explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1726: Unicode

2016-09-02T04:23:47Z

108.162.249.162:

Also, it's possible people who like to argue over how Unicode should define things could get draw in? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 04:23, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

# Proposal by Courtney Milan - 3 dinosaurs: [http://unicode.org/L2/L2016/16072-jurassic-emoji.pdf http://unicode.org/L2/L2016/16072-jurassic-emoji.pdf]
# Feedback by Andrew West - 13 dinosaurs: [http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2016/16103-jurassic-fdbk.pdf http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2016/16103-jurassic-fdbk.pdf]
# Article by Becky Ferreira - they should have feathers: [http://motherboard.vice.com/read/dinosaur-emojis http://motherboard.vice.com/read/dinosaur-emojis]

Sebastian [[Special:Contributions/162.158.83.168|162.158.83.168]] 12:14, 29 August 2016 (UTC)--
:Regarding the brontosaurus reference, there is also some material in the intro of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brontosaurus wikipedia page]. [[User:Chtit draco|Chtit draco]] ([[User talk:Chtit draco|talk]]) 14:33, 29 August 2016 (UTC)
:Comic could be a reference to WE’RE ALL USING THESE EMOJI WRONG - http://www.wired.com/2015/05/using-emoji-wrong/ where the 😪 emoji is supposed to be a sleepy emoji and not a side-tear emoji - http://emojipedia.org/sleepy-face/ - see facebook's interpretation vs Samsung's{{unsigned ip|162.158.49.60}}
::Indeed. However IMHO the problem lies not in the standardisation attempt, but on the choice of non-obvious pictograms (which is a font-designer problem). The sleepy emoji would not be used wrong if it unquestionably looked like sleepy. Chinese solved this problem long ago by switching from pictograms to abstract ideogram designs. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.49|108.162.229.49]] 14:13, 30 August 2016 (UTC) Sylvain M.

I thought it was funny that the two people in the upper left (who, at the time of this comment, were noted to be "helping" Cueball) are actually impeding the quixotic quest by arguing amongst themselves. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.222|108.162.237.222]] 23:38, 29 August 2016 (UTC)

Personally, I'm still dumbfounded by the lack of a marijuana leaf. There are pills, a syringe, a cigarette, rice wine, plus *multiple* Emoji for both wine & beer. I hate the fact that Emoji are *not* implemented in a sensible, standardized fashion: For instance, the guy Emoji may or may not have a mustache, or gray hair. The "short hair" female may be blonde, or brunette & may even have a coiffure instead of short hair! I think they should be far more specific with their definitions. Personally, I'm sticking with emoticons until they get this sorted out. ; P As for dinosaur Emoji, contrary to my previous statement about specificity, I believe you only need three dinomoji: Carnivore head (raptor or T-rex, non-specific), long-neck herbivore in profile, & winged. Anything more specific than that should probably be expressed with, y'know, WORDS. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.87|108.162.221.87]] 07:35, 30 August 2016 (UTC)
:Words? Weird concept ;) [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:47, 30 August 2016 (UTC)
:There's already a winged dinosaur emoji and has been since 2010 http://emojipedia.org/bird/ [[User:Jeremyp|Jeremyp]] ([[User talk:Jeremyp|talk]]) 09:33, 30 August 2016 (UTC)

There is a good amount of detail regarding why/how the Unicode people are arguing over Emojis (In reference to the title text) but there is not much information provided regarding what Randall is referring to in the main strip, e.g. an example of what kind of language regulations the Unicode group try to impose. While the current explanation does a good job of explaining why there is a lot of drama regarding a Brontosaurus Emoji, the meat and potatoes of the article is in reference to language itself. I have never encountered anyone trying to communicate in English using letters that are not part of the current alphabet. Since English uses predefined Roman symbols for sound representation, and the Unicode people only deal with the representation of symbols, I am having a difficult time comprehending how the group in charge of rendering English into text would have any part in the changes that (at least English) is undergoing (which are largely related to spelling and grammar, not the symbols itself). [[User:Snowblinded|Snowblinded]] ([[User talk:Snowblinded|talk]]) 08:19, 30 August 2016 (UTC)
:I think the main point of this comic is about using characters from different alphabets to get a funny look (or fool anti-spam). In Unicode, characters sharing the same design but from different alphabets have separate code-points. For example: U+0041 (latin "A"), U+0391 (greek "Alpha") and U+0410 (cyrillic "A") look exactly the same but are not interchangeable... neither in Unicode nor in real life since writing English with Greek letters doesn't make sense anyway. Example 2: U+0049 (latin "I"), U+2160 (roman numeral 1) and U+30BC (japanese "E") have a similar yet different look (and very different meaning), and so have different code-points (seems logical). One may want to mix them to get a funny typing... as long as writing proper English is not a concern. Conclusion: I hardly see how Unicode restricts anything, since the "consistent technical standards" pretty much already exists in any language. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.49|108.162.229.49]] 11:55, 30 August 2016 (UTC) Sylvain M.

I feel like he isn't trying to steer the river but the two confused looking people across the river. What else are their role if it's not the case?[[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.39|162.158.166.39]] 14:01, 30 August 2016 (UTC)
:They have another sign laying down on the ground, so they seem to be fighting about where to put said sign. [[User:Psu256|Psu256]] ([[User talk:Psu256|talk]]) 17:45, 30 August 2016 (UTC)

I think that the "Hey! That's not what that area is for!" line is about how people use features of Unicode in [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NotTheIntendedUse unintended ways].--[[User:Henke37|Henke37]] ([[User talk:Henke37|talk]]) 12:33, 31 August 2016 (UTC)

You don't need to go far as emoji to show how Unicode is doomed; the CJK(Chinese, Japanese, Korean) charsets, used in probably most developed countries outside of America/Europe, have had pretty tough time getting settled yet still have a few problems [[Special:Contributions/141.101.84.120|141.101.84.120]] 18:01, 31 August 2016 (UTC)
:Can you elaborate or give a reference? Thanks [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.49|108.162.229.49]] 20:45, 31 August 2016 (UTC) Sylvain M.

