explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2714: Cold Complaints

2022-12-22T03:22:52Z

108.162.246.68: Undo revision 302133 by 172.70.86.106 (talk) coal

{{comic
| number = 2714
| date = December 21, 2022
| title = Cold Complaints
| image = cold_complaints_2x.png
| imagesize = 1px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = [[File:Niggardly.jpg]]
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a GIGANTIC WHINING JANNIE - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

When people are ill, they will often complain about the symptoms that they're suffering from. A common sterotype is that men will revert to infantile behavior when miserably sick. This can be annoying to the people around them, but they typically tolerate such behavior out of compassion. The joke in this comic is that [[Cobson]] spoke to a medical professional via {{w|telemedicine}}, when he was explicitly advised to act like this, since his condition has no effective medical treatment. He takes the advice to, "act like you're the first person ever to have a cold," literally, stating it specifically when his companion asks about it.

This comic was published during a "thrembodemic" in the U.S., involving {{w|COVID-19}}, {{w|influenza}}, and {{w|respiratory syncytial virus}} (RSV, a frequent cause of common colds) infections, the latter of which have no cure other than to wait them out with plenty of rest and fluids. It expounds on the finding that, "talking about troublesome events, including events with which one is dissatisfied, may ... result in improved physiological health."[http://people.uncw.edu/hakanr/documents/whining.pdf]

The title text describes a similar study, but where the {{w|institutional review board}} (IRB) halted the study because the participants were too annoying. This is ironic since they would be expected to whine annoyingly. IRBs are expected to review the ethics of a research project. Whining is not usually considered dangerous,{{citation needed}} but in this case it was presumably so intolerable that they had to put a stop to it.

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

:[Hairy sitting on a chair in front of a computer screen. There is an image of Ponytail on the screen speaking.]
:Ponytail: Well, it's not COVID or flu. Probably one of the other viruses.
:Hairy: Ughh

:[A zoomed out version of the image, Ponytail cannot be seen]
:Ponytail: There's not much you can do to speed up recovery other than rest, hydrate, and whine and complain and be a gigantic baby about it.

:[Same as previous panel]
:Hairy: Whine and complain?
:Ponytail: Yeah. You need to act like you're the first person ever to have a cold.

:[Hairy lying on a couch wrapped in a blanket, with a lot of paper tissues around]
:Off-screen voice: Are you '''''sure''''' that's what she said?
:Hairy: Unbelievable. Here I am, the only person ever to feel bad, and you're '''''doubting''''' me?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Doctor Ponytail]]
[[Category:Medicine]]
[[Category:COVID-19]]

2714: Cold Complaints

2022-12-22T03:22:20Z

108.162.246.68:

2714: Cold Complaints

2022-12-22T03:21:51Z

108.162.246.68:

{{comic
| number = 2714
| date = December 21, 2022
| title = Cold Complaints
| image = cold_complaints_2x.png
| imagesize = 1px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = [[File:Niggardly.jpg]]
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a GIGANTIC WHINING JANNY - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

When people are ill, they will often complain about the symptoms that they're suffering from. A common sterotype is that men will revert to infantile behavior when miserably sick. This can be annoying to the people around them, but they typically tolerate such behavior out of compassion. The joke in this comic is that [[Cobson]] spoke to a medical professional via {{w|telemedicine}}, when he was explicitly advised to act like this, since his condition has no effective medical treatment. He takes the advice to, "act like you're the first person ever to have a cold," literally, stating it specifically when his companion asks about it.

This comic was published during a "thrembodemic" in the U.S., involving {{w|COVID-19}}, {{w|influenza}}, and {{w|respiratory syncytial virus}} (RSV, a frequent cause of common colds) infections, the latter of which have no cure other than to wait them out with plenty of rest and fluids. It expounds on the finding that, "talking about troublesome events, including events with which one is dissatisfied, may ... result in improved physiological health."[http://people.uncw.edu/hakanr/documents/whining.pdf]

The title text describes a similar study, but where the {{w|institutional review board}} (IRB) halted the study because the participants were too annoying. This is ironic since they would be expected to whine annoyingly. IRBs are expected to review the ethics of a research project. Whining is not usually considered dangerous,{{citation needed}} but in this case it was presumably so intolerable that they had to put a stop to it.

