explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2929: Good and Bad Ideas

2024-05-07T14:04:58Z

108.162.216.229:

Lots of bread/food in the "good" quadrant; I think Randall is hungry. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.73|162.158.154.73]] 05:33, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

Soup always seems like a very good idea to me. I guess I like soup. --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.182|172.69.79.182]] 07:15, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

I remember something like this in what if. [[Special:Contributions/SectorCorruptor|SectorCorruptor]] 07:21, 7 May 2024 (UTC)
:The title immediately reminded me on the Animaniacs shorts "Good Idea / Bad Idea" [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:33, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

Does anybody know why solar cars and transitions lenses are actually a bad idea? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.173|172.70.160.173]] 09:11, 7 May 2024 (UTC)
:Transitions lenses are misplaced. The only caveat is that if you like outdoor photography (landscapes, wildlife, etc.) you should get grey lenses rather than brown ones, because the brown ones make a blue sky seem overcast. [[User:Pjt33|Pjt33]] ([[User talk:Pjt33|talk]]) 09:22, 7 May 2024 (UTC)
::The precise opposite is true. Grey lenses make ''all'' things - blue sky included - look greyer, as is perhaps unsurprising. Brown tints involve a degree of orange, which means the overall impression is of a "warmer" colour pallette, rather than simply a duller one. There is a reason that "grey skies" and "overcast" mean ''exactly'' the same thing - an overcast sky ''is'' a grey tinted filter. [[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 09:48, 7 May 2024 (UTC)
:I think the Transition lens issue is primarily that the bright light that can turn them dark need not be heading into the eye. With the Sun (say) off at an angle, it could be 'reacting' your lenses to dark needlesly, and reducing your ability to discern the things in front of you (which may be in shadow), working against the basic ability of the eye to adjust itself as per observed illumination.
:Conversely, a small bright light would not sufficiently darken the lenses but be still damaging to the spot(s) it falls upon in your retina (or do the "whole lens go dark" thing and ''still'' be too bright even as you can't see anything else beyond it). This might also be combined with the general secondary problem of potentially all regular sunglasses/goggles, that aren't industrial-grade or specific solar-specs, in that it might make it ''look'' safe to stare at bright things/skies through them but you cannot tell how much UV/etc is also being filtered out (some brands do have notable UV protection, but you really have to trust their claims/certifications – unless you have your own testing kit and knowledge of how much is good/bad anyway).
:I'd add that, but it needs a sharper explanation than I just gave. I'd like to make what's already there snappier, before that, plus correct the numerous typos and funny formatting (and lack of useful wikilinks), but will probably leave that to others with the time. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.204|172.71.242.204]] 10:08, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

Just as a note while we're here: "fecal transplant" is one of the most spectacular branding failures in the history of medical science, in my opinion. I mean, don't put the word "fecal" in anything you want people to feel positively about. And "microbiome transplant" is sitting right there, ready to serve.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.37|108.162.242.37]] 10:44, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

Double plug cords are VERY MUCH a bad idea. Used mostly to plug generators into an outlet to power a house, it tends to harm people working on the power lines who were not expecting them to be charged when the power was out. The statement about them being hard to use, is quite the understatement. OSHA, written in blood. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.115.103|172.70.115.103]]

How can soup be bland? There are bland soups, spicy soups, sweet soups, savory soups ... you can't call an entire very broad category of food "bland" like that. It makes no sense.[[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 11:46, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

Citation format needed. (heelies)

As a Columbus native, I am HIGHLY offended by this anti–rectangular pizza slice speech. Rectangular pizza is by far the BEST shape that a pizza can be. (I'm not really offended, but I really do think rectangular pizza is superior.) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.229|108.162.216.229]] 14:04, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2674: Everyday Carry

2022-09-20T16:31:50Z

108.162.216.229:

Randall speaks: https://www.npr.org/2022/09/18/1123689628/randall-munroes-what-if-2-answers-the-absurd-science-questions-you-didnt-know-yo [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.245|172.70.126.245]] 08:47, 20 September 2022 (UTC)

