explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1145: Sky Color

2015-06-22T23:53:18Z

108.162.210.177:

I think most explanations of the the mirror issue overlook an even simpler explanation -- Things appear to be flipped such that left and right are reversed. However, that is only because you are used to things, such as people, rotating about a vertical axis, with top and bottom staying in the same position. If a clone of you stood on its head and you faced each other, your right arms would be on the same side (e.g. "closer to the door"). Now, if you look in a mirror, it is the same as seeing the clone flipped top to bottom. [[Special:Contributions/24.41.66.114|24.41.66.114]] 01:06, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Of course with '''''vertical''''' mirror vertical axis is selected: perceived switching of left and right (really close with far to mirror surface). When '''standing on''' '''''horizontal''''' mirror we will perceive switching bottom from top. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 09:09, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

You're certainly correct, but I think that the original question is not really asking about text (or other things) which are perpendicular to the mirror, but rather text which is parallel to it (and thus the close vs. far doesn't come into it). For example, when reading signs in your rear view mirror or holding a book in front of your chest while looking in a mirror. I've added a little bit to the explanation to attempt to help clarify what's happening in that situation. I'm not sure if it really helps or not. [[User:KeithyIrwin|KeithyIrwin]] ([[User talk:KeithyIrwin|talk]]) 10:00, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

Easier way to describe it: Imagine you hold a piece of glass. Write on the glass and hold it in front of the mirror, so that you can see both the original text and the mirrored text. Both versions of the text will look identical. So the mirror doesn't change anything. [[Special:Contributions/62.220.2.194|62.220.2.194]] 11:10, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

Another way: draw a line between the real object and its reflection. Things are reflected around that line. If that line is going up & down (relative to your eyes), then things are reflected left/right (relative to your eyes). If that line is horizontal (again relative to your eyes), then things are reflected top/bottom. So it's not so much whether the mirror is horizontal or vertical, but rather what direction you are looking into the mirror (although that can be influenced a lot by the mirror's orientation).[[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 04:17, 11 December 2012 (UTC)

I always wonder: Since the sky goes from red to blue to red and the optical spectrum goes from red to green to blue. How come the sky is never green?
: Because of human color perception. You only perceive green in polychromatic light when said light is stronger in the middle wavelengths than the low or high wavelengths; in other words, you would need a process in the sky that removed ''both'' the high and low wavelengths from white light. As the sun sets, only the lower wavelengths are removed, so you perceive yellows and reds -- this perception of color is "one-sided", i.e. it is not interfered with by even longer wavelengths. By the way, sometimes you do see green briefly in the sky, it's called a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_flash Green Flash]. --[[User:Prooffreader|Prooffreader]] ([[User talk:Prooffreader|talk]]) 16:41, 10 December 2012 (UTC)
::I used to go outside after a rain storm during the day, and sometimes the sky would seem very green. The effect could last for hours. [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 12:15, 12 December 2012 (UTC)
: The sky ''is'' green, at times. Growing up in the Upper Midwest (USA), I quickly learned that green sky means it's time to watch out for tornadoes. I don't know the actual connection between the two situations--I would guess from the previous comment that whatever atmospheric conditions create tornado conditions also "edit out" both high and low wavelengths, at least to a degree. [[Special:Contributions/129.176.151.14|129.176.151.14]] 14:44, 12 December 2012 (UTC)

This sentence doesn't make sense: "(from "his" right to left instead of from "his" left to right)" [[User:Trek7553|Trek7553]] ([[User talk:Trek7553|talk]]) 15:15, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

Repeat Character Watch: The girl has appeared previously in [[842: Mark]], [[892: Null Hypothesis]], [[1058: Old-Timers]], and [[1104: Feathers]] (A similar looking character also appears in [[635: Locke and Demosthenes]] but this is actually the character Valentine from the book Ender's Game). The mother is seen in comics [[806: Tech Support]] and [[813: One-Liners]]. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:12, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

