explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1638: Backslashes

2016-08-26T16:08:22Z

108.162.221.90:

It should be noted that this also occurs in almost every programming language where "\" is the escape character. i.e.
print("Hello")
> Hello
print("\"Hello\"")
> "Hello"
print("\\Hello\\")
> \Hello\
Oh, and by the way, isn't this the third comic to mention "Ba'al, the Soul Eater"? Maybe we should start a category. (Others are [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1246:_Pale_Blue_Dot 1246] (title text) and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1419:_On_the_Phone 1419].)
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.29|173.245.54.29]] 06:14, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
:Did that before seeing you comment, so yes I agree. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:47, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
::But Davidy did not so the category has been deleted again. I have just cleaned up after my mess ;-) so there are no left over links to the dead category... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:27, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

The last entry may also be an oblique reference to the infinitely-expandable recursive acronym "GOD = GOD Over Djinn" mentioned in Richard Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach.[[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 16:42, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

;I don't think the regex is invalid

According to <tt>man grep</tt> you need to specify the <tt>-E</tt> option to use extended regex; without it unescaped parentheses are not interpreted, so they don't need to match.

My - very wild - guess is that it was the command he used to find the line with the most special characters, but I am not confident enough to edit the article (if someone can confirm?). {{unsigned ip|141.101.66.83}}

If it was supposed to do that, it doesn't work. Running it on my bash history matches no lines, and I have lots of special characters in there [[Special:Contributions/197.234.242.243|197.234.242.243]] 07:12, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

Explain it to me like I'm dumb. What is this comic going on about? I think the explanation needs more examples like that hello, above, because that's almost understandable. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.231|198.41.238.231]] 07:47, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
:I agree. But I cannot help either.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:51, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

This is the third time Randall has mentioned Ba'al the Soul Eater xD [[User:International Space Station|International Space Station]] ([[User talk:International Space Station|talk]]) 08:26, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
:Yes, that was already mentioned a few hours before you comment, see the first comment. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:51, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

After passing the regex through bash, you get <nowiki>\\[[(].*\\[\])][^)\]]*$</nowiki> That is, the literal character \, followed by [ or (, followed by any number of any characters, followed by \, followed by ] or ), followed by any number of characters that aren't ) or ], until the end of the line. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.44|108.162.216.44]] 08:33, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
:It sounds like you know what you are talking about. Anyone who can explain it good enough for the explanation, and correct the explanation of the title text if it is wrong to say that it would not work. I have added this as the reason for incomplete. But maybe also examples are needed for people with not programming skills/knowledge. We also enjoy xkcd ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:51, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
:I'm thinking that it's grepping for regular expressions that contain regular expressions. A regex containing <nowiki>"\[...\]"</nowiki> or <nowiki>"$...$"</nowiki> will match other regular expressions, as almost all non-trivial regexes use either character lists or groups. Now why out.txt is likely to contain not just regexes but rather regexes that search for regexes I have no idea - perhaps he had actually put too many backslashes in and he was trying to grep just for <nowiki>"[...]"</nowiki> or <nowiki>"(...)"</nowiki> (i.e. to locate probable regular expressions in out.txt, or anything else in parenthesis for that matter such as countless kinds of code/markup)? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.185|162.158.152.185]] 17:35, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

For fun:
cat ~/.bash_history | xargs -d "\n" -n 1 -I {} bash -c 'chars="$(echo "$1" | grep -o "[a-zA-Z0-9 ]" | wc -l)"; echo "$(( 100 - $(( $chars * 100 / ${#1} )) )) $1"' _ {} | sort -nrk 1 | less

Outputs your bash_history, ordered by relative gibberishness. This was copied by hand from desktop to mobile, might well have a few typos.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.208|162.158.90.208]] 10:04, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
::Besides the fact that -d is a GNU extension to xargs (so it won't exist on OS X, FreeBSD, or anything else but Linux), this is a weird way to calculate gibberishness; I'm guessing functions, variable substitutions, .. and ./, etc. are going to swamp the more unreadable grep and the like. Plus, I think you need a uniq in there somewhere; otherwise, aren't the first few pages are all going to be filled with the 78 copies of "422 cd .." that tied for most gibberishy in my last 500 commands? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.82|162.158.255.82]] 22:51, 7 March 2016 (UTC)

The problem in the comic is not with regexes per se but with situations when the entered text or expression passes through several interpreters, like bash -> grep/sed/awk, or program text -> external shell command. In such cases, you have to escape backslashes for each program in the sequence, and it gets worse if you have 'real' backslashes in the final text that you're processing with the utilities (Windows' file paths, for example). See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_toothpick_syndrome.
Feel free to lift this to the explanation page, since I'm not good at longer and more careful explanations than this one.
Also, gotta notice that Feedly stripped paired backslashes in the title text (probably passed it through some 'interpreter' embedded in its scripts). [[User:Aasasd|Aasasd]] ([[User talk:Aasasd|talk]]) 10:13, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

:A funny comment about the MediaWiki software, which is even worse than this comic: <code><nowiki><Nikerabbit> I looked the code for rlike and didn't find where it does this. Can you point me to it? <vvv> $pattern = preg_replace( '!(\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\)*(\\\\\\\\)?/!', '$1\\/', $pattern ); <Nikerabbit> I thought that was ascii art :)</nowiki></code> ([https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/P110$275 source]) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.215|162.158.91.215]] 10:18, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

Interestingly, I first looked at this on my phone (using <strike>Chrome</strike> Feedly for Android), but the title text did not display correctly in that the backslashes didn't appear (which was a little confusing!). In Chrome on my Windows desktop, the title text appeared correctly. [[User:Jdluk|Jdluk]] ([[User talk:Jdluk|talk]]) 11:36, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

enough with the harry potter fancruft. "elder" is a [[Wiktionary:elder|perfectly good word]]. just because you came across it for the first time in harry potter means you are *typing carefully* the kind of person that likes harry potter. unless this is a ''harry potter reference'' wiki, of course. in which case i'll prepare a complete list of every word that appears both here and there and put a list on every page. oh, right, no i won't. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 12:41, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

Remember that "Elder" is used in a lot of RPGs to denote high level enemies or items. I feel like that's what Randall's referring to here, more than Harry Potter or the general sense of the term "Elder." {{unsigned ip|108.162.245.156}}
: +1. Between the fact that harry potter (, ages, or tribes) aren't mentioned anywhere else in the text and the comic being a progressive list, I see this being the most likely explanation. Plus the metion of demons, which are easily the most* common usage of the modifier.
:: (*) or second most, after "elder gods", who are, let's face it, also demons. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.180.125|162.158.180.125]] 14:41, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
::: I'm pretty sure that "Elder backslash" is in reference to the "Elder gods" of Lovecraft. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.35|173.245.54.35]] 16:51, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
:::: Note also that it's called 'The Elder Wand' not as an intensifier, as in this comic and the other examples given, but because it is literally ''made from the wood of an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambucus_nigra Elder Tree]'' I'm pretty sure it's not an intentional reference. -Graptor [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.23|173.245.54.23]] 19:29, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
::::: If it's an intentional reference to anything, it's to Lovecraft (or to something similar). I suspect the Elder Wand was an intentional pun by Rowling, however. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.180.137|162.158.180.137]] 04:16, 4 February 2016 (UTC)
::::: Since no-one else seemed to want to, I just restructured that paragraph to make it more clear that if anything Harry Potter was inspired by the older examples, not the other way around. Expanded the LOTR reference and added DnD. If anything Randall is likely to be referencing either the Lovecraft references, or the concept of Elder in general. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.64.173|141.101.64.173]] 11:50, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

Attempting to add to the discussion: This regex is not necessarily invalid or incomprehensible. It looks like he was looking for a line with a regular expression or definitely some code. You just have to work your way through the backslashes. Although it might be invalid depending on the precise rules. He has some unescaped closing brackets and closing parenthesis. If these have to always be escaped then the regex is invalid. If however you don't have to escape a closing bracket with no opening bracket, then things are fine. I'm not familiar enough with grep's regex parser to know how it handles that edge case. Presuming those unescaped paren and brackets are fine, his regex searches for:

1. A backslash

2. An opening bracket

3. An opening parenthesis (this is a character set but the only character in it is an opening paren)

4. Any number of any characters

5. A backslash

6. An opening bracket

7. A closing bracket

8. A closing paren (presuming it doesn't have to be escaped when there is no opening paren)

9. A closing bracket (presuming it doesn't have to be escaped when there is no opening bracket)

10. Any number of character that are not a closing paren or closing bracket

11. The end of the line

Basically he is looking for a string that looks like:

\[(AAAAA\[])]AAAAA

Looks like a regex to me, and it looks like this regex also doesn't escape closing paren/brackets that don't have an opening paren/bracket, so I'm guessing that he knows what he is doing and his regex is fine. Maybe he was playing regex golf?
[[User:Cmancone|Cmancone]] ([[User talk:Cmancone|talk]])cmancone

Ninjaed by Cmancone, above. I agree with that result in every respect except for the start-of-string being potentially anything, but putting my own analysis in here because it took long enough to type!

Depth-of-backslash might depend upon depth of utility. In Perl, <nowiki>''</nowiki>-quotes (among others) treat everything within as literal whilst ""-quotes (and variations) interpolates any special characters, variables, etc that you put in it. (Search for "Quote and Quote-like operators" in your favourite PerlDocs source.) '\sss' is a literal backslash followed by three 's' characters , while "\sss" is the special \s escape (a whitespace) followed by two further regular characters. You might need to define the first when you need to use it to provide a not-previously-escaped \s so that it might be escaped within another context. ''Or'' you define it as "\\sss" (escaped-\) the first time, as equivalent to '\sss'. But '\\sss' would be a literal that, later, could be interpreted as an escaped-\ to the input of a further context where the \s finally becomes 'match a whitespace'.

'\\\sss' would be literal, whilst "\\\sss" could be equivalent to '\ ss' (literal backslash, literal space, rest of characters). Then, instead of literal '\\sss', for some purpose, you could interpolate two escaped-backslashes "\\\\sss"... and so on.

Meanwhile I ''think'', just from visual inspection, "'''\\\[[(].*\\\[\])][^)\]]*$'''" in Bash should obey the interpolation rules quite nicely. The first two characters must be a literal backslash (from the escaped-backslash) and a literal open-square bracket (again, escaped). The next open-square and the close-square shortly after depict a character class that contains only an open-parenthesis, and could have been written as '''$'''.

The '''.*''' indicates zero-or-more (the asterix) instances of ''any'' character (the dot). There is then a literal backslash (from the next '''\\''' duo) and a literal open-square (the '''\[''' pair) and close-square (the '''\]''' pair). The ''')''' is literal and does not need escaping (as a parenthesis group had not yet been opened), as is the next ''']''' character. To be sure, I would have written these two as the pair escapes '''$\]''', but horses for courses...

Then there's another character class (the next '''[''' and the final ''']''') required zero-or-more times (the asterix) to use up all the rest of the characters to the end (the ending '''$''' character). As there was no '''^''' character (a.k.a. caret/circumflex/etc) at the start, the match isn't bothered about what unmatched characters appear before the original '''\('''. This character class, however, starts with a '''^''' which in this context (the very first character of a character-class definition, not somewhere where an entire match-string starts) indicates negation of the following selection, so it is all characters ''but'' those specified, which is the regular close-parenthesis and (because it needs to be contained within a '''[]''' pair) the escaped close-square.

So, all matching strings must start with '''\[(''', i.e. the backslash, open-square and open-paren. They can continue with ''any'' further text, before then having a '''\[])]''', i.e. backslash, open-and-close-squares and close-paren, close-square. After this, the match continues just as long as there are no non-closing square/classic brackets before the ending.

The minimum matching literal string would be '''\[(\[])]''' with longer variants being of the form '''X\[(Y\[])]Z''' where X and Y can be replaced by anything (or be absent), and Z can be replaced by anything (or absent!) ''so long as it doesn't contain possibly relevent close-brackets!''. The latter stipulation is likely because the Y (and X) ''is'' allowed to contain these characters, and for some reason you don't want to confuse the test by finding some other '''\[])]''' segment within the X/Y-zones. (In this context, it doesn't actually seem to matter too much. But it might do in ways I haven't spotted or just be a hang-over from a prior permutation of the test.)

The "grep -o" function is working on the output to the file being '''cat'''ed (there are alternate ways of doing this that some people might prefer), to only accept the lines in the file that match the '''X\[(Y\[])]Z''' string. These lines would appear to be lines of out.txt (a fairly generic name that reveals little to its original purpose) that are well-formed for some other purpose. A safety-escaped (i.e. not to be taken literally by any simple parser) '''[]'''-grouping containing a '''()'''-group (''not'' escaped, perhaps reasonably in context) containing potentially random text followed by an empty '''[]''' pair (again, safety-escaped). Depending on the source, the empty '''[]'''-pair could mean many things, as with the other layers. And the lines may end with any further text.

The "out.txt" file might be the result of a prior Grep (string-search function) quote possibly scanning code for lines of particular importance by another pattern and dumping the results to out.txt for further perusal. And then Randall finds the need to dig further into the first result by extracting just those already selected that all have the '''X\[(Y\[])Z]'''-ish pattern to them.

But I could be wrong, and that's way too long for an official explanation.
(Perhaps just something like the penultimate paragraph, if we're not entirely mistaken?) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.89|162.158.152.89]] 14:14, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

The regex is supposed to be looking for:
\\\ backslash
[[(] [ or (
.* any character (repeated 0 or more times)
space space
\\\ backslash
[[\])] probably meant to match either [, ] or ). However, it's not correct, it instead matches the literal characters [)]
[^)\]]* probably meant to match any character that isn't ) or ], repeated. Instead it means one character that's not a ), and then a ] zero or more times
$ end of string

The first problem is that you're not supposed to escape ] in a [...], and it also has to be first in the grouping (unless negated with a ^) It should be [][)] or something similar.

The second problem is the same. The last bit should be [^])]*$ and not [^)\]]*$. [[User:Khris|Khris]] ([[User talk:Khris|talk]]) 14:24, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

I was reading through the regex, if using grep you run into an error with an unmatched ")". Removing this gets a string such as \[(AAAAA\[]]AAAAA$ http://regexr.com/3cng8 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.230|162.158.214.230]] 14:42, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

The regex relies on several special cases (*surprise*).
First: bash double-quote expansion (see [https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Double-Quotes.html#Double-Quotes]). Perhaps non-intuitively, \\\ followed by a character that \ doesn't escape is an escaped backslash followed by a literal backslash, effectively the same as \\\\ followed by that same non-escaped character. After bash double-quote expansion, this results in:

\\[[(].*\\[\])][^)\]]*$

grep interprets this as:

# any leading non-\ characters
# literal backslash
# character class containing [ and (
# zero or more *any* characters
# another literal backslash
# yet another literal backslash, via a character class containing only a backslash. Note this does not contain an escaped ], as it might appear at first glance. See [http://www.gnu.org/software/grep/manual/html_node/Character-Classes-and-Bracket-Expressions.html]
# literal )
# literal ]
# character class of anything except ), \
# zero or more ]
# end of line

Matching examples:
*echo 'asdf\[asdfasdf\\)]a]]]]]]' | grep -o "\\\[[(].*\\\[\])][^)\]]*$"
*echo '$\$]P' | grep -o "\\\[[(].*\\\[\])][^)\]]*$"

----
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.34|108.162.216.34]] 16:14, 3 February 2016 (UTC)rb

One key thing to understand is that \ is not a special character when it's in a bracket expression - you can't escape characters in bracket expressions. So [^)\] simply means any character other then ) or \. Also, ( and ) are just regular characters unless they are escaped in basic regular expressions - extended regular expressions reverse this rule. {{unsigned|Kalfalfa}}

I don't know about the regular expression in the title text, but I think the explanation is incorrect in that it starts off talking about regular expressions. Escaping backslashes is an issue with strings in programming in general. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.46|173.245.54.46]] 17:12, 3 February 2016 (UTC)
----
I suspect that Randall may have used the regexp in the title text to *find* malformed regular expressions in a file (out.txt) that he (or someone) had previously filled with output from some error message (or collection of error messages, or at least the output of something where a regular expression had been expected to work but had not worked as expected). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.227|162.158.252.227]] 19:06, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

You can use metacharacters in character classes, the only metacharacters in a character class that must be escaped are the closing square bracket (]), the backslash (\), the hyphen, and the carat and hyphen (^) if they are the first listed item in the set. The closing square bracket requires escaping because including it without would signal the end of the set otherwise, which then means the backslash must also be escaped. The hyphen must be escaped because, without it, it signals a range (unless it is listed first, then it is literal without escaping). Carat when listed first because otherwise it signals a negative set. 
Therefore, the end of the title text regex matches a backslash followed by either ] or ), which is then followed by any number (including none) of characters so long as they are not ] nor ) which means the whole regex can match "\[something\] more" or "$something$more" or "\[something\) more" as well as "\[something\]". — [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.117|162.158.255.117]] 01:16, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

I'll add that I use an ''almost identical'' regex in my mail server for matching mailing-list subject lines which often have a format of "[Listname] normal subject line" which made it pretty recognizable to me. — [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.117|162.158.255.117]] 01:24, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

;Example of a match

First, the shell will do some escaping substitution. So, in order to easily read it, let's see what grep really receives:

$ echo "\\\[[(].*\\\[\])][^)\]]*$"
\\[[(].*\\[\])][^)\]]*$

Let's break it out:

* <code>\\</code> matches a <code>\</code>
* <code>[[(]</code> matches either a <code>[</code> or a <code>(</code>
* <code>.*</code> matches any series of characters until the next match
* <code>\\</code> matches a <code>\</code>
* <code>[\]</code> matches a <code>\</code>
* <code>)]</code> matches <code>)]</code>
* <code>[^)\]</code> matches anything but <code>)</code> or <code>\</code>
* <code>]*</code> matches any number of <code>]</code> (including none)
* <code>$</code> matches the end of the string

So the string '''\[aaa\]\\)]a]]]]]]''' matches! {{unsigned ip|108.162.228.167}}

...Maybe it's meant to search for all Game Grumps transcripts which make mention of the "[http://gamegrumps.wikia.com/wiki/Grep Grep]" gag? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.55|108.162.216.55]] 15:53, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

...Wow, guys, and here I was thinking he wanted to put the cat out, when the cat didn't want to go out.... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.158|108.162.249.158]] 04:03, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

What I think is that Randall probably ''intended'' the regex to match "backslash, opening round or square bracket, anything, backslash, closing round or square bracket, anything that doesn't involve closing round or square brackets", since (unlike most other possibilities given) that actually looks like something one might want to search for. Whether it ''does'', in fact, match that or something else (or indeed anything at all) is another question entirely. (For all we know, it didn't work, Randall figured out it didn't, and wrote the correct thing the next line over.) Unrelatedly: this comic (and the backslash proliferation in general) reminded me of the Telnet Song. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.180.137|162.158.180.137]] 04:16, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

That explanation is wrong: <code>[\]</code> does not match a literal backslash; it would still need to be escaped inside the brackets. That backslash escapes the next character, a ], so the group doesn't end there. The actual expression there is <code>[\])]</code>, a character group containing an escaped ] and a ). Just like the first part. It is most likely intended to catch content surrounded by [ ] or ( ). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.15|141.101.104.15]] 13:43, 4 February 2016 (UTC)
:To clarify: this makes the expression catch anything that starts with a block surrounded by escaped round or square brackets. So stuff like '''$Hello world$more text here''' but with either round or square brackets (or combinations, since there's nothing enforcing they have to match. I'd have made it an OR case with two groups with matching brackets, personally) -[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.15|141.101.104.15]] 13:51, 4 February 2016 (UTC)
:You're making the same mistake Randall did: while many (most?) regex dialects use \ as escape inside a character class, this is not true for grep's default syntax. I've expanded that interpretation in my comment below, however the analysis by 108.162.228.167 is a correct explanation of how this expression is ''actually'' interpreted by grep. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.185|141.101.75.185]] 15:42, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

Your analysis is thorough and correct, however it is unlikely this is what the regex was intended to accomplish. More likely, Randall is more accustomed to other regex dialects such as Perl(-compatible) regex where a backslash ''does'' work to escape special characters inside a character class. Under that assumption the regex (with some whitespace inserted for readability) would break up as:
* <code>\\ [[(]</code> an escaped opening bracket or paren
* <code>.*</code> anything
* <code>\\ [\])]</code> an escaped closing bracket or paren
* <code>[^)\]]* $</code> no closing bracket or paren occurring on the remainder of the line
Although the final condition is still a bit obscure, this still makes a ''lot'' more sense. Unfortunately it also crushes Randall's hope the regex worked as intended, since this simply isn't how the expression is parsed with grep's default syntax (which is why I always use <code>grep -P</code>). --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.185|141.101.75.185]] 15:34, 4 February 2016 (UTC)
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Did anyone notice the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_%28Unix%29#Useless_use_of_cat Useless Use of Cat]? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.101|141.101.106.101]] 19:36, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

:Yup - I hereby award Randall with the Useless Use of Cat Award of the day. Cherish it.
:[[User:Zedn00|Zedn00]] ([[User talk:Zedn00|talk]]) 03:51, 5 February 2016 (UTC) Zedn00
----
;Changed Regex
At some point before 2016-02-09 18:00 +0100, Randall has modified the bash command in the title text!

