />
| titletext = I wish I knew how to quit this so I wouldn't have to quit you.<br />
| imagesize =<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The title is a double reference. Firstly, the lines in [[Rob]] and Emily's {{w|Instant messaging|IM}} conversation for a while have exactly the same length. Secondly, they use a fixed-width, or {{w|monospaced}}, font. (It could be {{w|Courier (typeface)|Courier}}.)<br />
<br />
That Rob feels forced to change what he wants to type to continue the pattern could be a symptom of {{w|obsessive–compulsive disorder}}.<br />
<br />
Because of the monospaced font, any reply with 19 characters (including space) would have continued the pattern. In particular, "definitely for real" would have worked.<br />
<br />
The title text is a reference to the line "I wish I knew how to quit you" from the movie {{w|Brokeback Mountain}}.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A man, Rob, is sitting at a computer. The text is an IRC-style transcript of a conversation, in a fixed-width font. He is text-messaging a girl he slept with named Emily; their messages read as follows:]<br />
<pre><br />
<rob> hi<br />
<emily> hey you<br />
<rob> last night was nice<br />
<emily> the best i've had<br />
<rob> yeah it was AMAZING<br />
<emily> ok, i have to ask<br />
<emily> is this for real?<br />
<emily> or is it just sex<br />
<rob> definitely just sex<br />
<emily> holy shit<br />
<emily> are you serious?<br />
<emily> you don't know how much that made<br />
my stomach hurt<br />
<emily> i want to cry<br />
<rob> i'm sorry<br />
<rob> i wanted to type 'i love you'<br />
<rob> but our line lengths were syncing up<br />
<emily> ...<br />
<rob> and it would have broken the pattern<br />
* emily has disconnected<br />
</pre><br />
<br />
{{Comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Rob]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]<br />
[[Category:Sex]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1229:_Screensaver&diff=507751229: Screensaver2013-10-18T02:07:46Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */ Is the informal transcript part of the original one?</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1229<br />
| date = June 24, 2013<br />
| title = Screensaver<br />
| image = screensaver.png<br />
| titletext = I'm entering my 24th year of spending eight hours a day firing the Duck Hunt gun at the flying toasters. I'm sure I'll hit one soon.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
This comic features the "Starfield" {{w|screensaver}}, a popular Windows screensaver of the 1990s, which presents a moving starfield, like what would be seen by an observer moving past stars at {{w|superluminal}} speeds (see [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3wV33rfbwE#t=15s a video example]). This illusion is generally created by drawing white dots on the computer screen, and then moving these dots outwards towards the edge of the screen before disappearing. Some of the "stars" appear to pass closer to the viewing point than others, resulting in movements of visually greater speeds, and more excitement; one can also fixate the center of the screen, hoping to see the appearance of a star as close as possible to it, which would later on pass very close to the viewpoint. This comic extends it to the situation where the observer actually collides with one of these stars (something that never happens with screensavers of this type). The "signal lost" error message appears because the source of the signal is no longer transmitting, since it was destroyed by colliding with said star.<br />
<br />
The "Duck Hunt gun" is a reference to the {{w|NES Zapper}} used with the {{w|Nintendo Entertainment System}} game {{w|Duck Hunt}}, originally published in 1984. The user would point the Zapper at the connected television screen while playing Duck Hunt, and the NES would recognize whether or not the zapper was pointed at an appropriate target or not. "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Cm7tv5cM8g Flying Toasters]" is another old screensaver (in the {{w|After Dark (software)|After Dark}} package, made for computers but not for the NES). In the title text, [[Randall]] states that he is trying to use the NES Zapper to shoot down flying toasters. However, the Flying Toaster screensaver and the NES Zapper are two separate things that were never meant to be used together, so the flying toasters will never react to being "shot" at by the NES Zapper.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:I've been staring at the screen every night for twenty years, and it finally happened.<br />
:[A star field.]<br />
:[The same star field, but there's a larger white dot glowing in the middle.]<br />
:[The same star field, but that larger white dot's looking bigger now. Oh. It's clearly a star.]<br />
:[The screen is filled with white. It's coming straight for us.]<br />
:[The screen is filled with static.]<br />
:signal lost<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Computers]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=225:_Open_Source&diff=50671225: Open Source2013-10-16T03:25:46Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */ Look closely at the speech bubbles.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 225<br />
| date = February 19, 2007<br />
| title = Open Source<br />
| image = open source.png<br />
| titletext = Later we'll dress up like Big Oil thugs and jump Ralph Nader.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Richard Stallman}} is famous for beginning the {{w|GNU Project}} and is outspoken on the topic of {{w|Open Source software}} and {{w|Free software}}. So much so that he has garnered dislike from traditionalists who believe that software source code is a trade secret. While this dislike may not be at the level of hiring ninjas to remove him from the world, it is strong.<br />
<br />
{{w|GPL}} refers to the 'GNU General Public License', which covers all GNU software. It stipulates software is copyrighted, provided with full source code, and everyone is free to modify, disseminate and even sell software provided they also provide full source code and retain all copyright notices. This makes all software derived from GPL software also GPL, even if 'derived' means 'borrowed a couple of lines of code from'. Many people consider this to make GNU software behave like a {{w|viral license|'license virus'}}.<br />
<br />
The wording "For a GNU dawn!" is pronounced "For a new dawn!".<br />
<br />
{{w|Eric S. Raymond}} is a famous {{w|Hacker (programmer subculture)|hacker}} who has been an unofficial spokesperson for Open Source movement. The plan to prank Eric Raymond next is a bad one: he is an experienced martial artist and gun enthusiast.<br />
<br />
{{w|Linus Torvalds}} is the creator of the {{w|Linux kernel}}, an Open Source operating system kernel inspired by {{w|Unix}}.<br />
<br />
{{w|Ralph Nader}} is a famous consumer rights advocate, most famous for the 1965 book {{w|Unsafe at Any Speed}} and for running for US President in 2000.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Richard Stallman is sleeping on a bed.]<br />
:[Suddenly, two ninjas jump through the skylight.]<br />
:Ninja 1: Richard Stallman! Your viral open source licenses have grown too powerful.<br />
:Ninja 2: The GPL must be stopped.<br />
:Ninja 1: At the source.<br />
:Ninja 2: You.<br />
<br />
:[Richard Stallman wakes up immediately, and pulls his katana out of its sheath from under his bed.]<br />
:Richard Stallman: Hah! Microsoft lackeys! So it has come to this!<br />
