explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2380: Election Impact Score Sheet

2020-11-02T22:57:06Z

108.162.215.170: /* Explanation */ ce

{{comic
| number = 2380
| date = November 2, 2020
| title = Election Impact Score Sheet
| image = election_impact_score_sheet.png
| titletext = You might think most people you know are reliable voters, or that your nudge won't convince them, and you will usually be right. But some small but significant percentage of the time, you'll be wrong, and that's why this works.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SOMEONE NOT IN ARIZONA. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic was published the day before {{w|Election day in the United States}} (November 3, 2020), which features a contentious presidential election between the incumbent, President {{w|Donald Trump}}, and the challenger, former Vice President {{w|Joe Biden}}. The United States does not elect presidents by popular vote, but instead uses an {{w|United States Electoral College|electoral college}} system, with each state getting a predetermined number of electoral votes, and a majority of electoral votes needed to win an election. The previous presidential election in 2016, which involved Trump and {{w|Hillary Clinton}}, was won by Trump, who lost the popular vote by 2%, but won the electoral vote 304-227 (270 was needed to win the election).

Electoral college votes are distributed based on the population size of each state, with the most populous state, California, receiving 55 votes, and the least populous states receiving 3 votes. Some states, including some of the ones listed by Randall, are considered "{{w|swing state}}s", as they are competitive to both of the two major parties, the {{w|Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party}} and the {{w|Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party}}.

As "swing states" are more competitive, Randall in this comic is encouraging his readers to "{{w|get out the vote}}" and encourage voting among their friends and family who live in 18 states which could affect the outcome of the election. The rest of the 32 states are grouped under the "all other states" bucket, presumably as their election outcome is "safely" for Biden or Trump.

Per many analysts, the state of {{w|Pennsylvania}} is considered a "must-win" for both Biden and Trump, and is weighted the most heavily in Randall's comic.

As shown in previous comics ([[1756: I'm With Her]] and others), Randall was a supporter of 2016 candidate {{w|Hillary Clinton}} (who ran against Trump), but this assesment should be equally applicable to supporters of either of the two current candidates.

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

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Nate Silver]]

2380: Election Impact Score Sheet

2020-11-02T22:56:43Z

108.162.215.170: /* Explanation */ more

{{comic
| number = 2380
| date = November 2, 2020
| title = Election Impact Score Sheet
| image = election_impact_score_sheet.png
| titletext = You might think most people you know are reliable voters, or that your nudge won't convince them, and you will usually be right. But some small but significant percentage of the time, you'll be wrong, and that's why this works.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SOMEONE NOT IN ARIZONA. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic was published the day before {{w|Election day in the United States}} (November 3, 2020), which features a contentious presidential election between the incumbent, President {{w|Donald Trump}}, and the challenger, former Vice President {{w|Joe Biden}}. The United States does not elect presidents by popular vote, but instead uses an {{w|United States Electoral College|electoral college}} system, with each state getting a predetermined number of electoral votes, and a majority of electoral votes needed to win an election. The previous presidential election in 2016, which involved Trump and {{w|Hillary Clinton}}, was won by Trump, who lost the popular vote by 2%, but won the electoral vote 304-227 (270 was needed to win the election).

Electoral college votes are distributed based on the population size of each state, with the most populous state, California, receiving 55 votes, and the least populous states receiving 3 votes. Some states, including some of the ones listed by Randall, are considered "{{w|swing state}}s", as they are competitive to the two major parties, the {{w|Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party}} and the {{w|Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party}}.

As "swing states" are more competitive, Randall in this comic is encouraging his readers to "{{w|get out the vote}}" and encourage voting among their friends and family who live in 18 states which could affect the outcome of the election. The rest of the 32 states are grouped under the "all other states" bucket, presumably as their election outcome is "safely" for Biden or Trump.

Per many analysts, the state of {{w|Pennsylvania}} is considered a "must-win" for both Biden and Trump, and is weighted the most heavily in Randall's comic.

As shown in previous comics ([[1756: I'm With Her]] and others), Randall was a supporter of 2016 candidate {{w|Hillary Clinton}} (who ran against Trump), but this assesment should be equally applicable to supporters of either of the two current candidates.

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

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Nate Silver]]

2380: Election Impact Score Sheet

2020-11-02T22:50:59Z

108.162.215.170: /* Explanation */ ce

{{comic
| number = 2380
| date = November 2, 2020
| title = Election Impact Score Sheet
| image = election_impact_score_sheet.png
| titletext = You might think most people you know are reliable voters, or that your nudge won't convince them, and you will usually be right. But some small but significant percentage of the time, you'll be wrong, and that's why this works.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SOMEONE NOT IN ARIZONA. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic was published the day before {{w|Election day in the United States}} (November 3, 2020), which features a contentious presidential election between the incumbent, President {{w|Donald Trump}}, and the challenger, former Vice President {{w|Joe Biden}}. The United States does not elect presidents by popular vote, but instead uses an {{w|United States Electoral College|electoral college}} system, with each state getting a predetermined number of electoral votes, and a majority of electoral votes needed to win an election. The previous presidential election in 2016, which involved Trump and {{w|Hillary Clinton}}, was won by Trump, who lost the popular vote by 2%, but won the electoral vote 304-227 (270 was needed to win the election).