:Okay. Since I'm a Korean, let me start with Hangul, which is used to write Korean language. The beauty of Hangul is that a complete letter is consisted of 2~3 'jamo's(consonants or vowels). The first one is a consonant and called 'chosung', second one is a vowel and called 'joongsung', the last one's a consonant and called 'jongsung'. Possible numbers for each are 125, 95, 138. So total possible number of a letter is 1,638,750. But that's a theoretical number and actually frequently used letters are not that much. So in Unicode 1.0 there were 2,350 complete letters. However, it trimmed too much and was missing quite lots of letters. So 4,516 letters were added in Unicode 1.1. Unfortunately, this time the order of charset table was all messed up. You need a program to construct a letter from jamos and it was almost impossible to make a program that does consistent conversion. So in Unicode 2.0 these areas were totally scrapped, and 11,172 letters were allocated in a new area.
:The Hangul charset was mostly settled there. The rest of 1,638,750 hangul letters that are rarely used are constructed by another method, writing three jamos in sequence. You might ask why we didn't use this method in the first place, that's because there would be too much overhead. We could have ended up using 4~6 byte per complete letter, instead of 2 byte per letter...
:You can still find "CJK unified ideographs" [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode#Versions|keep being added even in recent Unicode versions]. Since these ideographs are used in so vast area and different countries, there are so many similar but different characters. AFAIK these are mostly needed in Japanese names. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.84.120|141.101.84.120]] 15:08, 1 September 2016 (UTC)

would a brontosaurus have feathers?[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.19|141.101.98.19]] 01:21, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1628: Magnus

2016-01-11T18:46:16Z

108.162.249.162:

Attempted to write the transcript. Hope I did an okay job... {{unsigned ip|‎198.41.235.41}}
:It was great. I just added some descriptions of the panels. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:01, 11 January 2016 (UTC)

Actually it is an election against JFK, not an eating contest (panel 3)[[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 18:46, 11 January 2016 (UTC)

Might Ronda Rousey being knocked unconsious be a reference to her recent loss to Holly Holm, where Rousey indeed was knocked unconcious? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.141|162.158.202.141]] 10:27, 11 January 2016 (UTC)
:The word reference means "a thing you say or write that mentions somebody/something else; the act of mentioning somebody/something". Since the comic doesn't mention Holly Holm, there is no reference. I think there isn't even an allusion (something that is said or written that refers to or mentions another person or subject in an indirect way). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.17|108.162.221.17]] 13:46, 11 January 2016 (UTC)
:Besides, the phrasing is "knocked out". That needn't be a combat/contact-sport 'KO' in which Rousey was rendered actually unconscious in an intentional/explicable manner, according to the activity, but could just be telling us which of the two passed through to the next round of a bracketed competition of some other kind. (Either of a form that remains unspecified or, as the most recently mentioned competition, in an earlier iteration the hot-dog-eating contest. Either way, 11yo Stewart wasn't highly ''expected'' to win, whatever the match conditions, but the outcome needn't be so against form as it might have in a pugilistic match.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.227|162.158.152.227]] 15:13, 11 January 2016 (UTC)
::Since nothing is mentioned about which sport and Rousey is mentioned for the first time and it is a surprise she looses (on a KO) it is obvious to me that it refers to her fighting skill and a real KO. And if it was one of her first KO in that match is could easily be a reference especially if it was not expected. These two last things I do not know anything about though... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:41, 11 January 2016 (UTC)

Magnus' App is available here: http://www.playmagnus.com/. There are also numerous youtube videos of him playing against himself at various ages. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.240|198.41.242.240]] 10:33, 11 January 2016 (UTC)

JFK was not 10 in 1961 as that is when he became President and you have to be at least 35 to do that. [[User:Momerath|Momerath]] ([[User talk:Momerath|talk]]) 15:26, 11 January 2016 (UTC)
:Whops. That went to fast, thanks for correcting it. ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:39, 11 January 2016 (UTC)

Maybe I misunderstood some special reference or way to put it here, because as it links to the correct wiki page, it seems the author knew what he was talking about but:
" Michael Phelps who is the most decorated Olympian competitor of all time, with a total of 22 medals in three Olympiads." is still a very strange formulation imo. As correctly linked an Olympiad is the time span between two Olympic Games (aka 4 years). First of all Phelbs won the Medals from 2004 to 2012 so if one really would want to write that in olympiads it would be closer to two. Even so I think it very strange to ever talk about the olympic medals over the course of such a timespan as they were won at three distinct events, while countless other medals were won in the time span. I would rather change it to "olympic games" or something. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.91.139|141.101.91.139]] 15:51, 11 January 2016 (UTC)

Does anyone else actually kind of want this to exist? I mean, it would certainly settle a lot of playground discussions. :P [[User:Hammy2211|Hammy2211]] ([[User talk:Hammy2211|talk]]) 15:55, 11 January 2016 (UTC)

Ronda Rousey is a former Judo Olympian and current MMA fighter, not a boxer. Holly Holmes (who she lost to) is an ex-boxing champion. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.236.19|108.162.236.19]] 16:32, 11 January 2016 (UTC)

Ok, changed Rousey from "boxer" to "fighter". [[User:Jimmbo|Jimmbo]] ([[User talk:Jimmbo|talk]]) 16:38, 11 January 2016 (UTC)

Does Randall Munroe know of a world outside of his own little country? Or is this comic ironic? It's very much one person from not-USA (aka “the world”) versus a lot of people from the USA. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.27|173.245.49.27]] 18:46, 11 January 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1599: Water Delivery

2015-11-04T14:25:37Z

108.162.249.162:

I...dont get it
: I suspect this is another of "hey, why we are even bothering with bottled water when we have water pipes" ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 13:05, 4 November 2015 (UTC)
Yeah, i'm suspecting that this means that "we've always had 1 hr. water delivery, in the form of modern plumbing. it's pretty similar to https://xkcd.com/1367/ in which (amazon) is reinventing something that already exists. Also advertising is spelled wrong, but that's just a typo perhaps.
:Sounds about right. And isn't Advertizing the the American way of spelling it? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_spelling_differences [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 14:25, 4 November 2015 (UTC)

I wish the illustration had showed the bottles transition from vertical to horizontal, then merge together to form the pipe. - - EazyEpete

Global transition to HDPE (Polyethylene) pipes and plumbing can be related to the subject.

This would make sense if water was simply water. However, the water in my pipes at home tastes terrible and rapidly coats my plumbing with lime deposits. My favorite local restaurant serves the same water...I pay for bottled instead. In the nearby small city, though, the tap water tastes fine. Similarly, I spend a couple months every year at a location in Texas where I don't even feel clean after showering with their tap water because it is so "soft" and I've considered buying bottled water and using a solar shower. In the store you'll find not only different brands, but different types; spring water, distilled water, etc; just because you have a source for one type of water does not mean all other types of water are invalid.

Talk:1523: Microdrones

2015-05-12T05:08:27Z

108.162.249.162:

Did someone tried? I mean, can you really catch drone with butterfly net without damaging the drone or the net? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:32, 11 May 2015 (UTC)
:I know people shoot them out of the air with guns and considering the height at which they're flying, it's possible. [[User:Nk22|The Twenty-second. The Not So Only. The Nathan/Nk22]] ([[User talk:Nk22|talk]]) 12:47, 11 May 2015 (UTC)
::I think the Amazon bit is implying that Amazon is artificially making drone nets unavailable because of its own drone based delivery service. Feel free to rephrase it. {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.193}}

does this reference P.K,Dick's "Vulcan's Hammer"? {{unsigned|Docski}}
:Hmm... I don't think hammers are equal to drones, but interesting. [[User:Nk22|The Twenty-second. The Not So Only. The Nathan/Nk22]] ([[User talk:Nk22|talk]]) 16:56, 11 May 2015 (UTC)
:I think there are far too many sci-fi dystopias that this could be referencing to list them all. The Matrix immediately comes to mind, but a simple google search suggests more. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 05:08, 12 May 2015 (UTC)

If you removed all regulations, drone theft would be legal. If it's on your property, it belongs to you. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.214.227|108.162.214.227]] 18:42, 11 May 2015 (UTC)

You mean we AREN'T living in a sci-fi dystopia right now? There are skies that are patrolled by robots with missiles. ````

:Unless they're your skies, you don't live in a sci-fi dystopia. You just share a planet with one. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.214.227|108.162.214.227]] 23:19, 11 May 2015 (UTC)

I'm attaching a butterfly net to my drone right now. Catching high flying drones is so easy, I will attach nets to my 20 drones tomorrow. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.158|173.245.48.158]] 22:02, 11 May 2015 (UTC)BLuDgeons
: How easy is it to take over the remote controller once you have the drone in your net? Is there a fairly generic way to pair a drone to another controller? (In current designs) [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 22:20, 11 May 2015 (UTC)

1519: Venus

2015-05-01T07:34:51Z

108.162.249.162: /* Transcript */ Filled in the non-verbal details.