:Richard Stallman: A night of blood I've long awaited. But be this my death or yours, free software will carry on! For a GNU dawn! For freedom!<br />
:Richard Stallman: ...hey, where are you going?<br />
<br />
:[The ninjas step out the window.]<br />
:Ninja 1: Man, you're right, that never gets old.<br />
:Ninja 2: Let's do Eric S. Raymond next.<br />
:Ninja 1: Or Linus Torvalds. I hear he sleeps with nunchucks.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*Because of this comic Stallman has been given a katana by fans of xkcd. [http://blog.xkcd.com/2007/04/19/life-imitates-xkcd-part-ii-richard-stallman/]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=812:_Glass&diff=50670812: Glass2013-10-16T03:18:17Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 812<br />
| date = October 29, 2010<br />
| title = Glass<br />
| image = glass.png<br />
| titletext = I read in this one article that the breaking of electroweak symmetry is the reason we have SOULS. This guy with a degree said so!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
In the beginning of the comic, Megan is trying to break a wine glass like an opera singer. This is a rather famous trick where the vocalist sings at the resonant frequency (or natural frequency) of the glass and cause it to resonate more and more until it can no longer handle the stress and breaks (for more info, watch the Mythbusters episode about the Earthquake Machine). If the resonant frequency of the glass is outside of the singer's range, then putting some water in the glass will lower its resonant frequency. (This effect can be used to play different notes on the rim of a glass by varying the amount of water in it. For example, see this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULiNR-k4m70 video])<br />
<br />
The term "God Particle" was coined by 1993 by physicist Leon Lederman to describe the Higgs boson because it is "so central to the state of physics today, so crucial to our final understanding of the structure of matter, yet so elusive." Many people misinterpret the name to be some kind of link between physics and religion, so physics is getting back at them by playing pranks that resemble famous miracles from Christian mythology:<br />
*Jesus turned water into wine at the marriage in Cana.<br />
*At the last supper, Jesus took a cup of wine and said "this is my blood, shed for you".<br />
<br />
The title text references to the fact that people would believe anything that comes from someone with a college degree, since the degree implies that he was highly educated, thus very knowledgeable.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan is singing, Cueball is staring at a glass of water on a table.]<br />
:Megan: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE... Anything break?<br />
:Cueball: No, but the water in the glass turned to wine.<br />
<br />
:[Cueball picks up glass]<br />
:Megan: Weird.<br />
:Cueball: No, wait. This is blood.<br />
<br />
:Megan: Okay, physics, quit fucking with us.<br />
:Physics: You stop looking for the Higgs Boson and we'll talk.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]<br />
[[Category:Religion]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1277:_Ayn_Random&diff=506691277: Ayn Random2013-10-16T03:14:21Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1277<br />
| date = October 14, 2013<br />
| title = Ayn Random<br />
| image = ayn random.png<br />
| titletext = In a cavern deep below the Earth, Ayn Rand, Paul Ryan, Rand Paul, Ann Druyan, Paul Rudd, Alan Alda, and Duran Duran meet togther in the Secret Council of /(\b[plurandy]+\b ?){2}/i.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
<br />
[[White Hat]] is explaining to [[Cueball]] a program he wrote, the "Ayn Random Number Generator", which is a pun on {{w|Ayn Rand}}, the name of a writer who created a philosophical system known as {{w|Objectivism (Ayn Rand)|Objectivism}}. Objectivists believe that the primary aim of life is to maximise personal happiness. In their view, if some humans are born more capable of satisfying their desires than other people, they deserve to reap greater rewards from life than others. In the comic, White Hat uses a similar line of reason to justify some numbers appearing more often than others in a {{w|Random number generation|"random" number generator}}.<br />
<br />
The title text identifies a group of people whose names match the {{w|regular expression}} <code>/(\b[plurandy]+\b ?){2}/i</code>. A step-by-step explanation of the expression:<br />
*\b is a word boundary, matching anywhere there is a 'word character' next to a non-word character&mdash;punctuation, digit, spacing, etc.<br />
*[plurandy] is a character class, and will match any single character from the set inside the square brackets<br />
*the plus sign means ''one or more'' of the previous thing, so [plurandy]+ matches one or many of the characters in that class, one after the other<br />
*" ?" - a space followed by a question mark: "?" means "0 or 1 of the previous thing", so a space is optional<br />
*the whole section in parentheses (\b[plurandy]+\b ?) translates to "a word containing one or more letters, all of which are in the set [plurandy], followed by an optional space"<br />
*the {2} on the end means to repeat the pattern, so it must match exactly twice<br />
*The slashes at each end mark out the pattern, and the "i" at the end is an expression qualifier means it is "case insensitive" (uppercase and lowercase match interchangeably)<br />
<br />
Overall, it matches two words separated by a space, composed entirely of the letters in [plurandy], which is what all the names listed have in common.<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
! Person !! Brief Description<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Ayn Rand}} || Author, best known for her novels {{w|The Fountainhead}} and {{w|Atlas Shrugged}}. <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Paul Ryan}} || US Politician known to have been influenced by the writings of Ayn Rand.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Rand Paul}} || US Politician, also influenced by Ayn Rand's writings.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Ann Druyan}} || Author<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Paul Rudd}} || Actor, screenwriter, comedian<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Alan Alda}} || Actor, best know for the role of Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series M*A*S*H<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Duran Duran}} || New Wave/Rock band<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball sitting at a laptop, White Hat behind him.]<br />
:Cueball: This Ayn Random number generator you wrote '''''claims''''' to be fair, but the output is biased toward certain numbers.<br />
:White Hat: '''''WELL, MAYBE THOSE NUMBERS ARE JUST INTRINSICALLY BETTER!'''''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Philosophy]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1277:_Ayn_Random&diff=505891277: Ayn Random2013-10-14T07:53:34Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1277<br />
| date = October 14, 2013<br />
| title = Ayn Random<br />
| image = ayn random.png<br />
| titletext = In a cavern deep below the Earth, Ayn Rand, Paul Ryan, Rand Paul, Ann Druyan, Paul Rudd, Alan Alda, and Duran Duran meet togther in the Secret Council of /(b[plurandy]+b ?){2}/i.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
<br />
