https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=St.nerol&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T12:33:10ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=403:_Convincing_Pickup_Line&diff=140533403: Convincing Pickup Line2017-05-31T07:57:19Z<p>St.nerol: Not directly comic-related...</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 403<br />
| date = March 31, 2008<br />
| title = Convincing Pickup Line<br />
| image = convincing pickup line.png<br />
| titletext = Check it out; I've had sex with someone who's had sex with someone who's written a paper with Paul Erdős!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
A {{w|graph (mathematics)|graph}} is a mathematical object consisting of '''nodes''' connected by lines called '''edges'''. The nodes could represent for example people, and the edges could represent a connection from having slept together. Now, Megan has such a graph. Arguably, a {{w|symmetric graph|graph that is symmetric}} is nicer than a regular one, which is why Megan suggests that they should sleep together.<br />
<br />
The title text is a small-world joke on the concept of {{w|Erdős number}}. {{w|Paul Erdős}} was a Hungarian mathematician renowned for his eccentricity and productivity. He holds the world record for the number of published math papers, as well as for the number of collaborative papers. A person's Erdős number is the "collaborative distance" between the person and Erdős. Paul Erdős's Erdős number is 0 by definition. All of his 511 collaborators have the Erdős number 1; anyone (excluding Erdős) who has collaborated on a mathematical or scientific paper with any of those collaborators has an Erdős number of 2, and so on. Thus, if you have written a paper with someone who's written a paper with someone who's written a paper with Paul Erdős, your Erdős number is 3. If you know a mathematician or are a mathematician you can calculate his/her/your Erdős number [http://www.ams.org/mathscinet/collaborationDistance.html here].<br />
<br />
In [[599: Apocalypse]] Cueball actually manages to write a paper with zombie Erdős, thus making his Erdős numbers one.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and Megan sit at a small table in a cafe. Megan holds up a graph.]<br />
:Megan: We're a terrible match. But if we sleep together, it'll make the local hookup network a symmetric graph.<br />
:Cueball: I can't argue with that.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]<br />
[[Category:Sex]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=704:_Principle_of_Explosion&diff=140532704: Principle of Explosion2017-05-31T07:50:39Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 704<br />
| date = February 19, 2010<br />
| title = Principle of Explosion<br />
| image = principle_of_explosion.png<br />
| titletext = You want me to pick up waffle cones? Oh, right, for the wine. One sec, let me just derive your son's credit card number and I'll be on my way.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball|Cueball's]] friend (who also looks like Cueball) explains the {{w|principle of explosion}}, a classical law of logic, that says that if you start out with propositions ({{w|axiom}}s) that contradict each other, it is possible to derive (prove) any statement you want in the language you are working in, true or false. <br />
<br />
Cueball then proceeds to misinterpret (perhaps intentionally) that you can derive any ''fact'' about the physical world. His formula of {{w|propositional logic}} in the third panel reads "'''P''' and not '''P'''", where '''∧''' is the formal logic symbol for "and" and '''<sup>¬</sup>''' is the symbol for "not". '''P''' stands for a proposition. As "'''P''' and not '''P'''" is shorthand for "'''P''' is both true and false", this forms a contradiction from which the principle of explosion can begin. Humorously and to his friend's bewilderment he then successfully manages to 'derive' the phone number for his friend's mom. <br />
<br />
:'''An example from math''': If you assume that √2 is a rational number, you can 'prove' things that are obviously false, such as the fact that some numbers must be both even and odd. Consequently, you can draw the conclusion that √2 must be an irrational number (provided such a thing exists at all! - luckily, it does and obeys the same calculation rules as for rational numbers; this is how {{w|proof by contradiction}} works.)<br />
<br />
:This can be seen in a {{w|Truth Table}}:<br />
:{| class="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
! P<br />
! ¬P<br />
! P ∧ ¬P<br />
! P ∧ ¬P ⇒ Q<br />
|-<br />
| T<br />
| F<br />
| F<br />
| T<br />
|-<br />
| F<br />
| T<br />
| F<br />
| T<br />
|}<br />
<br />
:The formula P ∧ ¬P ⇒ Q is true in every possible interpretation. No matter what propositions are substituted for P and Q the implication is true. So if a single example of a contradiction were found, then every proposition would be true, (and simultaneously false).<br />
<br />
After deriving the phone number Cueball instantly calls his friends mom, who turns out to be [[Miss Lenhart|Mrs. Lenhart]]. She asks Cueball out, without any preamble, to his friend's vexation. It does not get better when it is obvious that she wishes to drink "cheap" {{w|boxed wine}} with him, and Cueball is free tonight! There is definitely a hint of {{w|Mrs. Robinson}} over Mrs. Lenhart here. <br />
<br />
<br />
In the title text we hear more of Cueball's (one-sided) conversation with Mrs. Lenhart. She asks him to pick up waffle cones, a variety of {{w|ice cream cone}}. And when he sounds bewildered by this she explains that it is for drinking the wine. This is probably not a very good idea, since waffles are typically not water proof and would also dissolve into the wine. But it could also be considered kinky; something Mrs. Lenhart's son would not like to hear about. The rest of the title text is just more of the main comic's derivation joke, since Cueball will use a second to derive her son's credit card number, so he can buy the cones at his expense.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball's Cueball-like friend is talking to him.]<br />
:Friend: If you assume contradictory axioms, you can derive anything. It's called the principle of explosion.<br />
:Cueball: ''Anything?'' Lemme try.<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is writing on a piece of paper on a desk.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is holding up a piece of paper to his friend, while holding a phone.]<br />
:Cueball: Hey, you're right! I started with '''P∧<sup>¬</sup>P''' and derived your mom's phone number!<br />
:Friend: That's not how that works.<br />
<br />
:[The friend is looking at the piece of paper, while Cueball is talking to someone on a phone. The desk from before can be seen to the right.]<br />
:Cueball: Mrs. Lenhart?<br />
:Friend: Wait, this ''is'' her number! How—<br />
:Cueball: Hi, I'm a friend of— Why, yes, I ''am'' free tonight!<br />
:Friend: ''Mom!''<br />
:Cueball: No, box wine sounds lovely!<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]<br />
[[Category:Logic]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=253:_Highway_Engineer_Pranks&diff=140528253: Highway Engineer Pranks2017-05-30T14:47:31Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 253<br />
| date = April 25, 2007<br />
| title = Highway Engineer Pranks<br />
| image = highway_engineer_pranks.png<br />
| titletext = Prank #11: Boston<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Some classical but inaccurate {{w|Interchange (road)|interchanges}} are shown. In general, these interchanges are designed to allow the traffic to flow without directly crossing any other traffic stream. But here we can see some different approaches:<br />
<br />
*The first design resembles a {{w|cloverleaf interchange}}, but has no way to merge back onto the highway once you enter it, making it inescapable.<br />
<br />
*The second interchange has off-ramps that you would normally use to change to the other highway, but in this design they simply merge back to the original highway, so you don't really have a choice in where to go. This is sometimes seen on real freeways where one lane must go around an obstacle such as a bridge support.<br />
<br />
*The {{w|roundabout|rotary}} has a path that puts cars from opposite sides of the rotary onto a collision course. This is a humorous reference to {{w|particle accelerators}} (such as the {{w|Superconducting Super Collider}}) which are designed to put particles on a collision course.<br />
<br />
In the title text {{w|Boston}} is mentioned, a slightly more complicated prank in itself. A common fiction is that the streets evolved from old cowpaths; but in the 17th century they avoided swamps and marshes and followed shorelines before the original peninsula comprising the city was expanded with landfill in the 19th century. {{w|Transportation in Boston#Road infrastructure|Boston's road infrastructure}} in general lacks a {{w|street grid}} like most other US-cities have. On top of that, roads change names and lose and add lanes seemingly at random. [[Randall]] himself lives in Boston.<br />
<br />
Highway engineers were also the subject of [[781: Ahead Stop]] and [[1726: Unicode]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Each panel depicts a highway intersection.]<br />
:The Inescapable Cloverleaf:<br />
:[Roads lead onto the rings for each leaf, but then are trapped in the circles. Minor roads also allow travel between the rings.]<br />
<br />
:The Zero-Choice Interchange:<br />
:[On and off-ramps exist, but they lead back to the same lane they disconnected from.]<br />
<br />
:The Rotary Supercollider:<br />
:[The roads lead into a traffic circle, and then a loop reverses the direction of flow so all the roads run into each other.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=385:_How_it_Works&diff=140527385: How it Works2017-05-30T14:43:37Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 385<br />
| date = February 18, 2008<br />
| title = How It Works<br />
| image = how it works.png<br />
| titletext = It's pi plus C, of course.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic reveals discriminative jargon against women when doing tasks such as mathematics. When a guy does something wrong, it's his own mistake. When a girl does something wrong, it is taken as a confirmation that girls are inferior.<br />
<br />
The mathematics displayed is neither {{w|semantically}} nor {{w|syntactically}} correct. To begin with, there should (reasonably) be a ''dx'' after x<sup>2</sup>. Adding this, we have an {{w|indefinite integral}} on the left hand side.<br />
<br />
The answer {{w|π}} is just nonsensical: What we want is a {{w|Function (mathematics)|function}}, whose {{w|derivative}} is x<sup>2</sup>. Now, x<sup>3</sup>/3 satisfies this condition. However, since adding a {{w|constant (mathematics)|constant}} to a function does not change its derivative, the full answer is (any function of the form) x<sup>3</sup>/3 {{w|Constant of integration|+ C}}, where C is any fixed number. The "plus a constant"-part is very easy to forget, and might even be omitted by a (sloppy) professional mathematician. So if someone really gave the answer π, "you forgot to add a constant" would be a pretty funny remark, because in one way it's true, but on the other hand it wouldn't quite be the main thing to worry about. (It is especially inane as π itself ''is'' a constant.)<br />
<br />
It would also be possible to fix the equation by adding [http://www.mathwords.com/b/bounds_of_integration.htm bounds of integration], so that {{w|π}} becomes the area below a section of the curve x<sup>2</sup>. That is called a definite integral, and there would be no "+ C". The bounds would have to be somewhat awkward though; if 0 was the lower bound, the cube root of 3π would have to be the upper.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and a friend stand at a blackboard. The friend is writing, in standard mathematical notation, that the integral of x squared equals pi. No differential or bounds are given for the integral.]<br />
:Cueball: Wow, you suck at math.<br />
:[The same scene, except the writer is Megan.]<br />
:Cueball: Wow, girls suck at math.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=906:_Advertising_Discovery&diff=140526906: Advertising Discovery2017-05-30T14:38:29Z<p>St.nerol: cleanup</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 906<br />
| date = June 1, 2011<br />
| title = Advertising Discovery<br />
| image = citations.png<br />
| titletext = When advertisers figure this out, our only weapon will be blue sharpies and "[disputed]".<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
On {{w|Wikipedia}}, a well-referenced text or statement indicates credibility. References for particular facts are linked to by bracketed blue little numbers in {{w|superscript}}.<sup><font color="blue">[1][3][4]</font></sup> When faced with a statement followed by these, readers will normally believe it without further ado,<sup><font color="blue">[6][10]</font></sup> since they take it on trust that there are directions on the bottom of the page, leading to a reliable source or two, agreeing with what the statement says. The effect becomes strengthened when such information often is confirmed to be correct.<br />
<br />
In the comic, advertisers have realized that it has gone so far that people in general will take any nonsense for granted if there is just the right amount of Wikipedia-style reference tags to it. The penis pump e-commerce can suddenly flourish (again?) and the spammers won't even need to bother making up findings to cite.<br />
<br />
Turgidax{{w|Registered trademark symbol|®}} is something [[Randall]] formed from ''[[wiktionary:turgid|turgid]]'', meaning swollen. One reason that the attaching of ''-ax'' creates a typically pill-like name is simply that ''-ax'' (and ''-ex'') are common Latin adjectival word endings, and that many drugs have names formed from Latin words. -Ax is also, specifically, the root of the -acious ending in English, as in "audacious" or (appropriately) [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bodacious bodacious], meaning "extra" or "especially". The idea is it makes the genitalius extra or especially turgid. ''[[wiktionary:cardiovascular|Cardiovascular]]'' means relating to the heart and blood vessels.<br />
<br />
<br />
The title text is about how Wikipedia users have been able to add "disputed"-tags (nowadays "disputed – discuss") after challenged facts, with {{w|Template:Disputed-inline|this template}}, since the dawn of time.<sup><span style="color:#0000FF">[11]</span>[<span style="color:#0000FF">disputed</span> – <span style="color:#0000FF">discuss</span>]</sup> So when faced with the new advertising trick {{w|Real life|IRL}}, we could counter by scribbling those tags all over with blue {{w|Sharpie (marker)|Sharpie}} marker pens, and so automatically revive the {{w|critical thinking}}.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Advertising discovery:<br />
:[Person sits at computer, reading an ad on the screen. The bracketed superscripts are blue.]<br />
:Ad: Turgidax&reg; triples<sup style="color:blue;">[2]</sup> your penis size overnight,<sup style="color:blue;">[2][5]</sup> improving both your sexual attractiveness<sup style="color:blue;">[2][7]</sup> and your cardiovascular health.<sup style="color:blue;">[7][8][9]</sup><br />
:Person (thinking): Sounds legit.<br />
:Caption: Wikipedia has trained us to believe anything followed by little blue numbers in brackets.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
* Randall changed the image name from advertising_discovery.png to citations.png, since adblocking extensions interpreted it as an ad and made the comic blank. He had the same problem just three months earlier with [[870: Advertising]].<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Penis]]<br />
[[Category:Wikipedia]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=870:_Advertising&diff=140525870: Advertising2017-05-30T14:30:07Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 870<br />
| date = March 9, 2011<br />
| title = Advertising<br />
| image = mathematically annoying.png<br />
| titletext = I remember the exact moment in my childhood when I realized, while reading a flyer, that nobody would ever spend money solely to tell me they wanted to give me something for nothing. It's a much more vivid memory than the (related) parental Santa talk.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic pokes fun at some advertising tricks, analyzing them mathematically.<br />
<br />
*In the first panel, "up to 15% or more" is a reference to the {{w|Geico}} car insurance commercial catchphrase: "15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance", actually not including the words "up to". The phrase in the comic means "less than, equal to, or more than 15%," which is true no matter whether you save anything or not (it's a {{w|tautology}}).<br />
<br />
:The equation at the top of the panel expresses the same thing using {{w|set theory}} notation. It reads out as: The {{w|Union (set theory)|union}} of {{w|Set (mathematics)|sets}} A and B equals the set of all x, such that x is {{w|Inequality (mathematics)|less than or equal to}} 15, or greater than 15, which equals the set of all {{w|real numbers}}.<br />
<br />
:The same is expressed again with a {{w|number line}}; the numbers being interpreted as {{w|percentages}}. The first range ending with a black dot indicates that everything below, as well as the number 15, is included ("up to 15%"). The second range beginning with a white dot indicates that it only includes numbers strictly bigger than 15 ("more than 15%"). The two ranges combined clearly cover the entire number line.<br />
<br />
:Geico's advertising is also referenced in [[42: Geico]].<br />
<br />
*Second panel: Whatever is advertised with a big capital "FREE!" splashed over the ad, most likely does not belong to the things truly free. The small asterisk, indicates the presence of a {{w|fine print}}, ensuring that the advertisers are only technically not guilty of {{w|false advertising}}. The conditions attached in the fine typically reveals how they will (try to) make money from you.<br />
<br />
:We are even given a little formula to calculate the average amount of mony they expect to make from the readers. The assumption is that they expect to generate at least as much income from the ad as what they paid to print and publish it in the first place.<br />
<br />
*The third panel relates to sales tactics that are based on a scaling percentage rate - for example, all items are 20% off, but if you spend more than $200, you get 30% off instead, and so on. These are almost universally proclaimed with a phrase like "The more you spend, the more you save!" In absolute dollar terms, this is of course nonsense, as "spending" is the opposite of "saving", and the deal is there to make you spend more. The graph shows this interpretation - spending zero money implies you have saved all your money (the dot where it intersects the X axis), whereas spending all your money implies you have saved none (the dot where it intersects the Y axis). There is a linear relationship between the two: the amount of money spent, plus the amount of money saved, has to add up to a constant number (your original savings).<br />
<br />
The title text compares Randall's realization of the "FREE"-fraud to the revelation that {{w|Santa Claus}} is not real.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Mathematically Annoying Advertising:<br />
<br />
:A ∪ B = {x:x ≤ 15 or x > 15} = ℝ<br />
:[line graph representing the above equation.]<br />
:When discussing real numbers, it is impossible to get more vague than "up to 15% or more".<br />
<br />
:["FREE!*" in large text, with substantial illegible fine print.]<br />
:If someone has paid $x to have the word "free" typeset for you and N other people to read, their expected value for the money that will move from you to them is at least $(x / (N+1))<br />
<br />
:[Graph representing inverse relationship between "amount you spend" on the y axis and "amount you save" on the x axis.]<br />
:It would be difficult for the phrase "the more you spend the more you save" to be more wrong.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
Randall changed the image name from advertising.png to mathematically_annoying.png, since adblocking extensions interpreted it as an ad and made the comic blank. He had the same problem again just three months later with [[906: Advertising Discovery]].<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Line graphs]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:St.nerol&diff=140524User:St.nerol2017-05-30T14:02:09Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>Hi there! I'm glad you are curious about me.<br />
I'm a student of physics, math, logic, philosophy & religion. I especially like stuff that tends to fall in the intersection of some of these subjects, like xkcd, quantum stuff, and {{w|set theory}}. <br />
<br />
Speaking of which, I've been working a bit here on categorizing the comics suitably! Other than that I more often polish the existing explanations rather than create new ones. Partly because I find it hard to resist when reading, and see possibilities for improvements.<br />
<br />
I'm also active on the English and Swedish Wikipedias, and on the Swedish [http://www.wiktionary.org Wiktionary]. You'd bet: I'm from {{w|Sweden}}. (We don't have polar bears, and it's kinda warm because of the {{w|Gulf Stream}}.) Since I'm not native in English, please correct any lingual mistakes or [http://www.oddee.com/item_89219.aspx oddities], even on this page!<br />
<br />
Feel free to say something on my talk page. Just say hi, disagree with me, teach me something, or ask me anything.<br />
<br />
I follow {{w|Jesus}}, and I won't bite you if you challenge me on why.<br />
<br />
<br />
Some explanations I created or worked much on (latest first):<br />
*[[1102: Fastest-Growing]]<br />
*[[870: Advertising]]<br />
*[[385: How it Works]]<br />
*[[906: Advertising Discovery]]<br />
*[[1069: Alphabet]]<br />
*[[265: Choices: Part 2]]<br />
*[[264: Choices: Part 1]]<br />
*[[253: Highway Engineer Pranks]]<br />
*[[827: My Business Idea]]<br />
*[[430: Every Damn Morning]]<br />
*[[76: Familiar]]<br />
*[[403: Convincing Pickup Line]]<br />
*[[704: Principle of Explosion]]<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Some categories I created:<br />
*[[:Category:Physics|Physics]]<br />
*[[:Category:Biology|Biology]]<br />
*[[:Category:Philosophy|Philosophy]]<br />
*[[:Category:Logic|Logic]]<br />
*[[:Category:Psychology|Psychology]]<br />
*[[:Category:Music|Music]]<br />
*[[:Category:Computers|Computers]]<br />
*[[:Category:Internet|Internet]]<br />
<br />
<br />
I'mma work a bit on:<br />
*[[5: Blown apart]]<br />
*[[34: Flowers]]<br />
*[[59: Graduation]] – relates to Randall's then situation<br />
*[[987: Potential]] – add a quote from Randall.<br />
*[[861: Wisdom Teeth]]<br />
<br />
*Further standardizing the trivia sections in the "LiveJournal-chain" Blaisepascal created, with [[24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey#Trivia]] as the role model.<br />
<br />
Other (meta-)pages that should be created:<br />
* [http://xkcd.com/blue_eyes.html Blue eyes: the hardest logic puzzle in the world]<br />
* And maybe something about [http://blag.xkcd.com/ the blag].</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=430:_Every_Damn_Morning&diff=140523430: Every Damn Morning2017-05-30T14:01:44Z<p>St.nerol: Moving pure description to transcript</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 430<br />
| date = May 30, 2008<br />
| title = Every Damn Morning<br />
| image = every damn morning.png<br />
| titletext = There was something about a cup and a sword and a tree and a green hill...<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Randall]] successfully captures the way that dreams slip away and dissolve. Often it's hard to try to tell them to someone, and they make no sense, though they seemed so perfectly clear the moment you woke up.<br />
<br />
<br />
The title text is a reference to {{w|C. S. Lewis|C.S. Lewis'}} novel ''{{w|The Voyage of the Dawn Treader}}'', in which Lucy Pevensie reads a story in a book but afterwards can only remember that it had something to do with "a cup, a sword, a tree, and a green hill." (Presumably this was a retelling either of ''The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe'' or else of the Crucifixion narrative.) Just as Lucy could only remember vague details about the story afterward, so [[Cueball]] cannot remember more than vague details about his dream when trying to tell it to [[Megan]].<br />
<br />
An effort to remember dreams was made in [[269: TCMP]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
<br />
In the far right there is a third blimp flying over a mountain range. All in all, this seems very much like an apocalypse and not something one would forget easily. <br />
<br />
:[In background, a vivid dream scene is apparent, including mountains, a city with a mushroom cloud, a zeppelin where one person has knocked another off, another person climbing on or off the blimp on a rope, another blimp anchoring to a city in the background, one Cueball and Megan holding hands, one Cueball looking at the person on the rope, one Cueball and Megan sword fighting over a cup of spilled liquid, another set looking at a laptop, another set hugging, another set sliding down a separate rope from the blimp and a last set falling. In the inset, Cueball awakens, very surprised.]<br />
:Cueball: !!!<br />
<br />
:[Dream's edges are fading, mountains, city and zeppelin less clear. In the inset, Cueball is seen running down stairs.]<br />
<br />
:[Zeppelin, city, and mountains are very hazy and unclear. The people can still be seen. In the inset, Cueball gets attention of Megan, sitting at breakfast table.]<br />
<br />
:[Dream has completely faded, only the outlines of three people can still be seen. In the inset, Cueball looks confused.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Dreams]]<br />
[[Category:Airships]]<br />
[[Category:Psychology]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:St.nerol&diff=140522User:St.nerol2017-05-30T13:50:51Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>Hi there! I'm glad you are curious about me.<br />
I'm a student of physics, math, logic, philosophy & religion. I especially like stuff that tends to fall in the intersection of some of these subjects, like xkcd, quantum stuff, and {{w|set theory}}. <br />
<br />
Speaking of which, I've been working a bit here on categorizing the comics suitably! Other than that I more often polish the existing explanations rather than create new ones. Partly because I find it hard to resist when reading, and see possibilities for improvements.<br />
<br />
I'm also active on the English and Swedish Wikipedias, and on the Swedish [http://www.wiktionary.org Wiktionary]. You'd bet: I'm from {{w|Sweden}}. (We don't have polar bears, and it's kinda warm because of the {{w|Gulf Stream}}.) Since I'm not native in English, please correct any lingual mistakes or [http://www.oddee.com/item_89219.aspx oddities], even on this page!<br />
<br />
Feel free to say something on my talk page. Just say hi, disagree with me, teach me something, or ask me anything.<br />
<br />
I follow {{w|Jesus}}, and I won't bite you if you challenge me on why.<br />
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<br />
Some explanations I created or worked much on (latest first):<br />
*[[1102: Fastest-Growing]]<br />
*[[870: Advertising]]<br />
*[[385: How it Works]]<br />
*[[906: Advertising Discovery]]<br />
*[[1069: Alphabet]]<br />
*[[265: Choices: Part 2]]<br />
*[[264: Choices: Part 1]]<br />
*[[253: Highway Engineer Pranks]]<br />
*[[827: My Business Idea]]<br />
*[[430: Every Damn Morning]]<br />
*[[324: Tapping]]<br />
*[[76: Familiar]]<br />
*[[403: Convincing Pickup Line]]<br />
*[[704: Principle of Explosion]]<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Some categories I created:<br />
*[[:Category:Physics|Physics]]<br />
*[[:Category:Biology|Biology]]<br />
*[[:Category:Philosophy|Philosophy]]<br />
*[[:Category:Logic|Logic]]<br />
*[[:Category:Psychology|Psychology]]<br />
*[[:Category:Music|Music]]<br />
*[[:Category:Computers|Computers]]<br />
*[[:Category:Internet|Internet]]<br />
<br />
<br />
I'mma work a bit on:<br />
*[[5: Blown apart]]<br />
*[[34: Flowers]]<br />
*[[59: Graduation]] – relates to Randall's then situation<br />
*[[987: Potential]] – add a quote from Randall.<br />
*[[861: Wisdom Teeth]]<br />
<br />
*Further standardizing the trivia sections in the "LiveJournal-chain" Blaisepascal created, with [[24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey#Trivia]] as the role model.<br />
<br />
Other (meta-)pages that should be created:<br />
* [http://xkcd.com/blue_eyes.html Blue eyes: the hardest logic puzzle in the world]<br />
* And maybe something about [http://blag.xkcd.com/ the blag].</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1102:_Fastest-Growing&diff=1405211102: Fastest-Growing2017-05-30T13:50:00Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1102<br />
| date = August 31, 2012<br />
| title = Fastest-Growing<br />
| image = fastest_growing.png<br />
| titletext = I lead a small but extraordinarily persuasive religion whose only members are door-to-door proselytizers from other faiths.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Using percentage of growth can be misleading for gauging the importance or popularity of something. If you add only 4 members to an existing group of 2, you would have achieved a growth of 200 percent.<br />
<br />
The well-combed proselytizer (perhaps reminiscent of a {{w|Mormon missionary}}?) advertises his religion by its fast growth. [[Black Hat]] in response grows his own group by a hundred percent, by adding his friend [[Rob]]. The well-combed missionary's religion apparenty also does have a significant amount of members (although not in {{w|Mormonism|Mormon numbers}}), which perhaps should be more relevant to the discussion. But it's not that Black Hat cares...<br />
<br />
The title text ponders the ironic idea of converting ''only'' the zealous door-to-door {{w|Proselytism|proselytizers}} to a very persuasive religion of one's own.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A man with a combover, a book, and a clipboard approaches Black Hat.]<br />
:Combover: You should check us out. We're the fastest-growing religion in the country.<br />
:Black Hat: "Fastest-growing" is such a dubious claim.<br />
:Combover: It's true! We grew by 85% over the past year.<br />
<br />
:[Black Hat shouts to someone out of frame.]<br />
:Black Hat: Hey, Rob — wanna join my religion?<br />
:Rob: Sure, whatever.<br />
<br />
:[Black Hat turns back to Combover and produces a notepad and pen.]<br />
:Black Hat: Well, looks like my religion grew by 100% this year.<br />
<br />
:[Black Hat begins to walk away.]<br />
:Combover: We have 38,000 members!<br />
:Black Hat: Hope they're all ok with second place.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Rob]]<br />
[[Category:Religion]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1102:_Fastest-Growing&diff=1405201102: Fastest-Growing2017-05-30T13:45:01Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1102<br />
| date = August 31, 2012<br />
| title = Fastest-Growing<br />
| image = fastest_growing.png<br />
| titletext = I lead a small but extraordinarily persuasive religion whose only members are door-to-door proselytizers from other faiths.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Using percentage of growth can be a misleading value to use for gauging the importance or popularity of something. If you have 5 members and then add 5 more, that would mean you have achieved a growth of 100%.<br />
<br />
The well-combed proselytizer (perhaps reminiscent of a {{w|Mormon missionary}}?) advertises his religion by its fast growth. [[Black Hat]] in response grows his own group by a hundred percent, by adding his friend [[Rob]]. The well-combed missionary's religion apparenty also does have a significant amount of members (although not in {{w|Mormonism|Mormon numbers}}), which perhaps should be more relevant to the discussion. But it's not that Black Hat cares...<br />
<br />
The title text ponders the ironic idea of converting ''only'' the zealous door-to-door {{w|Proselytism|proselytizers}} to a very persuasive religion of one's own.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A man with a combover, a book, and a clipboard approaches Black Hat.]<br />
:Combover: You should check us out. We're the fastest-growing religion in the country.<br />
:Black Hat: "Fastest-growing" is such a dubious claim.<br />
:Combover: It's true! We grew by 85% over the past year.<br />
<br />
:[Black Hat shouts to someone out of frame.]<br />
:Black Hat: Hey, Rob — wanna join my religion?<br />
:Rob: Sure, whatever.<br />
<br />
:[Black Hat turns back to Combover and produces a notepad and pen.]<br />
:Black Hat: Well, looks like my religion grew by 100% this year.<br />
<br />
:[Black Hat begins to walk away.]<br />
:Combover: We have 38,000 members!<br />
:Black Hat: Hope they're all ok with second place.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Rob]]<br />
[[Category:Religion]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:St.nerol&diff=124223User talk:St.nerol2016-07-27T09:23:49Z<p>St.nerol: /* Thanks! */</p>
<hr />
<div>==We're trying to cut down on new categories==<br />
Hello, welcome to the wiki. Thanks for spam fighting. We're using Categories as a broad way of finding related comics. By creating lots of specific categories it limits the number of related comics to just a few. We've decided to not use Categories as a kind of ad-hoc tag cloud, but to help people find possibly related comics. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:18, 24 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
:Hi! Well, I have actually read your long post about the categories in the portal, and I can't say anything more than that I really agree with you! I think that several of the existing categories feels too specific. (For example, I suspect that we never will find more than two comics related to the "Axiom of Chioce", but on the other hand, Logic and Set theory are two areas related to math that I know Randall is often coming back to.) Flowcharts was probably the most specific I created, and even though I only tagged two (?) I think that there exists at least a handful of them. (One named "Flow Chart" was not yet explained.) I worried instead that maybe some of the categories I created were almost too broad, like "Computers". – [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 09:44, 24 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Eh, more tags also make it harder to completely tag pages, because there's more to remember. Brains can only process so much when creating new pages. [[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 09:59, 24 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::And some comics will also be borderline cases whether they fit in a certain category or not. So I think we shouldn't have too high expectations on being completely "done". But the way I think, someday I might go through all comics and try to complete for example the Sarcasm and the Language tags. Or the Physics and the Math tags. Or the ones with color. So we're in a progress. --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:48, 24 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
:::"Puts on sunglasses", "Windmills", "Wingsuit", "Airships", and "Axiom of Choice" are, I think, superfluous categories. Though there might be more comics on these subjects than I know about, and if somebody finds them useful I don't really mind them being there. :) --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 11:10, 24 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
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Uh. Please, I can barely remember all the categories we have right now. Try to hold back and finish what we already have. [[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:27, 4 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Seconded. Again. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 23:33, 4 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
::I'm disappointed. Do you really think that "Physics", "Music" and "Philosophy" are bad categories, or are you just worried that ''you'' won't remember them? Well, maybe I should just leave this and focus more on my studies instead. -[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:49, 5 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::There's a [[:Category:Comics by topic|lot of categories]] right now, and I think the wiki would be better served if we finished applying all the categories that we already have. When we're finished polishing what we have off, we can start making new categories. [[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 10:47, 5 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::I could be wrong, but I'm under the impression the messages above were triggered by the Julia Stiles category, which, indeed, is too specialized at the moment. On the other hand, there is no need for a single editor to be able to know all categoies by heart. The wiki way is "progressive enhancement" and comics will ''eventually'' be tagged by editors if they notice a missing category. Besides, there's a [[Special:Categories|list of categories]] precisely for that, as well as [[Special:SpecialPages|several other]] category-related special pages. But regardless of the outcome of such opinion differences, let's not let such disagreements discourage either side. We are very few and every helping hand is precious. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 14:35, 5 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
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::::I've never heard about Julia Stiles. I think it was triggered by the Philosophy category. I ''have'' been working a lot on applying the categories we have. It's when I do this that I sometimes see a category wanting. I think it saves some effort if I can create the category while I'm at it, instead of having to wait and later go through the comics again. --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 23:32, 6 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
==[[Proof]]==<br />
Nerol, you are espousing a minority view. http://www.google.com/search?q=zeno+arrow+instantaneous+derivative - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 21:09, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:The derivative can be written as dx/dt. This presupposes an (arbitrarily) small time interval. The definition of the derivative involves taking a limit. And we can talk about the limit value. We get the velocity. Honestly I think the greeks knew about "velocity" too. But in the paradox: could dt in dx/dt actually be zero? -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 11:50, 5 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Yes. That's the whole point of limits and derivatives. If values arbitrarily close to a point are convergent, then the derivative exactly at the point is equal to the limit. That's why dx/dt is called instantaneous velocity.<br />
::The articles in that search also cover infinite steps in finite time. Majority views of science consider Zeno's paradoxes resolved, and the explanation should reflect that. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 12:41, 5 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::An example: you don't need modern mathematics to calculate ''exactly'' when Achilles overtakes the tortoise. And you don't need a rigorous formulation of limits to make sense of the concept of velocity. Math here is an excelent ''tool'', but it ''describes'' motion, it doesn't ''explain'' it. (Heck, if anyone could even explain to me how it can be that a formal intellectual game so wonderfully relates to the physical world.) Also, it seems to be an open problem whether space-time is fundamentally continuous or discrete. If it is discrete, a calculus description becomes purely nonsensical at small enough time intervals. -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:29, 5 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::If we were relying on physical reality for this argument, then Zeno's paradoxes are trivially disproven by counterexample. Motion exists, things get hit by arrows, and the article should baldly mock him for claiming otherwise.<br />
::::Therefore, I assumed we were sticking to the realm of theory, where time and space are uniform, flat, and infinitely divisible. In that realm, infinitesimal calculus is generally considered superior to Zeno, and the article should reflect that. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 15:04, 6 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::p.s. Limit discussion to Zeno vs Leibniz (vs Law), because that's what's in the comic.<br />
:::::Yes, that was a sidtrack. (though quantum theory is very theory-heavy) My strong understanding is that calculus splendidly ''describes'' physical reality, but not so well ''explains'' metaphysical concerns. I'm a student in both these diciplines, though by far yet an expert, and very interested in the intersection between physics and philosophy. And I agree that the analogy with the infinite sum adds interesting input. On the other hand, "derivative" would in the context be rather excangeable for "velocity", which I'm sure the greeks had a word for. I don't feel that it adds any perspective. Others do, so I hesitated in removing that sentence, but I also felt it was a bit confusing. Please add a reasonable sentence about the derivative if you want to.<br />
:::::Lastly, one can easily find that professional and other opinions about the paradoxes show a vast variation. (Btw, Wikipedia just taught me an tough variation on the paradoxes: {{w|Thomson's lamp}}. There are several proposed solutions to them, but the question is by far settled, and there is no academical consensus. The explanation surely does reflect that? -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 19:53, 6 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
{{outdent}}<br />
:(resetting indentation because too many colons)<br />
:Thought experiments in "idealized classical reality" are fun. It's a Cartesian Newtonian universe containing infinite flat planes (optionally frictionless) and perfectly spherical cows.<br />
:Thompson is a bit less "real" than Zeno because it requires infinite acceleration & velocity. But it reminds me of a similar paradox involving an infinitely large ball pit (or jar, or bag, or other container). At every step, you add X balls (arbitrary integer > 1) then remove one of them. At midnight, obviously there should be infinite balls in the pit. However, if the balls are numbered, and you add them in numerical order, then remove them in the same order, it is clear that for every number, you can compute the exact time before midnight that it is removed. In this case, the ball pit is empty at midnight. {{w|Georg Cantor}} for the win!<br />
:I will attempt to compose a more balanced approach to Leibniz vs Zeno. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 18:33, 7 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::I read your changes & they were good, really. I added a parenthesis about continuous vs discrete spacetime, but I don't think that you will find it objectionable. Please check it so that I can know you are happy with the reading! --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 23:32, 14 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
==Preview feature==<br />
Hi, please do always a preview before you save a page. The recent changes page would be much smaller and more easy to explore.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:18, 11 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
:I have a feeling it might take some time to make that routine, but I'll try. ––[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:19, 11 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Blue Eyes ==<br />
<br />
I added the page [[Blue Eyes]] – {{unsigned|108.162.221.53}}<br />
<br />
:Nice! – [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:23, 29 May 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Thanks! ==<br />
<br />
This edit[http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1184:_Circumference_Formula&diff=prev&oldid=30254] made me quite happy. I actually went to look through the edit history to find who added it.<br />
Thanks for brightening my day. God bless! [[User:Suspender guy|Suspender guy]] ([[User talk:Suspender guy|talk]]) 03:41, 12 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
:You're welcome, and thanks for reminding me about that. God bless you too! [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 09:23, 27 July 2016 (UTC)</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=434:_xkcd_Goes_to_the_Airport&diff=124222434: xkcd Goes to the Airport2016-07-27T09:14:41Z<p>St.nerol: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 434<br />
| date = June 9, 2008<br />
| title = xkcd Goes to the Airport<br />
| image = xkcd_goes_to_the_airport.png<br />
| titletext = Under three ounces, but it stains panties.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The various characters of xkcd cause problems at the airport due to their various quirks.<br />
<br />
Panel 1: [[Beret Guy]] and [[Megan]] are lost, following each other in a loop. Beret Guy displays his obsession with baked goods as he also does in later comics: [[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]] and [[452: Mission]].<br />
<br />
Panel 2: [[Cueball]] tries to carry a {{w|Lock picking|lockpick set}} (a tool able to unlock doors without the original key) through security because of "this hacker girl" (spoofing the incidents where someone has been manipulated into carrying drugs or other contraband by a romantic interest they met on the Internet). The hacker girl could be [[Elaine]] from the [[1337|1337-series]].<br />
<br />
Panel 3: On the plane, Cueball has been instructed to disable the wireless transmission functionality of his device. Many airlines require passengers to disable {{w|Mobile phones on aircraft|mobile phones on aircraft}} as well as other radio transmitting devices because they may interfere with the radio-based navigation and communication equipment of the aircraft. However, his laptop is running Linux and he doesn't know how to change the wireless settings; he's reading the {{w|Man page|manual}} for the program that controls the wireless radio. However, this is probably not the ideal situation, as the airplane is pressed to take off. Man page was also referenced in [[293: RTFM]]. Much later a plane was again linked to a man page in [[912: Manual Override]].<br />
<br />
Panel 4: [[Black Hat]] tries to carry a container of liquid through security. According to US law{{Citation needed}}, the maximum amount of liquid in a container is three ounces, a security measure taken to prevent terrorists from taking explosives onto planes. When the guard has doubts about the amount of liquid in the vial, Black Hat reveals that the liquid is actually blood from a churchmouse. The guard is visibly uncomfortable and clearly does not want to deal with the issue any further.<br />
<br />
The title text continues off the final panel, saying that there are less than three ounces of blood in a churchmouse, but it "stains panties", an undesirable scenario. However, this undesirable scenario is paralleled by the implied undesirable scenario of a terrorist attack due to explosive liquids, the possibility of which caused the law. The title text seems to parody the prospect of an explosion with the relatively insignificant staining of panties, a term for women's underwear. This may also be a menstruation joke.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Standing outside the Airport. There is a sign saying "Airport" and a plane in the background.]<br />
:Megan: Okay, what airline?<br />
:Beret Guy: I'm following you.<br />
:Megan: ...I'm following <u>you</u>.<br />
:Beret Guy: I assumed we were walking to the bakery.<br />
:Megan: You always assume that!<br />
<br />
:[Presumably the security checkpoint.]<br />
:Security Guy: Lockpicks? These are... illegal, actually. Where did you get them?<br />
:Cueball: Oh man, it all started with this hacker girl.<br />
:Security Guy: You need to come with-<br />
:Cueball: Sure, sure. But man, let me tell you about her!<br />
<br />
:[On a plane.]<br />
:Announcement: If your device has a "Transmit" function, please disable it.<br />
:Cueball: Okay - hang on, I'm half way through the iwconfig man page.<br />
<br />
:[Security checkpoint.]<br />
:Security guy: Sir, is this container under three ounces?<br />
:Black Hat: Not sure, how much blood is there in a churchmouse?<br />
:Security guy: . . .Why don't you just go.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Linux]]<br />
[[Category:Food]]<br />
[[Category:Man pages]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=971:_Alternative_Literature&diff=92410971: Alternative Literature2015-05-04T17:52:09Z<p>St.nerol: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 971<br />
| date = October 31, 2011<br />
| title = Alternative Literature<br />
| image = alternative_literature.png<br />
| titletext = I just noticed CVS has started stocking homeopathic pills on the same shelves with--and labeled similarly to--their actual medicine. Telling someone who trusts you that you're giving them medicine, when you know you're not, because you want their money, isn't just lying--it's like an example you'd make up if you had to illustrate for a child why lying is wrong.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
While the comic is funny on its own in a "[[:Category:Sheeple|Wake Up, Sheeple]]" kind of way, the title text reveals that the comic is a parable about {{w|homeopathy}}. The comic title is a play on {{w|alternative medicine}}.<br />
<br />
In the comic, it is implied that [[Cueball]] has been scammed into buying blank books, though he attempts to defend it as a valid choice. The title text likens this to the {{w|CVS Pharmacy}} selling homeopathic pills using methods that does not clearly distinguish them from traditional pharmaceuticals. Homeopathy is a pseudoscience based on the idea that a substance that causes the symptoms of a disease in healthy people will cure that disease in sick people, if administered in sufficiently small doses. <br />
<br />
Homeopathic remedies are prepared by repeatedly diluting a substance with alcohol or water. Somewhat counter-intuitively, homeopathy considers the weakest dilutions to have the most powerful healing effect. Frequently, in fact, the dilutions are repeated past the point where any meaningful number of molecules of the "active ingredient" can remain.<br />
<br />
Selling a homeopathic remedy as actual medicine when it is just water is analogous to selling blank books. The smudge of ink Cueball mentions in the comic may be referencing the fact that some of the less diluted homeopathic remedies can contain a tiny amount of the original substance.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and a friend stand in front of Cueball's bookcase. His friend flips through a number of them.]<br />
:Friend: All your books are full of blank pages.<br />
:Cueball: Not true. That one has some ink on page 78.<br />
:Friend: A smudge.<br />
:Cueball: So?<br />
<br />
:Friend: There are no words. You're not reading. There's no ''story'' there.<br />
:Cueball: Maybe not for you. When I look at those books, I think about all ''kinds'' of stories.<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Reading is about more than what's on the page. Holding a book prompts my mind to enrich itself. Frankly, I suspect the book isn't even necessary.<br />
<br />
:Cueball: The whole industry is evil. Greedy publishers and rich authors try to convince us our brains ''need'' their words. But I refuse to be a sucker.<br />
:Friend: Who sold you all these blank books?<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Sheeple]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=971:_Alternative_Literature&diff=92409971: Alternative Literature2015-05-04T17:51:36Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 971<br />
| date = October 31, 2011<br />
| title = Alternative Literature<br />
| image = alternative_literature.png<br />
| titletext = I just noticed CVS has started stocking homeopathic pills on the same shelves with--and labeled similarly to--their actual medicine. Telling someone who trusts you that you're giving them medicine, when you know you're not, because you want their money, isn't just lying--it's like an example you'd make up if you had to illustrate for a child why lying is wrong.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
While the comic is funny on its own in a "[[:Category:Sheeple|Wake Up, Sheeple]]" kind of way, the title text reveals that the comic is a parable about {{w|homeopathy}}. The comic title is a play on {{w|Alternative medicine}}.<br />
<br />
In the comic, it is implied that [[Cueball]] has been scammed into buying blank books, though he attempts to defend it as a valid choice. The title text likens this to the {{w|CVS Pharmacy}} selling homeopathic pills using methods that does not clearly distinguish them from traditional pharmaceuticals. Homeopathy is a pseudoscience based on the idea that a substance that causes the symptoms of a disease in healthy people will cure that disease in sick people, if administered in sufficiently small doses. <br />
<br />
Homeopathic remedies are prepared by repeatedly diluting a substance with alcohol or water. Somewhat counter-intuitively, homeopathy considers the weakest dilutions to have the most powerful healing effect. Frequently, in fact, the dilutions are repeated past the point where any meaningful number of molecules of the "active ingredient" can remain.<br />
<br />
Selling a homeopathic remedy as actual medicine when it is just water is analogous to selling blank books. The smudge of ink Cueball mentions in the comic may be referencing the fact that some of the less diluted homeopathic remedies can contain a tiny amount of the original substance.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and a friend stand in front of Cueball's bookcase. His friend flips through a number of them.]<br />
:Friend: All your books are full of blank pages.<br />
:Cueball: Not true. That one has some ink on page 78.<br />
:Friend: A smudge.<br />
:Cueball: So?<br />
<br />
:Friend: There are no words. You're not reading. There's no ''story'' there.<br />
:Cueball: Maybe not for you. When I look at those books, I think about all ''kinds'' of stories.<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Reading is about more than what's on the page. Holding a book prompts my mind to enrich itself. Frankly, I suspect the book isn't even necessary.<br />
<br />
:Cueball: The whole industry is evil. Greedy publishers and rich authors try to convince us our brains ''need'' their words. But I refuse to be a sucker.<br />
:Friend: Who sold you all these blank books?<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Sheeple]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=972:_November&diff=92406972: November2015-05-04T17:46:10Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 972<br />