{{comic
| number = 1519
| date = May 1, 2015
| title = Venus
| image = venus.png
| titletext = The sudden introduction of Venusian flowers led to an explosive growth of unusual Earth pollinators, which became known as the "butterfly effect."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
A teacher is teaching a class blatantly wrong facts about Venus. In the last panel, the verisimilitude of these facts is challenged by one of her students.

In the second panel, "runaway greenhouse effect" is a pun, referring to the greenhouses, which are leaving the planet (running away).

==Transcript==
:[A teacher is standing in front of an image, presumably a temperate Venus, with greenhouses, grass, flowers and a river flowing into a sea.]
:Teacher: Venus once was temperate. It had seas and rivers, and Venusians cultivated vast fields of beautiful flowers.

:[The image is now zoomed out to see the entirety of Venus, with continents and oceans. The greenhouses are shown moving (running) away from Venus.]
:Teacher: Until their greenhouses fled the planet due to the runaway greenhouse effect.

:[The teacher is now standing in front of a classroom and addressing the students.]
:Teacher: The Venusians pursued their greenhouses to Earth, settling in the Netherlands and kickstarting the Dutch floral industry. Any questions?

:Offscreen: Beacause you're retiring in a month, do you just not care what you say anymore?
:Teacher: What?! I '''ride the skies''' atop a screaming bird of truth! Also, yes, I do not.

{{comic discussion}}

1519: Venus

2015-05-01T07:28:59Z

108.162.249.162: /* Transcript */ That's not Ponytail! There's no ponytail in sight...

{{comic
| number = 1519
| date = May 1, 2015
| title = Venus
| image = venus.png
| titletext = The sudden introduction of Venusian flowers led to an explosive growth of unusual Earth pollinators, which became known as the "butterfly effect."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
A teacher is teaching a class blatantly wrong facts about Venus. In the last panel, the verisimilitude of these facts is challenged by one of her students.

In the second panel, "runaway greenhouse effect" is a pun, referring to the greenhouses, which are leaving the planet (running away).

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
Teacher: Venus once was temperate. It had seas and rivers, and Venusians cultivated vast fields of beautiful flowers.

Teacher: Until their greenhouses fled the planet due to the runaway greenhouse effect.

Teacher: The Venusians pursued their greenhouses to Earth, settling in the Netherlands and kickstarting the Dutch floral industry. Any questions?

Offscreen: Beacause you're retiring in a month, do you just not care what you say anymore?

Teacher: What?! I '''ride the skies''' atop a screaming bird of truth! Also, yes, I do not.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1514: PermaCal

2015-04-21T01:32:26Z

108.162.249.162:

In Megan's response, the "h" in "19th" is backwards.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.214.239|108.162.214.239]] 05:47, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
:I'm pretty sure that's a mistake since lowercase letters normally aren't used. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 05:49, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
:Looks like he forgot the line on the upper left. He used the capital 19TH for Cueball. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.60|173.245.48.60]] 07:24, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
:I think it's intentional. All the H's after a T have shortened upperleft lines. Probably for nice http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/kerning [[User:ToaVin|ToaVin]] ([[User talk:ToaVin|talk]]) 10:12, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
::I recall other examples where Randall's lettering style includes 'stroke obscurations' (preferable to merging of letters, probably).[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.160|141.101.98.160]] 16:10, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

Leap seconds have nothing to do with the length of the year: corrected. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 07:49, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

"Leap seconds normally account for the differences in the length of our 24 hour day and the time taken for the world to rotate 360 degrees on its axis" - this sentence mixes two unrelated concepts. First, a day is not a rotation of 360 degrees. Because the Earth also orbit the sun, the rotation from noon one day to noon the following day is a bit more than 360 degrees (360.9856 or so) (rotation measured relative to the stars) - this is why constellations appear to move throughout the year. Second, leap seconds are required because the leap day corrections of the Gregorian calendar are good, but not perfect, at matching the difference between Earth orbits (years) and Earth rotations (days). Every so often, a small correction is required. The corrections are not regular because the causes of the drift are numerous: tidal effects, orbital eccentricity, the underlying (small) flaws in the calendar, etc. I have not made any changes in the explanation. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.66|141.101.104.66]] 08:41, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

Not unrelated concept. Just not fully understood. Rotate 360 degrees is a simple way of putting things that ignores the diffrence between solar days and sidereal days. Incorrect not because someone doesn't understand the topic being discussed but because someone hasn't studied astronomy or seriously thought about how the movement of the Earth effects the length of the day--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.183|108.162.237.183]] 13:00, 20 April 2015 (UTC).
:Guilty. No excuse either, because I actually knew (but just forgot) about the difference between sidereal and solar days. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 01:14, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

While you are true on one part, that Earth doesn't take 24 hours to rotate 360 degrees (it takes around 23 hours and 56 minutes if I recall correctly), leap seconds are used to account for differences between 24 hours and a solar day. If it was used to adjust the length of the year the time of day would drift, it would also be fairly pointless as the leap days take us out by 1/4 of a day.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.175|108.162.250.175]] 10:41, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

Do we know for sure that this comic was released on a Sunday - the 19th instead of the 20th? The first entry in this page is from the 20th. Of course there are some references to the 19th, but then again it is obvious that it is on the 20th that Megan asks. Anyone who can find out if this is the correct date, or just a mistake by someone who misunderstood something based on the dates in the comic? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:19, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
:Yes, it was released on the 19th, at about 10 PM CST. All of the recent comics have been released a few hours early though, so if you want the date set at 20, fine. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 15:05, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
:The archive claims that it was released on the 20th.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 15:08, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
Apropos a "permanent calendar", Isaac Asimov proposed just such a calendar. http://calendars.wikia.com/wiki/World_Season_Calendar This web page unfortunately doesn't go into details, but there were several advantages. The same calendar is used for all years, your birthday is always on the same day of the week, no need to remember "30 days hath Sept. ...", and several other advantages I can't remember right now. --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 12:45, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

There is some confusion between the different types of astronomical time: a day in mean solar time is 24 hours, with a difference of + or - up to 1 second (compared to time on an atomic clock), in apparent solar time is 24 hours + or - up to 30 seconds, and in mean sidereal time is 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4.0916 seconds (according to Wikipedia), and there is one extra sidereal day (about 366.25) in a sidereal year. [[User:The Dining Logician|The Dining Logician]] ([[User talk:The Dining Logician|talk]]) 13:55, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

