explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

676: Abstraction

2021-04-13T21:09:45Z

108.162.216.136: Flash was discontinued.

{{comic
| number = 676
| date = December 16, 2009
| title = Abstraction
| image = abstraction.png
| titletext = If I'm such a god, why isn't Maru *my* cat?
}}

==Explanation==
The comics points out the large number of levels of abstraction working together at any given time in today's computers.

Programs on current computers do not run "directly on hardware". Instead, the hardware (in this case, a {{w|Central processing unit|processor}} of the {{w|x86-64}} architecture) is controlled by the {{w|operating system}} {{w|Kernel (computing)|kernel}} (in this specific case, {{w|XNU}} is the kernel used in Apple-branded devices). Many operating systems offer a standardized {{w|Interface (computing)|interface}} called {{w|POSIX}}, which wraps the services offered by the different operating systems so that applications do not need to cope with the differences between the operating systems. {{w|Darwin (operating system)|Darwin}} is the name of the core set of components on which the Apple's {{w|OS X}} operating system runs. And using this operating system, the user runs the {{w|Firefox}} web browser. However, the browser itself contains further abstraction layers: {{w|Gecko (layout engine)|Gecko}} is the engine handling the display of web pages on the screen, but in this case, it only allows a separate software, {{w|Adobe Flash Player}}, to render a video requested by the user.

And all of this work is, in this case, done only because the user wanted to watch a funny cat Flash video on the Internet; which makes the user feel like he is a god.

The title text refers to {{w|Maru (cat)|Maru the cat}}, a cat who became very popular on YouTube for, among other things, jumping into a box. Cueball questions his god-like capabilities by wondering why can't he own Maru.

[[2405: Flash Gatsby| Flash was discontinued at the very end of 2021]]. Flash was a video player that was used to make videos play without having a dedicated website for it. It was used in games and videos, as demonstrated by Cueball watching a Flash video of a cat jumping into a box.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
:An x64 processor is screaming along at billions of cycles per second to run the XNU kernel, which is frantically working through all the POSIX-specified abstraction to create the Darwin system underlying OS X, which in turn is straining itself to run Firefox and its Gecko renderer, which creates a Flash object which renders dozens of video frames every second

:because I wanted to see a cat jump into a box and fall over.

:I am a god.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]

2446: Spike Proteins

2021-04-06T10:59:58Z

108.162.216.136: Fixed typo

{{comic
| number = 2446
| date = April 6, 2021
| title = Spike Proteins
| image = spike_proteins.png
| titletext = Ugh, it's stuck to my laptop. It must have bound to the ACER-2 receptor.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RIBOSOME from HTmL codes. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This is another comic in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series]]. The series is related to the {{w|2019-20 coronavirus outbreak|2020 pandemic}}. The pandemic is caused by the {{w|coronavirus}} {{w|SARS-CoV-2}}. SARS-CoV-2 causes {{w|COVID-19}}.

This is also another comic about the current [[:Category:COVID-19 vaccine|vaccine against COVID-19]]. A vaccine is designed to provoke an immune response from the body of the recipient, part of which is the creation of {{w|spike protein}}s that stimulate an immune response from the recipient, which "trains" the immune system to attack spike proteins on actual viruses and infected cells.

[[Beret Guy]], in his [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|usual fashion]], misunderstands how reality works, then reality alters to fit his view of it.

After receiving the vaccine, he tells this to [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]], and claims he will now go make spike proteins. But he literally means that he (not his immune system) will build the spike protein. When he returns he is carrying such a self made spike protein which is many, many orders of magnitude larger than a real spike protein. He then loads it of on Cueball's desk where he is working with his laptop, that is hit by the protein. So rather than retaining the protein in his body where it would be effective, if it were a normal spike protein, he just unloads it. This is unusual, as when the body naturally makes a spike protein, they are made in small amounts to be distributed throughout the body. When Beret Guy makes it, he makes a large, damp wad through unknown means. This provokes an understandable response of both disgust and confusion from both Cueball and Megan, who asks why it is so wet. Beret Guy then leaves, with the intention of making more spike proteins.

The title text is a pun on Acer, ACER2, and ACE2. {{w|Acer Inc.|Acer}} is a brand of computers including laptops. The {{w|Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2|ACE2 receptor}}, is an [https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-ace2-receptor-how-is-it-connected-to-coronavirus-and-why-might-it-be-key-to-treating-covid-19-the-experts-explain-136928 entry point on a cell] to which the SARS-COV-2 virus attaches during the process of entering the cell. {{w|ACER2}} is a real enzyme in humans which, although unrelated to ACE2 or SARS-COV-2, helps tie the pun together.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting in an office chair at a desk with an open laptop in front of him. Megan stands behind him looking over his shoulder. Beret Guy is in front of the desk, walking away and looking back at the two while holding a hand to his shoulder, where he got the vaccine shot.]
:Beret Guy: Got the vaccine!
:Megan: Congrats!
:Beret Guy: Time to go make spike proteins.