| date = November 2, 2011<br />
| title = November<br />
| image = november.png<br />
| titletext = November marks the birthday of Charles Schulz, pioneer of tongue awareness.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic is a homage to {{w|Charles Schulz}}, the creator of the comic {{w|Peanuts}}, who was born on November 26, 1922. [[:File:tongue awareness.jpg|Here's the comic in question]] by Schulz. Both comics carry the idea that when you start thinking about your tongue, you can hardly stop thinking about it. (Similarly: if you start thinking about your breathing, you stop breathing unless you consciously think to breathe.)<br />
<br />
[http://fuckyeahexistentialism.tumblr.com/post/852726235/im-aware-of-my-tongue-its-an-awful-feeling A random person on tumblr] speculates that Schulz's comic has a deeper meaning about becoming conscious about one's existence in the world.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Black Hat and Cueball sit in a room.]<br />
:Black Hat: Did you know November is Tongue Awareness Month?<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is suddenly aware of his tongue.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball continues to be aware of his tongue.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is *still* aware of his tongue.]<br />
:Cueball: I hate you.<br />
:Black Hat: Enjoy the next four weeks.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] <br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1520:_Degree-Off&diff=923961520: Degree-Off2015-05-04T17:27:09Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1520<br />
| date = May 4, 2015<br />
| title = Degree-Off<br />
| image = degree off.png<br />
| titletext = I'M SORRY, FROM YOUR YEARS OF CONDESCENDING TOWARD THE 'SQUISHY SCIENCES', I ASSUMED YOU'D BE A LITTLE HARDER.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{Incomplete|Needs to be reorganized, flows very badly}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Cueball]], [[Hair Bun Girl]], and [[Megan]] appear to be on a talk show called Degree-Off, hosted by [[Hairy]], where representatives of different fields, in this case, physics, biology, and chemistry, explain why their fields are best and why to get a degree in the field. The title "Degree-Off" is a portmanteau of "{{w|Academic degree|degree}}", as in the recognized completion of studies at a school or university, and "{{w|face-off}}", a direct confrontation between two people or groups.<br />
<br />
The host asks Cueball to go first. He lightheartedly tells a story about {{w|Richard Feynman}}. During the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, Richard Feymann got bored because of the isolation and started learning lock picking on the secret documents safes. Using these new skills, he played lots of pranks on his colleagues, like leaving notes and spooking them into believing there was a spy among them (which, of course, {{w|Klaus_Fuchs|there was}}). He finishes his case with a quote from {{w|Ernest Rutherford}}, implying that his speech was quite long and winding. The quote communicates the idea that physics is the only fundamental framework, so that the job of chemists, biologists and other scientist simply is to catalog and systematize observations ("collect stamps") on phenomena too complicated to presently be fully described in terms of physics.<br />
<br />
Hair Bun Girl, the representative for biology goes next, showing that through their efforts, biology has helped reduce disease ("slaying" {{w|Four_Horsemen_of_the_Apocalypse#As_infectious_disease|Pestilence}}). She accuses physics of creating a new weapon of destruction from gathering in the desert (likely referring to the {{w| Manhattan Project}}, conducted in the {{w|New Mexico desert}}).<br />
<br />
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><br />
This graph shows the death rate from infectious disease in USA, similar to that shown in the comic presented by Hair Bun Girl, as both have the range of 1900-2000.<br />
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">[[File:Crude_Infectious_Disease_Mortality_Rate_in_the_United_States_from_1900_Through_1996.gif]]</div><br />
</div><br />
<br />
In the title text the biologist mocks the physicist for not being "harder", referring to the concepts of {{w|hard and soft science}}s and how physicists sometimes label all other sciences as "soft" and demean them. In [[435: Purity]], the only subject presented as "harder" or "purer" than physics is mathematics.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Hairy is acting as the host of a TV talk show, ''Degree-Off''. Cueball, Hair Bun Girl, and Megan are acting as representatives of Phys (Physics), Bio (Biology), and Chem (Chemistry) respectively. They each stand behind their own {{w|Lectern}} with the respective subject label.]<br />
<br />
:Hairy: Welcome to the ''Degree-Off'', where we determine which field is the best! Physics, wanna go first?<br />
:Cueball: Sure! I'd like to tell the story of Richard Feynman's Manhattan project lockpicking pranks...<br />
<br />
:Cueball: ...and as he said, "all science is either physics or stamp collecting."<br />
:Cueball: Thank you.<br />
:Hairy: ''Great!'' Bio, you wanna go next?<br />
:Hair Bun Girl: Okay.<br />
<br />
:[A graph labeled "Per 100,000 is shown above Hair Bun Girl]<br />
:Hair Bun Girl: This is a graph of the death rate from infectious disease in this country.<br />
<br />
:[Hair Bun Girl raising her left hand]<br />
:Hair Bun Girl: The heroes of my field have ''slain'' one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.<br />
<br />
:[Hair Bun Girl pointing at Cueball]<br />
:Hair Bun Girl: While the heroes of ''your'' field gathered in the desert to create a new one.<br />
<br />
:Cueball: ...Jeez, what the hell? I thought this was supposed to be fun and lighthearted!<br />
:Hair Bun Girl: ''You must have been thinking of stamp collecting.''<br />
<br />
==See also==<br />
*Different scientific fields, including physics, biology, and chemistry are compared in terms of purity in [[435: Purity]].<br />
*Most fields are criticized in [[1052: Every Major's Terrible]].<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<!-- Include any categories below this line. --><br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hair Bun Girl]]<br />
[[Category:Science]]<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]<br />
[[Category:Biology]]<br />
[[Category:Portmanteau]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1520:_Degree-Off&diff=923931520: Degree-Off2015-05-04T17:13:37Z<p>St.nerol: simplifying somewhat</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1520<br />
| date = May 4, 2015<br />
| title = Degree-Off<br />
| image = degree off.png<br />
| titletext = I'M SORRY, FROM YOUR YEARS OF CONDESCENDING TOWARD THE 'SQUISHY SCIENCES', I ASSUMED YOU'D BE A LITTLE HARDER.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{Incomplete|Needs to be reorganized, flows very badly}}<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Cueball]], [[Hair Bun Girl]], and [[Megan]] appear to be on a talk show called Degree-Off, hosted by [[Hairy]], where representatives of different fields, in this case, physics, biology, and chemistry, explain why their fields are best and why to get a degree in the field. The title "Degree-Off" is a portmanteau of "{{w|Academic degree|degree}}", as in the recognized completion of studies at a school or university, and "{{w|face-off}}", a direct confrontation between two people or groups.<br />
<br />
The host asks Cueball to go first. He lightheartedly tells a story about {{w|Richard Feynman}}, finishing with a quote. The quote "all science is either physics or stamp collecting." was said by {{w|Ernest Rutherford}}, not Richard Feynman, implying either [[Cueball]] misattributes the quote, or that his story is quite long. During the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, Richard Feymann got bored because of the isolation and started learning lock picking on the secret documents safes. Using these new skills, he played lots of pranks on his colleagues, like leaving notes and spooking them into believing there was a spy among them (which, of course, {{w|Klaus_Fuchs|there was}}). The reference to stamp collecting is the abstract idea that all other sciences are aggregates of physics and what they study are simply interesting instances of complex behavior derived from basic physics.<br />
<br />
Hair Bun Girl, the representative for biology goes next, showing that through their efforts, biology has helped reduce disease ("slaying" {{w|Four_Horsemen_of_the_Apocalypse#As_infectious_disease|Pestilence}}). She accuses physics of creating a new weapon of destruction from gathering in the desert (likely referring to the {{w| Manhattan Project}}, conducted in the {{w|New Mexico desert}}).<br />
<br />
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><br />
This graph shows the death rate from infectious disease in USA, similar to that shown in the comic presented by Hair Bun Girl, as both have the range of 1900-2000.<br />
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">[[File:Crude_Infectious_Disease_Mortality_Rate_in_the_United_States_from_1900_Through_1996.gif]]</div><br />
</div><br />
<br />
In the title text the biologist mocks the physicist for not being "harder", referring to the concepts of {{w|hard and soft science}}s and how physicists sometimes label all other sciences as "soft" and demean them. In [[435: Purity]], the only subject presented as "harder" or "purer" than physics is mathematics.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Hairy is acting as the host of a TV talk show, ''Degree-Off''. Cueball, Hair Bun Girl, and Megan are acting as representatives of Phys (Physics), Bio (Biology), and Chem (Chemistry) respectively. They each stand behind their own {{w|Lectern}} with the respective subject label.]<br />
<br />
:Hairy: Welcome to the ''Degree-Off'', where we determine which field is the best! Physics, wanna go first?<br />
:Cueball: Sure! I'd like to tell the story of Richard Feynman's Manhattan project lockpicking pranks...<br />
<br />
:Cueball: ...and as he said, "all science is either physics or stamp collecting."<br />
:Cueball: Thank you.<br />
:Hairy: ''Great!'' Bio, you wanna go next?<br />
:Hair Bun Girl: Okay.<br />
<br />
:[A graph labeled "Per 100,000 is shown above Hair Bun Girl]<br />
:Hair Bun Girl: This is a graph of the death rate from infectious disease in this country.<br />
<br />
:[Hair Bun Girl raising her left hand]<br />
:Hair Bun Girl: The heroes of my field have ''slain'' one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.<br />
<br />
:[Hair Bun Girl pointing at Cueball]<br />
:Hair Bun Girl: While the heroes of ''your'' field gathered in the desert to create a new one.<br />
<br />
:Cueball: ...Jeez, what the hell? I thought this was supposed to be fun and lighthearted!<br />
:Hair Bun Girl: ''You must have been thinking of stamp collecting.''<br />
<br />
==See also==<br />
*Different scientific fields, including physics, biology, and chemistry are compared in terms of purity in [[435: Purity]].<br />
*Most fields are criticized in [[1052: Every Major's Terrible]].<br />
*Discworld is also in [[625: Collections]] and [[1498: Terry Pratchett]].<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<!-- Include any categories below this line. --><br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hair Bun Girl]]<br />
[[Category:Science]]<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]<br />
[[Category:Biology]]<br />
[[Category:Chemistry]]<br />
[[Category:Portmanteau]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1317:_Theft&diff=866491317: Theft2015-03-19T12:42:53Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1317<br />
| date = January 15, 2014<br />
| title = Theft<br />
| image = theft.png<br />
| titletext = Is he ALSO wondering at what point our thoughts diverged, if they even have yet? 'dude, I think he just took your credit card' AM I THE ORIGINAL? HOW DO I TELL?<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The term "identity theft" refers to a thief acquiring various types of a victim's identification (for example, bank account number and/or Social Security number), thus allowing the thief to pretend to be the victim and commonly steal money from the victim's bank account, etc.<br />
<br />
This comic exaggerates the term, interpreting it as the thief literally acquiring the victim's whole personality. Like [[Cueball]] & [[Megan]] in general, the victim is implied to have some [[Randall]]ian personality traits, like the [[786: Exoplanets|love of space]] and existential angst. Thus, the thief is now completely overwhelmed by having an entirely new personality, not to mention one whose parts clash with each other.<br />
<br />
The title text ponders the specifics of the identity acquisition process. Presumably, even two people whose personalities are identical would still start to think different thoughts. (This is a prerequisite for the depiction in the comic; the thief is baffled by his newly acquired interests, while the victim would not be baffled by the thoughts and interests they've developed over their entire life.) It is also wondered whether the victims new {{w|doppelganger}} is wondering the same thing, which could imply that their thoughts have not fully diverged. A friend comments that the victim may be overthinking the situation, and that the thief only took his credit card information. (A common method of identity theft. Does not transfer personality traits.) However, the victim is overwhelmed by existential anxiety.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Randall sits in front of a laptop, looking at his hands]<br />
:Randall: I feel paralyzed by overwhelming existential dread.<br />
:Randall: ...and yet for some reason I'm ''really'' excited about space?<br />
:The thief who stole my identity has a lot to deal with.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Philosophy]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals&diff=86648explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals2015-03-19T12:22:21Z<p>St.nerol: /* Merge Cueball & Rob */</p>
<hr />
<div><noinclude>{{Community portal}}</noinclude><br />
<br />
== Add unexplained strips ==<br />
<br />
At the moment, browsing through the explanations using the previous and next buttons is interrupted whenever there's an explanation missing.<br />
<br />
I think adding a page with the strip fr all of those with a short message like "no one has explained this yet, want to give it a shot?" would make the wiki easier to browse through and will get more strips explained faster.<br />
<br />
:I don't think that would happen. If suddenly it was much easier for people to skip over pages that had no explanation, I think they would do exactly that, skip right over it. On the same side of that coin, If suddenly there are no longer any red links on the [[List of all comics]] then everyone perusing that page assumes that all the comics have been explained and don't need to contribute any more. It's astonishing how quickly an [[589: Designated Drivers|embedded]] red link gets an explanation page created simply to get rid of the red link.<br />
<br />
:Secondarily, ''many'' of the pages created recently aren't being created with their numerical and titular redirects. Without the numerical redirect, the comic template can't find that there is a previous/next comic to link to. Every once in a while somebody will go through and try to notice all the pages that don't have their redirects created but it's an unscientific process that only happens occasionally. If we could get every joe blow that comes in and vomits up a poorly done explanation to create the redirects I wouldn't be quite as annoyed at their lack of show-don't-tell-manship. But, since they can't be bothered to put the date in the comic template, I doubt we'll ever get people to create the redirects.<br />
<br />
:'''TL;DR:''' No more red links, no more work gets done on the back catalog.<br />
<br />
:--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 14:28, 21 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== xplainkcd.com ==<br />
<br />
When I first saw this site I thought it should definitely be at xplainkcd.com or at least redirect from that url {{unsigned|115.166.22.158|12:45, 3 January 2013 (UTC)}}<br />
<br />
: I like that idea! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 13:28, 3 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Yeah! If it's possible, it would be cool! At least as a redirect. -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:46, 3 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Not technically the same thing, but I just took [http://expxkcd.com http://expxkcd.com]. More explanation is given on the website itself. {{User:Grep/signature|05:10, 29 March 2014}}<br />
::We do that with explainxkcd.com as well, but yay shorter URLs! Mind if I use that for our social media links? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:45, 29 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::I had no idea that you did that, but sure, go ahead! If you want, I can change any DNS records if you wish to have it go directly to you guys. {{User:Grep/signature|07:16, 29 March 2014}}<br />
:::In case you were wondering, I just did the following: <code>^/([0-9]+)(/large)?/?$</code> {{User:Grep/signature|07:25, 29 March 2014}}<br />
::::Hrm. We're just matching with <code>^(\d+)/?$</code>. You can keep ownership of the URL if you want, unless you have traffic concerns or whatever and you want us to handle it, which we're very capable of doing. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:47, 29 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I have made http://www.xkcd.ga and http://www.xkcd.tk both forward to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. Is this ok? [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:49, 26 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Section style and usage ==<br />
<br />
I am new here and I'm trying to get up to speed with the culture. I have a few questions about how and where to use sections (== this ==). I am more willing to go with (and enforce) whatever norms there are here, but I have not seen them actually discussed. <br />
<br />
# '''Is it OK to create sections in Discussion pages?''' I have been told no, but there are many examples extant of this usage in this Wiki and indeed in Wikipedia.<br />
# '''Section title case''' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Capital_letters#Acronyms Wikipedia's style guide] recommends sentence case, not title case. There are many title cased section headers here. <br />
# '''Links''' I do not have a reference for this but it seems to me putting links in section code (== [[<span style="color:blue"><nowiki>this</nowiki></span>]] == ) is bad form. <br />
<br />
Last note -- it's understood if these bylaws have not yet been written. I can see that a few of you have made a huge personal investment to make this Wiki what it is today, and that is a credit to you all -- this is awesome! As a long-time aficionado of xkcd I applaud your work and look forward to further collaboration.<br />
--[[User:Smartin|Smartin]] ([[User talk:Smartin|talk]]) 04:15, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:As a general rule, we stick to the standard format that existing pages follow, with an optional trivia section below the transcript. Some zealous editors like to add other sections though, which tend to be for the most part unneeded or redundant. If something you want to add doesn't help to explain the comic in some way, but the inclusion of which would somehow still add to the page, *and* it doesn't fall under the trivia category, a new section is warranted. This isn't the case most of the time though, so editors usually fold the content of extraneous sections into "Explanation" or "Trivia." We have no policy on links in titles, and they're allowed so long as they are appropriate; the link is useful and can't be folded into the section itself. And we use title case for titles cuz it just makes sense. '''[[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:08, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:We generally do not (or at least, discourage) use sections on the talk/discussion pages for explanation pages. This is purely for looks. The comic discussion section of the explanation page looks/feels wrong if there are level 2 section breaks in the transclusion. Also, if the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Table_of_contents Table of Contents] starts showing up on a page, such as on [[Click and Drag]] the sections created on the talk page also show up in the TOC. This gets confusing, and this is why we prefer not to use them on explanation talk pages. Everywhere else we follow standard wiki format and do use sections on the discussion pages.<br />
<br />
:Personally, I think that links in section titles looks wrong, but I choose not to be the dictator of style in this matter. :p<br />
<br />
:Please feel free to make edits. The worst that happens is someone reverts your edit. If it's a big enough issue and/or you don't seem to be learning from what people are fixing about your edits someone will leave a comment on your talk page. That's it. We might leave a nasty-gram in the edit summary, but oh well. We only ban for malicious intent. Honestly working to better the wiki is good, even if sometimes we grumble about it.<br />
<br />
:--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:00, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Oh, I just looked at your talk page. I completely forgot that that happened. Don't worry about it. Learning the ropes is part of the experience. Do make edits, and if they're wrong, we'll nudge you in the right direction. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:18, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I have been moving some trivia sections to directly below the explanation, in order to make it more consistent, and easier to survey and maintain. Often the dividing line between trivia and explanation is not entirely clear, and in articles without a trivia section the end of the explanation very often contains trivia-like information. (e.g. [[1155: Kolmogorov Directions]]) -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:13, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
===Title case doesn't make any sense===<br />
At first sight title case in titles just makes sense. However title case '''never''' makes sense. It's worse than all caps. Besides, only Americans and children like title case. [[Special:Contributions/190.96.48.48|190.96.48.48]] 20:04, 10 August 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Protip ==<br />
<br />
Anyone for adding ''Protip'' as a [[:Category:Comic series|Comic series]]. I have found five so far: [[653]], [[711]], [[1022]], [[1047]] and [[1156]]. (There are also a few comics with a protip title text.) -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:25, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I think that qualifies as a recurring topic (thus worthy of a category), but not as a series, where you can see a clear sequence. In fact, [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]] has the same limitation, for what I suggest it to be removed from [[:Category:Comic series]]. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:42, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Seconded. Looks general and common enough to be a category. '''[[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:57, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::Okay, great! Do you think that the ones with a "protip:" title text should be included? Besides, I think I might be the one responsiple for moving My Hobby from [[:Category:Comics by topic|Comics by topic]] to Comic series. I felt that all the My Hobby comics were about different topics, but maybe i've got to narrow an interpretation of the word "topic". -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:31, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::: Can you link to the protip-in-title-text comics?<br />
:::: As for My Hobby, note that categories aren't mutually exclusive. They can be in the "my hobby" topic, and each of them further categorized as appropriate: music, math, etc. Makes sense? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 03:45, 5 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::: I just searched for protip in the xkcd search bar. Here: [[1084]], [[427]]. And yes, makes sense. I've moved My Hobby back to "by topic". -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:06, 5 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Category: Sports ==<br />
<br />
How about creating a new "Sports" category? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 15:31, 28 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Well, maybe. Everyone aren't so keen on new categories here. Which comics are you thinking of, for a start? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 20:32, 28 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::We definitely need to reach an agreement as a community on when to create new categories. Something simple like a minimum of 3 (or, say, 5) existing comics. Since we're already at the proposals' portal... what do you guys think about that? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:44, 28 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::My opinion: Five would be enough to qualify. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 09:31, 29 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::I vote for four. But it should also be a reasonable thing to categorize, like sports, not like "sports with Cueball containing at least three anagram words". Wich sholdn't be a problem. :) But the best name choice could be tricky sometimes. e.g. "Film & television", Film & TV", "Film", "Films", or "Movies"? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:59, 29 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::<br />
::::Agreed, five should be enough to create the category without having to discuss it. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:50, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
: OK, let's start with [[588: Pep Rally|588]], [[1092: Michael Phelps|1092]], [[904: Sports|904]] and [[1107: Sports Cheat Sheet|1107]]. Should be able to find a few more. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 05:00, 29 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Yeah, it's a broad subject so there are probably several more. -[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:59, 29 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::I found another one, sort of, in [[929:Speculation|929]] (although it hasn't been explained yet). Should I get the ball rolling (no pun intended) on setting up the category? Don't wanna do it unilaterally and get yelled at. ;) [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 06:18, 30 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::I think you should. On a wiki, getting stuck in discussions which die without a conclusion, to the point that motivated people give up without having done anything, is definitely counter-productive, and phrases like [[wikipedia:Wikipedia:Be bold|Wikipedia:Be bold]] are here to remind us of that. Seems like people agreed that you ''could'', and after a while nobody said that you ''shouldn't'', so I'd say do it. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:50, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Category: Sex ==<br />
<br />
I think we should also create a Sex category. There's no ''doubt'' we can find more than three examples. I'll start looking for them and post the ones I find in here; again, I don't wanna create a large category by myself without community consent. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 09:20, 2 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
*OK, the ones for Category: Sex that I've found so far are [[443]], [[219]], [[550]], [[1026]], [[575]], [[468]], [[592]], [[320]], [[1101]], [[417]], [[713]], [[672]], [[230]], [[436]], [[940]], [[532]], [[649]], [[176]], [[1006]], [[596]] and [[717]], and I'm sure there are many more. Should we create this category? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 23:17, 3 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Same as [[#Category: Sports|above]], do it. Oh, already did; well, all the better. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:53, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
==New character==<br />
As per [[Talk:1178: Pickup Artists]], the character with hair has appeared in quite a few comics now, and he's starting to become a recurring character. Shall we go ahead with inaugurating him into our list of regular characters, and what name shall we assign him? Current candidate names include Hairy and Harry. Anyone? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:07, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: I like Harry :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 01:04, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Cos made a point in the discussion on [[Talk:1178: Pickup Artists]] that Hairy is directly descriptive, whereas Harry is not obvious to visitors. On the other hand, not all names are descriptive ([[Danish]]) and I think this wiki is entitled to create some xkcd-in-culture, and not just describe. And Harry is quite funny.<br />
::I wonder: has [[Randall]] ever called him anything at all in the transcript? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:52, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::Well, he's not named in a any official transcripts, but he's already called Harry in quite a few comic explanations. Then again, I do like having a more descriptive name for him. Shall we hold this up to a vote? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:29, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::I think we should wait a little for a few more viewpoints to crop up. Also, can someone link to some more comics he's been featured in? I've got [[1028: Communication]], [[1027: Pickup Artist]] and [[1178: Pickup Artists]]. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 23:41, 27 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::I actually like what that anon said: ''Curly''. Second choice: Hairy (being descriptive, a la Black Hat, Beret, Cueball, etc.) While there's talk about in-culture, we've done that with the names Cueball, Beret, etc. It's my opinion that the only names that should be "real" proper names are those that are named in the comic. Megan, Miss Lenhart, etc. Danish (as is discussed below) isn't truly a proper name, but you could argue it's a meta-description (one attributed by Black hat.) So that's my vote: yes for '''Curly''' or '''Hairy''', no for Harry. [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 05:21, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::That's right, [[Danish]] is not descriptive, but 1/ that name was suggested because the character [[515: No One Must Know|was called that way in the comic]], which is a tiny bit like a name given by the author (at least more than Harry which we have completely made up), and 2/ in that case it's hard to find a descriptive term: use something that revolves around her black hair (her only descriptive feature), and you easily mix up with [[Megan]]; the only graphical difference is that her hair is ''long'', but what kind of name can you make out of that?<br />
:::For this new character, I suggest Hairy because it comes as the easy solution with every advantage: descriptive, easy to understand, and it's not ugly... I actually see no reason to resort to a made-up name like Harry.<br />
:::[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 22:29, 27 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: '''Alright. So the discussion's been had, and the most oft recommended name appears to be Hairy. All in favor, say aye. If more than 1/3 of editors agree and we have more than 6 votes, Hairy it is.''' '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:58, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye''' '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:58, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye''' [[User:Guru-45|Guru-45]] ([[User talk:Guru-45|talk]]) 06:14, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye''' to Hairy. [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:43, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye'''. Harry would be a nice nod to the fact that he's actually hairy, but indeed it's better to avoid inside jokes. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:05, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye'''. I'm convinced! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 17:52, 3 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye'''. Hairy. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:52, 3 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Hooray! We now have a [[:Category:Comics featuring Hairy]], with four pages already! Does anyone feel compelled to create "[[Hairy]]", with a brief description and a nice profile pic like the other characters? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:58, 3 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Ambiguous characters ==<br />
<br />
I've been thinking about the problem of the ambiguity of characters. "Is this really Cueball even though he has an eye and half a nose?", "This is very likely ''not'' x." "Darnit, these arn't Cueballs, these are Randall and his friends!", and so on. The character ambiguity is standard for xkcd (not less so in the early ones), and comes from the very loose or "free" way Randall uses his characters to be whatever he needs at the moment. It's simply often impossible for us to know whether he had e.g. "Cueball" or himself in mind, when drawing a particular comic (and I'd say: probably often both).<br />
<br />
I want to suggest that we in general have a likewise rather loose policy towards including characters in the categories for the comics. So that reasonably ambiguous cases should be included in e.g. (does she have a ponytail?) This is not because I believe this or that to really be this or that; I just don't believe in objective truth (here!). I feel that when doing research :) on a character, the borderline cases are often the most interesting ones, and you want to be able to find them through the "Comics featuring miss x"!<br />
<br />
I came to think this through now, when I wanted to (and did) list two comics with [[Miss Lenhart]] (?) where she was drawn but not named. Any thoughts on this in general? Other case studies? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:17, 5 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:My take has always been that [[Cueball]], for example, has not been a specific character. There is not ''a'' cueball, per se, distinct from any other cueball... indeed, there are several comics with several cueballs in-frame, and that is the point. I see the cueball character as a wildcard character (pun intended) ready to stand in for anybody (and ''not'' necessarily just Randall; I think those readers who suggest "this ''is'' Randall" are missing the point; he's way more META than that...) [[Megan]], while slightly less generic, still remains the female wild-card significant-other, while Curls seems to be a not-significant-other female used to illustrate a relationship that is transient. Other characters come and go, and when it's important to visually distinguish them from others in the frame, they're given additional characteristics, to wit [[Hairy]], [[Ponytail]], etc.<br />
:Unfortunately, that viewpoint is not commonly held, so I daresay I'm in the minority here.<br />
:-- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:18, 6 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Note at the top, about the server error ==<br />
<br />
:''This thread was moved to [[MediaWiki talk:Sitenotice]]''<br />
<br />
== Category: Flowcharts ==<br />
<br />
Hello, the line "Randall has made use of flowcharts before." in today's comic explanation made me want a [[:Category:Flowcharts|flowcharts category]] to navigate into...<br />
<br />
As it didn't exist, I proceeded to create it, but as the log says, [[User:lcarsos|lcarsos]] deleted such a category in November, saying ''"Insufficient differentiation from Category:Comics with charts, diluting the depth of comics tagged charts"''.<br />
<br />
I don't agree with that, and I think we could profit from such a subcategory. I found those pages fitting it:<br />
* [[94: Profile Creation Flowchart]]<br />
* [[210: 90's Flowchart]]<br />
* [[488: Steal This Comic]]<br />
* [[627: Tech Support Cheat Sheet]]<br />
* [[844: Good Code]]<br />
* [[851: Na]]<br />
* [[854: Learning to Cook]]<br />
* [[1195: Flowchart]]<br />
<br />
So? - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 10:59, 5 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Weell if you're willing to take charge of the category and personally make sure it's added to all relevant comic explanations, go ahead. The usual objection to making new categories is that we admins can't remember all the categories when we're reviewing new explanations, but it's K if you're willing to take up that responsibility yourself. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:17, 5 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:<br />
:: OK. I did it without waiting for further replies, because I think it will be especially profitable today (to viewers).<br />
:: It doesn't seem a big issue to me if the correct category is not added when a new explanation is made: a passing editor will do it later on... But hey, I'm OK with taking special care of adding pages to this category.<br />
:: [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 12:28, 5 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::: I just want to add that Cos' view is indeed the appropriate way to work in wikis: there is no concept of a single author for a page, category, or piece of text, and the workload is meant to be distributed among several editors: it is not necessary that any single editor remembers all existing categories, or knows the wiki markup by heart, or knows how to work with all the features of mediawiki, etc. The reason why wikis can be edited by anyone is precisely a recognition that there *will* be errors and any page can be improved somehow. That reasoning against categories should, IMO, be abandoned, or at most only kept as the opinion of some editors. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 22:00, 6 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Isnt there a page which lists all the categories? If not, there should be one, and it should be accessible to all. Such a page could be useful when trying to quick-add categories to comics. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.83.155|117.194.83.155]] 13:43, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Yes, there is. [[Special:Categories]]. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:07, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Of course, there's a gazillion of 'em, over several pages, so I understand any reluctance to add new categories (having just suggested a new one myself which I feel is justified, but knowing that the upkeep needed may be the key point of contention so remaining philosophical about it).<br />
::A solution perhaps to carry over from another locale that I frequent is to have a "Categories of Character" page, a "Categories of Object" one, perhaps "Categories of Event", and a "Categories of Publication". For each new comic someone can easily check the shorter Character categories list against those present, the Object list against itemsin use, Events, etc, and of course the Publication one has the "Tuesday Comic"/equivalent, and other date-based ones (although isn't that automatic from templated creation? ...never added a comic, but would imagine it is). After that it's a trawl through the miscelania categories (perhaps a meta-category just for them?). But, yeah, a lot of work to set up. Wouldn't wish it on anyone who wasn't already willing to do it, and I remain an anon-IP person right now so can hardly commit ''myself'' as volunteer maintainer of this. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 17:20, 22 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== I've removed "add a comment!" from Discussion heading ==<br />
<br />
This does move it to above the line, and the rule stops early. Undo my change if that's more bothering than when the TOC is displayed as "add a comment!Discussion"... <br />
<br />
I don't know how to automatically treat level 2 headers as level 3. That may be why Discussion was a level 1 heading earlier.<br />
[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:16, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Actually I now noticed there was a short edit war at {{tl|comic discussion}} over whether it should be a level 1 heading, just for this reason. [[User:Waldir]] seems to have conceeded... [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:25, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: No edit war, hence no (intentional) concession. I reverted a change once, and didn't notice the change being re-implemented by another user. In any case, it is irrelevant now since we actively discourage using headers in talk pages precisely so that they don't display in the TOC for the main comic page, where the discussion page is transcluded to (see the discussion [[#Section style and usage|above]]). This might not scale well for comics that generate lots of discussion. It might be worth discussing our customs (and perhaps write them down somewhere) before performing such changes. What do others think? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:49, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Time: The Table ==<br />
<br />
Right now on the page [[1190: Time]], we have a whole bunch of tables in the form image-time-hash. The tables take up heaps of vertical space and all have to be collapsed to even be remotely traversible. I propose that we aggregate all the images into one table after Time ends, like so:<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable plainlinks table-padding"<br />
|-<br />
!Image<br />
!Time<br />
!Image<br />
!Time<br />
!Image<br />
!Time<br />
!Image<br />
!Time<br />
|-<br />
|[[Media:time.png|00:00]]||01/00:00||[[Media:time.png|10:00]]||01/10:00||[[Media:time.png|20:00]]||01/20:00||[[Media:time.png|30:00]]||AND MOAR SAMPLE DATAS<br />
|-<br />
|[[Media:time.png|00:30]]||01/00:30||[[Media:time.png|10:30]]||01/10:30||[[Media:time.png|20:30]]||01/20:30||[[Media:time.png|30:30]]||AND MOAR SAMPLE DATAS<br />
|}<br />
<br />
The hash values aren't really a part of the comic, they're gibberish for the most part and they take up space that could be used to compact the table, as shown above. Even if we are conservative and make the table only five columns wide to account for smaller screens, we've divided scrolling time by five and eliminated much of the need for annoying collapsed tables and section headers for each day. Constructing the table shouldn't be particularly hard either, as all our current data is in nice regular tables with clear patterns that are easy enough to parse through. <br />
<br />
I'm putting this here because the organization of the frame entries would be unintuitive and difficult to change from the edit window, which would make it a poor choice when we're still expanding it and don't even know how long the comic will continue for. It's merely a space-saving trick for after we're sure that the comic is over. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:26, 16 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Oh and it'd be really nice if other people could also upload images if you're awake and a new one rolls by. There's gaps in the image record every time I wake up, and I dun likey. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:34, 20 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Good work so far; go ahead make it better! :) –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:34, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
==Featured Explanation, and Archival?==<br />
<br />
* Wikipedia has featured content. Now that we are close to reaching the goal of all comics explained, I think it makes more sense to have a "featured explanation" which would serve as a sort of a marker for a complete and good explanation. Many comics, and almost all charts are not fully explained/not a good quality explanation.<br />
<br />
* We should set up archival of discussion of the most discussed pages, like this one. Its not very pleasing to see comments from July 2012 still lying around here. It becomes hectic at some point.<br />
<br />
Just my 2 cents, feel free to discuss. Cheers,<br />
[[Special:Contributions/117.194.88.180|117.194.88.180]] 13:36, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:We dedicate this wiki to explaining xkcd, and we do actually have a featured comic feature; it changes every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and we usually manage to fill out the explanation for it within an hour or so of it going up. The most recent comic tends to be the one that most people visiting the wiki care about, so we give it prime space on the front page so they can find it easily. xkcd updates frequently enough that there isn't really that big of a time window for us to feature an article on our front page. Also, we're a volunteer project with quite a bit less manpower than Wikipedia.<br />
:We do need to archive talk pages though. Some of these are getting ridiculously long. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:04, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::I agree with Davidy22. Archiving topics can be done by anyone, by moving resolved threads to the portal section's corresponding [[explain xkcd talk:Community portal/Proposals|talk page]]. We could start with the threads marked "✓ Closed". [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:42, 1 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: The reason I asked for a "featured explanation" was because many of the comic explanations we currently have are sub-par, and we're almost at our initial goal of explaining all comics. A "featured explanation" would drive our editors towards the goal of having complete and good explanation towards all comics, and would allow us to know which explanations need elaboration.<br />
:: P.S. My definition of complete explanation would be - To have a good explanation, To have all categories relevant, To link to any comics related and To explain any technical portions of the comic.<br />
:: [[Special:Contributions/117.194.82.49|117.194.82.49]] 07:45, 8 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::That message on the front page is going to link to all the pages marked by the incomplete template. If you find an unsatisfactory explanation, please mark it with <nowiki>{{incomplete}}</nowiki> '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:54, 8 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::: By my definition, I think all comics will be incomplete. An incomplete template will be focused more towards improving the worst explanations, while a featured one will be to improve the best ones. Since we already have the former, we should focus on the latter. Just my 2 cents. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.85.82|117.194.85.82]] 06:55, 9 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Split the list of all comics ==<br />
<br />
[[List of all comics]] is getting larger and larger, which makes it hard to read and hard to edit. How about splitting into parts, say [[List of all comics/1-1000]], [[List of all comics/1001-2000]], etc., or something to that effect? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:39, 1 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: Done. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.88.176|117.194.88.176]] 10:03, 9 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Great job, thanks! [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:09, 9 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::And I've added back [[List of all comics (full)]], which allows, for example, listing all comics by alphabetical order.[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 17:29, 10 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Sidebar ads ==<br />
<br />
''Moved from [[Talk:Main Page]] –– [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:06, 4 May 2013 (UTC)''<br />
<br />
Are they generating significant money? The ones I see are pretty sleazy looking and/or scammy - "Power Companies Hate this Device! - click here to break the laws of thermodynamics!" and "Debt relief program click here to lose more money". How much money are they generating? Can you set any selections to remove the sleazy ads? [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 18:30, 3 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Do we have sleazy sidebar ads? Since when? Thanks Google Chrome and AdBlock, I had no idea! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 07:47, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::People give 20$ a pop to get a bunch of clicks on explainxkcd, and Jeff uses that money to buy a faster server with a hard drive that doesn't have less space than a public toilet with an elephant in it. It'd be really nice if you didn't turn on adblock, the money is appreciated. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:47, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::It's a question of me not turning it off specifically every time I visit this site. More importantly, I do think people would be more likely to click the "donate" if it weren't irrelevant ads around it. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 19:29, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::Generating money is a great thing. Getting "20$ a pop to get a bunch of clicks" is a bit unclear. Do the ads only generate revenue when clicked on? So EXKCD only gets money when someone actually falls for the sleazy ads? I know lots of people do not like Google - but at least their adsense stuff is relevant to the content of the website, which might generate some legitimate traffic for a legitimate advertiser.... [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 11:48, 19 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::Welllll, I didn't pick the ad supplier. You could bring it up with [[User talk:Jeff|Jeff]] if you want, I think he picked the ad provider on basis of which one had a mediawiki plugin or something. If you can link Jeff to a quick and easy way to put adsense on mediawiki, he should change it quickly enough. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:21, 19 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::And I also gather then that they are only a temporary thing? -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:27, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::::Until we can buy a server that doesn't poop itself every time a new comic is released, the ads are staying. If you want them to go away sooner, throw more money at Jeff. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:25, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::::: The ads are crap. For sure. Wish I didn't have to run them, but I don't trust donations alone to hold up continually some better hosting. The ads really don't bring in that much $$$. I had google adsense before, but Google shutdown my adsense account for unnamed reason after 1 week. This new ad service is way sketchier. If you all think they don't have a place here, I'll ax 'em. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:02, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::::: Thanks for the info Jeff. How much ad money are we talking about? Is it calculated on how many ads are displayed or how many are clicked-through? How close to the goal is the server fund? How about a Kickstarter campaign for the server? $10 gets your name on a thankyou webpage or something like that. [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 17:32, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::::: It ain't much, last I looked it was $2 or $3 in 2 weeks. I believe it is based on clicks, it is not nearly as clear as Google adsense. I'm not really interested in doing a Kickstarter. I think the donations will cover the initial start up, I just want to be able to cover the monthly costs as well. A few things are still up in the air. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:24, 25 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::::::Can you find a way to show the donations and ad income on the site, to make it transparent? ––[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:30, 30 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::::::: How about a donation amount that you'll take to turn it (the annoying unethical scummy ads) off for a year? Give me a dollar value and I might step up for the good of us all! [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 16:28, 3 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Economic transparency ==<br />
<br />
I think this is very important: How can we make the donations and ad-income transparent, so that we all can see when and how much money is coming in, and how far we are from reaching our goal? – [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 00:35, 24 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Sounds fine to me, I think I can put something together. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:52, 28 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Hi, may I bump this issue? Or maybe you have done something, and I missed it? Anyway, I would still appreciate it! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 17:43, 22 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::Numberssss. I'll get on with it, just need less homework and a few more numbers. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:54, 23 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I would like to respectfully file a complain. I find the banner advertisement of background checks distasteful. [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 05:10, 15 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
: Hey [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] - I am the one who approved those ads. But, since you have filed a complaint about them, I have gone ahead and removed them. Thanks. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:52, 15 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I thank you. [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 03:36, 17 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Using <nowiki><nowiki></nowiki></nowiki> in transcripts to improve accuracy ==<br />
<br />
In the transcripts, <nowiki>[[lines]]</nowiki> are being changed to [lines] in order to avoid auto-linking. Why not just surround these with <nowiki><nowiki></nowiki></nowiki> tags and avoid the problem entirely? --[[User:Epauley|Epauley]] ([[User talk:Epauley|talk]]) 04:18, 16 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Because it takes less time to type and single brackets are just as readable as double brackets to visitors. It's also a bit more readable in the editor. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:55, 16 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Category: (Barred/banned from?) Conferences ==<br />
