explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:188: Reload

2026-01-03T06:26:03Z

物灵:

First comment lol [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 00:16, 27 February 2024 (UTC)

:And I'm the second! (anonymous) 13:42, 12 April 2024 {{unsigned ip|172.71.147.99|17:44, 12 April 2024 (presumably, author wrote from UTC-4, e.g. EDT}}

::Just wait 'till they hear about the third comment [[User:Jarochar|Jarochar]] ([[User talk:Jarochar|talk]]) 16:39, 2 January 2026 (UTC)

:Clearly there are older comments in [[Project:About#History|the precursory blog]]. — [[User:物灵|物灵]] ([[User talk:物灵|talk]]) 06:26, 3 January 2026 (UTC)

explain xkcd:Sandbox

2026-01-03T06:19:43Z

物灵:

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Talk:1361: Google Announcement

2026-01-03T05:41:55Z

物灵:

"The service was announced on 3 December 2009" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Public_DNS [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.179|108.162.254.179]] 05:31, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

'''ubuntu one?'''
Isn't this a reference to Ubuntu shutting down Ubuntu One "focus our efforts on our most important strategic initiatives and ensure we are not spread too thin" http://blog.canonical.com/2014/04/02/shutting-down-ubuntu-one-file-services/
Randall mentions using Linux quite a bit. U1 was a pretty convenient service for linux users. Many users complain about Ubuntu depreciating various important features. U1 was something that made Ubuntu practical for people using Mac and windows because of the cloud sharing so may be seen as part of a core mandate for ubuntu. The joke is that this is foolish to shut down, it would be akin to Google shutting down all their important services to focus on the DNS core because technically it is more important. (but obviously not to most google users who have no idea what 8.8.8.8 is)

I was pretty sure this was about ubuntu because it seems like a strong parallel... but then I thought that was a bit obscure... so I came here to check it out and I suppose maybe I am the only one who sees the connection?
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.11|108.162.245.11]] 07:51, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

For some reason I thought 8.8.8.8 was a reference to the Penfield Mood Organ in ''Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep''. I have no clue why I thought this because it has nothing to do with Google. Maybe its because dialing 888 gives people the desire to watch TV no matter what's on. Either way, I realize that my idea would be too obscure and have nothing to do with the original comic.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.90|173.245.48.90]] 09:19, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

I'll start panicking only after Google switches its public DNS server to 6.6.6.6 - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.185|108.162.254.185]] 09:21, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

:That would really be scary - I mean, any event which causes Google to use IP address currently allocated to {{w|Army_Network_Enterprise_Technology_Command|U.S. Army Information Systems Command}}, {{w|Fort Huachuca}} would certainly be reason to panic. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:31, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

I thought that the comment criticised Google's critics, because they usually say Google should not be working on Google Plus but, instead, on its "core business". So Google goes hardcore in order to abide by that and shuts down everything that is not "core" enough - what can be more central to any internet's business than DNS, right? It's kind of a troll reductio ad absurdum, IMO. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.194|108.162.212.194]] 11:29, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

I would be crushed if 8.8.4.4 were shut down. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 14:14, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

This is also a parody on how such rumors spread and extrapolate ludicrously. Because some VP left a company doesn't mean the product he/she was working on will be shutdown. That's not how large companies work -- another VP will just lead that effort. Saying that G+ will be shut down because Vic left is quite a stretch, and the parody is to stretch it further until you hit the "core", with an additional layer on the parody as for most people the core business that Google is known for is its search engine, not a DNS service. [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 15:57, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

I speculate that because all of Google's other services are basically loss leaders, basically to just support it's adsense program, this is just harping on it by saying google is focusing on an obscure free service it provides. 17:21, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

Try "dig +short TXT google-public-dns-a.google.com" [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.204|141.101.89.204]] 08:56, 29 April 2014 (UTC)
:Awesome!! For those without a "dig" command, the response is "http://xkcd.com/1361/" [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 12:11, 29 April 2014 (UTC)
::As of 2024 (the change probably happened much earlier), the TXT record is no longer under that domain name; it's under dns.google instead. (dig +short TXT dns.google) [[User:JBYoshi|JBYoshi]] ([[User talk:JBYoshi|talk]]) 21:44, 30 December 2024 (UTC)

I figured it may have to do with the game "2048" mentioned in strip 1344 four 8s in a row would put the player in a pretty good position, two 8s and two 4s is good but not great. Or maybe I just got nerd sniped. [[User:Chexwarrior|Chexwarrior]] ([[User talk:Chexwarrior|talk]]) 02:21, 1 May 2014 (UTC)

I think that it had to do with the stop of the streaming service of Last.fm. They said that they want to go to their core business model of scrobbeling and killed the streaming. This comic came out on the exact day that the streaming was shut off, so I had the impression that it was about Last.fm. {{unsigned ip|162.158.92.22}}

Well, Google is indeed [https://www.blog.google/technology/safety-security/project-strobe/ shutting down Google+] due to a data breach. [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]]) 18:07, 27 October 2018 (UTC)
:Nice reminder here! I was aware about that current Google+ issue but I didn't remember this comic - or only slightly. This needs definitely an entry at trivia. I've fixed that bad layout at trivia for better human understanding and added this issue. Is this causes by the European {{w|General Data Protection Regulation|GDPR}}? In combination with the recent Facebook scandal(s)? I'm sure, but there is no proof. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:27, 27 October 2018 (UTC)

This nearly happened: <code>sed -i 's/the 8\.8\.8\.8 dns server/The {{w|Google Gemini|Gemini}} AI assistant/i'</code> — [[User:物灵|物灵]] ([[User talk:物灵|talk]]) 05:41, 3 January 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3187: High Altitude Cooking Instructions

2025-12-30T09:01:04Z

物灵:

Okay, but now I am imagining an inverse package labelling for ISS foodstuffs. [[Special:Contributions/209.52.88.130|209.52.88.130]] 01:17, 30 December 2025 (UTC)
I think ISS qualifies as "sea level": the key is the atmospheric pressure, height per se does nothing to food [[Special:Contributions/185.36.194.156|185.36.194.156]] 01:44, 30 December 2025 (UTC)
::The ISS maintains pretty much sea level atmosphere, and seems to also maintain similar composition, but there's definitely going to be complications with microgravity. Now I want to see what boiling water and steam look like in a zero g atmosphere [[User:R128|R128]] ([[User talk:R128|talk]]) 08:48, 30 December 2025 (UTC)

You try cooking on the ISS the way you cook at sea level, you're gonna have several cups of boiling water in microgravity. [[Special:Contributions/207.195.86.104|207.195.86.104]] 04:55, 30 December 2025 (UTC)

I am editing the transcription and confused where the notes are attached. Now that the higher note reads ‘remove from heat [...] for 3 minutes before serving’, it may be food packaging, but the paint is too thin for it to be used for that purpose. And the space is seemingly inadequate for typical food labels (nutrition, ingredients, manufacturer, etc). [[User:物灵|物灵]] ([[User talk:物灵|talk]]) 05:10, 30 December 2025 (UTC)
:The higher note might just be the ‘sea level cooking instructions’, reading:
:;Sea level cooking instructions:
::[... ... ... ...]
::remove from heat [...]
::for 3 minutes before serving.
[[User:物灵|物灵]] ([[User talk:物灵|talk]]) 09:01, 30 December 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3187: High Altitude Cooking Instructions

2025-12-30T05:10:21Z

物灵:

3187: High Altitude Cooking Instructions

2025-12-30T04:57:56Z

物灵: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 3187
| date = December 29, 2025
| title = High Altitude Cooking Instructions
| image = high_altitude_cooking_instructions_2x.png
| imagesize = 389x370px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 1,300,000-1,400,000 ft: Ask a crew member to show you how to use the ISS food warmer.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a crew member using the ISS food warmer. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

At higher altitudes, cooking experiences extra complications. This was previously mentioned in [[2153: Effects of High Altitude]]. This comic imagines food preparation instructions with additional caveats specifically for high-altitude cooking.

While the first two sections are reasonable accommodations, the instructions - as is typical for xkcd - soon veer into absurdity. At an altitude of 250,000 ft (approximately 76,200 meters), the instructions assume the user is partaking in some kind of controlled spaceflight. The "cooking instructions", therefore, are instead instructions for reentry; basically, telling the user "You can wait until you get home".

The title text goes a step further and assumes that the user is in orbit - specifically, on the International Space Station. Anyone on an orbiting space station is presumably going to be on that space station for an extended period, so they cannot wait until after they return to Earth for a meal, so the "cooking instructions" simply direct the user to someone who can show them how to use the on-board facilities.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[Two notes are attached to a thin grey board, only the bottom of which is visible and slightly slanted in the frame.]

[The higher note only showing its bottom line:]

:[...] remove from [...] for 3 minutes before serving.

[The lower note:]

;High altitude cooking instructions:
:'''3,500—6,500 ft''': Add 1/2 cup water, increase cook time to 12 minutes
:'''6,500—9,500 ft''': Add 1 1/4 cups water, increase cook time to 18 minutes
:'''250,000—450,000 ft''': Orient reentry vehicle for aerodynamic stability. Deploy parachutes at 10,000 ft. Descend, keeping crew capsule tightly covered, for 3—4 minutes. After splashdown, follow sea level cooking instructions.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category: Food]]
[[Category: Space]]

Talk:3170: Service Outage

2025-11-25T01:32:41Z

物灵:

F1R5T! [[User:RadiantRainwing|RadiantRainwing]] ([[User talk:RadiantRainwing|talk]]) 01:53, 20 November 2025 (UTC)

On the contrary, almost all the fanfiction I write is set in Legends, so my productivity takes a major hit there. (I don't care what disney says, they can take the old republic from my cold dead hands) [[Special:Contributions/108.254.161.83|108.254.161.83]] 02:09, 20 November 2025 (UTC)

damn aws has been a month old already? [[User:TheTrainsKid|TheTrainsKid]] ([[User talk:TheTrainsKid|talk]]) 02:11, 20 November 2025 (UTC)
:But [https://blog.cloudflare.com/18-november-2025-outage/ the Cloudflare outage] seems like only yesterday. [[Special:Contributions/76.187.17.7|76.187.17.7]] 04:52, 20 November 2025 (UTC)

The second paragraph is all 1 sentence. Somebody should probably fix that. [[User:Qwertyuiopfromdefly|Qwertyuiopfromdefly]] ([[User talk:Qwertyuiopfromdefly|talk]]) 02:36, 20 November 2025 (UTC)

At my most active on this site, an outage might have increased my productivity :-p But now I did not even notice this outage yesterday :-D --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:32, 20 November 2025 (UTC)

I think the capital letter is significant. A Canon wiki would be about the Japanese company that makes fine optical equipment, something that would be a legitimate business-related destination.[[User:Muttley|Muttley]] ([[User talk:Muttley|talk]]) 09:57, 20 November 2025 (UTC)

Someone has put in "like Google" as an example. Should this site be extending the internet myth that Google is essential for internet use? In reality, it's just one of many search engines. If Google went down, people would get a less skewed result from something like DuckDuckGo. But they think Google IS the internet. And this wiki shouldn't ecoueage the myth. {{unsigned ip|86.45.82.77|10:22, 20 November 2025 (UTC)}}
:Is that better? [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 12:27, 20 November 2025 (UTC)
:Finally, somebody remembered that DuckDuckGo exists. Duck player is genuinely a lifesaver. [[User:DollarStoreBa'al|--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|Converse]]]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al|talk]]) 14:00, 20 November 2025 (UTC)
:[https://duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/misconceptions/is-duckduckgo-owned-by-google At least DuckDuckGo has self-declared]. However, some other niche search engines depend on Google and the impact on them of a potential Google breakdown is unclear. [[User:物灵|物灵]] ([[User talk:物灵|talk]]) 01:32, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

The 'doesn't rely on' curve is wrong - it should initially plummet as the person repeatedly refreshes the Star Wars Legends wiki, while cursing it for (still) not working. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 10:46, 20 November 2025 (UTC)
:I thought the same for people who rely on it. There should be a big spike down, while people keep refreshing and debugging things, then it gradually goes up again, often to almost the same level as before, as people focus on tasks that they can do without that service or find workarounds. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 00:03, 21 November 2025 (UTC)
::That would make sense. How it's done in the comic, it might be an initial focus on tasks that can be done without the service, before people start to run out of things they can do without access to whatever software. It might also depend on the scale of the x axis, though the graph presumably covers about a day. [[User:R128|R128]] ([[User talk:R128|talk]]) 18:40, 21 November 2025 (UTC)

I feel [[903:_Extended_Mind]] might be relevant as well? {{unsigned ip|173.70.43.163|17:07, 20 November 2025}}

Is there some separate Star Wars canon-only wiki that I'm not aware of that this comic is referring to? The main wiki to my knowledge is Wookieepedia which has both Legends and Canon information (generally a subject in both just has two separate pages and a link at the top to switch between Legends and Canon), but if that server goes down it's going to bring down all the articles on canon and legends equally so the distinction the comic makes seems meaningless to me. Maybe I'm just being pedantic. --[[User:Espella|Espella]] ([[User talk:Espella|talk]]) 00:44, 21 November 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3164: Metric Tip

2025-11-16T11:53:24Z

物灵:

!tsrif --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|Converse]] 21:08, 5 November 2025 (UTC)
:If you like to have fun with first comments, the place to do it is The Daily WTF comment pages. https://thedailywtf.com. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:25, 5 November 2025 (UTC)
Would have helped avoid the Mars Climate Orbiter [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter] feature. [[User:SubtrEM|SubtrEM]] ([[User talk:SubtrEM|talk]]) 07:41, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

I am switching from metric to imperial: I am 1m34.5" --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:18, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:You mean 1m2'26⅔cm. Or ''very nearly'' 2yd4cm½"..? [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.220|82.132.244.220]] 12:08, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
::This actually is how I remember how much a Yard is. I am slightly over 2Yards, while being under 2m, so a Yard is a bit less than a meter. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 15:36, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:::Can I introduce you to the fathom? It's exactly 2 yards, and generally used for harbor depth, but saying you're a fathom tall is technically correct... {{unsigned ip|176.165.208.89|20:21, 6 November 2025 (UTC)}}
::::It's hard to fathom any of this.[[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:19, 7 November 2025 (UTC)

Wait, what? ounce can be volume or weight? So you could give the density of a material in oz/oz? Imperial units are really weird... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:21, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:That would be highly nonstandard. Density is usually given in pennyweight/cubic barleycorn. [[Special:Contributions/209.188.63.33|209.188.63.33]] 08:52, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:Not just that - it can be an areal density or a thickness, too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ounce#Other_uses Strictly speaking, though, the imperial measure of volume is not an 'ounce', but a 'fluid ounce' - it's just that Americans have mangled the two together. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 10:21, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
: Weirdly enough, the active ingredient in something like medication is given in mg/oz (fluid ounce, presumably). That's just wrong.--[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 10:35, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

"...are usually effectively one or other measurement of weight..." The grammar here seems wrong and confusing. [[Special:Contributions/2A00:23C5:FE1C:3701:54C4:F71B:724:CBE7|2A00:23C5:FE1C:3701:54C4:F71B:724:CBE7]] 10:30, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
: Better now? [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 10:41, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

I'm so glad I live in a metric country now. Helping people fix their terminally naff cars in the 80s in the UK was a trauma - spanner/socket sizes, like 13/16ths and 10/12ths and 1/2 and... so the guy takes one, not right, asks for the next size up. Well, what size is that then? You mean the six and a quarter eighths, yes? 😪
Oh, and don't get me started on American recipes - you'll very quickly discover that US Imperial and British Imperial are not the same (and far too many American recipes measure stuff in "cups"). So, really, Imperial is complicated enough without translating half into metric! [[Special:Contributions/92.184.141.48|92.184.141.48]] 14:07, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:Most recipes don't require the measurements to be very precise and you can get away with adding too few.or too much of an ingredient. A "cup" is just a large cup. So for a cup of wheat, just fill a cup or even looser, throw in what you estimate to be a cup.
:Certain bakeware and especially homemade pasta and cakes are picky about the relative quantities (especially of wheat and water), so beware! [[User:IIVQ|IIVQ]] ([[User talk:IIVQ|talk]]) 20:13, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

I ran some numbers, and assuming 28.349523125 grams in an ounce and 16 ounces in a pound, "7 kg and 9 ounces" would be 7255.145708125 grams, assuming the "9 ounces" doesn't involve rounding, while 16 pounds would be 7257.47792 grams, which differs by only about 2.332211875 grams, or about 0.08 ounce - it's possible the weight is actually 16 pounds exactly, which feels like it makes "7 kg and 9 ounces" even worse than it already is. [[User:Conster|Conster]] ([[User talk:Conster|talk]]) 14:13, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:Don't see why - it's easy to see the equivalence: 7 + 9 = 16. Simples! [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 14:30, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
::This is an interesting coincidence - I made a [https://www.desmos.com/calculator/dqbzb8gfjf desmos] to find other places this happens. Unfortunately, looks like it's just in the 7kg, 9oz case (7257g) and integer multiples of it, up to 30kg. After 30kg, there are no more coincidences like this one. Maybe someone could mention this case in the trivia section. [[User:R128|R128]] ([[User talk:R128|talk]]) 16:04, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

To sell the metric system to Americans, you should make it sound bigger. Americans love big things, and telling them a "metric yard" (a meter) is longer than a yard, or a "metric pound" is weightier (500g) than a pound should work wonders... Except against their most confusing unit, the mile per gallon, that one is a doozy {{unsigned ip|176.165.208.89|20:31, 6 November 2025 (UTC)}}

Of course, one should also use esoteric units. Like: 1 meter, 7 hands, and 175 picolightseconds. [[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 23:17, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:I prefer 1 smoot 5 cm. [[User:TomtheBuilder|TomtheBuilder]] ([[User talk:TomtheBuilder|talk]]) 03:50, 7 November 2025 (UTC)
:Wait, mpg is confusing to non-Americans? It's just the amount of miles you can drive per gallon of gas used...--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|Converse]] 14:00, 7 November 2025 (UTC)
::It's because we all know that the typical US 'runabout' car is a gas-guzzling monster-truck (despite the bumpiest terrain it encounters being the traffic-calming bumps on the school run) for which the amount of fuel it uses (whether petrol, diesel, aviation fuel or RP-1) is best measured in ''gallons per mile''... ;)
::(Or, more seriously, for even those of us who still habitually deal with miles, we work with the miles/litre 'standard'. And even the older subset of us who still would ''like'' to have stayed with the previous miles-per-gallon know that the US gallon is different from the UK(/Commonwealth) gallon, and yet ''perhaps'' vastly less likely to know the approximate conversion factors for that than the ones between gallons and litres that they normally use to work out "what's that in 'old money'?"...) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.181|82.132.244.181]] 15:15, 7 November 2025 (UTC)
:::Miles per liter is how far I can run divided by how much water I consume (in liters) that I would not have consumed had I been sitting down during that time. [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 16:42, 7 November 2025 (UTC)
::::Oh god the US is more confusing than I thought. GALLONS ARE DIFFERENT? --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|Converse]] 16:51, 7 November 2025 (UTC)
::::: See {{w|Gallon#Definitions}} (including this {{w|File:Gasoline_unit.svg|related image}}) and {{w|Comparison of the imperial and US customary measurement systems}}... Enjoy! [[Special:Contributions/2.98.65.8|2.98.65.8]] 19:30, 7 November 2025 (UTC)
::Yes, mpg is not a hard concept, but to me as a German, there are two uncommon units involved there and a reciprocal. An economic car uses 3l/100km here. Try to figure out what that is in mpg. It is 0.8 gallons per 62 miles... so maybe 78 mpg? (assuming I got the right types of miles and gallons) --[[User:Bmwiedemann|Bmwiedemann]] ([[User talk:Bmwiedemann|talk]]) 05:32, 8 November 2025 (UTC)
:::Well, you're ''probably'' using the {{w|Mile (disambiguation)|right mile}} (even the US survey mile is just 3.2mm longer than what we'd normally use in the UK).
:::Doesn't help that you'll be primarily used to km. Personally, the way I convert (either way) is remembering that from the Earth to the Sun is 93 million miles or 150 million kilometres (well, actually it averages as 92.96 million vs 149.60 million, but I'm sure you'll agree that those are not nearly as memorable and workable, and results in just a fraction of a percentage of difference ...so I'm sure you'll excuse the slight sloppiness).
:::...anyway, it makes it easy to convert in your head. And significantly lot better than the 5/8ths or 8/5ths factor most people make do with.[[Special:Contributions/2.98.65.8|2.98.65.8]] 20:49, 8 November 2025 (UTC)
::: * Yep, '''fuel consumption''' vs '''fuel mileage''' (kilometrage?): US Americans tend to think about range per capacity ("I put in 20 gal; therefore, I can travel 600 miles"), while Europeans tend to think of consumption ("I need to travel 200 km; therefore, I need 10 liters"). Wasn't there a strip on consumption vs mileage? Or was it a comment in What-If? {{w|fuel efficiency}} [[Special:Contributions/191.101.157.75|191.101.157.75]] 18:28, 9 November 2025 (UTC)

Re: ''This is worse than saying it all in one single system, as it is much more awkward and confusing for the receiver. '' Is it really? It gives people an idea of what a centimeter is for distances up to 30 cm. Some educational models refer to that as "{{w|instructional scaffolding}}", introducing a simpler version of a system to help people adopt the full system. [[Special:Contributions/181.214.173.156|181.214.173.156]] 20:25, 7 November 2025 (UTC)

Are there other comics mentioning the height of Cueballs? I thought of [[721: Flatland]] where Cueball is about four times as high as A. Square, and <q>The greatest length or breadth of a full grown inhabitant of Flatland may be estimated at about eleven of your inches.</q> [[User:物灵|物灵]] ([[User talk:物灵|talk]]) 11:52, 16 November 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3164: Metric Tip

2025-11-16T11:52:56Z

物灵:

!tsrif --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|Converse]] 21:08, 5 November 2025 (UTC)
:If you like to have fun with first comments, the place to do it is The Daily WTF comment pages. https://thedailywtf.com. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:25, 5 November 2025 (UTC)
Would have helped avoid the Mars Climate Orbiter [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter] feature. [[User:SubtrEM|SubtrEM]] ([[User talk:SubtrEM|talk]]) 07:41, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

I am switching from metric to imperial: I am 1m34.5" --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:18, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:You mean 1m2'26⅔cm. Or ''very nearly'' 2yd4cm½"..? [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.220|82.132.244.220]] 12:08, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
::This actually is how I remember how much a Yard is. I am slightly over 2Yards, while being under 2m, so a Yard is a bit less than a meter. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 15:36, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:::Can I introduce you to the fathom? It's exactly 2 yards, and generally used for harbor depth, but saying you're a fathom tall is technically correct... {{unsigned ip|176.165.208.89|20:21, 6 November 2025 (UTC)}}
::::It's hard to fathom any of this.[[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:19, 7 November 2025 (UTC)

Wait, what? ounce can be volume or weight? So you could give the density of a material in oz/oz? Imperial units are really weird... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:21, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:That would be highly nonstandard. Density is usually given in pennyweight/cubic barleycorn. [[Special:Contributions/209.188.63.33|209.188.63.33]] 08:52, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:Not just that - it can be an areal density or a thickness, too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ounce#Other_uses Strictly speaking, though, the imperial measure of volume is not an 'ounce', but a 'fluid ounce' - it's just that Americans have mangled the two together. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 10:21, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
: Weirdly enough, the active ingredient in something like medication is given in mg/oz (fluid ounce, presumably). That's just wrong.--[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 10:35, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

"...are usually effectively one or other measurement of weight..." The grammar here seems wrong and confusing. [[Special:Contributions/2A00:23C5:FE1C:3701:54C4:F71B:724:CBE7|2A00:23C5:FE1C:3701:54C4:F71B:724:CBE7]] 10:30, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
: Better now? [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 10:41, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

I'm so glad I live in a metric country now. Helping people fix their terminally naff cars in the 80s in the UK was a trauma - spanner/socket sizes, like 13/16ths and 10/12ths and 1/2 and... so the guy takes one, not right, asks for the next size up. Well, what size is that then? You mean the six and a quarter eighths, yes? 😪
Oh, and don't get me started on American recipes - you'll very quickly discover that US Imperial and British Imperial are not the same (and far too many American recipes measure stuff in "cups"). So, really, Imperial is complicated enough without translating half into metric! [[Special:Contributions/92.184.141.48|92.184.141.48]] 14:07, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:Most recipes don't require the measurements to be very precise and you can get away with adding too few.or too much of an ingredient. A "cup" is just a large cup. So for a cup of wheat, just fill a cup or even looser, throw in what you estimate to be a cup.
:Certain bakeware and especially homemade pasta and cakes are picky about the relative quantities (especially of wheat and water), so beware! [[User:IIVQ|IIVQ]] ([[User talk:IIVQ|talk]]) 20:13, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

I ran some numbers, and assuming 28.349523125 grams in an ounce and 16 ounces in a pound, "7 kg and 9 ounces" would be 7255.145708125 grams, assuming the "9 ounces" doesn't involve rounding, while 16 pounds would be 7257.47792 grams, which differs by only about 2.332211875 grams, or about 0.08 ounce - it's possible the weight is actually 16 pounds exactly, which feels like it makes "7 kg and 9 ounces" even worse than it already is. [[User:Conster|Conster]] ([[User talk:Conster|talk]]) 14:13, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:Don't see why - it's easy to see the equivalence: 7 + 9 = 16. Simples! [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 14:30, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
::This is an interesting coincidence - I made a [https://www.desmos.com/calculator/dqbzb8gfjf desmos] to find other places this happens. Unfortunately, looks like it's just in the 7kg, 9oz case (7257g) and integer multiples of it, up to 30kg. After 30kg, there are no more coincidences like this one. Maybe someone could mention this case in the trivia section. [[User:R128|R128]] ([[User talk:R128|talk]]) 16:04, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

To sell the metric system to Americans, you should make it sound bigger. Americans love big things, and telling them a "metric yard" (a meter) is longer than a yard, or a "metric pound" is weightier (500g) than a pound should work wonders... Except against their most confusing unit, the mile per gallon, that one is a doozy {{unsigned ip|176.165.208.89|20:31, 6 November 2025 (UTC)}}

Of course, one should also use esoteric units. Like: 1 meter, 7 hands, and 175 picolightseconds. [[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 23:17, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:I prefer 1 smoot 5 cm. [[User:TomtheBuilder|TomtheBuilder]] ([[User talk:TomtheBuilder|talk]]) 03:50, 7 November 2025 (UTC)
:Wait, mpg is confusing to non-Americans? It's just the amount of miles you can drive per gallon of gas used...--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|Converse]] 14:00, 7 November 2025 (UTC)
::It's because we all know that the typical US 'runabout' car is a gas-guzzling monster-truck (despite the bumpiest terrain it encounters being the traffic-calming bumps on the school run) for which the amount of fuel it uses (whether petrol, diesel, aviation fuel or RP-1) is best measured in ''gallons per mile''... ;)
::(Or, more seriously, for even those of us who still habitually deal with miles, we work with the miles/litre 'standard'. And even the older subset of us who still would ''like'' to have stayed with the previous miles-per-gallon know that the US gallon is different from the UK(/Commonwealth) gallon, and yet ''perhaps'' vastly less likely to know the approximate conversion factors for that than the ones between gallons and litres that they normally use to work out "what's that in 'old money'?"...) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.181|82.132.244.181]] 15:15, 7 November 2025 (UTC)
:::Miles per liter is how far I can run divided by how much water I consume (in liters) that I would not have consumed had I been sitting down during that time. [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 16:42, 7 November 2025 (UTC)
::::Oh god the US is more confusing than I thought. GALLONS ARE DIFFERENT? --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|Converse]] 16:51, 7 November 2025 (UTC)
::::: See {{w|Gallon#Definitions}} (including this {{w|File:Gasoline_unit.svg|related image}}) and {{w|Comparison of the imperial and US customary measurement systems}}... Enjoy! [[Special:Contributions/2.98.65.8|2.98.65.8]] 19:30, 7 November 2025 (UTC)
::Yes, mpg is not a hard concept, but to me as a German, there are two uncommon units involved there and a reciprocal. An economic car uses 3l/100km here. Try to figure out what that is in mpg. It is 0.8 gallons per 62 miles... so maybe 78 mpg? (assuming I got the right types of miles and gallons) --[[User:Bmwiedemann|Bmwiedemann]] ([[User talk:Bmwiedemann|talk]]) 05:32, 8 November 2025 (UTC)
:::Well, you're ''probably'' using the {{w|Mile (disambiguation)|right mile}} (even the US survey mile is just 3.2mm longer than what we'd normally use in the UK).
:::Doesn't help that you'll be primarily used to km. Personally, the way I convert (either way) is remembering that from the Earth to the Sun is 93 million miles or 150 million kilometres (well, actually it averages as 92.96 million vs 149.60 million, but I'm sure you'll agree that those are not nearly as memorable and workable, and results in just a fraction of a percentage of difference ...so I'm sure you'll excuse the slight sloppiness).
:::...anyway, it makes it easy to convert in your head. And significantly lot better than the 5/8ths or 8/5ths factor most people make do with.[[Special:Contributions/2.98.65.8|2.98.65.8]] 20:49, 8 November 2025 (UTC)
::: * Yep, '''fuel consumption''' vs '''fuel mileage''' (kilometrage?): US Americans tend to think about range per capacity ("I put in 20 gal; therefore, I can travel 600 miles"), while Europeans tend to think of consumption ("I need to travel 200 km; therefore, I need 10 liters"). Wasn't there a strip on consumption vs mileage? Or was it a comment in What-If? {{w|fuel efficiency}} [[Special:Contributions/191.101.157.75|191.101.157.75]] 18:28, 9 November 2025 (UTC)

Re: ''This is worse than saying it all in one single system, as it is much more awkward and confusing for the receiver. '' Is it really? It gives people an idea of what a centimeter is for distances up to 30 cm. Some educational models refer to that as "{{w|instructional scaffolding}}", introducing a simpler version of a system to help people adopt the full system. [[Special:Contributions/181.214.173.156|181.214.173.156]] 20:25, 7 November 2025 (UTC)

Are there other comics mentioning the height of Cueballs? I thought of [[721: Flatland]] where Cueball is four times as high as A. Square, and <q>The greatest length or breadth of a full grown inhabitant of Flatland may be estimated at about eleven of your inches.</q> [[User:物灵|物灵]] ([[User talk:物灵|talk]]) 11:52, 16 November 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3160: Document Forgery

2025-11-09T13:08:03Z

物灵:

Can someone please make a printable version of this, thank you! [[Special:Contributions/216.126.34.139|216.126.34.139]] 21:26, 27 October 2025 (UTC)

Reminds me of [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70650ely2eo the infamous fake certificate with "verify" spelt wrong]... [[Special:Contributions/2.98.65.8|2.98.65.8]] 21:47, 27 October 2025 (UTC)

It seems like my summary got added on top of the other one somehow. I don't know if anyone wants to try to merge them... [[Special:Contributions/136.47.216.1|136.47.216.1]] 22:04, 27 October 2025 (UTC)

Here are some famous state university that do not have the state in their name: Kent State U., Adams State U., Athens State U., Jacksonville State U.. More on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_state_and_territorial_universities_in_the_United_States --[[Special:Contributions/2001:638:807:507:A761:A61B:43F:6CF1|2001:638:807:507:A761:A61B:43F:6CF1]] 07:59, 28 October 2025 (UTC)
:I'll add that in. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|converse]] 13:09, 28 October 2025 (UTC)
::Now you've got me looking for "State" universities that aren't named for geography. Adams State in Colorado is named for a state legislator. Henderson State in Arkansas is named for a local businessman. Gordon State in Georgia is named for a Confederate general. Lewis-Clark State in Idaho, for the explorers. Governors State in Illinois seems to be named after the office, not a specific office-holder. Ball State in Indiana is named after the founders of the company that makes those glass jars you pickle things in. McNeese State in Louisiana is named after a local educator. Nicholls State, also in Louisiana, is named for a former governor. Morgan State in Maryland is named after a reverend. Coppin State, also in Maryland, is named for a pioneer in teachers' education. Ferris State in Michigan is named for its founder. Alcorn State in Mississippi was named for the governor. Harris-Stowe State in Missouri was named for a superintendent of schools and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Truman State in Missouri was named for the US president. Thomas Edison State in New Jersey after the inventor. Shawnee State in Ohio is named for the Native American people. Wright State in Ohio is named for the Wright Brothers. Austin Peay in Tennessee for the governor. Stephen F. Austin State in Texas after the "Father of Texas". Tarleton State in Texas after a rancher. Sam Houston State in Texas after the general. Lamar State in Texas after the president of the Republic of Texas. That's all from the Wiki page, excluding things named after states/cities/counties, state nicknames, and other geographic features. [[Special:Contributions/163.116.254.55|163.116.254.55]] 17:47, 29 October 2025 (UTC)
:::So what you're saying is that we need to find someone with the surname "East" and name a State University after them, and boom - suddenly it's valid! -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 17:38, 30 October 2025 (UTC)
::::Or someone with the surname "State", and name two universities (West and East) after them. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 14:53, 31 October 2025 (UTC)

Feels like a similar theme to [[2756: Qualifications]]. [[User:KelOfTheStars!|KelOfTheStars!]] ([[User talk:KelOfTheStars!|talk]]) 14:40, 28 October 2025 (UTC)
:And [[ibm_hc_2]]. Maybe we should make a 'forgery' category. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|converse]] 14:45, 28 October 2025 (UTC)
:And [https://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=2850 this Dinosaur Comics episode] [[User:物灵|物灵]] ([[User talk:物灵|talk]]) 13:08, 9 November 2025 (UTC)

If Randall really wanted that pun, might he not have made the degree in Document Doctoring? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:57, 28 October 2025 (UTC)
:'Doctoring' implies taking something that means something and (fraudulently) changing it. 'Forging' more definitely includes conjouring it up from just base materials.
:Though I'm not convinced it's intended to ezsentially be a "doctorate of doctoring" (in the non-medical sense), I ''could'' see it being an oblique related-pun as suggested, or at least noteworthy that there's a happy unanticipated coincidence spotted by us. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.237.69|82.132.237.69]] 15:36, 28 October 2025 (UTC)

Is "Philosophy" a catch-all in the USA? Since doctoring a document looks more like an engineering/physics thing to me. [[Special:Contributions/2A02:2455:1960:4000:2146:6F26:4294:2A6A|2A02:2455:1960:4000:2146:6F26:4294:2A6A]] 08:12, 29 October 2025 (UTC)
: In both the UK and the USA, Doctor of Philosophy is a thing across the whole range of academic subjects. The term 'Philosophy' doesn't refer to the narrow sense in which it's mostly used today, but its original sense of wisdom / love of knowledge (the sense in which 'Natural Philosophy' used to be used to refer to the natural sciences). In any case, though, forgery clearly belongs within the Art department. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:52, 29 October 2025 (UTC)
::Huh. So PhD is actually short for 'Philosophy Doctor'? Cool! --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|converse]] 14:02, 29 October 2025 (UTC)
:::Technically it's short for ''Philosophiae Doctor'', as opposed to ''Medicinae Doctor'' ('''M.D.''' i.e. Doctor of Medicine) and ''Juris Doctor'' ('''J.D.''' i.e. Doctor of Jurisprudence/Law) or ''Legum Doctor'' ('''LL.D.''' i.e. Doctor of Laws). [[User:DL Draco Rex|DL Draco Rex]] ([[User talk:DL Draco Rex|talk]]) 17:10, 29 October 2025 (UTC)
:::: There's also Doctor of Theology, which predates a lot of the others. And a number of fields grant both PhDs and "practitioner" doctorates, such as Doctor of Engineering (DEng or EngD) and Doctor of Psychology (PsyD), where the PhD is for people who do original research in preparation for a career as a researcher, and the "practitioner" degree is intended for people who do advanced scholarship to prepare for professional work in the field, but don't do original research. [[User:Jleader|Jleader]] ([[User talk:Jleader|talk]])

84: National Language

2025-10-30T10:40:35Z

物灵: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 84
| date = April 3, 2006
| title = National Language
| image = national_language.jpg
| titletext = She's pretty sharp when provoked.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is about the concept of {{w|Nativism (politics)|nativism}}, which is the view that those who are native to a place should have more rights than immigrants. A frequently expressed view in the U.S. (and in other countries) is that immigrants should learn English, which is the primary language in the United States.

In the comic, one character is arrogantly arguing the nativist position. However, the woman next to him interrupts him and says a phrase in the {{w|Cherokee}} language - "Hello, my name is Sarah" (ᎣᏏᏲ Sarah ᏓᏩᏙ osiyo Sarah dawado) - which is an Iroquoian language used by the Cherokee {{w|Native Americans in the United States|Native American}} people. Although Cherokee seems to be a relatively {{w|Cherokee#Origins|young culture}}, it is much more native to America than any European culture, such as English.

The woman is therefore effectively suggesting a "what's good for the goose is good for the gander" argument, that if the Europeans did not have to learn the native language, why should current immigrants learn English? She points out that even the English speakers are immigrants who did not learn the native language. Alternatively, she is saying that the term "national language" has no clear meaning, especially in the United States, where there is no official language; therefore, the "language they speak there" can be any of the languages spoken in the country: e.g. English, Spanish, German, Cantonese or Cherokee, to name just a few.

The title text reveals that Ponytail (identified as Sarah in the comic; probably the same Sarah that got engaged to [[Scott]]) is in fact Randall's friend; in the comic it is unclear who his friend is.

==Transcript==
:[Caption on top:]
:This happened to my friend:

:[Three men and two women are standing in a row, next to a table on the right.]
:Cueball: English should be the national language. These immigrants should have to learn English when they come here.
:Megan: Yeah.

:Cueball: When you go to live somewhere, you learn the language they speak there.
:Cueball: English is the language of the land.

:Ponytail: Excuse me, but osio Sarah dawado.

:Cueball: What the hell was that?
:Ponytail: Cherokee.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

Talk:556: Alternative Energy Revolution

2025-08-26T08:25:16Z

物灵:

There is a fan-created [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRuqPKcxMZY animation of this comic.] {{unsigned|Bpothier}}
:Define: Fan. [[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 18:02, 30 January 2015 (UTC)
::This is hilarious. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.16}}
Well he couldn't do any worse than Tom Cruise. [[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 18:02, 30 January 2015 (UTC)

Naturally Don Quixote is not included in [[:Category:Real people|real people]]. Do we need another category? [[User:物灵|物灵]] ([[User talk:物灵|talk]]) 08:24, 26 August 2025 (UTC)

Talk:556: Alternative Energy Revolution

2025-08-26T08:24:41Z

物灵:

There is a fan-created [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRuqPKcxMZY animation of this comic.] {{unsigned|Bpothier}}
:Define: Fan. [[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 18:02, 30 January 2015 (UTC)
::This is hilarious. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.16}}
Well he couldn't do any worse than Tom Cruise. [[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 18:02, 30 January 2015 (UTC)

Naturally Don Quixote is not included in [[Category:Real people|real people]]. Do we need another category? [[User:物灵|物灵]] ([[User talk:物灵|talk]]) 08:24, 26 August 2025 (UTC)

3127: Where Babies Come From

2025-08-11T22:26:13Z

物灵: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 3127
| date = August 11, 2025
| title = Where Babies Come From
| image = where_babies_come_from_2x.png
| imagesize = 652x362px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Historians: Contemporaneous documentation of the initial events is often sparse, and in fact people often get testy and uncooperative when we urge better documentation for the historical record.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a low-impulse ejection. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

Various experts answer the question “Where do babies come from?”

Hairy [Geneticist]: Recent admixture event, roughly 0.001 Kya.

Ponytail [Astronomer]: Low-impulse ejection from a parent body.

Hairbun [Software engineer]: Off-by-one error in the population calculations.

Cueball [Geologist]: The area was originally a uniform plane, but the non-baby parts eroded at higher rates.

Megan [Meteorologist]: Moist ground-level turbulent mixing.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

3120: Geologic Periods

2025-07-27T07:55:16Z

物灵: revert to 382017

{{comic
| number = 3120
| date = July 25, 2025
| title = Geologic Periods
| image = geologic_periods_2x.png
| imagesize = 611x557px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Geologists claim it's because the earlier Cenozoic used to be called the Tertiary, but that's just a ruse to hide the secret third geologic period, between the Neogene and the Quaternary, that they won't tell us about.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a Cretaceous raptor. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{| class="wikitable"
!Period
!Dates (millions of years ago)
!My Favorite Part
!My Biggest Complaint
!Explanation
|-
|Precambrian
|4500-539
|Life develops
|Snowball Earth episodes
|The {{w|Precambrian}} (italicized in the comic since it's not a {{w|Period (geology)|geologic period}}) is the first 88% of Earth's history, including the time 4.1 to 3.4 billion years ago when life on Earth began. The {{w|Snowball Earth}} hypothesis says that during some time spans in the past, Earth became nearly or entirely frozen, with no liquid water on the surface. It's related to the idea of the {{w|Greenhouse_and_icehouse_Earth#Icehouse_Earth|icehouse Earth}}, times when the planet fluctuates between glacial and interglacial periods (such as now).
|-
|{{w|Cambrian}}
|539-487
|Trilobites!
|Evolution could stand to calm down a little
|The {{w|Cambrian explosion}} was a sudden radiation of complex life forms when nearly all important animal phyla, or precursors to them, appeared. {{w|Trilobite|Trilobites}}, a lineage of {{w|Arthropod|arthropods}} (related to present-day insects and spiders), was one of the groups that appeared during the Cambrian. Fossil trilobite specimens are abundant and charismatic, and attract the attention of amateur and professional enthusiasts.
|-
|{{w|Ordovician}}
|487-443
|Earth might have had rings
|Scary volcanic eruption in North America
|Due to the non-random location of impact of one type of meteorite, {{w|Rings_of_Earth|it is proposed}} that those have formed a planetary ring system around Earth before colliding with it. The volcanic eruption(s) that deposited the {{w|Deicke_and_Millbrig_bentonite_layers|Deicke and Millbrig ashfall layers}} during the Late Ordovician are thought to have been among the largest in the last 600 million years of Earth history. The volcano(es) involved may have been among those formed during the mountain-building event in what is now northeastern North America that is called the {{w|Taconic_orogeny|Taconic orogeny}}.
|-
|{{w|Silurian}}
|443-420
|First land animals
|Earth's newfound mold problem
|Green plants first became established on land during the Ordovician period, after having evolved ways to protect themselves from desiccation and ultraviolet light. During the Silurian, land animals (mostly arthropods resembling {{w|Kampecaris|millipedes}}) followed the plants - and mycelial fungi ("mold") evolved to attack them and decompose their remains.
|-
|{{w|Devonian}}
|420-359
|Big mountains in Boston
|Yeah, sure, what those giant killer fish needed was ''armor''
|A series of mountain-building events, during the middle to late Devonian, that are collectively termed the {{w|Acadian_orogeny|Acadian orogeny}} resulted in a section of the present-day Appalachian Range from the Canadian maritimes to the Carolinas, including what is now the Boston area of Massachusetts. (At the time, Boston was in the tropics, just south of the equator.) {{w|Placoderm}} fishes, which were common in but did not survive the Devonian, were characterized by plates of {{w|Dermal_bone|dermal bone}} in the head and thoracic portions of the body. Not all placoderms were giants, or apex predators. The best guess as to why placoderm fishes had these bony plates is that they helped protect the fishes from predation by other placoderms.
|-
|{{w|Carboniferous}}
|359-299
|Cool forests
|Bugs too big
|The {{w|Carboniferous#Terrestrial_invertebrates|'bugs' in this period}} included the largest-ever known land invertebrate, a {{w|Arthropleura|2.6-m (8.5-ft) millipede-like animal}}; the largest-ever known flying insect, resembling a {{w|Meganeura|dragonfly with a wingspan of ~75 cm (30 in)}}; and a {{w|Pulmonoscorpius|70 cm (2 ft 4 in) scorpion}}.
|-
|{{w|Permian}}
|299-252
|Pangea
|Google "The Great Dying"
|{{w|Pangaea}} was the most recent supercontinent containing nearly all of Earth's landmass. The Great Dying, more formally known as the {{w|Permian-Triassic extinction event}}, occurred at the end of the Permian and is the most severe of Earth's {{w|Extinction_event#The_"Big_Five"_mass_extinctions|'Big Five' mass extinction events}}. In it, 81% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species were wiped out.
|-
|{{w|Triassic}}
|252-201
|Tanystropheus
|Damage to Canada still visible from space at Manicouagan
|{{w|Tanystropheus}} was a basal archosaur (not a dinosaur) with a proportionally long neck. {{w|Manicouagan Reservoir}} is a ring-shaped lake, the remains of the crater caused by a 5-km (3-mi) asteroid hitting {{w|Quebec}}.
|-
|{{w|Jurassic}}
|201-143
|Birds
|Parasitoid wasps
|Birds are cool.{{Citation needed}} Parasitoid wasps are not; their reproduction cycle is such a grisly process that it caused a {{w|Ichneumonidae#Darwin_and_the_Ichneumonidae|crisis of faith}} among 19th-century European scholars.
|-
|{{w|Cretaceous}}
|143-66
|Raptors
|Raptors
|[[:Category:Velociraptors|Raptors]]
|-
|{{w|Paleogene}}
|66-23
|Pretty horseys!!!
|Paleocene-eocene thermal maximum
|The {{w|Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum}} was a time where the global average temperature rose by around 5-8 °C in a relatively short period of time.
|-
|{{w|Neogene}}
|23-2.6
|Forests of Dracaena dragonblood trees
|Zanclean flood
|{{w|Dracaena draco}} and {{w|Dracaena cinnabari}} trees are a source of {{w|dragon's blood}}, a naturally occurring bright red resin with uses including as a varnish and a dye.
The {{w|Zanclean flood}} is theorized to be the flood that refilled the Mediterranean Sea.
|-
|{{w|Quaternary}}
|2.6-present
|Burrito invented
|Whoever picked the name for the third period of the Cenozoic
|Randall jokes that, in the last 2.6 million years, his favorite moment was the invention of the {{w|burrito}}, rather than many other, much more significant discoveries. The precise origin of the burrito is not known, but the {{w|Maya civilization}} used to make food resembling burritos as early as 1500 BC.
The third period of the {{w|Cenozoic}} Era is the Quaternary era, named by Jules Desnoyers in 1829. This naming is controversial; the {{w|International Commission on Stratigraphy}} is proposing to abolish it.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

2185: Cumulonimbus

2025-07-27T07:51:54Z

物灵: Undo revision 382034 by 2001:4450:8178:2200:6C77:934F:5853:8A0A (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2185
| date = August 5, 2019
| title = Cumulonimbus
| image = cumulonimbus.png
| titletext = The rarest of all clouds is the altocumulenticulostratonimbulocirruslenticulomammanoctilucent cloud, caused by an interaction between warm moist air, cool dry air, cold slippery air, cursed air, and a cloud of nanobots.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic follows the naming of clouds. As with other lists (like in [[1874]], [[2022]], [[2497]], [[2687]] and [[2954]]), it starts off as normal but then gets more unusual until it is unrealistic.