Original command:
cat out.txt | grep -o "\\\[[(].*\\\[\])][^)\]]*$"
New command:
cat out.txt | grep -o "[[(].*[])][^)]]*$"

For the old command, 108.162.228.167's and 108.162.216.34's explanations above were correct.

The new command matches:
[[(] either a '[' or a '('
.* an unbounded and possibly empty sequence of arbitrary characters
[])] either a ']' or a ')'
[^)] any character except for a ')'
]* an unbounded and possibly empty sequence of ']'
$ anchored at end of line

It now e.g. matches '''123[abc.<>)x]]]]]''':
$ echo "123[abc.<>)x]]]]]" | tee /dev/stderr | grep -o "[[(].*[])][^)]]*$"

This makes hardly more sense than the original command.
--[[User:Markus|Markus]] ([[User talk:Markus|talk]]) 17:38, 9 February 2016 (UTC)
----
Funny enough, I'm literally looking at some other dev's code right now that actually implements an eight backslash regex sequence, with just the comment "backslash". I'm still scratching my head over what they were trying to accomplish or even communicate with this. [[User:Domino|Domino]] ([[User talk:Domino|talk]]) 21:45, 16 August 2016 (UTC)domino
----
I believe the regex is a reference to xkcd 1313 (Regex Golf)
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.90|108.162.221.90]] 16:08, 26 August 2016 (UTC)

712: Single Ladies

2016-05-20T22:00:21Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ corrected another minor grammatical error

{{comic
| number = 712
| date = March 10, 2010
| title = Single Ladies
| image = single_ladies.png
| titletext = Using a ring to bind someone you covet into your dark and twisted world? Wow, just got the subtext there. Also, the apparently eager Beyoncé would've made one badass Nazgûl.
}}

==Explanation==
The character in armor is {{w|Sauron}}, the main villain in ''{{w|The Lord of the Rings}}'' trilogy. In the backstory, he takes control of Middle-earth by giving several {{w|Rings of Power}} as "gifts" to the great kings of men after teaching the craft to dwarves and elves. However, he also forged a master ring, the {{w|One Ring}}, to control the {{w|Rings of Power}} and ultimately rule over the kings. However, the elves were not deceived by his plan and took off their rings. Enraged, Sauron starts {{w|War of the Elves and Sauron}}. After losing that war Sauron started a religion in {{w|Númenor}}. After using his influence to convince Númenóreans to attack {{w|Aman}}, the island is destroyed by {{w|Eru}}. Then Sauron starts {{w|Last Alliance of Elves and Men|War against the Last Alliance}}. Sauron is eventually defeated in said war by {{w|Isildur}} who cuts off his ring finger. The books tell the story of a small group of adventurers who rediscover the lost Ring and attempt to destroy it, as Sauron's army gathers its forces to attempt to reclaim the Ring for their master.

{{w|Gil-galad}} is a high Elven-king, and {{w|Galadriel}} is an Elf of royal blood who serves as a matriarch of sorts to the remnants of the Elven race. {{w|Lindon}} is a location on the westernmost side of the continent, serving as the final transition point for Elves passing on to the Undying lands. Sauron refers to an actual event in the first panel, when he tried to gain control of Lindon through deceit; Galadriel and Gil-galad saw through his disguise and cast him out.

In the second panel Sauron is talking about {{w|Eru Ilúvatar}} the creator in Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. While Eru created elves and men it was {{w|Aulë}} who created Dwarves, Eru gave them life. Orcs were Elves twisted by {{w|Morgoth}} so Sauron, being his principal lieutenant, would be a natural leader to orcs by the time he created the One Ring.

The song playing in the background is "All the Single Ladies" by Beyoncé, which includes the line "If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it," referring to ''{{w|wedding rings}}''. This is shown as being what inspired Sauron to devise his plan to control others through the gift of rings.

The title text refers to an often-suggested fan theory that the One Ring ''is'' actually meant to be symbolic of marriage. The {{w|Nazgûl}}, also known as ringwraiths, are the former nine human kings who were bound by the rings, now a band of nine servants to Sauron who constantly seek out the Ring for him.

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy is talking to Sauron; Sauron is wearing his trademark helmet, but his head is downcast. Music plays in the background.]
:''Music: All the single ladies, All the single ladies''
:Beret Guy: Hey Sauron, why so glum?
:Sauron: Gil-galad saw through me and threw me out of Lindon. Galadriel as well. I'll never rule ''anyone'' at this rate.

:''Music: All the single ladies, All the single ladies''
:Sauron: Eru created such beautiful creatures - Elves and men and dwarves - and all I've got are these stupid orcs.

:''Music: 'Cause if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it''
:Sauron: I mean, I-

:[Sauron is suddenly quiet.]
:''Music: If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it''

==Trivia==
* Randall used the wrong "û" character when editing the title text; the character he used was U+0217 LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH INVERTED BREVE, but the correct character is U+00FB LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH CIRCUMFLEX. They look very similar at standard font sizes, but the inverted breve is curved, while the circumflex is pointed.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:LOTR]]
[[Category:Songs]]

712: Single Ladies

2016-05-20T21:57:43Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ Corrected a minor grammatical error

{{comic
| number = 712
| date = March 10, 2010
| title = Single Ladies
| image = single_ladies.png
| titletext = Using a ring to bind someone you covet into your dark and twisted world? Wow, just got the subtext there. Also, the apparently eager Beyoncé would've made one badass Nazgûl.
}}

==Explanation==
The character in armor is {{w|Sauron}}, the main villain in ''{{w|The Lord of the Rings}}'' trilogy. In the backstory, he takes control of Middle-earth by giving several {{w|Rings of Power}} as "gifts" to the great kings of men after teaching the craft to dwarves and elves. However, he also forged a master ring, the {{w|One Ring}}, to control the {{w|Rings of Power}} and ultimately rule over the kings. However, the elves were not deceived by his plan and took off their rings. Enraged, Sauron starts {{w|War of the Elves and Sauron}}. After losing that war Sauron started religion in {{w|Númenor}}. After using his influence to convince Númenóreans to attack {{w|Aman}}, the island is destroyed by {{w|Eru}}. Then Sauron starts {{w|Last Alliance of Elves and Men|War against the Last Alliance}}. Sauron is eventually defeated in said war by {{w|Isildur}} who cuts off his ring finger. The books tell the story of a small group of adventurers who rediscover the lost Ring and attempt to destroy it, as Sauron's army gathers its forces to attempt to reclaim the Ring for their master.

{{w|Gil-galad}} is a high Elven-king, and {{w|Galadriel}} is an Elf of royal blood who serves as a matriarch of sorts to the remnants of the Elven race. {{w|Lindon}} is a location on the westernmost side of the continent, serving as the final transition point for Elves passing on to the Undying lands. Sauron refers to an actual event in the first panel, when he tried to gain control of Lindon through deceit; Galadriel and Gil-galad saw through his disguise and cast him out.

In the second panel Sauron is talking about {{w|Eru Ilúvatar}} the creator in Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. While Eru created elves and men it was {{w|Aulë}} who created Dwarves, Eru gave them life. Orcs were Elves twisted by {{w|Morgoth}} so Sauron, being his principal lieutenant, would be a natural leader to orcs by the time he created the One Ring.

The song playing in the background is "All the Single Ladies" by Beyoncé, which includes the line "If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it," referring to ''{{w|wedding rings}}''. This is shown as being what inspired Sauron to devise his plan to control others through the gift of rings.

The title text refers to an often-suggested fan theory that the One Ring ''is'' actually meant to be symbolic of marriage. The {{w|Nazgûl}}, also known as ringwraiths, are the former nine human kings who were bound by the rings, now a band of nine servants to Sauron who constantly seek out the Ring for him.

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy is talking to Sauron; Sauron is wearing his trademark helmet, but his head is downcast. Music plays in the background.]
:''Music: All the single ladies, All the single ladies''
:Beret Guy: Hey Sauron, why so glum?
:Sauron: Gil-galad saw through me and threw me out of Lindon. Galadriel as well. I'll never rule ''anyone'' at this rate.

:''Music: All the single ladies, All the single ladies''
:Sauron: Eru created such beautiful creatures - Elves and men and dwarves - and all I've got are these stupid orcs.

:''Music: 'Cause if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it''
:Sauron: I mean, I-

:[Sauron is suddenly quiet.]
:''Music: If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it''

==Trivia==
* Randall used the wrong "û" character when editing the title text; the character he used was U+0217 LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH INVERTED BREVE, but the correct character is U+00FB LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH CIRCUMFLEX. They look very similar at standard font sizes, but the inverted breve is curved, while the circumflex is pointed.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:LOTR]]
[[Category:Songs]]

433: Journal 5

2016-04-14T05:30:53Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 433
| date = June 6, 2008
| title = Journal 5
| image = journal_5.png
| titletext = 'Pick you up at eight?' 'Nine. I've got to re-mine the driveway.'
}}

==Explanation==
In [[Journal]], [[Black Hat]] explains to [[Cueball]] that a hobby of his is to pretend to write in a journal while on the subway, acting embarrassed if anyone sees. He then proceeds to silently scorn the person once they give him any kind of reassurance.

In [[Journal 2]], however, [[Danish]] sees through his ruse. She counteracts it by proving that she understands him, and attempts to resign him to the fact that he will never see her again, thus robbing him of the satisfaction of a proper social connection. She leaves, taking his hat in the process.

Initially stunned, he at last regained his hat in [[Journal 3]], the trademark of his personality and attitude, leaving him with the upper hand.

In [[Journal 4]], however, he is overcome with emotions, to the extend that he has even taken his black hat of while sitting head in hand on a bench, wondering in the title text why he would feel any emotions when he has a hat.

Now, in Journal 5, Black Hat parks his car and soon finds himself on the doorstep of Danish house. He comes to tell her that he gives up and that she wins, because he just has to know who she is. This is very uncharacteristic of Black Hat. He then tries to tell her that he thinks they understand each other's personalities and that this means something to him. He is obviously smitten with her on some level. But all she does about this initially is use her remote control to set off the mines she installed in the driveway where Black Hat's car is parked.

But, even in his state of love, Black Hat had spotted these mines and moved them to her garage. So when Danish sets them off she destroys her own garage (and possibly her car) instead of Black Hat's car. When he tells her about moving them she is impressed and acknowledges this by saying ''Touché''. Maybe this is when she also begins to respect him in her own weird manner.

Black Hat can foresee that it will be a tricky relationship with their mean personalities crashing together, but when Danish gives him the option to go find a ''non-crazy girl'' he promptly states that this has no interest at all.

In the title text it seems that neither of them is deterred by this obstacle, and their relationship begins when Black Hat tells her that he will pick her up at eight. Although she does ask for one more hour, so she can re-mine the driveway before he comes back at nine. This did not seem to harm their future relationship as in most of the later [[:Category:Comics featuring Danish|comics with Danish]] she is mainly shown together with Black Hat, sometimes even in a clearly romantic setting, like in [[515: No One Must Know]], from where she got her name.

The whole "[[:Category:Journal|Journal]]" story are:
*[[374: Journal]]
*[[377: Journal 2]]
*[[405: Journal 3]]
*[[432: Journal 4]]
*[[433: Journal 5]]

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat parks his car.]
:''PARK''

:[Black Hat knocks at door.]
:''KNOCK KNOCK''

:Black Hat: Hi.
:Danish: Hi.

:Black Hat: I give up. You win. I have to know who you are.

:Black Hat: We understand each other. I can't let that slip away—
:''beep'' [from device in Danish's hand.]
:''BOOM''

:Black Hat: What was that?!
:Danish: Remote mines under your car.

:Black Hat: Oh, those? I moved them to your garage before knocking.
:Danish: Touché.

:Black Hat: ...This relationship is going to be tricky.
:Danish: There's still time to leave and find a non-crazy girl.
:Black Hat: Not even ''slightly'' interested.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Journal|05]]
[[Category:Romance]]

Talk:1547: Solar System Questions

2015-07-08T02:56:52Z

108.162.221.90:

I wonder if "What's the deal with Miranda?" is talking about one of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_(moon) Uranus's satellites] or if it's a Firefly/Serenity reference? [[User:Keavon|Keavon]] ([[User talk:Keavon|talk]]) 15:31, 6 July 2015 (UTC)
* That was my reaction too. Randall is (as he should be) slightly obsessed with Firefly. [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 19:12, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Many of the entries can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unsolved_problems_in_physics [[User:Cschwenz|Cschwenz]] ([[User talk:Cschwenz|talk]]) 16:16, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

The title text is a reference to the Futurama episode "Butterjunk effect" http://theinfosphere.org/The_Butterjunk_Effect. {{unsigned ip|188.114.98.29}}
* I suggest it's much more likely to be a reference to Randall's own obsession with humans flying with wings: [[620]], https://what-if.xkcd.com/30/. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.161|108.162.250.161]] 01:00, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

What's Titan like? Refernece to Gattaca (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZa83dTf4JA)? [[User:Nk22|The Twenty-second. The Not So Only. The Nathan/Nk22]] ([[User talk:Nk22|talk]]) 16:23, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

I wonder if Randal is using us as unpaid researchers to answer his questions for him?[[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.89|173.245.48.89]] 16:53, 6 July 2015 (UTC)
* Crowd-sourcing space probes? I certainly hope so!! [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 19:12, 6 July 2015 (UTC)
** I was also thinking that, or at least he might have been thinking, "This oughtta keep those silly people on the ExplainXKCD wiki busy!". ;) [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 20:42, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Timing is good as it has recently been shown that red organics (Tholins) are produced by the particular UV wavelength called 'Lyman-Alpha' which is almost as bright on Pluto's night-side due to starshine as it is from the Sun during its daytime... the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt may be the original Red-light District. Go New Horizons! [[User:Squirreltape|Squirreltape]] ([[User talk:Squirreltape|talk]]) 15:13, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

Ice Spikes could be a reference to the Ice Spikes biome in Minecraft: http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Ice_Plains_Spikes.png [[User:Daedalus|Daedalus]] ([[User talk:Daedalus|talk]]) 10:12, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

The last question/the title text could also refer to Robert A. Heinleins "The Menace from Earth": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Menace_from_Earth [[User:Bichlesi|Bichlesi]] ([[User talk:Bichlesi|talk]]) 01:13, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

The "big white things in Titan's lakes" may also refer to the [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/11/141111-titan-lake-island-space-science/ magic islands] that were observed by Cassini.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.90|108.162.221.90]] 02:56, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

1393: Timeghost

2014-07-11T14:17:31Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ The ghost an old acquaintance of Megan's

{{comic
| number = 1393
| date = July 11, 2014
| title = Timeghost
| image = timeghost.png
| titletext = 'Hello, Ghostbusters?' 'ooOOoooo people born years after that movie came out are having a second chiiiild right now ooOoooOoo'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Maybe some expanding? Otherwise this tag can be removed.}}
[[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are being haunted by a ghost dedicated to making people feel old. It seems to be like the strips [[891: Movie Ages]] and [[973: MTV Generation]] and the blag post [http://blog.xkcd.com/2012/09/29/odd-temporal-milestones/ Odd Temporal Milestones], but then the ghost reveals that Megan and Cueball will die in a shorter amount of time than the ghost's appearance (maybe a few seconds, maybe years). For obvious reasons, this disturbs them. An alternative explanation is that the "staaaaart of my haunting" refers to the first time the ghost haunted anyone, and it is possible Timeghost is being deliberately ambiguous in an effort to frighten them more. Alternatively again, Timeghost may be referring simply to the beginning of the comic, which is now three panels away, while the end of the comic is only one panel away; Megan and Cueball's 'death' may refer to their cessation of existence in the comic.

A {{w|factoid}} is a questionable or spurious statement presented as a fact. In this instance, some of the ''factoids'' are easily verifiable, while others are reasonable assumptions based on the number of years passed since the individual events. Several sources advocate the use of the word "factlet" to express a brief interesting fact, while using the word "factoid" for unverifiable or untrue statements passed as fact.

While ''factoids'' tend only to have mostly only entertainment value, then the last ''fact'' from the ghost is a prediction of the future (your death) which is actually of some practical value if it can be trusted.

"Timeghost" might be a literal interpretation of {{w|Zeitgeist}}, which is a German term for "spirit of time" and refers to the school of thought that influences or dominates the art and culture of a time period. All the events and people mentioned in this comic have may be considered influences in present day art and culture.