:[Cueball continues to work on his laptop while Megan is looking on.]

:[In a frameless, narrow panel, Beret Guy walks back carrying a large object in his arms that looks like a spike protein. But it is about half as long as he is tall, fluffy and dripping wet, flexing slightly along its length, with the Y-shaped head pointed forwards, away from Beret Guy]
:Beret Guy: OK!
:Beret Guy: Here's my first try.

:[Beret Guy drops the spike protein onto Cueball's desk with the Y-shaped end on the desk up against the back of Cueball's laptop. The movement is shown with several lines and a sound follows when it hits the desk. The head of it takes up the entire desk area not covered by the laptop, while the tail overhangs the desk. Cueball is grabbing the lid and base of his laptop with both hands, pulling it partially closed and away from the spike protein, and Megan reflexively leans away.]
:Spike Protein: Plop

:[Beret Guy turns to leave, with an outstretched finger pointing skyward. The overhanging part of the spike protein has sagged, and it is dripping some wet material over both the floor and desk. Cueball is sitting with his hands on the partially closed laptop, Megan stands normally again.]
:Beret Guy: ''More!''
:Cueball: Ewww.
:Megan: Why is it so ''wet??''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:COVID-19 vaccine]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]

Talk:2285: Recurring Nightmare

2020-03-28T02:21:19Z

108.162.216.136:

Could it just be that Megan is anthrophobic? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.247|162.158.62.247]] 16:22, 25 March 2020 (UTC)
:She's friendly (and socially proximate) enough with Cueball. That said, I know first hand how one can be asocial in general (in the verging on mildly enochlophobic sense) and still somehow tolerate acquaintances acquired in familial or vocational settings. (I'm pretty sure it's the obvious current mass nosophobic tendency being referenced, myself. If not, it's a far more complicated joke than it needs to be.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.222|162.158.34.222]] 19:26, 25 March 2020 (UTC)
::To misquote The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, no, that's just the normal paranoia we all have- a couple of million years of strangers killing everybody in the tribe, leaves the survivors with a deep set instinct identifying and running away from .... strangers [[User:Seeberboringert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 21:16, 25 March 2020 (UTC)

This is an instructive video [https://youtu.be/WinPcASr8xw Why the US already practiced social distancing before coronavirus] [[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 21:16, 25 March 2020 (UTC)

"Revise" seems to be British for "study." So if u 4got to revise /study, and show up in class with without a pencil and naked just tell the people that u r dreaming and as soon as the dream gets interesting you will wake up, because your dreams are boring. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.236|108.162.216.236]] 21:50, 25 March 2020 (UTC)
:I think you'll find the word in the comment is "REALIZE"[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 21:53, 25 March 2020 (UTC)
:: I'm sure I won't. Qwotegeneral "forgotten to revise for the exam"endqwote is from the explain.
Please be aware that "revise" means "edit, generally to make the text conform to a belief" to me, while to a Britisher it means what "do homework" or "study" means to me.
:Revise does not mean this in British, or as we say in the UK, Proper English. Revise means to review/amend/take another look
at. [[User:Kev|Kev]] ([[User talk:Kev|talk]]) 18:17, 26 March 2020 (UTC)
:Revise can have both meanings in Australian English, and I think the same is true for British English. "I forgot to revise for my test" means a very similar thing to "I forgot to study for my test". However, "revise" has the additional implication that you have already studied the material, you are just consolidating it more in your mind and catching all the bits that you missed [[User:ZerGreenOne|ZerGreenOne]] ([[User ZerGreenOne|talk]]) 02:45, 27 March 2020 (UTC)
::I'm British and fairly ancient and while "study" and "revise" are similar in meaning (where they overlap, i.e. aside from the respective examine/rewrite senses and other non-synonymical aspects) I would study something I did not already know but revise something I should already know and now need to make sure I haven't forgotten (probably morphed before my time from the original "review(s)", as semi-soundalike). To me, "studying for a test" is either ''very'' last minute preparation (not having attended the classes all year, now cramming from someone else's notes or textbooks) or something I'd have heard said in an imported US school-based comedy/drama. Happy Days? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.210|162.158.34.210]] 17:47, 27 March 2020 (UTC)
:These comments about "revise" make absolutely NO sense!![[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.88|162.158.214.88]] 11:23, 26 March 2020 (UTC)
:You can use the view history button on top of the page to find that where it currently says "This can be added to something such as a general "forgotten to prepare for the exam you're sitting" to build upon various[...]" it did say "revise" instead of "prepare" in an earlier revision --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 11:35, 26 March 2020 (UTC)

