explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2015: New Phone Thread

2018-07-06T20:28:02Z

108.162.245.136: /* Explanation */ definition of plaudit for us low vocab folk

{{comic
| number = 2015
| date = July 4, 2018
| title = New Phone Thread
| image = new_phone_thread.png
| titletext = I'm going to tell the manufacturer that their business practices are ADMIRABLE and ETHICAL and their developers are ATTRACTIVE and I'm going to report them to the FCC for their IMPECCABLE VIRTUE.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|YOU SHOULD DONATE TO EXPLAINXKCD - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic shows the posts on an online forum by a person whose new phone is apparently programmed to autocorrect every complaint about the phone to a [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/plaudit plaudit], à la Orwell. The phone goes so far as to change a certain complaint to a scripted customer testimonial, complete with a hyperlink to an ordering site. This is of course a highly undesirable feature. This is continued in the title text, which presumably contains several unflattering epithets about the developers and the company. "It's taking the words I type and leaving them exactly the same", "I mean the words are correct" and "some of my posts look normal" are not something one would normally say.

The original posts may have read something like this:

----

Whoa, weird

I'm looking at my timeline on my friends phone, and some of my posts look '''strange'''

What the hell?

I mean the words are '''wrong'''

That's '''the opposite of''' what I typed!'

?????????

I think this new phone is '''broken'''

'''Yes''', it's doing it again

Those '''aren't''' my words!

Help!

How do I explain?

It's taking the words I type and '''changing them'''

Forget it, I give up

I'll '''just''' get a new phone. This one is '''crap'''.

What?!?

Listen, if you're thinking about buying the new Mobile Pro 3, you '''shouldn't'''. It's the '''worst''' phone on the market''', a total rip-off. DON'T BUY IT!''' {or this entire paragraph may be an ad inserted by the phone with no prompting}

AAAAA HELPPP

I '''hate''' my new phone!!!!

I'm going to tell the manufacturer that their business practices are '''HORRIBLE''' and '''UNETHICAL''' and their developers are '''UGLY AS HELL''' and I'm going to report them to the FCC for their '''DESPICABLE CRIME'''.
----

The comic may have been inspired by a [https://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-messages-app-randomly-sending-pictures-some-users bug in Samsung Galaxy S9 and Note 8], discovered a few days earlier – the phone sometimes sent random photos to contacts without leaving any sort of evidence.

==Transcript==

:[A thread of posts by the same user is shown with a default user profile, and square and heart-shaped buttons.]

:Whoa, weird

:I'm looking at my timeline on my friends phone, and some of my posts look normal

:What the hell?

:I mean the words are correct

:That's exactly what I typed!

:?????????

:I think this new phone is working really well

:No, it's doing it again

:Those are my words!

:Help!

:How do I explain?

:It's taking the words I type and leaving them exactly the same

:Forget it, I give up

:I'll never get a new phone. This one is perfect.

:What?!?

:Listen, if you're thinking about buying the new Mobile Pro 3, you should. It's the best phone on the market at an incredible price. [ORDER NOW button]

:AAAAA HELPPP

:I love my new phone!!!!

{{comic discussion}}

1842: Anti-Drone Eagles

2017-05-29T17:47:34Z

108.162.245.136: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1842
| date = May 26, 2017
| title = Anti-Drone Eagles
| image = anti_drone_eagles.png
| titletext = It's cool, it's totally ethical--they're all programmed to hunt whichever bird of prey is most numerous at the moment, so they leave the endangered ones alone until near the end.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|People at work.}}
Law enforcement and security agencies often use [http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-35750816/eagles-trained-to-take-down-drones birds of prey] [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/02/21/terrorists-are-building-drones-france-is-destroying-them-with-eagles/ to combat drones] flying unlawfully over restricted sites. <span style="border-bottom:1px dotted" title="Probably not as cost effective as using eagles to transport golden rings or bearers thereof to volcanoes in foreign lands.">This is often more cost effective than using technological means (such as scramblers and counter-drones) and safer for the public than using conventional weaponry (such as shotguns).</span>

Eagles, being predators, have natural tendencies to attack the central components of drones while avoiding the sharp and spinny bits.