This comic begins with a pun on {{w|Ayn Rand}}, the name of a writer who created a philosophical system known as {{w|Objectivism (Ayn Rand)|Objectivism}}. Objectivists believe that the primary aim of life is to maximise personal happiness. In their view, if some humans are born more capable of satisfying their desires than other people, they deserve to reap greater rewards from life than others. In the comic, White Hat uses a similar line of reason to justify some numbers appearing more often than others in a "random" number generator.<br />
<br />
The title text notes identifies a group of people whose names fall under (are within the namespace identified by) the {{w|regular expression}} <code>/(b[plurandy]+b ?){2}/i</code>. (This seems to be a mistake; the correct expression should be <code>/(\b[plurandy]+\b ?){2}/i</code>.)<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball sitting at a laptop, White Hat behind him.]<br />
:Cueball: This Ayn Random number generator you wrote ''claims'' to be fair, but the output is biased toward certain numbers.<br />
:White Hat: '''''Well, maybe those numbers are just intrinsically better!'''''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Philosophy]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=90:_Jacket&diff=5054090: Jacket2013-10-14T00:35:00Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Trivia */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 90<br />
| date = April 17, 2006<br />
| title = Jacket<br />
| image = jacket.jpg<br />
| titletext = We have this conversation at least once a day in my apartment<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]] clearly means to use ''[[wiktionary:fucking|fucking]]'' as an intensifier. However, the friend (likely intentionally in response to the unnecessary swearing) takes ''fucking'' to be an identifier of which jacket is being discussed, and gives a smart-aleck response. His counterpart gets confused by the sarcasm, and the topic is dismissed.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Two men stand and talk to one another.]<br />
:Cueball: Where's my fucking jacket?<br />
:[Friend indicates something behind him.]<br />
:Friend: Over there, next to your regular one.<br />
:Cueball: My what?<br />
:Friend: Never mind.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*This comic is the first to use an all-caps lettering.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Language]]<br />
[[Category:Sarcasm]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=145:_Parody_Week:_Dinosaur_Comics&diff=50521145: Parody Week: Dinosaur Comics2013-10-13T21:49:48Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 145<br />
| date = August 18, 2006<br />
| title = Parody Week: Dinosaur Comics<br />
| image = dinosaur_comics.png<br />
| titletext = Guys: while I was writing this, I accidentally swallowed a table-size slab of drywall. I know! Wacky.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
[http://qwantz.com/index.php Dinosaur Comics] ({{w|Dinosaur Comics|wikipedia article}}) is a webcomic by Ryan North. The artwork never changes, save a few rare exceptions, and only the dialogue is different. [[Randall]] has borrowed the usual artwork and font.<br />
<br />
For those who don't read it, [http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1387 here's] a typical strip.<br />
<br />
Randall makes several shots at recurring themes in Dinosaur Comics. T-Rex (the green dinosaur) is bold and enthusiastic, discussing various topics, a favorite of which appears to be linguistics. Dromiceiomimus, the white dinosaur in the third panel, usually responds calmly to T-Rex's discussions. Utahraptor, the orange dinosaur, typically contradicts T-Rex, but Randall subverts this pattern and has him agree.<br />
<br />
Just like xkcd, Dinosaur Comics also has title texts. Ryan's title texts tend to be bizarre non-sequiturs, and the title text in the parody seems to be a riff on this.<br />
<br />
<br />
This comic is a part of the Parody Week, just joking about other webcomics.<br />
*[[Parody Week: Achewood]]<br />
*[[Parody Week: Megatokyo]]<br />
*[[Parody Week: TFD and Natalie Dee]]<br />
*[[Parody Week: A Softer World]]<br />
*'''Parody Week: Dinosaur Comics'''<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:T-Rex: THINGS I AM UPPITY ABOUT: "They" as a third-person singular gender-free pronoun.<br />
:T-Rex: I'm all for it!<br />
:Dromiceiomimus: But isn't that terrible grammar?<br />
:T-Rex: Only by recent convention! It's been in use that way for centuries, and its use is widely accepted! ALSO: this lets us avoid ridiculous constructs like "he/she", "s/he", "xe" or "hirs"!<br />
:Utahraptor: T-Rex, I... agree.<br />
:T-Rex: What?<br />
:Utahraptor: That sounds good to me!<br />
:Utahraptor: Normally I'd jump in with an objection, but I think your point makes sense.<br />
:T-Rex: Could it be that the rift in our author's mind has finally healed? Is he no longer locked in perpetual war with the self-doubt that lurks in his subc-<br />
:Narrator: '''IN A WORLD WHERE THERE IS STILL A LAND BRIDGE BETWEEN ASIA AND NORTH AMERICA FOR SOME REASON:'''<br />
:T-Rex: -onscious?<br />
:Narrator: '''ALSO HOW ABOUT IN THIS WORLD EVERYONE IS BICURIOUS'''<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*The topic of gender-neutral pronouns has been [http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=2079 specifically covered] in Dinosaur Comics, five years after this parody.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1253:_Exoplanet_Names&diff=505201253: Exoplanet Names2013-10-13T21:48:17Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1253<br />
| date = August 19, 2013<br />
| title = Exoplanet Names<br />
| image = exoplanet names.png<br />
| titletext = If you have any ideas, I hear you can send them to <nowiki>iaupublic@iap.fr</nowiki>.<br />
}}<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|1253: Exoplanet Names}}<br />
<br />
On the 14th August 2013, the {{w|International Astronomical Union}} (IAU) [http://www.iau.org/science/news/179/ issued a document] about public naming of astronomical objects. It stated, "IAU fully supports the involvement of the general public, whether directly or through an independent organised vote, in the naming of planetary satellites, newly discovered planets, and their host stars." It also contained, amongst other things, guidelines that suggested names should meet. These include stipulations such as "16 characters or less", "preferably one word", being "pronounceable (in as many languages as possible)", "not too similar to an existing name of an astronomical object", avoiding commercial names, and being "respectful of intellectual property". If we go down the list, we can see that many of Randall's suggestions do indeed violate the guidelines. Which is probably part of the joke.<br />
<br />
The document also states that suggestions may be sent to the email mentioned in the title text.<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
