explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1118: Microsoft

2016-02-13T15:37:10Z

108.162.221.55: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1118
| date = October 8, 2012
| title = Microsoft
| image = microsoft.png
| titletext = Facebook, Apple, and Google all got away with their monopolist power grabs because they don't have any 'S's in their names for critics to snarkily replace with '$'s.
}}

==Explanation==
In the late 1990s {{w|Microsoft}} started bundling its web browser, {{w|Internet Explorer}}, with its {{w|Windows}} operating system. This effectively destroyed the {{w|Netscape}} company, who up until then had the most market share with its browser, {{w|Netscape Navigator}}. Microsoft was involved in {{w|United States v. Microsoft|a legal case}} against the U.S. government, which required Microsoft to allow IE to be uninstalled among other remedies. {{w|Removal of Internet Explorer|Removal of Internet Explorer}} has no clear solution as libraries and utilities associated with Internet Explorer are used across other Windows applications.

The comic sarcastically states that this stopped companies from creating a monopoly on software practices. Unfortunately, platform developers such as Apple, Sony, and Microsoft have restricted third-party software distribution over the internet via their own [http://www.apple.com/iphone/from-the-app-store/ curated] [http://store.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com/ online] [http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/ stores] in recent years, and will come full circle with the introduction of Metro Applications on the Windows 8. The comic also mocks the triviality of {{w|Browser wars|browser debates}} compared to current antitrust cases concerning [http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/googles-new-search-results-raise-privacy-and-antitrust-concerns/ privacy] and [http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-11/u-s-files-antitrust-lawsuit-against-apple-hachette.html price fixing].

{{w|Apple}} bundled a browser in on both its desktop and mobile platforms. On its mobile platform, {{w|iOS}} users are not allowed to change the default browser. Apple also requires all iOS developers to sell their apps only through the iTunes app store, paying sizeable commissions to Apple, and Apple can refuse to sell any app. In some instances, Apple has developed its own versions of popular third-party apps.[http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2011/10/serving-at-the-pleasure-of-the-king.html]

{{incomplete|There's nothing particularly odd about ChromeOS coming with Chrome, considering that's the primary feature}}
{{w|Google}} bundles its {{w|Chrome OS|operating system}} with the {{w|Google Chrome|Chrome web browser}}. The company has a majority market share in web search engines, being the most popular search engine available. On {{w|Android}}, Google bundles in a mobile version of Chrome (as of version 4.0 ''Ice Cream Sandwich''), but you are allowed to change the default browser. On {{w|Facebook}}, users face difficulties in accessing or removing their profiles and personal information, among {{w|Criticism of Facebook|other issues}}. Recently, this has been mitigated by the ability to [http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/06/facebook-now-allows-you-to-download-your-information/ download a zip file] of all content ever posted to Facebook, but it [http://www.zdnet.com/blog/london/facebook-still-doesnt-delete-your-photos-three-years-later/2936 still remains difficult] to delete data from Facebook.

Apple has been widely criticized for trying to force all users of Mac OS or iOS to run only content approved by Apple and distributed through the Apple App Store, each sale from which gives royalty payments to Apple.

The title text refers to mocking Microsoft as Micro$oft or M$ for attempting to take too much money from consumers.

==Transcript==
:Megan: Remember when we prosecuted Microsoft for bundling a browser with an OS? Imagine the future we'd live in if we'd been willing to let one tech company amass that much power.
:Ponytail: Thank God we nipped ''that'' in the bud.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Computers]]

1079: United Shapes

2016-02-13T15:33:18Z

108.162.221.55: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1079
| date = July 9, 2012
| title = United Shapes
| image = united_shapes.png
| imagesize = 800px
| titletext = That eggplant is in something of a flaccid state.
}}
The large version is here: [http://xkcd.com/1079/large/ http://xkcd.com/1079/large/]
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The transcript should only mention what the picture looks like and the text in the pictures. All comments, should be in a separate part of the explanation with this table. Also the transcript should follow a realistic order of "reading" not alphabetical, that will be fine for the table with the explanation.}}
In this comic, each state of the United States of America has been filled-in with an object of similar shape. Due to the size range of the states, some states are too small to clearly make-out in the normal size image. Click [http://xkcd.com/1079/large/ here] to see the large version, which makes every state perfectly clear.

