explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2486: Board Game Party Schedule

2021-07-08T00:18:23Z

108.162.245.214:

{{comic
| number = 2486
| date = July 8, 2021
| title = Board Game Party Schedule
| image = board_game_party_schedule.png
| titletext = Several of the guests are secretly playing Meta Board Game Party. Every minute of parallel debate in the breakaway faction earns double victory points!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RESTLESS FACTION. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic shows a timeline of a gathering to play some sort of fairly complex tabletop or roleplaying game, such as Dungeons and Dragons, {{w|Star Fleet Battles|Star Fleet Battles}}, or {{w|Squad Leader|Squad Leader}} (please edit with more recent popular games). These games often have many pages of rules, forms to fill out, and in the case of many battle simulation games can have dozens or even hundreds of counters to position. Often the very complex rules must be explained in detail, which can be extremely dull in a group environment.

Conversely, just beginning like at the time entry point "it will make sense once you play" without explanation often leads to new player frustration that, had they had a complete understanding, they would have made different choices and had a more reasonable chance at victory, or even worse, avoided constantly being informed of "illegal moves".

In addition, since it's a {{w|party|party}}, there are other activities that take place in addition to playing the game, notably ordering and eating food.

By the time you eat, prepare the game, and teach the new players, little time is left to actually play the game.

Often during these gatherings the frustration with the factors above cause people to suggest settling on a simpler or more well known game such as {{w|Catan|Catan}} or card games like {{w|Dominion (card game)|Dominion}}.

The title text refers to certain games that actively mimic or satirize real life, such as the fictional game referred to in Dungeons and Dragons literature called "Paper and Paychecks", presumably a roleplaying game about office work. In this particular case, the game they're playing satirizes the gamer gathering itself.

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

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2402: Into My Veins

2020-12-24T00:39:21Z

108.162.245.214:

I'm not sure if Barney Gumble is the intended reference. It reminds me more of a drug addict. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 00:36, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

I imagine this is poking fun at how excited everyone is about a vaccine, despite vaccines normally being pretty boring. It signals the end of a terrible pandemic, but you will just be getting a shot. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.214|108.162.245.214]] 00:39, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2402: Into My Veins

2020-12-24T00:39:02Z

108.162.245.214: added comment to discussion

I'm not sure if Barney Gumble is the intended reference. It reminds me more of a drug addict. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 00:36, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
I imagine this is poking fun at how excited everyone is about a vaccine, despite vaccines normally being pretty boring. It signals the end of a terrible pandemic, but you will just be getting a shot. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.214|108.162.245.214]] 00:39, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

1912: Thermostat

2017-11-06T05:35:20Z

108.162.245.214:

{{comic
| number = 1912
| date = November 6, 2017
| title = Thermostat
| image = thermostat.png
| titletext = Your problem is so terrible, I worry that, if I help you, I risk drawing the attention of whatever god of technology inflicted it on you.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Rough draft, could still use work. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Hairy]] is working at a tech support office, and receives a call from [[Cueball]]. After the scripted greeting, Cueball, who [[1084 has the]] [[1586 weirdest]] [[1700 tech issues]], tells Hairy that his thermostat - a single-purpose device used to adjust the settings of indoor heating - is showing an ''Android error screen'', and asking if he wants to partition the volume. This is so abnormal that Hairy is briefly struck silent, and upon recovering, he suggests Cueball {{tvtropes|SuicideBySea|walk into the sea}} as a form of suicide. The title text elaborates that the situation is so insanely absurd that it must be divine punishment, and Hairy does not want to try and help him for fear of invoking the wrath of whatever deity is issuing it.

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

{{comic discussion}}

1907: Immune System

2017-10-26T04:40:36Z

108.162.245.214: /* Explanation */ It's not bot-made, bot-made is blank

{{comic
| number = 1907
| date = October 25, 2017
| title = Immune System
| image = immune_system.png
| titletext = It also helps with negotiation. "Look, if it were up to me, *I'd* accept your offer, but my swarm of autonomous killer cells literally can't be reasoned with. It's out of my hands!"
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Still needs work - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this comic, Ponytail is delivering an informative report to a group of listeners, likely important managers of some large company. She begins her lecture by stating she is the host of a microscopic autonomous swarm that will do anything to protect her. She is referring to the immune system, which could technically be defined as a "microscopic autonomous swarm" that will do anything to protect her -- i.e destroy pathogens such as viruses and bacteria, both of which cause multitudinous diseases in humans. Like many of the systems of the body, the immune system cannot be controlled by conscious thought, and should not be taken as unordinary.

The caption below reveals the method behind her madness. Randall claims that beginning any business presentation with a surreal description of one's own immune system is guaranteed to strengthen your case. Whether or not this is actually the case is irrelevant, the point of the comic is about "how cool the immune system is", and explains its coolness through an unconventional description of how the process works. Additionally, Ponytail's description implies more potential power than an immune system typically has, perhaps to to gain more respect/fear from the speaker's audience.

The title text elaborates further on this, stating that similar arguments can be used in negotiation. The description of the immune system is deliberately misleading, implying that the immune system may attack the other negotiator if the terms of the deal aren't satisfactory. While it is correct that your immune cells cannot be reasoned with and theoretically it could cause an anaphylactic shock in the targeted organism, the veiled threat omits the fact that the immune system 1) is unaffected by external negotiations conducted by its host, 2) is incapable of attacking things outside of the body, and 3) would have to overcome the host's own immune system.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Ponytail is standing in front of a boardroom, holding a stick up to the board. Cueball, Megan and Hairbun are in the audience, sitting at a long table; an extra, unoccupied chair is in the front.]
:Ponytail: My body hosts an autonomous microscopic defensive swarm that will do anything to protect me.
:Ponytail: I have no ability to restrain it and I don't know my own power.
:Ponytail: So listen up.
:Ponytail: Sales grew by 4% this quarter...

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Business protip: You can strengthen any presentation by opening with a reminder about how cool immune systems are.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]

1906: Making Progress

2017-10-23T18:39:30Z

108.162.245.214: /* Explanation */ It's not bot-made, bot-made is blank

{{comic
| number = 1906
| date = October 23, 2017
| title = Making Progress
| image = making_progress.png
| titletext = I started off with countless problems. But now I know, thanks to COUNT(), that I have "#REF! ERROR: Circular dependency detected" problems.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Still needs work - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Megan has made progress. While she started the day with lots of problems, she has entered those problems into a spreadsheet. This could allow her to resolve her problems and fix them more quickly. The humor lies in that none of the problems have actually been solved.

