explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

60: Super Bowl

2021-01-24T02:33:21Z

108.162.237.216: /* Explanation */ Noted the contrast in levels of superiority

{{comic
| number = 60
| date = February 6, 2006
| title = Super Bowl
| image = super bowl.jpg
| titletext = The Super Bowl is actually an elaborate ruse, concocted by a shadowy group in the mid sixties for this purpose. The "watch it for the ads" addition was a master stroke.
}}

==Explanation==
The third in the "[[My Hobby]]" series. The {{w|Super Bowl}} is the championship {{w|American football}} game of the {{w|National Football League}}, which is usually played each February, and the final game of the 2006 season, {{w|Super Bowl XL}}, was played on the evening of 2006-02-05, the day before this comic was released.

As the game is one of the most watched television broadcasts in North America, {{w|Super Bowl commercials|advertising during the game}} has become increasingly expensive (among the most expensive advertising rates of any broadcast) to the point where corporations produce their best, most expensive advertisements to air during the game, to ensure that they would get value out of the expensive spots. The Super Bowl has thus become notorious for the "best" commercials, with some viewers purportedly tuning in solely to see the commercials, rather than the actual football game. News reports the next day often highlight the best and worst Super Bowl commercials, as do websites devoted to Super Bowl commercials.

Realizing that the Super Bowl is viewed by a large percentage of the population, [[Randall]], somewhat tongue-in-cheek, states that those people would be quite distracted during that time, and therefore it would be possible to steal cars without fear of being caught. The title text takes this even further, suggesting that the entire Super Bowl was invented entirely for the purpose of being a distraction for car thieves. Naturally, the addition of the ads would make this even more effective, as it would attract even more viewers and ensure that they stayed in front of the TV during commercial breaks as well as the game.

The phrase "I steal cars" also provides a contrast to the fact that many viewers are only watching for the advertisements, making their smug sense of superiority seem petty compared to the fact that they but not Randall are not stealing cars and that they therefore are morally superior to Randall in this respect. This calls into question whether or not they really are significantly superior by comparing this marginal superiority to not being criminals. Alternatively, Randall may resent these people for feeling superior even though they aren't actually superior (at least in the eyes of Randall) and therefore steal their cars as punishment.

Randall may have chosen to use a car as a reference to the large number of car commercials that play during the Super Bowl, in addition to the ease of stealing a car at that time.

==Transcript==
:[A green car with text above and next to it.]
:My hobby:
:While everyone is watching the Super Bowl, feeling smugly superior because they're "Only watching for the ads," I steal cars.

==Trivia==

In a distant future (2015), Randall (or [[Cueball]]) spends his time differently during the Super Bowl - see [[1480: Super Bowl]]. (This was the second time that two xkcd comics have shared the [[:Category:Comics sharing name|exact same name]].) In between this comic and the one nine years later, no other comics came out related to the Super Bowl. The year after (2016), there was a comic ([[1640]]) about the Super Bowl, and in 2018 a comic ([[1951]]) appeared about a Super Bowl watch party.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:American football]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Super Bowl]]
[[Category:Super Bowl]]

53: Hobby

2021-01-19T04:53:46Z

108.162.237.216: /* Explanation */ Elaborated on the consequences of being killed by doing this

{{comic
| number = 53
| date = January 23, 2006 
| title = Hobby
| image = hobby.jpg
| titletext = The only one of these games I really played was Area 51
}}

==Explanation==
This is the second in the "[[My Hobby]]" series of ''[[xkcd]]'' comics.

This comic humorously compares the rules of light gun cabinet arcade video games with real life.

[[Randall]] suggests that his hobby is going to drug busts with the expressed purpose of getting shot as an innocent bystander, thereby causing the police to lose 100 points.

Drug busts are events where police attempt to catch drug dealers, suppliers, and financiers in situations with enough evidence to convict them. In the style of arcade video games being examined, drug busts are usually depicted as chaotic events with villains, innocent bystanders, captives, and allies popping up like spring loaded targets at a shooting range in a setting with lots of places to hide. If you don't shoot a hostile target sufficiently quickly, you will be shot, so it is common to shoot the wrong targets. To add extra challenge, these games often deduct points — or worse, cause damage to the player character — if the player shoots the wrong target. This is often frustrating; not only does the player feel that they have failed to judge their target properly, but the wasted time can cause them to get shot by the ''real'' targets.

Obviously, doing this in real life would be a really bad idea, as the hobbyist would quickly be killed. Whether this can even be a hobby is questionable because hobbies typically refer to actions that one does repeatedly, but if one was killed the first time, one would not be able to sneak into drug busts and startle police officers again. Also, if Randall actually did this, he would be dead and therefore unable to draw a comic about it.

The title text refers to the game ''{{w|Area 51 (1995 video game)|Area 51}},'' which was a popular shooter arcade game from 1995 (although a console/PC game {{w|Area 51 (2005 video game)|of the same name}} was released in 2005). Area 51 was one of many cabinet arcade games that featured a light gun that allowed players to aim at the screen and shoot in a realistic control mechanic. The title text confirms that the comic is referring to these light gun cabinet games specifically.

The title text of [[188: Reload]] references this strip.

==Transcript==
:[A person with hair lies on the ground in a pool of red blood. At the top of the panel there is a caption. Then a text. And above the person there is a score with small lines around to indicate that it has just appeared over the body.]
:My hobby:
:When the police bust drug hideouts, I sneak in and hide. Then I jump out and startle them into shooting me so they lose points.
:-100