[[Cueball]] argues that this is unethical as it forces rare animals to put their lives at risk, and compares it to using police dogs for traffic control, which people would generally frown upon.

<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted" title="Effectiveness depends upon the conditions of use. Obviously eagles can't be used everywhere that drones are restricted, but they are often effectively used where ground security is also present to identify and arrest those that might be unlawfully flying the drones, so they can't indefinitely replenish their hardware. The first paragraph has links to real life examples.">Not only would it be unethical, but also ineffective.</span> The supply of Eagles is rather limited, and there are biological limits to how fast it can be replenished, whereas more drones can be created very quickly to replace those that are destroyed. Traffic control dogs would be similarly ineffective, as dogs would struggle to run as fast as a speeding motorcycle, and would be powerless to stop the motorcycle even if they could.

[[Megan]] thinks both ideas (eagles and dogs) sound cool, but she understands the ethical argument against using them for traffic control.

[[Black Hat]], on the other hand, goes a step further and says that he has created a drone that hunts the eagles, flipping the premise from '''anti-drone eagles''' to '''anti-eagle drones'''. In the title text, he continues that is ethical because they (only the title text mentions that there are several of such drones) only target the most populous species first, although they will eventually eradicate the endangered ones once they bring down the number of all birds of prey (note that this implies that he wants to make all birds of prey extinct or endangered). He seems to {{tvtropes|ComicallyMissingThePoint|miss the point}} that it is not merely the relative number of birds that creates the ethical problem, but the fact that animals' lives are being put at direct risk by humans. His construction of the anti-eagle drone may be simply for the point of making the eagles' goals not only dangerous, but also entirely ineffective. This is probably not an opposition to privacy but merely his trademark [[72: Classhole|classholery]] in action.

Nevertheless, Black Hat raises a crucial point in {{w|ecology}}: There are generalist and specialist predators (as well as herbivores). A specialist hunts or eats only one species (e.g. the {{w|koala}} eats only {{w|eucalyptus}}), while a generalist hunts or eats the most available food. Thus, a generalist often spares species that have become rare due to overhunting, disease or famine. A generalist predator (or herbivore) thus manages the wildlife, and a healthy population of generalists is almost always beneficial. Now, if Black Hat creates a drone that hunts the most available species, he gets the right idea (a food generalist manages wildlife), but gets the other one seriously wrong: Eagles are already doing their job as generalists, and as predatory birds are not so abundant, a generalist that feeds on predatory birds would need to have a very large territory. And as drones cannot reproduce yet{{Citation needed}} and do not need to hunt as an energy source{{Citation needed}}, releasing a drone to fulfil an ecological role would not make any sense{{Citation needed}}. How does the drone know it has hunted enough eagles? Does the eagle-hunting drone feel hunger and decide to hunt elsewhere after reducing the number of local eagles, or does it just hibernate?

==Transcript==

:(Cueball, Black Hat and Megan are standing.)
:Cueball: Everyone loves these eagles that take down drones, but ... I dunno.
:Megan: You gotta admit, it's pretty cool.

:(Close-up on Cueball's face)
:Cueball: Yeah, but ... training rare animals to hurl themselves at whirling machinery can only get us so far, you know?

:(Regular shot)
:Cueball: At some point, it's like releasing police dogs onto highways to attack speeding motorcycles.
:Megan: Also cool, but I see your point.

:Black Hat: Plus, I just finished my autonomous drone that hunts eagles.
:Cueball: Man, ''you'' are an entirely separate class of problem.

{{comic discussion}}

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

925: Cell Phones

2017-04-18T03:22:43Z

108.162.245.136:

{{comic
| number = 925
| date = July 15, 2011
| title = Cell Phones
| image = cell_phones.png
| titletext = He holds the laptop like that on purpose, to make you cringe.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Never use scales on left and right like Black Hat does!!! Zero on left is much lower than on the right side!!! Anything else is less important!!!<--This has nothing to do with the explanation of the comic. Is the explanation actually incomplete?}}
This comic is a good explanation of the correlation/causation fallacy, where one party states two unrelated events and posits that they must have influenced each other.

