explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1161: Hand Sanitizer

2013-01-16T13:16:12Z

134.169.169.121:

Does anyone think the "peak" referred to in the title text could be the 1918 flu pandemic? Or even the bird flu outbreak?[[User:Chexwarrior|Chexwarrior]] ([[User talk:Chexwarrior|talk]]) 10:31, 16 January 2013 (UTC)

That 99.99% number on the hand sanitizer is probably made up anyway. Any actual scientific measure of effectivity would need to take into account different resistance of different types of germs. So, question is, is the sanitizer more or less effective? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:35, 16 January 2013 (UTC)

:I actually had in the back of my mind that the 99.99% figure wasn't a "dead germ count," but the number of strains of germs the sanitizer has the ability to kill. I.e. there are some strains which it doesn't kill. —[[Special:Contributions/98.122.166.235|98.122.166.235]] 12:59, 16 January 2013 (UTC)

Shouldn't 200 million times .01% actually be equivalent to 200 million times .0001, which equals 20 000 germs? [[Special:Contributions/134.169.169.121|134.169.169.121]] 13:16, 16 January 2013 (UTC)

1141: Two Years

2012-11-30T15:10:13Z

134.169.169.121: Fixed a typo

{{comic
| number = 1141
| date = November 30, 2012
| title = Two Years
| image = two years.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = She won the first half of all our chemo Scrabble games, but then her IV drugs started kicking in and I *dominated*.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic marks the second year of [[Randall Munroe]]'s wife's battle with cancer, and appears to depict actual events from those two years. Randall's wife's cancer has been the subject of [[:Category:Cancer|several previous comics]].

Some explanations:
*Panel 1: Randall's wife (at that point, his girlfriend or fiancée) receives a diagnosis over the phone as Randall sits by her side supportively
*Panel 2: Depicts Randall's wife undergoing {{w|chemotherapy}} through an IV. Because of the hair loss that results from chemotherapy, many patients opt to shave their heads when they undergo chemotherapy. Her hair grows back over the course of the following panels.
*Panel 4: Randall and his wife are waiting for the results of a scan; it appears a phone is on the middle of the table that they are waiting to ring.
*Panel 5: More chemotherapy. Randall and his wife are playing {{w|Scrabble}}, as referenced in the title text, which is a very popular board game in which players use letter times to spell words in a cross-word style. Randall's wife uses the fact that she has cancer as leverage to get Randall to ignore the fact that the word she has played (zarg) is not a real word.
*Panel 6: Someone suggests Randall and his wife come for a visit next year, but all they can think about are the words "next year", suggesting their fears that Randall's wife won't be able to go anywhere, or might even be dead by next year.
*Panel 7: Randall and his wife get married.
*Panel 9: Randall is paraphrasing a line from the song "{{w|Still Alive}}" from the video game ''{{w|Portal}}'' (''"I'm doing science and I'm still alive"'').
*Panel 10: Randall and his wife have dinner to celebrate the fact that she has made it two years since her biopsy.

A link to a You Tube video of Still Alive [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_S0PGu-cH4]

==Transcript==
:[Randall and his wife sitting on a bed and on the phone with a nurse.]
:Randall's wife: oh god

:[Randall and his wife sitting at their laptops. Randall's wife is hooked up to a dialysis machine and her hair is shaved.]
:Machine: ...BEEEP...BEEEP...BEEEP...

:[Randall and his wife rowing. His wife is wearing a beanie.]

:[Randall and his wife sitting at a table. A clock is mounted behind them.]
:Randall's wife: How long can it take to read a scan!?

:[Randall and his wife playing scrabble.]
:Randall: "Zarg" isn't a word.
:Randall's wife: But ''Caaancer''.
:Randall: ...Ok, fine.

:[Randall and his wife talking to a friend. A large thought bubble is above their heads.]
:Friend: So next year you should come visit us up in the mountain - [cut off by thought bubble]
:Randall and wife: "Next year"

:[Randall and his wife getting married. A heart is above their heads. His wife's hair is growing back.]

:[Randall and his wife watching a whale jump out of the water.]

:[Randall watching his wife use a laptop.]
:Randall: Hey-
:Randall: You're doing science,
:Randall: And you're still alive.
:Randall's wife: Yeah!

:[Randall and his wife under a tree.]
:Randall: It's only been two years?
:Randall's wife: They were big years.

:[Randall and his wife at a fancy restaurant being served.]
:Waiter: Happy... Anniversary?
:Randall's wife: Biopsy-versary!
:Waiter: ...eww.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]
[[Category:Cancer]]

1097: A Hypochondriac's Nightmare

2012-08-21T20:18:50Z

134.169.169.121: /* Trivia */

{{comic
| number = 1097
| date = August 20, 2012
| title = A Hypochondriac's Nightmare
| image = a hypochrondiacs nightmare.png
| titletext = BUT WHAT IF I REASSURE MYSELF WITH A JOKE AND THEN DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE RASH AND IT TURNS OUT TO BE DEATH MITES AND I COULD HAVE CAUGHT IT
| imagesize =
}}

== Explanation ==
{{w|Hypochondriac}}s are people who worry obsessively about their health. This is a hypochondriac's nightmare because he always was expecting to die from of a mysterious undiagnosed disease, but instead dies by slipping on a banana and getting sucked into an airplane engine. [[Cueball]] regrets wasting so many hours on {{w|WebMD}} (an online health symptom reference) worrying about a rash on his arm as opposed to looking out for banana peels laying in front of jet engines.

The title text (in ALL CAPS - so shouting in dispair) adds another level of hypochondrism. Randall drew this particular joke to soothe his fears and reassure himself that the rash is nothing. But what if that reassurance just makes him not check out the rash, and then it turns out the rash is caused by "death {{w|mite}}s" and ultimately lead to his death?

== Trivia ==
*Hypochondriac used to be wrongly spelled as Hypochrondiac in this comic.

{{Comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1097: A Hypochondriac's Nightmare

2012-08-21T20:16:00Z

134.169.169.121:

{{comic
| number = 1097
| date = August 20, 2012
| title = A Hypochondriac's Nightmare
| image = a hypochrondiacs nightmare.png
| titletext = BUT WHAT IF I REASSURE MYSELF WITH A JOKE AND THEN DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE RASH AND IT TURNS OUT TO BE DEATH MITES AND I COULD HAVE CAUGHT IT
| imagesize =
}}

== Explanation ==
{{w|Hypochondriac}}s are people who worry obsessively about their health. This is a hypochondriac's nightmare because he always was expecting to die from of a mysterious undiagnosed disease, but instead dies by slipping on a banana and getting sucked into an airplane engine. [[Cueball]] regrets wasting so many hours on {{w|WebMD}} (an online health symptom reference) worrying about a rash on his arm as opposed to looking out for banana peels laying in front of jet engines.

The title text (in ALL CAPS - so shouting in dispair) adds another level of hypochondrism. Randall drew this particular joke to soothe his fears and reassure himself that the rash is nothing. But what if that reassurance just makes him not check out the rash, and then it turns out the rash is caused by "death {{w|mite}}s" and ultimately lead to his death?

== Trivia ==
*Hypochondriac is wrongly spelled as Hypochrondiac in this comic.

{{Comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]