explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1687: World War III+

2016-06-01T06:03:00Z

108.162.218.77:

The mouseover text mentions stripping a quote of its context... although this kind of makes the point of the context can often dilute the meaning, it seems that a counter point could be made by pointing out an example where the context is the source at least two major quotes (such as "No man is an island" and "Ask not for whom the bell tolls" both coming from John Donne).

Or I could just be being frivolous here?

[[User:Joshupetersen|Joshupetersen]] ([[User talk:Joshupetersen|talk]]) 04:15, 30 May 2016 (UTC)
:or maybe a good example could be Darwin's qoute on the eye, which many creationist nutjobs take out of context and annoy everyone else in the same way Randall shows annoyance in the rollover text
[[User:JMR|JMR]] ([[User talk:JMR|talk]]) 02:03, 30 May 2016 (BST)

Hey, Randall skipped World War XIII. --[[User:XndrK|XndrK]] ([[User talk:XndrK|talk]]) 04:20, 30 May 2016 (UTC)

Maybe World War XIII is just sticks and stones again, considering XII? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.71|173.245.56.71]] 05:14, 30 May 2016 (UTC)
:Sticks and stones ''underground!!'' [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.43|141.101.98.43]] 10:23, 30 May 2016 (UTC)

I swear that I've seen this exact joke somewhere before. Not just the general idea, but I mean down to the text. Can't find anything in searches though -- does anyone else remember seeing this before?--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.220.221|108.162.220.221]] 05:22, 30 May 2016 (UTC)
:It may be a memory of the black Cards Against Humanity 'question' card, that leaves a blank regarding ''what'' WW4 will be fought with so as to be answered with a non-sequiter white card? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.43|141.101.98.43]] 10:23, 30 May 2016 (UTC)
:There's a practically identical joke in The Onion's ''Book of Known Knowledge''. [[https://books.google.com/books?id=lCpzgOD0A6oC&pg=PA66&lpg=PA66&dq=onion+einstein+world+war&source=bl&ots=tt8vC86X3m&sig=gtvhl1l2F9pdcuWv7n-_c_sRofQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwil5Iedk4LNAhXNCD4KHWluBhQQ6AEINDAD#v=onepage&q=onion%20einstein%20world%20war&f=false]]

Comics released within the United State Memorial Day weekend. The unknown VIII-IX could reference Star Wars movies with their unknown scripts. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.15|141.101.98.15]]
:I made this misreading too, but it's VIII-XI, and I do not know of that many star wars movies planned. Could it be a final fantasy reference? --[[User:PsyMar|PsyMar]] ([[User talk:PsyMar|talk]]) 09:17, 30 May 2016 (UTC)
::When I was a kid in the early/mid 80s, I heard that Star Wars was originally written (before any movies were made) as a trilogy of trilogies. When I noticed Empire and Jedi as Chapter 5 & 6 (and when they were remasterd Star Wars being retitled A New Hope and numbered 4), this seemed confirmed. Then when the prequel trilogy was later made, this seemed doubly confirmed. So I think 9 movies is the most we'll ever see. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.77|108.162.218.77]] 06:03, 1 June 2016 (UTC)
That's how I took it (as Final Fantasy). I think this would be unprecedented for Randall, but hilarious if so - it certainly reads like a riff on the FF series wildly varying levels of technology and war. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.5|108.162.219.5]] 19:42, 30 May 2016 (UTC)

Adding the black background to the transcript just makes it hard to read and kind of defeats the purpose of a transcript (since now it just looks like the comic in a different font). Can we keep this to the standard of all the other transcripts? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.80|141.101.98.80]] 08:44, 31 May 2016 (UTC)
:How is it harder to read? It is the standard to let the transcript reflect the comic with colors etc. See for instance: [[1168: tar]], [[1685: Patch]] and [[1684: Rainbow]]. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:54, 31 May 2016 (UTC)

== Quote taken out of context ==

The current text says: "He implies that this is actually a full quote by Einstein and that all other occurrences using only the "original" version of this quote are misrepresenting it. In this particular case it is a much stronger quote than the long version from the comic, but it is often the case that quotes taken out of context seem to have an entirely different meaning than originally intended." I completely disagree.

What Einstein is saying is that he is horrified at the weapons that are being developed; and that he fears that if World War III ever breaks out, we will bomb ourselves back into the Stone Age. He is not actually making a prediction about fourth and subsequent world wars.

The longer "quote" as lengthened by Randall says, instead, "Hey, I'll try my hand at being Nostradamus (or St Malachy) and predict specifically which weapons will be used to fight a long series of upcoming world wars!"

This, of course, does entirely change the meaning of the quote. The Einstein quote is to prompt thoughtful contemplation of how we use the powerful weapons we develop. The lengthened quote would prompt either incredulity at the speaker's naivety, or possibly wonder at how he came up with these predictions, if one believes them to be accurate.

In other words, lengthening the quote ''does'' change it to an entirely different meaning than originally intended. The original meant, "Hey, be careful!" The lengthened quote simply means, "I think I'm Nostradamus!" [[User:Jsharpminor|Jsharpminor]] ([[User talk:Jsharpminor|talk]]) 00:58, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

:I agree, that's what that block of text means, and that's part of the joke. The short, original quote is much stronger than the long version this comic offers, and quotes taken out of context have a different meaning that originally intended ("The end justifies the means", anyone?). You're invited to make it clearer, but I don't see the issue. [[User:Phineas81707|Phineas81707]] ([[User talk:Phineas81707|talk]]) 04:00, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

Right now the reasoning of how this explanation is incomplete states "There seems to be more to this comic than so far explained. Maybe a reference to all the Star Wars movies now planned...?". I vehementally disagree. I am completely convinced that there is no reference present or intended to the Star Wars franchise. The closest connections are the Roman numerals (which were being used for the World Wars long before even the first Star Wars existed) and the mention of warring with lasers (when laser weapons have appeared in countless other fictional places, it is far from unique to Star Wars). I actually find the explanation complete as is. PLEASE stop bloating the explanations with a load of unrelated information! Save the over-analysis for the comment section (and don't get me wrong, I LOVE over-analysis, just that the explanations should stick to explaning the comic, nothing more). :) - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.77|108.162.218.77]] 05:55, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1687: World War III+

2016-06-01T05:55:58Z

108.162.218.77:

The mouseover text mentions stripping a quote of its context... although this kind of makes the point of the context can often dilute the meaning, it seems that a counter point could be made by pointing out an example where the context is the source at least two major quotes (such as "No man is an island" and "Ask not for whom the bell tolls" both coming from John Donne).

Or I could just be being frivolous here?

[[User:Joshupetersen|Joshupetersen]] ([[User talk:Joshupetersen|talk]]) 04:15, 30 May 2016 (UTC)
:or maybe a good example could be Darwin's qoute on the eye, which many creationist nutjobs take out of context and annoy everyone else in the same way Randall shows annoyance in the rollover text
[[User:JMR|JMR]] ([[User talk:JMR|talk]]) 02:03, 30 May 2016 (BST)

Hey, Randall skipped World War XIII. --[[User:XndrK|XndrK]] ([[User talk:XndrK|talk]]) 04:20, 30 May 2016 (UTC)

Maybe World War XIII is just sticks and stones again, considering XII? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.71|173.245.56.71]] 05:14, 30 May 2016 (UTC)
:Sticks and stones ''underground!!'' [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.43|141.101.98.43]] 10:23, 30 May 2016 (UTC)

I swear that I've seen this exact joke somewhere before. Not just the general idea, but I mean down to the text. Can't find anything in searches though -- does anyone else remember seeing this before?--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.220.221|108.162.220.221]] 05:22, 30 May 2016 (UTC)
:It may be a memory of the black Cards Against Humanity 'question' card, that leaves a blank regarding ''what'' WW4 will be fought with so as to be answered with a non-sequiter white card? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.43|141.101.98.43]] 10:23, 30 May 2016 (UTC)
:There's a practically identical joke in The Onion's ''Book of Known Knowledge''. [[https://books.google.com/books?id=lCpzgOD0A6oC&pg=PA66&lpg=PA66&dq=onion+einstein+world+war&source=bl&ots=tt8vC86X3m&sig=gtvhl1l2F9pdcuWv7n-_c_sRofQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwil5Iedk4LNAhXNCD4KHWluBhQQ6AEINDAD#v=onepage&q=onion%20einstein%20world%20war&f=false]]

Comics released within the United State Memorial Day weekend. The unknown VIII-IX could reference Star Wars movies with their unknown scripts. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.15|141.101.98.15]]
:I made this misreading too, but it's VIII-XI, and I do not know of that many star wars movies planned. Could it be a final fantasy reference? --[[User:PsyMar|PsyMar]] ([[User talk:PsyMar|talk]]) 09:17, 30 May 2016 (UTC)
That's how I took it (as Final Fantasy). I think this would be unprecedented for Randall, but hilarious if so - it certainly reads like a riff on the FF series wildly varying levels of technology and war. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.5|108.162.219.5]] 19:42, 30 May 2016 (UTC)

Adding the black background to the transcript just makes it hard to read and kind of defeats the purpose of a transcript (since now it just looks like the comic in a different font). Can we keep this to the standard of all the other transcripts? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.80|141.101.98.80]] 08:44, 31 May 2016 (UTC)
:How is it harder to read? It is the standard to let the transcript reflect the comic with colors etc. See for instance: [[1168: tar]], [[1685: Patch]] and [[1684: Rainbow]]. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:54, 31 May 2016 (UTC)

== Quote taken out of context ==

The current text says: "He implies that this is actually a full quote by Einstein and that all other occurrences using only the "original" version of this quote are misrepresenting it. In this particular case it is a much stronger quote than the long version from the comic, but it is often the case that quotes taken out of context seem to have an entirely different meaning than originally intended." I completely disagree.