'''Timeline'''
{| class="wikitable"
!Year||Event
|-
|1955-1975||{{w|Vietnam War}}
|-
|colspan="2"|19 years
|-
|1994||{{w|Forrest Gump (film)|Forrest Gump}}
|-
|colspan="2"|20 years
|-
|2014||Year of this comic
|-
|colspan="2"|
|-
|1964||{{w|Keanu Reeves}} (Actor) born
|-
|colspan="2"|2 years
|-
|1966||Today's new grandparents born (Average age: 48 in the US)
|-
|colspan="2"|48 years
|-
|2014||Year of this comic
|-
|colspan="2"|
|-
|1990||[http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr051.pdf Today's new parents born] (Average age: 24 in the US)
|-
|colspan="2"|3 years
|-
|1993-1994||{{w|The Simpsons}} Season 5
|-
|colspan="2"|2 years (from '93 to '95)
|-
|1994-1995||{{w|The Simpsons}} Season 6
|-
|colspan="2"|4 years
|-
|1999||{{w|Eminem}} (Rapper) got big (second album)
|-
|colspan="2"|15 years
|-
|2014||Year of this comic
|-
|colspan="2"|
|-
|1984||{{w|Ghostbusters}}
|-
|colspan="2"|3 years
|-
|1987||[http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr051.pdf Today's people just having a second child born] (Average age at first childbirth (24) + average gap between first two births (3))
|-
|colspan="2"|27 years
|-
|2014||Year of this comic
|}

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are approached by a floating ghost]
:Timeghost: ''...ooOOOOOOOOooo...Tiiiime is passiiiing!''
:Megan: Ugh. Timeghost.
:Cueball: Huh?
:Megan: Here come the factoids.

:[Timeghost floats around]
:Timeghost: ''Forrest Gump'' came out closer to the Vietnam War than to the present daaay.
:Megan: Go ''away!''
:Timeghost: The average new grand-parents are younger than Keanu Reeeeves!
:Cueball: That can't be right...

:[Megan clutches her head, possibly attempting to cover her ears]
:Timeghost: ''Today's new parents were ten when Eminem got big. Daaaaaad muuuuusic. They remember Simpsons season 5 or 6 at the '''earliest'''''.
:Megan: Argh!
:Cueball: How long has it been ''doing'' this?

:Timeghost: ''The staaaaart of my haunting is now further away than your deaaaths!''
:Megan: Will you sto—'''''WHAT!?'''''
:Timeghost: ooOOOOOOOoo
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

1390: Research Ethics

2014-07-04T14:22:16Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ "what" twice is a typical mistake

{{comic
| number = 1390
| date = July 4, 2014
| title = Research Ethics
| image = research_ethics.png
| titletext = I mean, it's not like we could just demand to see the code that's governing our lives. What right do we have to poke around in Facebook's private affairs like that?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|First draft.}}

This comic references the recent revelation that Facebook engaged in a "psychological experiment" by selectively showing users more "positive" or "negative" posts on their news feed and recording the users' comments to see if the change affected the positivity or negativity of their posts. Further experiments have since been revealed [http://online.wsj.com/articles/facebook-experiments-had-few-limits-1404344378 such as one that tested security measures by locking users out of their accounts]. Here, Megan is commenting on the fact that, while the media is calling this control over what content the user sees "unethical," Facebook, and other companies like Google, must, one way or another, control what content the user sees, whether to present users with a limited selection of all postings, or to tailor ads to particular users; even if the regular algorithms are not set up for psychological experiments, they are still "manipulating" what posts users see or don't see. As Megan points out, no one really knows what the "normal" constraits are of the algorithm which chooses which posts are shown on news feeeds. This comic is parodying the strong reaction to what is basically already a common practice.

Accumulation, control and analysis of user-generated information can be a part of the terms of service/end user license agreement of a Website or software. In such a scenario, the user has effectively signed his/her consent to being part of such research. Unfortunately, most users don't read the terms before clicking the "I agree" option, so it can come as a shock when the service uses the data in a way the user hadn't anticipated.

Randall writes "what" twice, which is a classic [http://www.moillusions.com/eye-to-brain-coordination/ optical illusion.] Perhaps he is conducting an experiment of his own. It is also a typical mistake that would be detected by many spell checkers [http://blogmines.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/image_thumb18.png].

The title text ironically/sarcastically accepts that Facebook has access to all of its users thoughts (through posts/messages and photos, and they can read them for research (or whatever other) purposes, but contrasts this with a suggestion (which likely mirrors how Facebook would respond to such a request) that Facebook's code is private and can not be revealed to us. The title text basically appears to be musing that this is backwards, and our personal data should be considered MORE private than Facebook's programming code, which may be proprietary, but is not personal private data.

It is as if your neighbor was spying on you while you left all your shades open, but you felt it to be inappropriate to find out what he knew about you because that's his business.

==Transcript==

:[Megan is facing Cueball and Ponytail]
:Megan: Facebook shouldn't choose what what stuff they show us to conduct unethical psychological research.
:Megan: They should ''only'' make those decisions based on, uh...
:Megan: However they were doing it before.
:Megan: Which was probably ethical, right?

{{comic discussion}}

1389: Surface Area

2014-07-02T14:48:24Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ probably is a very strong word

{{comic
| number = 1389
| date = July 2, 2014
| title = Surface Area
| image = surface_area.png
| titletext = This isn't an informational illustration; this is a thing I think we should do. First, we'll need a gigantic spool of thread. Next, we'll need some kind of ... hmm, time to head to Seattle.
}}

A [http://xkcd.com/1389/large/ larger version] of this image can be found by clicking the image at xkcd - which can be reached easily from here as always, by clicking on the comic number above.

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Very early draft.}}
This image shows the total surface areas of all {{w|Terrestrial_planet|terrestrial planets}}, {{w|natural satellite}}s, {{w|asteroid}}s, {{w|minor planet|etc.}} in the {{w|Solar System}}, represented as regions of a single massive landmass (in a similar style to the various [[256: Online Communities|maps]] of the [[802: Online Communities 2|Internet]] Randall has created in the past), with a [[977|Waterman Butterfly]] based map of Earth in the center for scale. Relatively small objects like asteroids, comets, and so on are grouped into two regions at the northeast and southwest corners, while tiny objects like space dust are excluded altogether (probably because their total surface area is impossible to estimate accurately, and also because any estimate would likely be too large to fit easily into the map). He has likely used this Wikipedia list: {{w|List of Solar System objects by size}}.

The {{w|gas giant}}s Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are not included, because they don't have a solid surface. If they were included, this part of the map would be a tiny speck compared to the surface area of the gas giants. Similarly the {{w|Sun}} also is not considered a solid but hot {{w|Plasma_(physics)|plasma}}; if it was included it would reduce both the original map and the gas giants to a tiny speck.

Between Earth and Titan is a tiny speck noted "''all human skin''", which obviously does not refer to a rocky surface and could be thought of as reference to the novel ''{{w|The_Silence_of_the_Lambs_(novel)|The Silence of the Lambs}}''.

The title text explains that this comic is not actually for information, it is something he thinks we should really do - that is, to stitch all the solar system's land areas together, as the comic title says. To do this, we would obviously need a gigantic ball of string and the {{w|Space Needle|Seattle Space Needle}} from Seattle. Of course this is impossible, since the land areas are on the surfaces of spheres.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Surface area of mentioned objects
!Object
!Type
!Surface area
|-
|{{w|Io (moon)|Io}}||Moon of Jupiter||4.191×107 km2 (0.082 Earths)
|-
|{{w|Callisto (moon)|Callisto}}||Moon of Jupiter||7.30×107 km2 (0.143 Earths)
|-
|{{w|Europa (moon)|Europa}}||Moon of Jupiter||3.09×107 km2 (0.061 Earths)
|-
|{{w|Ganymede (moon)|Ganymede}}||Moon of Jupiter||8.70×107 km2 (0.171 Earths)
|-
|{{w|Ceres (dwarf planet)|Ceres}}||Dwarf planet||2.85×106 km2
|-
|{{w|4 Vesta|Vesta}}||Asteroid||8×105 km2
|-
|Asteroids 1km+||Asteroid||???
|-
|Asteroids 100m+||Asteroid||???
|-
|{{w|Triton (moon)|Triton}}||Moon of Neptune||2.3018×107 km2
|-
|{{w|Ariel (moon)|Ariel}}||Moon of Uranus||4.2113×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Miranda (moon)|Miranda}}||Moon of Uranus||7×105 km2
|-
|{{w|Umbriel (moon)|Umbriel}}||Moon of Uranus||4.296×106 km2 (0.008 Earths)
|-
|{{w|Oberon (moon)|Oberon}}||Moon of Uranus||7.285×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Titania (moon)|Titania}}||Moon of Uranus||7.82×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Tethys (moon)|Tethys}}||Moon of Saturn||3.61×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Dione (moon)|Dione}}||Moon of Saturn||3.96×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Enceladus|Enceladus}}||Moon of Saturn||8×105 km2
|-
|{{w|Iapetus (moon)|Iapetus}}||Moon of Saturn||6.7×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Titan (moon)|Titan}}||Moon of Saturn||8.3×107 km2
|-
|{{w|Rhea (moon)|Rhea}}||Moon of Saturn||7.337×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Earth|Earth}}||Planet||5.10072×108 km2
|-
|{{w|Moon|The Moon}}||Moon of Earth||3.793×107 km2
|-
|All human skin||||???
|-
|{{w|Mercury (planet)|Mercury}}||Planet||7.48×107 km2 (0.147 Earths)
|-
|{{w|Mars|Mars}}||Planet||1.447985×108 km2 (0.284 Earths)
|-
|Various small moons, comets, etc.||||???
|-
|{{w|Haumea (dwarf planet)|Haumea}}||Dwarf planet||6.8×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Makemake (dwarf planet)|Makemake}}||Dwarf planet||6.9×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Eris (dwarf planet)|Eris}}||Dwarf planet||1.7×107 km2
|-
|{{w|Pluto|Pluto}}||Dwarf planet||1.665×107 km2 (0.033 Earths)
|-
|{{w|Charon (moon)|Charon}}||Moon of Pluto||4.58×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Venus|Venus}}||Planet||4.60×108 km2 (0.902 Earths)
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

1384: Krypton

2014-06-23T13:39:53Z

108.162.221.90: This is not unlikely. It is impossible. The writer was clearly on drugs or is a 13-year-old with no knowledge of physics

{{comic
| number = 1384
| date = June 20, 2014
| title = Krypton
| image = krypton.png
| titletext = Their Sun and gravity will make you, uh, something, I guess. Out of earshot from Earth, mostly.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is an [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InvertedTrope inverse] version of the {{w|origin story}} of the {{w|superhero}} character {{w|Superman}}.

In the Superman story, {{w|Jor-El}} and his wife {{w|Lara (comics)|Lara}} notice that their home planet {{w|Krypton (comics)|Krypton}} is about to be destroyed in a giant explosion, so they decide to send their baby {{w|Superman|Kal-El}} to {{w|Earth}} to save him - and there he becomes Superman.

In this comic, [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] also notice that the planet Krypton is about to explode, but instead of attempting to save a baby from Krypton, they decide to send a baby to Krypton from Earth so that he'll stop annoying them with his crying.

In the fourth panel both spaceships can be seen. The rocket containing the Earth baby arrives at planet Krypton, while the crystal star shaped spaceship containing Kal-El leaves Krypton towards Earth - this is a reference to the [http://collectingsuperman.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/stmstoryboard1a.jpg version of the spaceship] depicted in the 1978 {{w|Superman_(1978_film)|Superman movie}}, (see [[#Trivia|trivia section]]).

In the fifth and last panel we see Krypton explode.

A person with a very fertile imagination who know very little about physics and nothing about Superman could think that it could be the impact of the rocket from Earth that makes Krypton explode. Maybe it would not have exploded if Cueball and Megan had not shipped the baby off?

In the Superman movie, Kal-El carries with him a lot of information pre-recorded by his parents. During the very long trip he listens to the recordings, one of which explains that the Sun and gravity of Earth will give him (Kal-El) great powers (this is the way he becomes Superman). The '''title text''' is a satirical version of this information, given to the Earth baby during his trip: That Megan & Cueball do not have the faintest idea (or care about) what the sun and gravity of Krypton will do to him - but their best guess at what these ''mostly'' will do to him is to "make you out of earshot from Earth", which was their original reason for shipping the baby off in the first place.

While this may seem like an extreme reaction to a crying baby, people who have never experienced a child crying for a whole night may have no idea about what types of fantasies could go through one's head. During the long hours of the night, shipping the crying thing in to space may seem like a great idea. This comic could be seen as an illustration of this.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are standing near a telescope.]
:Cueball: The distant planet Krypton is becoming unstable!
:Baby crying (from outside the panel): Waaaaaa
:Megan: That crying baby is really annoying.

:[Cueball and Megan looking at each other]

:[Spaceship taking off]

:[Spaceship passing another spaceship on route to distant planet]

:[Planet exploding]

==Trivia==
*Whereas the Kal-El rocket clearly looks like the one in the 1978 Superman, a movie which is also the origin of the title text joke, the Earth baby rocket looks like any nondescript rocket. It has some features in common with the one used in [[1350: Lorenz]] as can be seen here under the [[1350:_Lorenz#Rocket launch|Rocket launch theme]] (color scheme the same, but different body of the rocket). One could also argue that it resembles some of the [http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7D1hE_0cz0/TS88t-Rs2vI/AAAAAAAAEMY/EnIOj3AGFu8/s800/SupermanOrigins.jpg various] [http://thecomicmuseum.com/superman146.jpg versions] of the rocket that brought Superman to earth as depicted in early {{w|List of Superman comics|comic books}} (Not that big a resemblance though, due to the very different tip and fins).
*As the nearest stars are several light years away, this comic does of course not make any sense if you look at it from a scientific point of view. (But can still do if you don't!).
**First of all - how would Cueball be able to see that Krypton is unstable in a telescope - as we at the moment can only just detect planets around other stars.
**And even if he did detect this and immediately shipped his baby away in a close to light-speed rocket, then it would take several years to reach Krypton (at best - more likely to be somewhere between a hundred to a thousand years...)
***Plus, because light takes time to travel, Cueball was seeing the planet as it was many years ago, meaning it had been unstable for some time already. So even for the closest star (exclusive of the earth's sun), it would be 4.3 years to see the instability and then over 4.3 more years (even with close to light speed travel) for the ship to travel, for a total of over 8.6 years from when the light left the planet until the rocket arrived there.
**As faster than light-speed travel is impossible according to the current model of our universe this option is not really relevant here.
**During all those years, the unstable planet should still keep together - in spite of being so unstable that Cueball can determine this instability with his telescope on Earth.
**And then the rocket arrives just when Kal-El is being shipped the other way a few moments before the planet explodes. Of course if the arrival of the rocket causes the explosion this would explain the last two events. Kal-El is shipped off at the last moment when his parents realizes an incoming rocket will destroy their planet... That would actually be funny!
** The previous remarks assume that Cueball and Megan are standing on Earth. The comic could be plausable if they are standing on a different planet in the same planetary system.

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

1384: Krypton

2014-06-20T23:18:36Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ Adding snarky remark to stupid comment

{{comic
| number = 1384
| date = June 20, 2014
| title = Krypton
| image = krypton.png
| titletext = Their Sun and gravity will make you, uh, something, I guess. Out of earshot from Earth, mostly.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is an inverse version of the {{w|origin story}} of the {{w|superhero}} character {{w|Superman}}.

In the Superman story, {{w|Jor-El}} and his wife {{w|Lara (comics)|Lara}} notice that their home planet {{w|Krypton (comics)|Krypton}} is about to be destroyed in a giant explosion, so they decide to send their baby {{w|Superman|Kal-El}} to {{w|Earth}} to save him - and there he becomes Superman.

In this comic, [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] also notice that the planet Krypton is about to explode, but instead of attempting to save a baby from Krypton, they decide to send a baby to Krypton from Earth so that he'll stop annoying them with his crying.

In the fourth panel both spaceships can be seen. The rocket containing the Earth baby arrives at planet Krypton, while the crystal star shaped spaceship containing Kal-El leaves Krypton towards Earth - this is a reference to the [http://collectingsuperman.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/stmstoryboard1a.jpg version of the spaceship] depicted in the 1978 {{w|Superman_(1978_film)|Superman movie}}, (see [[#Trivia|trivia section]]).

In the fifth and last panel we see Krypton explode.

Very fertile imaginations, probably on drugs, could think that it may look like it could be the impact of the rocket from Earth that makes Krypton explode. Maybe it would not have exploded if Cueball and Megan had not shipped the baby off?

In the Superman movie, Kal-El carries with him a lot of information pre-recorded by his parents. During the very long trip he listens to the recordings, one of which explains that the Sun and gravity of Earth will give him (Kal-El) great powers (this is the way he becomes Superman). The '''title text''' is a satirical version of this information, given to the Earth baby during his trip: That Megan & Cueball do not have the faintest idea (or care about) what the sun and gravity of Krypton will do to him - but their best guess at what these ''mostly'' will do to him is to "make you out of earshot from Earth", which was their original reason for shipping the baby off in the first place.

While this may seem like an extreme reaction to a crying baby, people who have never experienced a child crying for a whole night, may have no idea about what types of fantasies could go through one's head. During the long hours of the night, shipping the crying thing in to space, may seem like a great idea. This comic could be seen as an illustration of this.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are standing near a telescope.]
:Cueball: The distant planet Krypton is becoming unstable!
:Baby crying (from outside the panel): Waaaaaa
:Megan: That crying baby is really annoying.

:[Cueball and Megan looking at each other]

:[Spaceship taking off]

:[Spaceship passing another spaceship on route to distant planet]

:[Planet exploding]

==Trivia==
*Whereas the Kal-El rocket clearly looks like the one in the 1978 Superman, a movie which is also the origin of the title text joke, the Earth baby rocket looks like any nondescript rocket. It has some features in common with the one used in [[1350: Lorenz]] as can be seen here under the [[1350:_Lorenz#Rocket launch|Rocket launch theme]] (color scheme the same, but different body of the rocket). One could also argue that it resembles some of the [http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7D1hE_0cz0/TS88t-Rs2vI/AAAAAAAAEMY/EnIOj3AGFu8/s800/SupermanOrigins.jpg various] [http://thecomicmuseum.com/superman146.jpg versions] of the rocket that brought Superman to earth as depicted in early {{w|List of Superman comics|comic books}} (Not that big a resemblance though, due to the very different tip and fins).
*As the nearest stars are several light years away, this comic does of course not make any sense if you look at it from a scientific point of view. (But can still do if you don't!)
**First of all - how would Cueball be able to see that Krypton is unstable in a telescope - as we at the moment can only just detect planets around other stars.
**And even if he did detect this and immediately shipped his baby away in a close to light-speed rocket, then it would take several years to reach Krypton (at best - more likely to be somewhere between a hundred to a thousand years...)
**During all those years, the unstable planet should still keep together - in spite of being so unstable that Cueball can determine this instability with his telescope on Earth.
**And then the rocket arrives just when Kal-El is being shipped the other way a few moments before the planet explodes. Of course if the arrival of the rocket causes the explosion this would explain the last two events. Kal-El is shipped off at the last moment when his parents realizes an incoming rocket will destroy their planet...
**As faster than light-speed travel is impossible according to the current model of our universe this option is not really relevant here.
**Plus, because light takes time to travel, Cueball was seeing the planet as it was many years ago, meaning it had been unstable for some time already.
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

1382: Rocket Packs

2014-06-16T18:14:13Z

108.162.221.90: deleting funny sentence that was probably vandalism.