About [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1145:_Sky_Color&diff=22416&oldid=22414 this edition]: 1/(x^4) does not look like a root to me. IMHO the forth root of x would be more like x^(1/4) but it's not the formula from the comic. (I'm too lazy to try to type lambda). [[User:Lmpk|Lmpk]] ([[User talk:Lmpk|talk]]) 19:00, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

:You are correct. It's been fixed. The editor that made that edit was probably confusing 1/x4 with x1/4, the latter of which would indeed be the fourth root. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 19:53, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

[http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/BlueSky/blue_sky.html This page], linked from the explanation says that "the most strongly scattered indigo and violet wavelengths stimulate the red cones slightly as well as the blue, which is why these colours appear blue with an added red tinge." -- this seems rather strange. Assuming the cones are simulated based on frequency/wavelength, ultra-blue colors shouldn't stimulate the red cones because the electromagnetic spectrum is linear, not circular, despite the appearance of similarity between violet and red. Or am I missing something? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:14, 11 December 2012 (UTC)
: If you look at the response curve (middle of cited page) you'll see that red receptors have two peaks, one in the red wavelengths, and another (very tiny one) in the violet. That's why purple (which is red + blue) looks so similar to violet, and why the "color wheel" works. [[Special:Contributions/207.225.239.130|207.225.239.130]] 21:59, 11 December 2012 (UTC)
:: PS: "first years" is an idiom. Wouldn't that be "first year students" to be proper English? [[Special:Contributions/207.225.239.130|207.225.239.130]] 22:05, 11 December 2012 (UTC)
:::Idioms are "proper English" too. There is no doubt about what is meant here (or at least, I hope there isn't, but perhaps there are regional differences that mean some English speakers don't say "first years" to talk about students in their first year), and the register is not unduly colloquial for this kind of a site. 14:00, 12 December 2012 (UTC)
: The easiest way to explain mirrors is: they don't change left and right, they change forward and backward. What is farther from the mirror appears farther in the mirror. If you look at yourself, your nose and the nose of your reflection are the closest parts of the body together (at least in a bathroom mirror :-)), so *if there were* another person standing where the mirror *simulates* it, that person would wave it's right arm when you wave your left. But in a "absolute reference frame", both image and original wave their arm nearest to the door. Interestingly automobile drivers don't make this error: if you see a car in the rear mirror blinking left you don't assume they want to turn right...

There was a hilarious [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Fuzzy Get Fuzzy] strip where Rob tried to explain why the sky is blue to Satchel, but I can't find it. [http://homepage.smc.edu/morse_peter/phy14/LightOptics/GetFuzzyWhyIsTheSkyBlue.jpg This one?][[Special:Contributions/98.174.41.183|98.174.41.183]] 00:49, 31 December 2012 (UTC) Yes that's the one. --[[User:Smartin|Smartin]] ([[User talk:Smartin|talk]]) 04:23, 1 January 2013 (UTC)

: I would also just like to add that, as I understand it, the Sun puts out a lot more blue light than violet light, so it would make sense for blue to dominate. After green light, where the Sun's output peaks, the intensity of the light starts dropping dramatically. {{unsigned ip|71.104.183.59}}

I don't think that woman is Megan. She looks like a black-haired version of Ponytail. {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.203}}
:Have to agree. Doesn't look like Megan. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.177|108.162.210.177]] 23:53, 22 June 2015 (UTC)

The mirror explanation is convoluted. The question tricks you into thinking there's right/left symmetry being mixed up, when the symmetry is actually across the surface of the mirror. That's it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.94|108.162.215.94]] 01:41, 28 September 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1540: Hemingway

2015-06-19T21:06:52Z

108.162.210.177:

Did Randall miss the slash before the second blink? Or is there a More Profound Meaning. Possibly higher chance of typos when publication is late (deadline struggle?). [[User:Jkrstrt|Jkrstrt]] ([[User talk:Jkrstrt|talk]]) 14:07, 19 June 2015 (UTC)
*Wow, you're right! [[User:Nk22|The Twenty-second. The Not So Only. The Nathan/Nk22]] ([[User talk:Nk22|talk]]) 14:08, 19 June 2015 (UTC)
**Perhaps that is the error which causes the HTML tags to be visible text? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.83|108.162.218.83]] 15:30, 19 June 2015 (UTC)
***Unlikely. The opening tag turns on the effect for all the text that follows until a closing tag is found. No closing tag, and the effect doesn't stop. - Equinox [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.172|108.162.238.172]] 16:32, 19 June 2015 (UTC)
I think (-1) [cursed] may be a reference to the card game Dominion? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.183|108.162.219.183]] 17:51, 19 June 2015 (UTC)
*Actually this is more likely a reference to a cursed item in an RPG (DnD, WoW, etc.), where a cursed item often gives a negative stat bonus instead of a positive one. A magic item might be indicated as Magic Hammer (+2). [[User:Veleek|Veleek]] ([[User talk:Veleek|talk]]) 18:12, 19 June 2015 (UTC)

It is from a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roguelike rogue like] game. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.56.143|162.158.56.143]] 18:41, 19 June 2015 (UTC)

Why is there a bit about HTML sanitization? It's in an image file.. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.22|108.162.221.22]] 18:56, 19 June 2015 (UTC)

The effect of the marquee tag is to create an area of scrolling text. So with the blink tag the html would produce a box of text that will scroll from right to left and have a blinking background akin to annoying internet banner ads. So it's not about html sanitation, the html is visible so you can see the word count, it is up to the reader to interpret it as an annoying internet ad. (Source: mozilla documentation). [[User:Aide7|Aide7]] ([[User talk:Aide7|talk]]) 19:06, 19 June 2015 (UTC)

I hate that I only just learned about the 6-word story on TV Tropes a few days before this comic was posted. I wonder if Randall and I have similar browsing habits. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.177|108.162.210.177]] 21:06, 19 June 2015 (UTC)

Talk:159: Boombox

2015-05-31T22:45:41Z

108.162.210.177:

The issue date on this comic is not given, as i don't know one. Can anyone fix this? [[User:Rikthoff|Rikthoff]] ([[User talk:Rikthoff|talk]]) 18:08, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

This is not a reference to Romeo and Juliet. It is a reference to the 80s movie Say Anything, where John Cusack plays Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" on a boombox outside the house of the girl he likes.

Just gonna leave this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr60RCuVUb0&feature=youtube_gdata_player [[Special:Contributions/172.56.8.215|172.56.8.215]] 14:35, 13 October 2013 (UTC)

:I agree. The most direct reference is clearly Say Anything. The more classical references are fine to include, but given that there's no detail particularly linking them to the comic, they should be de-emphasized in favor of the movie.[[User:Jerodast|- jerodast]] ([[User talk:Jerodast|talk]]) 23:35, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

I think this comic should refer to the male character as "Rob", since it seems from other comics (e.g. [[716: Time Machine]] and [[782: Desecration]]) that Rob and Megan have a close and possibly romantic relationship. [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Merge_Cueball_.26_Rob See here] for more discussion on this topic. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 13:37, 13 March 2015 (UTC)
:I disagree. In none of the comics where Megan is named has Rob been named as well. So there is no indication that they are the same. Most of the time Megan and Cueball are not "named" character. In a few (three?) Megan is used for the xkcd Megan. And out of almost a 1000 cases Cueball has only been named Rob in 9. In a few of these he is together with the xkcd Megan. Viac versa in the three with Megans name, Cueball is also there, but then he is not named Rob. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:15, 15 March 2015 (UTC)
:I think the name Rob should only be used when the comic specifically mentions the name, Cueball for every other generic stickman.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:22, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

I think we need to make a distinction: the term "character" can refer to either a stick figure with distinguishing features (e.g. Black Hat, Cueball), or a real (or fictional person) which such a figure often represents (e.g. Randall, Rob). This distinction is often blurred, for example Megan is both a stick figure and a person. Hopefully this will help clear up some confusion! [[User:Richmond tudor|Richmond tudor]] ([[User talk:Richmond tudor|talk]]) 01:57, 16 March 2015 (UTC)
: This conversation is occurring [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Merge_Cueball_.26_Rob elsewhere, please weigh in here]. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 01:34, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