My EDC: Swiss Army Knife, Kershaw Leek, Kershaw Chive, SOG Multi Tool, Quarters for Aldi, Visa card.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.44|172.70.131.44]] 08:54, 20 September 2022 (UTC)

Hypothetical: Wandering around the jungle, as you do, you find an old, overgrown airstrip with abandoned planes strewn across its overgrown runway. Just then, several lost school parties show up out of nowhere, having miraculously survived various mid-sized airplane emergency landings in the vicinity. With one of the crowd's mobile phones (not you, because you haven't had a spare pocket for one since 2014, but you ''do'' have a USB recharge facility built into one of your many torches), and sufficient signal, the authorities are alerted to your exact position, and can send an airliner to rescue you all, just so long as the runway is cleared and you can set up enough lights to assist with their approach and landing. – Hopefully you hadn't a day or two ago had a wheel come off your cart (because of the jungle vines snagging at it!) and found that the screw that had come loose was of a size and configuration that ''none'' of your gadgets could actually handle. I mean, you had a darned star-penta-posix (with a hole in the end) for every other size from 1mm up to 35mm ''except this exact one''..! Amirite? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.159|141.101.107.159]] 08:58, 20 September 2022 (UTC)

Turns out, when the time you prepared for comes, you're still really unprepared. It's not just that you'll still only have two hands and will be missing that one "No need, you can find it anywhere"-Part. You also will have no idea that the time has come (after 213 false alarms) or which of the many, many things you prepared for has actually occurred. [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 13:04, 20 September 2022 (UTC)

There's only one true EDC: a bottle opener

Did this come out on Monday? I didn't see it around 1am ET Tuesday, and the bot didn't create the ExplainXKCD page until 05:47 [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:00, 20 September 2022 (UTC)
:No, Tuesday. Presumably the book tour has thrown the regular schedule off. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.131|172.69.134.131]] 15:59, 20 September 2022 (UTC)

Can someone familiar with EDC give some examples and explain why all of them might be so bulky please? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.131|172.69.134.131]] 15:59, 20 September 2022 (UTC)

This reminds me a little of 1833 when Ponytail compares code to a JSON table of the model numbers of all flashlights with the word “tactical” in their names

Talk:461: Google Maps

2013-12-25T14:20:00Z

108.162.216.229:

By the end, it's really starting to sound like a text-based fantasy adventure game, or possibly a game of D&D. This adds an additional level of humour: using Google Maps to navigate around virtual worlds.

I particularly liked the "Go pi miles", and the "Careful" instructions in the Google Maps "Action" column on the right. ''--[[User:MisterSpike|MisterSpike]] ([[User talk:MisterSpike|talk]]) 18:58, 26 June 2013 (UTC)''

:Yes it is very much like old text games. [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 04:18, 7 July 2013 (UTC)

:To me, it actually looks like a '''walkthrough''' for an adventure game of some sort. Or possibly a hint book considering the "official-sounding" last part. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.234|108.162.231.234]] 06:38, 25 December 2013 (UTC)

The Spectral Wolf plays a role in World of Warcraft, but as I am not a WoW player, I don't feel qualified to update the explanation. Any WoWians want to add a paragraph on the Spectral Wolf?[[User:Nsimonetti|NikoNarf]] ([[User talk:Nsimonetti|talk]]) 19:17, 14 November 2013 (UTC)
:I am one, but the Reins of the Spectral Wolf were not released until the Cataclysm expansion (December 2010). Thus a WoW-related explanation for the wolf would be anachronistic. [[User:Amurfalcon|Amurfalcon]] ([[User talk:Amurfalcon|talk]]) 21:07, 10 December 2013 (UTC)

I'm not sure what is meant by the use of the term "Straw Man" instead of scarecrow or some other spooky or Halloween-themed equivalent. Perhaps it is a reference to the fallacy, but the fallacy is unassociated with "waking" unless maybe it's loosely related to the aggression that generally accompanies the attack of a straw man. {{unsigned ip|173.245.56.66}}

:"They also apparently woke the Straw Man."
I don't think there's more implied than that they lost time getting past, or detouring around, 'the Straw Man'. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.203|108.162.219.203]] 14:13, 25 December 2013 (UTC)

Looks like "Zork" to me. Anyone remember Zork?