Is it worth mentioning in the list of (non-nudity) precautions that wearing a facemask isn't actually a very good protective measure. Masks (especially everyday/ad-hoc types such as could have been seen worn by people outdoors in those in those halcyon days when anybody ''did'' still go outdoors) are practically useless in protecting the wearer from others. They'd still touch surfaces infected by non-wearers and then easily transfer the infection the next time they adjust/remove it or otherwise touch other vulnerable bits of their face. They can wash their hands before removing it, in their home 'airlock', but if the mask is breath-moistened it could still be holding the virus and retransfer onto the clean hands again. OTOH, if someone is infected then their mask does more to safeguard others. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.202|162.158.34.202]] 17:24, 27 March 2020 (UTC)
:In my opinion, since masks aren't even mentioned in the comic, adding this would stray too far from the objective of explaining the comic. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 19:31, 27 March 2020 (UTC)

Speaking of adding things that go astray from the topic, I have a recurring nightmare that our dear author is actually as autistic as I am and coronavirus has broken his brain to the point that he cannot think of any jokes on any other topic.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 20:28, 27 March 2020 (UTC)

: Seems to me contributors here have a worse obsession with the pandemic than Randall, since I've had no traction in pointing out that [[2278: Scientific Briefing]] isn't about COVID-19. --[[User:Pi one|Pi one]] ([[User talk:Pi one|talk]]) 22:06, 27 March 2020 (UTC)
::it is about 'why should I care about the future?' and is a sarcastic comment about how world leaders have reacted to covid/SARS2.

Talk:2282: Coronavirus Worries

2020-03-19T00:54:24Z

108.162.216.136:

Props to Randall for not mentioning toilet paper ONCE [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.88|172.69.34.88]] 21:08, 18 March 2020 (UTC)

The transcript states that the axis lines do not have arrows on them. It should describe the arrows on labels, i.e. More common with arrow pointing to the right. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 23:52, 18 March 2020 (UTC)

My initial take on the More Healthy axis reflected on the person doing the worrying, that is some worries would be more or less common depending on the health of the person. The explanation interprets More Healthy to refer to the worry itself, that is some worries are intrinsically more healthy than others. I am at a loss to determine which of these interpretations more closely fits the worries that are listed. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 23:52, 18 March 2020 (UTC)

"with at least eight in a row" -- this is getting hecka tiresome. Surely he can think of _something_ other than the flu 2.0.

2071: Indirect Detection

2018-11-14T02:06:17Z

108.162.216.136: Expanded slightly on plato cave metaphor.

{{comic
| number = 2071
| date = November 12, 2018
| title = Indirect Detection
| image = indirect_detection.png
| titletext = I'm like a prisoner in Plato's Cave, seeing only the shade you throw on the wall.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a PLATONIC PRISONER. Is this PLATONIC LOVE on joking here? Any REAL reason why this isn't complete? Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic shows an angry social media post by one of Randall's spiky-haired friends, decrying the practice of some of that person's friends—in this case apparently some of these friends like to make jokes in poor taste about animals in animal shelters. Sometimes when posting something on social media, such as Facebook, that post can be seen by all the people you have designated as your "friends." In this case the original comment was intended to be read by the people posting the inappropriate comments, people who are not direct friends of Randall's and whose posts he therefore could not see, but because it was posted by his direct friend he could read that response to the inappropriate comments and was able to imagine what it was those other people were saying. Knowing a little about what these other mystery people are saying, through direct quotes from within his friend's comment, and having to fill in the rest by his imagination, he concludes there are some people out there he could find awful, and reflects on how weird it is to have an indirect link to them.

Some users of social media, such as the unwilling participants in Facebook's [https://www.forbes.com/sites/gregorymcneal/2014/06/28/facebook-manipulated-user-news-feeds-to-create-emotional-contagion/ emotional contagion study], have found that despite having many friends of one slant in real life, the posts they see on social media reflect a different slant. Some consider this could happen to affect political views, or to pursue people suspected of crime. The comic reads as if Randall's friend has entered one of these "false bubbles" somehow on a social media site, but that as Randall's "bubble" reflects his views, he can only infer what it is like by reading these posts of his friend.

The title text is a pun comparing the shadows of [[Wikipedia:Allegory of the Cave|Plato's cave]] to the practice of "[[Wikipedia:Throwing shade (slang)|throwing shade]]" (slang for throwing insults, usually subtly), and "the wall" could have a double meaning of both the wall of the cave and the term for someone's social media page.

Plato's Cave is an allegorical tale taking place in a hypothetical cave. The cave contains lifelong prisoners who are chained such that they may only look at one wall. A fire burns, and the goings-on are cast as shadows upon this wall. Lacking a more complete or direct source of information, the cave occupants can only guess about the world by interpreting these shadows as a view of the world itself, and therefore base their other beliefs about the world upon the transitory appearances of these shadows. In this way, Plato's Cave serves as an allegory for our limited understanding of phenomena that occur primarily or entirely outside direct perception by our natural senses. It also offers imagery of how our perceptions and beliefs can be so restricted by what our information channels provide to us, which are now controlled by hidden computer algorithms and marketing teams.