;Cumulus
: The first panel shows a {{w|cumulus cloud}}, from the Latin for "heap". These are common clouds and are relatively small. Cumulus clouds form when warm (and thus rising) moist air condenses when it hits the {{w|dew point}}, the temperature at which relative humidity hits 100%. Cumulus clouds with sharp, defined borders are still growing. When they stop growing (because the rising moist air is exhausted), they get fuzzy and fluffy, and eventually dissolve.
;Cumulonimbus
: The second panel shows a {{w|cumulonimbus cloud}}, from the Latin for "heaping raincloud", with the upper part about the same size as the lower part. Though somewhat like the cumulus cloud, it is more prone to causing rain and lightning. Cumulonimbus clouds, like cumulus clouds, grow vertically because of their moist warm air, but they have enough energy to reach the top of the {{w|troposphere}}, giving them the distinctive anvil shape shown in the comic and their tendency to produce nasty weather.
;Cumulonimbulonimbus
: The third panel shows an even bigger cloud and names it cumulonimbulonimbus (Latin for "heaping rainy raincloud"). Here the scientific facts end and the humor begins. The cloud has the upper part about twice as large as the lower part. The humor here comes from building up an even bigger name by adding another "nimbus" element for the cloud as its size increases, suggesting that its growth as compared to the second cloud shown has made it even more "rainy".
;Cumulonimbulonimbulocumulonimbus
: The fourth panel shows an absurdly large cloud with three major layers and gives it the name cumulonimbulonimbulocumulonimbus (Latin for "heaping rainy rainy heaping raincloud"). This is a combination of the third and second cloud names in this comic, and indeed the fourth cloud looks a lot like the second one emerging out of the top of the third. This cloud may look like a [[220: Philosophy|super soaker]], ready to spray water on everyone, or perhaps a faucet ready to open and pour water down.
;Altocumulenticulostratonimbulocirruslenticulomammanoctilucent
: The title text takes this comic to its logical extreme by naming a new cloud that has the longest name of them all and is also supposedly the rarest. Its name can be translated as "mid-altitude, heaped, lense-shaped, layered, grey, rainy, wispy, breast-like and lit at night". It mentions a common joke in weather communities, making fun of the common [https://youtu.be/WMtAaETOVSY?t=448 trope] that thunderstorms form when "warm moist air" meets "cold dry air," an extreme oversimplification. A complicated cloud needs complicated processes, so Randall adds in "cold slippery air," then {{w|curse}}d air and {{w|nanobots}}, which makes the cloud impossible since neither of those exist.{{Citation needed}}

:The name of this cloud is a {{w|Compound (linguistics)|compound}} of the following cloud names:
:{{w|altocumulus}}: "heap up high"; these clouds are mid-altitude white patches.
:{{w|lenticular cloud}}, often shaped like a flying saucer.
:{{w|Stratus cloud|stratus}}: a layered cloud, effectively above-ground fog.
:{{w|Nimbostratus cloud|nimbus}}: a grey cloud producing continuous rain.
:{{w|Cirrus cloud|cirrus}}: a cloud that looks like thin, wispy strands.
:"lenticulo" gets repeated, perhaps indicating that there's a second disc in the cloud.
:{{w|mammatus}}: a breast-like cloud structure that forms at the bottom of some thunderstorm clouds, which signifies sinking air and is associated with severe storm activity and, in the central United States, tornado formation.
:{{w|noctilucent}}: a cloud-like structure formed from ice crystals, often formed after volcano eruptions and other cataclysmic events and illuminated by a just-set sun.

The {{w|International Cloud Atlas}} defines the cloud types that are recognized by the WMO, the {{w|World Meteorological Organization}}. It was first published in 1896. Similarly, {{w|IUPAC}} publishes a manual that allows chemists to name chemical compounds in a consistent manner. The Altocumulenticulostratonimbulocirruslenticulomammanoctilucent may thus be a pun on IUPAC, which (theoretically) offers a unique name for each possible strand of DNA and other complex molecules (such as [[wikt:Appendix:List of protologisms/Long words/Titin|Titin]]). Therefore, Randall might have seen a unique cloud that has never been observed before, but yet, thanks to IUPAC-like cloud naming rules, he came up with a "valid" name for his observation.

==Transcript==
:[Drawing of a small cloud with with a label beneath:]
:Cumulus

:[Drawing of a medium sized tall hourglass shaped cloud with a label beneath:]
:Cumulonimbus

:[Drawing of a large cloud, larger at the top than at the bottom, with a label beneath:]
:Cumulonimbulonimbus

:[Drawing of a huge and very complicated cloud in three layers, with a label beneath:]
:Cumulonimbulonimbulocumulonimbus

==Trivia==
On xkcd, this comic replaced the preceding [[Disappearing Sunday Update]], which was temporarily assigned the sequence number 2185, as it followed the Friday comic [[2184: Unpopular Opinions]] on Sunday. This was done in order to prevent the trouble of having an unnumbered comic on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com]. It was designed to disappear completely and leave no trace in xkcd's history or archives when this comic was released. The original comic also no longer appears in this wiki's comic navigation and is hence [[Disappearing Sunday Update|available here]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Weather]]
[[Category:Robots]] 
[[Category:Comics with cursed items]]

Talk:3113: Fix This Sign

2025-07-13T08:50:07Z

物灵:

I'm not certain, but this feels like Black Hat's doing (who's doing this for the irritation factor, not the money). [[Special:Contributions/2001:1C02:1A9D:9700:9DCE:6FD1:E813:D91B|2001:1C02:1A9D:9700:9DCE:6FD1:E813:D91B]] 20:15, 9 July 2025 (UTC)
:He could easily be doing it for both. Putting up this sign and then not fixing it when people actually pay sounds like the stunt he would pull. [[Special:Contributions/2601:647:8500:1E09:8424:D57A:75C9:D207|2601:647:8500:1E09:8424:D57A:75C9:D207]] 20:38, 9 July 2025 (UTC)
:The caption says "my," so it seems this would be Randall.--[[Special:Contributions/2600:100F:B13F:CB34:0:1E:BAC1:7001|2600:100F:B13F:CB34:0:1E:BAC1:7001]] 22:02, 9 July 2025 (UTC)

What happens when everything is bought? Does the sign just stay up? Does it reset after a while? Is it removed? [[Special:Contributions/2601:647:8500:1E09:8424:D57A:75C9:D207|2601:647:8500:1E09:8424:D57A:75C9:D207]] 20:40, 9 July 2025 (UTC)

the s and the i in "SIGN" are also too close to each other [[User:An user who has no account yet|An user who has no account yet]] ([[User talk:An user who has no account yet|talk]]) 22:00, 9 July 2025 (UTC)

This feels like a continuation of My Hobby, or perhaps a sequel series. Also, how do we know that the prices aren't typos? The true value could be WAY more expensive. [[User:Redacted II|Redacted II]] ([[User talk:Redacted II|talk]]) 00:18, 10 July 2025 (UTC)

This business model is reminiscent of ''their.™'' from SMBC https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/their which would suggest that once the fixes have all been bought the sign is simply replaced with a worse one. [[Special:Contributions/169.150.208.130|169.150.208.130]] 04:22, 10 July 2025 (UTC)

Where can we donate to fix the explainxkcd server? Also, those are not donations, as you get clear value for it. $1000: Change "Do(a)nate" to "Pay us". --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 05:22, 10 July 2025 (UTC)

My limited experience with the printing industry is that the graphic designers are not the object but the subject of the verb 'extorting' because they will bill you a lot for trivial changes even if it's to fix tgeir own mistakes. [[Special:Contributions/109.37.229.249|109.37.229.249]] 11:06, 10 July 2025 (UTC)
:"Tgeir"... Can I PayPal you $50? --[[Special:Contributions/174.174.4.79|174.174.4.79]] 14:06, 10 July 2025 (UTC)

Shouldn't fixing the typo be the most expensive? You don't even need to be a graphic designer, lots of ordinary people should be bothered by it. Surely it's more annoying than non-centered text. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:19, 10 July 2025 (UTC)
: Most to least annoying: Typo/column alignment (equal); text size; use of exclamation point; excessive whitespace; rotation/centring (equal); kerning. I'm also bothered by how far past the posts the sides of the sign extend. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 15:37, 10 July 2025 (UTC)
:: Honestly, I think Randall missed a trick - the posts are equidistant from their respective sides of the sign. Putting one post closer to its edge than the other would be yet another design annoyance that might prompt pedants such as I to pay up!

I think Randall is also trying to get pedantics upset by using the term "forward slashes" instead of just "slashes" - Just like a mouse doesn't have a "left click" button, only a "click" or "right click"
:I definitely use "left click" when talking to the less-informed users. Also, pedantic of me, but you mean "pedants", not "pedantics". [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 15:08, 12 July 2025 (UTC)
::I'm sure you've also come across situations where you've said "And now you left-click on that...", and the person you're trying to help goes "which one's Left Click?". ;)
::PS. "pedant" ''is'' the third-person present active indicative plural of the Latin singular "pedō" (to 'give feet'/'prop up'), which I think is interestng. :P [[Special:Contributions/92.23.2.228|92.23.2.228]] 20:42, 12 July 2025 (UTC)
:I had some time when I have to call slash and backslash by ‘丿-slash’ and ‘乀-slash’ (See {{w|Chinese character strokes#Basic strokes}}). [[User:物灵|物灵]] ([[User talk:物灵|talk]]) 08:46, 13 July 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3113: Fix This Sign

2025-07-13T08:46:03Z

物灵:

I'm not certain, but this feels like Black Hat's doing (who's doing this for the irritation factor, not the money). [[Special:Contributions/2001:1C02:1A9D:9700:9DCE:6FD1:E813:D91B|2001:1C02:1A9D:9700:9DCE:6FD1:E813:D91B]] 20:15, 9 July 2025 (UTC)
:He could easily be doing it for both. Putting up this sign and then not fixing it when people actually pay sounds like the stunt he would pull. [[Special:Contributions/2601:647:8500:1E09:8424:D57A:75C9:D207|2601:647:8500:1E09:8424:D57A:75C9:D207]] 20:38, 9 July 2025 (UTC)
:The caption says "my," so it seems this would be Randall.--[[Special:Contributions/2600:100F:B13F:CB34:0:1E:BAC1:7001|2600:100F:B13F:CB34:0:1E:BAC1:7001]] 22:02, 9 July 2025 (UTC)

What happens when everything is bought? Does the sign just stay up? Does it reset after a while? Is it removed? [[Special:Contributions/2601:647:8500:1E09:8424:D57A:75C9:D207|2601:647:8500:1E09:8424:D57A:75C9:D207]] 20:40, 9 July 2025 (UTC)

the s and the i in "SIGN" are also too close to each other [[User:An user who has no account yet|An user who has no account yet]] ([[User talk:An user who has no account yet|talk]]) 22:00, 9 July 2025 (UTC)

This feels like a continuation of My Hobby, or perhaps a sequel series. Also, how do we know that the prices aren't typos? The true value could be WAY more expensive. [[User:Redacted II|Redacted II]] ([[User talk:Redacted II|talk]]) 00:18, 10 July 2025 (UTC)

This business model is reminiscent of ''their.™'' from SMBC https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/their which would suggest that once the fixes have all been bought the sign is simply replaced with a worse one. [[Special:Contributions/169.150.208.130|169.150.208.130]] 04:22, 10 July 2025 (UTC)

Where can we donate to fix the explainxkcd server? Also, those are not donations, as you get clear value for it. $1000: Change "Do(a)nate" to "Pay us". --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 05:22, 10 July 2025 (UTC)

My limited experience with the printing industry is that the graphic designers are not the object but the subject of the verb 'extorting' because they will bill you a lot for trivial changes even if it's to fix tgeir own mistakes. [[Special:Contributions/109.37.229.249|109.37.229.249]] 11:06, 10 July 2025 (UTC)
:"Tgeir"... Can I PayPal you $50? --[[Special:Contributions/174.174.4.79|174.174.4.79]] 14:06, 10 July 2025 (UTC)

Shouldn't fixing the typo be the most expensive? You don't even need to be a graphic designer, lots of ordinary people should be bothered by it. Surely it's more annoying than non-centered text. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:19, 10 July 2025 (UTC)
: Most to least annoying: Typo/column alignment (equal); text size; use of exclamation point; excessive whitespace; rotation/centring (equal); kerning. I'm also bothered by how far past the posts the sides of the sign extend. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 15:37, 10 July 2025 (UTC)
:: Honestly, I think Randall missed a trick - the posts are equidistant from their respective sides of the sign. Putting one post closer to its edge than the other would be yet another design annoyance that might prompt pedants such as I to pay up!

I think Randall is also trying to get pedantics upset by using the term "forward slashes" instead of just "slashes" - Just like a mouse doesn't have a "left click" button, only a "click" or "right click"
:I definitely use "left click" when talking to the less-informed users. Also, pedantic of me, but you mean "pedants", not "pedantics". [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 15:08, 12 July 2025 (UTC)
::I'm sure you've also come across situations where you've said "And now you left-click on that...", and the person you're trying to help goes "which one's Left Click?". ;)
::PS. "pedant" ''is'' the third-person present active indicative plural of the Latin singular "pedō" (to 'give feet'/'prop up'), which I think is interestng. :P [[Special:Contributions/92.23.2.228|92.23.2.228]] 20:42, 12 July 2025 (UTC)
:There was really some time for me when I have to call them by ‘丿-slash’ and ‘乀-slash’ [[User:物灵|物灵]] ([[User talk:物灵|talk]]) 08:46, 13 July 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3100: Alert Sound

2025-06-10T10:19:22Z

物灵:

https://www.amazon.com/Funny-Pranks-Annoying-Noise-Maker/dp/B08KG6XHN1

The reviews are hilarious. [[Special:Contributions/47.248.235.170|47.248.235.170]] 21:35, 9 June 2025 (UTC)Pat
:Damn, someone beat me to it. If it didn't exist I was gonna make one and call it the "Randall 3100" aka "Black Hat 3100." [[Special:Contributions/70.115.234.146|70.115.234.146]] 23:14, 9 June 2025 (UTC)
:I think the original may be the Annoyatron, from Thinkgeek. I find references from 2007. [[User:Jordan Brown|Jordan Brown]] ([[User talk:Jordan Brown|talk]]) 23:35, 9 June 2025 (UTC)

Most smoke alarms are approximately 3100 Hz (the comic number). I wonder if this comic is a reference to the annoying low battery chirps from smoke alarms that can be difficult to locate. [[Special:Contributions/2A09:BAC3:6227:1232:0:0:1D0:B9|2A09:BAC3:6227:1232:0:0:1D0:B9]] 00:49, 10 June 2025 (UTC)
:Smoke alarms are supposed to be a lifesaving device, so WHY the hell to they chirp at such a wide interval?! If it was once every 10 seconds at least you'd be able to tell where it was coming from. And it gets even worse if you're in a public or apartment building with over a dozen of them. [[Special:Contributions/24.177.125.170|24.177.125.170]] 06:51, 10 June 2025 (UTC)

Devices like this but employing high frequency chirps have been around for at decades, notably from the specialty police and military supplier Shomer-Tec [[Special:Contributions/71.36.121.121|71.36.121.121]] 03:44, 10 June 2025 (UTC)

Could a somewhat ‘living’ well dug on the ground the second best revenge in the joke? [[User:物灵|物灵]] ([[User talk:物灵|talk]]) 10:19, 10 June 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3092: Baker's Units

2025-05-25T05:14:00Z

物灵:

Why did he go with only 9/13ths of a Baker's List? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.65.8|172.69.65.8]] 23:48, 21 May 2025 (UTC)
:This suggests that the "expected" length of a list is 12. [[User:ISaveXKCDpapers|ISaveXKCDpapers]] ([[User talk:ISaveXKCDpapers|talk]]) 07:24, 22 May 2025 (UTC)

A ruler for a "baker's foot" is, apparently, similar to a metal casting patternmaker's {{w|shrink rule}}, although in practice those top out at 2.5%, versus 13/12ths or 8.{3}%. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 23:59, 21 May 2025 (UTC)

It appears to me like g marked by the g-clef is on the second space making the notes b and c which wound be 13 semitones apart. Two compensating errors or just a bit more cleverness for lagniappe?[[User:Lordpishky|Lordpishky]] ([[User talk:Lordpishky|talk]]) 01:07, 22 May 2025 (UTC)

There's also baker's percentages. All the ingredients are defined as a percentage of the weight of the flour. So if you have 1kg (1000gr) of flour and 600ml (gr) of water then the water is said to be 60% hydration.

<blockquote>"which are not Platonic solids and cannot be used as dice due to having multiple face types, rendering dice-based games unbalanced"</blockquote>
Being a platonic solid is sufficient, but not necessary, for a fair die. The simplest shape for a fair 13-sided die that I can think of off the top of my head is two 6-sided pyramids joined at the base, with one of them truncated for the 13th side. To make it fair, the lengths of the pyramids and the truncation would have to be fine-tuned, but that's certainly possible. Where's John von Neumann when you need him? --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 10:45, 22 May 2025 (UTC)
:I'd imagined two 6SPs joined by a ''barrel'' (maybe a smooth ring, maybe a set of squares/triangles for either a primsatic or anti-prismatic hexagonal-faced centre-section, but all the way round counting for the same 'roll', either way.) Too short, the chances of landing on the 'edge' is greatly lowered, too long a mid-section, it'll be almost impossible to land anywhere ''but'' on it (imagine a pencil, sharpened at both ends).
:Thus there's a point where a symmetrical (lengthwise, as well as by rotations) shape has ''just enough'' 'middle band' to have equal chances of landing with that as with any other single 'point ends' face (landed on; with it being prismatic, an obvious and readable 'face-up' also presenting itself).
:But it'd be a tight specification, perhaps need emperical testing. The angle between adjacent 'pointy end' triangles with each other would be different from the angle between any of them and the 'barrel', so sharper or rounder edges between faces (not an issue with platonics, as the rolling-resistance is equal by all edge-/corner-intersections being exactly as equal as the faces are) could decrease or increase the probability of mid-roll tumbling. As could deliberately rolling along the prismatic axis to either try to stay on 'that face' or to make it more likely thst the random-walk of tumbles sends it off it (I'd have to run a few simulations; either bias, ''or both'', might be easiest to manipulate by a bit of practiced handling).
:I do rather envisage it being 'numbered' as having +1..+6 and -1 to -6 on the pyramidal ends (by tradition, every +n is on the opposite triangle of the opposite pyramid to its -n counterpart, but you can alternate +s and -s between adjacent pyramid faces), and 0 on the mid-section, so that it'll give symmetrical chance distribution across the good/bad range, which might make the "natural zero" midpoint a not quite so vital number to ensure is as strictly equally likely as all the others. Alternatively, 1..12 (similarly distributed to add up to 13 when taking sat-upon and face-up together) leaves either 13 (beyond-lucky) or 0 (the ''most'' critical of fails) on the ring which is ''deliberately'' mad less-likely to get.
:For even better game-symmetry, supply ''two'' "D12±" dice, design your system on rolling them in pairs. Rolling ''either'' the 0 on the 0..12 ''or'' 13 on the 1..13 gives you the critical [failure|success] on top of the sum-of-the-dice result. Rolling ''both'' 0 and 13 invokes a "critical funny" result (or a "fortunate fail"/"pyrrhic success"), in whatever way suits the game style, current encounter or even the scenario/plot's ultimate challenge. (To contrast a Toons-type game from a Paranoia one, or a straight-up Dungeon-Dive where extreme peril/hilarity needs to be more tightly modulated by the GM.)
:Of course, I'm generally working on the assumption that "12 (or 13) is good, 1 (or 0) is bad", but there's nothing to say the D13 rolls are ''for the players'', and a D13 with a ''higher''-than-normal chance of a 13 would be just the thing for a Horror-themed RPG, invoking the latest plot-stage of whatever cthuluesque escalation is lurking and awaiting the (un?)wary players. I've played all kinds of dice-led games (favourite variation, amongst them is "Babylon 5 dice" - roll two D6, one red, one green... ''lowest'' pips counts, dice-colour dictates if it's positive or negative (upon the baseline for the task attempted), equal dice is zero-offset ''except'' for double-6/double-1 which are critical success/failure ...all nicely symmetrical, as a modified version of a 2D6 distribution 'around' the result of 7), and a 'cursed dice' would not even be amongst the strangest treatments I've seen. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.224.82|172.69.224.82]] 13:35, 22 May 2025 (UTC)
Is “baker’s noon” a distant jab at Daylight Saving Time? [[User:HaruruChanDesu|HaruruChanDesu]] ([[User talk:HaruruChanDesu|talk]]) 08:52, 23 May 2025 (UTC)

The clef in the Baker's Octave seems to mark the *gap* between 2nd and 3rd line from the bottom. A normal treble clef has a "ring" part spanning two line gaps, with the "dot" pinning the G to the middle line. This one is closer to a one-gap ring with the dot in the gap. That might be a layman's excusable sloppiness ... or it could well be intentional. In the latter case, the notes shown would indeed be B3 and C5, making the interval a 13-semitone minor 9th. [[User:Sesc|Sesc]] ([[User talk:Sesc|talk]]) 09:46, 23 May 2025 (UTC)

Couldn't you also get a Baker's Octave by spacing your notes at root13(2) instead of the traditional semitone at root12(2) apart?

My main objection to the possibility of giving out not-quite-a-dozen loaves (whether 'rectangular tin' type or round 'farmhouse loaves', whatever the style of loaf a contemporary baker would have produced in that era) is that it is ''very'' easy to visually confirm a dozen regularly-sized items, because a dozen is so much easier to visualise: A 3x4 array (square or skewed) is ''very'' easy to compare to one with one item missing (even if you have difficulty with 2x5 stretching out too far to stay unragged and even, when you can't even count as far as the fingers on one hand). Even piled up, 2x2x3 (whichever way the '3' lies) works well. (Put in a square pyramid, for the ''really'' fancy, three layers gives 14, so removing the pinacle for a 3x3 with only 2x2 on top could give 13, but why not take off/leave one more? Triangularly pyramid-stacked, say for round-loaves, three stable layers is 10, so add a couple more. Four stacks of 2-and-1 or two stacks of 3-2-and-1 'vertical wedge's would give you 12 without exceeding any easy counting. Of course, the disnumerate would have to learn "the patterns", all of which would be less obvious than a flat or stacked purely square-based array.) But who are these bakers who are baking in bulk (presumably with a ''degree'' of consistency between their loaves/other-baked-products) and frequently ''selling in bulk'' (as opposed to a farthing or ha'penny loaf, or two, per average household per day, so probably a sufficiently large ''landed'' household with staff/servants, yet not large enough to have a dedicated in-house baker/cooking-staff doing their own on-demand baking) that they're regularly and rapidly passing over handfulls of larye, loose baked-product over the counter and yet aren't taking just enough extra effort to ensure that they're not diddling the customer (or, more of immediate concern, diddling themselves through sheer carelessness!). And not in a manner that even only the partially-numerate (both sides of of the purchase?) can easily and correctly judge by eye (to consistently bake decent loaves, you're probably going to get ''very'' good at judging relative volumes/weights of even powders!). - And, here's a practical excercise: get a bucket of tennis balls (or anything large enough for one to occupy a hand) and manually transfer them from that bucket to another. I bet most people will dive in with both hands and grab two at a time in synchrony (or stocato left-right/left-right/..., or vice-versa). Very hard to do that ''almost'' six times and end up with an off by one error. Do it enough times, perhaps you even tend to grab two balls, use them to support a third between them to transfer ''three'' in each transfer... Hup, hup, hup, hup! That's your dozen, and bread can be handled in the same manner (careful not to damage the crust...). Small enough balls(/pastries), or big enough hands, to fit two in each hand? "Hup, hup, hup" will do your dozen, and you'll ''already'' know if your grabs failed to hold two of them (whether by overgrab, side-grab, scooping up, etc). ...I'm far more convinced that the (or, at least, ''a'') true source of the Baker's Dozen was just as a "Loss Leader". For those who ''could'' buy such items (one of the few daily essentials that could be "mass produced", in a way) a dozen at a time, they were given an extra item for being a good customer. A little extra goodwill, with a loss of potential profit on that single transaction (8⅓% of gross) less than a typical tythe (⅒th, 10%). (Not that tythes worked that way, exactly.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.166|172.70.163.166]] 12:07, 23 May 2025 (UTC)
: It is actually easy to count to 12 on one hand, just use the thumb to count the bones in the other fingers. It even leaves the other hand free to transfer whatever you're counting. (Western culture simply sucks at counting on fingers.) --[[Special:Contributions/172.71.164.102|172.71.164.102]] 06:20, 24 May 2025 (UTC)

My understanding of it was that it was to avoid shorting the customer by weight, not by count. There can be non-negligible variance in the weight of baked loaves/rolls even if the dough weight was identical, and there's also plenty of potential for error in the dough weight. But it's extremely unlikely that the weights will be off by enough that a 13th item won't make up the possible shortfall. Looking it up, this seems to be the leading theory, but there's no definite confirmation from historical sources. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.42.117|162.158.42.117]] 23:00, 23 May 2025 (UTC)

My nana told me the 13th loaf in a bakers dozen was to make up for any shortfall in the weight of the loaves. I never heard that a baker would be penalized if he charged for 12 but gave you 11. If the buyer does not count the loaves, nana would say that is the buyer's fault. Nana was from the old country. {{unsigned ip|162.158.167.191|04:31, 24 May 2025}}

''Title text: 169 is a baker's gross.'' I thought a Baker's gross described a disqusting pastry. [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 02:05, 25 May 2025 (UTC)

Every day my workload supposed to finish by noon is still not finished at Baker’s noon, so I empathize with the concept. [[User:物灵|物灵]] ([[User talk:物灵|talk]]) 05:13, 25 May 2025 (UTC)

explain xkcd:Community portal/Technical

2025-04-06T06:58:25Z

物灵: /* My IP */

<noinclude>__NEWSECTIONLINK__
{{Community links}}

{|-
|valign="top" width="100%"|[[File:Crystal Clear app package settings blue.png|left|120px]] <big><big>Technical</big></big>

Technical issues ''about'' the [[explain xkcd]] wiki, including bug reports or MediaWiki extensions requests. {{AddNewSection|Page=Explain XKCD:Community portal/Technical|Text=(+post)}}
|}</noinclude>

== We need more maintainers ==

:''I'm moving a thread that Davidy22 started on my talk page. The gist is, we need more people with server-side access (especially mediawiki-savvy ones) so we can properly deal with several issues that have been plaguing the wiki for a while now, most notably spam, but also the image scaling problem, a possible extension for proper comments, clean urls, etc. Below is the original thread, please comment.'' --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:56, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

Could you set the permissions so that all anon users have to pass a captcha to edit? The spam has gotten obscene, and they've stopped posting links, so our current detection mechanisms aren't working anymore. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 08:21, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

:I would love to have the ability to tweak the wiki more thoroughly, but currently Jeff's the only one with server access. To be honest, I am not terribly familiar with server-side mediawiki management, so I haven't asked Jeff for access, but it's clear we can't be dependent on a single person to do all the mediawiki config (and Jeff probably knows even less about mediawiki than I do). Are you by any chance acquainted with server-side mediawiki maintenance? I think we could present a good case for having someone else with access to a dev/prototype instance of this wiki on Jeff's server so we could at least experiment and tell him exactly what needs to be done. Thoughts? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:40, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

::I agree that we need more people that are empowered to actively fight spam. I think that we ought to promote Davidy22 to administrator also, so that he can delete pages and block spammers/vandals as he notices them rather than letting them pile up until yourself, IronyChef, or myself notice that there's work that needs done.

::What I think we should do is break out rights into more groups than simply administrator and bureaucrat. I think that's too big of a jump, and that there should be some gradiation. I think we should add a moderator (mark pages as patrolled and rollback ability (as much as it's a sledgehammer when you really only need a ball-peen hammer)) position.

::I think we also need a spam fighter position, but that might not be possible to implement. It should be a position that allows the person to delete pages with 1 or 2 edits (page creation, marked as spam, maybe as high as 3 or 4 for the bots that repeat edit certain pages) and block users with 1 or 2 edits. The real problem there is how to grant those super-powerful abilities without allowing them to lose their mind and go crazy and destroy the wiki. Of course, if we don't catch it early enough there's going to be those IPs that manage to get to six edits, and those will have to be squashed by a full admin. We will also need a way of tagging those spam accounts so when a full admin passes by they will also know to ban the IP address after a spam fighter has deleted all the pages it created.

::Finally, we also need a more active bureaucrat so that we don't have to bug Jeff to promote admin's as well as future moderators and/or spam fighters, and recognize bot accounts as bot accounts. We also should find someone knowledgeable to help Jeff (and maybe he has little helpers) to maintain the actual server. I've done some PHP work, but I've never touched anything deep inside a wiki (I like Ruby and Rails much more). This is my first time gaining admin status on a wiki, so I have no idea what the extra dials and levers do/mean. I look up on the MediaWiki manual and Wikipedia help pages things that I think should be possible, and often times pages exist in places about doing these things, but I'm nowhere near being called knowledgeable. After I finish up some IRL work I'm currently tied up in, I intend to set up a VM webserver on my computers and run a mediawiki install so I can learn how to work (and not break) things without putting explain xkcd in jeopardy.

::Another really wordy post from, [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 22:01, 29 November 2012 (UTC)

::: From what I know, a moderator user group is possible, but not the spam fighter one. Then again, too many hierarchical levels may be too much for such a small body of regulars. Implementing the moderator group is easy, [[mw:Manual:User rights]] has the details (the "ninja" example and the "list of permissions" section should be enough for putting together the configuration commands to be added to the wiki's LocalSettings.php).
::: As for bureaucrats, I think it makes sense but it seems to me that Jeff only takes longer to perform changes that affect the server, as they understandably may take longer or be more complex (or break the wiki!). Bureaucrats' only difference from admins is that they can promote/demote other users, and this Jeff has been doing without delay, so perhaps there isn't a need for more bureaucrats at the moment. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
::: We do need more sysadmins (people with access to the server), though, for sure. This is a little tricky as none of us is comfortable enough to confidently make server changes in a mediawiki install. Jeff, how about putting the wiki in source control and giving two or three people access to it, so that any wrongdoings can be easily reverted? You could setup a git repository in the server and we could fork it locally to our machines, make tests and push the commits to the server repo whenever they're ready. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:20, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

:::: This is good stuff. I'm down with promoting more admins for spam fighting. If they screw stuff up we can demote them if necessary. I really haven't found a spam fighting extension that I think will be the best possible solution. I'll keep looking as it may be a combination of things. Server access is much more complicated as it is not even my server and it is shared hosting. I think that would be best to be accessed just by me. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:10, 19 December 2012 (UTC)

::::: Regarding the server, I understand -- your position seems reasonable. In any case, I've been looking for extensions that may help taking some workload out of server actions and make more stuff configurable via the wiki itself. I'll report back if I find something usable.
::::: On another note, how do you feel about promoting more bureaucrats? I suggest Lcarsos who's been consistently active for the past few months. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:47, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

Personally I'd kind of like to go and make some changes myself. Come up with a nice short url pattern and set it up. Upgrade the wiki. etc... [[User:Dantman|Dantman]] ([[User talk:Dantman|talk]]) 02:44, 23 March 2013 (UTC)
:The shorter URL is being looked into, although Mediawiki strongly advises against it. As for upgrades to the wiki, monetary donations towards Jeff so he can buy better bit for the server would be appreciated. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:06, 23 March 2013 (UTC)
::MediaWiki does not advise against it. Half the code currently running short URLs in core was written by me. Same for the new standard for rewrite rules in the new guides. And the tool to automatically generate the config needed to apply short urls to a wiki. Short URLs are '''not''' advised against.
::We do however strongly advise against installing a wiki in <code>/wiki</code>. Because you do '''not''' want to create <code>/wiki/$1</code> style paths while your script path makes scripts look like <code>/wiki/index.php</code>.
::In this case my plan would be to move <code>/wiki</code> to <code>/w</code> then come up with some other short url pattern like <code>/e/$1</code>, some other path, or maybe <code>/$1</code>.
::And setup some 301 redirects to redirect from the old urls to the new ones.
::And upgrading the version of MediaWiki so that it doesn't have security holes doesn't require server replacement. [[User:Dantman|Dantman]] ([[User talk:Dantman|talk]]) 07:09, 23 March 2013 (UTC)
:::Ohwait, software upgrades. Uh. I knew you were talking about that. Yep. Definitely. The wiki recently had issues with running out of hard drive space, so that was all that was on my mind there.
:::Also, I thought you had been referring to [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Wiki_in_site_root_directory this]. Whoop. Well, you could leave Jeff a message at his [[user talk:Jeff|talk page]] to get server access. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:05, 23 March 2013 (UTC)
::::I strongly support this. It's been far too long since we decided we'd want the short url scheme (<code>/$1</code> seems like the best option since it would be simpler/cleaner and allow http://explainxkcd/1234 to point to the correct comic without any extra rewrite rules). While you're at it, I'm sure many would appreciate a look at the current situation with image resizing, which doesn't seem to be working for some reason. Installing [[mw:Extension:Comments|Extension:Comments]] would be awesome, too, as well as [[mw:Extension:Contribution Scores|Extension:Contribution Scores]] ([http://setiquest.org/wiki/index.php/Special:ContributionScores live example]). I'll ask Jeff to take a look at this thread. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 20:07, 23 March 2013 (UTC)
::::: [[User:Dantman|Dantman]] ([[User talk:Dantman|talk]]) email me and I'll get you set up with whatever you need. All the suggestions sound good to me. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 00:10, 24 March 2013 (UTC)
::::: Also, the [[Special:ContributionScores|Contribution Scores]] are up. I'm not even top 10 all time, I need to step up my game. Comments will take more work as it needs its own database. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 00:10, 24 March 2013 (UTC)
::::::Awesome! I did some styling changes to make it more interesting :) Let me know what you guys think about it! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 20:32, 24 March 2013 (UTC)
:::::::Holy crud, what did you do when the wiki started to have almost double my lifetime score? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:57, 24 March 2013 (UTC)
::::::::Hahahah :P I'm pretty sure I cheated a little, IIRC there was an image renaming operation for which I used [http://github.com/btongminh/mwclient mwclient] ;) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 03:22, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

== Sort by numbers in categories ==

I noticed that in [[:Category:Comics]] all comics are sorted correctly by numbers; but not in any subcategory. (I didn't really get the explanation of how it works on the comics page.) How to fix this? -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:40, 22 December 2012 (UTC)

:<nowiki>The comics template uses a template called num4 that turns the number in the comic number field into a four-digit number. That's then passed as a parameter to the category link, and the comics category page sorts articles by those four-digit numbers instead of their actual names. If we wanted to do the same for other categories, we would have to type them all out as [[Category:Politics|0200]], or whatever the comic number is. I would rather wait for mediawiki to come out with an in-built feature to solve this.</nowiki> [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:28, 22 December 2012 (UTC)

::Is there a reason that the template applies that directly to [[:Category:Comics]] and not as a default sortkey via DEFAULTSORT? – ''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 12:10, 1 January 2013 (UTC)

::: Good thinking. Using DEFAULTSORT oughta make it work for all categories. I'll give it a try. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 15:37, 1 January 2013 (UTC)

== Resize ==

I haven't been here (to edit) for a while, but have we still not addressed the bug that doesn't allow image resizing? I know most of us don't have access to that kind of lower-level coding on the site, but I think it's a bit of a notable issue that we can't display comics smaller than their actual size. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:24, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

:Take it up with [[User:Jeff]], but I suspect that adding your voice to the already insistent roaring that images are broken isn't going to inspire much change. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:08, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

== Incidental Ads ==

as ive noticed i think you should check if someone has embeded some of your links with ads really annoying please fix

--[[User:TheWeatherMan|TheWeatherMan]] ([[User talk:TheWeatherMan|talk]]) 14:00, 23 January 2013 (UTC)TheWeatherMan

:Do you have any specific examples of this? By the way, using punctuation, capitalization, spell check, and complete sentences are more likely to get someone to help you. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:10, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

::There is known malware (both adware and viruses) that makes Wikipedia look like it has ads. This wiki uses the same wiki software, so perhaps that malware affects our site too? – ''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 05:42, 15 February 2013 (UTC)

==/wiki/==
Now that explainxkcd redirects straight to the wiki, could we take the /wiki/ out of the url? I'd also like the wiki's edit log to be purged to clean out the history and forget about past spam, but that's probably wishing for too much. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:06, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

:But seriously, could the /wiki/ go? It'll screw with the spammers for a day or two, at the very least. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:37, 30 January 2013 (UTC)

==Newbie questions: Comic dates, previous-and-next-comic buttons==
Just created the my first page, [[220: Philosophy]], but I could use a little guidance. How do I find the date that an ''xkcd'' comic was originally posted, and how do I rig up the previous-comic and next-comic arrows on a page? (Actually, I've noticed several pages that should have the arrows but don't.) [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 11:19, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
:Those arrows will automagically insert themselves when you make the adjacent comic explanations. There *is* a little backstage magic that needs to be taken care of, but we can do that for you. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:40, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
** OK. How about the dates? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 11:41, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
:::Click on "All Comics" in the navbar on left-hand side of the site. The dates are in the form YYYY-MM-DD. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:56, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

:The comic template checks for the existence of the numerical redirect for the comic before and the comic after. If it finds the page to exist it will display the next/previous button as appropriate. So, by creating the redirects listed on the [[List of all comics]] (third column, only worry about the number and title links) future pages will automatically get the links created. Redirect pages look like <code><nowiki>#REDIRECT [[####: Comic Title]]</nowiki></code> and that's it ([http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1143&redirect=no here] is a link to the redirect page with redirect disabled so you can look at the source to see what I'm talking about). That's all that needs to exist on the number and title redirects. If you feel up to creating them yourself, feel free, otherwise someone else goes through occasionally and mass adds all the missing redirects. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:55, 29 January 2013 (UTC)

== Error message ==

I've been getting this error message a lot the last cup'o days. When trying to access a page; when trying to save changes on a page. Any ideas on why? I'm getting it on both chrome and firefox.
::Database error
::A database query syntax error has occurred. This may indicate a bug in the software. The last attempted database query was:
::(SQL query hidden) from within function "Revision::insertOn". Database returned error "1142: INSERT command denied to user ::'dbo423085716'@'74.208.16.155' for :table 'text' (db423085716.db.1and1.com)".
–[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:54, 18 March 2013 (UTC)

:Every once in a while I get a SQL error being reported, but usually I can simply F5 and the page comes up. Every once in a while it seems like the server load is just so that somebody gets lucky enough to see the server error out. I don't think there's much we can do about this, other than move the wiki onto a more powerful server. But, there are no ads on this site, there is no revenue model, just a very kind person paying for hosting that keeps this site up. I'm more than willing to overlook a few hiccups for the continuing availability of explain xkcd. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:12, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

::Yeah, I get those too, but St. Nerol was talking about something that happened recently with the server running out of hard drive space and throwing SQL errors every time someone tried to make large edits. I had to find Jeff on twitter because I'd get SQL errors when I tried to edit his talk page. He's looking into history deletion plugins, to clear out our vast archives of deleted spam and obsoleted prototype comic templates. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:10, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

== Install a caching reverse proxy to handle heavy load ==

According to returned headers, this server runs from Apache directly. I would recommend setting up a reverse caching proxy in front of Apache to handle high traffic load (like, e.g. current load). The one I use is nginx (http://nginx.org/) -- admins, drop me an email if you need help setting it up [[User:Fry-kun|Fry-kun]] ([[User talk:Fry-kun|talk]]) 21:38, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

:The standard software to use is either Squid or Varnish. Nginx is a bit too much of a webserver to be configured in the way MW needs iirc. Although nginx would help with serving the static assets. Unfortunately there will be a need to switch to a proper server first. The site seems to be hosted on shared hosting. [[User:Dantman|Dantman]] ([[User talk:Dantman|talk]]) 04:59, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

::I had gotten burned before with both Squid and Varnish but Nginx had always kept my systems alive. It's extremely lightweight and works great to fix these kinds of problems. But, of course if it's a shared server where you can't use it, it won't help... [[User:Fry-kun|Fry-kun]] ([[User talk:Fry-kun|talk]]) 16:35, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

:::Nginx is a great webserver. It'll serve out static pages much better than Apache. But the issue here isn't the webserver. It's PHP and all the work that the database needs to do on every request. Switching webservers won't get rid of that issue. Using squid/varnish a proper reverse proxying cache will allow complete pages to be cached and served directly to readers bypassing the webserver, php, and the database entirely on some requests. That'll reduce the load the site has to cope with. [[User:Dantman|Dantman]] ([[User talk:Dantman|talk]]) 23:47, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

== A couple of enwiki features implemented ==

I have "imported" {{tl|disambig}} and the related [[:Category:Disambiguation pages|category]] for the [[Exoplanets‎‎|one page]] it was needed for (to avoid having a page that was uncategorised :-) ).

I have also created {{tl|unsigned ip}} (and converted the one use of {{tl|unsigned}}) and applied it for a handful of existing uses of {{tl|unsigned}}. It hardly matters, but then it's also only three more characters to type for new uses.

Importantly, however, I implore you to consider including the second datestamp parameter when applying either template -- it's actually the more useful information. I know it's a pain to convert times ''back'' to UTC, but, hey, most of you don't have to deal with a half hour timezone :-) [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 16:19, 13 April 2013 (UTC)

:Urrggh, there's an option to make UTC the default display time. The template oughta be a little more automated, mebbe filling the time in automagically with five tildes if no date field is entered? The time will be a bit off when editors fill in the unsigned templates, but it'll be close enough to the actual value. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:59, 13 April 2013 (UTC)

::No, especially while there's existing templates to adjust, where the "default" datestamp would be way out. If someone wants to fix a lot of the existing usage, setting their timezone to UTC is the simplest option. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 09:14, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

== I've removed "add a comment!" from Discussion heading ==

:''This thread has been moved to [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#I've removed "add a comment!" from Discussion heading|The proposals board]].''