==Trivia==
*This was the 51st comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].
**The previous was [[52: Secret Worlds]].
**The next was [[55: Useless]].
*Original title: "My Hobby"
**As is also the caption in the comic, but the "My" was lost in the xkcd title.
**It is part of the last six comics on LiveJournal that all had a title without the word "Drawing" in it.
**The five other comics had exactly the same title on both sites.
**Apart from the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|thirteen first comics]] posted to LiveJournal, there were only three other comics without the word "Drawing" in the title before these last six.
*There was no original [[Randall]] quote for this comic.
**However, Randall did reply to this comment by "SpEnSe" on LiveJournal:
:::"I'm reminded of Area 51 where you accidently kept shooting the cops in the back...over and over again.
:::Brilliant."
:*Randall made the following reply:
:::"That was actually precisely the game I was thinking of. I remember my brother playing that game all day at the arcade when we were little.
:::Fuckin' innocents."
:*This comment is reflected in the title text on xkcd.
*This comic was one of the last 11 comics posted on LiveJournal.
**These 11 comics were [[:Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd|posted both on LiveJournal and xkcd]] after the [[xkcd]] site opened on 1 January 2006.
**The first six comics were posted on both sites on the same day. But not this one.
*For some reason, [[54: Science]] was posted before this one on LiveJournal on 18 January 2006.
**It first came out a week later on xkcd on 25 January 2006.
**This was the day that [[53: Hobby]] was released on LiveJournal.
**But [[53: Hobby]] had already been released on xkcd two days earlier, the same day as [[52: Secret Worlds]] came out on LiveJournal, on Monday, 23 January 2006.
**The release date here on explain xkcd uses the first release date, so that is the one from xkcd.
*After the mishap with [[54: Science]], the next three comics up to this one came out on LiveJournal a release day later.
**First with the next (and last) comic released on LiveJournal, [[55: Useless]], did the two sites release the same comic on the same day again.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 51]]
[[Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Comics with blood]]

Talk:2400: Statistics

2020-12-19T03:20:15Z

108.162.237.216:

This is a representation of the actual graph showing the efficacy of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, based on data from Deutsche Bank AG and the FDA as published in John Authers' Bloomberg Opinion column. And yes, the results are just that clear and graphically obvious (pun unintended). [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 00:51, 19 December 2020 (UTC)

When I saw this comic I immediately thought of this bit about doublespeak in graphs. Not saying I inherently believe or disbelieve numbers/statistics about covid but an impressive graph with no numbers...Apparently it is actually that clear though.
https://youtu.be/qP07oyFTRXc?t=292
[[User:DarkVex9|DarkVex9]] ([[User talk:DarkVex9|talk]]) 01:05, 19 December 2020 (UTC)

2379: Probability Comparisons

2020-10-31T17:33:42Z

108.162.237.216: /* Explanation */ The Ace of Spades in 5 cards probability rounds to .10, not .09, so it's closer than indicated by the previous explanation.

{{comic
| number = 2379
| date = October 30, 2020
| title = Probability Comparisons
| image = probability comparisons new.png
| titletext = Call me, MAYBE.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by LEBRON JAMES THROWING M&Ms AT A KEYBOARD. The table for the explanations of the chances isn't complete, and nor is the transcript. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is a list of probabilities for different events. There are numerous recurring themes, of which the most common are free throws (13 entries), birthdays (12), dice (12, split about evenly between d6 and d20 types), M&M candies (11), playing cards (9), NBA basketball mid-game victory predictions (9), Scrabble tiles (7), coins (7), white Christmases (7), and the NBA players Stephen Curry and LeBron James (7 each).

Themes are variously repeated and combined, for humorous effect. For instance, there are entries for both the probability that St. Louis will have a white Christmas (21%) and that it will not (79%). Also given is the 40% probability that a random Scrabble tile will contain a letter from the name "Steph Curry".

There are 80 items in the list, the last two of which devolve into absurdity - perhaps from the stress of preparing the other 78 entries.

The list may be an attempt to better understand probabilistic election forecasts for the {{w|2020 United States presidential election}} which was less than a week away at the time this comic was published, and had also been aluded to in [[2370: Prediction]] and [[2371: Election Screen Time]]. Statistician and psephologist {{w|Nate Silver}} is referenced in one of the list items.

The probabilities are calculated from [https://xkcd.com/2379/sources/ these sources], as mentioned in the bottom left corner.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Odds
! Text
! Explanation
|-
| 0.01%
| You guess the last four digits of someone's {{w|Social Security Number}} on the first try
| There are 10 digits in a Social Security Number. (1/10)4 = 0.0001, or 0.01%
|-
| 0.1%
| Three randomly chosen people are all left-handed
| The chances of being left handed is about 10%, and 10%3 = 0.1%.
|-
| rowspan="2" | 0.2%
| You draw 2 random {{w|Scrabble}} tiles and get M and M
|
|-
| You draw 3 random {{w|M&Ms}} and they're all red
| There are 3 red, 5 green, and 8 blue M&Ms. 3/16 × 2/15 × 1/14 ≈ 0.17%
|-
| 0.3%
| You guess someone's birthday in one try.
| 1/365 ≈ 0.27%.
|-
| rowspan="2" | 0.5%
| An {{w|NBA}} team down by 30 at halftime wins
|
|-
| You get 4 M&Ms and they're all brown or yellow
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1%
| {{w|Steph Curry}} gets two free throws and misses both
|
|-
|{{w|LeBron James}} guesses your birthday, if each guess costs one free throw and he loses if he misses
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1.5%
| You get two M&Ms and they're both red
|
|-
| You share a birthday with a {{w|Backstreet Boys|Backstreet Boy}}
|
|-
| 2%
| You guess someone's card on the first try
| There are 52 cards in a normal deck of cards (excluding jokers), which is approximately 0.019 (2%).
|-
| rowspan="2"| 3%
| You guess 5 coin tosses and get them all right
|
|-
| Steph Curry wins that birthday free throw game
|
|-
| rowspan="3"| 4%
| You sweep a 3-game {{w|rock paper scissors}} series