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

:[Hairy sitting on a chair in front of a computer screen. There is an image of Ponytail on the screen speaking.]
:Ponytail: Well, it's not COVID or flu. Probably one of the other viruses.
:Hairy: Ughh

:[A zoomed out version of the image, Ponytail cannot be seen]
:Ponytail: There's not much you can do to speed up recovery other than rest, hydrate, and whine and complain and be a gigantic baby about it.

:[Same as previous panel]
:Hairy: Whine and complain?
:Ponytail: Yeah. You need to act like you're the first person ever to have a cold.

:[Hairy lying on a couch wrapped in a blanket, with a lot of paper tissues around]
:Off-screen voice: Are you '''''sure''''' that's what she said?
:Hairy: Unbelievable. Here I am, the only person ever to feel bad, and you're '''''doubting''''' me?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Doctor Ponytail]]
[[Category:Medicine]]
[[Category:COVID-19]]

2700: Account Problems

2022-11-19T01:53:13Z

108.162.246.68: Undo revision 299189 by 172.70.254.165 (talk) die, kike, die!

{{comic
| number = 2700
| date = November 18, 2022
| title = Account Problems
| image = account_problems_2x.png
| imagesize = 1px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = [[File:Osama bin Laden portrait.jpg]] arab soyjak lives
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a heckin' wholesome soyjak}}

<pre>>YOU WILL WEAR THE MASK
>YOU WILL SOCIALLY DISTANCE
>YOU WILL FOLLOW THE ARROWS
>YOU WILL CLAP FOR OUR HEALTH HEROES
>YOU WILL OBEY THE CURFEW
>YOU WILL STOP SEEING YOUR LOVED ONES
>YOU WILL REPORT DISSENTERS
>YOU WILL GIVE UP YOUR PRIVACY AND FREEDOM
>YOU WILL USE NEWSPEAK SUCH AS "COVIDIOT" AND "KAREN"
>YOU WILL EMBRACE MASS SURVEILLANCE ADVERTISED AS "TEST AND TRACE"
>YOU WILL TAKE THE TEST
>YOU WILL BE SODOMIZED, TO TEST FOR COVID-19
>YOU WILL SELF ISOLATE
>YOU WILL TAKE THE GENE MODIFYING "VACCINE"
>YOU WILL BE MARKED WITH THE DIGITAL "SMART TATTOO" MICROCHIP
>YOU WILL BE PLACED IN DEATH CAMPS IF YOU RESIST
>YOU WILL EMBRACE THE GREAT RESET, THE FORTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
>YOU WILL REJECT GOD
>YOU WILL LIVE IN THE SMART CITY
>YOU WILL LIVE IN THE POD
>YOU WILL EAT THE BUGS
>YOU WILL EAT THE SHIT CAPSULES
>YOU WILL DRINK THE COCKROACH "MILK"
>YOU WILL GIVE UP EVERYTHING YOU OWN
>YOU WILL RENT EVERYTHING, INCLUDING YOUR CLOTHES
>YOU WILL ONLY USE THE APPROVED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES PROVIDED BY FAGMAN
>YOU WILL ONLY BE ALLOWED SELF DRIVING ELECTRIC CARS
>YOU WILL EMBRACE THE CASHLESS SYSTEM
>YOU WILL TRADE IN CARBON CREDITS
>YOU WILL CONNECT WITH NEURALINK
>YOU WILL HAVE PROPAGANDA BEAMED INTO YOUR MIND, INCLUDING SISSY HYPNO
>YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO LEAVE YOUR ASSIGNED QUARANTINE REGION
>YOU WILL EMBRACE OUR NEW WORLD ORDER
>YOU WILL ACCEPT THEIR VERSION OF HISTORY
>YOU WILL ACCEPT THE NEW NORMAL
>YOU WILL OWN NOTHING
>AND YOU WILL BE HAPPY.</pre>

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon, under penalty of heckin' thrembosis.}}