<br />
I come here after realising I erroneously posted (in reply) to the Main page Talk, being anonymous (or at least IP-only) and without a list of qualifying articles to support me, just yet, but still wish to put forward the above category before I forget. There's no apparent equivalent, that I found, but it's definitely a recurring meme. I should be back (named or otherwise) with my suggested list of members, if someone else doesn't get there first, but I thought I'd start with the placemarker. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 16:41, 22 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Ok, so I got the bee in my bonnet and spent a few minutes actually looking into this. Revising "Barred from Conferences" (actually more often "Banned" or even "Thrown out of"/equivalent) to just "Conferences", the subset of comics that I can easily find that are involved is *[[153]], *[[177]], *[[365]], *[[410]], *[[463]], *[[541]], [[545]], [[685]], [[829]] and [[867]], but I'm sure there are more recent ones that I didn't spot/recall. One alternative title to "Conferences" is "Presentations", and I'm sure if I'd searched for that I'd have found more potential candidates (less some that might ''exit'' the renamed category). The asterisked ones ''do'' deal with being barred/banned/thrown out/etc, making it still a suitable category in its own right, IMO, but I'll leave it up to your combined musings to decide. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 17:07, 22 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
::I add [[690]] to the list. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:12, 13 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::: Great suggestions! I created [[:Category:Public speaking]] and [[:Category:Banned from conferences]]. I also added [[Wikipedian Protester]] to the mix, of course :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:59, 13 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Strip Title ==<br />
<br />
For someone who commonly browses explainxkcd in place of xkcd, and hence often see the strips for the first time here rather than the parent site, I find it somewhat odd that the 'Title Text' is so poorly displayed given how critical it can be to the strip.<br />
<br />
I propose that, while retaining the given name (perhaps moving it top left), the title text be enlarged and relocated to being over the strip as originally intended. {{unsigned ip|175.41.133.18}}<br />
:The title text is placed very well at bottom of the image.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 07:20, 6 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I would have to agree with Dgbrt, it's placed nicely at the bottom, and there is no need for it to be moved. My reasoning is that you never actually read the title text first, you read it last. Making it <code>text-align: left;</code> does not make sense, because the image is centered (just like on xkcd.com). I also believe that there is no need for it to be re-sized, mainly due to the fact that it is slightly larger than the title text (for me, at least). {{User:Grep/signature|05:18, 08 September 2013}}<br />
<br />
:Plus, if you hover over the image, it's the same as on xkcd.com {{User:Grep/signature|06:13, 08 September 2013}}<br />
<br />
:I also agree with Dgbrt and Grep. The title text is kind of a bonus and should not be emphasized more than on the original page. On the original site you only see it before the image, if you have very slow internet access (or very fast eyes) --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:06, 2 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Sections in talk pages ==<br />
<br />
Is there a reason why there are no sections in talk pages? It is not a very big deal, but especially for longer talk pages it would make editing be much handier, especially when using the preview function (not having to find the section every time). Also it automatically adds a description to the history (thus makes it more easy to look for certain edits, or decide by just looking at the [[Special:RecentChanges]], if a comment should concern you. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:01, 2 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
:When discussion pages are transcluded by the comic discussion template, section headers carry over from talk pages and bad things happen. Using ; to denote headers instead of equals signs works well, and doesn't share transclusion pain. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:04, 2 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== references ==<br />
<br />
Any chance we can add [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Cite/Cite.php cite.php] to this wiki? Most pages don't need it, but some comics take on a life of their own and being able to add reference tags would be really helpful for those. [[User:LadyMondegreen|LadyMondegreen]] ([[User talk:LadyMondegreen|talk]]) 01:33, 9 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Cite has been added to the wiki. Thanks for the suggestion! --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 01:35, 17 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Stylized writing ==<br />
<br />
I understand that this wiki isn't as formal as wikipedia or sites like that but it seems that there are a few questionable practices:<br />
<br />
1. The use of questions - when a non-rhetorical or unnecessary question is entered into the explanation.<br />
<br />
2. Extremely painted/biased view points - when there is obvious bias in the tone of the explanation of the contributor, in other <br />
words; a lack of neutrality.<br />
<br />
3. Extreme repetition/rehashing - the explanation restates things and makes for a long and tedious read when a more straight-forward explanation is possible and clearer.<br />
<br />
4. The general informality - "This one's an easy one" "This is simple" "this one's straightforward" "You're an idiot for not understanding this one" etc.<br />
<br />
5. Many other practices that make the explanation hard to read, difficult to understand, or plain ugly.<br />
<br />
I know that there are disparaging view points on how a comic should be explained, but please let's clean up the site a bit, acknowledge each view point and report on all of them and then tighten up the sloppy writing. Carry out arguments in the talk section, not the explanation. Perhaps we could first try to say the majority view point on the interpretation and then write the alternate explanations, of course this would bring up the debate on which is the majority explanation. Either way, more complete, logical explanations should be given more credence. --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 00:25, 23 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I agree with 2-5. 1, on the other hand, is sometimes useful and can contribute the to explanation, although 1 is still a very good point. I would say that you should edit it to have "arguments in the talk" be a 6th point as well. Unfortunately, though, we are not all logical, comic-understanding machines here, so minor deviations of these rules are still to be expected. But I think that overall, these are good rules, even if 2/3 are sort of part of 5.<br />
:[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]], please sign your post with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki><span style="float: right;">{{User:Grep/signature|23:55, 22 October 2013}}</span><br />
<br />
:I understand the use of questions in certain parts. And it was probably better to put the others as sub-categories to five but I wanted to show some common things that can be easily fixed. I know that some explanations require a lot of text and extensive research because of the abstract subjects Randall deals with and that it's difficult to be completely standardized but I think it would be good for us to try to come up with some general things to try to avoid to help the explanations "flow" --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 00:25, 23 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Most of that isn't intentional, it's just an awful lot of labor to copy check all the explanations. I've been going through all the current articles and fixing consistency issues, the worst being wrong transcript/title text/dates and the most benign being wikilinks, spelling and trailing spaces. I'm at 682 so far, but my next pass will be on actual language and content, and it'll probably take longer. It takes a while though, and you can totally work on improving language in articles if you want to. Some explanations were pulled from the old blog, some were written and just got lost in the changelog. Copy editing everything we have so far is a very labor-intensive job, and the only way to really deal with it is to knuckle down and do it, or form a wikiproject and hope to heaven that visitors feel charitable enough to join in on it. I'd *probably* push to finish up all our incomplete articles first though, just because that's more directly related to the purpose of the site; tone and style probably comes second to having correct explanations. That doesn't mean you can't do it yourself, it's just that I'll probably only dedicate the subheader on the main page to one project at a time and our current biggest bugbear hasn't been solved yet. I could put up a sitenotice to see if that speeds the process up any. I'll do that when I get back home. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:31, 23 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Easy redirect to comic? ==<br />
<br />
I've been thinking, and there is one thing that would make navigating to the explained comics easier. My method of browsing is I'll see the comic on xkcd.com first, and if there is something curious about it that I don't quite understand, I'll come here. Sometimes it can be a bit troublesome, going to the homepage and then navigatiing to the right comic. Not too bad, but I'd like an easy way to go direct. So I was thinking, what if you had a redirect such that if you typed in, for example, www.explainxkcd.com/505, you would get redirected to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=505:_A_Bunch_of_Rocks. That would mean that you could get to the comic just from adding an "explain" to the start of the xkcd.com URL. I don't know if that is at all possible, but it would be pretty handy if it happened. Thoughts?<br />
[[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 03:01, 25 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
:[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Technical#Redirect_from_explainxkcd.com.2F1234 That's actually already on the to-do list.] I'm testing it right now and we should have it up soon. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:02, 25 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
:: Awesome :) [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 03:26, 1 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::Whoop, forgot to mark this as complete. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:37, 1 November 2013 (UTC) <br />
:::: Done! Copy this and drag it to your bookmarks bar: |javascript: var url = document.URL; document.location = url.replace('xkcd.com','explainxkcd.com');| {{unsigned ip|173.245.52.29}}<br />
:::::The feature requested here has also long since been implemented. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:20, 4 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Increase support via prominent display of copyright and license for text submitted to explainxkcd ==<br />
<br />
XKCD itself is rather liberally licensed, and gets lots of good will from that. As it says on the bottom of every page "This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License." For details see [http://xkcd.com/license.html xkcd - A Webcomic - License].<br />
<br />
But I found nothing on most pages of explainxkcd about copyright or licensing, and it discouraged me from contributing or donating. Finally, as I was writing this proposal up, I found a link on the editing page here: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Copyrights explain xkcd:Copyrights - explain xkcd] saying that "''The Explain XKCD wiki is generally licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license (CC-BY-SA-3.0)''". That notice should be more prominent on the site, with at least a link on each page. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 15:27, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:This should be mentioned at the main page, including a reference to the xkcd origin.<br />
:BTW: NO DOUBLE SPACES after a sentence. Are you US guys still using a typewriter? It's not rendered at a web page and stupid like Gallons, Miles, Foots, and much more unique US behaviours. But that's just a joke beside.<br />
:The licence hint is much more important, you are just correct.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:12, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Added a creative commons icon to the footer of the page, next to the powered by mediawiki button. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:16, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New Comics Bot ==<br />
<br />
Would there be need for such a thing?<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.52|108.162.231.52]] Synthetica<br />
:Nice idea, I never thought about that before. I will do some tests on existing comics to check if this could reduce the current number of error posts for a new article. When that is ready and working I will talk to some admins. My bot account [[User:DgbrtBOT|DgbrtBOT]] was originally intended for [[1190: Time]] picture uploads, but I never have used it because Time was over. Creating the new pages should be easy in general, avoiding errors will cost some more work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:31, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::If you can get dgbrtBOT to do that, that'd help us an awful lot. It'd allow us to get rid of the ifexist cases in template:LATESTCOMIC as well, since the bot could change automatically that whenever a new comic goes up. It'll also help us get new comics down almost the moment they pop up, since the bot could sample several times a minute until a comic is posted. So long as it gets the general pattern right so that we have a correct page set up, we're good. An admin can come in sometime later to clean up categories and image urls and other piddly easy-to-fix details. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:54, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::I will work on this next weekend, just local scripts and no updates here. I also will talk about my results before any automatic updates will be activated. My first focus is on creating the new pages in the general pattern, LATESTCOMIC and also the page "All comics" are maybe a bonus later. And of course all my scripts will be open source.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:44, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::The first version is ready and I will test it at my local wiki. If everything goes well I could activate it for Wednesday (2013-11-13). LATESTCOMIC and "All comics" are on my roadmap, but first I want produce correct new pages here. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:00, 10 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::Righty ho. Here goes. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:36, 10 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Even when my automatic local wiki test did fail today, just a damn wrong password, I will activate the bot here for Wednesday. It will only run from 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM UTC. You will not see my possible updates at [[Special:RecentChanges]] unless you click ''Show bots'' at the top of that page. LATESTCOMIC and "All comics" are not covered, but this is at my TODO list until this test will be successful. Give me a '''GO''' or '''NO-GO''' for this test.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:49, 11 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Easily a GO, I'll be ready to clean up if anything goes wrong. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:08, 11 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::So be ready on Wednesday for the clean up. My worst case is ''it simply does not work'', second worse scenario is still that I could delete some contend already posted here, but I'm trying to avoid this. ''Huston'', the countdown clock is counting. I'm joking about this because I really want to be confident about this ''BOT'' or ROBOT or uncontrolled action here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:28, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::The bot can't do anything that I can't reverse. I can even restore a backup from an hour before the bot's edits if it manages to break the database. How quickly does it poll xkcd, by the way? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:53, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
First live test here (comic 1289). Please delete this page: [[Simple_Answers:_1289]]. Since my local wiki did not provide this templates I could not see this error before. In general the bot will update pages differ to any existing pages, but when it is not changed no update will happen. I'm fixing this errors at my script and do a second test here soon. I want to see it's producing correct pages until the bot will do it's work when I'm sleeping.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:31, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Ok, test are done here, BOT is scheduled for the next update. Polling is every five minutes on Mon, Wed, and Fri from 04:00 until 08:00 UTC. Let's see how it will work.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:08, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Couldja ramp that up to once/twice a minute, push the start time back by an hour, and the end time by a few hours? Also, is it possible to terminate it once it finds a comic for a certain day? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:45, 13 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::It worked! Though it posted the comic 5 minutes past post time. We has technology now, we can afford to poll faster and closer, yeah? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:32, 13 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Uhh, it worked... I will increase the polls when I'm more confident about the release times. Today it was approx. 05:00 UTC (GMT) or 01:00 EST (Randall's time zone). Looks like he is still at daylight saving time, would have been 00:00 EDT. The polls will be increased to one minute when I'm sure about the Standard Release Time (SRT). Next steps for the next update on Friday are:<br />
:The "All comics" page.<br />
:The LATESTCOMIC template.<br />
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:54, 13 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:The LATESTCOMIC template is included for the next run, it just simply has to return a number. But it's still the most critical part because if it does not work the Main Page is broken. I will change this to a better solution using that IFEXIST syntax soon. The list of all comics is still at my ToDo list. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:06, 14 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::The desired content of the LATESTCOMIC template should be just the comic number. If we can get out of having to poll multiple IFEXIST statements to find the latest comic, that would be a fantastic boon to our server performance. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:43, 15 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::OK, it did work today so I will not change this. Next step is the list for all comics.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:10, 15 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Next run will include an update on the "All comics" page. I'm crossing my fingers. When this update is also successful I will document my Bot at the Bot user page [[User:DgbrtBOT]]. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:15, 17 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Oh, I forgot this detail: The bot is starting at 00:00 EST (RLT - Randall local time), which is 04:00 UTC and 05:00 MET for me. It polls every 5 minutes until 23:55 MET (22:55 UTC, 18:55 RLT) the main page until a new comic is found. I do not poll the comic number because I want to avoid 404 message logs at the servers.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:30, 17 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Something went wrong there. That's gonna need fixing. I am enjoying the looks of the apparently faster polling though. Maybe you could also set the start time to 00:00:05 EST to catch the on-time xkcd releases within ten seconds? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:33, 18 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Uh, what a mess. I will do some more tests at my local wiki. At the next time I will do a check against the number from the LATESTCOMIC template, only the next number will be processed. The test against my local history did fail because of some cleanups after testings.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 08:18, 18 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::I don't like mess. So the BOT got many more checks before posting here but the bot was starting at 05:00 local time for me. I'm really asleep at that time. The mess here was covered, but I do need another GO for the next attempt. Otherwise I will just do a test to my local wiki.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:35, 18 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
No GO so far, my next test will run only at my local wiki.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:16, 19 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:My script is here: [https://github.com/dgbrt/explainXKCD_update explainXKCD_update]. At my current test "explainxkcd.com" is commented out and "localhost" is active. Since I don't like mess and the bot does act while I am sleeping the next update must be done manually here. I'm hoping the bot will be ready for the next update on Friday.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:15, 19 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Bot is ready for Friday, everything went smooth at my last local test today. The bot did find the latest comic at 04:05 UTC and all essential pages were properly created. So I will activate it for this site again. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:57, 20 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Bot did work as expected. So I name it release 1.1337, the next planed release will be 2.1337 (beta) because of this two issues:<br />
*"Include any categories below this line." will be removed because it doesn't make any sense any more.<br />
*BETA: I want to use the full template features at [[List of all comics]], just ensuring that the pictures are working properly. No need for this at the most comics, but the BOT doesn't cover all possibilities on corrupt file names like we have had in "Pi vs. Tau". The picture was without that dot. My bot just shows the real link it did upload here.<br />
I'm pretty sure we will have some issues on this bot, but for general pages it should work. So the bot will be active on Mon,Wed,Fri from 0:00 EST (or EDT) every five minutes until it did found a new comic, on success the bot does not poll any more.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:51, 22 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Aww, it's a bot. It doesn't need to rest or take time off to do other stuff. It can totally poll once or more times per minute. Also, if you set the start time to a few seconds after midnight, Randall time, when he uploads a comic on-time, you'll get it within a few seconds as opposed to having to wait for the next polling. As for the image names, maybe you could convert spaces in the comic name to underscores, compare the two comic names you have and use that to decide which version of the template to use? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:08, 22 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::I have to avoid that the bot is running twice, Internet Timeouts and more. And the comics are also published later sometimes. Look at my release [https://github.com/dgbrt/explainXKCD_update 1.1337], release 2.1337 will be later, Maybe I should start at 2 minutes after 0:00, but let's see right now how the bot does work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:38, 23 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Uhh, what a huge discussion here. The bot will get a major update soon: Scheduler does start it once and until a comic is found and uploaded it here or an other limit is reached (maybe the end of the day) the bot will poll by a small delay. But every poll is still an entire download from the main page, When a new comic is found bot stops.<br />
:Why, you could use http://xkcd.com/info.0.json, right?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.52|108.162.231.52]] 07:38, 2 December 2013 (UTC)Synthetica<br />
::The BOT performs perfect and I prefer to analyze the original page. A title text like the one from today (a text showing a link) will be covered in the future.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 10:35, 2 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
A great enhancement would be also covering a new comic like 1190 Time was. I'm looking forward on this, some ideas, it does require a complete analyse of the page and then finding some strange content. <br />
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:05, 27 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Require description for 'incomplete' tags ==<br />
I've been trying to fix some of the incompletes, but several explanation pages I've come across are tagged incomplete without any reason given. The reason should be a required part of the tag. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.223|173.245.52.223]] 03:35, 7 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
:This incomplete tags are just older than the recent change of that template. Current adds require a description, but it's not easy to figure out all that old reasons. If someone does find a reason, please just add it. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:22, 7 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Should there be a subwiki to cover the shop links that appear above the comic? ==<br />
<br />
The current one (as of writing) is [http://imgs.xkcd.com/store_news/store_gd_b11_1ze4.png] but this is a different than the usual, and there was also a third in between these.<br />
[[User:Rsranger65|Rsranger65]] ([[User talk:Rsranger65|talk]]) 06:00, 8 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Those are very ephemeral. They aren't going to exist for very long, I don't know how valuable it would be to archive that stuff. We could probably do it, but having to figure out another naming convention and all for advertisements doesn't appeal to me at the current moment. If you can flesh it out, I'd love to see how you think we should do it. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:24, 8 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New Character ==<br />
<br />
OK, I think we need a name for the character with a goatee and glasses in comics [[435: Purity]], [[796: Bad Ex]] and [[964: Dorm Poster]] as well as possibly others. Edit: oh and I suggest Goatee and Glasses Guy, but I'm open for suggestions Edit 2: also in [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]] Halfhat {{unsigned|Halfhat}}<br />
edit 3: Another sighting [[954: Chin-Up Bar]] [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 16:57, 13 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
: In the transcript, he is called "Person with Glasses and a Goatee" --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:39, 21 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
:: "Glasses Guy", "Goatee Guy" are both probably descriptive enough! --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:41, 21 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== What If Comics ==<br />
<br />
Hi, I was thinking, maybe at some point we should do the comics in the ''What If?'' section, like [http://what-if.xkcd.com/imgs/a/36/cornstarch_bitcoins.png this one.] [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 20:01, 13 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
: Start creating the pages for them! --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:36, 21 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
: I think I can start creating one or two pages for What If, if that helps... [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 16:14, 5 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
:: If nobody has any problem with it, I'm gonna give it a try later. :) [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 13:14, 8 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::I thought they were already pretty self-explanatory though. Also, how are we gonna organize and present them? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:31, 8 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
::::I totally agree with David: Read the entire What-If page and follow the links provided by Randall. No one of us can do that better in depth. But an overview page for this site is maybe not a bad idea, we just need a proper link here — a link at the main menu on the left. Translations to other languages are just another issue. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:37, 8 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::::Yes, I was thinking of an overview, summarizing the contents and discoveries of each what if page. Not to mention, we could also organize what if pages by categories, such as physics/love.<br />
:::::Would you like me to post here an example of what I would write? That way we can decide if it's worthy of creating an actual page. [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 12:53, 9 April 2014 (UTC)<br />
:Adding pages for What If? posts would be very helpful. Although the articles themselves are obviously self-explanatory, there are almost as many subtle references, running gags, and in-jokes in What If? posts these days as in the comics themselves.<br />
I often visit explain xkcd when I feel like I'm missing an inside joke or a pop culture reference in a comic, and it would be very helpful to many people (especially those from other cultures/subcultures) to have the same service.<br />
For example, today's What If? contains multiple allusions to the Superman Movie, a running Citation Needed joke, and a whole comic that is a not-so-subtle dig at Elon Musk and the Hyperloop. It would be awesome if the community here at explainxkcd could tackle stuff like that.<br />
Anonymous 20:05, 31 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I agree. I don't understand the mouseover text on the first image in "Snow Removal", for example. [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 22:57, 23 February 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Transcripts ==<br />
<br />
The whole point of the transcripts is to have those who are unable to view images to still be able to read the comic, right?<br />
<br />
Then why is it required to stick to strictly official transcripts, where sometimes rewriting them slightly would make them flow better or otherwise get the ideas across better? I've tried rewriting a few, but they get reverted. I think that having easier-to-understand transcripts would be more important than strictly following official transcripts; what do you think? (For a few examples, see [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=207:_What_xkcd_Means&diff=60061&oldid=57400 this edit] and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=995%3A_Coinstar&diff=59862&oldid=57316 this edit]. [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 17:38, 19 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
:We use the original transcript to try and deduce original author intent if it's unclear from the image. I remember one comic where Beret Guy was off in the distance and it was difficult to distinguish him from the image, but the official transcript said it was him. We don't stick to the original transcript if it's obviously wrong, or it has typographical errors: see [[Laser Scope]]. Those edits seem to be mainly targeted at language and clarity, and should be fine. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:06, 19 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
::Would it be helpful to have another (optional) section for expanding on the official transcripts? I too think it could be helpful, especially for complex images (such as 1079/United Shapes [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1079]). Or does supplemental description belong in the Explanation sections? Cheers. [[User:Karenb|Karenb]] ([[User talk:Karenb|talk]]) 23:00, 20 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::Naaah, how many people even know there's an original transcript? If the original is wrong, change it. If your additions begin to verge on explanatory, move eet to the trivia/explanation sections. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:52, 21 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== "Characters in this Comic" section ==<br />
<br />
Should there be a "Characters in this Comic" section in each comic explanation? (I feel like this should be longer but don't have anything else to say.) [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 23:33, 11 May 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:There is a Category section at the bottom of each comic. Just scroll down and you will see any character belonging to a specific comic. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:50, 12 May 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Adding the Radiation chart from XKCD ==<br />
<br />
Hi <br />
As there are already other comics with explanations even though they are not part of the number system.<br />
This one does not seem to have any yet:<br />
http://xkcd.com/radiation/<br />
And as it is very alike the Money strip (the unexplained of the week) so I think it should be explained as well.<br />
If you agree please add it as I'm not sure how to do that.<br />
<br />
Best regards<br />
:[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:47, 7 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Reddit comments? ==<br />
<br />
There should be a link in each comics explanation page somewhere linking to the comment section for the relevant comic on /r/xkcdcomic or reddit.<br />
:The reddit comments page isn't ''that'' close to what we do though. If this is more popular, we'll do it, though there'll need to be a fair bit of post-hoc editing since I don't think there's a standard URL scheme for all the past comics. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Not insulting new users ==<br />
<br />
I am writing a response to a vulnerability assessment. I have included a link to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/936 noting that it contains a good explanation of the relative security of passwords vs passphrases. I just noticed that the top of that page contains "Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb." Looks like I'll have to find a different site to link to. --[[User:Pascal|Pascal]] ([[User talk:Pascal|talk]]) 17:33, 28 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Category: Wishes ==<br />
<br />
[http://explainxkcd.com/1391/ Several] [http://explainxkcd.com/1086/ comics] [http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/152:_Hamster_Ball now] [http://xkcd.com/879/ exist] that talk about wishes - probably more. Should there be a category for this? [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 23:22, 7 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
:Doesn't seem significant enough. If you promise to maintain the category you can make it yourself, although it will be cleared out if it gets neglected as new comics are released. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:20, 8 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== RSS feed ==<br />
<br />
Is there an RSS feed (or some equivalent) of Explain XKCD available? It's helpful for those using feed readers, and superior to the primary XKCD RSS since there are explanations and the mouse over text is transcribed for the lazy. Thanks [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.154|108.162.219.154]] 08:24, 28 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
:[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:NewPages&feed=atom&hideredirs=1&limit=90&offset=&namespace=0&username=&feed=&tagfilter= Why yes, we do!] It's the regular new pages log that all wikis have. It's a little ugly at the moment, and sometimes junk gets in there when a bot chucks spam at us, so a nicer feed is in the works, but the linked one should do you excellently for now. When the nice one is done, you'll see it in the sidebar below the "Help" button. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:31, 28 August 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Navigation Pane Link - Categories ==<br />
<br />
How about having a link to the "Special:Categories" page in the navigation pane?<br />
<br />
A fair amount of effort has gone into categorising the comics, and at the moment it isn't particularly obvious how to browse by category. Is this worth doing?{{unsigned|Pudder}}<br />
:Space on the sidebar is on a premium. I dunno, I'd probably be against it, but I want to hear what other admins say as well. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:45, 29 September 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Alternate realities what if would benefit from a wiki entry ==<br />
<br />
The what if entry from the end of November 2014 providing excerpts from alternate reality what ifs would benefit from an explain page. <br />
I suspect these may have been typos that have been made into jokes, but some of the humor might not be apparent to all. <br />
I doubt I have access (or maybe know how) to set it up myself. <br />
<br />
Cheers {{unsigned ip|199.27.133.42}}<br />
<br />
: Made it. Check out [[What If: 120: Alternate Universe What Ifs]]. [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 09:10, 26 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
::We don't actually have a structure for what if pages in general, so I'll have to take that down, but when we do we can make pages for every what if. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:57, 26 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Secondary URLs? ==<br />
<br />
I have made http://www.xkcd.ga and http://www.xkcd.tk both forward to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. Is this ok? [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 08:50, 26 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
:While we probably won't advertise them because we can't guarantee the uptime of third-party URLs, and they add an additional redirect layer and lack our shortened URL features, you're free to purchase and link URLs to us independently. We are not owned by Randall and as such cannot claim to actually be xkcd, so I'm not hugely comfortable with you using the plain name "xkcd" to link to us; a url in the format http://www.xkcd.[TLD] should by rights link to the main xkcd site, but no trademark claim has been made or likely will be made, so you should be fine with doing whatever you want to do with URL redirects '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:57, 26 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== LaTeX (Or MathML, TeX) support? ==<br />
<br />
[[1489:_Fundamental_Forces|In the most recent comic at the time of posting]], there was use of formulae, being:<br/>F<sub>gravity</sub> = G m<sub>1</sub>m<sub>2</sub>/d<sup>2</sup><br/>F<sub>static</sub> = K<sub>e</sub> q<sub>1</sub>q<sub>2</sub>/d<sup>2</sup><br/><br />
There are probably many more comics using formulae that cannot be rendered properly without the use of LaTeX or something. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Displaying_a_formula help page on Wikipedia] says that the following should work:<br/><math>F_{gravity}=G\frac{m_1m_2}{d^2}</math><br/><math>F_{static}=K_e\frac{q_1q_2}{d^2}</math><br />
Provided that one has to set <source lang="php" enclose="none">$wgUseTeX = true;</source> in [[mw:Manual:LocalSettings.php|LocalSettings.php]]. Is there any reason for this to be disabled? If there is, is there any alternative? —[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.95|141.101.106.95]] 21:18, 20 February 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:The wgUseTeX flag was deprecated in mediawiki 1.18 in a move to simplify base mediawiki and move niche features into seperate plugins. I vaguely remember this being requested in the past, can't find any evidence of me implementing it. I'll try it now, see what stopped me last time. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:12, 21 February 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Ah, there's a bit of configuration work to it and I was busy at the time probably. I'll put it on the growing to do list on my userpage. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:20, 21 February 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Merge Cueball & Rob ==<br />
<br />
At the risk of posting this idea too many places and annoying everyone, I would like to propose that we consider merging [[Cueball]] and [[Rob]] and redirecting Cueball to Rob, much as [[Cutie]] now redirects to [[Megan]]. The most common name given for a Cueball-like character in the strip is "Rob". Like Megan, he is not always named. Also, like Megan, Rob tends to have distinct characteristics such as being a nerdy alter-ego to Randall (e.g. [[1168: tar]]) just as Megan often is the appearance given to comic representations of Randall's wife (see [[1141: Two Years]], before hair loss). Megan and Cueball appear to have a relationship (e.g. [[159: Boombox]]) and Megan clearly hangs out with Rob in ways not inconsistent with adventurous couples (e.g. [[782: Desecration]]). Finally, comics that feature both [[Black Hat]] and "Cueball" seem to depict them as friends and possibly roommates. However, we learn in [[1102: Fastest-Growing]] that Black Hat's roommate is named "Rob".<br />
<br />
In short, I believe if [[159: Boombox]] had called "Cueball" "Rob" we would've rewritten both Cutie and Cueball to redirect there. Because we learned that "Cueball's" name is actually Rob much later (I think the earliest occurrences are [[647: Scary]], and [[716: Time Machine]]; the first time he is seen with Megan in a capacity that might indicate a relationship is [[782: Desecration]]). [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:05, 11 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:As I answered your comment on [[1496: Art Project]] Rob is [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comics_featuring_Rob already listed] as part of the category for Comics featuring Cueball: and this is listed as the first entry when going to the page for [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comics_featuring_Cueball Category:Comics featuring Cueball]. Cueball is such an integral part of explain xkcd that I do not think any other users wish to change. Also the 9 incidences with Rob is maybe a specific person and at the time Randall did not think to give him any features. Also Cueballs have no specific behavior as you allude to. Neither has Megan. You can always find several Cueballs and Megans that behave a certain way. But then you can find many other comics where they behave the opposite way. Thus Rob and Cueball should not be merged. Also there are several comics with more than one Cueball. And here we have this problem: It is typically the first who writes the transcript who decides who of the Cueballs (or Megans) he feels represents the "real" Cueball. However, there is no real behavior of Cueball. So who should decide. I could change all these transcripts so it becomes the other character who becomes Cueball, because I think that the first transcriber did it wrong. And this is why in a comic with more than one Cueball (where neither is called Rob or the like) neither of the two should be called Cueball. It would still be in the category with Cueball, because that is just comics with a Cueball like character no matter how many. But they cannot be named Cueball and friend or Rob and friend (unless Rob's name is mentioned!) They could be called Cueball 1 and Cueball 2, but then guy or man would be better. I know several places have comics with two Cueballs where someone has designated one of them Cueball and the other friend of foe etc. But this should be corrected so none of these are called Cueball. Same should go for more than one Megan. But this is very rare, and I have only found one other than ''Art project'' and here only one Megan had any lines. The problem with different opinions on which Cueball is which came for the first time up with Megan in ''Art project'': The two Megan-like characters was first named (left to right) Megan and Danish. Then unidentified girl and Megan. Then Megan and unidentified girl, then two Megan like girls with short and long hair and finally you reverted it to my first change away from Danish to unidentified girl and Megan. (I can live with that as there is difference in hair length and behavior). But as far as I see it Cueball is not Rob as well as Megan should have continued to be called Cutie (but I would not like to change that now, as I have grown fond of Megan). But at the time the change was done I believe it was wrong. The same fondness for the name Cueball also makes me sure that no one else would wish to call him Rob, even if that is as much his name as Megan is Cuties... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:57, 11 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::My argument is that it is inertia and sentiment ("fond of Megan") that prevents an objective, equal treatment here. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 22:47, 11 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Also, regarding the analogy made above to Danish. I am fine with a nickname when Randall hasn't named a character. So she was "unidentified girl" and then became "Danish". But, when we named her "Danish", we went back to "Journal 1" and other places and renamed her. My proposal is that we should go back through and rename "Cueball" as "Rob". Alternatively, we should reinstate "Cutie" for cases in which it is not clear that a character is "Megan" per se, but just Megan in her "everywoman" capacity. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 00:00, 12 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I'm not sure how to post a poll, but I see the following options:<br />
<br />
1) Status quo: Cueball for all unidentified males without distinct characteristics (e.g. hats), Megan for all shoulder-length brunettes. Rob only for named Cueballs. Multiple Cueballs in a comic mean one is named Cueball and others get named "Friend", etc.<br />
<br />
2) Symmetry 1: Cueball/Rob stays as is. Unnamed brunettes get named "Cutie". "Megan" like "Rob" is reserved for comics in which a name is used.<br />
<br />
3) Symmetry 2: Megan stays as is. Rob is the default for indistinct males. "Cueball" page redirects to "Rob" (as "Cutie" now redirect to "Megan").<br />
<br />
4) Expunge all Cueballs from multi-Cueball comics: Basically the status quo, except that in comics with multiple Cueballs none are named "Cueball" and are just all given names "Man 1", "Man 2", etc.<br />
<br />
I am ambivalent regarding options 2 or 3. I could live with 1 if there is consensus for it, but I don't like it. 4 is a disaster in my mind and gains nothing. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 22:47, 11 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:We are probably the only one who reads these post...? But anyway as is clear I'm for 4. Which has been used several places already.´I can live with 1. I think 2 and 3 are disasters. Also it would be completely confusing for those who have used this page for many years. Why do you bring this up now? Is it because of the multiple Megan comics, or have you just signed up here, and dislike that it doesn't follow the rules you would have expected?--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:19, 12 March 2015 (UTC) <br />
::I suggest instead that we create a category for multiple Cueballs, so it is easy to explain why the Cueball is not a specific character, and thus can never be Rob (except when it is clear from the text), or be expected to behave a certain way. And in reverse we make a Named Megan category so it is easy to find the few (three?) where she has been named. This by the way has nothing to do with the other suggestions, so I might just do that to get an overview. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:19, 12 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
::: It seems more consistent to me to use [[Cutie]] for all unnamed "Megans" and reserve "Megan" for named comics. Thus, Rob is '''a''' Cueball and Megan is '''a''' Cutie. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 13:30, 13 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::::I've read through some of your discussions (Here, Kynde's talk page, Art Project discussion), and thought I might put my thoughts forwards. Essentially we have three questions here:<br />
::::1) Should we merge Cueball and Rob, and rename all Cueballs as Rob?<br />
::::2) Should we rename all Megans as Cutie, except where she is explicitly named?<br />
::::3) Once questions 1 & 2 are answered, what do we do where the 'same' character appears multiple times in one comic?<br />
<br />
::::*I understand the objective argument for renaming Cueball to Rob, however I'm unconvinced of the importance of being entirely objective, and I can't imagine Cueball being renamed to anything other than Cueball. <br />
::::*I think its fairly clear where the Cueball label has come from, even if it might not be immediately obvious to some. Even if readers don't make the link between Cueball's head and a cue-ball, it is quite a generic label, which I think fits well with the transient every-man nature of Cueball's usage.<br />
::::*There is something far more specific about the name Rob, which suggests that he is the same character every time. The origin of the name isn't obvious, which I think would be likely to cause confusion. <br />
::::This brings me to conclude that for me, the answer to Q1 has to be that Cueball should stay as Cueball, unless explicitly named something else. <br />
<br />
::::The question of changing Megan to Cutie is one where I am less confident. Following the arguments I've made above, the outcome has to be that we rename to Cutie unless specifically named Megan, however I am not entirely convinced. The name Megan has a history, there are surely lots of people who now know her as Megan, what do we really stand to gain from all the work of changing to Cutie? I would also suggest that the name Cutie may not be accepted well by those with strong feminist views.<br />
<br />
::::As far as multi-character comics, I don't have time right now, but I will come back later and add my thoughts. Now that we've only got a few incomplete comics, we've had to resort to discussing renaming characters!--[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:07, 13 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
:::::I agree with the reasons for keeping Cueball and Megan. And also that Cutie is such a loaded word, that it should never have been used anyway. This I did not immediately think about, but Cutie sounds like something from either a porn movie, or else a Bond Babe... Like the phrase from one of those movies: "Hello, I'm Plenty..." Then we should have to find a third name. And everyone here knows her as Megan. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:24, 15 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
::::::I have created the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Multiple_Cueballs Category:Multiple Cueballs] to locate them and to show how often there are more than one. Feel free to add any I haven't found yet. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:45, 16 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think Rob is Black Hat's roommate and Megan's boyfriend/partner/husband (see above). The "Cueball" in comics such as [[159: Boombox]] and [[542: Cover-Up]] should, in my view, be renamed "Rob", even though he is not explicitly called that in those comics. Most other "Cueball" comics can stay unchanged. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 00:43, 14 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
:I have left my reason to disagree also with this on the two comics talk page. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:24, 15 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In my opinion, it is quite clear that [[Randall]] has chosen to name the main male protagonist [[Rob]], for the few occasions where he needs characters to call upon each other, in the same way as he has chosen [[Megan]] for the main female protagonist. We should therefore try to overcome our nostalgia, follow Randall, and call the common male protagonist Rob. The problem with multiple cueballs can most often be resolved by identifying the protagonist, from the first-person narration or the general perspective. Thus, in [[525: I Know You're Listening]] Rob is the comic's "I", to the left. In [[1110: Click and Drag]], Rob is obviously flying with a balloon. In [[610: Sheeple]] Rob is arguably the guy in the foreground facing us. Non-Rob "cueballs" we could refer to as "friend" "man", etc. In this way roughly half of the "multiple cueballs" would be resolved. I think I can live with a few unclear cases, like [[220: Philosophy]]. [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:22, 19 March 2015 (UTC)</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Megan&diff=86644Megan2015-03-19T11:35:14Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox character<br />
| image = Megan.png<br />
| caption = Megan, seen in [[973: MTV Generation]]<br />
| first_appearance = [[15: Just Alerting You]]<br />
}}<br />
{{Incomplete|should Megan & Cutie be un-merged? [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Merge_Cueball_.26_Rob See here].}}<br />
<br />
'''Megan''' is a [[stick figure]] character in [[xkcd]]. She is the second-most frequently appearing character, after [[Cueball]], and the most frequently appearing female character. She often appears with Cueball as a couple.<br />
<br />
"Megan" does not necessarily always represent the same character from comic to comic. She is essentially the female equivalent of Cueball, representing the every-woman to his {{w|everyman}}. This is less clear than for Cueball as there are several comics, where there are [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Multiple_Cueballs multiple Cueball-like figures], any of whom could be called Cueball<br />
<br />
