explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2428: Mars Landing Video

2021-02-23T20:32:19Z

108.162.215.244: /* Transcript */ ce

{{comic
| number = 2428
| date = February 22, 2021
| title = Mars Landing Video
| image = mars_landing_video.png
| titletext = The best part of crashing a Mars briefing is you can get in a full 11 minutes of questions before they can start to respond.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by THE WORST SKYCRANE. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Three days before this comic was published, NASA successfully landed a new rover, {{w|Perseverance (rover)|''Perseverance''}}, on Mars, this was also the subject of the previous comic [[2427: Perseverance Microphones]].

This comic is set at the press briefing where a video of the landing (a first ever) is presented, and was published shortly before this happened in real life.

This comic plays on the fact that if there is only one of something in a set, that one thing is the most/least in that set by lack of comparison. As there is only one full speed video of a Mars landing, that makes the video the worst one. [[Randall]], who has often been [[:Category:Banned from conferences|banned from conferences]], has also been banned from NASA's press briefings. So he decided to crash the conference (literally, see below) solely to ask the question, "is this then not also the worst video ever", flouting his ban and embarrassing NASA.

He follows up with the question if NASA is planning to make a worse Mars landing video, which is silly because people generally don't intend to make something worse. However, because this video is the worst full-speed video of a Martian landing by virtue of being the only full-speed video of a Martian landing, it is likely that if enough full-speed videos of Martian landings are made in the future, this video will not be the worst forever.

Judging by the sound effects, Randall has chosen to literally crash his way through the roof, using a "skycrane" — a general term for aerial vehicles, similar to standard cranes, that can lower or raise objects. Specifically one of these was used to land the Perseverance rover three days before.

This comic was published shortly before a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYQwuYZbA6o NASA press briefing] that showed, as mentioned in the comic, the first ever full-speed video of a Mars landing. On Earth one would likely use the {{w|Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane}} helicopter, while NASA used a custom-built skycrane delivery system for the ''Perseverance'' rover. Randall deems using a skycrane to crash a conference about a skycrane very ironic, especially since NASA's security was totally unprepared to stop him from using this particular method, a method NASA developed, to crash the press-briefing.

The title text refers to the 11-minute (one-way; 23 minutes round-trip) communications delay between Mars and Earth, due to the speed of light and the distance between the planets at the time of the rover's landing. Perseverance mission control must wait this long before they can even begin to respond to anything that happens to the rover, which Randall here twists into an 11-minute delay before they can begin to answer his questions allowing him to ask questions for 11 minutes before they can intervene. This would of course only make sense if he was crashing the conference at Mars, and they were waiting for his questions here on Earth.

Randall copying the use of the skycrane that was used to drop the mars rover, is similar to how different groups express similar behaviors in parallel research, so as to have similar footing in the world, as if they are almost in nonverbal communication about the merits of their ways.

==Transcript==
:[Hairbun is standing, arms spread out, on a podium in front of a lectern. There is a "Crash" on the top right of the panel with several lines around to indicate the position, and an off panel voice coming from there. As indicated in the caption below the voice is from Randall.]
:Hairbun: We're excited to share the first ever full-speed video of a Mars landing.
:Sound: ''Crash''
:Randall (off-panel): Doesn't that mean it's also the ''worst'' ever full-speed video of a mars landing?
:Randall (off-panel):Do you expect that record to stand forever, or is NASA working on a worse one?

:[Caption below the comic]:
:NASA tried to ban me from their press briefings, but ironically their security was totally unprepared to deal with a skycrane.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Mars rovers]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall]]

Talk:2425: mRNA Vaccine

2021-02-16T18:18:28Z

108.162.215.244:

Well, RIP Cueball-on-Leia's-fake-Death-Star. [[User:Bubblegum|bubblegum]]-[[User_talk:Bubblegum|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Bubblegum|contribs]] 22:11, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