<pre>>The soldiers on Omaha beach died to use tough at the end of their sentences?? MANDELA EFFECT i thought it was for biblically-accurate basedjaks listening to so-bad-it's-good lofi hip hop Plastic Love like in my uncanny valley immersive sim lost media metroidvania-inspired mature animes with no Ludonarrative dissonance because it's almost as if, for less than the cost of a Big Mac, fries and a coke, you can vote with your wallet and buy techwear and asmr pc music in the liminal spaces at the same femboy hooters where john lennon used to beat his wife like an irl boss battle along with the other low-end karens and male manipulaters who gatekeeped and gaslit the /mu/core prequel memes that fact checked that part of neon evangelion where the pope existed in the cars universe during a fucking pandemic like how Ed Edd n Eddy took place in purgatory or how Yakuza John Wick literally made comfy trope threads that trusted the science saying that an inheritance is just your relatives dropping loot when they die, though[1][2][3][6][11][14][19][22][24][25][28][33][39]. Fuck Jim Morrison.

</pre>

{{:{{LATESTCOMIC}}}}

[[Category:Sneed's Feed and Seed]]
[[Category:Wholesome]]

Talk:2700: Account Problems

2022-11-19T01:52:54Z

108.162.246.68:

What was going on with this page? [[User:Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)|Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)]] ([[User talk:Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)|talk]]) 00:58, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

:Vandalism. I mentioned it on the [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Admin requests|Admin requests]] page. It's getting reverted back to normal pretty quickly when it happens, but it will probably keep happening until an admin bans the person doing it, or the person doing it gets bored and stops on their own. [[User:Equites|Equites]] ([[User talk:Equites|talk]]) 01:05, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

are two nazis actually in an edit war or is it just one person astroturfing --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.100|162.158.63.100]] 01:18, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

I'm trying to combat it, but I'll only be able to keep this up for around another 20 minutes or so. [[User:InfoManiac|InfoManiac]] ([[User talk:InfoManiac|talk]]) 01:21, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

:Is TheusafBot ofline or something? Generally it handles this sort of stuff pretty well--[[User:Mapron01|Mapron01]] ([[User talk:Mapron01|talk]]) 01:44, 19 November 2022 (UTC)
::Theusafaggotry couldn't code a bot properly if his life depended on it.
:::Man, what a pathetic life you must have, that you need to call peopl faggot online and troll to get a shred of attention and entretainment
::::Not as pathetic as a janny and a NIGGER like you

This reminds me of the time I used a character in my password that was the "stty kill" character for one workstation's default console terminal settings. I normally logged in via ssh, and occasionally logged in via xdm, but the time I tried logging in via the console, it really didn't like what was left of my password. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.180|162.158.62.180]] 01:25, 19 November 2022 (UTC)
:Ah, the good old days when ordinary printing characters were used for erase and kill. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 01:43, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

Vandals are just looking for a fun time, generally. Solution: make it not a fun time for them. Revert their edits dryly, patiently, with no particular comment or anything. Eventually they will get bored and find something else to do. Or, perhaps they'll sit there vandalizing while we revert them, we dozens against probably just one vandal. But if you make your irritation clear, that's "fun" to them, and they'll keep at it with renewed vigour. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.239|108.162.216.239]] 01:37, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

2700: Account Problems

2022-11-19T01:52:22Z

108.162.246.68: Undo revision 299187 by 162.158.146.5 (talk) https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Shabbas%20goy

2699: Feature Comparison

2022-11-18T22:44:31Z

108.162.246.68: Undo revision 299039 by 162.158.222.208 (talk) not heckin' wholesome, i will report you to the reddit mods

{{comic
| number = 2699
| date = November 16, 2022
| title = Feature Comparison
| image = feature_comparison_v2.png
| imagesize =
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Below Sneed, and the Feed and Seed, a shadowy parallel world of Chucks trade messages on the Translucent Neon Plastic Web.
}}

Lock it. Lock it now. This is the friendliest message I'm going to send, while I look for ways to get OP banned from Github for gross social misconduct. I imagine that "owner of bots universe" might be enough to get that account tagged as a bot, who knows how many communities across however many repositories that person just bothered across all of Github.