It seems like our collective favorite word just might be "portmanteau" [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 13:42, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

The explanation seems unclear where it addresses the title text. I'm not sure what is meant by "maybe 100ms every few months," but it seems to miss the point of the comic. If a leap day is added each time the previous day ends, then at millisecond resolution, a new leap-millisecond would be added every millisecond! Hence the resulting DDOS when pushing so many NTP notifications... [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.104|199.27.133.104]] 16:05, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
:I think that's wrong, too. Just my vote towards encouraging someone who wants to consider rewording it.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.160|141.101.98.160]] 16:10, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

I want to clarify a bit here. Leap days account for the fact that the rotation period of the Earth does not evenly divide into the revolution period. As such we can predict when each leap day will happen in the future. Leap seconds on the other hand are due to variance in the Earths rotation caused by various factors. Leap seconds cannot be predicted and must be observed by measurement and corrected for after the fact. It is based on the fact that the Earth's rotation varies.

I am so happy Randall decided to mock leap seconds. The human race just needs to accept that the rotation of the Earth is not a constant and stop pretending that it is. If we ingored leap seconds it would only add up to a few hours a lifetime. So what if 12pm is a different time as the years pass? It may be annoying but that is the world we live one. We can still have noon be the height of the sun if we want, it will just be a different time. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.73|199.27.133.73]] 17:25, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
:Does that last paragraph add anything to the article? The title text is mocking leap seconds about as much as the main comic is mocking leap days (ie- not really), and the odds that a server is able to handle NTP corrections due to regular clock drift, but unable to handle a 1 second jump in a single NTP correction seems like very poor mojo. I have no idea why the linux hrtimer subsystem cared about the wall-clock time, since it's a well known fact that the wall-clock time can change for a large number of reasons, and so you can't have your system go haywire every time it does. Google hasn't actually fixed anything, they are simply offering an NTP service that provides leap second corrections over a long smear - at the cost of being out of sync with UTC for up to a second at a time.
If anything, that link to livescience needs to be removed as the worst kind of fear-mongering and click-bait. GPS doesn't care about leap seconds, and GPS time is well-known to drift from UTC; if your GPS receiver is making adjustments for leap seconds, then it's going to be inaccurate in every other way, as well.
Also, given enough time, the day will be 25 hours long, for a few hours a week drift if you want to stick to UT as your arbitrary timekeeping system! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 01:32, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1514: PermaCal

2015-04-21T01:14:40Z

108.162.249.162:

1513: Code Quality

2015-04-20T08:00:49Z

108.162.249.162: /* Explanation */ Too many exceptions to support "most programming languages"

{{comic
| number = 1513
| date = April 17, 2015
| title = Code Quality
| image = code quality.png
| titletext = I honestly didn't think you could even USE emoji in variable names. Or that there were so many different crying ones.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Ponytail]] is about to look at some {{w|source code}} [[Cueball]] has written, and he is warning her that he is self-taught so his code probably won't be written the way she is used to.

In spite of Ponytail's initial (polite) optimism, she comments in three increasingly harsh similes. First, she suggests that reading his code is like being in a house built by a child, using a small axe to put together what he thought was a house based on a picture. This relates to a technique especially common for new programmers. They follow and adapt tutorials, and find examples of similar problems being solved, copy the solution ("cutting" it out as with an axe), {{w|Jury_rig|jury-rig}} it together, and tinker with it until it seems to work. This can lead to code that is hard to follow or otherwise "messy" and inconsistent. Once a piece of code is working, inexperienced or deadline-driven coders are reluctant to go back and rewrite it to be cleaner or clearer, for fear of breaking something that has been working. More experienced coders will go back after the first time the code worked and try to improve the code if they think it is possible. This improvement practice is known as {{w|refactoring}} and code projects that incorporate cycles of refactoring tend to be easier to read and maintain than those that don't. Including good test cases reduces the risks.

Second, she suggests that it looks like a salad recipe, written by a corporate lawyer on a phone with autocorrect that only corrected things to formulas from Microsoft Excel. This presumably relates to the way many programmers use {{w|integrated development environment}}s (IDEs). They serve as syntax-checkers and often also help correct other programming errors, but their corrections and advice can be unnatural and difficult to understand (like corporate lawyers producing Excel formulas). The result of just fixing what the IDE complains about often results in less-than-elegant code.

Third, she describes it as a transcript of the dialog of couple arguing at {{w|IKEA}}, which was then randomly edited until the computer compiled it with no errors. IKEA is a world-wide chain of furniture stores which feature large, maze-like showrooms as well as a large warehouse area where you can pick up the furniture you want to buy in flat, some-assembly-required packaging. Especially on weekends when many people crowd in to a store, they can be stress-inducing places. So coming across arguing couples in IKEA is to be expected. Software development often starts with a set of requirements which result from discussions (or arguments) between the stakeholders: architects, requirements analysts, designers, customers, management, programmers and others. It is common for these requirements to end up confusing and contradictory, suffering from a tendency to include some parts of everyone's requests.

Finally, Cueball makes the rather weak assurance that he will read “a style guide”.
Although few programming languages require a perfectly rigid style, so long as the code is syntactically accurate, most programmers follow some sort of {{w|Programming_style|style}} to make the code easier to read. This includes indenting lines to show levels and using descriptive variable identifiers with {{w|CamelCase|CamelCase}} (or camelCase) or {{w|Snake case|snake_case}} capitalization (capitalizing each word except for the first, and separating lowercase words with underscores, respectively).

It seems clear from Ponytail's commentary that his {{w|Software quality|code quality}} would benefit from far more training in computer programming.

The title text refers to {{w|emoji}}, originally called "{{w|Smiley|smiley faces}}". Ponytail's comment implies that some of Cueball's variables contained emoji, perhaps in an effort to capture the emotional content of the arguments which show thru the requirements document. Emoji can be simulated using ASCII characters, and have roots in ASCII {{w|emoticon}}s. Most languages will allow variable names to include underscores, so some sad face ASCII emoji will be legal variable names, such as <code>T_T</code>, <code>p_q</code>, <code>ioi</code> etc., but such things rarely show up in software variables.

Progressively more crying-face emoji are possible if variables can include [http://hexascii.com/sad-emoticons/ UTF-8 characters] or full Unicode, e.g. 😢,😭,😂,😿,😹. In some programming languages it would be impossible to use them in variable names, as the symbols would break the language's syntax rules. Exceptions to this include {{w|Go (programming language)|Go}}, {{w|Swift (programming language)|Swift}}, {{w|Java (programming language)|Java}} ([http://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/jls/se7/html/jls-3.html#jls-3.8], [http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/lang/Character.html#isUnicodeIdentifierPart%28int%29]), but most languages with compilers that support Unicode characters can include this kind of emoji, even for languages that predate Unicode like {{w|C++}} and {{w|Lisp_(programming_language)|Lisp}}.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball showing Ponytail his laptop.]
:Cueball: Keep in mind that I'm self-taught, so my code may be a little messy.
:Ponytail: Lemme see - I'm sure it's fine.