What Einstein is saying is that he is horrified at the weapons that are being developed; and that he fears that if World War III ever breaks out, we will bomb ourselves back into the Stone Age. He is not actually making a prediction about fourth and subsequent world wars.

The longer "quote" as lengthened by Randall says, instead, "Hey, I'll try my hand at being Nostradamus (or St Malachy) and predict specifically which weapons will be used to fight a long series of upcoming world wars!"

This, of course, does entirely change the meaning of the quote. The Einstein quote is to prompt thoughtful contemplation of how we use the powerful weapons we develop. The lengthened quote would prompt either incredulity at the speaker's naivety, or possibly wonder at how he came up with these predictions, if one believes them to be accurate.

In other words, lengthening the quote ''does'' change it to an entirely different meaning than originally intended. The original meant, "Hey, be careful!" The lengthened quote simply means, "I think I'm Nostradamus!" [[User:Jsharpminor|Jsharpminor]] ([[User talk:Jsharpminor|talk]]) 00:58, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

:I agree, that's what that block of text means, and that's part of the joke. The short, original quote is much stronger than the long version this comic offers, and quotes taken out of context have a different meaning that originally intended ("The end justifies the means", anyone?). You're invited to make it clearer, but I don't see the issue. [[User:Phineas81707|Phineas81707]] ([[User talk:Phineas81707|talk]]) 04:00, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

Right now the reasoning of how this explanation is incomplete states "There seems to be more to this comic than so far explained. Maybe a reference to all the Star Wars movies now planned...?". I vehementally disagree. I am completely convinced that there is no reference present or intended to the Star Wars franchise. The closest connections are the Roman numerals (which were being used for the World Wars long before even the first Star Wars existed) and the mention of warring with lasers (when laser weapons have appeared in countless other fictional places, it is far from unique to Star Wars). I actually find the explanation complete as is. PLEASE stop bloating the explanations with a load of unrelated information! Save the over-analysis for the comment section (and don't get me wrong, I LOVE over-analysis, just that the explanations should stick to explaning the comic, nothing more). :) - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.77|108.162.218.77]] 05:55, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1685: Patch

2016-05-25T04:24:11Z

108.162.218.77:

Hey, I'm first! Guessing the Bot only JUST created this, it was mere minutes after midnight EST when I landed on this page. Unfortunately this is a comic I'm less capable of explaining. From the looks of it, his Photoshop Patch turned what looks like C code into gobbledegook by filling in several of the spaces (and I think even changing some of the characters, possible with characters which fill more of the space). - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.77|108.162.218.77]] 04:24, 25 May 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1684: Rainbow

2016-05-25T04:07:04Z

108.162.218.77:

How do I find the official transcript?[[User:Transuranium|Transuranium]] ([[User talk:Transuranium|talk]]) 11:00, 23 May 2016 (UTC)Transuranium
:Most recent comics do not have official transcripts. {{User:17jiangz1/signature|11:13, 23 May 2016}}
::But now there is one here ;-) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:38, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

Religion... geez. It's some weird stuff, huh. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.10|108.162.219.10]] 17:05, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

Now that XKCD adopts the voice of God, it's time to write him off and move elsewhere. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.70.109|141.101.70.109]] 11:56, 23 May 2016 (UTC)
: Nice of you to decide for everyone. Just like god would do, right? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.27|141.101.80.27]] 13:38, 23 May 2016 (UTC)
:Word of God has appered before, as in Comic 224 or 258. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.161|162.158.86.161]] 17:09, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

For the sake of doctrinal accuracy, God (assuming the comic is in fact referring to the Jewish God who set his war bow in the cloud after the Flood) never promised not to destroy the earth by fire. Christian theology (2 Peter 3:10) implies God fully intends to destroy the earth by fire - or at least by unprecedented universal nuclear fission. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.87|108.162.221.87]] 11:59, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

: Good point, but for universal respect you should capitalise His pronouns. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.70.109|141.101.70.109]] 12:16, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

:: Ok, really? So the bible says "I will destroy the earth by '''universal nuclear fission'''" ? I must have missed something on the first reading -- could you tell me the page number? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.219|162.158.255.219]] 19:20, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

::: "And the elements shall melt with a fervent heat." 3500ºC is enought to melt everything, but when combined with Colossians 1:17 "in Him all things are held together" that implies he could stop holding things together - voila, every single element on the table separates into a soup of protons, neutrons, electrons, and enough free energy to destroy a universe - oh wait that's the point. Okay, so that's just speculation, but it sounds cool to watch. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.87|108.162.221.87]] 11:48, 24 May 2016 (UTC)

:: It doesn't mention a nuclear catastrophe in so many words. It does mention a massive asteroid will destroy the planet and that angels will collapse the pillars of reality which are all the rules God built the universe on. It's actually an incredibly visual passage for such abstract concepts, wonderfully well written. [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 20:31, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

When the conditions are right, various types of [[wikipedia:Rainbow#Variations|multiple rainbow]] may be visible. [[User:Rhubbarb|Rhubbarb]] ([[User talk:Rhubbarb|talk]]) 12:03, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Drabkikker Atmospheric optics enthusiast] signing in. That's right. Although the "third faint bow near the sun" Cueball mentions might indeed refer to the 22° halo, another possibility is that he means the (very rare) ''tertiary'' or ''third-order'' rainbow. See [[wikipedia:Rainbow#Higher-order_rainbows]]. [https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111005111001.htm Here]'s a picture of one. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.78|141.101.104.78]] 13:03, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

Should we mention multiple rainbow discussion in [http://what-if.xkcd.com/150/ today's What If?]? [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:54, 23 May 2016 (UTC)
:Yes it is now included in the explanation. Given that the third panel halo has sun dogs it is not a third order rainbow that Noah sees though. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:14, 24 May 2016 (UTC)

There is nothing within the Bible to indicate that the earth was destroyed by fire before the flood. As already mentioned, there is mention in the Bible that God intends to destroy the world by fire in the future. Second Peter 3 contains a number of references to this, especially verses 7 and 10. note the phrase "and the elements will be dissolved (or melt) with fervent heat" which could mean nuclear holocaust, or worse. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.230|162.158.2.230]] 04:19, 24 May 2016 (UTC)

Regarding the what if. Does anyone now which video it is he will not make any reference to in the image with Megan touching the rainbow. It seems like it should be easy to find it, but unless it is the commercial for touching the rainbow (which shows nothing like in this picture), it does not seem to be easy to find. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:14, 24 May 2016 (UTC)

While I agree that mentioning Noah is probably worthwhile, nothing in the comic directly indicates that Cueball is in fact Noah as opposed to just some random fellow talking to God. In the Genisis account (Genesis 9) https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+9&version=NIV God tells him about the covenant and the rainbow, rather than being asked about it - thus Cueball is clearly someone other than a person familiar with the whole deal. [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 23:10, 24 May 2016 (UTC)
:Perhaps, but most people only have a passing familiarity with the bible and many assume they have a greater knowledge than they do. Also the author has changed how things happen before for the sake of the comic. In the past we would have the official transcript to settle the matter but lately this hasn't been included. While the person in the comic may not be Noah I would say Noah is notable enough to reference and for the moment we should refer to him as Noah because it wouldn't serve to make the explanation clearer if we don't, it would just be pointless nitpicking which clutters up an otherwise alright explanation. [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 00:43, 25 May 2016 (UTC)

I feel like the section on "halos" is fairly irrelevant (and to a lesser extent the following section for the final panel). Cueball doesn't say he sees a ring AROUND the sun, he says "what about that faint third bow near the sun", "bow" being short for rainbow. He's seeing a third rainbow near the sun, probably faint because of being close to the sun in the sky. I believe the gag here isn't describing real life conditions, it's that god is rather incorrigable, constantly apologizing but never improving, continuously putting up apology rainbows. After all, even a second rainbow is rather uncommon. It's a silly image for Cueball to be seeing rainbows all over the sky. I think that's the gag, and the current explanation is just overthinking it. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.77|108.162.218.77]] 04:07, 25 May 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1645: Toasts

2016-02-22T13:18:55Z

108.162.218.77:

Are we sure "single-payer" is not a typo, making it "single-player" to fit with "RealPlayer"? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.144|162.158.202.144]] 11:18, 19 February 2016 (UTC)
:That's what I thought as well. [[User:Maplestrip|Maplestrip]] ([[User talk:Maplestrip|talk]]) 11:19, 19 February 2016 (UTC)
::Yes it is not a typo as Single-payer refers to Single-payer healthcare as now explained above. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:27, 19 February 2016 (UTC)

: It seems correct. It is rather abstract, but I guess single-payer here is considered a good thing and RealPlayer a bad thing. Added to rime that a a different type of "player" might be what his single friends need.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.165|162.158.90.165]] 22:38, 19 February 2016 (UTC)

I'm fairly certain this comic is in reference to the "Fall Out Boy" song, entitled "Champagne For My Real Friends And Real Pain For My Sham Friends", from their 2005 album "From Under The Cork Tree"; though he could also be referencing Francis Bacon, Tom Waits, the television show Happy Days, the show One Tree Hill, or Spike Lee's "25th Hour". If you do a Google search for the phrase, it requires some exclusions (like -"fall out boy") to prevent that song from dominating the first page of results. It's one of their most famous titles.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.48|108.162.216.48]] 12:00, 19 February 2016 (UTC)
:Please just include links to these relevant songs etc. in the explanation. And thanks for the comment. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:27, 19 February 2016 (UTC)
::Turns out it was an old quote so not to this song but both are now mentioned in the explanation.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:51, 21 February 2016 (UTC)