The joke gets referenced again in the first image's mouse-over text in [https://what-if.xkcd.com/40/ this article]. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.177|108.162.210.177]] 22:45, 31 May 2015 (UTC)

Talk:159: Boombox

2015-05-31T22:45:20Z

108.162.210.177:

The issue date on this comic is not given, as i don't know one. Can anyone fix this? [[User:Rikthoff|Rikthoff]] ([[User talk:Rikthoff|talk]]) 18:08, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

This is not a reference to Romeo and Juliet. It is a reference to the 80s movie Say Anything, where John Cusack plays Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" on a boombox outside the house of the girl he likes.

Just gonna leave this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr60RCuVUb0&feature=youtube_gdata_player [[Special:Contributions/172.56.8.215|172.56.8.215]] 14:35, 13 October 2013 (UTC)

:I agree. The most direct reference is clearly Say Anything. The more classical references are fine to include, but given that there's no detail particularly linking them to the comic, they should be de-emphasized in favor of the movie.[[User:Jerodast|- jerodast]] ([[User talk:Jerodast|talk]]) 23:35, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

I think this comic should refer to the male character as "Rob", since it seems from other comics (e.g. [[716: Time Machine]] and [[782: Desecration]]) that Rob and Megan have a close and possibly romantic relationship. [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Merge_Cueball_.26_Rob See here] for more discussion on this topic. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 13:37, 13 March 2015 (UTC)
:I disagree. In none of the comics where Megan is named has Rob been named as well. So there is no indication that they are the same. Most of the time Megan and Cueball are not "named" character. In a few (three?) Megan is used for the xkcd Megan. And out of almost a 1000 cases Cueball has only been named Rob in 9. In a few of these he is together with the xkcd Megan. Viac versa in the three with Megans name, Cueball is also there, but then he is not named Rob. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:15, 15 March 2015 (UTC)
:I think the name Rob should only be used when the comic specifically mentions the name, Cueball for every other generic stickman.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:22, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

I think we need to make a distinction: the term "character" can refer to either a stick figure with distinguishing features (e.g. Black Hat, Cueball), or a real (or fictional person) which such a figure often represents (e.g. Randall, Rob). This distinction is often blurred, for example Megan is both a stick figure and a person. Hopefully this will help clear up some confusion! [[User:Richmond tudor|Richmond tudor]] ([[User talk:Richmond tudor|talk]]) 01:57, 16 March 2015 (UTC)
: This conversation is occurring [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Merge_Cueball_.26_Rob elsewhere, please weigh in here]. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 01:34, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

The joke gets referenced again in the first images mouse-over text in [https://what-if.xkcd.com/40/ this article]. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.177|108.162.210.177]] 22:45, 31 May 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1529: Bracket

2015-05-26T06:01:50Z

108.162.210.177:

I would have added Amanda Plummer. Will confuse Plummer with Palmer any day. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.191|108.162.249.191]] 23:19, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Interesting to me that no one has noted the order of the doctors. Doctor Octopus is from a comic, Doctor Manhattan is from a graphic novel and, trying to avoid spoilers here, the atomic bomb plays a key role in the story. The atomic bomb was the product of the Manhattan project (a fact not lost on Alan Moore), and the subject of the movie referenced by the next line, Dr Strangelove ("or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"). I can't believe this order is arbitrary. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.108|173.245.48.108]] 04:55, 26 May 2015 (UTC)

What's the connection between Rip Torn and Natalie Imbruglia? {{unsigned ip|108.162.238.183}}
:Answer: Her song, Torn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV1XWJN3nJo-{{unsigned|Stumpy}}
Rip Torn could have a preliminary match with Prof. Lance Rips {{16:34, 25 May 2015 (UTC)Mitch Marks uchicago}}