Very few, if any, of the shapes used are stereotypes of the state; they are merely objects that look like the state. Some of the objects are those which the states are widely known to resemble. For example, Michigan is represented by a glove and an Eagle, and a pot with handle takes the place of Oklahoma (with the panhandle region of the state filled with a literal handle). Others, however, are more creative. Few would have likely pictured Texas as a dog or Alaska as a bear with a jet pack and laser gun. There are several incredibly simple objects filling some states. Kentucky is filled by a cloud, which conceivably could have been used for any state, and Wyoming, one of the nearly rectangular states, is simply an envelope. There are three pairs of states that are related. Georgia and Missouri each contain an image of the other, drawing attention to their similar shapes, North and South Dakota are the top and bottom halves of an amp, and Alabama and Mississippi are {{w|moai}} facing in opposite directions.)

Colorado contains what looks like a Wikipedia article. A close-up of the fake article is provided [http://xkcd.com/1079/colorado/]. The following references are made in the Colorado article:

*The pronunciation is not that for Colorado, but for {{w|Eyjafjallajökull}}, a volcano in Iceland that erupted in April 2010.
*The way it has a demilitarized zone towards Wyoming resembles {{W|North Korea}} and {{W|South Korea}}.
*Eleven dimensions refers to {{w|string theory}}.
*A {{w|wormhole}} is a theoretical relative of the {{w|black hole}}. This is a reference to the television series {{w|Stargate SG-1}} where a device capable of creating wormholes is located in the {{w|Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker}} in Colorado.
*A {{w|Horcrux}} is a type of magical object in the world of {{W|Harry Potter}}.
*The radiation zones around Longmont are caused by {{w|Radioactive contamination from the Rocky Flats Plant|radioactive contamination from the Rocky Flats Plant}}.
*The fake motto ''Si parare possis, vivere septem'' can be roughly translated as "With preparation, survival is possible for over a week."

New Mexico according to Randall's transcript is "A liquid container labeled for something of unusual and silly danger". The labeling is upside down and it refers to the nuclear testing facility White Sands Missile Range located in New Mexico for the nuclear bomb.
:This end up
:Property of White Sands Missile Range
:??? [Followed by a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFPA_704 NFPA 704] Diamond with all divisions at severe risk, and a radiation symbol in the special notice division]
:Contains White Sand
:FLAMMABLE
:Warning:
:This product contains chemicals known
:only to the state of Nevada.
:Contents under pressure from parents
:If swallowed, induce labor
:56 fluid ounces
:and 14 other ounces

The title text makes fun of Florida which is sometimes called "The penis of America". Obviously, this penis is somewhat flaccid (not erect). The use of the word "state" is a pun, as it means some particular condition (flaccid state) as well as a political entity (The State of Florida).

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|The transcript should only mention what the picture looks like and the text in the pictures. All comments, should be in a separate part of the explanation with this table}}
:The '''United Shapes'''
:A map of things states are shaped like
:[Each state has some item wedged to stay inside its borders]