Title text is talking about how even her spreadsheet doesn't work because "#REF Circular Dependence detected" is an error meaning that a formula is using it's own cell in the equation. This would be because the error is now also a problem that needs to be counted. How the circular dependence started in the first place is not clear. It is possible that this is a reference to counting the number of the problems is a problem itself. There is also a possible pun on "dependency."

==Transcript==
:[Megan is looking at a computer.]
:Megan: I started the day with lots of problems.
:Megan: But now, after hours and hours of work,
:Megan: I have lots of problems in a spreadsheet.
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}

1772: Startup Opportunity

2017-10-18T00:21:31Z

108.162.245.214: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1772
| date = December 14, 2016
| title = Startup Opportunity
| image = startup_opportunity.png
| titletext = While there's no formal regulation, it turns out their industry group is NOT one you want mad at you.
}}

==Explanation==

[[Beret Guy|Beret Guy's]] [[:Category:Beret Guy's Business|company]], first seen in [[1032: Networking]], [[1293: Job Interview]] and [[1493: Meeting]], returns, and its purpose is as vague as ever.

Analysts, brought in to advise his company, determine that it doesn't actually serve any purpose (a problem which could ironically be attributed to business analysts in general). Beret Guy is dumbfounded, claiming that his company must do ''something'', and takes a line of reasoning that faintly resembles the sort of logic a child might use. A child that visits an office building might conclude that an office does a lot because there are a lot of employees working inside, unaware that what really makes a successful business is how efficiently it uses its employees to deliver goods and services to the consumer. 
Now, if Beret Guy is given the benefit of the doubt, his odd statement could be taken to mean that his company has many administrators (a.k.a. chairmen); as the owner of a sufficiently large business often interacts with the department in charge of overhead, a person in his position runs the risk of becoming myopic, losing touch with the workers that actually make the business function. 
However, this ''is'' Beret Guy we're talking about here. He has demonstrated, [[1467: Email|time]] and [[1569: Magic Tree|time]] and [[1583: NASA Press Conference|time]] again, that he is hopelessly out of touch with reality, and this very strip shows no sign of him having gotten a firmer grasp of Earth logic. Displaying less business acumen than a child ''and'' less grounding in perspective than a CEO, he uses the number of chairs in the workplace as a yardstick for success, with no mention of his actual, human workforce. It may even be a stretch to say that a child would make the same assumption based on the number of chairs.

The analysts suggest that Beret Guy find an industry to disrupt. The mention of "industry" immediately reminds Beret Guy of {{w|SimCity}}, where Industrial (along with Residential and Commercial) is one of the three main zone types - it allows factories and farms to develop. {{w|Disruptive innovation|Disruption}} means coming up with a product that redefines what the market expects and leaving existing competitors in the dust (for instance, smartphones disrupted mobile, digital photography disrupted film, and air travel disrupted rail and sea travel (and is in turn being disrupted by high-speed rail)) - it's now an industry buzzword and virtually every company claims to be "disruptive".

When pointed in the right direction, Beret Guy realizes that the main industry he deals with is weird disappearing shops selling cursed goods. This is {{tvtropes|TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday|a common trope}} in fantasy stories (notably Stephen King's novel Needful Things, using this exact premise), and as soon as [[Hairy]] hears about it he wants out of the building, but as his colleagues point out it also bears more than a passing resemblance to many dodgy {{w|startup companies}}. These appear suddenly with a lot of promotion and a marketable idea, looking for {{w|venture capital}} (or, a lot of times in recent times, pre-orders on {{w|Kickstarter}}). However, many startups fail - either because they didn't take into account the difficulties involved in bringing a product to market, or because they were an active scam - and disappear without a trace, leaving customers either empty handed or with a buggy product that falls short of promises. As [[Cueball]] notes, these cursed shops are actually the perfect startup, at least from a moneymaking perspective. This humorously ignores the more obvious larger problem, that such a business would be impossible to create due to not actually having magical items to sell. Apparently, the business may become one, if he does spend most of his money there.

As with most Beret Guy comics, there are multiple layers of absurdity. For a start, the fact that he-and by extension, the rest of the cast-live in a world including supernatural shops is, while not inconsistent, still supernatural. The assertion that this is where he buys most of his materials and other products is also curious, given the shops' inherent temporary nature, as it implies either something about him causes these shops to appear, or that he is drawn to these shops instinctively. Most absurdly, he apparently purchases his food from these establishments (which may also serve as an explanation for his 'soup outlet' in [[1293: Job Interview]]), despite previously stating everything they sell is cursed, conjures troubling images in the mind of how exactly food would be cursed-and its effects. Perhaps this explains Beret Guy's [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|strange powers]].

The title text alludes to the fact that irrespective of whether or not there is formal regulation, it is unwise to anger a group of people who have access to cursed magical items. It is easy to imagine numerous ways they could make one's life substantially worse.[[[285|''citation needed'']]]<noinclude>

==Transcript==
[Beret Guy is sitting in a board meeting]
:White Hat: We've discovered that your company doesn't do anything.
:Beret Guy: How is that possible?! We have so many chairs!

:White Hat: You need to find an industry to disrupt.
:Beret Guy: An...industry?
:Beret Guy: Oh, yeah!
:Beret Guy: The zoning thing from SimCity!

:White Hat: No, like, a kind of business.
:Beret Guy: How do I find those?
:White Hat: I don't know. What's something you spend a lot of money on?

[Beat panel]

:Beret Guy: You know those mysterious shops that sell you magical items, and then it turns out they're cursed, but when you go back later there's no sign the shop was ever there?
:Beret Guy: I get most of my stuff from those.
:Beret Guy: Like groceries.

:Hairy: We should go.
:Hairbun: Wait. High-value sales, no regulation, and when customers try to complain, they can't find you...
:Cueball: Maybe this ''is'' the perfect startup.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Beret Guy's Business]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]

1894: Real Estate

2017-09-25T18:44:08Z

108.162.245.214: /* Explanation */ It's not bot-made, bot-made is bare.