! Star !! Planet !! Suggested Name !! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan=7 | {{w|Gliese 667}} || {{w|Gliese 667 Cb|b}} || Space Planet || A very unoriginal name; every planet is in space.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Gliese 667 Cc|c}} || PILF || Pun of {{w|MILF pornography|MILF}}, i.e. ''Planet I'd Like to Fuck''. Planet c is a relatively hot planet, within the habitable zone.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Gliese 667 Cd|d}} || A Star || "A {{w|Star}}" is obviously a bad name for a planet. A* (pronounced "A star") is already used in in astronomy, for example the Milky Way's black hole core is {{w|Sagittarius A*}}. "A star" is also the name for the character {{w|asterisk}} and the name of the popular {{w|A* search algorithm}} in computer science.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Gliese 667 Ce|e}} || e'); DROP TABLE PLANETS;-- || A reference to {{w|SQL injection}}, riffing off of [[327|comic 327]], which featured a schoolboy named <code>[[Robert'); DROP TABLE students;--]]</code>. The idea here is that the IAU would enter the name into their system and promptly lose all of their data pertaining to planets. Note that Planet e is located in the habitable zone of the star system.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Gliese 667 Cf|f}} || Blogosphere || rowspan = 2 | Weird ''{{w|blog}}''-related terms are a recurring theme in xkcd. See, for instance, [[181|comic 181]].<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Gliese 667 Cg|g}} || Blogodrome<br />
|-<br />
|[http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/gj_667c_h/ h] || Earth || Planet candidate h is about the mass of the Earth, and described as "tantalizing": [http://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2013/08/aa21331-13/aa21331-13.html A dynamically-packed planetary system around GJ with three super-Earths in its habitable zone]. See also ([[1231: Habitable Zone]]).<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan=5 | {{w|Tau Ceti}} || [http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/tau_cet_b/ b] || Sid Meier's Tau&nbsp;Ceti&nbsp;B || This refers to the game {{w|Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri}}.<br />
|-<br />
| [http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/tau_cet_c/ c] || Giant Dog Planet || {{w|VY Canis Majoris}} is one of the largest known stars at our galaxy and belongs to the constellation {{w|Canis Major}}, Latin for "greater dog". The constellation further contains {{w|Sirius}}, the brightest star in the night sky, also called "Dog Star".<br />
|-<br />
|[http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/tau_cet_d/ d] || Tiny Dog Planet || cf. {{w|Canis Minor}}, Latin for "lesser dog", another constellation.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tau Ceti e|e}} || Phil Plainet || A reference to {{w|Phil Plait}}, a.k.a. The Bad Astronomer.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Tau Ceti f|f}} || Unicode Snowman || The Unicode character [http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/2603/index.htm <span style="font-size:200%">&#x2603;</span>] may be a reference to the planet's estimated surface temperature of -40°C (-40°F). However, this name would be pronounced differently (being a symbol, not a word or name) in different languages.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Gliese 832}} || {{w|Gliese 832 b|b}} || Asshole Jupiter || This massive planet orbits a {{w|red dwarf}} star at the longest known period of 3416 days at this category.<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan=6 | {{w|Gliese 581}} || {{w|Gliese 581 b|b}} || Waist-deep Cats || {{w|Waist Deep}} is an action film from 2006, and the {{w|Lolcat}} meme does not need explaining. The name may also simply be a reference to being "waist-deep" in (i.e. surrounded by many) cats.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Gliese|c}} || Planet #14 || About 200th discovered exoplanet (in 2007); reported to be the first potentially Earth-like planet in the habitable zone of its star, though that is in doubt now. The joke might be that like "Space Planet", "Planet #14" is a generic and unoriginal name. Also note that this is the 15th entry in the table.<br />
An interesting (?) coincidence is that the 14th and 15th {{w|Definition of planet#Minor planets|Minor planets}} (then called asteroids) were discovered in 1851; see see {{w|List of minor planets: 1–1000}}. If they were to be counted among the planets of the {{w|Solar System}}, as was sometimes done then, the 14th known planetary body would be {{w|7 Iris}} (discovered in 1847, a year before {{w|Neptune}}).<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Gliese 581 d|d}} || Ballderaan || A {{w|wikt:balls|crude pun}} on the planet {{w|Alderaan}} from the ''{{w|Star Wars}}'' universe.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Gliese 581 e|e}} || Eternia Prime || {{w|Eternia}} is a fictional planet, venue of the ''{{w|Masters of the Universe}}'' animated series and toy collection.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Gliese 581 f|f}} || Taupe Mars || {{w|Kim Stanley Robinson}}'s award-winning {{w|Mars trilogy}} (''Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars'' after various stages of {{w|terraformation}}). {{w|Taupe}} is a brownish-grey colour.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Gliese|g}} || Jelly-Filled Planet || Possibly a reference to the conjecture that this tidally locked planet has an isolated habitable zone under the substellar point, akin to the pocket of jelly in a jelly doughnut.<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan=2 | {{w|Epsilon Eridani}} || {{w|Epsilon Eridani b|b}} || Skydot || [http://skydot.lanl.gov SkyDOT] is the Sky Database for Objects in Time-Domain run by {{w|LANL}} for the {{w|U.S. Dept. of Energy}} and includes data for [http://skydot.lanl.gov/nsvs/star.php?num=14831575&mask=32004 Epsilon Eridani] that can be used to constrain the orbital parameters of &epsilon; Eri b.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Epsilon Eridani c#Planet_c|c}} || Laser Noises || A {{w|Laser}} does not produce {{w|Noise (electronics)|noise}} in the signal sense; it only works at a well defined frequency. In science fiction films, however, laser weapon discharges are usually accompanied by sound. Sun-like Epsilon Eridani became a popular setting for science fiction after its publicity as a target of the {{w|Project Ozma}} experiment.<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan=2 | {{w|Gliese 176}} || {{w|Gliese 176 b|b}} || Pandora || The mythological name {{w|Pandora}} fulfills most of IAU's guidelines and has been popular for planets in science fiction; most recently and famously is {{w|Pandora (Avatar)|the venue}} of James Cameron's ''{{w|Avatar (film)|Avatar}}'' (although actually it is not a planet but just a moon of a gas giant in Alfa Centauri A). It is also a hellish planet from {{w|Frank Herbert}}'s {{w|Frank Herbert bibliography#WorShip novels|WorShip}} series of novels, a jungle planet in Brothers Strugatsky's {{w|Noon Universe}} and the planet used in {{w|Borderlands (video game)|Borderlands Games}}.<br />
|-<br />
| [http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/gj_176_c/ c] || Pantera || Named for the {{w|Pantera|heavy metal band}} - which was named after an Italian sports car, the {{w|De Tomaso Pantera}}.<br />
|-<br />
| Kepler-61 || {{w|Kepler-61b|b}} || GoldenPalace.com || A gambling website, known for {{w|GoldenPalace.com|paying to have their name in unusual places}} (like forehead tattoos, species names...).<br />
|-<br />
! colspan=4 | (right column)<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan=3 | {{w|Upsilon Andromedae}} || {{w|Upsilon Andromedae c|c}} || Stampy || The name of the elephant from the {{w|Simpsons}} episode {{w|Bart Gets an Elephant}}.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Upsilon Andromedae d|d}} || Moonchild || The name Bastian gives the Childlike Empress in {{w|The Neverending Story}}.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Upsilon Andromedae e|e}} || Ham Sphere || [http://www.hamsphere.com HamSphere] is a {{w|Amateur radio|Ham Radio}} simulator program. Ham radio uses designated radio frequencies for non-commercial exchange of messages and more. A pun of Hemisphere.<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan=3 | {{w|. Eridani|HD 20794}} || [http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/hd_20794_b/ b] || Cosmic Sands || style="font-family:'Comic Sans MS', 'Comic Sans'" | A {{w|pun}} on the name of the font {{w|Comic Sans}}. (<span style="font-family:papyrus">See also: [[590|590: Papyrus]].</span>)<br />