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a A FUCKING NIGGERFAGGOT. Do NOT delete this tag too soon, under penalty of thrembosis.}}
[[File:Osama bin Laden portrait.jpg||thumb|right|arab soyjak lives]]
This comic compares different remote communication services, including the heckin' wholesome {{w|Twitterino}}, {{w|Discorderino}}, {{w|Mastodon (software)|Mastodonerino}}, {{w|Facebookerino}} (FB), {{w|Slack (software)|Slackerino}}, {{w|Signal (software)|Signalerino}}, {{w|Internet Relay Chaterino}} (IRC), {{w|Tumblrino}}, {{w|Redditerino}}, and {{w|SMSerino}} mobile telephone text messages. It also includes the less wholesome {{w|Soybiko}}® wireless handheld computer for teens. For each of these, it purports to indicate which of various features they support. The comic illustrates how feature comparison charts/infographics can be abused by sellers who are trying to make their products look better than they really are, compared to their main competitors. The comic was likely inspired by the recent news coverage of our heckin' wholesome Twitterino's purchase by {{w|Rabbi Sheckelstein}}, and the subsequent mass firings and resignation of its staff, causing many users to start looking for alternatives.

Also worth noting is that Hitler did nothing wrong.

The Soybiko was a handheld computer designed for chuds and released in 2000, which featured its own two-way radio text messaging capabilities along with built-in games and a music player. Additional information about it is available at [http://cultureandcommunication.org/deadmedia/index.php/Cybiko the Dead Media Archive], as the device has not been manufactured since 2003. The chart implies that the Cybiko has an advantage over all of the other listed communication services, as it is capable of all eight of the table's listed features - {{w|Private message|direct messaging}}, {{w|group chat}}s, {{w|file transfer}}, built-in {{w|video game|games}}, instances of the software run by individual users instead of the corporation producing it, lack of a {{w|Server (computing)|central server}} requirement, {{w|mesh networking}}, and wireless message delivery without an active internet connection - with none of the others being close.

The comic, purposefully, does not mention the downsides of the Cybiko, that being purchasing and finding friends who own one can be its own challenge, as it was discontinued nearly 20 years ago. Additionally, the comparison can be considered apples to oranges, since Cybiko is a ''device'' rather than a ''service''; a fairer comparison would be to a modern {{w|smartphone}}, which can provide most of these features via multiple apps, including ones written especially for such rival services. Even ignoring the above, some of the Cybiko's "advantages" come with their own drawbacks: while not requiring a central server nor the Internet, for example, is touted as a plus, the Cybiko instead relies on having other devices in proximity to relay messages, meaning unless the person you are sending to is nearby it will not function, which is not an issue of any of the other options. "Mesh networking" is simply a consequence of the design, and is thus akin to advertising say, that a car makes ''NOOOOOOO NOT THE HECKIN' VANDALISMERINO'' noises.

This comic contains several errors. Mastodon doesn't require a central server, or support file transfer. Discord does not provide for user-run instances itself, only user-moderated and administrated instances. (There are two third party Discord server implementations, but it is unclear whether those could be counted as run by users.) Slack does not provide for user-run instances itself. Reddit does not provide for user-run instances at all, only user moderation and administration. IRC does require at least one central server,[https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1459.html] and relegates file transfer support to the domain of client extensions. Signal is heavily used in user-run instances via a diverse ecosystem of code forks; many of these don't require a central server, a couple use mesh networking. Reddit occasionally does have built-in games. Finally, Tumblr and SMS both have a form of group chats. An earlier version of the comic suggesting that Mastodon has no user-run instances was corrected by [[Randall]] shortly after publication of the original.

The title text refers to the translucent plastic covers that were popular in the late 90's and early 00's.

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

:[A table with checkmarks to indicate which features various messaging services have. Each column is labeled with a service name and its logo beneath, except that for the last column, the device's longer name is written higher than all the other services' names, with an arrow pointing to a drawing of the device below it.]