{|class=wikitable
!Official transcript!!Comments
|-
|Alabama: A moai head facing east.||{{w|Moai}} are Easter Island stone statues
|-
|Alaska: A teddy bear with a jetpack and a ray gun||The ray gun and jetpack are fixtures of science fiction during the Cold War era, and the Russian Bear is an often-used personification of the country Russia in political cartoonage; the "teddy bear" image may be related to Alaska's former Russian heritage. The USA acquired Alaska from Russia in the Alaska Purchase of 1867 and it became a state in 1959, during the Cold War. The Cold War often featured worries of a potential Russian invasion of Alaska due to their geographical proximity across the Bering Sea and Bering Strait, which persisted through the 1980s; Alaska was the location of a large number of interceptor missiles as part of Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars Defense Initiative" intended to shoot down missiles that might be launched from the USSR. The ray gun is pointed across the Bering Strait at Russia, consistent with Alaska's often being described as the "first line of defense" against Russian aggression.||
|-
|Arizona: A refrigerated shelf containing milk, bread, and pastries.||
|-
|Arkansas: A measuring cup.||
|-
|California: A vacuum.||An old-fashioned upright vacuum cleaner (lying down to the right), green with a yellow bag.
|-
|Colorado: The wiki article on Colorado.||A fake Wikipedia article on Colorado. Below the text as seen in the provided close up:
:[web address:]
::en.wikipedia.org/wiki/colorado
:[Headers]
::Wikipedia
::Article Talk
::Colorado
:[Main article {note that Randall forgot the closing parentheses ')' after the pronunciation}]
::Colorado (Pronounced [ˈeːijaˌfjatlaˌjœːkʏtl̥] is a US State encompassing portions of the Rocky
::Mountains and the Great Plains. The region has been inhabited since at least 11,000 BCE, and
::some archaeological evidence suggest the state – with roughly its current borders – has literally
::always existed. Colorado is separated from Wyoming by a 28-mile demilitarized zone, and
::has at times exercised substantial regional
::power via the installation of puppet governments
::in neighboring states
::Geographically, Colorado is eleven-dimensional,
::though seven of those dimensions are tightly
::compacted and difficult to detect in most areas
::of the state. Colorado is home to the nation's
::oldest continually-operated wormhole and two
::of President Lincoln's horcruxes.
::The wildlife in Colorado is commonly characterized
::as "erratic", particularly in the radiation zones
::around Longmont. The State's timber wolf
::population is largely bipedal; the Park Service
::has expressed "concern" at their attempts to enroll in
:[Fact box with correct State flag and emblem and fake motto:]
::State of Colorado
::Motto:
::"Si parare possis, vivere septem."
::(With preparation, survival is
::possible for over a week.)
|-
|Connecticut: A train conductor's hat.||
|-
|Delaware: A meerkat.||
|-
|Florida: An eggplant.||
|-
|Georgia: Missouri.||The outline of the state of Missouri, with the {{w|Gateway Arch}} in St. Louis.
|-
|Hawaii: A snowball.||
|-
|Idaho: A garden gnome, sitting down.||
|-
|Illinois: A gangster with a guitar case, upside down.||
|-
|Indiana: The brush of a paintbrush.||
|-
|Iowa: A tomato, lettuce, cold cut and cheese sandwich.||
|-
|Kansas: A stand-up piano.||
|-
|Kentucky: A cloud.||
|-
|Louisiana: A boot with some gum stuck to the bottom of it.||
|-
|Maine: A Vulcan salute.||
|-
|Maryland: A wolf howling to the moon, upside down.||
|-
|Massachusetts: An elephant, being ridden by a man, carrying tea.||
|-
|Michigan: A mitten for the lower portion, an eagle for the U{{w|Upper Peninsula of Michigan}}.||
|-
|Minnesota: $160 in $20 USD bills.||
|-
|Mississippi: A moai head facing west.||
|-
|Missouri: Georgia.||The outline of the state of Georgia, with a pair of {{w|Georgia Peach|Georgia peaches}}.
|-
|Montana: One half of a muffin.||
|-
|Nebraska: A blue VW type 2 with mattresses sticking out the back.||
|-
|Nevada: A clothes iron.||
|-
|New Hampshire: A tall brick factory building.||
|-
|New Jersey: A bent-over old person.||
|-
|New Mexico: A liquid container labeled for something of unusual and silly danger.||A yellow liquid container with upside-down labeling.
::This end up!!
::Property of White Sands Missile Range
::Contains White Sand
:[Written inside a hazardous-materials diamond with the ? very large, and the three '4' in the three top part of a diamond shape divided in four these three sections being blue, red, yellow. The lower part has a radioactive sign on the same grey background as the large rectangle.]
::??? 4 4 4
::Flammable
::Warning
::This product contains chemicals known
::Only to the Sate of Nevada.
::Contents under pressure from rich parents
::If swallowed, induce labor
::56 fluid ounces
::and 14 other ounces
|-
|New York: A hybrid transmission with standard manual-style gears and a torque converter sliced in half.||
|-
|North Carolina: A bouquet of flowers.||
|-
|North Dakota: The top half of an amp.||
|-
|Ohio: Underwear (Briefs).||
|-
|Oklahoma: A covered pot, dripping with boil-over.||
|-
|Oregon: A locomotive.||
|-
|Pennsylvania: A very thick book with a bookmark.||
|-
|Rhode Island: The bow half of a boat's hull.||
|-
|South Carolina: A slice of pizza.||
|-
|South Dakota: The bottom half of an amp.||
|-
|Tennessee: A number of children's books, placed in a slightly askew pile.||
|-
|Texas: A dog sitting in a bowl.||
|-
|Utah: An oven.||
|-
|Vermont: A microscope, upside down.||
|-
|Virginia: A {{w|stegosaurus}}.||
|-
|Washington: A whale.||
|-
|Washington DC: A star.||
|-
|West Virginia: A {{w|frog}}.||
|-
|Wisconsin: A skull.||
|-
|Wyoming: An envelope.||The back side of a white envelope, sealed with red wax, with a black heart next to a signature (lower left corner).
|}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]

