explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1740: Rosetta

2016-10-05T11:51:15Z

108.162.237.242:

:Hairy's Woooo has four o's but Cueball's Wooo has only three o's. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 14:41, 30 September 2016 (UTC)
:Armegeddon actually had no kinetic impact. The plot device was a bomb drilled into the surface and detonated. This did deflect the comet by splitting it on half along a fault, causing the two pieces to miss Earth.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.100|162.158.75.100]] 17:04, 30 September 2016 (UTC)
:: Agreed, and edited. [[User:Beret Guy|Beret Guy]] ([[User talk:Beret Guy|talk]]) 20:54, 30 September 2016 (UTC)Beret Guy

Hasn't the fact of simply being in orbit already caused a change in the trajectory? Does impact make any difference? {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.111}}

:Technically, yes, but the effect is so small it may as well not exist. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.239|108.162.218.239]] 01:56, 1 October 2016 (UTC)
:Yes, the gas(?) expelled from Rosetta in order to accelerate it toward the comet leaves the comet/Rosetta system [[User:NotLock|NotLock]] ([[User talk:NotLock|talk]]) 02:33, 1 October 2016 (UTC)

Question: Why, if the purpose was to collect more data from the comet, was the signal lost, and why are the characters treating this as a good thing? Wouldn't we want a signal from Rosetta in order to transmit the data she gathers? [[User:NotLock|NotLock]] ([[User talk:NotLock|talk]]) 04:01, 1 October 2016 (UTC)
:Rosetta has been in orbit around the comet since 2014, gathering data. It sent its lander ''Philae'' down in November 2014. This was always the intended ending for the orbiter itself. [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 04:38, 1 October 2016 (UTC)
:: Thanks for the response! So the "extra data from Rosetta's sensors" were transmitted as Rosetta was descending, but before she landed. After she landed, then communications were shut off. Is that correct? [[User:NotLock|NotLock]] ([[User talk:NotLock|talk]]) 05:28, 1 October 2016 (UTC)
:::I'm not sure whether comms were 'shut off,' or if they just knew that they'd get no more from the surface because of issues with solar power or line of sight once it was on the surface, but this was the plan IIRC. [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 23:36, 1 October 2016 (UTC)
:I think the characters are celebrating because Rosetta impacting the comet (which coincides with the signal being lost) means the mission has been completed.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.242|108.162.237.242]] 11:51, 5 October 2016 (UTC)

Just watched an ESA clip, someone did actually go woooo. https://youtu.be/GNoJz50YNJI?t=1m28s [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.110|108.162.246.110]] 10:25, 1 October 2016 (UTC)
:You sure that was four 'o's? [[User:NotLock|NotLock]] ([[User talk:NotLock|talk]]) 07:11, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

The effect of impact may be small, but it will be multiplied with time. It might easily be measurable next orbit, and possibly be enough to "save Earth" after 10 orbits. If the 67P would actually be on trajectory colliding with Earth in 10 orbits, obviously. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:30, 2 October 2016 (UTC)
:Let's see. The impact was 2E-2m/sec and the masses are 3E6g and 1E13g, so delta V is 6E-9m/sec. Ten orbits is 2E9sec, so the change in position would be 12m. However, it might be in an orbit stabilized by Jupiter, or an in unstable orbit, in which case the change could be substantially different; impacts near aphelion or perihelion will also have nonproportional affects. I would guess that it is on the order of the uncertainty of the position and orbit.[[User:Matchups|Matchups]] ([[User talk:Matchups|talk]]) 11:31, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

1739: Fixing Problems

2016-09-28T17:30:16Z

108.162.237.242: removed extra line my last edit missed.

{{comic
| number = 1739
| date = September 28, 2016
| title = Fixing Problems
| image = fixing_problems.png
| titletext = 'What was the original problem you were trying to fix?' 'Well, I noticed one of the tools I was using had an inefficiency that was wasting my time.'
}}

==Explanation==
Due to the complex relationships within a program or other system, making an alteration can cause problems with other parts of the program. This can lead to a seemingly small "fix" becoming a long chain of debugging and consecutive fixes, which Cueball is in the middle of. As Cueball attempts to solve the initial computer issue, he creates more problems along the way. The title text suggests that the original problem was not stopping the function of the program and the benefits that Cueball may have hoped to achieve with the mentality of "If it ain't broke, break it and fix it" are being consumed by the expanding effort of the fix. Attempting to solve all of these problems results in more time wasted than he hoped would be gained by optimizing the inefficient tool described in the title text.

This comic is similar in thesis to [[1445: Efficiency]] and [[1319: Automation]].

Relevant comics include [[1171: Perl Problems]], where using regular expressions causes more problems than it solves, [[349: Success]], where Munroe comments on the goals of a project decreasing in optimism as a project goes on due to more and more problems distracting from the original, and [[1579: Tech Loops]], which shows that attempting to fix one problem in a piece of software can force a developer to delve into seemingly irrelevant parts of the relevant tech loop that the software in question is trapped in.

==Transcript==
:[Single square panel]
:[Cueball sitting in front of a laptop]
:Off-screen person: What are you working on?
:Cueball: Trying to fix the problems I created when I tried to fix the problems I created when I tried to fix the problems I created when...
{{comic discussion}}

1739: Fixing Problems

2016-09-28T17:28:13Z

108.162.237.242: Changed wording of explanation. Removed comment about fixed point combinator.

Talk:1717: Pyramid Honey

2016-08-09T12:24:38Z

108.162.237.242:

Seems like this could be the [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-science-behind-honeys-eternal-shelf-life-1218690/ Smithsonian reference]! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:53, 8 August 2016 (UTC)

Anyone know what the counter source or argument is?