Any pairings that you'd add, given the opportunity? Personally I always confuse [[wikipedia:Wilson Pickett|Wilson Pickett]] and [[wikipedia:Wilson Phillips|Wilson Phillips]]. [[User:Studley|Studley]] ([[User talk:Studley|talk]]) 08:28, 25 May 2015 (UTC)
[[wikipedia:Will Ferrell|Will Ferrell]] and [[wikipedia:Pharrell Williams|Pharrell Williams]] for me! -{{unsigned|Stumpy}}

How about George Washington and George Washington Carver? and the George Washington Bridge?

At one time, the White House had both a Donald Regan and a Ronald Reagan.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.190|108.162.215.190]] 17:14, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Why do some first round pairings have more than two people? Beyoncé starts at the third round, so it can't be just because of the number of people. There has to be a joke in them but I don't see it. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.176|141.101.104.176]] 08:45, 25 May 2015 (UTC)
:Possibly an in-joke at the NCAA bracket's First Four round. Mister/Fred Astaire/Rogers is a more "traditional" reference to the First Four. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.103|108.162.219.103]] 10:32, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Perhaps it's worth adding to a trivia section that (assuming every person/thing has an equal chance of winning every matchup, Beyonce has the highest odds of winning (1/32 = 3.125%) while Kurt Russell, Russell Crowe, Russell Brand, and Russell Simmons are all tied for having the worst starting odds (1/256 = .391%).[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.91|108.162.219.91]] 09:19, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

I may be worth mentioning that the bracketing trees resemble hierarchical clustering dendrograms in which some string similarity metric was used as a distance function. {{unsigned ip|141.101.91.7}}

Although the comic is formatted as a tournament bracket, there are hints that it is in fact a dendrogram based on string similarity, in a similar way to how trees of evolutionary relationships between proteins are formed. We see this especially in the "Russell" group where there is equal similarity between any name containing "Russell" and so that group is not resolved into two separate forks. If readers wish to recreate such an analysis for themselves they can take the text on [http://pastebin.com/DRqjaDHH here] paste it into a [http://www.ebi.ac.uk/Tools/msa/clustalw2/ multiple sequence aligner], press Submit, then after processing click Phylogenetic Tree and scroll down. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.74|141.101.99.74]] 12:46, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Somewhat disagree. There is no "string similarity" between domino and checker. The connection between the names seems to be that there are games named Dominos and Checkers. They would not be together if it was based on strictly on string similarity or generated automatically by software without human intervention.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.190|108.162.215.190]] 17:09, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Is there any significance to the number of entries? 52 on the left side but only 51 on the right? {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.84}}

;Title text
Changed the reference of the Title Text from Doctor Who (who is already listed in the comic) to Dr. Dre, as the phrasing of the Title Text seems like a very direct reference to the 2001 song "Forgot About Dre." {{unsigned|Conquistador}}
:Probably would have been better to add it as an option since we're clearly far from certain -{{unsigned|Stumpy}}

Why not Zoidberg? --RhyvenNZ [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.41|198.41.238.41]] 09:55, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Pretty sure Doctor Who is covered by "The Doctor". He doesn't go by "Who" in the show. He's just the Doctor. I think the missing doctor is House. {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.127}}

Dr. Pepper, maybe? Does "staring" or "forgotten" have to do with it? {{unsigned ip|108.162.237.156}}

Whatagainnow? {{unsigned ip|108.162.222.178}}

Dr. Oz? Dr. Phil? Dr. Watson? Dr. Kavorkian? Dr. Seuss? Wasn't there a famous literary work, The Lost Island of Dr. Moreau? I agree that Dr. House and/or house calls could be a missing candidate for the bracket. But then, there are a ton of 'Sirs' that didn't make the list.  {{unsigned|GAKDragon||please sign your posts appropriately with the appropriate user and talk page links using <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>}}
:[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Teeth_and_The_Electric_Mayhem Doctor Teeth!] [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 13:50, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Or is "The Doctor" http://en.memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/The_Doctor? {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.108}}
:The Doctor is already in the bracket. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.49|141.101.99.49]] 10:40, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