1079: United Shapes

2016-02-13T15:32:50Z

108.162.221.55: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1079
| date = July 9, 2012
| title = United Shapes
| image = united_shapes.png
| imagesize = 800px
| titletext = That eggplant is in something of a flaccid state.
}}
The large version is here: [http://xkcd.com/1079/large/ http://xkcd.com/1079/large/]
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The transcript should only mention what the picture looks like and the text in the pictures. All comments, should be in a separate part of the explanation with this table. Also the transcript should follow a realistic order of "reading" not alphabetical, that will be fine for the table with the explanation.}}
In this comic, each state of the United States of America has been filled-in with an object of similar shape. Due to the size range of the states, some states are too small to clearly make-out in the normal size image. Click [http://xkcd.com/1079/large/ here] to see the large version, which makes every state perfectly clear.

Very few, if any, of the shapes used are stereotypes of the state; they are merely objects that look like the state. Some of the objects are those which the states are widely known to resemble. For example, Michigan is represented by a glove and an Eagle, and a pot with handle takes the place of Oklahoma (with the panhandle region of the state filled with a literal handle). Others, however, are more creative. Few would have likely pictured Texas as a dog or Alaska as a bear with a jet pack and laser gun. There are several incredibly simple objects filling some states. Kentucky is filled by a cloud, which conceivably could have been used for any state, and Wyoming, one of the nearly rectangular states, is simply an envelope. There are three pairs of states that are related. Georgia and Missouri each contain an image of the other, drawing attention to their similar shapes, North and South Dakota are the top and bottom halves of an amp, and Alabama and Mississippi are {{w|moai}} facing in opposite directions.)

Colorado contains what looks like a Wikipedia article. A close-up of the fake article is provided [http://xkcd.com/1079/colorado/]. The following references are made in the Colorado article:

*The pronunciation is not that for Colorado, but for {{w|Eyjafjallajökull}}, a volcano in Iceland that erupted in April 2010.
*The way it has a demilitarized zone towards Wyoming resembles {{W|North Korea}} and {{W|South Korea}}.
*Eleven dimensions refers to {{w|string theory}}.
*A {{w|wormhole}} is a theoretical relative of the {{w|black hole}}. This is a reference to the television series {{w|Stargate SG-1}} where a device capable of creating wormholes is located in the {{w|Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker}} in Colorado.
*A {{w|Horcrux}} is a type of magical object in the world of {{W|Harry Potter}}.
*The radiation zones around Longmont are caused by {{w|Radioactive contamination from the Rocky Flats Plant|radioactive contamination from the Rocky Flats Plant}}.
*The fake motto ''Si parare possis, vivere septem'' can be roughly translated as "With preparation, survival is possible for over a week."

New Mexico according to Randall's transcript is "A liquid container labeled for something of unusual and silly danger". The labeling is upside down and it refers to the nuclear testing facility White Sands Missile Range located in New Mexico for the nuclear bomb.
:This end up
:Property of White Sands Missile Range
:??? [Followed by a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFPA_704 NFPA 704] Diamond with all divisions at severe risk, and a radiation symbol in the special notice division]
:Contains White Sand
:FLAMMABLE
:Warning:
:This product contains chemicals known
:only to the state of Nevada.
:Contents under pressure from parents
:If swallowed, induce labor
:56 fluid ounces
:and 14 other ounces

The title text makes fun of Florida which is sometimes called "The penis of America". Obviously, this penis is somewhat flaccid (not erect). The use of the word "state" is a pun, as it means some particular condition (flaccid state) as well as a political entity (The State of Florida).