{{comic
| number = 1894
| date = September 25, 2017
| title = Real Estate
| image = real_estate.png
| titletext = I tried converting the prices into pizzas, to put it in more familiar terms, and it just became a hard-to-think-about number of pizzas.
}}

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

In this comic, [[Cueball]] is speaking with [[Ponytail]], his real estate agent, about an ongoing negotiation over the price of a house he is looking to buy. This is probably his first time buying a house and he is very overwhelmed by the process, a very common feeling among first-time home buyers. The housing market is so complicated and ever-changing, that it is almost impossible for the layman to have any concept of what a piece of property is worth. One must rely on the opinions of their real estate agent, building inspector, friends and family, along with research regarding the housing market in the area (average property values, what houses recently sold for, etc). Telling the agent that you need time to think about it is a good strategy to stall for time and research further while seeming to know what you're doing.

In the caption [[Randall]] makes it seem that he is in Cueball's situation in any financial negotiation, not only for such large ones as when buying real estate.

In the title text Randall mentions that he tried to convert the prices into the equivalent numbers of pizzas that amount could buy. Thinking of the price of an object (or a reduction in the price) in terms of the number of pizzas (or similar objects) that amount could buy is a good strategy for weighing the pros and cons of a smaller purchase, but doesn't help in this situation, as the number of pizzas is so large that it becomes meaningless in itself. A better strategy would be to compare the large price to his average monthly cost of living (rent, utility bills, car payments, et al).

This comic is in line with the much older [[616: Lease]] and the more recent [[1674: Adult]] regarding buying real estate and now feeling grown up (see also [[905: Homeownership]]).

==Transcript==
:[Ponytails and Cueball sits in office chairs on either side of a desk. Ponytail looks at a piece of paper she is holding in her hand, more papers lie on the table. Cueball sits with his hands in his lap, thinking in a thought bubble before he replies to her remark.]
:Ponytail: The sellers offer to drop their price by $10,000 ''and'' cover the driveway repairs.
:Cueball [thinking]: These are all staggeringly large amounts of money that I have no idea how to even ''think'' about, let alone compare.
:Cueball [speaking]: Tempting. We'll need a few hours to consider it.

:[Caption below the panels:]
:Me in any financial negotiation.

{{comic discussion}}

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

1890: What to Bring

2017-09-15T06:16:19Z

108.162.245.214: Again with the unedited tag on an obviously edited page.

{{comic
| number = 1890
| date = September 15, 2017
| title = What to Bring
| image = what_to_bring.png
| titletext = I always figured you should never bring a gun to a gun fight because then you'll be part of a gun fight.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Bare necessities, could use elaboration. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

A graph based on variations of the phrase "never bring a knife to a gun fight", an idiom usually attributed to either {{w|Elmer Keith}} or ''{{w|The Untouchables (film)|The Untouchables}}''.

The second part of the graph is based on reactions to an {{w|Class B fire|oil fire}}, which should be extinguished by removing the oxygen (such as by covering it with a lid). Attempting to apply water to an oil fire will result in a large, potentially dangerous flame.

* If you bring a knife to a knife fight, you will be evenly matched with your opponent.

* If you bring a knife to a gunfight, you will be at a perilous disadvantage.

* Attempting to fight a wood fire with a knife will lead to you being burned.

* Attempting to fight an oil fire will lead to you being burned, in addition to causing metallic scrapes.

* Shooting either a wood or an oil fire is an ineffective way of extinguishing them.{{Citation needed}}

* Bringing a gun to a gunfight will leave you {{w|Mexican standoff|evenly matched with your opponent}}.

* Bringing a gun to a knife fight will leave your opponent at a perilous disadvantage.

* Splashing either a knife-wielder or a gunman with water will serve only to agitate your opponent.

* Wood fires are best extinguished with a well-aimed splash of ater.

* Attempting to put a lid on the head of a knife-wielder or gunman will probably not help matters, as it may only serve to agitate said knife-wielder. There's a possibility that your attacker may be momentarily stunned by the surrealism of the situation, but even that will only buy you about a ten-foot running start.

* Trying to put out a wood fire with a lid would require a lid bigger than can possibly be considered 'brought with'.

* An oil fire is best extinguished by cutting it off from oxygen; stovetop oil fires generally spawn in cooking pans, which often come with lids suited to making an airtight seal.

The title text makes the observation that bringing a gun to a gunfight only raises your status from 'civilian' to 'combatant'.

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

{{comic discussion}}

1888: Still in Use

2017-09-11T14:30:06Z

108.162.245.214:

{{comic
| number = 1888
| date = September 11, 2017
| title = Still in Use
| image = still_in_use.png
| titletext = 'Which one?' 'I dunno, it's your house. Just check each object.' 'Check it for *what*?' 'Whether it looks like it might have touched a paper towel at some point and then forgotten to let go.' '...' 'You can also Google to learn how to check which things are using which resources.' 'You know, I'll just leave the towel there and try again tomorrow.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Rough draft, can still use elaboration. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Cueball is trying to remove the trash bag from his garbage can. However, the trash refuses to let him do so, citing that a paper towel in the trash is being used by some object in his home.

By itself, the comic is patently ridiculous; it is meant as a reflection of a common problem in computer use, specifically that of storage devices. If a file currently held on a storage device is still open, the computer will often refuse to perform the 'safely remove' function until all applications have been closed. However, occasionally the system will false-read a file as still being active; this frequently happens if the user closes a file after triggering the 'safely remove' function but before the alert comes up.

The title text may be a reference to a simple solution to these sorts of problems: shut down the system to make absolutely sure that nothing is using anything, and then remove the storage device.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is trying to take out the trash]
:Trash: Sorry, you can't empty the garbage yet. A paper towel in here is currently in use by some object in your house.

{{comic discussion}}

1885: Ensemble Model

2017-09-04T23:07:50Z

108.162.245.214: /* Explanation */ The tag says "change this comment when editing". Why do I keep finding it unchanged with an obvious un-botted page? Botted pages are blank.

{{comic
| number = 1885
| date = September 4, 2017
| title = Ensemble Model
| image = ensemble_model.png
| titletext = I'm in talks with Netflix to produce an alternate-universe crime drama about the world where sliced bread was never re-legalized, but it's going slowly because they keep changing their phone numbers and the door lock codes at their headquarters.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Requires descriptions of each entry. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

An {{w|ensemble forecasting|ensemble model}} is a combination of multiple, similar models to show a wider range of possible outcomes. The graphs on the left are tracks of predictions from multiple models. In this comic, Randall starts out describing actual changes that ensemble models show, but sinks into absurdity, describing strange alternate universes and scenarios that likely would not be necessary in an actual model.