|
|-
| {{w|Portland, Oregon}} has a {{w|White Christmas (weather)|white Christmas}}
|
|-
| You share a birthday with two {{w|US Senator}}s
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 5%
| An NBA team down 20 at halftime wins
|
|-
| You roll a natural 20
There are twenty sides to a d20; 1/20 = 0.5 = 5%
|
|-
| 6%
| You correctly guess someone's card given 3 tries
| Assuming you guess three different cards, 3/52 = 0.05769 ~ 6%
|
|-
| 7%
| LeBron James gets two free throws and misses both
|
|-
| 8%
| You correctly guess someone's card given 4 tries
| Assuming you guess four different cards, 4/52 = 0.0769 ~ 8%
|
|-
| 9%
| Steph Curry misses a free throw
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|10%
| You draw 5 cards and get the Ace of Spades
| There are 52 cards in a normal deck of cards (excluding jokers), and the Ace of Spades is one of them. The chances of getting the card is 1 - 51/52 * 50/51 * 49/50 * 48/49 * 47/48 which is approximately 0.096, which rounds to the given 10%. 
|-
| There's a {{w|Moment magnitude scale|magnitude}} 8+ earthquake in the next month
|
|-
| 11%
| You sweep a 2-game rock paper scissors series
| You have a 1/3 chance of winning the first comparison, and a 1/3 chance of winning the second. (1/3) * (1/3) = 1/9 ~ 0.11 = 11%
|
|-
| rowspan="3"|12%
| A randomly-chosen American lives in {{w|California}}
|
|-
| You correctly guess someone's card given 6 tries
|
|-
| You share a birthday with a {{w|US President}}
|
|-
| rowspan="3"|13%
| A {{w|Dice#Polyhedral_dice|d6}} beats a {{w|Dice#Polyhedral_dice|d20}}
|
|-
| An NBA team down 10 going into the 4th quarter wins
|
|-
| You pull one M&M from a bag and it's red
|
|-
| 14%
| A randomly drawn scrabble tile beats a D6 die roll
|
|-
| 15%
| You roll a D20 and get at least 18
|
|-
| 16%
| Steph Curry gets two free throws but makes only one
|
|-
| 17%
| You roll a D6 die and get a 6
|
|-
| 18%
|
|
|-
| 19%
|
|
|-
| 20%
|
|
|-
| 21%
|
|
|-
| 22%
|
|
|-
| 23%
|
|
|-
| 24%
|
|
|-
| 25%
|
|
|-
| 26%
|
|
|-
| 27%
|
|

|-
| 66%
| A randomly chosen movie from the main Lord of the Rings trilogy has “of the” in the title twice
| The titles are:
* ''The Lord '''of the''' Rings: The Fellowship '''of the''' Ring''
* ''The Lord '''of the''' Rings: The Two Towers''
* ''The Lord '''of the''' Rings: The Return '''of the''' King''
All of them have “of the” at least once, in “The Lord of the Rings”, but only the first and third have it twice, and 2/3 ≈ 66%.

|-
| 90%
| Someone fails to guess your card given 5 tries
| Assuming they guess five different cards, there are 47 unguessed cards left. 47/52 = 0.90385 ~ 90%
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 91%
| You incorrectly guess that someone was born in August
|
|-
| Steph Curry makes a free throw
|
|-
| 92%
| You guess someone's birth month at random and are wrong
|
|-
| 93%
| Lebron James makes a free throw given two tries
|
|-
| 94%
| Someone fails to guess your card given 3 tries
|
|-
| 95%
| An NBA team wins when they're up 20 at halftime
|
|-
| 96%
| Someone fails to guess your card given 2 tries
|
|-
| 97%
| You try to guess 5 coin tosses and fail
|
|-
| 98%
| You incorrectly guess someone's birthday is this week
|
|-
| 98.5%
| An NBA team up 15 points with 8 minutes left wins
|
|-
| 99%
| Steph Curry makes a free throw given two tries
|
|-
| 99.5%
| An NBA team that's up by 30 points at halftime wins
|
|-
| 99.7%
| You guess someone's birthday at random and are wrong
|
|-
| 99.8%
| There's not a {{w|Moment magnitude scale|magnitude}} 8 quake in {{w|California}} next year
|
|-
| 99.9%
| A random group of three people contains a right-hander
|
|-
| 99.99%
| You incorrectly guess the last four digits of someone's social security number
|
|-
| 99.9999999999999995%
| You pick up a phone, dial a random 10-digit number, and say 'Hello Barack Obama, there's just been a {{w|Moment magnitude scale|magnitude}} 8 earthquake in {{w|California}}!" and are wrong
|
|-
| 0.00000001%
| You add "Hang on, this is big — I'm going to loop in Carly Rae Jepsen", dial another random 10-digit number, and she picks up
|
|}

The title text refers to the song {{w|Call Me Maybe}} by Carly Rae Jepsen (cited twice in the list). "MAYBE" is emphasized perhaps because the probability of getting her phone number correct, as in the last item in the list, is very low. The capitalization could also be a reference to Scrabble tiles as was previously mentioned in association with Carly Rae Jepsen.

==Trivia==
In the original comic, "outside" in the 88% probability section is spelled incorrectly as "outide". In addition, the 39% section had "two free throw" instead of "throws".

Pace previous comment, the 67% probability of rolling at least a 3 with a D6 is correct. "At least a 3" means a 3, 4, 5, or 6.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

'''PROBABILITY COMPARISONS'''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

Talk:1738: Moon Shapes

2016-09-26T15:16:38Z

108.162.237.216:

I fixed part of the explanation by mentioning the title text. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 14:41, 26 September 2016 (UTC)

It's a reflection of the nuclear war on [[1626|the sun's surface]]. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 08:08, 26 September 2016 (UTC)

I can't find any photoshopped Moon that looks like the last image. Somebody has to make one. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.207|162.158.92.207]] 13:22, 26 September 2016 (UTC)

: Randall uncharacteristically missed an opportunity for pointing out additional errors that people make: It's interesting to note that you can get a decent estimate of the artist's latitude by looking at how they draw a crescent moon. In equatorial cultures, the crescent looks like a cup or a boat - and they interpret it like that. But if you look at most english language children's books, the crescent looks like a letter 'C' or a 'D' with a human face - suggesting that they were probably made in the tradition of northern Europe. When I first moved from the UK (more or less a 'C'-shaped crescent moon) to the southern USA (more like Randall's depiction of the correctly-drawn crescent with the points at a roughly 45 degree angle to the horizon) - I subconsciously felt that the moon "looked wrong" - it was only much later that I understood the reason.

: Furthermore, this rotation of the moon relative to the observer also explains why "The man in the moon" is a common trope caused by the pareidolia interpretation of the cratering patterns of the moon in northern cultures. But in southern cultures, people tend to see a rabbit in those full-moon patterns - and that has become the source of many of their stories.