In the same way one might make incorrect assumptions about the makeup and chemical properties of air if one's information on the subject were gathered entirely from watching wind blow through leaves, the hypothetical occupants of Plato's Cave may reasonably be expected to produce wildly inaccurate theories about the outside world, a world they experience only as a kind of shadowplay. To be more specific, if one sees only a reaction (shadow) to an unseen post, one might become polarized against an imagined horrible thing, like if there were a large percentage of people who supported killing pet animals from shelters for sport, when in fact it is only the shadow which you have observed anything about, rather than the object that cast it.

A further joke behind the pun about "throwing shade" may be that judging anything based only upon the most outrageous points of measurement available will likely produce an inaccurate assessment.

==Transcript==
:[A single social media post is shown. On the top left is a portrait of a spiky-haired face, the text right aside is not readable. The post is:]
:Everyone on here needs to stop laughing about how "adopting pets from a shelter is for losers" and "those animals should all be hunted for sport instead." It's reprehensible on so many levels! First of all...

:[Caption below the frame:]
:Sometimes, one of my friends posts an angry response to some terrible opinion I've never heard before, and it's a weird indirect way to learn how awful their other friends must be.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Social networking]]

114: Computational Linguists

2017-11-07T08:14:00Z

108.162.216.136: /* Transcript */ Fixed a typo in the transcript ("Linguistics" written "Lingustics" (sic))

{{comic
| number = 114
| date = June 12, 2006
| title = Computational Linguists
| image = computational linguists.png
| titletext = Chomskyists, generative linguists, and Ryan North, your days are numbered.
}}

==Explanation==
Here [[Black Hat]] is criticising computational linguistics, which overlaps between various field like theoretical linguistics, artificial intelligence, etc. Linguistics itself is still a hotly debated subject, as is seen by the various conflicting theories on the origin of languages like the forms of {{w|Proto-Indo-European}} language.

The joke in the comic is that Black Hat, instead of trying to poke fun at angsty emo kids, decides to poke fun at computational linguists for their attempts to model natural languages on computers using the various contradictory theories that are floating around nowadays. He may be associating the two groups, suggesting that their cries of "[their] fields being so ill-defined..." has similarities to emos constantly crying about how "people don't understand them, really" (or he may just be taking a swipe at people who think themselves above normal scientific methods).

The title text is a reference to some of the people who contributed to language theory:
*{{w|Noam Chomsky}} is an influential American psychologist and linguist who, based on cross-cultural studies, proposed a still-disputed theory that the human brain is unique from that of other species in that it includes a fundamental Language Acquisition Device (LAD) that is pre-programmed with basic rules of grammar and syntax: thus, language is innate to humans.
*{{w|Generative linguistics}} is a term within linguistics that is used in several ways, some of which are contradictory. This may be why it is chosen as a target by [[Black Hat]].
*{{w|Ryan North}} is the author of the webcomic {{w|Dinosaur Comics}}, and has a degree in computational linguistics. He also teased [[Randall]] in the title text of [http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=2420 this comic].

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat is standing next to a large badge which says FUCK Computational Linguistics]
:Black Hat: And the dumbest thing about emo kids is that... I... You know, I'm sick of easy targets. Anyone can make fun of emo kids. You know who's had it too easy? Computational Linguists. "Ooh, look at me! My field is so ill-defined, I can subscribe to any of dozens of contradictory models and still be taken seriously!"

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]

Talk:1908: Credit Card Rewards

2017-10-28T01:17:25Z

108.162.216.136:

Does Randall realize this goes completely against the "Working" comic (https://xkcd.com/951/)?
I wonder if he's changed his outlook or if he's just inconsistent :P

I don't it goes against 951, essentially he's trying to stop before he's spent 9 minutes to save a dollar (and hairy is questioning that he would have otherwise spent that 9 minutes earning more than a dollar) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.136|108.162.216.136]] 01:17, 28 October 2017 (UTC)

This reminds me of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofstadter%27s_law Hofstadter's law] // See also [https://xkcd.com/1658/ #1658] and [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/917:_Hofstadter this Explain xkcd for #1658] 18:26, 27 October 2017 (UTC)

How did he miss the circular reference error?

1790: Sad

2017-01-25T17:17:00Z

108.162.216.136: Initial explanation

{{comic
| number = 1790
| date = January 25, 2017
| title = Sad
| image = sad.png
| titletext = With the right 90-degree rotation, any effect is a side effect.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, Cueball makes several comments or complaints about Ponytail which are semi-common in regular life. The humor is with Ponytail's responses which subvert the question, by taking them too literally, in a different light than expected, or undermining them completely.