The upper graph looks like one plotting global temperatures with time using different scenarios, like this one: https://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/figure-spm-5.html
The bottom right graph is a typical hurricane path-prediction graphic.

Not all of the outcomes are serious. They are explained below:
;…rain is 0.5% more likely in some areas

;…wind speeds are slightly lower

;…pressure levels are randomly tweaked

;…dogs run slightly faster

;…there is one extra cloud in the Bahamas
This situation is most likely too specific and subtle a difference to be useful to the model.

;…Germany won WWII
"What if Germany won World War II" is a {{w|Hypothetical Axis victory in World War II|very popular}} subject for {{w|alternate history}} stories.

;…snakes are wide instead of long

;…Will Smith took the lead in ''The Matrix'' instead of ''Wild Wild West''
Actor {{w|Will Smith}} famously turned down the lead role of {{w|Neo (The Matrix)|Neo}} in ''{{w|The Matrix}}'', instead taking the role of Captain James T. West in the widely-panned action-comedy ''{{w|Wild Wild West}}''. The role of Neo ultimately went to {{w|Keanu Reeves}}. For a more detailed discuss of how the cinematic world would have been different had Smith taken the role, see [https://moviepilot.com/posts/2481780 "How Will Smith Turned Down "The Matrix" - And Blew A Chance To Change Hollywood Forever."]

;…swimming pools are carbonated
A simple calculation reveals this as a serious {{w|Greenhouse effect|greenhouse}} problem. In the United States there are not less than 5,000,000 private owned pools. Conservatively assumed a volume of 25,000 liters per pool gives 125 billion liters of carbonated soda. According to Wikipedia the U.S. sales reached around 30 billion bottles of water in 2008 (including non carbonated water) which is surely much less than all the pool water. While all those bottles are not considered to have an impact on the green house effect this scenario is getting even worse. Open a bottle of carbonated water and fill the content into glasses. More or less soon the sprinkling is over, meaning you have to open the next bottle and so on. In a pool at the bottom the pressure is high enough to hold the carbon dioxide but on the surface it behaves like the glass. So, while a glass needs new carbonated water every two hours, or ten times per day, let's say it's three times per day for the pool which leads to one thousand times per year. The total number in this scenario would be 125 trillion liters of carbonated soda, ejecting carbon dioxide, per year. But stop: The carbon dioxide used for artificial carbonated water is taken from the air and because of the pressure at the bottom of the pool it doesn't release all back this should have a positive effect. But as Randall has shown in {{what if|88|Soda Sequestration}} this effect would be minimal.

;…sliced bread, after being banned in January 1943, was never re-legalized.
{{w|Sliced bread}} was in fact {{w|Sliced bread#1943 U.S. ban on sliced bread|banned in the US}} for about two months in early 1943, as a supposed wartime conservation measure. The issue was not the bread itself, but that the pre-sliced loaves required a heavier {{w|wax paper}} wrapping to prevent them from drying out too quickly.

The title text suggests that [[Randall]] has been pitching an absurd "alternate-universe crime drama" to {{w|Netflix}}, only that Netflix is uninterested and is attempting to prevent Randall from contacting them (or trespassing into the building).

==Transcript==
:[Inside this single panel comic the header on top reads:]
:In an ''ensemble model'', forecasters run many different versions of a weather model with slightly different initial conditions. This helps account for uncertainty and shows forecasters a spread of possible outcomes.

:[To the left side a picture shows several gray overlapping swirling lines emitted from a point, then gradually diverging rightwards. Below are two smaller pictures; the first shows the lines connected to several loops and in the second it's still a similar figure to the above but moving into the opposite direction with the point emerged to a spiral.]

:[The text right to the pictures reads:]
:'''Members in a typical ensemble:'''
:A universe where…
:…rain is 0.5% more likely in some areas
:…wind speeds are slightly lower
:…pressure levels are randomly tweaked
:…dogs run slightly faster
:…there's one extra cloud in the Bahamas
:…Germany won WWII
:…snakes are wide instead of long
:…Will Smith took the lead in ''The Matrix'' instead of ''Wild Wild West''
:…swimming pools are carbonated
:…sliced bread, after being banned in January 1943, was never re-legalized.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Science]]

Talk:1589: Frankenstein

2017-06-29T18:17:50Z

108.162.245.214:

I get all that—I came here to find out what the moon landing reference is all about. Any ideas? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.191|108.162.249.191]] 04:45, 12 October 2015 (UTC)
: xkcd has referred to "moon landing hoax" theories and their proponents (whom xkcd disparages) a few times, including [http://xkcd.com/202/ 202 "YouTube"], [http://xkcd.com/258/ 258 "Conspiracy Theories"], and [http://xkcd.com/1074/ 1074 "Moon Landing"]; this is (at least) the 4th such reference. [[User:Mrob27|Mrob27]] ([[User talk:Mrob27|talk]]) 05:16, 12 October 2015 (UTC)
: He says that, because he is a MONSTER, and has a damaged brain from a complete moron instead of from a famous scientist. You know - the plot of the movie ;) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.115.22|162.158.115.22]] 08:58, 12 October 2015 (UTC)
:: You think that because you're damaged by watching Young Frankenstein where they used a girl called Abbie Normal's brain. [[User:Kev|Kev]] ([[User talk:Kev|talk]]) 22:18, 12 October 2015 (UTC)
Frankenstein A.K.A Elvis. Judging by that hairstyle [[User:Prack|Prack]] ([[User talk:Prack|talk]])
: I suggest the moon landing reference is simply Randall's monster subverting the attempt to redefine the canon. If Randall succeeds in redefining the monster's name, then it also becomes canonical that the moon landings were faked. Randall is unlikely to agree with the canon he has just created.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.127|141.101.98.127]] 10:16, 12 October 2015 (UTC)
:: That was my thought too (just not formulated quite as clearly). [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.33|198.41.238.33]] 11:38, 12 October 2015 (UTC)
::: I respectfully disagree. The monster saying that the moon landings were faked does not make anything surrounding the moon landings canon. It just makes it canon that the monster Frankenstein now holds this belief. Alternatively, in the story, The Doctor's creation was seen by the populace as an abomination amalgamated from human corpses. In the same vein, moon landing conspiracies are also amalgamated from several different sources each contributing their own theories to support the believer's general consensus, the moon landings were faked, and in the eyes of the populace this idea is an abomination. I'm surprised he didn't go for the low-hanging ''climate change is a hoax'' reference that would have been more recent for readers. In either case, it is fairly common for adherents of theories that run contrary to the scientific community to be labeled and name called by supporters of the scientific community. Especially in matters of religion.--[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 16:36, 12 October 2015 (UTC)
:::: These are good points. It makes sense that Frankenstein was made with the brain of a conspiracy theorist. I don't think Frankenstein is trying to subvert The Doctor's or the comic author's canon-forming efforts, or anything so sophisticated. I ''do'' think these thoughts, in some form, should be in the article. It was not at all obvious why a moon landing hoax reference is in the comic, to me it was irrelevant noise. [[User:Mrob27|Mrob27]] ([[User talk:Mrob27|talk]]) 16:43, 12 October 2015 (UTC)
::::: In Randall's version, claiming the moon landing fake is what makes Frankenstein an abomination, instead of being hideous and committing murder (note Randall's Frankenstein doesn't seem to have much of a bad look, and the story ends immediately). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.66.23|141.101.66.23]] 18:11, 12 October 2015 (UTC)
:::::: I appreciate the more succinct explanation. I added this as an additional explanation above after the bit about the derivative works. I've never read the original story so I referenced the wiki for accuracy. My apologies if I made a mistake or didn't take the analogy far enough. --[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 20:01, 12 October 2015 (UTC)
:::::::I interpreted this as subverting the intention of the whole comic. He's sick of the debate over the name. Then, as soon as that matter is cleared up, the monster raises this famous conspiracy theory, which is the subject of another annoying debate. [[User:Jevicci|Jevicci]] ([[User talk:Jevicci|talk]]) 20:24, 27 October 2015 (UTC)
::::Re "Climate change is a hoax": Except for the small detail that a significant percentage of the population does, indeed, believe climate change is a hoax. I'm not one of them, but still. Anonymous 21:31, 12 October 2015 (UTC)
"The doctor" is a joke in itself because it's analog to "The monster" of the original, so it's likely to start the same discussions the other way around. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.212|162.158.90.212]] 09:36, 12 October 2015 (UTC)
: While it is also likely a direct callback to the Doctor Who naming issue by capitalizing the word "doctor", I agree that the alt-text is intended to make both "Doctor Frankenstein" or "The Doctor" correct, like the comic makes both "Frankenstein" and "the monster" both now canonically correct. "The Doctor" naming issue is also fairly commonly corrected, but for a different reason and is extremely specific to people who grew up watching the original show. For quite a while during the Classic era, The Doctor's actor at the time was credited as "Dr. Who" or "Doctor Who", despite often being introduced (by himself or his companions) as "The Doctor" during the actual dialogue of the show. So, I'm guessing that Randall's saying that either name in all three of these cases (the monster/Frankenstein, the doctor/Dr. Frankenstein, and The Doctor/Doctor Who) would be the correct name to use. {{unsigned|PopeChris}}
::The credits issue isn't just specific to people who grew up watching the classic show. The Ninth Doctor in 2005 was also credited as "Doctor Who", and Eccleston and Piper regularly referred to the character that way. Capaldi now does so as well (probably because he grew up in the era when the character was credited that way). Just as producer John Nathan-Turner went on a crusade in 1981 to get everyone to start calling the character "The Doctor", actor David Tennant did the same thing in 2006. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.52|162.158.255.52]] 22:18, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

Am I the only one thinking that the mouse over text is a matter of intentionally misunderstanding that the question wasn't about Dr. Who? --some guy[[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.175|108.162.238.175]] 13:51, 12 October 2015 (UTC)
:Or you can intentionally misunderstand it even further—if you accept this comic as your canon, The Doctor, as in the character from Doctor Who, created Frankenstein, as in the monster. And he also probably wrote the story too. Why not? He started Nero's fire, wrote half of Shakespeare's plays (and one of his companions inspired half of the rest), manipulated someone into killing JFK… --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.52|162.158.255.52]] 22:39, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

Regarding the monster's "real" name, I thought either Dr. Frankenstein or the monster himself named him "Adam", as in "Adam and Eve". Anonymous 21:31, 12 October 2015 (UTC)
:The monster uses that name, but only metaphorically. Early on, he calls himself "the Adam of your labors", and later he says that he would have been "your Adam" but instead became "your fallen angel". Meanwhile, the fact that Dr. Frankenstein refuses to give the monster a name is an intentional symbol of his rejection of his creation, which the monster picks up on, which is a big part of what he struggles with. So, to say that "his name is Adam" would be a big stretch, and missing the point of the story.

:While nobody ever explicitly calls him "Frankenstein's monster", Dr. Frankenstein calls him "the monster" once, and a few others refer to him as "your monster" or "the monster". The doctor calls him "the creature" far more often, and uses other descriptions like "the demon", "you vile insect", etc., but "Frankenstein's monster" seems like the best name for the character.

:Finally, calling him "Frankenstein" isn't that silly. Why shouldn't he have the same last name as his father? James Whale's movie called him Frankenstein, and almost everything that's come since has been based far more on Whale's movie than Shelley's book. (If you think electricity was involved in bringing him to life, or that he was made of an amalgam of parts from different people, you're no thinking of the book.) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.52|162.158.255.52]] 22:31, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

When Cueball says "Frankenstein is alive! I am a modern Prometheus!" he is confusing things more. The original book's title is "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" but now the Modern Prometheus and Frankenstein are different entities. [[User:Bartash|Bartash]] ([[User talk:Bartash|talk]]) 22:39, 12 October 2015 (UTC)
:The original book's title refers to Victor Frankenstein - he is Frankenstein (obviously), and he is a 'modern Prometheus', since he has created life in the same way the Titan Prometheus did. In Randall's version (assuming it keeps the same title), "Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus" suggests a more equal balance of the two main characters. The book follows Frankenstein (the creature), or, The Modern Prometheus (The Doctor).[[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.173|141.101.105.173]] 08:41, 14 October 2015 (UTC)

So basically there's nothing stopping me from renaming the monster "Kevin" if I want. {{unsigned ip|108.162.249.183}}

It's probably just my density, but I can't make sense of : "In Randall's version, he makes the same correlation by having Frankenstein claim the moon landings were faked which by inference produces the same results in The Doctor." Is this making the same point as above, that " In Randall's version, claiming the moon landing [is] fake is what makes Frankenstein an abomination.." -- ? I grasp (& even agree with) the latter, but the former loses me. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.101|199.27.133.101]] 03:30, 14 October 2015 (UTC)
: Yes, and I also think that shorter explanation is much better. Perhaps someone can edit the article to remove the grammatical acrobatics. [[User:Mrob27|Mrob27]] ([[User talk:Mrob27|talk]]) 17:14, 15 October 2015 (UTC)

I'd say it's Igor... (discworld) {{unsigned ip|141.101.75.17}}
:Igor wouldn't. Although perhapth he could thay thomething thimilar. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.185|141.101.75.185]] 14:35, 14 October 2015 (UTC)

I guess that brain was from Abby Normal. {{unsigned ip|162.158.142.218}}

I think Randall has an inner troll. The explanation mentions he is apparently tired of the argument - on the other hand, I think he wants to propagate it and add more material.