Quote from early explantion: White Hat thus wish that his real friends have access to free health care, and all his single friends will get RealPlayer. Maybe he wishes to impress these singles with a present and hope he gets lucky. (If it has been Hairy this would have seemed very likely… see 1178: Pickup Artists. White Hat has not previously displayed thse tendencies to clearly).
I doubt this. RealPlayer was a terrible piece of software nobody wanted and was often bundled with spyware (see wikipedia) {{unsigned ip|141.101.70.121}}
:Well I wrote it and disagree. Since it has been on the market for 10 years, and has just been updated, then it cannot be that terrible, and I cannot find what you say should be on Wikipedia to show that it should be bad still at present. But of course if it has just been upgraded to a new name, then giving the old app is not so hot. Has addressed this in the explanation. Aqlso please feel free to update something you find in error yourself ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:27, 19 February 2016 (UTC)
:: You wrote the source code for RealPlayer or the explantation here? If first you should know why it has such a bad reputation, if second: RealPlayer was some time ago bundled with spyware that sent unique ID's with other userdata to a server, also it had several other problems and is considered by several tech magazines as one of the worst software programs. It might not mention that in the english wikipedia but the german has a section for it. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/RealPlayer#Kritik To stay on topic: Maybe he wishes his single friends RealPlayer so they need his help to get the malware off their computers and he can impress them? Is way more probable from my experience. [[User:Bobylein|Bobylein]] ([[User talk:Bobylein|talk]]) 12:43, 19 February 2016 (UTC)
:::I wrote the explanation! And to stay in English for those who are not native Germans... we can also take the English wiki link to the {{w|RealPlayer#Reviews_and_critiques|critique}}! ;-) As I can read from that it was in 1999 and 2007 that it was bad, and as this is now 9 years ago at least, and they keep updating it, the errors may have been improved out? Why would anyone else continue to make it better or using it? But again feel free to update the explanation even more with these kinds of info. I still think it is not so bad to get a free app, unless it is the spy ware version. I expect this doesn't exist anymore, and it is not explicitly stated that he would give them that.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:53, 19 February 2016 (UTC)
::::None of these negative interpretations of RealPlayer fit with White Hat's personality.--[[User:Nekoninda|Nekoninda]] 13:34, 19 February 2016 (UTC)
:::::There's more to realplayer than adware. Realaudio/realvideo were among the first streaming media formats on the internet. As such, it was used at that time by many adult-oriented sites offering streaming video. It is very possible that the single friends of White Hat might be interested by such media. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.25|173.245.49.25]] 13:04, 21 February 2016 (UTC)

This is the first comic with [[Hair Bun Girl]] since [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] proposed a name change to for instance Hairbun. I take this chance to get more comments on this subject by posting his note, that is now posted on her site: Should [[Hair Bun Girl]] be renamed to Hairbun? [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Rename_Hair_Bun_Girl See here]
--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:04, 19 February 2016 (UTC)

As a non-native speaker, when I first read it, I though "petty friends" could mean "pet animals" and "real coats" would then refer to them having real fur as coats - which is often an aspect animal friends don't like on certain rich people (wearing real fur coats), but completely normal for the animals itself.
Also "Realplayer", aside from its repuration as not-so-useable software, is used for video streaming, including on porn sites. So (male?) "single friends", being single, might have to resort using Realplayer/porn to satisfy their needs.
[[User:Zefiro|Zefiro]] ([[User talk:Zefiro|talk]]) 13:16, 19 February 2016 (UTC)

In regard to the second tile, I read it at first to mean that the girl's real friends are pseudopods and that all her human acquaintances are "pseudo-friends". This would be like a stereotypical "lab nerd". Doesn't track with any other slide, but I thought it might add to the conversation... {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.15}}

"Real bugs" for my "Lady Friends" - I took that as having sexual undertones. But maybe that was just me. --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.106.47|188.114.106.47]] 19:14, 19 February 2016 (UTC)

The last panel with Beret Guy might be a reference to any French expression using "faucon" ("hawk", sounds like "false cunt") and "vrai con" ("real cunt"). Sorry about the language by the way, but that's exactly what "con" mean, both literally and figuratively. A French equivalent to "Champagne for My Real Friends, Real Pain for My Sham Friends" would likely use those—although I can't think about a perfect one. It's usually along the lines "Quelle différence entre toi et un oiseau? Le faucon est un oiseau, toi t'es un vrai con." meaning "What's the difference between a bird and you? The hawk is a bird, you're a real cunt." Also, the current explanation seems really far-fetched to me. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.159|141.101.104.159]] 20:26, 19 February 2016 (UTC)
: Made the edit. Feel free to argue. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.159|141.101.104.159]] 03:47, 20 February 2016 (UTC)
::Firstly, I must disagree about "Fauxhawk", that "This '''IS'''" a reference to "faucon"/the french version of this phrase. I might go along with "might be". "Fauxhawk" is a word that really is used in the English language, for the described hairstyle. This connection seems only to be a mild coincidence, something better suited to a Trivia section (it DOES make for an interesting tidbit, but too obscure to be on purpose). Seems like a happy accident.

::Secondly, I remain unconvinced about "Single-Payer" not being a typo. Seems like a weird term, uncommon. Maybe this is just because I'm Canadian, maybe this term is very wide-spread to Americans, but due to American TV and content we DO hear a lot of American terms. If the intent was indeed to be "single-player", this could be a reference to how more and more video games these days focus on multiplayer/online play, many of which neglect the single-player content, to the point where it seems like the game makers are assuming nobody is interested. As such, this would mean wishing quality single-player gameplay for their real friends.

::Thirdly, about "pods". I understood it to mean "human container", like a stasis pod or escape pod (a common term for the spaceship equivalent of a lifeboat) Examples of such pods would include where Ripley "stored" herself at the end of Aliens, into the beginning of the next movie, or how baby Superman was transported to Earth. So, this person would be wishing these friends go into stasis, that their fake friends simply go away.

::And YAY! As of this comic I'm caught up, I've now read every xkcd starting from #1! :) - NiceGuy1[[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.215|198.41.235.215]] 07:36, 20 February 2016 (UTC)
:::The cunt reference is far-fetched. Have removed it. It off course remains here. Also: Yes it is not a typo as Single-payer refers to Single-payer healthcare as now explained above. (And also noted at the top of this discussion page)--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:51, 21 February 2016 (UTC)

Is it just me, or does the fact that several of the words also are the names of cocktails (Ladybug, Tumbleweed) have any significance? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.203.146|162.158.203.146]] 09:23, 20 February 2016 (UTC)
: My initial reaction to this thought was "no", seeing as those drinks aren't that widespread, for example I feel like I might have heard those cocktail names, but if so rarely and I've no idea as to their contents (i.e. as opposed to drinks like a Screwdriver, a Mimosa or a Black Russian, drinks which are rather universal, such that most adults probably know what's in them). However, on reflection, the original toast names a drink, toasts involve drinking, and both of those items - Ladybugs and Tumbleweeds - make for unpleasant gifts. So now I think this might be a genuine possibility. Does anybody know of any drinks sharing a name with any of the others? ("Single-payer" seems unlikely, but "Pseudopod" for example?) - NiceGuy1[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.160|108.162.218.160]] 10:00, 20 February 2016 (UTC)
::I think that for some of the more strange thing to hand out to friends it makes sense that they refeer to the drinks as mentioned - there is even a beer called fauxhawks... I will add this to the explanation for those where there is a drink with that name. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:05, 21 February 2016 (UTC)

If a wiki mod/admin comes by there was a user who replaced the comments with spam. [[User:Codingale|Codingale]] ([[User talk:Codingale|talk]]) 13:43, 20 February 2016 (UTC)

:Noted and blocked. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:27, 20 February 2016 (UTC)
::I have found one other situation same user, who deleted entire [[1613]]. Have reverted the change.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:55, 20 February 2016 (UTC)
:Yes it is not a typo as Single-payer refers to Single-payer healthcare as now explained above. (And also noted at the top of this discussion page) Randall often corrects comic with errors,and if it had been an error he would probably also have spotted it by now, and it has not changed on xkcd. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:55, 20 February 2016 (UTC)

Shampoo for my real friends; real poo for my sham friends. {{unsigned ip|108.162.236.37}}

Are we sure that the title text isn't a reference to Plato's idealised metaphysical forms (which would include the Platonic solids), which stand in contrast to their imperfect instantiations in the real world? {{unsigned ip|141.101.70.20}}

ShamWows for my real friends; real shams for my WOW friends.

1636: XKCD Stack

2016-01-29T14:19:13Z

108.162.218.77: /* Explanation of steps */

{{comic
| number = 1636
| date = January 29, 2016
| title = XKCD Stack
| image = xkcd_stack.png
| titletext = This site requires Sun Java 6.0.0.1 (32-bit) or higher. You have Macromedia Java 7.3.8.1¾ (48-bit). Click here [link to java.com main page] to download an installer which will run fine but not really change anything.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Needs more detail.}}

In software engineering, a tech stack is the set of technology platforms and tools that a company or app uses. A common tech stack is LAMP, composed of a Linux operating system, an Apache web server, a MySQL database, and the PHP programming language. In this comic, the XKCD stack is introduced. The technologies comprising it are either non-existent, unreliable, or outdated.