: Now that I'm more acutely aware of this - it's interesting to note how many movies get the orientation of the moon wrong for the location that their story is supposedly set in! [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 13:41, 26 September 2016 (UTC)

: Not quite sure how to add this but Gibbon is the author of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - or a type of Ape. It is not a phase of the moon. Also I think the moon depicted is Waning. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.113|141.101.98.113]] 14:02, 26 September 2016 (UTC)
:: Yes, the one he says is correct has me thinking: "OMG, the moon is drunk and has fallen over on its ass." No self-respecting moon lies on its back like that.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.222|162.158.114.222]] 14:17, 26 September 2016 (UTC)

Link to the DreamWorks logo image please? There seem to be multiple versions. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.216|108.162.237.216]] 15:16, 26 September 2016 (UTC)

1736: Manhattan Project

2016-09-24T03:53:26Z

108.162.237.216: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1736
| date = September 21, 2016
| title = Manhattan Project
| image = manhattan_project.png
| titletext = On the plus side, we definitely killed that cancer over there, even if we caused a bunch more everywhere else.
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|Manhattan Project}} was a big, expensive, secret research and development project that produced the first {{w|nuclear weapons}} during {{w|World War II}}. Because of the unprecedented scale of the project, which involved some of the brightest minds in science and the efforts of thousands of people, "Manhattan Project" has become a metaphor for any kind of all-out effort involving the top minds of a discipline to achieve a single objective, often expressed as the phrase "[http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/11/14/is-nuclear-power-the-answer-to-climate-change/we-need-a-new-manhattan-project-to-deal-with-climate-change We] [https://backchannel.com/we-need-a-manhattan-project-for-cyber-security-76e6d8fc6447#.g0qcjzjlv need] [http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/14445-a-new-manhattan-project a]
[http://riverlink.org/5420/ new] [http://issues.org/24-4/alexander/ Manhattan] [http://singularityhub.com/2015/01/22/we-need-a-manhattan-project-for-cyber-security/ Project] [http://www.planetexperts.com/building-manhattan-project-sustainable-development/] [http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/the-curious-wavefunction/why-we-need-to-stop-comparing-every-big-science-project-to-the-manhattan-project/]".

The day before this comic was released the following announcement was made: [http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/microsoft-cancer-cure-research-solved-machine-learning-cells-programming-diseases-a7317616.html Microsoft will ‘solve’ cancer within the next 10 years by treating it like a computer virus]. And on the day this comic was released (but probably after the comic was released) there was a press conference where [http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/22/technology/mark-zuckerberg-priscilla-chan-3-billion-pledge-fight-disease.html?_r=0 Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan Pledge $3 Billion to Fighting Disease] (all disease in general.) This is the kind of projects that could be called Manhattan type projects and these (at least the Microsoft announcement) could be the reason this comic came out now.

In this comic, [[Ponytail]] starts by making the suggestion that they should create a "new Manhattan Project" to cure cancer. Taken figuratively, this would imply a heavily-funded, massive collaborative effort involving the best scientists in the field of {{w|cancer research}}, and is not an unreasonable idea in itself. However, she and her fellow scientists all take the idea literally instead, and the New Manhattan Project ends up actually developing a nuclear bomb. In the final panel, Ponytail appears to realize that this runs somewhat counter to her original objective. Furthermore, these nuclear detonations release an incredible amount of radiation which will inevitably cause cancer.

The title text hastily justifies this mistake by claiming a partial success; that their nuclear detonation did, indeed, kill all cancer within the blast radius of the explosion. However, it fails to mention that the blast would also kill everything ''else'' as well. It also admits that the explosion would most likely end up causing more cancer due to the {{w|ionizing radiation}} and {{w|fallout}}. The title text is reminiscent of both the main comic and the title text of [[1217: Cells]].

This was the first time since [[1355: Airplane Message]], more than two years ago, that [[Randall]] mentions cancer (on a banner!), a [[:Category:Cancer|recurring subject]] on xkcd, but mainly around the time when his then-fiancée (now wife) was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer in October of 2010. Interestingly enough there are only two facts in that previous comic, and that other fact (from the title text) was referenced the week before this comic came out in [[1732: Earth Temperature Timeline]]. But it could be a coincidence.

The Manhattan Project was the scene of [[809: Los Alamos]], and a story from the site is being told in [[1520: Degree-Off]]. According to [[980: Money]] the Manhattan project used $24,400,000,000. Nuclear weapons in general has been a recurrent subject on xkcd and their invention was also mentioned last week in [[1732: Earth Temperature Timeline]] around 1950 CE. The previous comic with a similar mushroom cloud was [[1655: Doomsday Clock]], and in that comics explanation at least three other "recent" comics about such weapons of mass destruction are mentioned.

==Transcript==
:[A five panel layout with each panel slightly smaller than the next.]
:[Ponytail holding her arms out speaks to Cueball.]
:Ponytail: What we need to cure cancer is a new Manhattan Project

:[Cueball stands next to Ponytail on podium with a banner overhead. Ponytail is lifting her arms high up and addresses a huge crowd below the podium. Faces disappear into the distance, but at the podiums edge are four full faces, from left to right they are Hairy, a person with flat hair, a person with white hair and a Cueball-like guy.]
:Banner: Research Initiative

:[Cueball and Megan sitting behind a desk looking out and Ponytail standing to the right facing away from them wear laboratory goggles and laboratory coats. There are several Erlenmeyer flasks on the desk and Ponytail is also holding such a flask. There are other glass wares on the desk.]

:[Megan, holding a hand in front of her face, Cueball and Ponytail, all wearing some kind of glasses strapped around the back of their heads stand behind two barriers looking into the distance where a large mushroom cloud rises high in the air with the typical ring around the stem below the main cloud and smoke/dust surrounding the bottom of the stem. It is much higher in the image than the three mountains in the left background.]