Is the "Hairy" guy with a beard [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Jan_Dodonna]? Or I guess it could just be a generic person. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.148|172.69.34.148]] 23:13, 15 February 2021 (UTC)
:Bail Organa (Leias 'father')? This could be an alternate Ep4 in which various unseen prior events went smoother than unfolded in the sky-scrawled start. (i.e. What the vaccine did was somehow bypass the whole Rogue One job on Scarif, with a much earlier copy of data being obtained). Alderaan thus gets a heads-up? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.55.104|172.69.55.104]] 01:12, 16 February 2021 (UTC)
::Dodonna was my first guess, before I scrolled down and saw 172.69.34.148's comment. In the films, Bail sent Leia to take the plans to the Rebellion (where Dodonna presented the battle plan to the pilots); he was didn't need them himself. --[[User:NotaBene|NotaBene]] ([[User talk:NotaBene|talk]]) 02:43, 16 February 2021 (UTC)
:::Looks like Yavin (or similar generic base), on the ground, could be Alderaan (or many other planets) from space. Without the whole Tantive IV capture, neither place would actually be obvious initial targets for the Empire so it's a total guess where this lot of rebels are, perhaps where Leia always intended to go (and stay?) before first being captured. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.98|141.101.105.98]] 03:22, 16 February 2021 (UTC)

I have a weird feeling when Princess Leia provided the Death Star plan to the beard guy, I think there's (jokingly) a misunderstanding - Princess Leia simply gives the beard guy the Death Star plan, without actually ordering to build one - But eventually they built a Death Star and triggered the earth's defense system, that's why the Death Star constructor team member is so confused.

Yeah I think it's a misunderstanding, not Leia ordering a target practice Death Star.
:I definitely agree. Comic-wise, it makes no sense for a Leia who knew about the order to construct a Death Star to panic; the events of the metaphor only make sense if she wasn’t aware of it. Metaphorically, it’s not so bad either; the plans are the mRNA, and the delivery mechanism (Leia) isn’t specifically “trying” to produce viral Death Stars, it’s just passing along the information. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.244|108.162.215.244]] 18:18, 16 February 2021 (UTC)
:It's no misunderstanding. They are all just doing "their job", so to speak. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 10:42, 16 February 2021 (UTC)
::Leia is the 'nanolipid' courier capsule in her first role, liasing with the cell (both senses!) and handing over to whoever (not actually sure the beard is Dodonna-enough, but meh...) represents the start of the cellular machinery that will be beneficially 'fooled' into creating the training matter (here, apparently, the full capsid, which strays as an analogy) by casually handing the instruction into the constructor bits along with all instructions normally handed ''outwards'' from the nucleus.
::Then she is actually part of the cellular machinery (perhaps "more torpedos! more ships!" is normal nucleus-sourced building plans, or whatever is needed to increasingly bud initially naive antibodies/antigens)
::By the end, probably we can say she is a Helper T-cell (Luke - or his voiced equivalent if he's been left unDroided at Uncle Lars's place because there was clearly no Escape Capsule event, etc - acted as Killer T-cell) reacting to the exhaust-port Antigen handwaviness. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.54.92|172.69.54.92]] 12:37, 16 February 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2424: Normal Conversation

2021-02-13T02:11:22Z

108.162.215.244:

I told my friends that my mother tested positive for COVID-19. I noticed that I only had to say "tested positive", the rest is implicit. I think it's similar in the gay community with HIV/AIDS.
:...uh, interesting thing to bring up. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.244|108.162.215.244]] 02:11, 13 February 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2423: Project Orion

2021-02-11T01:09:39Z

108.162.215.244:

If you read xkcd long enough, the comics always tend toward being about conversations tending toward something. (Okay, that’s not true; there’s one other comic like this and it was a conversation tending toward being about species tending toward being built like crabs. Still funny to think about, though.) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.244|108.162.215.244]] 01:09, 11 February 2021 (UTC)

2422: Vaccine Ordering

2021-02-09T01:57:21Z

108.162.215.244: /* Transcript */ transcribe error

{{comic
| number = 2422
| date = February 8, 2021
| title = Vaccine Ordering
| image = Vaccine_ordering_-_high-resolution.png
| titletext = You know what they say: mRNA-1273 before tozinameran, you'll have to slay a banshee in a catamaran.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by the RULER OF SMYRNA. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is another in the series of comics inspired by the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}. COVID-19 vaccines have been released and many people are getting vaccinated with either the vaccine from pharmaceutical companies {{w|Moderna}} or {{w|Pfizer}}-{{w|BioNTech}}. Each of these vaccines require 2 doses, taken 3-4 weeks apart.