:[Ponytail sits at desk, Cueball stand behind her.]
:Ponytail: ...Wow. This is like being in a house built by a child using nothing but a hatchet and a picture of a house.

:[Ponytail sits at desk, Cueball stand behind her.]
:Ponytail: It's like a salad recipe written by a corporate lawyer using a phone autocorrect that only knew Excel formulas.

:[Ponytail sits at desk, Cueball stand behind her.]
:Ponytail: It's like someone took a transcript of a couple arguing at IKEA and made random edits until it compiled without errors.
:Cueball: '''''Okay,''''' I'll read a style guide.

{{comic discussion}}


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

Talk:1514: PermaCal

2015-04-20T07:49:10Z

108.162.249.162:

1514: PermaCal

2015-04-20T07:48:35Z

108.162.249.162: /* Explanation */ Correct leap seconds, add DDoS reference

{{comic
| number = 1514
| date = April 19, 2015
| title = PermaCal
| image = permacal.png
| titletext = The flood of PermaCalNTP leap-second notifications was bad enough, but when people started asking for millisecond resolution, the resulting DDOS brought down the internet.
}}

==Explanation==
Similar to [[1061]], this comic proposes a new calendar system. In this new calendar system, the date stays constant, and only changes with {{w|February 29|leap days}}. PermaCal is a portmanteau of the words "permanent" and "Calendar".

In the comic, the date is the same as when the comic was released, the 19th of April, 2015.

Leap days are days added to the end of February every year that is a multiple of 4, but not by 100, unless it's also a multiple of 400. The purpose is to sync the calendar with Earth's orbit without having a partial day each year.

NTP servers are used to keep local computer time from drifting. {{w|Leap second|Leap seconds}} normally account for the differences in the length of our 24 hour day and the time taken for the world to rotate 360 degrees on its axis, and are announced several months before hand, but in the context of this comic probably refer to a system with constant time, and the time is adjusted by an NTP call every second. The title text refers to the bandwidth used by correcting the time every millisecond, resulting in a {{w|DDoS}}, and is probably a reference to other retail consumer products that have unintentionally caused DDoS attacks because of a flaw in implementation (see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial-of-service_attack#Unintentional_denial-of-service], [http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.operators.swinog/10055]).

==Transcript==

:[Megan and Cueball are in the panel. Cueball appears to be holding a phone, tapping.]

:Megan: What day is it?

:Cueball: Sunday the 19<sup>th</sup>.

:Megan: But you said it was the 19<sup>th</sup> yesterday.

:Cueball: It changed ''again''? Crap, better add another leap day.

:Caption: My simplified calendar system assumes the date never changes, then corrects any drift via leap days.

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball‏]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan‏]]
[[Category:DDoS]]
[[Category:Time]]
[[Category:Sunday comics]]
[[Category:Portmanteau]]

1513: Code Quality

2015-04-17T06:20:40Z

108.162.249.162: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1513
| date = April 17, 2015
| title = Code Quality
| image = code quality.png
| titletext = I honestly didn't think you could even USE emoji in variable names. Or that there were so many different crying ones.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Early bird edit by an in-experienced editor}}
Cueball asks Ponytail to look at some code that he has written, warning her that he is self-taught so his code probably won't be written the way she is used to. Although few programming languages require a perfectly rigid style so long as the code is syntactically accurate, most programmers follow some sort of {{w|Programming_style|style}} to make the code easier to read. This includes indenting lines to show levels and using descriptive variable identifiers with {{w|CamelCase|"camel case"}} capitalization (capitalizing each word except for the first.) In spite of Ponytail's initial (polite) optimism, she comments in three increasingly harsh and absurd similes.

A common technique for self-taught programmers is to follow and adapt tutorials, and to find examples of similar problems being solved and try to copy the code. This can (but doesn't always) lead to code that is hard to follow or otherwise "messy" as various different pieces of code are {{w|Jury_rig|jury-rigged}} together and tinkered with until they seem to work. Once a piece of code is working, it is usually considered too hard to go back and rewrite it to be cleaner or clearer, also at the risk of breaking something that has been working. This practice is known as {{w|refactoring}} and code projects that incorporate cycles of refactoring tend to be easier to read and maintain than those that don't.

The title text refers to {{w|emoji}}, or "smiley faces". They exist in unicode, or can be simulated using ascii characters. There are many crying emojis, as said (e.g. ,😭,😂,😿,😹) In most programming languages it would be impossible to use them in variable names, as the symbols would break the language's syntax rules. A notable exception to this is Apple's new programming language in which the code can understand and use emojis in variables. Java, as another example, allows unicode characters in variable names as long as they are letter, numeric, combining or non-formatting marks. (See [http://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/jls/se7/html/jls-3.html#jls-3.8] and [http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/lang/Character.html#isUnicodeIdentifierPart%28int%29])

==Transcript==
:[Cueball showing Ponytail his laptop]
:Cueball: Keep in mind that I'm self-taught, so my code may be a little messy.
:Ponytail: Lemme see - I'm sure it's fine.

:[Ponytail sits at desk]
:Ponytail: ...Wow. This is like being in a house built by a child using nothing but a hatchet and a picture of a house.

:Ponytail: It's like a salad recipe written by a corporate lawyer using a phone autocorrect that only knew Excel formulas.

:Ponytail: It's like someone took a transcript of a couple arguing at IKEA and made random edits until it compiled without errors.
:Cueball: '''''Okay,''''' I'll read a style guide.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1513: Code Quality

2015-04-17T06:09:54Z

108.162.249.162:

On the bright side, I now have a new array of phrases to keep me sane while doing code reviews... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 05:47, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

I think the emojis were referring to swift where you can use emojis as variables.{{unsigned-ip|108.162.250.168|05:53, 17 April 2015‎}}

Could we get a link for the Apple language? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 06:09, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1513: Code Quality

2015-04-17T06:09:31Z

108.162.249.162:

On the bright side, I now have a new array of phrases to keep me sane while doing code reviews... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 05:47, 17 April 2015 (UTC)
I think the emojis were referring to swift where you can use emojis as variables.{{unsigned-ip|108.162.250.168|05:53, 17 April 2015‎}}
Could we get a link for the Apple language? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 06:09, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

1513: Code Quality

2015-04-17T06:08:28Z

108.162.249.162: /* Explanation */ more on emoji characters

{{comic
| number = 1513
| date = April 17, 2015
| title = Code Quality
| image = code quality.png
| titletext = I honestly didn't think you could even USE emoji in variable names. Or that there were so many different crying ones.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Early bird edit by an in-experienced editor}}
Cueball asks Ponytail to look at some code that he has written, warning her that he is self-taught so his code probably won't be written the way she is used to. Although few programming languages require a perfectly rigid style so long as the code is syntactically accurate, most programmers follow some sort of {{w|Programming_style|style}} to make the code easier to read. This includes indenting lines to show levels and using descriptive variable identifiers with {{w|CamelCase|"camel case"}} capitalization (capitalizing each word except for the first.) In spite of Ponytail's initial (polite) optimism, she comments in three increasingly harsh and absurd similes.