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|The transcript should only mention what the picture looks like and the text in the pictures. All comments, should be in a separate part of the explanation with this table}}
:The '''United Shapes'''
:A map of things states are shaped like
:[Each state has some item wedged to stay inside its borders]

{|class=wikitable
!Official transcript!!Comments
|-
|Alabama: A moai head facing east.||{{w|Moai}} are Easter Island stone statues
|-
|Alaska: A teddy bear with a jetpack and a ray gun|The ray gun and jetpack are fixtures of science fiction during the Cold War era, and the Russian Bear is an often-used personification of the country Russia in political cartoonage; the "teddy bear" image may be related to Alaska's former Russian heritage. The USA acquired Alaska from Russia in the Alaska Purchase of 1867 and it became a state in 1959, during the Cold War. The Cold War often featured worries of a potential Russian invasion of Alaska due to their geographical proximity across the Bering Sea and Bering Strait, which persisted through the 1980s; Alaska was the location of a large number of interceptor missiles as part of Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars Defense Initiative" intended to shoot down missiles that might be launched from the USSR. The ray gun is pointed across the Bering Strait at Russia, consistent with Alaska's often being described as the "first line of defense" against Russian aggression.|
|-
|Arizona: A refrigerated shelf containing milk, bread, and pastries.||
|-
|Arkansas: A measuring cup.||
|-
|California: A vacuum.||An old-fashioned upright vacuum cleaner (lying down to the right), green with a yellow bag.
|-
|Colorado: The wiki article on Colorado.||A fake Wikipedia article on Colorado. Below the text as seen in the provided close up:
:[web address:]
::en.wikipedia.org/wiki/colorado
:[Headers]
::Wikipedia
::Article Talk
::Colorado
:[Main article {note that Randall forgot the closing parentheses ')' after the pronunciation}]
::Colorado (Pronounced [ˈeːijaˌfjatlaˌjœːkʏtl̥] is a US State encompassing portions of the Rocky
::Mountains and the Great Plains. The region has been inhabited since at least 11,000 BCE, and
::some archaeological evidence suggest the state – with roughly its current borders – has literally
::always existed. Colorado is separated from Wyoming by a 28-mile demilitarized zone, and
::has at times exercised substantial regional
::power via the installation of puppet governments
::in neighboring states
::Geographically, Colorado is eleven-dimensional,
::though seven of those dimensions are tightly
::compacted and difficult to detect in most areas
::of the state. Colorado is home to the nation's
::oldest continually-operated wormhole and two
::of President Lincoln's horcruxes.
::The wildlife in Colorado is commonly characterized
::as "erratic", particularly in the radiation zones
::around Longmont. The State's timber wolf
::population is largely bipedal; the Park Service
::has expressed "concern" at their attempts to enroll in
:[Fact box with correct State flag and emblem and fake motto:]
::State of Colorado
::Motto:
::"Si parare possis, vivere septem."
::(With preparation, survival is
::possible for over a week.)
|-
|Connecticut: A train conductor's hat.||
|-
|Delaware: A meerkat.||
|-
|Florida: An eggplant.||
|-
|Georgia: Missouri.||The outline of the state of Missouri, with the {{w|Gateway Arch}} in St. Louis.
|-
|Hawaii: A snowball.||
|-
|Idaho: A garden gnome, sitting down.||
|-
|Illinois: A gangster with a guitar case, upside down.||
|-
|Indiana: The brush of a paintbrush.||
|-
|Iowa: A tomato, lettuce, cold cut and cheese sandwich.||
|-
|Kansas: A stand-up piano.||
|-
|Kentucky: A cloud.||
|-
|Louisiana: A boot with some gum stuck to the bottom of it.||
|-
|Maine: A Vulcan salute.||
|-
|Maryland: A wolf howling to the moon, upside down.||
|-
|Massachusetts: An elephant, being ridden by a man, carrying tea.||
|-
|Michigan: A mitten for the lower portion, an eagle for the U{{w|Upper Peninsula of Michigan}}.||
|-
|Minnesota: $160 in $20 USD bills.||
|-
|Mississippi: A moai head facing west.||
|-
|Missouri: Georgia.||The outline of the state of Georgia, with a pair of {{w|Georgia Peach|Georgia peaches}}.
|-
|Montana: One half of a muffin.||
|-
|Nebraska: A blue VW type 2 with mattresses sticking out the back.||
|-
|Nevada: A clothes iron.||
|-
|New Hampshire: A tall brick factory building.||
|-
|New Jersey: A bent-over old person.||
|-
|New Mexico: A liquid container labeled for something of unusual and silly danger.||A yellow liquid container with upside-down labeling.
::This end up!!
::Property of White Sands Missile Range
::Contains White Sand
:[Written inside a hazardous-materials diamond with the ? very large, and the three '4' in the three top part of a diamond shape divided in four these three sections being blue, red, yellow. The lower part has a radioactive sign on the same grey background as the large rectangle.]
::??? 4 4 4
::Flammable
::Warning
::This product contains chemicals known
::Only to the Sate of Nevada.
::Contents under pressure from rich parents
::If swallowed, induce labor
::56 fluid ounces
::and 14 other ounces
|-
|New York: A hybrid transmission with standard manual-style gears and a torque converter sliced in half.||
|-
|North Carolina: A bouquet of flowers.||
|-
|North Dakota: The top half of an amp.||
|-
|Ohio: Underwear (Briefs).||
|-
|Oklahoma: A covered pot, dripping with boil-over.||
|-
|Oregon: A locomotive.||
|-
|Pennsylvania: A very thick book with a bookmark.||
|-
|Rhode Island: The bow half of a boat's hull.||
|-
|South Carolina: A slice of pizza.||
|-
|South Dakota: The bottom half of an amp.||
|-
|Tennessee: A number of children's books, placed in a slightly askew pile.||
|-
|Texas: A dog sitting in a bowl.||
|-
|Utah: An oven.||
|-
|Vermont: A microscope, upside down.||
|-
|Virginia: A {{w|stegosaurus}}.||
|-
|Washington: A whale.||
|-
|Washington DC: A star.||
|-
|West Virginia: A {{w|frog}}.||
|-
|Wisconsin: A skull.||
|-
|Wyoming: An envelope.||The back side of a white envelope, sealed with red wax, with a black heart next to a signature (lower left corner).
|}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]