It's Doctor House - definitely and finally! {{unsigned|Raydleemsc}}

Definitely "Doc" Brown: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Brown {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.171}}

::It's clearly Dr. Doolittle. Can't imagine why no one has realized this yet. {{unsigned ip|108.162.238.193}}

Could the joke simply be "there are way too many famous doctors", so even though it's arguably the most numerous category in the bracket, some are still "forgotten"? {{unsigned ip|108.162.254.164}}

Probably not talking about doctor who, however he could be referencing The Silence, which is a an alien race, on that show, which you immediately forget about after losing sight of it. {{unsigned|KroniK907}}

I immediately thought of Amy's wedding in Dr Who S5Ep13 where she needed to remember the doctor to bring him back. Too obscure? [[User:Blu003|Blu003]] ([[User talk:Blu003|talk]]) 13:07, 25 May 2015 (UTC)
:Hardly. You want obscure, try The Doctor's granddaughter. Yep, he had/has one. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.144|108.162.237.144]] 13:41, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

:Dr. Martha Jones, from Doctor Who? The Doctor Donna? Even the companions on the show are Doctors. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.222.178|108.162.222.178]] 03:55, 26 May 2015 (UTC)

Y'know, I can't help but feel that this is a little to bland and unfinished for xkcd. I'm willing to bet that the picture updates with winners. May be sorely disappointed though. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.119|108.162.219.119]] 15:02, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Can't help but feel that there's a better way to lay this explanation out, but I haven't been able to come up with it. Maybe some sort of table listing all the different groups, with people allowed to be in more than one group? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.232|141.101.98.232]] 15:18, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

:I personally don't love the large listing of people. It is a bit bland, but more importantly, it doesn't really show the linkages between the participants (though most people ought to be able to figure out these overt links Jeff Gordon... Jeff Daniels... it doesn't need explanation. That said, the current format doesn't quite demonstrate the chain-link nature of some matchups like:
:*'''Body''' Shop
:*'''Bath''' and '''Body''' Works
:*Bed '''Bath''' & '''Beyond'''
:*'''Beyond''' Thunderdome
:* '''Beyon'''cé.
:I wouldn't mind a format with that kind of bolding. I think that shows the chain of links better than the first to being grouped "businesses with the word "body" and the second two "things with the word beyond" and "Beyoncé" separately. Similarly, Jeff Daniels belongs to both the "Jeff"s and the "J. Daniels"es. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 15:48, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

I wouldn't categorize Fats Domino and Chubby Checker (just) as games. Given that they're directly under Ryan Adams and Bryan Adams, I'd have identified them as 50's singers, with some physical similarities. [[User:KenWhitesell|KenWhitesell]] ([[User talk:KenWhitesell|talk]]) 16:17, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Agree. I put in the identification about games without knowing who Chubby Checker was.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.190|108.162.215.190]] 17:09, 25 May 2015 (UTC)
:Then you are one of today's lucky 10,000! [[1053]] {{w|Chubby Checker}}[[User:Zeimusu|Zeimusu]] ([[User talk:Zeimusu|talk]]) 21:32, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

;celebrity deathmatch

This reminds me of Celebrity Deathmatch. Then have:
* Charles Manson vs. Marilyn Manson
* Backstreet Boys vs. Beastie Boys
* The Three Stooges vs. The Three Tenors
* Kevin Costner vs. Kevin Smith
* John Cusack vs. John Malkovich
* David Blaine vs. David Copperfield
* Corey Feldman vs. Corey Haim
* Jack Black vs. Jack White

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Celebrity_Deathmatch_episodes {{unsigned|Bart9h}}

Who is Jeff Gordan? There's an extremely famous NASCAR driver named Jeff Gordon, but I don't know of a Jeff Gordan. Significant or typo? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.182|108.162.238.182]] 16:07, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Where is Colin Furze? And Arnold Swarzenegger? And all other people I never heard of? -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.116|141.101.104.116]] 21:12, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

What about my favourite triple: Robbie Williams, Robin Williams and Robyn Williams? -- Ian N.