Electoral college votes are distributed based on the population size of each state, with the most populous state, California, receiving 55 votes, and the least populous states receiving 3 votes. Some states, including some of the ones listed by Randall, are considered "{{w|swing state}}s", as they are competitive to the two major parties, the {{w|Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party}} and the {{w|Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party}}.

As "swing states" are more competitive, Randall in this comic is encouraging his readers to "get out the vote" and encourage voting in 18 states which could affect the outcome of the election. The rest of the 32 states are grouped under the "all other states" bucket, presumably as their election outcome is "safely" for Biden or Trump.

Per many analysts, the state of {{w|Pennsylvania}} is considered a "must-win" for both Biden and Trump, and is weighted the most heavily in Randall's comic.

As shown in previous comics ([[1756: I'm With Her]] and others), Randall was a supporter of 2016 candidate {{w|Hillary Clinton}} (who ran against Trump), but this assesment should be equally applicable to supporters of either of the two current candidates.

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

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Nate Silver]]

2380: Election Impact Score Sheet

2020-11-02T22:48:52Z

108.162.215.170: /* Explanation */ duplicated text

{{comic
| number = 2380
| date = November 2, 2020
| title = Election Impact Score Sheet
| image = election_impact_score_sheet.png
| titletext = You might think most people you know are reliable voters, or that your nudge won't convince them, and you will usually be right. But some small but significant percentage of the time, you'll be wrong, and that's why this works.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SOMEONE NOT IN ARIZONA. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic was published the day before {{w|Election day in the United States}} (November 3, 2020), which features a contentious presidential election between the incumbent, President {{w|Donald Trump}}, and the challenger, former Vice President {{w|Joe Biden}}. The United States does not elect presidents by popular vote, but instead uses an {{w|United States Electoral College|electoral college}} system, with each state getting a predetermined number of electoral votes, and a majority of electoral votes needed to win an election. The previous presidential election in 2016, which involved Trump and {{w|Hillary Clinton}}, was won by Trump, who lost the popular vote by 2%, but won the electoral vote 304-227 (270 was needed to win the election).

Electoral college votes are distributed based on the population size of each state, with the most populous state, California, receiving 55 votes, and the least populous states receiving 3 votes. Some states, including some of the ones listed by Randall, are considered "{{w|swing state}}s", as they are competitive to the two major parties, the {{w|Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party}} and the {{w|Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party}}.

As "swing states" are more competitive, Randall in this comic is encouraging his readers to "get out the vote" and encourage voting in 18 states which could affect the outcome of the election. The rest of the 32 states are grouped until the "all other states" bucket, presumably as their election outcome is "safely" for Biden or Trump.

Per many analysts, the state of {{w|Pennsylvania}} is considered a "must-win" for both Biden and Trump, and is weighted the most heavily in Randall's comic.

As shown in previous comics ([[1756: I'm With Her]] and others), Randall was a supporter of 2016 candidate {{w|Hillary Clinton}} (who ran against Trump), but this assesment should be equally applicable to supporters of either of the two current candidates.

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

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Nate Silver]]

2380: Election Impact Score Sheet

2020-11-02T22:47:53Z

108.162.215.170: /* Explanation */ add more

{{comic
| number = 2380
| date = November 2, 2020
| title = Election Impact Score Sheet
| image = election_impact_score_sheet.png
| titletext = You might think most people you know are reliable voters, or that your nudge won't convince them, and you will usually be right. But some small but significant percentage of the time, you'll be wrong, and that's why this works.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SOMEONE NOT IN ARIZONA. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic was published the day before {{w|Election day in the United States}} (November 3, 2020), which features a contentious presidential election between the incumbent, President {{w|Donald Trump}}, and the challenger, former Vice President {{w|Joe Biden}}. The United States does not elect presidents by popular vote, but instead uses an {{w|United States Electoral College|electoral college}} system, with each state getting a predetermined number of electoral votes, and a majority of electoral votes needed to win an election. The previous presidential election in 2016, which involved Trump and {{w|Hillary Clinton}}, was won by Trump, who lost the popular vote by 2%, but won the electoral vote 304-227 (270 was needed to win the election).

Electoral college votes are distributed based on the population size of each state, with the most populous state, California, receiving 55 votes, and the least populous states receiving 3 votes. Some states, including some of the ones listed by Randall, are considered "{{w|swing state}}s", as they are competitive to the two major parties, the {{w|Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party}} and the {{w|Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party}}.

As "swing states" are more competitive, Randall in this comic is encouraging his readers to "get out the vote" and encourage voting in 18 states which could affect the outcome of the election. The rest of the 32 states are grouped until the "all other states" bucket, presumably as their election outcome is "safely" for Biden or Trump.

Per many analysts, the state of {{w|Pennsylvania}} is considered a "must-win" for both Biden and Trump, and is weighted the most heavily in Randall's comic.

As "swing states" are more competitive, Randall in this comic is encouraging his readers to "get out the vote" and encourage voting in 18 states which could affect the outcome of the election. As shown in previous comics ([[1756: I'm With Her]] and others), Randall was a supporter of 2016 candidate {{w|Hillary Clinton}} (who ran against Trump), but this assesment should be equally applicable to supporters of either of the two current candidates.

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

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Nate Silver]]

1572: xkcd Survey

2020-10-21T21:52:07Z

108.162.215.170: Updated date

{{comic
| number = 1572
| date = September 2, 2015
| title = xkcd Survey
| image = xkcd_survey.png
| titletext = The xkcd Survey: Big Data for a Big Planet
}}
*The original comic links to [http://goo.gl/forms/B5RaBeZ6nw The xkcd survey] at Google; which is closed now.