Megan is reading an article on her phone to Cueball. A report from the {{w|Centers for Disease Control and Prevention|CDC}} says that it's possible to get effective immunity against {{w|COVID-19}} when mixing {{w|RNA vaccine|mRNA vaccine doses}} from Pfizer and Moderna, but that this practice should not be the norm. The report in question can be viewed [https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/info-by-product/clinical-considerations.html here]; it stresses that mixing the vaccines is acceptable only in exceptional circumstances, such as "when the first-dose vaccine product cannot be determined."

Cueball wonders whether the order in which you receive the vaccines matters. Megan then attempts to create {{w|Mnemonic|mnemonic devices}} to help them remember which mix-and-match strategy is best for the mRNA vaccines (e.g., "Beer before wine and you'll feel fine; wine before beer and you'll feel queer"). Megan succeeds by rhyming "Pfizer" and "wiser", but struggles with finding a rhyme for "Moderna", settling for {{w|Smyrna}}, an ancient city located in what is now {{w|Izmir}}, Turkey.

A {{w|side effect}} of a drug is an effect incidental to the intended purpose of the drug. Side effects can be positive or negative, though in vaccine trials the greater concern is usually about negative side effects. Becoming ruler of an ancient city that is now only a historical ruin would certainly be an odd side effect.

The title text continues the theme of difficult rhymes, using the full names of both the Moderna vaccine drug ({{w|Moderna COVID-19 vaccine|mRNA-1273}}) and the Pfizer one ({{w|Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine|tozinameran}}).

==Trivia==

This comic image was originally published with no {{w|Spatial anti-aliasing|anti-aliasing}}. All of its pixels were either fully black or fully white, with no shades of gray, giving the smooth lines a jagged appearance. This was fixed later in the day.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Cueball are talking. Megan is looking down and reading a news story on her phone.]
:Megan: The CDC says it's okay to mix and match the mRNA vaccines for doses 1 and 2, but only in "exceptional situations".
:Cueball: I wonder which order works better, if either.

:[A slimmer panel. Megan has her finger raised and her phone to her side]
:Megan: Well you know what they say — Moderna before Pfizer, you'll be none the wiser.

:[A regular panel, Megan and Cueball still talking next to each other.]
:Megan: Pfizer before Moderna then you'll... rule ancient Smyrna.
:Cueball: Weird side effect.
:Megan: A lot of hard-to-rhyme drugs have those.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

2422: Vaccine Ordering

2021-02-09T01:56:54Z

108.162.215.244: /* Transcript */ ce

{{comic
| number = 2422
| date = February 8, 2021
| title = Vaccine Ordering
| image = Vaccine_ordering_-_high-resolution.png
| titletext = You know what they say: mRNA-1273 before tozinameran, you'll have to slay a banshee in a catamaran.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by the RULER OF SMYRNA. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is another in the series of comics inspired by the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}. COVID-19 vaccines have been released and many people are getting vaccinated with either the vaccine from pharmaceutical companies {{w|Moderna}} or {{w|Pfizer}}-{{w|BioNTech}}. Each of these vaccines require 2 doses, taken 3-4 weeks apart.

Megan is reading an article on her phone to Cueball. A report from the {{w|Centers for Disease Control and Prevention|CDC}} says that it's possible to get effective immunity against {{w|COVID-19}} when mixing {{w|RNA vaccine|mRNA vaccine doses}} from Pfizer and Moderna, but that this practice should not be the norm. The report in question can be viewed [https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/info-by-product/clinical-considerations.html here]; it stresses that mixing the vaccines is acceptable only in exceptional circumstances, such as "when the first-dose vaccine product cannot be determined."

Cueball wonders whether the order in which you receive the vaccines matters. Megan then attempts to create {{w|Mnemonic|mnemonic devices}} to help them remember which mix-and-match strategy is best for the mRNA vaccines (e.g., "Beer before wine and you'll feel fine; wine before beer and you'll feel queer"). Megan succeeds by rhyming "Pfizer" and "wiser", but struggles with finding a rhyme for "Moderna", settling for {{w|Smyrna}}, an ancient city located in what is now {{w|Izmir}}, Turkey.

A {{w|side effect}} of a drug is an effect incidental to the intended purpose of the drug. Side effects can be positive or negative, though in vaccine trials the greater concern is usually about negative side effects. Becoming ruler of an ancient city that is now only a historical ruin would certainly be an odd side effect.