The title text refers to {{w|emoji}}, or "smiley faces". They exist in unicode, or can be simulated using ascii characters. There are many crying emojis, as said (e.g. ,😭,😂,😿,😹) In most programming languages it would be impossible to use them in variable names, as the symbols would break the language's syntax rules. A notable exception to this is Apple's new programming language in which the code can understand and use emojis in variables. Java, as another example, allows unicode characters in variable names as long as they are letter, numeric, combining or non-formatting marks. (See [http://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/jls/se7/html/jls-3.html#jls-3.8] and [http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/lang/Character.html#isUnicodeIdentifierPart%28int%29])

==Transcript==
:[Cueball showing Ponytail his laptop]
:Cueball: Keep in mind that I'm self-taught, so my code may be a little messy.
:Ponytail: Lemme see - I'm sure it's fine.

:[Ponytail sits at desk]
:Ponytail: ...Wow. This is like being in a house built by a child using nothing but a hatchet and a picture of a house.

:Ponytail: It's like a salad recipe written by a corporate lawyer using a phone autocorrect that only knew Excel formulas.

:Ponytail: It's like someone took a transcript of a couple arguing at IKEA and made random edits until it compiled without errors.
:Cueball: '''''Okay,''''' I'll read a style guide.

{{comic discussion}}

1513: Code Quality

2015-04-17T05:52:22Z

108.162.249.162: /* Explanation */ cleanup, wiki links

{{comic
| number = 1513
| date = April 17, 2015
| title = Code Quality
| image = code quality.png
| titletext = I honestly didn't think you could even USE emoji in variable names. Or that there were so many different crying ones.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Early bird edit by an in-experienced editor}}
Cueball asks Ponytail to look at some code that he has written, warning her that he is self-taught so his code probably won't be written the way she is used to. Although few programming languages require a perfectly rigid style so long as the code is syntactically accurate, most programmers follow some sort of {{w|Programming_style|style}} to make the code easier to read. This includes indenting lines to show levels and using descriptive variable identifiers with {{w|CamelCase|"camel case"}} capitalization (capitalizing each word except for the first.)

The title text refers to {{w|emoji}}, or "smiley faces". They exist in unicode, or can be simulated using ascii characters. There are many crying emojis, as said (e.g. ,😭,😂,😿,😹) In most programming languages it would be impossible to use tham as names for variables, as the symbols used to make them would break the syntax used in most languages.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball showing Ponytail his laptop]
:Cueball: Keep in mind that I'm self-taught, so my code may be a little messy.
:Ponytail: Lemme see - I'm sure it's fine.

:[Ponytail sits at desk]
:Ponytail: ...Wow. This is like being in a house built by a child using nothing but a hatchet and a picture of a house.

:Ponytail: It's like a salad recipe written by a corporate lawyer using a phone autocorrect that only knew Excel formulas.

:Ponytail: It's like someone took a transcript of a couple arguing at IKEA and made random edits until it compiled without errors.
:Cueball: '''''Okay,''''' I'll read a style guide.

{{comic discussion}}

1513: Code Quality

2015-04-17T05:48:10Z

108.162.249.162: /* Explanation */ spelling

{{comic
| number = 1513
| date = April 17, 2015
| title = Code Quality
| image = code quality.png
| titletext = I honestly didn't think you could even USE emoji in variable names. Or that there were so many different crying ones.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Early bird edit by an in-experienced editor}}
Cueball asks Ponytail to look at some code that he has written, warning her that he is self-taught so his code probably won't be written the way she is used to. Although few programming languages require a perfectly rigid style so long as the code is syntactically accurate, most programmers follow some sort of style to make the code easier to read. This includes indenting lines to show levels and using descriptive variable identifiers with reverse capitalization (capitalizing each word except for the first.)
The title text refers to emoji, or "smiley faces". In most programming languages it would be impossible to use tham as names for variables, as the symboles used to make them would break the syntax used in most languages.

The title text refers to emoji, or "smiley faces". They exist in unicode. There are many crying emojis, as said (e.g. ,😭,😂,😿,😹)

==Transcript==
:[Cueball showing Ponytail his laptop]
:Cueball: Keep in mind that I'm self-taught, so my code may be a little messy.
:Ponytail: Lemme see - I'm sure it's fine.

:[Ponytail sits at desk]
:Ponytail: ...Wow. This is like being in a house built by a child using nothing but a hatchet and a picture of a house.

:Ponytail: It's like a salad recipe written by a corporate lawyer using a phone autocorrect that only knew Excel formulas.

:Ponytail: It's like someone took a transcript of a couple arguing at IKEA and made random edits until it compiled without errors.
:Cueball: '''''Okay,''''' I'll read a style guide.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1513: Code Quality

2015-04-17T05:47:33Z

108.162.249.162: Created page with "On the bright side, I now have a new array of phrases to keep me sane while doing code reviews... ~~~~"

On the bright side, I now have a new array of phrases to keep me sane while doing code reviews... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 05:47, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1512: Horoscopes

2015-04-17T03:30:18Z

108.162.249.162:

So funny - especially the title text made me laugh :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:05, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
:Nine months later, it would certainly eliminate the stress of wondering if you were gonna "get lucky" that night. - Equinox [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.120|199.27.128.120]] 16:13, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

The "coriolis effect" in the title text refers to the spin direction of vortices (rotating currents such as cyclones, whirlpools, and water draining from a basin), which is counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere. The title text is a joke extending the reversal to the flow of time.
: The spin direction of whirlpools and basins is 'not' determined by the coriolis effect, on this scale its impact is way too small to make a difference. The title text refers to how the coriolis effect is often used to explain phenomena (especially with relation to the hemispheres), even when its wrong. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.5|198.41.242.5]] 08:23, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

The events described during which the conception of a person with a given birth month occurred assumes that the parents were in the United States at that time. The seasons would be shifted by six months in the southern hemisphere, and the holidays of the 4th of July (Independence Day -- Aries), Halloween (Cancer, conception in October), Thanksgiving (Leo, conception in November), Mother's Day (Aquarius, conception in May), and the NCAA (college) basketball playoffs ("March Madness" -- Sagittarius) , might either not be celebrated or celebrated on a different day. [[User:The Dining Logician|The Dining Logician]] ([[User talk:The Dining Logician|talk]]) 08:11, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

"Today, horoscopes are admitted to be pseudoscience." Citation needed. But what rubbish. Horoscopes are not even pseudoscience, so who is it "admitting" they are? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.187|108.162.250.187]] 08:36, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

:Agree, I would like the citation for "today", as there were experiments disproving horoscopes in ancient Rome already (involving two babies born in same time, one rich, one slave). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:48, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

The general trick to horoscopes is make them vague enough that anyone can think they're true, regardless of their sign. --[[User:PsyMar|PsyMar]] ([[User talk:PsyMar|talk]]) 10:34, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
:"You will have an opportunity today, meet someone new and should take care of your finances. Family matters will continue as per the last few days." [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 13:41, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
: It's the {{w|Forer effect}}. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.134|108.162.249.134]] 21:55, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