1818: Rayleigh Scattering

2017-04-24T19:30:55Z

108.162.245.214: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1818
| date = March 31, 2017
| title = Rayleigh Scattering
| image = rayleigh_scattering.png
| titletext = If you ask "why are leaves green?" the usual answer is "because they're full of chlorophyll, and chlorophyll is green," even though "why does chlorophyll scatter green light?" is a great question too.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic suggests it is better to explain things in an easy-to-understand and intuitive manner, even if such explanations may not be completely accurate. This is especially the case for children whose ability to grasp abstract physics has not yet fully developed. Giving the most complete and physically accurate explanation would make the concepts much more elaborate than necessary, and would cause major confusion in inexperienced listeners.

The principle is demonstrated by the explanation on {{w|Diffuse sky radiation|why the sky is blue}}. The commonly given explanation for this is, as the comic title says, {{w|Rayleigh scattering}}. However, in order to understand how Rayleigh scattering works to produce a blue color, one must go into {{w|quantum mechanics}} and deal with properties of molecules in air and their effects on different wavelengths of light. Even then, one will also need to know about the inner workings of human visual perception to realize why the color we perceive isn't the wavelength that's being most strongly scattered (see [[1145: Sky Color]]). The child is not likely to understand this kind of explanation.

On the other hand, a much simpler explanation, such as "because air is blue", also adequately explains the phenomenon, and is much more understandable to less physically inclined listeners. When [[Science Girl]] asks [[Blondie]] (possibly [[Miss Lenhart]]) why the sky is blue, [[Megan]] walks in and starts to explain in a very scientific way. This is criticized by Blondie, who then convinces her that the simpler explanation is sufficient, as there is a quantum mechanical explanation for every color, there is no need to elaborate on the sky's color any more than any other object's color.

Megan implicitly accepts this, but then in the final panel, Science Girl asks another common question - how do planes fly? Megan starts again to give the traditional answer (airflow causing {{w|Lift_(force)|lift}}) but is interrupted by Blondie saying that it's because the wings of an airplane are full of small birds. While this might not be as ridiculous as it first seems (the child might later learn that the "tiny birds" are actually air molecules, and "flapping wings" are actually pressure differentials), it is certainly over-simplified to a staggering extent. Thus Megan and Blondie illustrate the two extremes of education philosophy: where one chooses to teach the complete truth with no regard for whether it's understandable, the other chooses to make up understandable explanations with no regard for whether it's true. Arguably, neither approach is in the student's best interest and a balance needs to be achieved.

The title text refers to another common question as for why leaves are green. This is commonly explained by the fact that they are filled with {{w|chlorophyll}}, a chemical used by plants for photosynthesis. Randall points out that it would be an equally valid question to ask why chlorophyll is green. This poses an interesting contrast to the answer to the question about the color of the sky, since even physicists are usually satisfied with the general explanation for leaves and don't feel the need to jump into describing quantum phenomena that cause chlorophyll to reflect green light. Also, "Why does chlorophyll scatter green light" may be a great question because chlorophyll reflects, not scatters, light and this challenges Megan-types to coherently explain the difference before they go challenging little children with pedantry. Or because green light is less efficient during photosynthesis, and explaining that is similar to explaining Rayleigh Scattering.

[https://what-if.xkcd.com/141/ What-if 141] also mentions the simpler explanation to the original question: Sunbeam has this relevant text: "Normal light interacts with the atmosphere through Rayleigh scattering. You may have heard of Rayleigh scattering as the answer to 'why is the sky blue.' This is sort of true, but honestly, a better answer to this question might be 'because air is blue.' Sure, it appears blue for a bunch of physics reasons, but everything appears the color it is for a bunch of physics reasons." There is also a footnote in that comment with an additional example: "When you ask, 'Why is the {{w|Statue of Liberty|statue of liberty}} green?' the answer is something like, 'The outside of the statue is copper, so it used to be copper-colored. Over time, a layer of copper carbonate formed (through oxidation), and copper carbonate is green.' You don't say 'The statue is green because of frequency-specific absorption and scattering by surface molecules.' "

Randall himself has published [https://xkcd.com/thing-explainer/ Thing Explainer] which gives simplified descriptions of complex scientific and technological objects. Even in his book, some of the more advanced details have been simplified to a toy model (such as calling liquid oxygen "cold wet air" and a nuclear reactor "box of burning metal").

==Transcript==
:[Science Girl asks Blondie a question which she answers while lifting her arm towards Science Girl.]
:Science Girl: Why is the sky blue?
:Blondie: Because air is blue.

:[Megan walks in from behind Science Girl.]
:Megan: No, the sky is blue because of Rayleigh scattering–
:Blondie: Nah, it's because air is blue. Blue light bounces off it and hits our eyes. Same as why anything is any color.

:[Zoom in on Blondie's face.]
:Blondie: It's why far-off mountains look blue – because of all the blue air in the way.

:[Zoom out to Megan standing longer from Science Girl than Blondie who has thrown her arms out. Science Girl is facing directly out towards the reader.]
:Megan: There's a specific quantum mechanism by which–
:Blondie: Yeah but there's a physics mechanism for every color. You don't have to get all quantum right away.

:[Frameless panel with Science Girl looking up at Blondie who stands holding her hands on her sides. Megan speaks from off.panel.]
:Megan (off-panel): ...OK, I guess.
:Blondie: Any other questions?
:Science Girl: How do planes stay up?