{{comic
| number = 1382
| date = June 16, 2014
| title = Rocket Packs
| image = rocket_packs.png
| titletext = Every year: 'It's <year>--I want my jetpack [and also my free medical care covering all my jetpack-related injuries]!'
}}

==Explanation==
For a long time, many people have speculated that in the future, everyone would travel around with rockets strapped to their backs. However, this has not come to pass.

In this comic, Randall is pointing out that the problem with personal rocket packs is not how to attach a rocket to someone's back, but other practical considerations. One might be how to keep the hot exhaust from burning the user's {{w|Calf_(anatomy)|calves}}. (Many {{w|jet pack}} designs actually do have ways to deal with this, such as moving the rockets farther from the user, but there are many other practical issues which have made this an impractical form of travel given current technology).

The title text starts with the trope [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IWantMyJetPack "I want my jetpack"]. It continues with pointing out that if people did start using rocket packs, there would also be more injuries, raising health care costs. That's something that people usually don't consider when imagining a future where these devices are commonplace.

So this year when the comics was published the demand was:
:'' 'It's 2014--I want my jetpack [and also my free medical care covering all my jetpack-related injuries]!' ''

==Transcript==
:[Text above the frame]
:Rocket packs are easy.
:[In the frame: Cueball is lying face down on the ground with his Rocket Packs on his back and his calves severely burned]
:Cueball: Ow.
:[Text below the frame]
:The hard part is inventing the calf shields.

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

1379: 4.5 Degrees

2014-06-09T13:50:34Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ We are in the 21st centuruy. The Celsius scale is not a novelty anymore. Let's talk about degrees Celsius, not degrees on the Celsius scale.

{{comic
| number = 1379
| date = June 9, 2014
| title = 4.5 Degrees
| image = 4_5_degrees.png
| titletext = The good news is that according to the latest IPCC report, if we enact aggressive emissions limits now, we could hold the warming to 2°C. That's only HALF an ice age unit, which is probably no big deal.
}}

==Explanation==

This comic is a way to visualize the change in climate predicted by the {{w|Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change|IPCC}} over the next century. The prediction, 4-5 degrees, doesn't seem like a very large change, but Randall points out that 4.5 °C is the difference between the last Ice Age and today, which is quite a substantial difference. So, to give context to the number, he measures the temperature in "Ice Age Units," or IAU. 1 IAU is defined as the change in average global temperature by 4.5 degrees Celsius (8°F). The {{w|Last glacial period|last ice age}} was 1 IAU colder than the average "modern" global temperature, and Randall's neighborhood was buried under an ice sheet. The predicted change by the year 2100 is +1 IAU, and while we don't know what its effects will be exactly, a change of +2 IAU created the {{w|Cretaceous Thermal Maximum|"Hothouse Earth"}} of the early {{w|Cretaceous period}}. In short, while 4.5 °C seems like a small change in temperature, it seems quite a lot bigger if you phrase it as "halfway to having {{w|Arecaceae|palm trees}} at the poles." There were {{w|Polar forests of the Cretaceous|polar forests}} during the Cretaceous that grew in latitudes up to 85° in both Northern and Southern hemispheres.

On the colder side, -4IAU is associated with {{w|Snowball Earth}}, a near-total freezing of the entire surface. How much of the planet was actually frozen in the {{w|Cryogenian}} period is disputed, although it is usually accepted as consisting of the greatest ice ages known to have occurred on Earth.

The oldest known animal fossils (sponges) are from the Snowball Earth, while flowering plants became the dominant plant species during the Hothouse.

It appears that the 200 m sea level rise given in the last panel for a "Cretaceous Hothouse" (i.e. if all ice on earth melted, including the Antarctic ice cap) should instead be about 70-80 m, according to {{w|Antarctica}}, IPCC (http://www.grida.no/publications/other/ipcc_tar/?src=/climate/ipcc_tar/ TAR WG1, section 11.2.3 on Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets) and [http://water.usgs.gov/edu/sealevel.html Sea Level and Climate: USGS Water-Science School]. Perhaps since this is near 200 feet, it was a case of mistaken units.

{{incomplete|Someone change the below interpretation of the title text from "cold" to hot".}}

The title text notes that even with aggressive emissions reduction, the temperature will still rise by roughly half an IAU (2 ºC). While it says it's "probably no big deal," this is probably a joke, because even half of an Ice Age would be a lot of ice.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:Without prompt, aggressive limits on CO2 emissions, the Earth will likely warm by an average of 4°-5°C by the century’s end.
:'''How big a change is that?'''
:[A ruler chart is drawn inside a frame]
:In the coldest part of the last ice age, Earth’s average temperature was 4.5°C below the 20th century norm.
:Let’s call a 4.5°C difference one '''”ice age unit.“'''
:[A ruler with five main divisions - each again with 3 smaller quarter division markers. Above it the five main divisions are marked as follows with 0 in the middle:]
:-2 IAU -1 IAU 0 +1 IAU +2 IAU
:[Next to the 0 marking a black arrow points toward 0.2 on the scale and above it is written:]
:Where we are today
:[The rest of the text is below the ruler]
:[To the far left below -2 IAU a curved arrow points to the left. Below it is written:]
:Snowball earth (-4 IAU)
:[Below -1 IAU a black arrow point toward this division. Below the arrow is written:]
:20,000 years ago
:[Below this an image of a glacier. At the top of the image is written:]
:My neighborhood:
:[At the bottom of the image is an arrow pointing to the glacier:]
:Half a mile of ice
:[Below 0 IAU a black arrow point toward this division. Below the arrow is written:]
:Average during modern times
:[Below this an image of Cueball standing on a green field with a city skyline in the background. At the top of the image is written:]
:My neighborhood:
:Cueball: Hi!
:[Below +1 IAU a black arrow point toward this division. Below the arrow is written:]
:Where we’ll be in 86 years
:[Below this a white image. At the top of the image is written:]
:My neighborhood:
:[Below this is a very large:]
:'''?'''
:[Below +2 IAU a black arrow point toward this division. Below the arrow is written:]
:Cretaceous hothouse
:+200m sea level rise
:No glaciers
:Palm trees at the poles

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

1378: Turbine

2014-06-06T13:38:16Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ Changing "is not" to "is very similar"

{{comic
| number = 1378
| date = June 6, 2014
| title = Turbine
| image = turbine.png
| titletext = Ok, plan B: Fly a kite into the blades, with a rock in a sling dangling below it, and create the world's largest trebuchet.
}}

==Explanation==

This is a pun on the term "fan". A {{w|wind turbine}} (which generates power via kinetic energy produced from the turning of its blades in the wind, and converts it into electricity) is very similar to a {{w|mechanical fan|fan}} (where the fan blades move the air around to provide a cooling effect). The other meaning of "fan" is "someone who is a fanatic" about something (e.g. a football team, a band, etc.). The wind turbine's response to Megan's plan works with both meanings of the word: it is "not a huge fan", meaning not fanatical about the idea that she has proposed; and "not a huge fan", meaning not a gigantic device which will blow air at her, as she seems to assume it is.

A {{w|trebuchet}} is a type of catapult. The [http://youtu.be/MTWsmZta6AE setup described] would not resemble the widely known counterweight trebuchet, as the energy rotating the arm and flinging the rock would not be from a raised counterweight. It would rather be more similar to a traction trebuchet.

==Transcript==
:[Megan is talking to a giant wind turbine.]
:Megan: I'll hold up a big kite, and you blow air at me until I lift off!
:Megan: What do you think of that idea?
:Wind turbine: I'm not a huge fan.

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

1377: Fish

2014-06-04T14:52:48Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ Explaining the explanation. MAD = Mutual assured destruction

{{comic
| number = 1377
| date = June 4, 2014
| title = Fish
| image = fish.png
| titletext = [Astronomer peers into telescope] [Jaws theme begins playing]
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|Fermi Paradox}} is the contradiction that arises between the high likelihood of {{w|extraterrestial life}} and the fact that no evidence for it has thus far been found.

[[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] are having a conversation regarding this, when Megan suggests that perhaps our search for extraterrestrial life is like looking at a patch of ocean floor looking for a fish. The diver knows that there must be a fish somewhere, but is unable to actually find it. She then goes on to ask why the fish would be hidden - i.e. camouflaged, and what it means about the remaining fish. The suggestion is that the fish would be hidden to avoid being eaten by predators, and perhaps the reason no extraterrestrial life is sending any sign of existence back is that they would be destroyed soon after they revealed their location.

The final panels take the metaphor further, suggesting that there is literally a planet sized shark swimming through space eating planets, and since we are panning away from earth and out to the shark it is obviously heading our way... And it turns out that Earth is the next fish!

This explains the title text that has the theme from the movie ''{{w|Jaws (film)|Jaws}}'' playing while astronomers look into their telescopes. This may also be a reference to the film ''{{w|Alien (film)|Alien}}'', which was pitched with the three word proposal "''Jaws'' in Space."

By the way, the Chinese sci-fi writer {{w|Liu Cixin}} has published a {{w|Three Body (science_fiction)|trilogy}} called "Three Body", focusing on this idea (he called it "dark forest"): what if all the visible civilizations have been destroyed? What if revealing your neighbor's location to the universe is similar to the MAD ({{w|Mutual assured destruction}}) situation? The English version should hit the market this year.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

[Cueball and Megan are walking down a hill]

Cueball: The Fermi paradox keeps getting worse. If planets are common, where '''is''' everybody?

Megan: Imagine you're a SCUBA diver looking at the ocean floor. You know there's a fish there, but you can't see it. Why?

Cueball: Maybe the fish looks like sand.

Megan: Yeah...

[Zoom out to the Earth from space]

Megan: ...and what would that tell you about the ecosystem?

[Pan to a shark swimming through space towards Earth]

{{comic discussion}}

1375: Astronaut Vandalism

2014-06-02T15:21:44Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ Deleting reference to missing template

{{comic
| number = 1375
| date = May 30, 2014
| title = Astronaut Vandalism
| image = astronaut_vandalism.png
| titletext = That night, retired USAF pilots covertly replaced the '62' with '50'.
}}

==Explanation==
Signs like this normally show the distance to places on earth's surface. This sign also has an arrow pointing away from earth and towards "space", with a distance of 62 miles (100 km), due to "astronaut vandalism".

We think of Space as being so very far away. This comic puts into perspective that it's really a lot closer to get to Space than to many destinations we're used to getting to by car or airplane. We think of 62 miles as being an easy trip on the ground, but that same 62 miles is incredibly hard when going vertically, against the force of gravity. Distance-wise, however, it's the same.

The title text states that the distance to "space" was changed later from 62 miles (100 km) to 50 miles (80 km) by retired Air Force pilots. This indicates that the pilots wanted to reduce the altitude considered to be "space", so that their own high altitude flights could be considered space flights.

The {{W|U.S. Air Force|USAF}} and other military branches will award {{W|astronaut wings}} to rated astronauts who fly higher than 100 kilometers (62 miles). The 100-kilometer barrier known as the {{W|Kármán line}} was designated as the official boundary between the {{W|Earth's atmosphere}} and {{W|outer space}} by the {{W|Fédération Aéronautique Internationale}} (FAI) in the mid-1950s. Notwithstanding this definition, some test pilots in the 1960s received astronaut wings for their greater-than-50km flights in the {{w|X-15}}. It appears that the military later revised their criteria to only award astronaut wings to those who have flown over 100km. This explains why it was retired pilots who changed the sign - so their wings (and bragging rights) would still be valid.

This comic thus both point out that the limit where space starts is arbitrarily chosen and also that space is often much closer than for instance the two largest cities in some randomly chosen location in the US.

===Possible interpretations===
There may be an Elvis aspect to this comic. The mileages are approximately consistent with the signs being in Tupelo, Mississippi, birthplace of Elvis Presley. Tupelo is about 100 miles from Graceland (Elvis' home) in Memphis, Tennessee. Tupelo is also a bit over a hundred miles from the International Rock-A-Billy Hall of Fame in Jackson, Tennessee. The mileages given by Google maps, however, don't exactly match the mileages on the sign in the comic. Instead of 98 & 115 (in the comic), Google maps gives 101 & 104.

Another possible explanation is a simple mixup. {{W|Winona, Mississippi}} is the hometown of astronaut {{W|Donald H. Peterson}}, who is a retired Air Force officer and pilot, and served as an astronaut in the early Shuttle program. From Winona, it is 115 miles to Memphis International Airport, and 98 miles to Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport ([http://www.travelmath.com/nearest-airport/Winona,+MS source]). Thus, the sign would be reasonably located in Winona, albeit with an error, and Peterson would have vandalized it (and some visiting USAF buddy of his could change it back).

The road from Jackson to Memphis is I-55 (northwards); the distance (according to [https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=jackson&daddr=memphis&hl=en&sll=33.137551,-89.802246&sspn=8.955085,10.338135&geocode=FQXX7AEdluOf-ikhG3SQfysohjGgOPBB5M0TBw%3BFd5WGAIdLPah-ilFl0PqHn7VhzH-thpgFfOT0Q&t=h&mra=ls&z=8 Google Maps]) is 210 miles. That 98+115=213 may indicate that the location is 3 miles off I-55. There is a place called "Pace" near Cleveland which is around 79 miles from Winona. The "astronaut vandalism" may have been to prefix "Pace" with an "s" to form "sPace", and then to rotate the sign. The spacing on the signs in the cartoon is consistent with the idea that the "s" was added; it is a little cramped. The "P" of "space", "M" of "Memphis" and "J" of "Jackson" are perhaps a little larger than the other letters, indicating that those might have been the original initial majuscule letters.

Based purely on the mileages, it is most likely that the sign is located in or near Grenada, MS. This makes the mileages nearly correct when using US-51 as opposed to I-55 to get to Memphis and Jackson, and also is about 62 miles from Pace, MS via Mississippi Route 8. It is unlikely, however, that a sign in Grenada would include the mileage to such a small town as Pace from such a great distance. Cleveland would be a much more useful control city for motorists. Additionally, since the viewer is looking east, Pace would be behind the viewer. Assuming the one doing the vandalism did more than simply turn and add a letter to the sign, it is possible that they also detached it from the southbound-side of the pole (where it could be viewed pointing to the west) and reattached it to the eastbound side, as shown here.

==Transcript==
:[A signpost with three arrows.]
:[Arrow pointing up:]
:Space 62
:[Arrow pointing right:]
:Jackson 115
:[Arrow pointing left:]
:Memphis 98

==Trivia==
*See [http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2004/09/where_does_space_begin.html Slate: Where does space begin?] for more background.
*This comic was published on the same day that Version 2 of the {{w|Dragon (spacecraft)|Dragon spaceship}} was unveiled.
*The mileage of the sign indicates the "[http://welcometheplutians.joelbonner.com/wp/?p=33 scene of the crime]" to be at Grenada, Mississippi.
*The development codename of Windows 98 was "Memphis".
* As said in related What If: [http://what-if.xkcd.com/58/ The reason it's hard to get to orbit isn't that space is high up. It's hard to get to orbit because you have to go so fast.]

{{comic discussion}}

1373: Screenshot

2014-05-26T13:58:14Z

108.162.221.90: Category:Comics with color

{{comic
| number = 1373
| date = May 26, 2014
| title = Screenshot
| image = screenshot.png
| titletext = I'M PLUGGING IN MY PHONE BUT THE BATTERY ON THE SCREEN ISN'T CHARGING
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|First draft}}

[[Randall]] is viewing a {{w|screenshot}} of a text-message exchange via his own phone's web browser. Such screenshots are frequently posted online, to show content ranging from [http://www.damnyouautocorrect.com/ humorous typos] to [http://www.reddit.com/r/creepyPMs creepy behavior]. In this screenshot, in addition to the text messages' content, we see a battery bar reflecting a charge of 6%. The phone appears to be an {{w|iPhone}}, a device [http://blogs.which.co.uk/technology/apple/new-iphones-still-give-shorter-battery-life-than-android-rivals/ not known for long battery life]; Randall, meanwhile, seems to be running {{w|Android}}, which generally has a longer battery life, and his charge rests at a healthy 85%.

The title text suggests that Randall has plugged in his phone to quell the anxiety induced by the 6% charge in the screenshot, but this measure is obviously unsuccessful, as charging his own phone does nothing to change the charge of the phone in the picture.

==Transcript==

:"When someone posts a screenshot of their phone,"
:[A screenshot of a text exchange, being viewed in another phone's browser. The screenshotted phone has a 6% charge, while the phone viewing the screenshot has an 85% one. The charge indicator in the screenshot is circled in red and marked with several exclamation points.]
:"I can't pay attention to the content if their battery is low."

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]

Talk:816: Applied Math

2014-05-12T19:58:58Z

108.162.221.90: explosion

Where IS the indication that she got the address from [[Black Hat]] ?[[User:Guru-45|Guru-45]] ([[User talk:Guru-45|talk]]) 10:45, 17 May 2013 (UTC)

She must have derived it via the principle of explosion. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.90|108.162.221.90]] 19:58, 12 May 2014 (UTC)

1174: App

2014-05-12T14:43:05Z

108.162.221.90: /* Transcript */ Question mark is in bold

{{comic
| number = 1174
| date = February 15, 2013
| title = App
| image = app.png
| titletext = If I click 'no', I've probably given up on everything, so don't bother taking me to the page I was trying to go to. Just drop me on the homepage. Thanks.
}}

==Explanation==
Some web sites have a {{w|mobile app}} designed for use on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. In theory this is because the main website will be more difficult to navigate on the small screen of a mobile, or some features won't work. In practice, this alternative is frequently worse than simply viewing the standard web page, for reasons offered in the comic:

*You cannot zoom or change the text size in most of these apps, a feature available on mobile browsers.
*The app is often of poor quality and is incomplete, lacks part of the content, or lacks features available on the standard web site.

The comic offers a brutally honest version of such a promotional popup. Alternatively to an app, some sites have a mobile version which is still an HTML-based website - just one that has been designed for mobile. These mobile versions (often denoted by being in an "m." subdomain) often have the same issues as above, or worse, because the sites do not have the benefit of the programability of an app.

Compounding the frustration is that some sites aggressively promote their app/mobile version with a popup message that repeats the suggestion on every visit to the site, and as the title text notes, if you reject the popup, you end up on the site's homepage, rather than the subpage you may have been trying to reach via a web search. A similar effect (where the mobile version will only load the site's main page) is described in more detail in [[869: Server Attention Span|comic 869]].