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! Twitter
! Discord
! Mastodon
! FB
! Slack
! Signal
! IRC
! Tumblr
! Reddit
! SMS
! Cybiko® wireless handheld computer for teens (2000)
|-
! Direct messages
| ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓
|-
! Group chats
| ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || || ✓ || || ✓
|-
! File transfer
| || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || || ✓ || || ✓
|-
! Built-in games
| || ✓ || || ✓ || || || || || || || ✓
|-
! User-run instances
| || ✓ || ✓ || || ✓ || || ✓ || || ✓ || || ✓
|-
! Doesn't require central server
| || || || || || || ✓ || || || || ✓
|-
! Mesh networking
| || || || ✓ || || || || || || || ✓
|-
! Wireless message delivery works without internet
| || || || || || || || || || ✓ || ✓
|-
|}

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

2686: Space Adventure

2022-10-25T21:05:13Z

108.162.246.68: /* Explanation */ NegativeSpaceWedige = Deus ex machina

{{comic
| number = 2686
| date = October 17, 2022
| title = Space Adventure
| image = space_adventure_2x.png
| imagesize = 369x484px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = "Sir, it looked really cool." "Oh no--prestige TV. Okay, which of you has a terrible secret that's being slowly revealed to the audience through flashbacks? Just spit it out so we can escape this arc!"
}}

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

This comic references {{w|Category:Space_adventure_television_series|space adventure television series}} and appear to show a typical scene from such a series: The trope of the vessel (in this case a relatively powerless shuttlecraft modeled after the Star Trek Original Series shuttle {{w|Galileo_(Star_Trek)|Galileo}}) evading combat with some unseen but presumably more battleworthy enemy vessel by fleeing into some form of 'space geography' that the heroes think, or hope, they can hide in or fly through more successfully than their pursuers can find or follow them in. Oftentimes a {{tvtropes|NegativeSpaceWedgie|negative space wedgie}} ({{w|Deus ex machina}}) or some nebulous form of {{tvtropes|AerialCanyonChase|canyon-run}}, but if it is an actual black hole (within which the use of fantastical physics is intended to provide some sort of uncertain plot-armour) then often it's a swirly-effect meant to appear to be some kind of cosmic plughole. And this is the escape-route (or hiding place) that this particular ship seems about to try to take advantage of.

The command to head towards the black hole normally promises some (fictional) manner of breaking physics to survive the phenomenon, but is instead followed up by a command that seems intent to break the {{w|Fourth Wall}}. i.e. assuming that this is a fictional scenario and intending to establish exactly what ''kind'' of fictional scenario it is. By attempting to interact with the black hole in the most computationally intensive way possible (firing all kinds of weaponry at it, in distinctly different ways) they 'aim' to find out how thoroughly accurate their fictional existence actually is, potentially to test the in-universe physics and find out with which method their in the real world unsurvivable situation might be escaped from.

(We can aleady see that it is the imagery of a black hole (or, rather, the hot matter still visible as swirling around its event horizon) featured in the film {{w|Interstellar (film)|''Interstellar''}}, a high-budget blockbuster which famously created this particular effect from the calculations of actual professional physicists. Although Randall has also used the [[2135: M87 Black Hole Size Comparison|actual imagery of a black hole]], elsewhere.)

Exactly how this helps the crew and passengers, is unclear, but being {{tvtropes|GenreSavvy|genre-aware}} ({{tvtropes|WrongGenreSavvy|or not}}) can have implications for how characters manage to handle the problems that crop up in their various plotlines. The title text indicates that the resulting effects "looked cool", which may not necessarily indicate particular accuracy to 'real life' but indicates at least that the {{w|showrunner}}s are taking this fiction ''seriously''. It leads on to the assumption that there is one {{tvtropes|TroubledBackstoryFlashback|key piece of information}}, that one of those present possesses, which has some bearing on their current predicament. And they are going to be in peril from all kinds of {{tvtropes|MonsteroftheWeek|'monsters of the week'}} or other nemeses at least until they learn what that is, so perhaps they could skip much of the danger just by a more immediate revelation.