This looks like it could be the source that inspired the strip:

http://irna.lautre.net/Honey-in-the-pyramids.html

Looks like a place to start digging for references: http://bumblehive.com/honey-was-not-found-in-pharaohs-tombs/ 

Did Randall draw the wrong colored hat?? [[User:Jameslucas|jameslucas]] ([[User talk:Jameslucas|" "]] / [[Special:Contributions/Jameslucas|+]]) 15:09, 8 August 2016 (UTC)
: Nah, I think it's just IRL trolling. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.80|173.245.54.80]] 15:34, 8 August 2016 (UTC)

Could this be the ned of Black Hat? The end of ''xkcd?!'' [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.51|173.245.54.51]] 16:06, 8 August 2016 (UTC)

Correction: this doesn't put "Megan unwillingly into the same camp as conspiracy theorists" it puts Black Hat there.
: No. Black hat is very much willing to join the conspiracy theorist camp. Rather, he creates it. Megan isn't a conspiracy theorist, her scepticism towards Cueballs honey claims are perfectly valid. But to an outside observer, she promotes the same viewpoint as Black hat. Indeed, Black hat even refers to Megan for "evidence". So Megan is forever assosiated with the Pyramid Honey truthers, despite having nothing to do with them. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.70|141.101.80.70]] 09:35, 9 August 2016 (UTC)

[https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/4wq6pf/xkcd_1717_pyramid_honey/d690yct This Reddit thread] cites https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey#Preservation and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey#Ancient_times [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.71|172.68.35.71]] 18:58, 8 August 2016 (UTC)

The phrase "a weird hill to die on" could probably use an explanation, too, as I'd never heard of that (or its apparent source phrase "Is this the hill you want to die on?", based on some quick googling) before. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.101|199.27.133.101]] 23:04, 8 August 2016 (UTC)
: "Is this the hill you want to die on?" sounds to me like a line from a war movie, e.g. this one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger_Hill. Maybe its origin is indeed something military, as some sources suggest: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/162813/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-a-mountain-im-willing-to-die-on [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 06:49, 9 August 2016 (UTC)

I have a possible source for the "weird hill to die on" reference, saw it on BBC a while back: Body on the Moor; http://www.bbc.com/news/resources/idt-e8c6cbab-da44-4a3c-8f9b-c4fccd53dd24.

Every particle physicist knows that the shelf life of honey is at most 1042 years, just like everything else. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.129|108.162.215.129]] 00:51, 9 August 2016 (UTC)

re: tooltip - I thought it was a floating giant eye? --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.28|173.245.54.28]] 00:59, 9 August 2016 (UTC)

The "weird hill to die on" phrase could mean a point of view Black Hat will defend to the last, regardless the sense of it (which makes sense with the militarian source).
He might find such a thing worth to find because it would give his entire life a (though in general maybe and in this case definitely unuseful) purpose.
furthermore, by simply spreading Megan's claim without considering the nuances of her point and questioning it thouroughly he does basically the same as ll the people who claim honey's shelf life to be infinite (who apparently never thought of asking for further information where exactly the honey was found and by whom).
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.34|141.101.104.34]] 07:36, 9 August 2016 (UTC)
:when the explanation for "weird hill to die on" as a phrase gets settled the explanation should probably also reference Black Hat's mixing of the metaphorical use (a debate position or principled stand) and a literal hill ("[A]ll the real ones are too far from my house.") [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.242|108.162.237.242]] 12:24, 9 August 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1713: 50 ccs

2016-08-01T20:04:12Z

108.162.237.242:

I don't fully get this joke but I do get that people do all sorts of strange things to cure hiccups so I think it has to do with that but I don't understand the title text at all [[User:MrEnder|MrEnder]] ([[User talk:MrEnder|talk]]) 05:26, 29 July 2016 (UTC)

Thinking more CCs is a measurement of medicine usually referring to pain killers. Maybe people are coming in with the hiccups and the doctor is going to hand out pain killers (or just sugar pills) saying they are a hiccup vaccine and is annoyed at having to do so. So this could be a joke about placebo drugs. [[User:MrEnder|MrEnder]] ([[User talk:MrEnder|talk]]) 05:33, 29 July 2016 (UTC)
:No, 1 cc here literally mean "cc" which is egnogh c's to spell va'''cc'''ination -- so 25 cc's is literally "cccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.113|162.158.255.113]] 13:53, 29 July 2016 (UTC)

50cc is a volume measurement typically used to measure injectible dosages. A metric measure meaning "cubic centimetre" it is equivalent to 1 millilitre. Thus, the title is referring to volume of injection. However, the words hiccup and vaccine both include the letter combination "cc", hence writing them down 25 times each will be a total of 50 "cc" words. This is supported by the additional "cc" words in the mouseover text
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.78|141.101.98.78]] 05:36, 29 July 2016 (UTC)

Folks, it's a matter of spelling: it takes 50 pieces of the letters "cc" to write "hiccup vaccine" 25 times {{unsigned ip|162.158.85.141}}

Could it be related to http://xkcd.com/1383/ ? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.241|198.41.242.241]] 05:45, 29 July 2016 (UTC)
:No I see no connection. This is about words with cc and the volume cm^3 as cc, whereas the [[1383: Magic Words]] is about language and sex... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:24, 29 July 2016 (UTC)

Just noticed something else! maybe coincidence! But raccoons are known to have rabies. If you read the title texts first letters of the description of what happened fuck you get R A A A A B (could be pronounced Ray Bee) because accordions have nothing to do with women's roman drinking and ecstasy parties as far as I can tell [[User:MrEnder|MrEnder]] ([[User talk:MrEnder|talk]]) 05:47, 29 July 2016 (UTC)
: #overthinking [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.115|141.101.104.115]] 11:10, 29 July 2016 (UTC)
::Agree ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:24, 29 July 2016 (UTC)

Y'all are making this too complicated. It's the classic garden-path joke which says something simple and obvious, then says something that completely changes the meaning of what went before. "I shot a n----- in my pajamas. I don't know how he got into my woodpile." [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.136|108.162.237.136]] 14:17, 29 July 2016 (UTC)
:That joke makes no sense; maybe you meant to use the slur "coon" instead...?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.244.6|108.162.244.6]] 17:40, 29 July 2016 (UTC)
:Is that not what the explanation says? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:24, 29 July 2016 (UTC)
:Felt obliged to edit above - Being born & raised in MS, I have no tolerance for the word. The pajamas / woodpile joke is presumably familiar enough, or findable. [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 08:35, 30 July 2016 (UTC)
:Is this supposed to be an evolution of the Groucho Marx "I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I'll never know"? Because I have never heard the woodpile ending, or the racial slur before. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.242|108.162.237.242]] 20:04, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

