explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2239: Data Error

2019-12-10T16:03:20Z

108.162.229.136: talknig -> talking. his closed his fist -> his closed fist

{{comic
| number = 2239
| date = December 9, 2019
| title = Data Error
| image = data_error.png
| titletext = Cyanobacteria wiped out nearly all life on Earth once before, and they can do it again!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a data error... please explain to me what I am (i.e. give examples of data errors that would destroy research - if not help conquer the world). Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Megan]] is frustrated that a data error invalidates her research, which she was just ready to publish. [[Black Hat]] tells her to not panic and states there are two options.

Option one is to redo her analysis and share the correct results also if negative. Negative results are also important, and although it is disappointing, she would be trying to extract some value from the research.

Option two, fits the [[classhole]] expectation from Black Hat as he suggest she should destroy the evidence, use her research materials to build a superweapon and use it to conquer the world and rule it with an iron fist!

At first Megan seems excited about this idea, but then she uses her research topic in a sentence which makes it obvious that this second suggestion is not really an option, since her research is about the productivity of {{w|algae}}. Humorously she states that at least she can make people tremble before her and her anomalously productive algae. Only to realize that it was the data error that made her algae look productive, so they are merely normal algae. And she corrects herself to ''Tremble before my normal algae!'' She is of course making a joke on Black Hat.

Destroying the evidence, hiding the error and publishing the wrong results as if they were right is what a dishonest scientist would do in such a situation. Which is what would be expected by a dishonest character as Black Hat... But the unexpected turn is that Black Hat passes over the {{w|scientific misconduct}} to go directly to pure supervillainhood. He obviously has some other ideas about what a researcher uses her time on, cause he most likely did not expect Megan to be frustrated about Algae.

The title text refers to the {{w|Great Oxidation Event}}, when prokaryotic photosynthetic organisms built up oxygen in Earth's atmosphere for the first time and most organisms, which weren't adapted to oxygen, went extinct. That suggests that algae may be somehow dangerous - although {{w|cyanobacteria}}, which are colloquially referred to as "blue-green algae", are not considered to be true algae by many scientists, who restrict the term to {{w|eukaryotes}}.

==Transcript==
:[Megan is talking to Black Hat.]
:Megan: I can't believe this data error invalidates a year and a half of my research.
:Megan: I was about to publish.

:[In a frame-less panel Black Hat replies while holding two fingers up one on either hand.]
:Black Hat: Don't panic. You have two options.
:Megan: Yeah?

:[Closeup shot of Black Hat holding one hand out with the palm up.]
:Black Hat: 1) Redo your analysis and share whatever results you can, whether positive or negative. It's disappointing, but these things happen.

:[Zoom out on Black Hat and Megan. Black Hat holds his closed fist up in front of him. Megan throws both arms up in the air.]
:Black Hat: 2) Destroy the evidence. Use your materials and research methods to build a superweapon. Conquer Earth and rule with an iron fist.
:Megan: '''''Tremble before my anomalously productive algae!'''''
:Megan: Except the anomaly was an artifact.
:Megan: '''''Tremble before my normal algae!'''''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Science]]

Talk:2180: Spreadsheets

2019-07-25T19:57:48Z

108.162.229.136: Added links to external comics about Excel

I really hope Randall shares this formula he made. It sounds incredible. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.34|162.158.126.34]] 21:15, 24 July 2019 (UTC)
: Seems to me to perhaps be a bit of nerdsniping (a la XKCD 356) bait...

My unofficial job title is the Head of the Department for Extreme Spreadsheeting. There are multiple reasons for this, including that we need to share info easily across different offices, I'm very familiar with spreadsheet formulas, and I have no f***ing clue how to get a SQL database functioning properly. [[User:Misterblu28|Misterblu28]] ([[User talk:Misterblu28|talk]]) 21:48, 24 July 2019 (UTC)misterblue28
: It involves chickens, black candles, a full moon, and one of those fancy space-age pens that can write on any surface.

The "devil" is clearly a reference to the FreeBSD daemon mascot. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.38.64|172.68.38.64]] 04:42, 25 July 2019 (UTC)
: The devil is clearly a devil.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.148|141.101.98.148]] 08:48, 25 July 2019 (UTC)

The devil is clearly the strong one for everyone working in my company. A list used by ~50 people, 3 times a day? lets just put an excel sheet on sharepoint.... A complex design tool? Give me 2 days and a lot of hidden sheets in the back of the file and do it in excel - everything is excel. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:04, 25 July 2019 (UTC)

Anybody remember Oracle’s SQL*Calc spreadsheet application? Individual cells could not only contain select queries but also insert, update, and delete, all using variable data from the spreadsheet. So you could select data from tables into a multidimensional array of cells in s spreadsheet, manipulate the data in the cells, then insert in back into the same (or different!) tables. Powerful but dangerous![[Special:Contributions/172.68.46.167|172.68.46.167]] 06:15, 25 July 2019 (UTC)

Remember all the TV Tropes links? We could totally put “Good Angel, Bad Angel” here. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.148|172.68.141.148]] 10:41, 25 July 2019 (UTC)

I refuse to accept this as complete until somebody can get the original script out of Randall or somebody here manages to make something that does the same job, or better.