The title text continues the theme of difficult rhymes, using the full names of both the Moderna vaccine drug ({{w|Moderna COVID-19 vaccine|mRNA-1273}}) and the Pfizer one ({{w|Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine|tozinameran}}).

==Trivia==

This comic image was originally published with no {{w|Spatial anti-aliasing|anti-aliasing}}. All of its pixels were either fully black or fully white, with no shades of gray, giving the smooth lines a jagged appearance. This was fixed later in the day.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Cueball are talking. Megan is looking down and reading a news story on her phone.]
:Megan: The CDC says it's okay to mix and match the mRNA vaccines for doses 1 and 2, but only in "exceptional circumstances".
:Cueball: I wonder which order works better, if either.

:[A slimmer panel. Megan has her finger raised and her phone to her side]
:Megan: Well you know what they say — Moderna before Pfizer, you'll be none the wiser.

:[A regular panel, Megan and Cueball still talking next to each other.]
:Megan: Pfizer before Moderna then you'll... rule ancient Smyrna.
:Cueball: Weird side effect.
:Megan: A lot of hard-to-rhyme drugs have those.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

2422: Vaccine Ordering

2021-02-09T01:56:13Z

108.162.215.244: /* Explanation */ more

{{comic
| number = 2422
| date = February 8, 2021
| title = Vaccine Ordering
| image = Vaccine_ordering_-_high-resolution.png
| titletext = You know what they say: mRNA-1273 before tozinameran, you'll have to slay a banshee in a catamaran.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by the RULER OF SMYRNA. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is another in the series of comics inspired by the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}. COVID-19 vaccines have been released and many people are getting vaccinated with either the vaccine from pharmaceutical companies {{w|Moderna}} or {{w|Pfizer}}-{{w|BioNTech}}. Each of these vaccines require 2 doses, taken 3-4 weeks apart.

Megan is reading an article on her phone to Cueball. A report from the {{w|Centers for Disease Control and Prevention|CDC}} says that it's possible to get effective immunity against {{w|COVID-19}} when mixing {{w|RNA vaccine|mRNA vaccine doses}} from Pfizer and Moderna, but that this practice should not be the norm. The report in question can be viewed [https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/info-by-product/clinical-considerations.html here]; it stresses that mixing the vaccines is acceptable only in exceptional circumstances, such as "when the first-dose vaccine product cannot be determined."

Cueball wonders whether the order in which you receive the vaccines matters. Megan then attempts to create {{w|Mnemonic|mnemonic devices}} to help them remember which mix-and-match strategy is best for the mRNA vaccines (e.g., "Beer before wine and you'll feel fine; wine before beer and you'll feel queer"). Megan succeeds by rhyming "Pfizer" and "wiser", but struggles with finding a rhyme for "Moderna", settling for {{w|Smyrna}}, an ancient city located in what is now {{w|Izmir}}, Turkey.

A {{w|side effect}} of a drug is an effect incidental to the intended purpose of the drug. Side effects can be positive or negative, though in vaccine trials the greater concern is usually about negative side effects. Becoming ruler of an ancient city that is now only a historical ruin would certainly be an odd side effect.

The title text continues the theme of difficult rhymes, using the full names of both the Moderna vaccine drug ({{w|Moderna COVID-19 vaccine|mRNA-1273}}) and the Pfizer one ({{w|Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine|tozinameran}}).

==Trivia==

This comic image was originally published with no {{w|Spatial anti-aliasing|anti-aliasing}}. All of its pixels were either fully black or fully white, with no shades of gray, giving the smooth lines a jagged appearance. This was fixed later in the day.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Cueball are talking. Megan is looking down and reading a news story on her phone.]
:Megan: The CDC says it's okay to mix and match the mRNA vaccines for doses 1 and 2, but only in exceptional circumstances.
:Cueball: I wonder which order works better, if either.

:[A slimmer panel. Megan has her finger raised and her phone to her side]
Megan: Well you know what they say — Moderna before Pfizer, you'll be none the wiser.