Drinking has been known to cause hiccups. Do you think the raccoons from the bacchanalia are the ones who need the hiccup vaccine? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.51|173.245.54.51]] 16:19, 29 July 2016 (UTC)

1713 cc also means carbon copy. So 50 carbon copies of either of those words could be called for. {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.146}}
: CC (CopyCat) is also the name of the first ever cloned cat. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CC_(cat)] Maybe they need 50 copies of her? [[User:Zorlax the Mighty|Zorlax the Mighty'); DROP TABLE users;--]] ([[User talk:Zorlax the Mighty|talk]]) 11:45, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

If the distraction works against already existing hiccups, it's a hiccups remedy, not a hiccups vaccine. [[User:Physicalattraction|Physicalattraction]] ([[User talk:Physicalattraction|talk]]) 08:48, 30 July 2016 (UTC)

1711: Snapchat

2016-07-25T15:54:27Z

108.162.237.242:

{{comic
| number = 1711
| date = July 25, 2016
| title = Snapchat
| image = snapchat.png
| titletext = For obvious reasons, the prize is awarded at a different time of year from the others, while it's still fresh in the committee's memory.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Maybe theres more to it. Title text explanation missing.}}
The {{w|Pulitzer Prize}} is awarded for spectacular writing (there are many categories; see {{w|Pulitzer Prize#Categories|here}}). {{w|Snapchat}} is a photo-sending app that allows the receiving user to only view the photo (known as a "snap") for a few seconds before it is deleted.

[[Cueball]] reads about the prize but then when [[Megan]] states the she heard the picture was really good Cueball becomes disappointed becuase he has missed out on the chance to see the prize winning photo due to the temporary nature of Snapchat.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan standing together. He holds a smartphone in his left hand and looks at it.]
:Cueball: Oh, the Pulitzer Prize for Snapchat was just awarded.
:Megan: Yeah.
:Megan: I hear the photo was really good.
:Cueball: Aw, ''maaaan''...

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Smartphones]]
[[Category:Social networking]]

Talk:1711: Snapchat

2016-07-25T15:49:56Z

108.162.237.242:

"No, it's because I'm ignorant." Is Snapchat the one where photos last ten seconds only, then they're gone? And the Pulitzer prize is some American thing, right? (As opposed to Pulletzer prize, some chicken thing.) [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.32|198.41.238.32]] 11:43, 25 July 2016 (UTC)

Pulitzer prize is a worldwide prize for Journalism (amongst which Photography is a category) and arts (drama, etc). {{unsigned ip|141.101.104.92}}

Its for published items from the U.S., not worldwide.~d

Should there be some level of explanation that in spite of Snaps "self destructing" people often save screenshots of Snaps meaning that the picture is probably out there somewhere? Possibly even saved by the Pulitzer committee? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.242|108.162.237.242]] 15:49, 25 July 2016 (UTC)

1711: Snapchat

2016-07-25T12:40:19Z

108.162.237.242: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1711
| date = July 25, 2016
| title = Snapchat
| image = snapchat.png
| titletext = For obvious reasons, the prize is awarded at a different time of year from the others, while it's still fresh in the committee's memory.
}}

==Explanation==
The Pulitzer Prize is awarded for spectacular journalism. Snapchat is a photo-sending app that allows the recieving user to only view the photo (known as a "snap") for a few seconds before it is deleted. Cueball is disappointed that he missed out on the chance to see the prize winning photo due to the temporary nature of snapchat.

It is worth noting that in spite of the intent of snapchat, many users will take a screen shot of "snaps" that are sent to them creating a permanent copy of the image. This has led to embarrassment when users expected their sexually explicit snaps to only be seen by the recipient, but those images end up being seen by many more people especially if the copy gets posted on the internet.

==Transcript==
[Cueball looking at his phone]

Cueball: Oh, The Pulitzer Prize for Snapchat was just awarded.

Megan: Yeah.

Megan: I hear the photo was really good.

Cueball: Aw, Maaaan...

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1701: Speed and Danger

2016-07-02T02:25:00Z

108.162.237.242:

;Worst Comic
I think this might be a strong contender for worst comic on xkcd. Although [[1384: Krypton]] definitely makes for stiff competition. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.102|108.162.216.102]] 14:28, 1 July 2016 (UTC)
:Perhaps "in worst taste" might be a better term than simply "worst". Certainly the fatality '''rate''' (in fatalities/crash) for rocket crashes is higher, but placing motor sports crashes to the extreme end of the safety-danger axis is a bit suspect in light of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver_deaths_in_motorsport . [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.242|108.162.237.242]] 02:25, 2 July 2016 (UTC)

Is there something this is referencing? [[User:Saklad5|Saklad5]] ([[User talk:Saklad5|talk]]) 14:41, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

The worst? Have you looked at the first few hundred? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.119|108.162.246.119]] 15:09, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

I think this comic is actually enlightening on a certain (albeit narrow level). People frequently lack a proper sense of perspective, and this comic illustrates this fact. While we might say "Wow, that Indy car is really moving fast!", it pales in comparison to other vehicles that some fortunate few travel in. {{unsigned|BobTheMad}}
:And I totally wanted to learn that from a '''comic''' that's supposed to be humorous... --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.7|108.162.219.7]] 16:50, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

[[1699]] and [[1680]] would like to have a word with you. Also [[1675]].
Actually, all of the last 25 or so comics would. I really don't know how the xkcd forums put up with being 500x smarter than all the comics they praise every day. [[User:Youforgotthisthing|Youforgotthisthing]] ([[User talk:Youforgotthisthing|talk]]) 17:18, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

;Sarcasm
Is sarcasm to be encouraged in explanations? “Here, Randall makes the '''truly astounding''' observation that the danger of a crash is directly proportional to its speed….” [Emphasis mine.] ''— [[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 15:29, 1 July 2016 (UTC)''
:In this case it's definitely warranted...Jesus Randall, this wouldn't exactly have been hard to make funny/interesting. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.7|108.162.219.7]] 15:51, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Well a rocket to achieve orbit hits about 18,000 MPH http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/basics/launch.html
Where as NASCAR is only ~200 MPH https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_car_racing
Formula 1 is only ~257 MPH https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formula_One_car#Top_speeds
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.68.71|162.158.68.71]] 16:51, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

I'm kinda shocked Randall didn't reference Star Trek for this comic, considering the number. - Michael C. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.85|141.101.98.85]] 17:00, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

;Why only 4 examples?