===Explanation of steps===
{| class="wikitable"
| | Layer
| | Explanation
|-
| |
EBNF/CSS
| |
BNF or {{w|Backus–Naur Form}} is a syntax used for describing {{w|context-free grammars}}.
{{w|Extended Backus–Naur Form|EBNF}} is "Extended BNF", it is the same thing as BNF with a few more syntactic constructs intended to ease its use in the most common cases.
CSS or {{w|Cascading Style Sheets}} are a language used to describe what a web page should look like. Web pages are usually written in {{w|HTML}}, which describes the ''structure'' of the page (i.e. divides the document into paragraphs, lists, etc.) complemented with CSS which describes the ''look and feel'' of the page (colors, fonts, margins, etc.). EBNF/CSS would suggest CSS with strange syntax.
|-
| |
Broken Java Applet
| |
Recent years it became more difficult to run {{w|Java (programming language)|Java}} {{w|Applet|applets}} in several browsers. Since {{w|Google Chrome|Chrome}} 45 stopped supporting {{w|NPAPI}}, it's no longer possible to run Java applets on Chrome. Furthermore, two days before this comic was published {{w|Oracle Corporation|Oracle}} (the developer of Java) announced plans to officially end support of Java applets in an upcoming version.
|-
| |
Archive.org Mirror
| |
Archive.org is a website which archives websites, and created the Wayback Machine. An Archive.org mirror would be a duplicate of a website on Archive.org's servers. As Archive.org attempts to mirror whole internet, Archive.org's mirror would be rather big. Moreover, the backup of Archive.org should not back up Archive.org itself or, otherwise, create an infinite backup loop.

|-
| |
Hypercard.js
| |
{{w|HyperCard}} can be considered as a kind of predecessor for the world wide web developed at {{w|Apple Inc.|Apple}}. The file extension .js indicates that is was rewritten in {{w|JavaScript}}. A similar reference to JavaScript is found in [[1508: Operating Systems]]. The .js extension also refers to node.js, where most library names end in .js
|-
| |
QBasic on Rails
| |
A mix between {{w|QBasic}} and {{w|Ruby on Rails}}. QBasic was programming language on first PCs, known for spaghetti code. Ruby is a rather modern language, often used with Ruby on Rails web application framework. QBasic on Rails would likely mean rewrite of Ruby on Rails from Ruby to QBasic. There exists a webserver on BASIC called [https://runbasic.wikispaces.com/WebServer RunBasic]

|-
| |
[Blocked by AdBlocker]
| |
{{w|Ad blocking}} software are extensions to browsers that try to remove ads from web pages, so the user is not distracted by them. [[624: Branding]] shows what "browsing without adblock" looks like. The joke is that AdBlocker is preventing us from seeing what makes up this portion of the stack.
|-
| |
MongoDB/Excel
| |
{{w|MongoDB}} is a modern {{w|NoSQL}} {{w|Database|database}} system, {{w|Microsoft Excel}} is a {{w|Spreadsheet|spreadsheet}} program from Microsoft, which is sometimes misused as a database system.

|-
| |
Some piece that works so nobody asks any questions
| |
Writing any non-trivial piece of software always require a phase of {{w|Debugging|debugging}}, which consists in finding and fixing {{w|Software bug|bugs}}. With complex software, this is a long and tiring process, so when the product is finally finished no one dares to modify it any further for fear that it will fail in unexpected ways. After some time passes, it is even worse because nobody really remembers how the software was ''supposed'' to work, so the product becomes some kind of godlike treasure which must be treated with the utmost respect and reverence because, you know, if it stops working we're all doomed.
|-
| |
Triply-Nested Docker
| |
Docker allows complete operating system to run under different operating system (with some performance penalty). Triply-nested docker would mean operating system A running under operating system B running under operating system C. That would likely be a performance and management nightmare
|-
| |
Paravirtual Boy®
| |
This is a reference to the {{w|Virtual Boy}}, a failed portable console created by {{w|Nintendo}}. Paravirtual is recent buzzword in virtualization community these days. "Virtual X" means simulated X. "Paravirtual X" means X is simulated, but is aware of simulation and cooperating, for faster performance. I hope the triply-nested Docker above runs paravirtualized.
|-
| |
A dev typing real fast
| |
A dev is a {{w|Software developer|software developer}}. This is possibly a reference to [[341: 1337: Part 1]], where [[Mrs. Roberts]] edits the {{w|Transmission Control Protocol|TCP}} stream live while wearing oven mitts and baking cookies. Such a feat would require real fast typing. It looks like xkcd webserver is not a computer after all -- we have a person manually replying to HTTP protocol queries. I guess he's busy.

|-
| |
Older version of our software
| |
People are often reluctant to switch to newer versions of software because, even though newer versions are supposed to have more features and fewer bugs, they end up confusing users. Users of older versions are used to do everything with less features and circumventing old bugs. They don't know how to use the new features, which of course come with new bugs they haven't learned how to circumvent yet. It is also often the case that newer versions remove weird unused old features, breaking the workflow of users who actually did use such features and are left without a suitable replacement.
|-
| |
Mystery Networking Horror
| |
Randall suggests here that the whole networking stuff behind the XKCD service is both mysterious (no one actually knows the details) and horrific (technically questionable architecture and implementation).
|-
| |
Microsoft Bob Server®
| |
{{w|Microsoft Bob}} was a short-lived, failed attempt by Microsoft, around 1995, to provide a user-friendly interface for the {{w|Microsoft Windows|Windows}} 3.1x, Windows 95 and Windows NT operating systems. It consisted of a virtual "house" and "rooms", and the idea was that you could click on a pen and open the word processor. It was heavily criticized and was soon discontinued. Randall seems to be making the suggestion the Bob has continued to be developed and now there's a Bob Server, similarly to Windows server.
|-
| |
A giant {{w|Central processing unit|CPU}} someone built in Minecraft
| |
{{w|Minecraft}} is a popular sandbox game where you place blocks to build things. Since the introduction of Redstone objects (materials used to create basic electric circuits within the game) people have made many machines within Minecraft, including calculators and clocks. The most complex of these machines simulate simple computers, capable of storing several lines of code and performing basic mathematical operations such as division, which requires thousands of blocks and extremely complex designs.
|}

The title text contains several jokes about the Java programming language:

* First, it refers to Java both as {{w|Sun Microsystems|Sun}} Java and {{w|Macromedia}} Java. This is a pun on the fact that older documents refer to "Sun Java" where newer documents refer to "{{w|Oracle Corporation|Oracle}} Java", as if there were two different languages. The fact is that Java was designed originally by Sun and then bought by Oracle, so it "changed name" even though the language is the same. Macromedia was the company that developed Flash before it was bought by Adobe. Both Flash and Java were popular in the early WWW to have interactive web pages, but both are being deprecated in favor of JavaScript.

* Second, the version numbers: older software products used to have two version numbers: major and minor (e.g. in {{w|MS-DOS}} 6.22 the major number is 6 and the minor is 22). Newer products tend to have hundreds of minor revisions, all of them numbered, so a typical user may well find themself updating version 6.0.0.1 to 7.3.8.1 without knowing at all the differences between both versions or which other versions are in between. The ¾ in the Macromedia Java version is a joke on complex version numbers, which (so far) have never included fractions.

* Third, the 32-bit or 48-bit version: The {{w|Intel 80386}} processor used an architecture known as {{w|IA-32}}, which implies the data bus is 32-bit wide and thus able to handle up to 4{{w|Gibibyte|GiB}} of {{w|Random-access memory|RAM}} memory. This was plenty for the early 1990s, when a typical home PC would have about 8MiB (this is 512 times less than 4GiB). However, about 10 years after that, a typical home PC could well use more than 4GiB of RAM, so several 64-bit architectures were created. These architectures are not compatible, so programs (including the Java Runtime Environment, or JRE) often have 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Furthermore, the JRE is heavily used by many web browsers, and for this to work the JRE and browser need to be the same "number of bits". This means that most people have installed both versions of the JRE to be able to use it with both 32-bit and 64-bit browsers. There's no 48-bit architecture (though some 64-bit processors including the {{w|x86-64|most common ones}} don't actually USE all 64 bits everywhere, ignoring some bits so actual virtual or physical memory is smaller (in case of most common one, 48bits virtual and 40bits physical), they simulate a full 64-bit environment to allow adding more bits later, so there are no specific 48-bit applications).

* Fourth, an application trying to let the user install a new version of the JRE should direct the user to the download page in the [http://java.com/ java.com site], not to the main page which deals with lots of issues with java and is not particularly helpful when trying to update the JRE.

* Fifth, and continuing with the joke of users updating 6.0.0.1 to 7.3.8.1¾ and not knowing why they should, the new version is said to "run fine but not really change anything". This is the usual behavior for Java updates: they run fine (possibly in opposition to [[1197: All Adobe Updates]], where updating must be done several times and the user is never sure they have installed all the newest updates), but after finished updating the user can't see any difference with the previous behavior, and/or may still be told that an update is required. Considering that 7.3.8.1¾ is bigger number than 6.0.0.1, it can also refer to the fact that the test for upgrading is incorrect and 7.3.8.1¾ is actually newer version.

==Transcript==

:Introducing

:The XKCD Stack
:{| class="wikitable"
| |
EBNF/CSS
|-
| |
Broken Java Applet
|-
| |
Archive.org Mirror
|-
| |
Hypercard.js
|-
| |
QBasic on Rails
|-
| |
[Blocked by AdBlocker]
|-
| |
MongoDB/Excel
|-
| |
Some piece that works so nobody asks any questions
|-
| |
Triply-Nested Docker
|-
| |
Paravirtual Boy®
|-
| |
A dev typing real fast
|-
| |
Older version of our software
|-
| |
Mystery Networking Horror
|-
| |
Microsoft Bob Server®
|-
| |
A giant CPU someone built in Minecraft
|}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Video games]]

Talk:what if?