== Need password reset ==

Sorry to bother you all, but I seem to have lost the password to this account and don't have an email set (which requires the password). I'm still logged in thanks to the "remember me" feature but after 30 days I'll lose access. This isn't fixable at the MediaWiki level; someone with access to the server mysql or whatever will need to change something. Is there such a person I can email with? [[User:Splainr|Splainr]] ([[User talk:Splainr|talk]]) 03:05, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
:I assume your browser isn't remembering it for you? [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 03:08, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
::Oh wow that was fast. Nope, neither Firefox not OSX keychain access know what it is. [[User:Splainr|Splainr]] ([[User talk:Splainr|talk]]) 15:18, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
: I'm not sure how to solve that problem, but I know account usurpation has been done for the single-login transition in Wikimedia wikis, so technically it should be doable. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 23:04, 16 April 2013 (UTC)

See [[mw:Manual:Resetting passwords]]. --[[User:Mormegil|Mormegil]] ([[User talk:Mormegil|talk]]) 11:59, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

== Analytics ==

Recently I found out about WikiApiary, an interesting site that collects analytics from mediawiki wikis. I added explain xkcd. Check the stats that have been collected so far: http://wikiapiary.com/wiki/explain_xkcd --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 00:03, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

== "External" hotlinking enabled to confirm issue with other car.jpg ==

FYI I have [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=MediaWiki:External_image_whitelist&oldid=34582 enabled] "external" hotlinking to this wiki's own images to show [[:File:other car.jpg]] can display correctly. See further notes about that issue [[File talk:other car.jpg|here]]. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 14:32, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

:If the problem is lack of thumbnail generation, it should display correctly even without hotlinking, simply by using the original size, e.g.
:[[File:other car.jpg]]
:I'm not sure why it doesn't. In any case, this image hotlinking thing reminded me, would it be a good idea to use the images hosted at XKCD.com and only upload variants to the wiki (e.g. those at [[:Category:Helper comic images]]) and images Randall for some reason deleted from the server (e.g. images with typos)? This would reduce the load on the explainxkcd server and provide a better experience for viewers since xkcd is already optimized for high loads and actually openly provides the image urls for hotlinking. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 15:01, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

Seeing as [[User:Daddy]]'s upload has fixed the wiki always attempting to display the thumbnail version (which still don't work), I have disabled the "hotlinking" again.

[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:32, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

== Redirect from explainxkcd.com/1234 ==

It would be really cool if <code>http://www.explainxkcd.com/<number></code> redirected to the explain page for that number. That would allow people to get to the correct explanation by simply adding <code>explain</code> to the comic url.

If you are willing to do this, all you would need to do (assuming you run apache with mod_rewrite enabled) is put the following in <code>.htaccess</code> in your web root:

<code><pre>
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule ^(\d+)/?$ /wiki/index.php?title=$1 [R,L]
</pre></code>

-[[User:Sionide21|Sionide21]] ([[User talk:Sionide21|talk]]) 22:28, 7 June 2013 (UTC)

::Yeah! I'm waiting for this. But admins seems to be rare here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:44, 7 June 2013 (UTC)
::And it seems we both could help...--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:47, 7 June 2013 (UTC)
:::There are several admins here (in fact, I am, too), but what you are looking for is the sysop, the one with access to the server. Admins can delete/protect/undelete pages and block users etc. [[User:Jeff|Jeff]] is the only one that can change MediaWiki configuration or url rewriting... --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 17:08, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
::::Thanks for your information, so I will try to talk to [[User:Jeff|Jeff]]. BTW: Can you edit the main page? I still miss a link to the incomplete comics on the top.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:52, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
::::: At the top of the main page, there is a section that says ''"We have collaboratively explained 1189 xkcd comics, and only 33 (3%) remain. Add yours while there's a chance!"''. The word ''remain'' is already linked to the list. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 19:16, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
::::::I was talking about the 97% comics. There are still many incomplete pages and we have a category here on that.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:36, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
:::::::Ah, I see. Just did it; everyone: feel free to change the sentence, I'm not a native speaker. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 21:07, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
::::::::THANKS! I'm also not native English, I'm German. But this wiki is a great challenge to get more practice, even much more as if talking to common English natives.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:27, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
::::::::: This is something I want to do, so I'm putting this on my page, so I remember to add it to the .htaccess. I'm not super familiar with the .htaccess rules, can I have this along with the other rules I have in my htaccess file? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:17, 22 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::: Yes, that rule will work alongside other rules --[[User:Sionide21|Sionide21]] ([[User talk:Sionide21|talk]]) 19:28, 27 October 2013 (UTC)
::::::::::: I've fixed this on our new host. (I actually had the rule in there already, I just had it in the wrong order.) I'd love to promote this feature a bunch. Any ideas how? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 02:33, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::::: A sitenotice oughta do it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:43, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::::: Woohoo, finally!!! Now if we could just have [[#We need more maintainers|clean URLs]] too, that'd be swell! ;) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 05:02, 14 November 2013 (UTC)

== Incomplete – motivation ==

Is it possible to fix (or is there already) a way to add a motivation with the "incomplete"-tag? I tried <nowiki>{{incomplete|the title text needs explaining}}</nowiki>, which made "edit it" in the banner link to the uncreated page "the title text..."... ––[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:16, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

:You can use the <nowiki>{{notice|Your text...}}</nowiki> template:
{{notice|Here is my notice.}}
:--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:30, 10 June 2013 (UTC)
::Thanks! I think that ideally most incomplete-notices shold carry a note on what's missing, but we aren't there, so this'll do for now. ––[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:21, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

== Unable to Edit ==

I cannot edit this latest comic's page. When I hit edit a screen appears which says "This page has been protected to prevent editing." I've never edited before, but I'm annoyed by the improper use of the word candid. "It would be candid and unrealistic" would be better off in that sentence if candid was removed. How do I make it so I can edit the page, so I can remove this affront to the English language?
:I believe you are trying to edit the main page. You can click "Latest comic" in the left sidebar or the "Go to this comic" button in the top right corner of the grey box to go to the actual page for today's comic. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:42, 1 July 2013 (UTC)
::That was the problem, thanks.--[[User:Holcma01|Holcma01]] ([[User talk:Holcma01|talk]]) 17:07, 1 July 2013 (UTC)

== Banner ad placement ==

On iPad and iPhone browsers, the banner ads obscure the top of the page. This covers up some of the useful buttons up there, like LOGIN for example. The workaround is to refresh the page. Because the banner ad is the last thing to load, you have a brief window of maybe three seconds to find and click the link you need. [[User:Gardnertoo|Gardnertoo]] ([[User talk:Gardnertoo|talk]]) 20:24, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
: Fixed. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 21:12, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

== Bookmarklet for jumping to explainxkcd.com from xkcd.com ==

I wrote a short {{w|bookmarklet}} for jumping from xkcd.com to explainxkcd.com. Bookmarklet form:
<pre>
javascript:var%20match%20%3D%20window.location.href.match(%2F%5Cd%2B%2F)%3B%0Avar%20suffix%20%3D%20match%20%3F%20%27%3Ftitle%3D%27%20%2B%20match%5B0%5D%20%3A%20%27%27%3B%0Awindow.location%20%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.explainxkcd.com%2Fwiki%2Findex.php%27%20%2B%20suffix%3B
</pre>

Decoded:
<pre>
javascript:var match = window.location.href.match(/\d+/);
var suffix = match ? '?title=' + match[0] : '';
window.location ='http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php' + suffix;
</pre>

If you're on a numbered xkcd page, it will go to the accompanying explainxkcd.com page automatically. If you're on the xkcd.com home page, it goes to the explainxkcd.com wiki home page. [[User:Mattflaschen|Mattflaschen]] ([[User talk:Mattflaschen|talk]]) 17:30, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

To add this bookmarklet to your browser:

# Copy the bookmarklet javascript (*not* the decoded version)
# Using your browsers bookmark manager, create a new bookmark
# Give the bookmark a meaningful name -- e.g. ExplainXKCD
# Paste the javascript in for the bookmark URL
# Save.
({{unsigned|Tomh}})

:Thanks Mattflaschen and Tomh! I've started collecting these helpful tools on a [[Browser helpers|new page]], to hopefully make them easier for others to find. – [[User:Yfmcpxpj|Yfmcpxpj]] ([[User talk:Yfmcpxpj|talk]]) 01:33, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

== Database Error ==

I have NO IDEA where this should go, but
http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1011
has the content

Database error
A database query syntax error has occurred. This may indicate a bug in the software. The last attempted database query was:
(SQL query hidden)
from within function "SqlBagOStuff::set". Database returned error "1142: INSERT command denied to user 'dbo423085716'@'74.208.16.155' for table 'objectcache' (db423085716.db.1and1.com)".

Just thought I should report it.

OOPS forgot sig. [[Special:Contributions/67.175.58.94|67.175.58.94]] 00:13, 23 September 2013 (UTC)

Edit: This has been fixed randomly. Never mind then. :X

== [[mw:Extension:SyntaxHighlighter]] ==

Could we maybe enable this? It would be helpful for some of the programming-heavy comics' explanations, e.g. [[1270|today's one]].[[User:PinkAmpersand|PinkAmpersand]] ([[User talk:PinkAmpersand|talk]]) 17:02, 27 September 2013 (UTC)
: Done, PinkAmpersand. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:57, 28 September 2013 (UTC)

== It's not taking me to the main page ==

If I type explainxkcd.com, it redirects me to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki which just shows a directory listing, rather than taking me to the main page (as I assume it's supposed to). [[User:Chridd|chridd]] ([[User talk:Chridd|talk]]) 02:07, 31 October 2013 (UTC)
:Thaat's not supposed to happen. I'm on it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:49, 31 October 2013 (UTC)
:Is it fixed for you now? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:55, 31 October 2013 (UTC)
::Yes [[User:Chridd|chridd]] ([[User talk:Chridd|talk]]) 14:46, 31 October 2013 (UTC)

== Logo in upper left corner missing ==

The logo in the upper left corner is missing, probably because of a wrong redirect. The logo should be at http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/skins/common/images/explainxkcd.png, but this link takes me to the main page. The icons in the edit toolbar are missing, too, probably the same problem. You should exclude all \.png$ queries from redirects. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.177|108.162.254.177]] 10:09, 31 October 2013 (UTC)
: Fixed that. Sorry about that, it was an overzealous htaccess. Thanks! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:45, 31 October 2013 (UTC)

== Sidebar ad overhangs content in Firefox 25.0 ==

The sidebar ad on each page overhangs the content frame slightly when I view this site in Firefox 25.0 on a Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit pc. I have started Firefox in safe mode with all add-ons disabled and it still happens. Site looks fine in IE 11. {{unsigned ip|173.245.56.79}}
:Have you tried hitting control-shift-R, or clearing your cache? That sounds like Firefox is disregarding part of our CSS for whatever reason. I'm running a very similar setup and I'm not getting these problems. Try giving it a wee bit of time and trying again. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 17:27, 13 November 2013 (UTC)

:What's your monitor resolution and size of your Firefox window (maximized, 50/50 split, etc)? [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:24, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
::I'm really sure that scaling isn't the issue, I made the sidebar width definite. I'll check it again. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:06, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
:::The sidebar has a fixed width defined at the CSS style sheet. Press F5 or CTRL-R to reload this style sheet. This happened to me in the past too. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:14, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
::::I changed the defined width to pixels instead of em, in the annoying edge-case that a browser uses a weird default font width. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:24, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
:::::It looks fine now.--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.79|173.245.56.79]] 06:08, 18 November 2013 (UTC)
::::::Sidebar ad overhangs content in DuckDuckGo 7.67.1.2 for iOS 15.4.1, on iPhone 12. aka 'Your sidebar ad has been crushed into a cube. You have fifteen minutes to move your cube.'

== Connection problems ==

Whatever the new hoster does cost, you should get your money back. Sometimes the page doesn't load at all, or the menu is missing after the browser did finish after one or two minutes. The performance here is still annoying. That cloud seems to be a dead cloud. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:33, 11 January 2014 (UTC)
:It's easily more performant than our old service, and it holds up far better to traffic. I am inclined to say that it's a region specific issue, and I'll submit a ticket for that, but they've worked far better than flat shared hosting for the time that we've been using them. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:01, 12 January 2014 (UTC)
::More detail: The message is an Error 522 (Connection timed out).
::*You (Browser, Working) <-> Amsterdam (CloudFlare, Working) <-> <nowiki>www.explainxkcd.com</nowiki> (Host, '''Error''')
::In December the CloudFlare did belong to Frankfurt. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:35, 12 January 2014 (UTC)
:::I'm having still major problems to connect, only this this silly error message. ...and then it does work again. Still strange.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:58, 14 January 2014 (UTC)
:Today I've been getting a ''lot'' of these errors with Cloudflare. (London-based CloudFlare, in my case.) "Error 522 Ray ID: 2587581d8b8a350c • 2015-12-21 23:25:22 UTC" is just one of the IDs. Not sure if you'd prefer another bit of the page info, instead, but the Ray ID looked unique enough to pinpoint debug info in the background.) The suggestion is made that the web server is too busy at something or other. Anyway, just so you're aware.
:I had a look here, first, to see if anyone had mentioned anything (and found the above), so apologies if I'm not posting in the best bit of the best page. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.227|162.158.152.227]] 23:44, 21 December 2015 (UTC)
::It seems to be an occasional regional issue that cloudflare has with us. When I go to our server directly our site is still up, so something between us and cloudflare is failing. Not sure what though. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:40, 22 December 2015 (UTC)
:Yesterday (and day before?) Cloudflare London insisted that the server was not responding. Not sure if that was an actual explain-server issue (not seen mention of it anywhere else, in a brief dig), only Cloudflare London being refused by the server (detecting and blanket filtering rogue traffic via my gateway) or some other issue. Meant to check for update timestamps on the latest comic article that coincided with my being unable to visit the site at the time. But FYI, assuming the cause isn't already sorted out with no further actions needed and/or possible... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.92|162.158.155.92]] 16:02, 11 February 2020 (UTC)

== Wrong IP address shown ==

All [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&hideliu=1 edits by IPs] (well, at least all I checked, including my own edits) are recorded using IP addresses of CloudFlare ([http://www.utrace.de/whois/108.162.238.220 108.162.192.0/18], [http://www.utrace.de/whois/173.245.50.88 173.245.48.0/20] and some other ranges), i.e., it's not the address of the client, but of the server. This seems similar to [https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=56681]. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.160|108.162.254.160]] 09:05, 29 January 2014 (UTC)
:That's something we're working on, but current limitations with our provider are making things sow for us. When they give us what we need, we can do it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:59, 29 January 2014 (UTC)
::Hmmpf! I just noticed this twelve months later and it's still the case... [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 01:59, 29 January 2015 (UTC)
:::Uurrrp a couple of holdups happened, I need to do this at some point. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:54, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

::: I just noticed it as well [[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.197|162.158.252.197]] 04:20, 24 October 2015 (UTC)

: CloudFlare is already providing the Real Ip address -- there are mods for Apache https://support.cloudflare.com/hc/en-us/articles/203656534-How-can-I-set-up-Apache-mod-CloudFlare- and Nginx https://support.cloudflare.com/hc/en-us/articles/200170706-How-do-I-restore-original-visitor-IP-with-Nginx- or you can just pull it from the X-Forwarded-For HTTP header which proxy servers (like CloudFlare) typically puts the client IP address. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.197|162.158.252.197]] 04:25, 24 October 2015 (UTC)

== 1337 leads to...? ===

Current and latest comic page, 1337, unusually has a "Next" before there's even any 1338 page. (It points to 1337.) As a lowly IP, I don't feel I ought to delve too deep to see if it's a page template issue (possibly because "1337" is both a past title ''and'' the current number, maybe, although not too sure if that'd work out) or just because of manual editing. But bringing it to general attention. (It may of course be an issue that does not even last beyond Wednesday, and comic number 1338's arrival, even without intervention.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.7|141.101.99.7]] 13:40, 3 March 2014 (UTC)
:D'aww, and I wanted to be lazy too. I'll get to fixing it, an IP took it to himself to add stuff to the comic template and he removed the auto-hiding buttons. Imma fixy. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 17:42, 3 March 2014 (UTC)
::I did revert some edits on that issue here, so for the first point it should work again. In general: The main page should not be affected like this and the test environment is called: Sandbox. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:43, 3 March 2014 (UTC)
:::The issue was fixed three hours before your autorevert. This is getting excessive. The next time you autorevert a large edit without testing or making an attempt to fix things yourself, expect a three-day ban. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:41, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

== No confirmation email? ==

I requested an email for confirmation when I registered. I got nothing, not in spam filter, not in trash, and definitely in not my inbox.

Today, I requested another confirmation email. Again, nothing has appeared.

Is it me? Is it my shampoo??? Enquiring minds want to know....
Thanks. [[User:Karenb|Karenb]] ([[User talk:Karenb|talk]]) 22:45, 20 March 2014 (UTC)
:Confirmation emails? What, are we a five-star hotel now?
:Jokes aside, is this a thing you really need? You should be autoconfirmed after editing for a while without getting blocked, but if you can put forward a good reason why we should add this in, I'll do it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:54, 21 March 2014 (UTC)
:::Not blocked! Trying to authenticate my email, which I thought was an automatic process. Does that feature not work? That would certainly explain the lack of autoresponse.... Cheers. KB [[User:Karenb|Karenb]] ([[User talk:Karenb|talk]]) 01:35, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

I'm having the same issue. I've requested several confirmation emails over the past few days. I have also tried changing and then resetting my email address. Nothing has worked so far, and it's not in any of my filtered inboxes. I can edit most pages. Will this fix itself even if I don't get an email? [[User:DownGoer|DownGoer]] ([[User talk:DownGoer|talk]]) 18:16, 26 June 2023 (UTC)

==Because the people visiting here are probably the people that should see this==
After the server upgrades mentioned in the sitenotice, de.explainxkcd.com should exist. I'm not publicizing it yet, just want to get it up and work out implementation details before it goes fully live. Pls dun test during the downtime, there'll be plenty of time for that after it's live. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:14, 21 March 2014 (UTC)
:Ok, so our server doesn't actually have the required dependencies to complete the upgrade, so that was slightly fruitless. Sorry about any downtime or inconvenience caused, I didn't add the German wiki again because I'm looking set up the parallel wikis on an up-to-date base. Sorry again for any inconvenience that may have caused, I'll make sure to be better prepared next time, and maybe actually succeed in performing the upgrade next time. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:02, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

==Does anyone have image of Black Hat saying to Cueball "It's 'cause you're dumb" ?==
Guys, does anyone has this image?
I'm hosting Russian xkcd fanpage here - vk.com/xkcdoff and if someone would post it it would be very helpful. --[[User:KOTYAR|KOTYAR]] ([[User talk:KOTYAR|talk]]) 22:40, 24 March 2014 (UTC)
:I actually can't find it either. Shame, I liked that old thumbnail. I could probably photoshop up a new version if you really want one though. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:53, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
:
::[[File:explain xkcd blog header image.png|right]] Just going to the [[explain xkcd]] page and following [http://wayback.archive.org/web/20091026122109/http://www.explainxkcd.com/2009/07/03/extrapolating/ the first historic (internet-archived) link] allowed me to extract [http://wayback.archive.org/web/20110202213753im_/http://www.explainxkcd.com/wp-content/themes/lightword/images/header-image.png the requested "header-image.png"] (the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wp-content/themes/lightword/images/header-image.png corresponding image URL on the current site] gives nothing anymore... thank you, Internet Archive!). Which I uploaded to the wiki here, for convenience and because it's part of this wiki's history, in a way, and also, cool. [[File:Face-smile.svg|20px|Smile|link=]] - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 10:39, 16 April 2014 (UTC) (PS: also, [http://www.facebook.com/explainxkcd/photos/10150144122985214 facebook.com/explainxkcd/photos/10150144122985214]; but JPEG.)

== expxkcd.com redirect not up-to-date ==

By adding "exp" at the beginning of the URL one can easily switch from [http://xkcd.com/1234 xkcd.com/1234] to [http://expxkcd.com/1234 expxkcd.com/1234], which redirects to the corresponding explanation here, and that's nice. But right now, [http://expxkcd.com expxkcd.com] redirects to [[1355]] (at least for me), instead of [[1356]], the latest comic. Wouldn't it be better if expxkcd.com redirected to the [[Main Page]] instead (as does correctly [http://explainxkcd.com explainxkcd.com])? - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 10:55, 16 April 2014 (UTC)
:expxkcd is actually a thing that user [[user:grep]] was so kind to purchase and handle for us. I can forward this on to him for him to resolve, and give him the rewrite rules we use if he needs them. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:12, 16 April 2014 (UTC)
:
::Nice, thank you for the quick forward to the right place. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 11:31, 16 April 2014 (UTC)
:Yeah, the reason for that is that right now, I update it manually, which is obviously a really bad idea. I plan to change this pretty soon. I don't want it to go to the main page because the main page doesn't show the discussion, and comes along with all the other, regular main page stuff. Any rewrite rules wouldn't hurt, Davidy22. {{User:Grep/signature|12:04, 16 April 2014}}
::Hrm. Ours rules point towards the main page. We have no automatically updating page that always redirects to the latest comic, but you can use Mediawiki hooks to append the contents of the page [[Template:LATESTCOMIC]] to the end of our URL. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:44, 17 April 2014 (UTC)
:::Sorry, I don't understand. My BOT will upload the next comic on time, unless it's some new chaos by Randall a BOT just can't handle. The LATESTCOMIC template is updated and so it seems only be an issue on that damn Cloud Service Cache. Even Randall's pages are affected. At "What-if" I still have to use <CTRL+R> to get the latest content. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:26, 18 April 2014 (UTC)
::::We're talking about a different thing related to shortened URLs. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:24, 18 April 2014 (UTC)
:::That is an interesting idea, however I just made a script that automatically adds 1 every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I could have it grab the number from your page and do this once a day at something like 00:10 EST (because Randall sometimes does things on other days), that's a possibility as well (other times / intervals may also be done if you wish/want). {{User:Grep/signature|04:34, 02 May 2014}}
::::Our LATESTCOMIC page and Randall's xkcd json page should both have up-to-date comic numbers for you to pull. Ours is probably the better one to pull since your site is linking to us. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:30, 2 May 2014 (UTC)
:::::The script now checks Template:LATESTCOMIC every 30 minutes to see if the comic has changed or not. If you wish, I might be able narrow this down to 11PM->6AM (for 30 minute checking) and then have it check every two hours at other times or something similar to that (if [http://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/systemd.time.html systemd.time] has a way to do it) {{User:Grep/signature|12:13, 09 May 2014}}
::::::I still do not see that problems. Please touch this wiki as less as needed, this is still the best choice. But there is still a big problem on the cache, an update on a picture lasts many hours. Some statements in "LocalSettings.php" should work, if not this wiki version is buggy. Problems should be solved at the cause and not be overridden by some additional scripts. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:51, 9 May 2014 (UTC)
:::::::We have ample bandwidth for a bot that only checks once every half-hour. The image caching issue is irrelevant to the current topic. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:45, 10 May 2014 (UTC)

== Explain xkcd upgraded to version 1.19.17 ==

Woo! '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 17:59, 26 July 2014 (UTC)

The header seems to have broken, there is no longer a link to the explanation in it. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.154|173.245.56.154]] 22:00, 26 July 2014 (UTC)
:Which header are you talking about? All the links I can think of still seem to work. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:13, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
:: It fixed itself shortly after I mentioned it. It was the incomplete explanation, the link to 428 was bold, but not a link. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.154|173.245.56.154]] 04:48, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

One of the ads is broken.

[[File:brokenexplainxkcdad.png]]

[[User:MrGameZone|0100011101100001011011010110010101011010011011110110111001100101]] ([[User talk:MrGameZone|talk page]]) 04:33, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

:Ooh, thanks for catching that. Should be fixed now. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 17:08, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

Nice :) But is this update a preparation for an upcoming update to {{w|MediaWiki version history|one of the latest versions}}, or are we limited to 1.19 for some reason? I'm asking because 1.19 is only supported for {{w|mw:Version lifecycle#Version timeline|a few more months}}, and also because with newer versions we'd have access to some niceties -- for example, after version 1.20 the {{w|mw:Help:Magic words#Statistics|PAGESINCAT}} magic word accepts parameters, which would allow the count of explained comics in the main page to work using less hardcoded hacks. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:08, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

:Prior attempts to update the wiki have been prevented by the realization that Lunarpages doesn't give us quite as much control over our server share as we thought we had. Checking again, they seem to have upgraded the version of PHP on our server since we last attempted and failed to run one dumb update script, which should mean that it'll work next time we try it. The wiki also has quite a bit of user effort invested into it now, and I'm a little less ready to jump into .0~.3 releases than I would normally be on my own machine, so I upgraded down the LTS path that I knew would be safe. After the first ill-planned attempt, I've been eyeing the 1.23 LTS line for the next major jump, but I'm certainly not stepping into it while it's still relatively fresh. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 17:08, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

:: Sounds reasonable. Thanks for the details. I'll be looking forward to the next update :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 18:52, 28 July 2014 (UTC)
::Just wanting to offer, I use ARP Networks for hosting, you should check them out if you want more control. {{unsigned ip|173.245.56.154}}
:::Hum, there's an option. I'll keep that in mind. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:35, 29 July 2014 (UTC)
::::It wasn't me that posted that comment. But surprisingly enough anon and I have the same first two bytes in our IP addresses. Congrats on the version upgrade. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 05:31, 29 July 2014 (UTC)

Why does the site say I'm blocking ads when I'm not? I do use AdBlock Plus, but it's turned off for this site. Screenshot [http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj637/backagain2012/contra_zps3c6aa295.png here]. And while I'm here, that "unblock us" text has an error- the first "and" in the second sentence shouldn't be there. [[User:NealCruco|NealCruco]] ([[User talk:NealCruco|talk]]) 01:51, 29 July 2014 (UTC)
:The text only appears when the ads fail to load. The error message actually says noscript, which means that the Javascript that the ad box uses to fetch images isn't running. How long has this been happening for you? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:35, 29 July 2014 (UTC)
::It just started. I came over here as soon as I noticed it. [[User:NealCruco|NealCruco]] ([[User talk:NealCruco|talk]]) 19:07, 29 July 2014 (UTC)
:::Have you recently made any changes to your browser? Does the problem persist when you hit CTRL+SHIFT+R? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 12:43, 30 July 2014 (UTC)
::::Nope, no recent changes. And yes, the problem persists when I hit Ctrl+Shift+R. [[User:NealCruco|NealCruco]] ([[User talk:NealCruco|talk]]) 14:04, 30 July 2014 (UTC)
:::::I am genuinely puzzled. The message tells me that something is causing your browser to fail to load/run the Javascript that makes the ad render and report stats, so the problem could be anything that can cause that: noscript, outdated browser, experimentation. I don't know anything about your setup, and it works on my test machines, so I can't tell currently what's wrong. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:10, 1 August 2014 (UTC)
:Do you have privoxy installed on your machine? (this is a long shot) [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 00:24, 3 August 2014 (UTC)

== If anything broke, complain here. ==

There's a banner that says:
The wiki has been updated to stable mediawiki version 1.19.17. If anything broke, complain here.

So...

The following have broken:
Cars
My previous computer
A railroad train
Condoms
Etc.

None of which has anything to do with this website.

The banner should be made more specific before Randall sees it and does a comic mocking it.

Or not. {{unsigned ip|173.245.48.80}}
:Well, there's always that one guy. Fixed. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:05, 28 July 2014 (UTC)
::I don't see how you could have fixed that one guy. Throttled, eliminated, insulted, blocked, etc. But not fixed. [[User:Walenc|Walenc]] ([[User talk:Walenc|talk]]) 16:29, 28 July 2014 (UTC)
:::See sense 6 here: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fix#Verb :P [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.154|173.245.56.154]] 02:13, 29 July 2014 (UTC)
::::i bet you think yer so clever. just watch me take the site down. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:35, 29 July 2014 (UTC)

== Misc Request... (|< < Prev Comic Next > >| format) ==

I usually browse in a very small window and the menu buttons split kind of strangely (http://i.imgur.com/wPE7szZ.png). Would it be possible to replace the spaces with nonbreaking spaces? --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.202|173.245.56.202]] 15:13, 1 August 2014 (UTC)
:Annoyingly, the spaces that are giving you trouble can't be changed because they're text string inputs, and Mediawiki has no regular expression markup yet. Every other instance of formatting-critical spaces has been changed to non-breaking spaces though, thanks for the heads up! '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:13, 2 August 2014 (UTC)
:: I think I fixed this by adding a space between the buttons. Unfortunately, this only works as long as the comic is not as wide as the button bar. I guess this is because of the surrounding table. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 20:15, 2 August 2014 (UTC)

== Not receiving password reset emails ==

I've forgotten my password, and password reset is not working for me. I went to [[Special:PasswordReset]], and had it send me a reset email. However, I have not received the email. I am sure that I have an email associated with my account, and it's confirmed. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.174|173.245.54.174]] 08:38, 18 August 2014 (UTC)
:Tested, password reset emails seem to work for me. Have you checked your spam folder? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:04, 24 August 2014 (UTC)
::I checked in Gmail in "Mail & Spam & Trash", and it still doesn't find it. I tried a fresh reset, so we'll see if that comes through. No luck after a minute or two. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.71|108.162.216.71]] 04:59, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

==TOR Captcha==

Hi, I use TOR. To access your website, cloudfare has made it such that I have to enter a captcha. This is very inconvenient, as your site is not the only one doing this. Can you please fix this issue? You should be able to see a guide here: https://tor.stackexchange.com/questions/599/cloudflares-captcha-screen-insurmountable . Thank you for taking the time to consider this. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.60|141.101.104.60]] 11:34, 13 September 2014 (UTC)
:Is it better now? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:06, 13 September 2014 (UTC)
::Sorry, no. I still get the captcha. What did you try doing? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.87|108.162.216.87]] 22:09, 13 September 2014 (UTC)
:::Set the threat level threshold way up. Any further steps into cheap botnet territory. For your security, you may want to reconsider the nodes through which you're operating through. Also, why do you need to use Tor to visit us? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:17, 14 September 2014 (UTC)
::::Ah, okay, thanks, now I'm not getting the captcha. As for why I'm using Tor, I don't ''need'' to, but I'd rather do so just to be anonymous. I wouldn't have written if it were just your site, but since Cloudfare has made captchas the default setting for Tor, the internet is starting to become near unusable. So that everyday people aren't scared away from using Tor due to the perceived complexity of daily browsing, whenever I have to enter a captcha, I try to contact someone at the site to ask them to change the setting. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.82|108.162.216.82]] 06:52, 14 September 2014 (UTC)

== Upgrade to the latest MediaWiki version? ==

I think we should start trying to maintain a regular upgrade schedule of some sort. 6 months ago was the last time we've upgraded, and I think we should upgrade again. The impetus for this change would be for [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Translate translation] [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:TranslationNotifications features], [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Babel plus other multilinguality efforts that require the new versions of MediaWiki.] Localization efforts should be put into place, and the translate feature would work well for that. [[User:Chess|Chess]] ([[User talk:Chess|talk]]) 01:53, 12 November 2014 (UTC)
:Plans to upgrade only include LTS releases. That said though, the recent and unintentional server downtime was actually the result of a setup for a coming mediawiki upgrade, among other things. The plan is to upgrade to 1.23 sometime in the coming months, during the weekend after a satisfactory number of bugfix releases. We're very interested in setting up translations, although mediawiki in it's current form already supports translation; the extensions you linked are mostly quality-of-life additions. It's been delayed because the plan is to eliminate all incomplete comics first so that translators have a solid base to work from. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:42, 12 November 2014 (UTC)
::Can I just be nitpicky and say that we last upgraded about 3.5 months ago, not 6? Thanks. [[User:NealCruco|NealCruco]] ([[User talk:NealCruco|talk]]) 03:17, 12 November 2014 (UTC)

== Fix HTTPS access ==

explain xkcd is using Cloudflare which recently enabled HTTPS for all users, but when [https://explainxkcd.com accessing it via HTTPS] it returns [https://support.cloudflare.com/hc/en-us/articles/200171916-Error-521 error 521].
In order to fix this in addiction to the solution steps proposed by CloudFlare check if SSL settings are correct. {{unsigned ip|173.245.52.138}}
:On it '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:51, 13 November 2014 (UTC)

HTTPS is working now, there just some mixed-content warnings, mostly on style tags which being active mixed content are blocked, but it's still a good improvement as it's possible to have more privacy when browsing explain xkcd.{{unsigned ip|188.114.99.35}}

: Whoever has server access, can they try changing $wgServer ([[mediawikiwiki:Manual:$wgServer|Manual:$wgServer]]) to use a protocol relative url? As the manual page says, you may also want to set $wgCanonicalServer to a fully-qualified url (hopefully defaulting to https). [[User:Behrat|Behrat]] ([[User talk:Behrat|talk]]) 04:17, 29 October 2015 (UTC)
::Done. How's it now? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:42, 31 October 2015 (UTC)
::: Much better! The styles and scripts are loaded now, and the page looks good. It's still not completely green https because it's loading some images over plain http, but my browser at least appears to be allowing them for now. If you want any more suggestions on technical issues, let me know. I currently maintain my own mediawiki installation with full https, cloudflare, and short urls. [[User:Behrat|Behrat]] ([[User talk:Behrat|talk]]) 20:27, 4 November 2015 (UTC)
::::Huh. Is it the ad images? The comic pictures *should* be also done over https, no? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:10, 5 November 2015 (UTC)
::::: Yeah, one of them is the ad images (http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/lunarpages_160x600.jpg). Most of them are from [[MediaWiki:Common.css]], so you could just change all the urls on that css page to protocol-relative. The only other one I see is http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-sa/3.0/88x31.png, which I think is set at [[mediawikiwiki:Manual:$wgFooterIcons|$wgFooterIcons]], but I'm not sure. All of them appear to be accessible over https, so just changing the links should work. [[User:Behrat|Behrat]] ([[User talk:Behrat|talk]]) 01:13, 6 November 2015 (UTC)

If I replace xkcd with explainxkcd I get a very ugly CSS-less page in Chrome on Win7. If I change the https to http, the page works [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.12|141.101.105.12]] 06:07, 3 September 2015 (UTC)
:Can you provide more information about your setup? Test a different browser? Unable to reproduce. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:56, 3 September 2015 (UTC)
:: I can reproduce in Firefox. This is due to the mixed content blocker. Usually, it should only block active content (scripts) and maybe warn about passive content (stylesheets), but at least in Firefox, it is configurable to block both. But I cannot see why the stylesheets shouldn't be served via HTTPS.
:: Currently, the styles are referenced absolutely ([http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/load.php?debug=false&lang=de&modules=site&only=styles&skin=vector&* http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/...]), but they should rather by referenced domain-relative (<code>/wiki/...</code>) or at least protocol-relative (<code>[//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/load.php?debug=false&lang=de&modules=site&only=styles&skin=vector&* //www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/...]</code>). --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 16:29, 3 September 2015 (UTC)

== RSS feed issue ==

When attempting to access the feed for this wiki I'm told "Sorry. No feed found." Is there some way that the feed can be restored to the satisfaction of Feedly? Could it be due to some [http://validator.w3.org/feed/check.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fexplainxkcd.com%2Frss.xml validation issues], or should I consider changing my news reader? [[User:Pmw57|Pmw57]] ([[User talk:Pmw57|talk]]) 23:08, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
:Huh. The feed updates automatically with a script that I wrote a while ago, I'm very sure it passed more than this the last time I checked. Fixed a few things, left the one about the date because that's a pain to fix, and one that I can't figure out for the life of me. I think I fixed the line that was causing the actual problems though. Should update on feedly now. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:52, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
::Hallelujah - the feed was mixed in with other geeky material and it only took me nearly 8 months to notice that nothing was coming through from here anymore. I'm premature with my thanks though. The [http://explainxkcd.com/rss.xml RSS link] in the navigation pane to the left still doesn't want to be understood by Feedly. By contrast, other feeds such as for latest changes can be picked up. [[User:Pmw57|Pmw57]] ([[User talk:Pmw57|talk]]) 02:04, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
:::Hrm. Sent an email to feedly about it, Just tested and I'm having similar issues with feedly. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:17, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
::::It seems it's not just Feedly. When I use Chrome's [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/rss-feed-reader/pnjaodmkngahhkoihejjehlcdlnohgmp/related?hl=en RSS Feed Reader], that too also tells me "No posts here yet" followed by the an ever helpful "Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp" [[User:Pmw57|Pmw57]] ([[User talk:Pmw57|talk]]) 02:33, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
::::Could it be that it's just not valid XML? I see that it ends at line 236 with </item> with no other closing tags, for example. [[User:Pmw57|Pmw57]] ([[User talk:Pmw57|talk]]) 03:18, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
:::::Ohwait a minute, the auto updater rips old entries off the bottom and that's where there's supposed to be a closing channel and RSS tag. well. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:19, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
It's good to know that the cause is now known - I'll let you (or someone else with the authority) get on with fixing things up :-) [[User:Pmw57|Pmw57]] ([[User talk:Pmw57|talk]]) 07:46, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
:[http://feedly.com/i/subscription/feed/http://www.explainxkcd.com/rss.xml Hullo.] It's not perfect that only one specific formation of the URL works, but it's a start. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:01, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
:: You sir do God's work - and that coming from a Dillahunty-following Atheist is saying something. [[User:Pmw57|Pmw57]] ([[User talk:Pmw57|talk]]) 08:11, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
My reader has been refusing to process the feed for the last few days. I finally un-busied enough to poke into why. When I looked at the source at [http://www.explainxkcd.com/rss.xml /rss.xml] I saw:
<pre>
</item>

<item>
<title>1561: Water Phase Diagram</title>
<link>http://www.explainxkcd.com/1561</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 06 Aug 2015 21:51:11 -0700</pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.explainxkcd.com/1561</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<h2>1561: Water Phase Diagram</h2><a href="http://www.explainxkcd.com/1561">http://www.explainxkcd.com/1561</a>]]></description>
</item>
</pre>
I'm thinking that the script is broken. I could pro'ly come up with something workable, given the access. --[[User:Ericm301|Ericm301]] ([[User talk:Ericm301|talk]]) 16:50, 9 August 2015 (UTC)
:What on earth is happening here I don't even know. The script seems fine, I repaired the RSS file again manually. See if it malfunctions again today. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:22, 10 August 2015 (UTC)
::Script is behaving very strangely. Today's update warped the feed file in a weird way, this doesn't usually happen. I'll test it on my machine to see what's happening. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:56, 10 August 2015 (UTC)
It was fine for a minute (that must have been your edit), but now it's broke again. --[[User:Ericm301|Ericm301]] ([[User talk:Ericm301|talk]]) 19:53, 10 August 2015 (UTC)
:Alright, I figured out what was going on with the feed. There was a bit of code I had in the update script that trimmed off the last entry of the RSS file and when I recreated an empty file for the feed after the inexplicable wipe, I forgot to turn it off so it was still shaving off the end of the file. This time it should be working. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:34, 12 August 2015 (UTC)

The RSS feed is broken again, when I open RSS feed link in firefox I get
<pre>
XML Parsing Error: not well-formed
Location: https://explainxkcd.com/rss.xml
Line Number 71, Column 18:
<title>3028: D&D Roll</title>
------------------------^

</pre>

adding this regex to the script that generates the RSS file should fix it:
<pre>
Search: (\t<title>[^&]+&)(?!amp;.+?$)
|Replace: $!amp;
</pre>
[[User:EvilGeniusSkis|EvilGeniusSkis]] ([[User talk:EvilGeniusSkis|talk]]) 03:56, 12 January 2025 (UTC)

== "Known appearances" character infobox fix? ==

Currently, "Known appearances" in the characters infobox is broken as for some pages, when the character's category serves as it's own info page. (e.g. [[:Category:Red Spiders]], [[:Category:Sharks]], [[:Category:Squirrels]], [[:Category:Barrel]] etc.) Can this be fixed?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:21, 29 March 2015 (UTC)

:Fixed it myself. Just use template "Infobox character 2" instead of "Infobox character" when the character's category serves as it's own info page.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 14:55, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

== Comic 1505 (30 March 2015) isn't properly showing up, I think? ==

Excuse me if I'm being a n00b, but [[1505]] is posted, and the page is extant, but it's not showing on the [[Main Page]] yet. Is this supposed to happen, i.e. waiting for someone to put some content on the page, or did something break somewhere...? Again, sorry if I've just committed a massive derp. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.189|173.245.56.189]] 04:38, 30 March 2015 (UTC)
:Should be showing up now. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:38, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

== rendering problem ? ==

To me, right now, with Windows Firefox 37.0.1, [[625: Collections]] looks like this:

[[File:communityportal_technical_1504_collections.png]]

There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the source text.

Here's the [[Main Page]] in Internet Explorer 8:

[[File:communityportal_technical_1504_mainpage.png]]

This is affecting everything? Or just me? [[User:Pesthouse|Pesthouse]] ([[User talk:Pesthouse|talk]]) 03:31, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Okay, [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.140|somebody]] was messing with [[Template:w]]. I reverted it to the previous editor's version, seemed to fix things. [[User:Pesthouse|Pesthouse]] ([[User talk:Pesthouse|talk]]) 03:46, 6 April 2015 (UTC)
:On that note, they made a similar template that links to rationalwiki, but didn't use it at all in any pages. Huh. It's not even a very significant site. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:52, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

::The IP [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=301:_Limerick&oldid=84906&diff=88577 preferred the Rationalwiki article] on Poe's Law to the Wikipedia version, I guess.
::[[User:452]] did not approve. [[User:Pesthouse|Pesthouse]] ([[User talk:Pesthouse|talk]]) 07:57, 6 April 2015 (UTC)
:::Given the fact that he broke Template:W, and [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.140|didn't seem to know what he was doing]], I undid his other edits, sorry if this was inappropriate. -[[User:452|452]] ([[User talk:452|talk]]) 17:51, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

== Main Page ==

When categories are added to the latest comic, the Main Page is also categorized in those categories.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 13:42, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
:The most obvious solution would be to put the categories inside <nowiki><noinclude></nowiki> tags, on every page. {{unsigned|143}}
::That's ugly and labor-intensive though. I think there's something we can do with string matching to fix it in a better way. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:35, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

== #cscore doesn't work with #expr ==

I can't use cscore with expr on my userpage.--{{User:17jiangz1/signature|10:30, 01 May 2015}}

== 1545 page severely broken? ==

The very tail end of the raw page source (using Internet Explorer) is
"wgRedirectedFrom":"1545"});
}</script><script>
...and then stops, obviously unfulfilled. (I also snipped everything up until that unique-looking Redirection data, for brevity.)

Compare that with the equivalent snippet from an adjacent page:
"wgRedirectedFrom":"1544"});
}</script><script>if(window.mw){
...and then continues with a working rest of the page. (Also snipped, but this time both before ''and'' after. I've kept it short while imagining I've given enough to ID the precise breakpoint though.)

Same problem encountered when using "Next" link from 1544 or "Previous" link from 1546. Page http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/List_of_all_comics ''itself'' suffers the exact same error. (Last wgVariable listed in LoaC page is ''"wgSearchNamespaces":[0]'', instead, but still similarly ends after apparently the same close-script and open-script flagging point.)

Does ''not'' go wrong in Mozilla-based browsers also on this machine (Firefox, Seamonkey). Page sources for 1545 look exactly like the above 1544 snippet, as expected, with no obvious funny characters or 'Little Bobby Tables' anomalies, SFAICT. In case it's a spurious downloading error that has ended up being cached, I've also "shift-refreshed" in my browser to force download.

Utterly Baffling me, but FYI in case it's something someone needs to know about, although I'm hoping it's just local strangeness and not anything actually of significance.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.252|141.101.98.252]] 04:33, 5 July 2015 (UTC)
:Opened in Internet Explorer 11, it seems to appear for me. Are any site features being impacted by this bug? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:44, 5 July 2015 (UTC)
::Nothing I was previously familiar enough with to spot an adverse effect. Note that http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1545:_Strengths_and_Weaknesses - the link I tried to get from the LoaC page (but only just now tried in non-IE!) works perfectly. Even while the "/1545" (i.e. 'RedirectedFrom') version of the page ''continues'' to be truncated. I can only assume that (despite attempts to force things anew), it's buggily-cached iteration.
::Hang on, that gives me an idea. Which works. I changed the 1545 page (change labelled as "Troubleshooting" in history) and... it opens perfectly. Removed change (should probably have self-reverted, in hindesight, but suspect it'd be fixed anyway) and no further issue. "List of all Comics" page still as broken (because I haven't forced it to update, and am not inclined to 'interfere' with it), but I shall check again after 1547 forces its own changes upon it. Otherwise, consider this closed. Sorry to bother you.
::TL;DR; problem solved. Pretty much proven to be not even a site issue, I now think. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.252|141.101.98.252]] 21:38, 5 July 2015 (UTC)
::Ok, FYI, once 1547 'Solar System Questions' ''finally'' appeared, I check "List of all comics" page. First of all a lot of "Waiting for page..." (uh oh), but then force-refreshed page (in the way that didn't work previously) and it loaded correctly. C'est finis. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.252|141.101.98.252]] 15:02, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

== [[881]] loads as "database error" ==

With this content:
Database error
A database query syntax error has occurred. This may indicate a bug in the software. The last attempted database query was:
(SQL query hidden)
from within function "SqlBagOStuff::set". Database returned error "1114: The table 'objectcache' is full (db423085716.db.1and1.com)".