1404: Quantum Vacuum Virtual Plasma

2014-08-10T10:11:06Z

108.162.221.55: Just a little more gender neutral

{{comic
| number = 1404
| date = August 6, 2014
| title = Quantum Vacuum Virtual Plasma
| image = quantum_vacuum_virtual_plasma.png
| titletext = I don't understand the things you do, and you therefore may represent an interaction with the quantum vacuum virtual plasma.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a reference to the [http://nasawatch.com/archives/2014/08/jscs-stealthy-s.html recent news] of a {{w|Quantum vacuum plasma thruster|microwave thruster}} which allegedly produces thrust without expelling any propellant or microwaves, a violation of {{w|Momentum#Conservation|conservation of momentum}}. This type of thruster would provide delta velocity without conventional limits according to the {{w|Tsiolkovsky rocket equation}} since the initial mass and final mass are the same. And indeed, the authors of a recent presentation at a [http://rghost.net/57230791 conference (PDF)] spoke about the space applications of such a device if it worked as claimed. But while they hooked it up to a measurement apparatus, applied RF input and measured changes in the apparatus, their interpretation of the experiment conducted in an air-filled stainless-steel chamber as a tiny ''thrust'' explainable under the moniker of "quantum vacuum virtual plasma". An official statement by NASA's {{w|Johnson Space Center}} is still [http://nasawatch.com/archives/2014/08/jsc-is-still-si.html missing].

The title of the comic directly refers to this hypothetical new physics mechanism of interacting with the "quantum vacuum virtual plasma," a [https://plus.google.com/117663015413546257905/posts/WfFtJ8bYVya combination of] [http://scienceblogs.com/principles/2014/08/04/impossible-thruster-probably-impossible/ physics words] that don't normally go together.