|-<br />
| [http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/hd_20794_c/ c] || Legoland || {{w|Legoland}} is a chain of {{w|theme park}}s owned by the {{w|Lego Group}}.<br />
|-<br />
|[http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/hd_20794_d/ d] || Planet with Arms || A reference to the [http://www.thecolorsofmysoul.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/The-Hitchhikers-Guide-to-the-Galaxy.jpg early covers] of {{w|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}?<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|HD 85512}} || {{w|HD 85512 b|b}} || Lax Morality || Possibly a parody of science fiction in which certain planets are suggested to be uniformly... lax in morals (i.e. full of sex, drugs, etc.). See http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Planetville and related.<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan=6 | {{w|HD 40307}} || {{w|HD 40307 b|b}} || Good Planet || Similar to the above, except with good planets. May also be yet another non-descriptive name, like "Space Planet" and "Planet #14".<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|HD|c}} || ProblemLand || See above.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|HD 40307 d|d}} || Slickle || This is a reference to "[http://zdarsky.tumblr.com/post/2837139960 The Petals Fall Twice]", which was made as a humorous example of bad fan-fiction. The word itself is a portmanteau of "slowly", "licked", and "tickled".<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|HD 40307 e|e}} || Spare Parts || This suggests that the planet is "worthless" or "junk". This is false, of course. May be a reference to the fact it is a planet with nothing much different from the other planets.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|HD 40307 f|f}} || New Jersey VI || Refers to the state of {{w|New Jersey}}; may be an insult to either.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|HD|g}} || How Do I Join the&nbsp;IAU || This implies that the user "got lost" on the IAU website and thought that the "planet name suggestion" input was for general queries.<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan=3 | {{w|Gliese 163}} || [http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/gj_163_b/ b] || Neil Tyson's Mustache || {{w|Neil deGrasse Tyson}} is a famous American astrophysicist and science communicator who does maintain a distinguished mustache.<br />
|-<br />
|{{w|Gliese|c}} || help@gmail.com || Similar to "How Do I Join the IAU", this implies that the user confused the "planet suggestion" text box for a new email they are trying to send<br />
|-<br />
|[http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/gj_163_d/ d] || Hair-Covered Planet || Refers to the well-known {{w|Hairy ball theorem}} of topology.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Pi Mensae}} || {{w|Pi Mensae b|b}} || Moon Holder || {{w|Jupiter}} has more than 60 discovered moons, and still counting... A planet ten times more massive ''must'' also be a Moon Holder.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|HD 189733}} || {{w|HD 189733 b|b}} || Permadeath || A well-characterized "{{w|Hot Jupiter}}" at a temperature range of 973 ± 33 K to 1,212 ± 11 K. The name refers to the feature of {{w|Permanent death}} common in many RPGs and roguelikes.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Kepler-22}} || {{w|Kepler-22 b|b}} || Blue Ivy || Blue Ivy Carter is the daughter of musicians {{w|Beyoncé}} and {{w|Jay-Z}}.<br />
|-<br />
| Kepler-3284 || b || Blainsley ||<br />
|-<br />
| Kepler-3255 || b || Unicorn Thresher ||<br />
|-<br />
| Kepler-2418 || b || Spherical Discworld || {{w|The Discworld}} is the fictional setting for British author {{w|Terry Pratchett}}'s {{w|Discworld}} series of humorous fantasy novels; it consists of a large disc supported by four elephants themselves standing on top of a turtle flying through space.<br />
|-<br />
| Kepler-1686 || {{w|KOI-1686.01|b}} || Emergency Backup Earth || This candidate planet has an {{w|Earth Similarity Index}} of 0.89, making it one of the most habitable {{w|Kepler object of Interest}}. The name suggests that it could be used as a backup in case something happened to our current planet.<br />
|-<br />
| Kepler-3010 || b || Feeeoooooooop || Possibly the onomatopoeia for something getting sucked into a black hole.<br />
|-<br />
| Kepler-4742 || b || Liz || ...Just a regular name (for a person, not a planet).<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
: August 2013:<br />
: The International Astronomical Union decides to start naming exoplanets, and&mdash;for the first time ever&mdash;asks for suggestions from the general public.<br />
: They immediately regret this decision.<br />
<br />
[Ponytail, Megan, Cueball, and a woman with a bun hairstyle are looking at a computer screen. Ponytail is facepalming.]<br />
: Cueball: Can't you filter out the worst ones?<br />
: Rightmost Woman: This is '''''after''''' the filter!<br />
<br />
[Table showing a list of planet names is shown.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Astronomy]]<br />
[[Category:Sex]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Little Bobby Tables]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=265:_Choices:_Part_2&diff=50511265: Choices: Part 22013-10-13T20:08:34Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 265<br />
| date = May 21, 2007<br />
| title = Choices: Part 2<br />
| image = choices_part_2.jpg<br />
| titletext = Maybe someday I'll get to write the Wikipedia article about this place! Wait, damn, original research.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This is a little sidetrack from the "Choices" narrative. [[Cueball]] is studying {{w|special relativity}}. The {{w|speed of light}} in vacuum (299,792,458 m/s) is denoted ''c''. [[Megan]] and the spaceship are thus traveling at 0.2''c'' in opposite directions. This would mean 0.4''c'' relatively to them. But due to relativistic effects, their velocities do not simply add when the spaceship observes Megan, in reality both would measure only 0.385''c''. Megan, however, has other concerns.<br />
<br />
In the title text Megan thinks about writing about this after-worldly place in Wikipedia, but then realizes that the content would be removed, due to the {{w|Wikipedia:No original research|Wikipedia policy on original research}}. Even though her claims would be true, she would need written sources to support them.<br />
<br />
All parts of "[[:Category:Choices|Choices]]":<br />
*[[264: Choices: Part 1]]<br />
*[[265: Choices: Part 2]]<br />
*[[266: Choices: Part 3]]<br />
*[[267: Choices: Part 4]]<br />
*[[268: Choices: Part 5]]<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is doing some exercises in a book. The clock on the wall says 12:50.]<br />
:Chapter 15: Special Relativity<br />
:Problem 1:<br />
:Two spacecraft transmit messages to each other while passing at constant velocities of...<br />
:Cueball: ''sigh''<br />
<br />
:Meanwhile:<br />
:[Megan in a bubble and a spacecraft are moving towards each other. Each one has a velocity vector drawn before themselves, each showing a velocity of 0.2c.]<br />