2015-11-15T22:49:46Z

108.162.218.77: /* No more what ifs */

[[Special:Contributions/108.233.66.118|108.233.66.118]] 21:11, 16 April 2013 (UTC)so is anybody weirded out by last week's post on the worst thing pressure cookers can do, followed by yesterday's terror attacks using pressure cookers?[[Special:Contributions/108.233.66.118|108.233.66.118]] 21:11, 16 April 2013 (UTC)
Do you want me to remove the articles not in the book, or label the ones IN the book? [[User:MadHaighaHatta|Completely sane (And not Anglo-Saxon)]] ([[User talk:MadHaighaHatta|talk]]) 11:34, 5 August 2015 (UTC)
Do we want to add some references to the different What-If articles? Obviously putting up an explanation would be a bit of a waste since Randall goes into a lot of detail himself on any given subject. Some good things to mention might be the title-text on each image, mentions of recurring themes, and maybe some thought about the original subject mentioned (such as the "Space Oddity" music video that was the subject of a recent article). [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 17:11, 30 May 2013 (UTC)

:"What if" is not {{w|Creative Commons}} related, so respect Randall's copyright. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:05, 30 May 2013 (UTC)
::Sorry. Didn't realize that reviewing a creative work fell into copyright issues. No disrespect intended, only ignorance. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 19:16, 30 May 2013 (UTC)

:I agree that "what if?" is not ''clearly'' under CC-BY-NC-2.5, but the link next to the Copyright goes to xkcd itself, which clearly does say it is. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 13:40, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

::Agreed. What-if appears to fall under the general xkcd copyright- it says "Copyright ©2012-13 xkcd." with the link pointing to general xkcd copyright info. "http://xkcd.com/license.html" also says that "you are free to copy and reuse any of my drawings (noncommercially) as long as you tell people where they're from." which includes what-if drawings, and I'm not sure if just part of a work could be copyrighted without Randall explicitly saying so. I also think it would be a good idea to have articles on the what-ifs for more information not stated in the what-if itself. {{unsigned ip|109.144.146.171}}

:IANAL, so I will leave the copyright issues unaddressed as I respond to the original question in the affirmative: yes, we should have a page for each What-if article. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.63|173.245.55.63]] 15:54, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

== Logo/Header ==

I'm convinced there is some sort of specific joke in the "What If" logo, but I'm failing to grasp it.
Knowing Randall, there has to be something funny about using a crane to lower a T-rex into the Sarlacc. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.90|173.245.49.90]] 11:53, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

[http://www.nerdist.com/2014/08/exclusive-heres-your-first-look-at-xkcds-what-if/ Nerdist Review] says "Remove the jacket, and you can see how that particular experiment worked out in Munroe’s mind" {{unsigned ip|199.27.128.118}}

== Discussion regarding [http://what-if.xkcd.com/91/ What-if 91] ==

I believe that Randall missed an opportunity to discuss means of harnessing thermal energy. See, original question specified HOT water!
:He has to pay the electric bill. He couldn't make back the energy spent to heat the water due to entropy. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.161|108.162.237.161]] 05:51, 31 July 2014 (UTC)
Shall we forgive him this oversight and carry out some analysis to determine the harness-able energy content of hot water from the bathtub faucet in an average American apartment building?

:TODO: discuss Sterling engines or other strategies here. (That means you! :) )

:I believe that even when you "run out of hot water", the incoming water will still have energy added since the gas or electric water heater will be running non-stop, turning cold water into slightly-less-cold water. Since slightly-less-cold water is still colder than the ambient temperature in the apartment, I'm not sure how to harness the energy added by the water heater... But neither am I sure that "you can't". TODO: Can someone confirm that you can't?

Shall we then turn the dial up a notch, [http://what-if.xkcd.com/35/ What-if 35 style], and imagine how the scenario changes if the apartment building has a water heater that is perfectly capable of keeping the hot faucet piping hot, even if you run it 24/7?

: Suppose the super water heater turns 15C input water (cold) into 50C output water (hot). I think that means that the water heater adds 35 calories (not kilocalories) of energy per milliliter. I played with this expression in Google Calculator "(35/1000) calories per ml * 1 liter / 1 second" and determined that 1. Google uses kilocalories for "calories", thus the /1000 part... and 2. it takes ~150 watts to turn a liter of cold water into a liter of hot water in *one second*.

: Let's stop this for now and see if anyone is interested in participating. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.63|173.245.55.63]] 16:28, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

::Go here: [http://fora.xkcd.com/viewforum.php?f=60 What If? discussion]. That's a BIG forum to discuss your items. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:16, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

== Discussion area ==

Is there a discussion area for each of the "what-if?" pages? - Eg I'd like to point out that in #111 "All the money", the mouse-over text in the tombstone graphic says "Cash Ruled Everything Around Me" - or C.R.E.A.M. - coincidence? ;) Also, there have been past pages in which there have been items which I would contest some facts/statements, or seek further explanation. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 13:06, 4 September 2014 (UTC)

I would love to see an analysis of the most recent "what-if" - [http://what-if.xkcd.com/120/ What-if #120] as I'm sure each excerpt from an alternate-universe "What-if" column has an interesting background. Surely even if the article isn't Creative Commons some discussion of it is legal. Yes, I see that there is a thread on the forum for discussing this what-if but it is not succinct. [[User:Momerath|Momerath]] ([[User talk:Momerath|talk]]) 05:56, 3 December 2014 (UTC)

Is there a way this could auto-update like the regular part of the Wiki does? (I assume it auto-updates). This entry will never close if we don't do that and other than listing them and linking to them, there is nothing to say. [[User:4jonah|4jonah]] ([[User talk:4jonah|talk]]) 19:29, 1 May 2015 (UTC)

As Randal stated, He will return posting his "What If?" on Tuesday, July 14th 2015, at 07:49:59 EDT.
I have attached countdown below, to verify it.
Mori.G.
[http://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?iso=20150714T074959&p0=43&fg1=ae7181&fg2=8e82fe&msg=What+if%3F+Returns%21&swk=1 What if? Returning!] {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.60}}

== List of articles ==

I don't have time to do much editing right now, so could someone else go and put the list of articles into a table to make more use of the page's width? Perhaps split it into groups of 20-40 entries in a cell, aligned left-right in chronological order and prefix each entry with the article number. Just an idea. [[User:Pixali|Pixali]] ([[User talk:Pixali|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Pixali|contribs]]) 00:32, 21 May 2015 (UTC)

== Why isn't there an explanation page for each what if? ==

I love the What If? series, and consider it to be a similar, yet separate, version of the normal comics. There are many things that, while reading the What If?, I was confused, interested, or amused by, and I wanted to read about it on this wiki. Randall puts much effort into these, as well as the normal series, so they deserve some explaining. I have no idea how I'd go about this on my own, and I don't have the time right now to spare. I merely want to (hopefully) get the ball rolling on this, if it isn't already. {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.145}}

== The UK Version of the book. ==

I've edited in the UK version's summary, as I own the book. I will write about the date of the UK book's release too and the foreword. Is there anything else about it that other users think should be added?

== Can we explain this? ==

Can we explain the questions there, or not? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.77|108.162.218.77]] 23:09, 3 October 2015 (UTC)

== No more what ifs ==

Should we include a note that Randall seems to have stopped creating What Ifs? The last one was over a month ago [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 07:55, 27 October 2015 (UTC)
He might be working on his book ''Thing Explainer''. Xkcd last posted 2 days ago. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.77|108.162.218.77]] 22:49, 15 November 2015 (UTC)

Talk:228: Resonance

2015-11-15T22:47:55Z

108.162.218.77:

How do you guys know which one is Cueball? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.169|108.162.216.169]] 19:52, 10 October 2014 (UTC)
:In general, the first one to talk is referred to as Cueball. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.177|108.162.219.177]] 21:13, 23 March 2015 (UTC)
So, was it because his drink got spilled that Steve screwed up the calculations for the Jupiter slingshot, causing New Horizons to return to Earth (and his eventual demise under a pile of burning spacecraft wreckage)? Does this make Cueball a murderer? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.170|173.245.52.170]] 11:41, 5 June 2015 (UTC)
[https://what-if.xkcd.com/137/ What If?] and [[1532|Xkcd]] mention Steve and New Horizons. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.77|108.162.218.77]] 22:47, 15 November 2015 (UTC)

Talk:what if?

2015-10-03T23:10:14Z

108.162.218.77:

Talk:what if?

2015-10-03T23:09:42Z

108.162.218.77: /* Can we explain this? */ new section

[[Special:Contributions/108.233.66.118|108.233.66.118]] 21:11, 16 April 2013 (UTC)so is anybody weirded out by last week's post on the worst thing pressure cookers can do, followed by yesterday's terror attacks using pressure cookers?[[Special:Contributions/108.233.66.118|108.233.66.118]] 21:11, 16 April 2013 (UTC)
Do you want me to remove the articles not in the book, or label the ones IN the book? [[User:MadHaighaHatta|Completely sane (And not Anglo-Saxon)]] ([[User talk:MadHaighaHatta|talk]]) 11:34, 5 August 2015 (UTC)
Do we want to add some references to the different What-If articles? Obviously putting up an explanation would be a bit of a waste since Randall goes into a lot of detail himself on any given subject. Some good things to mention might be the title-text on each image, mentions of recurring themes, and maybe some thought about the original subject mentioned (such as the "Space Oddity" music video that was the subject of a recent article). [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 17:11, 30 May 2013 (UTC)

:"What if" is not {{w|Creative Commons}} related, so respect Randall's copyright. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:05, 30 May 2013 (UTC)
::Sorry. Didn't realize that reviewing a creative work fell into copyright issues. No disrespect intended, only ignorance. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 19:16, 30 May 2013 (UTC)

:I agree that "what if?" is not ''clearly'' under CC-BY-NC-2.5, but the link next to the Copyright goes to xkcd itself, which clearly does say it is. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 13:40, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

::Agreed. What-if appears to fall under the general xkcd copyright- it says "Copyright ©2012-13 xkcd." with the link pointing to general xkcd copyright info. "http://xkcd.com/license.html" also says that "you are free to copy and reuse any of my drawings (noncommercially) as long as you tell people where they're from." which includes what-if drawings, and I'm not sure if just part of a work could be copyrighted without Randall explicitly saying so. I also think it would be a good idea to have articles on the what-ifs for more information not stated in the what-if itself. {{unsigned ip|109.144.146.171}}

:IANAL, so I will leave the copyright issues unaddressed as I respond to the original question in the affirmative: yes, we should have a page for each What-if article. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.63|173.245.55.63]] 15:54, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

== Logo/Header ==

I'm convinced there is some sort of specific joke in the "What If" logo, but I'm failing to grasp it.
Knowing Randall, there has to be something funny about using a crane to lower a T-rex into the Sarlacc. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.90|173.245.49.90]] 11:53, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

[http://www.nerdist.com/2014/08/exclusive-heres-your-first-look-at-xkcds-what-if/ Nerdist Review] says "Remove the jacket, and you can see how that particular experiment worked out in Munroe’s mind" {{unsigned ip|199.27.128.118}}

== Discussion regarding [http://what-if.xkcd.com/91/ What-if 91] ==

I believe that Randall missed an opportunity to discuss means of harnessing thermal energy. See, original question specified HOT water!
:He has to pay the electric bill. He couldn't make back the energy spent to heat the water due to entropy. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.161|108.162.237.161]] 05:51, 31 July 2014 (UTC)
Shall we forgive him this oversight and carry out some analysis to determine the harness-able energy content of hot water from the bathtub faucet in an average American apartment building?