There are very few comics where this happens with Megan-like characters. (Maybe only in [[1409: Query]] and in [[1496: Art Project]]?) In ''Art Project'' it was debated lively which of the two girls was Megan. Here however, the hair length in the end decided that one of the two megan-like girls was the "real" one, and the short haired version was an unidentified character. Had the latter been alone in another comic, she would for sure have been called Megan. <br />
<br />
For Cueball it is at the moment up for discussion whether it should be standard practice to name neither of the characters Cueball if they are identical and neither of them is given a name (like Rob) or other defining characteristic in the comic. An example of this for Megan has yet to be found.<br />
<br />
Megan does sometimes appear to have slightly specific personality traits; she has quite odd habits, and is sometimes shown to be very focused and intent on a goal. However, as explained above this is not a general rule for a given Megan character.<br />
<br />
''Explain xkcd'' originally referred to this character as "Cutie" (complementing "Cueball" with a matching first syllable). But then a "Cutie" was given a specific name, Megan, in [[159: Boombox]] and later in for instance [[215: Letting Go]] and [[420: Jealousy]]. The name Cutie was then changed to Megan. If this rule should be followed generally, then Cueball should be re-named [[Rob]] after [[276: Fixed Width]] (and the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comics_featuring_Rob 9 times] a Cueball has been named Rob in total). <br />
<br />
A character that looked a lot like Megan, but with somewhat longer hair and a much meaner attitude was distinguished from her as [[Black Hat]]s girlfriend [[Danish]].<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
Early comics often feature Megan-style characters who may or may not be identified as Megan. [[Randall]] appears not to have standardized his character lineup early in the comic's run, and as a result, certain early female characters sometimes have similar hair to Megan, but some different features.<br />
<br />
The name (or even pseudonym) "Megan" may be reference to a lost love of Randall's, given that he wrote a passive-aggressive toast for Megan's wedding in [[420: Jealousy]] about how he was madly still in love with her, put across in a way that would generally ruin the day for everyone involved. We also see this earlier in [[215: Letting Go]].<br />
<br />
Unlike Cueball characters, Randall generally does not use multiple "Megans" in strips. Her characteristics are often somewhat consistent. It can therefore be unclear whether Megan-like characters are intended to be one character, or merely generic female characters (or a combination of both).<br />
<br />
==Characteristics==<br />
Megan is distinguished by her black shoulder-length hair which generally appears to be parted in the middle in front, and is draped behind what are presumably her (undrawn) ears.<br />
<br />
In [[1409: Query]], we learn that she is 30 or younger, that her annual income is less than or equal to $100,000, and that she is afraid of flying. She is not explicitly named "Megan" in this comic though.<br />
<br />
{{navbox-characters}}<br />
[[Category:Characters]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1350:_Lorenz&diff=866431350: Lorenz2015-03-19T11:28:02Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>__NOTOC__<br />
{{comic<br />
| number = 1350<br />
| date = April 1, 2014<br />
| title = Lorenz<br />
| image = lorenz.png<br />
| titletext = Every choice, no matter how small, begins a new story<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''NOTE: The above is the first panel of an interactive comic.''' For a collection of images that appear in this comic, see [[1350: Lorenz/Images]]. These will also be described below under [[#Themes|themes]].<br><br />
Also note that the order of the options are random. And by adding that there is a fifth option - and only four can be shown - this means there are 5*4*3*2 = '''120 different permutations''' of the way the options can be arranged only in this first image. So the above image will only appear with these four options in this order in less than 1% of the cases! Of course when you choose an option it is indifferent what the order of the other options was.<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This is an interactive and dynamic comic with a possible first picture shown on top of this page. The picture is always the same but the order of the four sentences is chosen randomly. The result of all the interactions by the readers led to the generation of {{w|Crowdsourcing|crowd-sourced content}}. In honor of {{w|April Fools' Day}}, the comic was posted a day earlier than normal (on Tuesday instead of Wednesday).<br />
<br />
The title 'Lorenz' is referring to {{w|Edward Norton Lorenz}} who, among other subjects, was famous for {{w|Chaos theory}} and the {{w|Butterfly effect}}.<br />
<br />
The title text is a reference to how the story line of this comic will be chaotic by nature, since it includes all of the user submitted dialogue and updates over time based on statistics of user clicks. In this manner, it is a reference to the butterfly effect, a phrase coined by Edward Lorenz to describe how a small initial change can lead to wide variations in outcome in a chaotic system.<br />
<br />
This comic is an example of a {{w|Choose Your Own Adventure}} story as mentioned in the title text.<br />
<br />
==Functionality and bugs==<br />
The reader is initially presented with only one panel where Knit Cap Girl is sitting in front of her computer. The reader is given multiple choices concerning what exactly Knit Cap Girl is thinking. Upon choosing any option - the chosen text will appear where her gray speech bubble was (and this will then disappear), and then a second panel appears to the right, to give continuity to the story. Each new panel may have a new set of options or just the button "Continue" to see the next panel without making any choice in particular. Eventually, one may reach a dead end in which the story is interrupted and reader is presented with a text box to suggest how it should continue. Some of the suggestions given should eventually become available as new options.<br />
<br />
===Knit Cap Girl===<br />
Knit Cap Girl is a completely new character wearing a knit cap. Since Knit Cap Girl seems to be together with [[Hairy]] in this comic it would be strange if she should be representing Megan. (Hairy has some bad reputation in trying to fool girls to fall for him. Perhaps he has finally found out how to be with a woman; although they seem to fight in this comic some times.)<br />
<br />
===Number of options===<br />
Normally, there is a total of 4 options to make: a/b/c/d. Their order changes constantly. Sometimes, there are 3 or fewer options, with the text box to suggest an alternative option. Sometimes, a given panel actually has 5 or more available options, although even in this case only 4 options appear at a time. Refreshing the comic changes randomly which of the available options are visible and which are hidden. As of late April 2014, the existence of 5 options seems to occur only in a few rare cases, including the first panel itself. There are no longer any panels that seem to have six options.<br />
<br />
===Easy navigation===<br />
Instead of clicking with the mouse you can move more quickly through the panels using the keyboard:<br />
*Up/Down - navigate options<br />
*Enter/Right/Spacebar - choose option after navigating with Up/Down<br />
*Left - go back one panel<br />
*a/b/c/d - choose any option directly<br />
<br />
===New panels===<br />
It appears that new panels may be generated by Randall in near real time as user suggestions to dialog are submitted. The dialog options could be based on click-through rates and hence will change over time based on which choices are clicked most using {{w|A/B testing|A/B measurement techniques}}. This will mean that the most popular choices for dialog lines will prevail as the statistics build up. In some cases, dialog line options do not depend on the continuity of the storyline followed, suggesting that some parts of the story are planned. For example, several of the story lines involve one of the two main characters waking up and for instance telling the other character, "I had the strangest dream…" or even reliving the dream. This may be due to common submissions across story lines. Of course there is the other option that Randall has used the first week of April to look though some input and choose himself. These possibilities are not mutually exclusive. Some of the options that were there very early were in quite poor English. Later the same idea was still there but in a more refined sentence. However, after the first week or two, no new panels seemed to appear, which suggests that some were drawn to match the story's progression.<br />
<br />
===Permalink===<br />
Each panel has a "permalink" button which generates a unique URL for all the choices made by the reader — so a reader can save the chosen choices to compare them to other ways going through the selections. The permalink do only save the chosen options, not the order or the visible options in the image where the permalink is recorded. So it is not possible to save a copy where the options are in the same order as they are in the 1/120 version shown at the top. Also if you go back in the story from a permalink, you can risk, when passing back through a panel with five options, that the option you just got back from, is no longer available, as it is the option randomly not shown this time.<br />
<br />
===Suggest a line===<br />
Some times it is possible to add your own suggestions in a panel where there are still other choices. But if not before, then the story will always reach a "final" panel (dead-end) where the reader only has the option left to "suggest a line..." By doing so and pressing enter this text is then shown in the speech bubble. But these suggestions can't be saved as there are no permalink button after this. The reader has to do a screen shot by himself - if he wishes to save his own witty remark. As a few weeks had progressed there were probably so few new suggestions that Randall stopped changing the comic. There has been no reason to believe that new options or panels appeared after the first few weeks of April.<br />
<br />
===Bugs===<br />
Since this interactive comic relies on many servers in the background to provide the response to the reader's actions, there are some problems reported here:<br />
*{{w|HTTP cookie|Cookies}} and {{w|Javascript}} are required to see this page properly. Without cookies, the next panel will not render; attempting to load the page in the UNIXKCD terminal or loading the page without Javascript will just get you the [[1349|previous comic]].<br />
*When selecting a sentence A/B/C/D the server does not respond on that selection.<br />
*The servers responsible to provide the pictures are down.<br />
*In the first week after the comic was released, if a response led to a panel where two characters speak at the same time, it was impossible to proceed past the first speech bubble. This was subsequently fixed.<br />
As a consequence of these bugs many readers had trouble understanding how this interactive comic worked.<br />
<br />
==Themes==<br />
===Computer===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
! The beginning<br>[[Image:lorenz - computer.png]]<br />
| Knit Cap Girl sits at her laptop saying/thinking something. You choose what from four options and thus starts the interactive and dynamic comic. Originally on April the 1st there where only four choices, but this has increased since. But you always have four to choose from when you begin.<br />
|-<br />
! Computer problems<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 3.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 4.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 5.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 6.png]]<br />
| Knit Cap Girl's laptop has an unspecified problem. Hairy walks in and they attempt to fix it by connecting his laptop with hers. There are two outcomes possible:<br />
*He fails so badly that they end up randomly floating in the ocean (with or without circling sharks - a reference to [[349: Success]] see below.)<br />
*It doesn't work so now Knit Cap Girl tries to write something on Hairy's laptop from a paper (a manual?) she holds in her hand. This also fails and the story continues with a blowtorch scene - see below:<br />
|-<br />
! Blowtorch<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 7.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 8.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 9.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 10.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 11.png]]<br />
| Knit Cap Girl becomes so upset with her laptop that she decides to melt it using a blowtorch - a clear reference to the comic from the day before this one: [[1349: Shouldn't Be Hard]]. After this they walk out of the building.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Political debate===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
! Debate<br>[[image:lorenz - debate laptop.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - debate 1.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - debate 2.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - debate 5.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - debate 4.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - debate 3.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - visit.png]]<br />
| Knit Cap Girl uses har laptop to watch a debate online between the Politician 1 (on the left) and the Politician 2 ([[Cueball]], on the right), the subject and the actual conversation of which varies according to the storyline. Eventually one of two things can happen:<br />
*They fight each other, the Politician 2 using a lightsaber and the Politician 1 using his bare fists<br />
*Politician 1 is going down on one knee - either to pray or as in a suggestion to ask the other to marry him...<br />
Subjects debated could be user suggestions but below are one of those from April the 1st:<br />
*Politician 1 accuses Politician 2 of having never liked Firefly.<br />
*Politician 1 vows to end the "war on Christmas" if elected.<br />
*Politician 1 praises his adversary and supports his economic plan.<br />
*Politician 1 questions Politician 2's project of tying multiple birds to a car as fuel replacement, which would require some method to make the birds take off in unison. The solutions mentioned for this topic are given here as an example:<br />
**Opening and closing an umbrella near them (a reference to {{W|Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade}}).<br />
**Using a predatory bird to the car to scare them<br />
**Putting resources in the hands of bird educators for the purpose of training them<br />
**Employing fiscal hawks. <br />
If the Politician 1 points out some problem with the reasoning, often the solution proposed by the Politician 2 would be doing the same in a larger scale or saying he completely agrees with everything the other says...<br />
In the end, Hairy walks in to Knit Cap Girl and points out something happening near which may or may not involve birds (or what ever was the subject) which could be a direct result of Politician 2's project. Again all this could be user input!<br />
The last image where Hairy walks in have been used also in other story lines<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Ocean===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
! Wrong move<br>[[image:lorenz - laptop 6.png]]<br />
| Knit Cap Girl tries to write something on Hairy's laptop from a note she has in her hand. Hairy watches. This image is also used in the computer problem theme above. But this time it goes really wrong and the Ocean scene appears right after this:<br />
|-<br />
! Sharks<br>[[image:lorenz - shark zero.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - shark one.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - sharks.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - squids.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - blood.png]]<br />
| Knit Cap Girl and Hairy are floating in the ocean, with or without sharks. A clear reference to [[349: Success]]. Sharks have been the subject of several other comics. <br />
Three giant squids appear and a lone shark seems disturbed. Maybe the squids killed the sharks leaving the blood in the last of these images?<br />
<br />
Here are some examples with these images <br />
*[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:9b96fda0-bb48-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd Zero and one shark]<br />
*[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:9b6e3082-bb48-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd Three shark]<br />
*[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:9b96fda0-bb48-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd Squids and blood].<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! Beach<br>[[image:lorenz - hairy swims away.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - beach.png]]<br />
|Knit Cap Girl and Hairy starts to swim out of the shark free ocean and finally reaches a beach - see [[349: Success]].<br />
*Here are an example where they reach the [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:310127b6-bbb3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd beach].<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Leaving the bulding===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
! Leaving<br>[[Image:lorenz - going.png]]<br />
| In some storylines the two characters leaves the building. Either with the laptop intact (like after the politic debate) or with a fused laptop (see computer problems theme). In either case they encounter one of the following scenarios when they come out the door:<br />
|-<br />
! Empty lawn<br>[[Image:lorenz - away.png]]<br />
| Sometimes nothing is outside the bulind except the pawement they walk upon there is just an empty lawm. See [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:b69f6096-b9f0-11e3-8009-002590d77bdd this example] for both of the first two pictures here. From this point they can move on to walk past stuff - see below.<br />
|-<br />
! Huge hole on the lawn<br>[[image:lorenz - hole.png]]<br />
| There is a huge hole in the ground just outside of the building. The two characters always end up falling into it and one of them awakes from a night mare - see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd this example]. See below about dreams.<br />
|-<br />
! Rocket on the lawn<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 1.png]]<br />
| There is a space rocket on the lawn outside the building - see [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 this example]. See below about dreams and space travel.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Walking===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
! Starting the walk<br>[[Image:lorenz - away.png]]<br />
| When there is nothing outside the building the walk begins. It can though begin in other ways, but that is usually longer into a complicated story. The walk begins with Knit Cap Girl and Hairy walking together, but they also often walks alone as will be shown below.<br />
|-<br />
!Walking past<br>[[Image:lorenz - tree.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - gap.png]]<br />
|Knit Cap Girl and Hairy walks together past the following items:<br />
*A tree<br />
*A gap in the ground - which Knit Cap Girl jumps over, much like in a pit from Mario brothers.<br />
|-<br />
!Walking together<br>[[Image:lorenz - dark.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - walking.png]]<br />
|The two characters are seen walking together from different perspectives.<br />
|-<br />
!Arguing<br>[[Image:lorenz - discuss.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - hairy leaves.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - knit cap leaves.png]]<br />
|Knit Cap Girl and Hairy stops their walk to have an argument. Then either she or he leaves the other by walking back the way they came.<br />
|-<br />
!Alone - Girl<br>[[Image:lorenz - walk 5.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - walk 6.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - walk 8.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - walk 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - walk 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - walk 3.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - walk 4.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - walk 9.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - thinking.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - bird gift.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - bird money.png]]<br />
|Knit Cap Girl walks alone. This is not necessarily because of the argument! She is seen walking alone in many different poses and perspectives. At one point she is thinking - this does not have to be while alone! At some point a bird passes over her carrying a gift. It then returns - now with a money note in its beak.<br />
|-<br />
!Alone - Guy<br>[[Image:lorenz - meanwhile.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - walk 7.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - walk 10.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - thinking 2.png]]<br />
|Hairy is seen walking alone. This is not necessarily because of the argument! He is seen walking alone in two poses. At one point he is thinking - this does not have to be while alone! In one story line the ''meanwhile'' image appears before this walk like in [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:aee5abf0-bb29-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd this example].<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Rocket launch===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
!Into the rocket<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 3.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 4.png]]<br />
| Leaving the bulding the characters find the rocket on the lawn, and climbs into it.<br />
|-<br />
!Out of the rocket<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 5.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 6.png]]<br />
| In some storylines the rocket does not launch (it fails or they do not wish to go into space). So the two charachters climb out again.<br />
|-<br />
!Rocket launch<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 7.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 8.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 11.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 9.png]]<br />
| If they do not climb out again, the rocket will launch into space. Sometimes an image from the flight simulator program {{W|Kerbal Space Program}} will appear - see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd this example] where the launch wakes a charachter up from a dream. If the characthers do not wake up here, see dream theme, then the rocket will go into space - see Space theme. Before reacing space a dark image will turn up as shown [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 here].(This picture is also used in the dream sequence with the hole).<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Space===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
!Rocket launch<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 7.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 8.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 11.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 9.png]]<br />
| When the rocket is launch into space sometimes an image from the flight simulator program {{W|Kerbal Space Program}} will appear - see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd this example]. The characthers do not always wake up if this image is shown as in the example, see dream theme. If they do not then the rocket will go into space and often a black image will turn up as shown [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 here].(This picture is also used in the dream sequence with the hole). See other examples for these pictures in the last two entries.<br />
|-<br />
!Flying over earth<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 10.png]]<br />
| After entering space, the rocket is in an orbit over earth.<br />
|-<br />
!In space<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 13.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 14.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 19.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 20.png]]<br />
| From earth the rocket flies into deep space. At one point it may come close to the sun - which could explain the white color in one image.<br />
|-<br />
!Asteroids<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 24.png]]<br />
| Passing the {{W|Asteroid belt}}<br />
|-<br />
!Saturn<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 12.png]]<br />
| Passing {{W|Saturn}} with it's majestic rings<br />
|-<br />
!Fly by<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 15.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 16.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 17.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 18.png]]<br />
| The space rocket encounters another space ship that asks a question about relativity, the same one that appeared in [[265: Choices: Part 2]]. The other space rocket will shoot and destroy the main rocket if the question isn't answered satisfactory see below. Otherwise the two rockets fly past each other.<br />
|-<br />
!Little Prince<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 21.png]]<br />
| Eventually the space rocket meets a guy on a very tiny planet which most likely is a reference to {{w|The Little Prince}}. This could also be a reference to the asteroid [http://blog.xkcd.com/2013/09/30/asteroid-4942-munroe/ 4942 Munroe], then it could be [[Randall]] on the rock... The story never seem to move past this point. Here is an [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:6490cc4a-b9f0-11e3-8009-002590d77bdd example].<br />
|-<br />
!Attack<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 15.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 16.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 17.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 22.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 23.png]] <br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]<br />
| If the answer to the space ship is not acceptable it will turn around after passing, and shoot down the rocket. This will turn off the rockets in the Kerbal Space Program simulator, and in turn one of the characthers (Hairy?) will awake from a dream, see dream theme. Most of the images above as well as this attack is included in [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 this example]<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Kerbal Space Program===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
!Engines on<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 11.png]]<br />
|These pictures are from the flight simulator program {{W|Kerbal Space Program}} (KSP). An example of the image in the comic can be seen [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd here]. In this case the liftoff with the engine on turns out to be just a dream. But the image can also precede a space travel going into deep space - as the travel shown below. See more on the this under the space theme.<br />
|-<br />
!Engines off<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 23.png]]<br />
|Here we see an image with the engines off. See this [http://i.imgur.com/UofvQ.png image] from KSP where the rocket engines are not on. This image is usually shown after the spaceship is shut down and it turns out it was just a dream - see [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 this example]. See more on the this under the space theme.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Dinosaur===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
! Dinosaur Comics<br>[[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 3.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 4.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]]<br />
| The green T-rex from {{w|Dinosaur Comics}} (a clip-art-based webcomic that uses the same artwork with different captions for every strip.) interrupts the story and proceeds to talk about his tiny arms or other subjects. The first three pictures are taken directly from the webcomic, except that the third picture is larger in the real comic (see [http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=2420 this particular example] where the title text actually refer to Randall and xkcd). In the end, the dinosaur stamps on the house the main characters are in (this is thus Randall's own picture). If it gets this far one of the characters will wake up from a dream - It may be only Knit Cap Girl as she is the one seen fully in the fourth image. Examples where this is the second dream can be seen [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:5e94d028-bb7d-11e3-8012-002590d77bdd here] and [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 here]. See more under the dream theme.<br />
<br />
Characters from ''Dinosaur Comics'' has aslso appeared in [[145: Parody Week: Dinosaur Comics]] and [[1452: Jurassic World]].<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Boomerang===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
! Finding Boomerang<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 2.png]]<br />
| Knit Cap Girl finds a boomerang on the ground and may express her feelings about it. The other images listed below, may come more or less in any order and any number of times. She may comment on it again after catching it. She may also put it down. See below also for examples of story lines.<br />
Boomerangs are also featured in: [[445: I Am Not Good with Boomerangs]], [[475: Further Boomerang Difficulties]], [[939: Arrow]]<br />
|-<br />
! Throwing Boomerang<br><br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 3.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 4.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 8.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 6.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 9.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 10.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 5.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 7.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 11.png]]<br />
| Knit Cap Girl throws the boomerang, and it flies back (and forth). This can go on for a while, and she may even [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:08896f1c-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 lay it down and walk away]. However, more often than not she will end up with an accident:<br />
|-<br />
! Accidents<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 5.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 6.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang rocket 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang rocket 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang boom.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - surprise.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - run.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 3.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 4.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - meanwhile.png]]<br />
| These accidents are:<br />
*Getting hit in the face - The two options here below are both featured in [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ee6b910c-bae5-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd this example].<br />
**Knit Cap Girl getting hit in the face with the boomerang rebound (i.e. [[445: I Am Not Good with Boomerangs]])<br />
**Knit Cap Girl fails to catch the boomerang and the rebound hit Hairy in the face off screen and he then enters the frame in the next image. <br />
*Hitting the space rocket from another story branch - see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd this example].<br />
*The boomerang crashing into something off panel - someone may shout back - see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:fc34f46a-ba98-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd this example]. (i.e. [[475: Further Boomerang Difficulties]])<br />
**In some cases the meanwhile image appears like in [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:aee5abf0-bb29-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd this example].<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Pokémon===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
! A wild Pikachu appeared<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu appeared.png]]<br />
| Some of the storylines involve Pokémon battles featuring Pikachu, a very popular Pokémon. The battles are drawn in the style of the video games. (A trainer in the left-bottom corner facing the foe in the right-top corner, with a narration box below the scene and the trainer's Pokéballs visible, although some elements are missing, such as the level, gender and HP bar.) In this first image Pikachu the wild pokémon appeares. Then the fight begins:<br />
|-<br />
! Pikachu's moves<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu abandonment.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu anguish.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu ant.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu extrude.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu faceless.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu friendship.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu granite.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu graph.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu ink cloud.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu radicality.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu theft.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu uplift.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu ethylene.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu blank.png]]<br />
| Pikachu uses a number of different moves, though these are mostly made up and are not from the Pokémon games. Pikachu's moves are almost invariably remarked by the narrator as "It's not very effective...", but "It's super effective!" is also possible to appear. (see below) <br />
In the video games, a move is "not very effective" when the opponent's type resists the attacking move's type and "super effective" when the opponent's type is weak to the attacking move's type.<br />
<br />
Pikachu's moves (see below for examples - those appearing in the examples are marked with ¤$£ etc):<br />
* Abandonment ^ - Pikachu disappears completely.<br />
* Anguish ¤% - Pikachu is sad.<br />
* Ant Colony - Pikachu is covered in ants.<br />
* Extrude - Pikachu's head moves away from his body as his neck becomes long and malleable.<br />
* Faceless $ - Pikachu's face disappears.<br />
* Friendship £ - Pikachu is on Knit Cap Girl's head, signifying they are now friends. Friendship, though not a move, is a game mechanic in the video games.<br />
* Granite % - Pikachu is atop a block of granite.<br />
* Graph Theory ¤ - The theory can be seen behind Pikachu <br />
* Ink Cloud % - Pikachu is covered in ink. In the storyline Pikachu uses it, there is the option to "gather" the ink.<br />
* Radicality £ - Pikachu is on a skateboard.<br />
* Theft & - Pikachu wears Knit Cap Girl's hat. Pikachu seems to be using "Thief", a similarly-named actual move from the games, that is used to steal the foe's item and use it as its own.<br />
* Uplift - Pikachu's head goes upward, separated from its body, showing a long, thick cable still connecting the head and the body.<br />
* Ethylene Dichloride ¤ - Pikachu holds a glas with Ethylene Dichloride - Nothing seems to happen, but Ethylene Dichloride is a toxic chemical, so there may be future consequences for the characters. <br />
** After using it, ("not very effective") Pikachu may make remarks about the move using the blank version of the image from below (the following text are users suggestion):<br />
*** I used to be better at chemistry.<br />
*** This is still better than all the lightning crap.<br />
* Blank text box ¤£% - for user input<br />
**The below items are (probably) not with a certain picture but text that users have suggested appear in the blank picture at the bottom of this section:<br />
** Struggle<br />
***In one storyline, after Pikachu uses a number of moves, it says: "Now I only have Struggle left. Tie?" In the Pokémon games, when a Pokémon runs out of PP (Power Points, the energy required to use each of its moves) for all its moves, it may only use Struggle, a weak move, indefinitely reusable, that harms not only the opponent but the user as well.<br />
** Cuteness %<br />
** Yet %<br />
** Crowdsource<br />
** The Discrete Metric<br />
<br />
Here are some examples of battle (please help include links to all moves):<br />
* ¤ [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:81c9e8c8-ba1d-11e3-8018-002590d77bdd 4 different moves]<br />
* % [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:f203d1c6-ba22-11e3-801a-002590d77bdd 5 different moves]<br />
* £ [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:8737f5b4-ba92-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd 3 different moves]<br />
* $ [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:feaa5d4e-bbd2-11e3-802c-002590d77bdd Faceless move]<br />
* & [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:b8fe0a3c-bb52-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd Theft move]<br />
* ^ [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:2f0612e0-bbd7-11e3-8030-002590d77bdd Abandonment move]<br />
<br />
Below are some transcript of lines from user input and their references:<br />
*One narration line is "Where's Twitch when I need help?", a reference to {{w|Twitch Plays Pokémon}} which was also covered by comic [[1333: First Date]]. <br />
*Another narration line is: "Google Maps didn't warn me of this.", a reference to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YMD6xELI_k Google Maps: Pokémon Challenge].<br />
*Other remarks from Pikachu or about Pikachu can be seen in [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:e8cf1df0-bbd4-11e3-802e-002590d77bdd this example]<br />
** Pikachu: Aren't you going to catch me? It's not difficult, I promise... Please? [Knit Cap Girl and Hairy ignore him and go away]<br />
*** Please! Jigglypuff keeps on drawing on my face!<br />
*** You were walking in tall grass! You asked for it!<br />
*** Please... Tame me! I want to party on days other than Thursday.<br />
**** [Hairy remarks] Y'know, if we catch a Pikachu, we would never [sic] to pay our electric bills again.<br />
*Pokémon mentioned other than Pikachu:<br />
** Charizard (In one storyline, "Go Charizard" is one usable move in battle)<br />
** Jigglypuff<br />
|-<br />
! Not effective<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu not very effective.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu end 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu end 2.png]]<br />
|Normally after a few failed attempts - where the result is given as ''It's not very effective'', there is an uncomfortable silence as the Pikachu says "Um..." Then it talks to Knit Cap Girl and Hairy and as they then walk away past the Pókemon, Pikachu is left in the tall grass and has time to make a final remark. See [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:9a86363c-bb53-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd this example] where they walk away only to meet another wild Pikachu.<br />
|-<br />
! Super effective<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu super effective.png]]<br> [[Image:lorenz - pikachu fainted.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu dead 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu dead 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu dead 3.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu dead 4.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu dead 5.png]]<br />
|Rarely, a suggested move knocks Pikachu out. This is stated as ''It's super effective'' (sometimes this image comes right after the one with ''It's not very effective''). The result is that Pikachu faints. Knit Cap Girl and Hairy looks at the fainted (not dead) Pikachu who lies facedown in the grass. Then Knit Cap Girl ''pokes'' the pókemon and they walk past him out of the tall grass like in [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:feaa5d4e-bbd2-11e3-802c-002590d77bdd this example].<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Dreams===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
! Walking up<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]<br />
| Sometimes, Knit Cap Girl or Hairy find themselves waking from a dream, suggesting that all prior events were just them dreaming. Below are several situations where a dream will or may occur described (and shown with the full sequence leading up to the dream displayed). <br />
Often a dream loops upon itself, as a character wakes up multiple times in the same storyline, either from the same dream or from different dreams.<br />
Sometimes it even turns out that each character has a dream in the same storyline, meaning that the last to wake up, has dreamt that they were the other character waking up before... See examples of all this below.<br />
The dream scenarios (together with the ''meanwhile'' image) would make it possible to connect all images into one long sequence!<br />
Some situations will always result in a character waking up, others will only in some story lines lead to an awakening.<br />
As can be seen in these two images Knit Cap Girl wakes up with her head to the left and the cap lying on the end of the bed. Hairy wakes up with his head to the right.<br />
|-<br />
! Falling<br><br>[[Image:lorenz - hole.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - falling.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - aaa.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - aaa 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 9.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]<br />
| One of the most obvious dreams is the one about falling as in this case where both characters falls into a big hole outside the building they are leaving - as shown here in [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:20698602-bbb1-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd this example] where first one then the other characters awake from the same falling dream. <br />
In the case - with the hole - one (or either as shown above) of the characters wakes up from the nightmare after falling into the hole. But they can wake up after any of the three black pictures shown here. The other two pictures (which were not included in the first example) can be seen in [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ba285dea-baa3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd this example].(The total black picture is also sometimes used in the space theme). The hole situation will always turn out to be a dream.<br />
|-<br />
! Dinosaur<br><br>[[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 3.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 4.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]]<br />
| A Dinosaur enters the comic (see more about these same images under the Dinosaur theme). If the comic goes on long enough these four images will appear and after the last the character awakes from the nightmare. It may be only Knit Cap Girl as she is the one seen fully in the fourth image. Examples where this is the second dream can be seen [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:5e94d028-bb7d-11e3-8012-002590d77bdd here] and [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 here]. If the dinosaur steps on the building the story will always turn out to be a dream.<br />
|-<br />
! Evil spaceship<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 15.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 16.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 17.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 18.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 22.png]] <br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 23.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]<br />
| During a space travel the rocket passes another space ship. If a failed communication occurs the space ship turns around and shoots down the rocket. At this point it turns out it was just a nightmare and one of the characters wake up (maybe only Hairy?). See [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 this example]. In the last picture before waking we see an image from the flight simulator program Kerbal Space Program (KSP) with the rockets off - see the KSP theme. This situation will always turn out to be a dream.<br />
|-<br />
! Rocket launch<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 7.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 8.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 11.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]]<br />
| This dream is not really a nightmare, as opposed to the three above, where the characters always wake up. This is not necessarily the case for the rocket launch. But in this case described here Knit Cap Girl (maybe also Hairy) wakes up during the rocket launch - see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd this example]. In the last picture before waking we see an image from the flight simulator program Kerbal Space Program (KSP) with the rockets on - see the KSP theme.<br />
|-<br />
! Politic debate<br>[[Image:lorenz - debate 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - debate 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - debate 4.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]]<br />
| In this dream, that is not so much a nightmare that it will always be a dream (like the first three) Knit Cap Girl (maybe also Hairy) wakes up after a silly political debate - see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd this example].<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Waking up===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
! Walking up<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]<br />
| Sometimes, Knit Cap Girl or Hairy find themselves waking from a dream, suggesting that all prior events were just them dreaming. After they awake they stay in bed for a while and then go out in to the world. These scenes will be shown here below.<br />
As can be seen in these two images Knit Cap Girl wakes up with her head to the left and the cap lying on the end of the bed. Hairy wakes up with his head to the right.<br />
|-<br />
! In bed - Girl<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 11.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 10.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 3.png]]<br />
|Knit Cap Girl wakes up with a ''Gasp''. She sits for a while - may then begin to sing ''I woke up like this'' (This could be a reference to {{W|Flawless (Beyoncé song)}}). After this she may lie down again before finally getting out of bed.<br />
|-<br />
!Yawning - Girl<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 4.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - computer.png]]<br />
|Yawning Knit Cap Girl gets back to her laptop and we are back to the first image as can be seen in [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:20698602-bbb1-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd this example].<br />
|-<br />
! In bed - Guy<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 6.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 13.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 7.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 12.png]]<br />
|Hairy wakes up with a ''Gasp''. He sits for a while - may then begin to sing ''I woke up like this'' (This could be a reference to {{W|Flawless (Beyoncé song)}}). After this he may lie down again before finally getting out of bed. Notice that [[Randall]] forgot to draw Hairy's hairy hair as he lay down again. If it was a wick, it should have hung over the bed like Knit Cap Girls Knit Cap does.<br />
|-<br />
!Yawning - Guy<br><br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 8.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 9.png]]<br />
|Yawning Hairy walks in where Knit Cap Girl sits at her laptop and tells her about his dream(?) as can be seen in [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:20698602-bbb1-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd this example], where both yawning pictures appear.<br />
|-<br />
! Salesman<br>[[Image:lorenz - sale 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - sale 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - sale 3.png]]<br />
| Instead of going to Knit Cap Girl after walking up Hairy can take an alternative route where he meets [[White Hat]], a salesman with a small stand. White Hat tries to sell something to Hairy. Will he succeed.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[This transcript only transcribes what can be seen in the picture shown at the top of the explanation here.]<br />
<br />
:[The comic starts with two panels. In the top panel we see Knit Cap Girl sitting at a desk in front of her laptop typing. There is a speech line up to a gray but empty speech bubble.]<br />
:[The second panel below has the same gray background as the empty speech bubble above. Here is presented four options to what Knit Cap Girl could be saying. They are marked a, b, c and d written in small white rectangles next to the text. There is a small arrow at the top pointing to the first panel:]<br />
<br />
:a Let's see if BSD is any easier to install nowadays.<br />
:b Oh. Hey. There's some kind of political thing going on. <br />
:c Hurry! We're in talks with Facebook.<br />
:d Refresh... No new email... Refresh... No new tweets... Refresh...<br />
<br />
:[Once the reader chooses one of the options the text will appear in the speech bubble where the gray area is replaced with the usual white background. The lower gray panel disappears. Now the comic really begins.]<br />
:[A new panel is shown after the selection, again with one to four options to choose from in the new gray panel below. This will continue until it comes to an end where the reader finally only has the choice to suggest the next line.]<br />
<br />
:[The order of the up to four options are random, and changes every time you begin again (or even go back to a previous frame). This means that the a-d in the transcript is not the same next time. In some few panels there are even more than four options. To see the fifth you have to reload, then you may find this fifth option next time. The first panel is one of those with five options.] <br />
:[The fifth not shown above is: '''These stupid tiles... I'll just play one more game.''']<br />
<br />
:[In the first days of the comic when it developed quickly, new options appeared only to later disappear. '''Gravity. Lots of it.''' is one of those lost options from the first panel. At one time there was also by mistake two versions of one of the other five mentioned above. But this was later deleted. Maybe there could still be a permalink to these lost stories out there...? (Wish granted: see [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:87adb65e-baa2-11e3-8012-002590d77bdd here] for the part just after "Gravity. Lots of it.")]<br />
<br />
:[Although it may be impossible to finish? ... it has been tried to make a complete '''[[1350: Lorenz/Transcript|interactive transcript]]'''.]<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*In one [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:lorenz_-_wake_up_7.png panel] Hairy is drawn in bed ''without'' his hair - see the [[#Waking up|Waking up]] pictures.<br />
*The most common pictures are [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/vS9UO5cGsw1hoDrrNLMSRg.png "Not very effective"], [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/VegCGBEOFJCsFxJpbmvziQ.png Throwing], [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/zHPHozjDXmCUy66bYVSRoQ.png Waiting], [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/ZNBJOG1e-vCfzdqKFHQ21A.png Leaving the House].<br />
*The rarest pictures are [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/VgSdMz8OAHQ8w5Ee432f5Q.png The Little Prince], [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/0RW46RaD8RJDfTyBOTqlpw.png The beach], [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/OZZtCeXrnU0UskVTCUQf1Q.png An exponential chart]. (As of late April there are several pictures from the complete list, that no longer seem to be available - so they are not only rare, but extinct in the comic if no one has a permalink to a comic where they appear).<br />
*'''The all time longest comics by panel - top three'''. <br />
**Please only include '''clearly different''' storylines:<br />
*# [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels] - Space/dinosaur double dream, boomerang, and exploding rocket.<br />
*# [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:718ad9a6-bc6e-11e3-800f-002590d77bdd 41 panels] - Politics, hole dream, boomerang.<br />
*# [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 39 panels] - Politics, dream and boomerang.<br />
**There may be no upper boundary! <br />
**But this is then the list of the longest comics with most panels as found so far.<br />
**If you beat a record please post the '''permalink''' here.<br />
**Please note themes included in comic. <br />
**Please move beaten records down and delete the fourth.<br />
*'''Longest by themes''' - click to expand:<br />
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%"><br />
Include only more than one if the story is clearly different from from the record.<br />
#Multiple dreams:<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels] - Two dreams one by each charachter, after space and dinosaur attack.<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:2ed958de-badf-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 36 panels] - Hole dream, blowtorch laptop, rocket take-off dream.<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:452c03fc-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 35 panels] - Two times the same dream with big hole by the same charachter (shovel/blowtorch and then boomerang).<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ba285dea-baa3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd 28 panels] - One dream with hole that returns to starting point - does the dream continue?<br />
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 26 panels] - Two different dreams by the same character after hole and rocket.<br />
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:5e94d028-bb7d-11e3-8012-002590d77bdd 22 panels] - Two different dreams by the same character after hole and dinosaur attack.<br />
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:20698602-bbb1-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd 21 panels] - Two times the same dream with big hole - once be each character<br />
##? - More than two dreams<br />
#Boomerang:<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels] - double dream etc.<br />