I propose an addition to the "conceived during someone's wedding" -- it's more common that the conception is actually after the wedding, during the (somewhat expected) consummation by the actual married couple. Thus, "honeymoon babies"! --BigMal // [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.181|108.162.221.181]] 12:53, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
:I read this as being conceived at someone else's wedding - attending weddings often being a trigger for romantic thoughts. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 03:25, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

Wait, I though Superman goes back in time not by "going against earths rotation, but simply by going faster than light?[[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.209|141.101.88.209]] 19:53, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

The expected conception column is off, therefore the explanations may be off. Length of a human pregnancy is 38 weeks after conception, or 9 1/2 months, not the 9 months that is commonly portrayed. I'm not sure if Randall took this into account or not. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.121|199.27.133.121]] 20:40, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
:This is true, except you must have meant 8½ month not 9½ since 38 weeks is less than 9 month. Actually it is very close to 8,75 month. But anyway you are correct, that all the dates should be fixed to go 38 weeks back, not 9 months!--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:54, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
::Yep, that is what I meant, sorry [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.121|199.27.133.121]] 05:26, 16 April 2015 (UTC)
::Updated with the correct dates, but the explanations haven't been proofread to conform with the dates [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.121|199.27.133.121]] 05:34, 16 April 2015 (UTC)
:::Fixed explanations, then realized you went for 40 weeks, not 38, so changed them to 38 weeks and fixed explanations again ;) [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 17:58, 16 April 2015 (UTC)
::::Even 38 weeks is idealised - I have a niece and nephew who were born 22 weeks after conception (4 years old now and doing well!) And term isn't until 41 weeks (from last menstruation) in France. 38 weeks happens to be a useful average in many parts of the world, but even healthy term pregnancies in USA/UK/Australia(/others?) covers the range of 35-40 weeks from conception. Also, with the rise of babies conceived by IVF, it's no longer quite so obvious what was happening 38-ish weeks before birth! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 03:30, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

No reference to the fact that November babies might be conceived on V day? [[User:Vkapadia|Vkapadia]] ([[User talk:Vkapadia|talk]]) 21:10, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

The real secret behind horoscopes and Nostradamus, is "vague shift"[[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 01:36, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1512: Horoscopes

2015-04-17T03:25:54Z

108.162.249.162:

So funny - especially the title text made me laugh :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:05, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
:Nine months later, it would certainly eliminate the stress of wondering if you were gonna "get lucky" that night. - Equinox [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.120|199.27.128.120]] 16:13, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

The "coriolis effect" in the title text refers to the spin direction of vortices (rotating currents such as cyclones, whirlpools, and water draining from a basin), which is counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere. The title text is a joke extending the reversal to the flow of time.
: The spin direction of whirlpools and basins is 'not' determined by the coriolis effect, on this scale its impact is way too small to make a difference. The title text refers to how the coriolis effect is often used to explain phenomena (especially with relation to the hemispheres), even when its wrong. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.5|198.41.242.5]] 08:23, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

The events described during which the conception of a person with a given birth month occurred assumes that the parents were in the United States at that time. The seasons would be shifted by six months in the southern hemisphere, and the holidays of the 4th of July (Independence Day -- Aries), Halloween (Cancer, conception in October), Thanksgiving (Leo, conception in November), Mother's Day (Aquarius, conception in May), and the NCAA (college) basketball playoffs ("March Madness" -- Sagittarius) , might either not be celebrated or celebrated on a different day. [[User:The Dining Logician|The Dining Logician]] ([[User talk:The Dining Logician|talk]]) 08:11, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

"Today, horoscopes are admitted to be pseudoscience." Citation needed. But what rubbish. Horoscopes are not even pseudoscience, so who is it "admitting" they are? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.187|108.162.250.187]] 08:36, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

:Agree, I would like the citation for "today", as there were experiments disproving horoscopes in ancient Rome already (involving two babies born in same time, one rich, one slave). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:48, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

The general trick to horoscopes is make them vague enough that anyone can think they're true, regardless of their sign. --[[User:PsyMar|PsyMar]] ([[User talk:PsyMar|talk]]) 10:34, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
:"You will have an opportunity today, meet someone new and should take care of your finances. Family matters will continue as per the last few days." [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 13:41, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
: It's the {{w|Forer effect}}. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.134|108.162.249.134]] 21:55, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

I propose an addition to the "conceived during someone's wedding" -- it's more common that the conception is actually after the wedding, during the (somewhat expected) consummation by the actual married couple. Thus, "honeymoon babies"! --BigMal // [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.181|108.162.221.181]] 12:53, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
:I read this as being conceived at someone else's wedding - attending weddings often being a trigger for romantic thoughts. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 03:25, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

Wait, I though Superman goes back in time not by "going against earths rotation, but simply by going faster than light?[[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.209|141.101.88.209]] 19:53, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

The expected conception column is off, therefore the explanations may be off. Length of a human pregnancy is 38 weeks after conception, or 9 1/2 months, not the 9 months that is commonly portrayed. I'm not sure if Randall took this into account or not. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.121|199.27.133.121]] 20:40, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
:This is true, except you must have meant 8½ month not 9½ since 38 weeks is less than 9 month. Actually it is very close to 8,75 month. But anyway you are correct, that all the dates should be fixed to go 38 weeks back, not 9 months!--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:54, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
::Yep, that is what I meant, sorry [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.121|199.27.133.121]] 05:26, 16 April 2015 (UTC)
::Updated with the correct dates, but the explanations haven't been proofread to conform with the dates [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.121|199.27.133.121]] 05:34, 16 April 2015 (UTC)
:::Fixed explanations, then realized you went for 40 weeks, not 38, so changed them to 38 weeks and fixed explanations again ;) [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 17:58, 16 April 2015 (UTC)
No reference to the fact that November babies might be conceived on V day? [[User:Vkapadia|Vkapadia]] ([[User talk:Vkapadia|talk]]) 21:10, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

The real secret behind horoscopes and Nostradamus, is "vague shift"[[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 01:36, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1503: Squirrel Plan

2015-03-25T06:48:33Z

108.162.249.162:

Reminds me of the Ice Age squirrel [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 06:02, 25 March 2015 (UTC)
:Also reminiscent of the star wars scene in Kingmen [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 06:16, 25 March 2015 (UTC)
I think the squirrels are just a vehicle for the joke, which is poking fun at "obvious" conclusions based on personal beliefs. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 06:48, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1503: Squirrel Plan

2015-03-25T06:16:41Z

108.162.249.162:

1499: Arbitrage

2015-03-17T01:04:16Z

108.162.249.162: /* Explanation */ tortilla chips aren't made of potatos

{{comic
| number = 1499
| date = March 16, 2015
| title = Arbitrage
| image = arbitrage.png
| titletext = The invisible hand of the market never texts me back.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Very long and tedious explanation. Can anyone with knowledge of Arbitrage make it more compact and easier to read for the lay man. For instance what does "even if reactionary server slow down, and a minimum paid order per unit time rule were ignored" even mean? At least some wiki links would be in order. I have added several. Also the part of the title text about not getting text back is not mentioned. Is it clear what he means?}}

In {{w|economics}} and {{w|finance}}, {{w|arbitrage}} is the practice of taking advantage of a price difference between two or more markets to make risk-free profit by buying in the market with a lower price and simultaneously selling in the market with the higher price.