Why not put things like biking, driving a regular car, WWI planes, WW2 planes, supersonic jets, satellites, Apollo, New Horizons... {{unsigned ip|108.162.244.67}}

;Sports or Sports Cars?
I don't think the comic intended to say "Normal Sports CARS," as the explanation currently says, I think it means what it says, "Normal SPORTS" like foot ball, or hockey. On the linear scale of 0-to-rocket, running or walking is close to race car speed, compared to how fast a rocket is, and the graph illustrates that. Also, crashing a normal sports CAR is far more dangerous than crashing a professional race car because of all the safety equipment, so a sports car would be more toward the dangerous side. {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.81}}
:Agreed. I was assuming the reference was to various contact sports such as football, hockey, and quidditch where collisions between players regularly happen. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.132|108.162.237.132]] 20:52, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

;What is the point of this comic and where is the fun

I don't know, I feel like people is missing the point of the comic, where is the funny on it.

I think finding Formula one on the slow an secure quadrant of the chart is surprising, so near to regular sports, until you understand that it is only compared to a rocket launch. People sure think of F1 as fast and dangerous, so this comic plays with our expectations.

Not exactly hilarious, but neither the worst XKCD comic.

[[User:Inconexo|Inconexo]] ([[User talk:Inconexo|talk]]) 20:19, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

<hr>
One thing I think it might be interesting to indicate is how this is the first one of these plots where everything is in only two quadrants. There is no slow but dangerous crash nor fast but safe crash. Usually at least one these quadrants would have an entry, and probably a facetious one.

I also think the part about scale could be expanded to more than just the "relative to the speed of light." Something like "While we tend to speak of race cars as going fast, they are slow compared to rockets." --[[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 22:27, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

1692: Man Page

2016-06-10T16:15:16Z

108.162.237.242:

{{comic
| number = 1692
| date = June 10, 2016
| title = Man Page
| image = man_page.png
| titletext = For even more info, see blarbl(2)(3) and birb(3ahhaha I'm kidding, just Google it like a normal person.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The two synopsis lines has not been explained, including the fact that there seems to be missing ending "]" and "}" in both lines (although taken together as one line they actually have the correct amount of brackets, but that would not make sense - I guess?) Someone seems to think the explanation for the copyright is lacking and has left a [text in square bracket] above that explanation. Please improve of delete that text if explanation now OK. Needs fact-checking of the table etc. and needs explanation of symbolic link}}

This comic shows a {{w|Unix}} manual page, i.e. a ''{{w|man page}}'' (hence the title), for a fictional program called "blerp". Unix man pages are meant to provide a brief reference on the usage of a command, not extended explanations with tutorials as may be found in many hardcopy product manuals. This example exaggerates the obscurity and terseness found in many man pages, making fun of the typical style of the genre.

It follows the prescribed format for a man page, with the following sections:
* Command Name: self-explanatory
* Synopsis: details of the valid command line formats
* Description: summary account of the purpose and operation of the command
* Options: detailed description of all the available command line arguments
* See Also: references to other man pages with relevance
* Bug Reports: contact details for the support group (if any)
* Copyright: details of the ownership and rights status of the man page (not the program)

However most the contents of these sections are not very meaningful, or even obey the correct syntax.

The Synopsis section is supposed to be in a {{w|Regular Expression|regex}}-like language called {{w|Wirth Syntax Notation}}, with structures like

* {<list of valid alternatives>}, e.g. blerp {A,B,C}
* [<optional element>], e.g. blerp [-o [<output file>]]
* <something> ... meaning repeat <something> as many times as you need

But the two Synopsis lines given do not have valid syntax; they randomly mix objects and syntactic characters, and the curly and square brackets are not properly nested or paired.

The options are in alphabetical order (putting lower case before upper case and with an em-dash inserted between b and c the only exception to this order).

{{w|Command-line_interface#Command-line_option|Command-line options}}, also known as flags, are typed following a program name to change how the program runs. The following is an example usage.

<code>blerp -a -d -t -p "AVIGNON"</code>

This would run blerp in attack mode, outputting to DEBUG.EXE, with tumble dry, and with POPE set to AVIGNON. In most cases, any number of flags can be used in any order, and applicable flags can be followed by arguments (such as "AVIGNON" in this example).

For a walk through of all possible flags see the [[#Table of flags|table]] below.

Below the flags there are a ''see also'' list with other stupid program names. Apart from two more blerbs there is also blirb, blarb and blorb, with chapter references. The last blorp(501)(c)(3) is not a valid chapter reference for a man page, it is however a slightly covert reference to {{w|501(c)_organization|501(c)(3)}} which is an organization that is tax-exempt.

Then follows a bug report site. inaturalist.org is a site working to extend biological research, and http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47744-Hemiptera points to the same page as http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/Hemiptera. {{w|Hemiptera}} is the order classifying True Bugs, making it the perfect place to report any new bug you have discovered...

[Copyright is a mishmash, "or best offer" is humorous, needs better explanation of individual parts.]

Finally there is a "{{w|copyright}}" line which references several variously open-source content licenses which is also a recurring theme on xkcd (see [[225: Open Source]]). For instance GPL references {{w|GNU General Public License}} and the (2) and (3+) refers to {{w|GNU_General_Public_License#Version_2|GPL 2}} and {{w|GNU_General_Public_License#Version_3|GPL 3 or higher}}. ''CC'' refers to {{w|creative commons}} where ''BY'' is the {{w|Creative_Commons_license#Types_of_licenses|type of license}}, ''5.0'' refers to the attribution and ''RV 41.0'' refers to revision 41.0. However there were no higher attribution than [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode 4.0] at the time of this comics release. xkcd is released under [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/ CC BY-NC 2.5] as can be seen at the bottom of the {{xkcd}} homepage. A few comics have been released under the [[:Category:CC-BY-SA comics|CC-BY-SA license]] or [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ 3.0]. BSD refers to {{w|BSD licenses}} a [[:Category:BSD|recurring theme]] in xkcd . "LIKE GECKO" is a reference to a web browser user-agent string; modern user-agent strings include a lot of text designed{{Citation needed}} to let the browser pretend to be several different browsers/renderers, and "(like Gecko)" is the standard text for a browser that wants to be treated as if it were {{w|Gecko (software)|Gecko}} while admitting, if you look closely, that it isn't really Gecko. This copyright line, which includes a lot of mashed-together text that might appear to match any of several different licenses, resembles a user-agent string.

