explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2478: Alien Visitors 2

2021-06-19T00:23:42Z

108.162.215.106: /* Transcript */ transcript

{{comic
| number = 2478
| date = June 18, 2021
| title = Alien Visitors 2
| image = alien_visitors_2.png
| titletext = "Although fresh juice DOES sound--" "NO! For humanity to survive we must learn from the mistakes of the past."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a 1920s ELIXIR. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In the return of the aliens from the [[2477: Alien Visitors|previous comic]], they show more "advanced" inventions that are less efficient or more harmful than their current forms, and most have been invented by humans and replaced.

{{w|Biplane}}s are planes with two sets of wings, which have more drag than a {{w|monoplane}}.

A {{w|blimp}} is a lighter than air aircraft with no internal structure. The point raised about hydrogen would be because it is highly flammable and dangerous. The {{w|Hindenburg disaster}} was a famous explosion of a hydrogen airship (although zeppelin airships are not blimps because they have an internal structural framework and they're called rigid airships in contrast to blimps, that just rely on the internal pressure of their lifting gas to maintain their shape).

{{w|Tetraethyllead}} is a chemical added to gasoline (mostly from the 1920s to the 1990s — although some countries [https://web.archive.org/web/20171115235249/http://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/17542/MapWorldLead_March2017.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y still use it to this day]) to prevent {{w|Engine_knocking|Engine Knock}}, until it was revealed to have highly toxic effects. The aliens seem unaware of these toxic effects (it is unclear whether the chemical hurts aliens as well, or whether it doesn't hurt them but they don't realize the toxic effects on humans), and indeed quite concerned by them, implying they might be using leaded gasoline themselves.

{{w|Juicero}} was a juicer known for its absurd inefficiency and greedy business model {{Citation needed}}: the machine would only work on the company's proprietary branded single-serving bags of pulped fruit sold for $7-10 each, and more juice could be extracted from the bags by hand than by the press. Basically, they were selling $10 bags of chopped fruit and a $700 machine to squeeze them into a cup for you.

After the latest showing of unimpressive "inventions", the humans start questioning how "advanced" the aliens really are, asking if they built the flying saucer themselves and suggesting that it might be wise to avoid standing directly beneath it in case it suddenly crashes to earth.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A flying saucer is hovering high above Ponytail, White Hat, Cueball and Megan, drawn very small standing on the ground beneath it. The aliens inside speak to them from inside their saucer, indicated with zigzag lines between it and the text. Ponytail approaches the others on the ground from the left.]
:Aliens: Greetings, humans. We have returned.
:Aliens: Since you already have pyramids, we've brought you more advanced wonders.

:[Zoom in on the flying saucer which has two beams below it, the left showing an outline of a monoplane and the right is showing an outline of a blimp. Cueball replies off-panel.]
:Aliens: These machines will let you conquer the sky!
:(off-panel voice 1): A biplane?
:(off-panel voice 1): Aren't monoplanes more efficient?
:(off-panel voice 2): Does that blimp use hydrogen?

:[Zoom in on the 4 humans looking up, the Aliens reply from above the panel. There is a chemical formula in an outline from the alien flying saucer:]
:Aliens: (CH3 CH2)4 Pb
:Aliens (off-panel): Add this elixir of lead to your gasoline and your engines will run smooth.
:White Hat: Lead? Isn't that stuff toxic?
:Aliens: Is it?
:Aliens: Oh no.

:[Zoom back out, as in first panel. The flying saucer has an outline of a juice machine]
:Aliens: Okay, uh.
:Aliens: This device's electric press can squeeze fresh fruit juice from bags of pulp!
:Ponytail: ...Just curious, did you build that saucer?
:Cueball: Maybe we shouldn't stand right under it.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Aliens]]

2478: Alien Visitors 2

2021-06-18T22:10:58Z

108.162.215.106: revise claims re: juicero.

Talk:1906: Making Progress

2017-10-23T22:33:13Z

108.162.215.106:

What about "countless" and "COUNT()" in the title text? I think that's a pun... [[Jacob|User:Nobody]] at 1 January 1970 12:00 AM UTC
:Not really, rather that is the purpose of "COUNT()" function, when you are not sure how numerous something is. --[[User:Trimutius|Trimutius]] ([[User talk:Trimutius|talk]]) 22:11, 23 October 2017 (UTC)
The pun is that "countless" means they can't be counted, and the error message from the Count() function implies that the problems couldn't be counted.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.106|108.162.215.106]] 22:33, 23 October 2017 (UTC)

1906: Making Progress

2017-10-23T22:31:20Z

108.162.215.106: Added some description of the title text.

{{comic
| number = 1906
| date = October 23, 2017
| title = Making Progress
| image = making_progress.png
| titletext = I started off with countless problems. But now I know, thanks to COUNT(), that I have "#REF! ERROR: Circular dependency detected" problems.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Still needs work - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Megan]] has made progress. While she started the day with lots of problems, she has entered those problems into a spreadsheet. This could allow her to resolve her problems and fix them more quickly. The humor lies in that none of the problems have actually been solved.

Title text is talking about how even her spreadsheet doesn't work because "#REF Circular Dependence detected" is a Microsoft Excel error meaning that a formula is using its own cell in the equation. This would be because the error is now also a problem that needs to be counted. How the circular dependence started in the first place is not clear. It is possible that this is a reference to counting the number of the problems is a problem itself. There is also a possible pun on "dependency." It's also possible Megan simply is not good at using her spreadsheet software. Megan appears to have used the "Count()" function knowing that it usually returns a numeric value, and has chosen to interpret the error message as a numeric value representing the number of problems she has. She originally stated that her problems were "countless", and the spreadsheet appears to have confirmed that they indeed cannot be counted.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Megan is sitting and looking at a laptop.]
:Megan: I started the day with lots of problems.
:Megan: But now, after hours and hours of work,
:Megan: I have lots of problems in a '''''spreadsheet'''''.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]