No other page gives me this error, just [[881]].--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.6|162.158.92.6]] 19:42, 2 August 2015 (UTC)

I just got this on 564 [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.200|141.101.98.200]] 22:44, 2 August 2015 (UTC)

== Database error ==

I can't see [[:Category:Interactive_comics]] (<tt>1114: The table 'objectcache' is full (db423085716.db.1and1.com)</tt>). [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.105|199.27.128.105]] 00:18, 3 August 2015 (UTC)

== RSS missing ==

Hey it looks like there's an issue with the rss feed, when you browse to the url on the right it just displays an empty page, not sure what's going on. [[User:Eluvatar|Eluvatar]] ([[User talk:Eluvatar|talk]]) 14:19, 3 August 2015 (UTC)
:Huh, in the last few hours the rss file was inexplicably wiped. I've restored the base of it, the bot should start populating the feed with new comics, but old ones are gone. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:49, 3 August 2015 (UTC)

<h4>2024-12-18 - RSS feed broken</h4>
Hello, My apologies if this is the wrong way to get your attention:
 The RSS feed has a missing semicolon. This happened a few weeks ago, and I'm sorry I'm only commenting on this now. --  /pjfayer at gmail dotcom {{unsigned ip|172.69.130.56|14:40, 28 December 2024}}
Might be related to the problems caused by the recent "D&D" (and not "D&D") titles filtering through. Which is something I believe is already demanding a 'fix', so is either just part of that being solved (however long it takes) or can be added to the "As and when you can fix it..." suggestions. (See more recent header-sections here, amongst others, rather than this 2015-based one.) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.205.123|172.68.205.123]] 18:06, 28 December 2024 (UTC)
:Please check [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Admin_requests#RSS_Feed_Broken|the Admin Requests board]]. '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 19:04, 28 December 2024 (UTC)

== Extra Comics ==

In extra comics, the header of the comic has "Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "{"." such as in [[The Rise of Open Access]]. {{User:17jiangz1/signature|13:32, 13 September 2015}}
:{{done}} - It was because [[0]] was created, so the logic that #ifexist:0 should be false failed. I changed it to default to -2 when number is not present, which will work as long as no one creates [[-1]]! [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:15, 14 September 2015 (UTC)

== Explanations for all -4 comics! ==

The main page header now contains this text:

[http://i.imgur.com/p7VACbW.png We have an explanation for all -4 xkcd comics, and only 23 (1%) are incomplete. Help us finish them!]

I'm assuming this is a bug. {{unsigned|Okofish|01:00, 15 September 2015}}

: {{done}} It was a temporary artifact due to recent categorization changes. It's now fixed. Thanks for the quick report :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 01:14, 15 September 2015 (UTC)

== Discussion pane missing on comic 1592? ==

After checking the Discussion tab to make sure there ''was'' a Discussion, I thought that someone had removed the <nowiki>{{comic discussion}}</nowiki> tag, and went into full-page edit to put it back. But it's there. Maybe it's just me, maybe it's just temporary, but FYI in case it isn't. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.185|141.101.75.185]] 15:06, 19 October 2015 (UTC)
:Fixed. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 16:21, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

== Captcha ==

Captcha not appearing at all. Can't edit pages without turning off security settings (which were set to default). Chrome and "Edge" on Windows 10. Both yell at me about some components of the page being insecure. 15:48, 18 February 2016 (UTC)

:Same issue with other browsers. reCAPTCHA won't load from an "insecure" resource when the wiki is accessed over HTTPS. [[User:TisTheAlmondTavern|TisTheAlmondTavern]] 15:07, 6 December 2016 (UTC)
::Oooh, I see. Alright, I'll get to fixing it now I know what the problem is. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:00, 7 December 2016 (UTC)
Slight bug in the editing panel, when asked what webcomic we're talking about, it cannot be in all caps, it must be strict lowercase, despite appearances on xkcd.com. Could someone take a look at it? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.158|108.162.249.158]] 00:54, 5 November 2015 (UTC)
:It took me several months to figure out that "this wiki" is named "explain xkcd" and not "explainxkcd". I spent those months answering two questions every time the "what's this wiki's name" question appeared (when I missed the answer, a different question appeared).--[[User:Jojonete|Jojonete]] ([[User talk:Jojonete|talk]]) 09:06, 5 November 2015 (UTC)
::I was sure both answers were correct, but never attempted to type explainxkcd, just in case. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.17|108.162.221.17]] 12:44, 5 November 2015 (UTC)

== wiki server clock has drifted - about 13 minutes fast ==

As I type this, it is exactly 07:42:45 UTC. [[User:Pesthouse|Pesthouse]] ([[User talk:Pesthouse|talk]]) 07:55, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

And thus timestamps here are 12 or 13 minutes off. [[User:Pesthouse|Pesthouse]] ([[User talk:Pesthouse|talk]]) 07:59, 14 April 2015 (UTC)
:I see the same thing: 15:41:00 UTC now.... [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 15:54, 23 April 2015 (UTC)
::Huh. I'll look into it, when I get back home. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:19, 23 April 2015 (UTC)

Currently it's 20 minutes fast. It's 21:00 UTC and it shows 21:20 (UTC). [[User:Xhfz|Xhfz]] ([[User talk:Xhfz|talk]]) 21:20, 14 July 2015 (UTC)
:Sorry bout the delay, was busy for a long bit, should be fixed now. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 21:44, 26 July 2015 (UTC)

Currently it's 8 minutes fast. It's 20:56:00 UTC and it shows 21:03 UTC. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.17|108.162.221.17]] 21:03, 5 November 2015 (UTC)
:do we not have ntp on the server or something, gonna reset the clock again when i get back home. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:33, 6 November 2015 (UTC)

Happening again: it's 11:33 UTC and the server has 11:48 UTC. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.161|141.101.75.161]] 11:49, 11 March 2016 (UTC)
:Fixed again, and I'm gonna have to check our NTP installation. 06:37, 18 March 2016 (UTC)
:Alright, changed some things, this shouldn't happen anymore. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:38, 18 March 2016 (UTC)

The clock is about 13-14 minutes off again. It's currently 13:49 UTC. –''TisTheAlmondTavern'', 13:36, 17 January 2017 (UTC)

== Discussion template resources apparently missing ==

As co-header (right-margin hugging text) to the Discussion section on all pages (or at least as many as I've just visited - and on multiple browsers, ''just in case''...) I'm getting the following, with the <>-tags being my own descriptive additions:
<redlink>File:comment.png</redlink> <validlink>add a comment!</validlink> ⋅ <redlink>File:Icons-mini-action refresh blue.gif</redlink> <validlink>refresh comments!Discussion</validlink>
Looks like the PNG and GIF files concerned have been removed, or the links in the Discussion template broken/incorrectly redirected.

(Sidenote: The character between the "add a comment!" and the "File: Icons-mini-action refresh blue.gif" that I've copied here verbatim (so doubtless appears correctly for everyone else who reads this) is an 'I don't have this character on my machine' character, for me, which is obviously entirely my fault for not downloading additional fonts that I'd need. From cursory investigation, it appears to be essentially the same as "·", Alt-0183, or HTML code '&middot;', which ''would'' render on my machine and yet (if changed) shouldn't break on those where it currently works. For your consideration, but not as vital.)
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 06:30, 7 November 2015 (UTC)
:ETA - Delving around further, [[:Category:Pages with broken file links]] seems to indicate it ''is'' a widespread problem at server-side, and not somehow solely my own (except for the Sidenote issue!). And suggests a simple way to check that the issue is fixed (when suddenly the category is nowhere near as 'full'), and then discover any related ones that might need fixing (like the special Star Trek Into Darkness alternate version of the Discussion template). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 06:57, 7 November 2015 (UTC)
::Huh. I have a feeling I know what caused this, I'll get right on it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:23, 7 November 2015 (UTC)
:::I've seen some more of these cases, e.g. on [[explain xkcd:Community portal]]. I think these images are from Wikimedia Commons, maybe that integration broke somehow? --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 16:33, 7 November 2015 (UTC)
::::i don't know what is even happening, the images seem to be fine now but they still show up as broken file links '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:04, 8 November 2015 (UTC)

== Update captcha text? ==

The text above the posting captcha says “type the two words” but reCaptcha often doesn't use two, and they're often not words. Example: http://i.imgur.com/TdM5n5O.png

Maybe we could change it to something like “type the text”?

[[User:P1h3r1e3d13|P1h3r1e3d13]] ([[User talk:P1h3r1e3d13|talk]]) 23:44, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
:So, the reCAPTCHA captchas are entirely provided by Google. If there's an error in it, it's likely Google's fault and a bug report should be sent in that direction instead. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:23, 3 March 2016 (UTC)
::I noticed that before. It's not a bug in recaptcha, but rather in ConfirmEdit, file ReCaptcha/i18n/en.json to be exact. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.217|162.158.90.217]]
:::Oh huh, hadn't thought of that. I'll fix that up then. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:45, 3 March 2016 (UTC)

== Stylesheets not working? ==

It doesn't look like any of the site's CSS is loading for me. I have tried purging, adding useskins to the URL, and clearing my browser's cache, and webpage content remains in Times New Roman with no special styling. Headers and bold spans of text are bold, list items are bulleted, buttons are button-y, templates and my signature display with HTML-<tt>style</tt>-attribute-level CSS, and so on, but that's the extent of it. Is this a belated April Fools' joke, or has something gone horribly wrong between the servers and my eyes? [[User talk:AgentMuffin|~AgentMuffin]]

:I made a similar post earlier -- it seems to have vanished down a black hole. I linked these screenshots: [http://i.imgur.com/smN1a45.png] [http://i.imgur.com/qdpxhdY.png]
:Note that there are no ads either! This could get to problem-level very fast. [[User:KangaroOS|Kangaro]][[User talk:KangaroOS|OS]] 01:28, 5 April 2016 (UTC)
::There are actually still ads, they're just shoved right at the bottom of the page. mysqld is clocking in at 40% cpu load, and mediawiki seems to be going into fallback mode and skipping stylesheets which is about what I'd expect from an april fools comic. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:31, 5 April 2016 (UTC)
:::Ah, figured it was some sort of server overslow. For a while there I was getting a 503 error. [[User:KangaroOS|Kangaro]][[User talk:KangaroOS|OS]] 01:36, 5 April 2016 (UTC)
:::Well, perhaps you don't need another note about this, but I noted the 'stylesheetless' appearance myself, just now. Except that it ''is'' styled, partially. (When I choose to view by Style "No style", it's even more not-Styled!) Could be because a subset of styles aren't being loaded (so that the ones that ''are'' still loaded can only be identified from their enforced absence), but looks like you have this as much in hand as can be expected, so just FYI... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.137|141.101.98.137]] 04:13, 5 April 2016 (UTC)
::Have you tried switching the server off and back on ? ;-) Jokes apart, are there really so many users continuously polling ? It could be just a case of stale open connections. Really, a reboot might not hurt (although it may kill-off few sessions and you may get some angry posts, but at this point, it might be worth the try) Edit: Sorry, I was messing up the formatting while replying. I'm trying to fix it. But at this point, does it really matter? :P [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.56|162.158.255.56]] 04:21, 5 April 2016 (UTC)
:::Alright guys, still having trouble with the load, but I've put a quick temporary hack in place to get the css working again for now. Fonts are a little off, I'll deal with that soon. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:09, 5 April 2016 (UTC)
::::Did a little more work on things, styles should be working again but it's not great on the back end. I'm going to do some rooting around to see what went wrong. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:07, 6 April 2016 (UTC)
:::::Cool.. This is pretty good. We're almost there.. The only things I can notice that are off are - (1) Category list at the end of the page (2) Contents block at the beginning of the page and (3) Edit buttons for individual sections. By the way, I'm curious, what exactly was broken ? I didn't expect you'd have to fix things here. I expected that since the issue was caused by excess server load, it would return back to normalcy automatically once things settle down a bit in couple of days after the offending comic was more or less explained. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.56|162.158.255.56]] 03:32, 6 April 2016 (UTC)
::::::A script responsible for picking user preferences and integrating css from pages like [[Mediawiki:common.css]] was failing to complete because of server load, so I gave it a helping hand and just had it insert a static stylesheet instead. I almost certainly missed a few spots though, because the wiki does not look right. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:43, 6 April 2016 (UTC)

(resetting indent) Yes, things are still off. The text "Jump to: navigation, search" is at the top of every page, but it's useless because it links to stuff already at the top of the page. Edit summaries aren't italicized, the edit boxes don't use the whole window width, links are underlined, section edit links are too big, etc. I put the Wayback Machine to good use, and found the below set of archived pages, all using the proper style. Compare them with the current appearances of the pages, and you should see most, if not all, of the issues I've seen. [http://web.archive.org/web/20160402151417/http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page Main Page] | [http://web.archive.org/web/20150326134736/http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/NealCruco My contributions] | [http://web.archive.org/web/20150326170626/http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1486:_Vacuum&action=edit The "edit" page for comic 1486] --[[User:NealCruco|NealCruco]] ([[User talk:NealCruco|talk]]) 21:50, 7 April 2016 (UTC)
::Is here nothing to be done about the missing styles? The tables still look horrible and there is not help when editing, for instance for signature etc. Colapsing of tables etc. also won't work which is a mess for some of the long explanations and tables [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:56, 18 April 2016 (UTC)
HotCat also seems to be not working for adding categories. {{User:17jiangz1/signature|13:18, 25 April 2016}}
:Yeah, load.php is failing so all gadgets and user scripts are unavailable. :-( [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 14:42, 25 April 2016 (UTC)
::Alright, figured it out. It was a deal with file permissions, not sure how those got changed on April 1st. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:59, 17 May 2016 (UTC)

== Comic navigation buttons ==

You know, the buttons that look like the ones on the xkcd site. Shouldn't they also highlight like the xkcd site? I thought maybe it was due to the above CSS issue, but the links to archive.org make it seem like it's just never worked.

It just seems to me that, if we're going to go that far in mimicking the actual buttons, we should probably also mimic their a:hover settings. Shut off the box shadow, change the background to white, and the link color to #6E7B91.

I've tested the following CSS, and it appears to work:

<nowiki>
li.plainlinks:hover, .no-link-underline > li:hover {
background-color: #FFF !important;
box-shadow: none !important;
-moz-box-shadow: none !important;
-webkit-box-shadow: none !important;
}
li.plainlinks:hover > a > span, .no-link-underline > li:hover > a > span {
color: #6E7B91 !important;
}
</nowiki>

[[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 09:14, 2 May 2016 (UTC)
:Seems like a decent addition. Thanks! '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:52, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

== Captcha trouble ==

For about an hour, I wasn't able to edit a page or create an account when I was trying to, because the captcha was missing. I'm not sure if it was problem on this site or captcha but I thought I'd mention it.
--[[User:Anqied|Anqied]] ([[User talk:Anqied|talk]]) 08:34, 11 June 2016 (UTC)
:Recaptcha appears to work for me currently. Does it work now? It seems like they may have just gone down temporarily. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:52, 11 June 2016 (UTC)
::I'm not certain this is the same issue, but I was just having a problem with the captcha for unregistered users trying to edit a page. I figured out that it's because you were trying to serve the captcha through HTTP even though the page was on HTTPS, so my browser was blocking the captcha. Changing to HTTP "fixed" the issue, but that shouldn't be the solution. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.187|108.162.215.187]] 16:45, 18 July 2016 (UTC)

== wrong IP ==

[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=632:_Suspicion&curid=3946&diff=122229&oldid=100180 My edition] was attributed to 141.101.104.60, whereas my real address is 88.156.226.213 according to [https://ipinfo.io]. Wikimedia sites (Wikipedias, Wiktionaries...) recognize my IP address properly. Someting strange is going on here. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.71|141.101.104.71]] 22:40, 21 June 2016 (UTC)

Just a heads up that your website is incorrectly identifying the IP address of visitors as being from the CloudFlare server that is serving the page content to them. It would be best practice if you could explicitly look for the field "REMOTE_ADDR" rather than "X-FORWARDED-FOR" as the former is unaffected by the use of intermediate proxies.
PS My IP address should begin with 131.111. IP addresses beginning with 141.101 belong to Cloudflare London. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.5|141.101.98.5]] 21:08, 21 July 2016 (UTC)

* This appears to still be an issue. I just [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1787:_Voice_Commands&curid=19860&diff=133917&oldid=133916 posted] from [[Special:Contributions/172.72.47.40|172.72.47.40]], my work place and it's showing as [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.11|108.162.238.11]]. Thanks.

* FYI I just created this account and the "email address confirmation" email I received said the account was created by a Cloudflare IP (162.158.107.199), not my own. [[User:ExcarnateSojourner|ExcarnateSojourner]] ([[User talk:ExcarnateSojourner|talk]]) 15:09, 4 July 2020 (UTC)

== Captcha does not appear ==

I am not a registered user (I just haven't bothered to make an account), so I have to complete a Captcha before saving any of my edits. However, I've found numerous times that the captcha does not show up when I hit [Save page]. The line of text introducing it ("To help protect against automated edit spam, please type the word you see in the box below:") shows up, but the no actual captcha and thus no saved edits. '''Is this a known issue with Chrome?''' I managed to circumvent it by using IE (I assure you, it was the only other browser available), but I would much prefer to be able to edit ''explain xkcd'' pages in Chrome, my usual browser. {{unsigned ip|108.162.220.17}}
:What plugins do you have installed on chrome? Do you have Javascript enabled? I'll see what can be done if you have them off. '''[[User:D?avidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:45, 20 July 2016 (UTC)
::I just figured out the problem and successfully edited a page. I too tried IE after Chrome but still encountered the issue... to my consternation I noticed a new icon in the address-bar, 'Blocked content'. (Apparently recaptcha is treated similarly to a pop-up.) Interacting with this new button made the captcha appear. I am in Chrome adding this comment, and after finding the similarly-functioning/corresponding button here, all is well [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.247|108.162.237.247]] 18:39, 2 August 2016 (UTC)
::Hmph, I am likely a completely different user from the foregoing, but our IP addresses are similar and both reported as from Cloudflare in TX. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.247|108.162.237.247]] 18:42, 2 August 2016 (UTC)
::I would like to address this and also point out this is the only site where I've run into this problem; other wiki-based sites can load captcha fine. According to Chrome it's blocked because it's an "unsafe script". [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.84|141.101.107.84]] 08:54, 4 March 2018 (UTC)

== Wanted files ==

[[Special:WantedFiles]]: 41 file is linked but nonexistent.

Some on talk pages, user pages and project pages, but here is a list of those in main namespace:
# File:Apatosaurus scale mmartyniuk wiki.png
# File:Apidae - Eucera sp. (male).JPG
# File:Louisae.jpg
# File:Wet kookaburra 6674 Crop Edit.jpg
# File:MQ-1 Predator unmanned aircraft.jpg
# File:Bee orchids, Aller Brook Local Nature Reserve - geograph.org.uk - 833516.jpg
# File:Synhalonia nest 1.jpg
# File:Butterfly Voters View.jpg
# File:Fusca estacionado.jpg
# File:Ophrys apifera flower1.jpg
# File:Galilean moon Laplace resonance animation.gif
# File:PalmCellTower.jpg
# File:746 telephone in red.JPG
# File:Candidate Higgs Events in ATLAS and CMS.png
# File:Tommy Wiseau.jpg
# File:Google maps auto.jpg
# File:Velociraptor dinoguy2.jpg
# File:Acrocanthosaurus skeleton (1).jpg
# File:Vraptor-scale.png
# File:Alces alces elan trophee chateau Tanlay.jpg
# File:DBCooper.jpg
# File:Rick Astley - Pepsifest 2009.jpg
# File:Anonymous emblem.svg
# File:Eas new.svg
# File:John Cage and Michael Bach in Assissi 1992.jpg
I could not find why they were deleted and it's hard for me to argue for their presence in the articles. Being a newbie here, I would like to ask those who knows better to either undelete files, or upload them again, or delete file mentions from the explanations. Thanks --[[User:Ата|Ата]] [[User talk:Ата|(talk)]] 15:47, 8 August 2016 (UTC)
:I tend to clean up after myself, don't recognise these file names. I believe these happen when files get moved, feel free to cut dead file links wherever you find them if you find them unnecessary.'''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:38, 10 August 2016 (UTC)

== [[827]]/[[1721]]: Business Idea ==

See [[1721#Trivia]]. Randall has accidentally named both 1721 and 827 "Business Idea". He fixed it by renaming 827 to "My Business Idea". I tried to reproduce by renaming the file and wiki page for 827, but it now shows the old comic on both pages. Maybe CloudFlare caching? And idea (that's not a business idea) to fix this? --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]])
:Cloudflare takes a little time to update changes to an image. For immediate results, you can create an image under a different name and use that while you wait for the old one to update. Otherwise, it should update within a few hours. Is it good for you now? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:48, 18 August 2016 (UTC)
::Yes, it was resolved after a few hours. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 20:25, 18 August 2016 (UTC)

== Mobile CSS ==

I've accessed this Wiki on my mobile device more often than previously and I couldn't find any discussion about this. Honestly, 50% of the reasons I'm adding this topic is about the discussion, the rest is about making it easier for people with narrower screens.
I understand that I am a new member on this Wiki and that altering [[Mediawiki:Common.css]] has site-wide effects (and I'm sure that there are some templates that won't agree with some of the options we have, even some tables, such as the one on [[893: 65 Years#Trivia]], will break a very narrow design).

OK. Let me just ramble on about this, then. =)
There are some obvious (but not necessarily easier) options for mobile devices. [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Mobiles,_tablets_and_responsive_design MediaWiki] lists a few Skins and Extensions. Not having ever had access to a Wiki's server, I have no idea how nerve-racking that is (or if it even makes sense for this Wiki). Even more obvious to some - and even harder to implement - is a mobile app (that I wouldn't use anyway).

So, to bridge the time until maybe something more effective comes along, we ''could'' try to add some CSS ourselves. I'm no expert. But here are my thoughts.
*This is about all devices with narrow screens, not just phones. Let's say anything under 600px width is considered narrow.
*Most obviously, the font size should be affected. This has negative consequences for anything with fixed font size. And anything we forget. Basically, the sidebar, the search and anything else on top of each page can be massively smaller depending on the screen and fixing that won't be as easy.
*Of course we could disregard the sidebar, or rather, push it to the bottom (which is easy, it's artificially placed on the left instead of the bottom). There are a number of reasons why a lot of people wouldn't want that. One of those reasons is that the ads would basically disappear for anyone who doesn't scroll down. We would have to figure out where else we can put it, on the top maybe. On the plus side, we could have the entire width of the screen just for the article.
*Another thing that breaks the design regularly: comic images. We could make them fit. The navigation might be more challenging.
*There's a whole lot of paddings and margins to get rid of.
*Maybe make the search box a lot bigger?

A short snippet for the comic images and for the font:

@media handheld,screen and (max-width: 600px),screen and (max-device-width: 600px){ /* because some mobile browsers like to work with a higher resolution than the resolution of the screen */

#bodyContent{
font-size:initial; /* resetting font to full size */
}

td > img{ /* maybe add a class for the table in [[Template:comic]] */
display:block;
margin:auto;
max-width:100%; /* make image fit into box */
height:auto;
}

}

I don't know... What do you think?
Oh, also, Mediawiki says this can be added to [[Mediawiki:Mobile.css]] but I guess that is for extensions? We'd probably have to add that to [[Mediawiki:Common.css]] if we ever want to add it.
[[User:Ret Samys|Ret Samys]] ([[User talk:Ret Samys|talk]]) 16:21, 15 September 2016 (UTC)
:Getting on a plane soon, but I'll take a look at this when I get off and get moved in again. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:07, 16 September 2016 (UTC)

== HTTPS Links Back to XKCD Interfere with Random Button ==

''(I've moved this from "Proposals" to here, now realising this is the proper location.)''

The Links back to the comics that are present just above the comic itself on the wiki pages (and adjacent to the next and previous links) provides an HTTPS link back to XKCD. However, this interferes with users who want to click that link, and then click <code>random</code> - because <code>c.xkcd.com</code> does NOT support HTTPS, and thus clicking <code>random</code> after returning to xkcd from explainxkcd via the button on a comic's article does not work. These links should be switched back to HTTP.

--[[User:9000 volts|9000 volts]] ([[User talk:9000 volts|talk]]) 22:53, 24 December 2016 (UTC)

:What makes you suspect <code>c.xkcd.com</code> does not support SSL? It features a perfectly valid wildcard certificate from GeoTrust (currently valid from Dec 14 00:00:00 2016 GMT, so it should already have affected you), although it's different from the multi-site certificate from Fastly used on the comic and what-if.xkcd.com and, yet again, different from the Let's Encrypt ones used on the blag and store.

:On the other hand, there is a compelling argument for HTTP links: Most interactive comics break with HTTPS. –''TisTheAlmondTavern'', 14:19, 17 January 2017 (UTC)
::I can't reproduce the issue with random comics, but the benefits of using SSL for links to a site that stores no user data probably don't outweigh the issues that some people seem to be having. Changed. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:34, 10 February 2017 (UTC)

== "Retry for a live version" and stuff not responding ==

Every now and then, I'd just be browsing around the site, then all of a sudden I'd run into an issue with it saying that there was an error with the explainxkcd.com host and that I would need to wait for the servers to restart. This is happening rather often for me, but goes away quickly. Sometimes, it happens on my own wiki pages too... weird. Other times, things would just freeze. Is it something on my end, or is it with the site? --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 14:05, 5 January 2017 (UTC)

== Support for timezones? ==

I live in the timezone PST, and because of that, the clock seems to be ahead of my time by about 7 hours and 40 minutes. Can someone add support for different timezones?
For example, at my time of posting, it is 7:56 PM on March 8, 2017. The time the wiki thinks it is is shown on my signature: [[User:625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8|625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8]] ([[User talk:625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8|talk]]) 03:40, 9 March 2017 (UTC)
:You can actually set your own time zone. Go to Preferences->Date and Time, and there should be a time offset option for you to pick your time zone. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:36, 9 March 2017 (UTC)
::The thing is, I do have my time zone set to PST, but on the wiki it is still showing up as the wrong time. [[User:625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8|625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8]] ([[User talk:625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8|talk]]) 15:24, 9 March 2017 (UTC)
:::Oh, the timestamps recorded in signatures are in UTC for everyone. That doesn't change, because it makes it easier to follow the timeline of a conversation in a talk page. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 17:24, 9 March 2017 (UTC)
::::Uhhh, the timestamp isn't UTC at all. My latest BOT upload was 06:02, 8 March 2017 CET or 05:02, 8 March 2017 UTC and it is recorded here as 04:45, 8 March 2017. So we still have an offset 17 minutes to the past. That's an old problem.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:33, 9 March 2017 (UTC)
:::::It is UTC, server inaccuracy doesn't change the time zone, it just makes it inaccurate. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:13, 9 March 2017 (UTC)
::::::And even if you don't like me for this: The server time is currently UTC-00:17 and not UTC. This odd offset confuses users. But I know nobody can change this.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:36, 9 March 2017 (UTC)

== Mailserver-problem ==

Hello, 
I tried to reset my password today, but there is a problem with your mail-server: The sender-adress of your password-reset-mail is expla0@vps.explainxkcd.com, but the (sub-)domain vps.explainxkcd.com does not exists, and so the eMail is rejected by my mail-server (and most others too). Could that please be fixed? Thank you very much. --DaB.

== When did InstantCommons get disabled? ==

I was just about to add some photos of the ISS transiting the sun to [[1828|today's explanation]], but saw that it's no longer possible to just enter the names of {{w|c:|Wikimedia Commons}} photos and for them to render. I know of at least one explanation—[[1400]]—that previously had such images, but now just has redlinks. I presume that at some point someone must have disabled {{w|mw:InstantCommons|$wgUseInstantCommons}} in the config settings. May I ask what the reason for that was? And is there any chance that that could be reverted? Obviously there aren't a lot of articles where it makes sense to have Commons images up, but IMHO it's a useful feature to have for the rare occasion where it makes sense, like with today's comic. [[User:PinkAmpersand|PinkAmpersand]] ([[User talk:PinkAmpersand|talk]]) 21:20, 24 April 2017 (UTC)
:'''Solved.''' You now can embed pictures from Commons like local files. The link <nowiki>[[File:DBCooper.jpg|thumb|Cooper]]</nowiki> shows the picture from Commons because it doesn't exist here. There is no need to use a template. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:57, 25 May 2018 (UTC)

== Wikipedia template stopped working ==

Some time ago the template used for links to Wikipedia stopped working correctly. If you see here link to Halloween on Wikipedia, it works again:
{{w|Halloween}}. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 22:21, 25 June 2017 (UTC)

: Known issue, there's currently an anon doing boring vandalism. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.172|108.162.241.172]] 22:37, 25 June 2017 (UTC)

== CAPTCHA does not work for HTTPS visitors ==

I am a fervent believer in encrypting everything (I am the crypto nut in [[1269: Privacy Opinions]]), and have configured the NoScript plugin to force the use of HTTPS instead of HTTP for all sites that aren't on a special list in my configs. Hence, I tend to visit sites on HTTPS that most people visit on unencrypted HTTP, discovering all the bugs in people's HTTPS implementations in the process...and this site is not exempt from the bugfinding.

In order to edit pages, you need to enter a CAPTCHA. However, the script that makes this captcha work is fetched from Google over unencrypted http (the src tag in the script specifies http: not https:). When I visit this site over HTTPS, the use of active content served over unencrypted HTTP onto an encrypted page causes Firefox to have a spasm and block the script. Since Google fully supports HTTPS, the script's src tag should just be changed to say https: instead of http:, and that SHOULD fix it. Better yet, omit the protocol at all, and do something like:

src="//www.google.com/recaptcha/(rest of url)"

Most modern browsers will interpret that as "fetch www.google.com/recaptcha/(rest of url) over the same protocol used to serve this page."

(Sadly, NoScript is not smart enough to fix this by itself and just change the script's src to https: client-side...)

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.89|162.158.79.89]] 11:12, 20 August 2017 (UTC)

The CAPTCHA also doesn't work for https while using Chrome. 01 September 2017

== Deprecation of reCAPTCHA v1 ==

The wiki currently uses reCAPTCHA v1 to validate users as human, which [https://developers.google.com/recaptcha/docs/faq#what-happens-to-recaptcha-v1 beginning in November will show public deprecation notices] and stop working altogether on March 31, 2018.

Are there already plans to migrate to reCAPTCHA v2 or a different CAPTCHA algorithm? –[[User:TisTheAlmondTavern|TisTheAlmondTavern]] ([[User talk:TisTheAlmondTavern|talk]]) 20:05, 31 October 2017 (UTC) (wiki clock is several minutes late again, BTW)

:I do intend to update the CAPTCHA, I got the email notice from Google. I've been away from the site for longer than I'd like, been busy but it looks like a bunch of stuff has piled up while I was gone. I'll try to fix what I can with the time I have. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:38, 12 November 2017 (UTC)

::Any update on this? It has <6 weeks of life left, and the user messaging has just got angrier. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.26|162.158.155.26]] 09:22, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

:::10 days left. I wonder what happens then. Right now, it just says "V1 SHUTDOWN ON 2018-03-31" and expects me to type it as an answer. {{unsigned ip|172.68.110.46}}

::::You can hit the refresh button and it will display an actual catch. 4 days before they shut it down. [[User:TheMageKing|TheMageKing]] ([[User talk:TheMageKing|talk]]) 12:22, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

Either the kludge of simply typing the message about shutdown still works, or the Captcha system is just not working: I'm not autoconfirmed here but I was able to edit today, 9 days after v1 presumably went "poof". [[User:Yngvadottir|Yngvadottir]] ([[User talk:Yngvadottir|talk]]) 18:12, 9 April 2018 (UTC)

The new reCAPTCHA v2 is now online. I apologize for the delay but many updates were required and I tried to keep the server downtime as short as possible. [[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:53, 19 May 2018 (UTC)
== RSS bot stopped? ==

The master RSS feed only goes up to 1912, although the wiki is already up to 1914. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.18|141.101.105.18]] 11:20, 11 November 2017 (UTC)
:Sorry, been busy, the feed should be up and running again. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:38, 12 November 2017 (UTC)

== Captcha doesn't work on my browser ==

I can't make any edits to the comic pages because the captcha simply doesn't appear when I'm trying to edit the comic pages. {{unsigned|WilliamBrennan}}
:Please check your add blockers and activate JavaScript. [[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:53, 19 May 2018 (UTC)

Hi & Thanks heaps! I finally created an account after years of pleasurable & enlightening explanations. It took me over 5 minutes to get past the Captcha, and I've seen a few in the last week registering for sites such as XDA-developers and the like. Not sure how it all works but it feels like it's set to "ultra-difficult" or some-such...and this is the place where things are *easy* for *stupid people* like me ;) Cheers & thanks again {{unsigned|Munchywok}}
:The Captcha is from Google (Big Brother...) and based on an sophisticated software in which you sometimes even don't have to solve it at all when it is convinced that you are a human. But it depends on your browser installation, especially your add ons. My best experience is using Google Chrome without any extensions. Firefox with extensions is the hell. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 09:25, 15 August 2018 (UTC)

== New High Resolution comics ==

I've noticed Randall has been making the comics higher resolution to look good on HiDPI/Retina displays. But the copies on ExplainXKCD are the old low resolution copies.

Perhaps we'll have to go through at some point and update these? {{unsigned ip|162.158.75.58}}
:I am aware of this. Randall started to provide two different resolutions at standard comics more than a year ago, and he also provides the larger resolutions to older comics since than. Technically the image tag provides links to two pictures and the browser decides based on the screen resolution what is shown. Since this wiki is now at the latest version the use of [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:$wgResponsiveImages $wgResponsiveImages] may be possible. But this has to be tested first. Stay tuned... [[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:53, 19 May 2018 (UTC)

== Should the HTTP urls redirect to HTTPS? ==

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but shouldn't the HTTP urls be redirecting to HTTPS? Right now, the HTTP and HTTPS endpoints seem to have different login states, which is possibly confusing. I was stumped for a long time on why I couldn't login to my account, because I kept getting the error message "There seems to be a problem with your login session; this action has been canceled as a precaution against session hijacking. Go back to the previous page, reload that page and then try again." And then I noticed the "Use secure connection" button, and when I clicked it, it took me to the HTTPS site where I was already logged in! But even now, if I go to an HTTP url, I'm still logged out there. [[User:Ahiijny|Ahiijny]] ([[User talk:Ahiijny|talk]]) 00:43, 21 August 2018 (UTC)
:Of course HTTP and HTTPS are different endpoints. Login via HTTPS and your credentials are encrypted and this will be never converted into plain text for HTTP. And I just successfully tested both connections with Google Chrome. Maybe we should redirect always to HTTPS like xkcd does, right now it's just your choice. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:46, 21 August 2018 (UTC)

::Ah, I see. If I log in from the HTTP site, I'm logged in on both the HTTP and HTTPS sites. But if I login from the HTTPS site, then I'm only logged in on the HTTPS site, and not on the HTTP site. Furthermore, if I'm logged into the HTTPS site and I try to login from the HTTP site, I get the error message that I quote from above. Fair enough.

::I guess one contribution to my confusion was the fact that the HTTPS site doesn't have the green padlock in Chrome. That would have made the difference between the HTTPS and HTTP site a bit more obvious. (I rarely type in the entire URL directly; I usually just let the Chrome address bar autocomplete do its job... and unfortunately that autocomplete takes me to the HTTP site, and I keep forgetting about that.) Right now, on any HTTPS page here, Chrome still says that it's insecure: "Attackers might be able to see the images you're looking at on this site and trick you by modifying them." Firefox says something similar: "Parts of this page are not secure (such as images)." Perhaps someone should look into that? (I think it might be the ad image.) [[User:Ahiijny|Ahiijny]] ([[User talk:Ahiijny|talk]]) 03:09, 23 August 2018 (UTC)
:::Thanks for your remarks. I'm aware of this but the site isn't insecure, only a few local images and some from wikimedia are hard coded to a http link. It's not much so I'll fix it soon.
:::In general every http request should be redirected to https, but that's not trivial at our current environment. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:35, 23 August 2018 (UTC)
::::It took some time to find all the places of hard coded images via http (insecure) but now you should see the green secure remark in your browser when logging in via https. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:50, 24 August 2018 (UTC)
:::::in my holy opinion at least the login page should only be served securely. people are notoriously bad at not-reusing-passwords. [[User:Gir|//gir.st/]] ([[User talk:Gir|talk]]) 12:23, 10 September 2018 (UTC)

Just noting that basically every major site out there redirects from HTTP to HTTPS (including http://en.wikipedia.com, http://xkcd.com, http://stackoverflow.com, and even other wiki communities like http://wiki.puella-magi.net, http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Touhou_Wiki, and http://wiki.documentfoundation.org). So it would really cool if we could get that redirect action happening on this site, too :) I was browsing the site today and I was just struck once again by how odd it was that I wasn't logged in, until I remembered that I was on the HTTP site, not the HTTPS site. A real user experience annoyance, if you ask me. [[User:Ahiijny|Ahiijny]] ([[User talk:Ahiijny|talk]]) 21:34, 19 October 2018 (UTC)
:Of course you're right. I still have other issues but this will be done soon. Stay tuned... --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:08, 20 October 2018 (UTC)

== Captcha too picky ==

I just had to solve the "select all street signs" Captcha at least 10 times in a row. I never know when/whether to include slivers, backs of signs, sign posts, walk/wait lights. Captcha already doesn't follow my definition of street sign (I only call the sign that has the street name a "street sign", but I realize what I call "road signs," Captcha also calls "street signs" and I can adjust for that. But I haven't figured out the other issue yet, and I suspect Captcha is dinging me on choosing slivers. But that's only a guess, since it never tells you what you got wrong, it just gives you another Captcha. {{unsigned|Thisisnotatest}}
:My advice is installing Google Chrome and it works fine. Since that Captcha software is also from Google (Big Brother...) I believe that's on purpose. Firefox is the hell as you described; I'm not sure how it works at MS IE/Edge. In general you have to select not less than three and not more than four squares. But on Firefox, even when it seems definitely to be correct, the chance of getting an error message is more than 80%. You probably use FF. Nonetheless right now there are no other adequate Captcha tools supported by Mediawiki, the software this Wiki runs on. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:57, 27 August 2018 (UTC)
:I second this. Big Brother's Captchas on Firefox are nearly unsolvable (granted, I'm browsing with JS off and blocking 3rd party cookies). And recaptcha requires 1) JavaScript and 2) a connection to google. [[User:Gir|//gir.st/]] ([[User talk:Gir|talk]]) 12:23, 10 September 2018 (UTC)

== Cannot create a user page ==

i have tried to make a user page for myself and cannot seem to do it, i'm sorry if this has been addressed already, but i couldn't find it. [[User: Nintendo Mc]] ([[User talk:Nintendo Mc|talk]]) 13:07, 28 September 2018 (UTC)
:New user don't have the rights. Do some more edits and wait a few days until you can create new pages. Your user page is created by me for now. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:00, 28 September 2018 (UTC)

::'''Good Question!''' is there some place '''that everyone''' [who is cool] '''can find,''' that explains '''how many''' edits one has to do (and/or, '''how long''' one has to wait) in order to cause the<blockquote>[...] but you do not have permission to create this page.</blockquote>
::'''[error] message''' to ... '''"no longer" appear,''' when some limitation or rule is no longer blocking or "preventing" allowing creation -- by that user -- of his own '''"User:"''' page? (OR ... of ''her'' own '''"User talk:"''' page?)

::I have done [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/Mike_Schwartz very few edits] here, but ... a couple of them were almost '''3 years ago.'''

::For what it's worth (FWIW), '''I did not plan to say much''' on my "User:" page here. Probably something like:
::::This user is not a frequent flyer here on this Wiki (at "explainxkcd"); ...but he has done [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Mike_Schwartz a 4-digit number of edits] on ''other'' Wikis ...mainly [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page English Wikipedia] ("See also" his [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mike_Schwartz "User:" page] there.)

::<big><big>Any comments?</big></big> Thanks for listening. --[[User:Mike Schwartz|Mike Schwartz]] ([[User talk:Mike Schwartz|talk]]) 07:43, 7 April 2020 (UTC)

:::According to [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Admin requests#Permission request|here]] and [[:explain xkcd:Autoconfirmed users]], you need to accumulate 10 edits (as well as your account being active for at least 3? or 7? days), then you become an "autoconfirmed user" and gain the [[Special:ListGroupRights|right]] to create pages. – [[User:Yfmcpxpj|Yfmcpxpj]] ([[User talk:Yfmcpxpj|talk]]) 02:09, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

::::Do you know if only edits count, or if talk contributions count too? [[User:PDesbeginner|PDesbeginner]] ([[User talk:PDesbeginner|talk]]) 14:26, 19 June 2024 (UTC)
::::Wait. On [[:explain xkcd:Autoconfirmed users]] it says 50 edits, not 10. [[User:PDesbeginner|PDesbeginner]] ([[User talk:PDesbeginner|talk]]) 14:51, 26 June 2024 (UTC)

== Accessibility issues ==

[First post - hello, everyone!]

I have 15 years of experience of using MediaWiki, and have been heavily involved in some of the accessibility work on Wikipedia.

When we use colons (<code>:</code>), semicolons (<code>;</code>), and asterisks (<code>*</code>) to indent dialogue, discussions, etc we actually cause MediaWiki to generate HTML lists.

If we leave a bank line between indented lines/ paragraphs, we cause the start of a new HTML list.

Since the start of each list is read out by the kind of software used by (for example) people with severe visual impairments, this generates barrier to their use of the site.

The solution is to not leave blank lines; to always indent replies by just one step; and to maintain consistency in the type of character used.

You can see examples and more explanation at {{w|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility#Lists}}

Please consider adopting Wikipedia's recommended best practice for such lists, on this site. [[User:Pigsonthewing|Andy Mabbett]] (Pigsonthewing); [[User talk:Pigsonthewing|Talk to Andy]]; [[Special:Contributions/Pigsonthewing|Andy's edits]] 19:20, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
:Thanks for your input and welcome here. At first you should know that this Wiki doesn't follow every Wikipedia standard, but there is a --relatively new-- [[explain xkcd:Editor FAQ|FAQ]] and we should talk at that discussion page about any enhancements. And please consider to keep it short, a typical editor here isn't a Wikipedean and doesn't read tons of manuals.
:There are many ugly layouts here, most written before the FAQ did exist, but when I and others see them the explanation or transcript gets an incomplete tag for that reason. And the biggest problem in the past was the use of overwhelming tables.
:BTW: Using a new-newline for each sentence isn't also a nice layout. Never mind... --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:54, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

== suggest adding info to pages ==

I see "Title text" here on explainxkcd, but not on the comic itself.

Eg. https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1313:_Regex_Golf shows "Title text: /bu|[rn]t|[coy]e|[mtg]a|j|iso|n[hl]|[ae]d|lev|sh|[lnd]i|[po]o|ls/ matches the last names of elected US presidents but not their opponents."

I don't see that anywhere on https://xkcd.com/1313/ Why not? {{unsigned ip|172.68.174.106}}

:First of all: Please sign your comments
:<s>Second: I am not sure this is the right place for such a question, so please do not wonder if someone removes it.</s>
:And finally: the "title text" can be seen by hovering the mouse over the image on the "regular" xkcd page. Here it is made more visible by mentioning beneath the picture additionally. More details can be found at the page about the title text :) https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/title_text [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 15:09, 12 November 2018 (UTC)

@[[User:Lupo|Lupo]], no honest comment will be removed here, even if it should be posted at the [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Miscellaneous|Miscellaneous]] section. @IP, the proper internal link is here: [[title text]], and I see that this wiki needs a simple page to explain all the terms and characters used in a general short way. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:43, 12 November 2018 (UTC)

== Mediawiki exception on some pages ==

I get the following MedaiWiki exception on some of the pages:

<pre>MediaWiki internal error.

Original exception: [0beebcc3efaec7ded86aea14] 2018-12-05 23:25:16: Fatal exception of type "MWException"

Exception caught inside exception handler.