:[Close up of Ponytail, as she faces to the right. She is wearing very dark protection glasses, looking like those used for looking at the sun during a solar eclipse.]
:Ponytail: Wait.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]] 
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]] 
[[Category:Cancer]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Public speaking]]

758: Raptor Fences

2016-09-21T00:55:12Z

108.162.237.216: removed ender's game reference, as it is unlikely - bean started out small but then grew really big, which raptor scientists would likely not want. what is an aautoriseble anyway. removed redundancy.

{{comic
| number = 758
| date = June 25, 2010
| title = Raptor Fences
| image = raptor_fences.png
| titletext = If at least one person has a nightmare about being swarmed by hundreds of mouse-sized dromaeosaurids, my work will have been done.
}}
[[File:Vraptor-scale.png|thumb|upright=1.5| Velociraptors were only about 50 centimeters in height. (from Wikimedia Commons)]]
[[File:Velociraptor_dinoguy2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Artist's impression of a feathered velociraptor (from Wikimedia Commons)]]
==Explanation==
In the film ''{{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}},'' the protagonists are menaced (some fatally) by carnivorous dinosaurs, including very large {{w|Velociraptor|velociraptors}}, which are a genus of {{w|dromaeosaurid}}. In this film the dinosaurs had been recreated via the sampling of ancient DNA recovered, primarily, from the stomachs of mosquitoes trapped in amber (fossilized tree sap).

Cueball is holding a lit cigarette, recalling the role of chain-smoking John "Ray" Arnold, the Chief Engineer of Jurassic Park, played by {{w|Samuel L. Jackson}}. He is reporting that the (veloci)raptors have escaped from their enclosure, but nobody seems overly concerned by this; they do not represent a danger. Apparently, the fear of being hunted by dinosaurs is greatly reduced if they have been genetically engineered to be small enough to gather up with a broom and dustpan.

Note that while growth is dependent on genes, it is extremely unlikely that any kind of genetic manipulation could reduce an animal in size by the factor of approximately 10,000 that is implied here, but perhaps no less unlikely than being able to recreate the dinosaurs in the first place. People seem ready to ascribe almost limitless powers to DNA and genetic engineering, but there are many practical constraints.

In reality, velociraptors were only about 50 centimeters in height. It is also believed that they were covered in feathers. Together, these factors paint a very different picture of velociraptors. The velociraptors from Jurassic Park more closely resemble Deinonychus, a relative of the velociraptor, in fact the Deinonychus was used as the model for the Jurassic Park raptors. Still the name "velociraptor" has been consistently, and incorrectly, associated with their portrayal.

The title text suggests that even very small dinosaurs could be terrifying to some, if they imagined a huge number of them. The author would be pleased if this was the case.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball checks a computer terminal while a friend is running off in the opposite direction.]
:Cueball: The raptor fences are down. They're loose.
:Friend: I'll get a broom and dustpan.

:Jurassic Park got a lot less scary when the researchers discovered they could activate the gene for extreme dwarfism.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Jurassic Park]]

Talk:1735: Fashion Police and Grammar Police

2016-09-19T17:10:29Z

108.162.237.216:

I added a basic explanation to this comic. I also changed the incomplete to say "Needs more on the explanation". Maybe you guys can help connect the dots and extend the explanation? --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 14:45, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

It should be noted that he uses literally wrong, just to anger the grammar police he's mocking, it's a nice touch.[[User:Trives|Trives]] ([[User talk:Trives|talk]]) 14:59, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

In my eyes the 2 groups are not standing together in this comic. --[[User:DaB.|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.|talk]]) 15:12, 19 September 2016 (UTC)
: Yeah I'd have said they were just being presented graphically, the intention isn't to display them as protesting alongside each other. [[User:Xseo|Xseo]] ([[User talk:Xseo|talk]]) 15:31, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

Is there an extra joke in the Title Text, "* Mad about jorts"? If it's something which both Grammar Police and Fashion Police would find distasteful, it would add an extra layer to the assertion that they are the same people.

Incidentally, I find it ironic and probably unintentional that the Title Text demonstrates the importance of grammar and undermines Randall's own assertions that Grammar Police are superfluous and annoying. Is he saying that he really likes jorts, or is he saying that he is really angered by them? If only there was some formal ruleset which allowed meaning to be more effectively conveyed, rather than being a system of glorious chaos... https://xkcd.com/1576/

I think the comment above is inaccurate: "Title Text demonstrates the importance of grammar and undermines Randall's own assertions that Grammar Police are superfluous and annoying". The "*" represents a bullet point so it is clear that "* Mad about jorts" is an additional bullet point that both groups would find offensive. The irony now is that I'm not familiar with how to structure my wiki comments. ~~dizzydan~~

Technically, the grammar police wouldn't care about jorts, since that is a spelling error, not a grammatical error. Please contact the spelling police.

Sincerely,
The Semantics Police

Talk:1735: Fashion Police and Grammar Police

2016-09-19T17:09:27Z

108.162.237.216:

1728: Cron Mail

2016-09-02T19:08:42Z

108.162.237.216: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1728
| date = September 2, 2016
| title = Cron Mail
| image = cron_mail.png
| titletext = Take THAT, piece of 1980s-era infrastructure I've inexplicably maintained on my systems for 15 years despite never really learning how it works.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Format information, the bottom two paragraphs should be at the top. Also shorten and simplify explanation.}}
On {{W|Unix}}-like systems, {{W|Cron|cron}} is a system program running in background which allows one to schedule jobs to run at well-defined time slots. It is conceptually the same software which has been used since, at least, the 1980s and is still heavily used in modern operating systems, for example in several {{w|Linux}} distributions. Many administrative tasks on servers can be automated with cron, like monitoring or updates. Most people administrating a server-like system with a UNIX-like operating system will therefore know it, at least the basics.

When one of these jobs produces output, that output is sent as an email to the user, using the {{w|Sendmail|sendmail}} program. A common situation on many Unix-like systems is that sendmail (or another email program) is not configured to send email to the actual email address of the person behind the user account that configured the cron job, and writes the mail in question to the file <code>/var/mail/username</code> (in {{w|Mbox|mbox}} format) instead. Most shells will check that file, and produce a message "You have new mail" when its timestamps have changed; however, if a person doesn't know how to check their mail they will likely end up just ignoring that message.