<br />
:[They pass each other.]<br />
:Spacecraft: We observe your speed to be 38.5%c, and your time is passing at 92.3% the rate of ours. Does this mirror your observations?<br />
:Megan: Please help me. I think I'm lost.<br />
<br />
:[They continue with the same velocity vectors. Megan is looking back at the spacecraft.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Choices]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]<br />
[[Category:Wikipedia]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=554:_Not_Enough_Work&diff=50505554: Not Enough Work2013-10-13T19:43:20Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 554<br />
| date = March 11, 2009<br />
| title = Not Enough Work<br />
| image = not_enough_work.png<br />
| titletext = It's even harder if you're an asshole who pronounces <> brackets.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
In some companies, programmers often find themselves with not much work to do. This is because these companies have little programming work that needs doing until something breaks or needs upgrading. As a result, coders need to make themselves available to perform these emergency fixes, but also have nothing to do in the meantime. This requires finding constructive ways to entertain themselves.<br />
<br />
{{w|Dvorak Simplified Keyboard|Dvorak}} is a keyboard layout that was proposed as an alternative to the more common {{w|Qwerty keyboard|QWERTY}} layout. The QWERTY keyboard became the standard in the US due to mechanical typewriters; to avoid jamming, the most common letters had to be placed far away from each other on the keyboard. (International variants like the AZERTY and QWERTZ layout were designed with similar goals in mind, but for other languages.) As a result, certain words are incredibly awkward to type on a QWERTY keyboard; for example, if you're a US touch-typist, look at your keyboard and think about how you would type "minimum" - your fingers have to constantly straddle the "j" key and awkwardly avoid each other. The Dvorak keyboard, by contrast, is designed to make words much easier to type, placing all of the most common letters (including all five vowels) on the home row and maximizing hand alternation (which makes typing faster). Of course, most people learned to type with a Qwerty keyboard, and switching is quite difficult, especially for longtime touch-typists (like, say, programmers). Seriously considering the switch is a sign that you really having nothing better to do.<br />
<br />
{{w|Gopher (protocol)|Gopher}} is a defunct internet protocol, which has been completely superseded by {{w|HTTP}}. It's a perfect example of the kind of thing a programmer might implement in the absence of other, more useful work. (As an aside, the protocol is named for the mascot of the University of Minnesota, where it was developed.)<br />
<br />
{{w|HTML}} and {{w|XHTML}} are markup languages used to describe web documents. XHTML-strict is a more restricted version of XHTML that excludes certain redundant tags like <nowiki><center></nowiki>, which is theoretically no longer necessary now that <nowiki><div>and <span></nowiki> exist. {{w|Haiku}}, on the other hand, is a kind of Japanese poetry. Rather than having a rhyming meter like Western poetry, Japanese poetry has strict restrictions on syllable count; a haiku must contain three lines, containing 5, 7, and 5 syllables, respectively. The section of code given is HTML markup, and would be read by a web developer like this:<br />
<br />
:Div class equals Main<br />
:Span ID equals Marquee<br />
:Blog! end span end div<br />
<br />
Which meets the syllable requirements. Restricting yourself to writing markup in this form would be extremely challenging and time-consuming, so it, too, is a good sign your coders need more work. (As the title text notes, it would be even more challenging if you pronounce the angle brackets that all HTML tags have. Doing so is pointless and time-consuming, since anyone who knows HTML will also know what's meant to be a tag and what isn't, so Randall calls anyone who does this an asshole.)<br />
<br />
Finally, the last panel mentions the biggest timesink of them all: webcomics. (Or, say, [[Main Page|wikis devoted to explaining the jokes in webcomics]].)<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Signs your coders don't have enough work to do:<br />
:[Cueball sitting at his workstation, with Ponytail standing behind him.]<br />
:Cueball: I'm almost up to my old typing speed in Dvorak<br />
<br />
:[Two men standing by a server rack.]<br />
:Cueball: Our servers now support Gopher.<br />
:Cueball: Just in case.<br />
<br />
:[Megan standing near her workstation speaking to Cueball.]<br />
:Megan: Our pages are now HTML, XHTML-STRICT, and Haiku-compliant.<br />
:Cueball: Haiku?<br />
:Megan: <nowiki><div class="main"><span id="marquee">Blog!</span></div></nowiki><br />
<br />
:[Ponytail sitting at her workstation.]<br />
:Ponytail: Hey! Have you guys seen this webcomic?<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=47:_Counter-Red_Spiders&diff=5050347: Counter-Red Spiders2013-10-13T19:29:31Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 47<br />
| date = January 9, 2006<br />
| title = Counter-Red Spiders<br />
| image = counter-red-spiders.jpg<br />
| titletext = I hope we can stop them<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
In previous comics, red spiders are seen navigating similar landscapes. Here, humanoid stick figures are standing on top of each other to reach some place above the top of the comic, in a similar manner to how the red spiders navigate.<br />
<br />
The full series of [[:Category:Red Spiders|Red spiders]]:<br />
*[[8: Red spiders]]<br />
*[[43: Red Spiders 2]]<br />
*[[47: Counter-Red Spiders]]<br />
*[[126: Red Spiders Cometh]]<br />
*[[427: Bad Timing]]<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A stack of stick figures, standing on each others shoulders extends from the bottom of the frame to the top. Cuboids hang in the air.]<br />
:The counter-red-spider offensive begins...<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*The original text by [[Randall]] read: "[[8: Red spiders|They]] must be [[43: Red Spiders 2|stopped]]."<br />
*This is the forty-fourth comic originally posted to livejournal. The previous comic was [[46: Secrets]], the next is [[48: Found]].<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Red Spiders|0047]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=391:_Anti-Mindvirus&diff=50502391: Anti-Mindvirus2013-10-13T18:36:17Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 391<br />
| date = March 3, 2008<br />
| title = Anti-Mindvirus<br />
| image = anti_mind_virus.png<br />
| titletext = I'm as surprised as you! I didn't think it was possible.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
''"{{w|The Game (mind game)|The Game}}"'' is a virus-like mind game. The rules are as follows:<br />
<br />
#Everybody in the world who knows about The Game is playing The Game. (Or: ''Everyone'' is playing The Game.)<br />
#If you think of The Game, you lose The Game.<br />
#If you lose The Game, you must make someone else lose The Game. (Often loudly announcing something like "I/You lost The Game", or "I lost".)<br />
<br />
Once you stop thinking about The Game, you are back in, and can lose again. From the simple way the rules are set up, there seems to be no thing as ''winning'' The Game, except possibly by totally forgetting about its existence.<br />
<br />