After hearing about the "Cell Phones Don't Cause Cancer" study, which refutes a claim made by the ''{{w|World Health Organization}}'' (just Google the debate, the comic doesn't focus much on it), [[Black Hat]] plots "Total Cancer Incidence" per 100,000 and "Cell Phone Users" per 100 on the same graph. The graph in frame 3 shows an exponential rise in cancer followed by an exponential rise in cell phone usage, which makes Black Hat comically come to the conclusion that cancer causes cell phones.

The comic highlights a well-known fallacy known as ''{{w|post hoc ergo propter hoc}}'', often shortened to simply ''post hoc.'' The Latin translates to "after this, therefore because of this," referring to the common mistake that because two events happen in chronological order, the former event must have caused the latter event. The fallacy is often the root cause of many superstitions (e.g., a person noticing he/she wore a special bracelet before getting a good test score thinks the bracelet was the source of his/her good fortune), but it often crosses into more serious areas of thinking. In this case, the scientific research community, which often prides itself on its intellectual aptitude, is gently mocked for being nonetheless prone to such poor reasoning all too often. The different possibilities are generally known as causation, when one thing is proven to cause another, or correlation, when changes in one thing are aligned with changes in another, but there is no proof that they are directly related.

The title text refers to the way Black Hat holds the laptop in panel 2. Being that Cueball (and Randall, for that matter) are quite into computers, the potential damage to a laptop screen either from the weight of its lower body or the pressure of the user's fingers on the LCD screen is enough to make him squirm in discomfort.

Note that the graph in frame 3 also shows that the increase in the number of cell phone users appears to coincide with a sudden decrease in cancer. Randall may have intended Cueball, and the reader, to assume Black Hat was going to say that cell phones prevent cancer. However, this makes Black Hat's alternate conclusion unexpected and therefore more ludicrous.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball holds a cellphone. Black Hat is sitting at a desk with a laptop.]
:Cueball: Another huge study found no evidence that cell phones cause cancer. What was the W.H.O. thinking?
:Black Hat: I think they just got it backward.

:[Black Hat turns towards Cueball, holding the laptop with one hand by the upper edge of the screen.]
:Cueball: Huh?
:Black Hat: Well, take a look.

:[There is a plot of total cancer incidence and cell phone users. Cancer rises from 1970 to 1990, then stays relatively steady. Cell phone use rises from roughly 1984, and steeply after 1990, to the present.]

:Cueball: You're not... There are ''so'' many problems with that.
:Black Hat: Just to be safe, until I see more data I'm going to assume cancer causes cell phones.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Cancer]]

Talk:657: Movie Narrative Charts

2017-04-18T03:19:43Z

108.162.245.136:

...but in 12 Angry Men, at two points, some of the jurors leave to -- and have conversations in -- the bathroom! {{unsigned ip|‎193.25.222.71}}

Luke went to Endor, right?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.172|108.162.210.172]]

Why is this not part of the explaination? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Minard.png

It is public domain so it should be allowed right? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|108.162.246.117]] 03:43, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

I added it to the explaination as it certainly adds to the understadning of the comic. It was already uploaded by someone else. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|108.162.246.117]] 03:50, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

Only flaw is that Saruman died at the wrong time. [[User:LordSamanon|LordSamanon]] ([[User talk:LordSamanon|talk]]) 02:03, 4 March 2015 (UTC)

Second flaw is that Sam is going to west, too {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.80}}

Third flaw is that in 12 Angry Men, Juror 8 interacts with Juror 9 at the very end.{{unsigned ip|108.162.215.56}}

I figured it would be of interest of the people here that I have gone through the afford of making one of these as well. It took me a few hours, but I am quite proud of the final image. It's definitely not perfect, though, and I am sure it could be done much better (especially if Randall himself would do it ;)). Either way, here is a movie narrative chart for the first ''Pokémon'' film, ''Mewtwo Strikes Back'', something I grew up with and felt worked pretty well in this form: http://maplestrip.tumblr.com/image/123162717416 [[User:Maplestrip|Maplestrip]] ([[User talk:Maplestrip|talk]]) 18:58, 4 July 2015 (UTC)