Set $wgShowExceptionDetails = true; at the bottom of LocalSettings.php to show detailed debugging information.</pre>

See for example sites https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2034:_Equations or https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/User:Dgbrt

[[User:Sztupy|Sztupy]] ([[User talk:Sztupy|talk]]) 23:29, 5 December 2018 (UTC)

:Also having this. Seems to happen when “math” in Preferences-Appearance is set to “MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools)” [[User:DrMeepster|DrMeepster]] ([[User talk:DrMeepster|talk]]) 08:01, 8 December 2018 (UTC)

:New error: If that math option is set to “Latex source” than an error relating to the page-ruining setting replaces any latex code: Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension can not find Restbase URL. Please specify $wgMathFullRestbaseURL.") from server "invalid":): <LATEX CODE HERE> [[User:DrMeepster|DrMeepster]] ([[User talk:DrMeepster|talk]]) 07:50, 11 December 2018 (UTC)

::Sorry for my late reply. I will check and solve this issue soon, right now only the plain PNG image setting does work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:15, 15 February 2019 (UTC)

: The problem appears to not be solved. In addition to the above pages (which are still broken), I've noticed it on the following: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2292 and https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2311. The workaround of configuring my account to render math as PNG works, but someone with the knowledge and access to fix this needs to do so. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 13:43, 3 June 2020 (UTC)

== “All 2126 Comics have an Explanation” ==

There are 2127 comics, and the main page seems to update automagically, so I’m not sure what the issue is. [[User:Netherin5|“That Guy from the Netherlands”]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 15:58, 25 March 2019 (UTC)
:I think you posted this before the "new robot" comic came up? keep in mind that the number 404 is not linked to any comic. (There is an explain page for 404, but no comic 404. Therefore it is actually 1 comic less than you might think based on the number. On the other hand there are I think 2 or 3 additional special comics (not numbered), such as the latest entry to the 5 minute comic series, or the one about open source, etc. [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]])
::I posted after it came up. I know about the unnumbered comics, so assumed they didn’t count, but I always forget about 404. Accounting for the non-comic, all seems right in the world. Thanks Lupo. [[User:Netherin5|“That Guy from the Netherlands”]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 14:01, 26 March 2019 (UTC)
:::Just checked and they just subtract 1 in the source code??????? [[User:Netherin5|“That Guy from the Netherlands”]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 16:58, 12 April 2019 (UTC)

== API ==

Hi, I'm working on a project focused on docs, and wondered if there's some API or database I can access to pinch some of the tagging info from this site?
Even something like Randall's /json.html data from each page would work. ''[[User:Toonarmycaptain]] ([[User talk:Toonarmycaptain]] forgot to sign this edit at 03:50, 14 May 2019 (UTC)''

== Unwanted Link ==

In [[1467: Email]], there are two links in the title text that should be normal text. It has happened several times in other pages, and it's annoying. How do I change links like that into regular text? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 07:41, 11 July 2019 (UTC)
:Not sure what you mean. Maybe it is a browser issue on your end? on my computer neither chrome nor internet explorer or edge interpret anything inside of "My New Year's resolution for 2014-54-12/30/14 Dec:12:1420001642 is to learn these stupid time formatting strings." as a link... [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:00, 11 July 2019 (UTC)
::Just checked. iPad misinterpreting part of them as phone numbers, appeared as link. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 09:29, 11 July 2019 (UTC)

== Captcha not working? ==

I've been experiencing some problems when trying to solve captcha when posting comments and topics. It's gotten much harder than before, I fail a lot more often, and occasionally, when I finish it, it reloads the page with an "Incorrect or Missing Captcha" error, and forces me to retry. Has anybody else experienced this problem? Am I the only one with Captcha issues? '''Has it been working properly in recent times?'''[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.244|108.162.241.244]] 18:40, 8 November 2019 (UTC)

== DgbrtBOT ==

The bot seems to have been down since December 13, 2019, and Dgbrt hasn't made a single edit since March, 2019. He hasn't responded to the comments in DgbrtBOT's talk page, either. Is there any way for an someone to contact him? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 13:12, 1 January 2020 (UTC)
:The bot has resumed its extremely helpful work again this week, but no word yet on why it was MIA for a solid month. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 14:06, 10 January 2020 (UTC)

== Google Ads appearing all over the page ==

Google seems to have changed something in AdSense again, and the ads have been appearing in random positions again since December, 2019. [https://wpadvancedads.com/adsense-in-random-positions-auto-ads/ This page] might have a solution? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 13:20, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

== Links to xkcd pages sould be withoult "www." part ==

There is an issue with loading resources on pages, that are opened with "www." part in URL.
For example commic [https://www.xkcd.com/1975/ 1975].
If viewed from https://www.xkcd.com/1975/, comic is not interactive. On the other hand, https://xkcd.com/1975/ works like a charm.

Page failes to load resorces from https://xkcd.com/1975/alto/root with error caused by CORS policy:

* Access to fetch at 'https://xkcd.com/1975/alto/root' from origin 'https://www.xkcd.com' has been blocked by CORS policy: No 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' header is present on the requested resource. If an opaque response serves your needs, set the request's mode to 'no-cors' to fetch the resource with CORS disabled.

All links to commics in headers (button ''Comic #1975 (April 1, 2018)'') include "www." part, for example this explanation:
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1975:_Right_Click

IMO links in headers (buttons ''Comic #xxx (date)'') should be updated to exclude "www." part.

== Can't create my userpage ==

I just registered, and can't seem to edit/create my own userpage. I've been editing MediaWiki wikis for a very long time and it's currently part of my career, so I'm pretty sure I'm doing everything right. Is there a prerequisite number of edits or something before I can create my userpage? [[User:Equazcion|Equazcion]] ([[User talk:Equazcion|talk]]) 22:18, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

:I do not know the answer to that, but ... if one of us finds out "sooner" than the other, then, let's "share" the answer. Yours might appear here, and mine ... might appear about eleven "sections" up, in this same "Technical" portal ... <s>at the URL</s> in the section "[[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Technical#Cannot_create_a_user_page|Cannot create a user page]]." (see [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd%3ACommunity_portal%2FTechnical&type=revision&diff=190166&oldid=190127 the DIFF listing]...)

:Maybe I should have "seconded the motion" '''here''', instead of adding my own question, -- which is very similar! -- to a different section, up '''there?''' Pardon me ... --[[User:Mike Schwartz|Mike Schwartz]] ([[User talk:Mike Schwartz|talk]]) 08:15, 7 April 2020 (UTC)

::[[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Admin_requests#Permission_request]] might help. [[User:A(l)Chemist|AlChemist]] ([[User talk:A(l)Chemist|talk]]) 11:06, 22 June 2020 (UTC)

:::Yes, according to that page, your account must be at least one week old, AND you must have made at least 10 edits. There's a new page, [[:explain xkcd:Autoconfirmed users]], which says it's three days (rather than one week) and 10 edits – after that, you become an "autoconfirmed user", and gain the right to create pages ([[Special:ListGroupRights|among other things]]). – [[User:Yfmcpxpj|Yfmcpxpj]] ([[User talk:Yfmcpxpj|talk]]) 02:01, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

== List of all comics incomplete/overflowing ==

The [[List_of_all_comics | List of all comics]] and the full list are incomplete, stopping with 2289. Taking a look at [[List_of_all_comics_(full) | List of all comics (full)]] nets that it belongs to the category 'Pages where template include size is exceeded', so I'm assuming it just hit the limit. I'm sadly not well versed in MediaWiki, so I have no idea what a workaround would look like

== 2138 page issues ==

This first came up when following a link from on of the other Code Quality pages.

when you go to https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2138:_Wanna_See_the_Code%3F you get a blank pag that says "No input file specified."

however when you go to https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2138 you get the actual page via redirect but when you reload the page it goes back to "No input file specified."

not sure what causes this but i tested in chrome (incognito mode to avoid extensions), old edge (not chromium) and chrome iOS via mobile data. all test had the same result.

sorry if this is the wrong place for this but not sure where else to put it. [[User:TomW1605|TomW1605]] ([[User talk:TomW1605|talk]]) 14:44, 21 June 2020 (UTC)

:This problem seems to be common to all comics ending with a question mark: [[2236]], [[2138]], [[2065]], [[1841]], [[1205]]. My best guess is that the url is being interpreted as a query, but since there is nothing after the question mark this results in an error. Whether this is a new error or just hasn't been noticed before I don't know. Renaming the pages without the question mark could work, but would require every reference to these comics on the wiki to be updated. [[User:A(l)Chemist|AlChemist]] ([[User talk:A(l)Chemist|talk]]) 10:07, 22 June 2020 (UTC)

::i think it is new, i recently (not sure when but after 2138 was released) went through the Code Quality series using the links and it worked fine then. i don't think it is being interpreted as a query because the question mark is encoded. i would amazed if it would still interpret this as a query because that would completely defeat the point of encoding the url in the first place. [[User:TomW1605|TomW1605]] ([[User talk:TomW1605|talk]]) 09:35, 22 June 2020 (UTC)

:::here is a full list of broken pages: [[58]], [[111]], [[259]], [[1205]], [[1705]], [[1841]], [[1913]], [[2065]], [[2138]], [[2236]]. i wrote a quick javascript to extract a full list of urls from [[List of all comics (full)]] (then added the recent ones manually, [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Technical#List_of_all_comics_incomplete.2Foverflowing|see above]]). then ran a python script to get the content of each page and check if it is broken (with a 2 sec delay to minimise server load) and saved the list if broken ones. [[User:TomW1605|TomW1605]] ([[User talk:TomW1605|talk]]) 13:34, 22 June 2020 (UTC)

:::: Note that you can view the comic by changing the URL from <code>index.php/...</code> to <code>index.php?title=...</code> ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=58:_Why_Do_You_Love_Me%3F example]). —[[User:Galaktos|Galaktos]] ([[User talk:Galaktos|talk]]) 13:03, 14 May 2021 (UTC)

== "All comics" from left sidebar is not updating ==

https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/List_of_all_comics

[https://imgur.com/a/J287JBz image]

== Attention needed to some List pages ==

I just (mis)clicked on "All Comics", and thought it looked odd.
DGBRTBot needs a prod, or something, given the current months-old state and commented prediction in https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=List_of_all_comics&action=history

(Oh, and the [[List of all comics (full)]], which I then checked has a redlinked Category of "Pages where template include size is exceeded" and seems to have been previously given a badly-included "...and everything before #501". Not sure if the first problem is easily solvable, but as I'm here I thought I'd mention it, and you could properly add 1-500 ''and'' 501-1000 to sort the Include Size issue, maybe?)

I could be way off-piste, but as it looks like nobody has noticed anything yet I thought I'd at least raise the issue, and then leave the fixing to someone with a bit more Wiki-Fu..? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.120|162.158.155.120]] 20:48, 3 August 2020 (UTC)

:For [[List of all comics]], looks like [[User:DgbrtBOT|DgbrtBOT]] is working again, and [[User:Btx40]] already went back and added the missing entries, so that should be all good now.
:For [[List of all comics (full)]], not sure if I correctly understand what you mean by "''you could properly add 1-500 ''and'' 501-1000 to sort the Include Size issue''"? But I think the "''badly-included '...and everything before #501' ''" you mentioned wasn't so much ''badly-inluded'' – its code looked correct to me – rather, the inclusion makes the page so big that it ''causes'' the page to exceed the "template include-size" limit. See the following Wikipedia articles for more about how this "template include-size" limit works in MediaWiki:
:* {{w|Wikipedia:Template limits#Post-expand include size}}
:* {{w|Wikipedia:Post-expand include size}}
:So ''as a result of'' exceeding the limit, the parser ''excludes'' the template that caused the limit to be exceeded (i.e. it excludes the 1-500 list at the bottom of the page), so as to keep the page under the size limit; and instead of the ''actual'' content, the parser just inserts a ''link'' to the content. And it so happens that in this case, the ''content'' includes the control-characters for constructing the table rows – so because those control characters are excluded along with the content, then the link shows up in the last existing cell of the table, and ''appears'' to be badly-included.
:I'm not sure how to fix it, but some options could be:
:* Somehow reduce the content of the page so that the full list of #1-to-#current doesn't exceed the limit.
:** Each "row" of the table produces about 700 characters in the resulting HTML; around 200 of that is the hidden "create" link (from [[Template:comicsrow]]) that I think ''would'' appear if the comic's page didn't exist yet. I would say that at this point, since all the comics already have pages, then that "create" link is only useful for the most recent comic, and could probably be omitted to significantly reduce the size of the page.
:*** (Actually, it looks like DgbrtBOT might automatically create the page for each new comic, so the "create" link might not be needed ''at all'' anymore.)
:** There are some other elements that could be removed from each table row to save space, such as the <code>title</code> attributes of the links, etc.
:** Not sure if all of that would create enough headroom for the 1-500 list though?
:* Increase <code>$wgMaxArticleSize</code> on the server? ([https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:$wgMaxArticleSize See here].)
:** Not sure of the risks of that; and in any case, it's only that one page that currently exceeds the limit, so may not be worth it.
:For now, I've added a note to the page explaining that 1-500 are missing and why, and I've tweaked the bottom of the table to make the link to 1-500 a bit more presentable in the meantime.
:– [[User:Yfmcpxpj|Yfmcpxpj]] ([[User talk:Yfmcpxpj|talk]]) 06:41, 3 October 2020 (UTC)

== Strange error—maybe edit conflict? ==

I happened to be looking at my edit history, and I noticed that something insane happened back in June: I made an edit to [[2319: Large Number Formats]], and it somehow combined my edit with someone else's. The entirety of my edit (as I crafted it) was confined to the article's categories; I added one and put the set in alphabetical order. But the edit, {{diff|193595|as it was logged}}, is a massive alteration, with all sorts of questionable changes. It was (rightly, I think) undone by [[User:Jkrstrt|Jkrstrt]] a couple days later. Did I somehow overlook an edit-conflict error and accept some (now anonymous) users edit? I can see myself making some kind of oversight at that time of night, but it seems antithetical to the wiki process to have an edit misattributed in this way. (I certainly don't like having that change connected with my name, but I also wonder how this intersects with important issues of public ownership integral to wiki communities.) I'd appreciate any insight fellow editors could provide. [[User:Jameslucas|jameslucas]] ([[User talk:Jameslucas|" "]] / [[Special:Contributions/Jameslucas|+]]) 22:24, 3 August 2020 (UTC)
:As I'm passing through, I shall note that I'm the IP that added the "(The 1971 transition[...]" paragraph you see 'added' there. It was actually part of a larger edite that was later (than my edit, earlier than yours) understandably removed for being irrelevent. During this {{diff|193424|5-day-earlier revision}}. But I had absolutely nothing to do with pretty much every other change in your above-logged diff, SFAICS from a quick skim, so honestly don't know why it features there. But hope this info is useful. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.66|162.158.159.66]] 23:05, 3 August 2020 (UTC)
::That's actually quite helpful because it caused me to go look at older versions of the article. It looks like my edit {{diff|193595&oldid=193386|used a very early version as a starting point}} (thereby reverting all changes made later). My best guess is that I had gone back to an old version because Randall changed this comic after it was published and was trying to convince myself that I wasn't crazy. No, not crazy, but spacey. Wikipedia puts a big red warning across the page when you're ending an old version, and this wiki uses only a bit of bold text—that apparently wasn't enough to draw my attention. Thanks! [[User:Jameslucas|jameslucas]] ([[User talk:Jameslucas|" "]] / [[Special:Contributions/Jameslucas|+]]) 01:33, 4 August 2020 (UTC)

== Unable to view "what if?" page ==

The link to the page for the [[what if?]] blog displays an error: "No input file specified." [[User:JBYoshi|JBYoshi]] ([[User talk:JBYoshi|talk]]) 03:38, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

:This also happens to me on [[1205: Is It Worth the Time?]] Must be something with the ?s in the titles. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.66|172.69.22.66]] 15:46, 25 August 2020 (UTC)

::I've noticed that as well. I made a page in my userspace that redirects to the what if page, and for some reason that seems to work. ([[User:Blue screen of life/whatiflink|here is the link to the page]]) [[User:Blue screen of life|Blue screen of life]] ([[User talk:Blue screen of life|talk]]) 20:09, 31 August 2020 (UTC)

:::I have also noticed this but it is not just on pages with questions marks. Both [[259]] and [[1705]] show the same thing. A full list (as of 22 June 2020) of the ones i found is in the last reply to my report found here [[#2138_page_issues]] [[User:TomW1605|TomW1605]] ([[User talk:TomW1605|talk]]) 12:20, 22 September 2020 (UTC)

::::Both [[259]] and [[1705]] have an ({{w|E acute|e-with-accute-accent}}, Unicode U+00E9) in the URL, so for those pages, I wonder if that has anything to do with it?
::::For the "what if?" page, I had recently added a redirect from [[what if (blog)]] to get to it, and the [[What If]] disambiguation page has been updated with it, so at least we can get to it that way; and for the comic explanations, at least we can get to them by linking to their number-redirects (as [[58]] instead of [[58: Why Do You Love Me?]]); but not sure how to fix it overall. At the following page, it suggests tweaking an {{w|Apache HTTP Server|Apache}} {{w|Rewrite engine|rewrite}} directive in {{w|.htaccess}} (or a {{w|Common Gateway Interface|CGI}} setting in {{w|PHP}} if it's running on {{w|Internet Information Services|IIS}}):
::::* https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Topic:Vmaw1tu5kkhyon0n
::::So maybe something about that has changed recently? Documentation:
::::* [https://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewriterule Apache mod_rewrite <code>RewriteRule</code> directive]
::::* [https://www.php.net/manual/en/ini.core.php#ini.cgi.force-redirect php.ini <code>cgi.force_redirect</code> directive]
::::Summarizing a few points from [[User talk:SlashMe#Homeopathic Wiki|this related discussion]]:
::::* Only one of the site's [https://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:ListUsers?group=sysop 10 administrators] has made recent edits ([[Special:Contributions/SlashMe|SlashMe]]).
::::* Neither of the site's [https://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:ListUsers?group=bureaucrat 2 bureaucrats] ([[Special:Contributions/Jeff|Jeff]] and [[Special:Contributions/Lcarsos|Lcarsos]]) have made any edits recently.
::::* For admin access to the ''server'' itself, my limited understanding is that [[Special:Contributions/Jeff|Jeff]] might actually own the server, but may have also given admin access to [[Special:Contributions/Dgbrt|Dgbrt]]; however, neither of them have made edits recently.
::::But "most recent edit" might not be a good indicator, so I wonder of some of these folks are still involved in the project?
::::– [[User:Yfmcpxpj|Yfmcpxpj]] ([[User talk:Yfmcpxpj|talk]]) 05:10, 29 September 2020 (UTC)
: Looks like it happens for any page that has a percent-encoding in the title. [[User:PoolloverNathan|PoolloverNathan]]<nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Special:Contributions/PoolloverNathan|s]][[User talk:PoolloverNathan|talk]] [[Wikipedia:WP:SEAOFBLUE|the blue seas]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> 16:32, 16 March 2021 (UTC)

=== Known broken pages ===
(Redirects work, whereas links to the actual page are broken.)

Title containing e-accute-accent:
* [[259]] ↳ [[259: Clichéd Exchanges]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=259:_Clich%C3%A9d_Exchanges What links here])
* [[1705]] ↳ [[1705: Pokémon Go]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=1705:_Pok%C3%A9mon_Go What links here])

Title ending with question mark:
* <del>[[what if (blog)]] ↳ [[what if?]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=What_If%3F What links here])</del> <ins>fixed – content now exists at [[what if]], and [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:WhatLinksHere/what_if&limit=500 broken links] are in the process of being updated (see below)</ins>
* [[58]] ↳ [[58: Why Do You Love Me?]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=58:_Why_Do_You_Love_Me%3F What links here])
* [[111]] ↳ [[111: Firefox and Witchcraft - The Connection?]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=111:_Firefox_and_Witchcraft_-_The_Connection%3F What links here])
* [[1205]] ↳ [[1205: Is It Worth the Time?]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=1205:_Is_It_Worth_the_Time%3F What links here])
* [[1841]] ↳ [[1841: Who?]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=1841:_Who%3F What links here])
* [[1913]] ↳ [[1913: A ?]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=1913:_A_%3F What links here])
* [[2065]] ↳ [[2065: Who Sends the First Text?]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=2065:_Who_Sends_the_First_Text%3F What links here])
* [[2138]] ↳ [[2138: Wanna See the Code?]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=2138:_Wanna_See_the_Code%3F What links here])
* [[2236]] ↳ [[2236: Is it Christmas?]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=2236:_Is_it_Christmas%3F What links here])

=== Moved ===
I moved the [[what if?]] page to the [[what if (blog)]] page which I then changed to simply [[what if]] to fix this issue and because anyone new to this site would type that any way to see it. — [[User:Sqrt-1|The 𝗦𝗾𝗿𝘁-𝟭]] [[User talk:Sqrt-1|talk]] [[Special:Contributions/Sqrt-1|stalk]] 06:47, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

:Still trying to wrap my head around it – so just to summarize, we currently have:
:
:* '''[[whatif]]''' ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=whatif&redirect=no no-redirect link])
:** ↳ ''redirects to'' '''[[what if?]]''' (see below)
:* '''[[What If?]]''' – page broken ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=What_If%3F&redirect=no no-redirect link]) ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=What_If%3F What links here])
:** ↳ ''also redirects to'' '''[[what if?]]''' – page broken ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=what_if%3F&redirect=no no-redirect link]) ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=what_if%3F What links here])
:*** ↳ ''redirects to'' '''[[what if]] – actual content'''
:*** ''content manually moved from'' ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=what_if%3F&diff=198070&oldid=197859 diff]) '''[[what if?]]''' ''to'' ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=what_if&diff=198071&oldid=197486 diff]) '''[[what if (blog)]]''' ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=what_if_(blog)&redirect=no no-redirect link]) (''[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=what_if%3F&action=history previous revision history] remains at'' '''[[what if?]]''')
:**** ⇒ ''moved to'' '''[[what if]] – actual content'''
:
:For completeness, we also have...
:
:* '''[[what if book]]''' ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=what_if_book&redirect=no no-redirect link])
:** ↳ ''redirects to'' '''[[what if#The book]] – actual content'''
:** Suggestion: for consistency, also add a '''[[what if (book)]]''' page that redirects here?
:
:...and the disambiguation page...
:
:* '''[[What If]]''' ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=What_If&redirect=no no-redirect link])
:** ⇒ ''moved to'' '''[[What If (disambiguation)]]''' – disambiguation page
:*** ''links to'' '''[[17: What If]]''' (↲ '''[[17]]''' redirects here ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=17&redirect=no no-redirect link]))
:*** ''links to'' '''[[what if]] – actual content'''
:*** Suggestion: mention the ''book'' here as well, and link to its section in the [[what if]] page?
:
:...and these troubleshooting pages from [[User:Blue screen of life]]:
:
:* '''[[User:Blue screen of life/redirecttest]]''' – test page ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:Blue_screen_of_life/redirecttest&redirect=no no-redirect link])
:** ⇒ ''moved to'' '''[[User:Blue screen of life/whatiflink]]''' – test page ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:Blue_screen_of_life/whatiflink&redirect=no no-redirect link])
:*** ↳ ''redirects to'' '''[[What If?]]''' (see above)
:
:Given that the actual content of the "what if?" article now lives at '''[[what if]]''', I've started updating pages <ins>(except for Talk pages)</ins> to link directly there instead of the other redirect pages. All that's left to do are pages that link to the '''[[what if?]]''' redirect-page (which is broken). <del>Its [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere/what_if%3F "What links here"] special page is broken too, so it's difficult to find what pages link there – but now that it redirects to the [[what if]] page, you can see them indirectly from ''that'' page's [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:WhatLinksHere/what_if&limit=500 "What links here"] special page.</del> <ins>[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=what_if%3F These] are the pages that still link there.</ins> There are still a lot of them to go.
:
:Also, should the following redirect-pages be simplified to have them redirect straight to the new [[what if]] page, instead of redirecting through the intermediate '''[[what if?]]''' page (which itself redirects there anyway)?
:* '''[[whatif]]'''
:* '''[[What If?]]'''
:– [[User:Yfmcpxpj|Yfmcpxpj]] ([[User talk:Yfmcpxpj|talk]]) 17:20, 29 September 2020 (UTC)
:: Fixed the double redirects, don't ask me why we have so many pages for the same thing. [[User:PoolloverNathan|PoolloverNathan]]<nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Special:Contributions/PoolloverNathan|s]][[User talk:PoolloverNathan|talk]] [[Wikipedia:WP:SEAOFBLUE|the blue seas]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> 16:29, 16 March 2021 (UTC)

== Discussion not displaying with comic ==

I am using FireFox on a Win10 machine. When I come to the site I can see the comic, explanation and transcript. But the discussion section is hidden. Even when logged in.

Any ideas?

: You say "when I come to the site". If the address bar says you are on Main_Page and you see the heading "Latest comic", then it's simply working as designed. Above the comic, click on "Go to this comic explanation" and you will see the comic plus discussion.

: Also, Steve, please sign your comments every time, with four tildes. That expands into your user name and a timestamp. Like this -- [[User:JohnB|JohnB]] ([[User talk:JohnB|talk]]) 10:10, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

== Random page sometimes takes me to an invalid address ==

Sometimes, when clicking on "Random page" in the left sidebar, the site will be blank apart from the text "No input file specified. ".

An example of such an URL is: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/111:_Firefox_and_Witchcraft_-_The_Connection%3F

:I've noticed this happens for ''all'' URLs to comics that end in a question mark (or possibly any special character). Interestingly, this doesn't happen if you go to the comic from the search bar. [[User:Danish|Danish]] ([[User talk:Danish|talk]]) 23:04, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

== Bug on the main page ==

Bug Enviroment(Might work on other enviroments):
Ubuntu 20.04LTS
Firefox85.0
2021.2.7

Bug:
The front page reads: `Welcome, Main Page, to explain xkcd!` with `Main Page` formatted as a username,can someone fix this?

[[User:Xkcdjerry|Xkcdjerry]] ([[User talk:Xkcdjerry|talk]]) 09:48, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

== Occasional error via Cloudflare ==
Just a note that I'm getting Cloudflare errors of "origin not reachable" (sounds wrong to me, in my head it should be 'destination', but never mind) three times now in the last ten to fifteen minutes - of maybe a dozen general site-requests.

I've also been getting seemingly .CSSless formatted pages over the past few days, which I've been putting down to slightly dodgy wifi at my end (not unknown) but if I'm getting Cloudflare's error cleanly then perhaps it's been entirely upstream/downstream/however-you'd-describe-the-Explain-server. (Obviously CSS resource requests, as with images, are additional HTTP calls, but I still lump it into the single site-request ''per page'' in my 'dozen' estimate above. No obviously lost images, though, in incomplete pages - not that can't be explained by .CSS non-following, anyway.)

I had copy-buffered some of the exact info, but due to incompetence I recopied over it before coming here. If it happens again, I'll try to bring it over here. But (the way these things go) maybe it won't. FYI, though. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.52|141.101.98.52]] 12:04, 5 March 2021 (UTC)
: Not a Cloudfare error (looks like an error of the actual explainxkcd server) but every now and then (like just a few minutes ago) I get an error page that generally goes away if I immediately refresh. To whit:
Service Unavailable
The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later.

Additionally, a 503 Service Unavailable error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
: Not really a problem (occasionally happened while submitting an exit, and I have to confirm to the browser that I wish to repost the data, but this particular copied instance was through a more 'read-only' link-click, like most of the instances) but... in case someone finds this to be new and useful information... here you are! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 03:45, 12 March 2021 (UTC)
:OP, here, of the above 503 error report/casual mention. Obviously this is the same message that happened for an ''extended'' period of time over a number of days, but I've only just happened to find the site responding again and have not yet looked to see if it is explained as the same or different cause to the old intermittent issues (at root). I hope things are resolved from the major outage (server quota? bill payments? renewal/reconfiguration blips?) but wonder if I should report any future minor outages? I'm still smarting from the total loss of the fora.xkcd.com platform, a few years back, and while I'm not active enough here to consider a proper login (lurking as a freeloading anon-IP is good enough, usually, for my intellectual enjoyment, with all due apologies) I did have a slight pang of emptiness while it was out-of-order. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.79|141.101.99.79]] 15:48, 16 June 2021 (UTC)

== Add TemplateData ==

Add the {{mw|Extension:TemplateData|TemplateData}} extension to allow setting data for templates. This will help editors because they will be able to see the data of templates.

== MediaWiki 1.30.0?! ==

This wiki is [[Special:Version|currently]] on [[mw:MediaWiki 1.30|MediaWiki 1.30.0]] ([[mw:Release notes/1.30|release notes]]), the first of three releases of a version of MW that reached end-of-life in June of 2019 ([[mw:Version lifecycle]]). It's thus missing multiple important security updates from 1.30.1 and 1.30.2, not to mention the two years' worth of security updates since 1.30.x reached end-of-life. Even 1.31.x will be reaching end-of-life in just over a month.

If the sysadmins here update to [[mw:MediaWiki 1.35|MediaWiki 1.35.2]] ([[mw:Release_notes/1.35|release notes]]), that version will be maintained till September of 2023, with only a few security updates in the meantime. I would '''strongly''' encourage y'all to update to 1.35.2; to promptly update if there's a .3, .4, etc.; and to make sure you switch to the next LTS release (which will presumably be 1.39) well in advance of September of '23. (Note that this will also require updating to PHP 7.3.19 or later.) [[User:PinkAmpersand|PinkAmpersand]] ([[User talk:PinkAmpersand|talk]]) 07:17, 30 April 2021 (UTC)

== Uptime ==
Did the website just go down? [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] [[User talk:Beanie|talk]] 13:06, 28 May 2021 (UTC)

It was definitely down this weekend!
https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/nxrm65
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 16:21, 15 June 2021 (UTC)

== Comic template lappend breaks for standalone comic links ==

For example, https://xkcd.com/blue_eyes.html is changed to https://xkcd.com/blue_eyes.html/ which isn't valid [[Special:Contributions/172.69.90.15|172.69.90.15]] 15:51, 13 October 2021 (UTC)

Template here, I think it needs to be changed to solve this https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Template:comic

exkcd page here https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Blue_Eyes

== May not be your problem, but FYI. ==

My typcal setup: Android tablet, with Chrome for Android (latest update), but also Firefox for Android (ditto), using default Gboard (likewise) for input.

Occasionally (notably within the last few weeks/maybe a month or so), when going in to edit an explainxkcd page through Chrome (it's how I divide up my browsing), I'm getting the cursor in the textarea box which ''can'' be used to Cut/Copy/Paste (as applicable and useful), but the on-screen keyboard isn't popping up. Page is fully loaded (can be refreshed, doesn't have the "stop loading" alternative), can go back (page viewing) and try to go back to the page editor (often to same result). Sitting and waiting doesn't pop the keyboard up, either (sat there for minutes). Happens both on home wifi and mobile connection.

If I transfer my attentions to the page to Firefox (copy URL, to use there... but I don't use that by default for expxkcd stuff) there's no problem, but then if I come back to Chrome again it seems to start working again ''anyway'' so not sure if it's just avoiding/flushing a transient problem that would also initially crop up with Firefox if I used that more.

Because editing is a different (mobile-optimised) process on Wikipedia and I can't be sure about any the equivalence of any other wiki out there (and it doesn't happen with anything else I regularly key into on Chrome) it's not something I've reproduced outwith this site, and of course desktop page-editing doesn't require touch-screen keyboard because there's a physical one.

Not getting much feedback with Chrome (really can't get on with their bugrep processes, it's too huge a project to make headway, IME), not even tried to pester the Gboard team and I've not ''seen'' anything said on here about this being a site-issue (not sure how it could be, as it's outside the remit of the core web-page rendering process and more an Android or App level of incompetence), but I thought I'd make a note of it here for future reference. Make of it what you will. Annoying but not game-breaking. And I just wanted to vent a little. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.147|172.70.162.147]] 16:54, 25 December 2021 (UTC)

== [[special:interwiki]] ==

where'd it go? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.200|172.69.68.200]] 05:07, 7 January 2022 (UTC)

== Please update MediaWiki + AbuseFilter ==

Seriously. Many scripts and such built for modern, supported versions of MW do not work here because it is so unbelievably undated. PinkAmpersand above basically covers the reason why. I also highly recommend adding the extension AbuseFilter (https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:AbuseFilter) as it immensely makes removing vandalism easier (by straight up disallowing or blocking those that do, esp if it's like the current formulaic massive-replacement vandalism.) [[User:CRLF|CRLF]] ([[User talk:CRLF|talk]]) 00:48, 21 May 2022 (UTC)

:Ditto. I feel like the main problem is that the sole person who has access to the backend either doesn't have time to update, doesn't have interest, or doesn't have the technical knowledge necessary. But yes, I agree - updating and installing an extension to help control vandalism would help this wiki tremendously. [[User:Obwankenobi|Obwankenobi]] ([[User talk:Obwankenobi|talk]]) 20:09, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

== ↑ ? ==

Why do some pages have ↑ at the very start? They can all be spotted by searching ↑
Is it a technical thing, vandalism, some sort of glitch? Maybe I'm just uninformed or being an idiot.
:Edit logs tell me that an IP user manually reverting vandalism somehow inserted one or more extra characters while manually reverting vandalism. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:59, 22 May 2022 (UTC)
::Should it be removed? It's not necessary and might be confusing for screenreaders... [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 09:00, 23 May 2022 (UTC)
:::Maybe not en-mass, I'd say. But I've dove in to delete a rogue leading <nowiki> </nowiki> tag left from a part of a prior vandalism (likewise, just before the {{template|comic}}-element) and I've promised myself that I'll remove any more that I spot (and now that arrow) in any future whole-page edit I make. Plus a small shopping-list of inessential but useful edits like making {{template|Citation needed}}s flow better when they're mispunctuated/etc.
:::But that's my solitary opinion. I'm sure hunting out and squishing this isn't a problem at all. I'm just balancing my own peculiar brand of OCD with what is somehow my also my own version of casual apathy towards other details. (Also, it probably looks better for a named account of recognised good standing to start editing potentially hundreds of pages in a session, rather than myself... potentially indistinguishable from the IP who seems to relish worn out memes in a general page-trashing.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.121|162.158.159.121]] 12:20, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

== Is there anything else we can do to prevent vandalism? ==

There's been quite a significant uptick in vandalism recently, and I don't feel we have any effective tools to combat it. I believe one of the biggest issues here is due to the way logged-out editing works on this wiki. Blocks are completely ineffective at slowing vandals, and IP editors can vandalize with basically nothing we can do to thwart them other than revert-warring. '''Is there a better way?'''

There's been some discussion of installing AbuseFilter, but I'm not sure anything became of it. We could disable logged-out editing, but that would likely be counterproductive as we get lots of legitimate contributions from logged-out users. If there's a way to switch to location-based IPs, we could rangeblock problematic users as well as proxies. Does anyone have any ideas? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.145|162.158.78.145]] 16:11, 1 June 2022 (UTC)
:I'm sort of making server side changes via telegraph so an extension is probably going to take a while to get installed. Takes a bunch of emails and followups to get single variables changed in the mediawiki settings file. There is an email verification option, and some edit frequency variables that could be set to make spam more time consuming. Don't love range blocks but wouldn't mind getting the CDN IPs dealt with so we can actually use the IP bans again. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 17:16, 1 June 2022 (UTC)
::I'm very grateful that you're working on changes under the hood. What do you think is the best way to deal with disruption in the meantime? [[User:Vandalbane|Vandalbane]] ([[User talk:Vandalbane|talk]]) 17:19, 1 June 2022 (UTC)
:::Could borrow a patrol bot like the ones people on main wikipedia have, could ask around. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:53, 1 June 2022 (UTC)
::::There's not really a drop-in solution that you can use, especially since the server's MediaWiki version is not in sync with Wikipedia's (so a lot of the APIs etc have completely changed; when initially reverting vandalism I tried importing some scripts from enwiki but they failed as a result), but also because the bots have gotten pretty complex (using machine learning provided by the Wikimedia Foundation, for example). [[User:CRLF|CRLF]] ([[User talk:CRLF|talk]]) 03:56, 2 June 2022 (UTC)
:::::Oh I do notice mediawiki hasn't been upgraded in a while. Looks like new version of mediawiki should be dropping extremely imminently, would be nice timing for an upgrade '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:45, 2 June 2022 (UTC)

== Rollback ==

Does the rollback permission exist on this wiki? [[User:Vandalbane|Vandalbane]] ([[User talk:Vandalbane|talk]]) 17:00, 1 June 2022 (UTC)
:The rollback permission of course exists but there's no group called "rollbacker" like you'd find on Wikipedia (limited to admins). You'd need the sysadmin to change the configuration to add one, which as established is not really an option right now. [[User:CRLF|CRLF]] ([[User talk:CRLF|talk]]) 03:58, 2 June 2022 (UTC)

== What happened to custom JavaScript? ==

I put some code in <code>[[User:Some user/common.js]]</code>, but it is not alerting 'hi' every time I load a page. Why can't we execute JavaScript anymore? Is it in response to the [[Project:Crap|crapping]] incident? [[User:Some user|Some user]] ([[User talk:Some user|talk]]) 21:16, 27 June 2022 (UTC)
:Entirely because of that, yeah. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:51, 28 June 2022 (UTC)

== My IP ==

Why is my IP address a Cloudflare address in Norway? Is this a joke of some kind that I'm missing?

Other wikis like Wikipedia are showing me my actual IP when I go to [[Special:MyContributions]], so I suspect this is a wiki misconfiguration. It changed again while I was typing this. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.222.194|162.158.222.194]] 16:55, 19 November 2022 (UTC)
:All IPs (as this one will be) are from Cloudflare gateway IPs, because that's the default IP that the Wiki understands as the source. Cloudflare mediates all the traffic, and perhaps to some advantage (not being privvy to the logs, I can only guess how much it insulates the true server from extreme problems, but I bet it does in some way).
:There have been suggestions before to change some setting (in the MediaWiki implementation? ...can't recall exactly) to have it pick up and use the IP that the gateway reports (in its meta-request) was the origin, but that's not been enacted for Idunnowhat reason.
:Because the black-box that is the Cloudflare traffic shapes in various ways, you will find that a single user will jump around 'apparent' IPs, and I've also been in the relatively embarassing situation of replying to another IP's info and finding that I've registered on the exact same IP so that it looks like I'm stooging myself, or something.
:On the whole, though, it's a harmless quirk. And given the trivial nature of deliberately spoofing origins (even on top of assuming you get an effectively static NAT from your ISP in the first place) I don't personally see it as a problem to 'solve' this. But neither would I complain if the 'fix' were implemented if this query reminds someone that they ''were'' going to try and do the necessary tweak.
:As a lay-answer, I hope that fills you in a little. ''If'' those who have more knowledge/control of the process want to add anything or correct me, I'm sure they'll do so as soon as they can, but here's a reply to keep you going for now... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.24|172.70.85.24]] 01:19, 20 November 2022 (UTC)
:fyi it is supported in MediaWiki through <code>$wgCdnServers</code>. See [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Cloudflare#Integration_with_MediaWiki MediaWiki’s introduction].

==Main page in categories==
{{notice|'''This discussion is marked as duplicate.''' See [[#Main Page|this discussion]].}}
[[Main_Page]] was found wrongly appearing in some newly-created categories, such as [[:Category:Cosmology]]. Could you fix it? --[[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 17:49, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
:Never noticed this myself, but I'll take it as read. Before checking myself, I'm wondering if this could be when the main page 'inherits' tags from the Current Comic that it features. And thus solve itself (whilst gaining others) upon a newer Current Comic. (Must surely inherit "Monday Comics"/etc, on schedule every week.)
:If it is that, perhaps the solution lies in the details contained within https://m.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Categories#Categories_and_templates_(transcluded_pages)
:Or maybe I'm wrong about it. But I have no rights to edit (thus at least examine the 'code' of) the Main page, to check my snap theory, as with most people. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.46|172.70.162.46]] 19:21, 12 January 2023 (UTC)

This happened again in [[:Category:Airplane banner]]. [[User:I27.O.O.I|I27.O.O.I]] ([[User talk:I27.O.O.I|talk]]) 09:00, 28 February 2023 (UTC)
:Yes, and it lasted as long as the latest comic was still one with particular categories. I don't intend to worry about it. If someone goes to a category that interests them and looks at the main page, as temporarily advertised, they're likely to find (as part of it) a comic which is indeed in that category. Doesn't sound like a big problem to me, except for determinin why some cats (e.g. Friday Comics) ''don't'' link to the Main page when they might be expected to...
:(PS, I know for sure that I27.O.O.I isn't the same person as ColofulGalaxy (and various others, beyond even those with the bloomin' obvious "CG" initials or other recent spoofs on the RFC1918 addresses), and I don't think I mind too much, but faking disagreements between your various IDs isn't helping, anyone... smells too much of trying to establish alibis in advance of your next attempt to vandalise the site with stupid stuff. And doesn't impress me, so I doubt it impresses anyone else either. As long as you're just doing sane things, however, I'll accept your little idiosyncracies.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.32|162.158.74.32]] 19:37, 5 March 2023 (UTC)
:(PPS: You left your fingerprint on this latter attempt to 'rescue' [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2659:_Unreliable_Connection&curid=25530&diff=307289&oldid=307282 this page]. - Spammer a few minutes before midnight, my IP reversion happened shortly after. A little later "Elisabeth" then re-spammed (modified), then another IP immediately jumps on it to restore it but with the modified undo-summary line clearly indicating that some sort of a game is being played. Please don't, it's not clever.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.34|172.70.90.34]] 02:22, 7 March 2023 (UTC)

This doesn't happen to date categories, but it happens in manually added categories such as [[:Category:Statistics]]. [[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 21:49, 27 March 2023 (UTC)

==Cannot create user page==
It says: There is currently no text in this page. You can search for this page title in other pages, or search the related logs, but you do not have permission to create this page. [[2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[Talk:2659: Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 22:56, 26 March 2023 (UTC)
:(Removed alternative text in the link involved, to not hide behind trickery.) I think you know that there's no problem with [[2659: Unreliable Connection]] itself, except that it had become one of several pages targeted for spamming, the only one then locked down, then finding that the spammers just retargeted to its Talk page, etc.
:I'm torn between "not assuming bad faith" and "don't feed the trolls", as competing principles, so I'm spelling out the situation. However much a tribute you might think it could be, I don't think there's a future in having a new username that's directly referencing a comic which has become so frequently seen in the recent history of this wiki's edits.
:Obviously any genuine contributions are more than welcome. So prove me wrong, why don't you? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.151|172.70.91.151]] 03:20, 27 March 2023 (UTC)

::Could you help now? [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 09:13, 29 March 2023 (UTC)

: I've created your talk page. I guess that what you intended is to have a backup or mirror page for comic [[2659]]. Am I right? [[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 20:16, 2 April 2023 (UTC)

== Fanmade comics ==
A fanmade comic appeared on xkcd. Could you edit the template? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.23.100|172.69.23.100]] 07:21, 28 April 2023 (UTC)
:You're going to have to say more about it, at least for me. Apart from the Sandbox attempt to make a page, I haven't seen the comic you're describing anywhere. Certainly not anywhere official. Link, for our benefit? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.66|172.70.85.66]] 10:04, 28 April 2023 (UTC)

==Why doesn't this code block work?==
Does anybody know why the code block at the end of [[Transcript on xkcd|this page]] doesn't work? I've tried everything and it still looks like plain text

== Can't add RSS feed because of pubDate value on 27 Nov 2015 ==

When I try to add the RSS feed in Nextcloud News feed reader I get an error <code>Impossible to convert date : Fri, 27 Nov 2015 17:24:34 Pacific Standard Time</code>.

[https://validator.w3.org/feed/check.cgi?url=https%3A%2F%2Fexplainxkcd.com%2Frss.xml W3C Feed validation] says that <code>pubDate must be an RFC-822 date-time</code> and points "Pacific Standard Time" portion as the cause of the error: <code><pubDate>Fri, 27 Nov 2015 17:24:34 Pacific Standard Time</pubDate></code>. Can you please fix the timestap for this?