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 39 panels] - Starting with politic debate in a dream.<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ee6b910c-bae5-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 34 panels] - As the 39 panel, but here both the girl and the Hairy gets the boomerang in the face!<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:a1776988-ba41-11e3-8035-002590d77bdd 30 panels] - Rocket, dream, Boomerang hits her in the face. She then puts it down and then picks it up again<br />
#Space: <br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels] - double dream etc.<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:6490cc4a-b9f0-11e3-8009-002590d77bdd 30 panels] - reaching the Little Prince:<br />
#Dinosaur:<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels] - double dream etc.<br />
#Political debate:<br />
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 39 panels] - but also dream and boomerang.<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:aee5abf0-bb29-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 31 panels] - politicians fighing and explosive bananas - including the ''meanwhile'' image<br />
#Blowtorch: <br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:2ed958de-badf-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 36 panels] - Hole dream, blowtorch laptop, rocket take-off dream.<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:9a86363c-bb53-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 26 panels] - blowtorch and moving past Pokémon twice<br />
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:97cbd552-bb01-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 25 panels] - dream of hole and then blowtorch<br />
#Pokémon: <br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:9a86363c-bb53-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 26 panels] - blowtorch and moving past Pokémon twice<br />
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:81c9e8c8-ba1d-11e3-8018-002590d77bdd 24 panels] - really long fight<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:8737f5b4-ba92-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd 22 panels] - moving past Pokémon.<br />
#Sharks<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:30f53d98-bbb3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd 13 panels] - reaching beach<br />
</div><br />
<br><br />
*'''Longest by starting point''' - click to expand:<br />
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%"><br />
Only the longest:<br />
#These stupid tiles... I'll just play one more game: [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels]<br />
#Oh. Hey. There's some kind of political thing going on: [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 39 panels]<br />
#Let's see if BSD is any easier to install nowadays: [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ba285dea-baa3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd 28 panels]<br />
#Refresh... No new email... Refresh... No new tweets... Refresh...: [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:81c9e8c8-ba1d-11e3-8018-002590d77bdd 24 panels]<br />
#Hurry! We're in talks with Facebook: [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:441ba2fe-bc03-11e3-8034-002590d77bdd 13 panels]<br />
#Gravity. Lots of it: [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:cbde2d30-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 10 panels]<br />
</div><br />
<br><br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]<br />
[[Category:April fool's comics]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Interactive comics]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Boomerangs]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]<br />
[[Category:Pokémon]]<br />
[[Category:Dreams]]<br />
[[Category:Politics]]<br />
[[Category:Star Wars]]<br />
[[Category:Sharks]]<br />
[[Category:BSD]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1350:_Lorenz&diff=866421350: Lorenz2015-03-19T11:27:30Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>__NOTOC__<br />
{{comic<br />
| number = 1350<br />
| date = April 1, 2014<br />
| title = Lorenz<br />
| image = lorenz.png<br />
| titletext = Every choice, no matter how small, begins a new story<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''NOTE: The above is the first panel of an interactive comic.''' For a collection of images that appear in this comic, see [[1350: Lorenz/Images]]. These will also be described below under [[#Themes|themes]].<br><br />
Also note that the order of the options are random. And by adding that there is a fifth option - and only four can be shown - this means there are 5*4*3*2 = '''120 different permutations''' of the way the options can be arranged only in this first image. So the above image will only appear with these four options in this order in less than 1% of the cases! Of course when you choose an option it is indifferent what the order of the other options was.<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This is an interactive and dynamic comic with a possible first picture shown on top of this page. The picture is always the same but the order of the four sentences is chosen randomly. The result of all the interactions by the readers led to the generation of {{w|Crowdsourcing|crowd-sourced content}}. In honor of {{w|April Fools' Day}}, the comic was posted a day earlier than normal (on Tuesday instead of Wednesday).<br />
<br />
The title 'Lorenz' is referring to {{w|Edward Norton Lorenz}} who, among other subjects, was famous for {{w|Chaos theory}} and the {{w|Butterfly effect}}.<br />
<br />
The title text is a reference to how the story line of this comic will be chaotic by nature, since it includes all of the user submitted dialogue and updates over time based on statistics of user clicks. In this manner, it is a reference to the butterfly effect, a phrase coined by Edward Lorenz to describe how a small initial change can lead to wide variations in outcome in a chaotic system.<br />
<br />
This comic is an example of a {{w|Choose Your Own Adventure}} story as mentioned in the title text.<br />
<br />
==Functionality and bugs==<br />
The reader is initially presented with only one panel where Knit Cap Girl (who is not [[Megan]];) is sitting in front of her computer. The reader is given multiple choices concerning what exactly Knit Cap Girl is thinking. Upon choosing any option - the chosen text will appear where her gray speech bubble was (and this will then disappear), and then a second panel appears to the right, to give continuity to the story. Each new panel may have a new set of options or just the button "Continue" to see the next panel without making any choice in particular. Eventually, one may reach a dead end in which the story is interrupted and reader is presented with a text box to suggest how it should continue. Some of the suggestions given should eventually become available as new options.<br />
<br />
===Knit Cap Girl===<br />
Knit Cap Girl is a completely new character wearing a knit cap. Since Knit Cap Girl seems to be together with [[Hairy]] in this comic it would be strange if she should be representing Megan. (Hairy has some bad reputation in trying to fool girls to fall for him. Perhaps he has finally found out how to be with a woman; although they seem to fight in this comic some times.)<br />
<br />
===Number of options===<br />
Normally, there is a total of 4 options to make: a/b/c/d. Their order changes constantly. Sometimes, there are 3 or fewer options, with the text box to suggest an alternative option. Sometimes, a given panel actually has 5 or more available options, although even in this case only 4 options appear at a time. Refreshing the comic changes randomly which of the available options are visible and which are hidden. As of late April 2014, the existence of 5 options seems to occur only in a few rare cases, including the first panel itself. There are no longer any panels that seem to have six options.<br />
<br />
===Easy navigation===<br />
Instead of clicking with the mouse you can move more quickly through the panels using the keyboard:<br />
*Up/Down - navigate options<br />
*Enter/Right/Spacebar - choose option after navigating with Up/Down<br />
*Left - go back one panel<br />
*a/b/c/d - choose any option directly<br />
<br />
===New panels===<br />
It appears that new panels may be generated by Randall in near real time as user suggestions to dialog are submitted. The dialog options could be based on click-through rates and hence will change over time based on which choices are clicked most using {{w|A/B testing|A/B measurement techniques}}. This will mean that the most popular choices for dialog lines will prevail as the statistics build up. In some cases, dialog line options do not depend on the continuity of the storyline followed, suggesting that some parts of the story are planned. For example, several of the story lines involve one of the two main characters waking up and for instance telling the other character, "I had the strangest dream…" or even reliving the dream. This may be due to common submissions across story lines. Of course there is the other option that Randall has used the first week of April to look though some input and choose himself. These possibilities are not mutually exclusive. Some of the options that were there very early were in quite poor English. Later the same idea was still there but in a more refined sentence. However, after the first week or two, no new panels seemed to appear, which suggests that some were drawn to match the story's progression.<br />
<br />
===Permalink===<br />
Each panel has a "permalink" button which generates a unique URL for all the choices made by the reader — so a reader can save the chosen choices to compare them to other ways going through the selections. The permalink do only save the chosen options, not the order or the visible options in the image where the permalink is recorded. So it is not possible to save a copy where the options are in the same order as they are in the 1/120 version shown at the top. Also if you go back in the story from a permalink, you can risk, when passing back through a panel with five options, that the option you just got back from, is no longer available, as it is the option randomly not shown this time.<br />
<br />
===Suggest a line===<br />
Some times it is possible to add your own suggestions in a panel where there are still other choices. But if not before, then the story will always reach a "final" panel (dead-end) where the reader only has the option left to "suggest a line..." By doing so and pressing enter this text is then shown in the speech bubble. But these suggestions can't be saved as there are no permalink button after this. The reader has to do a screen shot by himself - if he wishes to save his own witty remark. As a few weeks had progressed there were probably so few new suggestions that Randall stopped changing the comic. There has been no reason to believe that new options or panels appeared after the first few weeks of April.<br />
<br />
===Bugs===<br />
Since this interactive comic relies on many servers in the background to provide the response to the reader's actions, there are some problems reported here:<br />
*{{w|HTTP cookie|Cookies}} and {{w|Javascript}} are required to see this page properly. Without cookies, the next panel will not render; attempting to load the page in the UNIXKCD terminal or loading the page without Javascript will just get you the [[1349|previous comic]].<br />
*When selecting a sentence A/B/C/D the server does not respond on that selection.<br />
*The servers responsible to provide the pictures are down.<br />
*In the first week after the comic was released, if a response led to a panel where two characters speak at the same time, it was impossible to proceed past the first speech bubble. This was subsequently fixed.<br />
As a consequence of these bugs many readers had trouble understanding how this interactive comic worked.<br />
<br />
==Themes==<br />
===Computer===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
! The beginning<br>[[Image:lorenz - computer.png]]<br />
| Knit Cap Girl sits at her laptop saying/thinking something. You choose what from four options and thus starts the interactive and dynamic comic. Originally on April the 1st there where only four choices, but this has increased since. But you always have four to choose from when you begin.<br />
|-<br />
! Computer problems<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 3.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 4.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 5.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 6.png]]<br />
| Knit Cap Girl's laptop has an unspecified problem. Hairy walks in and they attempt to fix it by connecting his laptop with hers. There are two outcomes possible:<br />
*He fails so badly that they end up randomly floating in the ocean (with or without circling sharks - a reference to [[349: Success]] see below.)<br />
*It doesn't work so now Knit Cap Girl tries to write something on Hairy's laptop from a paper (a manual?) she holds in her hand. This also fails and the story continues with a blowtorch scene - see below:<br />
|-<br />
! Blowtorch<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 7.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 8.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 9.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 10.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - laptop 11.png]]<br />
| Knit Cap Girl becomes so upset with her laptop that she decides to melt it using a blowtorch - a clear reference to the comic from the day before this one: [[1349: Shouldn't Be Hard]]. After this they walk out of the building.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Political debate===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
! Debate<br>[[image:lorenz - debate laptop.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - debate 1.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - debate 2.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - debate 5.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - debate 4.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - debate 3.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - visit.png]]<br />
| Knit Cap Girl uses har laptop to watch a debate online between the Politician 1 (on the left) and the Politician 2 ([[Cueball]], on the right), the subject and the actual conversation of which varies according to the storyline. Eventually one of two things can happen:<br />
*They fight each other, the Politician 2 using a lightsaber and the Politician 1 using his bare fists<br />
*Politician 1 is going down on one knee - either to pray or as in a suggestion to ask the other to marry him...<br />
Subjects debated could be user suggestions but below are one of those from April the 1st:<br />
*Politician 1 accuses Politician 2 of having never liked Firefly.<br />
*Politician 1 vows to end the "war on Christmas" if elected.<br />
*Politician 1 praises his adversary and supports his economic plan.<br />
*Politician 1 questions Politician 2's project of tying multiple birds to a car as fuel replacement, which would require some method to make the birds take off in unison. The solutions mentioned for this topic are given here as an example:<br />
**Opening and closing an umbrella near them (a reference to {{W|Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade}}).<br />
**Using a predatory bird to the car to scare them<br />
**Putting resources in the hands of bird educators for the purpose of training them<br />
**Employing fiscal hawks. <br />
If the Politician 1 points out some problem with the reasoning, often the solution proposed by the Politician 2 would be doing the same in a larger scale or saying he completely agrees with everything the other says...<br />
In the end, Hairy walks in to Knit Cap Girl and points out something happening near which may or may not involve birds (or what ever was the subject) which could be a direct result of Politician 2's project. Again all this could be user input!<br />
The last image where Hairy walks in have been used also in other story lines<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Ocean===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
! Wrong move<br>[[image:lorenz - laptop 6.png]]<br />
| Knit Cap Girl tries to write something on Hairy's laptop from a note she has in her hand. Hairy watches. This image is also used in the computer problem theme above. But this time it goes really wrong and the Ocean scene appears right after this:<br />
|-<br />
! Sharks<br>[[image:lorenz - shark zero.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - shark one.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - sharks.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - squids.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - blood.png]]<br />
| Knit Cap Girl and Hairy are floating in the ocean, with or without sharks. A clear reference to [[349: Success]]. Sharks have been the subject of several other comics. <br />
Three giant squids appear and a lone shark seems disturbed. Maybe the squids killed the sharks leaving the blood in the last of these images?<br />
<br />
Here are some examples with these images <br />
*[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:9b96fda0-bb48-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd Zero and one shark]<br />
*[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:9b6e3082-bb48-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd Three shark]<br />
*[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:9b96fda0-bb48-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd Squids and blood].<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! Beach<br>[[image:lorenz - hairy swims away.png]]<br>[[image:lorenz - beach.png]]<br />
|Knit Cap Girl and Hairy starts to swim out of the shark free ocean and finally reaches a beach - see [[349: Success]].<br />
*Here are an example where they reach the [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:310127b6-bbb3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd beach].<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Leaving the bulding===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
! Leaving<br>[[Image:lorenz - going.png]]<br />
| In some storylines the two characters leaves the building. Either with the laptop intact (like after the politic debate) or with a fused laptop (see computer problems theme). In either case they encounter one of the following scenarios when they come out the door:<br />
|-<br />
! Empty lawn<br>[[Image:lorenz - away.png]]<br />
| Sometimes nothing is outside the bulind except the pawement they walk upon there is just an empty lawm. See [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:b69f6096-b9f0-11e3-8009-002590d77bdd this example] for both of the first two pictures here. From this point they can move on to walk past stuff - see below.<br />
|-<br />
! Huge hole on the lawn<br>[[image:lorenz - hole.png]]<br />
| There is a huge hole in the ground just outside of the building. The two characters always end up falling into it and one of them awakes from a night mare - see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd this example]. See below about dreams.<br />
|-<br />
! Rocket on the lawn<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 1.png]]<br />
| There is a space rocket on the lawn outside the building - see [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 this example]. See below about dreams and space travel.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Walking===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
! Starting the walk<br>[[Image:lorenz - away.png]]<br />
| When there is nothing outside the building the walk begins. It can though begin in other ways, but that is usually longer into a complicated story. The walk begins with Knit Cap Girl and Hairy walking together, but they also often walks alone as will be shown below.<br />
|-<br />
!Walking past<br>[[Image:lorenz - tree.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - gap.png]]<br />
|Knit Cap Girl and Hairy walks together past the following items:<br />
*A tree<br />
*A gap in the ground - which Knit Cap Girl jumps over, much like in a pit from Mario brothers.<br />
|-<br />
!Walking together<br>[[Image:lorenz - dark.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - walking.png]]<br />
|The two characters are seen walking together from different perspectives.<br />
|-<br />
!Arguing<br>[[Image:lorenz - discuss.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - hairy leaves.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - knit cap leaves.png]]<br />
|Knit Cap Girl and Hairy stops their walk to have an argument. Then either she or he leaves the other by walking back the way they came.<br />
|-<br />
!Alone - Girl<br>[[Image:lorenz - walk 5.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - walk 6.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - walk 8.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - walk 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - walk 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - walk 3.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - walk 4.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - walk 9.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - thinking.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - bird gift.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - bird money.png]]<br />
|Knit Cap Girl walks alone. This is not necessarily because of the argument! She is seen walking alone in many different poses and perspectives. At one point she is thinking - this does not have to be while alone! At some point a bird passes over her carrying a gift. It then returns - now with a money note in its beak.<br />
|-<br />
!Alone - Guy<br>[[Image:lorenz - meanwhile.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - walk 7.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - walk 10.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - thinking 2.png]]<br />
|Hairy is seen walking alone. This is not necessarily because of the argument! He is seen walking alone in two poses. At one point he is thinking - this does not have to be while alone! In one story line the ''meanwhile'' image appears before this walk like in [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:aee5abf0-bb29-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd this example].<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Rocket launch===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
!Into the rocket<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 3.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 4.png]]<br />
| Leaving the bulding the characters find the rocket on the lawn, and climbs into it.<br />
|-<br />
!Out of the rocket<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 5.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 6.png]]<br />
| In some storylines the rocket does not launch (it fails or they do not wish to go into space). So the two charachters climb out again.<br />
|-<br />
!Rocket launch<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 7.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 8.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 11.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 9.png]]<br />
| If they do not climb out again, the rocket will launch into space. Sometimes an image from the flight simulator program {{W|Kerbal Space Program}} will appear - see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd this example] where the launch wakes a charachter up from a dream. If the characthers do not wake up here, see dream theme, then the rocket will go into space - see Space theme. Before reacing space a dark image will turn up as shown [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 here].(This picture is also used in the dream sequence with the hole).<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Space===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
!Rocket launch<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 7.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 8.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 11.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 9.png]]<br />
| When the rocket is launch into space sometimes an image from the flight simulator program {{W|Kerbal Space Program}} will appear - see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd this example]. The characthers do not always wake up if this image is shown as in the example, see dream theme. If they do not then the rocket will go into space and often a black image will turn up as shown [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 here].(This picture is also used in the dream sequence with the hole). See other examples for these pictures in the last two entries.<br />
|-<br />
!Flying over earth<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 10.png]]<br />
| After entering space, the rocket is in an orbit over earth.<br />
|-<br />
!In space<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 13.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 14.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 19.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 20.png]]<br />
| From earth the rocket flies into deep space. At one point it may come close to the sun - which could explain the white color in one image.<br />
|-<br />
!Asteroids<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 24.png]]<br />
| Passing the {{W|Asteroid belt}}<br />
|-<br />
!Saturn<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 12.png]]<br />
| Passing {{W|Saturn}} with it's majestic rings<br />
|-<br />
!Fly by<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 15.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 16.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 17.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 18.png]]<br />
| The space rocket encounters another space ship that asks a question about relativity, the same one that appeared in [[265: Choices: Part 2]]. The other space rocket will shoot and destroy the main rocket if the question isn't answered satisfactory see below. Otherwise the two rockets fly past each other.<br />
|-<br />
!Little Prince<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 21.png]]<br />
| Eventually the space rocket meets a guy on a very tiny planet which most likely is a reference to {{w|The Little Prince}}. This could also be a reference to the asteroid [http://blog.xkcd.com/2013/09/30/asteroid-4942-munroe/ 4942 Munroe], then it could be [[Randall]] on the rock... The story never seem to move past this point. Here is an [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:6490cc4a-b9f0-11e3-8009-002590d77bdd example].<br />
|-<br />
!Attack<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 15.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 16.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 17.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 22.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 23.png]] <br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]<br />
| If the answer to the space ship is not acceptable it will turn around after passing, and shoot down the rocket. This will turn off the rockets in the Kerbal Space Program simulator, and in turn one of the characthers (Hairy?) will awake from a dream, see dream theme. Most of the images above as well as this attack is included in [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 this example]<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Kerbal Space Program===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
!Engines on<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 11.png]]<br />
|These pictures are from the flight simulator program {{W|Kerbal Space Program}} (KSP). An example of the image in the comic can be seen [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd here]. In this case the liftoff with the engine on turns out to be just a dream. But the image can also precede a space travel going into deep space - as the travel shown below. See more on the this under the space theme.<br />
|-<br />
!Engines off<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 23.png]]<br />
|Here we see an image with the engines off. See this [http://i.imgur.com/UofvQ.png image] from KSP where the rocket engines are not on. This image is usually shown after the spaceship is shut down and it turns out it was just a dream - see [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 this example]. See more on the this under the space theme.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Dinosaur===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
! Dinosaur Comics<br>[[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 3.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 4.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]]<br />
| The green T-rex from {{w|Dinosaur Comics}} (a clip-art-based webcomic that uses the same artwork with different captions for every strip.) interrupts the story and proceeds to talk about his tiny arms or other subjects. The first three pictures are taken directly from the webcomic, except that the third picture is larger in the real comic (see [http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=2420 this particular example] where the title text actually refer to Randall and xkcd). In the end, the dinosaur stamps on the house the main characters are in (this is thus Randall's own picture). If it gets this far one of the characters will wake up from a dream - It may be only Knit Cap Girl as she is the one seen fully in the fourth image. Examples where this is the second dream can be seen [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:5e94d028-bb7d-11e3-8012-002590d77bdd here] and [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 here]. See more under the dream theme.<br />
<br />
Characters from ''Dinosaur Comics'' has aslso appeared in [[145: Parody Week: Dinosaur Comics]] and [[1452: Jurassic World]].<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Boomerang===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
! Finding Boomerang<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 2.png]]<br />
| Knit Cap Girl finds a boomerang on the ground and may express her feelings about it. The other images listed below, may come more or less in any order and any number of times. She may comment on it again after catching it. She may also put it down. See below also for examples of story lines.<br />
Boomerangs are also featured in: [[445: I Am Not Good with Boomerangs]], [[475: Further Boomerang Difficulties]], [[939: Arrow]]<br />
|-<br />
! Throwing Boomerang<br><br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 3.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 4.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 8.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 6.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 9.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 10.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 5.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 7.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang 11.png]]<br />
| Knit Cap Girl throws the boomerang, and it flies back (and forth). This can go on for a while, and she may even [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:08896f1c-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 lay it down and walk away]. However, more often than not she will end up with an accident:<br />
|-<br />
! Accidents<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 5.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 6.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang rocket 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang rocket 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang boom.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - surprise.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - run.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 3.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 4.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - meanwhile.png]]<br />
| These accidents are:<br />
*Getting hit in the face - The two options here below are both featured in [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ee6b910c-bae5-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd this example].<br />
**Knit Cap Girl getting hit in the face with the boomerang rebound (i.e. [[445: I Am Not Good with Boomerangs]])<br />
**Knit Cap Girl fails to catch the boomerang and the rebound hit Hairy in the face off screen and he then enters the frame in the next image. <br />
*Hitting the space rocket from another story branch - see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd this example].<br />
*The boomerang crashing into something off panel - someone may shout back - see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:fc34f46a-ba98-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd this example]. (i.e. [[475: Further Boomerang Difficulties]])<br />
**In some cases the meanwhile image appears like in [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:aee5abf0-bb29-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd this example].<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Pokémon===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
! A wild Pikachu appeared<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu appeared.png]]<br />
| Some of the storylines involve Pokémon battles featuring Pikachu, a very popular Pokémon. The battles are drawn in the style of the video games. (A trainer in the left-bottom corner facing the foe in the right-top corner, with a narration box below the scene and the trainer's Pokéballs visible, although some elements are missing, such as the level, gender and HP bar.) In this first image Pikachu the wild pokémon appeares. Then the fight begins:<br />
|-<br />
! Pikachu's moves<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu abandonment.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu anguish.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu ant.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu extrude.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu faceless.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu friendship.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu granite.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu graph.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu ink cloud.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu radicality.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu theft.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu uplift.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu ethylene.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu blank.png]]<br />
| Pikachu uses a number of different moves, though these are mostly made up and are not from the Pokémon games. Pikachu's moves are almost invariably remarked by the narrator as "It's not very effective...", but "It's super effective!" is also possible to appear. (see below) <br />
In the video games, a move is "not very effective" when the opponent's type resists the attacking move's type and "super effective" when the opponent's type is weak to the attacking move's type.<br />
<br />
Pikachu's moves (see below for examples - those appearing in the examples are marked with ¤$£ etc):<br />
* Abandonment ^ - Pikachu disappears completely.<br />
* Anguish ¤% - Pikachu is sad.<br />
* Ant Colony - Pikachu is covered in ants.<br />
* Extrude - Pikachu's head moves away from his body as his neck becomes long and malleable.<br />
* Faceless $ - Pikachu's face disappears.<br />
* Friendship £ - Pikachu is on Knit Cap Girl's head, signifying they are now friends. Friendship, though not a move, is a game mechanic in the video games.<br />
* Granite % - Pikachu is atop a block of granite.<br />
* Graph Theory ¤ - The theory can be seen behind Pikachu <br />
* Ink Cloud % - Pikachu is covered in ink. In the storyline Pikachu uses it, there is the option to "gather" the ink.<br />
* Radicality £ - Pikachu is on a skateboard.<br />
* Theft & - Pikachu wears Knit Cap Girl's hat. Pikachu seems to be using "Thief", a similarly-named actual move from the games, that is used to steal the foe's item and use it as its own.<br />
* Uplift - Pikachu's head goes upward, separated from its body, showing a long, thick cable still connecting the head and the body.<br />
* Ethylene Dichloride ¤ - Pikachu holds a glas with Ethylene Dichloride - Nothing seems to happen, but Ethylene Dichloride is a toxic chemical, so there may be future consequences for the characters. <br />
** After using it, ("not very effective") Pikachu may make remarks about the move using the blank version of the image from below (the following text are users suggestion):<br />
*** I used to be better at chemistry.<br />
*** This is still better than all the lightning crap.<br />
* Blank text box ¤£% - for user input<br />
**The below items are (probably) not with a certain picture but text that users have suggested appear in the blank picture at the bottom of this section:<br />
** Struggle<br />
***In one storyline, after Pikachu uses a number of moves, it says: "Now I only have Struggle left. Tie?" In the Pokémon games, when a Pokémon runs out of PP (Power Points, the energy required to use each of its moves) for all its moves, it may only use Struggle, a weak move, indefinitely reusable, that harms not only the opponent but the user as well.<br />
** Cuteness %<br />
** Yet %<br />
** Crowdsource<br />
** The Discrete Metric<br />
<br />
Here are some examples of battle (please help include links to all moves):<br />
* ¤ [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:81c9e8c8-ba1d-11e3-8018-002590d77bdd 4 different moves]<br />
* % [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:f203d1c6-ba22-11e3-801a-002590d77bdd 5 different moves]<br />
* £ [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:8737f5b4-ba92-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd 3 different moves]<br />
* $ [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:feaa5d4e-bbd2-11e3-802c-002590d77bdd Faceless move]<br />
* & [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:b8fe0a3c-bb52-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd Theft move]<br />
* ^ [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:2f0612e0-bbd7-11e3-8030-002590d77bdd Abandonment move]<br />
<br />
Below are some transcript of lines from user input and their references:<br />
*One narration line is "Where's Twitch when I need help?", a reference to {{w|Twitch Plays Pokémon}} which was also covered by comic [[1333: First Date]]. <br />
*Another narration line is: "Google Maps didn't warn me of this.", a reference to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YMD6xELI_k Google Maps: Pokémon Challenge].<br />
*Other remarks from Pikachu or about Pikachu can be seen in [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:e8cf1df0-bbd4-11e3-802e-002590d77bdd this example]<br />
** Pikachu: Aren't you going to catch me? It's not difficult, I promise... Please? [Knit Cap Girl and Hairy ignore him and go away]<br />
*** Please! Jigglypuff keeps on drawing on my face!<br />
*** You were walking in tall grass! You asked for it!<br />
*** Please... Tame me! I want to party on days other than Thursday.<br />
**** [Hairy remarks] Y'know, if we catch a Pikachu, we would never [sic] to pay our electric bills again.<br />
*Pokémon mentioned other than Pikachu:<br />
** Charizard (In one storyline, "Go Charizard" is one usable move in battle)<br />
** Jigglypuff<br />
|-<br />
! Not effective<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu not very effective.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu end 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu end 2.png]]<br />
|Normally after a few failed attempts - where the result is given as ''It's not very effective'', there is an uncomfortable silence as the Pikachu says "Um..." Then it talks to Knit Cap Girl and Hairy and as they then walk away past the Pókemon, Pikachu is left in the tall grass and has time to make a final remark. See [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:9a86363c-bb53-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd this example] where they walk away only to meet another wild Pikachu.<br />
|-<br />
! Super effective<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu super effective.png]]<br> [[Image:lorenz - pikachu fainted.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu dead 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu dead 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu dead 3.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu dead 4.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - pikachu dead 5.png]]<br />
|Rarely, a suggested move knocks Pikachu out. This is stated as ''It's super effective'' (sometimes this image comes right after the one with ''It's not very effective''). The result is that Pikachu faints. Knit Cap Girl and Hairy looks at the fainted (not dead) Pikachu who lies facedown in the grass. Then Knit Cap Girl ''pokes'' the pókemon and they walk past him out of the tall grass like in [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:feaa5d4e-bbd2-11e3-802c-002590d77bdd this example].<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Dreams===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
! Walking up<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]<br />
| Sometimes, Knit Cap Girl or Hairy find themselves waking from a dream, suggesting that all prior events were just them dreaming. Below are several situations where a dream will or may occur described (and shown with the full sequence leading up to the dream displayed). <br />
Often a dream loops upon itself, as a character wakes up multiple times in the same storyline, either from the same dream or from different dreams.<br />
Sometimes it even turns out that each character has a dream in the same storyline, meaning that the last to wake up, has dreamt that they were the other character waking up before... See examples of all this below.<br />
The dream scenarios (together with the ''meanwhile'' image) would make it possible to connect all images into one long sequence!<br />
Some situations will always result in a character waking up, others will only in some story lines lead to an awakening.<br />
As can be seen in these two images Knit Cap Girl wakes up with her head to the left and the cap lying on the end of the bed. Hairy wakes up with his head to the right.<br />
|-<br />
! Falling<br><br>[[Image:lorenz - hole.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - falling.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - aaa.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - aaa 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 9.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]<br />
| One of the most obvious dreams is the one about falling as in this case where both characters falls into a big hole outside the building they are leaving - as shown here in [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:20698602-bbb1-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd this example] where first one then the other characters awake from the same falling dream. <br />
In the case - with the hole - one (or either as shown above) of the characters wakes up from the nightmare after falling into the hole. But they can wake up after any of the three black pictures shown here. The other two pictures (which were not included in the first example) can be seen in [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ba285dea-baa3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd this example].(The total black picture is also sometimes used in the space theme). The hole situation will always turn out to be a dream.<br />
|-<br />
! Dinosaur<br><br>[[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 3.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 4.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]]<br />
| A Dinosaur enters the comic (see more about these same images under the Dinosaur theme). If the comic goes on long enough these four images will appear and after the last the character awakes from the nightmare. It may be only Knit Cap Girl as she is the one seen fully in the fourth image. Examples where this is the second dream can be seen [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:5e94d028-bb7d-11e3-8012-002590d77bdd here] and [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 here]. If the dinosaur steps on the building the story will always turn out to be a dream.<br />
|-<br />
! Evil spaceship<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 15.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 16.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 17.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 18.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 22.png]] <br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 23.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]<br />
| During a space travel the rocket passes another space ship. If a failed communication occurs the space ship turns around and shoots down the rocket. At this point it turns out it was just a nightmare and one of the characters wake up (maybe only Hairy?). See [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 this example]. In the last picture before waking we see an image from the flight simulator program Kerbal Space Program (KSP) with the rockets off - see the KSP theme. This situation will always turn out to be a dream.<br />
|-<br />
! Rocket launch<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 7.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 8.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - rocket 11.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]]<br />
| This dream is not really a nightmare, as opposed to the three above, where the characters always wake up. This is not necessarily the case for the rocket launch. But in this case described here Knit Cap Girl (maybe also Hairy) wakes up during the rocket launch - see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd this example]. In the last picture before waking we see an image from the flight simulator program Kerbal Space Program (KSP) with the rockets on - see the KSP theme.<br />
|-<br />
! Politic debate<br>[[Image:lorenz - debate 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - debate 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - debate 4.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]]<br />
| In this dream, that is not so much a nightmare that it will always be a dream (like the first three) Knit Cap Girl (maybe also Hairy) wakes up after a silly political debate - see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd this example].<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Waking up===<br />
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |<br />
! To see/hide images click here:<br />
! Description of images<br />
|-<br />
! Walking up<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]<br />
| Sometimes, Knit Cap Girl or Hairy find themselves waking from a dream, suggesting that all prior events were just them dreaming. After they awake they stay in bed for a while and then go out in to the world. These scenes will be shown here below.<br />
As can be seen in these two images Knit Cap Girl wakes up with her head to the left and the cap lying on the end of the bed. Hairy wakes up with his head to the right.<br />
|-<br />
! In bed - Girl<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 11.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 10.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 3.png]]<br />
|Knit Cap Girl wakes up with a ''Gasp''. She sits for a while - may then begin to sing ''I woke up like this'' (This could be a reference to {{W|Flawless (Beyoncé song)}}). After this she may lie down again before finally getting out of bed.<br />
|-<br />
!Yawning - Girl<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 4.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - computer.png]]<br />
|Yawning Knit Cap Girl gets back to her laptop and we are back to the first image as can be seen in [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:20698602-bbb1-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd this example].<br />
|-<br />
! In bed - Guy<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 6.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 13.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 7.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 12.png]]<br />
|Hairy wakes up with a ''Gasp''. He sits for a while - may then begin to sing ''I woke up like this'' (This could be a reference to {{W|Flawless (Beyoncé song)}}). After this he may lie down again before finally getting out of bed. Notice that [[Randall]] forgot to draw Hairy's hairy hair as he lay down again. If it was a wick, it should have hung over the bed like Knit Cap Girls Knit Cap does.<br />
|-<br />
!Yawning - Guy<br><br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 8.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - wake up 9.png]]<br />
|Yawning Hairy walks in where Knit Cap Girl sits at her laptop and tells her about his dream(?) as can be seen in [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:20698602-bbb1-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd this example], where both yawning pictures appear.<br />
|-<br />
! Salesman<br>[[Image:lorenz - sale 1.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - sale 2.png]]<br>[[Image:lorenz - sale 3.png]]<br />
| Instead of going to Knit Cap Girl after walking up Hairy can take an alternative route where he meets [[White Hat]], a salesman with a small stand. White Hat tries to sell something to Hairy. Will he succeed.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[This transcript only transcribes what can be seen in the picture shown at the top of the explanation here.]<br />
<br />
:[The comic starts with two panels. In the top panel we see Knit Cap Girl sitting at a desk in front of her laptop typing. There is a speech line up to a gray but empty speech bubble.]<br />
:[The second panel below has the same gray background as the empty speech bubble above. Here is presented four options to what Knit Cap Girl could be saying. They are marked a, b, c and d written in small white rectangles next to the text. There is a small arrow at the top pointing to the first panel:]<br />
<br />
:a Let's see if BSD is any easier to install nowadays.<br />
:b Oh. Hey. There's some kind of political thing going on. <br />
:c Hurry! We're in talks with Facebook.<br />
:d Refresh... No new email... Refresh... No new tweets... Refresh...<br />
<br />
:[Once the reader chooses one of the options the text will appear in the speech bubble where the gray area is replaced with the usual white background. The lower gray panel disappears. Now the comic really begins.]<br />
:[A new panel is shown after the selection, again with one to four options to choose from in the new gray panel below. This will continue until it comes to an end where the reader finally only has the choice to suggest the next line.]<br />
<br />
:[The order of the up to four options are random, and changes every time you begin again (or even go back to a previous frame). This means that the a-d in the transcript is not the same next time. In some few panels there are even more than four options. To see the fifth you have to reload, then you may find this fifth option next time. The first panel is one of those with five options.] <br />
:[The fifth not shown above is: '''These stupid tiles... I'll just play one more game.''']<br />
<br />
:[In the first days of the comic when it developed quickly, new options appeared only to later disappear. '''Gravity. Lots of it.''' is one of those lost options from the first panel. At one time there was also by mistake two versions of one of the other five mentioned above. But this was later deleted. Maybe there could still be a permalink to these lost stories out there...? (Wish granted: see [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:87adb65e-baa2-11e3-8012-002590d77bdd here] for the part just after "Gravity. Lots of it.")]<br />
<br />
:[Although it may be impossible to finish? ... it has been tried to make a complete '''[[1350: Lorenz/Transcript|interactive transcript]]'''.]<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*In one [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:lorenz_-_wake_up_7.png panel] Hairy is drawn in bed ''without'' his hair - see the [[#Waking up|Waking up]] pictures.<br />
*The most common pictures are [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/vS9UO5cGsw1hoDrrNLMSRg.png "Not very effective"], [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/VegCGBEOFJCsFxJpbmvziQ.png Throwing], [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/zHPHozjDXmCUy66bYVSRoQ.png Waiting], [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/ZNBJOG1e-vCfzdqKFHQ21A.png Leaving the House].<br />
*The rarest pictures are [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/VgSdMz8OAHQ8w5Ee432f5Q.png The Little Prince], [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/0RW46RaD8RJDfTyBOTqlpw.png The beach], [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/OZZtCeXrnU0UskVTCUQf1Q.png An exponential chart]. (As of late April there are several pictures from the complete list, that no longer seem to be available - so they are not only rare, but extinct in the comic if no one has a permalink to a comic where they appear).<br />
*'''The all time longest comics by panel - top three'''. <br />
**Please only include '''clearly different''' storylines:<br />
*# [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels] - Space/dinosaur double dream, boomerang, and exploding rocket.<br />
*# [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:718ad9a6-bc6e-11e3-800f-002590d77bdd 41 panels] - Politics, hole dream, boomerang.<br />
*# [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 39 panels] - Politics, dream and boomerang.<br />
**There may be no upper boundary! <br />
**But this is then the list of the longest comics with most panels as found so far.<br />
**If you beat a record please post the '''permalink''' here.<br />
**Please note themes included in comic. <br />
**Please move beaten records down and delete the fourth.<br />
*'''Longest by themes''' - click to expand:<br />
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%"><br />
Include only more than one if the story is clearly different from from the record.<br />
#Multiple dreams:<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels] - Two dreams one by each charachter, after space and dinosaur attack.<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:2ed958de-badf-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 36 panels] - Hole dream, blowtorch laptop, rocket take-off dream.<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:452c03fc-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 35 panels] - Two times the same dream with big hole by the same charachter (shovel/blowtorch and then boomerang).<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ba285dea-baa3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd 28 panels] - One dream with hole that returns to starting point - does the dream continue?<br />