:[A regular panel, Megan and Cueball still talking next to each other.]
:Megan: Pfizer before Moderna then you'll... rule ancient Smyrna.
:Cueball: Weird side effect.
:Megan: A lot of hard-to-rhyme drugs have those.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

2420: Appliances

2021-02-05T02:00:47Z

108.162.215.244: /* Table */ add

{{comic
| number = 2420
| date = February 3, 2021
| title = Appliances
| image = appliances.png
| titletext = If you had an oven bag and a dryer that runs unusually hot, I guess you could in theory make tumbled eggs.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an OVERCOOKED T-SHIRT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic shows a {{w|confusion matrix}} of the applicability of various household appliances to different tasks. Green indicates an excellent performance, yellow not ideal, but usable, and red dismal or destroyed. The diagonal is green as it shows the tasks done by the machines they are supposed to be performed by. See [[#Table|table]] below.

Salmon can be easily {{w|Dishwasher salmon|cooked in a dishwasher}}, so it's marked "cooked", and thus "cook a frozen dinner" is only yellow on the dishwasher entry.

The stove/oven has three green as it can also cook a microwave frozen dinner, although slower, and can toast bread, again slower than the toaster. It is by far the machine that has fewest red entries, only one, as it cannot wash clothes. It can also not clean dishes, but it might sterilize them, thus that entry is yellow. Also it might actually dry the clothes, but could also make it burnt, thus it is also only yellow.

The microwave oven can also cook eggs, thus it has two green, the only other than the stove/oven with more than one green.

The toaster and the washing machines are the only ones without any yellow, and with only one green, for making toast/washing clothes - they are thus the appliances with least other potential uses (zero). The washing machine will at least not destroy the clothes if you try to dry it, but it has the opposite effect, thus still red. The toaster will not destroy the dishes, but will potentially just make the dirt burn harder to them.

The title text mentions that it would be theoretically possible to cook eggs in a dryer, but it is not a common use for a dryer. {{Citation needed}} The joke is that it is not called {{w|scrambled eggs}} but tumbled eggs. It also mentions that the dryer has to become hotter than usual for a dryer (maybe dangerously hot for the clothes for it to work). And then the eggs should be cracked and put in a oven bag, that really needs to be tight and well zipped.

==Table==
{| class="wikitable"
!
! scope="col"| {{w|Toaster}}
! scope="col"| {{w|Dishwasher}}
! scope="col"| {{w|Microwave oven|Microwave}}
! scope="col"| {{w|Washing machine}}
! scope="col"| {{w|Kitchen stove|Stove/oven}}
! scope="col"| {{w|Clothes dryer|Dryer}}
|-
! scope="row"| Make toast
| Yes, a toaster's function is to make toast from bread.
| No. A dishwasher would likely turn bread into mush, and is unlikely to be edible.
| No. A microwave could heat up bread, but would not brown the bread and make it crunchy. In this image, it appears that the bread is getting unevenly burnt.
| No. A washing machine would break the bread into several pieces, and is unlikely to be edible.
| Yes, toast can be made using a stove or an oven.
| No. A dryer would burn the bread due to its heat, and would break it up into crumbs due to its tumbling.
|-
! scope="row"| Wash dishes
| No. A toaster would not be able to wash dishes, and is likely to do nothing to make them clean.
| Yes, a dishwasher's function is to wash dishes.
| No. A microwave could heat up the dishes, but this would not serve any function in getting them clean, and could cause food to get even more stuck on the dishes.
| No. A washing machine would break the dishes.
| Maybe, a stove or an oven could theoretically sterilize dishes with high heat (but this would not clean off any stains or stuck food particles).
| No. Worse than the washing machine, the tumbling of a dryer would thoroughly pulverize porcelain dishes and then possibly melt the grains together due to high heat.
|-
! scope="row"| Cook a {{w|TV dinner|frozen dinner}}
| No. A traditional toaster would not be able to cook a frozen dinner. A {{w|toaster oven}} combination would be able to do so (see stove/oven).
| Maybe. The fish could be cooked in a dishwasher, however the rest might not, but this is not a typical use of a dishwasher.
| Yes, a microwave is normally used to cook a frozen dinner.
| No. A washing machine would make the dinner soggy and inedible.
| Yes, a stove or an oven could also be used to cook a frozen dinner. The image shows the dinner being removed from its packaging and placed in a baking pan.
| No. A dryer would make the frozen dinner inedible due to its tumbling and heat.
|-
! scope="row"| Wash clothes
| No. A toaster would not be able to wash clothes and would instead leave burn marks.
| Maybe. A dishwasher would be able to get the clothes wet but the washing may be uneven.
| No. A microwave would just burn the clothes and not do any washing.
| Yes, a washing machine's function is to wash clothes.
| No, a stove or an oven would burn the clothes and not do any cleaning.
| Maybe. A dryer would heat the clothes and kill germs, but not get any stains out.
|-
! scope="row"| Cook eggs
| No. A toaster would not be able to cook eggs. This image seems to show that eggs were cracked directly into the toaster, which causes a large plume of smoke.
| No. A dishwasher generally cannot cook eggs. However, it does seem that [https://spoonuniversity.com/how-to/5-foods-cook-dishwasher this is plausible to do].
| Yes. A microwave could be used to cook eggs, {{w|poached egg|poached style}} as shown in the image.
| No, a washing machine's would destroy the eggs.
| Yes, a stove or an oven is typically used to cook eggs (and other foods).
| No. A dryer would overheat the eggs and tumble them to shreds.
|-
! scope="row"| Dry clothes
| No. A toaster would not be able to dry clothes and would instead leave burn marks.
| No. A dishwasher would be able to get the clothes wet but would not do any drying.
| Maybe. A microwave could (unevenly) get clothes dry.
| No, a washing machine's function is to wash clothes and would just get the clothes wet. A washing machine's spin cycle could dry clothes to some extent, but is not intended to fully wring all the water out of clothes.
| Maybe, a stove or an oven could be used to get clothes dry.
| Yes, a dryer's function is to dry clothes after they are washed.
|}