"OR BEST OFFER" is a reference to an auction where the person who bids the highest gets to buy the item. In context, it suggest the person who has the highest offer for blerp will be sold the rights to the program. Since the other licenses mentioned would allow for free usage without paying royalties, it would usually be pointless to buy the rights to the program.

In the title text there is a list with even more info, again with crazy names like blarbl and birb. Again there are page references, but for the last the person writing this stops writing the reference and begins to laugh at who ever still reads this man page and telling them that he is kidding and suggest that they ''just Google it like a normal person''. Seems like [[Randall]] does not believe much in man pages anymore... The writer of this text thus also stops finishing the brackets as the ending ")" for the last chapter is missing.

Man pages were part of the subject of [[293: RTFM]] and were mentioned in [[456: Cautionary]].

===Table of flags===
*There are 28 flags.
**Only these five letters are not used: l, m, w, x, z.
**j and k are used together as jk.
**The following seven capital letters are used: D, I, O, R, S, U, V.
***That makes it one capital letter for every lower case letter that is not used by itself.
**Finally the em dash "—" is used as the only non-letter character. Also the only that breaks the strict adiabatically sorting of the list, with lower case before upper case letters.
{| class="wikitable"
!Flag!!Description!!Explanation
|-
| -a||ATTACK MODE||This sounds like a command for a robot or something similar. Strange for a command line program. Possibly this is designed to break something?
|-
| -b||SUPPRESS BEES||Nonsensical option. This is a word play, meaning either to suppress {{w|Bee|Bees}} (the insects) or the letter '''B'''. This is also a possible {{w|Discworld}} reference, as the ''{{W|Hex_(Discworld)#Structure_and_technology|long-term storage}}'' of the only recurring computer in the series, ''{{w|Hex (Discworld)|Hex}}'', is composed of a beehive. (Note that the actual computer runs on ants.)
|-
| -—||FLAGS USE EM DASHES||Command line options (flags) typically use {{w|Hyphen|hyphens}} (short horizontal lines largely used within words). {{w|Dash#Em_dash|Em dashes}} (longer, with the same length as the letter "m") can't easily be typed into a command line interface, so switching flags from hyphens to em dashes is excessively difficult and nonsensical.

This may be a play on how a lot of commands accept both single-dash options, like -h for help, as well as double-dash options like --help also for help. In word processors, a double-dash (--) is often replaced with the longer em dash (—), making them kind of synonymous.

Also implies a paradox where if flags were to use em dashes, this flag itself would be invalid.
|-
| -c||COUNT NUMBER OF ARGUMENTS||Most likely not useful.
|-
| -d||PIPES OUTPUT TO DEBUG.EXE||{{w|DEBUG.EXE}} is the old 16-bit debugger that came with MS-DOS. On a Unix system it is much more likely that one would use the {{w|GNU Debugger}} (GDB). A debugger is usually called by calling the debugger with the program (or script) to be debugged as parameter.
{{w|Pipeline (Unix)|Piping}} in Unix means that the output of one program serves as input for another program.
|-
| -D||DEPRECATED||Many programs contain legacy options to avoid breaking scripts that use them. While the option should still work, the documentation is changed to say "deprecated" to discourage further use. Eventually such options usually get removed. (However, given the nature of this comic, it's likely that -D has always stood for "deprecated".)
|-
| -e||EXECUTE SOMETHING||Vague. Also a possible pun on a kill-switch.
|-
| -f||FUN MODE||Strange and slightly ominous, given some of the other options. See under -O.
|-
| -g||USE GOOGLE||As an actual program flag, a bit hackjob-ish, but it is possible it is telling the user to use Google to find out what this tag does.
|-
| -h||CHECK WHETHER INPUT HALTS||Completely impossible, by the {{w|Halting problem}} which is the problem of determining, from a description of an arbitrary computer program and an input, whether the program will finish running or continue to run forever. {{w|Alan Turing}} proved in 1936 that a general algorithm to solve the halting problem for all possible program-input pairs cannot exist.