== Admin request posted here because of vandalism ==

I can not currently access the admin requests page because it has been vandalized... can someone please protect the latest comic page (2805). There is some pretty childish vandalism going on there right now. Thanks!
:It's not the latest, seems like ALL. I went back to 2804, 2803, jumped back like 15 comics, all the same thing. To me the most offensive part is doing it with a nonsensical image. And why pipe it through Archive somehow? [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 02:33, 24 July 2023 (UTC)
::UGH. the vandals are back at it again... we need to lock xkcd pages @NiceGuy [[Special:Contributions/172.70.39.2|172.70.39.2]] 00:59, 25 July 2023 (UTC)

== Way to contact the site hosters? ==

As many have pointed out the software this wiki runs on is horribly outdated. WikiEditor also isn't here for some reason. Quite a bit of messages here have seen no action. Is there some kind of contact form to reach the hosters? {{unsigned|Aaron Liu|00:36, 10 October 2023}}
: There are various levels of admin who do intervene, as and when jecessary, but I understand that the (active) ones closest to the actual hosting level of intervention are not really ready to do the (increasingly greater) degree of uprooting necessary to get a "working" system to be "marginally better working", by way of that very dangerous middle-ground of potentially being ruined entirely.
: I appreciate and anticipate the counter-arguments regarding letting it go totally unupdated, of course, just I've personally seen enough failures (participated in some, or been the actual invokee, myself) to be very sympathetic to the "if it aint (too) broke, don't fix it" tendency. But that inertia is not the only factor, of course, and the full motivations (or lack of them) of those involved is not for a lowly IP like me to explain, even if I think I know... [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.42|172.69.195.42]] 01:24, 10 October 2023 (UTC)
:: Have they posted some sort of statement? It also is most definitely not “marginally” better working, compare the source editor to that of Wikipedia and look at topic subscription etc features. Not to mention a lot of security fixes haven’t been added and this version has reached EOL long ago. Updating also would not ruin this entirely…[[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 17:22, 12 October 2023 (UTC)
:: Some have also said that quite a bit of assistive scripts for modern versions don’t work. Visual Editor, while horrible, is still easier for new people to get started with. [[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 17:23, 12 October 2023 (UTC)
I've found a new reason: This wiki doesn't even allow loading userscripts! [[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 01:34, 9 December 2023 (UTC)
:That might actually have been a conscious decition, after a 'certain user' caused chaos here, not so long ago. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.25|162.158.74.25]] 19:01, 9 December 2023 (UTC)
::It was about a year and a half ago. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.143|172.68.174.143]] 06:41, 10 December 2023 (UTC)
::Huh? What happened? Is there a place to request gadgets then? [[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 02:04, 10 December 2023 (UTC)
:::"What happened" involved automated vandalism (from someone who been doing it manually, then found the "better way") though I couldn't tell you the exact details, there were automated 'unvandalism's made in response, and theusafBOT/etc does some of that still, in response to non-automated(/off-site scripted) vandalism/errors that it can actually catch before ordinary users (or IPs like me) can. But certainly a certain brand of scripting was turned off to curtail the 'high intensity' vandalism phase.
:::You're more or less in the best place to request things, right here. Whether updates, (re)adding functionalitu or tweaking site settings. Can't tell if those who ''can'' do these things can't or won't do them... Or are actually absent, instead of just not replying. The cavalry has been known to come running in when necessary (e.g. when "what happened" happened) so it could be any manner of non-response (until you get one). Not necessarily the best state of affairs, but better than being confirmed absentees.
::::I ran a bot to mass-edit pages by replacing their content with the word "crap" repeatedly. I was 15 then, and I thought it was funny. It wasn't. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.143|172.68.174.143]] 06:41, 10 December 2023 (UTC)
:::As an occasional but infrequent actual-Wikipedia editor, too, I must say that if the Visual Editor is what I currently have to use for that (at least as an anonIP when using a mobile device, which tends to be when I get the urge most) then I like the unaugmented editor here more. Straight up, honest, un'wizarded' interface, where you only have to get used to markup details and not a WYSIWYG editing environment (as well?). Not sure I'd be happy with an even ''more'' 'assistive' script imposed upon me, like I dislike modern generations of Windows (and 'user friendly' linux dists). So can I just ask that functional/visible changes of the kind you seem to be asking for, if made available, aren't overimposed/left as options rather than the default (or only) choice...? Ok, so I can (or would have to) adapt, but I'd rather not. Of course, I have no weight to pull in this matter, it's just an afterthought (even as I wish you good luck with raising an admin's eyebrow, in some useful manner). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.135|141.101.98.135]] 05:14, 10 December 2023 (UTC)
::::I am not asking for VisualEditor, which no one likes on Wikipedia either. For some blasted reason they made it edit HTML instead of Wikitext and it’s clunky and loads for a very long time.
::::I’m asking about the WikiEditor, aka Wikipedia’s source editor. In VE, click on the pen next to the publish button and click on “source editing”. That editor makes this one look like freaking Stone Age, syntax highlighting is especially a game-changer. [[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 16:03, 12 December 2023 (UTC)
: There’s also the annoying ReCaptcha v2 every single edit… it seems like it would be relatively easy to switch to v3 which only makes you do the challenge when you’ve visited a bit too much. [[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 16:32, 12 December 2023 (UTC)
:: Unfortunately, that would make things easier for someone who wanted to do mass vandalism like I did. If it didn't do it every time, someone could still edit quite quickly. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.192|172.68.174.192]] 18:32, 12 December 2023 (UTC)
::Well, I can tell you that it doesn't always demand that I fulfil more than a tickbox (most trouble I have is when it fails to connect to give me the tickbox (or respond with anything useful when I do), for which I'm forced into one or more Previews until it will. When it ''does'' ask me to do something about it, I do often get forced through two or more request to identify traffic lights, motorbikes, stairways, bridges, hills, tractors, buses, etc, etc, etc... But I think that's more the Tesla-training Algorithm being nust greedy for my attention than the Robot-sentry having a less casual attitude to my attempt to edit. (I believe I'm on a usually untroublesome source IP/Cloudflare gateway, but it could also depend on how many others try to do things via (part of) the same route. Very, very rarely I get Google Search requesting something similar of me ((It: "You have made a lot of searches", me: "Of course I'll have play your little game, but this is my first lookup today...")), which I'm sure isn't Cloudflared, so it might reach back to my ISP's gateway and what fellow users are currently getting up to.)
::As for the guy above (and you, Liu), can't speak for how well or badly others on your own 'choice' of gateways behave. Or yourselves. Luck of the draw? For the first part, at least. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.174|172.69.195.174]] 20:31, 12 December 2023 (UTC)
:::MediaWiki 1.40 automatically tags all edits that remove over 90% of page text with "mw-replaced". You could block all edits in mainspace with that tag, either if MediaWiki has it or through the AbuseFilter extension. While I can complete the CAPTCHAs, it's very annoying to need to Captcha every edit on a place where the main focus is edits. [[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 03:06, 13 December 2023 (UTC)
:::Plus, v3 doesn't just do nothing. It tracks how your cursor moves to see if it's robotic, while v2 annoyingly gives you the challenge every time. [[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 20:01, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
::::Presumably for touchscreen control (like mine, right this moment), it does something else than track a nonexistent mouse-pointer's passage across the monitored elements of the display... ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.190|172.70.90.190]] 12:26, 9 January 2024 (UTC)
::There are a few MediaWiki plugins that help keep vandalism/spam under control without requiring users to solve a Captcha every time they make an edit. I use https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Moderation on the wiki I maintain, and it works very well. However, it does require that there be enough active moderators to approve edits, as it basically requires every single edit to be approved before it's posted. Thus, it also introduces some "lag" between when stuff is written and when it can be seen by others. I think it could work if the extension could be installed (I'm not even sure if it's supported on this version of MediaWiki) and if a good list of moderators could be put together. [[User:Obwankenobi|Obwankenobi]] ([[User talk:Obwankenobi|talk]]) 20:02, 9 February 2024 (UTC)
:::I disagree with requiring edits to be approved. Unless we have extremely high vandalism, just filtering out the above tags I mentioned and using ReCAPTCHA v3 would be enough. [[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 23:16, 16 February 2024 (UTC)
::::Ok, fair point. However, that wouldn't stop human vandalism, just vandalism from bots. I'm not sure how much human vandalism there is, though, so it might not even be a problem. [[User:Obwankenobi|Obwankenobi]] ([[User talk:Obwankenobi|talk]]) 12:35, 22 February 2024 (UTC)
:::::It's hard (for us 'civvies') to know how much bot-vandalism is stopped but [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:Log/newusers&offset=&limit=500&type=newusers&user= probably a lot], most of which we never see, with [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2503:_Memo_Spike_Connector&diff=335487&oldid=335486 occasional ones] we might see having be dealt with. (I'm guessing these things are rare (temporarily-)successful 'bots, because flesh-and-blood vandals wouldn't be occasionally doing essentially the same insta-reverted thing on a thematically-small set of pages, over several ''years'' without moving on. It has to be a lucky unattended script-based effort that just keeps trying the same things over and over with an easily revertible but tangible result happening only infrequently.)
:::::More obvious human vandalism tends to rumble on, with occasionally a spate of it as someone gets short-term kicks for it. Though some of them seem may repeat themself after a break. Friendly humans and friendly 'bots both tend to provide the main anti-vandalism responses fairly quickly, though, depending upon what kind of a mess they caused. I've seen worse places, definitely, and it's by no means a losing battle against chaos, just regular skermishes.
:::::Not wanting to tempt fate, of course. I guarantee that there'll be some fool that takes all this as a challenge, so I just have to trust to the Good Guys keeping on keeping on. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.71|172.70.90.71]] 14:21, 22 February 2024 (UTC)

heyo, is there a way to add actual citations to explainxkcd instead of the template citation needed? couldn't find anything, but i'm pretty new here - thanks in advance. [[User:Nigga|Nigga]] ([[User talk:Nigga|talk]]) 21:47, 17 March 2024 (UTC)
:Not that I have much faith in your usernae lasting long (you're 'that guy', aren't you? ...in which case you know anyway), but for the sake of anyone else who needs to know:
:*If you mean "add an actual 'citation needed' tag", then it's {{template|Actual citation needed}} that you'll use.
:*If you mean "add an actual citation link to somewhere", then:
:** Link to URLs with [].
:*** A link such as [<url>] will give you a superscript-number link, which isn't pretty, IMO.
:*** A link such as [<url> <text>] (that's a space between the two) will link <text> to the URL, just work it into the sentence you're writing, fairly easy
:** Link to internal (or cross-wiki) pages with [[]].
:*** [[<page title>]] will make a literal link to <page title>.
:*** [[<page title>|<text>]] (with a pipe) is how you make the <text> your link.
:** You can use the last to link specifically to wikipedia's cross-site format, but for that it's best to use {{template|w}}
:*** <nowiki>{{w|<page title>}}</nowiki> (w-pipe...) uses the page title
:**** It will use the link as if the first character is uppercase, so you don't need to capitalise that. Other case-sensitivity is preserved.
:**** <nowiki>{{w|<singular page title>}}s</nowiki> will link the obvious pluralisation of the page title, just to save you effort
:*** <nowiki>{{w|<page title>|<text>}}</nowiki> (w-pipe and pipe) lets you use entirely alternate text.
:** There's also templates that shortcut (or make easier on the eye, or add appropriate warnings) for some other commonly referenced external sites, from xkcd's own what-if to TVTropes.
:...hope that helps everyone that doesn't already know these few simple bits as relate to wikis in general or this wiki in particular. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.218|172.71.242.218]] 22:24, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

== Confirmation Email Bug ==

Hi. I've been trying to get my email confirmed so that I can get pinged when pages are edited, but I just can't find it, even after trying multiple times. I use Gmail, and yes, I have checked my spam folder. Has anyone else had this issue? EDIT: I see that others have had this issue, but the admins haven't done any action to solve it, except for one sarcastic comment by Davidy22 back in 2014. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 00:43, 12 April 2024 (UTC)

== Lack of Userpage ==

Hey, I joined a few years ago, but I still do not have a Userpage. Can you make one for me? I do not have the permission to do so. [[User:GreyFox|GreyFox]] ([[User talk:GreyFox|talk]]) 22:47, 15 May 2024 (UTC)
:This is actually your very first post, after joining a bit more than a year ago ("18:35, 14 November 2023 User account GreyFox (talk | contribs) was created"). I'm sure someone can oblige (not me, for obvious reasons), but you've not done much to contribute (at least under this account), which would have then eventually brought you to the point where you ''can'' just self-create your Userpages/etc. So your request is a bit out of the blue.
:Just so long as we all know where we stand, though. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.227|172.69.194.227]] 09:42, 16 May 2024 (UTC)
::Oh, thanks! Do you know the exact number of edits I need to create it?
:::50 to be autoconfirmed. Also, please sign your comments. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 15:23, 16 May 2024 (UTC)

== server errors ==
is anyone else constantly getting 503 errors? [[user talk:lettherebedarklight|youtu.be/miLcaqq2Zpk]] 17:14, 21 May 2024 (UTC)
:yup, been seeing those all the time. Also seeing that the server is down a lot of time-it suggests me to Google for what I’m “looking for” [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 17:18, 21 May 2024 (UTC)
::503s are fairly common (often when I'm in a rush), and have been for... well, certainly years, maybe more than a decade (though more common during major vandalism/anti-vandalism surges). I had, however, noticed a recent blip (during the last day or so) of the Server Down/Try Google page that you refer to, which I haven't seen for a ''long'' time (not really sure when, but maybe five years or so ago). In fact, I probably got Cloudflare 'rejections' more, during aformentioned vandal-overloading.
::Without any access to the admin logs, I can only speculate as to what might be sparking it. But service (notwithstanding the brief page-refusals themselves) seems to be happily unaffected. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.249|172.70.160.249]] 20:29, 21 May 2024 (UTC)

== Allow new users to edit their own page ==

I found someone asking if we could change this in the proposals page (Community portal/Proposals: Allow Users to Edit their own talk page if not auto confimed (not a typo)). [[User:PDesbeginner|PDesbeginner]] ([[User talk:PDesbeginner|talk]]) 14:39, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

== Technical difficulties? ==

I keep getting a message that says: "Sorry! This site is experiencing technical difficulties.Try waiting a few minutes and reloading. (Cannot access the database)"
It's happened a lot so I was wondering if there was a specific cause behind it and perhaps a way to fix it.
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.65|172.68.54.65]] 00:17, 17 September 2024 (UTC)
:yeah, I’ve been getting those errors too. I can’t even log into my account before it says that there’s an error again. I’ve been steadily receiving them for a couple months, but never like today. From Recent Changes, it doesn’t look like anyone is spamming the wiki, so maybe it’s an attack of some kind. You’ll need to contact the admins who have access to the server and can poke around, but good luck getting [[User:Davidy22]] or [[User:Jeff]] online. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.135.130|172.69.135.130]] 17:16, 17 September 2024 (UTC)
::update: I’ve been poking around a lot of websites, trying to see if the website is being attacked. The websites all say that the server is down. I’ll try to ask Jeff on this and pray that he checks his email. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.135.129|172.69.135.129]] 17:21, 17 September 2024 (UTC)

== The site is collapsing ==
503's are to be expected, but i've got them and the "Sorry! This site is experiencing technical difficulties. Try waiting a few minutes and reloading." error way, way too much. it's actually getting really hard to edit stuff because of them. [[user talk:lettherebedarklight|youtu.be/miLcaqq2Zpk]] 01:58, 19 September 2024 (UTC)
:heck, i just got a 503 when posting this topic. also, load times are noticeably longer. and i'm getting "loss of session" errors when i try to edit... [[user talk:lettherebedarklight|youtu.be/miLcaqq2Zpk]] 02:02, 19 September 2024 (UTC)
::I’ve messaged Davidy22 and Jeff about it, hopefully they see it and reply. It looks fine right now, appears that it works horribly at times and fine later. Due to the on-off nature of it, I would suspect DDoS attacks, as a 503 error means that the server can’t process the request, which occurs with DDoS attacks. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 21:37, 19 September 2024 (UTC)
:::update: I’ve made a Reddit post, as I’ve seen Davidy22 active on Reddit and respond to older threads on r/xkcd. Hopefully they respond! [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 18:50, 24 September 2024 (UTC)
::::October update: Davidy22 responded to my emails and said that he has emailed Jeff multiple times. Apparently Jeff is ignoring his emails and not responding. I’ve been checking Jeff’s Twitter/X/Whatever once a week and it shows that he uses it semi-regularly. Apparently Jeff is a podcaster too? Anyways, nobody has really responded to me on r/xkcd, so I’m thinking of sending a DM to Jeff via Twitter. I have a to-do list for Jeff listed on my User Page, feel free to give any thoughts, proposals, comments on anything else you want him to do in this thread. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 18:46, 24 October 2024 (UTC)
::Agree, the situation is not terrible but feels extremely unstable. What happens if the wiki just breaks, and nobody can even contact Jeff? I feel like these errors are happening more and more frequently. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 17:30, 2 March 2025 (UTC)
:::Were you around for the (hacking-enforced) sudden ending of the xkcd fora? All things end.
:::But (touch wood) the 503s/other connection refusals are a lot less frequent right now, so I'm not actually quite so worried as I might occasionally have been. What's more likely to happen is that the hosting plan, physical hardware and/or domain reaches an end and then... that's probably it unless someone with the wherewithall somehow manages to drag it back up again. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.14|162.158.74.14]] 00:09, 3 March 2025 (UTC)
::::I really don't like the idea of this site becoming permanently unavailable :( This makes me want to contribute less! I was not around back then, no. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 15:47, 3 March 2025 (UTC)
== List of All Comics ==

I think that FaviFake and I have accidentally broken the All comics page. When clicked, it brings you to the page List of all comics, which displays the comics 3000-3002 (as of right now) instead of the list of all comics (oops-my bad). How do we fix this? There’s also the page List of all comics (3000-3500), but the TheusafBOT ignores it. Can someone more technical help troubleshoot this problem? Again, sorry for making a muck of things. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 18:43, 24 October 2024 (UTC)
:Oh I'm sorry, I created a new topic for this and I didn't see this one. I noticed the [[List of all comics (3000-3500)]] today and scheduled it for deletion because we never make such a page until we have exactly 500 comics to put there. Also, the name is wrong, it should say 3001-3500.
:The page [[List of all comics]] is supposed to display comics 3001-3005, not all comics. You might be confusing it with [[List of all comics (full)]], which would work perfectly if [[List of all comics]] displayed the last 3 comics. I have no idea why the bot stopped updating it. Maybe it will work now that the wrong page is scheduled for deletion? [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 05:15, 31 October 2024
::Wait a second, why did you move the List of all comics to [[List of all comics (3000-3500)]]? It seemed to me like everything was working fine before you moved it [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 05:24, 31 October 2024 (UTC)
:::I was trying to copy the content to [[List of all comics (3000-3500)]], and accidentally broke it. Sorry! [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 16:48, 31 October 2024 (UTC)
::::Yeah I can confirm the content and the entire edit history was moved to the incorrectly-titled page that's now scheduled for deletion. I guess maybe we didn't really need the edit history on that page, but who knows.
::::Weirdly, the bot seems to have restored the page as it was and then stopped doing its thing. Since we're the only ones here, I suggest you manually create the missing rows for the new comics and we'll see if that works when the next comic drops. If it doesn't, I'll contact the maintainer and creator of the bot myself. Sounds good? :) [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:29, 31 October 2024 (UTC)
:::::Sir yes Sir! 🫡 [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 04:51, 1 November 2024 (UTC)
:::::: Great, thanks! I can also do it this afternoon if you don't have time. I realise my previous messages read like orders lol, they were supposed to be suggestions to try and fix the issue. [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 07:18, 1 November 2024

== The [[List of all comics]] is no longer being updated automatically ==

Hey everyone, I noticed the bot isn't updating this page anymore: [[List of all comics]]. There are supposed to be five comics in it but there are only two at the moment. Is this supposed to happen? [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 05:06, 31 October 2024

== 2034: Equations error? ==

One of the TeX math-thingies (sorry for the informal writing), is showing this error: "Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable. Please see math/README to configure.): \oint". Idk why it's showing this, can someone fix this? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.48|108.162.237.48]] 19:25, 6 November 2024 (UTC)
:It's a long-standing error, to do with the background processes that turns the TeX-style markup into embedded images. All equations (or whatever it might be that the particular MathML was being used to render) that were originally given cached-imagery ''still work fine'', but it seems a later update made it so that if you adjust it at all (even slightly), it no longer has the route to produce the embedding cleanly.
:It can probably be solved by rolling back some module(s) that got refreshed quite some time ago, though the advised fix is to actually fully update them (and/or reconfigure the backend scripting) to work with all the newest versions of the original tools. Unfortunately, the people (or maybe person) who would do this is not too active at the moment (may also not be up to speed on everything, either, if it involves a bit of more tricky administration), so we're left with the occasional problem establishing the texvc handler.
:Not sure which page you're encountering this on, but sometimes if you look back in the edit history you can find a working version of the thing you're seeing go wrong. If it's an aesthetic difference (e.g. the presence or absence of a spacing character), you might be able to just restore the render-cached version and make do with it not looking ''quite'' right.
:If it's a necessary change that was made (e.g. "''dt''" instead of "''dx''", which is definitely wrong the old way), or it seems never to have a valid render, then there's two obvious solutions:
:#Make your own image of it as it should be and (with a suitably auto-validated account, or via a handy external image hosting service and/or a more mature account here) get that embedded in place of the markup-source, or
:#Replicate its appearance in more basic (by standard) but complex (by source needed) markup. Combinations of basic wikimarkup and HTML can do most 'fiddly positional' things, see [[2614: 2]] for a numerator/denominator layout, for example.
:Not as 'simple' as TeX-markedup. But, on the other hand, the "\oint" symbol is "∮", so perhaps all you need to do is copy'n'paste that actual unicode symbol to wherever you found the problem, and use that instead, and forgo the TeX version altogether? (Might not show on some displays, but probably enough to make it a minority issue.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.105|172.70.90.105]] 22:50, 6 November 2024 (UTC)
:Had the brainwave that I could probable ''search'' for the offending \oint, actually. Did so, found [[2034: Equations]], noted that it was the only (current) rendering issue and therefore just did the pasting over myself. Looks good for me, but obviously might not help (but not make worse) others' viewing of it. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.54|172.69.195.54]] 22:58, 6 November 2024 (UTC)

...Why didn't I think of just pasting the Unicode equivalent. I'm dumb, but thanks for fixing it. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.10|172.69.70.10]] 13:44, 8 November 2024 (UTC)

== Esolang wiki bug ==
The "esolangs.org" wiki is also experiencing a similar bug. The server was repeatedly changing a particular user's signature in his posts. [[User:ConscriptGlossary|ConscriptGlossary]] ([[User talk:ConscriptGlossary|talk]]) 04:01, 29 November 2024 (UTC)
:Fucking bullshit. One, this doesn’t belong here and I’ve copied it into [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Technical|the Technical Community Portal]]. Two, I saw your talk page on [https://esolangs.org/wiki/User_talk:ColorfulGalaxy%27s_CA_discoveries esolangs.org], which you brought up this “bug”, which the local admin (who’s probably just as sick and tired of you as I am) called BS on. If the server was changing your sig to my sig, it would be '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''', not the sig that you faked in. You’re obviously seeking attention and are being abusive and childish. Please see the bottom of https://esolangs.org/wiki/Esolang:Introduce_yourself to see a full list of complaints. I will be asking Kynde to ban you and all of your alt (or shared) accounts. -tori [[Special:Contributions/162.158.167.98|162.158.167.98]] 05:36, 29 November 2024 (UTC)
::Additionally, the complaint doesn’t even make sense. The 2 wikis are running on different servers and different MediaWiki software and should in no shape or form be having the same bug across 2 different systems. Plus, why is the CAPTCHA in the esolang wiki so damn difficult? (Just a side note :3) '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 22:42, 29 November 2024 (UTC)
:I just realized that they've changed '''my''' signature as well. That's strange. [[User:ConscriptGlossary|ConscriptGlossary]] ([[User talk:ConscriptGlossary|talk]]) 06:37, 29 November 2024 (UTC)

Once again they suddenly redirected my username to the Main Page. And the bug even forgot to remove "User:". [[User:ConscriptGlossary|ConscriptGlossary]] ([[User talk:ConscriptGlossary|talk]]) 13:05, 29 November 2024 (UTC)

:It's working normally now. [[User:ConscriptGlossary|ConscriptGlossary]] ([[User talk:ConscriptGlossary|talk]]) 13:06, 29 November 2024 (UTC)

The wiki may have been hacked. I checked it and got "HTTP 429" error message. [[User:ChristmasGospel|ChristmasGospel]] ([[User talk:ChristmasGospel|talk]]) 19:14, 29 November 2024 (UTC)
:No, it has not been hacked. The error message means that the server that is hosting the wiki is under a lot of stress and load. '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 19:20, 29 November 2024 (UTC)
::Yes and no.
::;429 Too Many Requests (RFC 6585):The user has sent too many requests in a given amount of time. Intended for use with rate-limiting schemes.
::...it generally means that (in the opinion of the server), the person getting the 429 has been bashing the connection too much. This ''could'' be because they happen to be going through the same proxy as an actual prolific user (or several sub-prolific ones that similarly got lumped together to add up to "too much"), but load-sharing systems generally account for that already. General 'stress and load' is more likely to invoke a 500s message (depending upon what actually is happening).
::But, either way, if you get one of them then you're advised to pause, take a breath, perhaps wait a little before your next refresh/reload attempt, but if ''that'' goes wrong then wait a bit longer still (double your patience, maybe), and again more (further doubling) as necessary.
::Either it's not your fault, but you probably don't need to add to the problems, or it ''is'' your fault (e.g. you're webscraping in the background at full throttle) and you ''really'' need to stop causing those problems (and try not to do it again later). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.109|172.70.90.109]] 20:17, 29 November 2024 (UTC)
:::Oops-you’re right. I just did a cursory search on google with the Google AI, so that explanation is more correct. Thank you! '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 22:42, 29 November 2024 (UTC)
::::Hint: even if you don't entirely trust Wikipedia not to be written (or rewritten) wrongly, you don't get the whole world of possible wrongness of a mostly uncomprehending AI repeating a load of mangled fragments put together on an "at least it looks grammatically correct" basis. If you trust AI so much that you don't go looking anywhere else (there are plenty of technical sites out there, including the actual official RFCs which say what servers ''should'' be doing and saying) but Wikipedia is also far from wrong and pretty thorough on this point.
::::Ask Google's AI for entertainment, or to start to put together a school report (but be prepared to check ''everything'', as well as edit enough not to be caught by AI-detection as well as Plagiarism-detection). But not for insta-expertise, if you've not got enough grounding in the subject to at least sanity-checking what you're being told. Truth-checking and reality-checking are always necessary, of course, no matter what the source. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.36|141.101.98.36]] 01:25, 30 November 2024 (UTC)
:::::Noted and acknowledged. '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 14:31, 30 November 2024 (UTC)

== RSS Feed: XML not well-formed ==

<pre>XML Parsing Error: not well-formed

Location: https://explainxkcd.com/rss.xml?_SLWxoPenuRl=nOtinFEeDPREVIew

Line Number 31, Column 18:

<title>3015: D&D Combinatorics</title>
------------------------^
</pre>

PHP-Fix:

$title = str_replace("&", "&amp;", $title);

or

$title = htmlspecialchars($title);

: Same problem here. Perhaps surprisingly, this is the first time an xkcd title has included an ampersand (as far as I can see from [[List_of_all_comics_(full)]]). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.85|141.101.99.85]] 14:16, 7 December 2024 (UTC)

== rss feed ==

Hello

the rss feed is broken, could you fix it ?

Error :
try{(function overrideDefaultMethods(r, g, b, a, scriptId, storedObjectPrefix) {
var scriptNode = document.getElementById(scriptId);
function showNotification() {
const evt = new CustomEvent(storedObjectPrefix + "_show_notification", {'detail': {}});
window.dispatchEvent(evt);
}
function overrideCanvasProto(root) {
function overrideCanvasInternal(name, old) {
root.prototype[storedObjectPrefix + name] = old;
Object.defineProperty(root.prototype, name,
{
value: function () {
var width = this.width;
var height = this.height;
var context = this.getContext("2d");
var imageData = context.getImageData(0, 0, width, height);
for (var i = 0; i < height; i++) {
for (var j = 0; j < width; j++) {
var index = ((i * (width * 4)) + (j * 4));
imageData.data[index + 0] = imageData.data[index + 0] + r;
imageData.data[index + 1] = imageData.data[index + 1] + g;
imageData.data[index + 2] = imageData.data[index + 2] + b;
imageData.data[index + 3] = imageData.data[index + 3] + a;
}
}
context.putImageData(imageData, 0, 0);
showNotification();
return old.apply(this, arguments);
}
}
);
}
overrideCanvasInternal("toDataURL", root.prototype.toDataURL);
overrideCanvasInternal("toBlob", root.prototype.toBlob);
//overrideCanvasInternal("mozGetAsFile", root.prototype.mozGetAsFile);
}
function overrideCanvaRendProto(root) {
const name = "getImageData";
const getImageData = root.prototype.getImageData;

root.prototype[storedObjectPrefix + name] = getImageData;

Object.defineProperty(root.prototype, "getImageData",
{
value: function () {
var imageData = getImageData.apply(this, arguments);
var height = imageData.height;
var width = imageData.width;
// console.log("getImageData " + width + " " + height);
for (var i = 0; i < height; i++) {
for (var j = 0; j < width; j++) {
var index = ((i * (width * 4)) + (j * 4));
imageData.data[index + 0] = imageData.data[index + 0] + r;
imageData.data[index + 1] = imageData.data[index + 1] + g;
imageData.data[index + 2] = imageData.data[index + 2] + b;
imageData.data[index + 3] = imageData.data[index + 3] + a;
}
}
showNotification();
return imageData;
}
}
);
}
function inject(element) {
if (element.tagName.toUpperCase() === "IFRAME" && element.contentWindow) {
try {
var hasAccess = element.contentWindow.HTMLCanvasElement;
} catch (e) {
console.log("can't access " + e);
return;
}
overrideCanvasProto(element.contentWindow.HTMLCanvasElement);
overrideCanvaRendProto(element.contentWindow.CanvasRenderingContext2D);
overrideDocumentProto(element.contentWindow.Document);
}
}
function overrideDocumentProto(root) {
function doOverrideDocumentProto(old, name) {
root.prototype[storedObjectPrefix + name] = old;
Object.defineProperty(root.prototype, name,
{
value: function () {
var element = old.apply(this, arguments);
// console.log(name+ " everridden call"+element);
if (element == null) {
return null;
}
if (Object.prototype.toString.call(element) === '[object HTMLCollection]' ||
Object.prototype.toString.call(element) === '[object NodeList]') {
for (var i = 0; i < element.length; ++i) {
var el = element[i];
// console.log("elements list inject " + name);
inject(el);
}
} else {
// console.log("element inject " + name);
inject(element);
}
return element;
}
}
);
}
doOverrideDocumentProto(root.prototype.createElement, "createElement");
doOverrideDocumentProto(root.prototype.createElementNS, "createElementNS");
doOverrideDocumentProto(root.prototype.getElementById, "getElementById");
doOverrideDocumentProto(root.prototype.getElementsByName, "getElementsByName");
doOverrideDocumentProto(root.prototype.getElementsByClassName, "getElementsByClassName");
doOverrideDocumentProto(root.prototype.getElementsByTagName, "getElementsByTagName");
doOverrideDocumentProto(root.prototype.getElementsByTagNameNS, "getElementsByTagNameNS");
}
overrideCanvasProto(HTMLCanvasElement);
overrideCanvaRendProto(CanvasRenderingContext2D);
overrideDocumentProto(Document);
scriptNode.parentNode.removeChild(scriptNode);
})(24,14,-9,19,"ojkrt", "ltwvx");} catch (e) {console.error(e);}Erreur d’analyse XML : mal formé
Emplacement : https://explainxkcd.com/rss.xml
Numéro de ligne 63, Colonne 18 :
<title>3015: D&D Combinatorics</title>
------------------------^

== Total amount of accounts created on this wiki? ==

I was editing [[explain xkcd:Museum]] and I was wondering how many accounts have ever been created. Is there a way to access this? {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|15:52, 17 March 2025}}
:Hey, I moved your message from the Coordination portal. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 16:26, 17 March 2025 (UTC)
:The base information you need is from the special page that is https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Log/newusers - although bear in mind that an overwhelming number of created accounts are spam-attempts (that get no further), so perhaps the count needs to be qualified as "users that have then gone on to post" (a few of which ''are'' still spam-only contributors, but now an insignificant amount rather than a probably overwhelming majoriy).
:How you go about counting ''and'' classifying valid accounts is up to you, of course. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.68|162.158.74.68]] 21:46, 17 March 2025 (UTC)
::How would one actually count these? Is there an easier way? --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 16:37, 18 March 2025 (UTC)
:::There's <code><nowiki>[[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFUSERS}}]]</nowiki></code>, that gives you the value [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFUSERS}}]] (it was 142,958 when I wrote this), for the total number of registered users (including no-input pre-spammers, only-ever-spammed contributors, "I only created this account to say..."ers who didn't realised they could do as much as an IP, maybe some banned, sock-puppet/legitimate-alts/forgot-my-old-login duplicate accounts, maybe ''not'' some totally excised by top-tier-admins).
:::There's also <code><nowiki>[[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFACTIVEUSERS}}]]</nowiki></code>, with the value [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFACTIVEUSERS}}]] (119, as I write this), which I think is everyone active (+registered) in the past 30 days.
:::Possibly there are other "magic word" values for more useful in-betweeny values (nearer the top end of the first), e.g. of everyone who has made at least one edit ''ever''. But not sure I know what that might off the top of my head.
:::I can think of ways to ''interrogate'' the wiki for one or other (better) counting criteria, but it would be horribly intensive. If anyone wanted to do this (it already needing a bit more technical ability than merely using inbuilt auto-value magic words, and preferably you'd need to not be a 'mere' scriptkiddie jumping in with both feet without knowing how to do it sensibly), I'd suggest ensuring a ''very'' throttled-back process that may take its time over days. Then, once 'completed', a not-quite-so-throttled-back version can just 'top up' its stats with everything from the last point you'd reached the last time round until the present (to never hammer the site).
:::Please please please, though, you should probably only try any of this if you're already sure of everything I've been suggesting. There are also far easier ways to attempt a DoS, but it would be ironic if you did this ''while trying to be helpful''... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.65|141.101.98.65]] 20:43, 18 March 2025 (UTC)
::::Oh neat that's exactly what we needed! Could you add these magic words to the museum, maybe calling one "total accounts" and the other one "users active in last 30 days"? --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 16:21, 19 March 2025 (UTC)

== email confirmation ==

my email confirmation did not get sent even after a week. is there anything wrong? - [[User:Bb777|(((((((((((((([...]((((((((((((((]] ([[User talk:Bb777|talk]]) 21:36, 22 March 2025 (UTC)
:been broken for a decade i think. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 08:25, 23 March 2025 (UTC)
::WE REALLY NEED JEFF BACK !!!!!!!! [[User:Bb777|hi]] ([[User talk:Bb777|talk]]) 16:12, 24 March 2025 (UTC)

== RSS ==

RIP RSS feed yet again. 23:29, 24 March 2025 (UTC)23:29, 24 March 2025 (UTC)23:29, 24 March 2025 (UTC)23:29, 24 March 2025 (UTC)23:29, 24 March 2025 (UTC)23:29, 24 March 2025 (UTC)23:29, 24 March 2025 (UTC)[[User:Bb777|[insert signature here]]] ([[User talk:Bb777|talk]])
:Is there something new we should know? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.58.6|172.70.58.6]] 00:30, 25 March 2025 (UTC)

3047: Rotary Tool

2025-02-24T06:12:21Z

物灵: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 3047
| date = February 5, 2025
| title = Rotary Tool
| image = rotary_tool_2x.png
| imagesize = 528x468px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It was great until my thumb slipped and I accidentally launched my telescope into the air at Mach 8.
}}

==Explanation==
It is common to find multipurpose handheld tools that can function as higher-speed drills and lower-speed screwdrivers, switching between modes with a slider. The tool in this comic appears to have extended that concept to the extreme, covering both very high-speed and very low-speed tools. Presumably the tool has a rotating part at one end that can accept multiple attachments to facilitate the different uses.

All of these speeds are sensible for the specified uses. However, engineering a single tool to perform reliably across the required range of speeds is likely to be deeply impractical. Equally, designing the base unit such that it can be usefully employed to all these purposes would be a substantial challenge. For example, a household drill needs to be both portable and reasonably bulky, whereas a record player needs good stability, and a dental drill needs to be small enough to be moved flexibly and delicately. In any case, it's highly unlikely that any individual would have a need for all these uses,{{citation needed}} so the market for such a tool would be extremely limited.

The title text highlights one of the downsides of combining functions in this way — the potential for using the wrong setting for the task at hand, by carelessness or clumsiness, with detrimental effects. In this case, while attempting to use the "sidereal telescope mount" option with an actual telescope, the user accidentally changed the tool to a much higher speed setting, launching it into the air, on a ballistic trajectory with {{w|hypersonic speed}}. More commonly, attempting to insert a screw while on the drill setting could cause damage to the item being screwed together, the screw itself, or the screwdriver bit.

The precession setting refers to the {{w|Precession of the equinoxes|precession of the equinoxes (axial precession)}}, which happens on a 26,000-year cycle that corresponds to the {{w|Revolutions per minute|RPM}} rate shown. The average person does not need to adjust their telescope for such minor shifts, certainly not on a constant basis. This may be beneficial for scientists making precise measurements but they would have more powerful and dedicated tools to this end. For commercial use by the public, this would not be remotely necessary.

The {{w|Dremel#Rotary tools|Dremel}} tool referred to is a high-speed, low-torque {{w|rotary tool}} that can be fitted with a variety of bits for cutting, sanding, grinding, sharpening, polishing, engraving, machining, etc.

The speed of the dental drill might seem excessive, but according to [https://sableindustriesinc.com/what-is-a-high-speed-handpiece-how-it-works-speed-more/ Sable Industries], a manufacturer of high-speed dental drills, they can run "at speeds of between 300,000 and 450,000 RPM." They squirt water as they rotate to cool the bits down, so they don't overheat (a further design complication for this multitool).

The speeds labeled "record player" are intended to correspond to standard rotational speeds of {{w|Phonograph record|phonograph records}}. The intended playback speed standardized at 78 rpm (not 72 rpm as depicted in the comic) in the 1920s, with a record diameter of 10 inches. The speed and size, as well as the required width of the groove encoding the music, dictated a playing time of about 3½ minutes per side; collections of 78 rpm records were released as albums. Beginning in the late 1940s, records designed to be played back at 33⅓ rpm (close enough to the 33 rpm in the comic) were produced, to allow longer play times (hence the LP designation, for "long play") on similar-sized records, which standardized on a 12 inch diameter. This was commonly used to release an collection of songs on a single disc, still called an "album", totaling about 22 minutes per side. Concurrently, an alternative format, 7 inch diameter records designed to be played at 45 rpm, was produced, allowing about 5 minutes per side. This was often used to release "singles" (a single song on each side of the record). The 33⅓ and 45 rpm playback speeds supplanted 78 rpm, and remain the standards today.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|-
! Function !! Speed (rpm) !! Rotation / Revolution Period !! Diameter of Bit for Mach 8 Launch Speed !! Notes
|-
| Sidereal mount precession adapter || 0.000000000073 || ~26,000 years || 2399.4 au || see {{w|axial precession}}
|-
| Sidereal telescope mount || 0.00070 || 23.93 hours || 37,433.2 km || rotates once per {{w|Sidereal time|sidereal day}}
|-
| Hour hand on a clock || 0.0014 || 12 hours || 18,866.4 km || Typical 12-hour analog dial (as opposed to a {{w|24-hour analog dial}})
|-
| Minute hand on a clock || 0.017 || 60 minutes || 1,572.2 km
|-
| Second hand on a clock || 1 || 1 minute || 26.203 km || By definition a second hand rotates at 1 rpm because it completes a single rotation each minute
|-
| 33 rpm {{w|Phonograph|record player}} || 33 || 1.8 seconds || 794.0 m || It's actually 33⅓ rpm
|-
| 45 rpm {{w|Phonograph|record player}} || 45 || 1.3 seconds || 582.3 m
|-
| 72 rpm {{w|Phonograph|record player}} || 72 || 0.8 seconds || 363.9 m || probable typo for 78 rpm
|-
| {{w|Screwdriver#Powered screwdrivers|Screwdriver}} || 300 || 0.2 seconds || 87.344 m || Screwdrivers rotate much slower than similar looking drills to avoid stripping the screws
|-
| Drill || 1,500|| 40 milliseconds || 17.469 m
|-
| Airplane propeller ||2,500|| 24 milliseconds || 10.481 m
|-
| {{w|Dremel#Rotary tools|Dremel}} || 35,000 || 1.7 milliseconds || 74.866 cm || The speed of a basic Dremel, many Dremel tools have variable speeds from 5,000 to 35,000 rpm
|-
| {{w|Zippe-type centrifuge|Uranium enrichment centrifuge}} || 60,000 || 1 millisecond || 43.672 cm
|-
| {{w|Dental drill}} || 300,000 || 0.2 milliseconds || 87.344 mm
|-
|}
[Note that all speeds are rounded to two significant figures, which may result in some variance from the intended result when trying to calculate revolution times from them.]