:TODO: discuss Sterling engines or other strategies here. (That means you! :) )

:I believe that even when you "run out of hot water", the incoming water will still have energy added since the gas or electric water heater will be running non-stop, turning cold water into slightly-less-cold water. Since slightly-less-cold water is still colder than the ambient temperature in the apartment, I'm not sure how to harness the energy added by the water heater... But neither am I sure that "you can't". TODO: Can someone confirm that you can't?

Shall we then turn the dial up a notch, [http://what-if.xkcd.com/35/ What-if 35 style], and imagine how the scenario changes if the apartment building has a water heater that is perfectly capable of keeping the hot faucet piping hot, even if you run it 24/7?

: Suppose the super water heater turns 15C input water (cold) into 50C output water (hot). I think that means that the water heater adds 35 calories (not kilocalories) of energy per milliliter. I played with this expression in Google Calculator "(35/1000) calories per ml * 1 liter / 1 second" and determined that 1. Google uses kilocalories for "calories", thus the /1000 part... and 2. it takes ~150 watts to turn a liter of cold water into a liter of hot water in *one second*.

: Let's stop this for now and see if anyone is interested in participating. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.63|173.245.55.63]] 16:28, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

::Go here: [http://fora.xkcd.com/viewforum.php?f=60 What If? discussion]. That's a BIG forum to discuss your items. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:16, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

== Discussion area ==

Is there a discussion area for each of the "what-if?" pages? - Eg I'd like to point out that in #111 "All the money", the mouse-over text in the tombstone graphic says "Cash Ruled Everything Around Me" - or C.R.E.A.M. - coincidence? ;) Also, there have been past pages in which there have been items which I would contest some facts/statements, or seek further explanation. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 13:06, 4 September 2014 (UTC)

I would love to see an analysis of the most recent "what-if" - [http://what-if.xkcd.com/120/ What-if #120] as I'm sure each excerpt from an alternate-universe "What-if" column has an interesting background. Surely even if the article isn't Creative Commons some discussion of it is legal. Yes, I see that there is a thread on the forum for discussing this what-if but it is not succinct. [[User:Momerath|Momerath]] ([[User talk:Momerath|talk]]) 05:56, 3 December 2014 (UTC)

Is there a way this could auto-update like the regular part of the Wiki does? (I assume it auto-updates). This entry will never close if we don't do that and other than listing them and linking to them, there is nothing to say. [[User:4jonah|4jonah]] ([[User talk:4jonah|talk]]) 19:29, 1 May 2015 (UTC)

As Randal stated, He will return posting his "What If?" on Tuesday, July 14th 2015, at 07:49:59 EDT.
I have attached countdown below, to verify it.
Mori.G.
[http://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?iso=20150714T074959&p0=43&fg1=ae7181&fg2=8e82fe&msg=What+if%3F+Returns%21&swk=1 What if? Returning!] {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.60}}

== List of articles ==

I don't have time to do much editing right now, so could someone else go and put the list of articles into a table to make more use of the page's width? Perhaps split it into groups of 20-40 entries in a cell, aligned left-right in chronological order and prefix each entry with the article number. Just an idea. [[User:Pixali|Pixali]] ([[User talk:Pixali|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Pixali|contribs]]) 00:32, 21 May 2015 (UTC)

== Why isn't there an explanation page for each what if? ==

I love the What If? series, and consider it to be a similar, yet separate, version of the normal comics. There are many things that, while reading the What If?, I was confused, interested, or amused by, and I wanted to read about it on this wiki. Randall puts much effort into these, as well as the normal series, so they deserve some explaining. I have no idea how I'd go about this on my own, and I don't have the time right now to spare. I merely want to (hopefully) get the ball rolling on this, if it isn't already. {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.145}}

== The UK Version of the book. ==

I've edited in the UK version's summary, as I own the book. I will write about the date of the UK book's release too and the foreword. Is there anything else about it that other users think should be added?

== Can we explain this? ==

Can we explain the questions there, r not? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.77|108.162.218.77]] 23:09, 3 October 2015 (UTC)

== Can we explain this? ==

Can we explain the questions there, r not? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.77|108.162.218.77]] 23:09, 3 October 2015 (UTC)

Talk:what if?

2015-10-03T23:09:24Z

108.162.218.77: /* Can we explain this? */ new section

[[Special:Contributions/108.233.66.118|108.233.66.118]] 21:11, 16 April 2013 (UTC)so is anybody weirded out by last week's post on the worst thing pressure cookers can do, followed by yesterday's terror attacks using pressure cookers?[[Special:Contributions/108.233.66.118|108.233.66.118]] 21:11, 16 April 2013 (UTC)
Do you want me to remove the articles not in the book, or label the ones IN the book? [[User:MadHaighaHatta|Completely sane (And not Anglo-Saxon)]] ([[User talk:MadHaighaHatta|talk]]) 11:34, 5 August 2015 (UTC)
Do we want to add some references to the different What-If articles? Obviously putting up an explanation would be a bit of a waste since Randall goes into a lot of detail himself on any given subject. Some good things to mention might be the title-text on each image, mentions of recurring themes, and maybe some thought about the original subject mentioned (such as the "Space Oddity" music video that was the subject of a recent article). [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 17:11, 30 May 2013 (UTC)

:"What if" is not {{w|Creative Commons}} related, so respect Randall's copyright. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:05, 30 May 2013 (UTC)
::Sorry. Didn't realize that reviewing a creative work fell into copyright issues. No disrespect intended, only ignorance. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 19:16, 30 May 2013 (UTC)

:I agree that "what if?" is not ''clearly'' under CC-BY-NC-2.5, but the link next to the Copyright goes to xkcd itself, which clearly does say it is. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 13:40, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

::Agreed. What-if appears to fall under the general xkcd copyright- it says "Copyright ©2012-13 xkcd." with the link pointing to general xkcd copyright info. "http://xkcd.com/license.html" also says that "you are free to copy and reuse any of my drawings (noncommercially) as long as you tell people where they're from." which includes what-if drawings, and I'm not sure if just part of a work could be copyrighted without Randall explicitly saying so. I also think it would be a good idea to have articles on the what-ifs for more information not stated in the what-if itself. {{unsigned ip|109.144.146.171}}

:IANAL, so I will leave the copyright issues unaddressed as I respond to the original question in the affirmative: yes, we should have a page for each What-if article. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.63|173.245.55.63]] 15:54, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

== Logo/Header ==

I'm convinced there is some sort of specific joke in the "What If" logo, but I'm failing to grasp it.
Knowing Randall, there has to be something funny about using a crane to lower a T-rex into the Sarlacc. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.90|173.245.49.90]] 11:53, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

[http://www.nerdist.com/2014/08/exclusive-heres-your-first-look-at-xkcds-what-if/ Nerdist Review] says "Remove the jacket, and you can see how that particular experiment worked out in Munroe’s mind" {{unsigned ip|199.27.128.118}}

== Discussion regarding [http://what-if.xkcd.com/91/ What-if 91] ==

I believe that Randall missed an opportunity to discuss means of harnessing thermal energy. See, original question specified HOT water!
:He has to pay the electric bill. He couldn't make back the energy spent to heat the water due to entropy. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.161|108.162.237.161]] 05:51, 31 July 2014 (UTC)
Shall we forgive him this oversight and carry out some analysis to determine the harness-able energy content of hot water from the bathtub faucet in an average American apartment building?

:TODO: discuss Sterling engines or other strategies here. (That means you! :) )

:I believe that even when you "run out of hot water", the incoming water will still have energy added since the gas or electric water heater will be running non-stop, turning cold water into slightly-less-cold water. Since slightly-less-cold water is still colder than the ambient temperature in the apartment, I'm not sure how to harness the energy added by the water heater... But neither am I sure that "you can't". TODO: Can someone confirm that you can't?

Shall we then turn the dial up a notch, [http://what-if.xkcd.com/35/ What-if 35 style], and imagine how the scenario changes if the apartment building has a water heater that is perfectly capable of keeping the hot faucet piping hot, even if you run it 24/7?

: Suppose the super water heater turns 15C input water (cold) into 50C output water (hot). I think that means that the water heater adds 35 calories (not kilocalories) of energy per milliliter. I played with this expression in Google Calculator "(35/1000) calories per ml * 1 liter / 1 second" and determined that 1. Google uses kilocalories for "calories", thus the /1000 part... and 2. it takes ~150 watts to turn a liter of cold water into a liter of hot water in *one second*.