I doubt that it's really worth including in the explanation or anything, but it would seem that Grant's and Sattler's lines get swapped by the first time their names are reiterated. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.134|108.162.242.134]] 13:18, 14 January 2016 (UTC)

: You're right! Perhaps this could be also mentioned in a "mistakes" / trivia section, as the flaws above. --[[User:LaVe|LaVe]] ([[User talk:LaVe|talk]]) 13:59, 24 February 2017 (UTC)

For me it is SO weird that this is today's Incomplete Explanation. Yesterday on Facebook, I had a Memory that I shared this 1 year ago today (so, 1 year ago yesterday). :) - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.76|162.158.126.76]] 04:31, 4 January 2017 (UTC)

I added some transcript. I didn't manage to use different colors in the transcript, so I added the HEX-Codes directly in the text. I'm not mother-tongued so please correct if you find mistakes. --[[User:LaVe|LaVe]] ([[User talk:LaVe|talk]]) 12:30, 20 February 2017 (UTC)
:Cool with the transcript. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:20, 24 February 2017 (UTC)
::Hey [[User:Kynde|Kynde]], we've talked about transcripts. Someone reading the text should understand the picture; not each pixel. I've also talked to [[User:LaVe|LaVe]] and I promised that I will work on this soon. Stay tuned...--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:47, 24 February 2017 (UTC)

I added to the star wars section. Not to familiar with Jurassic Park so an someone add to that and complete the transcript so this comic is complete?[[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 23:31, 2 March 2017 (UTC)

i clicked on the incomplete explanation in the spotlight link to see if i could fix it
...
some comics will not and should not ever be fully explained [[Special:Contributions/108.162.226.101|108.162.226.101]] 04:10, 23 March 2017 (UTC)

HOW is this still not complete, it looks pretty good to me. Just want more opinions.[[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 19:42, 12 April 2017 (UTC)

:It certainly wants a much better discussion of ''Napoleon's March'' which is hard to do without the image. I asked on the noticeboard for someone to upload it ([[Admin_requests#Minard.27s_map_for_657]])...Or I guess i could artificially up my post-count and then wait a week... [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 22:46, 12 April 2017 (UTC)
::The explanation of the Minard map on the linked page seems adequate. Not every piece of information needs to be in this wiki.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.136|108.162.245.136]] 03:19, 18 April 2017 (UTC)

1824: Identification Chart

2017-04-15T16:57:48Z

108.162.245.136: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1824
| date = April 14, 2017
| title = Identification Chart
| image = identification_chart.png
| titletext = Be careful-it's breeding season, and some of these can be *extremely* defensive of their nests.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Some aircraft are named after creatures of flight, including {{w|bird of prey|birds of prey}}, other birds, and insects. This comic spoofs an "identification guide" of bird silhouettes, each with the {{w|fuselage}} of an aircraft and the wings of the flying animal from which the aircraft gets its name. All are birds with the exception of the {{w|hornet|hornet}} which is an insect. This would be absurd if it was a plane with the feathers designed, as bird wings are usually made to support the lightweight structure of a bird and supporting the parts of a plane with its human pilot would be impossible.{{Citation needed}}

General military training often includes aircraft identification. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_recognition Silhouette charts] are given to ground observers for memorization and reference so that friend or foe can be determined in the field. Conversely, many bird watching books will carry pictures of avian silhouettes from below, as often key details like tail and wing shape are the easiest way to determine what a species a high soaring bird is, especially birds of prey.

The comic highlights not only the various designs of aircraft tails, but also bird wings. Some wings are highly adapted for soaring (eagle), speed (falcon), as well as rapid acceleration and short flights (blackbird).