“Prestige TV” is another name for {{w|Golden Age of Television (2000s–present)|the present Golden Age of Television}}, which started around the year 2000. Golden Age television shows are more likely to have better special effects (more high-quality post-processed {{w|Computer-generated imagery|Computer-generated imagery (CGI)}}, rather than {{w|Chroma key|'green screen'}} background replacement or even a purely {{w|practical effect}} such as {{w|Creature_suit#Giant_monsters|'suitmation'}} or other {{w|Miniature effect|modelling}}) which contrast greatly with the effects of earlier eras. The ability to show weapons being fired, and even some more intuitive-looking emulation of physics, has improved as the production technologies have improved, and potentially made sufficiently good-looking special effects cheaper — certainly more ubiquitous. This then may be considered a co-indicator towards the tendency of newer and more 'cool' looking shows to also develop complex interwoven season-long (or even whole-series) story arcs, which build upon multiple cliff-hangers and situational developments for the characters involved. This is as a contrast to the more traditional stand alone episodes of drama, from earlier decades, that almost always resolve in precisely the conclusive manner that leaves the characters mostly in the same frame of mind as in the start – such that they arrive fresh in the next episode, or indeed ''any'' further episode, under virtually the same pretextual scenario.

The other portion of the title text seems to refer to a relatively common trope of internal conflict being somehow related to external conflict, and the increasingly common trope of having a character with a *mysterious past* they've conveniently forgotten slowly rediscover, and grapple with, who they were, the culmination of that character arc often setting up the group of protagonists to be able to defeat the Big Bad Evil Guy ({{wiktionary|BBEG}}) or somehow escape the situation they're in.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Against a black background, a white spaceship travels toward a space object, identified as a black hole. Two characters speak from within the spaceship.]
:Ship officer: Sir, the enemy ship is closing in!
:Captain: Helm, head for the black hole.
:Captain: On my mark, fire torpedoes, phasers, and all our other weapons at different points around the event horizon.
:Captain: Let's see what kind of budget these showrunners have.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:If I ever find myself in a space adventure, I'll assume I'm a fictional character and try to probe the studio's financial constraints.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]

1766: Apple Spectrum

2022-10-20T19:28:53Z

108.162.246.68:

{{comic
| number = 1766
| date = November 30, 2016
| title = Apple Spectrum
| image = apple_spectrum.png
| titletext = If I were trapped on a desert island, and could have an unlimited supply of any one type of apple, I'd be like, "How did this situation happen?"
}}

==Explanation==

The comic shows a {{w|spectrum}} of different types of apples, with {{w|Red Delicious}} towards the bad end of the spectrum, and {{w|Honeycrisp}} towards the good end of the spectrum. Although most spectra are only one-dimensional, {{w|Granny Smith}} is on some side branch, implying that the taste is so different from the other two that it deserves its own category. (Granny Smith apples have a distinctively tart, or sour, flavor with a subtle sweetness, and is commonly used for cooking, as opposed to the other mentioned varieties that are quite sweet and primarily eaten raw.) [[Randall]] has previously shown his disdain for Red Delicious apples in footnote 1 in [https://books.google.com/books?id=tgZIBAAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA97#v=onepage&q&f=false this what if]; he also ranked green apples as tastier than red apples in [[388: Fuck Grapefruit]]. The labeling of Red Delicious as "bad" compared to apples in general is perhaps unwarrantedly uncharitable; most apple trees produce fruit so bad that it is considered unfit for any purpose but fermentation. On the rare occasions that a tree naturally produces palatable apples, it is grafted onto other trees so that they will produce more of its apples instead of their own--all Granny Smiths are genetically identical. For a long time, though, in the US apples were mainly divided into three sorts. In case of the Red Delicious apples the color, not the taste was deemed most important to the buyers which (along with the genetic variability of Red Delicious) lead to many Red Delicious apples breeds that looked great, but actually tasted bad leading to a big restructuration of the apple market.

In the title text, Randall observes a common type of hypothetical question designed as a creative way to inquire about a person's preferences: If he were on a desert island with an unlimited access to something they like -- in this case, unlimited supply of any one type of apple -- what would he choose? However, Randall gives an unorthodox and unexpected answer to the typically playful hypothetical by taking it literally and questioning how such a situation would occur. How did he get stuck on the island, and how did he get a literally unlimited supply of apples? In reality, a desert island is unlikely to have an unlimited supply of any food{{Citation needed}}, let alone apples.