==Explanation==
As the comic image states, it links to a survey created with [https://www.google.com/forms/about/ Google Forms], containing a series of questions. The questions range from mundane typical survey questions such as “Do you have any food allergies?”, to rather strange, such as “Fill this text box with random letters by randomly mashing keys on your leopard.” (See [[1530: Keyboard Mash]]).

The stated goal of the survey is to “create an interesting and unusual data set for people to play with”. A strange data set is a ripe opportunity for a sampling of readers. It's also supposed to be “a search for weird correlations” – presumably the goal is to be able to say things like “people who have been skydiving are (more/less) likely than average to dislike cilantro”. (See also [[882: Significant]] about finding presumably-spurious correlations between unrelated data.)

This explanation will undoubtedly expand when the data comes in.

{{w|Image_map#Client-side_image_map|HTML image maps}} is a technique for marking up areas of an image on a web page, such that each area can be a link without the whole image being a link. [[Randall]] could have used this type of image map to make only the “Click here to take the survey” button be a link, and none of the rest of the image. But he cannot get the hang of it (or knowing his skills, does not wish to take the time to learn it). Not getting the hang of HTML image maps was also referenced on the banner for his [[xkcd_Header_text#2014-07-23_-_what_if.3F_book_tour|book tour]] for the [[what if?]] book

The title text is a joke off of {{w|Big Data}}, which is a name for analysis of a set of data that includes a huge amount of information. He also says "for a big planet" because the Earth is big{{Citation needed}}.

The survey is closed, and the questions replaced with the text: "The xkcd survey is now closed. Thank you for all your answers! Response data is being collected and will be posted soon." As of October 2020, the same caption is still there, with no indication of exactly how soon the data is intended to be posted. (Apparently, Randall crashed google forms, so the data is taking a long time to be retrieved [https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/40mhve/what_ever_happened_to_the_survey_we_took/ (see this reddit thread)] - much like his breaking of [http://what-if.xkcd.com/imgs/a/62/balloon_wolfram.png Wolfram Alpha]] during answering a reader's question on [[what if?]])

==The Survey==
A recreation of the survey can be found [https://goo.gl/forms/CtAILwjyJAYsmqbO2 here on Google].

The recreation's data can be [https://goo.gl/5A77ZX found live here.]

It started with the following statement:

<nowiki>This is an anonymous survey. After it's done, a database of everyone's responses will be posted.
There's no specific reason for any of the questions. The goal is to create an interesting and unusual data set for people to play with. This is obviously not going to be a real random sample of people, but in the interest of getting cooler data, if you're sharing this with friends, try sending it to some people who wouldn't normally see this kind of thing!

WARNING: This survey is anonymous, but your answers WILL BE MADE PUBLIC. Depending what you write, it's possible that someone may be able to identify you by looking at your responses. None of these questions should ask about anything too private, but don't write anything that you don't want people to see. If you're not comfortable answering a question, just skip it.</nowiki>

'''Note:''' The order of the possible answers (the list of possibilities) was random, and changed every time the page is reloaded. So do not try to fix the order here below...

===Plane===
*Have you ever been in a plane?
**No
**Yes

===Skydiving===
*Have you ever been {{w|Parachuting|skydiving}}?
**No, but I might someday
**Yes
**No

===The Dress===
*When you first saw {{w|The dress (viral phenomenon)|The Dress}}, what color was it? — (Also see [[1492: Dress Color]] and the [[Blag]] ENTRY [http://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/ Color Survey Results]).
**White and gold
**A color combination not listed here
**I don't remember
**Blue and black
**What dress?

===Popular food===
*What's a really popular food that you don't like?
**''Text box''

===Floaters===
*When you look at a blue sky, do you see those swirly {{w|floater|floaters}} in your vision?
**Yes, constantly
**I'm not sure what things you mean
**Yes, occasionally
**No

===Running out of gas===
*Have you ever had a car run out of gas while you were driving it?
**Yes
**No

===Animals===
*Name the first five animals you can think of
**''Multi line text box''

===Weather===
*What's the weather like where you are right now?
**''Text box''

===Activities===
*Which of these can you do reasonably well?
*(Check all that apply)
**{{w|slam dunk|Dunk}} a basketball — A "slam dunk" or simply "dunk" is the act of jumping up and putting the ball through the net with a lot of force
**Tie a {{w|sheet bend}} or {{w|bowline}} — A sheet bend is a knot that joins two ropes together; A bowline is a knot used to form a fixed loop at the end of a rope. Although tied differently, the resulting knots are identical{{Citation needed}}.
**Roller skate
**[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/high-heel-race/ Run in high heels]
**Drive a stick shift — See {{w|Manual transmission}} of a car
**Solve a {{w|Rubik's cube}}
**Dive headfirst off a diving board — See {{w|Springboard}} and {{w|Diving platform}}
**Ice skate
**{{w|Skateboarding|Skateboard}}
**Walk on {{w|stilts}} — Stilts are poles, posts or pillars used to allow a person to walk at a height above the ground
**Ski
**Cut vegetables with a knife
**Swim
**Ride a horse
**{{w|Unicycle}}
**Change the oil on a car
**Do a back {{w|Handspring (gymnastics)|handspring}} — A handspring is an exercise in gymnastics in which you jump through the air landing on your hands, then again landing on your feet
**Juggle — {{w|Toss juggling}} (the most recognizable form of juggling) consists in throwing objects into the air and catching them.

