explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1261: Shake That

2014-07-22T06:01:14Z

108.162.222.78:

Worst xkcd Ever! [[Special:Contributions/78.55.145.25|78.55.145.25]] 08:31, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Hey, it's not the worst xkcd ever. What about the early xkcd strips, where most of them were just sketches or drawings? [[User:GameZone|GameZone]] ([[User talk:GameZone|talk]]) 08:37, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Surely "Worst. xkcd. Ever!" No? Turning to the explanation, I like the phase lag explanation. Never thought of sexual exhibitionism in those terms before.--[[Special:Contributions/203.166.249.26|203.166.249.26]] 08:46, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

:The explanation is definitely pushing this strip up. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:30, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Hugely impressed by the explanation. I would never have thought you could write so much about such a dry comic. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 09:34, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

This explanation makes me so happy. Make an account, anonymous user at IP 220.224.246.97 and come collect your praise for such a great explanation! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:27, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Perhaps the XKCD website was hacked? {{unsigned ip|‎88.174.225.205}}

Truly stunning explanation. Come and collect your internets. [[Special:Contributions/78.105.231.184|78.105.231.184]] 20:49, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Haha, PHASE LAG cracked me up. Props for the explanation; I didn't understand the comic at all. {{unsigned ip|223.239.158.130}}

:+++1 for the whole *phase lag* line!{{unsigned ip|92.230.220.144}}

To the nay-sayers: "<nowiki>[XKCD is]</nowiki> A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and '''language'''." Quit with the downers, man, and get with the groove!

(Also, it'd probably be a general rule that, paid-for bodysculpting aside, a girls breasts and/or buttocks have a good chance of being like those of her mother. Thus she 'gives you'(/her) that big butt (''not'' a universally desirable feature amongst womankind) or set of boobies that the DJ/MC/whoever is probably after encouraging the physical highlighting of. But that's a boring (and only half right) detail about the explanation. All praise to the current version, and don't add any more to it on my account.) [[Special:Contributions/31.126.86.231|31.126.86.231]] 19:17, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Interpreting a "yo mama" line literally was also done in [[502: Dark Flow]]; that connection may give this one similar poignance... [[Special:Contributions/90.197.95.152|90.197.95.152]] 19:24, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Female breast endowment genes don't express in men. Therefore, although a woman's breast size will about equally correlate (on average) with her maternal grandmother as with her paternal grandmother, it is most definitely more correlated with her mother's bust size than her father's. I'm trying to find a way to add that to the explanation too, but can't find the right pithy phrasing. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 20:20, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

This is now my favorite description --[[Special:Contributions/108.3.190.56|108.3.190.56]] 21:04, 8 September 2013 (UTC)

Moved out of main explanation, and here, since it is tangential:
While the line is used in a male-watching-female context, there is nothing to preclude the reverse, or indeed any alternative sexual orientation and fetishes. It is, however, an applicable one if he/she considers his/her body as something given to her by her mother. This is not entirely spurious a consideration either. Aside from the fact that each human child starts off as an egg in the mother's body, with only a small percentage (at an atomic mass accounting level) of mass inherited from the father, almost all the anabolic material responsible for conferring the birth mass of a baby is obtained through the mother - and from the nutrients she processes. Additionally, female breast size genes don't generally affect bust size in men. Therefore, although a woman's breast size will about equally correlate (on average) with her maternal grandmother as with her paternal grandmother, it is most definitely more correlated with her mother's bust size than her father's.{{unsigned ip|148.87.19.222}}