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:Multi-function rotary tool

:[A close-up of a stick-shaped tool, where on the side of a section is a panel with a slider adjustable in various levels annotated with numbers and texts. Besides the panel there are some invisible inlays. One visible end of the section is attached to another section.]
:Speed (rpm) Function
:0.000000000073: Sidereal mount precession adapter
:0.00070: Sidereal telescope mount
:[Following three are labeled "clock hands":]
:0.0014: h
:0.017: m
:1: s
:[Following three are labeled "record player":]
:33: 33
:45: 45
:72: 72
:300: Screwdriver [Current setting]
:1500: Drill
:2500: Airplane propeller
:35 000: Dremel
:60 000: Uranium enrichment centrifuge
:300 000: Dental drill

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Telescopes]]

Talk:3054: Scream Cipher

2025-02-24T05:38:28Z

物灵:

What's the American alphabet? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.64.213|172.68.64.213]] 01:16, 22 February 2025 (UTC)AnAussie
Anyone know a good free all-language OCR tool to help with the transcript? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.67.156|172.69.67.156]] 17:30, 21 February 2025 (UTC)
: Found one here: https://www.lexilogos.com/keyboard/diacritics.htm --mezimm [[Special:Contributions/172.68.2.70|172.68.2.70]] 17:52, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

The written cipher is very interesting, but where can I hear recordings of the spoken form? [[Special:Contributions/Rockymountain|Rockymountain]] 17:31, 21 February 2025 (UTC)
: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL4piuUn5nc Here ya go.] --mezimm [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.117|172.68.35.117]] 17:54, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

Are Cueball and Megan millenials? Who else would text greetings when they're standing right next to each other? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 17:38, 21 February 2025 (UTC)
:They could be texting other people. [[User:B_for_brain|B for brain]] ([[User_talk:B_for_brain|talk]]) ([https://www.youtube.com/@bforbrain youtube channel] [https://bforbrain.weebly.com/ wobsite (supposed to be a blag)]) 19:37, 21 February 2025 (UTC)
:Engineers and cyberfolk were text messaging their neighbors rather than talking long before it was <s>cool</s> encouraged for social distancing or quarantine! It's always helpful to get a reminder not to do this. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.101|162.158.159.101]] 20:37, 21 February 2025 (UTC)
:They might not be diegetically in the same room. Comics can get weird with physical space. [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 20:34, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

Likely a pun on "stream cipher"

- Related reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scream_(cipher) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.26.229|172.68.26.229]] 17:46, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

A̦ÅÄ ẠÂÅȀ, A̓A̅ ȀÅÄĂA̱ ȦÁ ÂÁAĂĂA̦ A̮ÄÂÂA̦ A̓A̮ ȀÁ A̱A̓A̱ A ÀÁÂÃA̓ÅÂ ÅA̮ A̅A̰A̓Ã A̭AA̋Á A̓Â A̅A̰A̓Ã ÃA̅A̦ĂÁ! --mezimm [[Special:Contributions/172.68.3.112|172.68.3.112]] 17:50, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

:The Wikifunction [https://www.wikifunctions.org/view/en/Z22728 from Scream] returns "YOU KNOW, JA̅ WOULD BE NEALLY FUNNY JF WE DJD A VENSJON OF A̅HJS A̭AGE JN A̅HJS SA̅YLE!". Hmmm... [[User:Mwarren|Mwarren]] ([[User talk:Mwarren|talk]]) 19:04, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

::The page you link to came into existence 7 minutes after I had posted this comment ;) I was doing it all manually, using [https://www.lexilogos.com/keyboard/diacritics.htm this page] and best-guess attempts to interpret what Randall's handwritten diacritics were meant to correspond to. --mezimm [[Special:Contributions/172.68.1.158|172.68.1.158]] 19:55, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

::: updated version: "A̦ÅÄ ẠÂÅȀ, ẢĀ ȀÅÄĂA̱ ȦÁ ȂÁAĂĂA̦ A̮ÄÂÂA̦ ẢA̮ ȀÁ A̱ẢA̱ A ÀÁȂÃẢÅÂ ÅA̮ ĀA̰ẢÃ A̯AA̋Á ẢÂ ĀA̰ẢÃ ÃĀA̦ĂÁ!" --mezimm [[Special:Contributions/172.68.3.67|172.68.3.67]] 20:01, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

On Wikifunctions, we implemented the two functions [https://www.wikifunctions.org/view/en/Z22725 to Scream Cipher] and [https://www.wikifunctions.org/view/en/Z22728 from Scream Cipher] --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.38.235|172.70.38.235]] 18:09, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

:It looks like the wikifunctions are using a different character for "D" than [https://scream-cipher.netlify.app/ the github project] linked in the explanation. Seems as though one's using U+0331 and the other's using 0332. [[User:Schiffy|Schiffy]] ([[User_talk:Schiffy|Speak to me]]|[[Special:Contributions/Schiffy|What I've done]]) 20:32, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

Is there a logic behind the choices of the letter? I guess A̧ is for C because of the French ç and Å is pronounced like O in some Nordic languages. Also, is it A̱, A̲ or A̲ ? (or something else). [[Special:Contributions/172.71.126.50|172.71.126.50]] 18:10, 21 February 2025 (UTC)
: Seems to be mostly visual similarity. Å has an actual O shape added to it. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.171|172.70.110.171]] 20:19, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

I give it a week for people to make a translator to and from this cipher. [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 18:20, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

- The Wikifunctions translations above were complete at least 11 minutes ''before'' your comment and well within the goal of one week :-) . [[User:Mwarren|Mwarren]] ([[User talk:Mwarren|talk]]) 19:04, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

Numbers should be variations of h and/or g. [[User:Andyd273|Andyd273]] ([[User talk:Andyd273|talk]]) 18:32, 21 February 2025 (UTC)#
:H > g [[User:SqueakSquawk4|SqueakSquawk4]] ([[User talk:SqueakSquawk4|talk]]) 18:59, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

Using ''sed'' you can encode with <code>sed 's/C/A̧/g;s/D/A̱/g;s/F/A̮/g;s/G/A̋/g;s/H/A̰/g;s/J/A̓/g;s/P/A̯/g;s/Q/A̤/g;s/X/A̽/g;s/Y/A̦/g;y/BEIKLMNORSTUVWZ/ȦÁẢẠĂǍÂÅȂÃĀÄÀȀȺ/'</code> and decode with <code>sed 's/A̧/C/g;s/A̱/D/g;s/A̮/F/g;s/A̋/G/g;s/A̰/H/g;s/A̓/J/g;s/A̯/P/g;s/A̤/Q/g;s/A̽/X/g;s/A̦/Y/g;y/ȦÁẢẠĂǍÂÅȂÃĀÄÀȀȺ/BEIKLMNORSTUVWZ/'</code>. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.102|162.158.159.102]] 18:41, 21 February 2025 (UTC)
: This is really neat. I suppose `tr` might work too. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.10.242|162.158.10.242]] 16:15, 22 February 2025 (UTC)
:: I don't think `tr` can be used, at least not the most common (GNU) implementation; it doesn't do multibyte characters (and thus UTF-8 or other Unicode). [[User:Chaw|chaw]] ([[User talk:Chaw|talk]]) 20:32, 23 February 2025 (UTC)
::: You'd be able to use Perl's inbuilt equivalent tr/// (or y///) fair enough. I'd have to test for edge cases, but might or might not have to fight with /u or /l post-params (if otherwise desired), in concatonation with /i for case-insensitivity (useful for upconverting "plainText" to "CIPHERTEXT", unless you're also wanting to cater for "á" as well as "Á" in code, so that it can be restored upon decoding). There's plenty of scope for all of this, of course, well beyond the brief spec as given in the comic. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.108|162.158.74.108]] 20:47, 23 February 2025 (UTC)

It would be really funny if someone added an image of Bill Cipher screaming, with the tag "A screaming cipher". It wouldn't reall fit but it'd be funny [[User:SqueakSquawk4|SqueakSquawk4]] ([[User talk:SqueakSquawk4|talk]]) 18:59, 21 February 2025 (UTC)
:[[File:Screamingcipher.png]] I did. [[User:B_for_brain|B for brain]] ([[User_talk:B_for_brain|talk]]) ([https://www.youtube.com/@bforbrain youtube channel] [https://bforbrain.weebly.com/ wobsite (supposed to be a blag)]) 19:57, 21 February 2025 (UTC) (EDIT: WOW, that thing is MASSIVE! Can someone please downscale it because I have no idea how. You have permission to edit my comment '''''only for that.''''') (DOUBLE EDIT: Nevermind, I did it.)
Someone started a GitHub repo with a web-based encoded/decoder already: https://github.com/Reginald-Gillespie/StreamCipher [[User:Dlech|Dlech]] ([[User talk:Dlech|talk]]) 19:35, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

I'd almost want to edit in my repo instead of the current one because mine is objectively better, but I'm new to this and not sure if that's appropriate or not =P (I don't even know if I am commenting correctly) [[User:WKoA|WKoA]] ([[User talk:WKoA|talk]]) 00:17, 22 February 2025 (UTC)
:Look to the likes of the [[1190: Time]] comic, where several different fanbase compilations may have been given. I would anticipate that you could do a decent job of editing "This thing here does..." into "Ways of experiencing it include this [existing one] and that [yours] [with room to add more, if they add up]. Or just mention your link here, let others decide if your claims of (better?) functionality stand up enough to prompt it to be put up alongside/ahead/instead of the other. I am at least intrigued as to how you did it differently.
:And you certainly had a bit of trouble with the signing. Just add <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> to the end of Talk comments and it autoreplaces. No need to go back in and edit (I added the original timestamp back in, for you, just for future reference). Unless of course you forgot to do it the first time... ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.161|172.71.178.161]] 02:41, 22 February 2025 (UTC)

I know you can decode a substitution cipher by counting letters and replacing common ones like 'E' and then filling in the rest by inspection, but what kinds of automated approaches are there? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.105|162.158.159.105]] 20:14, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

'''HEADS UP:''' I just changed A̲ (0332 COMBINING LOW LINE) to A̱ (0331 COMBINING MACRON BELOW) as encoding for "D" in the table and the transcript. Rationale: "T" is written with macron, so it's only logical to encode "D" likewise. A "low line" is longer than a macron, and looking at Randall's comic, the line below the "D" is definitely not longer than the one above "T". It would also make no sense to encode "T" with a "combining low line" as well when a single, uncombined character exists. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.123|172.70.114.123]] 20:29, 21 February 2025 (UTC)
: These options should all be including as different writing styles! I think the longer line makes it clearer that A̲ represents D because the ink comes nearer to forming into a closed curve. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.68|172.68.54.68]] 15:55, 22 February 2025 (UTC)

I expect to win a Turing Award for my proof this cypher is computationally equivalent to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitespace_(programming_language) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.19|172.71.158.19]] 02:57, 22 February 2025 (UTC)

The page technically uses the incorrect characters for (at least) E, M, N, O, R, S, and T based on the title text shown on xkcd.com. The original title text uses two separate characters (ex. A + 0301 COMBINING ACUTE ACCENT for E), whereas the table uses the combined character (ex. 00C1 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH ACUTE for E). Alternatively, my browser is just doing something weird. Not necessarily worth updating, but something I noticed when implementing the cipher. [[User:Abus|Abus]] ([[User talk:Abus|talk]]) 06:22, 22 February 2025 (UTC)
: I think it's the browser. Firefox->Page Source gives me A+COMBINING WHATEVER, but <code>w3m -dump_source https://xkcd.com/3054/ | zcat | grep 'img.*title='</code> returns single characters. The title text here on explainxkcd was copied by ''TheusafBOT''. I trust ''TheusafBOT'' and ''w3m'' to be so basic and simple that they wouldn't try to do something 'clever' with the characters, whereas I tend to suspect the multi-MB-monster Firefox messed things up. I'm just guessing, though... could maybe someone test with yet another browser - e.g. Edge or Opera? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.107|162.158.159.107]] 11:52, 22 February 2025 (UTC)
:: Argh, no, turns out ''w3m'', and also ''wget'' all return A+COMBINING THINGY, but they got merged into the single chars by my ''xterm'' when I copied them to some 'identify unicode' web page. Looking at the raw file dumped by ''wget'' I see A+COMBINING XX - I think... So I think you are right with your observation! Randall uses A+COMBINING XX for the title text on XKCD (though I really doubt that was intentional), then ''TheusafBOT'' merged the characters when it copied the text to create this page. That said, I still think using the merged chars is cleaner. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.107|162.158.159.107]] 12:20, 22 February 2025 (UTC)
::: It may be worth noting the difference somewhere, even though the merged chars are cleaner. Someone copying the characters from this page to encipher text would technically be in violation of the "spec" since Randall used the two character version in the title text. If someone wished to decipher the title text from the original XKCD, this characters on this page would fail. [[User:Abus|Abus]] ([[User talk:Abus|talk]]) 18:56, 22 February 2025 (UTC)
: unsure how to indent a sourceblock, see below [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.167|172.68.54.167]] 16:13, 22 February 2025 (UTC)
<source>$ curl -s https://m.xkcd.com | sed -ne 's/.*id="altText">$[^<]*$<.*/\1/p' | iconv -f utf8 -t wchar_t | hexdump -C
00000000 41 00 00 00 41 00 00 00 41 00 00 00 41 00 00 00 |A...A...A...A...|
00000010 41 00 00 00 41 00 00 00 20 00 00 00 41 00 00 00 |A...A... ...A...|
00000020 20 00 00 00 41 00 00 00 03 03 00 00 41 00 00 00 | ...A.......A...|
00000030 27 03 00 00 41 00 00 00 41 00 00 00 11 03 00 00 |'...A...A.......|
00000040 41 00 00 00 26 03 00 00 20 00 00 00 41 00 00 00 |A...&... ...A...|
00000050 0c 03 00 00 41 00 00 00 0a 03 00 00 41 00 00 00 |....A.......A...|
00000060 02 03 00 00 41 00 00 00 03 03 00 00 41 00 00 00 |....A.......A...|
00000070 04 03 00 00 41 00 00 00 01 03 00 00 41 00 00 00 |....A.......A...|
00000080 11 03 00 00 20 00 00 00 41 00 00 00 41 00 00 00 |.... ...A...A...|
00000090 41 00 00 00 41 00 00 00 41 00 00 00 41 00 00 00 |A...A...A...A...|
000000a0 41 00 00 00 21 00 00 00 0a 00 00 00 |A...!.......|</source>

'''TRIARESIS'''
Does anyone else view the triaresis as a missed opportunity? I'm thinking of Die Aerzte". [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_%C3%84rzte#Band_name]. Can someone insert the image of the band's logo? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.102.222|172.71.102.222]] 17:21, 22 February 2025 (UTC)
:I saw that, when following up on the actual A-diaresisand I quite like the idea that they {{tvtropes|HeavyMetalUmlaut|heavy metal umlauted}} an ''actual'' existing umlaut/diaeresis... If it weren't irrelevent to the comic (and skipped the bit at the top that actually translates the name), I might have relinked to that anchor point. But happily boosting the visibility of it here with a small reply⋯ [[Special:Contributions/172.68.205.122|172.68.205.122]] 21:31, 22 February 2025 (UTC)

Yes, should encode all numbers, in binary, using 'g' and 'h' for 0 and 1.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.195|172.70.162.195]] 17:56, 22 February 2025 (UTC)
:Why g and h? I saw an early comment saying the same. Why those when letters are A? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:14, 22 February 2025 (UTC)
::I presume for the "AAAAAAAAAGH!" type thing... (Although, given that a number would then be something like GHHHGGH, as a separate word, I'm not sure it'll look "AAAAAAAGH"ish.
::And is it coded as MSF (42=101010), N-bit (e.g. =00101010), BCD per digit (4=0100 2=0010 =01000010) or some other form? Plenty of scope for interpretation.
::Also, might I suggest E and I (or I and E) for it, instead..? IEIEIE EEIEIEIE EIEEEEIE! [[Special:Contributions/172.68.205.178|172.68.205.178]] 19:10, 22 February 2025 (UTC)

Should "Augh" be added to the versions of screaming? Randall uses it alot, e.g. https://xkcd.com/493/, https://xkcd.com/1401/, https://xkcd.com/1388/, https://xkcd.com/1207/, https://xkcd.com/1226/, https://xkcd.com/780/, https://xkcd.com/990/ {{unsigned|Drkaii|18:06, 22 February 2025}}

ÅĂÃÃÀ ÂȦA̮Ⱥ! A̯ ȀA̦ÀȀÀȺĂ A̰ ÂÀÀẠ A̤ÀẢ AA̦ÀȀÅA̮ ǍA̦ÀĀ 2916 AÀ A̰ÄA̮ÀÄĂ A̱ÅÀ A̓A̰Ä ǍA̯ÄẠ A̓ÅA̰A̦A̰A̓AĂA̦Ⱥ ǍÀA̦ ȀȦÄA̓AȦA̰AA̯ÀÄ A̰ÄẠ ÄȦĀẢĂA̦Ⱥ AÀ A̰ẠẠ A̯ÄAÀ AÅĂ A̓A̯ȀÅĂA̦, A̰ÄẠ A̱ÅA̯AĂ ÅA̰A'Ⱥ ÅA̰A AÀ A̰ÄA̮ÀÄĂ A̱ÅÀ A̓A̰Ä ẠĂA̓A̯ȀÅĂA̦ AÅA̯Ⱥ A̯Ä 1 ĀA̯ÄȦAĂ ẢA̮ ÅA̰ÄẠ. (A̰ẢÂĀ: ĀȂA̦ A A̧ẢA̯A̰ÁȂ ĀA̰AĀ ȦÁA̋ẢÂÃ ȀẢĀA̰ ĀA̰Á ȦĂÄÁ, AÂA̱ A̱ÅÁÃ ẢĀÃ ȀÅȂẠ ȦA̦ A̱ÅẢÂA̋ A ĀȂAÂÃĂAĀẢÅÂ.)
(A̰ẢÂĀ ĀÅ ĀA̰Á A̰ẢÂĀ: ĀA̰Á ȦĂÄÁ A̧ÅÀÁȂÃ 70% ÅA̮ ĀA̰Á ȀÅȂĂA̱'Ã ÃÄȂA̮AA̧Á.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.46|162.158.90.46]] 03:57, 23 February 2025 (UTC)

Can anybody provide pronunciation notes or recordings for those 'A's which are actually used in human languages? Can we transcribe the title text and the "Hello", "Hi" from the comic in IPA or something? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.88|141.101.99.88]] 10:33, 23 February 2025 (UTC)

Choose the base letters arbitrarily other than ‘A’ and we get {{w|furigana}}. [[User:物灵|物灵]] ([[User talk:物灵|talk]]) 05:38, 24 February 2025 (UTC)

3032: Skew-T Log-P

2025-01-03T13:31:33Z

物灵: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 3032
| date = January 1, 2025
| title = Skew-T Log-P
| image = skew_t_log_p_2x.png
| imagesize = 569x626px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The most important quantity for meteorologists is of course the product of latent pressure and temperostrophic enthalpy, though 'how nice the weather is' is a close second.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT CLEANING UP AFTER DAVE - This needs an explanation. Table not filled out. Also the title text was not mentioned at all. I added a very simple start to this, but nothing about what the product actually means, please expand... Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|skew-T log-P diagram|Skew-T log-P diagrams}} are commonly used to plot {{w|atmospheric sounding|atmospheric soundings}} collected by {{w|weather balloon|weather balloons}}. The name comes from the temperature (T) lines being skewed at a 45-degree angle, and the pressure (P) lines being logarithmic in scale.

Because the diagrams have a lot of lines on them (isobars, isotherms, adiabats, and mixing ratios, and that's before plotting the actual measurements of temperature and dew point temperature), they can be hard to understand. The comic pretends to offer an explanation of one such diagram, but most of the explanations are blatantly incorrect or humorous in nature. The diagram appears to have either measurements from two separate weather balloons or the measured temperature and dewpoint from a single balloon, with solid lines for rising balloon(s) and dashed ones for popped balloon(s) falling back down. Two lines and various styles of lines in real diagrams generally mean different measurements from the same balloon (or other sensor platform) track. See details in the [[#Table with terms|table]] below. Many weather balloons are designed to rupture after reaching a certain height high in the atmosphere.

In the title text it is stated that "The most important quantity for meteorologists is of course the product of latent pressure and temperostrophic enthalpy, though 'how nice the weather is' is a close second". So it jokes by comparing a non-existent, complicated-sounding product (temperostrophic enthalpy is not actually a thing) with a simple sentence about how nice the weather is.

[[File:Annotated_Skew_T_diagram.png|thumb|An actual Skew-T Log-P diagram, with several real annotations. The X-axis has temperature (blue diagonal lines in diagram) and the Y-axis has pressure in millibars.]]The true design of a Skew-T Log-P diagram is intended to best represent the nature of the weather in any given column of atmosphere. The pressure (vertical axis, with pressure being closely but not exactly inversely related to altitude) is shown as a logarithmic scale (i.e., Log-P) because it makes altitudes nearly evenly spaced. Plotting pressure proportionately (which must also be from top to bottom, to match its general relationship with altitude) would space features out in ways that would be hard to use and interpret, whereas the logarithmic scale is far more pragmatic. The temperature scale is deliberately tilted, rather than orthogonal, which (together with the logarithmic nature of the inverted pressure scale) allows the typical way that temperatures fall with altitude(≈as pressure falls) to trend roughly vertically, give or take the notable changes that are key to understanding the forecast. Other measurement lines, differently skewed and often also curving across the temperature/pressure skewed-log 'grid', represent various other idealistic relationships (where both T and P vary, keeping another measure constant) that are useful references to meteorologists.

Upon this style of graph are plotted the ''actual'' measurements obtained by releasing a weather balloon or other sensor. As well as the variation of actual temperatures and pressures, other retrieved and calculated data is plotted, such as the {{w|dew point}}. The dew point, a function of the air's {{w|absolute humidity|water content}}, temperature, and pressure, is where condensation begins. By observing how the actual measurements and dew point line converge and cross, the development and nature of clouds can be tracked and pinned to specific cloud layers. Further details may also be included, such as wind-direction and wind-speed indications (often to the side of the plot) to give a visual cue about possible {{w|wind shear}} and/or to suggest which direction of adjacent weather-station readings may hold clues as to what changes may later blow in above the current site.

==Table with terms==
{| class="wikitable"
!Item in comic
!Correct?
!Explanation
|-
| Pressure latitude || No || {{w|Pressure altitude|Pressure ''altitude''}} is the height above a standard datum plane, a theoretical level where the pressure of the atmosphere is 1013.24 millibars (29.921 inHg). It's essentially an estimate of altitude calculated from atmospheric pressure.
|-
| Enthalpic pressure || No || {{w|Enthalpy}} is the total internal energy of a thermodynamic system plus the product of the system's pressure and volume. Essentially, it represents the energy contained in a system, and is independent of the means or sequence of operations that the system went through to achieve its current state.
|-
| Entropic density || No || {{w|Entropy}} is a quantity that shows many physical processes can only go in one chronological direction. An egg can be scrambled, but cannot be "un-scrambled." Ordered systems have high entropy, with differences in temperature, pressure, potential energy, or the like. Disordered systems have low entropy, without temperature, pressure, electrical, or other differentials.
|-
| Latent heat of cooling || No || {{w|Latent heat}} is the energy absorbed or released by a system during a '''constant-temperature''' process, like melting, freezing, boiling, or condensing. Cooling is a process of lowering a temperature, and therefore not a constant-temperature process. The humor comes considering the "heat of cooling."
|-
| Isobars || Yes || Lines denoting equal ("{{wiktionary|iso-}}") air pressure ("{{wiktionary|bar-|-bar}}"), probably most often recognized as the indicators of how ground-level pressures change (or not) across the horizontal area depicted on a weather ''map''. In this type of chart, which depicts data obtained from above a single point, it has the same meaning but is instead a pre-existing reference line across which the actual data is plotted, and does not itself indicate the nature of any wind.
|-
| Omnitrophic wind || No || Something "omnitrophic" would apparently be "all-eating", in some scientific sense. An omnitrophic wind would probably be a concerning phenomenon.
Probably a play on something like {{w|geostrophic wind}} ("geo"+"strophic" being from "Earth curving"), a theoretical state of wind that results from an exact balance between the {{w|Coriolis force}} and the {{w|pressure gradient}} force.
|-
| Isomers || No || Different forms of molecules with the same formula, with the atoms or functional groups arranged differently. An example would be propanol, which has three isomers. One of the most common isomers of propanol has its OH functional group in the middle, so is called isopropyl alcohol or isopropanol.
However, these are actually iso'''therm''' lines, representing equal temperature.
|-
| These lines are slightly different because Dave messed them up || No || Indicating isotherms (or, according to the comic, "isomers"), the suggestion is that slightly wrong lines were drawn by Dave and had to be corrected.
The real reason for the not quite identical lines is that the measured temperature at a given pressure can be converted to or from the ''potential'' temperature that the same air would have if at a standard pressure (holding the same amount of heat energy). For practical reasons, both for composing and interpreting the eventual plot, each of the slightly differently skewed isotherms are given, usually in clearly differentiable styles of line.

The "Dave" of the description may be David Bolton, whose 1980 paper introduced a means of calculating the atmosphere's potential temperature<ref>https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/mwre/108/7/1520-0493_1980_108_1046_tcoept_2_0_co_2.xml</ref>.
|-
| Line of constant thermodynamics || No || {{w|Thermodynamics}} is a branch of physics concerned with work, temperature, heat, the way they relate to entropy, energy, enthalpy, and the physical properties of radiation and matter. As a field of study, Thermodynamics does not have '''constant lines,''' except perhaps as a means of describing a consistent avenue of research.
|-
| Uncomfortably moist adiabat || Wrongly placed, unusually qualified|| This labels a segment of isotherm, which is the exact 'opposite' of an adiabat.
An adiabat is a line along which temperature can change for a given mass, without changing the amount of energy. This is primarily made possible by changing the density (by a change in pressure) of the gas. There are typically two types of adiabat, marked for reference on the plot, "dry adiabat" (curves across the isotherms perpendicularly, to create a largely square but slightly curved grid with them), and "moist/saturated adiabat" (the latter's heat-maintaining profile is influenced greatly by the humidity content, and produces graphing lines vastly different from the equivalent "dry" versions). Randall has declared this (erroneous) type of adiabat to be "uncomfortably" moist, so presumably not totally saturated but also not subjectively 'pleasant'.
|-
| Oops, the balloon flew through a ghost || No || Ghosts do not exist.{{cn}} However, one of the purported effects of ghosts (such as in the film *The Sixth Sense*) is a transient/local lowering of temperature around and/or inside them. The line is interpreted as showing a local low temperature encountered at this pressure(/altitude).
This line, however, is probably the dew point line, indicating that in passing through this layer of the atmosphere, a drier band of air was encountered which would theoretically be cooled a lot more before the water-vapor oversaturates it and liquid water droplets form.
|-
| No birds up here :( || Yes* || This point is near the top of the diagram, with an air pressure of about 110 millibar - about 15 kilometers (50,000 feet) above sea level. This is well above the highest [https://peregrinefund.org/explore-raptors-species/vultures/ruppells-vulture flight height of any known bird species]. However, this information is irrelevant to the purpose of a skew-T log-P diagram.
|-
| Track of rising weather balloon || Yes, partially || Although there are other ways of recording these details, this is typically the record of a rising balloon.
However, it would be a track of the balloon through the varying pressures and temperatures that it records (as the second line of this type records the measurements of dew point at each pressure value). Moreover, circumstances that would make the recorded data plot out a neat {{w|figure-eight knot}} (see "Seems bad", below) are very unlikely.
|-
| Track of popped balloon falling back down || Possible, partially || A standard plot track will include two strong lines, as this has, representing not ''two'' balloons but the recorded temperature track ''and'' the dew point track, both against the (altitude surrogate) progressive pressure changes at each pressure-point.
A further pair of tracks as dotted lines could possibly be from a different launch (earlier, later or simultaneous from an adjacent location) as an analytical reference, but ''may'' indeed be the additional results obtained as the scientific package rapidly descends once the balloon pops.
|-
| Meteogenesis || No || The chart purports to show the path of two weather balloons crossing and labels the space between them with a new word. The root "meteo" means something high up (in this case, balloons) and "genesis" means creation. The implication is that a new balloon was created, though no third flight path is shown so it presumably did not fly separately or was not tracked.
In reality, one of the tracks (almost certainly the left one) is the track of the measured dew point. Where the line of the existing conditions cross this line is where the moisture will precipitate out and form clouds, a process that might well be called "{{wiktionary|meteor#English|meteo}}+{{wiktionary|genesis#English|genesis}}", but {{w|Cloud physics|isn't}}.
|-
| Seems bad || Not a common feature || The path of the balloon loops around in the shape of a {{w|figure-eight knot}}, which would indicate very chaotic conditions at that point, if taken as positional informtion
As the actual Skew-T Log-P graph does not record positional information, this is best interpreted as having encountered a fluctuating temperature as the pressure decreases, continuing as something (possibly {{w|Wind shear#Vertical component|vertical wind shear}}, or some form of compression waves, encounter the instruments) creates a temporary increased in external pressure and then circumstances return it to its more typical altitude-induced pressure-drop. Though this is not ''impossible'' to naturally happen, it might even be best interpreted as the instruments being deliberately 'buzzed' by a passing aircraft or rocket, including some intermittent form of thermal backwash as the interfering craft criss-crosses the balloon's physical track in a briefly complex encounter.
 Whatever happened to the temperature/pressure track, it apparently did not significantly change the associated dew-point/pressure track (if the pressure did indeed temporarily rise, the related dew points repeated themselves each time the pressure values were re-encountered).
|-
| Dew point || Wrongly represented || The temperature at which water condenses out of the air, and therefore dew starts to form, given the amount of water vapor in the air. It is shown here as an ''actual'' single point, when it should be a line (typically the leftmost solid plotted line) representing the temperature at which dew should form at any given pressure.
|-
| Humidor || No || In reality, is a {{w|Humidor|container}} that is used maintain a more controllable humidity within which to store smoking products. In the graph, points at the line that is probably representing the dew point, which is represents the ''actual'' humidity encountered.
|-
| Heavyside layer || No || In the metaphysical cosmology of the musical ''Cats'', the Heavyside Layer is a blissful afterlife which all the cats in the musical long for. It is likely included here as a comical misspelling of the {{w|Kennelly-Heaviside layer|(Kennelly-)Heaviside layer}}, also called the E region of the {{w|ionosphere}} that was co-discovered by {{w|Arthur E. Kennelly}} and {{w|Oliver Heaviside}}. In this diagram it is apparently labeling a heavily marked isotherm, or line of constant temperature - most likely the 0°C line, the freezing point of water that is of great importance to meteorologists, pilots, etc.
|-
| These lines are tilted because the wind is blowing them || No || The wind is not actually a derivable featured of this diagram, which does not have data of either direction or strength of air movement.
These lines are actually dry adiabats (see above), possibly two sets due to a similar renormalized interpretation, as with the isotherms, at a given reference pressure.
|-
| Don't stand here or you might get hit by a balloon || No || This is a diagram of some measurements, not a place you could stand.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:How to interpret a skew-T log-P diagram
:[The comic shows a skew-T log-P diagram. On it are various labels, including isobars, comments, and other interpretations of the diagram.]
:[Left to the diagram is an upwards-pointing arrow with the label "Pressure Latitude". Right to the diagram is a downwards-pointing arrow with the label "Entropic Density". Below the diagram is a right-pointing arrow with the label "Enthalpic Pressure".]
:[Two solid and dashed lines extend from the top line to the bottom line of the diagram.]
:[The remaining various labels are inside the diagram.]

:[Labels on the left:]
:[An arrow pointing to a densive dashed segment attaching to one solid line:] Latent heat of cooling
:[A label lying on one horizontal guide:] — Isobars —
:[An arrow pointing to the intersection of one solid and dashed line:] Omnitrophic wind
:[A label lying on one left-downward guide:] Isomers
:[A label lying on one right-downward guide:] Line of constant thermodynamics
:[An arrow pointing to a solid dashed segment on one left-downward guide:] Uncomfortably moist adiabat
:[An arrow pointing to the same solid line as ‘latent heat of cooling’:] Humidor
:[An arrow pointing to a steep peak on the same solid line:] Oops, the balloon flew through a ghost
:[To adjacent arrows pointing to two left-downward guide not perfectly coinciding to each other:] These lines are slightly different because Dave messed them up
:[An arrow pointing to the end of solid and dashed lines on the bottom line:] Don’t stand here or you might get hit by a balloon

:[Labels on the right:]
:[An arrow pointing to the top line:] No birds up here :(
:[An arrow pointing to one solid line generally:] Track of rising weather balloon
:[An arrow pointing to one dashed line generally:] Track of popped balloon falling back down
:[An arrow pointing to crossing of two solid lines, The area enclosed by which is painted black] Meteogenesis
:[An arrow pointing to a knot on one solid line:] Seems bad
:[An arrow pointing to a dot] Dew point
:[An arrow pointing to a highlighted left-downward guide:] Heavyside layer
:[Text written sideways below the line:] These lines are tilted because the wind is blowing them

==Trivia==
*Even though this comic was released on New Year's Day 2025, it was not a [[:Category:New Year|New Year comic]].
**Only second time this has happened since New Year comics became a regular thing from 2011.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Weather]]

3032: Skew-T Log-P

2025-01-03T13:20:53Z

物灵: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 3032
| date = January 1, 2025
| title = Skew-T Log-P
| image = skew_t_log_p_2x.png
| imagesize = 569x626px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The most important quantity for meteorologists is of course the product of latent pressure and temperostrophic enthalpy, though 'how nice the weather is' is a close second.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT CLEANING UP AFTER DAVE - This needs an explanation. Table not filled out. Also the title text was not mentioned at all. I added a very simple start to this, but nothing about what the product actually means, please expand... Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|skew-T log-P diagram|Skew-T log-P diagrams}} are commonly used to plot {{w|atmospheric sounding|atmospheric soundings}} collected by {{w|weather balloon|weather balloons}}. The name comes from the temperature (T) lines being skewed at a 45-degree angle, and the pressure (P) lines being logarithmic in scale.

Because the diagrams have a lot of lines on them (isobars, isotherms, adiabats, and mixing ratios, and that's before plotting the actual measurements of temperature and dew point temperature), they can be hard to understand. The comic pretends to offer an explanation of one such diagram, but most of the explanations are blatantly incorrect or humorous in nature. The diagram appears to have either measurements from two separate weather balloons or the measured temperature and dewpoint from a single balloon, with solid lines for rising balloon(s) and dashed ones for popped balloon(s) falling back down. Two lines and various styles of lines in real diagrams generally mean different measurements from the same balloon (or other sensor platform) track. See details in the [[#Table with terms|table]] below. Many weather balloons are designed to rupture after reaching a certain height high in the atmosphere.

In the title text it is stated that "The most important quantity for meteorologists is of course the product of latent pressure and temperostrophic enthalpy, though 'how nice the weather is' is a close second". So it jokes by comparing a non-existent, complicated-sounding product (temperostrophic enthalpy is not actually a thing) with a simple sentence about how nice the weather is.

[[File:Annotated_Skew_T_diagram.png|thumb|An actual Skew-T Log-P diagram, with several real annotations. The X-axis has temperature (blue diagonal lines in diagram) and the Y-axis has pressure in millibars.]]The true design of a Skew-T Log-P diagram is intended to best represent the nature of the weather in any given column of atmosphere. The pressure (vertical axis, with pressure being closely but not exactly inversely related to altitude) is shown as a logarithmic scale (i.e., Log-P) because it makes altitudes nearly evenly spaced. Plotting pressure proportionately (which must also be from top to bottom, to match its general relationship with altitude) would space features out in ways that would be hard to use and interpret, whereas the logarithmic scale is far more pragmatic. The temperature scale is deliberately tilted, rather than orthogonal, which (together with the logarithmic nature of the inverted pressure scale) allows the typical way that temperatures fall with altitude(≈as pressure falls) to trend roughly vertically, give or take the notable changes that are key to understanding the forecast. Other measurement lines, differently skewed and often also curving across the temperature/pressure skewed-log 'grid', represent various other idealistic relationships (where both T and P vary, keeping another measure constant) that are useful references to meteorologists.

Upon this style of graph are plotted the ''actual'' measurements obtained by releasing a weather balloon or other sensor. As well as the variation of actual temperatures and pressures, other retrieved and calculated data is plotted, such as the {{w|dew point}}. The dew point, a function of the air's {{w|absolute humidity|water content}}, temperature, and pressure, is where condensation begins. By observing how the actual measurements and dew point line converge and cross, the development and nature of clouds can be tracked and pinned to specific cloud layers. Further details may also be included, such as wind-direction and wind-speed indications (often to the side of the plot) to give a visual cue about possible {{w|wind shear}} and/or to suggest which direction of adjacent weather-station readings may hold clues as to what changes may later blow in above the current site.

==Table with terms==
{| class="wikitable"
!Item in comic
!Correct?
!Explanation
|-
| Pressure latitude || No || {{w|Pressure altitude|Pressure ''altitude''}} is the height above a standard datum plane, a theoretical level where the pressure of the atmosphere is 1013.24 millibars (29.921 inHg). It's essentially an estimate of altitude calculated from atmospheric pressure.
|-
| Enthalpic pressure || No || {{w|Enthalpy}} is the total internal energy of a thermodynamic system plus the product of the system's pressure and volume. Essentially, it represents the energy contained in a system, and is independent of the means or sequence of operations that the system went through to achieve its current state.
|-
| Entropic density || No || {{w|Entropy}} is a quantity that shows many physical processes can only go in one chronological direction. An egg can be scrambled, but cannot be "un-scrambled." Ordered systems have high entropy, with differences in temperature, pressure, potential energy, or the like. Disordered systems have low entropy, without temperature, pressure, electrical, or other differentials.
|-
| Latent heat of cooling || No || {{w|Latent heat}} is the energy absorbed or released by a system during a '''constant-temperature''' process, like melting, freezing, boiling, or condensing. Cooling is a process of lowering a temperature, and therefore not a constant-temperature process. The humor comes considering the "heat of cooling."
|-
| Isobars || Yes || Lines denoting equal ("{{wiktionary|iso-}}") air pressure ("{{wiktionary|bar-|-bar}}"), probably most often recognized as the indicators of how ground-level pressures change (or not) across the horizontal area depicted on a weather ''map''. In this type of chart, which depicts data obtained from above a single point, it has the same meaning but is instead a pre-existing reference line across which the actual data is plotted, and does not itself indicate the nature of any wind.
|-
| Omnitrophic wind || No || Something "omnitrophic" would apparently be "all-eating", in some scientific sense. An omnitrophic wind would probably be a concerning phenomenon.
Probably a play on something like {{w|geostrophic wind}} ("geo"+"strophic" being from "Earth curving"), a theoretical state of wind that results from an exact balance between the {{w|Coriolis force}} and the {{w|pressure gradient}} force.
|-
| Isomers || No || Different forms of molecules with the same formula, with the atoms or functional groups arranged differently. An example would be propanol, which has three isomers. One of the most common isomers of propanol has its OH functional group in the middle, so is called isopropyl alcohol or isopropanol.
However, these are actually iso'''therm''' lines, representing equal temperature.
|-
| These lines are slightly different because Dave messed them up || No || Indicating isotherms (or, according to the comic, "isomers"), the suggestion is that slightly wrong lines were drawn by Dave and had to be corrected.
The real reason for the not quite identical lines is that the measured temperature at a given pressure can be converted to or from the ''potential'' temperature that the same air would have if at a standard pressure (holding the same amount of heat energy). For practical reasons, both for composing and interpreting the eventual plot, each of the slightly differently skewed isotherms are given, usually in clearly differentiable styles of line.

The "Dave" of the description may be David Bolton, whose 1980 paper introduced a means of calculating the atmosphere's potential temperature<ref>https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/mwre/108/7/1520-0493_1980_108_1046_tcoept_2_0_co_2.xml</ref>.
|-
| Line of constant thermodynamics || No || {{w|Thermodynamics}} is a branch of physics concerned with work, temperature, heat, the way they relate to entropy, energy, enthalpy, and the physical properties of radiation and matter. As a field of study, Thermodynamics does not have '''constant lines,''' except perhaps as a means of describing a consistent avenue of research.
|-
| Uncomfortably moist adiabat || Wrongly placed, unusually qualified|| This labels a segment of isotherm, which is the exact 'opposite' of an adiabat.
An adiabat is a line along which temperature can change for a given mass, without changing the amount of energy. This is primarily made possible by changing the density (by a change in pressure) of the gas. There are typically two types of adiabat, marked for reference on the plot, "dry adiabat" (curves across the isotherms perpendicularly, to create a largely square but slightly curved grid with them), and "moist/saturated adiabat" (the latter's heat-maintaining profile is influenced greatly by the humidity content, and produces graphing lines vastly different from the equivalent "dry" versions). Randall has declared this (erroneous) type of adiabat to be "uncomfortably" moist, so presumably not totally saturated but also not subjectively 'pleasant'.
|-
| Oops, the balloon flew through a ghost || No || Ghosts do not exist.{{cn}} However, one of the purported effects of ghosts (such as in the film *The Sixth Sense*) is a transient/local lowering of temperature around and/or inside them. The line is interpreted as showing a local low temperature encountered at this pressure(/altitude).
This line, however, is probably the dew point line, indicating that in passing through this layer of the atmosphere, a drier band of air was encountered which would theoretically be cooled a lot more before the water-vapor oversaturates it and liquid water droplets form.
|-
| No birds up here :( || Yes* || This point is near the top of the diagram, with an air pressure of about 110 millibar - about 15 kilometers (50,000 feet) above sea level. This is well above the highest [https://peregrinefund.org/explore-raptors-species/vultures/ruppells-vulture flight height of any known bird species]. However, this information is irrelevant to the purpose of a skew-T log-P diagram.
|-
| Track of rising weather balloon || Yes, partially || Although there are other ways of recording these details, this is typically the record of a rising balloon.
However, it would be a track of the balloon through the varying pressures and temperatures that it records (as the second line of this type records the measurements of dew point at each pressure value). Moreover, circumstances that would make the recorded data plot out a neat {{w|figure-eight knot}} (see "Seems bad", below) are very unlikely.
|-
| Track of popped balloon falling back down || Possible, partially || A standard plot track will include two strong lines, as this has, representing not ''two'' balloons but the recorded temperature track ''and'' the dew point track, both against the (altitude surrogate) progressive pressure changes at each pressure-point.
A further pair of tracks as dotted lines could possibly be from a different launch (earlier, later or simultaneous from an adjacent location) as an analytical reference, but ''may'' indeed be the additional results obtained as the scientific package rapidly descends once the balloon pops.
|-
| Meteogenesis || No || The chart purports to show the path of two weather balloons crossing and labels the space between them with a new word. The root "meteo" means something high up (in this case, balloons) and "genesis" means creation. The implication is that a new balloon was created, though no third flight path is shown so it presumably did not fly separately or was not tracked.
In reality, one of the tracks (almost certainly the left one) is the track of the measured dew point. Where the line of the existing conditions cross this line is where the moisture will precipitate out and form clouds, a process that might well be called "{{wiktionary|meteor#English|meteo}}+{{wiktionary|genesis#English|genesis}}", but {{w|Cloud physics|isn't}}.
|-
| Seems bad || Not a common feature || The path of the balloon loops around in the shape of a {{w|figure-eight knot}}, which would indicate very chaotic conditions at that point, if taken as positional informtion
As the actual Skew-T Log-P graph does not record positional information, this is best interpreted as having encountered a fluctuating temperature as the pressure decreases, continuing as something (possibly {{w|Wind shear#Vertical component|vertical wind shear}}, or some form of compression waves, encounter the instruments) creates a temporary increased in external pressure and then circumstances return it to its more typical altitude-induced pressure-drop. Though this is not ''impossible'' to naturally happen, it might even be best interpreted as the instruments being deliberately 'buzzed' by a passing aircraft or rocket, including some intermittent form of thermal backwash as the interfering craft criss-crosses the balloon's physical track in a briefly complex encounter.
 Whatever happened to the temperature/pressure track, it apparently did not significantly change the associated dew-point/pressure track (if the pressure did indeed temporarily rise, the related dew points repeated themselves each time the pressure values were re-encountered).
|-
| Dew point || Wrongly represented || The temperature at which water condenses out of the air, and therefore dew starts to form, given the amount of water vapor in the air. It is shown here as an ''actual'' single point, when it should be a line (typically the leftmost solid plotted line) representing the temperature at which dew should form at any given pressure.
|-
| Humidor || No || In reality, is a {{w|Humidor|container}} that is used maintain a more controllable humidity within which to store smoking products. In the graph, points at the line that is probably representing the dew point, which is represents the ''actual'' humidity encountered.
|-
| Heavyside layer || No || In the metaphysical cosmology of the musical ''Cats'', the Heavyside Layer is a blissful afterlife which all the cats in the musical long for. It is likely included here as a comical misspelling of the {{w|Kennelly-Heaviside layer|(Kennelly-)Heaviside layer}}, also called the E region of the {{w|ionosphere}} that was co-discovered by {{w|Arthur E. Kennelly}} and {{w|Oliver Heaviside}}. In this diagram it is apparently labeling a heavily marked isotherm, or line of constant temperature - most likely the 0°C line, the freezing point of water that is of great importance to meteorologists, pilots, etc.
|-
| These lines are tilted because the wind is blowing them || No || The wind is not actually a derivable featured of this diagram, which does not have data of either direction or strength of air movement.
These lines are actually dry adiabats (see above), possibly two sets due to a similar renormalized interpretation, as with the isotherms, at a given reference pressure.
|-
| Don't stand here or you might get hit by a balloon || No || This is a diagram of some measurements, not a place you could stand.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:How to interpret a skew-T log-P diagram
:[The comic shows a skew-T log-P diagram. On it are various labels, including isobars, comments, and other interpretations of the diagram.]
:[Left to the diagram is an upwards-pointing arrow with the label "Pressure Latitude". Right to the diagram is a downwards-pointing arrow with the label "Entropic Density". Below the diagram is a right-pointing arrow with the label "Enthalpic Pressure".]
:[Two solid and dashed lines extend from the top line to the bottom line of the diagram.]
:[The remaining various labels are inside the diagram.]