===Spelling===
*What word can you never seem to spell on the first try?
**''Text box''

===Condiments===
*Do you eat {{w|condiments}} directly out of the fridge as a snack?
**No
**Yes

===Thermostat===
*When you adjust a thermostat that was set by someone else, it's usually because you want the room to be...
**Cooler
**Warmer

===Clothing===
*What color is the shirt/dress/upper-body-clothing you're wearing right now, if any?
**''Text box''

===Colds===
*Do you get {{w|Common cold|colds}} often?
**No
**Yes

===Number===
*Pick a number from 1 to 100
**''Text box''

===Spelling===
*On a scale of 1 to 10, how good at spelling are you? (Note that the question does not specify which end of the scale is good or bad.)
**''Tick off list with numbers from 1 to 10.''

===Myers-Briggs===
*Do you know your {{w|Myers–Briggs_Type_Indicator|Myers-Briggs type}}?
**No
**Yes

===Astrology===
*Do you know your {{w|astrological sign}}?
**No
**Yes

===Siblings===
*How many older siblings do you have?
**''Text box''
*How many younger siblings do you have?
**''Text box''
*How many twin/etc siblings do you have?
**''Text box''

===Sleepiness===
*Do you feel sleepy a lot?
**Yes
**No

===Movie star===
*Name a movie star
**''Text box''

===Time in sun===
*Do you spend a lot of time in the sun?
**Yes
**No

===Broccoli===
*Does {{w|broccoli}} taste bitter to you?
**Yes
**No
**I've never had it

===Wakefulness===
*Do you regularly stay awake much later than you meant to?
**Yes
**No

===Keyboard mashing===
*Fill this text box with gibberish by mashing random keyboard keys (See [[1530: Keyboard Mash]]).
**''Broad multi-line text box''

===Driving===
*On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is terrible and 3 is average, how good a driver do you think you are?
**''Tick off list with numbers from 1 to 5.''

===Allergies===
*Do you have any food allergies?
**No
**Yes

===Thunder===
*Have you heard thunder or seen lightning in the past year? — (The title-text of [[831: Weather Radar]] mentions the belief that thunderstorms seemed more common when one was a kid. Since the survey also asks for age this question is likely a test of that belief.)
**Yes
**No

===Flavor preference===
*Which do you prefer? (It seems to be missing the ''neither'' option...)
**Chocolate
**Vanilla

===Number (reprise)===
*Pick another number from 1 to 100 (Supposedly should not be the same as in the first pick a number box).
**''Text box''

===Internet===
*When you think about stuff on the internet, where do you picture it being physically located? Even if you know it's not really how things work, is there a place you imagine websites and social media posts sitting before you look at them? If so, where is it?
**''Broad multi-line text box''

===Roll tongue===
*Can you {{w|Tongue rolling|roll your tongue}}?
**Yes
**No
**What?

===Toes===
*Can you pick things up with your toes?
**No
**Yes

===Age===
*How old are you?
**''Text box''

===Walls===
*What color are the walls around you right now?
**''Text box''

===Cell phone===
*What kind of cell phone do you have?
**{{w|iPhone}}
**{{w|Android (operating system)|Android}}
**Other smartphone
**Non-smartphone
**I don't have a cell phone

===Eating===
*What's the last thing you ate?
**''Text box''