In order...

Cueball's comment about projects having no progress is presumably with regard to real-life projects of importance. Stardew Valley is a video game in which a player creates and manages a virtual farm, and in fact managing it can be considered a complicated project. Ponytail's reply is a great counterexample of how she is making good progress in a project, albeit a virtual one which doesn't matter.

Cueball's comment about not being able to hide from everything is a common one for insular people or for those trying to run away from their problems. Ponytail's reply is in the form of a Politifact reply, claiming (possibly quite truly) that such assertions are false.

Cueball's comment about writing comments is in regard to software development. Comments are something a programmer adds to their code such to make a note for themselves or others, typically to explain a complicated piece of logic or explaining external dependencies of a piece of code. His statement implies that Ponytail was not using the for this purpose, instead writing unrelated notes filled with obscenities. Ponytail's reply is one of typical advice given to amateur fiction and non-fiction writers, that to "write what you know." This has additional humor suggesting that Ponytail knows obscenity well.

Cueball's comment about functions is another software development related idea. Functions are pieces of logic which developers create do things (such as "calculate the diameter of a circle based on its radius"). A function which does nothing is literally useless. Ponytail replies that doing nothing is in line with functional programming, that she is trying to avoid side effects (i.e. unexpected, unintended, and typically unwanted effects upon calling a piece of code). This is typically a good thing. Cueball correctly states that by doing nothing that one avoids all effects, again harkening back to the fact that Ponytail's code is literally useless. Ponytail then replies saying that doing nothing is the "only way to be sure," which is possibly a reference to a common quote from the Alien movie series.

The title text is a pun on the idea of the phrase "side effect." If you turn something 90 degrees you will place it on its side, so thus making it a effect of putting something on its side, or a "side effect."

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
[Cueball is looking at Ponytail on a computer.] 
Cueball: How are you doing? 
Ponytail: Hah. 
Cueball: You seem distant lately. For the past few months. 
Ponytail: Can't imagine why. 

Cueball (offscreen): Your projects have stagnated. 
Ponytail: But my Stardew Valley farm is doing great. 
Cueball (offscreen): You can't just hide from everything. 
Ponytail: FACT CHECK: Mostly false. 

Cueball: I'm glad you're including more comments in your code, but it would be nice if they were comments about your code. Or at least a bit less obscenity-filled. 
Ponytail: They say to write what you know. 

[Cueball leans forward] 
Cueball: All the functions you've written take everything passed to them and return it unchanged with the comment "NO, YOU DEAL WITH THIS." 
Ponytail: It's a functional programming thing. Avoiding side effects. 
Cueball: You avoid all effects. 
Ponytail: Only way to be sure. 

[Title Text] 
With the right 90-degree rotation, any effect is a side effect.

{{comic discussion}}

1787: Voice Commands

2017-01-18T17:13:53Z

108.162.216.136: Cleaned up link

{{comic
| number = 1787
| date = January 18, 2017
| title = Voice Commands
| image = voice_commands.png
| titletext = Dvorak words may sound hard to pronounce, but studies show they actually put less stress on the vocal chords.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}
The {{w|Dvorak_Simplified_Keyboard|Dvorak keyboard layout}} was designed to replace the {{w|QWERTY}} keyboard layout (the de facto standard keyboard layout, so named for the starting letters in the top row). The Dvorak layout was designed in the belief that it would significantly increase typing speeds over the QWERTY layout, and in fact some of the placement of letters in the QWERTY standard were deliberate to accommodate limitations of the original mechanical typewriters which could jam if two adjacent keys were pressed in quick succession. Even as those limitations went away and other arguably better layouts were proposed, QWERTY remained the standard due to widespread use.

Using Dvorak for speech to text, however, makes no sense whatsoever as there is no keyboard, real, virtual, or otherwise, involved in speaking. Even the virtual keyboard (usually QWERTY layout but often changeable) included in most phones and tablet devices is not used when speaking to the phone.

The sentence he tells his phone translates to "Okay Google send a text" - he says it as if he were typing the sentence on a Dvorak layout with the keyboard set to a QWERTY layout.

The title text is a reference to the fact that many users of DVORAK keyboards claim they may be hard to learn, but they are more movement efficient and put less stress on your fingers due to less movement. For example, see the link at http://www.dvzine.org/zine/10-11.html . This makes little sense in the scenario set up by the comic, as speaking gibberish using oddly placed vowels would be equally difficult, if not in fact harder, on the vocal cords.

==Transcript==
[Ponytail and Cueball are standing looking at each other. Cueball is holding a phone.]

Ponytail: Can you text it to me?

Cueball: Sure!

Cueball: ''SVAT USSUPD ;DLH A KDBK''

Ponytail: ...What?