: Let's stop this for now and see if anyone is interested in participating. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.63|173.245.55.63]] 16:28, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

::Go here: [http://fora.xkcd.com/viewforum.php?f=60 What If? discussion]. That's a BIG forum to discuss your items. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:16, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

== Discussion area ==

Is there a discussion area for each of the "what-if?" pages? - Eg I'd like to point out that in #111 "All the money", the mouse-over text in the tombstone graphic says "Cash Ruled Everything Around Me" - or C.R.E.A.M. - coincidence? ;) Also, there have been past pages in which there have been items which I would contest some facts/statements, or seek further explanation. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 13:06, 4 September 2014 (UTC)

I would love to see an analysis of the most recent "what-if" - [http://what-if.xkcd.com/120/ What-if #120] as I'm sure each excerpt from an alternate-universe "What-if" column has an interesting background. Surely even if the article isn't Creative Commons some discussion of it is legal. Yes, I see that there is a thread on the forum for discussing this what-if but it is not succinct. [[User:Momerath|Momerath]] ([[User talk:Momerath|talk]]) 05:56, 3 December 2014 (UTC)

Is there a way this could auto-update like the regular part of the Wiki does? (I assume it auto-updates). This entry will never close if we don't do that and other than listing them and linking to them, there is nothing to say. [[User:4jonah|4jonah]] ([[User talk:4jonah|talk]]) 19:29, 1 May 2015 (UTC)

As Randal stated, He will return posting his "What If?" on Tuesday, July 14th 2015, at 07:49:59 EDT.
I have attached countdown below, to verify it.
Mori.G.
[http://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?iso=20150714T074959&p0=43&fg1=ae7181&fg2=8e82fe&msg=What+if%3F+Returns%21&swk=1 What if? Returning!] {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.60}}

== List of articles ==

I don't have time to do much editing right now, so could someone else go and put the list of articles into a table to make more use of the page's width? Perhaps split it into groups of 20-40 entries in a cell, aligned left-right in chronological order and prefix each entry with the article number. Just an idea. [[User:Pixali|Pixali]] ([[User talk:Pixali|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Pixali|contribs]]) 00:32, 21 May 2015 (UTC)

== Why isn't there an explanation page for each what if? ==

I love the What If? series, and consider it to be a similar, yet separate, version of the normal comics. There are many things that, while reading the What If?, I was confused, interested, or amused by, and I wanted to read about it on this wiki. Randall puts much effort into these, as well as the normal series, so they deserve some explaining. I have no idea how I'd go about this on my own, and I don't have the time right now to spare. I merely want to (hopefully) get the ball rolling on this, if it isn't already. {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.145}}

== The UK Version of the book. ==

I've edited in the UK version's summary, as I own the book. I will write about the date of the UK book's release too and the foreword. Is there anything else about it that other users think should be added?

== Can we explain this? ==

Can we explain the questions there, r not? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.77|108.162.218.77]] 23:09, 3 October 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1007: Sustainable

2015-08-21T01:06:33Z

108.162.218.77:

This is a great lesson for me that no matter what we think is occurring, it's probably wrong; that statistics themselves are unsustainable; and that only goals that matter need to be sustainable in the long term. - e-inspired
[[Special:Contributions/98.211.199.84|98.211.199.84]] 15:15, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

Yes, WAY too heavy, but I was just trying to inspire other engineers, perhaps people smarter then I, to try solving the world problems (You will probably do better job then law makers). Hope to read your theory in the book some day. - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 08:33, 3 March 2013 (UTC)

Sustainable sustainable sustainable, prophetic view of sustainable sustainable. {{unsigned ip|64.151.41.72}}

: Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.11|108.162.250.11]] 03:12, 15 February 2014 (UTC)

Ironically, this comic does nothing to help the situation at hand. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.60|108.162.215.60]] 02:12, 2 March 2015 (UTC)

What happened in 1966-67, when there was that peak in the use of the word?--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.57|108.162.229.57]] 10:59, 30 May 2015 (UTC)

0.5% is "once per sentence"? Didn't know most sentences had 200 words. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.77|108.162.218.77]] 01:06, 21 August 2015 (UTC)

683: Science Montage

2014-06-04T14:59:35Z

108.162.218.77: Machine looks like a tabletop centrifuge, both in how it opens and the sample in a test tube being placed into it ~~~~

{{comic
| number = 683
| date = January 1, 2010
| title = Science Montage
| image = science_montage.png
| titletext = The rat's perturbed; it must sense nanobots! Code grey! We have a Helvetica scenario!
}}

==Explanation==
This comic makes fun of the artificially dramatized and simplified depiction of science in movies. The unstated premise seems to be that the scientists are trying to get information about a murderer based on a sample obtained from his clothing. The movie version of events involves the characters doing exciting things with a computer display, lab rats, a laser, and a complicated chemical apparatus. The characters quickly arrive at the firm conclusion that paint on the clothes is from an "antimatter factory" in Belgrade, Serbia.

The actual science version shows the scientists putting a sample into a machine (likely a {{w|centrifuge}}, but perhaps a {{w|mass spectrometer}}). The machine takes an hour and 20 minutes to analyze the sample (according to the clock on the wall). At the end of this process, the only thing learned is that there is likely no {{w|barium}} or {{w|radium}} in the sample. This conclusion is not very helpful, and is not even very certain.

There are several major concepts about science and technology that movies tend to distort for the purposes of a more exciting plot, both illustrated here. One is that the work involves a lot of different exciting-looking gadgets. Another is that the analysis can be done very quickly, and results in very certain and significant conclusions. Besides this, the scientists often seem to have access to a database full of trivial information from around the world. In reality, a scientific analysis of some sample or data often only requires a single boring-looking machine, takes quite some time, and provides a limited result that must be interpreted very carefully to have any meaning at all.

The title text illustrates movie science by observing a lab rat and deducing the presence of {{w|nanobots}}. The Helvetica Scenario is a fictional experiment, presented in Switzerland (Helvetica), which assumes that removing only the nucleus (the center of an atom) of a "calcium molecule" in one's skin, but still leaving the electron shell at its position, would cause a massive reaction ending up in heavy mutations. The Helvetica scenario was made up by the BBC comedy show {{w|Look Around You}} in the pilot episode, which can be seen [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2k9JwGpm1w here] (at 6:29).

==Transcript==
:Movie Science Montage

:[One scientist passes a test tube to another, who's sitting at a machine. They're both wearing lab coats and goggles. Lights and screens are shining, and there's a hamster ball and a Newton's cradle on a shelf behind them.]

:[There's a glowing sample next to a rat in a cage. One of the scientists is holding a glowing implement; she has another rat in her hand and one on her head. The other scientist is on the phone.]
:Caged Rat: Squeak!

:[One of the scientists pulls levers on another machine, which is shooting some kind of ray downwards a a sample.]

:[The other scientist is operating a machine with a scope, flasks, coils, and bubbles.]
:Scientist (in panel): Paint flecks from the killer's clothing match an antimatter factory in Belgrade!
:Scientist (off panel): Let's go!

:Actual Science Montage

:[Two scientists in lab coats and goggles place a sample into a machine. There's a clock on the wall.]

:[Time has passed.]
:Machine: ''...whirrrrrr...''

:[Time has passed. One of the scientists has removed his goggles.]
:Machine: ''...whirrrr...bing!''

:[They examine the sample.]
:Male Scientist: Okay, we've determined there's neither barium nor radium in this sample.
:Female Scientist: Probably.

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

Talk:1337: Hack

2014-03-04T23:03:36Z

108.162.218.77: We can do this!

Taking the number with the title, we have a 1337 Hack. Has to be related. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.64|108.162.237.64]] 08:28, 3 March 2014 (UTC)
:: I concur, I don't think 1337 and Hack are just a coincidence [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.223|108.162.250.223]] 10:36, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

.... ok ... I bet that if the probe destroyed {{w|Star_Trek:_The_Motion_Picture|three of the Klingons' new K't'inga-class warships and the monitoring station en route}}, they would rethink the "we can no longer communicate with it" ... (seriously, probe from time of Voyagers returns to Earth and we are not able to communicate to it ... Roddenberry got surprisingly close). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:42, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

I wonder if it comes close enough to Earth so that it has enough delta-v left to deorbit like that, and where it would end up. Maybe someone could model it in KSP or something... [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.84|173.245.48.84]] 11:37, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

:It's not orbiting the Earth, so it doesn't need any delta-V to de-orbit. Consider: meteors hit the atmosphere (or the ground) all the time with no delta-V at all. All it needs is enough delta-V to re-aim so that it hits the planet, which if you start far enough away is probably very very little. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.61|173.245.48.61]] 18:00, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

Thank you, Randall, for making this possible. I will now forever lay claim to this comic as per this log: http://pastebin.com/bpexL7zL

You rock, dude. Keep on it. :) {{unsigned ip|108.162.218.5}}

I added the transcription - feel free to adjust the names of "Guy", "Girl1", and "Girl2" as I can't recall any "Randall appropriate" names. I've grouped all panel elements into groups, which I believe is correct. It's my first transcript. ;) [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:00, 3 March 2014 (UTC)
:Wow, um, and if someone could "pretty" up the transcript so it shows a bit more nicely on the "front" page, it would be appreciated. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:07, 3 March 2014 (UTC)
::Hmmm, I ''did'' have the explanation broken up by panel, which I thought made it more readable, no? [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 22:01, 3 March 2014 (UTC)
When I first saw the explanation, I thought the move "Hackers" was the subject of [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/130:_Julia_Stiles comic 130], rather than "Ghostwriters". Has anyone actually seen both? I get the impression Ghostwriters falls under the category of "so bad it's good", whereas Hackers is more of a cult classic. Maybe it's worth mentioning this emerging xkcd theme somewhere in the explanation. Thoughts? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.16|108.162.219.16]] 14:43, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