===Difficult words===
*Which of these words do you know the meaning of?
*Some of these words don’t appear in any of the following dictionaries: the Oxford English Dictionary, the New Oxford American Dictionary, Wiktionary, or Dictionary.com. With one exception, however, reviewers on this site have found verifiable examples of use for the words in question.
*[http://dictionary.reference.com/ Dictionary.com] has an index of difficulty (measured in pixels, with class name <code>difficulty-indicator</code>). We add it at the right of the words that have it. N/A means that a word isn't present in Dictionary.com, or that it doesn't have an index.
**Slickle – Not in any standard dictionary. However, it [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Slickle is in] the crowd-sourced in Urban Dictionary, as well as a suggested planet name in [[1253: Exoplanet Names]]
**{{Wiktionary|rife|Rife}} – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rife 117]
**{{Wiktionary|soliloquy|Soliloquy}} – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/soliloquy 150]
**Fination – not in any dictionary. Appears infrequently in Victorian texts (e.g., [http://books.google.com/books?id=ghNOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA245&dq=Fination 1889], [http://books.google.com/books?id=nwlCAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA214&dq=Fination 1839])
**{{Wiktionary|stipple|Stipple}} – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stipple 144]
**{{Wiktionary|peristeronic|Peristeronic}} – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/peristeronic N/A]. Randall used it and defined it for readers in [[798: Adjectives]].
**{{Wiktionary|modicum|Modicum}} – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/modicum 120]
**Trephony – Not available in reference dictionaries. An obsolete spelling of "{{w|Trephine}}" (especially when used as a verb for the process of {{w|Trepanning|trephination}}). Initially a transliteration of Greek [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=tru/panon τρυπάω] for the same.
**Tribution – A regular construction from {{Wiktionary|tribute#Verb|Tribute (verb)}} using "{{Wiktionary|-tion}}" to transform into a noun. Using this regular formation, the term would mean the act of tribute, but no examples of actual use are available. It is worth noting that the use of "tribute" as a verb is generally considered obsolete and the few forms that persist in use relate primarily to the tributary and distributary river systems
**{{Wiktionary|phoropter|Phoropter}} – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/phoropter N/A] 1.An instrument used in eye examinations to determine an individual's prescription, the patient looking through various lenses at a chart on the other side.
**Unitory – Not available in reference dictionaries. An obsolete spelling of "Unitary," chiefly British. While long obsolete in normal usage, it persisted longer in mathematics that it did elsewhere (particularly for "Unitory Method" and "Unitory Matrices"). Example of use: [https://books.google.com/books?id=Wl1BAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA5-PA27&lpg=RA5-PA27&dq=unitory+method&source=bl&ots=rfRKJXAJqV&sig=Wsr_gV7xG6Airah9Lx1M0hi-7Zc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDsQ6AEwBmoVChMInd_R9qTbxwIVChU-Ch36IAh_#v=onepage&q=unitory%20method&f=false (1)]
**{{Wiktionary|amiable|Amiable}} – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/amiable 123]
**{{Wiktionary|salient|Salient}} – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/salient 69]
**{{Wiktionary|regolith|Regolith}} – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/regolith 162]
**{{Wiktionary|lithe|Lithe}} – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lithe 105]
**Revergent – technical word from {{w|fern}} biology, referring to the edges of fern leaves which curl back on themselves (see [http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00985044 Schölch, 2000])
**{{Wiktionary|hubris|Hubris}} – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hubris 117]
**{{Wiktionary|fleek|Fleek}} – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fleek N/A]
**Cadine – A rare loan-word for {{Wiktionary|fr:cadine|a sultan's wife or a noble ottoman woman}} which comes to English through the French. Examples of Use: [https://books.google.com/books?id=4yz-Y-_OOO0C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=cadine&f=false (1)]. Also the name of an {{w|it:Cadine|italian city}}.
**{{Wiktionary|apricity|Apricity}} – Not available in reference dictionaries. An obsolete word for the sun's heat in winter (e.g., [http://books.google.com/books?id=CFBGAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT76&dq=apricity Bailey 1775]). According to the What If? book (page 80), this is Randall's single favourite word in the English language.

===cat===
*Please type "cat" here:
**''Text box''

===Dreams===
*Do you usually remember your dreams?
**No
**Yes

===Text editors===
*Do you have strong opinions about text editors? (See {{w|Editor war}})
**Yes
**No

===Emoji===
*How do you feel about {{w|emoji}}?
**Negative 😠 (Unicode 1f620 - Angry face)
**Positive 😊 (Unicode 263a - Smiling face)
**Neutral 😐 (Unicode 1F610 - Neutral face)

===Snow===
*Does it ever snow where you live?
**No
**Yes

===Taste of food===
*Do you strongly dislike the taste or texture of any of these things?
**Eggs
**Chocolate ice cream
**Beer
**White wine
**{{w|Carbonation}} (or Fizz)
**Red wine
**{{w|Cilantro}}
**Coffee
**Tomatoes
**Yogurt

===Beverages===
*Which of these do you regularly drink?
**Caffeinated soda (e.g. Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper)
**Noncaffeinated soda
**Coffee
**Fruit juice
**Milk
**Beer
**Wine
**Tea
**{{w|Maple syrup}}
**Water

===Random words===
*Type five random words
**''Broad multi-line text box''

===Flying===
*Are you nervous about flying?
**Yes
**No
**A little

===Favorite number===
*On a scale of 1 to 5, which number is your favorite?
**''Tick off list with numbers from 1 to 5.''

===Sandwich===
*Which of these would you consider a {{w|sandwich}}?
*(Check all that apply)
**{{w|Taco}}
**{{w|Quesadilla}}
**{{w|Submarine sandwich|Sub/Hoagie}}
**{{w|Cheesesteak}}
**{{w|Hamburger}}
**{{w|Open-faced sandwich}}
**{{w|Calzone}}

===Animal affinity===
*Which of these describes you?
*(Check all that apply)
**Dog person
**Cat person
**Half-cat half-person
**Part of a subterranean race of dog people
**Literally named "Catherine Person"

===Sense of direction===
*Would you say you have a good sense of direction?
**Yes
**No

===Socks or underwear===
*Have you ever thrown out all your different pairs of socks/underwear, bought a bunch of replacements that were all one kind, and then told all your friends how great it was and how they should do it too?
**Yes
**No
**I did the throwing out thing, but didn't talk to everyone about it
**No, but I'm totally doing that now

==Transcript==
:[A simple comic with text only. The ''click here'' part is inside a black frame.]
:Introducing
:'''The xkcd Survey'''
:A search for weird correlations
:Note: This survey is anonymous, but
: all responses will be posted publicly 
:so people can play with the data.
:'''Click here to'''
:'''take the survey'''
:Or click here, or here.
:The whole comic is a link,
:because I still haven't gotten
:the hang of HTML imagemaps.

==Trivia==
This strip was referenced upon the availability of preorders for ''How to: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems''. A new banner appeared at the top of the site to announce that preorders were available; at the right of the banner was a blue box labelled "Click here to preorder", followed immediately below by "Or click anywhere. I still haven't figured out HTML imagemaps."