Phone: *BEEP*

[Caption under the panel:]

Setting my phone's speech recognition to Dvorak was a pain at first, but it's more efficient in the long run.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

1787: Voice Commands

2017-01-18T17:12:49Z

108.162.216.136: Corrected the joke about the title text, clarified transliteration

{{comic
| number = 1787
| date = January 18, 2017
| title = Voice Commands
| image = voice_commands.png
| titletext = Dvorak words may sound hard to pronounce, but studies show they actually put less stress on the vocal chords.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}
The {{w|Dvorak_Simplified_Keyboard|Dvorak keyboard layout}} was designed to replace the {{w|QWERTY}} keyboard layout (the de facto standard keyboard layout, so named for the starting letters in the top row). The Dvorak layout was designed in the belief that it would significantly increase typing speeds over the QWERTY layout, and in fact some of the placement of letters in the QWERTY standard were deliberate to accommodate limitations of the original mechanical typewriters which could jam if two adjacent keys were pressed in quick succession. Even as those limitations went away and other arguably better layouts were proposed, QWERTY remained the standard due to widespread use.

Using Dvorak for speech to text, however, makes no sense whatsoever as there is no keyboard, real, virtual, or otherwise, involved in speaking. Even the virtual keyboard (usually QWERTY layout but often changeable) included in most phones and tablet devices is not used when speaking to the phone.

The sentence he tells his phone translates to "Okay Google send a text" - he says it as if he were typing the sentence on a Dvorak layout with the keyboard set to a QWERTY layout.

The title text is a reference to the fact that many users of DVORAK keyboards claim they may be hard to learn, but they are more movement efficient and put less stress on your fingers due to less movement. For example, see the following link. <a href="http://www.dvzine.org/zine/10-11.html">Dvorak Zine</a> This makes little sense in the scenario set up by the comic, as speaking gibberish using oddly placed vowels would be equally difficult, if not in fact harder, on the vocal cords.

==Transcript==
[Ponytail and Cueball are standing looking at each other. Cueball is holding a phone.]

Ponytail: Can you text it to me?

Cueball: Sure!

Cueball: ''SVAT USSUPD ;DLH A KDBK''

Ponytail: ...What?

Phone: *BEEP*

[Caption under the panel:]

Setting my phone's speech recognition to Dvorak was a pain at first, but it's more efficient in the long run.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

1775: Things You Learn

2016-12-28T17:32:17Z

108.162.216.136: Added note about not knowing all the lyrics to 12 days of Christmas

{{comic
| number = 1775
| date = December 21, 2016
| title = Things You Learn
| image = things_you_learn.png
| titletext = Guess who has two thumbs and spent the night in an ER after trying to rescue a kitten that ran under his car at a stoplight and climbed up into the engine compartment? And, thanks to antibiotics, will continue having two thumbs? THIS GUY. (P.S. kitten is safe!)
}}

==Explanation==
This graph shows various items of information plotted by two criteria: a horizontal "How Bad Is It If You Don't Know [THING]" axis and a vertical "How Easy It Is To Grow Up Without Learning [THING]" axis. Specifically, the vertical axis measures roughly how likely the average person is to remain ignorant of a particular item. The horizontal axis measures the likelihood and severity of bad consequences arising from such ignorance.