:[Blondie holds a finger up in front of Science Girl while Megan now is the one to throw out her arms.]
:Megan: Well, the airflow–
:Blondie: Tiny birds in the wings. Thousands. Flapping Hard.
:Science Girl: WOW!
:Megan: ''NO!''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Science Girl]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

1825: 7 Eleven

2017-04-17T16:49:22Z

108.162.245.214: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1825
| date = April 17, 2017
| title = 7 Eleven
| image = 7_eleven.png
| titletext = Really, the only honest 24-hour stores are the ones in places like Arizona and Hawaii, and many of them are still wrong in certain years.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Basic Explanation. Needs more. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic pokes fun at the idiosyncrasies of time keeping. Since units of time are intimately tied to a planet's rotation, and planets rotate at different, inconsistent rates, time keeping doesn't always follow a simple pattern.

Many stores advertise being open 24/7, which means that they're open all day, every day. Many locations of the convenience store chain {{w|7-Eleven}} are now "open 24 hours", again meaning they are always open (despite historically being open only from 7 AM and 11 PM local time, hence its name).

The main joke in the comic refers to the fact that a day on Mars (the time it takes for Mars to make a full revolution on its own axis) is about 24 hours and 37 minutes of Earth time. If a 7-11 store is open for literally 24 Earth hours per Mars day, then it would actually be closed for around 37 minutes each day. Of course, this is only an issue if Earth and Mars time units are mixed. Had the sign implicitly referred to 24 Mars-hours (where one Mars-hour is defined as 1/24 of a Mars day), then the store would be open for the entire Mars day.

The first part of the title text refers to {{w|Daylight_saving_time|daylight saving time}}, where days can be shortened or lengthened on predefined days of the year in order to maximize use of available sunlight. In the United States, most places set clocks forward by one hour on the second Sunday of March, resulting in a 23-hour day, and back again on the first Sunday of November, resulting in a 25-hour day. Thus technically, even a 7-11 in the US would not truly be open "24 hours" every day. Arizona and Hawaii are called out as exceptions because they do not observe daylight saving time.

The second part of the title text refers to {{w|leap seconds}}, which are sometimes added to December 31 in order to synchronize time with Earth's actual rotation. Years with a leap second will see its last day being one second longer than 24 hours. Since leap seconds apply to all Earth-based clocks, any store on Earth would not technically be open for exactly 24 hours on such days.

==Transcript==
Sign: 7-Eleven Open 24 hours

[A person in a spacesuit is trying to open the door to the convenience store]

Door: Rattle rattle

Caption: I'm glad they finally opened a 7-Eleven here on Mars, but it's annoying how it closes for 37 minutes every day.

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

{{comic discussion}}

1825: 7 Eleven

2017-04-17T16:46:29Z

108.162.245.214: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1825
| date = April 17, 2017
| title = 7 Eleven
| image = 7_eleven.png
| titletext = Really, the only honest 24-hour stores are the ones in places like Arizona and Hawaii, and many of them are still wrong in certain years.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Basic Explanation. Needs more. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic pokes fun at the idiosyncrasies of time keeping. Since units of time are intimately tied to a planet's rotation, and planets rotate at different, inconsistent rates, time keeping doesn't always follow a simple pattern.

Many stores advertise being open 24/7, which means that they're open all day, every day. Many locations of the convenience store chain {{w|7-Eleven}} are now "open 24 hours", again meaning they are always open (despite historically being open only from 7 AM and 11 PM local time, hence its name).

The main joke in the comic refers to the fact that a day on Mars (the time it takes for Mars to make a full revolution on its own axis) is about 24 hours and 37 minutes of Earth time. If a 7-11 store is open for literally 24 Earth hours per Mars day, then it would actually be closed for around 37 minutes each day. Of course, this is only an issue if Earth and Mars time units are mixed. If the sign implicitly refers to 24 Mars-hours, then the store would be open for the entire Mars day.

The first part of the title text refers to {{w|Daylight_saving_time|daylight saving time}}, where days can be shortened or lengthened on predefined days of the year in order to maximize use of available sunlight. In the United States, most places set clocks forward by one hour on the second Sunday of March, resulting in a 23-hour day, and back again on the first Sunday of November, resulting in a 25-hour day. Thus technically, even a 7-11 in the US would not truly be open "24 hours" every day. Arizona and Hawaii are called out as exceptions because they do not observe daylight saving time.

The second part of the title text refers to {{w|leap seconds}}, which are sometimes added to December 31 in order to synchronize time with Earth's actual rotation. Years with a leap second will see its last day being one second longer than 24 hours. Since leap seconds apply to all Earth-based clocks, any store on Earth would not technically be open for exactly 24 hours on such days.

==Transcript==
Sign: 7-Eleven Open 24 hours

[A person in a spacesuit is trying to open the door to the convenience store]

Door: Rattle rattle

Caption: I'm glad they finally opened a 7-Eleven here on Mars, but it's annoying how it closes for 37 minutes every day.

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

{{comic discussion}}

1665: City Talk Pages

2017-02-17T16:59:17Z

108.162.245.214:

{{comic
| number = 1665
| date = April 8, 2016
| title = City Talk Pages
| image = city talk pages.png
| titletext = "I don't think the Lakeshore Air Crash Museum really belongs under 'Tourist Attractions.' It's not a museum--it's just an area near the Lake Festival Laser Show where a lot of planes have crashed.
}}
==Explanation==
The comic makes fun of Wikipedia talk pages. On Wikipedia, every article has a place to discuss the content of the page, called a "{{w|Help:Using talk pages|talk page}}". In this case, the comic talks about the talk page of an article about a city. While some of the topics are quite normal for such a page (e.g. the quality of the images) others are not (e.g. too many murders and mine disasters in the city). The topics discussed suggest that the city has many problems and is a bad place to live in or visit.

The topics show a common problem at Wikipedia's talk pages: People often use them as a place to talk about the ''subject'' of the article, but it is for talking about the ''article'' itself. Someone at the top of the talk page is suggesting a better name for the city.

The article repeatedly refers to "the murders", suggesting that the city might be well-known for them. It seems that the editors cannot agree on how notable "the murders" are. "Not that notable" refers to Wikipedia's general criteria for including information in articles. Material which is not noteworthy should be removed; however, different editors often disagree about what is notable, resulting in conflicting edits as text is inserted and then removed (an "edit war"). Someone replies that "all cities have murders". While true, many cities in low-crime countries would not have a series of them so well-known that when someone talks about "the murders" any reader could be expected to know what they are talking about, making this sound like an attempt to make the city sound nicer than it is. "I think the murderer is reverting my edits" suggests the murders are being committed by ''one person'' who is influencing how they are shown on WIkipedia - perhaps trying to prevent Wikipedia from publishing evidence of them or possibly publicise them by adding ''more'' information about them. This raises the possibility that the discussion of the murder visible in the infobox picture may have been ''initiated by the murderer''.