In real-world {{w|Market liquidity|liquid financial markets}}, arbitrage ensures that there is only one price for a product. Arbitrageurs, by purchasing from a cheap market and selling in an expensive one, equalize the prices in those markets.

The place where [[Cueball]] and [[Hairy]] are eating is giving away unlimited free {{w|tortilla chip}}s, effectively a market selling chips for $0. Hairy is taking advantage of this fact to turn a profit for himself by collecting the chips and attempting to resell them elsewhere. Any price higher than $0 would make him a profit. This is obviously much to the consternation of Cueball, who is (depending on how you interpret the simple art-style) holding his hands up in front of his mouth in shock, covering the lower half of his face in shame, covering his eyes out of denial, cradling his forehead in his hands to soothe the oncoming headache, sliding his palms down the front of his face in disgust, or eating chips. Possibly all six in sequence.

In the real world an attempt to employ this strategy would fail for several reasons; one wouldn't be allowed to carry large bags full of chips out of the restaurant, not many people would buy chips taken from a restaurant in this manner, the servers would not continue to deliver arbitrarily large amounts of chips to the table, and the restaurant would require some minimum purchase to be allowed to sit at the table which would eat into any potential profits from chip-reselling. In financial terms, the extremely poor {{w|liquidity}} of chips is what allows the obvious arbitrage opportunity to persist indefinitely.

Another related issue is the poor {{w|fungibility}} of chips. Chips that are factory-sealed in a bag or served in a restaurant are served in a context where cleanliness and {{w|food safety}} practices can be assumed to have been followed. Chips sold from an open bag by some random person do not have that expectation associated with them and would not command as high a price as they do in a restaurant transaction.

On the other hand, Harry may be collecting chips for rebagging. Though ethically unsound, this is a cost-effective method of ensuring the perceived value of sanitary chips lasts long enough for them to be purchased. Rebagging also allows further profit by allowing Harry to charge a similar, albeit lower, price compared to store-bought chips.

In the caption below the comic, [[Randall]] suggests that society only functions because we don't take people like Hairy "out to dinner", i.e., we generally have an aversion to dealing with people with such extreme self-interest, bordering on {{w|Psychopathy#Sociopathy|sociopathic}} behavior. Apart from the fact that he intends to sell the chips, we also see from Cueball's reaction, how appalled he is by what Hairy is doing right in front of the waiters in the restaurant.

A distinguishing feature of {{w|social animals}}, rather than animals simply sharing a {{w|habitat}}, is that they perform tasks that benefit their group. All such societies rely on some situations where the individual is not working purely on short term self interest. The payoff for this is generally that co-operation makes things better for the group as a whole. Most people would find Hairy's behavior embarrassing and shameful, and thus would not socialize with people who behave like that. By rejecting such individuals, society protects itself from such people.

The title text mentions the ''{{w|invisible hand}}''. In economics this is a metaphor used by {{w|Adam Smith}} to describe unintended social benefits resulting from the individual actions of self-interested parties. In the context of arbitrage, the "invisible hand" compels all of a given fungible substance to be sold for the same price, as a result of the actions of individuals like Hairy who are only seeking personal profit.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Hairy are sitting at a table with a bowl of chips in the middle. Hairy is taking chips from the bowl on the table with one hand, and his other hand is dropping chips into a large bag behind him. Cueball is double facepalming.]
:Hairy: ''They're'' the ones giving chips away!
:Hairy: If they don't see the arbitrage potential, sucks for them.
:On the bag is written: Chips

:[Below the main frame]: In a deep sense, society functions only because we generally avoid taking these people out to dinner.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]

Talk:1487: Tornado

2015-02-17T04:24:42Z

108.162.249.162: Cueball Schmueball.

Are we sure this is cueball? it seems like it might be just a generic newscaster cartoon.
[[User:Reywas|Reywas]] ([[User talk:Reywas|talk]]) 07:41, 16 February 2015 (UTC)
: Cueball is not a character; it's a name given to any featureless stick figure in XKCD. [[User:ImVeryAngryItsNotButter|ImVeryAngryItsNotButter]] ([[User talk:ImVeryAngryItsNotButter|talk]]) 15:14, 16 February 2015 (UTC)

:Actually, while the blank figure is used throughout XKCD, at least on this wiki, cueball refers to the recurring character, who I don't think is the one here.[[User:Reywas|Reywas]] ([[User talk:Reywas|talk]]) 20:49, 16 February 2015 (UTC)
: I just checked, [[User:ImVeryAngryItsNotButter|ImVeryAngryItsNotButter]] is correct. [[Cueball]] is a name (or more accurately, a title) given to any featureless stickman. Cueball isn't a 'recurring character' because it's impossible to distinguish any instance from another by any way other than their personality (which has no clear rules to go by). Could you imagine how tough it would be to go through eg. [[610]] and name each one consistently with Cueballs from other comics? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.162|108.162.249.162]] 04:24, 17 February 2015 (UTC)
Can a weather expert verify the claim that a tornado will destroy a merry-go-round? From what little I read and understood (Weather is confusing, and there was no graph!), a F0 or F1 tornado would not destroy it. From my estimations, a merry-go-round weighs 1350kg (2976.24054 lbs). Thanks, [[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.95|141.101.106.95]] 08:53, 16 February 2015 (UTC)

Another type of "merry-go-round" is a very common playground device, much simpler than the type with seats or horses. This https://smilekiddo.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/zipline_merry-go-round.jpg is what I envisioned from the comic, although it could refer to either type. The freely-rotating small platform, usually with bars for children to hold onto while standing, and rotated merely by people-power, is probably the most common type of merry-go-round in the US. They may weigh from 500 to 2000 lbs, or mass from about 15 to 60 slugs (I'll assume xkcd readers can convert to other mass units if desired.) [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 09:24, 16 February 2015 (UTC)

I think tornado can destroy the merry-go-round of either type and STILL make it a fun ride. The part of "no injuries" is the suspicious one. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:25, 16 February 2015 (UTC)

Wait, what I got from this comic is the classical mass media sensationalism joke, there is no tornado, they simply invented one by taking a merry go round as one, that's why the victims say "Fun and Awesome", they interviewed the kids as victims while they were just enjoying the ride. The title text does the same, with the difference they went further this time, as trying to pass a teacup ride as a multi-vortex tornado is even more hilarious. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.103.206|141.101.103.206]] 11:29, 16 February 2015 (UTC)

I think that the tornado in question is ''caused'' by the merry-go-round because physics and similarly for the tea cup ride -- [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.150|108.162.216.150]] 18:05, 16 February 2015 (UTC)

Is there any point in including "like most amusement rides, it is for children"? I don't know about others but most of the amusement parks near me are for late teens-twenties. They all have a childrens section but it is pretty tiny. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.202|173.245.56.202]] 14:29, 16 February 2015 (UTC)