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 26 panels] - Two different dreams by the same character after hole and rocket.<br />
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:5e94d028-bb7d-11e3-8012-002590d77bdd 22 panels] - Two different dreams by the same character after hole and dinosaur attack.<br />
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:20698602-bbb1-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd 21 panels] - Two times the same dream with big hole - once be each character<br />
##? - More than two dreams<br />
#Boomerang:<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels] - double dream etc.<br />
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 39 panels] - Starting with politic debate in a dream.<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ee6b910c-bae5-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 34 panels] - As the 39 panel, but here both the girl and the Hairy gets the boomerang in the face!<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:a1776988-ba41-11e3-8035-002590d77bdd 30 panels] - Rocket, dream, Boomerang hits her in the face. She then puts it down and then picks it up again<br />
#Space: <br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels] - double dream etc.<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:6490cc4a-b9f0-11e3-8009-002590d77bdd 30 panels] - reaching the Little Prince:<br />
#Dinosaur:<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels] - double dream etc.<br />
#Political debate:<br />
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 39 panels] - but also dream and boomerang.<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:aee5abf0-bb29-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 31 panels] - politicians fighing and explosive bananas - including the ''meanwhile'' image<br />
#Blowtorch: <br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:2ed958de-badf-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 36 panels] - Hole dream, blowtorch laptop, rocket take-off dream.<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:9a86363c-bb53-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 26 panels] - blowtorch and moving past Pokémon twice<br />
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:97cbd552-bb01-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 25 panels] - dream of hole and then blowtorch<br />
#Pokémon: <br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:9a86363c-bb53-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 26 panels] - blowtorch and moving past Pokémon twice<br />
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:81c9e8c8-ba1d-11e3-8018-002590d77bdd 24 panels] - really long fight<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:8737f5b4-ba92-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd 22 panels] - moving past Pokémon.<br />
#Sharks<br />
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:30f53d98-bbb3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd 13 panels] - reaching beach<br />
</div><br />
<br><br />
*'''Longest by starting point''' - click to expand:<br />
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%"><br />
Only the longest:<br />
#These stupid tiles... I'll just play one more game: [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels]<br />
#Oh. Hey. There's some kind of political thing going on: [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 39 panels]<br />
#Let's see if BSD is any easier to install nowadays: [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ba285dea-baa3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd 28 panels]<br />
#Refresh... No new email... Refresh... No new tweets... Refresh...: [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:81c9e8c8-ba1d-11e3-8018-002590d77bdd 24 panels]<br />
#Hurry! We're in talks with Facebook: [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:441ba2fe-bc03-11e3-8034-002590d77bdd 13 panels]<br />
#Gravity. Lots of it: [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:cbde2d30-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 10 panels]<br />
</div><br />
<br><br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]<br />
[[Category:April fool's comics]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Interactive comics]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Boomerangs]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]<br />
[[Category:Pokémon]]<br />
[[Category:Dreams]]<br />
[[Category:Politics]]<br />
[[Category:Star Wars]]<br />
[[Category:Sharks]]<br />
[[Category:BSD]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1500:_Upside-Down_Map&diff=866411500: Upside-Down Map2015-03-19T11:04:40Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1500<br />
| date = March 18, 2015<br />
| title = Upside-Down Map<br />
| image = upside_down_map.png<br />
| titletext = Due to their proximity across the channel, there's long been tension between North Korea and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Southern Ireland.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
It has been said that maps with the {{w|South-up map orientation|south pole at the top}} will "change your perspective of the world". Such a map can easily be achieved by simply rotating a normal map 180 degrees, though the text labels would also be upside-down and perhaps harder to read. A [https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&q=upside-down%2Bmap%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bworld Google Images] search reveals many examples of upside-down maps with the text oriented correctly for reading.<br />
<br />
This map is a comedic play on that where instead of the whole map being upside-down, each land mass is in the same position it would be in a traditional north-top map but rotated 180 degrees (presumably around some central point of the landmass) to the orientation it would have in a south-top map. Note that individual islands are rotated about their own centers, not following the rotation of the neighboring continent; however, some are displaced as necessary to keep them from being overlapped by the rotated continents. For instance, {{w|Madagascar}} would be overlapped by the {{w|Sahara}} if it remained in position, but is instead displaced eastward to keep it in the Indian Ocean. On the other hand all the islands of the {{w|Mediterranean Sea}} have disappeared under {{w|Asia}}.<br />
<br />
Asia is so broad that almost the entire {{w|Indochinese Peninsula}} (with for instance {{w|Vietnam}} and {{w|Thailand}}) has been rotated out of the top of the map. Similarly, the map omits {{w|Antarctica}} in the south.<br />
<br />
To keep their familiar shapes on a rectangular map, the continents would also have to be heavily distorted compared to their actual shapes, becoming much narrower (along the lines of latitude) near the poles and wider towards the equator. See also [[977: Map Projections]].<br />
<br />
The basic climates for several areas would be distinctly different. For example, the formerly-Central America area would be in the arctic zone while Siberia would be subtropical.<br />
<br />
This arrangement of the world's land masses would have great advantages for trade, because there are (presumably navigable) straits between the {{w|Americas}} and between Africa and Asia, removing the need for the {{w|Panama Canal}} and the {{w|Suez Canal}}.<br />
<br />
The title text references the fact that in this new map, the {{w|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland}} (UK) is now next to Asia, specifically the {{w|Korean Peninsula}}. {{w|North Korea}}, is mentioned in the text, having a history of hostile relations with nearby countries. However, on this map North Korea would be the part of {{w|Korea}} we today know as {{w|South Korea}}, Further, {{w|Northern Ireland}} is now at the south of the {{w|island of Ireland}}, so the UK's full name would need to change to The United Kingdom of Great Britain and '''Southern''' Ireland. There have been several wars concerning the {{w|English Channel}}, mainly, but not only, between {{w|England}} and {{w|France}}. Since a similar channel now, on this world map, is between the UK and North Korea (our map's South Korea) there could obviously have been many wars for the dominance over said channel.<br />
<br />
Along the same line of thinking, interesting speculations could be made from the following "new" facts: <br />
*{{w|Cuba}} is now off the east coast (formerly west coast) of {{w|Canada}} (and {{w|USA}}).<br />
*{{w|Japan}} is next to the coast of {{w|Portugal}} and {{w|Spain}}. <br />
*Madagascar lies next to {{w|Morocco}} and {{w|Mauritania}} on the east coast (formerly west coast) of Sahara.<br />
*{{w|Taiwan}} is now next to France. It is though doubtful whether they get along any better with the French than with the mainland {{w|China|Chinese}}.<br />
*{{w|Greenland}} lies next to {{w|Mexico}}.<br />
*{{w|Sri Lanka}} is located next to the {{w|Yamalsky District}} of {{w|Russia}}.<br />
*The island {{w|Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego|Tierra del Fuego}}, an island just south of the southern tip of South America, which is divided between {{w|Argentina}} and {{w|Chile}} is now located in a similar manner next to {{w|Colombia}} and {{w|Venezuela}}. So it would probably have been divided between these two countries.<br />
*The {{w|Falkland Islands}} (not named in the map, they are probably represented by the single island above the T in Tierra) where Argentina and UK have an ongoing {{w|Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute|sovereignty dispute}} now could be claimed by {{w|Ecuador}} or {{w|Peru}}.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Map of the world with all the landmasses rotated upside-down.]<br />
:[Four oceans and all the visible continents have been named in large letters in a bold font. The Pacific has been named both to the left and right. Several islands (large and small) have been designated with name but in grey and in a much smaller normal font. For all continents the names are written on them. For the island the name is written in the ocean except for Greenland.]<br />
<br />
:[Below the names on the map are given in the order they appear reading from left to right, first for the northern and then the southern hemisphere:]<br />
<br />
:[Northern hemisphere:]<br />
:'''North America'''<br />
:Cuba<br />
:Greenland<br />
:'''Atlantic Ocean<br />
:Iceland<br />
:UK<br />
:'''Asia'''<br />
:Sri Lanka<br />
:'''Europe'''<br />
:'''Arctic Ocean'''<br />
:Taiwan<br />
:Japan<br />
:'''Pacific Ocean''' <br />
<br />
:[Southern hemisphere:]<br />
:'''Pacific Ocean''' <br />
:'''South America'''<br />
:Tierra del Fuego<br />
:'''Africa'''<br />
:'''Indian Ocean'''<br />
:Madagascar<br />
:Indonesia<br />
:'''Australia'''<br />
:New Zealand<br />
<br />
:[Below the main frame:]<br />
:'''This upside-down map will change your perspective on the world!'''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Geography]]<br />
[[Category:Maps]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1337:_Hack&diff=866401337: Hack2015-03-19T10:56:28Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div><noinclude>:''"1337", this comic's number, redirects here. For the 2007 storyline of the same name, starting with [[341|comic 341]], see [[:Category:1337]].''</noinclude><br />
{{comic<br />
| number = 1337<br />
| date = March 3, 2014<br />
| title = Hack<br />
| image = hack.png<br />
| titletext = HACK THE STARS<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic is an imagined project to re-position the {{w|International Cometary Explorer|ISEE-3/ICE}} probe, and a parody of the 1995 movie ''{{w|Hackers (film)|Hackers}}''. The first row (four panels) explain the history of the probe, and the true story about how the probe was coming back into signal range and seemed capable of being controlled. NASA declined to attempt to regain control of the probe, but a group of enthusiasts assembles the equipment and attempts to re-purpose the probe. This project since [http://spacecollege.org/isee3/ became reality], as [[Randall]] noted in a [http://blog.xkcd.com/2014/05/30/isee-3/ blog post].<br />
<br />
The following two rows (eight panels) set up a fictional scenario the enthusiasts have been locked out of the system, the probe is being controlled by someone else, and the message "Mess with the best, die like the rest" is communicated from the probe. This is a catch phrase of the protagonist, Crash, from ''Hackers''.<br />
<br />
The final row is a reference to the ending of the movie, where Crash romances Burn, his romantic interest, in a rooftop pool. In the movie, while Crash and Burn swim in a rooftop pool, several buildings light up with the words "CRASH AND BURN". This is their friends' latest hack, and an attempt to provide romance for the new couple. In the comic the transmitter being used to communicate with ISEE-3 was hacked to by Burn to burn up over Crash and Burn swimming in the pool providing a "shooting star" for romantic effect.<br />
<br />
The comic number is 1337, which stands for "leet", short for "elite hacker" and "leetspeek" in {{w|leetspeak}}. Leetspeak is a form of symbolic writing that substitutes various numbers and {{w|ASCII}} symbols for letters. It originates from the hacker subculture, where words were converted to leetspeek e.g. to avoid filters and triggers on chat rooms. "1337" for "leet" can most likely be explained as {{w|calculator spelling}}.<br />
<br />
The title text "Hack the stars" is also an allusion to ''Hackers'', where the phrase "Hack the planet!" is used on multiple occasions.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Panel 1 shows an image of the ISEE-3/ICE spacecraft.]<br />
:Narration: The ISEE-3/ICE probe was launched in 1978. Its mission ended in 1997 and it was sent a shutdown signal.<br />
:Narration: In 2008, we learned-to our surprise-that the probe didn't shut down. It's still running and it has plenty of fuel. ...and in 2014, its orbit brings it near earth.<br />
:[Panel 3 shows Megan and Ponytail talking to each other.]<br />
:Megan: We could send it on a new mission... Except we no longer have the equipment to send commands to it.<br />
:Ponytail: Can't we...<br />
:Megan: NASA won't rebuild it. "Too Expensive"<br />
:Ponytail: Seriously?<br />
:Megan: I know, right? So the Internet found the specs and we went to work.<br />
:[Panel 5 shows Megan and Ponytail have walking into an area where a girl and Cueball both are sitting at desks looking at laptops.]<br />
:Narration: We've convinced them to give us time on the Madrid DSN transmitter and hacked the maser to support the uplink. And today's the big day.<br />
:Cueball: Transmitting... We have a signal! We have control!<br />
:Megan: OK, transmit the new comet rendezvous maneuver sequen-<br />
:[Cueball, off panel]: What the hell?<br />
:Megan: What?<br />
:Cueball: My console went dead!<br />
:Girl: Mine too!<br />
:Megan: What's happening?!<br />
:Cueball: There's a new signal going out over the transmitter!<br />
:[Megan, off panel]: A bug?<br />
:Cueball: Someone else is in the system!<br />
:Girl: Kill the connection!<br />
:[Cueball, off panel]: I can't find it!<br />
:Girl: They're firing the probe's engines!<br />
:[Cueball, off panel]: NO!<br />
:[Megan, off panel]: Who's doing this?? Stop them!<br />
:[Girl, off panel]: I'm trying!<br />
:Cueball, pointing to his screen: Look! My screen!<br />
:[Text, on Cueball's laptop screen]: M-E-S-S-W-I-T-H-T-H-E-B-E-S-T D-I-E-L-I-K-E-T-H-E-R-E-S-T<br />
:[Panel 13 shows two people in a pool at night.]<br />
:[Panel 14 zooms out to reveal the pool is on top of a skyscraper in a vertically developed, downtown setting.]<br />
:Burn: Crash?<br />
:Crash: Yeah, Burn?<br />
:Burn: Make a wish.<br />
:[Panel 16 shows the spacecraft streaking across the sky, indistinguishable from a meteoroid.]<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
<br />
===Background for ISEE-3/ICE===<br />
The {{w|International Cometary Explorer|ISEE-3/ICE}} probe was launched in August 12, 1978 and tasked to study Earth's magnetic field and the solar wind. Before completing its original mission the probe was repurposed on June 10, 1982 to study the interaction between the solar wind and a cometary atmosphere. By flying through the comet {{w|21P/Giacobini–Zinner|Giacobini-Zinner}}'s tail, it became the first probe to do so. This put ISEE-3 in a {{w|heliocentric orbit}}. Its trajectory will bring it close to Earth on August 2014.<br />
<br />
The Deep Space Network (DSN) detected the probe again in 2008 because NASA mistakenly left its transmitters on. However, the probe was only transmitting the carrier signal at that time. A status check of the spacecraft has revealed that many of its instruments are still working and that it contains plenty of fuel.[http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2014/02070836-isee-3.html]<br />
<br />
It was reported that the hardware to communicate with ISEE-3/ICE had been decommissioned. The Madrid DSS complex still has the special filter required to communicate with the ICE satellite, but because of frequency conflicts S-band uplink is not supported.[http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsndocs/810-005/101/101E.pdf]<br />
<br />
On March 1st and 2nd, 2014 radio amateurs were able to detect the beacon signal from the retired NASA deep space probe ICE (International Cometary Explorer) using the 20m radio telescope at the Bochum Observatory (Germany).[http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/09/radio-amateurs-receive-nasa-isee-3ice-spacecraft/]<br />
<br />
===Updates for ISEE-3/ICE===<br />
After this comic was published, it was established that an 18-meter satellite dish at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory does still have the right hardware.<br />
*April 4th 2014: Volunteers started a crowdfunding project on RocketHub to contact the probe and put it back into a {{w|halo orbit}} orbit around {{w|Lagrangian point}} L1.[http://www.rockethub.com/42228 "ISEE-3 reboot"]<br />
*May 23, 2014: First contact to the probe was established.<br />
*May 29, 2014: NASA gave them approval to try to achieve contact.<br />
*May 30, 2014: The project, led by [http://www.rockethub.com/profiles/68340-dennis-wingo Dennis Wingo] and {{w|Keith Cowing}}, had taken control of the spacecraft.<br />
*July 2, 2014: The reboot project successfully fired the thrusters for the first time since 1987. The engines on ISEE-3 performed a successful spin-up burn. The spin rate was changed to 19.76 rpm which is inside of the original mission specifications at 19.75 +/- 0.2 rpm.<br />
<br />
Further attempts to change the trajectory into an earth bound orbit did fail. Despite the effort from experts and amateurs via the internet [http://spacecollege.org/isee3/we-are-borg-crowdsourced-isee-3-engineering-and-the-collective-mind-of-the-internet.html] it was determined that the spacecraft had run out of nitrogen pressurant.<br />
<br />
Since the device was still communicating, and many of the instruments were still working, the ISEE-3 was intended to be used for the first citizen science, crowd funded, crowd sourced, interplanetary space science mission.[http://spacecollege.org/isee3/announcing-the-isee-3-interplanetary-citizen-science-mission.html]<br />
<br />
See [http://spacecollege.org/isee3/ Space College: ISEE-3 Reboot Project Archives] for the coverage of this amazing project.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Astronomy]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:St.nerol&diff=68332User talk:St.nerol2014-05-29T21:23:00Z<p>St.nerol: /* Blue Eyes */</p>
<hr />
<div>==We're trying to cut down on new categories==<br />
Hello, welcome to the wiki. Thanks for spam fighting. We're using Categories as a broad way of finding related comics. By creating lots of specific categories it limits the number of related comics to just a few. We've decided to not use Categories as a kind of ad-hoc tag cloud, but to help people find possibly related comics. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:18, 24 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
:Hi! Well, I have actually read your long post about the categories in the portal, and I can't say anything more than that I really agree with you! I think that several of the existing categories feels too specific. (For example, I suspect that we never will find more than two comics related to the "Axiom of Chioce", but on the other hand, Logic and Set theory are two areas related to math that I know Randall is often coming back to.) Flowcharts was probably the most specific I created, and even though I only tagged two (?) I think that there exists at least a handful of them. (One named "Flow Chart" was not yet explained.) I worried instead that maybe some of the categories I created were almost too broad, like "Computers". – [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 09:44, 24 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Eh, more tags also make it harder to completely tag pages, because there's more to remember. Brains can only process so much when creating new pages. [[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 09:59, 24 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::And some comics will also be borderline cases whether they fit in a certain category or not. So I think we shouldn't have too high expectations on being completely "done". But the way I think, someday I might go through all comics and try to complete for example the Sarcasm and the Language tags. Or the Physics and the Math tags. Or the ones with color. So we're in a progress. --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:48, 24 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
:::"Puts on sunglasses", "Windmills", "Wingsuit", "Airships", and "Axiom of Choice" are, I think, superfluous categories. Though there might be more comics on these subjects than I know about, and if somebody finds them useful I don't really mind them being there. :) --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 11:10, 24 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Uh. Please, I can barely remember all the categories we have right now. Try to hold back and finish what we already have. [[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:27, 4 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Seconded. Again. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 23:33, 4 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
::I'm disappointed. Do you really think that "Physics", "Music" and "Philosophy" are bad categories, or are you just worried that ''you'' won't remember them? Well, maybe I should just leave this and focus more on my studies instead. -[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:49, 5 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::There's a [[:Category:Comics by topic|lot of categories]] right now, and I think the wiki would be better served if we finished applying all the categories that we already have. When we're finished polishing what we have off, we can start making new categories. [[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 10:47, 5 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::I could be wrong, but I'm under the impression the messages above were triggered by the Julia Stiles category, which, indeed, is too specialized at the moment. On the other hand, there is no need for a single editor to be able to know all categoies by heart. The wiki way is "progressive enhancement" and comics will ''eventually'' be tagged by editors if they notice a missing category. Besides, there's a [[Special:Categories|list of categories]] precisely for that, as well as [[Special:SpecialPages|several other]] category-related special pages. But regardless of the outcome of such opinion differences, let's not let such disagreements discourage either side. We are very few and every helping hand is precious. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 14:35, 5 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::::I've never heard about Julia Stiles. I think it was triggered by the Philosophy category. I ''have'' been working a lot on applying the categories we have. It's when I do this that I sometimes see a category wanting. I think it saves some effort if I can create the category while I'm at it, instead of having to wait and later go through the comics again. --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 23:32, 6 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
==[[Proof]]==<br />
Nerol, you are espousing a minority view. http://www.google.com/search?q=zeno+arrow+instantaneous+derivative - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 21:09, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:The derivative can be written as dx/dt. This presupposes an (arbitrarily) small time interval. The definition of the derivative involves taking a limit. And we can talk about the limit value. We get the velocity. Honestly I think the greeks knew about "velocity" too. But in the paradox: could dt in dx/dt actually be zero? -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 11:50, 5 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Yes. That's the whole point of limits and derivatives. If values arbitrarily close to a point are convergent, then the derivative exactly at the point is equal to the limit. That's why dx/dt is called instantaneous velocity.<br />
::The articles in that search also cover infinite steps in finite time. Majority views of science consider Zeno's paradoxes resolved, and the explanation should reflect that. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 12:41, 5 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::An example: you don't need modern mathematics to calculate ''exactly'' when Achilles overtakes the tortoise. And you don't need a rigorous formulation of limits to make sense of the concept of velocity. Math here is an excelent ''tool'', but it ''describes'' motion, it doesn't ''explain'' it. (Heck, if anyone could even explain to me how it can be that a formal intellectual game so wonderfully relates to the physical world.) Also, it seems to be an open problem whether space-time is fundamentally continuous or discrete. If it is discrete, a calculus description becomes purely nonsensical at small enough time intervals. -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:29, 5 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::If we were relying on physical reality for this argument, then Zeno's paradoxes are trivially disproven by counterexample. Motion exists, things get hit by arrows, and the article should baldly mock him for claiming otherwise.<br />
::::Therefore, I assumed we were sticking to the realm of theory, where time and space are uniform, flat, and infinitely divisible. In that realm, infinitesimal calculus is generally considered superior to Zeno, and the article should reflect that. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 15:04, 6 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::p.s. Limit discussion to Zeno vs Leibniz (vs Law), because that's what's in the comic.<br />
:::::Yes, that was a sidtrack. (though quantum theory is very theory-heavy) My strong understanding is that calculus splendidly ''describes'' physical reality, but not so well ''explains'' metaphysical concerns. I'm a student in both these diciplines, though by far yet an expert, and very interested in the intersection between physics and philosophy. And I agree that the analogy with the infinite sum adds interesting input. On the other hand, "derivative" would in the context be rather excangeable for "velocity", which I'm sure the greeks had a word for. I don't feel that it adds any perspective. Others do, so I hesitated in removing that sentence, but I also felt it was a bit confusing. Please add a reasonable sentence about the derivative if you want to.<br />
:::::Lastly, one can easily find that professional and other opinions about the paradoxes show a vast variation. (Btw, Wikipedia just taught me an tough variation on the paradoxes: {{w|Thomson's lamp}}. There are several proposed solutions to them, but the question is by far settled, and there is no academical consensus. The explanation surely does reflect that? -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 19:53, 6 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
{{outdent}}<br />
:(resetting indentation because too many colons)<br />
:Thought experiments in "idealized classical reality" are fun. It's a Cartesian Newtonian universe containing infinite flat planes (optionally frictionless) and perfectly spherical cows.<br />
:Thompson is a bit less "real" than Zeno because it requires infinite acceleration & velocity. But it reminds me of a similar paradox involving an infinitely large ball pit (or jar, or bag, or other container). At every step, you add X balls (arbitrary integer > 1) then remove one of them. At midnight, obviously there should be infinite balls in the pit. However, if the balls are numbered, and you add them in numerical order, then remove them in the same order, it is clear that for every number, you can compute the exact time before midnight that it is removed. In this case, the ball pit is empty at midnight. {{w|Georg Cantor}} for the win!<br />
:I will attempt to compose a more balanced approach to Leibniz vs Zeno. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 18:33, 7 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::I read your changes & they were good, really. I added a parenthesis about continuous vs discrete spacetime, but I don't think that you will find it objectionable. Please check it so that I can know you are happy with the reading! --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 23:32, 14 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
==Preview feature==<br />
Hi, please do always a preview before you save a page. The recent changes page would be much smaller and more easy to explore.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:18, 11 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
:I have a feeling it might take some time to make that routine, but I'll try. ––[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:19, 11 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Blue Eyes ==<br />
<br />
I added the page [[Blue Eyes]] – {{unsigned|108.162.221.53}}<br />
<br />
:Nice! – [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:23, 29 May 2014 (UTC)</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1248:_Sphere&diff=668841248: Sphere2014-05-07T19:24:08Z<p>St.nerol: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1248<br />
| date = August 07, 2013<br />
| title = Sphere<br />
| image = sphere.png<br />
| titletext = This message brought to you by the Society of Astronomers Trapped on the Surface of a Sphere.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Megan]] has taken or visited an astronomy class and has become more conscious about the vast size of the universe, and our own small place in it. She ponders that she can only observe and learn about the rest of the universe; she cannot explore it directly as she is trapped, presumably by the constraints of gravity, time and human technology.<br />
<br />
The {{w|sphere}} she mentions her is a metaphor for the {{w|Earth}}, whose {{w|surface}} is roughly spherical in shape. (The {{w|figure of the Earth}} is an irregular shape which can be better approximated as an oblate {{w|spheroid}}, or more exactly as a {{w|geoid}} (which literally means "similar in form to the Earth").)<br />
<br />
Her disinclination to make "{{w|small talk}}" with [[Cueball]] is a reference to how astronomers (and people of other 'big-science' specializations) can be so focused on their topic that they become disconnected from the simple details of everyday life. This has also been touched upon in [[663: Sagan-Man]] and [[786: Exoplanets]].<br />
<br />
The title text is a continuation of this theme. The name "Society of Astronomers Trapped on the Surface of a Sphere" (or, "SATSS", if you will) follows a common naming practice for scientific communities, Society (or "Association" or "Union") of <Scientists> of <Country, Nationality, or What Have You>.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Cueball: How are you?<br />
:Megan: Trapped on the surface of a sphere.<br />
:[A beat.]<br />
:Cueball: That astronomy class has made you suck at small talk.<br />
:Megan: The universe is too ''big'' for small talk.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Astronomy]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1248:_Sphere&diff=668831248: Sphere2014-05-07T19:20:03Z<p>St.nerol: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1248<br />
| date = August 07, 2013<br />
| title = Sphere<br />
| image = sphere.png<br />
| titletext = This message brought to you by the Society of Astronomers Trapped on the Surface of a Sphere.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Megan]] has taken or visited an astronomy class and has become more conscious about the vast size of the universe, and our own small place in it. She ponders that she can only observe and learn about the rest of the universe; she cannot explore it directly as she is trapped, presumably by the constraints of gravity, time and human technology.<br />
<br />
The {{w|sphere}} she mentions her is a metaphor for the {{w|Earth}}, which is roughly spherical in shape. (The {{w|figure of the Earth}} is an irregular shape which can be better approximated as an oblate {{w|spheroid}}, or more exactly as a {{w|geoid}} (which literally means "similar in form to the Earth").)<br />
<br />
Her disinclination to make "{{w|small talk}}" with [[Cueball]] is a reference to how astronomers (and people of other 'big-science' specializations) can be so focused on their topic that they become disconnected from the simple details of everyday life. This has also been touched upon in [[663: Sagan-Man]] and [[786: Exoplanets]].<br />
<br />
The title text is a continuation of this theme. The name "Society of Astronomers Trapped on the Surface of a Sphere" (or, "SATSS", if you will) follows a common naming practice for scientific communities, Society (or "Association" or "Union") of <Scientists> of <Country, Nationality, or What Have You>.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Cueball: How are you?<br />
:Megan: Trapped on the surface of a sphere.<br />
:[A beat.]<br />
:Cueball: That astronomy class has made you suck at small talk.<br />
:Megan: The universe is too ''big'' for small talk.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Astronomy]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1248:_Sphere&diff=668821248: Sphere2014-05-07T19:19:08Z<p>St.nerol: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1248<br />
| date = August 07, 2013<br />
| title = Sphere<br />
| image = sphere.png<br />
| titletext = This message brought to you by the Society of Astronomers Trapped on the Surface of a Sphere.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Megan]] has taken or visited an astronomy class and has become more conscious about the vast size of the universe, and our own small place in it. She ponders that she can only observe and learn about the rest of the universe; she cannot explore it directly as she is trapped, presumably by the constraints of gravity, time and human technology.<br />
<br />
The {{w|sphere}} she mentions her is a metaphor for the {{w|Earth}}, which is roughly spherical in shape. (The {{w|figure of the Earth}} is an irregular shape which can be better approximated as an oblate {{w|spheroid}}, or more exactly as a {{w|geoid}} (which literally means "similar in form to earth").)<br />
<br />
Her disinclination to make "{{w|small talk}}" with [[Cueball]] is a reference to how astronomers (and people of other 'big-science' specializations) can be so focused on their topic that they become disconnected from the simple details of everyday life. This has also been touched upon in [[663: Sagan-Man]] and [[786: Exoplanets]].<br />
<br />
The title text is a continuation of this theme. The name "Society of Astronomers Trapped on the Surface of a Sphere" (or, "SATSS", if you will) follows a common naming practice for scientific communities, Society (or "Association" or "Union") of <Scientists> of <Country, Nationality, or What Have You>.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Cueball: How are you?<br />
:Megan: Trapped on the surface of a sphere.<br />
:[A beat.]<br />
:Cueball: That astronomy class has made you suck at small talk.<br />
:Megan: The universe is too ''big'' for small talk.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Astronomy]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:St.nerol&diff=66881User:St.nerol2014-05-07T19:09:40Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>Hi there! I'm glad you are curious about me.<br />
I'm a student of physics, math, logic, philosophy & religion. I especially like stuff that tends to fall in the intersection of some of these subjects, like xkcd, quantum stuff, and {{w|set theory}}. <br />
<br />
Speaking of which, I've been working a bit here on categorizing the comics suitably! Other than that I more often polish the existing explanations rather than create new ones. Partly because I find it hard to resist when reading, and see possibilities for improvements.<br />
<br />
I'm also active on the English and Swedish Wikipedias, and on the Swedish [http://www.wiktionary.org Wiktionary]. You'd bet: I'm from {{w|Sweden}}. (We don't have polar bears, and it's kinda warm because of the {{w|Gulf Stream}}.) Since I'm not native in English, please correct any lingual mistakes or [http://www.oddee.com/item_89219.aspx oddities], even on this page!<br />
<br />
Feel free to say something on my talk page. Just say hi, disagree with me, teach me something, or ask me anything.<br />
<br />
I follow {{w|Jesus}}, and I won't bite you if you challenge me on why.<br />
<br />
<br />
Some explanations I created or worked much on (latest first):<br />
*[[870: Advertising]]<br />
*[[385: How it Works]]<br />
*[[906: Advertising Discovery]]<br />
*[[1069: Alphabet]]<br />
*[[265: Choices: Part 2]]<br />
*[[264: Choices: Part 1]]<br />
*[[253: Highway Engineer Pranks]]<br />
*[[827: Business Idea]]<br />
*[[430: Every Damn Morning]]<br />
*[[324: Tapping]]<br />
*[[76: Familiar]]<br />
*[[403: Convincing Pickup Line]]<br />
*[[704: Principle of Explosion]]<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Some categories I created:<br />
*[[:Category:Physics|Physics]]<br />
*[[:Category:Biology|Biology]]<br />
*[[:Category:Philosophy|Philosophy]]<br />
*[[:Category:Logic|Logic]]<br />
*[[:Category:Psychology|Psychology]]<br />
*[[:Category:Music|Music]]<br />
*[[:Category:Computers|Computers]]<br />
*[[:Category:Internet|Internet]]<br />
<br />
<br />
I'mma work a bit on:<br />
*[[5: Blown apart]]<br />
*[[34: Flowers]]<br />
*[[59: Graduation]] – relates to Randall's then situation<br />
*[[987: Potential]] – add a quote from Randall.<br />
*[[861: Wisdom Teeth]]<br />
<br />
*Further standardizing the trivia sections in the "LiveJournal-chain" Blaisepascal created, with [[24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey#Trivia]] as the role model.<br />
<br />
Other (meta-)pages that should be created:<br />
* [http://xkcd.com/blue_eyes.html Blue eyes: the hardest logic puzzle in the world]<br />
* And maybe something about [http://blag.xkcd.com/ the blag].</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:St.nerol&diff=66880User:St.nerol2014-05-07T19:08:57Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>Hi there! I'm glad you are curious about me.<br />
I'm a student of physics, math, logic, philosophy & religion. I especially like stuff that falls in the intersection of some of these subjects, like xkcd, quantum stuff, and {{w|set theory}}. <br />
<br />
Speaking of which, I've been working a bit here on categorizing the comics suitably! Other than that I more often polish the existing explanations rather than create new ones. Partly because I find it hard to resist when reading, and see possibilities for improvements.<br />
<br />
I'm also active on the English and Swedish Wikipedias, and on the Swedish [http://www.wiktionary.org Wiktionary]. You'd bet: I'm from {{w|Sweden}}. (We don't have polar bears, and it's kinda warm because of the {{w|Gulf Stream}}.) Since I'm not native in English, please correct any lingual mistakes or [http://www.oddee.com/item_89219.aspx oddities], even on this page!<br />
<br />
Feel free to say something on my talk page. Just say hi, disagree with me, teach me something, or ask me anything.<br />
<br />
I follow {{w|Jesus}}, and I won't bite you if you challenge me on why.<br />
<br />
<br />
Some explanations I created or worked much on (latest first):<br />
*[[870: Advertising]]<br />
*[[385: How it Works]]<br />
*[[906: Advertising Discovery]]<br />
*[[1069: Alphabet]]<br />
*[[265: Choices: Part 2]]<br />
*[[264: Choices: Part 1]]<br />
*[[253: Highway Engineer Pranks]]<br />
*[[827: Business Idea]]<br />
*[[430: Every Damn Morning]]<br />
*[[324: Tapping]]<br />
*[[76: Familiar]]<br />
*[[403: Convincing Pickup Line]]<br />
*[[704: Principle of Explosion]]<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Some categories I created:<br />
*[[:Category:Physics|Physics]]<br />
*[[:Category:Biology|Biology]]<br />
*[[:Category:Philosophy|Philosophy]]<br />
*[[:Category:Logic|Logic]]<br />
*[[:Category:Psychology|Psychology]]<br />
*[[:Category:Music|Music]]<br />
*[[:Category:Computers|Computers]]<br />
*[[:Category:Internet|Internet]]<br />
<br />
<br />
I'mma work a bit on:<br />
*[[5: Blown apart]]<br />
*[[34: Flowers]]<br />
*[[59: Graduation]] – relates to Randall's then situation<br />
*[[987: Potential]] – add a quote from Randall.<br />
*[[861: Wisdom Teeth]]<br />
<br />
*Further standardizing the trivia sections in the "LiveJournal-chain" Blaisepascal created, with [[24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey#Trivia]] as the role model.<br />
<br />
Other (meta-)pages that should be created:<br />
* [http://xkcd.com/blue_eyes.html Blue eyes: the hardest logic puzzle in the world]<br />
* And maybe something about [http://blag.xkcd.com/ the blag].</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=842:_Mark&diff=66879842: Mark2014-05-07T19:06:15Z<p>St.nerol: /* Explanation */</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 />
The punchline refers to an old grade school/middle school prank. (Urban Dictionary: [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pen15+club pen 15 club], [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pen15 Pen 15]) You'd typically 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 out the joke. Later on, he created meaning and conspiracy out of two completely unrelated, coincidental events, and resultantly burned someone's house down. All because he so badly wants to be part of something bigger.<br />
<br />
As for 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 />
:[Cueball and a child are talking.]<br />
:Child: What's that on your arm?<br />
:Cueball: The mark of a secret society.<br />
<br />
:Child: If it's secret, why tell me-<br />
:Cueball: 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 />
: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 />
: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 />
:Cueball: I don't know who or what we're fighting.<br />
:Cueball: Maybe we're the bad guys. <br />
:Cueball: It doesn't matter to me.<br />
<br />
:Cueball: It's enough to know that there are forces working beneath the chaos of life, and I'm a ''part'' of them.<br />
<br />
:Cueball: That whatever this "pen fifteen" club is,<br />
:Cueball: I'm ''in'' it.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Penis]]<br />
[[Category:Philosophy]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=842:_Mark&diff=66878842: Mark2014-05-07T18:48:52Z<p>St.nerol: /* Explanation */</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, and resultantly burned someone's house down.<br />
<br />
As for 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 />
:[Cueball and a child are talking.]<br />
:Child: What's that on your arm?<br />
:Cueball: The mark of a secret society.<br />
<br />
:Child: If it's secret, why tell me-<br />
:Cueball: 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 />
: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 />
: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 />
:Cueball: I don't know who or what we're fighting.<br />
:Cueball: Maybe we're the bad guys. <br />
:Cueball: It doesn't matter to me.<br />
<br />
:Cueball: It's enough to know that there are forces working beneath the chaos of life, and I'm a ''part'' of them.<br />
<br />
:Cueball: That whatever this "pen fifteen" club is,<br />
:Cueball: I'm ''in'' it.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Penis]]<br />
[[Category:Philosophy]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=779:_Anxiety&diff=60826779: Anxiety2014-02-22T18:22:59Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 779<br />
| date = August 13, 2010<br />
| title = Anxiety<br />
| image = anxiety.png<br />
| titletext = Don't need any, thanks. I have a backscattering fetish.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Many people are upset about airport security policies that mandate the use of {{w|backscatter X-ray}} machines, since the machines can create an image of the subject naked. [[Black Hat]] is selling {{w|Sildenafil|Viagra}} for men a means to thumb their noses (so to speak) at the system by forcing the security guard to see them with erections. Judging by the security guard's thought bubble, he indeed is not looking forward to the images.<br />
<br />
The person speaking in the title text doesn't need an erectile dysfunction pill to achieve erection in this situation because he is aroused by the technology or at the thought of the physical principles behind it.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[There is an airport security checkpoint where a queue of ten passengers is waiting to go through a backscatter x-ray scanner. Near the back of the line, Black Hat is standing next to a stand which says "Viagra $20". One passenger next to him is drinking a glass of water; another is contemplating the sign.]<br />
:Security Guard (thinking): Oh god.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals&diff=60824explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals2014-02-22T17:43:56Z<p>St.nerol: /* Economic transparency */</p>
<hr />
<div><noinclude>{{Community portal}}</noinclude><br />
<br />
== Add unexplained strips ==<br />
<br />
At the moment, browsing through the explanations using the previous and next buttons is interrupted whenever there's an explanation missing.<br />
<br />
I think adding a page with the strip fr all of those with a short message like "no one has explained this yet, want to give it a shot?" would make the wiki easier to browse through and will get more strips explained faster.<br />
<br />
:I don't think that would happen. If suddenly it was much easier for people to skip over pages that had no explanation, I think they would do exactly that, skip right over it. On the same side of that coin, If suddenly there are no longer any red links on the [[List of all comics]] then everyone perusing that page assumes that all the comics have been explained and don't need to contribute any more. It's astonishing how quickly an [[589: Designated Drivers|embedded]] red link gets an explanation page created simply to get rid of the red link.<br />
<br />
:Secondarily, ''many'' of the pages created recently aren't being created with their numerical and titular redirects. Without the numerical redirect, the comic template can't find that there is a previous/next comic to link to. Every once in a while somebody will go through and try to notice all the pages that don't have their redirects created but it's an unscientific process that only happens occasionally. If we could get every joe blow that comes in and vomits up a poorly done explanation to create the redirects I wouldn't be quite as annoyed at their lack of show-don't-tell-manship. But, since they can't be bothered to put the date in the comic template, I doubt we'll ever get people to create the redirects.<br />
<br />
:'''TL;DR:''' No more red links, no more work gets done on the back catalog.<br />
<br />
:--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 14:28, 21 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== xplainkcd.com ==<br />
<br />
When I first saw this site I thought it should definitely be at xplainkcd.com or at least redirect from that url {{unsigned|115.166.22.158|12:45, 3 January 2013 (UTC)}}<br />
<br />
: I like that idea! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 13:28, 3 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Yeah! If it's possible, it would be cool! At least as a redirect. -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:46, 3 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Section style and usage ==<br />
<br />
I am new here and I'm trying to get up to speed with the culture. I have a few questions about how and where to use sections (== this ==). I am more willing to go with (and enforce) whatever norms there are here, but I have not seen them actually discussed. <br />
<br />
# '''Is it OK to create sections in Discussion pages?''' I have been told no, but there are many examples extant of this usage in this Wiki and indeed in Wikipedia.<br />
# '''Section title case''' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Capital_letters#Acronyms Wikipedia's style guide] recommends sentence case, not title case. There are many title cased section headers here. <br />
# '''Links''' I do not have a reference for this but it seems to me putting links in section code (== [[<span style="color:blue"><nowiki>this</nowiki></span>]] == ) is bad form. <br />
<br />
Last note -- it's understood if these bylaws have not yet been written. I can see that a few of you have made a huge personal investment to make this Wiki what it is today, and that is a credit to you all -- this is awesome! As a long-time aficionado of xkcd I applaud your work and look forward to further collaboration.<br />
--[[User:Smartin|Smartin]] ([[User talk:Smartin|talk]]) 04:15, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:As a general rule, we stick to the standard format that existing pages follow, with an optional trivia section below the transcript. Some zealous editors like to add other sections though, which tend to be for the most part unneeded or redundant. If something you want to add doesn't help to explain the comic in some way, but the inclusion of which would somehow still add to the page, *and* it doesn't fall under the trivia category, a new section is warranted. This isn't the case most of the time though, so editors usually fold the content of extraneous sections into "Explanation" or "Trivia." We have no policy on links in titles, and they're allowed so long as they are appropriate; the link is useful and can't be folded into the section itself. And we use title case for titles cuz it just makes sense. '''[[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:08, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:We generally do not (or at least, discourage) use sections on the talk/discussion pages for explanation pages. This is purely for looks. The comic discussion section of the explanation page looks/feels wrong if there are level 2 section breaks in the transclusion. Also, if the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Table_of_contents Table of Contents] starts showing up on a page, such as on [[Click and Drag]] the sections created on the talk page also show up in the TOC. This gets confusing, and this is why we prefer not to use them on explanation talk pages. Everywhere else we follow standard wiki format and do use sections on the discussion pages.<br />
<br />
:Personally, I think that links in section titles looks wrong, but I choose not to be the dictator of style in this matter. :p<br />
<br />
:Please feel free to make edits. The worst that happens is someone reverts your edit. If it's a big enough issue and/or you don't seem to be learning from what people are fixing about your edits someone will leave a comment on your talk page. That's it. We might leave a nasty-gram in the edit summary, but oh well. We only ban for malicious intent. Honestly working to better the wiki is good, even if sometimes we grumble about it.<br />
<br />
:--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:00, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Oh, I just looked at your talk page. I completely forgot that that happened. Don't worry about it. Learning the ropes is part of the experience. Do make edits, and if they're wrong, we'll nudge you in the right direction. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:18, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I have been moving some trivia sections to directly below the explanation, in order to make it more consistent, and easier to survey and maintain. Often the dividing line between trivia and explanation is not entirely clear, and in articles without a trivia section the end of the explanation very often contains trivia-like information. (e.g. [[1155: Kolmogorov Directions]]) -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:13, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
===Title case doesn't make any sense===<br />
At first sight title case in titles just makes sense. However title case '''never''' makes sense. It's worse than all caps. Besides, only Americans and children like title case. [[Special:Contributions/190.96.48.48|190.96.48.48]] 20:04, 10 August 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Protip ==<br />
<br />
Anyone for adding ''Protip'' as a [[:Category:Comic series|Comic series]]. I have found five so far: [[653]], [[711]], [[1022]], [[1047]] and [[1156]]. (There are also a few comics with a protip title text.) -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:25, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I think that qualifies as a recurring topic (thus worthy of a category), but not as a series, where you can see a clear sequence. In fact, [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]] has the same limitation, for what I suggest it to be removed from [[:Category:Comic series]]. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:42, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Seconded. Looks general and common enough to be a category. '''[[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:57, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::Okay, great! Do you think that the ones with a "protip:" title text should be included? Besides, I think I might be the one responsiple for moving My Hobby from [[:Category:Comics by topic|Comics by topic]] to Comic series. I felt that all the My Hobby comics were about different topics, but maybe i've got to narrow an interpretation of the word "topic". -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:31, 4 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::: Can you link to the protip-in-title-text comics?<br />