==Transcript==
:[A popup window on top of a webpage displayed in a smartphone browser.]
:Want to visit an incomplete version of our website where you '''can’t zoom?'''
:'''Download our app!'''
:[OK] [No, but ask me again every time]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Computers]]

1367: Installing

2014-05-12T14:41:47Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1367
| date = May 12, 2014
| title = Installing
| image = installing.png
| titletext = But still, my scheme for creating and saving user config files and data locally to preserve them across reinstalls might be useful for--wait, that's cookies.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic refers to the kind of "inventions" which seem new from the point of view of a {{w|smartphone}} (handheld computer) user, but have already been around for a long time on desktop or laptop/notebook computers.

[[Cueball]] has a clever idea to skip the downloading and installing of applications on mobile phones: he would host the applications online instead, and provide links to the servers.
The apps wouldn't stay on the phone all the time; instead the phone would download each app again every time the user wanted to run it.

However, web pages and {{w|web application}}s already work like this.
Clicking a link will make the browser download a web page and execute the contained HTML and any JavaScript it contains or plugin data (such as Flash applets) that it links to.

The page usually isn't saved long-term on the user's computer; instead the browser downloads it again when needed. HTML 5 does however offer the option of {{w|Cache_manifest_in_HTML5|caching web application files locally}} so it can remain operational when there is no network connection.

In the title text, Cueball's idea for local application storage already exists in the HTTP protocol as {{w|HTTP cookie|cookies}}.
More recently, the HTML 5 protocol added the more flexible {{w|Web storage|web storage}}, which does much the same thing.

Native phone applications and web applications are not completely interchangeable.
The web browser that is needed to run web applications on a mobile phone doesn't allow access to several of the phone's resources, like notifications and sensors. The {{w|Firefox_OS|Firefox OS}} project is trying to standardize access to these resources so that the entire user interface can be a web application, while projects like {{w|Apache_Cordova|Apache Cordova}} make these resources available to web applications by creating a native application wrapper for the web application.

A comic with a similar point of view is [[1174: App]]: Want to visit an incomplete version of our website where you '''can’t zoom? Download our app!'''

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are standing next to each other.]
:Cueball: Installing things has gotten so fast and painless.
:Cueball: Why not skip it entirely, and make a phone that has every app "installed" already and just downloads and runs them on the fly?

:[Caption:]
:I felt pretty clever until I realized I'd invented webpages.

{{comic discussion}}

1366: Train

2014-05-09T13:44:30Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ Not relativistic (pertaining to the Theory of Relativity) but relative (in relation to something else)

{{comic
| number = 1366
| date = May 9, 2014
| title = Train
| image = train.png
| titletext = Trains rotate the Earth around various axes while elevators shift its position in space.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|First explain - please check or correct anything I may have done wrong.}}

This comic plays on the way everything in the universe can be viewed from a relative perspective. Rather than viewing it as the train moving itself relative to Earth, Randall explains it as trains moving the Earth relative to itself.

The title text takes this further by saying that elevators do the same thing by pulling the Earth up and down, rather than moving up and down by themselves.

These examples use the train and the elevator as fixed points to define relative travel. The more common method to define movement is to use the Earth's surface as fixed point, but other reference points could be the {{w|Earth's_rotation|Earth's center}}, the {{w|Sun}}, predefined {{w|Fixed_star|"fixed" stars}} or the {{w|Galactic_Center|center of our galaxy}}. Each of these would result in a completely different movement speed.

It should also be noted that the comic's logic only holds true for single, isolated trains; if all the trains on the planet were actually causing rotation, then their mutually exclusive directions would cause jams. The trains would, however, have a minute, immeasurable effect on the Earth's rotation (see [http://what-if.xkcd.com/41/ 41: Go West] and [[162: Angular Momentum]]).

The logic of the comic also fails when taking acceleration into account. Whether the train or earth is moving can be determined by which one experiences a force due to acceleration or deacceleration when the train starts.

==Transcript==

TRAIN:

''A picture of a tiny planet (presumably meant to be Earth) with [[Cueball]] on the south, [[Hairy]] on the right, and [[Megan]] on the left. At the top is a train on tracks with another cueball in it.''

A machine that grabs the
Earth by metal rails and
rotates it until the part
you want is near you

{{comic discussion}}

1364: Like I'm Five

2014-05-05T14:22:34Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ Adding characters to the titole text, because it is confusing

{{comic
| number = 1364
| date = May 5, 2014
| title = Like I'm Five
| image = like_im_five.png
| titletext = 'Am I taking care of you? I have a thesis to write!' 'My parents are at their house; you visited last--' 'No, no, explain like you're five.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|}}
ELI5, or Explain Like I'm Five (e.g. [http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/ on Reddit]), is a way of asking for a simpler explanation of some difficult topic. In this comic, Cueball asks Megan for a simple explanation of her thesis. Megan takes it literally by acting as if Cueball is an actual five year old. A five-year-old kid standing miles away from home without his parents talking to a strange woman is worrying, so Megan pretends to panic and asks where his parents are.

The title text is a continuation of the conversation. When Cueball attempts to respond to Megan's questions, she asks him to also speak as if he is five.
:Megan: Am I taking care of you? I have a thesis to write!
:Cueball: My parents are at their house; you visited last--
:Megan: No, no, explain like you're five.

==Transcript==
:Cueball: What've you been up to?
:Megan: Doing tons of math for my thesis.
:Cueball: Can you explain it like I'm five?
:Megan: "Oh my god, where are your parents?"

{{comic discussion}}

290: Fucking Blue Shells

2014-04-25T13:52:56Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ Deleting reference to unrelated comic, which simply happens to have 3 words relevant to this comic (but not the reason for those 3 words).

{{comic
| number = 290
| date = July 16, 2007
| title = Fucking Blue Shells
| image = fucking_blue_shells.png
| titletext = You can evade blue shells in Double Dash, but it is deep magic.
}}

==Explanation==

Sometimes, something suddenly goes wrong and you can only shout obscenities at it. For instance, when the dog bites, when the bee stings, something unexpected happens, or a program crashes (i.e. a {{w|Segmentation fault|segfault}}) the victim often reacts by swearing.

For [[Randall]], however, profanities are caused mostly by blue shells in the video game {{w|Mario Kart}}. The blue shells, when fired, target the player currently in first place and stop them cold. In a close game, a player can go from first to an unrecoverable last in one hit.

The title text refers to the "{{w|Mario_Kart:_Double_Dash!!|Double Dash}}" edition of Mario Kart. This includes a technique to avoid being hit by a blue shell, but it requires skillful timing to accomplish. The term "deep magic" is a reference to {{w|The Chronicles of Narnia}}, in which Aslan explains away a seeming miracle as such.

Interestingly it seems that Randall swear more over people who use irony than over injuries!

==Transcript==
:My Profanity Usage By Cause:
:[Pie chart is shown.]
:[Injury is about 5% of pie chart.]
:[Irony is about 5% of pie chart.]
:[Misc is about 5% of pie chart.]
:[Segfaults is about 10% of pie chart.]
:[Mario Kart is about 75% of pie chart.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Mario Kart]]

1353: Heartbleed

2014-04-09T12:09:11Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1353
| date = April 9, 2014
| title = Heartbleed
| image = heartbleed.png
| titletext = I looked at some of the data dumps from vulnerable sites, and it was ... bad. I saw emails, passwords, password hints. SSL keys and session cookies. Important servers brimming with visitor IPs. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion, c-beams glittering in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. I should probably patch OpenSSL.
}}

==Explanation==
"Heartbleed" refers to a critical bug in the OpenSSL security library. This bug was publicly released on Monday, April 7th, 2014.
Due to a programming error in OpenSSL versions 1.0.1 through 1.0.1f (inclusive), attackers could read random server memory by sending specially prepared heartbeat signals to an affected server.
This exploit allows attackers to obtain random pieces of information, including, but not limited to, the servers private key(!!!), in-memory passwords, contents of open files, and much more.
More information is available at [http://heartbleed.com heartbleed.com] or under CVE-2014-0160, [https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2014-0160 CVE-2014-0160 at nvd.nist.gov]

This bug is classified as extremely critical due to the potential of unveiling the servers private key, enabling anyone to impersonate the server and/or decrypt all traffic to it (unless "perfect forward secrecy" ciphers is used, which is currently rare).
Furthermore, because the exploit occurs in the handshake phase of setting up a connection, no traces of it are logged.
I.E. You can be attacked and never be the wiser.

The mouseover text cites the {{w|Tears in rain soliloquy}}, the dying words of the replicant and main antagonist Roy Batty (played by {{w|Rutger Hauer}}) in the 1982 film ''{{w|Blade Runner}}'', implying that replicant brains use one of the affected versions of OpenSSL.

==Transcript==
:Megan: Heartbleed must be the worst web security lapse ever.
:Cueball: Worst so far. Give us time.
:Megan: I mean, this bug isn't just broken encryption.
:Megan: It lets website visitors make a server dispense random memory contents.
:Megan: It's not just keys. It's traffic data. Emails. Passwords. Erotic faniction.
:Cueball: Is '''everything''' compromised?
:Megan: Well, the attack is limited to data stored in computer memory.
:Cueball: So paper is safe. And clay tablets.
:Megan: Our imaginations, too.
:Cueball: See, we'll be fine.

{{comic discussion}}

1351: Metamaterials

2014-04-04T15:17:39Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ switch is a better word that shift

{{comic
| number = 1351
| date = April 4, 2014
| title = Metamaterials
| image = metamaterials.png
| titletext = If I developed a hue-shifting metamaterial, I would photobomb people's Instagram pics with a sheet of material that precisely undid the filter they were using.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Feels incomplete.}}

{{w|Metamaterials}}, artificially created materials typically composed of very finely structured “conventional” materials, may cause light passing through them to shift. The exact color it shifts to varies based on the design of the material.
In today’s comic, Megan uses her metamaterial (which is in the shape of a box) to switch the colors of the cliché Valentine’s Day poem, “{{w|Roses are red}}, violets are blue, sugar is sweet and so are you.”

The title text references this with Randall pondering making a metamaterial that reverses the effect of {{w|instagram}} filters, likely by placing the material between the camera and the subject just before the picture is taken.

==Transcript==

:[Picture of a red violet.]
:Megan (off-screen): Violets are red.

:[Picture of a blue rose.]
:Megan (off-screen): And roses are blue.

:[Megan holding sheet of transparent material in front of the two flowers: red violet, blue rose. Cueball stands nearby.]
:Megan: When metamaterials

:[Megan moves the object away from the flowers. Now violet is blue, and rose is red]
:Megan: Alter their hue.

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

1350: Lorenz

2014-04-01T17:49:38Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ April 1st 2014 was a Tuesday

{{comic
| number = 1350
| date = April 1, 2014
| title = Lorenz
| image = lorenz.png
| titletext = Every choice, no matter how small, begins a new story
}}

{{incomplete|All possible dialogues are not yet accounted for}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a April fools comic with crowd sourced content. Since April 1st 2014 was a Tuesday, this comic is not in the normal sequence Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

It appears that new panels may be generated by Randall in near real time as user suggestions to dialog is submitted.

The title 'Lorenz' is referring to {{w|Edward Norton Lorenz}} who among other subjects was famous for {{w|Chaos theory}}. The title is a reference to that the story line of today's comic will include most (all?) of the user submitted dialogue and hence will in nature be chaotic.

==Transcript==
:[A transcript will be difficult to create due to the branching nature of the comic.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]
[[Category:April fool's comics]]

Talk:1348: Before the Internet

2014-03-28T17:34:00Z

108.162.221.90:

I'm pretty sure that Randall doesn't make this mistake, but "Before the Internet" and "Before the Web" are two very different things in a way that old fogeys like myself (and him) tend to mutter on about when anyone younger than maybe 40 make the mistake of conflating the two.
If that's Exploit Mom, she'd probably be too young to ''really'' know times pre-Internet in the truest sense. (Although "before the layperson ''knew'' about the Internet" could be placed somewhere in the mid-to-late '90s, which ''is'' after the early '90s inception of the Web.)
Enough pedantry. Someone needs to make a more useful comment than the above, and quickly! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 06:00, 28 March 2014 (UTC)
:The person asking the question is a child-character. The adult-character then followed up with a clarification question "[Do you mean] not having a phone or computer to distract you?". Though, in your "truest sense", "before the Internet" and "the first decade or so of the Internet" would be mostly the same. The Internet didn't have much of an impact on or value to society until after it reached a certain size.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_effect] [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.64|108.162.237.64]] 07:15, 28 March 2014 (UTC)
I read a lot. Before the internet was cheap, I would go to the library on my bike, borrow 5 books (the limit), read them all and go to the library again. On a good weekend day I could repeat this 3 or 4 times. Some books I've read thousands of times. Relevant irrelevant comment[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.41|108.162.218.41]] 07:18, 28 March 2014 (UTC)
: Very impressive. Libraries are typically open for 8 hours a day, so you read 15-20 (3-4 x 5) books in 8 hours. That's about 30 minutes per book.
: A short novel is about 200 pages. I'm an accomplished reader, and I read about a page a minute. Assuming you read exclusively short novels, you managed 7 pages a minute, or 3500 words per minute, or one page every 10 seconds. That's about three times the 1000-words-per-minute limit on human skim-reading comprehension. I'm very impressed!
: This may explain why you have had to read some books thousands of times. At a reading speed of 3500 words per minute, your comprehension was likely extremely poor, necessitating you to go back many times to understand what was going on. May I suggest that in future, you read more slowly, so that you can understand better the first time? You'll enjoy what you're reading so much more.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.178|173.245.53.178]] 17:11, 28 March 2014 (UTC)

Does this comic even ''need'' explaining? Pretty self-explanatory of you ask me. —[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.237|108.162.210.237]] 08:04, 28 March 2014 (UTC)

: I think some sort of explanation relating to why this is funny. It is sort of the opposite of the standard nostalgia. Rather like our parents generation may have had a similar discussion with their parents about the invention of TV (add a generation if you are too young). When you think about it, it is a bit odd how society is keen to develop tech to make things better, and at the same time declare that things were better in the past. We sometimes get quite good expositions on this sort of thing here... hopefully someone with some sociology/psychology knowledge can explain this a bit better. {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.19}}
::Agreed it's fairly self-explanatory. The 'reverse-nostalgia' point is interesting. I guess the joke here is kind of that the Mom is making it sound like there was nothing to do before the internet, whereas in reality there was plenty to do; people weren't sitting around waiting for the internet to be invented so they didn't know that it was a thing that could be missing from their lives, it just seems that way now because we can't imagine our lives without it. In a way, it's almost a variation on the classic 'we can't watch TV, it hasn't been invented yet' joke.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.148|173.245.53.148]] 11:31, 28 March 2014 (UTC)
:::People weren't sitting around waiting for Internet to be invented. Computers already existed, so people were walking around with floppy disks (or tapes) and saying things like "It would be great if we could exchange data while sitting home ..." -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:48, 28 March 2014 (UTC)
::My main question is whether the Mom character is being serious or sarcastic - as in the way some people like to wind children up by giving them made-up answers to questions.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.148|173.245.53.148]] 11:33, 28 March 2014 (UTC)
:::Yeah, she could be messing with her by just answering with the opposite of what she's clearly expected to say in this exchange. I think the joke works both ways. [[User:Enchantedsleeper|Enchantedsleeper]] ([[User talk:Enchantedsleeper|talk]]) 15:24, 28 March 2014 (UTC)

::Of course the past was better. Before the Internet, I had lot of free time I could spend whatever I wanted. Now I'm forced to spend most of day in work. Oh, wait, that isn't because of Internet but because I was child and had summer holiday and now I'm adult. (Also, the Internet technically exists since December 1974, but for most people, mid-1990s is start of Internet and my "before the Internet" refers to that). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:48, 28 March 2014 (UTC)

Isn't this a joke on how older people say younger people don't interact with eachother unless through cellphone etc. Even if they are sitting right next to eachother--[[User:Nitho|Nitho]] ([[User talk:Nitho|talk]]) 11:59, 28 March 2014 (UTC)

;Ponytail
In [[1105: License Plate]] we can see Ponytail is a police officer. Therefore she must be at least 22, and therefore she was born before 1990. If this comic features Ponytail, then it must be set at most in 2000 (when Ponytail was 10). But in 2000 or before people didn't have smartphones. In my opinion this comic is set in 2014, and therefore the girl character is not [[Ponytail]] but simply a girl with a ponytail. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.84|173.245.50.84]] 12:44, 28 March 2014 (UTC)
:Or maybe [[1105: License Plate]] was set in 2024?
:While we are identifying Randalls characters by how they are drawn, I don't think he does. (except for Blackhat and Beret Guy) -- [[User:Xorg|Xorg]] ([[User talk:Xorg|talk]]) 13:20, 28 March 2014 (UTC)
::Of course he doesn't. In [[1344: Digits]] it was arbitrary to label one character as Cueball and the other as Guy. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.90|108.162.221.90]] 17:34, 28 March 2014 (UTC) (I'm [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.84|173.245.50.84]]).

1348: Before the Internet

2014-03-28T12:30:41Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ If this is a child it can't be Ponytail

{{comic
| number = 1348
| date = March 28, 2014
| title = Before the Internet
| image = before_the_internet.png
| titletext = We watched DAYTIME TV. Do you realize how soul-crushing it was? I'd rather eat an iPad than go back to watching daytime TV.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|First draft, please proofread and edit.}}
[[Megan]] appears with a girl with a ponytail. After been asked what life was like before the internet, Megan answered with the most basic answer possible, just describing what the girl likely already knew. When the girl broadens her question, Megan responds with what it is likely many kids think life was like before the internet: dull, boring, and eventless. Megan continues on to explain that even the fact that life was more fulfilling and engaging did not compensate for the nonexistence of the internet.
The title text goes on to include daytime television. Daytime television consisted mostly of soap operas, and children's programming existed almost exclusively before noon on Saturdays. Further, Megan also believes that dying due to lots of different types of metal poisoning (eating an iPad) would be better than going back to watching daytime TV as it existed in a pre-internet world.

==Transcript==
:Ponytail: Do you remember before the internet?
:Megan: Oh yeah, totally.
:Ponytail: what was it like?
:Megan: Not having a phone or computer to distract you?
:Ponytail: Yeah.
:Megan: It was '''''SO. BORING.''''' All the time. I just '''''sat''''' there. It was the '''''worst.'''''
:Ponytail: But wasn't it, like, more fulfilling? Engaging?
:Megan: Wasn't worth it.
:Ponytail: ''I'' still get bored.
:Megan: Not like we did.
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Internet]]

1346: Career

2014-03-26T11:25:56Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ Suppressing "citation needed"

{{comic
| number = 1346
| date = March 24, 2014
| title = Career
| image = career.png
| titletext = They'd convince me to come out of retirement for one last job: biting into a giant lump of slightly soft wax a couple of times.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|There is a probability of some nontrivial connection between those three tasks,The 'explanation' does not properly explain the comic}}
Cueball is presumably asked to answer the typical HR interview question: What is your dream job? Rather than going with the more common answers that are designed to increase the chances of landing that particular job, Cueball talks about unrealistic jobs that are fun, whimsical, and so well compensated that a little over one hour on the clock would provide enough wealth for a luxurious retirement; of course, you can have such a job only in your dreams. Some people think peeling lint off dryer traps is quite fun, but it gets boring soon, so Cueball wants to do that only for 5 minutes, followed by pressing a lightsaber handle up to things (this does not exist yet, sadly) for an hour. Then Cueball would like to retire to a life of luxury, and the only way to bring him out of it is to offer him to do another fun task till he gets bored again.