Here's a start to the formula; it doesn't use REGEXMATCH() however. Uses a named range 'DatesList' which has the list of dates. Generates a calendar with Sunday in the first column where the only dates showing are those in the list -- wasn't sure what sort of output to target. =ARRAYFORMULA(IF(ISERROR(MATCH(ARRAYFORMULA(SEQUENCE((MAX(DatesList)-MIN(DatesList)-WEEKDAY(MIN(DatesList))+1)/7+1,7,MIN(DatesList)-WEEKDAY(MIN(DatesList)),1)),DatesList,0)),"",ARRAYFORMULA(SEQUENCE((MAX(DatesList)-MIN(DatesList)-WEEKDAY(MIN(DatesList))+1)/7+1,7,MIN(DatesList)-WEEKDAY(MIN(DatesList)),1))))

Relevant other comics about Excel (from a developer's perspective): http://www.commitstrip.com/en/2014/07/23/excel-the-poor-mans-ideexcel-lide-du-pauvre/ and /2014/12/19/the-coder-and-the-beast/ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.136|108.162.229.136]] 19:57, 25 July 2019 (UTC)

829: Arsenic-Based Life

2015-04-09T21:41:17Z

108.162.229.136:

{{comic
| number = 829
| date = December 3, 2010
| title = Arsenic-Based Life
| image = arsenic_based_life.png
| titletext = According to a new paper published in the journal Science, reporters are unable to thrive in an arsenic-rich environment.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Arsenic}} is a chemical element which is known to be poisonous to humans and most other life forms. In 2010 {{w|NASA}} announced the discovery of bacteria {{w|GFAJ-1}} and claimed it to be able to sustain itself when starved of phosphorus, by substituting arsenic for a small percentage of its phosphorus. Like most other scientists [[Randall]] did not believe in this, and indeed it it was disproved in 2012.

The scientists are worried that the press conference announcing their bacteria discovery may be seen as unexciting, especially with the reporters hoping for news of life on {{w|Saturn}}'s largest moon, {{w|Titan (moon)|Titan}}. The researchers decide to try and make the event more exciting, but admit that they don't know how to throw a good party. This is probably a dig at scientists, who are often portrayed as being somewhat socially inept. As a result they turn to the internet for advice, and come up with a plan to serve cocktails and {{w|Hors d'oeuvre|hors d'œuvres}} to fit the theme of the event.

The final panel shows the results of their plans, with the reporters dead or dying, and it becomes clear that in order to fit the theme the researchers have laced the food and drinks with arsenic. This is another joke on the perception that scientist may be extremely clever within their field, but sometimes lack common sense.

The words "hors d'oerves" at the comic are just a misspelling by Randall for "hors d'oeuvres" (in French ''"hors d'œuvre"'' both singular and plural). The English pronunciation of these words is awr-DURVZ /ɔrˈdɜrvz/, with the R '''before''' the V, not after, which explains the mistake.<ref>http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hors+d%27oeuvre</ref> As opposed to the original French pronunciation, where the v and r keep the same order.<ref>http://fr.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C5%93uvre</ref>

The girl with the curly ponytail in this comic is different from the character commonly referred to as [[Ponytail]].

==Transcript==
:[Three people, two women and a man, stand looking at a laptop screen, which is sitting on a desk. The woman with a ponytail is pointing at the screen.]
:Ponytail: Our arsenic-based DNA discovery is cool, but these reporters are expecting life on Titan! Our press conference will be such a letdown!

:[Ponytail turns around to face Megan.]
:Ponytail: Okay, we need to make it more exciting for them. How do you make an event entertaining?
:Megan: Dunno, I suck at parties. Music, I guess?

:[Ponytail girl turns back around and leans over to start typing on the computer, while the other two look on. Megan puts her hand to her chin.]
:Ponytail: WikiHow says you can "serve cocktails and hors d'oerves that fit the theme of your event."
:Megan: Easy enough!

:[Ponytail girl stands at a podium on a stage, the man stands amongst the audience with a tray. All the audience members are either dead or dying, having fallen onto the floor or slumped over in their seats.]

==References==
<references/>

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Public speaking]]

1436: Orb Hammer

2014-10-20T12:19:05Z

108.162.229.136: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1436
| date = October 20, 2014
| title = Orb Hammer
| image = orb_hammer.png
| titletext = Ok, but make sure to get lots of pieces of rock, because later we'll decide to stay in a room on our regular orb and watch hammers hold themselves and hit rocks for us, and they won't bring us very many rocks.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Added title text explain first draft.}}
This conversation suggests doing something that sounds absurd and not useful at all for the daily activities of a regular human. Yet it refers in simple English words (in a manner similar to [http://xkcd.com/1133/ another space-related XKCD comic-in-simple-English] to the Apollo human spaceflight program which sent people to the Moon to bring geological samples back to Earth to study them. The use of such simple language contributes to the effect of the suggestion sounding absurd, even though the numerous side-products of the effort to realize the project have in fact had many benefits for regular people.

The title text refers to the end of Apollo program. The last mission, Apollo 18, ended in 1972 and since then no man has been the Moon. Occasional lunar rocks can still be collected on Earth. They are formed when a celestial body impacts the Moon'surface, forming a crater and launching small rocks into the space. Some of them will eventually reach Earth, see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_meteorite lunar meteorites]. It could also refer to the current Mars missions in which we send rovers to Mars to collect small amounts of dirt to test for life.

==Transcript==
Person 1: You know that glowing orb in the night sky?

Person 2: Yeah?

Person 1: Let's go hit it with a hammer until little pieces break off, then bring the pieces back and lock them in a closet.

Person 2: Sounds good!

Text under panel: The Apollo program was weird.

{{comic discussion}}