:::: As for My Hobby, note that categories aren't mutually exclusive. They can be in the "my hobby" topic, and each of them further categorized as appropriate: music, math, etc. Makes sense? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 03:45, 5 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::: I just searched for protip in the xkcd search bar. Here: [[1084]], [[427]]. And yes, makes sense. I've moved My Hobby back to "by topic". -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:06, 5 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Category: Sports ==<br />
<br />
How about creating a new "Sports" category? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 15:31, 28 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Well, maybe. Everyone aren't so keen on new categories here. Which comics are you thinking of, for a start? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 20:32, 28 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::We definitely need to reach an agreement as a community on when to create new categories. Something simple like a minimum of 3 (or, say, 5) existing comics. Since we're already at the proposals' portal... what do you guys think about that? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:44, 28 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::My opinion: Five would be enough to qualify. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 09:31, 29 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::I vote for four. But it should also be a reasonable thing to categorize, like sports, not like "sports with Cueball containing at least three anagram words". Wich sholdn't be a problem. :) But the best name choice could be tricky sometimes. e.g. "Film & television", Film & TV", "Film", "Films", or "Movies"? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:59, 29 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::<br />
::::Agreed, five should be enough to create the category without having to discuss it. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:50, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
: OK, let's start with [[588: Pep Rally|588]], [[1092: Michael Phelps|1092]], [[904: Sports|904]] and [[1107: Sports Cheat Sheet|1107]]. Should be able to find a few more. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 05:00, 29 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Yeah, it's a broad subject so there are probably several more. -[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:59, 29 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::I found another one, sort of, in [[929:Speculation|929]] (although it hasn't been explained yet). Should I get the ball rolling (no pun intended) on setting up the category? Don't wanna do it unilaterally and get yelled at. ;) [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 06:18, 30 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::I think you should. On a wiki, getting stuck in discussions which die without a conclusion, to the point that motivated people give up without having done anything, is definitely counter-productive, and phrases like [[wikipedia:Wikipedia:Be bold|Wikipedia:Be bold]] are here to remind us of that. Seems like people agreed that you ''could'', and after a while nobody said that you ''shouldn't'', so I'd say do it. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:50, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Category: Sex ==<br />
<br />
I think we should also create a Sex category. There's no ''doubt'' we can find more than three examples. I'll start looking for them and post the ones I find in here; again, I don't wanna create a large category by myself without community consent. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 09:20, 2 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
*OK, the ones for Category: Sex that I've found so far are [[443]], [[219]], [[550]], [[1026]], [[575]], [[468]], [[592]], [[320]], [[1101]], [[417]], [[713]], [[672]], [[230]], [[436]], [[940]], [[532]], [[649]], [[176]], [[1006]], [[596]] and [[717]], and I'm sure there are many more. Should we create this category? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 23:17, 3 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Same as [[#Category: Sports|above]], do it. Oh, already did; well, all the better. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 00:53, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
==New character==<br />
As per [[Talk:1178: Pickup Artists]], the character with hair has appeared in quite a few comics now, and he's starting to become a recurring character. Shall we go ahead with inaugurating him into our list of regular characters, and what name shall we assign him? Current candidate names include Hairy and Harry. Anyone? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:07, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: I like Harry :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 01:04, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Cos made a point in the discussion on [[Talk:1178: Pickup Artists]] that Hairy is directly descriptive, whereas Harry is not obvious to visitors. On the other hand, not all names are descriptive ([[Danish]]) and I think this wiki is entitled to create some xkcd-in-culture, and not just describe. And Harry is quite funny.<br />
::I wonder: has [[Randall]] ever called him anything at all in the transcript? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:52, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::Well, he's not named in a any official transcripts, but he's already called Harry in quite a few comic explanations. Then again, I do like having a more descriptive name for him. Shall we hold this up to a vote? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:29, 26 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::I think we should wait a little for a few more viewpoints to crop up. Also, can someone link to some more comics he's been featured in? I've got [[1028: Communication]], [[1027: Pickup Artist]] and [[1178: Pickup Artists]]. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 23:41, 27 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::I actually like what that anon said: ''Curly''. Second choice: Hairy (being descriptive, a la Black Hat, Beret, Cueball, etc.) While there's talk about in-culture, we've done that with the names Cueball, Beret, etc. It's my opinion that the only names that should be "real" proper names are those that are named in the comic. Megan, Miss Lenhart, etc. Danish (as is discussed below) isn't truly a proper name, but you could argue it's a meta-description (one attributed by Black hat.) So that's my vote: yes for '''Curly''' or '''Hairy''', no for Harry. [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 05:21, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::That's right, [[Danish]] is not descriptive, but 1/ that name was suggested because the character [[515: No One Must Know|was called that way in the comic]], which is a tiny bit like a name given by the author (at least more than Harry which we have completely made up), and 2/ in that case it's hard to find a descriptive term: use something that revolves around her black hair (her only descriptive feature), and you easily mix up with [[Megan]]; the only graphical difference is that her hair is ''long'', but what kind of name can you make out of that?<br />
:::For this new character, I suggest Hairy because it comes as the easy solution with every advantage: descriptive, easy to understand, and it's not ugly... I actually see no reason to resort to a made-up name like Harry.<br />
:::[[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 22:29, 27 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: '''Alright. So the discussion's been had, and the most oft recommended name appears to be Hairy. All in favor, say aye. If more than 1/3 of editors agree and we have more than 6 votes, Hairy it is.''' '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:58, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye''' '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:58, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye''' [[User:Guru-45|Guru-45]] ([[User talk:Guru-45|talk]]) 06:14, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye''' to Hairy. [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:43, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye'''. Harry would be a nice nod to the fact that he's actually hairy, but indeed it's better to avoid inside jokes. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:05, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye'''. I'm convinced! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 17:52, 3 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:# '''Aye'''. Hairy. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:52, 3 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Hooray! We now have a [[:Category:Comics featuring Hairy]], with four pages already! Does anyone feel compelled to create "[[Hairy]]", with a brief description and a nice profile pic like the other characters? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:58, 3 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Ambiguous characters ==<br />
<br />
I've been thinking about the problem of the ambiguity of characters. "Is this really Cueball even though he has an eye and half a nose?", "This is very likely ''not'' x." "Darnit, these arn't Cueballs, these are Randall and his friends!", and so on. The character ambiguity is standard for xkcd (not less so in the early ones), and comes from the very loose or "free" way Randall uses his characters to be whatever he needs at the moment. It's simply often impossible for us to know whether he had e.g. "Cueball" or himself in mind, when drawing a particular comic (and I'd say: probably often both).<br />
<br />
I want to suggest that we in general have a likewise rather loose policy towards including characters in the categories for the comics. So that reasonably ambiguous cases should be included in e.g. (does she have a ponytail?) This is not because I believe this or that to really be this or that; I just don't believe in objective truth (here!). I feel that when doing research :) on a character, the borderline cases are often the most interesting ones, and you want to be able to find them through the "Comics featuring miss x"!<br />
<br />
I came to think this through now, when I wanted to (and did) list two comics with [[Miss Lenhart]] (?) where she was drawn but not named. Any thoughts on this in general? Other case studies? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:17, 5 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
:My take has always been that [[Cueball]], for example, has not been a specific character. There is not ''a'' cueball, per se, distinct from any other cueball... indeed, there are several comics with several cueballs in-frame, and that is the point. I see the cueball character as a wildcard character (pun intended) ready to stand in for anybody (and ''not'' necessarily just Randall; I think those readers who suggest "this ''is'' Randall" are missing the point; he's way more META than that...) [[Megan]], while slightly less generic, still remains the female wild-card significant-other, while Curls seems to be a not-significant-other female used to illustrate a relationship that is transient. Other characters come and go, and when it's important to visually distinguish them from others in the frame, they're given additional characteristics, to wit [[Hairy]], [[Ponytail]], etc.<br />
:Unfortunately, that viewpoint is not commonly held, so I daresay I'm in the minority here.<br />
:-- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:18, 6 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Note at the top, about the server error ==<br />
<br />
:''This thread was moved to [[MediaWiki talk:Sitenotice]]''<br />
<br />
== Category: Flowcharts ==<br />
<br />
Hello, the line "Randall has made use of flowcharts before." in today's comic explanation made me want a [[:Category:Flowcharts|flowcharts category]] to navigate into...<br />
<br />
As it didn't exist, I proceeded to create it, but as the log says, [[User:lcarsos|lcarsos]] deleted such a category in November, saying ''"Insufficient differentiation from Category:Comics with charts, diluting the depth of comics tagged charts"''.<br />
<br />
I don't agree with that, and I think we could profit from such a subcategory. I found those pages fitting it:<br />
* [[94: Profile Creation Flowchart]]<br />
* [[210: 90's Flowchart]]<br />
* [[488: Steal This Comic]]<br />
* [[627: Tech Support Cheat Sheet]]<br />
* [[844: Good Code]]<br />
* [[851: Na]]<br />
* [[854: Learning to Cook]]<br />
* [[1195: Flowchart]]<br />
<br />
So? - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 10:59, 5 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Weell if you're willing to take charge of the category and personally make sure it's added to all relevant comic explanations, go ahead. The usual objection to making new categories is that we admins can't remember all the categories when we're reviewing new explanations, but it's K if you're willing to take up that responsibility yourself. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:17, 5 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:<br />
:: OK. I did it without waiting for further replies, because I think it will be especially profitable today (to viewers).<br />
:: It doesn't seem a big issue to me if the correct category is not added when a new explanation is made: a passing editor will do it later on... But hey, I'm OK with taking special care of adding pages to this category.<br />
:: [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 12:28, 5 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::: I just want to add that Cos' view is indeed the appropriate way to work in wikis: there is no concept of a single author for a page, category, or piece of text, and the workload is meant to be distributed among several editors: it is not necessary that any single editor remembers all existing categories, or knows the wiki markup by heart, or knows how to work with all the features of mediawiki, etc. The reason why wikis can be edited by anyone is precisely a recognition that there *will* be errors and any page can be improved somehow. That reasoning against categories should, IMO, be abandoned, or at most only kept as the opinion of some editors. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 22:00, 6 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Isnt there a page which lists all the categories? If not, there should be one, and it should be accessible to all. Such a page could be useful when trying to quick-add categories to comics. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.83.155|117.194.83.155]] 13:43, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Yes, there is. [[Special:Categories]]. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:07, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Of course, there's a gazillion of 'em, over several pages, so I understand any reluctance to add new categories (having just suggested a new one myself which I feel is justified, but knowing that the upkeep needed may be the key point of contention so remaining philosophical about it).<br />
::A solution perhaps to carry over from another locale that I frequent is to have a "Categories of Character" page, a "Categories of Object" one, perhaps "Categories of Event", and a "Categories of Publication". For each new comic someone can easily check the shorter Character categories list against those present, the Object list against itemsin use, Events, etc, and of course the Publication one has the "Tuesday Comic"/equivalent, and other date-based ones (although isn't that automatic from templated creation? ...never added a comic, but would imagine it is). After that it's a trawl through the miscelania categories (perhaps a meta-category just for them?). But, yeah, a lot of work to set up. Wouldn't wish it on anyone who wasn't already willing to do it, and I remain an anon-IP person right now so can hardly commit ''myself'' as volunteer maintainer of this. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 17:20, 22 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== I've removed "add a comment!" from Discussion heading ==<br />
<br />
This does move it to above the line, and the rule stops early. Undo my change if that's more bothering than when the TOC is displayed as "add a comment!Discussion"... <br />
<br />
I don't know how to automatically treat level 2 headers as level 3. That may be why Discussion was a level 1 heading earlier.<br />
[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:16, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Actually I now noticed there was a short edit war at {{tl|comic discussion}} over whether it should be a level 1 heading, just for this reason. [[User:Waldir]] seems to have conceeded... [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:25, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: No edit war, hence no (intentional) concession. I reverted a change once, and didn't notice the change being re-implemented by another user. In any case, it is irrelevant now since we actively discourage using headers in talk pages precisely so that they don't display in the TOC for the main comic page, where the discussion page is transcluded to (see the discussion [[#Section style and usage|above]]). This might not scale well for comics that generate lots of discussion. It might be worth discussing our customs (and perhaps write them down somewhere) before performing such changes. What do others think? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:49, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Time: The Table ==<br />
<br />
Right now on the page [[1190: Time]], we have a whole bunch of tables in the form image-time-hash. The tables take up heaps of vertical space and all have to be collapsed to even be remotely traversible. I propose that we aggregate all the images into one table after Time ends, like so:<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable plainlinks table-padding"<br />
|-<br />
!Image<br />
!Time<br />
!Image<br />
!Time<br />
!Image<br />
!Time<br />
!Image<br />
!Time<br />
|-<br />
|[[Media:time.png|00:00]]||01/00:00||[[Media:time.png|10:00]]||01/10:00||[[Media:time.png|20:00]]||01/20:00||[[Media:time.png|30:00]]||AND MOAR SAMPLE DATAS<br />
|-<br />
|[[Media:time.png|00:30]]||01/00:30||[[Media:time.png|10:30]]||01/10:30||[[Media:time.png|20:30]]||01/20:30||[[Media:time.png|30:30]]||AND MOAR SAMPLE DATAS<br />
|}<br />
<br />
The hash values aren't really a part of the comic, they're gibberish for the most part and they take up space that could be used to compact the table, as shown above. Even if we are conservative and make the table only five columns wide to account for smaller screens, we've divided scrolling time by five and eliminated much of the need for annoying collapsed tables and section headers for each day. Constructing the table shouldn't be particularly hard either, as all our current data is in nice regular tables with clear patterns that are easy enough to parse through. <br />
<br />
I'm putting this here because the organization of the frame entries would be unintuitive and difficult to change from the edit window, which would make it a poor choice when we're still expanding it and don't even know how long the comic will continue for. It's merely a space-saving trick for after we're sure that the comic is over. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:26, 16 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Oh and it'd be really nice if other people could also upload images if you're awake and a new one rolls by. There's gaps in the image record every time I wake up, and I dun likey. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:34, 20 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Good work so far; go ahead make it better! :) –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:34, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
==Featured Explanation, and Archival?==<br />
<br />
* Wikipedia has featured content. Now that we are close to reaching the goal of all comics explained, I think it makes more sense to have a "featured explanation" which would serve as a sort of a marker for a complete and good explanation. Many comics, and almost all charts are not fully explained/not a good quality explanation.<br />
<br />
* We should set up archival of discussion of the most discussed pages, like this one. Its not very pleasing to see comments from July 2012 still lying around here. It becomes hectic at some point.<br />
<br />
Just my 2 cents, feel free to discuss. Cheers,<br />
[[Special:Contributions/117.194.88.180|117.194.88.180]] 13:36, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:We dedicate this wiki to explaining xkcd, and we do actually have a featured comic feature; it changes every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and we usually manage to fill out the explanation for it within an hour or so of it going up. The most recent comic tends to be the one that most people visiting the wiki care about, so we give it prime space on the front page so they can find it easily. xkcd updates frequently enough that there isn't really that big of a time window for us to feature an article on our front page. Also, we're a volunteer project with quite a bit less manpower than Wikipedia.<br />
:We do need to archive talk pages though. Some of these are getting ridiculously long. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:04, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::I agree with Davidy22. Archiving topics can be done by anyone, by moving resolved threads to the portal section's corresponding [[explain xkcd talk:Community portal/Proposals|talk page]]. We could start with the threads marked "✓ Closed". [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:42, 1 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: The reason I asked for a "featured explanation" was because many of the comic explanations we currently have are sub-par, and we're almost at our initial goal of explaining all comics. A "featured explanation" would drive our editors towards the goal of having complete and good explanation towards all comics, and would allow us to know which explanations need elaboration.<br />
:: P.S. My definition of complete explanation would be - To have a good explanation, To have all categories relevant, To link to any comics related and To explain any technical portions of the comic.<br />
:: [[Special:Contributions/117.194.82.49|117.194.82.49]] 07:45, 8 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::That message on the front page is going to link to all the pages marked by the incomplete template. If you find an unsatisfactory explanation, please mark it with <nowiki>{{incomplete}}</nowiki> '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:54, 8 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::: By my definition, I think all comics will be incomplete. An incomplete template will be focused more towards improving the worst explanations, while a featured one will be to improve the best ones. Since we already have the former, we should focus on the latter. Just my 2 cents. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.85.82|117.194.85.82]] 06:55, 9 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Split the list of all comics ==<br />
<br />
[[List of all comics]] is getting larger and larger, which makes it hard to read and hard to edit. How about splitting into parts, say [[List of all comics/1-1000]], [[List of all comics/1001-2000]], etc., or something to that effect? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:39, 1 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: Done. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.88.176|117.194.88.176]] 10:03, 9 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Great job, thanks! [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 11:09, 9 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::And I've added back [[List of all comics (full)]], which allows, for example, listing all comics by alphabetical order.[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 17:29, 10 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Sidebar ads ==<br />
<br />
''Moved from [[Talk:Main Page]] –– [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:06, 4 May 2013 (UTC)''<br />
<br />
Are they generating significant money? The ones I see are pretty sleazy looking and/or scammy - "Power Companies Hate this Device! - click here to break the laws of thermodynamics!" and "Debt relief program click here to lose more money". How much money are they generating? Can you set any selections to remove the sleazy ads? [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 18:30, 3 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Do we have sleazy sidebar ads? Since when? Thanks Google Chrome and AdBlock, I had no idea! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 07:47, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::People give 20$ a pop to get a bunch of clicks on explainxkcd, and Jeff uses that money to buy a faster server with a hard drive that doesn't have less space than a public toilet with an elephant in it. It'd be really nice if you didn't turn on adblock, the money is appreciated. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:47, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::It's a question of me not turning it off specifically every time I visit this site. More importantly, I do think people would be more likely to click the "donate" if it weren't irrelevant ads around it. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 19:29, 14 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::Generating money is a great thing. Getting "20$ a pop to get a bunch of clicks" is a bit unclear. Do the ads only generate revenue when clicked on? So EXKCD only gets money when someone actually falls for the sleazy ads? I know lots of people do not like Google - but at least their adsense stuff is relevant to the content of the website, which might generate some legitimate traffic for a legitimate advertiser.... [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 11:48, 19 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::Welllll, I didn't pick the ad supplier. You could bring it up with [[User talk:Jeff|Jeff]] if you want, I think he picked the ad provider on basis of which one had a mediawiki plugin or something. If you can link Jeff to a quick and easy way to put adsense on mediawiki, he should change it quickly enough. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:21, 19 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::And I also gather then that they are only a temporary thing? -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:27, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::::Until we can buy a server that doesn't poop itself every time a new comic is released, the ads are staying. If you want them to go away sooner, throw more money at Jeff. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:25, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::::: The ads are crap. For sure. Wish I didn't have to run them, but I don't trust donations alone to hold up continually some better hosting. The ads really don't bring in that much $$$. I had google adsense before, but Google shutdown my adsense account for unnamed reason after 1 week. This new ad service is way sketchier. If you all think they don't have a place here, I'll ax 'em. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:02, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::::: Thanks for the info Jeff. How much ad money are we talking about? Is it calculated on how many ads are displayed or how many are clicked-through? How close to the goal is the server fund? How about a Kickstarter campaign for the server? $10 gets your name on a thankyou webpage or something like that. [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 17:32, 24 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::::: It ain't much, last I looked it was $2 or $3 in 2 weeks. I believe it is based on clicks, it is not nearly as clear as Google adsense. I'm not really interested in doing a Kickstarter. I think the donations will cover the initial start up, I just want to be able to cover the monthly costs as well. A few things are still up in the air. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:24, 25 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::::::Can you find a way to show the donations and ad income on the site, to make it transparent? ––[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:30, 30 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::::::: How about a donation amount that you'll take to turn it (the annoying unethical scummy ads) off for a year? Give me a dollar value and I might step up for the good of us all! [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 16:28, 3 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Economic transparency ==<br />
<br />
I think this is very important: How can we make the donations and ad-income transparent, so that we all can see when and how much money is coming in, and how far we are from reaching our goal? – [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 00:35, 24 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Sounds fine to me, I think I can put something together. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:52, 28 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Hi, may I bump this issue? Or maybe you have done something, and I missed it? Anyway, I would still appreciate it! –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 17:43, 22 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Using <nowiki><nowiki></nowiki></nowiki> in transcripts to improve accuracy ==<br />
<br />
In the transcripts, <nowiki>[[lines]]</nowiki> are being changed to [lines] in order to avoid auto-linking. Why not just surround these with <nowiki><nowiki></nowiki></nowiki> tags and avoid the problem entirely? --[[User:Epauley|Epauley]] ([[User talk:Epauley|talk]]) 04:18, 16 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Because it takes less time to type and single brackets are just as readable as double brackets to visitors. It's also a bit more readable in the editor. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:55, 16 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Category: (Barred/banned from?) Conferences ==<br />
<br />
I come here after realising I erroneously posted (in reply) to the Main page Talk, being anonymous (or at least IP-only) and without a list of qualifying articles to support me, just yet, but still wish to put forward the above category before I forget. There's no apparent equivalent, that I found, but it's definitely a recurring meme. I should be back (named or otherwise) with my suggested list of members, if someone else doesn't get there first, but I thought I'd start with the placemarker. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 16:41, 22 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Ok, so I got the bee in my bonnet and spent a few minutes actually looking into this. Revising "Barred from Conferences" (actually more often "Banned" or even "Thrown out of"/equivalent) to just "Conferences", the subset of comics that I can easily find that are involved is *[[153]], *[[177]], *[[365]], *[[410]], *[[463]], *[[541]], [[545]], [[685]], [[829]] and [[867]], but I'm sure there are more recent ones that I didn't spot/recall. One alternative title to "Conferences" is "Presentations", and I'm sure if I'd searched for that I'd have found more potential candidates (less some that might ''exit'' the renamed category). The asterisked ones ''do'' deal with being barred/banned/thrown out/etc, making it still a suitable category in its own right, IMO, but I'll leave it up to your combined musings to decide. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 17:07, 22 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
::I add [[690]] to the list. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:12, 13 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::: Great suggestions! I created [[:Category:Public speaking]] and [[:Category:Banned from conferences]]. I also added [[Wikipedian Protester]] to the mix, of course :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:59, 13 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Strip Title ==<br />
<br />
For someone who commonly browses explainxkcd in place of xkcd, and hence often see the strips for the first time here rather than the parent site, I find it somewhat odd that the 'Title Text' is so poorly displayed given how critical it can be to the strip.<br />
<br />
I propose that, while retaining the given name (perhaps moving it top left), the title text be enlarged and relocated to being over the strip as originally intended. {{unsigned ip|175.41.133.18}}<br />
:The title text is placed very well at bottom of the image.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 07:20, 6 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I would have to agree with Dgbrt, it's placed nicely at the bottom, and there is no need for it to be moved. My reasoning is that you never actually read the title text first, you read it last. Making it <code>text-align: left;</code> does not make sense, because the image is centered (just like on xkcd.com). I also believe that there is no need for it to be re-sized, mainly due to the fact that it is slightly larger than the title text (for me, at least). {{User:Grep/signature|05:18, 08 September 2013}}<br />
<br />
:Plus, if you hover over the image, it's the same as on xkcd.com {{User:Grep/signature|06:13, 08 September 2013}}<br />
<br />
:I also agree with Dgbrt and Grep. The title text is kind of a bonus and should not be emphasized more than on the original page. On the original site you only see it before the image, if you have very slow internet access (or very fast eyes) --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:06, 2 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Sections in talk pages ==<br />
<br />
Is there a reason why there are no sections in talk pages? It is not a very big deal, but especially for longer talk pages it would make editing be much handier, especially when using the preview function (not having to find the section every time). Also it automatically adds a description to the history (thus makes it more easy to look for certain edits, or decide by just looking at the [[Special:RecentChanges]], if a comment should concern you. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:01, 2 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
:When discussion pages are transcluded by the comic discussion template, section headers carry over from talk pages and bad things happen. Using ; to denote headers instead of equals signs works well, and doesn't share transclusion pain. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:04, 2 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== references ==<br />
<br />
Any chance we can add [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Cite/Cite.php cite.php] to this wiki? Most pages don't need it, but some comics take on a life of their own and being able to add reference tags would be really helpful for those. [[User:LadyMondegreen|LadyMondegreen]] ([[User talk:LadyMondegreen|talk]]) 01:33, 9 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Cite has been added to the wiki. Thanks for the suggestion! --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 01:35, 17 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Stylized writing ==<br />
<br />
I understand that this wiki isn't as formal as wikipedia or sites like that but it seems that there are a few questionable practices:<br />
<br />
1. The use of questions - when a non-rhetorical or unnecessary question is entered into the explanation.<br />
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2. Extremely painted/biased view points - when there is obvious bias in the tone of the explanation of the contributor, in other <br />
words; a lack of neutrality.<br />
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3. Extreme repetition/rehashing - the explanation restates things and makes for a long and tedious read when a more straight-forward explanation is possible and clearer.<br />
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4. The general informality - "This one's an easy one" "This is simple" "this one's straightforward" "You're an idiot for not understanding this one" etc.<br />
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5. Many other practices that make the explanation hard to read, difficult to understand, or plain ugly.<br />
<br />
I know that there are disparaging view points on how a comic should be explained, but please let's clean up the site a bit, acknowledge each view point and report on all of them and then tighten up the sloppy writing. Carry out arguments in the talk section, not the explanation. Perhaps we could first try to say the majority view point on the interpretation and then write the alternate explanations, of course this would bring up the debate on which is the majority explanation. Either way, more complete, logical explanations should be given more credence. --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 00:25, 23 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
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:I agree with 2-5. 1, on the other hand, is sometimes useful and can contribute the to explanation, although 1 is still a very good point. I would say that you should edit it to have "arguments in the talk" be a 6th point as well. Unfortunately, though, we are not all logical, comic-understanding machines here, so minor deviations of these rules are still to be expected. But I think that overall, these are good rules, even if 2/3 are sort of part of 5.<br />
:[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]], please sign your post with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki><span style="float: right;">{{User:Grep/signature|23:55, 22 October 2013}}</span><br />
<br />
:I understand the use of questions in certain parts. And it was probably better to put the others as sub-categories to five but I wanted to show some common things that can be easily fixed. I know that some explanations require a lot of text and extensive research because of the abstract subjects Randall deals with and that it's difficult to be completely standardized but I think it would be good for us to try to come up with some general things to try to avoid to help the explanations "flow" --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 00:25, 23 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Most of that isn't intentional, it's just an awful lot of labor to copy check all the explanations. I've been going through all the current articles and fixing consistency issues, the worst being wrong transcript/title text/dates and the most benign being wikilinks, spelling and trailing spaces. I'm at 682 so far, but my next pass will be on actual language and content, and it'll probably take longer. It takes a while though, and you can totally work on improving language in articles if you want to. Some explanations were pulled from the old blog, some were written and just got lost in the changelog. Copy editing everything we have so far is a very labor-intensive job, and the only way to really deal with it is to knuckle down and do it, or form a wikiproject and hope to heaven that visitors feel charitable enough to join in on it. I'd *probably* push to finish up all our incomplete articles first though, just because that's more directly related to the purpose of the site; tone and style probably comes second to having correct explanations. That doesn't mean you can't do it yourself, it's just that I'll probably only dedicate the subheader on the main page to one project at a time and our current biggest bugbear hasn't been solved yet. I could put up a sitenotice to see if that speeds the process up any. I'll do that when I get back home. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:31, 23 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Easy redirect to comic? ==<br />
<br />
I've been thinking, and there is one thing that would make navigating to the explained comics easier. My method of browsing is I'll see the comic on xkcd.com first, and if there is something curious about it that I don't quite understand, I'll come here. Sometimes it can be a bit troublesome, going to the homepage and then navigatiing to the right comic. Not too bad, but I'd like an easy way to go direct. So I was thinking, what if you had a redirect such that if you typed in, for example, www.explainxkcd.com/505, you would get redirected to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=505:_A_Bunch_of_Rocks. That would mean that you could get to the comic just from adding an "explain" to the start of the xkcd.com URL. I don't know if that is at all possible, but it would be pretty handy if it happened. Thoughts?<br />
[[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 03:01, 25 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
:[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Technical#Redirect_from_explainxkcd.com.2F1234 That's actually already on the to-do list.] I'm testing it right now and we should have it up soon. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:02, 25 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
:: Awesome :) [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 03:26, 1 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::Whoop, forgot to mark this as complete. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:37, 1 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Increase support via prominent display of copyright and license for text submitted to explainxkcd ==<br />
<br />
XKCD itself is rather liberally licensed, and gets lots of good will from that. As it says on the bottom of every page "This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License." For details see [http://xkcd.com/license.html xkcd - A Webcomic - License].<br />
<br />
But I found nothing on most pages of explainxkcd about copyright or licensing, and it discouraged me from contributing or donating. Finally, as I was writing this proposal up, I found a link on the editing page here: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Copyrights explain xkcd:Copyrights - explain xkcd] saying that "''The Explain XKCD wiki is generally licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license (CC-BY-SA-3.0)''". That notice should be more prominent on the site, with at least a link on each page. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 15:27, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:This should be mentioned at the main page, including a reference to the xkcd origin.<br />
:BTW: NO DOUBLE SPACES after a sentence. Are you US guys still using a typewriter? It's not rendered at a web page and stupid like Gallons, Miles, Foots, and much more unique US behaviours. But that's just a joke beside.<br />
:The licence hint is much more important, you are just correct.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:12, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Added a creative commons icon to the footer of the page, next to the powered by mediawiki button. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:16, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New Comics Bot ==<br />
<br />
Would there be need for such a thing?<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.52|108.162.231.52]] Synthetica<br />
:Nice idea, I never thought about that before. I will do some tests on existing comics to check if this could reduce the current number of error posts for a new article. When that is ready and working I will talk to some admins. My bot account [[User:DgbrtBOT|DgbrtBOT]] was originally intended for [[1190: Time]] picture uploads, but I never have used it because Time was over. Creating the new pages should be easy in general, avoiding errors will cost some more work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:31, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::If you can get dgbrtBOT to do that, that'd help us an awful lot. It'd allow us to get rid of the ifexist cases in template:LATESTCOMIC as well, since the bot could change automatically that whenever a new comic goes up. It'll also help us get new comics down almost the moment they pop up, since the bot could sample several times a minute until a comic is posted. So long as it gets the general pattern right so that we have a correct page set up, we're good. An admin can come in sometime later to clean up categories and image urls and other piddly easy-to-fix details. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:54, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::I will work on this next weekend, just local scripts and no updates here. I also will talk about my results before any automatic updates will be activated. My first focus is on creating the new pages in the general pattern, LATESTCOMIC and also the page "All comics" are maybe a bonus later. And of course all my scripts will be open source.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:44, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::The first version is ready and I will test it at my local wiki. If everything goes well I could activate it for Wednesday (2013-11-13). LATESTCOMIC and "All comics" are on my roadmap, but first I want produce correct new pages here. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:00, 10 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::Righty ho. Here goes. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:36, 10 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Even when my automatic local wiki test did fail today, just a damn wrong password, I will activate the bot here for Wednesday. It will only run from 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM UTC. You will not see my possible updates at [[Special:RecentChanges]] unless you click ''Show bots'' at the top of that page. LATESTCOMIC and "All comics" are not covered, but this is at my TODO list until this test will be successful. Give me a '''GO''' or '''NO-GO''' for this test.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:49, 11 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Easily a GO, I'll be ready to clean up if anything goes wrong. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:08, 11 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::So be ready on Wednesday for the clean up. My worst case is ''it simply does not work'', second worse scenario is still that I could delete some contend already posted here, but I'm trying to avoid this. ''Huston'', the countdown clock is counting. I'm joking about this because I really want to be confident about this ''BOT'' or ROBOT or uncontrolled action here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:28, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::The bot can't do anything that I can't reverse. I can even restore a backup from an hour before the bot's edits if it manages to break the database. How quickly does it poll xkcd, by the way? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:53, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
First live test here (comic 1289). Please delete this page: [[Simple_Answers:_1289]]. Since my local wiki did not provide this templates I could not see this error before. In general the bot will update pages differ to any existing pages, but when it is not changed no update will happen. I'm fixing this errors at my script and do a second test here soon. I want to see it's producing correct pages until the bot will do it's work when I'm sleeping.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:31, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Ok, test are done here, BOT is scheduled for the next update. Polling is every five minutes on Mon, Wed, and Fri from 04:00 until 08:00 UTC. Let's see how it will work.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:08, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Couldja ramp that up to once/twice a minute, push the start time back by an hour, and the end time by a few hours? Also, is it possible to terminate it once it finds a comic for a certain day? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:45, 13 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::It worked! Though it posted the comic 5 minutes past post time. We has technology now, we can afford to poll faster and closer, yeah? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:32, 13 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Uhh, it worked... I will increase the polls when I'm more confident about the release times. Today it was approx. 05:00 UTC (GMT) or 01:00 EST (Randall's time zone). Looks like he is still at daylight saving time, would have been 00:00 EDT. The polls will be increased to one minute when I'm sure about the Standard Release Time (SRT). Next steps for the next update on Friday are:<br />
:The "All comics" page.<br />
:The LATESTCOMIC template.<br />
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:54, 13 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:The LATESTCOMIC template is included for the next run, it just simply has to return a number. But it's still the most critical part because if it does not work the Main Page is broken. I will change this to a better solution using that IFEXIST syntax soon. The list of all comics is still at my ToDo list. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:06, 14 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::The desired content of the LATESTCOMIC template should be just the comic number. If we can get out of having to poll multiple IFEXIST statements to find the latest comic, that would be a fantastic boon to our server performance. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:43, 15 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::OK, it did work today so I will not change this. Next step is the list for all comics.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:10, 15 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Next run will include an update on the "All comics" page. I'm crossing my fingers. When this update is also successful I will document my Bot at the Bot user page [[User:DgbrtBOT]]. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:15, 17 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Oh, I forgot this detail: The bot is starting at 00:00 EST (RLT - Randall local time), which is 04:00 UTC and 05:00 MET for me. It polls every 5 minutes until 23:55 MET (22:55 UTC, 18:55 RLT) the main page until a new comic is found. I do not poll the comic number because I want to avoid 404 message logs at the servers.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:30, 17 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Something went wrong there. That's gonna need fixing. I am enjoying the looks of the apparently faster polling though. Maybe you could also set the start time to 00:00:05 EST to catch the on-time xkcd releases within ten seconds? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:33, 18 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Uh, what a mess. I will do some more tests at my local wiki. At the next time I will do a check against the number from the LATESTCOMIC template, only the next number will be processed. The test against my local history did fail because of some cleanups after testings.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 08:18, 18 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::I don't like mess. So the BOT got many more checks before posting here but the bot was starting at 05:00 local time for me. I'm really asleep at that time. The mess here was covered, but I do need another GO for the next attempt. Otherwise I will just do a test to my local wiki.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:35, 18 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
No GO so far, my next test will run only at my local wiki.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:16, 19 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:My script is here: [https://github.com/dgbrt/explainXKCD_update explainXKCD_update]. At my current test "explainxkcd.com" is commented out and "localhost" is active. Since I don't like mess and the bot does act while I am sleeping the next update must be done manually here. I'm hoping the bot will be ready for the next update on Friday.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:15, 19 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Bot is ready for Friday, everything went smooth at my last local test today. The bot did find the latest comic at 04:05 UTC and all essential pages were properly created. So I will activate it for this site again. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:57, 20 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Bot did work as expected. So I name it release 1.1337, the next planed release will be 2.1337 (beta) because of this two issues:<br />
*"Include any categories below this line." will be removed because it doesn't make any sense any more.<br />
*BETA: I want to use the full template features at [[List of all comics]], just ensuring that the pictures are working properly. No need for this at the most comics, but the BOT doesn't cover all possibilities on corrupt file names like we have had in "Pi vs. Tau". The picture was without that dot. My bot just shows the real link it did upload here.<br />
I'm pretty sure we will have some issues on this bot, but for general pages it should work. So the bot will be active on Mon,Wed,Fri from 0:00 EST (or EDT) every five minutes until it did found a new comic, on success the bot does not poll any more.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:51, 22 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Aww, it's a bot. It doesn't need to rest or take time off to do other stuff. It can totally poll once or more times per minute. Also, if you set the start time to a few seconds after midnight, Randall time, when he uploads a comic on-time, you'll get it within a few seconds as opposed to having to wait for the next polling. As for the image names, maybe you could convert spaces in the comic name to underscores, compare the two comic names you have and use that to decide which version of the template to use? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:08, 22 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::I have to avoid that the bot is running twice, Internet Timeouts and more. And the comics are also published later sometimes. Look at my release [https://github.com/dgbrt/explainXKCD_update 1.1337], release 2.1337 will be later, Maybe I should start at 2 minutes after 0:00, but let's see right now how the bot does work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:38, 23 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Uhh, what a huge discussion here. The bot will get a major update soon: Scheduler does start it once and until a comic is found and uploaded it here or an other limit is reached (maybe the end of the day) the bot will poll by a small delay. But every poll is still an entire download from the main page, When a new comic is found bot stops.<br />
:Why, you could use http://xkcd.com/info.0.json, right?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.52|108.162.231.52]] 07:38, 2 December 2013 (UTC)Synthetica<br />