小撸怡情，大撸伤身，强撸灰飛煙滅 {{unsigned|GorgeousY}}
:It's Chinese, Google translate shows this: "Small line and cheer, great line and beverages, strong line and ashes". This site is English so we don't need different languages without an explain. This here is just spam! --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:14, 6 October 2013 (UTC)
::Google translate is horribly imperfect. He seems to be repeating an often made and coherent comment on character. We have little right to censor his speech, although we really should provide appropriate channels for foreign-language visitors. I'll look into that. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:42, 6 October 2013 (UTC)
:::You are correct, Google translate is horrible. It just gives a first hint what the meaning could be. In my opinion this is still spam. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:25, 6 October 2013 (UTC)
::::Spam is when a deliberate effort is made to deface the page by putting up gibberish. He's quoting a relevant Chinese semi-meme, that's not spam. We're just not providing him an appropriate outlet for his post. SlashMe wasn't spamming your talk page when he posted in German there, even if the majority of users don't know what you two said, me included. The solution would be alternate language support, not censorship. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:33, 6 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::The line could possibly mean "masturbate rarely and enjoy, masturbate often and hurt your body, masturbate strongly (too often?) and turn into ashes". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.222.78|108.162.222.78]] 06:01, 22 July 2014 (UTC)

1392: Dominant Players

2014-07-09T16:56:59Z

108.162.222.78: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1392
| date = July 9, 2014
| title = Dominant Players
| image = dominant_players.png
| titletext = When Vera Menchik entered a 1929 tournament, a male competitor mocked her by suggesting that a special 'Vera Menchik Club' would be created for any player who lost to her. When the tournament began, he promptly became the first member of said club, and over the years it accumulated a large and illustrious roster.
}}

A large version of this comic is available [http://xkcd.com/1392/large here].

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Probably needs more detail.}}
The comic shows the rise and fall of players' strengths in two games, {{w|basketball}} and {{w|chess}}. For chess, there is an overall chart, and a women's chart.

For basketball, it uses a player efficiency rating.

For chess, it uses the {{w|Elo rating}}. It explains that since Elo is relatively new (it was adopted by the World Chess Federation, FIDE, in 1970), the rating is extrapolated backwards in time.

There are several references. Some are intended to provide context (such as "Loses to Deep Blue"), while others are tangents or jokes, including:

* Jerry West - The Guy in The NBA logo
* Kareem Abdul Jabbar - {{w|Airplane (film)|Airplane}} (a comedy film he had a role in)
* Michael Jordan - {{w|Space Jam}} (a comedy starring Jordan)
* Lebron James - The Decision (a reference to a heavily hyped decision as to which team he would play for)
* Kira Zvorykina - It says "Continued playing in tournaments into the 20th century". The 20th century is the 1900's in which Zvorkina was born (on September 29, 1919 according to Wikipedia). However, Zvorykina continued playing into the 21st century; [http://ratings.fide.com/individual_calculations.phtml?idnumber=13500392&rating_period=2008-01-01&t=0 her last games rated by the World Chess Federation] date from October 2007. Thus, the remark is most likely a mistake.

The starbursts are references to a player appearing or disappearing in unusual circumstances:

* Alexander Alekhine- Died under disputed circumstances in Portugal
* Bobby Fischer - Text says "Vanished...". He did not actually vanish, but he did stop playing competitively for about 20 years starting in 1972. This is also probably a reference to the film {{w|Searching for Bobby Fischer}}, which is not actually about Fischer, but about a player who partly models his career on Fischer's. The name "Searching for Bobby Fischer" may lead people to believe Fischer literally vanished, but that is not the case.
* Bobby Fischer "Reappeared then vanished again" is another reference to Fischer, who resumed playing competitively in 1992 for a brief time. "He had problems" is a simplistic description of issues and controversies in Fischer's later life, including an arrest warrant (because he violated a U.S. embargo against Yugoslavia), unpaid taxes, controversy about his statements (including anti-semitism). The U.S. eventually revoked his passport, and he was jailed for eight months in Japan. He then received Icelandic citizenship, and lived out the rest of his life there.
* Vera Menchik - She died in an attack by an early guided missile (a {{w|V-1 flying bomb}}) launched by the Germans in World War II.

Judit Polgar, the strongest woman chess player ever, is shown rising from the gender-defined ranks of women's chess and breaking into the top 10 in the world FIDA ratings. She ranked eighth in the world in 2005.

Chess players Vladimir Kramnik and Levon Aronian, who have faced each other on multiple occasions in the 2010s, are shown as having their career paths entwined.