The "/etc" directory is used for configuration files on UNIX-systems; therefore "/etc/crontab" is the main configuration file of cron and is expected to contain lines such as the following:

#m h dom mon dow user command
17 * * * * root cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly

Comment lines are designated by a # and are ignored, as are blank lines. On a non-comment non-blank line, the first 5 parameters tell it exactly when that line is supposed to run (in this case every hour on the 17th minute of the hour), the next part is what user the command is supposed to run as (root in this case), and the rest is the actual command that is supposed to run (cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly). The 5 time parameters, in order are minutes, hours, day-of-month, month, and day-of-week. A * means everything matches. So something could run as frequently as every minute (* * * * *) or as infrequently as once a year (i.e. January 2nd at 10:20am is 10 20 2 1 *). If a line that doesn't follow the correct format is added to /etc/crontab, it may cause the entire crontab file to be ignored, even those entries that are otherwise valid.

When a cron job runs, it is expected to do something with all text that might normally go to the screen -- a lot of times a command will redirect it to a log file of its own, or deliberately make it go nowhere (/dev/null). If anything does end up "on the screen", cron captures it and sends it as an email to the user, assuming it's data the user wants to view and be aware of. If local email is not configured to go somewhere the user actually knows to check, it usually ends up tacked on to the end of a file in /var/mail/username where it will sit forever, or until the user actually does something with it (either configures a local email program, sets up a forward to an email account they actually check, or deletes the file). Ponytail's suggestion to "fix the cron" means figure out why the cron job is outputting data to the screen, which is thus generating an email, and instead having the cron job handle its own messages in a better way. Once the cron jobs are no longer "talking" all the time, her further suggestion to point the MAILTO= to somewhere else would help Cueball be immediately aware if something goes wrong with a cron job that is normally quiet, so he can address the problem immediately instead of it going on for years undetected.

[[Cueball]] is not aware of all of the above, and expresses surprise at the repeated messages. [[Ponytail]] tells him to check check <code>/var/mail/cueball</code> which contains a lot of messages from cron from all those 15 years he used cron without properly understanding how it works.

When he realizes what has happened, he configures the mail system so that it writes all mail for his user to the <code>/etc/crontab</code> file, which is the main configuration file of cron (the <code>{{W|/etc}}</code> directory is used for configuration files on Unix-like systems), most probably breaking it. Of course, none of the jobs normally scheduled to run will run anymore either, so he will likely be surprised when other things that used to work no longer work. There are a number of system cron jobs that are usually present on Linux and Unix-like systems that one would not want to disable, including checking for updates, rotating log files including deleting old logs files, backups, etc.

In the worst case, cron might actually see the junk that [[Cueball]] is now directing into its configuration as valid configuration data and produce even more mail – resulting in a feedback situation that would eventually fill up the disk partition. It's unclear (especially to [[Cueball]]) whether this is actually possible – but it's certainly a risk.

The Title Text shows that Cueball is somewhat aware of what cron does, including the fact that it's existed pretty much unchanged for several decades, but he hasn't bothered to really get into understanding it, treating it more as a foe to vanquish rather than as a tool to understand and use.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting at a table in an office chair working on his laptop. Ponytail walks up to him.]
:Cueball: I've been getting these "You have new mail" UNIX notifications for like 15 years, but I've never bothered to figure out what it's talking about.

:[Ponytail has stopped behind Cueball who is typing on his laptop. When Ponytail (and later Cueball) mentions code, the text uses both small and capital letters (as opposed to only capital letters in all other text).]
:Ponytail: Look in /var/mail?
:Cueball: OK...
:Cueball: Oh, wow, there's like a gigabyte of stuff from Cron in here.

:[In a frame-less panel Ponytail is facepalming. Cueball is replying from off-panel with a starburst indicating his position.]
:Ponytail: *Sigh*
:Ponytail: You should fix your Cron, then point "MAILTO=" somewhere you actually see-
:Cueball (off-panel): Better idea:

:[Same setting as panel 2 but Cueball is visibly typing on the laptop as shown with three small curved lines over his hands on the keyboard.]
:Cueball: export MAILTO=/etc/crontab
:Cueball: There. Your move, Cron.
:Ponytail: Wow. Hardball.
:Cueball: Let's see how important it thinks that mail really is.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]

1085: ContextBot

2016-09-01T22:50:32Z

108.162.237.216: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1085
| date = July 23, 2012
| title = ContextBot
| image = contextbot.png
| titletext = If you read all vaguebooking/vaguetweeting with the assumption that they're saying everything they can without revealing classified military information, the internet gets way more exciting.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Explain title text.}}
This comic is a commentary on the practice of [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=vaguebooking "vaguebooking"] or [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=vaguetweeting "vaguetweeting"], which is posting a short message of sadness or frustration without context.

Google has been criticized more than a few times for keeping rather extensive data records on its users, who by this point constitute most of the internet, enough to cause serious damage if Google wasn't historically altruistic (as altruistic as a for-profit company can be). In the comic, ContextBot is a fictitious Google invention which puts context for these statuses, presumably based on all that personal data which Google has collected:

*The first response is pretty self-explanatory: the original poster wants to use the Internet while on the toilet, but can't get a {{w|wi-fi}} signal there.

*The second response is about a bad {{w|torrent file}} the original poster downloaded. A ''torrent'' is a way to download files from a lot of different sources at the same time, thereby speeding up the process; it is typically used for large downloads such as movies, games, or Linux software distributions. Fake torrents exist, which usually contain an encrypted {{w|.rar}} file which requires a password to open. To get the password, you usually need to go through a survey through the link supplied in the torrent; in some situations, you even need to pay in order to get the password. Even after that, it's quite likely that the .rar file just contains trash files, instead of the download you wanted.

*The third response is about an xkcd favorite, ''{{w|Minecraft}}'', which has been [[861: Wisdom Teeth|referenced]] [[882: Significant|multiple]] [[1110: Click and Drag|times]] in xkcd comics. Diamond is the most valuable resource in the game, and lava destroys any item dropped into it. A "stack" of diamond could be up to 64 pieces, and likely represents the fruit of several hours mining.