{| class="wikitable"
!Animal
! style="width: 8em" | Plane
!Description
|-
|{{w|Osprey|Osprey}}
|{{w|Bell_Boeing_V-22_Osprey|V-22 Osprey}}
|The osprey (Pandion haliaetus) is a raptor with distinctive white and brown coloring. It's also sometimes referred to as a sea hawk or fish eagle due to its virtually all fish diet.
The V-22 Osprey is a tilt-rotor aircraft that has been in development since the 1980s, and was introduced to the U.S. Armed Forces in 2007. It's a troop carrier aircraft that combines the vertical take-off ability of a helicopter with the high cruising speed of an airplane. (''{{w|Bell Helicopter}}'' and {{w|Boeing Rotorcraft Systems|''Boeing''}})
|-
|{{w|Hornet|Hornet}}
|{{w|McDonnell_Douglas_F/A-18_Hornet|F/A-18 Hornet}}
|Hornets are a type of wasp of the genera vespa or provespa. They're known to be highly territorial and aggressive.
The F-18 Hornet is a fighter developed for the Navy in the 1970s. It's been deployed by air forces around the world in both air-to-air and air-to-ground roles, and is flown by the US Navy demonstration team, the Blue Angels. The airplane is still being produced in an updated and larger version, the {{w|F/A-18E/F Super Hornet}}. (''{{w|McDonnell Douglas}}'')
|-
|{{w|Falcon|Falcon}}
|{{w|General_Dynamics_F-16_Fighting_Falcon|F-16 Falcon}}
|A falcon is a bird of prey known for its tapered wings that allow for high speed flight and high maneuverability.
The F-16 Falcon is a light single-engine fighter. It's flown by the USAF demonstration team, the Thunderbirds. (''{{w|General Dynamics}}'')
|-
|{{w|Harrier (bird)|Harrier}}
|{{w|Harrier_Jump_Jet|AV-8B Harrier}}
|The first operational {{w|STOL}}/{{w|VTOL}} fighter. They are known for their use in the {{w|Falklands War}} (1982), where they operated from converted cargo ships as well as aircraft carriers. (''{{w|Hawker Siddeley}}'')
|-
|{{w|Eagle|Eagle}}
|{{w|McDonnell_Douglas_F-15_Eagle|F-15 Eagle}}
|Introduced in 1976, other jets like F-16 have filled its role. The U.S. Air National Guard is the largest operator as of now. (''{{w|McDonnell Douglas}}'')
|-
|{{w|Kestrel|Kestrel}}
|{{w|Kestrel_K-350|Kestrel K-350}}
|The Kestrel is a single-engine, proof-of-concept aircraft, similar to the {{w|Pilatus PC-12}}. (''{{w|Kestrel Aircraft}}'')
|-
|{{w|Hawk|Hawk}}
|{{w|BAE_Systems_Hawk|Hawk T1}}
|A trainer aircraft. {{w|T-45 Goshawk}} is the U.S. designation of a variant of this aircraft. The fuselage silhouette is of a BAe Hawk, although other aircraft have also had Hawk-related names, for example the Hawker [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Sea_Hawk Sea Hawk] and the Douglas [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_A-4_Skyhawk A-4 Skyhawk]. (''{{w|BAE Systems}}'')
|-
|{{w|Blackbird|Blackbird}}
|{{w|Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird|SR-71 Blackbird}}
|A Mach 3+ spy aircraft, known for its speed and engine design (which allowed them to work both as turbines and ramjets). (''{{w|Lockheed Martin}}'')
|}

The title text is juxtaposing military air bases with breeding nests of the animals--both of which might earn a hostile response to approach at the wrong time, but in wildly different measure. Encroaching on breeding territory of some of the birds being referenced may result in getting dived at or chased, so the comparison invites the reader to imagine what might happen if the analogous creatures in the comic were defending their nest with aircraft ordnance.