The lightsaber part is most likely a reference to the beginning of Star Wars Episode I, where Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn does exactly this.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is talking to a woman sitting behind a desk]
:Cueball: It would start with five minutes of peeling lint from dryer traps
:Cueball: Followed by an hour of pressing a lightsaber handle against things and switching it on.
:Cueball: Then I'd retire to a life of luxury.

When people ask me to describe my dream job, I'm never sure how realistic to be.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]

1346: Career

2014-03-24T12:32:57Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ dream has (at least) two meanings

{{comic
| number = 1346
| date = March 24, 2014
| title = Career
| image = career.png
| titletext = They'd convince me to come out of retirement for one last job: biting into a giant lump of slightly soft wax a couple of times.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|There is a probability of some nontrivial connection between those three tasks}}

Cueball's dream job, rather than being an astronaut or game designer or some other typical response, is to do a variety of really easy and/or cool tasks. Who HASN'T wanted to press a lightsaber handle up to things and watch it pierce through?
The alt text references a similarly easy and fun task.

Human Resources people expect applicants to say realistic jobs they dream of (dream as ''an aspiration or goal'' or ''something of unreal excellence)''. On the other hand Cueball says crazy jobs someone could dream of having (dream here is ''a succession of images passing through the mind during sleep),'' but it's impossible that anyone would pay someone for peeling lint from dryer traps.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is talking to a woman]
:Cueball: It would start with five minutes of peeling lint from dryer traps
:Cueball: Followed by an hour of pressing a lightsaber handle against things and switching it on.
:Cueball: Then I'd retire to a life of luxury.

When people ask me to describe my dream job, I'm never sure how realistic to be.

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

1345: Answers

2014-03-21T12:16:55Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ &mdash

{{comic
| number = 1345
| date = March 21, 2014
| title = Answers
| image = answers.png
| titletext = Stanford sleep researcher William Dement said that after 50 years of studying sleep, the only really solid explanation he knows for why we do it is 'because we get sleepy'.
}}

==Explanation==
Cueball claims that humans are driven by their curiosity, which is never-ending. This appears to be a riff on the recurring philosophical question of what separates humanity from the rest of the animals. [[Megan]] answers this blanket statement by observing an apparent paradox: Everyone spends approximately eight hours per day in an unconscious state of sleep, but no one has yet discovered the biological purpose of sleep. This implies that every member of the human species is confronted daily with a mystery, yet no one "loses sleep over it"—that is, almost no one is distracted by this mystery. This implies that Cueball's observed curiosity has a perceptible and proximate limit.

It should be noted that many scientists are in fact busily investigating the reasons that humans sleep, although that inquiry has not resulted in satisfying answers. Some offered explanations are: to avoid nocturnal predators, to give the body a chance to repair itself, and to allow the brain a period to sort out long-term from short-term memories.

It should also be noted that "Which is why it keeps me awake all night" would have been a better punchline for Cueball than "touché."

The tooltip makes a semi-tautological statement that people sleep only "because we get sleepy." This is an example of question-begging, because getting sleepy only means that someone is feeling the urge to sleep. This may be an oblique reference to the French playwright Moliere [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dormitive_principle], who created a satirical character who claimed to have discovered the answer to a popular question: The reason opium makes someone sleepy, said the character (a doctor), was that it contained a "dormitive principle" (i.e., something that makes someone sleepy).

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are talking.]
:Cueball: Humans are defined by our curiosity, our hunger for answer.
:Megan: We all spend a third of our lives lying down with our eyes closed and '''''NOBODY KNOWS WHY.'''''
:Cueball: Touché.

{{comic discussion}}

1344: Digits

2014-03-19T12:41:53Z

108.162.221.90: Not only Randall sees Tetris patterns in skylines

{{comic
| number = 1344
| date = March 19, 2014
| title = Digits
| image = digits.png
| titletext = It's taken me 20 years to get over skyline tetris.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The title text and Skyline Tetris is not explained}}
[http://gabrielecirulli.github.io/2048/ 2048] is a popular browser-based game in which players must move tiles in a 4 by 4 grid with numbers on them. When two tiles of the same number touch they can be merged into one tile with a value of the two tiles combined. So when two 4-tiles touch and are merged they form one 8-tile. The player can move the tiles by pressing an arrow key (or swiping in a direction on the mobile version), which will move all the tiles in that direction. Everytime the player makes such a move another tile will appear on a random cell. The goal of the game is to get a tile with the number 2048.

In the comic the room number can be seen as 4 tiles with the values 8, 2, 2 and 4. If these occur in the game the player can merge the two 2-tiles into one 4-tile. This will then cause two 4-tiles to lie next to eachother so these can be merged into one 8-tile. Finally the two 8-tiles can be merged into one 16-tile.

The title text refers to the imagining of how parts of a city skyline could fit nicely with other parts in a manner similar to how tiles in Tetris can fit nicely into a landscape of Tetris blocks (presumably to complete a row or two). Randall, as many others,[http://shirt.woot.com/derby/entry/2869/chicago-skyline-tetris-redux] apparently got hooked on Tetris so much when it came out that, for 20 years, he would look at city skylines and see Tetris-like patterns in it. Similarly, he has now been hooked onto 2048 and notices number patterns that would be desirable to obtain during the game.

==Transcript==
:[A guy is walking and Cueball is following him.]
:Guy: The talk is in room 8224.
:Cueball: Ooh, nice.
:Guy: What?
:Cueball: ...Sorry. Nothing.

:Caption: Great, now I'll spend the rest of my life noticing numbers that would make good 2048 combos.

{{comic discussion}}

1102: Fastest-Growing

2014-03-14T14:45:02Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ not "therefore" but "presumably"

{{comic
| number = 1102
| date = August 31, 2012
| title = Fastest-Growing
| image = fastest_growing.png
| titletext = I lead a small but extraordinarily persuasive religion whose only members are door-to-door proselytizers from other faiths.
}}

== Explanation ==
Using percentage of growth can be a misleading value to use for gauging the importance or popularity of something. If you have 5 members and then add 5 more, that would mean you have achieved a growth of 100%.

In the case portrayed in this comic the claim appears to be that the other person's religion grew by 85%. [[Black Hat]] attempts humorously to show the flaw in using that statistic by growing his group by 100% (therefore, presumably, first place), which he simply does by adding his friend [[Rob]] to his religion, and thus increasing his membership from 1 to 2. The other person then says that his religion has a significant number of members (and not just one or two), but Black Hat doesn't care and responds that he hopes they are all OK with being "in second place" (since the main argument from the other guy was about being the fastest-growing).

The title text is probably Black Hat parodying the entire point of having a religion. He managed to snag himself a door-to-door {{w|Proselytism|proselytizer}} who tries to convert people to a faith that is not Black Hat's faith of door-to-door proselytizers from other religions. Black Hat himself is probably a door-to-door proselytizer from yet another faith.

Another interpretation is that the title text could be another way that Black Hat could take the 'fastest-growing' claim out of context to make it meaningless. By composing his religion of the unwitting proselytizers of other faiths, he can claim the highest ratio of converts to current adherents. (Note that the amount of people converted is often exaggerated by groups that try to spread a faith.) Although the beliefs spread by his proselytizers vary widely, Black Hat is not concerned with what his so-called followers believe. Thus, he can claim the title of fastest-growing religion without having any value to his religion.

== Transcript ==
:[A man sporting a thinning comb-over is holding a black book and a clipboard]
:Person: You should check us out. We're the fastest-growing religion in the country.
:Black Hat: "Fastest-growing" is such a dubious claim.
:Person: It's true! We grew by 85% over the past year.

:[Black Hat turns to off screen right]
:Black Hat: Hey, Rob — Wanna join my religion?
:(from off screen, aka Rob): Sure, whatever.

:[Turning back, Black Hat pulls out a steno notebook and pencil]
:Black Hat: Well, looks like my religion grew by 100% this year.

:Person: We have 38,000 members!
:[Black hat starts to walk away]
:Black hat: Hope they're all OK with second place.

==Trivia==
* There is a wiki page on the subject here: "{{w|Growth of religion}}".

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Rob]]
[[Category:Religion]]

1342: Ancient Stars

2014-03-14T13:06:47Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ Changing absurd word "unfortunately" to "however"

{{comic
| number = 1342
| date = March 14, 2014
| title = Ancient Stars
| image = ancient_stars.png
| titletext = 'The light from those millions of stars you see is probably many thousands of years old' is a rare example of laypeople substantially OVERestimating astronomical numbers.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Title-text could use some extra explanation.}}
Cueball is making a common observation; many of the visible stars in the sky are so distant that it takes thousands years for light from that star to reach Earth. However, the brightest star, Sirius, also happens to be one of the nearest at a mere 8.6 light-years (in other words, the light that was arriving from Sirius in 2014, when the comic was posted, was emitted some time around August 2005). The previous US president, George W. Bush, was in office from 2000 to 2008; as Megan notes, this isn't terribly impressive.

The title-text references the fact that most normal people have a hard time imagining the large scale of astronomical numbers (for example, the distance between astronomical bodies or the size of a sun); they typically imagine them as many orders of magnitude smaller than they actually are. In this case, however, they instead overestimate both the number of stars and their distance by quite a bit. (It's frequently cited that about 5,000 - 10,000 stars are visible by the naked eye. - e.g. {{W|Apparent_magnitude|Wikipedia}} claims that there are 9,096 stars of apparent magnitude greater than 6.5, and to see most of those you need pretty good eyes and a very dark night. And at any point on Earth you will of course only be able to see less than half of these as the rest are blocked by the Earth!)

==Transcript==
:[Cueball pointing up into the night sky.]
:Cueball: Just think - the light from that star was emitted thousands of years ago. It could be long gone.
:Megan: That's Sirius. It's eight light-years away.
:Cueball: Oh.
:Cueball: Just think - the light from that star was emitted in the previous presidential administration.
:Megan: Mmm, doesn't pack quite the punch.

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

1341: Types of Editors

2014-03-12T13:39:36Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ Deleting silent H in the pronunciation

{{comic
| number = 1341
| date = March 12, 2014
| title = Types of Editors
| image = types_of_editors.png
| titletext = m-x machineofdeath-mode
}}

==Explanation==

{{w|WYSIWYG}}, pronounced, "wizz-ee-wig", is an acronym that stands for "What you see is what you get". In regards to computers, it refers to text editors in which the user can see exactly what will be published as he is typing it. The comic compares various types of editors.

A WYSIWYG editor displays the edited document in its final, typically printed, form.

A WYSIN(not)WYG, is similar to an HTML source editor, where you enter raw HTML code and are (in a different view) presented with the rendered appearance of the page. The em tag marks text that has stress emphasis

The WYSITUTWYG ("... is totally unrelated to ...") editor apparently takes your input and proceeds to ignore it entirely, instead displaying totally unrelated words.

Finally, the WYSIHYD ("... is how you die") "editor" is not an editor at all, but a pun on the multiple meanings of the word "get": If you see "eaten by wolves", you will get ... eaten by wolves. The white-on-black writing is probably a reference to the anime ''Death Note''.

The title text is a fictitious command, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta_key meta]-x machineofdeath-mode, to the highly extensible {{w|Emacs}} text editor. Emacs operates in various "modes", which are customizations for specific purposes. Placing Emacs into "Machine of Death" mode would turn it into a WYSIHYD editor. Another fictitious emacs command can be found in comic [[378]]. "Machine of Death" is a reference to the 2010 book [http://machineofdeath.net/ Machine of Death], with [[Randall Munroe]] being one of the writers. It is a collection of short stories about a device that can predict how people die from a drop of their blood. In many of the stories very unusual deaths are predicted, often in a very literal way.

==Transcript==
[There are four panels, each with different headings over them.]

[The first panel shows two titled text boxes, one above the other]
:[First panel title] '''WYSIWYG''' What you see is what you get
::[Upper text box title] What you see:
:::''Hi''
::[Lower text box title] What you get:
:::''Hi''

[The second panel shows two titled text boxes, one above the other, the same as the first box]
:[Second panel title] '''WYSINWYG''' What you see is not what you get
::[Upper text box title] What you see:
:::Hi
::[Lower text box title] What you get:
:::''Hi''

[The third panel is presented the same as the first two]
:[Third panel title] '''WYSITUTWYG''' What you see is totally unrelated to what you get
::[Upper text box title] What you see:
:::Hi
::[Lower text box title] What you get:
:::The HORSE is a noble animal.

[The fourth panel shows two titled text areas, (which are not outlined with a border), one above the other]
:[Forth panel title] '''WYSIHYD''' What you see is how you die
::[Upper text area title] What you see:
:::[White text on a black background] EATEN BY WOLVES
::[Lower text area] What you get:
:::Eaten By Wolves

1199: Silence

2014-03-06T21:03:34Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1199
| date = April 15, 2013
| title = Silence
| image = silence.png
| titletext = All music is just performances of 4'33" in studios where another band happened to be playing at the time.
}}

==Explanation==
''{{w|4'33"}}'' is a 1952 composition by American avant-garde composer {{w|John Cage}} consisting of four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence. More specifically, 4'33" consists entirely of faint ambient sounds coming from the environment, while all the players silently hold their instruments. The noise of the audience is considered part of the composition. It is Cage's most famous work, and the subject of many music jokes. Note that John Cage wrote plenty of other [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fPSz-o4zzY non-silent things].

[[Megan]] is using an app on her smartphone that analyzes music that is playing and uses an online database to figure out what it is (popular real-world examples include {{w|Shazam (service)|Shazam}} and {{w|SoundHound}}). She does this in an empty room, correctly matching ''4'33"''. ([[Cueball]] attempted to use the same app in [[1192: Humming]], but Megan hacked it there.)

The title text refers to the fact that since 4'33" is composed of the ambient sounds in an environment, if that environment is a recording studio, the ambient sound is a band playing another song.

==Transcript==
:[Megan is walking with a phone in her hand.]

:[Megan stops.]

:[Megan raises her phone.]
:Phone: Identify song recorded
:Phone: > LIVE [Beta]

:[Megan is in an empty room.]
:Phone: Listening...

:[The phone screen.]
:Positive match:
:'''4'33"'''
:'''John Cage'''

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

1338: Land Mammals

2014-03-06T12:58:43Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ Since it's very unlikely that Randall assumed 49.7 kg per person, it is more possible that he assumed the average human weighs 50 kg and the world population is 7.16 billion people.

{{comic
| number = 1338
| date = March 5, 2014
| title = Land Mammals
| image = land_mammals.png
| titletext = Bacteria still outweigh us thousands to one--and that's not even counting the several pounds of them in your body.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The division of animal blocks are clear but only 6 are labeled. Some qualified guesses as to how the other (at least the largest) blocks are divided should be possible... What about the layout of the blocks?}}

This comic shows the total weight of mankind and other land mammals.
Only in the last century or so have humans, and their pets and livestock, come to occupy such a great proportion of the earth's land mammal mass.

Per the diagram, there are 358 million tons of humans, 864 million tons of pets and livestock, of which 520 million tons comes from cattle, and 34 million tons of wild animals; for a total of 1.3 billion tons.

As of March 2014 the world population was about 7.2 billion people so the comic assumes an average human weighs of about 49.7 kg: 7.2 billion people × 49.7 kg = 358 billion kg = 358 million tons. Since it's very unlikely that Randall assumed 49.7 kg per person, it is more possible that he assumed the average human weighs 50 kg and the world population is 7.16 billion people. As more than 25% of the [http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/world-population-gender-age.php worlds population is below 15 years of age], and many people live in poverty (i.e. no chance of obesity), this estimate may be very valid, although it may at first appear on the low side.

Cattle is by far more heavy than the total human population, but we do manage to outweigh both Sheep and Pigs - which may come as a surprise - as these animals probably by far outweigh the population in the countries that produce the main part of the worlds meat from such animals.

It is interesting to note that the world's heaviest land dwelling animal - the elephant - only takes up one square! It is the only type of wild animal to be singled out in the comic.

There are 8 distinct blocks of wild animal (elephants and 7 others). There are 13 distinct blocks of pets and live stock (only the top 5 are labeled - in order of weight they are: Cattle, Sheep, Pigs, Goats and Horses). Dogs would properly also take up a large part - it could be the 6th largest, the one at the top - but how detailed are the division of species...?

Note that only land dwelling mammals are taken into account - thus no whales. It is not clear as to where, for instance, seals, sea lions and walruses belong - although they could belong to land mammals.

All other types of animals are not included. For instance, the weight of insects would outweigh us by far. Although not as much as the bacteria mentioned in the title text - they outweigh us 1000:1.

And that is without counting the part of our body weight that consist of bacteria: Several pounds. A fact that most people would properly like to ignore - which is a good reason to mention it here. These pounds are already counted as part of the total human weight.

The comic references the book [http://vaclavsmil.com/the-earths-biosphere-evolution-dynamics-and-change/ The Earth's Biosphere: Evolution, Dynamics, and Change] by {{W|Vaclav Smil}} as the source for most of the data - although a few other sources has also been used. These other sources are not referenced.

==Table of the block sizes==

*The table ranks each of the groups of blocks from 1 to 22 according to the size of the group = the number of blocks. # Blocks thus equals weight of the group in million tons = billion kg.
*There is total of 1256 blocks representing 1.256 billion tons.
**358 million tons of humans
**864 million tons of mammal pets and livestock
**34 million tons of wild land dwelling mammals

:Feel free to enter a comment on the groups especially those that are not already identified.