"Hackers" is so bad it is good. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|108.162.246.117]] 17:10, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

What, no rooftop pool comments? {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.33}}

I was going to make a comment about the pool on the roof. I couldn't remember if they ended up in a roof pool later on in the movie, or if i'm thinking of another movie. I haven't seen Hackers in so long. [[User:Andyd273|Andyd273]] ([[User talk:Andyd273|talk]]) 17:46, 3 March 2014 (UTC)
: They do. Crash and Burn's (Dade and Kate's) first interaction is her showing him around the school, which ends with her (somewhat reluctantly) telling him there's a pool on the roof of the school. He goes up and the door locks behind him; several other students are already up there, suggesting this is a standard hazing ritual. (side note: according to IMDB, this was a common prank at the school where they filmed.) Dade retaliates by, among other things, causing the school's sprinklers to go off during class; when she tries to confront him, he responds, "Pool on the roof must have a leak." The final scene shows the two conversing in a rooftop pool, which turns into frolicking as the credits roll. [[User:Fryhole|Fryhole]] ([[User talk:Fryhole|talk]]) 19:29, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

Regarding the pool:
IIRC, the movie ends with the two main characters (who use the aliases "Acid Burn" and "Crash Override") going on a date at a swimming pool on a roof (the scene shot as in frame 13). Meanwhile, their friends hack the lights on some office buildings so that they display the words "CRASH AND BURN". The shot showing this is also very similar to the last three frames. [[User:Cactus|Cactus]] ([[User talk:Cactus|talk]]) 18:09, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

I added an explanation for the storyline. It's probably not the only way you could understand this comic, but this one seems most plausible to me. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.123|108.162.231.123]] 20:18, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

The explanation states that Crash is the one who did the hack and tells Burn to make a wish at the appropriate time, but the conversation between the two in the comic shows the reverse. {{unsigned ip|108.162.249.204}}

Guys! Part of this comic seems reality and part seems fantasy. Can someone please clear up about the divide? Would it really be (have been) possible to reconnect with this mission? Did someone apart from NASA attempt this? Doesn't anybody else think that this would be good to know??? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.58|108.162.219.58]] 03:09, 4 March 2014 (UTC)

I've removed the "Transcript Incomplete" tag - if you feel this is in error or something else needs to be added, please comment or edit the transcript.[[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:10, 4 March 2014 (UTC)

I've removed the "Article Incomplete" tag - if you feel there is still something lacking in the explanation (which I just tweaked up a bit), please comment or fix the article. Enjoy. :) [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:10, 4 March 2014 (UTC)

I'm asking around for people who want to make 1337 happen, if you can help join #xkcd-1337 on irc.foonetic.net [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.77|108.162.218.77]] 23:03, 4 March 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1335: Now

2014-02-27T15:20:10Z

108.162.218.77:

<pre>| custom = [http://c.xkcd.com/redirect/comic/now]</pre>
This doesn't work. Maybe if we added *.xkcd.com/* to the (external) image whitelist or something? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.121|108.162.231.121]] 07:27, 26 February 2014 (UTC)
:A fine suggestion. I'm probably going to shoot for full archival like we did with [[time]], but this is an ample good solution in the meantime. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:30, 26 February 2014 (UTC)
:Hold on, having wee issues, will resolve soon. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:37, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

Here is a scaled animation of every image. The full size version was too big for me to upload.
[[File:now-100ms_small6-1.gif|none]]
[[User:Ti84p|Ti84p]] ([[User talk:Ti84p|talk]]) 07:47, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

For Australia and New Zealand, at least, the clock shows local time with summer time factored in. I bet that it undergoes some changes in March and April as various jurisdictions go on or off daylight saving. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.224|108.162.249.224]] 09:20, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

: Good point! I added this to the explanation. —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 13:15, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

:: There's also British Summer Time and all the ''other'' national seasonal adjustments(1)... could you perhaps de-specify the "move the list of North American cities and regions for Daylight-Saving Time (which is the same thing as Summer Time)" statement to remove the inadvertent US-centrism? Maybe "...of northern-latitudes cities for Daylight-Saving Time or equivalent Summer Time designation"..? (Definitely could be better phrased than I just put, though.)
:: (1) Note, they don't even all switch at the same time, necessarily. If Randall is going to change the basic map template (pre-rotation) for any Summer/non-Summer transition, he's probably going to have to do it multiple times each spring/autumn, as various regions jiggle about. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.41|141.101.99.41]] 13:52, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

::: Exactly, they don't all switch at the same time. North America isn't mentioned to be US-centric, it's mentioned because the change happens there first. Sure, we could bring up BST and all the rest, but there's no need to make the discussion longer than necessary. (The original wording also was not US-centric, privileging the non-US term "Summer Time" that's used where it's currently being observed, but somebody changed that.) —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 18:14, 26 February 2014 (UTC)
::::I made that change just to use the same title as the Wikipedia page to which we are linking. I don't feel strongly about it. --[[User:BlueMoonlet|BlueMoonlet]] ([[User talk:BlueMoonlet|talk]]) 18:46, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

As for the map itself, I think the title text should provide the exact time for the location under the cursor, by doing calculations for the mouseover event and updating the t.t. accordingly. I imagine it is doable for Randall. For accuracy's sake, the Antarctic region could be excluded. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.225|141.101.89.225]] 12:19, 26 February 2014 (UTC)
: Or maybe someone'll fancy doing it as a userscript. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.225|141.101.89.225]] 12:23, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

I made a version that the user can rotate themselves. It only loads a single image. http://c0la.s3.amazonaws.com/xkcd1335.html {{unsigned ip|173.245.53.182}}

The gif image is very good to understand this comic. However it would be very nice if it rotated a little slower. Instead of one turn every ten seconds it could be one every minute. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.84|173.245.50.84]] 14:37, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

: When I look a little off-centre, it always seems that South America is about to catch up with Antarctica, but it never does! —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 18:14, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

He used an Azimuthal equidistant projection?!?!? ;_; [[User:Swhouseworth|Swhouseworth]] ([[User talk:Swhouseworth|talk]]) 16:20, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

: Yeah, should have been equal area! —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 18:14, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

Question: If there are 24 Hours in a day, why in the description does it go from hour 0 to hour 21? That's only 22 hours. Where are the other 2 hours? Even if it isn't listed on the comic (I think it's the time zones in the Atlantic between Eastern Brazil and the UK - basically UTC-1hr and UTC-2hr), shouldn't there be spaces in the charts showing those hours? I don't think any of the islands in that region use those time zones (opting instead to use GMT - like Iceland for example), but I think those hours should still be included since they ''are'' on the static part of the map. Also, it makes sense to me that the center of the words ''NOON'' and ''MIDNIGHT'' are edges of segments themselves, making 24 segments in total. Randall just couldn't draw those discrete segments and also easily have the words written for our convenience. --[[User:Dangerkeith3000|Dangerkeith3000]] ([[User talk:Dangerkeith3000|talk]]) 16:46, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

: Every time zone is used somewhere in international waters (well, every one that's a whole number of hours off of Universal Time), so they certainly should all be included. —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 18:14, 26 February 2014 (UTC)
: Added South Georgia as UTC-2 and Cape Verde as UTC-1. According to Wikipedia, coastal Brazil and Greenland are both UTC-2 during the summer, but Brazil just ended summer time last Sunday (Feb. 23), and Greenland won't start until late March. There are approximately no permanently inhabited places that use UTC-2 all year, so I just went with South Georgia because it's historically significant. [[User:Fryhole|Fryhole]] ([[User talk:Fryhole|talk]]) 20:20, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

Randall's continent naming scheme is interesting. The most commonly taught model in the U.S. has seven continents, but the purple continent is Australia rather than Oceania. The name Oceania is common in Spanish-speaking countries, but those places generally have a six-continent model with the Americas merged. Is Randall's model standard anywhere? [[User:Fryhole|Fryhole]] ([[User talk:Fryhole|talk]]) 20:00, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

Kamchatka is probably a reference to 850: https://xkcd.com/850/ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.48|108.162.216.48]] 20:22, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

Hey, I'd just like to note that GIMP "Optimize for GIF" reduced the GIF size to 7.1MiB from current 9.3MiB. If I reduced the colours to 32, which still looked "good enough" in my opinion, the GIF was only 3.5MiB.
http://m8y.org/tmp/temp.gif (optimize)
http://m8y.org/tmp/temp2.gif (optimize + colour reduction)

It might be worth replacing to improve load times.
You might want to make your own since I didn't check frame times or anything, I just ran "index" and "optimize" and then exported{{unsigned ip|108.162.219.77}}
:You are right, but that picture should be less then 1MB. I will do some tests, and if it does work I will talk about this. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:51, 26 February 2014 (UTC)
::m'k - well. Using 20 colours and scaling it down 50% resulted in 1.1MiB... http://m8y.org/tmp/temp3.gif
:::I'm now at the time frame at "Rude to call", but nevertheless the PNG files have to be optimized to a GIF, after that an animated GIF should be much smaller. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 01:03, 27 February 2014 (UTC)
::::I'm guessing an indexed APNG could be smaller (due to more efficient compression) than a GIF, but unfortunately I don't thing apngasm is as efficient as GIMP's optimize for gif feature.

Does anybody know what clock Randall is using? [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.75|199.27.128.75]]EvanJM42

Randall no doubt knows about the Time Zone Database (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tz_database) so he may well have coded this page to incorporate seasonal time changes from that database. We'll have to watch what happens.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.15|108.162.219.15]] 12:59, 27 February 2014 (UTC)

Any idea of a way of using this image as a wallpaper for OSX in a way that updates every 30 minutes? Yes, n00b question, but I cannot think of an easily implemented solution.