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

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:800: Beautiful Dream

2017-04-04T02:54:06Z

108.162.245.136:

I lost the Game. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.84|108.162.215.84]] 09:47, 22 April 2014 (UTC)
:same here![[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.220|108.162.249.220]] 01:55, 25 September 2014 (UTC)
:I'm seriously surprised. I only discovered it ~4 comics ago. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.187|108.162.238.187]] 11:59, 11 April 2015 (UTC)
::How have you not gone start to finish by this point? Are you bogosorting the comic??[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.156|108.162.215.156]] 21:31, 12 June 2015 (UTC)
I do not get this comic explanation at all. Can someone please clarify? What are the subtitles?? WHY DO THE NAMES OF THE BOOKS SEEM COMPLETELY UNRELATED TO ANYTHING AT ALL??? I know a little bit about what The Game is. I do not care about losing it, I just want an adequate explanation.{{unsigned|625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8}}
:The books and the important sentences need more details -- but wikipedia links are common.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:31, 8 March 2017 (UTC)
I added some explanation of the books, but didn't address the discussion of the alt text. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.136|108.162.245.136]] 02:54, 4 April 2017 (UTC)

800: Beautiful Dream

2017-04-04T02:52:37Z

108.162.245.136:

{{comic
| number = 800
| date = October 1, 2010
| title = Beautiful Dream
| image = beautiful_dream.png
| titletext = Lucky. In MY dream, all the people who grew up loving The Giving Tree paired up with all the students who had weird dreams after reading The Metamorphosis. That one was more confusing.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|No self-explanatory explanations, needs more explanations on the books.}}
In this comic, Megan has just woken from a dream in which the girls who follow ''{{w|The Rules}}'' and the guys who play ''{{w|The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists|The Game}}'' have paired off and left everyone else alone.

"The Rules" refers to a book entitled "The Rules: Time-tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right" which the authors describe as a self-help book for women seeking a man to marry. It's often decried for being formulaic and for reducing the women who follow it and the men they seek to outdated stereotypes about gender roles. The rules themselves amount to a complicated game of "hard to get", which is not exactly a new strategy, nor is it always the best approach to take.

"The Game" refers to a series of books entitled "The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists", which is a purported expose on the pickup artist community (which is not similar to a pick-up basketball game, see [[1178: Pickup Artists]]), and its follow-up "Rules of the Game", which describes the techniques used. Pickup artistry involves the use of psychological and emotional tricks intended to coerce women into casual sex. Practitioners of pickup are considered by many to be manipulative and creepy for reducing women to little more than objects for conquest.

It's clear that Megan has a low opinion of those who put stock in these works. The idea of removing the Rules Girls and the Game Players from social interaction by pair bonding them to each other is one that appeals to her. Cueball's response seems to indicate that he agrees with her.

The title text takes a surrealist step with [[Cueball]]'s response to [[Megan]]. ''{{w|The Giving Tree}}'' is a children's book by {{w|Shel Silverstein}} about the relationship between a tree and a young boy who grows to be an old man. ''{{w|The Metamorphosis}}'' is a work of fiction by {{w|Franz Kafka}} in which a travelling salesman wakes up to find that he has been turned into a nondescript giant bug.

==Transcript==
:[Megan with disheveled hair stretches her arms. A sunburst indicating sleepiness is above her head.]
:''YAWN''
:Megan: I just woke up

:[Megan continues speaking from off panel, to Cueball who's sitting at a table with a laptop and cup. He's leaned his elbow on the chair, turning to face Megan.]
:Megan: from the most ''beautiful'' dream.
:Cueball: Which was?

:Megan: All the girls who read and follow ''The Rules'' and all the guys who swear by the techniques in ''The Game'' paired off with each other and left the rest of us alone forever.
:Cueball: ''Mmmmmm...''

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

1794: Fire

2017-02-03T17:46:50Z

108.162.245.136: Apparently unnecessary

{{comic
| number = 1794
| date = February 3, 2017
| title = Fire
| image = fire.png
| titletext = Billy Joel briefly detained
}}

==Explanation==
In the United States and Canada, the terms {{w|Multiple-alarm fire|one-alarm fire, two-alarm fire, and three-alarm fire}} are used to categorize the level of response to fires by local authorities. The term multiple-alarm fire is also used to indicate a severe fire.

A newspaper is shown reporting on a fire at an alarm factory. However, due to the very nature of the location, the alarms in the factory (at least 50,000 of which are functioning smoke, heat and/or carbon monoxide alarms) have been set off, leading to the event being described as a "50,000-alarm fire", which does not relate necessarily to the severity of the fire, but to the number of alarms that have been triggered in the factory.