:The population should only be be stated (in millions) if it can found through references - the XKCD average weight (in kg) is then given from the number of blocks in the group.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: auto; text-align: center; font-size: 95%; table-layout: fixed; line-height:1.25"
|-
! Rank
! # Blocks
! Type
! Text
!Population (millions)
!XKCD weight (kg)
!Notes/comments
|-
! 1
! 520
! Pets/Livestock
! Cattle
! 1000
! 520
! They only outweighs us by weight - not by numbers - there has been a stable [http://www.statista.com/statistics/263979/global-cattle-population-since-1990/ population] of about {{W|List of even-toed ungulates by population|1 billion cattle}} since 2007.
|-
! 2
! 358
! Humans
!
! 7200
! 49,7
! According to this [http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/ population counter] there are more than 7.2 billion people in the world today (as of march 2014).
|-
! 3
! 135
! Pets/Livestock
! Sheep
! 1000
! 135
!There is about {{W|List of even-toed ungulates by population|1 billion sheep}} according to wikipedia. The {{W|Domestic_sheep#Description_and_evolution|average sheep}} weight of 135 kg seems highly exaggerated as only the rams can weigh more then that.
|-
! 4
! 90
! Pets/Livestock
! Pigs
! 1000/2100?
! 90/43?
! According to the Wikipedia the {{W|Pig#Distribution_and_evolution|population of pigs}} is about {{W|List of even-toed ungulates by population|1 billion}}. According to the [http://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/psdReport.aspx?hidReportRetrievalName=Swine+Summary+Selected+Countries&hidReportRetrievalID=1649&hidReportRetrievalTemplateID=7 2nd reference] given for this in the wiki article, there is, however, 1.3 billions, and then 0.8 billion more (probably piglets) for a total of 2.1 billion? The piglets will not weigh much though.
|-
! 5
! 39
! Pets/Livestock
! Goats
! 864
! 45
! The {{W|Goat#Worldwide_goat_population_statistics|goat popultaion}} can be summed up to 864 million from the wiki page. According to this list there are {{W|List of even-toed ungulates by population|850 million goats}}.
|-
! 6
! 29
! Pets/Livestock
! Horses
! 58
! 500
! According to Wikipedia there is a population of {{W|List of odd-toed ungulates by population|58 million}} horses. Horses can {{W|Horse#Size_and_measurement|weigh from 400-1000 kg}}. There are probably not that many foals compared to adults, as for instance for cattle and pigs.
|-
! 7
! 13
! Pets/Livestock
!
!
!
!
|-
! 8
! 10
! Wild animals
!
!
!
! The largest grouping of wild animals, less than 1/50 of the weight of cattle - although representing almost a third of all the wild land mammals.
|-
! 9
! 8
! Pets/Livestock
!
!
!
!
|-
! T10
! 7
! Pets/Livestock
!
!
!
!
|-
! T10
! 7
! Pets/Livestock
!
!
!
!
|-
! T10
! 7
! Wild animals
!
!
!
!
|-
! 13
! 6
! Pets/Livestock
!
!
!
!
|-
! T14
! 5
! Pets/Livestock
!
!
!
!
|-
! T14
! 5
! Wild animals
!
!
!
!
|-
! 16
! 4
! Wild animals
!
!
!
!
|-
! T17
! 3
! Pets/Livestock
!
!
!
!
|-
! T17
! 3
! Wild animals
!
!
!
!
|-
! T19
! 2
! Pets/Livestock
!
!
!
!
|-
! T19
! 2
! Wild animals
!
!
!
!
|-
! T19
! 2
! Wild animals
!
!
!
!
|-
! 22
! 1
! Wild animals
! Elephants
!
!
! The only wild animal to be singled out with text - also the heaviest land dwelling animal - but still only take up one block.
|-

|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:Earth's Land Mammals by weight

:[After a block to indicate the size of each block:] = 1,000,000 tons

:[Dark gray block:] Humans [Light gray block:] Our pets and livestock [Green block:] Wild animals

:[The rest of the comic consist of blocks representing the weight of mammals. Some of the blocks are labeled:]
:Cattle
:Pigs
:Goats
:Sheep
:Elephants
:Horses

:[Bottom text:]
:Data from Vaclav Smil's The Earth's Biosphere: Evolution, Dynamics, and Change, Plus a Few Other Sources

{{comic discussion}}

1338: Land Mammals

2014-03-05T13:09:27Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ Those are probably metric tons. However it should be shown if they are not.

1335: Now

2014-02-26T22:26:34Z

108.162.221.90: /* Transcript */ +r

<div class="plainlinks">
{{comic
| number = 1335
| before = The comic image isn't actually rotating this quickly, this is a faster animated picture. For the current state, see [http://xkcd.com/now/ http://xkcd.com/now]
| date = February 26, 2014
| title = Now
| image = now.gif
| titletext = This image stays roughly in sync with the day (assuming the Earth continues spinning). Shortcut: [http://xkcd.com/now xkcd.com/now]
}}
</div>

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Too many guesses, too many parentheses, maybe more. The time zones need an explain.}}
The picture rotates by 3.75 {{w|degree (angle)|degrees}} every 15 minutes (so far, and presumably forever), as does the Earth, so that it is constantly up to date in showing which regions are currently at which times of day. The picture change seems to happen half-way through a 15-minute time increment (that is, at 7½, 22½, 37½, and 52½ minutes after each hour), so that the picture is always correct for the nearest multiple of 15 minutes.

The map projection of the earth in the middle of the picture shows an {{w|azimuthal equidistant projection}} with the {{w|South Pole}} in the center which is uncommon because most times this projection has the North Pole at its center. [[Randall]] was playing on projections before here: [[ 977: Map Projections ]].

The list of cities and countries doesn't always match the map, because the list takes into account local variations in {{w|time zone}}s. The map shows the current (February 2014) configuration of time zones with respect to {{w|daylight saving time}} (also known as summer time), which is being observed at the time of the comic's initial release in parts of Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and other countries not named in this comic. If the map is to stay accurate through the year, the location of place names will have to move over the next few months as parts of the southern hemisphere go off DST and parts of the northern hemisphere go onto it, but we don't yet know whether this will happen.

In many countries, {{w|business hours}} are considered to be from 9am to 5pm. With some exceptions, including emergencies, it is generally considered rude to place a {{w|telephone}} call to someone's residence during the hours when most people are asleep (Randall portrays this time period as extending from 10pm to 8am). This may be a reference to the 10pm "cutoff" time [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0WeQJW-H3Y discussed] in an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

On midnight at UTC we can see this situation:
*00:00 UTC {{w|Greenwich Mean Time}}
::UK, Portugal
::West Africa
*01:00 UTC {{w|Central European Time}}
::Most of central Europe
::Nigeria, and many more countries belonging to the {{w|West Africa Time}} zone
*02:00 UTC {{w|Eastern European Time}}
::Eastern Europe, many countries like Bulgaria, Romania or Greece
::The {{w|Levant}} (Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Israel, and a part of southern Turkey)
::Egypt
*03:00 UTC {{w|UTC+03:00}} (East Africa Time, Eastern Europe Forward Time, and Arabia Standard Time)
::Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Somalia, and more
::Kaliningrad and Belarus
::Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and more.
::Iran is at {{w|Iran Standard Time}}, using an offset of UTC+03:30
*04:00 UTC {{w|UTC+04:00}}
::{{w|Moscow Time}}
::United Arab Emirates, Mauritius, and more
::Afghanistan is at {{w|Time in Afghanistan}}, using an offset of UTC+04:30
::Iran is at {{w|Iran Standard Time}}, using an offset of UTC+03:30
*05:00 UTC {{w|UTC+05:00}}
::Pakistan, Western Australia, Maldives and some France former colonies.
::Afghanistan is at {{w|Time in Afghanistan}}, using an offset of UTC+04:30
::India and Sri Lanka using {{w|UTC+05:30}}
::Nepal is using an much more odd offset at {{w|UTC+05:45}}
*06:00 UTC {{w|UTC+06:00}}
::Bangladesh, Bhutan...
::UK {{w|British Indian Ocean Territory}}
::Russia at {{w|Yekaterinburg Time}}, also Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
::China doesn't use only a single time zone because Xinjiang and Tibet are different.
::India and Sri Lanka using {{w|UTC+05:30}}
::Nepal is using an much more odd offset at {{w|UTC+05:45}}
*07:00 UTC
::South-east Asia
::India
*08:00 UTC
::China
::Singapore
::Philippines
::Perth
*09:00 UTC
::Japan
::The Koreas
*10:00 UTC
::Brisbane
*11:00 UTC
::Most Australian cities
*12:00 UTC
::Kamchatka
*13:00 UTC
::New Zealand
*14:00 UTC
::[Hawaii should be here]
*15:00 UTC
::Alaska
*16:00 UTC
::US West Coast
*17:00 UTC
::Denver
*18:00 UTC
::Mexico
::Chicago
::Texas
*19:00 UTC
::Eastern Canada
::US East Coast
*20:00 UTC
::Canadian Maritimes
*21:00 UTC
::Coastal Brazil
*22:00 UTC
::[South Georgia Island should be here]
*23:00 UTC
::[Cape Verde should be here]

==Technical notes==
When first posted, the picture was exactly 12 hours off. Somewhere around 5:10 UTC, this was fixed. The original version also included a listing for Inland Brazil; this could have created a conflict with US East Coast when Daylight-Saving Time begins in the US, and it has been removed.

The names used for the image files refer not to {{w|Universal Time|UTC (Universal Time)}} as one might expect but rather to the time exactly 12 hours off of that. The name of the image file linked from the page matched Universal Time during the first few hours, but the file-naming scheme did not change when the comic was corrected.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

[The comic is a moving circle with a static part. The fist two columns in the table below should show the static part. The rest of the columns show the part that moves during the day. The first static circle is divided in 22 segments representing the 24 hours of the day. Noon and Midnight actually mean 11-13 and 23-1]

{|class="wikitable"
!First static circle
!Second static circle
!First moving circle
!Second moving circle
!Third moving circle
!Fourth moving circle
|-
|Noon
|rowspan="5"|Business hours (9-5)
|UK
|West Africa
|
|
|-
|
|Most of Europe
|Nigeria
|
|
|-
|
|Eastern Europe
|The Levant
|Egypt
|
|-
|
|Iraq
|
|
|rowspan="2"|Iran
|-
|
|Moscow
|Afghanistan
|-
|6
|
|Pakistan
|rowspan="2"|India
|-
|PM
|
|-
|
|
|South-east Asia
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|China
|Singapore
|Philippines
|Perth
|-
|
|
|Japan
|The Koreas
|
|
|-
|
|
|Brisbane
|
|
|
|-
|
|rowspan="9"|Rude to call
|Most Australian cities
|
|
|
|-
|Midnight
|Kamchatka
|
|
|
|-
|
|New Zealand
|
|
|
|-
|
| 
|
|
|
|-
|
|Alaska
|
|
|
|-
|
|US West Coast
|
|
|
|-
|AM
|Denver
|
|
|
|-
|6
|Mexico
|Chicago
|Texas
|
|-
|
|Eastern Canada
|US East Coast
|
|
|-
|
|
|Canadian Maritimes
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|Coastal Brazil
|
|
|
|-
|}

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]

1335: Now

2014-02-26T14:25:50Z

108.162.221.90: /* Transcript */ class="wikitable"

<div class="plainlinks">
{{comic
| number = 1335
| before = This image isn't actually rotating this quickly, this is a gif. For the current state, see http://xkcd.com/now/
| date = February 26, 2014
| title = Now
| image = now.gif
| titletext = This image stays roughly in sync with the day (assuming the Earth continues spinning). Shortcut: [http://xkcd.com/now xkcd.com/now]
}}
</div>
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|I've never created a page for a new comic before, so there are many things to fix. Like the transcript.}}

The picture rotates every 15 minutes with the Earth, showing which regions are currently at which times of day, going by the Sun. The list of cities and countries doesn't always match the map, because the list takes into account local variations in {{w|Time Zone}}s, as well as {{w|Summer Time}} where it is currently being observed in Australia and New Zealand. The map will soon have to move the list of North American cities and regions for Daylight-Saving Time (which is the same thing as Summer Time), but we don't yet know if this will happen.

Every 15 minutes (so far, and presumably forever), the image changes. The names used for the image files refer not to {{w|Universal Time}} as one might expect but rather to the time exactly 12 hours off of that. The picture change seems to happen half-way through a 15-minute time increment (so at 7½ minutes after the hour, then 22½ minutes, then 37½, 52½, and repeating), so that the picture is always correct for the nearest multiple of 15 minutes.

When first posted, the picture was exactly 12 hours off. The name of the image file linked from the page matched Universal Time, rather than being 12 hours off as explained above. Somewhere around 5:10 UTC, this was fixed. The original version also included a listing for Inland Brazil; this could have created a conflict with US East Coast when Daylight-Saving Time begins in the US, and it has been removed.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{|class="wikitable"
!colspan="2"|Hour (Midnight GMT)
!colspan="4"|Country/City
|-
|0
|UK
|West Africa
|
|
|
|-
|1
|Most of Europe
|Nigeria
|
|
|
|-
|2
|Eastern Europe
|The Levant
|Egypt
|
|
|-
|3
|Iraq
|
|
|
|rowspan="2"|Iran
|-
|4
|Moscow
|Afghanistan
|-
|5
|Pakistan
|rowspan="2"|India
|-
|6
|-
|7
|South-east Asia
|
|
|
|
|-
|8
|China
|Singapore
|Philippines
|Perth
|
|-
|9
|Japan
|The Koreas
|
|
|
|-
|10
|Brisbane
|
|
|
|
|-
|11
|Most Australian cities
|
|
|
|
|-
|12
|Kamchatka
|
|
|
|
|-
|13
|New Zealand
|
|
|
|
|-
|14
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|15
|Alaska
|
|
|
|
|-
|16
|US West Coast
|
|
|
|
|-
|17
|Denver
|
|
|
|
|-
|18
|Mexico
|Chicago
|Texas
|
|
|-
|19
|Eastern Canada
|US East Coast
|
|
|
|-
|20
|Canadian Maritimes
|
|
|
|
|-
|21
|Coastal Brazil
|
|
|
|
|-
|}

Note: Iran and India do not have whole hour GMT offsets.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]

1333: First Date

2014-02-21T12:30:13Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ dropping quotes

{{comic
| number = 1333
| date = February 21, 2014
| title = First Date
| image = first_date.png
| titletext = I sympathize with the TPP protagonist because I, too, have progressed through a surprising number of stages of life despite spending entire days stuck against simple obstacles.
}}

==Explanation==
'TPP,' or '{{w|Twitch Plays Pokémon}},' was the first of a creative and radical new variant of streaming gameplay videos created in early 2014.

With the increasing popularity of watching video games be played (usually by 'popular' gamers known for entertaining gameplay), streaming sites dedicated to streaming gameplay were created; twitch.tv was one such site.

Whereas traditional video game streams involved the channel broadcaster or other personality playing the game, the channel "Twitch Plays Pokémon" recorded a bot playing an emulated Pokemon game. The game was given inputs by the bot based on players' messages in the video stream itself; meaning that for all intents and purposes, the watchers of the stream were playing the game, using chat "commands." The player behaved incredibly erratically, frequently getting "stuck against simple obstacles" (as mentioned in the title-text) and moving about in a strange manner ("Why are you up there?"/"Bye...Okay, coming back now"). TPP surged in popularity rapidly from its inception, reaching 80K channel viewers within a mere 5 days. Derivative channels (such as 'TwitchPlayers') soon arose, turning "Twitch Plays..." into an idea rather than a single channel - the idea of crowd-sourcing a task, such as controlling a single person (as in the Pokémon games) for erratic and often hilarious results. The stream has reached [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/twitch-plays-pokemon memetic status], and as of this writing it is still ongoing; you can participate right now.

In the above comic, Cueball and Megan are on a date, however, Megan is behaving very erratically. Cueball determines that Megan is being "controlled by Twitch," as her behavior matches well with that of the "TPP Protagonist" (whose name, canonically, is Red). Megan loudly declares at one point that she is "SAVING" her 'game progress.' Her fascination with the "cool spiral" is an allusion to TPP players' fascination with the "Helix Fossil," an in-game item regarded with a near-religious reverence by TPP players for its constant appearance (because user input often leads to the checking of the in-game backpack, where the Helix fossil and other items resided, the players jokingly decided that the protagonist was "looking to the Helix for guidance;" this quickly led to its regard as a "religious symbol.")

The title-text, as explained above, simply is a light-hearted joke from xkcd, empathizing with TPP as he has also spent real-life days stuck against simple obstacles.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are sitting at a table.]
:Cueball: So, did you grow up around here?
:Megan: I love you.
:Cueball: ...Huh?
:Megan: Waiter! One of everything on the menu.

:[Megan is now standing on her chair.]
:Cueball: Why are you up there?
:Megan: I'm stuck. This plate looks delicious. Aaaoogaoag.

:[Megan has left the panel.]
:Megan (off-screen): Bye. Ok. Coming back now.

:[Megan is sitting in her chair again, now holding a Helix Fossil.]
:Cueball: You're being controlled by Twitch, aren't you?
:Megan: Check out this cool spiral!
:Cueball: It's—
:Megan: '''SAVING.'''

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

450: The Sea

2014-02-19T13:17:34Z

108.162.221.90: Changing Category:Sex to Category:Penis

{{comic
| number = 450
| date = July 16, 2008
| title = The Sea
| image = the_sea.png
| titletext = And then a second one, to drain the sea.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] becomes introspective when contemplating the sea. The straightforward reading of "how small I really am" means he feels humbled by the sea and recognizes his insignificance on this planet. This is a common sentiment expressed in poetry, literature, and blogs.

However, in English the sentences ''I'm small'' and ''I'm big'' can also mean ''my penis is small''[http://im-small.tumblr.com/] and ''my penis is big''.[http://es.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=big&defid=3086531][http://wtfcontent.com/wtf-2500.htmlhttp://wtfcontent.com/wtf-2500.html]

The final line ''"I should get one of those pumps"'' references a {{w|penis pump}}, a device that is alleged to permanently increase the size of the male member. Anybody with access to the internet or an email account is continually bombarded with spam messages and advertisements for penis enlargement products, all of which work about as well as you would expect. That is, not at all.

Even if Cueball is not literally saying that he has a small penis, men very commonly associate their own self image with the size of their organ. Therefore, enlarging it would improve his self image and make him feel less small.

The title text suggests another straightforward way to read the word pump. Namely as a water pump to drain the ocean. Cueball is unsatisfied with the sea intimidating him, and is turning his attention to "putting the sea in its place". Of course this is impossible as the only place on Earth that will hold all that water is the sea itself. There's a bit of subversive humor in the title text since many people will think "water pump" before "penis pump"; by specifying that the first pump is not for the sea, Randall is ensuring everyone gets the full joke.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball stands on a beach at night, staring out across the moonlit ocean.]
:Cueball: The sea always makes me realize
:Cueball: How small I really am.
:Cueball: I should get one of those pumps.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Penis]]

1141: Two Years

2014-02-19T12:53:40Z

108.162.221.90: /* Transcript */ Official transcript adapted for explainxkcd

{{comic
| number = 1141
| date = November 30, 2012
| title = Two Years
| image = two years.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = She won the first half of all our chemo Scrabble games, but then her IV drugs started kicking in and I *dominated*.
}}

== Explanation ==

This comic marks the second year of [[Randall Munroe]]'s wife's battle with cancer, and appears to depict actual events from those two years.