Note that most commands reserve -h for help, so using it for a different function is non-standard. Such is common for many Unix and Linux commands.
|-
| -i||IGNORE CASE (LOWER)||Usually, ignoring case means that a program will run without differentiating between upper- and lowercase. This flag suggests that blerp will run ignoring all the lowercase characters completely, or ignoring all the uppercase characters with the next flag "-I". Note that using this may make it ignore the difference for flags like -i and -I...
|-
| -I||IGNORE CASE (UPPER)||See above. Also possible that all text is converted to upper case, or that upper-case requirements only are ignored
|-
| -jk||KIDDING||A common acronym for [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jk Just Kidding], not a program flag. Also note that standard behavior of Unix command line options is that a single "-" can be followed by multiple one-letter options, making -jk equivalent to -j -k.
|-
| -n||BEHAVIOR NOT DEFINED||Possibly mathematically ominous? Otherwise useless.(Possible debug/unstable feature flag)
|-
| -o||OVERWRITE||Standard program flag, usually meaning that the program will overwrite a file rather than make a new one when data is output.May work strangely with -d.
|-
| -O||OPPOSITE DAY||Strange flag, possibly means that all other flags (or maybe even including this one!) have the opposite effects - if so, a lot of strange things would happen. (Especially with -b, -e, -f, -jk, -O...) Possible reference to the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zEGjlHZMiM Cyanide and Happiness Short: Opposite Day]
|-
| -p||SET TRUE POPE; ACCEPTS "ROME" OR "AVIGNON"||This refers to a {{w|Western_Schism|historical schism}} in the {{w|Catholic Church}}. In the 14th century, the Pope briefly ruled from Avignon, France, instead of Rome. After the Papacy was returned to Rome in 1377, the Church split (the so-called Western Schism) as not everyone accepted the move and the Pope who ordered it. This flag apparently allows the user to select a preferred Pope. There is actually a possible feature request here, as "PISA", a third Pope, should also be an option. It is the second time this week that Popes have been mentioned, last time was two comics before in [[1690: Time-Tracking Software]] regarding the Popes sexual activity.
|-
| -q||QUIET MODE; OUTPUT IS PRINTED TO STDOUT INSTEAD OF BEING SPOKEN ALOUD||In most cases, a program will output basic information to the console, and running it in quiet mode will make it run without outputting anything. Blerp, on the other hand, outputs information through audio, and the quiet flag causes it to run like a normal program. "STDOUT" is short for "standard output".
|-
| -r||RANDOMIZE ARGUMENTS||Pointless and possibly damaging.
|-
| -R||RUN RECURSIVELY ON <nowiki>http://*</nowiki>||The star (*) symbol is often used as a wildcard to match any string of characters. "<nowiki>http://*</nowiki>" suggests that blerp will be run on every (unsecured) webpage on the internet, or on each page recursively. What it might do in order to make this valid is also ominous.
|-
| -s||FOLLOW SYMBOLIC LINKS SYMBOLICALLY||A {{w|symbolic link}} is a filesystem feature that allows the creation of "fake" files which when accessed redirect to another file path. Many commands offer an option to follow filesystem links and operate on the actual file rather than the fake pointer; this option however seems to suggest that it will only politely pretend to do so.
|-
| -S||STEALTH MODE||Similar to -a, in that it sounds more like an option for some kind of robot.
|-
| -t||TUMBLE DRY||Perhaps useful for a program that runs on a clothes dryer. Refers to [https://img1.etsystatic.com/000/0/5254504/il_570xN.184726893.jpg directions like these]. Many clothing items are marked "do not tumble dry" in the care instructions, but this would be extremely difficult to make relevant to a program. Given the other flags, this may be less nonsensical than it would first appear..
|-
| -u||UTF-8 MODE; OTHERWISE DEFAULTS TO ANSEL||{{w|ANSEL}} is an old and obscure character encoding that predates ASCII. Using ANSEL as a default would be strange and largely incompatible with most modern systems. On the other hand, UTF-8 is rather standard. Similar in this regard to -q, blerp does something non-standard by default. The problem with using different modes (where the original was also UTF-8) is shown in the title text of [[1683: Digital Data]].
|-
| -U||UPDATE (DEFAULT: FACEBOOK)||Update usually refers to replacing an old software with a newer version. The default here suggests posting a status update to Facebook, sourcing an update form Facebook, or updating Facebook itself.
|-
| -v||VERBOSE; ALIAS TO find / -exec cat {}||Almost standard flag, in ordinary programs the opposite of -q - instead of silencing output, it makes it more specific, usually to help with debugging. Instead, this flag gets replaced with a command that prints the contents of all files in the filesystem tree. However, it will never complete, as certain device files never end (/dev/urandom contains random bytes). Note that the "find" command is missing <code>\;</code> and will not run, instead complaining <code>find: missing argument to `-exec'</code> .
|-
| -V||SET VERSION NUMBER||Many programs will have a flag to view the version number. This flag changes the version number instead.
|-
| -y||YIKES||[[wiktionary:yikes|yikes]] is an interjection which can express fear or empathy with unpleasant or undesirable circumstances. It is unclear how this would influence the program.
|}

==Transcript==
:[A terminal screen; the background is black and the text is white.]
:{| class="wikitable"
|style="background-color:black;"|
;NAME
:blerp

;SYNOPSIS
:blerp {[ OPTION | ARGS ]...[ ARGS ... -f [FLAGS] ...}
:blerp {... DIRECTORY ... URL | BLERP} OPTIONS ] -{}

;DESCRIPTION
:blerp FILTERS LOCAL OR REMOTE FILES OR RESOURCES USING PATTERNS DEFINED BY ARGUMENTS AND ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES. THIS BEHAVIOR CAN BE ALTERED BY VARIOUS FLAGS.

;OPTIONS
:{|
! scope="row" | -a
| ATTACK MODE
|-
! scope="row" | -b
| SUPPRESS BEES
|-
! scope="row" | -—
| FLAGS USE EM DASHES
|-
! scope="row" | -c
| COUNT NUMBER OF ARGUMENTS
|-
! scope="row" | -d
| PIPES OUTPUT TO DEBUG.EXE
|-
! scope="row" | -D
| DEPRECATED
|-
! scope="row" | -e
| EXECUTE SOMETHING
|-
! scope="row" | -f
| FUN MODE
|-
! scope="row" | -g
| USE GOOGLE
|-
! scope="row" | -h
| CHECK WHETHER INPUT HALTS
|-
! scope="row" | -i
| IGNORE CASE (LOWER)
|-
! scope="row" | -I
| IGNORE CASE (UPPER)
|-
! scope="row" | -jk
| KIDDING
|-
! scope="row" | -n
| BEHAVIOR NOT DEFINED
|-
! scope="row" | -o
| OVERWRITE
|-
! scope="row" | -O
| OPPOSITE DAY
|-
! scope="row" | -p
| SET TRUE POPE; ACCEPTS "ROME" OR "AVIGNON"
|-
! scope="row" | -q
| QUIET MODE; OUTPUT IS PRINTED TO STDOUT INSTEAD OF BEING SPOKEN ALOUD
|-
! scope="row" | -r
| RANDOMIZE ARGUMENTS
|-
! scope="row" | -R
| RUN RECURSIVELY ON <nowiki>http://*</nowiki>
|-
! scope="row" | -s
| FOLLOW SYMBOLIC LINKS SYMBOLICALLY
|-
! scope="row" | -S
| STEALTH MODE
|-
! scope="row" | -t
| TUMBLE DRY
|-
! scope="row" | -u
| UTF-8 MODE; OTHERWISE DEFAULTS TO ANSEL
|-
! scope="row" | -U
| UPDATE (DEFAULT: FACEBOOK)
|-
! scope="row" | -v
| VERBOSE; ALIAS TO find / -exec cat {}
|-
! scope="row" | -V
| SET VERSION NUMBER
|-
! scope="row" | -y
| YIKES
|}