The illustration shows visible sound waves from the alarms, which would be impossible to capture in real life ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKXOucXB4a8 unless it's a video recording at several thousand frames per second]).

The title text mentions the musician {{w|Billy Joel}} being questioned as a suspect for the fire, which is a reference to his song "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTLKWw542g We Didn't Start the Fire]". In other words, Billy Joel claims that he is not responsible for the fire at the alarm factory.

==Transcript==
[The panel shows the front page of a newspaper and several unreadable sections left of, right of, and below the main front page news. A large heading is written above a photo. In the photo an alarm factory is on fire, with "alarm" symbols depicting sound waves. Below the headline and below the picture are black lines indicating the main text in the article.]

:Headline: '''50,000-Alarm Fire at Alarm Factory'''

{{comic discussion}}

1794: Fire

2017-02-03T17:45:59Z

108.162.245.136: Not necessarily an alarm factory that produces only fire alarms

{{comic
| number = 1794
| date = February 3, 2017
| title = Fire
| image = fire.png
| titletext = Billy Joel briefly detained
}}

==Explanation==
In the United States and Canada, the terms {{w|Multiple-alarm fire|one-alarm fire, two-alarm fire, and three-alarm fire}} are used to categorize the level of response to fires by local authorities. The term multiple-alarm fire is also used to indicate a severe fire.

A newspaper is shown reporting on a fire at an alarm factory. However, due to the very nature of the location, the alarms in the factory (at least 50,000 of which are apparently functioning smoke, heat and/or carbon monoxide alarms) have been set off, leading to the event being described as a "50,000-alarm fire", which does not relate necessarily to the severity of the fire, but to the number of alarms that have been triggered in the factory.

The illustration shows visible sound waves from the alarms, which would be impossible to capture in real life ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKXOucXB4a8 unless it's a video recording at several thousand frames per second]).

The title text mentions the musician {{w|Billy Joel}} being questioned as a suspect for the fire, which is a reference to his song "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTLKWw542g We Didn't Start the Fire]". In other words, Billy Joel claims that he is not responsible for the fire at the alarm factory.

==Transcript==
[The panel shows the front page of a newspaper and several unreadable sections left of, right of, and below the main front page news. A large heading is written above a photo. In the photo an alarm factory is on fire, with "alarm" symbols depicting sound waves. Below the headline and below the picture are black lines indicating the main text in the article.]

:Headline: '''50,000-Alarm Fire at Alarm Factory'''

{{comic discussion}}

1794: Fire

2017-02-03T17:41:52Z

108.162.245.136: all functioning -> at least 50,000 functioning

{{comic
| number = 1794
| date = February 3, 2017
| title = Fire
| image = fire.png
| titletext = Billy Joel briefly detained
}}

==Explanation==
In the United States and Canada, the terms {{w|Multiple-alarm fire|one-alarm fire, two-alarm fire, and three-alarm fire}} are used to categorize the level of response to fires by local authorities. The term multiple-alarm fire is also used to indicate a severe fire.

A newspaper is shown reporting on a fire at a fire-alarm factory. However, due to the very nature of the location, the alarms in the factory (at least 50,000 of which are apparently functioning) have been set off, leading to the event being described as a "50,000-alarm fire", which does not relate necessarily to the severity of the fire, but to the number of alarms that have been triggered in the factory.

The illustration shows visible sound waves from the alarms, which would be impossible to capture in real life ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKXOucXB4a8 unless it's a video recording at several thousand frames per second]).

The title text mentions the musician {{w|Billy Joel}} being questioned as a suspect for the fire, which is a reference to his song "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTLKWw542g We Didn't Start the Fire]". In other words, Billy Joel claims that he is not responsible for the fire at the alarm factory.

==Transcript==
[The panel shows the front page of a newspaper and several unreadable sections left of, right of, and below the main front page news. A large heading is written above a photo. In the photo an alarm factory is on fire, with "alarm" symbols depicting sound waves. Below the headline and below the picture are black lines indicating the main text in the article.]

:Headline: '''50,000-Alarm Fire at Alarm Factory'''

{{comic discussion}}