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]

Talk:1763: Catcalling

2020-10-21T20:45:48Z

108.162.215.170:

Is it just me or wouldn't this fail if the misogynists also were cat-lovers? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.224|141.101.98.224]] 15:16, 23 November 2016 (UTC)
: I doubt even cat-lovers would enjoy being swarmed by a hopeless amount of cats for an entire year. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.36|162.158.74.36]] 15:51, 23 November 2016 (UTC
:: You underestimate some peoples' love of cats. [[User:Hppavilion1|Hppavilion1]] ([[User talk:Hppavilion1|talk]]) 03:08, 13 May 2017 (UTC)
>"Misogyny" {{unsigned ip|108.162.245.51}}

The way I originally read this, in addition to wanting to stop getting harassed, Megan also just liked cats and wanted an easy way to gather them. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.55.71|172.68.55.71]] 15:56, 23 November 2016 (UTC)

My initial thought: Awww! Maybe by being confronted to care for neighborhood cats, such "men" might learn how to love and care for creatures who only want to exploit them, like said men do with women. That could work! ...And then I read the title text. --BigMal // [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.36|162.158.74.36]] 16:52, 23 November 2016 (UTC)

:To be sure, it is an astonishing feat to invent some mention of specifically men that is apparently present in the comic but which us mere mortals could never comprehend. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.170|108.162.215.170]] 20:45, 21 October 2020 (UTC)

Catcalling now attracts my friend Catherine. [[User:Int|Int]] ([[User talk:Int|talk]]) 17:00, 23 November 2016 (UTC)

Did we know Megan was a lefty? [[User:Jameslucas|jameslucas]] ([[User talk:Jameslucas|" "]] / [[Special:Contributions/Jameslucas|+]]) 18:18, 23 November 2016 (UTC)

:I imagine this comic is Randall Munroe making a statement. He has clearly demonstrated himself as left-leaning on numerous occasions. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.140|172.69.34.140]] 09:49, 25 August 2020 (UTC)

The big question is... does it attract bobcats? --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.123|172.68.54.123]] 21:30, 23 November 2016 (UTC)

The cursor might not be left handed, rather, we might just be on the other side of the screen, eh? [[User:NotLock|NotLock]] ([[User talk:NotLock|talk]]) 07:40, 24 November 2016 (UTC)
:I was thinking the same thing, but dismissed the idea because the text ("Catcalling", "Attracts cats", etc) isn't similarly mirrored. The drop-down menu itself usually has its arrow-thingy on the right, though... Hmm... [[User:Maplestrip|Maplestrip]] ([[User talk:Maplestrip|talk]]) 11:22, 24 November 2016 (UTC)
::Maybe comic characters read in mirror-text! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.165.176|162.158.165.176]] 23:23, 24 November 2016 (UTC)
::: Occam seems to have lost his razor. [[User:Int|Int]] ([[User talk:Int|talk]]) 16:53, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the part about the title text being perl is wrong. It's definitely not perl5, because things like [2 miles] are not valid syntax at all. This might be perl6 with syntax I don't know, but I doubt it, since the square brackets would indicate something like an array rather than a single element: [2 miles] would then mean "2" and "miles" separately, which doesn't make much sense. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.75|173.245.49.75]] 09:23, 24 November 2016 (UTC)

:I agree, it looks much more like trying to indicate text fields in a ASCII string. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.69.142|162.158.69.142]] 12:20, 24 November 2016 (UTC)

::Seems to me those are just freakin' ''arrows'' indicating changing those settings. {{unsigned|Jacky720}}

:::I read each "=>" in the title text as meaning "equal or greater than". Which is horrifying when you think about it. [[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]]) 06:23, 27 November 2016 (UTC)

::::Effect strength is unstoppable OR GREATER.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.40|108.162.237.40]] 16:45, 27 November 2016 (UTC)

Wouldn't this very quickly result in the extinction of all cats, as they are forced to rush from one chauvinist to another, unable to escape long enough to eat or sleep?
>Jesper {{unsigned ip|141.101.105.40}}
:Catpocalypse! --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.111.116|188.114.111.116]] 17:41, 7 December 2016 (UTC)
::FYI The Universe Control Panel was used to alter the meaning of Catpocalypse. --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.111.116|188.114.111.116]] 17:47, 7 December 2016 (UTC)

Why do you assume that Megan thinks that catcalling is harassing women? Maybe she is tired of women who get harassed by it, when in fact there is no point to. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.140|162.158.150.140]] 15:03, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

Does this change also apply to catcalling that is directed at men? If not, that certainly seems a bit sexist to exempt one gender from street harassment but not the other. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.29|162.158.79.29]] 21:56, 18 January 2017 (UTC)
: I was going to point that out. Maybe it isn't catcalling when it's men? Maybe it has a different name, and she already adjusted that panel? [[User:Hppavilion1|Hppavilion1]] ([[User talk:Hppavilion1|talk]]) 03:08, 13 May 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1709: Inflection

2016-07-20T16:59:07Z

108.162.215.170:

Does anyone know what the emoticon part is trying to say?
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.170|108.162.215.170]] 16:59, 20 July 2016 (UTC)--

Talk:1580: Travel Ghost

2015-09-22T04:07:54Z

108.162.215.170: Silly question about fertility of ghosts

Racing Ghosts is a refference to Mario Kart [[User:ẞ qwertz|ẞ qwertz]] ([[User talk:ẞ qwertz|talk]]) 12:50, 21 September 2015 (UTC)