==Transcript==

:[The comic is laid out like a grid, with usages for common household appliances the left-hand side (Make toast / Wash dishes / Cook a frozen dinner / Wash clothes / Cook eggs / Dry clothes) and appliances for these activities across the top (Toaster / Dishwasher / Microwave / Washing machine / Stove/oven / Dryer). The grid illustrates the "match-ups", with a green square denoting a "correct" match-up, a yellow square denoting something that may work somewhat, and a red square denoting something that most certainly won't work.]

:[From the top left corner, going from left to right, top to bottom, with each first item being on its own line in the grid, the squares are as follows:]

:[Green square, toasted toast with stripe pattern]

:*'''Make toast''' with a '''Toaster'''

:[Red square, slightly broken soggy toast in a puddle of water]

:*'''Make toast''' with a '''Dishwasher'''

:[Red square, non-toasted and unevenly burnt toast]
:*'''Make toast''' with a '''Microwave'''
*'''Make toast''' with a '''Washing machine''': Red square, a few small soggy pieces of toast in a puddle of water.
*'''Make toast''' with a '''Stove/oven''': Green square, toasted toast with somewhat irregular pattern.
*'''Make toast''' with a '''Dryer''': Red square, large pile of breadcrumbs.
*'''Wash dishes''' with a '''Toaster''': Red square, intact glass, somewhat bent fork and slightly cracked and sooty plate.
*'''Wash dishes''' with a '''Dishwasher''': Green square, clean glass, fork and plate.
*'''Wash dishes''' with a '''Microwave''': Red square, slightly broken glass, intact fork and sooty plate.
*'''Wash dishes''' with a '''Washing machine''': Red square, broken glass, intact fork, broken plate.
*'''Wash dishes''' with a '''Stove/oven''': Yellow square, Text reading "Sterilized, at least" with an arrow beneath it pointing at a slightly cracked glass, intact fork and sooty and cracked plate.
*'''Wash dishes''' with a '''Dryer''': Red square, large pile of broken porcelain and glass with part of fork sticking out of it.
*'''Cook a frozen dinner''' with a '''Toaster''': Red square, badly burnt food box emitting smoke.
*'''Cook a frozen dinner''' with a '''Dishwasher''': Yellow square, Text reading "Fish might be cooked" with an arrow beneath it pointing at a food box two thirds filled with water.
*'''Cook a frozen dinner''' with a '''Microwave''': Green square, cooked food box.
*'''Cook a frozen dinner''' with a '''Washing machine''': Red square, crumpled food box two thirds filled with water.
*'''Cook a frozen dinner''' with a '''Stove/oven''': Green square, sideways view of steaming cooked food box with lid removed.
*'''Cook a frozen dinner''' with a '''Dryer''': Red square, open crumpled food box with burnt edges. Burnt food stuck to the panels borders.
*'''Wash clothes''' with a '''Toaster''': Red square, smoking T-shirt with large stripe shaped burns.
*'''Wash clothes''' with a '''Dishwasher''': Yellow square, unevenly wet/washed shirt.
*'''Wash clothes''' with a '''Microwave''': Red square, slightly smoking shirt with spread out burns.
*'''Wash clothes''' with a '''Washing machine''': Green square, clean wet shirt.
*'''Wash clothes''' with a '''Stove/oven''': Red square, shirt with a large semi-burned area.
*'''Wash clothes''' with a '''Dryer''': Yellow square, slightly dirty-looking shirt.
*'''Cook eggs''' with a '''Toaster''': Red square, toaster emitting a huge cloud of dense smoke.
*'''Cook eggs''' with a '''Dishwasher''': Red square, slightly cracked eggs in a puddle of some kind.
*'''Cook eggs''' with a '''Microwave''': Green square, egg in egg cup with text "(Poached)" beneath.
*'''Cook eggs''' with a '''Washing machine''': Red square, egg shell fragments in a puddle, presumably the egg.
*'''Cook eggs''' with a '''Stove/oven''': Green square, fried egg with beans on a plate.
*'''Cook eggs''' with a '''Dryer''': Red square, pile of egg shell dust and possibly scrambled eggs.
*'''Dry clothes''' with a '''Toaster''': Red square, mostly wet shirt, with parts in the middle being somewhat dry. Smaller stripe shaped burns.
*'''Dry clothes''' with a '''Dishwasher''': Red square, entirely wet shirt.
*'''Dry clothes''' with a '''Microwave''': Yellow square, dry shirt with smaller burns.
*'''Dry clothes''' with a '''Washing machine''': Red square, wet shirt.
*'''Dry clothes''' with a '''Stove/oven''': Yellow square, dry shirt with small burn-like patches.
*'''Dry clothes''' with a '''Dryer''': Green square, dry shirt.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Food]]