Whether reading this comic causes you to win or to lose The Game, that is the question.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:'''You Just <u>WON</u> The Game.'''<br />
:It's okay! You're free!<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Psychology]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=487:_Numerical_Sex_Positions&diff=50482487: Numerical Sex Positions2013-10-13T03:36:29Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 487<br />
| date = October 10, 2008<br />
| title = Numerical Sex Positions<br />
| image = numerical sex positions.png<br />
| titletext = We didn't even get to the continued fractions!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
{{w|Sex positions}} are positions that two people can have {{w|sexual intercourse}} in. Many of them are named, although only one generally accepted position is named after a number: the {{w|69 (sex position)|69}}.<br />
<br />
In this comic, [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] try to approximate the shapes of numbers that they are given as sex positions. They start with the classic 69, then represent the number 99 as "spooning" while standing and the number 71 as "doggy-style" sex over a table. They are then given ever more difficult numbers to attempt, although they are completely baffled by √8 before finally giving up and leaving at ln(2π). This interpretation of the comic suggests breaking the {{w|Fourth wall}}.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:XKCD presents a guide to numerical sex positions:<br />
:69<br />
:[Traditional sixty-nine position, mutual oral sex.]<br />
<br />
:99<br />
:[A standing spooning position.]<br />
<br />
:71<br />
:[Megan is bent over a table, doggy-style.]<br />
<br />
:34<br />
:[Cueball and Megan look confusedly at each other.]<br />
:Cueball: Uh.<br />
<br />
:√8<br />
:[Cueball and Megan are staring blankly at each other.]<br />
:Guys?<br />
<br />
:ln(2π)<br />
:[Megan begins walking away.]<br />
:Aww, c'mon...<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Sex]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1054:_The_Bacon&diff=504801054: The Bacon2013-10-12T20:07:24Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1054<br />
| date = May 11, 2012<br />
| title = The Bacon<br />
| image = thebacon.png<br />
| imagesize = <br />
| titletext = Normally pronounced 'THEH-buh-kon', I assume.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic plays off a typical American {{w|colloquialism}} in which "bring home the bacon" means working hard and bringing money home to your family to put food on the table.<br />
<br />
[[White Hat]] seems to actually be saying "{{w|thebacon}}", and is thus calm because his wife gives him drugs. {{w|Vicodin}} is a very common painkiller, that can become a drug of abuse.<br />
<br />
According to [[Wikipedia:thebacon]], [[Randall]] is mistaken in ''three'' (sky-high) places:<br />
*The proper name is ''dihydrocodeinone'' enol acetate.<br />
*It is a ''{{w|semisynthetic}}'' {{w|opioid}}.<br />
*The pronunciation is /ˈθiːbəkɒn/ ('''thee'''-b''uh''-kon).<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:White Hat: I'm out of work, but I'm not stressed about it because my wife is a pharmacist and she brings home thebacon.<br />
:Caption: Only later did I learn that "thebacon" is the common name for Dihydrocodeine Enol Acetate, a synthetic opioid similar to Vicodin.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=62:_Valentine_-_Karnaugh&diff=5046962: Valentine - Karnaugh2013-10-12T03:16:47Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 62<br />
| date = February 10, 2006<br />
| title = Valentine - Karnaugh<br />
| image = valentine_karnaugh.png<br />
| titletext = Love and circuit analysis, hand in hand at last.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
A {{w|Karnaugh map}} is a Boolean algebra tool which is used to simplify expressions. The final picture, the one that looks like a crossword puzzle, is similar to the way that a Karnaugh map is used on a Boolean truth table, to identify areas that can be simplified. [http://www.utdallas.edu/~dodge/EE2310/lec5.pdf This PDF document] shows how the process is used to simplify logic circuits. The lament of the Valentine is that feelings don't yield themselves to the same kind of analysis.<br />
<br />
This comic has four pictures with lines of text alongside them. The text can be used to understand the picture. The first three pictures show love to become more coherent and well-defined but yet complicated. The last picture and text alongside it show [[Cueball]]'s desire that there should be a way to simplify complications in love, just like Karnaugh maps for Boolean expressions.<br />
<br />
The first line means that love is such an overwhelming feeling that it is hard to understand it and even harder to explain. The picture alongside has incoherent lines depicting the feelings of someone in love and hearts represents the overwhelming love.<br />
<br />
The second picture and related text mean that the feelings are now identified to some extent but are numerous and there are too few words to explain them. The picture depicts Cueball and [[Megan]] on separate side of his heart crisscrossed by many feelings. It shows that his inability to explain his feelings is like a barrier between them.<br />
<br />
The third picture shows that Cueball has a much better understanding of love and now sees it as a matrix of desires and tangled relations, but it is still very complex to fully understand love.<br />
<br />
The fourth picture shows a Karnaugh map that Cueball wishes he could find in the future to solve the matrix of desires and tangled relations that is love.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Squiggly heart design.]<br />
:You make me feel so much<br />
:it all runs together<br />
:I wish I could tell you<br />
:[Crisscrossing heart design.]<br />
:So few words<br />
:for so many feelings<br />
:crisscrossing my heart<br />
:[Heart matrix design. Cueball and Megan on seperate side of big heart]<br />
:A matrix of desire<br />
:Tangled relations<br />
:I can't simplify<br />
:[Karnaugh map of hearts.]<br />
:I wish I could find<br />
:the Karnaugh map<br />
:for love.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]<br />
[[Category:Valentines]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=210:_90%27s_Flowchart&diff=50466210: 90's Flowchart2013-10-12T00:43:02Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 210<br />
| date = January 15, 2007<br />
| title = 90's Flowchart<br />
| image = 90s_flowchart.png<br />
| titletext = Freestyle rapping is basically applied Markov chains.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Explanation ==<br />
<br />
Here you can see an apparent flowchart. However it doesn't work because both ''yes'' and ''no'' end up in ''stop''. Everything below never can be reached.<br />
<br />
The reason is because it is not a real flowchart, but the lyrics of two hit rap songs from the 90's:<br />
*''{{w|U Can't Touch This}}'' by {{w|MC Hammer}}, says "Break it down. Stop! Hammertime."<br />
*''{{W|Ice Ice Baby}}'' by {{w|Vanilla Ice}} says "All right, stop. Collaborate and listen."<br />
<br />
The title text compares {{w|freestyle rapping}} with {{w|Markov chain|Markov chains}}. Markov chains are mathematical constructs in which the state at the next time step is dependent only upon the current state and probability. This is somewhat similar to freestyle rapping, in which what is said next must bear some relationship to what was just said, but the "freestyle" part means that almost anything can be brought in (hence the probabilistic part).<br />