Some explanations:
* Panel 1: Randall's wife-to-be (at that point) receives a diagnosis over the phone as Randall sits by her side supportively.
* Panel 2: Undergoing IV (intravenous) {{w|chemotherapy}}. Because of the hair loss that results from chemotherapy, many patients opt to shave their heads when they undergo chemotherapy. Her hair grows back over the course of the following panels.
* Panel 3: The two of them spending time alone together.
* Panel 4: The couple are waiting for the results of a scan. A phone is on the middle of the table that they are waiting to ring.
* Panel 5: More chemotherapy. The couple are playing {{w|Scrabble}}, in which players use letter tiles to spell words in a cross-word style. She uses the fact that she has cancer as leverage to get Randall to ignore the fact that the word she has played (zarg) is not a real word.
* Panel 6: Someone suggests they come for a visit next year, but all they can think about are the words "next year", indicating that they know the future is very much in doubt.
* Panel 7: They get married.
* Panel 8: The couple watching {{w|humpback whales}}, possibly on their {{w|honeymoon}}.
* Panel 9: Randall is paraphrasing a line from the song "{{w|Still Alive}}" ([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_S0PGu-cH4 video]) from the video game ''{{w|Portal}}'' (''"I'm doing science and I'm still alive"'').
* Panel 10: The two of them sit under a tree reflecting on the significance of the past two years.
* Panel 11: Randall and his wife have dinner to celebrate the fact that she has made it two years since her {{w|biopsy}}.
The title text is referring to a possible {{w|Chemotherapy#Neurological adverse effects|side-effect of chemotherapy drugs}}, the inability to concentrate.

==Transcript==
:[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit on a bed, Randall's fiancée is talking on the phone. The person she is talking to, a doctor holding a clipboard, is shown inset.]
:Randall's fiancée: Oh god.

:[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit together while Randall's fiancée, now bald, is receiving chemotherapy. They are both on their laptops.]
:IV pump: ... BEEEP ... BEEEP ... BEEEP ...

:[Randall and Randall's fiancée (who is wearing a knit cap) are paddling a kayak against a scenic mountain backdrop.]

:[:[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit at a table, staring at a cell phone. There is a clock on the wall. Her head is stubbly.]]
:Randall's fiancée: How long can it take to read a scan?

:[Randall and Randall's fiancée are back at the hospital again, Randall's fiancée receiving chemo. They are playing Scrabble.]
:Randall: "ZARG" isn't a word.
:Randall's fiancée: But
:CAAAANCER.

:Randall: ...ok, fine.

:[Randall and Randall's fiancée are listening to a friend speak. A large thought bubble is above their heads. She's wearing a knit cap.]
:Friend: So next year you should come visit us in the mount... [the rest is obscured by a thought bubble].
:Randall & Randall's fiancée: (thinking) "Next year"

:[Randall and Randall's fiancée (with short hair) getting married, a heart above their heads. Randall's wife's hair is growing back a little.]

:[Randall and Randall's wife (wearing a knit cap) stand on a beach, watching a whale jump out of the water.]
:<<FWOOSH>>

:[Randall's wife is sitting at a desk with several books and a laptop. Randall stands behind her. Her hair has grown back a little more.]
:Randall: Hey - you're doing science, and you're still alive.
:Randall's wife: Yeah!

:[Randall and Randall's wife sit under a tall tree on a hill.]
:Randall: It's really only been two years?
:Randall's wife: They were big years.

:[Randall and Randall's wife sit at a table in a fancy restaurant, the waiter brings them a dish with a cover on it. Her hair has grown back more.]
:Waiter: Happy.. anniversary?
:Randall's wife: Biopsy-versary!
:Waiter: ...eww.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Cancer]]

1330: Kola Borehole

2014-02-14T15:29:22Z

108.162.221.90: see also

{{comic
| number = 1330
| date = February 14, 2014
| title = Kola Borehole
| image = kola_borehole.png
| titletext = Tonight's top story: Lucifer, the Prince of Darkness, died in his home this morning at the age of [unintelligible rune]. Due to the large number of sharks inhabiting his former kingdom, no body could be recovered.
}}

==Explanation==

The {{w|Kola Superdeep Borehole}} is the result of a scientific drilling project by the Soviet Union in what is now north-western Russia that began in 1970 and continued through 1992 . It was an attempt to drill as far into the Earth as possible. The deepest hole reached 12,262 metres (40,230 ft).

[[Megan]] suggests that there is a hoax/rumour that the drilling hit a super-hot cavern from which screams emanated. Although super-hot temperature was the reason the project was abandoned, there is no evidence of any chamber of voices being discovered. As Megan notes, the hoax plays on the popular notion that {{w|Hell}} is literally a physical place below us (therefore by definition, towards the centre of the Earth), whereas Heaven is above us; often depicted in the clouds.

Megan suggests that the miners therefore sealed the hole to “seal in” Hell; there is no mention in the Wikipedia article about the hole being sealed, and given potential future scientific data, the 22 years spent drilling and the cost of sealing the hole, it seems likely that when it was abandoned, the hole was left intact.

[[Black Hat]] suggests that if the Hoax were true and the miners did believe they’d drilled into Hell, a better alternative to sealing the hole would have been to dig a canal to the ocean, thereby allowing water to flow into the hole and into Hell. Given the common depiction of a subterranean hell is characterized by fire and brimstone and extreme heat, filling hell with water would both drastically alter the landscape, and presumably shortly thereafter, entirely flood Hell.

Megan never though of that possibility and compliments Black Hat’s ingenuity by suggesting that if there were ever a real conflict with Hell, she would want to be “on his side”, given his clever suggestion on how to destroy Hell. He responds by suggesting that Megan is “nice” and therefore probably won’t be on his side. This suggests Black Hat considers himself evil and thinks he would be fighting [i]for[/i] Hell, rather than against it.

The title text parodies a non-descript news report of a person’s death. In this case it is about {{w|Lucifer}} being killed by Black Hat carrying out his plan to flood Hell. However, the report is written in a non-descript way that ignores the presumed sensationalism of the story (i.e. that Hell exists and has been flooded). It is notable that “Lucifer” is often used in modern times to refer to {{w|Satan}} and both are used to refer to the “leader” or “keeper” of Hell, although they are not biblically the same entity, and are not tied directly to hell. Much of the modern image of Hell is derived from Dante’s “{{w| Inferno (Dante) |Inferno}}” along with a variety of additional details which have been added and changed throughout the years.

==See also==
[[1040: Lakes and Oceans]], [http://xkcd.com/1040/large/ 1040 large], on the right hand side.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Black Hat are sitting in front of their laptops.]
:Megan: Ever hear of the Kola Borehole?
:Black Hat: No -- what's that?
:Megan: A Soviet project to drill deep into the Earth's crust.

:Megan: There's a hoax report claiming that their drill broke through into a superhot cavern, and when they lowered a microphone into the hole, they heard tormented screaming. People say that's why the miners sealed the well and abandoned the project.

:Black Hat: Why would anyone ''believe'' that story?
:Megan: I guess some people think Hell is literally an underground place.

:Black Hat: No -- I mean, why would the miners seal the opening? Why not just dig a canal connecting it to the ocean? Unless they '''''like''''' Hell.

:Megan: ...If there's ever a war between Earth and Hell, I hope I'm on '''''your''''' side.
:Black Hat: You seem nice; you probably won't be.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Religion]]

37: Hyphen

2014-02-12T17:03:30Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ Don't be silly. In American English ass almost never means donkey

{{comic
| number = 37
| date = October 28, 2005
| title = Hyphen
| image = hyphen.jpg
| titletext = I do this constantly
}}

==Explanation==
This is the first "[[My Hobby]]" comic in ''[[xkcd]]''. In these comics, [[Randall]] suggests an obscure activity or pastime he enjoys which he declares as his "hobby". In the premiere "My Hobby" comic, Randall's hobby is mentally re-interpreting what people mean when they say "[adjective]-ass [noun]" by moving the hyphen to after the word "ass" instead of before.

The semi-{{Wiktionary|scatological}} suffix "-ass" is used as an intensifier in informal US English speech, usually attached to an adjective directly modifying a noun, as in "big-ass car" or "funny-ass comedian". In this comic, [[Cueball]] is exploring the increased humor aspect of changing "-ass" from a suffix modifying the adjective, to "ass-", a prefix modifying the noun, yielding a "big ass-car" or a "funny ass-comedian", the former presumably being a large car for carrying buttocks, the latter being a humorous comedian specializing in jokes about lower back. The prefix "ass-" may also have a negative connotation, indicating that something is disliked. An "ass-car" may be a very crappy car, for example.

Another explanation would be that, since this suffix/prefix refers to an element of human anatomy, the car would be in the shape of said anatomical piece.

==Transcript==
:My hobby: whenever anyone calls something an [adjective]-ass [noun], I mentally move the hyphen one word to the right.
:[Cueball is talking to a friend about a car that resembles a Volkswagen Beetle.]
:Cueball: Man, that's a sweet ass-car.

==Trivia==
*Original comment from [[Randall]]: "Tune in Monday for the conclusion to the story of the boy and his barrel." The comic posted on Monday was [[25: Barrel - Part 4]], which really wasn't the conclusion of the story of the boy and his barrel.
*This is the twenty-fifth comic originally posted to livejournal. The previous was [[23: T-shirts]]. The next was [[25: Barrel - Part 4]].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Language]]

1329: Standing

2014-02-12T12:49:23Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ lowercase

{{comic
| number = 1329
| date = February 12, 2014
| title = Standing
| image = standing.png
| titletext = At first I was making fun of them, but joke's on me--the deer is surprisingly ergonomic, except for the kicks.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Start made on explanation. Please expand.}}

{{w|Standing desk}}s are a current fad in modern tech companies. Supposedly more ergonomic and comfortable than sitting all day, they can be combined with treadmills or stationary bicycles to enable exercise to be taken while working. In the comic, Cueball tells Megan that standing desks are still not the apex of innovation, and straps a computer to a deer to provide constant exercise while working.

The title text takes this a step further, saying that the deer was surprisingly ergonomic, apart from the kicks (which would, presumably, be quite debilitating).

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

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

61: Stacey's Dad

2014-02-05T20:49:30Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 61
| date = February 8, 2006
| title = Stacey's Dad
| image = staceys_dad.jpg
| titletext = I bet she gets you to mow the lawn, doesn't she?
}}

==Explanation==
This comic refers to the song "{{w|Stacy's Mom}}", by {{w|Fountains of Wayne}}. As the background singers repeatedly say, "Stacy's mom has got it goin' on."

Here are the lyrics for the second verse:
:Stacy, do you remember when I mowed your lawn? (mowed your lawn)
:Your mom came out with just a towel on (towel on)
:I could tell she liked me from the way she stared (the way she stared)
:And the way she said, "You missed a spot over there" (a spot over there)
:And I know that you think it's just a fantasy
:But since your dad walked out, your mom could use a guy like me

(chorus)
:Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
:She's all I want, and I've waited so long
:Stacy, can't you see you're just not the girl for me
:I know it might be wrong,
:but I'm in love with Stacy's mom

The humor in this is that in the song the singer finds Stacy's Mom desirable, but in the comic the dad, who walked out, is saying that she is very undesirable and the singer should run away while he still can. "That woman has a lot going on" alludes directly to the first line of the chorus, but refers to the things that are going on in a negative, rather than a positive, light.

The title text elaborates on this idea, implying that she manipulated the singer to mow her lawn.

==Transcript==
:Stacey's Dad: Look, I know you think that since I walked out she could use a guy like you. But trust me. That woman has got a lot going on, and you want none of it. Get out while you still can.

:[Printed across the bottom of the panel.]
:Stacey's dad.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Music]]

713: GeoIP

2014-02-04T19:17:55Z

108.162.221.90: Deleting Category:Sex

{{comic
| number = 713
| date = March 12, 2010
| title = GeoIP
| image = geoip.png
| titletext = 'Meet hot young singles in your mom's basement today'? Man, screw you, GeoIP.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Geolocation|GeoIP}} is a service that converts IP addresses to their respective location on the earth. This is done by looking up the IP address in a database maintained by various Internet Service providers. Advertisers often take advantage of the {{w|Keeping up with the Joneses|Joneses effect}} by creating localized ads which misleadingly appear to be specific to your location, but are often simply stock photographs with the name of the nearest town superimposed on top.

The comic satirizes this phenomenon. The {{w|International Space Station}} has a data downlink, which presumably has some public-facing IP address on the (Earth-based) internet. In this comic, [[Cueball]] trolls the advertisers from onboard the ISS, by inserting his actual location ({{w|low Earth orbit}}) into the database under that IP address. Thus, the advertisements claim that there are "local girls" in low Earth orbit. Since all the crewmembers of the ISS know each other (and we can be reasonably certain that nobody else lives in low Earth orbit), Cueball underlines the obvious lie in GeoIP-based advertising.

The title text refers to how specific GeoIP can get. However, knowing that someone is in their mom's basement is hyperbole.

==Transcript==
:[External view of a satellite orbiting Earth. Dialog comes from within.]
:Cueball: Yes!
:Ponytail: What?
:Cueball: I got our downlink into a GeoIP database.

:[Internal view of the satellite, Cueball and Ponytail are floating about, Cueball is at a computer mounted to the wall.]
:Ponytail: Why?
:Cueball: To mess with our advertisers. Check it out.

:[An ad reads "Meet local girls in Low Earth Orbit tonight!" and has two photos of girls in sexy poses, one captioned "Tanya, 18" and the other "Amber, 19". Below them is a button that reads "CHAT LIVE".]

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

1324: Weather

2014-01-31T13:57:50Z

108.162.221.90: 18z

{{comic
| number = 1324
| date = January 31, 2014
| title = Weather
| image = weather.png
| titletext = At least if you're really into, like, Turkish archaeology, store clerks aren't like 'hey, how 'bout those Derinkuyu underground cities!' when they're trying to be polite.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Hairy]] makes a casual comment about the weather and [[Cueball]] responds with detailed information about the current weather system and forecasts, which Hairy probably wasn't interested in at all.

{{w|Jet stream|Jet streams}} are strong air currents high in the atmosphere which have a big influence on the weather.

The {{w|Global Forecast System}} (NCEP-GFS) is a computer model used by the {{w|National Weather Service}} to predict the weather up to 16 days in advance. The model is run 4 times a day and the output is distinguished by the UTC hour is was started (18z in this case).

18z (or better 18Z) is UTC 18:00 (6 PM in Greenwich, England, 10 AM in California). See {{w|ISO 8601}} in Wikipedia.

Part of the prediction is the {{w|atmospheric pressure}} expressed in {{w|Bar (unit)|mbar}} (or mb). 960 mbar is very low pressure, which is usually associated with seriously bad weather (record low pressure for Minessota was 963 mbar till 1998).

Store clerks are known for small talk about the weather as part of their sales talk. In title text, a clerk instead makes small talk about {{w|Derinkuyu Underground City|Derinkuyu Underground Cities}}, one of the most well-known {{w|History of Turkey|archaeological sites in Turkey}}, which is a country very well known for its many well-preserved ancient sites from a broad range of time periods. It would be very tempting for Turkish archaeology geek to launch into a detailed conversation on the subject or related news.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Hairy are talking.]
:Hairy: So, how 'bout this weather?
:Cueball: I ''know,'' right? The whole jet stream layer is ''nuts!''
:Hairy: Um, sure...
:Cueball: The 18z GFS forecasts 960mb by Tuesday. Think it'll verify?
:Hairy: What?
:Cueball: ...Right. Sorry. Uh, yeah! Weather sure has been crazy.
:Weather geeks have it tough.
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]

1324: Weather

2014-01-31T13:52:35Z

108.162.221.90: Adding paragraphs

{{comic
| number = 1324
| date = January 31, 2014
| title = Weather
| image = weather.png
| titletext = At least if you're really into, like, Turkish archaeology, store clerks aren't like 'hey, how 'bout those Derinkuyu underground cities!' when they're trying to be polite.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Hairy]] makes a casual comment about the weather and [[Cueball]] responds with detailed information about the current weather system and forecasts, which Hairy probably wasn't interested in at all.

{{w|Jet stream|Jet streams}} are strong air currents high in the atmosphere which have a big influence on the weather.

The {{w|Global Forecast System}} (NCEP-GFS) is a computer model used by the {{w|National Weather Service}} to predict the weather up to 16 days in advance. The model is run 4 times a day and the output is distinguished by the UTC hour is was started (18z in this case).

Part of the prediction is the {{w|atmospheric pressure}} expressed in {{w|Bar (unit)|mbar}} (or mb). 960 mbar is very low pressure, which is usually associated with seriously bad weather (record low pressure for Minessota was 963 mbar till 1998).

Store clerks are known for small talk about the weather as part of their sales talk. In title text, a clerk instead makes small talk about {{w|Derinkuyu Underground City|Derinkuyu Underground Cities}}, one of the most well-known {{w|History of Turkey|archaeological sites in Turkey}}, which is a country very well known for its many well-preserved ancient sites from a broad range of time periods. It would be very tempting for Turkish archaeology geek to launch into a detailed conversation on the subject or related news.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Hairy are talking.]
:Hairy: So, how 'bout this weather?
:Cueball: I ''know,'' right? The whole jet stream layer is ''nuts!''
:Hairy: Um, sure...
:Cueball: The 18z GFS forecasts 960mb by Tuesday. Think it'll verify?
:Hairy: What?
:Cueball: ...Right. Sorry. Uh, yeah! Weather sure has been crazy.
:Weather geeks have it tough.
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]

1323: Protocol

2014-01-29T12:17:04Z

108.162.221.90: /* Explanation */ Eve is a proper name but eavesdropper isn't

{{comic
| number = 1323
| date = January 29, 2014
| title = Protocol
| image = protocol.png
| titletext = Changing the names would be easier, but if you're not comfortable lying, try only making friends with people named Alice, Bob, Carol, etc.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|check grammar, explain better Alice and Bob, and adding links to other comics related with cryptography}}
Alice, Bob, and Eve are names usually used in cryptographic conversations. Talking about "Person A", "Person B", "Person C", and so on gets awkward, so names beginning with each letter are used instead. Eve is short for "eavesdropper" - a person trying to find out what's being said in the conversations between the other people. The classic situation involves Alice wanting to send a secret message to Bob, while Eve (the eavesdropper), attempts to read the message, ideally without Alice or Bob ever finding out. Additional participants such as Carol (Person C) can be added if necessary. The list of names has become very standardised over time. (More information on Wikipedia: {{w|Alice and Bob}}).

The joke here is that any computer scientist, hearing the names used, will think that they are listening to a cryptography problem. By using this, you can force them to listen any boring story just by changing the names, and using the list of names usually used in these examples. The story being a boring one actually helps with this effect: the fewer unique details, the more it sounds like a general problem.

The title text just shows a more radical approach to the problem, for the people who don't want to lie. In this approach instead of changing the names, you only make friends with people who have appropriate names already.

In comic [[177: Alice and Bob]] these names are also used in the same context and we meet Eve.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is telling a story to a Computer Scientist who is seated at his desk.]
:Cueball: Alice sends a message to Bob saying to meet her somewhere.
:Computer Scientist: Uh huh.
:Cueball: But Eve sees it, too, and goes to the place.
:Computer Scientist: With you so far.
:Cueball: Bob is delayed, and Alice and Eve meet.
:Computer Scientist: Yeah?
:I've discovered a way to get computer scientists to listen to any boring story.

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