2039: Begging the Question

2018-08-29T17:35:10Z

108.162.215.244: fix

{{comic
| number = 2039
| date = August 29, 2018
| title = Begging the Question
| image = begging_the_question.png
| titletext = At least we can all agree on the enormity of this usage.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a NAUSEOUS BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic makes fun of the constant battle between those who maintain a prescriptive view of language and those who have a descriptive view. In the prescriptive view, language has fixed rules and fixed usage, and any usage that does not adhere to established rules is incorrect. In the descriptive view however, language is malleable and any usage can be correct if it is common and understood by most people.

The comic specifically calls out two phrases which are commonly misused in the prescriptive sense, and whose meanings have changed in modern usage in the descriptive sense:
*Nauseous
''Nauseous'' in its proper form means "causing nausea", while ''nauseated'' means affected with nausea.

Properly speaking, it is incorrect for Ponytail to say that a food made her ''nauseous'', as this would say that the food made her "causing nausea". As White Hat states, the proper phrasing is that the "the food was nauseous", and it "made [her] feel nauseated". However, "nauseous" as defined as meaning "affected with nausea" has entered common usage.

*Begging the question
The definition of this phrase is to "raise a question or point that has not been dealt with". However, as the caption explains, Cueball has an entirely different meaning for this phrase that he created himself: "fight a losing battle against changing usage".

The title text refers to the changing usage of the word ''enormity''. One of its original definitions is to describe the "outrageous or heinous character" or atrocity of an action. Current usage has been relating this word to the word ''enormous'', giving a definition of "greatness of size or scope".

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

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Language]]

1785: Wifi

2017-01-13T05:09:35Z

108.162.215.244:

{{comic
| number = 1785
| date = January 13, 2017
| title = Wifi
| image = wifi.png
| titletext = Further out to the right, it works correctly, but the reason it works still involves the word 'firmware.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| first edit}}

The graph shows the probability that a guest will be able to connect to the owner's wifi. The large drop involves firmware. Firmware is an extra layer that sits between the operating system and the device, in this case a wifi card. In most systems this just works but in the case of more geeky operating systems, like GNU/Linux, it needs to be installed separately. Therefore there are a group of people who know what they are missing but are unable to overcome the issue to connect. The title text indicates that the curve recovers once users are more experienced.

These computer issues have previously appeared in several XKCD comincs, notably Cautionary https://xkcd.com/456/

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}