<br />
== Transcript ==<br />
:90's Flowchart<br />
:Start: The 90's?<br />
:No: Stop<br />
:Yes: Stop<br />
::Hammertime<br />
::or<br />
::Collaborate, Listen<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Flowcharts]]<br />
[[Category:Music]]<br />
[[Category:Charts]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=982:_Set_Theory&diff=50365982: Set Theory2013-10-11T01:42:53Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 982<br />
| date = November 25, 2011<br />
| title = Set Theory<br />
| image = set_theory.png<br />
| titletext = Proof of Zermelo's well-ordering theorem given the Axiom of Choice: 1: Take S to be any set. 2: When I reach step three, if S hasn't managed to find a well-ordering relation for itself, I'll feed it into this wood chipper. 3: Hey, look, S is well-ordered.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic is a pun on the phrase "{{w|Proof by intimidation|Proof by Intimidation}}" which normally is ''a jocular term used mainly in mathematics to refer to a style of presenting a purported mathematical proof by giving an argument loaded with jargon and appeal to obscure results, so that the audience is simply obliged to accept it, lest they have to admit their ignorance and lack of understanding.''<br />
<br />
However, in this comic, "Proof by Intimidation" is taken to mean that by intimidating the elements within a set, they will conform to the proof (or, as the title text says, they will become "well-ordered"). This is accomplished by believing that the elements can be {{w|anthropomorphize}}d such that they feel fear. The idea of executing as an example was invented by Sun Tzu in the ancient book {{w|The Art Of War}}.<br />
<br />
The {{w|axiom of choice}} (which has been referenced in [[:Category:Axiom of Choice|previous xkcds]]) says that given any collection of bins, each containing at least one object, it is possible to make a selection of exactly one object from each bin.<br />
<br />
In the title text, the well-ordering theorem states that every set can be well-ordered. A set X is well-ordered by a strict total order if every non-empty subset of X has a least element under the ordering. This is also known as {{w|Zermelo's theorem}} and is equivalent to the Axiom of Choice.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Ponytail stands at a blackboard, facing away from it. She has a pointer in her hand, and written on the blackboard is some set theory math.]<br />
:Ponytail: The axiom of choice allows you to select one element from each set in a collection — and have it ''executed'' as an example to the others.<br />
:My math teacher was a big believer in Proof by Intimidation.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Set theory]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]<br />
[[Category:Logic]]<br />
[[Category:Axiom of Choice]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=396:_The_Ring&diff=50355396: The Ring2013-10-10T22:49:41Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 396<br />
| date = March 14, 2008<br />
| title = The Ring<br />
| image = the_ring.png<br />
| titletext = On the other hand, poor Samara -- transcoded to FLV. No one deserves that.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
{{w|The Ring (2002 film)|The Ring}} is a {{w|horror movie}} released in 2002 based off the Japanese movie {{w|Ring (film)|Ringu}}. In it, you watch a video tape. When the tape is done, you would receive a phone call saying you will die in seven days. In the movie, the main character's son watches the tape. In the comic, he one-ups the movie by posting the video on YouTube for everyone to watch.<br />
<br />
{{w|Rickrolling}} is an Internet meme, where someone is lured into clicking on a video link, and the video they actually see is of {{w|Rick Astley}} singing "{{w|Never Gonna Give You Up}}".<br />
<br />
The title text refers to the file format used by the {{w|YouTube}} player. Historically YouTube was famous for having extremely poor quality videos because their Internet connections were slower and server storage space was expensive. So, all videos were {{w|transcode}}d into a very low quality {{w|FLV}} (flash video) format.<br />
<br />
The girl in the video tape (and the one that would call you) is named Samara. Even though posting it on YouTube was a clever idea, it does force Samara (which would come out of the screen) to become heavily compressed (and perhaps distorted) by the conversion to FLV.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Ponytail is speaking to young Cueball sitting in front of a TV with a black background and a white ring.]<br />
:Ponytail: You watched the tape!?<br />
:Cueball: Yeah, sorry.<br />
<br />
:Ponytail: Now you'll die in seven days!<br />
:Cueball: It's worse than that.<br />
<br />
:[TV is cut from the frame.]<br />
:Ponytail: ...You didn't.<br />
:Cueball: Yup.<br />
<br />
:[Both are now in front of a computer, Ponytail leaning in.]<br />
:Ponytail: Great, It's got 363,104 views ''already''.<br />
:Cueball: They kept Rickrolling me! It was only fair.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]</div>50.151.2.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1095:_Crazy_Straws&diff=503321095: Crazy Straws2013-10-10T19:31:29Z<p>50.151.2.168: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1095<br />
| date = August 15, 2012<br />
| title = Crazy Straws<br />
| image = crazy_straws.png<br />
| titletext = The new crowd is heavily shaped by this guy named Eric, who's basically the Paris Hilton of the amateur plastic crazy straw design world.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
A {{w|subculture}} is a small group of people within a culture that share some property in common, such as hackers or hipsters. Some subcultures form based on a geeky obsession over a trivial topic. In this case, that topic is crazy straws, which are toy drinking straws designed with unusual twists and loops. This strip satirizes these groups by comparing them to fractals.<br />
<br />
Informally speaking, a {{w|fractal}} is a mathematical shape with an infinite level of detail. Just as fractals can always be divided into smaller patterns, Randall points out that human subcultures can always be divided into smaller subcultures. We have the "people who like crazy straws" subculture, but this is further divided into the professionals and the hobbyists. The hobbyists are themselves broken into those who accept loops in the straws and those who don't. (A splinter group, as used in the comic, is a subculture that breaks off from a larger one.)<br />
<br />
Despite the incredible amount of work fans put into it, the whole concept seems completely inconsequential to an outsider. The irony is the source of humor in this strip. An earlier comic, [[915: Connoisseur]], covers a similar topic.<br />
<br />
{{w|Paris Hilton}} is a celebrity who is essentially famous for being famous.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Two people hang out with some beverages. Cueball here has a bright green crazy straw]<br />
:Cueball: The thing to understand about the plastic crazy straw design world is that there are two main camps: The professionals - designing for established brands - and the hobbyists. The hobbyist mailing lists are full of drama, with friction between the regulars and a splinter group focused on loops..<br />
<br />
:Human subcultures are nested fractally. There's no bottom.<br />
<br />
{{Comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>50.151.2.168