;SEE ALSO
:blerp(1), blerp(3), blirb(8), blarb(51) blorp(501)(c)(3)

;BUG REPORTS
:<nowiki>http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47744-Hemiptera</nowiki>

;COPYRIGHT
:GPL(2)(3+) CC-BY/5.0 RV 41.0 LIKE GECKO/BSD 4(2) OR BEST OFFER

|}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:BSD]]
[[Category:Animals]]

Talk:1675: Message in a Bottle

2016-05-02T14:14:28Z

108.162.237.242:

The title text reminds me of the song {{w|Message in a Bottle (song)|Message in a Bottle}} by Police. ;-) Maybe enough that it should be part of the explanation? [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:30, 2 May 2016 (UTC)

: Why not? Seems to fit the description. [[User:Jacoder23|Jacoder23]] ([[User talk:Jacoder23|talk]]) 14:07, 2 May 2016 (UTC)

It may be worth mentioning that in certain mailing lists or mass emails people use "reply all" to unsubscribe or otherwise request being removed from the recipients list of future messages; meaning everyone else's inbox gets clogged with unsubscribe requests even though the message only needed to go to the originator. (The best part is the people who reply all to tell the other people to stop using reply all.) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.242|108.162.237.242]] 14:14, 2 May 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1558: Vet

2016-04-15T09:56:02Z

108.162.237.242:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct4Rl4VrMp8 [[Special:Contributions/198.41.239.32|198.41.239.32]] 11:20, 31 July 2015 (UTC)

"There is something wrong with my dog" and "The Migratory Bird Treaty act" is really messed up. Roomba might be produced in US, but a dog is not a bird so Megan must be really confused. Except for just a few species, birds can fly and the last Roomba that flown got help from its owner into a wall for being a walking hazard. Or could Megan mean that among the dirt is feathers (from pillows maybe) that got stuck in the wheels and therefor ascends directly from birds and dinosaurs. [[User:Aquaplanet|Aquaplanet]] ([[User talk:Aquaplanet|talk]]) 13:06, 31 July 2015 (UTC)
:That whoosh sound was the joke going way over your head. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.141|173.245.54.141]] 14:39, 31 July 2015 (UTC)
:{{w|Bird_Dog_(song)|Bird dog}}..? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.188|141.101.98.188]] 06:32, 1 August 2015 (UTC)

It looks to me like this is a vet at a big-box pet supply store; that would explain the lack of a separate waiting room. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.167|173.245.56.167]] 15:02, 31 July 2015 (UTC)

:I was going to say that maybe it's just a returns counter or complaint department. Are there actually vets at Petsmart-or-others that operate like this? Vet being a desk that you just queue up for? [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 19:36, 31 July 2015 (UTC)

The pet of the second customer fits into the carrier, because it apparently is HALF-dog (head and a pair of legs). {{unsigned ip|173.245.55.99}}

"...Perhaps he has another small dog in there..." Actually, he may have arrived by bus or car, with the dog inside the carrier during the ride (for safety and convenience) but walking into the clinic with the dog on a leash because, hey! carrying even a smallish dog inside its carrier is a lot more work than getting the dog to carry himself, while carrying the much lighter carrier in the other hand. [[User:NoniMausa|NoniMausa]] ([[User talk:NoniMausa|talk]]) 01:38, 1 August 2015 (UTC)

:Reading the explanation about dog being too big, I got another idea: the second person is going to complain about the dog not fitting in the carrier (because it grown, likely) and would want the vet to do something with the dog to fix it. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:43, 1 August 2015 (UTC)

::I cannot see why the drawn dog should not fit into the carrier. I have changed the explanation using some of the ideas from this discussion page. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:55, 6 August 2015 (UTC)

;Add discussion of what would really happen when she released it into the wild

Would it be able to move on the ground outdoors?

Start trying to vacuum up the dirt under it and just dig itself into a hole?

Get stuck due to inability to move on a surface that isn't horizontal?

Eventually, it's going to "die" because the batteries run out, but what happens until then.

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.56.215|162.158.56.215]] 13:29, 1 August 2015 (UTC)

:Well, if it finds a mate to reproduce with, and quickly enough to raise the young Roombairns to maturity before it does expire... Evolution! Maybe the race of Roombae will develop to inhabit an unused ecological niche, and proliferate! Or, because there rarely ''are'' unused ecological niches, become an aggressive 'invader', causing the decline or even extinction of the existing wildlife in that footprint.
:As the Roombakind's main ability is moving dirt, I predict that it will be the two major large-scale creatures who move dirt who may be effected. The beaver, and humanity.
:Good luck, Homo North Americanus! Unluckily for you (but luckily for us, across the ocean) the Roombae are currently not well suited for travel over or through water. But maybe by the time they develop the means to do so (perhaps by cooperatively forming "Roombacraft", coming together in a group and selectively reversing their airflow to create a cushion of air to first cross the Panama Canal and the gaps between the ice sheets over the top of the Arctic, whilst some tilt to provide thrust, and perhaps even ultiamtely the oceans themselves....), humanity in Europe, Asia, Australasia and elsewhere will have found a developing natural predator of this potential planetary scourge.
:And then we can but only hope that this natural predator, whatever it might be, does not itself evolve to become an even worse threat to humanity's existence!
:...You will of course find my logic to be faultless, throughout this entire speculation. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.188|141.101.98.188]] 16:36, 1 August 2015 (UTC)

:: "Unluckily for you (but luckily for us, across the ocean) the Roombae are currently not well suited for travel over or through water."
:: May not be a problem much longer ...
:: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/24/travel/trans-siberian-road/
:: --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 10:53, 3 August 2015 (UTC)