*The fourth response is about how the original poster mistook the grapes as being seedless. Grape seeds taste really bitter and are uncomfortable when swallowed; this is even more annoying when the seeds are unexpected.

As noted by the subtitle, ContextBot is considered a great good by everyone who was sick of vaguebooking. This also redeem's Google's practice of all those data records in the public's eye.

In the ContextBot's avatar image, three people can be seen together hanging out. But the image is about to be cropped, leaving out the third person and therefore giving the impression that the two people in the cropped image are there without that person. This demonstrates how ''context'' is important to understanding a situation.

==Transcript==
:[A social network feed with four status updates from four different people. Each one has a reply from the same account, which is called 'ContextBot', underneath.]
:Close-up face with glasses: The things I put up with...
:ContextBot: (His building's WiFi doesn't reach the bathroom.)
:Male female couple: You'd think by now I'd have learned never to trust anyone.
:ContextBot: (She downloaded a torrent that turned out to be an encrypted .rar and a link to a survey.)
:Blonde girl with bangs: I officially give up.
:ContextBot: (She hit alt-tab to hide Minecraft at work and accidentally dropped a stack of diamond into lava.)
:Spiky hair guy: Sighhhh
:ContextBot: (He thought these grapes were seedless.)
:Everyone stopped complaining about Google's data-gathering when they launched ContextBot, a system which replies to vague, enigmatic social network posts with context from the poster's life.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Social networking]]

590: Papyrus

2016-08-24T21:21:31Z

108.162.237.216: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 590
| date = May 29, 2009
| title = Papyrus
| image = papyrus.png
| titletext = I secretly, deep in my guilty heart, like Papyrus and don't care if it's overused. [Cue hate mail in beautifully-kerned Helvetica.]
}}

==Explanation==
 One of the comics in the "[[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]]" series, this one touches on the fact that {{w|Papyrus (typeface)|Papyrus}} ([http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=590:_Papyrus&oldid=92915 the font]) is considered to be overused by many typography geeks, including the font's own creator. Pretending that he doesn't know that, [[Cueball]] gives [[Ponytail]] a heartfelt card written in that font just to see her twitch. 

 The title text says that [[Randall]] actually ''likes'' Papyrus, even if it ''is'' overused, and refers to the fact that he will soon be receiving hate-mails from people who dislike Papyrus. Those e-mails will be written in {{w|Helvetica}}, another commonly-used sans-serif font that is highly esteemed by typography geeks, designers, and often hipsters. Those would call that font for '' beautifully-{{w|Kerning|kerned}}''. See also [[1015: Kerning]]. 

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the panel:]
:<big>My Hobby:</big>
:Getting typography geeks heartfelt cards printed in "Papyrus" and watching them struggle to act grateful.

:[Ponytail is holding a card, with lines of indiscernible text, open and looking down, specifically neither on the card nor on Cueball, who is watching her instead. An angry tic is flicking on her forehead.]
:Ponytail: Thank you for the ''*twitch*'' ... lovely... ''*twitch*'' birthday card!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]

1712: Politifact

2016-07-27T19:47:03Z

108.162.237.216: /* Explanation */ spelling fix

{{comic
| number = 1712
| date = July 27, 2016
| title = Politifact
| image = politifact.png
| titletext = "Ok, I lit the smoke bomb and rolled it under the bed. Let's see if it--" ::FWOOOSH:: "Politifact says: PANTS ON FIRE!"
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Basic, please expand.}}

This comic presents the website [http://www.politifact.com/ Politifact.com] as a person, who rates every statement they hear based on how true it is, as the website does with political claims.

The rulings from the Truth-O-Meter™ at PolitiFact are:
*True
*Mostly True
*Half-True
*Mostly False
*False
*Pants on Fire!

[[Megan]] says she had trouble sleeping. The Politifact person appears and says "''Mostly True!''" Megan appears distressed, and [[Cueball]] appears, hinting that this has happened before, and tells Politifact to get out. Politifact refuses, and hides under the bed. Megan remarks that no one likes Politifact, and Politifact replies "''Mostly True!''"

The comic may be commenting on the fact that many people become very defensive when claims they make in political discussions are debunked by Politifact. There is a phenomenon where the people most influenced by an erronous claim are the least likely to believe a fact checker. For example, The Washington Post [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/12/18/what-was-fake-on-the-internet-this-week-why-this-is-the-final-column/ shut down their internet rumor fact checker] because, "institutional distrust is so high right now, and cognitive bias so strong always, that the people who fall for hoax news stories are frequently only interested in consuming information that conforms with their views — even when it's demonstrably fake." Many people like the idea of a fact checker, until they disagree with it. Politfact has been accused of being both [http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2015/03/14/mostly-true-ted-cruz-attack-proves-politifact-is-run-by-gigantic-assholes/ liberally biased] and [http://www.rifuture.org/politifact-ri-once-again-shows-right-wing-bias.html conservatively biased] at various times and has angered politicians on both sides of the aisle. Hence, the statement that no one likes Politifact is "mostly true".

The title text makes a play on "Pants on fire" being Politifact's most untrue rating, but in this case it is an actual statement that Politifact's pants have caught fire because of the smoke bomb.

==Transcript==
:[Megan walks around and rubs her eyes.]
:Megan: I did ''not'' sleep well last night.

:[A person with long hair wearing a hat crawls through the window, PolitiFact, Megan looks at the person.]
:PolitiFact: PolitiFact says ''mostly true!''
:Megan: Oh no...

:[PolitiFact has entered the room and Megan chases after that person with Cueball walking behind of them.]
:Cueball: Not again. Get out of here, PolitiFact!
:Megan: I ''swear'' I locked that window.
:PolitiFact: PolitiFact says: ''False!''

:[Cueball and Megan standing in a bedroom, PolitiFact hides under the bed.]
:Cueball: You can't stay under there forever.
:Politifact: PolitiFact says: ''False!''
:Megan: Nobody likes you, Politifact.
:PolitiFact: PolitiFact says: ''Mostly true!''