::The BOT performs perfect and I prefer to analyze the original page. A title text like the one from today (a text showing a link) will be covered in the future.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 10:35, 2 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
A great enhancement would be also covering a new comic like 1190 Time was. I'm looking forward on this, some ideas, it does require a complete analyse of the page and then finding some strange content. <br />
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:05, 27 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Require description for 'incomplete' tags ==<br />
I've been trying to fix some of the incompletes, but several explanation pages I've come across are tagged incomplete without any reason given. The reason should be a required part of the tag. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.223|173.245.52.223]] 03:35, 7 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
:This incomplete tags are just older than the recent change of that template. Current adds require a description, but it's not easy to figure out all that old reasons. If someone does find a reason, please just add it. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:22, 7 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Should there be a subwiki to cover the shop links that appear above the comic? ==<br />
<br />
The current one (as of writing) is [http://imgs.xkcd.com/store_news/store_gd_b11_1ze4.png] but this is a different than the usual, and there was also a third in between these.<br />
[[User:Rsranger65|Rsranger65]] ([[User talk:Rsranger65|talk]]) 06:00, 8 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Those are very ephemeral. They aren't going to exist for very long, I don't know how valuable it would be to archive that stuff. We could probably do it, but having to figure out another naming convention and all for advertisements doesn't appeal to me at the current moment. If you can flesh it out, I'd love to see how you think we should do it. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:24, 8 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== New Character ==<br />
<br />
OK, I think we need a name for the character with a goatee and glasses in comics [[435: Purity]], [[796: Bad Ex]] and [[964: Dorm Poster]] as well as possibly others. Edit: oh and I suggest Goatee and Glasses Guy, but I'm open for suggestions Edit 2: also in [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]] Halfhat {{unsigned|Halfhat}}<br />
edit 3: Another sighting [[954: Chin-Up Bar]] [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 16:57, 13 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== What If Comics ==<br />
<br />
Hi, I was thinking, maybe at some point we should do the comics in the ''What If?'' section, like [http://what-if.xkcd.com/imgs/a/36/cornstarch_bitcoins.png this one.] [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 20:01, 13 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Transcripts ==<br />
<br />
The whole point of the transcripts is to have those who are unable to view images to still be able to read the comic, right?<br />
<br />
Then why is it required to stick to strictly official transcripts, where sometimes rewriting them slightly would make them flow better or otherwise get the ideas across better? I've tried rewriting a few, but they get reverted. I think that having easier-to-understand transcripts would be more important than strictly following official transcripts; what do you think? (For a few examples, see [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=207:_What_xkcd_Means&diff=60061&oldid=57400 this edit] and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=995%3A_Coinstar&diff=59862&oldid=57316 this edit]. [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 17:38, 19 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
:We use the original transcript to try and deduce original author intent if it's unclear from the image. I remember one comic where Beret Guy was off in the distance and it was difficult to distinguish him from the image, but the official transcript said it was him. We don't stick to the original transcript if it's obviously wrong, or it has typographical errors: see [[laser scope]]. Those edits seem to be mainly targeted at language and clarity, and should be fine. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:06, 19 February 2014 (UTC)</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1321:_Cold&diff=587661321: Cold2014-01-27T21:25:12Z<p>St.nerol: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1321<br />
| date = January 24, 2014<br />
| title = Cold<br />
| image = cold.png<br />
| titletext = 'You see the same pattern all over. Take Detroit--' 'Hold on. Why do you know all these statistics offhand?' 'Oh, um, no idea. I definitely spend my evenings hanging out with friends, and not curating a REALLY NEAT database of temperature statistics. Because, pshh, who would want to do that, right? Also, snowfall records.'<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete| needs some textual editing, the title text joke has been in many xkcd comics, need to be referred to}}<br />
<br />
The comic reacts to a simplified view of {{w|global warming}} by amateurs, including media, who fail to understand the difference between climate and weather. Short, random weather fluctuations like the {{w|Polar vortex}} are taken as examples or counter-examples of climate change and global warming. If you want real evidence for or against global warming, you need to look at global (not local) and long-term (not short-term) temperature trends.<br />
<br />
0 °F (Fahrenheit) is -17.8 °C (Celsius), which is ''brutally'' cold. The city of {{w|St. Louis}} is roughly at the same {{w|latitude}} as {{w|Lisbon}} (Portugal) and {{w|Beijing}} (China). But at Lisbon those low temperatures never do happen because of the {{w|Gulf Stream}}. If the Gulf Stream stops, which could happen due to changes in the global climate, the temperatures would drop in those regions.<br />
<br />
One dispute on global warming is whether humans are the main factor in this change. Alternatively it may be natural change, as happened in the past. The vast majority of scientists agree that the current global warming is anthropogenic (i.e. man-made).<br />
<br />
The title text suggests that gathering data about global warming is time-consuming and is the kind of stuff only a real nerd would do. Most people would rather hang out with friends, or at least spend their time with some more fun nerd activity.<br />
<br />
=== Previous comics referring global warming ===<br />
* [[164: Playing Devil's Advocate to Win]]<br />
* [[887: Future Timeline]] (partially)<br />
* [[1225: Ice Sheets]] (title text only)<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[It's cold, and Cueball and another Cueball are walking wearing knit caps. Given the title text, it is very unlikely the black-hatted Cueball is [[Black hat]]. Regardless, the white-hatted Cueball is shivering.]<br />
:White Cueball: It's '''''brutal''''' out. So much for global warming, huh?<br />
:Black Cueball: ''*sigh*'' This used to happen all the time.<br />
:White Cueball: What?<br />
<br />
:[Shows a graph relating the number of days with lows below zero fahrenheit by year since 1970.]<br />
:<small>Source: rcc-acis.org/climatecentral</small><br />
:Black (off-screen): You're from St. Louis, right?<br />
:Black: On average, it used to get below 0°F there a handful of days per year.<br />
:Black: But you haven't had a day like that since the nineties.<br />
<br />
:[the black-hatted Cueball has stopped walking.]<br />
:Black: Then, in 2014, when the first polar vortex hit, it dipped below zero for two days. And everyone freaked out.<br />
<br />
:[They continue walking.]<br />
:Black: Because what used to be normal; now feels too cold.<br />
:White: It ''is'' too cold!<br />
<br />
:The Future:<br />
:[yet another Cueball is pointing at a patch of ice.]<br />
:Cueball: Look at this—'''''ice!''''' In '''''St. Louis!''''' So much for global warming.<br />
:Off-screen: *sigh*<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=White_Hat&diff=50661White Hat2013-10-15T19:26:00Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox character<br />
| image = white_hat.png<br />
| caption = White hat as seen in [[973: MTV Generation]]<br />
| first_appearance = [[260: The Glass Necklace]]<br />
}}<br />
'''White Hat''' is a [[stick figure]] character in [[xkcd]]. He is distinguished by his eponymous white hat which appears to be in the shape and style of a {{w|boater}}. His appearance is identical to [[Black Hat]], other than the color of their hats. Of the two, White Hat is depicted far less often. He is sometimes referred to as "White Hat Guy" in the transcripts.<br />
<br />
Unlike {{w|White hat (computer security)|white hat}} characters in fiction or hacker terminology, xkcd's White Hat is neither smart nor heroic. To the contrary, his pronouncements often contain logical fallacies which frustrate the other characters.<br />
<br />
{{navbox-characters}}<br />
[[Category:Characters]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1184:_Circumference_Formula&diff=505101184: Circumference Formula2013-10-13T20:04:59Z<p>St.nerol: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1184<br />
| date = March 11, 2013<br />
| title = Circumference Formula<br />
| image = circumference_formula.png<br />
| titletext = Assume r' refers to the radius of Earth Prime, and r'<nowiki/>' means radius in inches.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The {{w|circumference}} C of a {{w|circle}} is 2{{w|pi|π}}''r'', where ''r'' is the {{w|radius}} of the circle. Randall then makes a {{w|Note (typography)|footnote}} about ''r'', using <sup>2</sup>. This creates a typographical ambiguity, since a superscript 2 can also be an exponent (as in ''x''<sup>2</sup>). Randall's formula now looks like a strange hybrid of the correct formula and the formula for the ''{{w|area}}'' of the circle: A = π''r''&thinsp;<sup>2</sup>.<br />
<br />
The ' and " that follow the r's in the title text should be the {{w|Prime (symbol)|prime (′)}} and double prime (″) symbols. {{w|Prime (symbol)#Designation of units|Among other things}}, these are often used in mathematics to tell apart corresponding properties of different objects.<br />
<br />
In this case, ''r'' is already used to notate the radius of any circle. ''r''&thinsp;′ ("r-prime") could then be used to notate radii of things that are not circles (like the [http://www.mathsisfun.com/definitions/radius-polygon-.html radius of any regular polygon], or the radius of any {{w|sphere}}). [[Randall]] chooses the radius of {{w|Earth Prime}}.<br />
<br />
"Prime" can mean first or original, and "Earth Prime" is a term sometimes used in works of fiction involving parallel universes to refer to ''our'' Earth (e.g. in {{w|The Long Earth}}), or to a world with a minimum of divergence points from Earth as we know it. (The radius of Earth Prime would thus not differ much from the {{w|radius of the Earth}}; 6&thinsp;371&thinsp;km.)<br />
<br />
As the title text also plays on, another of the uses of the double prime symbol (″) is to designate {{w|inches}}.<br />
<br />
<small><sup>2</sup> These are not intended to indicate the presence of a footn... oh, nevermind.</small><br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Circumference of a circle:<br />
:2πr<sup>2</sup><br />
:<sup>2</sup>The circle's radius<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Math]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1167:_Star_Trek_into_Darkness&diff=505071167: Star Trek into Darkness2013-10-13T20:01:22Z<p>St.nerol: restoring the hardcore titles</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1167<br />
| date = January 30, 2013<br />
| title = Star Trek into Darkness<br />
| image = star_trek_into_darkness.png<br />
| titletext = Of course, factions immediately sprang up in favor of '~*~sTaR tReK iNtO dArKnEsS~*~', 'xX_StAr TrEk InTo DaRkNess_Xx', and 'Star Trek lnto Darkness' (that's a lowercase 'L').<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==~*~ExPlAnAtIoN~*~==<br />
The talk page of a Wikipedia article is used to discuss changes to the article. An {{w|Wikipedia:Edit warring|edit war}} is a dispute about a specific edit to an article, manifesting as a series of edits alternating between making and reverting the change, and usually accompanied by a more-or-less heated debate on the talk page.<br />
<br />
Here, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] is referring to a dispute on the Wikipedia article about ''{{w|Star Trek Into Darkness}}'' (an upcoming Star Trek film at the time of the comic's posting). On the day before the comic was published, the article name had a lowercase "into", and the talk page looked [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Star_Trek_Into_Darkness&oldid=535542349 like this] (rounded off in a friendly way, with the posting of {{w|User:Frungi/Star Trek Into Darkness capitalization|a summary of the arguments}}, and an exchange of virtual hugs).<br />
<br />
[[Cueball]] changes the title so that every other letter is capitalized, and adds framing tildes and asterisks (a common, childish way of emphasizing titles online). This will probably not go over well.<br />
<br />
Megan's line of "They should have sent a poet." is a quote from the film ''{{w|Contact (film)|Contact}}''. The quote is also featured in [[482: Height]].<br />
<br />
The title text indicates Randall's belief that such arguments are perpetual and will always arise. He suggests that the edit to the comic will result in a dispute over variants of Cueballs "compromise". Because the lowercase "L" and the capital "I" appear similar in many fonts, he also puts forth the potential argument that the character in the movie's title is a lowercase "L".<br />
<br />
The old "favorite edit war" might be the one referenced in [[878: Model Rail]].<br />
<br />
==xX_tRaNsCrIpT_Xx==<br />
:[Cueball staring at computer screen.]<br />
:Cueball: Oh, wow. Look at Wikipedia's Talk page for Star Trek into Darkness. I have a new favorite edit war.<br />
:Megan (off-panel): Oh?<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Forty ''thousand'' words of debate over whether to capitalize "into" in the movie's title. Still no consensus.<br />
:Megan: That's ''magnificient''.<br />
:Cueball: It's breathtaking.<br />
:Megan: They should have sent a poet.<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Well I'm making an executive decision. I hope both sides accept this as a fair compromise.<br />
<br />
:[A Wikipedia page titled "~*~ StAr TrEk InTo DaRkNeSs ~*~"]<br />
<br />
==+~tRiViA+~==<br />
After the publication of the comic, the debate continued with full force, complete with {{w|Talk:Star Trek Into Darkness/Archive 5#xkcd Mention|a section of xkcd-inspired suggestions}}. The article itself was soon protected, so that only administrators could edit it. A day later, the title was changed to one including a capital "Into" by the administrator {{w|User:Mackensen|Mackensen}}. (The debate continued on {{w|User talk:Mackensen/Archive20#Star Trek into Darkness move|his talk page}}.) Currently https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/~*~_StAr_TrEk_InTo_DaRkNeSs_~*~ is a valid link and it redirects to the correct page.<br />
<br />
{{w|The Independent}} published an article about the "[http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/trekkies-take-on-wikis-in-a-grammatical-tizzy-over-star-trek-into-darkness-8475705.html grammatical tizzy]", and the affair as a whole was added to Wikipedia's humorous list of the {{w|WP:Lamest edit wars|lamest edit wars}}.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Wikipedia]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=644:_Surgery&diff=50427644: Surgery2013-10-11T16:05:35Z<p>St.nerol: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 644<br />
| date = October 2, 2009<br />
| title = Surgery<br />
| image = surgery.png<br />
| titletext = Damn. Not only did he not install it, he sutured a 'Vista-Ready' sticker onto my arm.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Linux}} is an {{w|open source}} kernel for an operating system. Linux is notorious for its less-than-perfect support for hardware, although support for most hardware is eventually patched into the official kernel release. [[Cueball]] is here under the impression that support for a USB port can be patched into his brain in a similar fashion to how hardware support can be added to the Linux kernel.<br />
<br />
The "{{w|Windows Vista|Vista}}-Ready" sticker in the title text is a humourus indication from the doctor that the patient is "advanced enough" to have Windows Vista installed. The irony is multilayered. There was a [http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Vista-Capable-lawsuit-against-Microsoft-now-a-1265319.php lawsuit against Microsoft] about promoting not-so-capable computers as "Windows Vista Capable"; they could neither run Vista fully nor smoothly. On top of that, the typical Linux user would not be very enthusiastic about Windows at all; someone who runs Linux has actively chosen an alternative operating system.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A surgeon is standing over a patient on a gurney.]<br />
:Patient: While you're doing the surgery, can you also implant this in my arm?<br />
<br />
:Surgeon: A USB port?<br />
:Patient: Just wire it up to some nerves.<br />
<br />
:Surgeon: ...This won't let your brain control USB devices, you know.<br />
:Patient: Sure – I just want the hardware.<br />
<br />
:Patient: The rest is software; I'm sure there will be a project to patch together support eventually.<br />
:Surgeon: Ah – you're a Linux user, I see.<br />
:Patient: Yeah, how'd you know?<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Biology]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Linux]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=385:_How_it_Works&diff=49380385: How it Works2013-09-23T15:02:16Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 385<br />
| date = February 18, 2008<br />
| title = How It Works<br />
| image = how it works.png<br />
| titletext = It's pi plus C, of course.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic reveals discriminative jargon against women when doing a task. When a guy does something wrong, it's his own mistake. When a girl does something wrong, it is taken as a confirmation that girls are inferior.<br />
<br />
The mathematics displayed is neither {{w|semantically}} nor {{w|syntactically}} correct. To begin with, there should be a ''dx'' after x<sup>2</sup>. Now we have an {{w|indefinite integral}} on the left hand side.<br />
<br />
The answer {{w|π}} is just nonsensical: What we want is a {{w|Function (mathematics)|function}}, whose {{w|derivative}} is x<sup>2</sup>. Now, x<sup>3</sup>/3 satisfies this condition. However, since adding a {{w|constant (mathematics)|constant}} to a function does not change its derivative, the full answer is (any function on the form) x<sup>3</sup>/3 {{w|Constant of integration|+ C}}, where C is any fixed number. The "plus a constant"-part is very easy to forget, and might even be omitted by a (sloppy) professional mathematician. So if someone really gave the answer π, "you forgot to add a constant" would be a pretty funny remark, cause in one way it's true, but on the other hand it wouldn't quite be the main thing to worry about.<br />
<br />
It would also be possible to fix the equation by adding [http://www.mathwords.com/b/bounds_of_integration.htm bounds of integration], so that {{w|π}} becomes the area below a section of the curve x<sup>2</sup>. That is called a definite integral, and there would be no "+ C". The bounds would have to be somewhat awkward though; if 0 was the lower bound, the cube root of 3π would have to be the upper.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and an friend stand at a blackboard. The friend is writing, in standard mathematical notation, that the integral of x squared equals pi. No differential or bounds are given for the integral.]<br />
:Cueball: Wow, you suck at math.<br />
:[The same scene, except the writer is Megan.]<br />
:Cueball: Wow, girls suck at math.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*With this explanation you can also get [http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/old90/constant.html this classical joke] on the same integral!<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=361:_Christmas_Back_Home&diff=48251361: Christmas Back Home2013-08-31T22:21:30Z<p>St.nerol: /* Explanation */ What I can see, Santa Claus' relation to jet lag has nothing do to with the comic.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 361<br />
| date = December 24, 2007<br />
| title = Christmas Back Home<br />
| image = christmas back home.png<br />
| titletext = Family going to bed at 10 PM is so much worse than jet lag.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
The script begins similarly to the poem "{{w|A Visit from St. Nicholas}}":<br />
<br />
:'''Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the house''<br />
:''Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;''<br />
<br />
The idea is that [[Cueball]] has been so used to being on the computer late at night (perhaps coding, or deep into some [[386: Duty Calls|Internet argument]]) that, when Santa Claus arrives, Cueball is still awake. Note the mouse pun.<br />
<br />
Being forced to sleep at normal times is compared with {{w|jet lag}}: Sleeplessness due to your body being synchronized to another time zone, so named because jet aircraft made it possible for people to travel farther and faster. Here Cueball needs to turn back his internal clock over five hours to sync with his family.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:'Twas the night before Christmas at my family's house.<br />
:There were no sound of stirring save the click of a mouse.<br />
:For 'twas just like a childhood Christmas except<br />
:I'd forgotten the hours that normal folks slept.<br />
:Santa: What are you doing out of bed so late?<br />
:Cueball: Late? It's barely 3AM!<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Christmas]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:361:_Christmas_Back_Home&diff=46889Talk:361: Christmas Back Home2013-08-19T10:43:00Z<p>St.nerol: Created page with "Can we just change "used to using", if it is bad, into something better, instead of marking the explanation as incomplete because of a wording issue? -~~~~"</p>
<hr />
<div>Can we just change "used to using", if it is bad, into something better, instead of marking the explanation as incomplete because of a wording issue? -[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:43, 19 August 2013 (UTC)</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=326:_Effect_an_Effect&diff=46519326: Effect an Effect2013-08-14T15:29:11Z<p>St.nerol: /* Explanation */ An odd internal link doesn't make it incomplete. We'll just remove the nazi-link, okay?</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 326<br />
| date = October 8, 2007<br />
| title = Effect an Effect<br />
| image = effect_an_effect.png<br />
| titletext = Time to paint another grammarian silhouette on the side of the desktop.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/affect "Affect"] and [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/effect?s=t "effect"] can each both be noun and verb, share the sense of ''influence'', and are often confused. (See the usage note under "Affect".)<br />
<br />
"Effect" is usually a noun, meaning ''a result'', and "affect" usually a verb, meaning ''to act upon''. "Effect" as a verb has the slightly different meaning ''to bring about''. [[Cueball]] says that the foreign policy ''causes'' the situation, not, as the "grammar nazi" thinks, that it ''changes'' the situation.<br />
<br />
The title of the comic translates to ''bring about an effect'', which is just what Cueball does!<br />
<br />
The title text refers to a practice common among fighter pilots in a war zone. Fighter pilots that score a "kill" on an opposing aircraft will have a silhouette of the downed plane painted on the side of their plane as a way of keeping track of kills. In this sense, Cueball "shot down," figuratively speaking, an online (grammar) nazi, and would mark it by painting a silhouette on the side of his computer.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:MY HOBBY:<br />
:Using the more obscure meanings of "affect" and "effect" to try to trip up amateur grammar nazis.<br />
:Cueball: I think that our foreign policy effects the situation.<br />
:Computer: You mean "affects".<br />
:Cueball: tee hee hee<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:My Hobby]]<br />
[[Category:Language]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1053:_Ten_Thousand&diff=463231053: Ten Thousand2013-08-12T14:49:39Z<p>St.nerol: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1053<br />
| date = May 9, 2012<br />
| title = Ten Thousand<br />
| image = ten_thousand.png<br />
| titletext = Saying 'what kind of an idiot doesn't know about the Yellowstone supervolcano' is so much more boring than telling someone about the Yellowstone supervolcano for the first time.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This is certainly a great approach to take with someone that doesn't know something, rather than taking the "idiot" approach. For all those who haven't yet seen the {{w|Diet Coke and Mentos eruption}}: here is a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjbJELjLgZg Mythbusters video], and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQHPYelqr0E a music video] (Pork and Beans by Weezer) with excessive eruptions.<br />
<br />
Here is a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PxDGiVQNg8 good video] about the {{w|Yellowstone supervolcano}}.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:I try not to make fun of people for admitting they don't know things.<br />
:Because for each thing "everyone" knows by the time they're adults", every day there are, on average, 10,000 people in the US hearing about it for the first time.<br />
:Fraction who have heard of it at birth = 0%<br />
:Fraction who have heard of it by 30 ≈ 100%<br />
:US birth rate ≈ 4,000,000/year<br />
:Number hearing about it for the first time ≈ 10,000/day<br />
<br />
:If I make fun of people, I train them not to tell me when they have those moments. And I miss out on the fun.<br />
:Megan: "Diet coke and Mentos thing"? What's that?<br />
:Cueball: Oh man! come on, we're going to the grocery store.<br />
:Megan: Why?<br />
:Cueball: You're one of today's lucky 10,000.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1249:_Meteor_Showers&diff=461511249: Meteor Showers2013-08-09T12:03:52Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1249<br />
| date = August 9, 2013<br />
| title = Meteor Showers<br />
| image = meteor showers.png<br />
| titletext = Remember, meteors always hit the tallest object around.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
This comic spoofs the way that astronomical events are often reported in the mass media -- events are often tagged with undeserved superlatives or described as being more dramatic than they actually are. In some cases, outright misinformation is spread. This phenomenon occurs in part the result of over-eager scientists, and in part because of journalists misunderstanding the subject.<br />
<br />
Meteor showers, for example, typically occur regularly each year. Sometimes meteor showers are in fact likely to be relatively spectacular - for example when the peak of the shower occurs when your part of the world is in darkness and there is little moonlight. However, even in these cases it must be understood that there is nothing unusual about the meteor shower itself.<br />
<br />
Most of the meteor showers listed in the comic are real. These are the {{w|Quadrantids}}, [http://meteorshowersonline.com/showers/alpha-beta_centaurids.html Centaurids], {{w|Lyrids}}, Daytime Zeta Perseids, {{w|June Bootids|June Boötids}}, {{w|Southern Delta Aquariids}}, {{w|Perseids}}, {{w|Draconids}}, {{w|Orionids}}, {{w|Leonids}}, and {{w|Geminids}}.<br />
<br />
Some of the showers are made up:<br />
*Tricuspids: Apparently a play on the {{w|tricuspid valve}} in mammalian hearts.<br />
*Chelyabids: A reference to the February 15, 2013, {{w|Chelyabinsk meteor}} whose explosion shattered windows within a large radius.<br />
*Dromaeosaurids are dinosaurs belonging to {{w|Dromaeosauridae}}, the family containing the genus ''Velociraptor'', well-known from the movie Jurassic Park, and a [[Category:Velociraptors|popular xkcd-theme]].<br />
*Tau Pyramids: Probably a reference to pyramidal cells, a type of neuron in the brain that is linked to cognition.<br />
<br />
The "50/50 mix of meteors and shooting stars" listed for the "June Boötids" is a joke, as "meteor" and "shooting star" are synonymous.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to the folk wisdom that ''lightning'' strikes the tallest thing around. [[Randall]] expressed frustration over how "maddeningly inexact" that statement is, and elaborated on the problem mathematically, on his [[what if?]]-blog, in the [http://what-if.xkcd.com/16/ post on lightning].<br />
<br />
The mention of "Region 2" is a reference to {{w|region locking}}, a DRM scheme intended to limit media to certain areas. DRM of course does not apply to natural events. But ironically, meteor showers are also geographically restricted, and the visible area might roughly coincide with a DRM region. Further irony is that "Region 2" is actually Europe, Middle East, Egypt, Japan, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Greenland, French Overseas departments and territories, meaning that it's not strictly geographical, much is the mess that is DRM.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Charts]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1249:_Meteor_Showers&diff=461501249: Meteor Showers2013-08-09T11:39:56Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1249<br />
| date = August 9, 2013<br />
| title = Meteor Showers<br />
| image = meteor showers.png<br />
| titletext = Remember, meteors always hit the tallest object around.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
This comic spoofs the way that astronomical events are often reported in the mass media -- events are often tagged with undeserved superlatives or described as being more dramatic than they actually are. In some cases, outright misinformation is spread. This phenomenon occurs in part the result of over-eager scientists, and in part because of journalists misunderstanding the subject.<br />
<br />
Meteor showers, for example, typically occur regularly each year. Sometimes meteor showers are in fact likely to be relatively spectacular - for example when the peak of the shower occurs when your part of the world is in darkness and there is little moonlight. However, even in these cases it must be understood that there is nothing unusual about the meteor shower itself.<br />
<br />
Most of the meteor showers listed in the comic are real. These are the {{w|Quadrantids}}, [http://meteorshowersonline.com/showers/alpha-beta_centaurids.html Centaurids], {{w|Lyrids}}, Daytime Zeta Perseids, {{w|June Bootids|June Boötids}}, {{w|Southern Delta Aquariids}}, {{w|Perseids}}, {{w|Draconids}}, {{w|Orionids}}, {{w|Leonids}}, and {{w|Geminids}}. Some of the showers are made up, for example Tricuspids (apparently a play on the {{w|tricuspid valve}} in mammalian hearts) and Dromaeosaurids (inspired, apparently, by the {{w|velociraptor|velociraptors}} in the movie Jurassic Park; real-life velociraptors were members of the genus {{w|dromaeosaurus}}). The "Chelyabids" are a reference to the February 15, 2013, {{w|Chelyabinsk meteor}} whose explosion shattered windows within a large radius. The "Tau Pyramids" are probably a reference to pyramidal cells, a type of neuron in the brain that is linked to cognition.<br />
<br />
The "50/50 mix of meteors and shooting stars" listed for the "June Boötids" is a joke, as "meteor" and "shooting star" are synonymous.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to the folk wisdom that ''lightning'' strikes the tallest thing around. [[Randall]] expressed frustration over how "maddeningly inexact" that statement is, and elaborated on the problem mathematically, on his [[what if?]]-blog, in the [http://what-if.xkcd.com/16/ post on lightning].<br />
<br />
The mention of "Region 2" is a reference to {{w|region locking}}, a DRM scheme intended to limit media to certain areas. DRM of course does not apply to natural events. But ironically, meteor showers are also geographically restricted, and the visible area might roughly coincide with a DRM region. Further irony is that "Region 2" is actually Europe, Middle East, Egypt, Japan, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Greenland, French Overseas departments and territories, meaning that it's not strictly geographical, much is the mess that is DRM.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Charts]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1248:_Sphere&diff=461481248: Sphere2013-08-09T11:15:34Z<p>St.nerol: /* Explanation */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1248<br />
| date = August 07, 2013<br />
| title = Sphere<br />
| image = sphere.png<br />
| titletext = This message brought to you by the Society of Astronomers Trapped on the Surface of a Sphere.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Megan]] has taken or visited an astronomy class and learned about the vast distances of the universe. This occupies her mind, and she ponders that she can only observe and learn about the rest of the universe, and not visit other celestial bodies herself. The {{w|sphere}} she mentions (here informally meaning {{w|ball (mathematics)|ball}}) is a metaphor for the {{w|Earth}}, which she feels trapped on. (The {{w|figure of the Earth}} is {{w|Spherical Earth|not strictly a sphere}}, but an irregular shape which can be approximated by an oblate {{w|spheroid}} or the {{w|geoid}}.) <br />
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Her disinclination to do "{{w|small talk}}" with [[Cueball]] pokes fun at how astronomers (and people of other specialications) can be so focused on their topic that they lose sight of the mundane. This has also been touched upon in [[663: Sagan-Man]] and [[786: Exoplanets]].<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:Cueball: How are you?<br />
:Megan: Trapped on the surface of a sphere.<br />
:[Cueball looks at Megan, she looks into the sky.]<br />
:Cueball: That astronomy class has made you suck at small talk.<br />
:Megan: The universe is too ''big'' for small talk.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Astronomy]]</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1141:_Two_Years&diff=46123Talk:1141: Two Years2013-08-08T23:45:00Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
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<div>There are no words to convey how awesome you guys are. Thank you. <br />
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Also, great Portal reference. <br />
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[[Special:Contributions/81.32.87.159|81.32.87.159]] 07:30, 30 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
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Flip cancer. Lost my mother-in-law to it and now my dad is undergoing chemo for stage IV lung cancer.<br />
:Seconded. This strip hits close to home, even years after the fact. And given that of my parents and grandparents only one grandmother was not yet diagnosed with any type of cancer, both frequentist and Bayesian statisticians probably agree I should be cautious myself. [[Special:Contributions/46.142.57.253|46.142.57.253]] 20:01, 30 November 2012 (UTC) madd<br />
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Did anyone else think the second to last panel was a couple who were sitting close to ground zero of a nuclear bomb? It took several glances to finally see a tree instead of a mushroom cloud. [[User:Sayno2quat|Sayno2quat]] ([[User talk:Sayno2quat|talk]]) 15:35, 30 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
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:When I first saw that panel from my peripheral vision, I also thought it was a mushroom cloud.[[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 17:46, 30 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
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:Now that you mention it - on my monitor, before scrolling, I only swa the upper half of what looked indeed like a mushroom cloud. [[Special:Contributions/46.142.57.253|46.142.57.253]] 19:45, 30 November 2012 (UTC) madd<br />
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: Agreed; the mushroom cloud was my first impression, too. And I hazard the guess that it was intentional: it's an apt metaphor of how your world seems to explode... -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:02, 1 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
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The language of referring to Randall's girlfriend as "wife" before they were married is awkward.[[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 17:47, 30 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
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:Ok, "partner" is slightly less awkward, but I think using "Cueball/Megan" instead of "Randall/Randall's partner" would be most consistent.[[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 21:17, 30 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
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:: +1 on '''s/Randall/Cueball/g''' (and '''s/(girlfriend|partner|wife)/Megan/gi''') with an explanation that the comic very likely depicts real-world events in Randall's and (real-world) Megan's life. Though it might be tributary to make the inferential leap, I think would be entirely "unscientific" to do so (which is so ''un''Randall...) It also reinforces the notion that this happens to many, many more couples: Randall and Megan are not unique in what they are experiencing, though Randall does an excellent job of illustrating just what they're going through. (And yes, I could just go and change it myself, but wanted to discuss beforehand.) -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:02, 1 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
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:::Wikis lack democracy. Somebody puts their foot down, and that's that. In any case, I think if someone is going to insist that these characters can only represent Randall and his wife Megan, it's odd and slightly disrespectful to never use her proper name.[[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 01:29, 2 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
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::::Crying out about social injustice is the adult version of screaming "Ouch!" when a parent grabs a child's arm to get their attention. Democracy is not do-what-you-want-to. Democracy is having a discussion and then acting upon the results of that discussion. There have been [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Randall_in_Comics|many]] [[Talk:1117:_My_Sky|discussions]] about having Randall in comics. The result was that whenever Randall decides to place himself in a comic, that we should honor that. So, instead of using a generic character he put himself and his wife into the comic. So, we honor that. We do not know the name of his wife, Randall is a very private person, we respect his privacy and only go by the information he gives out, and we don't make wild speculations, this is why we don't refer to her by (any) name; it's the most respectful thing we can do.<br />
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::::To prevent vigilante edit warring I've locked the page. Now, if you think that the site should not recognize when Randall specifically puts himself in comics, then there is a reason to bring this discussion back to the table. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 05:45, 2 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
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:::::So why is this comic different from [[881]], [[931]], [[933]], and [[996]]? There was consistency until [[1141]]. Consistency is what's wanted in a Wiki.[[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 05:39, 3 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
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::::::I believe those other comic is rather general, where this particular one has enough set of facts that specific to Randall's case. That said, I agree with you that consistency is good, having the character called Cueball and Megan and explicitly said that those represent Randall and his wife probably better. [[User:Arifsaha|Arifsaha]] ([[User talk:Arifsaha|talk]]) 16:48, 7 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
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::::::My two cents: As [[User:Arifsaha|Arifsaha]] said, those other comics are general. Each is ''one'' scene demonstrating ''one'' situation or discussion, so Cueball/Megan could be any couple going through cancer treatments. In this case, quantity ''does'' matter in determining the significance of "evidence that this is Randall". There are so many scenes here that it's clear a very specific and personal story is being shared.<br />
::::::Also, the title text usually is from Randall's perspective (obviously there are exceptions, but when the text is realistic, it's a safe assumption). Here it says "she", not "my wife", indicating that the person being referenced has already been introduced (i.e. is in the comic). Further linking the Randall text with the characters is the fact that it directly references the panel 5 scene, rather than: "related ideas that are not in the comic" ([[933]]/[[996]]), simple objective explanation ([[931]]), or a reference to a previous strip ([[881]]). So unless you want to argue that the title text is intended to be ''Cueball'' addressing the readers and not Randall, it seems like this is all about Randall & his wife. [[User:Jerodast|- jerodast]] ([[User talk:Jerodast|talk]]) 16:06, 22 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
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:::::As [[User:CityZen|CityZen]] said above, consistency is good. It is not that we don't want to recognize Randall in the comic, but we probably want to recognize it in the way where we said that in this comic Cueball and Megan represent Randall and his wife. I imagine it is possible that a reader see other comic and start questioning why the characters were called Cueball and Megan in the other comic but called Randall and his wife in this comic. I believe it will be easier to simply consistently label the character Cueball and Megan, then explicitly and clearly said and explain that in this particular comic, Cueball and Megan represent Randall and his wife. [[User:Arifsaha|Arifsaha]] ([[User talk:Arifsaha|talk]]) 16:48, 7 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
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::::::Cueball and Megan do not represent Randall and his wife. Cueball and Megan are the everyman/woman (and usually not even that but the geekiest kind of every(wo)man). Now, if Randall were building a story arc that spanned 1000 comics I would believe that this was Cueball and Megan, in character, standing in for Randall's real life experience. But the fact is, Randall clearly marks when he intentionally has multiple comics that build directly upon each other, see [[:Category:Comic series]]. If xkcd were a story driven web comic we'd have to point out that Cueball and Megan have been married several times, as well as been flirtatious with other characters, had children both in and out of wedlock. It's much more easily explained that this comic is Randall and his wife merely drawn "in the style of". Ignoring an unusually personal comic for the sake of consistent character naming seems absurd to me. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:50, 7 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
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::::::Also there is an established precedent for [[:Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe|Randall's appearance in comics]] - he appears as an unadorned stick figure in all of them, despite clearly being Randall. Just because he looks like Cueball doesn't mean we need to call Randall "Cueball but really he's Randall this time". If anything that's even more confusing. Randall and Cueball both appear in (different) comics, and they're drawn the same. I'm sure people can handle that. [[User:Jerodast|- jerodast]] ([[User talk:Jerodast|talk]]) 16:06, 22 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
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Panel 3 is possible reference/inspiration for comic [[1024: Error Code]]--[[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 18:56, 30 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
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:Given what we know from Randall's past two years, I would rather infer that comic 1024 was inspired by one of these activities as seen in panels 3 and 8. [[Special:Contributions/46.142.57.253|46.142.57.253]] 19:43, 30 November 2012 (UTC) madd<br />
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::I was leaning towards the trip in panel 3 inspiring comic 1024 rather than referencing it as well. [[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 20:50, 30 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
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Sooo... Because the clipboard-holding character in the first panel is a woman, we assume she's a nurse instead of a doctor?<br />
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:Seriously the clipboard-holding character is much more likely to be a doctor than a nurse if they are communicating actual results of medical tests.--[[Special:Contributions/71.251.30.68|71.251.30.68]] 03:58, 6 December 2012 (UTC)Anonymous<br />
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::I agree, although, Randall went out of his way to draw a garment on her that has short sleeves, unlike a lab coat. However, doctors wear scrubs too. I'm changing it. [[User:Jerodast|- jerodast]] ([[User talk:Jerodast|talk]]) 15:22, 22 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
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Hey I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask questions, but I don't really get why the waiter says eww at the end? Thanks in advance! Love this site! {{unsigned|169.229.101.43|12:29, 6 December 2012 (UTC)}}<br />
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:The waiter says "eww" at the end because, instead of celebrating a wedding anniversary (or similar) which is what he is expecting, the couple are celebrating a "biopsy-versary". It's the contrast between the mental image of what happens in a biopsy with the emotions of what is normally expected when celebrating an anniversary (eg wedding anniversary as opposed to cutting-a-hole-in-you anniversary).[[Special:Contributions/203.1.252.5|203.1.252.5]] 03:38, 7 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
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:It's the equivalent of "yuck" and similar expressions of moderate gross-out. [[Special:Contributions/109.154.103.101|109.154.103.101]] 09:34, 7 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
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Can we get a Cancer series tag on some of these comics? There have been a lot of them, after all. --[[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 14:10, 11 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
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:Down at the bottom, there's a section that lists the categories this page is in. The Cancer category has been there since this page was created. Also, please add comments in chronological order. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 14:19, 11 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
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Since my mother has just made her 27th ''biopsy-versary'', my sympathies, prayers and best hopes are with anyone who has won someone from, lost someone to, is fighting or is fighting with someone, any form of Cancer.<br />
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Which is, pretty much everyone; is this forum, with Randall in particular.<br />
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Paulo Sedrez [[Special:Contributions/139.82.111.111|139.82.111.111]] 20:35, 7 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
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the first few frames got me... ;_; [[Special:Contributions/50.4.66.122|50.4.66.122]] 03:03, 22 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I do not know if this is a Scary Thought, but, in IV machines, a long beep repeating itself (for example, the 2nd panel here) means that either the IV machine had finished its infusion or there in an occlusion (which means that the flow from the bag to the vein was cut off somehow, a problem that can be inflicted by simply moving the tube in a way that bends or even folds the tube). If an occlusion occurs, a nurse would need to fix the problem (in my example case: re-'straighten' the tube) and very painfully push the fluid into the vein until the gap caused the occlusion disappears into the vein. [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 20:50, 15 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I would assume panel 8 depicts their honeymoon since it follows directly after the wedding panel. -j [[Special:Contributions/96.242.254.65|96.242.254.65]] 14:18, 8 August 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Yeah. I added it.–[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 23:45, 8 August 2013 (UTC)</div>St.nerolhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1141:_Two_Years&diff=461221141: Two Years2013-08-08T23:44:08Z<p>St.nerol: </p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1141<br />
| date = November 30, 2012<br />
| title = Two Years<br />
| image = two years.png<br />
| imagesize = <br />
| titletext = She won the first half of all our chemo Scrabble games, but then her IV drugs started kicking in and I *dominated*.<br />
}}<br />
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== Explanation ==<br />
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This comic marks the second year of [[Randall Munroe]]'s wife's battle with cancer, and appears to depict actual events from those two years.<br />
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Some explanations:<br />
* Panel 1: Randall's wife-to-be (at that point) receives a diagnosis over the phone as Randall sits by her side supportively.<br />
* Panel 2: Undergoing IV (intravenous) {{w|chemotherapy}}. Because of the hair loss that results from chemotherapy, many patients opt to shave their heads when they undergo chemotherapy. Her hair grows back over the course of the following panels.<br />
* Panel 3: The two of them spending time alone together. <br />
* Panel 4: The couple are waiting for the results of a scan. A phone is on the middle of the table that they are waiting to ring.<br />
* Panel 5: More chemotherapy. The couple are playing {{w|Scrabble}}, in which players use letter tiles to spell words in a cross-word style. She uses the fact that she has cancer as leverage to get Randall to ignore the fact that the word she has played (zarg) is not a real word.<br />
* Panel 6: Someone suggests they come for a visit next year, but all they can think about are the words "next year", indicating that they know the future is very much in doubt. <br />
* Panel 7: They get married.<br />
* Panel 8: The couple watching {{w|humpback whales}}, possibly on their {{w|honeymoon}}.<br />
* Panel 9: Randall is paraphrasing a line from the song "{{w|Still Alive}}" ([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_S0PGu-cH4 video]) from the video game ''{{w|Portal}}'' (''"I'm doing science and I'm still alive"'').<br />
* Panel 10: The two of them sit under a tree reflecting on the significance of the past two years.<br />
* Panel 11: Randall and his wife have dinner to celebrate the fact that she has made it two years since her {{w|biopsy}}.<br />
The title text is referring to a possible {{w|Chemotherapy#Neurological adverse effects|side-effect of chemotherapy drugs}}, the inability to concentrate.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[Randall and Randall's fiancée sitting on a bed. She's on the phone with a doctor (shown in inset), who is looking at a clipboard.] <br />
:Doctor: [illegible] <br />
:Randall's fiancée: Oh God <br />
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:[Randall and Randall's fiancée sitting at their laptops. Randall's fiancée is hooked up to an IV pump and her head is shaved.] <br />
:IV pump: ...BEEEP...BEEEP...BEEEP... <br />
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:[Randall and Randall's fiancée rowing a canoe in a lake/mountain setting. Randall's fiancée is wearing a beanie.] <br />
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:[Randall and Randall's fiancée sitting at a table staring at a phone. A clock is mounted behind them. Her head is stubbly.] <br />
:Randall's fiancée: How long can it take to read a scan!? <br />
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:[Randall and Randall's fiancée playing scrabble. Randall's fiancée is again hooked up to an IV pump. She has longer stubbles.] <br />
:Randall: "Zarg" isn't a word. <br />
:Randall's fiancée: But Caaancer. <br />
:Randall: ...Ok, fine. <br />
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:[Randall and Randall's fiancée talking to a friend. A large thought bubble is above their heads. She's wearing a beanie.] <br />
:Friend: So next year you should come visit us up in the mountain - [cut off by thought bubble] <br />
:Randall and Randall's fiancée: "Next year" <br />
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:[Randall and Randall's fiancée getting married. He's wearing a bow-tie; she a white dress. A heart is above their heads. Randall's wife's hair is growing back a little.] <br />
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:[Randall and Randall's wife standing on the coast, watching a whale jump out of the water. She's wearing a beanie.] <br />
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:[Randall standing behind Randall's wife, who is sitting at a desk using a laptop. Her hair has grown back a little more.] <br />
:Randall: Hey- <br />
:Randall: You're doing science, <br />
:Randall: And you're still alive. <br />
:Randall's wife: Yeah! <br />
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:[Randall and Randall's wife sitting under a tree.] <br />
:Randall: It's really only been two years? <br />
:Randall's wife: They were big years. <br />
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:[Randall and Randall's wife at a fancy restaurant being served. Her hair has grown back more.] <br />
:Waiter: Happy... Anniversary? <br />
:Randall's wife: Biopsy-versary! <br />
:Waiter: ...eww. <br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]<br />
[[Category:Cancer]]</div>St.nerol