:[Labels on the left:]
:[An arrow pointing to a densive dashed segment attaching to one solid line:] Latent heat of cooling
:[A label lying on one horizontal guide:] — Isobars —
:[An arrow pointing to the intersection of one solid and dashed line:] Omnitrophic wind
:[A label lying on one left-downward guide:] Isomers
:[A label lying on one right-downward guide:] Line of constant thermodynamics
:[An arrow pointing to a solid dashed segment on one left-downward guide:] Uncomfortably moist adiabat
:[An arrow pointing to the same solid line as ‘latent heat of cooling’:] Humidor
:[An arrow pointing to a steep peak on the same solid line:] Oops, the balloon flew through a ghost
:[An arrow pointing to a highlighted left-downward guide:] Heavyside layer
:[To adjacent arrows pointing to more dense horizontal guides on the lower part of the diagram:] These lines are slightly different because Dave messed them up

:[Labels on the right:]
:[An arrow pointing to the top line:] No birds up here :(
:[An arrow pointing to one solid line generally:] Track of rising weather balloon

==Trivia==
*Even though this comic was released on New Year's Day 2025, it was not a [[:Category:New Year|New Year comic]].
**Only second time this has happened since New Year comics became a regular thing from 2011.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Weather]]

Talk:3000: Experimental Astrophysics

2024-10-19T06:40:01Z

物灵:

== i really thought he would do something special for the 3000th comic :( i was so hyped ==
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.64.207|172.68.64.207]] 03:48, 19 October 2024 (UTC)

:Saaame:( but maybe he will do something at 3072[[User:SomeRandomNerd|SomeRandomNerd]] ([[User talk:SomeRandomNerd|talk]]) 03:57, 19 October 2024 (UTC)
:It's about blowing up the Sun and likely destroying the Solar System. That's not special enough for you? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 04:01, 19 October 2024 (UTC)
::It doesn't reference its three-thousandness, unlike comics [[1000]] and [[2000]]; it could've been released any other day. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.25|162.158.90.25]] 04:22, 19 October 2024 (UTC)
:I was expecting xkcd 3000 for long but very busy today. I found this comic seemingly not too long after its publication, but not rather upset now [[User:物灵|物灵]] ([[User talk:物灵|talk]]) 06:40, 19 October 2024 (UTC)

xkcd 4000 is coming out on 10 march 2031 unless randall uploads inconsistently during those 1000 comics (very likely) unrelatedly i pronounce TŻO as /tiː ʐɛd oʊ/. is that normal? [[User:MinersHavenM43|MinersHavenM43]] ([[User talk:MinersHavenM43|talk]]) 04:10, 19 October 2024 (UTC)
:You (as I) seem to be rightpondian (or have a smattering of ¿polish? culture still within your leftpondian upbringing). I suspect it would be more /ʐi/ for Randall and most of his countrypeople (or straight /zi/, if not a different attempt at the dot-diacritic). It might more correctly be pronounced as /ˈʐɛt/, however, if I have the correct origin. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.2|172.70.162.2]] 06:12, 19 October 2024 (UTC)

That’s it? That’s 3000? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.245|162.158.154.245]] 04:20, 19 October 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2959: Beam of Light

2024-08-01T18:42:30Z

物灵:

hi {{unsigned ip|172.68.174.143|04:37, 16 July 2024}}
:Hello, could you please sign your post? [[User:OmniDoom|OmniDoom]] ([[User talk:OmniDoom|talk]]) 04:47, 16 July 2024 (UTC)
::@[[User:OmniDoom|OmniDoom]]: I have signed the post for them. —megan [[user talk:megan|talk]]/[[special:contribs/megan|contribs]] 04:58, 16 July 2024 (UTC)
:::megan detected 🤩🤩🤩 [[Special:Contributions/172.69.43.185|172.69.43.185]] 07:14, 16 July 2024 (UTC)
::::It's just a thematic name. If you keep overreacting to it, we can do [[322: Pix Plz|this]]. —megan [[user talk:megan|talk]]/[[special:contribs/megan|contribs]] 07:49, 16 July 2024 (UTC)
:::::aw hell yeah, melt the school computers i use to edit this wiki [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.110|141.101.98.110]] 08:10, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

I totally thought it said Epstein at first, and I was trying to make sense of a seemingly dark, oblique, and dated joke.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.141|172.70.210.141]] 05:00, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

:randall would never [[Special:Contributions/172.69.43.185|172.69.43.185]] 07:14, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

::"Up your nose with a relativistic rubber hose" - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_Back,_Kotter Vinnie Barbarino] [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 19:29, 20 July 2024 (UTC)

I thought the "didn't have any particular" was a pun, because at the time light was not recognized as a particle but a wave. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.109.167|141.101.109.167]] 08:34, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

thats me whenever im on a sled downhill [[User:An user who has no account yet|An user who has no account yet]] ([[User talk:An user who has no account yet|talk]]) 10:55, 16 July 2024 (UTC)
:calvin? is that you? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.150.196|172.71.150.196]] 20:07, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

If Einstein is traveling at the speed of light then he is not experiencing time so he would not be able to have any insights. [[User:KingPenguin|KingPenguin]] ([[User talk:KingPenguin|talk]]) 04:55, 17 July 2024 (UTC)
:This is a gedanken experiment, and thus he could have them while contemplating going at that speed. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:49, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

Though nowhere is it made explicit, and it probably doesn't warrant either Explanation or Transcript notes to this effect, I have a strong feeling that Albert is seated at his Patent Office desk, taking a break from reviewing patent applications (the paperwork directly in front of him). Just a thought, as it would be presumptuous to put this in as a main article edit... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.96|172.70.91.96]] 12:20, 17 July 2024 (UTC)
:I think it could be relevant to mention. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:49, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

I have just created the pages [[Albert Einstein]] and the [[:Category:Comics featuring Albert Einstein]] as there are now three comics where Randall has drawn Albert. I have added those three. Maybe there could be more? Maybe we should also add any comic where Einstein is directly mentioned or referenced (like with the swizz patent office like in [[505: A Bunch of Rocks]].) Not sure though about the latter. But as said just above the patent office is a know reference. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:49, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

My last high school year coincided with the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. One day when our class monitor operated an infrared thermometer in a daily routine, I jokingly suggested that whoever doubts their health status move the thermometer ''really'' fast towards their forehead so that the measured value would be lowered due to blueshift. The explanation here reminded me of the story and that, alas, our monitor is talented and charming now and then, but not do I. — [[User:物灵|物灵]] ([[User talk:物灵|talk]]) 18:42, 1 August 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2022: Sports Champions

2024-07-06T11:53:11Z

物灵:

Since Kate Dopingscandal has a bike, it seems to me she's actually likely a direct reference to Lance Armstrong. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:46, 20 July 2018 (UTC)
:Yeah, that's why I included him as an example. Feel free to clarify if you want, of course.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.68|162.158.155.68]] 06:09, 20 July 2018 (UTC)
::Why is a bike directly a direct reference to Lance Armstrong? and why are additionally only "many russians" listed? It is clearly not a phenomena only seen with mr. Armstrong, and Russians, but with cylcing sports in general. The biggest Cycling event, the {{w|Tour_de_France}} is hit by a doping scandal every year. Also other events have many {{w|List_of_doping_cases_in_cycling|cases}}. Lately actually there have even be cases of [http://www.cyclist.co.uk/news/542/motor-doping-is-happening-and-weve-tested-it Motor Doping]. So I think Lance Armstrong can stay as maybe the most famous example, but we should say that it is many others and not Lance Armstrong and Russians. [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:22, 21 July 2018 (UTC)
:::Because he's easily the most famous example. I realize there are plenty of others - the France native below portrays it as downright epidemic in the sport - but Lance was so highly unbelievably visible. My impression is that in North America (which is where both Randall and I live), cycling as a professional sport enjoys notably less popularity than most other sports, and less than it might elsewhere in the world. Yet virtually EVERYBODY has heard of Lance (I follow no sports whatsoever, and I can even discuss him here). Lance attained nearly a hero status, he beat cancer... He started and/or inspired The LiveStrong movement, its support bracelets spread far and wide, inspiring imitators. At which point the scandal hit. Now combine this heightened visibility with Randall's history of comics portraying him - as Cueball - as knowing nothing about sports. Lance is the only cycling doping scandal _I_ can name, or even cyclist I can name at all, chances are it's the same for Randall. This comic is certainly referencing Lance. I only commented because the description was only listing him as an example. (I said nothing about Russians, I don't know of any Russian doping scandal) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 13:46, 22 July 2018 (UTC)
:::Having re-checked the description, I can answer the Russian portion: It says "many Russians" because those words link to a Wikipedia article about Russia in general, not one particular incident. The mere existence of the article tells me that enough Russians have been hit by doping scandals that they rate their own Wikipedia article. It's a great find for this ExplainXKCD article, no wonder somebody made sure to include it. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 13:55, 22 July 2018 (UTC)
::::I put both those in. In fact, I wrote almost the entire article. I'm English, but I try to "think American" when editing. I immediately thought of Armstrong,and totally agree with your reasoning; if you do searches for "doping scandal" you immediately see him, but also, the Russian thing. Centered on the 2012 Olympics, and state-sponsored doping, their subsequent exclusion from the 2016 Olympics is amongst the biggest ever sporting scandals of all time, worldwide. Perhaps more so outside America, but it's certainly of epic proportions.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.138|141.101.107.138]] 16:54, 22 July 2018 (UTC)
::I'm 46 and live in France. As far as I can remember (1980 ?) cycling has always been THE sport associated with doping. I can remember some famous cases in other sports (Ben Johnson in the 1988 olympics) but for cycling it was said to be quasi systematic. The Armstong case was a worldwide scandal, but Tour de France had a much severe problem in 1998 where entire teams were involved and excluded from the race. Five years later, after several trials and new analysis of the 1998 samples with more evolved techniques it was revealed that at least the 5 first finishers (and many more) were doped. If you consult the Wikipedia article “doping in sport”, you will note that cycling is by far the largest section, and almost 100 years old in Tour de France. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.34|108.162.229.34]] 12:57, 22 July 2018 (UTC)
:::Ah, but in cases like this, where different cultures can have an effect, I always bring it back to this: Where does Randall live? In America. While people in France (and cycling fans) might be well aware of many, many, MANY cycling doping scandals, I'd say the average American is not. Plus, Randall has been quite vocal about not knowing sports. Chances are, Lance Armstrong is the only cyclist he can even name at all, never mind doping scandals. And now I cause myself to wonder, did Randall think of Armstrong because his last name is also one made of words, that Lance Armstrong would be on this list himself if he had excelled at arm wrestling? :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 13:46, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

He should have listed, in the sport of eXtreme Software Engineering, the dominance of Little Bobby Tables in the late 2020's. ---- {{unsigned ip|172.68.141.136}}
:Damn, what a missed opportunity. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 13:46, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

Would Jebediah be a reference to Kerbal Space Program? Things tend to go disaterously in it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.160|108.162.210.160]] 12:54, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

It's worth noting that the all-star right fielder for the Boston Red Sox, who are currently in first place in the MLB, is named Markus Lynn "Mookie" Betts, with the initials "MLB." Aside from the fact that he's already won several divisional titles with his team, there's a good chance he'll soon be on a world series winning team as well, perhaps to become the next high-profile example. (Full disclosure: I'm a huge Red Sox fan) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.22|172.68.54.22]] 13:47, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

Art Ball (1890’s)
Full name Arthur Ball
Born April , 1872, Madison, Indiana
Died December 26, 1915, Chicago, Illinois
Buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois
First MLB Game: August 1, 1894; Final MLB Game: October 15, 1898
Bat: Unknown Throw: Right Weight: 168 {{unsigned ip|172.68.54.76}}

What, no Cecil Fielder? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.46|162.158.63.46]] 19:32, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

What, no [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Moneymaker Chris Moneymaker? (Poker, 2000's)] [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 01:10, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

;Moved from the main talk page: --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:30, 21 July 2018 (UTC)
Misspelling in today's comic

Your article says: "Randall has chosen to spell his name as "Disasterous", rather than the more conventional "Disastrous"." Presumably he hasn't "chosen" to do this but merely made a spelling error. In that case, your comment is misleading. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.21|162.158.158.21]] 23:25, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

Brandon Sponsorship may also be read as Brand On Sponsorship, having two terms related.
:I know what you mean, and thought about it at the time, but the connection isn't completely obvious and I didn't want to bring in too much assumption on my part. I tried to reference it without making a judgement, by mentioning the word in the text, but not putting it in bold or directly saying that there was a connection. I think that's OK? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.214|141.101.98.214]] 16:27, 22 July 2018 (UTC)
(Previous person didn't sign) About the misspelling, I feel like that's a perfectly acceptable version of the word. It's how I'd instinctually spell it, he just added "ous" to the word "disaster". That's where the word comes from! It's actually ridiculous that this ISN'T the correct spelling! I blame the English language on this one. I'd guess that centuries ago that WAS the correct spelling, and the E just got dropped at some point, to streamline the pronunciation of the word. I just Googled it, and MANY articles showed up defining it as a common misspelling of the word, that's how common this spelling is. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 14:11, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

:There is no right or wrong spelling for a surname. You can be Mr. Tailor or Mr.Taylor, or a hundred other versions. That's why I deliberately wrote that Randall ''chose'' that spelling, and I think it's obvious from the way I phrased it that it's not the normal spelling of the word. I don't think we should pass judgement about his decision, even though there's a very high chance he just made a typo. I also concur with the opinion of NiceGuy1, so I have changed it back to the way it was. Best, [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.214|141.101.98.214]] 16:27, 22 July 2018 (UTC)
::Given that the USA has a dominantly prescriptivist spelling culture for non-names (i.e. in academics and business correctness is defined by books before common usage, coompare to descriptivist which would be the other way around), the phrasing here misleads the leader into believing that both spellings are currently considered correct, as is actually true for other words. There are a lot of misleading statements in this wiki; maybe we should be up-front about that until somebody has the energy to work through everything and stay on top of it all. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.118|162.158.63.118]] 14:45, 25 July 2018 (UTC)
:::There I fixed it. [[User:Faultwire|I'm me(citation needed)]] ([[User talk:Faultwire|talk]]) 23:28, 25 July 2018 (UTC)
::::Still looks messy to me; what kind of citation do you want - a brainscan of Randall? You know he chose to write the word in that way. Why is beyond our knowledge. See further down this page for more discussion and opinions about it. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.104|162.158.155.104]] 04:28, 27 July 2018 (UTC)
From the transcript: "[Cueball with a golf club] Gary Player" and "[Cueball with a basketball] Lonzo Ball". I'm not familiar with all the conventions around here, but would it be NOT Cueball when it is very definitely someone else? Sure, the made-up names later on could be Cueball standing in for them, but for those, wouldn't it actually be the real person, just looking Cueball-ish due to the art style? (And as an aside, a slight pity that there wasn't a pool player named something like Randall Cueball in the comic... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.130|162.158.75.130]] 03:31, 23 July 2018 (UTC)

;Podium/Lectern

When I first wrote this explanation, without thinking much, I said Jeb was standing at a {{w|podium}}. Someone corrected it to "lectern", which is absolutely correct of them - see that Wikipedia article. But the interesting thing is, there is an xkcd cartoon about this very subject!

[[1661: Podium]]

Should this somehow be mentioned in the explanation? I thought probably not, because Randall made no mention of it; it was purely my own error, and just an interesting connection to today's comic. Right? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.138|141.101.107.138]] 16:36, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

;Margaret Court
She wasn't the best choice. Recently in Australia someone let her near a microphone & it turns out she's quite homophobic.
* Perhaps not in terms of PR and exposure of the sport (and I certainly am among those who don't approve), but that doesn't detract from the point of the comic which looks in terms of on-field accomplishments and their last names. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.121|173.245.52.121]] 15:15, 27 July 2018 (UTC)
* Margaret was neé Smith, she married Barry Court in 1967. But she definitely belongs here, especially since a COURT was named after her at the venue for the Australian Open. They were smart enough NOT to name it Margaret Court Court, opting for "Margaret Court Arena" [[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.226|172.69.62.226]] 07:45, 18 December 2018 (UTC)

;Jebediah's Sport

It appears that, based on the person's name, their sport could be debating, public speaking, or giving live postgame press conferences.

[[User:Milesman34|Milesman34]] ([[User talk:Milesman34|talk]]) 03:48, 23 July 2018 (UTC)milesman34

:I agree, it says each sport produces a player with a name related to that sport. The explanation here suggests he plays another sport and participates in post-game conferences. His actual SPORT, however... I don't know. Any ideas, anyone?? [[User:Nyx goddess|Nyx goddess]] ([[User talk:Nyx goddess|talk]]) 22:15, 18 December 2018 (UTC)

;Why Baseball is a Problem

Did you ever notice that players named "White" are almost always black, and players named "Black" are usually white? Why is that? The last White major leaguer who was actually white was Mike White, who played for Houston in the early sixties. Since then we've had Bill White, Roy White, Frank White, and Jerry White, all of whom were black; Mike White probably would have been black except that his father played in the majors in the thirties and they didn't allow you to be black back then. The Royals also had a Black on their roster, Bud, who of course is white; in fact, the Royals had to set some sort of record by having four colored people on their team, White, Black, Blue, and Brown. Scott Brown is not any browner than anyone else, Vida is definitely not blue, nor for that matter is Darryl Motley. I suppose that is the nature of names, as with Peacekeeping Missiles and Security Police, to disguise the truth more often than they reveal it. Horace Speed stole only four bases in his career. Vic Power was a singles hitter, Bill Goodenough was not good enough, and Joe Blong did not belong for long.

-- Bill James, 1983

Me, I'm disappointed that Jim Gentile wasn't Jewish. [[User:WHPratt|WHPratt]] ([[User talk:WHPratt|talk]]) 12:16, 24 July 2018 (UTC)

;Chosen spelling - Citation needed

Re. Randall has chosen to spell his name as "Disasterous", rather than the more conventional "Disastrous".

Putting <nowiki>{{citation needed}}</nowiki> on that is a bit silly. You can see he chose to spell it that way from the cartoon. It's self-evident. What's the issue, what needs a citation? As to why he decided to spell it that way, nobody but Randall knows, and we're unlikely to ever find out. It's probably a typo, but isn't that just an assumption? He chose to type the word that way - whether that's because he doesn't know how to spell it correctly, or because he likes it that way. Nobody but Randall knows.

A couple of people think it should say he misspelled it, but see the discussions; others agree with me that there is not correct spelling of surnames (e.g. Tailor/Taylor). It's a name, not the word.

IMHO, the cite-needed is just clutter and confusing. I think the wording was good, without a messy tag. It's not really something I want to argue pointlessly and endlessly about, so I won't remove it myself right now; I'll see what other people say. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.138|141.101.107.138]] 14:52, 26 July 2018 (UTC)

:Eh, it's been several days, nobody seems bothered, so I'll remove it now. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.36|141.101.107.36]] 15:05, 30 July 2018 (UTC)

::The idea (or more properly, the joke) behind {{Citation needed}} isn't that a citation is truly needed, it's that something that should be blatantly obvious has been stated (see point 3 in the trivia for citation needed). Randall wrote what he did, whether he chose to or not is up to interpretation, no matter how obvious that interpretation is. The tag is not meant to be taken literally. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.54|172.68.47.54]] 23:17, 27 August 2018 (UTC)
:::The <nowiki>{{citation needed}}</nowiki> template was meant to be a joke. But seeing this joke on more than 250 different explanations isn't funny at all. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:12, 28 August 2018 (UTC)
::::That's less than 15% of the explanations on this wiki, we have more incomplete explanations than that. I'd agree that having it more than once in an single page is a bit much, and this particular instance wasn't funny enough to keep, but I don't think overuse is the issue here. Did it get old after over 100 "What if?" articles? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.11|172.69.33.11]] 23:33, 29 August 2018 (UTC)
:::::Check the top of the main page: ''"We have an explanation for all 2038 xkcd comics, and only 22 (1%) are incomplete."'' Just saying...--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:10, 30 August 2018 (UTC)
::::::Ahh I read 22%. Well that's embarrassing. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.99|173.245.48.99]] 19:39, 30 August 2018 (UTC)
:::::::Try reloading the page if the problem persists :P [[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.124|172.69.62.124]] 14:32, 17 July 2020 (UTC)
;Kerbal
why am i the first one to see the kerbal space program reference? where are you my fellow kerbals?
:It's a bit of a tenuous link. I get it, Kerbal has disasters, and has a person named Jebediah, but it's a reasonably common name; there's nothing space-related in the cartoon to suggest a connection. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.104|162.158.155.104]] 04:21, 27 July 2018 (UTC)

;table -> descr.list
: in my neverending quest to rid this wiki of misued tables I've changed it to a description list. This makes reading easier (to me, at least) and should help for mobile users, once such a layout gets implemented. I feel like I'm pushing a bit with this one, so feel free to revert my change if it doesn't fit the style. [[User:Gir|//gir.st/]] ([[User talk:Gir|talk]]) 14:23, 25 August 2018 (UTC)
::I'm really happy with this, but the first line below the header should not be indented. Like your comment above as well. This is also easier for editors with less experience on Wiki syntax. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:43, 25 August 2018 (UTC)

Tiger Woods is perhaps a more specifically golf-related example than Player, so if the title-text means the list gets updated... [[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.124|172.69.62.124]] 14:32, 17 July 2020 (UTC)

Did nobody notice the duplication of "2050s"? I'm pretty sure Randall meant the first one to be 2040s but lettered it wrong. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 01:24, 25 July 2022 (UTC)
:2030s and 2060s are doubly-represented, also. If it was an error, it wasn't the only one. I suspect if he wanted to do 1960s, '70s, '80s, '90s, 2000s, etc, one per decade, he could have (finding true historic nominative determinisms to fill the gaps already passed by date of authorship) and continued forward, but it was intended to be a general 'history', with no (in-universe) reason ''not'' to have two strangely apt names per any given decade (possibly far more), rather than "exactly once in every decade, ''this'' happens..." [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.238|141.101.99.238]] 08:58, 25 July 2022 (UTC)

It may be logical to shorten to Leg for a sprinter surnamed Leggitt/Legat/Legatus. — [[User:物灵|物灵]] ([[User talk:物灵|talk]]) 11:53, 6 July 2024 (UTC)

Talk:1305: Undocumented Feature

2023-10-03T07:13:04Z

物灵: Have Char Latte49 deliberately left their comment in HTML comment?

:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

The last panel reminds me of Mastodon.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.221|108.162.246.221]] 02:46, 26 September 2019 (UTC)

This sound pretty cool... Anyone know if it's real or which tool it's in? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.222|173.245.55.222]] 05:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* its real, there are 8 other users, but must stay a secret. {{unsigned ip|108.162.231.233}}

* There is no secret chat room, stop looking for it. It doesn't exist. Look for your own island on the interweb, don't come spoil ours. [[User:scr_admin|scr_admin]]

* A little bit of googling around gave me a strong candidate. Apparently the relevant tool can even run on Windows 10 (found as part of said googling), although it requires mucking about with bat files and icons to achieve its full original functionality. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.160|172.68.54.160]] 05:34, 27 September 2018 (UTC)

* I found my own little secret chat room, but it's not to do with Windows, instead it's in MacOS 7. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.98|141.101.77.98]] 23:49, 12 October 2018 (UTC)

Okay, let's be honest: how many of us, upon seeing today's comic, immediately went here to see if it was real or not? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.4|108.162.245.4]] 07:47, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I honestly did just that. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.137|173.245.53.137]] 08:06, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I also just did that... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.206|108.162.231.206]] 08:07, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I didn't start up my VM to test it, but I came here to see if was real >.< [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.56|108.162.216.56]] 09:47, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I also did that. But I take that, if it is real and someone uncovers it, it may destroy that community... [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.123|173.245.53.123]] 10:28, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* Same here. If it is real, I sincerely hope Randall has a) wiresharked it to find out where this chat room resides so he can prod the admin if it ever goes down b) has a backup plan to migrate himself and his friends to some other private chat room. It won't have the same mystery surrounding it, but at least it's something. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.222|108.162.231.222]] 10:51, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

It's not about Youtube, but Facebook, which just launched AUTOPLAYING video ads. Look at the title text, it's about Facebook's real name policy. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.232|108.162.231.232]] 08:11, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I wouldn't limit the scope of this commentary just to Facebook; YouTube's been doing autoplaying video ads for years. YouTube's also been asking for real names recently. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.200|108.162.212.200]] 14:26, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* The video ads thing is definitely related to Facebook, but the title text is probably a reference to Youtube recently asking continuously to switch to the real name of google plus account and not the nickname many used on YouTube. Edited the explanation accordingly, since there was no reference to the title text. Spesknight [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.216|108.162.231.216]] 09:08, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

I just searched after reading - and found this site! -- {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.247}}

* The real secret place is here! {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.75}}

* So THIS is the secret chat [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.7|108.162.229.7]] 09:50, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* One day this place will be forgotten and so will we. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.197|108.162.231.197]] 09:52, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

anyone else recognizes the wonderful tcp-ip explanation movie of Ericsson [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hymzoUpM0K0 Dawn of the net] in frames 6 till 10? [User:Tesshavon|Tesshavon]] ([[User talk:Tesshavon|talk]])

* Tesshavon you're in my mind ! Also, the 6th frame is comes from one of the most common Friends posters (see e.g. here : [http://www.infinitydish.com/tvblog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Friends-friends-69087_1024_768.jpg Friends] ) [[User:dandraka|dandraka]]

It's true. Small online communities offer a more folksy experience than the online giants. Some of the best places to hang out are BBS's that made it onto the Internet and have been there for 25+ years. {{unsigned ip|216.150.130.111}}

Well there's always IRC... {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.30}}

:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

I've rewritten all the explanation.
As far as I'm concerned, I'd remove the incomplete box.
I just keep it because it's likely that someone else will feel something is missing.
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.180|173.245.53.180]] 15:27, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

If you're interested in a tightknit community out on the fringes of the Net, go join a MUD. Some are combat oriented, some are roleplay and chat oriented, all are text-based, and many have largely the same exact userbase as they had twenty years ago. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.228|108.162.212.228]] 15:48, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* If you want a really small and odd community check out the Plato network, you have to emulate a terminal from the late 70's early 80's to use it. --[[User:DECtape|DECtape]] ([[User talk:DECtape|talk]]) 00:27, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

Hmm i think randall also wants to share his believs in the subcontext of the comic, the reason why we live on erth as a random error, the sysadmin who probably sees it all(=god), the question what will happen after all that is gone (his opinion, that our lives are compelty senseless)..etc. {{unsigned ip|108.162.254.161}}

* Anyone else think of comic 37 when reading the last panel (due to the ambiguity of whether he is talking about fucking "video ads" or "fucking video" ads)? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.227|173.245.50.227]] 18:31, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

Yes, of COURSE I came here to see if it really exists! I don't know if there's actually a chatroom as described, but Usenet has become much smaller, has no ads, and doesn't require you to know the secret application to get in. IIf a text experience with no ads appeals, dump FB, come back to Usenet! Tell 'em Sea Wasp sent you! :) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.186|108.162.219.186]] 19:15, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

*Shhh! You're forgetting the first rule of Usenet! [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.6|173.245.54.6]] 17:57, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

It's obviously about life and religion. The sysadmin who never writes anything must be there to keep everything running, because else the chat would stop to exist. Like most religions contribute to a god who is never seen or heard. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.232|108.162.231.232]] 08:03, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

I'm wondering if he got this idea from Starship Titanic. They had a very similar thing happen. [http://www.metafilter.com/98848/The-Post-That-Cannot-Possibly-Go-Wrong#3435156 See this epic MeFi comment from the self-described "main web hacker" behind Starship Titanic's web site.] [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.119|199.27.128.119]] 17:29, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

I've made several edits to clean up the explanation. Not sure whether I should remove the incomplete tag or not. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.227|173.245.52.227]] 17:57, 19 December 2013 (UTC)
:Please don't do that. A comic at this size isn't complete within one or two days. Removing the incomplete tag is a minor issue, explaining is the major one. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:46, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

I don't really see why the trivia should be there. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.45|108.162.216.45]] 20:29, 19 December 2013 (UTC)
:This content was moved from the explain section to a trivia section by me. It still needs some rework but it belongs to "old Windows utilities" like Randall is talking about here at the first panel.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:46, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

Reminds me of MUDs. I still check in on New Moon [http://eclipse.cs.pdx.edu/] a few times a year. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.236.25|108.162.236.25]] 16:15, 20 December 2013 (UTC)
:I see what you mean. For me it's the Discworld MUD. But it could similarly (i.e. not exactly like the comic suggests) apply to some long-term Usenet groups that I (in)frequent. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.229|141.101.99.229]] 16:22, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

It may not be the tool from the comic, but people here might be interested in: http://kurlander.net/DJ/Projects/ComicChat/resources.html {{unsigned|Jvfrmtn}}

If this chatroom was real I'd love to see it. I know ts not though. Of course what if there's a little fridge horror in this comic? Like a chatroom 98 sort of thing? Maybe the sysadmin or the people Cueball and the others are talking to are really ghosts or souls that were sucked into an old server forever doomed to spend their days talking to themselves until another unsuspecting user is sucked in.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.36|108.162.215.36]] 02:54, 23 December 2013 (UTC)

Ido: Can someone explain why the URL www.xkcd.com/test reference to this strip? looks like an undocumented feature to me :) {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.220}}

:It doesn't anymore… [[User:Varal7|Varal7]] ([[User talk:Varal7|talk]]) 19:03, 20 May 2014 (UTC)
::It now displays to [[1367: Installing]]. [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 01:11, 23 May 2014 (UTC)

I was doing some searching on the internet, and found, in addition to the one/few on this page, some people who said/implied that they have used this chat before, although, like anything on the internet, the claims may not be true. (Links: http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/436369-does-this-actually-exist [see comments 3, 12, and 14], http://pastebin.com/95nGh8Hk [Says it exists, but doesn't elaborate]) [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 22:02, 12 March 2014 (UTC)

I used to be part of something very similar to to what the comic describes (but not exactly the same). When AOL first started, it was a completely 'walled garden' with no access to the internet. Old folks will remember how popular brands used to advertise on TV that you should go to their 'AOL Keyword' instead of a web site URL. Check Wikipedia for more about this. Anyway, AOL had its own set of message boards, for many popular topics, which were not connected to the internet and could only be accessed by other AOL members. I was just a kid. I went exploring through a bunch of message boards about niche topics until I found one with a community that I came to like. We had all kinds of off-topic conversations, and, the moderators having long since gone, it came to resemble its original topical purpose very little. The ages were not kind to AOL, and our group grew smaller and smaller as the AOL service gained a connection to the real internet (including the WWW and Usenet) and not as many new people bothered to look at AOL-only message boards any more. Eventually, the Keyword that accessed our special board stopped working and it was dropped from the public directory that lists all the areas of AOL. But we found a workaround: AOL had its own quasi-URL system that was mostly only used internally in the software and not usually exposed directly through the UI. But, those of us who had directly bookmarked the message board could still access it that way, and we found a way to share the aol:// URL amongst ourselves. Just like in the comic, we couldn't figure out why the message board still worked at all, for many years after it was no longer publicly visible anywhere, and wondered if some sysadmins with a sense of humour at AOL were watching us. It was fun in a way, a secret place all to ourselves. But it was also kind of sad, when sometimes months would go where noone posted. The UI would sometimes get migrated to a newer version with no notice, and then rolled back again just as abruptly. Old messages would suddenly disappear, become resurrected and then disappear again. Eventually, the thing that finally killed it was that one by one, we each stopped paying for AOL as we found better ISPs and couldn’t justify the expense. It would have been easy enough to move to another web site or chat program, and at first, some of us tried to recreate it elsewhere, but it was never really the same, and we could never get the same group completely back together again. But I guess that's how life is anyway: people drift apart. Despite that, many of us still keep in touch and have become very close friends, some of us even in real life. It's good to have friends. xxj{{unsigned|Xxj}}
:TL;DR! Keep your comments short. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:57, 23 May 2014 (UTC)
::If you really didn't read that, Dgbrt, you missed out (what are you, from Twitter? everything has to be 160 characters or the ADD kicks in?). It was worth it, for an old internet hand/AOLer. That is too often how life is, xxj; thanks for posting it. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by nostalgia for some old AOL and GameFaqs message boards, now... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.77|108.162.219.77]] 03:17, 28 May 2014 (UTC)
:::This is a typical reaction to misuse my reaction. If you look at my contributions here you would know that I'm really NOT a TWITTER man. I don't like Twitter and AOL was always a big mess by it's time. But including some paragraphs, writing shorter sentences, and I wouldn't have posted my "TL;DR!" reply. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:30, 28 May 2014 (UTC)

The comic says it's an "old" Windows utility, but the UI in the picture can be from no older than Windows 95. Native Win95 software still runs on modern PCs without resorting to a VM, doesn't it? Did Randall forget how a window looked in Windows 3.1? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.77|108.162.216.77]] 06:49, 30 May 2014 (UTC)

: An old Windows 95 ''program'' may be able to run on modern systems, but an old ''utility'' may be very tightly tied to that particular system. --[[User:Dfeuer|Dfeuer]] ([[User talk:Dfeuer|talk]]) 08:37, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

I think the reason for the cartoon is to explain chat room vs Facebook/twitter, and rather then say "IRC", which could be misunderstood (as being very large ?), he made up the hidden utility chat room.... this utilities chatroom would explain how there could be a small chatroom that is not filled with mindless *MERE USERS* ... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 06:17, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

"whereas Ponytail is still using an old computer (as evidenced by the CRT monitor)." No, it doesn't. A modern computer can still perfectly use old CRTs. I did it myself a while back, while my LCD was being replaced. All it takes is a VGA connection, and I'm not sure whether modern computers are coming without any VGA connection at all, be it in the mobo or the GPU (at least high end GPUs are dropping VGA support). Anyway, that's not an evidence. It '''hints''' that Ponytail may be using an old computer. I shall fix it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.125|108.162.219.125]] 03:39, 7 February 2015 (UTC)

:Ponytail is using a modern computer; the panel is set years ago before "the internet aged". Also why do the sevens have lines through them? It's increasingly common these days, but is that a facility or a habit of Randall's?[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.130|141.101.98.130]] 10:54, 25 March 2018 (UTC)





Many comments above shared their own stories for currently less frequent technologies, but it can happen with modern app with a sophisticated UI. In my teenage years, not getting on well with people around, I have pinned my social needs on a student-oriented platform called ''I ought to be a learning-master'' where contemporaries behave innocent but moving. I owe my aesthetics thereafter to a few people I acquainted even after their disappearance when the platform shut down in 2017. —[[User:物灵|物灵]] ([[User talk:物灵|talk]]) 07:13, 3 October 2023 (UTC)

Talk:1305: Undocumented Feature

2023-10-03T07:09:23Z

物灵:

:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

The last panel reminds me of Mastodon.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.221|108.162.246.221]] 02:46, 26 September 2019 (UTC)

This sound pretty cool... Anyone know if it's real or which tool it's in? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.222|173.245.55.222]] 05:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* its real, there are 8 other users, but must stay a secret. {{unsigned ip|108.162.231.233}}

* There is no secret chat room, stop looking for it. It doesn't exist. Look for your own island on the interweb, don't come spoil ours. [[User:scr_admin|scr_admin]]

* A little bit of googling around gave me a strong candidate. Apparently the relevant tool can even run on Windows 10 (found as part of said googling), although it requires mucking about with bat files and icons to achieve its full original functionality. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.160|172.68.54.160]] 05:34, 27 September 2018 (UTC)

* I found my own little secret chat room, but it's not to do with Windows, instead it's in MacOS 7. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.98|141.101.77.98]] 23:49, 12 October 2018 (UTC)

Okay, let's be honest: how many of us, upon seeing today's comic, immediately went here to see if it was real or not? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.4|108.162.245.4]] 07:47, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I honestly did just that. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.137|173.245.53.137]] 08:06, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I also just did that... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.206|108.162.231.206]] 08:07, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I didn't start up my VM to test it, but I came here to see if was real >.< [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.56|108.162.216.56]] 09:47, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I also did that. But I take that, if it is real and someone uncovers it, it may destroy that community... [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.123|173.245.53.123]] 10:28, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* Same here. If it is real, I sincerely hope Randall has a) wiresharked it to find out where this chat room resides so he can prod the admin if it ever goes down b) has a backup plan to migrate himself and his friends to some other private chat room. It won't have the same mystery surrounding it, but at least it's something. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.222|108.162.231.222]] 10:51, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

It's not about Youtube, but Facebook, which just launched AUTOPLAYING video ads. Look at the title text, it's about Facebook's real name policy. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.232|108.162.231.232]] 08:11, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I wouldn't limit the scope of this commentary just to Facebook; YouTube's been doing autoplaying video ads for years. YouTube's also been asking for real names recently. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.200|108.162.212.200]] 14:26, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* The video ads thing is definitely related to Facebook, but the title text is probably a reference to Youtube recently asking continuously to switch to the real name of google plus account and not the nickname many used on YouTube. Edited the explanation accordingly, since there was no reference to the title text. Spesknight [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.216|108.162.231.216]] 09:08, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

I just searched after reading - and found this site! -- {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.247}}

* The real secret place is here! {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.75}}

* So THIS is the secret chat [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.7|108.162.229.7]] 09:50, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* One day this place will be forgotten and so will we. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.197|108.162.231.197]] 09:52, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

anyone else recognizes the wonderful tcp-ip explanation movie of Ericsson [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hymzoUpM0K0 Dawn of the net] in frames 6 till 10? [User:Tesshavon|Tesshavon]] ([[User talk:Tesshavon|talk]])

* Tesshavon you're in my mind ! Also, the 6th frame is comes from one of the most common Friends posters (see e.g. here : [http://www.infinitydish.com/tvblog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Friends-friends-69087_1024_768.jpg Friends] ) [[User:dandraka|dandraka]]

It's true. Small online communities offer a more folksy experience than the online giants. Some of the best places to hang out are BBS's that made it onto the Internet and have been there for 25+ years. {{unsigned ip|216.150.130.111}}

Well there's always IRC... {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.30}}

:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

I've rewritten all the explanation.
As far as I'm concerned, I'd remove the incomplete box.
I just keep it because it's likely that someone else will feel something is missing.
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.180|173.245.53.180]] 15:27, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

If you're interested in a tightknit community out on the fringes of the Net, go join a MUD. Some are combat oriented, some are roleplay and chat oriented, all are text-based, and many have largely the same exact userbase as they had twenty years ago. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.228|108.162.212.228]] 15:48, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* If you want a really small and odd community check out the Plato network, you have to emulate a terminal from the late 70's early 80's to use it. --[[User:DECtape|DECtape]] ([[User talk:DECtape|talk]]) 00:27, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

Hmm i think randall also wants to share his believs in the subcontext of the comic, the reason why we live on erth as a random error, the sysadmin who probably sees it all(=god), the question what will happen after all that is gone (his opinion, that our lives are compelty senseless)..etc. {{unsigned ip|108.162.254.161}}

* Anyone else think of comic 37 when reading the last panel (due to the ambiguity of whether he is talking about fucking "video ads" or "fucking video" ads)? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.227|173.245.50.227]] 18:31, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

Yes, of COURSE I came here to see if it really exists! I don't know if there's actually a chatroom as described, but Usenet has become much smaller, has no ads, and doesn't require you to know the secret application to get in. IIf a text experience with no ads appeals, dump FB, come back to Usenet! Tell 'em Sea Wasp sent you! :) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.186|108.162.219.186]] 19:15, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

*Shhh! You're forgetting the first rule of Usenet! [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.6|173.245.54.6]] 17:57, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

It's obviously about life and religion. The sysadmin who never writes anything must be there to keep everything running, because else the chat would stop to exist. Like most religions contribute to a god who is never seen or heard. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.232|108.162.231.232]] 08:03, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

I'm wondering if he got this idea from Starship Titanic. They had a very similar thing happen. [http://www.metafilter.com/98848/The-Post-That-Cannot-Possibly-Go-Wrong#3435156 See this epic MeFi comment from the self-described "main web hacker" behind Starship Titanic's web site.] [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.119|199.27.128.119]] 17:29, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

I've made several edits to clean up the explanation. Not sure whether I should remove the incomplete tag or not. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.227|173.245.52.227]] 17:57, 19 December 2013 (UTC)
:Please don't do that. A comic at this size isn't complete within one or two days. Removing the incomplete tag is a minor issue, explaining is the major one. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:46, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

I don't really see why the trivia should be there. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.45|108.162.216.45]] 20:29, 19 December 2013 (UTC)
:This content was moved from the explain section to a trivia section by me. It still needs some rework but it belongs to "old Windows utilities" like Randall is talking about here at the first panel.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:46, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

Reminds me of MUDs. I still check in on New Moon [http://eclipse.cs.pdx.edu/] a few times a year. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.236.25|108.162.236.25]] 16:15, 20 December 2013 (UTC)
:I see what you mean. For me it's the Discworld MUD. But it could similarly (i.e. not exactly like the comic suggests) apply to some long-term Usenet groups that I (in)frequent. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.229|141.101.99.229]] 16:22, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

It may not be the tool from the comic, but people here might be interested in: http://kurlander.net/DJ/Projects/ComicChat/resources.html {{unsigned|Jvfrmtn}}

If this chatroom was real I'd love to see it. I know ts not though. Of course what if there's a little fridge horror in this comic? Like a chatroom 98 sort of thing? Maybe the sysadmin or the people Cueball and the others are talking to are really ghosts or souls that were sucked into an old server forever doomed to spend their days talking to themselves until another unsuspecting user is sucked in.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.36|108.162.215.36]] 02:54, 23 December 2013 (UTC)

Ido: Can someone explain why the URL www.xkcd.com/test reference to this strip? looks like an undocumented feature to me :) {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.220}}

:It doesn't anymore… [[User:Varal7|Varal7]] ([[User talk:Varal7|talk]]) 19:03, 20 May 2014 (UTC)
::It now displays to [[1367: Installing]]. [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 01:11, 23 May 2014 (UTC)

I was doing some searching on the internet, and found, in addition to the one/few on this page, some people who said/implied that they have used this chat before, although, like anything on the internet, the claims may not be true. (Links: http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/436369-does-this-actually-exist [see comments 3, 12, and 14], http://pastebin.com/95nGh8Hk [Says it exists, but doesn't elaborate]) [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 22:02, 12 March 2014 (UTC)

I used to be part of something very similar to to what the comic describes (but not exactly the same). When AOL first started, it was a completely 'walled garden' with no access to the internet. Old folks will remember how popular brands used to advertise on TV that you should go to their 'AOL Keyword' instead of a web site URL. Check Wikipedia for more about this. Anyway, AOL had its own set of message boards, for many popular topics, which were not connected to the internet and could only be accessed by other AOL members. I was just a kid. I went exploring through a bunch of message boards about niche topics until I found one with a community that I came to like. We had all kinds of off-topic conversations, and, the moderators having long since gone, it came to resemble its original topical purpose very little. The ages were not kind to AOL, and our group grew smaller and smaller as the AOL service gained a connection to the real internet (including the WWW and Usenet) and not as many new people bothered to look at AOL-only message boards any more. Eventually, the Keyword that accessed our special board stopped working and it was dropped from the public directory that lists all the areas of AOL. But we found a workaround: AOL had its own quasi-URL system that was mostly only used internally in the software and not usually exposed directly through the UI. But, those of us who had directly bookmarked the message board could still access it that way, and we found a way to share the aol:// URL amongst ourselves. Just like in the comic, we couldn't figure out why the message board still worked at all, for many years after it was no longer publicly visible anywhere, and wondered if some sysadmins with a sense of humour at AOL were watching us. It was fun in a way, a secret place all to ourselves. But it was also kind of sad, when sometimes months would go where noone posted. The UI would sometimes get migrated to a newer version with no notice, and then rolled back again just as abruptly. Old messages would suddenly disappear, become resurrected and then disappear again. Eventually, the thing that finally killed it was that one by one, we each stopped paying for AOL as we found better ISPs and couldn’t justify the expense. It would have been easy enough to move to another web site or chat program, and at first, some of us tried to recreate it elsewhere, but it was never really the same, and we could never get the same group completely back together again. But I guess that's how life is anyway: people drift apart. Despite that, many of us still keep in touch and have become very close friends, some of us even in real life. It's good to have friends. xxj{{unsigned|Xxj}}
:TL;DR! Keep your comments short. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:57, 23 May 2014 (UTC)
::If you really didn't read that, Dgbrt, you missed out (what are you, from Twitter? everything has to be 160 characters or the ADD kicks in?). It was worth it, for an old internet hand/AOLer. That is too often how life is, xxj; thanks for posting it. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by nostalgia for some old AOL and GameFaqs message boards, now... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.77|108.162.219.77]] 03:17, 28 May 2014 (UTC)
:::This is a typical reaction to misuse my reaction. If you look at my contributions here you would know that I'm really NOT a TWITTER man. I don't like Twitter and AOL was always a big mess by it's time. But including some paragraphs, writing shorter sentences, and I wouldn't have posted my "TL;DR!" reply. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:30, 28 May 2014 (UTC)

The comic says it's an "old" Windows utility, but the UI in the picture can be from no older than Windows 95. Native Win95 software still runs on modern PCs without resorting to a VM, doesn't it? Did Randall forget how a window looked in Windows 3.1? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.77|108.162.216.77]] 06:49, 30 May 2014 (UTC)

: An old Windows 95 ''program'' may be able to run on modern systems, but an old ''utility'' may be very tightly tied to that particular system. --[[User:Dfeuer|Dfeuer]] ([[User talk:Dfeuer|talk]]) 08:37, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

I think the reason for the cartoon is to explain chat room vs Facebook/twitter, and rather then say "IRC", which could be misunderstood (as being very large ?), he made up the hidden utility chat room.... this utilities chatroom would explain how there could be a small chatroom that is not filled with mindless *MERE USERS* ... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 06:17, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

"whereas Ponytail is still using an old computer (as evidenced by the CRT monitor)." No, it doesn't. A modern computer can still perfectly use old CRTs. I did it myself a while back, while my LCD was being replaced. All it takes is a VGA connection, and I'm not sure whether modern computers are coming without any VGA connection at all, be it in the mobo or the GPU (at least high end GPUs are dropping VGA support). Anyway, that's not an evidence. It '''hints''' that Ponytail may be using an old computer. I shall fix it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.125|108.162.219.125]] 03:39, 7 February 2015 (UTC)

:Ponytail is using a modern computer; the panel is set years ago before "the internet aged". Also why do the sevens have lines through them? It's increasingly common these days, but is that a facility or a habit of Randall's?[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.130|141.101.98.130]] 10:54, 25 March 2018 (UTC)



<!-- This comic has thrown me into a bit of an existential mood. Although to be fair, that was mostly the Kurzgesagt videos. Another thing I want to add- Modern technology or not, quiet corners still exist. They are, of course, harder to find, but as this is my generation's "early days" I would like to believe that they can be anywhere if you look hard enough. -'Char Latte49', 14:11, 2 March 2020 (PCT)

Many comments above shared their own stories for currently less frequent technologies, but it can happen with modern app with a sophisticated UI. In my teenage years, not getting on well with people around, I have pinned my social needs on a student-oriented platform called ''I ought to be a learning-master'' where contemporaries behave innocent but moving. I owe my aesthetics thereafter to a few people I acquainted even after their disappearance when the platform shut down in 2017. —~~~~