: This seems like a bit of a stretch to me. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.118|173.245.55.118]] 13:35, 21 September 2015 (UTC)

:: It's not a reference to Mario Kart specifically (lots of racing games have ghosts), but that's basically what this is doing - translating the concept of racing ghosts to the real world.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.70|108.162.216.70]] 13:50, 21 September 2015 (UTC)

::: Well, there are some fitness running apps that support a ghost runner mode, so you run against your best time and get updates if you are in front or behind of your „ghost“. Without actually being able to prove it, I believe (and always assumed) this idea is actually inspired from racing games like Mario Kart. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.115.36|162.158.115.36]] 13:56, 21 September 2015 (UTC)

: Also, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_attack#Video_games [[User:SirKitKat|sirKitKat]] ([[User talk:SirKitKat|talk]]) 14:11, 21 September 2015 (UTC)

So in the title text, is he being replaced with the ghost who always *ahem* comes last? --[[User:SaturNine|SaturNine]] ([[User talk:SaturNine|talk]]) 12:53, 21 September 2015 (UTC)
:I agree. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.154|173.245.50.154]] 13:36, 21 September 2015 (UTC)
:: Women prefer men that are stuck in traffic?? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.235|162.158.90.235]] 19:17, 21 September 2015 (UTC)
::: Nah - just someone who takes the "scenic" route. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.17|108.162.215.17]] 19:50, 21 September 2015 (UTC)
:::: I love that this could be a reference to the move Ghost. Great. -[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:51, 21 September 2015 (UTC)

Is this the first time Cueballs children were shown? [[User:ẞ qwertz|ẞ qwertz]] ([[User talk:ẞ qwertz|talk]]) 17:22, 21 September 2015 (UTC)

I don't know if it's worth mentioning that this appears to be a width-first (route-)search algorithm. A memory-heavy but guaranteed 'perfect' solver of best routing, at every point of choice (from the very first, how you start the journey), all possible/practical travel options are explored (including taking a journey in the 'wrong' direction, or waiting for the non-stop train that is not the first to arrive, to take advantage of connections with faster transport links), in parallel according to the total time (or other measure of efficiency) yet taken on each iteration. Unless any 'ghost' arrives at a node that has already been visited by a 'ghost', when it need not continue. Eventually, the most efficient son-of-a-son-of-a-son...-of-a-son-of-a-ghost will reach the destination, indicating the 'correct' answer. At least within the limits of the split-and-propogate algorithm, and the amount of parallelisation available to devote to the problem. (See also the multiple-overlayed 'searches' performed by two-minutes-of-Nicholas Cage, in the near-climactic scene in {{w|Next_(2007_film)|the film 'Next' (beware spoilers!)}}.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.12|141.101.99.12]] 22:38, 21 September 2015 (UTC)
Will his children have half-siblings that are fathered by the ghost that has replaced him in the bedroom? Or are ghosts infertile?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.170|108.162.215.170]] 04:07, 22 September 2015 (UTC)

496: Secretary: Part 3

2015-09-15T04:49:22Z

108.162.215.170: /* Explanation */ Senate confirmation is not required for all Presidential appointments, only some

{{comic
| number = 496
| date = October 29, 2008
| title = Secretary: Part 3
| image = secretary part 3.png
| titletext = He actually installed each piece in a different car in the lot, then built a new car in the spot from the displaced pieces. It's a confusing maneuver known as the auto-troll shuffle.
}}

==Explanation==
When a person has been appointed to one of certain positions by the {{w|POTUS|President}}, they must first go through a confirmation hearing in front of the {{w|United States Senate|Senate}}, the upper house of {{w|United States Congress|Congress}} where they find if the person is qualified to be in the position they have been appointed to. Of course, [[Black Hat]] is not the cleanest of characters, so Congress has a lot of reservations about his {{w|résumé}}.