This is a major "Get Out Of My Head, Randall" comic for me. The day before this comic was posted, my friend and I were discussing a "Hunger Games" type simulation being done on 8chan involving loads and loads of characters across genres, and he had asked me about the probability of a particular match-up occurring with a desired outcome. It led to a long and detailed math conversation. The original match-up has been bumped out of existence, but [http://i.imgur.com/ESeMXOI.jpg this image] still lives on. Appropriately, the comic was posted on my birthday. 2spooky4me. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.177|108.162.210.177]] 06:01, 26 May 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1510: Napoleon

2015-04-10T18:20:31Z

108.162.210.177:

Well, this explains a lot. Why Obama refuses to return to the Moon and wants to go for an asteroid...[[User:Jkotek|Jkotek]] ([[User talk:Jkotek|talk]]) 07:33, 10 April 2015 (UTC)
:That would make an awesome addition to the story line. I wish Randall included that extra panel. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.89|173.245.50.89]] 08:21, 10 April 2015 (UTC)BK201
:So... the reason he wants to go for an asteroid is that we need the capability to send the Moon-escaped Napoleon there! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 09:42, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

Haha this is now one of my favourite xkcd comics [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.33|141.101.98.33]] 08:16, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

IMHO the explanation somewhat misses the crucial point: A parody of the villain type
who always comes back in comic books. (Don't force me to add a TVTropes link :-) [[Special:Contributions/198.41.243.240|198.41.243.240]] 09:22, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

Another question - Why the Antarctic? Something evil resting under deep ice is concept used for example in movie(s) The Thing ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_from_Another_World]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(1982_film)]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(2011_film)]] - chose your favorite ;-) or game Prisoner of Ice [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner_of_Ice]].[[User:Jkotek|Jkotek]] ([[User talk:Jkotek|talk]]) 13:59, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

In 2115, Napoleon escapes from the moon and almost conquers the United Nations of Earth before being defeated. He is then sent into the Sun, where he stays for the next thousand years.... But in the 32nd century, humanity begins extracting material from the Sun to build a Dyson Sphere, and this allows Napoleon to escape and wreak havoc once more. At this point, the Star People just give up and go "WTF?!". [[User:Jake|Jake]] ([[User talk:Jake|talk]]) 16:37, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

http://what-if.xkcd.com/imgs/a/124/kennedy.png [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.177|108.162.210.177]] 18:20, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1053: Ten Thousand

2015-04-06T10:15:21Z

108.162.210.177:

Regarding: "This also assumes that 10,000 people learn of something every day from the day they are born." That's not accurate. Whatever the any distribution of "age you learn" is, the average will hold. For example, if everybody learns some particular fact on their 21st birthday, it holds simply becuase there are roughly 10,000 people having their 21st birthday each and every day.

I think it also may be referring, in a tongue-in-cheek manner, to the fact that people who call people idiots because they don't know something, and yet fail to explain it, are creating ignorance to criticise it.

Person A says, "What is x?"

Person B responds, "You're an idiot for not knowing x."

Person B is now responsible for the idiocy he claims Person A to have, thus making Person B the ''real'' idiot. In this comic, he makes this point by refusing to be Person B, while at the same time making subtle references to still having the sadistic glee person B has.[[Special:Contributions/76.29.225.28|76.29.225.28]] 22:37, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

I think he's getting the pleasure of seeing the look on Person A's face when Person A learns/sees something incredible! I think it's more of a positive. {{unsigned|Theo}}

I wonder which relative came back to life?[[User:Pennpenn|Pennpenn]] ([[User talk:Pennpenn|talk]]) 05:02, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Would someone care to explain the math behind this comic? {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.10}}
:I did a try. The age is unimportant, it's only the birth rate. I'm happy about a feedback. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:18, 13 May 2014 (UTC)

Looks like there might be a callback to this comic in the latest What-If. http://what-if.xkcd.com/135/ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.177|108.162.210.177]] 10:14, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1053: Ten Thousand

2015-04-06T10:14:54Z

108.162.210.177:

Regarding: "This also assumes that 10,000 people learn of something every day from the day they are born." That's not accurate. Whatever the any distribution of "age you learn" is, the average will hold. For example, if everybody learns some particular fact on their 21st birthday, it holds simply becuase there are roughly 10,000 people having their 21st birthday each and every day.