It is unknown why some NBA players were excluded from the NBA chart in favor of players with lower career and yearly efficiency ratings. Example: Tim Duncan, Charles Barkley, Oscar Robinson, Kobe Bryant, and Chris Paul should all arguably be included.

It is also unknown why former Chess Grandmaster [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viswanathan_Anand Viswanathan Anand] has not been included in the Chess Chart. Anand is one of six players in history to break the 2800 mark on the FIDE rating list. He occupied the number one position in several rating lists between 2007 and 2011. It is possible that Randall is a huge fan of Carlsen and biased against Anand as evinced by the comic [[1287:_Puzzle]] (Chess in a 'Go' board - there are no alternate coloured squares as required by chess), though the interpretation of the comic and its comment appear to be a double-edged matter of debate.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
[[Category:Large drawings]]

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1392: Dominant Players

2014-07-09T16:37:38Z

108.162.222.78:

This may be related to the recent MOBA segregation controversy: http://www.pcgamer.com/uk/2014/07/02/hearthstone-tournament/ {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.25}}

What is the significance of the line colors? {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.78}}
:I think the red lines are those players that were undisputed #1 for a significant period. [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 08:02, 9 July 2014 (UTC)
: But Petrosian has no colored line, although he was world champion. Maybe he did not have the highest ELO rating despite being WC?[[User:Jkrstrt|Jkrstrt]] ([[User talk:Jkrstrt|talk]]) 09:23, 9 July 2014 (UTC)
:Ya, this line colouring thing is bugging me. :P [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:22, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

Dashed lines are apparently for the period before ELO ratings existed, taking 1965 as a start point (midway between the point in time when ELO rating was adopted by USCF and FIDE, respectively. There seems to be an exception for Alekhine -or is that a very long dash? [[User:Jkrstrt|Jkrstrt]] ([[User talk:Jkrstrt|talk]]) 09:23, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

Naughty Randall, always label your axes! [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 08:00, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

The comment in the women's rankings about Kira Zvorykina is a little odd. One would hope she continued playing in tournaments into the 20th century, given that the first 81 years of her life were in the 20th century. {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.220}}

While at the time, the V-1 was called a "Flying Bomb", wikipedia indeed calls it an early pulse-jet ancestor of the modern cruise missile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-1_flying_bomb . I built a model of one in an 8th grade rocketry club, replacing the pulse jet with an Estes D-6-0. Mine took off, but sure enough, yes, the stubby wings stalled easily, the flight path was a weird s curve as the wings stalled out twice while under thrust.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 09:03, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

Link to the game against Deep Blue, anybody? Also, shouldn't the title text be at least mentioned? [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.71|199.27.128.71]] 09:13, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

Kasparov-Deep Blue Games: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1014770 {{unsigned ip|141.101.64.131}}

The explanation says in the first sentence that for chess there's an overall rating and a woman's rating in the comic. All I see is a men's rating and a woman's rating, no overall rating, however. {{unsigned ip|108.162.254.24}}
: As Judith Polgar is present in the first chart, it appears to be an overall, not specifically a men's chart.[[User:Jkrstrt|Jkrstrt]] ([[User talk:Jkrstrt|talk]]) 11:37, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

Anyone knows why Viswanathan Anand is not included (or am I blind?) Marty / [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.43|141.101.104.43]]
I had the exact same question. It appears that this is a West and Russian centric view of the world [[User:Indianrediff|Indianrediff]] ([[User talk:Indianrediff|talk]]) 13:23, 9 July 2014 (UTC)
No. Koneru Humpy is mentioned. He's a big Carlson fan and I think he doesn't like Anand. One of his old comics suggested that. Probably never realised Anand met and beat Carlson back in 2008. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.222.78|108.162.222.78]] 16:37, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

It's Julius Erving not Irving. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.151|173.245.54.151]] 13:27, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

The choice of basketball and chess is something to think about. This mostly is about chess, and basketball represents the physical sports. It immediately stands out that chess players have much longer careers than basketball players. [[User:Jim E|Jim E]] ([[User talk:Jim E|talk]]) 15:55, 9 July 2014 (UTC)