*{{w|Starbucks}} is an American coffee shop chain.
**He hasn't yet, but in [[562: Parking]], Black Hat will cut someone's car in half to make it fit in a single space. Not quite as dramatic as completely disassembling a car and, as the title text says, putting a single piece in another car parked in the lot, and building a car out of the displaced parts, which could almost be considered subtle; but, it is quite dramatic.
**Taking all the parts from different cars to build in a new car in the same spot parallels the idea in philosophy of the {{w|Ship of Theseus}} in which a question arises of whether a ship is the same ship if it is replaced piece by piece by identical pieces.
*{{w|Charles M. Schulz}} drew a comic called {{w|Peanuts}}. One of the recurring characters was {{w|Snoopy}} who would often use his doghouse as an imaginary {{w|Sopwith Camel}} in many battles with {{w|Manfred von Richthofen|The Red Baron}} who piloted a {{w|Fokker Dr.I|Red Fokker}} {{w|Triplane}}.
**The {{w|Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade}} is a parade that happens on {{w|Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving Day}} in the US. There are many giant balloons of pop-culture icons. Snoopy has made many appearances.
*{{w|9/11 Truth movement|9/11 Truthers}} believe that the terrorist attack on the {{w|World Trade Center}} towers on September 11, 2001 (thus 9/11) was a conspiracy purported by the US Government as a cover up. In the comic, Black Hat appears to be mixing 9/11 truthers with {{w|Moon landing conspiracy theories|Moon landing conspiracy theorists}} who believe that {{w|NASA}} never put a {{w|Apollo program|man on the moon}}.
**Black Hat uses a common refrain [[:Category:Sheeple|Wake up, Sheeple]].
*{{w|RadioShack}} is a chain of consumer electronics shops that sold parts to build electronics with: resistors, transistors, etc. Apparently Black Hat managed to build a death ray from the parts there and accidentally vaporized a customer. His line "Figures that'd be the one day that there'd be a customer in the aisle" refers to the fact that RadioShack stores have been in steady decline over the years, largely propped up by momentum.
*{{w|Microsoft}} is the company that makes {{w|Microsoft Windows|Windows}}, and {{w|Steve Ballmer}} is its {{w|Chief executive officer|CEO}}. {{w|Windows Vista}} is an {{w|operating system}} released in 2007; it was widely panned by software critics.
*{{w|Ruth Bader Ginsburg}} is the second female justice on the {{w|Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court}}, appointed by President Clinton. The relevance here is that during her own confirmation hearings, she refused to answer many questions about her personal views, frustrating many Senators (nevertheless, she was confirmed, 96-3). {{w|John Roberts}}, the current Chief Justice, was similarly evasive in his hearings, citing the "Ginsburg Precedent."
*Black Hat stole a nuclear submarine in xkcd [[405: Journal 3]] to get his hat back from [[Danish]].
*"Pleading the fifth" is to invoke the {{w|Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifth Amendment}} of the {{w|United States Bill of Rights}}. Specifically, when someone pleads the fifth, they mean that they cannot be compelled to give testimony against themselves. That is, they do not have to say anything that could be taken as an admission of guilt. The {{w|Third Amendment to the United States Constitution|third amendment}} states that no homeowner has to keep troops of the United States Army in their house against their will in peacetime. Either Black Hat
**Doesn't understand the 3rd Amendment,
**Just chooses this amendment over the 5th to confuse the committee which seems to forget the question,
**Believes the nuclear submarine to be his property, and rather than stealing it he was simply expelling Russian military personnel who were "quartered" in his nuclear sub without his permission,
**Stole the submarine in order to have a convenient place other than his house to quarter troops

The final panels show Ron Paul's blimp finally approaching Washington DC. The balloon spotted on their radar is presumably piloted by blogger {{w|Cory Doctorow}}.

All comics in the [[:Category:Secretary|Secretary]] series:
*[[494: Secretary: Part 1]]
*[[495: Secretary: Part 2]]
*496: Secretary: Part 3 (this one)
*[[497: Secretary: Part 4]]
*[[498: Secretary: Part 5]]

This series was released on 5 consecutive days (Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule.

==Transcript==
:[The confirmation hearings begin.]
:Senator: It appears you have quite an arrest record.

:Senator: Is it true you completely disassembled someone's car outside a Starbucks?
:Black Hat: It was parked across two spaces.

:Senator: You stole a red Fokker triplane and strafed the snoopy float at the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade?

:Black Hat: Got three mimes, too.

:Senator: You disrupted a 9/11 truth meeting, insisting the Twin Towers never actually collapsed?
:Black Hat: I have evidence! Don't trust the media! Wake up, sheeple!

:Senator: You were fired from Radio Shack after you built a death ray and vaporized a customer?

:Black Hat: I was just testing it! Figures that'd be the one day there was a shopper in the aisle.

:Senator: And you were thrown out of Microsoft headquarters for... trying to feed a squirrel through a fax machine?

:Black Hat: I forgot about that! it was part of an argument with Steve Ballmer about Vista.
::Which I won, by the way.

:[Senators look down at their notes.]

:Senator: This is the worst history of vandalism, gleeful mayhem, and general recalcitrance we've seen in a nominee since Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

:Senator: And this-you stole a nuclear submarine?
:Black Hat: I plead the third.

:Senator: You mean the fifth?
:Black Hat: No, the third.

:Senator: You refuse to quarter troops in your house?
:Black Hat: I have few principles, but I stick to them.

:Meanwhile...
:[Aboard Ron Paul's blimp.]
:Ponytail: We're nearing Washington, sir.
::Wait... There's something ahead on the sensors.

:Ponytail: It's a balloon.
:Ron Paul: ...Oh, no.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ron Paul]]
[[Category:Sheeple]]
[[Category:Secretary|03]]

1576: I Could Care Less

2015-09-11T04:25:19Z

108.162.215.170: /* Transcript */ first draft

{{comic
| number = 1576
| date = September 11, 2015
| title = I Could Care Less
| image = i_could_care_less.png
| titletext = I literally could care less.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}

==Transcript==
Megan: Anyway, I could care less.
Ponytall: I think you mean you couldn't care less. Saying you could care less implies you care at least some amount.
Megan: I dunno.
Megan: We're these unbelievably complicated brains drifting through a void, trying in vain to connect with one another by blindly flinging words out into the darkness.
Megan: Every choice of phrasing and spelling and tone and timing carries countless signals and contexts and subtexts and more, and every listener interprets those signals in their own way. Language isn't a formal system. Language is glorious chaos.
Megan: You can never know for sure what any words will mean to anyone. All you can do is try to get better at guessing how your words affect people, so you can have a chance of finding the ones that will make them feel something like what you want them to feel. Everything else is pointless.
Megan: I assume you're giving me tips on how you interpret words because you want me to feel less alone. If so, then thank you. That means a lot.
Megan: But if you're just running my sentences past some mental checklist so you can show off how well you know it, then I could care less.

{{comic discussion}}