The title text describes an encounter Randall had where a cat climbed into the engine compartment of his car. It probably serves as an explanation for the seemingly out of place point on the graph about how serious cat bites are. The "two thumbs" is a reference to a well known type of jokes among English speakers. One of the most frequent forms is one person interrupting another mid-speech and asking "what has two thumbs and doesn't give a f*ck? THIS GUY!", before pointing to themselves with their thumbs. The idea is that you only direct the attention to your thumbs so that they can point back to you, though mentioning the thumbs was not actually required except as a topic change. Randall plays on an inversion of this joke as he might not have been able to make it at all without the intervention of the ER people. So here the "who has two thumbs", is not a deceiving distraction out of a boring conversation, and the thumbs are actually the focus of the phrase.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Ignorance is Bad !! Ignorance is Easy !! Information !! Comments
|-
| not bad || (very, very) easy || 100 digits of {{w|pi}} || Most people know pi to only a few digits (3.14 or 3.1416). The latter is accurate to almost one part in half a million, which is close enough for almost any practical purpose.
|-
| not bad || (very) easy || Lyrics to "{{w|We Didn't Start the Fire}}" || "We Didn't Start the Fire" is a 1989 hit song by Billy Joel. Its lyrics include brief, rapid-fire allusions to more than 100 headline events between 1949, the year of Joel's birth, and 1989. While the chorus is memorable, the verses of the song are just a list of people, events and random things from popular culture. The average person is somewhat more likely to know the lyrics to Billy Joel's 1989 hit song than 100 digits of pi, but not knowing them doesn't really have any serious consequences.
|-
| (very) bad || (very) easy || That cat bites are really serious and if bitten you need to wash the bite and call a doctor immediately || Most people assume that a cat bite is just a minor injury. In fact, it carries a fairly high risk of infection, which can be dangerous if not treated (by cleaning the bite to reduce the risk, and having a doctor examine the bite victim and apply additional treatments such as antibiotics if needed). At the same time, cat bites are quite rare, as cats default to their claws rather than their teeth when they need to attack something (although cat scratches also carry a high risk of infection, due to cat claws being a breeding ground for bacteria when retracted).
|-
| (very) bad || (very) easy || The red flags for an abusive relationship || It is fairly easy for someone to fall into a pattern of accepting abuse (particularly if the abuser is skilled at emotional manipulation) without realizing it, and the consequences can be mentally and physically devastating.
|-
| (very, very) bad || easy || The {{w|Stroke#Signs_and_symptoms|signs of a stroke}} || The symptoms of a {{w|stroke}} are somewhat variable, including facial drooping, arm weakness and slurred speech, depending on what areas of the brain are affected, and can be mistaken for other conditions. Identifying a stroke quickly and seeking treatment can make the difference between life and death, or between full recovery and permanent impairment.
|-
| bad || easy || Cough into your elbow, not your hand || Covering a cough with the inside of your elbow helps prevent spreading airborne germs and is generally recommended by medical organisations. Coughing into your hand deposits them onto your hand, where they are much more likely to be spread to another person (via handshake, food preparation, shared objects, etc)
|-
| not (too) bad || hard || How to ride a bike || Most children, especially in the United States[http://www.peopleforbikes.org/statistics/category/participation-statistics#youth], learn to ride a bike at a fairly young age. While this is a useful skill to know for both entertainment and transportation, it would generally not be terrible to not learn this skill, particularly if other forms of transporation are readily available.
|-
| not bad (at all) || hard || How to escape movie {{w|quicksand}} || Quicksand in movies is a common trope, and while its physics often differ from real quicksand, escaping from it is commonly done using similar methods (e.g., not struggling, which increases the quicksand's viscosity). Knowing how to escape from quicksand is important if you sink into it, which is a situation most people are very unlikely to encounter.
|-
| not bad (at all) || (very) hard || Lyrics to "{{w|The Twelve Days of Christmas (song)|12 Days of Christmas}}" || Hearing the same Christmas songs over and over each year makes it hard not to learn the lyrics over time. However, the consequences of not doing so are minimal; at most, ignorance of popular culture may leave your friends [[1769|a bit surprised and dismayed]]. Note that this only refers to learning the lyrics of the "Twelve Days of Christmas," not learning all the lyrics. Most people do not know many of the combination once one gets substantially past five. It is very hard to avoid learning some of the lyrics (especially One and Five), but easy to not know many of the later random ones (such as Eight or Eleven).
|-
| not bad (at all) || (very, very) hard || {{w|Theme music|TV theme songs}} || Most children in developed countries grow up watching at least some television. Many of these television shows play the same theme song before the show starts, and many of these have catchy lyrics. Therefore, by repetition, most children will learn at least one of these growing up, and often many.
|-
| bad || hard || That you have to empty the dryer lint trap || A {{w|clothes dryer}} resembles a washing machine, using hot air to heat clothes so that the water evaporates more quickly.

The dryer's air exhaust and air filter get gradually covered with {{w|lint (material)|lint}} (a kind of dust composed mainly of fiber) and must be cleaned regularly. Failing to remove the lint can cause the dryer to stop working effectively, introduce lint back onto your clothes, or (in extreme cases) start a fire.
|-
| (very) bad || (very) hard || {{w|Stop, drop and roll}} || This is a technique to extinguish a fire on one's own clothing, and is frequently taught to children for safety. Not knowing it (or forgetting it in a panic when the situation arises) can result in severe burns that could have been avoided by following the recommendation.
|-
| (very) bad || (very) hard || That you have to pay taxes || Most residents of most countries are legally obligated to pay taxes to their government. Penalties for not doing so often include large fines, and possibly prison sentences. Fortunately, it is something that children hear about quite a bit so it is very difficult to grow up without learning that it must be done.
|-
|}

==Rankings==

100% not bad: not bad at all . . . 100%>not-badness≥50%: not bad . . . 50%>not-badness≥0%: not too bad

100% very bad: very, very bad . . . 100%>very badness≥50%: very bad . . . 50%>very badness>0%: bad

100% hard: very, very hard . . . 100%>hardness≥50%: very hard . . . 50%>hardness>0%: hard

100% easy: very, very easy . . . 100%>easiness≥50%: very easy . . . 50%>easiness≥0%: easy

==Transcript==
[A simple x and y graph, with the X labeled "how bad it is if you don't know {thing}", and you labeled "how easy it is to grow up without learning {thing}]

Points on graph from top to bottom on the left side of the x axis:

> 100 digits of pi
> Lyrics to ''We Didn't Start the Fire''
> How to ride a bike
> How to escape movie quicksand
> Lyrics to ''12 Days of Christmas''
> TV theme songs

Points on graph from top to bottom on the right side of the y axis:

> That cat bites are really serious and if bitten you should wash the bite and call a doctor immediately
> Red flags for an abusive relationship
> Signs for a stroke
> Cough into your elbow, not your hand
> That you have to empty the dryer lint trap
> Stop, drop, and roll
> That you have to pay taxes

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]

Talk:1778: Interest Timescales

2016-12-28T17:20:36Z

108.162.216.136: Tree explanation off?