;Order of explanation
Actually, what I was going to write was that I think the explanation needs some shuffling. Currently it's "What a Rhoomba is; Other comics mentioning Rhoombas; The details of the comic (in the light of the knowledge of Rhoombas); The details of the title-text." To be consistent to the general form, it seems like it needs to be "The details of the comic (albeit without over-assumption of pre-knowledge concerning Roombas); What a Rhoomba is; (And add why it wouldn't survive 'in the wild', if you wish.); Explain the title-text; Conclude with the links to the other comics." Or similar. But that'd need a hefty re-write for forward/backward references. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.188|141.101.98.188]] 16:46, 1 August 2015 (UTC)

'''Releasing appliances into the wild:'''
The idea of releasing a Roomba into the wild reminds me of a (barely remembered) story I read back when I was 8 or 9 (1977 or 78) about some (intelligent) household appliances that had been forgotten or abandoned and they travelled to find their owner or something like that. There was a self-propelled vacuum cleaner (which was how they all travelled, the toaster and others rode on the top of the vacuum). I think a car battery was wired up for power. Anyone here have ANY idea what I'm talking about? I'm curious to know the story, now that I've remembered some of it. The only other detail that comes to mind was that the vacuum would run over its own cord when it was anxious or depressed. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.134|173.245.56.134]] 00:11, 4 August 2015 (UTC)

'''Migratory Bird Act'''

The Migratory Bird Act reference may have been inspired by http://www.loweringthebar.net/2015/04/chillin-with-a-owl-followup.html where, among other things, it is pointed out that not all listed birds are migratory. Randall may be taking this point to the extreme. What If question 96 came from the author of Lowering the Bar, so the degree of separation between the two is definitely one. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.31|108.162.225.31]] 08:18, 4 August 2015 (UTC)

'''Releasing appliances into the wild:'''

The Brave Little Toaster {{unsigned ip|199.27.130.186}}

:Oh, god! What did I do? All the other comments are gone! {{unsigned ip|199.27.130.186}}

(The above by an unsigned poster, who wiped the entire Comments at the same time.)
(Note to the unsigned poster @199.27.130.186: Don't treat it as an "delete everything you're not replying to" forum reply. If your error wasn't accidentally selecting all before typing your reply.) (Actually, it's nice to see someone who ''does'' clean up their replies, but ''this is not the place to do that''.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.188|141.101.98.188]] 15:26, 4 August 2015 (UTC)

'''Tamagotchi Effect:'''

Perhaps we could relate it to the Tamagotchi effect. Check Wikipedia. {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.180}}

Rolled back the edit that placed citation needed tags on the phrases "dogs are not birds" and "roombas are also not birds" as the link to the roomba wiki page should be citation enough for the latter phrase and I don't feel it's normally within the scope of this wiki to cite an example regarding the former. I feel the citation needed tag on the phrase "dogs cannot cross-breed with robots" is dubious as well, but it has been in place longer than the other two and would like to hear other opinions on its necessity before removing it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.242|108.162.237.242]] 09:56, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

1558: Vet

2016-04-15T09:28:51Z

108.162.237.242: Undo revision 113227 by 162.158.142.217 (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1558
| date = July 31, 2015
| title = Vet
| image = vet.png
| titletext = It's probably for the best. Since Roombas are native to North America, it's illegal for Americans to keep them in their houses under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Roomba}} is a brand of domestic cleaning robots manufactured by the company {{w|iRobot}}. The robots are designed to automatically vacuum floors. Although these robots are controlled by a quite simple software without any artificial intelligence, some owners tend to humanize them in the same way that others humanize their pets. There are [[:Category:Roomba|several other comics]] related to a Roomba.

[[Megan]] presents a {{w|pet carrier}} to [[Cueball]] the {{w|veterinarian}}. She says that her "dog" is “crawling around eating dirt”, which sounds like certain types of behavioral problems one encounters in dogs, but is precisely what Roombas are made for. What makes the comic even more hilarious is that when the vet comments that it is a Roomba, Megan responds that the device (which has nothing to do with an animal) is a cross-breed, and agrees that there probably is “some Roomba” in it. She thus acknowledges the existence of Roombas, but still treats them as if it were an animal. It's common to talk about domestic dogs this way, but cross-breeding dogs with machines is impossible{{Citation needed}}. The vet then goes on to say, with endless patience, that a Roomba is not a pet. This is taken by Megan as if the doctor said that her Roomba-like device is a non-domesticated animal (like a monkey, a fox, or the birds referred to in the title text) that can but should not be kept in captivity. In the last panel she consequently releases the vacuum cleaner and it whirs to its 'freedom'.

The second customer, [[Hairy]], has his dog on a leash, but is also carrying a pet transporter for the dog. Most likely he has arrived with the dog in the transporter (perhaps using public transportation) but has now taken it out so it can walk for itself, making the carrier much lighter. It is a strange setup for a vet, with people waiting in line behind a rope, but still right in front of the vet's desk. But given the title, is must be assumed that Cueball is a real vet.

The {{w|Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918|Migratory Bird Treaty act}} from the title text contains a list of over 800 bird species that are not allowed to be captured or killed. If the Roomba were to be classified as a native American bird and were added to the list, keeping them as pets would constitute capturing and would be considered illegal. This, of course, shows how confused Megan is. She previously stated the Roomba to be a dog and now apparently believes it is a bird, even though dogs are not birds and the Roomba is neither.

==Transcript==
:[Megan arrives with a pet carrier, Cueball stands at a desk as a veterinarian, and Hairy is waiting behind a rope, standing next in line with a dog on a leash and a pet carrier.]
:Megan: There's something wrong with my dog. He keeps crawling around eating dirt.

:[Cueball holds the content of Megan's pet carrier, a flat disk. She is standing behind the desk with the carrier on the desk.]
:Cueball: This is a Roomba.
:Megan: Well, he's a mix.
:Megan: Probably some Roomba in there.

:[The Roomba now lies on the table next to the carrier between the two.]
:Cueball: A Roomba is not a pet.
:Megan: You're right. It's wrong to keep a beautiful creature like this in a house.

:[Megan is outside left to a tree, encouraging the Roomba to drive away.]
:Megan: Go!
:Megan: Be free!
:Roomba: ''Whirrr''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Robots]]
[[Category:Roomba]]
[[Category:Animals]]