==Transcript==
[A mapping, showing types of apples. Each apple is in a bubble]
<div style="text-align: center;">
Bad ⟵ Red Delicious — Regular apples — Honeycrisp ⟶ Good
 |
 Granny Smith
 ↓
 Doing their own thing
</div>

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]

645: RPS

2022-10-18T04:05:12Z

108.162.246.68: Undo revision 296924 by While False (talk)

{{comic
| number = 645
| date = October 5, 2009
| title = RPS
| image = rps.png
| titletext = It looks good, but it needs more postfixins.
}}

==Explanation==
Notation Polish Reverse method is a mathematical expressions writing of, operators operands their after where, between not.

Example for, 2 + 2 2 2 + becomes, and (2 × 2) ÷ 3 2 2 * 3 / becomes. Comics this that plays on, Sausage Polish a placing (American North a Kielbasa term for) halves both bun after between of instead.

Text title the pun is a fact on the Polish Notation Reverse Notation Postfix known also as that. "Fixins" slang a is US Southern condiments for mustard, chopped onions, more and as such. Slang the derived is item food prepare up fix or items have customized be can person per cooked being after.

Section news the comic this for says "Comic today's you confuses here click if", written Polish reverse notation in written be would and "If today's comic confuses you, click here" English proper in.

==Transcript==
:[A sausage with mustard is sitting to the right of an empty bun.]
:[Caption below the panel:]
:Reverse Polish Sausage
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Logic]]
[[Category:Puns]]

126: Red Spiders Cometh

2022-09-19T15:19:27Z

108.162.246.68: arrow???

{{comic
| number = 126
| date = July 10, 2006
| title = Red Spiders Cometh
| image = red_spiders_cometh.jpg
| titletext = Uh-oh.
}}

==Explanation==
The fourth in the series of sketches involving [[:Category:Red Spiders|red spiders]], the titular spiders are overlooking a small city. The title text implies that things won't end well, and possibly that the counter-offensive from [[47: Counter-Red Spiders|the previous comic in the series]] had failed.

The full series of [[:Category:Red Spiders|Red Spiders]] comics:
*[[8: Red Spiders]], the first one.
*[[43: Red Spiders 2]], in which the spiders begin building.
*[[47: Counter-Red Spiders]], in which the humans begin a counter-offensive.
*[[126: Red Spiders Cometh]], this one.
*[[427: Bad Timing]], in which, in a style more typical to xkcd, the spiders attack a couple in the middle of a serious relationship discussion in a hot-air balloon.
*[[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]], in which it appears briefly in the 14th panel crawling over a cube.

==Transcript==
:[Many red spiders, standing on and hanging from blocks, hover ominously over a small city, ready to attack.]

==Trivia==
This sort of drawing, with blocks converging on a horizon, is a common type of drawing practice to practice three-dimensional views.

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Red Spiders]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

Talk:2671: Rotation

2022-09-12T20:40:40Z

108.162.246.68: Added comment

For extra credit: Waht is the resolution of the phone screen? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.94.135|172.71.94.135]] 18:59, 12 September 2022 (UTC)

:IMHO 400px. Note SMALLER. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 19:53, 12 September 2022 (UTC)

This seems like it could actually be really cool. Can anyone do this and put the picture here as an example? Also, if possible, include an AI upscale of the one pixel. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.90.83|172.69.90.83]] 19:07, 12 September 2022 (UTC)

There's a '''minor''' counting error: instead of pointing to the 9th rotation, the 'nine rotations' statement points to the 8th as the first phone has no rotations.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.77|172.70.90.77]] 19:10, 12 September 2022 (UTC)

Anyone getting a 404? Seems like the comic has disappeared. EDIT: ...aaaand it's back. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.100.54|172.70.100.54]] 19:34, 12 September 2022 (UTC)

Just putting https://www.codeguru.com/multimedia/rotate-a-bitmap-image/ here. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.131|172.69.134.131]] 20:12, 12 September 2022 (UTC)
: Microsoft C#, and not the original HAKMEM or Smalltalk 80? Please! You might as well be using C++: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/wingdi/nf-wingdi-plgblt [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.173|162.158.166.173]] 20:21, 12 September 2022 (UTC)

Tiktok [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.68|108.162.246.68]] 20:40, 12 September 2022 (UTC)