I think it also may be referring, in a tongue-in-cheek manner, to the fact that people who call people idiots because they don't know something, and yet fail to explain it, are creating ignorance to criticise it.

Person A says, "What is x?"

Person B responds, "You're an idiot for not knowing x."

Person B is now responsible for the idiocy he claims Person A to have, thus making Person B the ''real'' idiot. In this comic, he makes this point by refusing to be Person B, while at the same time making subtle references to still having the sadistic glee person B has.[[Special:Contributions/76.29.225.28|76.29.225.28]] 22:37, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

I think he's getting the pleasure of seeing the look on Person A's face when Person A learns/sees something incredible! I think it's more of a positive. {{unsigned|Theo}}

I wonder which relative came back to life?[[User:Pennpenn|Pennpenn]] ([[User talk:Pennpenn|talk]]) 05:02, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Would someone care to explain the math behind this comic? {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.10}}
:I did a try. The age is unimportant, it's only the birth rate. I'm happy about a feedback. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:18, 13 May 2014 (UTC)

Looks like there might be a callback to this comment in the latest What-If. http://what-if.xkcd.com/135/ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.177|108.162.210.177]] 10:14, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:189: Exercise

2015-04-03T00:03:21Z

108.162.210.177:

See: Fitocracy (www.fitocracy.com), for these ideas in action.

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.8|108.162.242.8]] 15:11, 27 May 2014 (UTC) Rome_Leader

I thought he was saying he didn't have the patience for level grinding. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.177|108.162.210.177]] 00:03, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:704: Principle of Explosion

2015-03-28T00:51:02Z

108.162.210.177:

Could Mrs Lenhart be Miss Lenhart's mother, perhaps? This makes Cueball-1 Miss Lenhart's brother (and thus possibly "Cueball Lenhart", unless he's a half-brother or step-brother or the like). Of course with provably two Cueballs in this situation (and assuming they aren't twins, unless #2... no, we won't go there) we can't therefore assume that any particular lone Cueball is related. However, if "Cueball is a Lenhart AND Cueball is not a Lenhart" then.... well, lock up your mothers... <smirk> [[Special:Contributions/31.111.50.225|31.111.50.225]] 22:01, 7 May 2013 (UTC)

^ genealogy makes my head durt. [[Special:Contributions/103.9.42.158|103.9.42.158]] 20:22, 19 October 2013 (UTC)

Hey, what do waffle cones and box wine have to do with each other? Wouldn't the cones just get soggy? Just wondering. Anonymous 18:30, 9 December 2014 (UTC)
:This is what I came here to figure out. "Oh, right, for the wine" makes it sound like it's supposed to be obvious. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.177|108.162.210.177]] 00:51, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1491: Stories of the Past and Future

2015-02-25T05:35:31Z

108.162.210.177:

http://xkcd.com/1491/large/ will take you to the large version, which the comic currently doesn't have a link to. I expect that will be fixed shortly. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.177|108.162.210.177]] 05:30, 25 February 2015 (UTC)
:I just realized he has a text link for it in the top banner. I'd delete my comment, but that's rude on a wiki. Whatever. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.177|108.162.210.177]] 05:35, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1491: Stories of the Past and Future

2015-02-25T05:30:28Z

108.162.210.177: Created page with "http://xkcd.com/1491/large/ will take you to the large version, which the comic currently doesn't have a link to. I expect that will be fixed shortly. ~~~~"