{{comic discussion}}

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

873: FPS Mod

2016-05-26T04:29:46Z

108.162.237.216: /* Explanation */ clarify grammar

{{comic
| number = 873
| date = March 16, 2011
| title = FPS Mod
| image = fps mod.png
| titletext = Wait, that second one is a woman? ...wait, if that bothers me, then why doesn't... man, this game is no fun anymore.
}}

==Explanation==
FPS stands for {{w|First-person shooter|First Person Shooter}}, which is a type of video game (like {{w|Halo (series)|Halo}} or {{w|Duke Nukem}}) in which you are looking at the world from the first person perspective of the character you are controlling. [[Randall]] notes in the caption that no one liked his FPS mod (short for "modification" of the FPS game), and in the title text it is clear that [[Cueball]] who played this modified version no longer enjoys the game.

FPS games are controversial for their (supposed) quality of encouraging violence such as killing (especially towards other human beings). One point of the controversy is that, while virtual enemies are just pixels on a screen, real enemies have actual lives, emotions, and the like. In the games, there is a disconnect between the act and its emotional cost, thus leading to the controversy that FPS games encourage wanton killing (or violence in general) to solve problems instead of considering the other party. Randall makes reference to this by adding a mod that gives biographical snippets of the enemy you shoot in the game, thus giving Cueball the perspective of the enemy he just shot, and causing emotional consequence and remorse by removing the disconnect between pixel and life.

The above can also be a reference towards making games more realistic. Giving the enemies a life above being mere targets definitely makes the game more realistic, but such a game would not be that enjoyable. This has been explored previously in [[772: Frogger]].

The title text talks about how gender is portrayed in games. For some people it is more emotionally affecting to kill a woman, as women are considered biologically "weaker" than men by many societies, and societal norms state that men must protect them. Gender equality is a highly debated topic with many different viewpoints, where one's conscious reasoned views may sometimes stand at odds to subconscious feelings. When a player becomes aware that killing women bothers one more than killing men, it exposes an inconsistency in the player's own logic, one that's very uncomfortable to confront.

In the 1993 post-apocalyptic novel {{w|The Fifth Sacred Thing}}, the eco-pacifist residents of San Francisco defeat an invading army using a similar tactic. Rather than engage in armed defense, the family and friends of each dead San Franciscan speak directly to the soldiers who killed them, saying, "My wife was the mother of five children, and I loved her dearly," or "My cousin liked baseball." Eventually the soldiers suffer psychological breakdowns and defect ''en masse'', rather as Cueball seems to do in the title text.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting in a chair in front of his TV holding a gamepad while playing a video game. Every time he shoots the sound is written inside a ring of small curved lines to indicate the noise. Text on the screen is noted after each round of blasts with a zigzag line from the screen and between each entry.]
:''Blam''
:Game: He once built a treehouse.
:''Blam''
:Game: She has 110 unread emails that she was hoping to get to tonight.
:''Blam blam''
:Game: He was the only one who took care of the plants back at base.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:No one liked my FPS mod that gives you three-second snippets from the bios of people you shoot.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Video games]]

Talk:768: 1996

2016-04-05T20:33:51Z

108.162.237.216:

The only problem with the N-Spire series is that you have to boot it up. Another problem (ok, the nspires are riddled with problems) is that they are still terribly underpowered compared to the modern mobile device. The last is that they are still objects of mass blunt-force trauma, meaning they are still unwieldy bricks, you now have to wait for 2 minutes while your calculator boots up (''!!''), it's still a low resolution screen, and the processor is still clocked somewhere under 500 MHz.

Now, if T.I. made an android app that offered the entirety of their graphing and CAS functionality they could easily charge $70 and everyone I know (I go to an engineering university) would buy it with no regrets.

--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 23:04, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

They'll never do that - profs (not to mention high school teachers) would freak out! If that's not yet the only reason dedicated-hardware graphing calculators still exist, it soon will be. {{unsigned ip|24.218.167.129}}
:Why? Why they would freak out? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.107|173.245.48.107]] 22:18, 8 July 2014 (UTC)
::I can think of a couple reasons: I can't imagine many teachers or professors allowing students to use their smartphones in an exam scenario. (Honest sir, I'm only using my calculator app!). A large proportion of profs I've dealt with tend to be creatures of habit, with a certain resistance to change. Rightly or wrongly they know the existing calculators work, so why change. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 09:53, 13 October 2014 (UTC)
:::Wait. Are you telling me I can get a college degree for the price of a calculator case and someone to fit a phone in it?

[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 21:22, 26 January 2015 (UTC)

:TI has, in fact, already made a [http://education.ti.com/en-GB/aus-nz/nspire-family/ipad TI-Nspire iPad app] (but there's nothing official for Android). --[[User:Qwach|Qwach]] ([[User talk:Qwach|talk]]) 19:21, 31 August 2013 (UTC)
:: If we're talking about apps, then Maxima for Android is all you need. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.196|108.162.212.196]] 23:45, 12 January 2014 (UTC)

This explanation misses an important point of the comic's punchline: back in the mid-'90s, you would spend lots of cash for something that, by today's standards, is underpowered. While the observation about the state of changing technology between then and now is valid, the punchline to the comic is that in the case of TI calculators, not only has the *technology* not moved forward, but the *price* hasn't changed either! Nobody would nowadays pay 3000 dollars for the 100MHz Pentium machine mentioned in the comic, but people still spend 100 dollars on a 10MHz calculator. Madness. This is why the characters stumble over the "Times sure have changed" sentiment because, in the TI case, nothing has changed at all. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.81.216|141.101.81.216]] 09:18, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

My TI-84 Plus is 95 x 63 pixels, rather than 96 x 64. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.209|108.162.246.209]] 02:21, 5 October 2014 (UTC)

Did you look under the battery holder? Perhaps a pixel broke loose and slipped under there. {{unsigned ip|199.27.133.123}}

The operating system hides the last row and column of pixels from you, particularly on the graph screen, giving the appearance that it's 95x63, but it really is 96x64. Also, the original version of this comic had the dimensions at 96x62, but Randall later fixed it to the correct 96x64.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.216|108.162.237.216]] 20:33, 5 April 2016 (UTC)