The first part of the comic has Megan commenting on how the engine was, in layman's terms, "twitching", and states that with that much power she'd expect something more forceful. The final frame of the comic first makes the observation that "twitching" is an expected outcome for various complex systems, including biological ones, when arbitrarily large electric or microwave power is injected. The equivalence between twitching and the hypothetical new physics is pooh-poohed because Megan was not previously revealed to operate by the principle of "quantum vacuum virtual plasma," to which Megan responds that she is a complex entity and very well might have new physics inside her. Finally Cueball concedes that the complex behaviors of complex systems are not obviously predicable by our first stabs at modeling and suggests (humorously to anyone with an awareness of the history of science) that the answer will always lie in the realm of humanity's ignorance. The last panel is also a joke about quantum supposition, since Megan "may or may not be pushing on the quantum vacuum" and Cueball concedes that until he sees the conclusion, he supposes Megan to be both and neither and "can't be sure".

The title text suggests that the authors of the NASA paper subscribe to the principle that unexpected behaviors of complex systems should best be explained by invoking new physics rather than by making a detailed study of the complexities of the system. This runs contrary to generally accepted approach in science.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are walking together in the foreground.]
:Cueball: Hear about that "impossible" microwave thruster?

:[They stop walking and Cueball turns to face Megan.]
:Megan: Yeah. Let me get this straight — they pumped 20 kilowatts into a box under ambient conditions
:...and it only twitched a ''little''?
:Cueball: Yeah.

:[Zoomed out - they are seen in silhouette walking together again.]
:Megan: ''That's'' surprising. If you pumped 20 kilowatts into ''me'', I'd twitch a ''lot''.
:Cueball: But you're not pushing on the quantum vacuum.
:Megan: I ''might'' be. I do a lot of things.
:Cueball: I guess we can't be sure.

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

Talk:1363: xkcd Phone

2014-05-02T04:49:46Z

108.162.221.55:

Where can i get one of these? :D [[User:UniTrader|UniTrader]] ([[User talk:UniTrader|talk]]) 04:11, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the "scream when falling" thing and the "flightaware" stuff can be done somehow with Tasker. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.103.206|141.101.103.206]] 04:23, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

== Designer? ==

I suspect it was either Black Hat or Beret Guy, but I'm not sure which. A collaboration? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.45|173.245.54.45]] 04:47, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

This sounds like something straight out of aperture.

Talk:1297: Oort Cloud

2013-11-29T09:40:56Z

108.162.221.55: reply to first comment

Reading the Wikipedia page on the Oort Cloud didn't help me understand the joke. I don't know if it has anything to do with comets, or the asteroids getting smashed up by them. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.117|108.162.238.117]] 05:15, 29 November 2013 (UTC)
The asteroid becomes a cost after being severely burnt by the sun. It warns the other asteroid not to go over there.

1297: Oort Cloud

2013-11-29T09:36:56Z

108.162.221.55: Edited transcript because we can't assume it's ISON, it may be an imaginary asteroid that Randall used.

{{comic
| number = 1297
| date = November 29, 2013
| title = Oort Cloud
| image = oort_cloud.png
| titletext = ... I wanna try. Hang on, be right back.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Not (yet) complete.}}
The {{w|Oort cloud}} is a spherical cloud far outside at our solar system. It is believed that many Asteroids exist at that distance at about one lightyear and sometimes they collide, change its orbit and fall into the inner solar system. At that far distance every material at that object—even gases—are frozen. But when the object gets closer to the sun it warms up and emits this material into the space; a {{w|comet}} is born. Sometimes comets are so bright that they even could be observed on daytime.

The {{w|Comet ISON}} is such an object and reached its closest approach to the sun ({{w|perihelion}}) on the day before this comic was published. The comet passed the sun at a distance of 1,860,000 kilometers or 1,150,000 miles. The tail has changes its shape because the comet was partly burnt up around the sun rather than gracing us with an awesome show nearer Earth. The closest approach to earth will be on December 27, 2013 but it's not clear if the comet will be viewable by the naked eye.

This video shows an animation of the encounter at the sun: [http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/browse/2013/11/28/ahead_20131128_cor2_rdiff_512.mpg ISON 28.11.2013].

==Transcript==
:[Three asteroids float in space.]
:Asteroid 1: Have you noticed that bright dot in the distance?
:Asteroid 2: Yeah. What's the deal with it?

:Asteroid 1: Dunno. I'm gonna go check it out.

:[Pause while Asteroid 1 checks it out off screen.]

:Asteroid 1 (gained comet tails, appears burnt): Wow. Do NOT go over there.
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Astronomy]]