The {{w|WP:Infobox|infobox}} is a short fact sheet that many articles in the (English) Wikipedia have; it generally includes an image illustrating the subject of the article. The question of which picture is best for the infobox (because this image is so prominent) can cause edit wars. It emerges that the photograph of the city has a murder in it. Instead of forwarding the picture to law enforcement, someone uses the image editing software Photoshop to erase the murder so the picture will be less objectionable. It appears that murders are so common in the city that any random photograph of the city has a chance of showing a murder, to the point where a second photo proposed as a replacement for the infobox picture is found to show ''another'' murder.

{{w|Voltaire}} was a French Enlightenment writer. As a prominent and very opinionated intellectual, [https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Voltaire#Misattributed he gets a lot of quotes falsely attributed to him]; most famously, he did not actually say "I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" (that was {{w|Evelyn Beatrice Hall}}).

It seems that the people who are editing the article are getting desperate to find a non-bleak picture of the city. When a non-bleak picture is added, it turns out to be from the 2016 Disney film {{w|Zootopia}}. The fictional city which is the setting and title of the film has a distinctive [http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/disney/images/4/43/Zootopia_City_Full.jpg look] which is far from bleak, but is not a picture of the city. (Zootopia is called Zootropolis in many European countries for trademark reasons.)

The city apparently is a mining city and there have been some mining disasters. An editor is complaining that this section is too long, but another editor points out that this is because there have been so many mining disasters that a large section is needed to cover the topic.

{{w|1982 Secession}} refers to Key West, Florida seceding from the United States in 1982 to form the {{w|Conch Republic}}.

A known problem on Wikipedia is "coatracking", where people use articles to promote topics that are not strictly the subject of the article (perhaps by writing far more about them than is necessary, when they could just be mentioned in passing). Here, it emerges that the article on a city expresses a dubious opinion on condom use. This is against several Wikipedia policies: it would be irrelevant to the article and sounds like an editor's attempt to publicise their views.

{{w|Andrew Lloyd Webber}} is an English composer famous for writing ''The {{w|Phantom Of The Opera}}''. Webber is also known for writing the music for ''{{w|Starlight Express}}'', a rock opera about anthropomorphized trains, which is probably another factor in the train station joke. Meanwhile, {{w|Frank Lloyd Wright}}, who shares his middle name and last initial, was an American architect, who designed more than 1,000 structures. As it turns out it was the composer who was responsible for the train station, and as a result the station roof has collapsed.

It is complained that the article is promoting the "Lake Festival Laser Show" too much. In the alt text, it emerges that the laser show is so impressive that it has caused a number of aeroplanes to crash. This probably refers to the fact that laser pointers should not be aimed at aircrafts, as they can be distracting to the pilots. The article has been promoting this area of crashed planes as the "Lakeshore Air Crash Museum", despite it not having any educational purpose.

==Examples==
*{{w|Talk:Key West, Florida#What's with the Chicken photo}} questions the relevance of free range chickens.
*{{w|Talk:Rio de Janeiro#Oh, there's no crime in Rio?}} suggests crime incidence in Rio has been suppressed to promote tourism.
*{{w|Talk:Kirkcaldy}} discusses naming.
*{{w|Talk:Isfahan}} has many naming proposals.
*{{w|Talk:Chattanooga, Tennessee}} has disputes over crime and notability of residents.
*{{w|Talk:Muara Bungo}} indicates someone ''repeatedly'' tried to delete the second-largest city in Jambi, Sumatra.
*{{w|Talk:Arvada, Colorado}} held a heated argument considerably longer than the article, concerning the existence of a scandal in the police department. A year later, one editor deemed the issue unimportant and removed it entirely.
*{{w|Talk:Sutton-in-Ashfield}} discusses the cultural significance of town landmarks.
*{{w|Talk:Abergele}} has residents arguing over who should be included.
*{{w|Talk:Tucson, Arizona}}:
** ''I heard you can get Chicago-style deep dish pizza even in Tucson! Is this true? If so, it probably should be added to the article.''
** ''Um...I heard this place is kinda dangerous.''
** ''Shouldn't the headline-indicated shooting be included?''
** ''Why are there three photos showing snow in the vicinity of Tucson? I know snow is an event for us, but I think other Wikipedians know what it looks like.''

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the panel: ]
:I love reading the Wikipedia talk pages for articles on individual cites

:[A list of contents for a Wikipedia talk page regarding an article about a city. Except for the header and the square brackets, which are written in black text, the rest is in a blue font.]
:::Contents [Hide]

<div style="color:blue;">
:1 Origin of city's name?
::1.1 Idea for a better name
::1.2 Not how Wikipedia works
:2 Too much promotion of the lake festival
:3 Should we mention the murders?
::3.1 Not that notable
::3.2 All cites have murders
:4 Quote verification: Even if Voltaire did visit (unlikely), why would he get so angry about our restaurants?
:5 Discuss: New picture
::5.1 Current one looks awfully bleak
::5.2 Gray sky
::5.3 What about this
::5.4 Also bleak
::5.5 Maybe this place just looks that way
::5.6 Found a better picture, more colorful
::5.7 That's a shot from Disney's ''Zootopia''
:6 "Mining disasters" section too long
::6.1 Not really Wikipedia's fault
::6.2 Why is this town so bad at mining?
:7 Infobox picture: I just realized you can see a murder happening in the background
::7.1 This city is terrible
::7.2 Photoshopped out murder
::7.3 Can someone just take a better picture
::7.4 Okay, uploaded a new picture
::7.5 Wait, never mind, I just noticed there's a murder in this one, too
:8 1982 secession still in effect?
:9 I think the murderer is reverting my edits
:10 Why does this article take '''''any''''' position on correct condom use, let alone such a weird and ambiguous one?
:11 Train station "Designed by Andrew Lloyd Weber"?
::11.1 They probably mean Frank Lloyd Wright
::11.2 I thought so too, but it's apparently not a mistake
::11.3 Didn't know he did architecture
::11.4 Roof collapse
</div>
==Trivia==
*In the comic ''Webber'' was once spelled ''Weber''. This was a mistake by [[Randall]], as it has since been corrected.
**Find the original [http://web.archive.org/web/20160408153019/http://xkcd.com/1665/ here].
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]