I think the parts of the mountain that suddenly rise(s) refers to lava, smoke, ash, etc. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.122.102|162.158.122.102]] 07:53, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

Looks to me that Randall got the chart wrong. Rockets go much faster than fireworks. Very large fireworks can go faster than the speed of sound on the order of a couple hundred miles per hour, https://www.fireworkscrazy.co.uk/blog/how-fast-are-fireworks/
But in order for rockets to go into orbit they have to reach speed in the thousands of miles per hour, http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/basics/launch.html
So the rocket ship should be to the left of the fireworks.
Unless the initial acceleration of the firework is faster than the rocket. In other words for the first hundred or so feet, does the firework go faster than the rocket?
Does anyone know that? [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 15:23, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

Looking again, it seems that Randall is not talking about how fast the object rises, but how much time it takes to rise, hang and drift away. In other words how fast is the experience? In that case fireworks do follow the process of rising and hanging and drifting faster than a rocket does. So the experience takes less time (seconds) even though the rocket travels faster the whole process takes longer (minutes for blastoff and hours or days to return). [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 15:35, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

I can't help but feel the explanation of the trees is a bit wrong. A tree will take anywhere from months to centuries to grow before it dies depending on the species. If the interest were in leaves the current description of them falling in Autumn would apply, but in that case the image of the tree would probably be something more specific to leaves. In fact, overall I think we might be over-reading the text about the majority of things Randall is interested in being things which rise up and drift in the wind. It's hard to say that is true of mountains, except in the most extreme cases. (Signed: Random anonymous coward. December 28, 2016)

1774: Adjective Foods

2016-12-19T19:26:15Z

108.162.216.136: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1774
| date = December 19, 2016
| title = Adjective Foods
| image = adjective_foods.png
| titletext = Contains 100% of your recommended daily allowance!
}}
{{notice|Having trouble fixing artisanal spelling. Help, please?}}
==Explanation==

This comic shows one of [[Randall]]’s goals in life – creating foods with ‘adjective-only’ names, where common phrases such as “Glazed Donuts” or “Lite Beer” would be replaced with “Glazed” or “Lite”. This is a jab at food market buzzwords, which usually rely on adjectives and words that bring up certain feelings based on how the food is ‘supposed to be’. An example of this is something like ‘lean and tender beef’. It is also semi-difficult to determine the actual contents just by adjectives.

The title text furthers this by taking the phrase ‘recommended daily allowance of XXX’, and removing the ‘of XXX’ part. This may have been an attempt at furthering the joke by making it vague enough to be meaningless. However, this in some sense runs counter to the primary joke of the image, as containing "100% of recommended daily allowances" in common English would mean it contains all recommended daily allowances of everything; this is implausible physically speaking but perfectly acceptable and even potentially a good feature to have in a real product.

This joke is very similar to comic 1060, Crowdsourcing, in that Randall is doing nothing, and trying to make it look like he is doing something.

===Foods that are probably in each container===
{{incomplete|Some foods are unknown, and they all could use details such as what adjectives are typically associated with that food and what they mean.}}
{| class="wikitable"
!Container
!Type of food
|-
|“… bespoke cage-free” bag
|Cereal or wheat
|-
|“… glazed flambé” box
|some type of meat
|-
|“… Kosher Grade A” box
|Eggs
|-
|“… extra sharp” box
|cheese
|-
|“… Lite original flavor” can
|beer
|}

==Transcript==
{{notice|Format, if just a bit.}}
:[An arrangement of labeled foodstuffs, from left to right and top to bottom:]
:Premium Stone-ground ''Bespoke'', Cage-free
:''Gourmet'' Fire-roasted Glazed ''flambé''
:Organic All-natural Locally-sourced Artisenal, Kosher, Grade A
:''Craft Barrel-aged Smoked'' Authentic Homemade Sun-dried Whole Extra Sharp
:Low-calorie ''Lite'' Original Flavor
:[Caption:] I'm trying to trick supermarkets into carrying my new line of adjective-only foods.

==Trivia==

* The word “artisanal” was originally misspelled as “artisenal”.
** The wrong spelling is found [https://web.archive.org/web/20161219163201/http://xkcd.com/1774/ here].

{{comic discussion}}